"I can't help it. It's your teacher who's always on guard against me like a thief."
Snape's face looked as disgusted as if he'd eatenow
"I can't help it. It's your teacher who's always on guard against me like a thief."
Snape's face looked as disgusted as if he'd eaten owl shit.
"He's always wary of me. I've applied many times, but he still doesn't dare let me teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, nor does he want me to set up a dueling club. It's as if I could lead his little chicks astray if they weren't careful." What does this have to do with me? You're mocking me too, right?
"I can't help it. You look evil. It's normal for my teacher to distrust you."
Damon wasn't about to indulge Snape and directly blocked his attack.
The two glared at each other, and Damon waved his hand. "Alright, then, you can be an assistant to our famous Professor Lockhart. I'm leaving now."
"Photos! How many times do I have to remind you! Photos!
Shameless boy, have you run out of stock? That's why you keep trying to deny it?"
"Relax, I have plenty of photos. I'm just teasing you—see, something hard-earned becomes even more precious."
Damon flipped his fingers and handed Snape a photo of "Lily," dressed in a lolita.
His anger subsided—though he hadn't been angry to begin with.
Watching Damon's retreat, he recalled the mocking tone he had used towards Lockhart... Clearly, he wasn't the only one who thought Lockhart was a fool.
At this thought, Snape's mouth curled up slightly.
"That brat has absolutely no respect for the professor."
The next week, in full view of the crowd, Lockhart began his performance. Ron and Harry had given up hope, but this time, only Hermione still held out hope.
But she no longer argued with the others, only observing the glint still lingering in Professor Lockhart's eyes. Ever since his first class failure, he had stopped taking such risky actions—his teaching shifted to having the young wizards imitate characters from his stories and reenact them.
While this did allow the young wizards to understand the cultures of different races and regions, as well as the nature of certain magical creatures—such as werewolves, vampires, and trolls—it couldn't conceal the fact that, over a month into the semester, they still knew nothing about Defense Against the Dark Arts.
If Defense Against the Dark Arts professors had always been so poor, then perhaps it was understandable that the magical skills of the students graduating from Hogwarts had become so poor.
Honestly, Damon felt a little sympathetic for the students preparing for their OWL and NEWT exams in the next two years—getting an E or above was truly remarkable.
"Let me introduce my assistant, Professor Snape,"
Lockhart said, grinning widely. Just as he was about to continue, a cheer interrupted his performance.
This instinctively annoyed him, but once he saw who it was, his anger faded, and his rage shifted to Snape, who was sitting across from him.
"Woo!!! Professor Lockhart, you actually have the Slytherin Head of House as your assistant? You're incredible!"
Damon cheered from the audience, emphasizing Snape's assistantship—the Slytherin students were rather embarrassed, while the Gryffindor students erupted in laughter.
"Yes, that's right. Snape told me he knows a thing or two about dueling, and he graciously agreed to give me a little demonstration before class.
I said, I don't want you little ones to worry—after I'm done with him, I'll return your Potions Master to you in one piece, so don't be afraid!"
Lockhart beamed, while Snape, with a look as if his parents had just died, looked gloomily at Damon, then turned to Lockhart—he was so busy, wasn't he?
"Wouldn't it be wonderful if they both lost each other?" Ron whispered in Harry's ear.
"Impossible! If Professor Lockhart is really like what we think, I'm afraid Snape will knock him away."
Hermione glanced at the two of them and became worried subconsciously.
Snape's upper lip curled up. He was obviously smiling, but it made the students who saw it shudder - if Snape looked at any student with such eyes, they would have spread their legs and ran desperately in the opposite direction. But Lockhart knew nothing of all this.
He and Snape turned to face each other and bowed.
Lockhart, at least, bowed, his hands moving in various ways, while Snape merely shook his head impatiently.
Then, they raised their wands like arrows to their chests.
"As you can see, we hold our wands in the normal dueling position," Lockhart said to the hushed crowd. "On the count of three, we'll cast our first spell, and of course, neither of us will kill the other."
"Oh! That reminds me of Damon's wizard duel on the train. He bowed then, didn't he? But they didn't count down."
"Hush! Here comes the moment of truth," Harry interrupted Ron's mumbling, his eyes fixed on the movements of Snape's hands.
"One—two—three—" They both jerked their wands over their shoulders simultaneously.
"Expelliarmus!"
Snape shouted, a blinding red light flashing from his hand, illuminating the faces of the young wizards and filling them with fear. Snape was clearly furious. The red light sent Lockhart flying backwards off the stage, crashing against the wall and sliding down like a ball of mud, curling up on the floor.
Wow!
The crowd erupted in exclamations, and students from all four houses applauded in unison. The atmosphere was electrifying—because of the Dueling Prince, each of them was filled with anticipation for the duel, more excited than fearful!
The Slytherin students clapped their hands so hard that their palms turned red.
"Do you think he's okay?"
Hermione screamed, jumping up and down on tiptoe, trying to see Lockhart's condition, her fingers pressed tightly against her mouth. Ron and Harry were clapping enthusiastically, completely unconcerned about Lockhart's life or death.
"I think we can do the same, don't you, Ron?"
"Of course! Harry, we can!"
Ron and Harry exchanged loud words amid the clamor, but they soon quieted down. Snape, who had dispatched Lockhart with one blow, didn't seem to have lost his temper. He walked straight towards them, his eyes still gloomy.
"Come on, Damon."
The crowd suddenly quieted down.
What did they hear?
Professor Snape was inviting the Dueling Prince to the stage!
"A clown can't teach them what dueling is." Thinking of what was about to happen, Snape curled his lips slightly and taunted, "Let our Dueling Prince demonstrate what real dueling is."
Hundreds of students gathered in the entire hall, but the silence was so low that you could hear a pinprick.
The little lions stared at their lion king, their eyes gleaming with hope and worry.
"If I make you cry, I won't have any candy for you, Professor."
Damon smiled, and amid cheers that threatened to overturn the entire hall and the support of students who spontaneously split up, he stepped onto the stage that belon
ged to the prince.
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(End of this chapter)