A Different Little Witch

"Expelliarmus!"

James's attack was swift and precise; a red streak shot towards Lily's chest.

Lily didn't take the hit head-on. Her eyes were fixed on the tip of his staff. The moment the light was about to strike, she dodged to the side. The red light grazed her shoulder and flew past, hitting the stone wall behind her and sending Mars flying.

James raised an eyebrow. He missed; she was able to dodge, her reaction was quick.

Lily retaliated, waving her wand and unleashing Slowing Charm straight at James.

He casually flicked his wand, sending the Slowing Charm flying and shattering into several pieces of Silver Light as it hit the wall.

Before he could retract his movement, Lily's second spell was already in effect. The Trip Jinx skimmed along the ground towards his ankle, catching him just as he was regaining his balance after using the Slowing Charm.

James mumbled something, then jumped back, his heels scraping against the stone pavement with a sharp sound. Trip Jinx grazed past his feet, almost hitting him.

It wobbled slightly upon landing, but quickly regained its balance and even raised an eyebrow at Lily.

"You've got some skills," he chuckled, waving his wand and walking with a limp gait. "Who taught you that? Charms Class didn't teach this." Lily didn't reply; she was observing quickly.

Observe where he lands, which leg he shifts his weight onto, how far he jumped, and the time interval between his release and retraction.

She raised her hand again, and this time flicked the tip of her staff. A flock of golden birds fluttered out, chirping as they rushed toward James.

A dozen or so small birds swarmed together, creating a dazzling golden light that blinded people and blocked their view from behind.

Hidden within this golden mass was a spell of similar color, which swooped down on James along with the flock of birds.

James narrowed his eyes, his wand arcing upwards, a blast of air erupting from in front of him, scattering the golden bird in all directions. Then his eyes widened instantly, and he dodged to the side. The hidden spell grazed his ear, shaving off a few strands of hair, before striking the wall and blasting a small crater, scattering shards of stone everywhere.

"Hiss." James raised his hand and touched his ear, his fingertips brushing against something warm. His playful expression immediately faded by half. "Playing dirty tricks? Evans, I didn't see that coming."

"Didn't you just launch a sneak attack too?" Lily's staff didn't stop; she cast another Stunning Spell.

James dodged to the side, and this time he didn't dodge.

James struggled a bit with his next few moves.

Evans's spells aren't very powerful.

Tripping, disarming, obstacles, Avis Spell, Aguamenti, Spark Spell —none of these can really do anything to a person.

But she deliberately avoided confronting him directly, always popping up unexpectedly.

He tried to get close to her, but she backed away; as soon as he backed away, she clung to him again.

He thought he could take down this red-feathered bird in a few moves, but now, the birds are hiding spells among the birds and real moves are mixed in with the Spark Spell. They look flashy and come up with one move after another, but the landing points are more and more painful for him.

Instead of directly engaging him in a direct exchange of blows, I would aim for places where he couldn't easily block, when his center of gravity was off, or in his blind spots.

James parried four or five attacks in a row, but still couldn't gain the upper hand.

He didn't dodge properly for a moment, Relashio, grazing his calf. Half of his leg went weak for a second, but luckily he reacted quickly and managed to catch himself, though he looked quite disheveled.

Lily showed no sign of smugness; she was completely focused on the tip of James's staff.

What I practiced with Regulus in the Abandoned Classroom for almost a year—the movement, prediction, attack sequence, and spell combinations.

Use a feint to trick the opponent into blocking; once they block, an opening appears, which becomes the window for your next attack.

These were no longer theories that Regulus taught her from the other side; they became things she created herself.

James grew impatient, and the last bit of a smile on his face disappeared.

He thought he could just tease the girl in the same dormitory and be done with it, but who knew she would get more and more excited as she hit him, almost causing him to lose his composure.

Then play seriously.

"Fine," James gritted his teeth, changed his grip on his wand, and sank down. "Then I'm not playing with you anymore." He changed his fighting style; he stopped dangling and teasing, and his spells were no longer fancy—just two things: fast and accurate.

The spells rained down one after another, the attack as dense as a downpour.

Lily immediately felt the pressure.

James's hands were much faster than hers. She had barely made one move, and before she could even raise her staff for the second, his next attack was already upon her.

She had no choice but to abandon her offensive and focus on defense, parrying and dodging one attack after another.

The light and shadow flickered wildly in the Corridor, red, gold, and purple mingling together, and the shadows on the walls twisted and turned. The muffled thuds of the spells hitting the stone walls echoed one after another, forcing her to retreat repeatedly, but she wasn't just being beaten.

The more aggressively James attacked, the more predictable his shots became.

Lily retreated while keeping a close eye on him, waiting for the opening between his two spells to launch a surprise counterattack.

A stumbling block forced him to take a step, and a Spark Spell shone on his face.

James had to distract himself again, which slowed his offensive down for a moment.

She relied on these gasps for breath to keep herself from being completely crushed.

This game lasted much longer than James had anticipated.

On the other side of the wall, Sirius was originally watching the show with amusement.

At first, he was just amused that Evans could hold out under James for so long.

He knew all too well what James was like when he got serious. Usually, there weren't many third-year students who could stand up and fight back when he got serious; most of them were disarmed after two or three rounds.

Evans is actually holding on.

He straightened up a bit from the wall and took a couple more glances.

After looking at it for a while, the amused expression on his face gradually disappeared.

Something's not right, but I can't quite put my finger on what it is.

Evans's spells weren't strong; they were just the same ones taught in class, things anyone could do. Individually, they weren't anything special, but when put together, they just didn't make sense. Sirius frowned.

Instead of confronting them head-on, they deliberately find loopholes, employing one move after another to gain a big advantage with a small trick.

The birds hid a spell, first throwing a feint before the real one. Each strike was light, but each one made James unable to attend to everything, causing him discomfort and subtly leading him astray.

I feel like I've seen him somewhere before.

Something popped into Sirius's head.

The Lestrange family's Banquet Hall during the Christmas holidays.

The spells he saw that night flowed smoothly, one after another, as if he had already seen through his opponent's next move, anticipating every step and forcing him into a corner.

There are also those ingenious Transfiguration countermeasures that are so sophisticated they are incomprehensible, those moments when large-scale Transfiguration are precisely dismantled, and those operations that even bystanders cannot grasp.

The scene before him was obviously incomparable, far too different; comparing them was absurd in itself, yet there was an inexplicable sense of déjà vu. His brows slowly furrowed, his gray eyes fixed on Lily, his gaze turning strange.

Where did this little Gryffindor witch, Muggle-born, learn her fighting style?

The moment this thought crossed my mind, even the annoyance caused by Snape's words was suppressed.

On the court, James has taken control of the game.

He attacked more and more aggressively, forcing Lily step by step toward one end of the Corridor.

Lily's retreat became increasingly difficult, her defenses increasingly strained, and she tried to find an opening to retaliate, but James left her no opening this time, relentlessly attacking her relentlessly.

James Disarming Charm in quick succession. The first forced her to dodge to the side, and the second, anticipating her dodge direction, struck ahead of time.

Lily dodged the first one, but the second one was already waiting there. She had no choice but to take the hit head-on with the Shield Charm.

A silver barrier opened up in front of him, and the spell exploded into a burst of red light upon impact, causing him to stagger back two steps.

Before he could even get his footing, James's next curse was already upon him.

The Stunning Spell, glowing red, moved so fast the eyes could barely keep up.

Lily didn't have time to cast the second Shield Charm. She dove to the side, the spell whistling past her ear, creating a sharp, piercing sound.

She fell to the ground, her palm scraping against the stone pavement, the skin burning painfully, but she still gripped her wand tightly in her hand.

He rolled over and got to his knees, his breathing becoming rapid, a few strands of red hair falling from behind his ears and sticking to his sweaty cheeks. "Expelliarmus!"

Seizing the opportunity, James unleashed the Disarming Charm for the third time.

It was too fast. Before Lily could even stand up, the red light was already in front of her, hitting her upper body squarely.

The wand slipped from his palm, tumbled a few times in the air, and rolled to the other end of the Corridor, stopping next to the Niche armor.

Lily knelt on the spot, her hands empty, her chest heaving violently.

The Corridor fell silent, save for the heavy breathing of two people.

"Ha!"

James let out a long breath, slung his wand over his shoulder, tilted his head, and looked at Lily, who was empty-handed, with a smug expression. He took a couple of breaths. "Look at you," he gestured at her with his chin, then pointed with his wand to the one that had rolled under the Niche in the distance, "You can't even hold a wand properly, and you're trying to be a hero."

Lily looked up, her green eyes meeting his, her expression relatively calm. She didn't pounce on the wand as he had expected.

This surprised James for a moment, then he laughed even louder.

He paced half a step around Lily, shaking his head and speaking as if he felt sorry for her.

"Meddlesome Evans," he clicked his tongue. "Such a promising Potions talent, Slughorn's darling, instead of brewing your own potions, he's here meddling in other people's business."

He slammed his fist down again, yelling, "For what?"

He turned around and looked down at Snape was lying against the wall.

Snape was still frozen, Petrifying Spell and unable to move or utter a single word.

But his eyes could move, could see, and could hear, and at that moment they were staring intently at James, the hatred in his eyes almost overflowing.

"For him?" James gestured with his chin toward Snape, his smile growing increasingly grotesque. "Evans, open your eyes and take a good look at the piece of trash you're protecting."

A Snivellus, penniless, reeking of mold, with hair so thick you could fry an egg on it, who spent his days holed up in the cellar with his bunch of snake-like bastards. He took two steps toward Snape, his leather shoes crunching on the scattered pebbles.

James sneered, "Is that all there is to it?"

He looked down at Snape, his eyes full of mockery and disdain. "You think you deserve anyone to stand up for you? Do you? Even a girl who can't hold a wand properly is better than you. You still have the nerve to stroll around in the Corridor?"

Snape's eyes were practically spitting fire.

Half of it was directed at James, and he was furious with hatred.

The other half floated towards Lily, who was standing not far away.

Being trampled on like that by James made him feel embarrassed and resentful.

Lily witnessed all of this, watching him being trampled into the mud, unable to move, unable even to utter a word in protest.

This was even more unbearable for him than James's words. He would rather there be no one in the Corridor right now, and he could just rot here alone. Lily heard James's words and saw Snape's look.

She didn't respond to James's comment, nor did she say anything back.

He knelt on the ground, blood seeping from the cuts on his palms, and his knees ached, but he didn't rush to stand up or chase after the wand.

She is still observing.

James stood two steps in front of the Niche, his posture very relaxed.

That last bit of work had taken him a bit of effort, and it was precisely because of that effort that the smugness on his face seemed all the more genuine.

"To be honest, Evans, your moves today are much better than before, but you have no chance against me."

He grinned so hard his mouth was crooked. "You couldn't beat me in your best round just now, and now you don't even have a wand, how are you going to fight?" He took another half step towards Lily, tilted his head, and his lips curled up even higher.

"What, you're not convinced? Then get up! The wand's over there, go pick it up. I won't stop you. Pick it up and we'll have another round, and I'll show you what real skill is."

Lily's gaze swept over the Niche, but she remained unmoved.

Her wand had rolled over there, under the Niche, at the foot of the old armor.

Then look at that suit of armor, standing in the Niche, taller than a person, with helmet, breastplate, arm guards, and greaves stacked one on top of the other.

It wasn't really secured at the bottom; it was just stuck in the Niche, and the helmet on top was crookedly fastened, looking rather unstable.

Lily's mind was racing.

She can't beat Potter in a head-on fight; that last match made it perfectly clear.

He was too fast; so fast that she even lost her wand.

But she didn't need to confront him directly; she wanted to lead him where she wanted him to go.

The wand was under her armor; it was only natural for her to retrieve it.

Potter would stop her, tease her, and chase after her in the direction she was reaching for her wand.

Lily's hand twitched subtly at her side.

All the skills she practiced that year were never used in a fight; she always felt that those were separate from actual combat.

I'll need it today.

She straightened up, took a step, and ran towards the armor, her eyes fixed on the wand on the ground, as if she was in a hurry to pick it up, her steps deliberately showing a bit of panic.