Hermes had expected something closer to an even fight. Or at least a fight where he could measure the gap.
Wand against wand. Spell against spell. Dark Arts against Dark Arts.
He'd prepared several tactics, multiple contingency plans, even rehearsed how to concede gracefully if things went south.
But Regulus had used a single stone spike to tell him none of that applied. In a real fight, he wouldn't get to cast at all.
The emotions churning through him were tangled.
Part of it was bitterness. Years of practicing Dark Arts, mastering spell after harmful spell, and he couldn't even get one off before it was over.
Part of it was acceptance. A gap that wide left no room for argument.
And part of it was excitement. Seeing power at that level, magic applied in ways that exceeded anything he'd imagined, had lit the hunger that lived in his bones.
He wanted to know how strong Regulus truly was. Wanted to know how long it would take to close the distance, even if all he could manage was a glimpse of the silhouette ahead.
So he swallowed everything down, lifted his chin, and spoke in a voice he fought to keep steady. "Like a proper wizard's duel."
Cuthbert laughed from the sidelines. Alex tried to hold it in and failed, the corner of his mouth curling upward.
Hermes ignored them both. His eyes stayed locked on Regulus. "Formal. We bow, then we start."
Regulus saw no reason to refuse. "Fine."
They walked to the center of the arena and stopped five meters apart.
Hermes bowed first. Textbook form.... back straight, head lowered, arms hanging naturally at his sides.
Regulus returned it. Smaller in scope, but flawless in execution, the unconscious elegance drilled into pure-blood children from birth.
Wasted on a blind audience.
As Hermes rose, his wand was already at chest height, tip angled slightly downward in the standard opening stance.
He didn't attack right away. He did something else first.
"Bubble-Head Charm."
A transparent bubble bloomed from his wand tip, expanding quickly to encase his head.
It clung close to the skin, leaving his vision and breathing unaffected while sealing out the surrounding air.
He remembered the suffocation in the dormitory last term. Whatever method Regulus had used to neutralize the air, the Bubble-Head Charm would at least keep his lungs working.
Transfiguration wouldn't get him this time.
He'd trained specifically for this.
Regulus eyed the bubble. He almost smiled but didn't.
His right hand held his wand, hanging loose at his side. His left rose, palm up, in a casual after you gesture.
Cuthbert cleared his throat from the wall. "Ready... begin!"
The instant the word left his mouth, Hermes sidestepped left, wand slashing out. "Impedimenta!"
The jinx streaked toward Regulus's chest. Not meant to land. Meant to force movement or a defensive response.
Regulus did neither. His wand arm stayed down.
A meter from his body, the spell struck something invisible. It cracked apart with a sharp pop, dissolving into fine sparks.
Hermes frowned. He kept moving, circling toward Regulus's flank, wand snapping through rapid arcs.
"Locomotor Mortis!" "Petrificus Totalus!" "Rictusempra!"
Three spells from three different angles, each a different color, all fast.
Same result. Each one shattered against the unseen barrier a meter out.
Burst and scattered.
Regulus didn't even turn. When Hermes circled behind him, he remained facing forward, head slightly bowed, gaze on the floor.
The barrier covered every angle. Front, back, sides, above, below. A full sphere with no blind spots.
Hermes stopped, breathing hard from nerves and adrenaline. The bubble over his head swelled and contracted with each breath.
Basic spells were useless. He'd expected that. Time for something heavier.
A deep breath. Wand raised high. He began chanting a long incantation, syllables guttural and strange. This was his strongest suit.
"Bone and Blood Stripping!"
More refined and more vicious than the version he'd used during the Chief competition. Faster, more powerful.
He'd drilled this one on purpose.
A beam of light shot toward Regulus, dark red bleeding into black, radiating cold and suffering.
This time the barrier didn't fully materialize. Only a sliver of silver light appeared where beam met shield.
And the erosion was slower.
Hermes gritted his teeth and pushed more power into it. The beam thickened, its color deepening to near-total black.
The spell's structure destabilized. Jagged arcs of energy spat outward like lightning, striking the floor with a hiss, leaving scorched, corroded marks on the wood.
The barrier began to show itself, though still not completely. Behind Regulus, a partial wall of silver materialized, dense and crystalline.
Regulus finally moved. He turned his head to study the point of contact.
Then he nodded, satisfied. Hermes had improved.
He raised his left hand, index finger extended, and tapped the barrier once.
It flared brilliant white and surged outward, magic erupting from inside, sending a shockwave radiating out from Regulus in every direction.
A sharp, bell-clear ring of metal on metal split the air.
The black beam shattered into scattering light. The shockwave kept going and slammed into Hermes.
He staggered back three steps. The Bubble-Head Charm wobbled violently, nearly popping. He planted his feet, chest tight, organs rattled by the impact.
Regulus looked at him, voice level. "Keep going."
Hermes swallowed. He could feel the drain. That Dark Arts had cost enormous power, and it hadn't even cracked the barrier.
And Regulus?
Hadn't raised his wand. Looked like he was enjoying a walk.
But there was still one more card. A nastier one.
His right hand tightened on the wand and thrust it forward. His left hand braced beside it. A new incantation began.
Longer this time. Harder to pronounce. Every syllable carried a dark, viscous weight.
The temperature in the arena dropped. Light dimmed. Against the wall, Cuthbert and Alex hugged their arms without realizing it.
"Shadow Bind Devour!"
A pool of thick shadow spread across the floor. Black, writhing and alive.
Its center bulged upward. Tentacle-like bands of darkness rose into the air, twisting, seeking a target.
Summoning-class Dark magic. A magical imprint extracted from a creature of darkness, capable of manifesting shadow tentacles that mimicked the original's attack patterns.
The tentacles were solid. They could bind an enemy and continuously drain both life force and magical energy. Anyone caught would feel bone-deep cold and a hollowing weakness that reached the soul.
At full extension, the tentacles stood nearly two meters tall. Seven or eight bands of varying thickness whipped through the air, their tips sharp as spearheads.
Hermes's face had gone white. Maintaining this spell bled magic like an open vein.
But he held on, teeth clenched, wand towards Regulus, eyes fierce.
All seven or eight tendrils lashed out simultaneously, streaking through the air in blurred dark lines, stabbing toward Regulus from every direction.
Then they stopped.
Every tentacle froze a meter from him. They thrashed and stabbed, straining forward, but couldn't gain a centimeter.
Where shadow met barrier, sounds sputtered and cracked.
Nothing more.
Hermes's eyes went wide. The barrier surfaced again, brighter this time.
Then it snapped outward in reverse, spreading like a vast net that engulfed the tentacles and began contracting.
The tendrils compressed, warped, and shrieked with a sound like twisting metal.
Cracks splintered across their surfaces, spreading, widening, until each tentacle burst into black shards that hit the floor and dissolved into dark smoke.
One, Two, Three... all of them crushed within two seconds.
Light returned to the arena. Warmth crept back.
Hermes's leg buckled. He dropped to one knee, wand bracing against the floor to keep from collapsing entirely.
He gasped for air, the bubble heaving with each breath, sweat rolling from his forehead and dripping onto the wood.
His reserves were nearly spent. Two major Dark spells plus the earlier probing jinxes had drained him to the dregs.
Regulus watched him and waited a moment before speaking. "That's enough."
Hermes raised his head.
"Any more Dark Arts and something might go wrong." His tone was calm, giving Hermes one last shred of dignity. He raised his wand for the first time. "I'll use one spell. Try to block it."
Hermes sucked in a deep breath and forced himself upright.
A flick of his wand dismissed the Bubble-Head Charm. The bubble dissolved. It was useless against Regulus anyway.
Then he began the incantation for Protego.
The shield took shape, a pale blue, translucent barrier unfolding before him, irregular in form.
For a first-year, producing a formed Protego at all was a mark of genuine talent, even an imperfect one.
Regulus studied the shield. His left index finger tapped once.
Knockback Jinx.
A bolt of red light shot out and struck Hermes's Protego.
The shield broke. It exploded into countless pale blue fragments that glittered once in the air and vanished.