Harry Potter: The Golden Viper

0619 The Duel (Part-2)

Harry had never encountered the ominous black fog before during his physical education class training sessions. It flowed in the air, obscuring everything in its path. The fog must have been Malfoy's hidden trump card. After all, who doesn't have an ace to play in a wizarding duel?

As Harry watched the menacing black pythons rapidly slithering towards him through the mist, his green eyes flashed with a determined glint. In the fleeting blink of an eye, he had made a resolute decision. He wanted—no, needed—to crush these two hideous black serpents and shatter Malfoy's arrogant, overbearing aura exuding from his magical attacks.

Once again, Harry relied on his trusty Disarming Charm to counter the threat.

As he quickly retreated, putting distance between himself and the approaching serpents, Harry's wrist deftly flicked, and the tip of his wand emanated a dazzling crimson light. The luminous beam pierced through the air with a sharp, shrill whistle as it sped towards its targets.

What no one, not even Malfoy, expected in that tense moment was the beam of light, originally as thick as a thumb, unexpectedly splitting into two slightly thinner scarlet rays in mid-air as it raced forward. These divided beams left faintly curved, almost unnoticeable marks suspended in space as they diverged. Then—

Snap! Snap!

Two crisp, almost simultaneous sounds rang out as the red lights found their marks. Thanks to his extraordinary dynamic vision honed as a genius Seeker on the Quidditch pitch, Harry's aim was very accurate. The crimson spells accurately struck the rapidly advancing pythons dead on.

In an instant, the conjured snakes summoned by Malfoy's magic were immobilized, paralyzed by two precisely targeted red spheres of magic encircling their serpentine body in electric light. The creatures let out hisses of anguish before dissipating into wisps of fading green smoke.

Harry had revealed his newly learnt variation of the classic charm:

The Disarming Charm – Cluster-shot Version!

To this day, Harry had practiced the Disarming Charm hundreds of and thousands of times. During a failed spell casting, his Disarming Charm had burst uncontrollably into dozens of feeble light beams spiraling chaotically through the air before fizzling out. 

Harry immediately thought of Professor Watson suppressing Professor Moody, and in his second year, he heard from others about Professor Watson using a special Stunning Spell to knock down Fred and George.

So, Harry immediately went to Professor Watson to ask for guidance. After pondering for a few days, Professor Watson gave an improved version that could allow the Disarming Charm to attack multiple opponents simultaneously.

Of course, this complex variation required the caster to possess an exceptionally strong ability to control and direct their magic power with pinpoint precision. At his current level of mastery, Harry could only barely manage to target two targets at once with his Disarming Charm.

Even through the obscuring veil of black fog filling the space between them, Harry could sense Malfoy's shock and surprise in this moment. However, the fleeting feeling of satisfaction vanished as quickly as it had arisen in Harry's heart. He knew the duel was far from over, and the situation remained dangerous. If Malfoy continued to hide himself within the black fog that had stopped expanding, he would be nearly invincible, and Harry would have no means to pinpoint his true location. 

Whoosh! Suddenly, a whooshing sound filled the air as Malfoy launched his next attack without hesitation. This time, it was no unusual or obscure spell, but rather a basic yet effective Petrification Curse.

In their physical education classes, Professor Watson had drilled the students persistently on fundamental combat spells. Disarming Charms, Stunning Spells, Petrification Curses, Impediment Jinxes, and other relatively simple offensive incantations were the bread and butter of their magical arsenals. He demanded each of them to master these essential spells to an exceptionally high degree of speed and precision.

The onrushing curse tore a fist-sized hole in the black fog, and for a split second, Harry glimpsed Malfoy's face, a triumphant smirk was on his face.

But before Harry's conscious mind could even fully process the threat, his body was already reacting, acting on pure instinct forged through countless hours of grueling training drills. He nimbly slid to the side, tilting his head just enough to barely dodge the sizzling Petrification Curse.

In the same fluid motion, Harry raised his right hand behind him, his own counter-curse erupting from his wand and piercing the already sealing gap in the black fog, speeding towards the spot he anticipated Malfoy would move to evade.

Snap!

To Harry's regret, his answering spell failed to connect with Malfoy. Instead, the magic missile penetrated the entire inky cloud without obstruction, sailing through a wide strip of empty space before impacting the far classroom wall with a dull thud.@@novelbin@@

This rapid exchange of offensive magic signaled the true beginning of the fierce confrontation. Spells crisscrossed the space in a dizzying flurry, the flashes of light streaked back and forth between the two amateur duelists like meteor showers painting fleeting trails against the night sky.

The trajectories of Draco's curses emerging from within his conjured concealment were cunningly unpredictable and difficult to anticipate. It was obviously clear that he had invested long hours honing his skills in magical combat. The rhythm of his attacks was impeccable, and his ability to perceive and predict Harry's movements was uncannily accurate. In the span of a mere twenty seconds of frenzied spellcasting, Malfoy had seized the upper hand, forcing Harry onto the defensive.

Harry's movements inherited the lightness and etherealness of his Quidditch flying skills. Using the deceptiveness of feints, he repeatedly induced Malfoy's attacks to aim at empty spaces. But compared to his defense, Harry's offense was inconsistent and fell into a decline.

The reason for this imbalance was obvious.

Harry was completely unable to proactively discern Malfoy's position within the shrouding black fog. He was limited to purely reactive counter-spells, his aim was entirely reliant on the brief moments immediately following each of Malfoy's strikes when his location was fleetingly revealed.

However, Malfoy was also very smart. After each attack, he immediately moved positions. Under the cover of the black fog, he was like a ghost, flickering and uncertain.

"Despicable Slytherin," Harry growled through clenched teeth, his eyebrows glistening with the sheen of sweat borne of exertion and rising frustration. 

The crux of Harry's dilemma lay in the nature of the fog Draco had summoned. The concealing properties of the black fog seemed to operate unidirectionally, hindering only Harry's vision while allowing Malfoy to track his opponent's position. 

The notion of simply charging headlong into the fog to force a direct confrontation had certainly crossed Harry's mind. In fact, the impulse to act, to take decisive action, was inherent to his very nature. He yearned to let go of the caution and meet the threat head-on.

However, the stern admonitions of Professor Watson still rang in his ears—in a duel where life and death hung in the balance, one must remain calm and collected, analyzing the situation objectively. Succumbing to reckless anger or impulsivity offered no advantage and will only make one lose your life!

Moreover, Harry remained wary of the true nature of Malfoy's conjured fog. For all he knew, the fog could be imbued with some manner of toxic properties or insidious magic. Given the well-known duplicitous tendencies of Slytherin house, the possibility of the cloud being venomous or something similarly sinister could not be reduced.

"Incendio!"

Harry suddenly roared, and his wand instantly spewed out a cluster of scorching flames. However, the scorching flames neither illuminated the black fog nor ignited it. Only the surging hot wind compressed the boundary between the black fog and the clear space.

'Wind—'

Harry suddenly froze for a second.

Swish, swish!

In this hesitant second, Malfoy had already flashed ten feet away, waving his hand and sprinkling out two curse lights. One rushed straight towards Harry's chest, and the other aimed at Harry's feet.

"Protego!" Harry spelled, unable to dodge he reflexively snapped his wand up to hastily erect a shimmering shield of protective magic. The barrier halted the momentum of the curse aimed at his torso, and the sizzling energy dissipating harmlessly against the translucent shield. Simultaneously, Harry attempted to sidestep the lower attack, preparing to launch a retaliatory spell of his own. 

However, the instant Harry's foot touched the ground, his face contorted in horrified realization.

A chill ran down his spine as the floor beneath his foot metamorphosed, transmuting into a crystalline sheet of ice—a Freezing Charm!

Even before his gaze had fully shifted downward to confirm his suspicions, Harry knew precisely what the second spell Malfoy had sent at his feet few moments ago.

'I was careless!'

Harry was very angry in his heart. Such a low-level mistake of body imbalance appearing in this kind of rapid attack and defense had almost declared his failure. But he was unwilling. His strength was not inferior to Malfoy's. He only lost to Malfoy's cunning tricks!

At least he had to break Malfoy's concealment black fog. This was Harry's obsession. In the effect created by that Incendio Charm just now, Harry had already found a way to disperse the black fog. It was very simple, but he didn't expect it!

Even as he began to topple, while his balance was faltering on the ice, Harry pulled his attention away from Malfoy. Instead, his eyes locked onto one of the classroom's large windows, and his wand arm snapped up to point directly at the glass pane!

Draco's face blossomed into a triumphant grin as he watched Harry's figure pitching forward in slow motion, Potter's uncontrolled tumble heralded his imminent victory in their duel.

But before his smirk could fully form, the sound of shattering glass filled the air that shattered the tense atmosphere and wiped the forming smile from Draco's face.

CRASH!

In the span of a single breath, the window exploded, fracturing into a hail of glittering shards. The biting chill of the deep winter night rushed into the room, plummeted the classroom's temperature from a comfortable, spring-like warmth to a bone-chilling, glacial cold in an instant. 

The ferocious winds tore through the room with force, and the churning torrent of frigid air acted like a scouring tide, shredding the massive black cloud that had enshrouded Malfoy.

For the first time since the beginning of the duel, Malfoy appeared in everyone's sight.

Draco gazed at the shattered window in uncomprehending shock, his own disbelief at the sudden turn of events paralyzing him for a critical second. He had been caught utterly flat-footed, his mind was struggling to process how Potter had managed to negate his spell with such a crude yet effective tactic. It was precisely his momentary distraction that made him, who should have easily completed the disarming, lose the hard-earned opportunity for victory!

Seizing the fleeting advantage generated by Malfoy's stupefaction, Harry took the opportunity to do a kip-up and flip over, half-kneeling on the ground and panting rapidly.

Draco, who was staring at the window where the fierce wind continued to pour in, also discovered with the corner of his eye that Harry had stood up. His face changed and then darkened.

"You're really lucky, Potter," Draco spat, his words dripping with barely restrained resentment and grumpy frustration.

But for Harry, who had spent the entire duel at the mercy of Malfoy's maneuvers, the dismissive barb ignited the simmering embers of his rage to an inferno. His green eyes blazed with savage intensity, flickering with anger after being played with. The next second, he exploded and charged forward with the ferocious recklessness of an enraged young lion!

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