Practical Combat Training and the Wonders of Transfiguration

Hogwarts had more than a week of holiday for Christmas, and Linley had no intention of wasting that time. Early the next morning, he sought out Professor Green and asked to begin his practical combat lessons ahead of schedule.

Although Professor Green was somewhat surprised by Linley's request, he readily agreed. "No problem. But my office can't accommodate a fight between us. Come with me."

With that, Professor Green left the Defense Against the Dark Arts office first.

Professor Green led Linley out of Hogwarts Castle and deep into the Forbidden Forest.

After walking for more than ten minutes, the view before Linley suddenly opened up. Gone was the endless dense forest; ahead of him lay a vast clearing over a hundred meters across!

"This is a site I specifically cleared out after applying to Dumbledore. All our future practical combat lessons will take place here. But without me to guide you, you'd better not come here alone, because the Acromantula colony's nest is right nearby."

Professor Green walked to the center of the clearing and spoke to Linley.

Linley nodded and followed him into the clearing. He held his Wand before his chest, bowed slightly to Professor Green, and performed the formal salute of a duel.

Before Linley could straighten up, a red flash shot toward him from Professor Green's direction.

Linley knew the battle had begun.

"Protego!"

Linley quickly twisted aside to evade the red light and instinctively cast a Shield Charm on himself.

A grayish-white beam flashed from Linley's front left and collided with the Shield Charm, only to be deflected away.

Just as I thought!

Linley inwardly cried out in relief.

After witnessing Professor Green's battle with Cassirachi on Halloween night, Linley had known that Professor Green's moves could not possibly be so simple.

Sure enough, while silently casting the Disarming Charm, Professor Green had followed it up with a silent Confringo!

Had Linley not remained vigilant enough, he would have been hit already!

"Incendio!"

Linley rapidly chanted the incantation, flinging a mass of flame from his Wand.

Although he was already capable of Silent Spellcasting, the Incendio cast with an incantation was often more powerful.

The flames spread continuously through the air, actually forming the force of Burning Heaven and Boiling Sea above the clearing as they swept toward Professor Green.

"Aguamenti!"

With a flick of Professor Green's Wand, a stream of water tore through the air and met the raging flames.

Fire and water collided, and countless clouds of steam burst outward, engulfing the entire battlefield.

Their vision was blocked by the dense white mist. Neither could see the other.

Linley cast Silencio on himself, concealing the sound of his footsteps, then began running and changing his position.

Linley waved his Wand and fired several silent Disarming Charms toward Professor Green's previous location, but received no response.

Seeing this, Linley understood that Professor Green must have used the same method as him.

Just then, a Diffindo cut through the air and narrowly grazed Linley's shoulder. It startled him into speeding up.

As he ran, Linley swiftly cast three Disarming Charms. One flew toward the direction from which the Diffindo had come, while the other two shot to that direction's left and right.

Linley's prediction was correct. The Disarming Charm fired to the right was blocked by a Shield Charm, but that Shield Charm also exposed Professor Green's location.

Linley immediately cast more spells and raised his left hand, using Wandless Magic to hurl a massive blaze from his palm.

The flames rapidly expanded, closing in on Professor Green from every direction. Meanwhile, Professor Green's front was under bombardment from Linley's countless spells, leaving him unable to change position before the flames surrounded him.

A smile appeared on Linley's face. In his view, he had passed this practical combat training session.

The fight between Linley and Professor Green was merely a practical combat lesson, so Professor Green had not used alchemy in battle. Moreover, he had suppressed his magical power to the same level as Linley's. Only then had Linley been given the chance to trap Professor Green.

But just as Linley believed victory was in the bag and was about to celebrate early, an unexpected change occurred!

In Linley's blind spot, stones on the ground abruptly rose up. They suddenly transformed into more than a dozen pythons as thick as thighs and coiled around Linley with lightning speed.

The pythons rapidly wrapped around Linley's thighs, waist, arms, and neck, pinning him firmly in place. One final python darted over nimbly, whipping its tail to knock the Wand from Linley's hand before tightly locking down his left arm with its body, interrupting his wandless Incendio.

Having lost its supply of magic, the flames that had nearly reached Professor Green's robes instantly went out of control and were easily extinguished by Professor Green.

"In battle, enemies often focus on spells coming at them from the front while overlooking the wonders of Transfiguration. If you can use Transfiguration cleverly and incorporate it into actual combat, it will surely bring you unexpected surprises!"

Professor Green approached with a smile.

With a wave of his Wand, the pythons wrapped around Linley immediately went limp and reverted to their original stone forms.

Linley could not help but smile bitterly. Was it that he did not want to use it? He had only received Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration notes yesterday; he had not even had time to read them!

"Continue." Professor Green said nothing more and simply retreated to his original position.

Linley got to his feet and returned to where he had been.

After exchanging salutes once more, Linley seized the initiative and fired a Disarming Charm.

Professor Green shifted slightly to dodge the Disarming Charm, keeping the hand holding his Wand behind his back.

The moment Linley saw this, he was struck by a sense of foreboding.

Without even looking, he raised his Wand and flung a burst of fire behind himself.

Sizzle...

Dozens of snakes formed from tree branches were burned to ash by the flames. These branch snakes were likewise controlled by Professor Green's Transfiguration.

Damn Transfiguration!

Linley cursed inwardly. Still unable to apply Transfiguration to combat, he could only retreat again and again in the face of Professor Green's Transfiguration.

There was no doubt about it. With one fewer method of fighting than his opponent, Linley was defeated once more.

However, Professor Green had no intention of letting Linley off. Each repeated "Continue" left Linley feeling a little despairing.

Since he could not escape, Linley could only devote all his attention to the battle. He began trying to imitate Professor Green's spellcasting methods, using Transfiguration to control the surrounding branches and stones and turn them into effective attacks against Professor Green.

Under Professor Green's high-pressure training, Linley's Transfiguration skills gradually improved as well.

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