As soon as Kael stepped onto the stage, a wave of cheers erupted from the crowd.
Fred and George's voices were the loudest, and they even took a minute to whip up a Quidditch-style cheering banner, waving it enthusiastically below.
Cedric and Cho also ran over with pom-poms to join in the fun.
Honestly, Kael had never wanted to pretend he didn't know them as much as he did now.
"Alright, Kael, don't be nervous," Lockhart said. "I'll teach you a trick. When Flint points his wand at you, you do this."
He raised his wand, tried to make an intricate flourish, but accidentally dropped it on the ground.
Laughter erupted around them.
Lockhart hurriedly picked it up, saying, "Haha... my wand got a bit overexcited."
Snape approached Marcus, leaned down and whispered a few words, and Marcus sneered.
"No need to worry," Lockhart said brightly, patting Kael on the shoulder, "even though he's a sixth-year, as long as you do what I just showed you, there's nothing to fear."
"What? Drop my wand on the ground?"
Lockhart pretended not to hear.
"Are you ready?" he shouted, "Three... two... one, start!"
Marcus quickly raised his wand...
"Protego Totalum!"
"Serpensortia!"
Whatever Snape had told him, or maybe he learned from the last mishap, this time Marcus cast a shield around himself first, and instead of using a Jinx, he conjured a thick, long black snake.
This type of charm was useless against Protego Totalum.
Kael knew this too, but he wasn't intending to keep using Iron Armor Spell anyway.
Just as the black snake raised its head to attack, Kael's spell was complete too.
"Falling Jinx!"
Marcus staggered as his legs suddenly sank into the stage.
The Swamp Spell, taught by Flitwick in the Charm Club, turned solid ground into a muddy swamp, commonly used as a trap charm in duels.
Marcus, caught off guard, stumbled, and his prepared Fiendfyre Curse was interrupted.
Kael sidestepped the lunging black snake, raised his wand smoothly.
The black snake twisted in mid-air, transforming into a rope that flew back to Marcus, binding his wrists and arms.
"Do you yield?" Kael smirked.
Marcus didn't speak, only glared at Kael with hatred, struggling to lift his wand.
"Alright, I get it."
Kael took a deep breath and cast another Transfiguration Spell.
Behind Marcus, the stage began to rise and transformed into a towering two-meter tall stone statue.
In the startled eyes of everyone, the statue raised its long-handled axe high, and with a brief gathering of force, swung it down hard.
Screams erupted around, and the nearby crowd instinctively backed away; many even covered their eyes, not daring to watch the ensuing scene.
"I yield!" Marcus screamed, raw and desperate.
"Enough!"
At the same time, Snape extended his wand, "Petrificus Totalus!"
The statue stopped instantly, its massive axe blade frozen mid-air.
"Do you want to kill Flint?"
Snape roared angrily, "Hufflepuff loses a hundred..."
"Professor, I think you've misunderstood."
Kael interrupted him, "If you take a closer look, you'll see that wasn't my intention."
"Kael is right, Professor Snape." Lockhart walked over to assess the statue.
"The axe is off by a foot; even if it fell, it would only hit the stage beside him. Flint wouldn't be harmed at all."
He cheerfully added, "During my travels in Valoga, I often used this method to scare off malicious creatures, and they all realized their mistakes and dared not harm again."
Snape did not listen to what Lockhart said at all.
"Why did you do that..." he looked at Kael coldly, "when a simple Disarming Spell could have won."
"Sorry, Professor Snape," Kael replied, "I just started learning the Disarming Spell today and I'm not skilled at it yet. This seemed easier."
Snape's expression turned unpleasant.
Part object transfiguration is an advanced technique studied by seventh-year students... Easier than a Disarming Spell?
How could he say such a thing; does he take everyone for fools like Lockhart?
Snape's chest heaved with anger and, tired of arguing with Kael, pointed toward the auditorium doors.
"Fifty points from Hufflepuff!"
"Leave now!"
Kael didn't say anything, he put away his wand and strode out of the auditorium.
He had originally intended to use the dueling club opportunity to observe anyone acting strangely. But it seemed there was no chance now.
Thus far, those he knew... including Ron, Harry, Lockhart, were all behaving normally, none seemed to have been influenced by the diary.
Continuing further probably wouldn't help.
"Should've known not to come here, lost fifty points for nothing." Kael sighed as he walked out of the auditorium.
By then, Conna, Cedric, and the others had followed him out.
"Thanks to you, Kael," Fred laughed, "I've wanted to leave for ages but couldn't find a chance."
"Yeah, you can't learn anything from Lockhart and Snape," George glanced at the auditorium doors, "I doubt the creatures from the Chamber of Secrets would bow to me."
As he spoke, he mimicked a few of Lockhart's flourishes, "Oh... these gestures are so dumb."
"That statue you made earlier was incredible," Cedric said, "It's amazing that you learned that after Professor McGonagall just mentioned partial transformations last week."
"Is it that one?" Conna pointed at a statue at the auditorium's entrance, "It looks exactly the same as the one earlier."
Everyone was talking over each other, not giving Kael a chance to speak.
"I..."
Kael only managed to get a sound out before Cedric clapped him on the shoulder.
"Don't worry about the points," he grinned, "it's just fifty, Hufflepuff doesn't mind that."
"Exactly," Fred chimed in, "Gryffindor's always at the bottom and we still have a great time, you'll get used to it."
"I wouldn't mind losing a hundred points if I could teach Marcus Flint a lesson."
Professor McGonagall probably wouldn't be happy to hear that.
"I wasn't bothered by losing points anyway," Kael laughed, "Don't forget, last year Snape could deduct fifty points from me in two classes."
"True enough..." George nodded, "See, I told you he doesn't need comforting."
"If I'd known, I wouldn't have wasted breath on those insincere words," Fred muttered softly, "Actually, we do care about the points a bit."
It was already quite late when they parted ways at the stairs.
Returning to the empty Hufflepuff Common Room, Cedric was still talking about Kael's earlier Transfiguration Spell.
"It's a pity Professor McGonagall wasn't there, or she wouldn't have let Snape deduct those points..."
"I was just giving it a try," Kael said, "Maybe the stage was sectioned, not really a solid piece, making it simpler to manipulate."
"Still impressive," Cedric commented, settling into an armchair, "That huge statue... even with normal transformation, I could maybe manage a rough shape, let alone get it to move like that."
"No need for flexibility, that's too much trouble. Focus your energy on the most crucial parts," Kael explained, "Like earlier, I utilized the statue's weapon to move its arm..."
"You're talking about... continuity after object transformation? But normally, a statue's arm is fixed, aren't you supposed to distribute some of the magic power?"
"Statues, no, but armor can..."
"Armor... Oh, now I get it, you changed its structure from the beginning," Cedric said excitedly, "I should've realized earlier, Professor McGonagall mentioned that..."
Conna stood beside them, blinking in confusion.
What was going on... They were fine just now, and suddenly they're discussing Transfiguration, and she couldn't understand a word of it.
...