The golden sun hung at the edge of the sky, leaving fine patterns of shadows on the grass, the tranquil green forest as usual — if not for those screams.
"...Expelliarmus."
"Protego!"
The scarlet attack charm rippled faintly on the illusory shield, and compared to the intense scene on the 'gangfight' platform, this one-on-one duel was like having afternoon tea, with the exchange of moves becoming remarkably slow—
No wonder, almost everyone was focused on William's completely one-sided 'massacre' of the little wizards over there.
William stood at the center of the field, his black robe billowing fiercely in the wind stirred up by the charms.
Each time his wand lightly pointed, it elicited a wail — a fourth-year Gryffindor had just raised his wand and was tied up like a dumpling by a silver rope and thrown out of the field, two Slytherins had attempted a pincer movement, but no sooner had they come within three feet of him than they found green hounds biting their behinds, their cries of agony echoing across the entire field.
"Seventh."
William counted softly, nudging a stone at his toes, which transformed into a falcon and swooped at Penelope attempting a sneak attack, and before she could finish saying "Petrificus Totalus," the bird beak had pecked her wrist, causing her wand to fly into the air.
William's attacks were impartial to everyone — regardless of age or gender, every little wizard trying to rally and attack him was treated like roadkill, most not even completing their charm before being metaphorically 'kicked dead' into the ditch.
At this moment, his figure walked the earth like the Grim Reaper, each movement seeming to take another vibrant life.
"...He's damnably cool."
Beside the one-on-one tea party, Ron's murmured comment resonated widely.
The little wizards watched William's seamless movements with glowing eyes — this senior who always seemed to make the identical black wizard robes exude a deathly aura was showcasing what it truly meant to be 'elegantly violent' in the most brutal way.
When a Ravenclaw boy attempted to plant poisonous tentacle vines, William didn't even bother casting a spell, simply stomping the emerging green shoot with his shoe heel and casually turning the opponent's robe into a biting scarf.
Amidst this crowd, apart from a few with less honorable intentions, the vast majority of little wizards wanted to join the Duel Club for a simple reason — one day, they too hoped to be as impressive as William, and incidentally, learn from him and stomp on Snape.
What's more, quite a number had that secondary intention, it's undeniable Snape was among the few at Hogwarts who had reached an impressive level of notoriety, yet compared to Headmaster Phineas Black, Snape was like a firefly before the bright moon...
There was only this one in Hogwarts history who could simultaneously unite all four houses, even Gryffindor and Slytherin, against a common enemy.
As the numbers dwindled, William too slowed his 'massacre' to intentionally weed out little wizards trying to take advantage, having organized this selection for elite training, leaving Lupin to handle the basics as dealing with children wasn't really his forte.
"Alright then, time's almost up—"
"Wuuuu—"
Amid the field of wailing, Percy's sobs weren't prominent, but his wildly writhing body caught William's attention, already having dealt with most. He turned, watching the boy's grim face for a while, then flicked his wand to detach Percy's tongue glued to his palate by a charm.
"Quick, these two beneath me were never hexed!"
Regaining his speech, Percy wasted no time outing his allies... no, these two were never allies at all!
With Percy's revelation, William used a Levitating Spell to move them aside while immediately, two scarlet spells struck the spot where the Weasley Twins had lain, leaving blackened marks on the grass.
"Senior, I think ten minutes might be up?"
Having narrowly 'escaped death' due to quick reflexes, Fred picked up his wand, blinking innocently.
"Indeed it's up..."
William nodded, but before the Weasley Twins could rejoice, he continued, "However, due to your excellent performance just now, I decided to give you both an extra two minutes of private training..."
Even as he finished, two successive spells flew at Fred's face, shattering the hasty shield he'd conjured with Iron Armor, though despite the disarray, he managed to block the attack, using the force to roll backward, dropping clusters of brown-yellow spheres like eggs onto the ground.
That color...
William squinted, instinctively stepping back; the next moment his hunch proved correct, with the explosion of dungbombs, the yellow-green smoke rapidly spread, and the surrounding spectators momentarily dumbfounded chose to flee, only poor Percy lying closest on the ground watched in despair as the mist settled gently onto his face.
Damn it, why did he just have to out those two jerks?
"Oh..."