A pair of dark eyes narrowed dangerously as he spotted the bored looking Potter scion.
"I think we need another demonstration before we pair them up," said Snape, smiling nastily at Harry, "just to give the students a better picture of what a real mock-duel looks like. How about we choose Potter and Vaisley?"
"Yes, yes, that's a wonderful idea!" said Lockhart, beaming. "Mr Potter, Miss Vaisley, get up here!"
"Harry, be careful," muttered Blaise. "Henrietta Vaisley is known for her skills in Offensive Magic. She's also a cheat, so keep an eye out."
"Thanks, Blaise," acknowledged Harry quietly as he walked up to the podium. He seemed very calm and completely unperturbed.
"So, I finally get to duel the famous Harry Potter," Vaisley spat snidely. "Under-13 Duelling Champion, isn't it? Let's see what you've got!"
"Now, Harry," instructed Lockhart. "When she points her wand at you, you do this."
He raised his own wand, attempted a complicated sort of wiggling action, and dropped it. Snape smirked as Lockhart quickly picked it up, saying, "Whoops - my wand is a little overexcited -"
Harry's face was expressionless as always, but mentally, he snorted in disbelief. He couldn't believe people actually fell for this man's lies! What was happening to the world? Was it so easy to fool people? Snape moved closer to Vaisley, bent down, and whispered something in her ear. Vaisley smirked too, but Harry didn't react. Really, they were such drama queens, the both of them. They were acting as though they had some secret weapon up their sleeves.
"Duellists, face each other," said Lockhart. Harry and Henrietta faced each other and merely inclined their heads, not willing to actually bow to the other.
"Three - two - one - go!" he shouted.
Harry flicked his wand as a jet of scarlet light headed towards Henrietta. The Slytherin girl shielded against the stunner and sent a bone-breaking curse of her own. Harry quickly dodged the spell and upped his attacks. Jets of multi-coloured light were being fired from both wands, but many could see a slight smirk on Harry's face.
"He's toying with her," announced Daphne, with a smirk of her own.
"I've read about that! It's considered one of the best strategies for duelling," exclaimed Susan. "You tend to frustrate your opponent by not actively seeking to finish them off. Such people make mistakes and you use that vulnerability against them."
"Ingenious," said Blaise softly.
"It won't work with everyone," Theo disagreed.
"Maybe not," murmured Daphne. "But Vaisley clearly has an ego, and when you're up against such people, frustrating them could help you win. And that's exactly what Harry is doing."
"I said disarm only!" shouted Lockhart apprehensively as he dived out of the way of a blasting curse. Henrietta snarled in anger as she cast another bone-breaking curse, only for Harry to grab the curse at the tip of his wand and reflect it back at the caster. This technique required a lot of skill, not to mention power, but Sirius had taught Harry well.
The flaw of that technique was that it would only work if the amount of magic used to reflect the spell by the second duellist was greater than the amount of magic used to cast the said spell by the first duellist. This effect was something which all Arithmancy students learnt in class to mathematically calculate the amount of magic required by duellists on either side and was a favourite question in the O.W.L. theatrical exam. Very few wizards could use this technique because it was quite hard to practically implement it. One had to be very quick at sensing magic and at mental mathematics for it to work.
Therefore, nobody expected a twelve-year-old wizard, however talented, to use it.
Henrietta Vaisley was not expecting that move. Due to the force of the magic reflected at her, she was blasted back the moment the curse struck her leg, shattering it painfully; she screamed. Harry's face was still expressionless, but Severus Snape could see the smug satisfaction in the boy's eyes.
The young Ravenclaw smirked at her, inclined his head to indicate that the duel had come to an end, and turned to join the audience, unaware of the hate being directed at him from the fallen Slytherin.
I will show that upstart kid his place, thought Vaisley furiously. She raised her wand and silently cast, ' Serpensotia !'
....
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