For the young wizards of Hogwarts, the dueling class on the second and fourth Thursday of every month is definitely a large competitive social event that tones up their bodies and minds and gets their hands busy.
In the eyes of some, this class is already on par with a Quidditch tournament. At least they could actually participate in it, rather than being a spectator on the field.
The great hall is packed with students clustered in groups, talking enthusiastically with each other before the professor arrives. Harry then saw Percy talking at the top of his lungs about how he had achieved his 12 OWLs certificate, and Hermione's eyes lit up as she glanced over.
"I'll be back in a minute," Hermione said as she left Harry and Ron behind.
They saw her squeeze into the crowd and whisper something, Percy initially looked a little off with a careless look, but his eyes soon widened. The two quickly passed the crowd and ran towards a corner of the great hall where four long tables were stacked.
As they passed the twins, Percy stopped to warn them, "I don't know what you're using to avoid my sight, maybe a tracking spell or something-"
The twins looked at each other, and Fred elbowed George and said, "You hear that George, the tracking spell ... yet another productive day!"
George gave an exaggerated salute, with one hand behind his back, "A noble deed, Percy! Just an addition to the great cause of mischief, we'll leave your name on it."
" A badge as big as a--"
"No, his badge is big enough, we'll just write down the words big-headed boy, straight off the bat."
Not far away from there Harry "snickered" out loud, he hurriedly averted his eyes and stared at Ginny, her face quickly turned red, and seemed to be about to faint in the arms of her best friend Luna Lovegood.
"Do you need me to tell you a snide joke?" Luna said with a very abrupt gaze, Harry is accustomed to it, he knew this little girl usually like this.
"Any brilliant insights, Luna?" He glanced hastily in Percy's direction, they were already standing beneath a suit of armour and whispering.
"Your brain is a mess, a group of wandering Wrackspurts must have nested in your head lately ..." Luna shook her bracelet in a serious manner, "I can help you chase them away."
"How?" Harry said, catching a glimpse of Professor Hap's figure appearing in the great hall doorway.
"You need to be quieter and become less attractive to harassing Wrackspurts first ..."
"Thanks, I don't think I have any of that weird stuff in my head," Harry said quickly.
Professor Hap and Snape walked in, which he expected, and no, there is another professor, Professor Flitwick, who he just missed.
From the distance, Hermione hurried back, and the young wizards stood consciously according to their houses.
Felix enchanted himself with an Amplifying Charm and said loudly, "Welcome back to dueling class, young wizards! I see many familiar faces, and quite a few new ones ..."
At the front of their respective houses, a row of little beanie kids looked around restrainedly and curiously, they were the new students of their respective Houses this year, Harry then saw Colin Creevey pulling his brother, the boy named 'Dennis'.
"Before the lesson begins, allow me to introduce you to you all, as we welcome our third permanent dueling class professor, Filius Flitwick!"
The pint-sized Flitwick took a few steps forward, he dressed formally today, which is a formal little suit, and he twirled his wand gracefully as if he is holding a baton.
From Ravenclaw house came a loud cheer, a cluster of sparks released from the crowd, and finally composed a Ravenclaw house's symbol eagle.
Harry thought that they must have borrowed the design from the answer space - both looked very similar.
Students from the other houses were also clapping as hard as they could, and when it came to popularity, Professor Flitwick is definitely the best of the four Heads of the House.
"Thank you, thank you-" Professor Flitwick got so excited that he burst into tears, and he took out a handkerchief with an embroidered Ravenclaw design to wipe the corners of his eyes, "I'm so excited today, it's like standing on the podium for the first time. "
Today is a special session for Professor Flitwick, Felix and Snape intentionally downplayed their presence, allowing Professor Flitwick to show his charisma. And Flitwick bowed to the two professors, and then cast a spell to his heart's content, in his hands, spell casting seems to be equated with art.
After a few minutes of showing off his skills, Flitwick got down to business. He shook his wand, from the tip of the wand spilled large puffs of bronze smoke, smoke condensed into vague figures, standing on the gilded stage.
These bronze-colored figures faced each other in pairs as if they were engaged in a duel. There is a small wizard in each pair, and that ought to be Flitwick.
The young wizards counted carefully, and there were seventeen pairs.
Flitwick said in a sharp voice, "Allow me to examine the moment of glory in my memory, which was more than sixty years ago ... After seventeen duels, I was awarded the title of Wizard Duelling Champion in 1931."
He waved his wand and made the first pair of bronze figures move: the tall wizard raised his wand to cast a spell, and the shorter figure countered with a head lowered, and knocked down his opponent in just one blow.
Flitwick acted as narrator: "See? My opponent was gullible, he thought I am short and surely not much better, but this was one of the easiest victories I have ever achieved."
"It was short, but it was also great. We can learn a lot of lessons from it ..."
"The first one, never take your opponent lightly in a duel, many of you can figure that out, but not many wizards actually do so in reality;"
"What else? That's right, seize the moment. I didn't stand still and defend, but instead I launched a counterattack along with the momentum. It also reminds us that a wizard is most vulnerable when attacking, you have to protect yourself and learn to leave room to manoeuvre;"
"The next one won't be easy, does anyone know? Mind you, it has to do with my unique height." Flitwick looked expectantly at the young wizard on the stage.
Harry's eyes lit up, he'd heard a similar phrase from Professor Hap!
He raised his hand first, and when his name got called, he said with some excitement, "Combine personal characteristics to create a fighting system that best suits your needs."
Flitwick smiled, "Very good, Potter! That's right, personal characteristics, that's important, each of us is unique, you have to embrace everything about yourself, the good, the bad ..."
"I used to struggle with my height and size, the vast majority of the time I had to keep my head up during duels. Being small posed another disadvantage; I couldn't move fast enough, and my arms weren't long enough for my opponent to easily judge the range of my spell's reach."
The young wizards listened quietly, wondering how Professor Flitwick had solved these problems.
"- But I came out of the shadows later, I accepted my imperfections, and after a while, my height became my advantage instead, few wizards have experience dueling with short people like me, they always respond wrongly, either because of their mentality or their habits. "
"My size makes it easier for me to dodge spells, and I no longer aim for a speed of movement, but work out for a more flexible pace ..."
Flitwick said with an emotional face, loud applause rang out off the stage, he heard someone from his house shout: "Head, you are the best!" He couldn't help but wipe the corners of his eyes again.
"Next, let's watch the second duel, I met a very interesting person, we later became friends."
...
More than an hour passed, and the students all felt immensely rewarded as Flitwick presented the young wizards with a picture of a real duel scene from his own personal experience.
Harry, even though he could fit these words into a paper, word by word, and give it to Professor Hap.
But such things can only be thought over.
Felix walked to the center of the gilded stage and said with a smile, "With less than half an hour left, the two professors and I have discussed the next step and changed it to a mentoring battle.
The students will pick the professors to get one-on-one guidance, and I'm sure after a full year and a summer last year, many of you are confident about your level ..."
He looked around the room and saw an eager face.
"So, show it off!"
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