Snape's steps faltered uncontrollably for a moment.
A sharp aura pierced straight towards the man's eyes, "Protego! (Protego)" he waved his wand, a pale halo lit up around him. But soon, large cracks began to appear on the halo—
Immediately after, like glass shattered by a bullet, the light completely broke apart.
Snape instinctively dodged to the right, stumbling to the edge of the stage, the sharp aura grazed his earlobe, and the ribbons hanging from the ceiling (meticulously arranged by Lockhart) snapped without warning, falling to the ground.
"...How did you do that?" Snape's face was extremely grim, his fingers trembling slightly on the wand.
"Talent, Professor." William stood still, smiling, without pursuing further.
Feeling the sharp pain from his right ear and the warm flow running into his collar, Snape remained silent, the entire hall fell into a deathly silence once again—
Everyone instinctively held their breath, none expected things to escalate to such a situation.
Even though William's first Disarming Spell took Snape by surprise, nobody thought William could actually defeat Snape—a seasoned professor who had taught at Hogwarts for over a decade, against a transfer student who had just been in school for half a year...
Honestly, William's support group (formed due to his gentle demeanor, handsome appearance, and for sending the much-disliked Filch to the Hospital Wing (not really, so a group of little wizards had spontaneously formed the Richard support group) had already begun planning to snatch him from Snape's hands.
Before Cedric could "sacrifice" himself, the situation took a turn.
Yet, some still believed they were dreaming—for instance, a boy with platinum blonde hair, Malfoy stared in disbelief at Snape's bloodied ear, swallowing back the cheers he had been prepared to shout.
"Professor, your ear..."
"Shut up." Snape snapped with a grim look, raising his head to glare at William with malicious eyes, "You shouldn't be using the spell I invented against me, just like that mongrel James Potter—"
His voice was low, seemingly still worried about being overheard by someone.
"So, what are you planning to do now?"
William's eyes revealed a hint of realization, James Potter—
All this while, it was psychological trauma from youth? No, this should be called childhood shadow... But still, why take it out on Harry, and what does this have to do with you not washing your hair?
Is it because your enemy monopolized the shampoo industry, so you just stopped washing your hair altogether?
Thankfully, you don't have an ex-girlfriend selling clothes.
Without warning, several spells shot from Snape's wand tip, and throughout it all, aside from waving his wand, Snape made no unnecessary sounds—
"Sneak attacks are not a good habit."
William didn't use the Iron Armor Spell; he dodged slightly to evade the attacks, and in the stunned gazes of the little wizards, he silently cast several spells as well—
Kidding, he had once been cornered in a yard by a gang of black wizards led by Victor Rookwood, he would've been avada'd without some body technique.
"Protego! (Protego)"
Another Protective Spell, and this time the white light lasted longer than before, Snape sidestepped the last spell, his wand waving continuously, each spell flashing and whistling sharply through the air.
Disarming Spell, Stunning Spell, and even a white Defense Spell (William didn't bother to defend), the little wizards had never seen such a scene before, their mouths agape, heads wobbling, dizzy as if watching a special effects-heavy tokusatsu film.
Finally, a spell flew out of the tokusatsu set... No, off the stage.
"Finite Incantatem. (Finite Incantatem)"
The scarlet spell dissipated in the air just before it hit a little wizard's head at the edge of the stage, "Watch it, don't hurt the audience." William frowned, seemingly because he appeared too relaxed, Snape was failing in composure.
"Phew..."
Snape didn't respond, looking at the still unscathed William, then clearly recognizing a fact—he is stronger than me.
Not just a little stronger, he could see that William, even under such high pressure, was handling everything with ease, even having the capacity to help resolve an off-course spell for a little wizard, his abilities were even more intimidating than some seasoned Aurors...
Snape, having stayed at Hogwarts teaching for so long, knew his strength had waned significantly, far weaker than his peak over a decade ago, but still, this was not something a "little wizard who just encountered the magic realm for half a year" could achieve.
Perhaps, Dumbledore, or even the Dark Lord... no, Snape shook his head, this was definitely impossible.
But why would someone like him infiltrate Hogwarts? What was his purpose? Did Dumbledore know? Why would he allow such a person to stay at the school? And, why was he approaching Harry Potter?
Snape's mind was a whirl of confusion, he wished he could go confront the white-bearded old man immediately, but...
He was now in an awkward position.
...
"...Expelliarmus! (Expelliarmus)"
Almost simultaneously, red lights shot from the tips of two wands, colliding at the center of the stage, the blinding sparks stinging everyone's pupils, Snape growled as he clutched his wand, he could feel it trying to leap from his grasp.
"Roar!"
Suddenly, the swaths of ribbons that had fallen to the floor seemed to come alive, they spun in the air transforming into a bright red lion, then charged towards the intersection of the two spells with a roar—
"Boom—"
"Severus—"
With an explosion, the two spells dissipated in the air, the crowd at the outskirts of the hall began to scatter, Professor McGonagall in her checkered wizard robe walked over from the gathering's edge, her face as tense as ever, though her heaving chest indicated her anger.
"...Dueling a fifth-year student officially?" Professor McGonagall squinted, staring at Snape.
"..." Snape did not respond, standing there, panting, looking grim.
"Cough, cough, may I speak a fair word—" Lockhart appeared from nowhere, stepping onto the stage, clearly having been awake for a while, "This student's abilities are quite impressive, almost half of mine..." With that, he moved to sling an arm around William's shoulder.
"Stupefy. (Stupefy)"
"Boom—"
The man's forehead hit the stage floor.
"..." Professor McGonagall silently looked up at William.
"Cough, cough, it slipped."