"It's not too late now, Filius." Professor Snape twitched his lips, seeming quite displeased with Professor Flitwick's verbal sparring.
Professor Flitwick glanced at him discontentedly, saying nothing.
"Alright, alright." Professor Lockhart smiled and extended his hand, "I think you all should understand. Next, I'd like some students to come on stage—anyone interested in challenging each other? Don't worry, you can challenge anyone here!"
Ron was the first to step up, shouting loudly, "Professor, I want to challenge my brother! Fred!"
"Oh heavens, Little Ronnie!" Fred responded loudly, "I'm truly upset—"
The crowd erupted in laughter, everyone eager to see Fred's response.
Indeed, as a man of fun, Fred would absolutely not refuse to publicly give his dear brother a good thrashing.
He jumped onto the dueling platform, beckoning Ron over.
"Come on, Little Ronnie—just because I'm your brother, don't hold back!"
Ron snorted, stepping onto the dueling platform.
"I need to mention, Ron," Professor Lockhart frowned, "You're just a second-year student challenging a fourth-year student. Isn't that unwise? I believe Fred won't hold back because you're his brother."
"Don't worry, Professor; today I will defeat my neighbor—" The flames of battle burned brightly in Ron's eyes.
No one knew what this 'neighbor' meant, but Ginny laughed out loud.
Percy was beside her, trying hard not to laugh, as if it was something funny.
Curious classmates approached to ask its meaning, but Percy kept silent, not intending to share the joke.
Imitating Lockhart and Snape, Ron and Fred stood close together, facing each other, and bowed.
Then, they raised their magic wands to their chests, turned around, and walked away.
They kept walking until reaching the edge of the dueling platform, where, under Professor Flitwick's countdown, their duel officially began.
"Expelliarmus!"
Ron launched a spell first, aiming straight at Fred.
However, Fred, skilled in pranks, was also physically agile, dodging Ron's spell with an incredibly unscientific, non-magical move.
"Nicely done, Little Ronnie!" Fred laughed, pointing at Ron, "Rectumsempra!"
Ron quickly dodged Fred's spell.
"Fred! Only use Expelliarmus!" he shouted.
"Right, Fred." Professor Lockhart reminded him, "I understand your desire to teach your brother a lesson, but a duel is a duel. Besides Expelliarmus and Armor Protection, no other spells are allowed!"
Fred shrugged, initially thinking to add a 'Big Tooth Stick,' just to let his silly brother know the consequences of angering a good brother.
But Ron didn't give him the chance to think it over, launching two consecutive Expelliarmus spells, forcing Fred to struggle to dodge them.
Finally, Ron sent another Disarming Spell, causing Fred's magic wand to fly into Ron's hand with a flourish.
"I won, neighbor Fred." Ron said smiling, "Your magic wand is in my hand!"
Fred couldn't help but smile. He wasn't angry, but rather felt somewhat pleased.
"Nicely done, Little Ronnie." he said.
The audience below also applauded; they could see it wasn't Fred taking it easy, but Ron genuinely showed good skill—the angles of those Disarming Spells were particularly tricky, difficult to evade.
"Alright, everyone saw it!" Professor Lockhart shouted loudly, "This is the Disarming Spell—as you see, Fred has lost his magic wand, which flew into Ron's hand."
"This is just within friendly duels," Professor Lockhart continued, "But if it were in a real battle? The majority of wizards, once disarmed, would be less than Muggles—because they've lost their magic wands, which they rely on."
"But only a few wizards master the most difficult skill among wizard groups, which is Wandless Magic." Professor Lockhart smiled at everyone, "As far as I know, at Hogwarts, there is a master of Wandless Magic. Can you guess who?"
"Who is it?" The crowd was intrigued.
Quickly someone on the side reminded, "Heavens, who else but Principal Dumbledore? He's the strongest wizard in the world!"
"Perhaps so." Professor Lockhart did not deny, nor confirm, for in his view, Professor Dumbledore was definitely not the most powerful wizard in the world.
Of course, he was just being stubborn, because the wizard he considered most powerful was now locked up in Nimongard, counting ants as a pastime.
"Let's continue grouping; is there anyone else wanting to challenge?" Professor Lockhart clapped his hands but kindly reminded, "I suggest not challenging Mr. Finigan, who seems keen on explosions with his spells. If you don't want your little hands blown off, refrain from challenging him for now."
"Professor!" Seamus retorted unhappily.
There's no way he could make Expelliarmus blow up someone's hand—after months of practice, he'd successfully corrected that problem.
Of course, there was still a minor side effect with his Expelliarmus, causing disarmament through explosion—not necessarily blowing up hands but definitely through an explosion making opponents lose their magic wands.