great-warnovel Chapter 250 The Genius with Two O's
Chapter 250 The Genius with Two O's
Chapter 250 The Genius with Twelve O's
With her improved combat skills, Hermione is no longer the same person she was two years ago, who had to let the Professor let her attack first.
In terms of both the accumulation of magical power and the level of magic, she has surpassed most wizards. Now, she is more like a boss entrenched in the magic academy, waiting for others to challenge her.
Barty Jr. was not humiliated by Hermione's humility. Although he hadn't seen her memories in the Pensieve, as a spy, he had more access to information about the details of the girl's battle with his master.
He originally wanted to avoid this duel in the practical class, precisely because he knew he could never be her match, after all, she was someone who could fight Voldemort to the point of completely destroying the Church of the Bones.
"Then I'll gladly accept!"
His wand was originally a pureblood bone wand, but to avoid suspicion at school, he carried a finely crafted master wand from the first day he arrived. Just from this point of view, the professors treated him much better.
After all, it wasn't his own wand, so it wasn't easy to use, and it was ridiculously expensive. Little Barty was willing to cover it up nicely, so everyone was willing to accept him.
Before the words were even finished, the curse had already been cast.
Behind a ball of red light, four or five complex spells burst forth like a machine gun, earning Flitwick's repeated praise with just this one move.
Hermione was also invigorated. Barty Jr. was indeed quite skilled; this barrage of spells was enough to overwhelm most wizards.
The first spell was the Stunning Curse, followed by the Laughing Curse, the Knot Curse, the Tooth Curse, and other spells that weren't fatal but were annoying enough. As a Defense Profession professor, he certainly couldn't start with all sorts of powerful poison curses, evil spells, or dark magic; that wouldn't look good.
"Attention, third-year students! This is the key focus of your studies this year—the Spell Chain!" Flitwick said quickly.
In the arena, Hermione did not use the Radiant Stone to break the opponent's spell as usual, but instead chose the local wizarding style of dueling, using Spell Stop and corresponding spell break to quickly dismantle the attack.
She had recently learned a lot from Dumbledore and was now putting it into practice on Barty Jr., so she decided to temporarily refrain from using the Shining Stone magic, as that would make the battles less interesting.
"Torn apart!"
"Torn apart!"
The two incantations were almost indistinguishable. The instant Barty Jr. cast his spell, Hermione immediately followed suit, releasing the same spell at an even faster pace. The two beams of light collided and annihilated each other.
"Tongue-locking and throat-sealing!"
"Tongue-locking and throat-sealing!"
It's the same situation again.
Crouch took a deep breath, his wand practically twirling wildly, and the phlegm-like trills in his throat sounded rather strange.
But then, a tidal wave of curses shot out one after another.
"The transitions between spells! Look closely! A well-ordered spell sequence can significantly reduce the number of wand swings, and when chanting spells at high speed, you can use sticky sounds and guttural sounds to omit some words from the mouth!"
"Professor Crouch wasn't so good at this when he was in school, but now he's quite outstanding!"
While silent spellcasting is more concealed and faster, it weakens the power of some spells. Therefore, in a close contest, indistinct vocal spellcasting is actually more advantageous.
"The spell chains are highly personalized! Everyone must create their own unique spell chains based on their strengths and habits. This is the main course for third-year students this year!" Flitwick didn't even blink, his mouth moving rapidly.
Hermione's counter-attacks weren't as spectacular as last year; she had accumulated enough experience and understanding to directly clash with the professor's magic.
Unlike last year, there's no need for violent demolitions.
Faced with Barty's torrential spells, she couldn't use the same spell chains to break them. Instead, she relied on her superior casting speed to forcefully compete with her opponent in breaking spells.
The minor curses were broken silently, and the Stun Curse was easily deflected. In the process, she also used the Confusion and Memory Curses she had learned from Lockhart last year in actual combat, retaliating against Barty.
The latter looked on with slight surprise as the little girl easily broke free of the magic chain, and at the same time suddenly felt as if he had been punched in the head, his mind becoming dizzy and his thoughts becoming sluggish.
"Lockhart's trick!" Realizing this in an instant, he immediately cast a spell to stop himself.
Then a thick fog spontaneously exploded beneath his feet, and he disappeared into the fog—it was the alchemical artifact he was carrying.
"This time, the professor opened the fog first!" Ron said excitedly, having already basically understood the battle.
Whoever chooses to dodge in a head-on confrontation is the one who lacks confidence in themselves.
Hermione did not act rashly. As the boss being challenged, she could wait for her opponent to be fully prepared.
A low, indistinct chanting came from within the thick fog, and swirling air currents stirred the fog into a chaotic mess. Then, a patch of frost quickly rose from the ground, converging on Hermione's position from all directions.
At the same time, a giant bull made of rock suddenly burst out of the fog and crashed into Hermione.
"Is that all?" she said softly, a hint of disappointment in her voice.
Frost was forced to stop a meter away from her, and the giant bull that was charging towards her was simply pointed at by her staff, and the transformation magic within it dissipated on its own. The creature made of stone immediately crumbled and scattered into a pile of rubble before it even reached her.
But this is not over yet!
"The house collapses and the ground sinks." This time, she heard Little Barty's incantation clearly.
The solid ground suddenly softened and collapsed, creating a deep pit beneath her feet. The unprepared girl fell straight down.
"Sand and stones fly!" The fragments of the stone bull, which had been crumbling, were now driven by a new incantation to roll on their own, intending to bury the girl who had fallen into the pit.
"How could that possibly hold Hermione? She flew out so easily!" Harry exclaimed.
"Wait, look at those rocks!"
Only then did the onlookers notice that the sides of the broken stones were engraved with inconspicuous little symbols, which, under Little Barty's incantation, all began to glow and form runes.
"It's runes!" an older student exclaimed.
"The stone bull of the Transfiguration is just a cover! Professor Crouch's real purpose is to deliver the runes to the opponent's feet!" Flitwick shouted.
"Students who have taken the ancient magic script course, please try to identify the meanings of those phrases!"
"No Flight!"
"No blasting!"
"Eliminate the air!"
The students shouted, and the Order of the Phoenix members behind them craned their necks, observing carefully with small binoculars.
"Wow, that was incredibly fast! Hiding runes inside the stone bull is nothing special, but piecing together the scattered runes so quickly is amazing!"
"That's quite a brain teaser!" Sirius said, smacking his lips.
"But that didn't hold Granger down. She didn't even fall. She fooled everyone with an illusion!" Moody said with great enthusiasm. His magical eyes darted around, seemingly spotting Hermione's presence, but he refrained from warning her out of consideration for the fairness of the duel.