BOOM!
A powerful surge of energy erupted from Goku's feet, blasting straight through the ceiling of the Great Hall. The enchanted velvet roof was vaporized, revealing the actual, brilliant starlit sky above.
Before, the stars had been a magical illusion projected onto stone; now, they were the real thing.
The massive recoil from the blast provided enough force for Goku to tear through the invisible shackles of the *Levicorpus* jinx. He plummeted toward the floor like a falling rocket. Landing with his palms down to absorb the terrifying impact, he flipped himself back to a standing position and charged at Snape once again.
"!"
Though Snape was shaken by the unorthodox way the boy had countered his magic, his combat experience was vast. He flicked his wand instantly.
If physical restraints wouldn't work, he would target the mind.
In the wizarding world, there were many magical creatures like giants, trolls, and dragons that possessed immense physical strength and high magic resistance. Against such beings, binding or destructive spells were often futile.
Only spells targeting the consciousness tended to be effective. To Snape, Goku felt like a humanoid magical beast—one of an exceptionally high grade. He chose the Stunning Spell, hoping to force the boy into unconsciousness.
"Multi-Afterimage Technique!"
However, the moment Snape's wand leveled at him, Goku's form split into eight identical figures, causing Snape to lose his target instantly.
Goku might be slow in other areas, but in battle, his genius was unparalleled. From his encounters in the last two days and this current skirmish, he had already analyzed his opponents. He realized these "Masters" were heavily dependent on their wooden sticks.
Almost every move required the stick to be aimed. He didn't understand the science behind it, but he knew that as long as the sticks couldn't lock onto him, he could dodge their strange techniques.
Snape hesitated. A Stunning Spell was useless now because he couldn't tell which Goku was the real one. That didn't mean he was out of options. He could use a Cyclone Curse to whip up a tornado, or an Explosion Charm, or even Fiendfyre—anything with a wide area of effect would reveal the true body.
But he hesitated. He was afraid of seriously injuring the boy, or worse, catching the nearby students in the crossfire.
In that split second of hesitation, Goku appeared behind him, silent as a ghost.
This time, Goku was serious. His movement was so fast that even though Snape's mind sensed the threat, his body couldn't react in time.
"!"
Professor McGonagall, the Head of Gryffindor, intervened from the side. She used a highly advanced form of Human Transfiguration intended to turn a target into an animal. Until the magic was reversed, the target's mind would mirror the animal they had become.
She intended to turn Goku into a rabbit. If successful, he would immediately begin hopping around looking for carrots, his fighting instincts replaced by those of a prey animal.
Goku, focused on taking down Snape, hadn't expected the "old lady" to launch a sneak attack. He took the Transfiguration spell full-on. His body stiffened, and his attack was cut short.
Snape seized the moment and scrambled away to put distance between them.
'That was close!' Since Apparition was impossible within Hogwarts, he was at a massive disadvantage against someone whose speed exceeded the human eye. If not for McGonagall, he would have been knocked cold.
"HAA!"
Goku felt his body beginning to shrink and his form warping. He immediately channeled his , forcing it to explode outward from his center.
Back in Knockturn Alley, he had discovered that his Ki could interfere with wizardry. If he flared his energy strongly enough, he could physically repel the strange forces acting on his body.
Sure enough, as waves of energy pulsed from him, the Transfiguration magic was forcibly pushed out of his system. Goku's body snapped back to normal size instantly.
"Dodon Ray!"
A thin beam of light shot from Goku's hand, striking Professor McGonagall's wand and snapping it clean in half before she could cast again.
On the other side, Snape realized he couldn't hold back anymore.
"!"
Invisible blades sliced through the air toward Goku's limbs. Snape was alarmed by the level of destruction; the previous blast had already removed the roof, and now the boy was destroying the teachers' wands—all without a wand of his own. If this continued, the students would be in danger.
He used *Sectumsempra* to incapacitate. It was a Dark Arts spell he had created as a student. While it was powerful, it wouldn't chop a body into pieces unless directed at a neck; it usually just caused deep, cursed lacerations. He didn't want to kill Goku, but he needed to stop him. Unlike normal wounds, these couldn't be healed by standard magic or potions unless the counter-curse was used.
"Ouch! That hurts!"
The invisible blades struck Goku squarely, causing him to cry out—but that was it. It didn't stop him from firing another Dodon Ray back at Snape, shattering Snape's wand instantly as well.
The cursed blades hadn't even broken Goku's skin. Even when he first left Mount Paozu, Goku's body was bulletproof; now, reinforced with , his defense was leagues higher. *Sectumsempra* was indeed silent and hard to defend against, but its cutting power was too low for a Saiyan. It was like a paper cut—annoying and stinging, but not a wound.
"Is he even human?"
Snape stared at his broken wand, his lip twitching. He suspected the boy's skin was as thick as a dragon's hide.