"Locomotor Wibbly (Leg-Locker Curse)——"
At the end of the countdown, Malfoy unhesitatingly waved his magic wand, and the skillful evil curse shot towards Neville's legs. The purplish-red curse swiftly tore through the air, and then... it missed.
Yes, without any hesitation at all, at the moment the light curtain descended, Neville didn't cast a spell first; he simply reacted and dodged the attack——
Of course, it wasn't cowardice; it was simply Neville's usual opening move. Although the posture was awkward, it was effective——most wizards would choose to test their opponent's strength head-on with their first attack after the countdown, but Neville was different. He was well-taught by William.
While not as frequent a visitor to the Room of Requirement like Cedric and Harry, Neville seized every opportunity he could. At nearly every Duel Club meeting, after practicing, he would ask William about his recent progress and perform some demonstrations——
And William was naturally very interested in this student. Although Neville's memory and coordination were indeed average, perhaps even a bit lacking, William discovered Neville's talent in Herbology was strong, almost having a natural affinity with the plants in the greenhouse, much like William's "druidic talent."——
Of course, the effect wasn't as exaggerated as a druid's.
In some ways, perhaps this chubby kid really was a genius?
So, in terms of fighting with herbs and plants, William didn't hold back at all. Although he was a Ravenclaw a hundred years ago, his research into the properties of herbs was quite deep. After all, he could even pull off using a juvenile mandrake's scream and linking it with a group Avada Kedavra for a combo attack...
Of course, William didn't teach that, as it sounded a bit too brutal.
What William taught Neville was to leverage strengths and avoid weaknesses——Neville's grades in Charm Class and Transfiguration Class weren't good. Although not as bad as Magic Potions, they weren't outstanding either. As for Defense Against the Dark Arts? Lockhart's class isn't even worth mentioning.
What? You say Lockhart was captured long ago?
Then you didn't check who took over the Defense Against the Dark Arts class later! With Snape around, no one in Gryffindor could get an Outstanding. I heard Hermione was quite upset for a while after receiving her report card in the summer.
In short, Neville remembered what William said, 'Since your spells are weak, never try to match them head-on, especially when you are standing on the left.' Although he didn't understand what standing on the left had to do with winning or losing, Neville's strength was executing even when he didn't fully understand——
His execution was top-notch.
Since then, Neville had never opened with a probing spell; he would either use the Iron Armor Spell or simply rely on body technique and reflexes to dodge before setting up formations, with numerous earth-colored mud balls flying forward as he waved his wand, linking four or five juvenile Devil's Snares in a row and covering Malfoy——
Simultaneously, Neville didn't slow his hand movements. The adult Devil's Snare he had just stored was directly slapped onto the ground in front of him; with the other hand, he pulled out several Chinese Chomping Cabbages. The clawing cabbages began attacking from all angles, and at the same time, a green thorny plant was slapped on the ground, and deep green spiky vines began spreading——
"Incendio! (Fire-Making Spell)"
Seeing the plants flying towards him, Malfoy's expression remained calm, even with a look of expected ease. He gently waved his wand, and the fiery blaze rushed out. Although blocked by the Devil's Snare, it also burned the juvenile Devil's Snares and two Chomping Cabbages to ash.
"I said, I am not the same as before!"
When did you ever say that?
Forcing himself not to voice a retort, Neville kept William's advice in mind——in any confirmed one-on-one duel, stay focused, a lion uses all its strength even against a rabbit...
And even after finishing the job, make sure the carcass is thoroughly burned to prevent resurrection——that's the second half of the sentence; of course, because the tone wasn't right, William didn't teach that either.
Although Neville knew that with his fighting style, if it were a lion against a rabbit, it would bleed out, but as he saw Malfoy starting to cast spells again, he suddenly remembered something Harry mentioned——this was actually a dream sequence, and sometimes you should just let loose.
"..."
Thinking of this, Neville couldn't help but take a deep breath——because he didn't know what selection method William was preparing, Neville, who prepared for almost a day and a night, was fully armed. He hesitated for two seconds, and as the Devil's Snare and poisonous tentacles respectively blocked two evil curses before him again, he made a decision——
If this isn't a dream, I'll just apologize afterwards!
Thinking this, Neville reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of dragon skin gloves, putting them on his hands, followed by opening a brown oilcloth bag, revealing the slimy, sticky bubo bulbs covered with many glistening boils.
With a determined heart, Neville grabbed a handful, without any flourish, simply and unceremoniously throwing them towards Malfoy.
"...?"
Seeing the "slugs" in the air, Malfoy froze for a moment, not recognizing what they were, but the shivers brought by the slugs made him instinctively use Protego, then began sidestepping, his gaze subconsciously turning towards Ron by the dueling platform, and then——
"Ugh!"
Slugs—this had once been a shared memory between them.
But with just this distraction, Malfoy didn't manage to dodge all the slugs, and two of them completely ignored the Shield Charm and landed on the boy's body.
"What on earth is this..."
The question was left unfinished, as Malfoy immediately realized the purpose of this thing. The moment the slugs, which seemed like they had been soaking in yellow-green pus all their lives, touched his skin, they began to smoke. The burning pain instinctively made him scream, and as those two slugs slid off, large areas of ghastly scars began appearing on the boy's face and arms——
Bubo Bulb, a particularly ugly plant, a highly valuable magic potion ingredient. When collecting its pus, one must wear dragon skin gloves, as undiluted pus causes severe skin damage.
"Hiss——"
Seeing Malfoy's miserable state, although Neville was the instigator, he couldn't help but wrinkle his nose...
The effect of this thing was truly inhumane. No wonder William had a strange smile when he gave it to him. Although Neville knew it caused significant skin damage, today was the first time seeing it in action...
Wait a moment, if this truly is a dream sequence, might he take this opportunity to experiment with things he wasn't confident about before...
Watching the wailing Malfoy, Neville suddenly had an all-or-nothing impulse——
Perhaps sensing some crisis, Malfoy didn't give Neville more time to think. As if going mad, he was screaming and waving his wand, unleashing scorching flames from its tip to fend off the surrounding poisonous tentacles and Devil's Snare, rapidly closing in on Neville——
But there's no help for it because the Devil's Snare was almost able to block all his ranged spells. Now, no matter what, Neville mustn't be allowed to throw more "slugs"!
Wanting revenge, Malfoy now could only try to close the gap. Although he didn't have many spells that were appropriate for close-range use and Neville wasn't skilled in magic, dealing with him should be comparatively easy.
But... as previously mentioned, Neville always strictly followed William's teachings: since he wasn't skilled in magic, don't engage in a magical duel——seeing Malfoy charging towards him, wand raised and a smug look on his face, Neville withdrew the lantern containing the Fire Salamander——
The predictive movement was still a bit slow.
Somewhat annoyed, Neville reached into his pocket and pulled out a metal baseball bat thicker than his calf——William's teaching number two: no matter when, always be fully prepared for any potential battle.
Evidently, this baseball bat was part of the preparations.
"Boss!"
Seeing the baseball bat swinging towards Malfoy's head, Goyle and Crabbe below the stage cried out in surprise, and just then, Harry, who had been waiting for the opportune moment, seized his chance, decisively sprang up, and waved his wand, "Expelliarmus! (Disarm You)"
"Clang——"
With a crisp sound, Goyle's right hand was raised high, and a blue glint flew into the air.