Behind a stone pillar.
Malfoy crouched in hiding, unnoticed by anyone.
He stared intently at the Troll and Lucien's group, torn between mocking their stupidity for not running away and wondering whether to call for the Professors—not to save them, of course, but to catch them breaking school rules.
Who cared about their safety anyway? They were all those annoying people—Grafton, Potter, Weasley, and that Granger girl…
"Hey, Draco, move over."
The sudden voice startled Malfoy, and he quickly turned around.
"Greengrass? What are you doing here?"
Pressed against the wall behind him was Daphne Greengrass. She shot him a sideways glance.
"What I'm doing here has nothing to do with you."
Malfoy couldn't figure out what this young lady was thinking, but he wasn't foolish enough to offend the heiress of the Greengrass family, so he grudgingly made a little room for her.
...
In the corridor.
Lucien loosened his wrist, lifted his wand slightly, and said calmly:
"In a battle, whether facing a Wizard or a magical creature, the first thing you should do is understand your opponent."
"Answer me—what are the characteristics of a Troll?"
The question, delivered like one from a classroom, made Hermione instinctively reply,
"Trolls possess immense strength, low intelligence, relatively slow movements, thick skin, and moderate resistance to magic."
"Well said. Gryffindor earns one point. Heh."
Lucien made a light joke, slightly easing the tension among the three young wizards.
Then he raised his wand and cast several spells in quick succession:
"Glacius."
"Diffindo."
"Bombarda."
…
For demonstration purposes, Lucien held back, keeping the power of each spell within a reasonable range.
A thin layer of frost spread across the Troll, followed by several small cuts. Then, an explosion forced it back a few steps.
Shaking its massive head, the thick-skinned Troll felt only a faint sting. It let out an impatient roar and stomped forward, quickening its pace toward Lucien.
Hmm… using specific combinations and continuous casting really does make one's movements smoother, allowing the momentum to build naturally.
The Weasley family's spell techniques were indeed quite refined.
Seeing the Troll stride toward him, Lucien remained perfectly calm.
"When fighting, always pay attention to your enemy—but never ignore your surroundings."
"If direct magical attacks don't work, try to use or alter the environment."
Lucien gave his wand a light flick, and the floor in front of the Troll instantly turned slick and glossy.
Bang!
The Troll slipped and fell flat on its back, its skull striking the floor with a heavy thud that left a small dent. The wooden club in its hand flew out of its grip.
Lucien gave another precise flick of his wand, deflecting the airborne club and sending it clattering harmlessly to the side.
As the Troll struggled back to its feet, it roared in anger and charged again—only for the ground beneath it to suddenly transform into a patch of thick, muddy swamp.
Its legs sank deep into the muck, trapping it in place.
Glancing at the three young wizards, whose panic had already eased, Lucien said evenly,
"When facing a powerful opponent, fear is normal—but don't let that fear control you. Instead, use it."
"The courage that conquers fear is stronger than fear itself. Channel that courage into your magic."
The three nodded blankly, feeling that what Lucien said made sense, though they didn't quite know how to do it.
Lucien took out a small green gourd, tipped it over, and poured something out.
"In a wizard's duel, spells are the most practical and common means—but they're not the only ones."
"Potions, Alchemy, Herbology… all of these have real applications in combat."
"Waddiwasi."
Several Magical Chomping Cabbages spilled from the gourd. Before they even hit the ground, they shot toward the Troll under the effect of the spell.
Crunch! Crunch!
This was followed by the Troll's pained growl. The sharp teeth of the Chomping Cabbages had sunk deep into its flesh, refusing to let go.
The Troll's thick, oversized arms clawed at its body, tearing off the biting cabbages, even grabbing one to bite back in retaliation.
However, Lucien saw the Troll immediately spit out the cabbage with a loud pah! and fling the rest away in disgust.
Heh.
Chomping Cabbages really were hard to eat—even a Troll couldn't stand them.
But their biting force was quite impressive; they could even pierce a Troll's skin. Not enough to kill one in a few bites, but for humans, it would be more than enough. They'd make excellent traps.
Like mixing them into Devil's Snare or something.
If someone isn't careful and gets bitten—tsk tsk.
When the Troll finally broke free from the mud, it charged forward in a fury.
Lucien put away his instructional tone.
The demonstration could end here.
"If conventional methods can't stop the enemy, then only two options remain."
"Either make a tactical retreat—"
Hearing that, Harry immediately understood and prepared to pull the still-dazed Ron and Hermione to run.
However, Lucien's next words—and his actions—stopped him.
"Or use truly powerful magic to blast the enemy to pieces."
Lucien pulled several small bottles from his pocket, each filled with a different potion of varying effects.
He aimed his silver-black wand, and the wooden club nearby began to tremble violently, twisting and warping.
Its texture swelled and coiled, transforming into the body of a python covered in pitch-black scales, their edges gleaming sharp as razors.
Its head split into a crocodile's snout filled with sharp fangs, while four pitch-black eagle claws sprouted from its abdomen.
In its eye sockets gleamed insect-like crystalline compound lenses; its head was hornless, but along its spine jutted messy, bone-white spikes.
Its tail, however, was a fusion of a scorpion's stinger and a centipede's segments, the barb at the tip constantly opening and closing with a sharp, scissor-like clicking sound.
The creature lunged upward, swallowing the potion bottles in midair.
At once, black-green mist spewed from its body as its scales opened and shut, and a piercing metallic scraping sound accompanied its breathing.
A shrill cry—half eagle's scream, half wolf's howl—burst from its mouth.
The next instant, it crashed into the Troll.
Lucien had already conjured an air barrier, isolating the spreading black-green mist.
In a blink, the creature sank its fangs into the Troll's neck, its serpentine body coiling tightly around it. Its claws and scales shredded the Troll's flesh into ribbons of blood.
As the sound of cracking bones echoed through the corridor, Lucien calmly assessed the Chimera he had Transfigured.
Hmm, not bad.
Formed through deep fusion and transformation of flesh and bone, this Chimera—though lacking magical abilities—had raw physical strength far beyond ordinary creatures.
A Chimera capable of rivaling magical beasts to some extent—this must have been the true vision of that ancient wizard, the author of the Chimera Handbook.
For stronger and more advanced Transfigured creatures, he would eventually need to study the Transfiguration of magical beings himself—or merge it with Alchemy to create semi-mechanical constructs.
With a crash, the Troll fell, collapsing heavily to the ground.
Its exposed skin was blotched with black-green, clear evidence that the toxin had spread through its body.
Lucien waved his wand to disperse the poisonous gas emitted by the Chimera, lifted the air barrier, and signaled the creature to drag the Troll closer.
Uh… It seems a bit dead.
Looking at the limp, rag-like Troll, Lucien sighed inwardly.
What a pity. He had been planning to keep it alive to harvest materials—Troll snot, for instance.
It was his first time using a deeply fused and modified Chimera in actual combat, and he hadn't held back enough.
Oh well.
He'd store it for now. If it survived, great; if not, it could serve as extra feed for the Acromantulas.
Lucien took out a black gourd and stored the half-dead Troll inside.
Just as he was finishing, the Chimera's nose twitched. Its compound eyes rotated, locking onto a spot behind a nearby pillar.
Its translucent, eerie eyes met a pair of terrified ones staring back.
__________
11 Advance Chaps- P@treon/DarkDevil1