Chapter 37.
The last event was the spell competition.
Dumbledore waved his wand at the Book of Merlin once more, and suddenly the Book of Merlin slammed shut with a thud. A faint whispering sound emanated from the book, and a wisp of smoke slowly rose from its cover, eventually transforming into a vague-looking middle-aged wizard. What was most striking were his deep, wise eyes, which bore a striking resemblance to Dumbledore's.
Soren couldn't help but exclaim, "Merlin?"
The man smiled slightly at the six contestants. "Heh, I never expected that after all these years, I would have the chance to be summoned again. Six talented young people, tell me, are you the challengers for this trial?"
What? Challengers? Isn't this a friendly match? When did it turn into a trial?
Percy quickly replied, "Respected Merlin, greetings. We are students from Hogwarts, currently participating in a friendly competition called the Trial of Merlin. May I ask if you are the final challenge of this competition?"
The man pondered for a moment, gazing at the professors' table, and exchanged a brief glance with Dumbledore. Dumbledore subtly inclined his head, and the man turned back, gently saying, "A school competition? Interesting... Young ones, you can consider me as Merlin; I am a fragment of his memory, sealed within the Book of Merlin, quietly waiting for the challengers to arrive. You are correct; I am indeed the final hurdle of your... how should I put it, this competition. You must duel with me. Of course, you do not need to defeat me; you only need to successfully take the wand from my hands. You can approach individually or fight together, using any means necessary."
After speaking, the man's hand waved lightly, and a small dry branch flew from a distance, landing in his hand. Under his gaze, the branch rapidly transformed into a wand at a visible speed. Then, the man lightly tapped himself with the wand, and his body slowly materialised from a shadow. The contestants could see lifelike skin and hair appearing on him.
Merlin's appearance could not be called handsome, but he had an indescribable aura, with eyes as deep as the starry sky and facial features that seemed chiseled, giving a sense of profound wisdom.
Cassius and Gemma exchanged nods and stepped forward to challenge. Cassius was not weak in dueling; his quick spell-casting technique was very proficient, capable of casting three spells simultaneously while ensuring curved and blind spot attacks. Gemma conjured four large, menacing snakes from thin air, attacking Merlin from all four directions.
Conjuration is an advanced branch of Transfiguration that can create something from nothing through magical power, transforming magic into physical form. It is a complex and extremely difficult form of magic. Interestingly, for unknown reasons, the bird conjuration spell "Avis" and the snake conjuration spell are exceptions, as they are much easier to perform, allowing some excellent lower-year students to cast them.
Although Gemma's conjuration was not of high difficulty, it was stable in effect, with the conjured creatures being more agile and lasting longer. Additionally, conjuring four large snakes at once demonstrated her exceptional Transfiguration skills.
Merlin was simultaneously attacked by four large snakes and three spells but did not appear flustered. He pointed his wand to the ground and lightly tapped it; the entire ground seemed to tremble slightly, and an invisible wave of air radiated outward from Merlin in ripples. The force of the air wave was astonishing, and even the audience seated dozens of feet away could faintly feel the wind on their faces.
The four large snakes conjured by Gemma were overturned by the air wave, turning into smoke and vanishing; Cassius, being closer to Merlin, was blown up by the gust and fell hard.
Cassius and Gemma tried several more times but ultimately had to concede defeat.
Next, the couple Percy and Penelope stepped forward in perfect unison to challenge.
Percy inherited the magical legacy of the Weasley family and the magical talent in his bloodline, possessing keen combat abilities—every member of the Weasley family is a born warrior, as evidenced by Bill and Charlie joining the Order of the Phoenix shortly after graduation.
Penelope comes from Ravenclaw and hails from a Muggle family. Although she is smart and diligent in her studies, her magic leans more towards scholarly research rather than practical combat.
Percy first used the Transfiguration spell to conjure a eagle, intending to swoop down from above to snatch Merlin's wand, or at least create a distraction. Meanwhile, Penelope continuously murmured spells, frequently casting charms to alter the terrain. A sturdy and thick stone wall rose up in front of them, clearly to guard against Merlin's airwave shockwave attack.
Merlin waved his wand lightly and shot out a spell that accurately hit the eagle summoned by Percy. However, he did not expect this to be a trap set by Percy. Once the eagle was struck by the curse, it would automatically activate its subsequent transformation spell, producing an explosion-like sound and transforming into a swarm of small birds that chirped as they descended from the sky, surrounding Merlin.
Merlin smirked and softly said, "Not a bad idea..." He suddenly swung his wand downward and drew a circle, the movements flowing seamlessly without any gaps. A circular blue wall of fire ignited around him, seemingly with a consciousness of its own, skillfully targeting the flock of birds to devour them.
Soren recognized this move—Protego Diabolica, one of Grindelwald's signature techniques from the Fantastic Beasts movies!
While everyone was still amazed by the visually stunning flames, a barely perceptible red light shot through the fire wall from a hidden corner towards the wand in Merlin's hand. It was a silent spell cast by Percy!
This sneak attack caught Merlin off guard. He had just unleashed a powerful spell, and his wand was still straining to control the magical flames. Before the flames stabilised, Merlin could not interrupt the spell he was casting.
However, as a battle wizard from the Dark Ages, Merlin's combat reflexes were not comparable to those of wizards from peaceful times. He raised his wand-holding right hand, and without knowing what trick he had performed, the wand suddenly seemed to come alive, deftly shaking in his hand as if dancing. When the disarming spell hit the wand, Merlin was knocked back five steps by the powerful recoil, but he still held onto the wand tightly, not letting it be taken away!
Most people weren't able to notice anything unusual, but Soren's magical eye clearly saw the magical fluctuations flowing around the wand. It seemed to be a disarming spell that could be cast in a very short time. Although it couldn't completely negate the power of the incoming disarming spell—Merlin was indeed knocked back—it was enough to ensure he wouldn't lose his wand.
Having lost the initiative to defend against Percy's sneak attack, Merlin found himself in a situation where Penelope seized the opportunity to continuously cast disarming spells.
Although Penelope's total magical power had reached the level of a senior student, her magical characteristics leaned towards the delicate and agile, so she did not excel in spell power. However, under her graceful movements, her long wand danced skillfully up and down at her nimble fingertips, creating ripples with each movement. The connection between spells was flawless; often, just as she finished casting one spell, the wand was already in motion to cast the next.
In this chain of attacks, Merlin found himself in a passive position, forced to defend with the shield Charm while unable to counterattack.
Meanwhile, Percy's big move was ready.
The ground trembled violently, and the grass where Merlin stood transformed into a large hand made of mud, reaching from behind to grab him. Merlin was still busy fending off Penelope's attacks and had no time to dodge, ultimately becoming tightly ensnared by the muddy hand. Just then, Penelope aimed at Merlin's wand to cast her final disarming spell. Merlin, immobilised by the large hand, could not evade, and victory seemed within reach.
Unfortunately, Percy and Penelope forgot about wandless spell-casting; as a renowned duelist, Merlin clearly understood how to cast without a wand. Just as the disarming spell approached Merlin, a silver-white light shone, and the shield Charm he cast without a wand successfully intercepted the disarming spell. The muddy hand that held Merlin also began to crack and slowly disintegrate into the ground.
Percy and Penelope felt the little magic power left in their bodies and decisively chose to give up. Although they did not succeed in seizing the wand, the audience still gave them warm applause for their outstanding performance, and the judges at the professor's table also cast appreciative glances at the two.
Compared to the previous performance of Gemma and Cassius, it must be said that this couple, Percy and Penelope, were clearly more excellent in both the use of spells and their teamwork.
To be fair, if Merlin had not relied on his strong magic power and powerful wandless casting skills, Percy and Penelope would have already achieved victory.
At this moment, Gemma and Cassius were sulking, their faces filled with jealousy and unwillingness.
Seeing the two so narrow-minded, Soren secretly shook his head and walked over to congratulate and admire Percy and Penelope.
Percy proudly stated that he was an elite of the Weasley family and kindly advised Soren to study hard, saying that as long as he did well in the OWL exams and became a prefect, he could easily achieve what Percy did today. Penelope, on the other hand, humbly declined Soren's praise, claiming that she was merely taking advantage of being in the upper years.
Soren smiled slightly, but deep down, he was pondering a question that puzzled him: how did this pair of contrasting personalities end up together?
The remaining contestants were Cedric and Soren. Cedric suggested that they team up, but after careful consideration, Soren decided to politely decline. After all, they were strangers to each other and had no rapport, and Soren's magic included many large-area attacks that could easily harm a teammate. He felt that fighting alone would be more advantageous.
Having watched Percy and Penelope's performance, Soren realised that for young wizards still studying at Hogwarts, it was impossible to disarm Merlin and seize his wand. Merlin's proposition that "seizing the wand means victory" was a misleading goal, and Percy and Penelope had made that mistake by constantly aiming for the wand in Merlin's hand. In Soren's view, to seize Merlin's wand, one must first defeat him!
The lessons learned from Percy and Penelope provided Soren with good references, and he also realised that the powerful and wandless-caster Merlin could not be defeated through physical restraints; defeating Merlin had to be approached from a mental level.
Soren sorted out his tactics in his mind, calculated the situation of the venue and the distance between both sides, then took a few deep breaths to calm his nervous and excited heart before stepping forward to issue a challenge.
As soon as the duel began, Soren did something that no one expected!
Soren, like a cheetah, pushed off the ground, and his figure transformed into a blur as he rushed towards Merlin, seemingly intending to take him down and snatch the wand in close combat!
Soren's physical advantage from his regular training was now evident, creating a rushing wind as he ran. In Merlin's surprised gaze, he had already entered within three feet of Merlin. Unhurried, Merlin pointed his wand to the ground, and an invisible wave of force surged towards Soren, but the prepared Soren pointed his wand at himself, and to everyone's astonishment, he actually flew up!
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