The Great Hall buzzed with anticipation as Snape stepped onto the dueling stage with Lockhart on the opposite side.

"Please, everyone, rest assured!" Lockhart smiled confidently, tossing his hair as he announced loudly. "Although our dear Professor Snape is quite accomplished in Potions, I must say—when it comes to dueling..."

He paused dramatically. "Well, perhaps he's still a bit behind me in that particular art. But please, don't worry yourselves!"

As he spoke, he struck what he clearly believed to be a professional dueling stance, though to the experienced ones it appeared more suited to a portrait session than actual combat.

His wand arm extended with an exaggeration and his free hand was placed dramatically on his hip.

"I'll hold back just a little," He added with a wink that made several younger students giggle nervously.

Meanwhile, Snape in his position also maintained a dueling stance but said nothing. His wand was pointed toward his opponent and there was something extremely unsettling about his stillness.

From his position among the Gryffindor students, Harry observed the scene and shook his head inwardly.

The summer training sessions with Adrian had made him aware of the importance of footwork, the necessity of proper stance, the way a wizard's entire body must work in harmony with their magic.

Lockhart's current posture was, frankly, a disaster waiting to happen. His weight was distributed incorrectly, his grip on his wand too loose, his stance left him vulnerable from multiple angles.

Harry couldn't help but think he looked like a drunk Niffler that had gotten into the butterbeer.

In stark contrast, Snape's posture was textbook perfect.

With such a comparison, Harry knew without thinking who would emerge victorious.

He genuinely couldn't understand where Lockhart's confidence was coming from. Was the man truly that delusional, or was there something Harry himself was missing?

A hush fell over the Great Hall. The usual chatter and scuffling stopped as hundreds of students leaned forward in anticipation.

Lockhart, ever the showman, couldn't resist one final performance. He waved cheerfully at the sea of young faces.

"Well, before we begin this little demonstration, I must remind everyone that our duel is merely a friendly exchange of magical skills. No one will take anyone's life today!

Now, we shall bow to each other in the traditional manner, and after counting to three, we'll begin our display of magical prowess."

The two professors faced each other across the platform. Lockhart's bow was almost theatrical, with a show that would have been more appropriate in a ballroom. Snape's bow was barely observable.

"One..." Lockhart began, his voice carrying clearly through the hall.

"Two..."

Snape, his patience worn thin by Lockhart's endless peacocking, struck the moment the final words left his opponent's lips.

"Expelliarmus!"

A blinding red light burst from Snape's wand, flying toward Lockhart at a speed too fast for the eye to follow.

For Snape, this was just a standard demonstration of his abilities.

Adrian, watching from the sidelines with interest, fully expected to see Lockhart crumple immediately under the attack.

But then something unexpected happened.

At the last possible moment, Lockhart's survival instincts seemed to kick in. His wand swept across his chest in a movement that was more panic than technique. Yet somehow, miraculously, the words of the Shield Charm tumbled from his lips: "Protego!"

A shimmering barrier of silver light came into existence just as Snape's spell reached him. The crimson disarming charm struck the shield with a sound like breaking glass, and instead of dissipating harmlessly, it reflected at an angle shooting toward the crowd of students.

More specifically, toward where Adrian stood.

Adrian's eyes widened as he became aware of the incoming spell, his mind was racing through options in the fraction of a second available to him. He hadn't expected that simply watching from the sidelines would result in him taking a hit out of nowhere.

Fortunately, his reaction time was extremely quick. The moment the red light approached, he raised both hands: "Protego!"

Without his wand even in hand, a shimmering barrier of energy appeared in the air in front of Adrian.

Snape's deflected spell struck Adrian's shield with a muffled thump, like a fist hitting a feather pillow. The crimson energy scattered into thousands of tiny sparks that in the air before fading away like dying fireflies.

The Great Hall erupted in amazed whispers and exclamations. Wandless magic was the stuff of legends to most of these students. To see it performed so casually left many of them staring in open-mouthed wonder.

Both Lockhart and Snape had frozen mid-duel, their attention drawn to the display of magic that had just saved several students from an unplanned lesson in defensive spells.

"Quiet!" Adrian's voice cut through the chaos. The murmurs died instantly, replaced by an expectant silence.

He drew his wand from his robes and pointed it toward the dueling platform. Adrian conjured two semi-transparent barriers that rose from the edges of the platform. The magical shields shimmered faintly effectively separating the dueling area from the audience.

Seeing Adrian set up protective barriers, Lockhart immediately seized the opportunity: "Ah, thank you for your help, Professor Westeros."

He flashed a smile and said to the students: "Indeed, our duel—especially when masters like myself and Snape duel—poses some danger to beginners like yourselves, but please trust me! Under the protection of Professor Westeros and myself, you won't face any danger."

Despite his words of confidence, Adrian couldn't help but notice the way Lockhart's voice wavered, as if the man had just realized how Snape's magic had nearly sent him to meet Merlin just moments ago.

However, regardless, Lockhart had managed to block Snape's Disarming Spell.

This made Adrian look at him with some newborn respect.

'It seemed Lockhart wasn't entirely hopeless...'

Just as Adrian reconsidering his assessment of Lockhart's abilities:

"Expelliarmus!"

The second spell was, if anything, even more vicious than the first. This time, Snape put real force behind the casting. The crimson light that erupted from his wand was deeper and more intense.

Lockhart, caught completely off guard, had no time to react and was immediately hit.

"Bang!"

Lockhart's feet left the ground as he was tossed back through the air as he flew across the platform like a discarded rag doll crashing hard into the stone wall behind him. His wand spun away from his grasp, clattering across the stone floor.

Adrian immediately retracted his earlier reassessment. Lockhart was exactly what he'd initially appeared to be—a fraud whose single moment of competence had been good luck.

The man's ability to block Snape's first spell had been pure chance, probably aided by a surge of adrenaline-powered desperation.

The Great Hall fell silent for exactly two seconds.

Then, like a dam bursting, the noise erupted all at once.

The Slytherin students began cheering and applauding, their pride in their Head of House became obvious in their enthusiastic response. Other houses watched with a mixture of awe and concern, uncertain whether to be impressed by the display of magical prowess or worried about their Defense professor's wellbeing.

Lockhart, to his credit, managed to struggle to his feet after several attempts. He leaned heavily against the wall, his usually perfect hair was now disheveled and his robes had a tear across the front.

Despite his obvious discomfort, he forced his trademark smile back onto his face.

"Well..." he began, his voice slightly hoarse but still carrying his typical confidence. "Everyone saw that, didn't they? This is precisely what happens when one is struck by a properly cast Disarming Spell—the victim loses their wand and their footing. Of course, this was merely a demonstration for your benefit."

He paused to subtly adjust his robes. "If I had truly wanted to, I could have easily blocked Professor Snape's spell just as I did before. Such defensive measures are hardly difficult for someone of my experience and training..."

As he spoke while adjusting his robes, he noticed a tear in the front, and began hastily covering it with his sleeve in embarrassment.

Meanwhile, Snape stood motionless on his side of the platform, his expression darker than a thundercloud. The look in his eyes said that he was considering several curses that would make a simple Disarming Spell seem like a gentle slap.

Adrian watched the entire scene unfold with amusement.

'It was quite entertaining, wasn't it?'

As Lockhart prepared to return to the platform, presumably to continue his "demonstration," Snape's voice cut through the air.

"Professor Lockhart," he said, his tone dripping with unconcealed mockery, "this hardly constitutes what one might call a proper demonstration of dueling technique."

Lockhart opened his mouth to say some kind of rebuttal, but Snape's glare stopped him. Those black eyes seemed to promise consequences that would make their brief duel seem like a pleasant afternoon stroll, and whatever boldness Lockhart had managed to muster died in his throat.

"Then..." Lockhart said awkwardly, his voice lacking its usual confidence, "perhaps the demonstration should end here, and we can move on to the next phase of our—"

"Professor Westeros, please join me."

Snape's interruption was cold and final, cutting through Lockhart's stammering. His gaze shifted from the disheveled Defense professor to Adrian, who had been watching with obvious interest from his position at the edge of the platform.

The Great Hall fell silent once again, but this time the quality of the silence was different.

Even Adrian, who had been named, was stunned. He pointed at himself, blinked, and asked puzzledly: "Me?"

He genuinely hadn't expected to be drawn into this particular drama. He'd been content to observe from the sidelines. But Snape, it seemed, had other plans.

Snape's lips curved slightly upward, a cold gleam flashing in his eyes, very much like a snake that had found its prey.

"Of course it's you, Professor Westeros," Snape said as he began to pace slowly along his edge of the platform. "Allow us to demonstrate for these students what a real duel truly looks like. You wouldn't refuse, would you?"

Snape's presence at that moment was extremely overwhelming and the students held their breath collectively.

Lockhart stood forgotten at the edge of the platform, muttering something under his breath that might have been prayers or curses or simply confused ramblings.

But no one was paying attention to him anymore. All eyes were fixed on the two figures.

"Very well, this is for the students after all."

Adrian smiled lightly and walked onto the dueling platform.

"If you insist, I don't mind at all," he said, gently drawing his wand from his waist.

The students immediately began cheering.

The previous battle between Snape and Lockhart hadn't been very satisfying.

The real show was about to begin.

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