great-warnovel Chapter 106 Close Combat
Chapter 106 Close Combat
Chapter 106 Close Combat
Lockhart looked at the confident girl before him, gave a gentlemanly bow, and smiled, "Then we'll see if Miss Granger can force me to use my full strength."
In his view, although Hermione possessed extremely powerful Brilliant Stone magic, she was still only a twelve-year-old girl. Her magical accumulation and experience were far behind his. As long as he didn't let his guard down, she wouldn't end up like Lucius. Defeating her only required some patience and skill.
"Very well, then I will be the commentator and referee. Everyone can stand a little further back. I'm going to cast a spell to set up a protective barrier." Professor Flitwick clapped his hands and moved the students who were watching back a bit more, expanding the battle arena to about the size of an auditorium. After all, the magic of the two duelists was very powerful, and enough space needed to be left for them to fight.
Therefore, Professor McGonagall had to join in and use the Unseen Stretching Charm to enlarge the lawn area, so that there would be enough space for everyone to stand and for everyone to be able to clearly see the duel.
An invisible wind formed a transparent hemisphere, enveloping the two of them. Hermione and Lockhart stood facing each other, maintaining a distance of about ten meters.
Lockhart held a short staff in his right hand and a sword in his left, half of the blade hidden under his cloak, like a venomous snake about to unleash its power.
Hermione lowered her body slightly, pointing the tip of her silver staff forward.
The half-elf professor's explanation rang out at the opportune moment: "Before the duel begins, I'd like to explain the stances of the two duelists."
After all, our primary goal is teaching.
Neither of them showed the slightest impatience; they were both intently watching their target and observing each other's every move.
"We can see that Professor Lockhart's staff-holding posture is the standard staff-sword posture. Because everyone has different types of wands, there are many variations in the hand holding the staff, but they are all similar. The key is the hand holding the sword."
"Students in the third year and above have all learned about a category of wizarding combat called wand and sword fighting. Although Gryffindor himself is a master of close combat, Hogwarts is actually not as skilled in this area as Durmstrang. Professor Lockhart is obviously very proficient in this. Those who aspire to master this technique should pay close attention to his coordinated movements of his wand and sword."
"By the way, because Professor Lockhart is left-handed, he holds his sword with his left hand, so the other students shouldn't imitate him."
"As for Miss Granger, I must say, although she is only a second-year student and has not yet begun to study wand holding posture in depth, her combat movements are perfect. As we all know, because of the variety of wands nowadays, everyone has to find the wand holding posture that best suits them based on their own wand, and Miss Granger's current posture is quite perfect among the pole wand types."
"Professor, let them begin!" George shouted from the crowd.
The two remained in the same position for a long time, but because Professor Flitwick was immersed in his own world of explanation, they couldn't start fighting.
"Oh, sorry, sorry! Now, the duel begins!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Hermione's staff tip shot out several bright stone pebbles, which flew towards Lockhart, who in turn fired several spells, destroying all the pebbles.
"A beautiful spell break!" Flitwick exclaimed.
But before he could finish speaking, the situation suddenly changed. Lockhart turned around and suddenly appeared behind Hermione with a "snap," the sword under his cloak piercing the girl's waist, while at the same time, the short staff in his right hand was already gathering the next spell.
"It's Apparate! Before the duel began, Professor McGonagall temporarily lifted the school's restrictions, which is why Professor Lockhart could use it freely!"
"That's not fair!" Harry yelled.
"This is the full power of an adult wizard." Lily grabbed his ear from behind, silencing him.
In a flash, Hermione, as if possessed by divine intervention, turned around in advance, wielding her staff to deflect the incoming sword. But Lockhart, with a smile on his face, aimed his short staff at Hermione's head, and fired a Petrify Shot.
Against an opponent who cannot Apparition and is caught off guard, this cheesy combo has a very high success rate. Even if the enemy reacts and blocks the sneak attack from behind, they will often breathe a sigh of relief while blocking the longsword. People tend to selectively ignore things when they are under tension. Staff and sword wizards can attack in tandem, and the greatest threat to wizards is obviously not melee weapons, but magic.
Once everyone is petrified, the duel can be quickly declared over.
But Hermione isn't really a twelve-year-old girl. Her core is a finger witch with the battle memories of the King of Elden. Moreover, she's seen this move with Dobby before, only Lockhart's was more systematic, unlike Dobby's, which was just wild swings at close range.
Simultaneously activated with the Petrification Curse was the light blade at the tip of her staff. As Hermione parried the sword with her staff, the tip of her staff was already aimed at Lockhart. In close combat, the speed of the Petrification Curse was essentially no different from the surge in power of the Calvary Blade.
The indestructible blade of light slashed upwards, shattering the gray-white spell and relentlessly piercing Lockhart's chin. At the critical moment, Lockhart tilted his head back, dodging the blade, and with a push of his feet, he flew backwards like a light snowflake.
"Hmph, are you going to kill your professor?" Lockhart stared wide-eyed at the composed Hermione. Just a moment ago, he could smell the burning in the air. If he had been even a fraction slower, he would have either been pierced through the head by the lightsaber or cleaved in two by the subsequent downward slash.
"I don't think this is a problem for you." Hermione's eyes burned with fighting spirit. Lockhart had been through countless battles and had experienced far more brutal life-or-death situations than this.
"Ha, what a troublesome little girl. It seems we really can't be careless when dealing with you. Lucius's defeat was well-deserved," Lockhart laughed.
"What a thrilling close-quarters battle! My heart was about to stop!" Flitwick shouted.
"We've emphasized this countless times! Close combat in wizarding is fraught with death! Any oversight could lead to your defeat! Professor Lockhart's teleportation ambush is an extremely difficult technique. Even as seventh-year students, I don't recommend you attempt it lightly. While maintaining focus and the determination to teleport, you must have precise calculations of the landing point and the enemy's movement direction, as well as a good sense of space. Otherwise, you might end up crashing directly into the enemy's wand or stabbing the ground with your sword!"
"And Miss Granger's response was absolutely perfect! Good heavens, I'd even like to add ten points to Gryffindor's score! Her quick reflexes, the use of her staff to block, and the counter-attack magic hidden within her defense—it was truly an artful defense and counter-attack!"
Harry watched with rapt attention, this close-quarters combat was exactly the kind of wizarding fighting he had always imagined: "Longswords are too weak! If it were my Chainmail, Hermione's strength definitely wouldn't be enough to stop it!"
Ron bluntly interrupted his fantasy: "You'll have to learn Apparition first, and besides, Hermione probably won't give you a chance to get close to you."
"Beat him up, boss!" Colin shouted excitedly, waving his fist.
On the field, the two separated again, moving slowly with steady steps, searching for each other's weaknesses.
"Disarm you!"
Lockhart made the first move. He pointed his short staff forward with his right hand and unleashed a disarming spell. At the same time, the tip of his sword in his left hand subtly pointed at the ground beneath Hermione's feet, and a swamp quietly formed.
"Silent casting combined with double casting! That's the skill of a defense professor!" Flitwick cheered for him.
But Hermione was not alarmed. She flicked her staff to deflect the disarming spell, and then slammed her staff on the ground, instantly stopping the swamp transformation.
"Such powerful magic! Miss Granger, at the age of twelve, was able to break the professor's Transfiguration Charm!"
"I doubt even a less capable professor could do that!"
"Professor Lockhart was casting a disarming spell while simultaneously using his left hand to cast a transformation spell, and even transmitting magic through an ordinary longsword. His casting with his non-staff hand and his coordination of these two methods are truly remarkable!"
"Look! They're about to start their spell clash!"
After several probing maneuvers, the two players on the field finally entered a violent confrontation.