Face him head-on? Was that what it meant?
Cypher sent out his Patronus and asked whether Iris and the others were safe.
Everyone saw a silver-white light emerge from the tip of Cypher's wand and vanish through the doorway in the blink of an eye.
Then Cypher slowly turned around.
"Tom, I've changed my mind. I want to duel you!"
"Name the time, place, and stakes!"
Seeing the flicker of delight in Tom's eyes, Cypher felt certain that Tom thought he could defeat him.
It seemed Tom had achieved his goal!
Malfoy, prefect...
Ah, was he telling him that if he beat him, he could become a prefect?
Come to think of it, Tom, what was this supposed to mean?
He had deliberately let Cassandra overhear their conversation, so she would pass the news on to him.
Then he had openly challenged him to a duel.
No way... was this his tactic against him?
Smart people usually ponder the deeper meaning behind their opponent's actions, sparing no effort in doing so.
He had been constantly distracting him and wasting his energy!
Of course, it was probably true that Abraxas Malfoy, whom he had slapped hard, would make Tom a prefect if Tom defeated him.
Tom's purpose was probably to make him waste his energy, perhaps even to let him know that Tom had been watching Cassandra, provoking him into agreeing to the duel.
Honestly, this really made him want to beat Tom senseless.
No, thinking like that meant he had fallen into Tom's trap.
Tom must have mastered some powerful magic, or perhaps he believed he could counter his Transfiguration.
Up until now, everything he had done had been meant to make him think he was an arrogant fool and underestimate him.
Fortunately, he knew what Tom was really like.