After Matthew stepped onto the stage, cheers erupted from below.
In schools across Europe and America, students who excelled in sports were the stars of the school.
And Quidditch was the most popular sport in the Wizarding World. After Matthew won the "Best Quidditch Player" trophy, he had quietly become a banner for the younger generation.
Matthew and Lockhart bowed to each other and raised their wands before them.
"1, 2..." Snape counted like an emotionless machine. Not getting to embarrass Lockhart just now had left him very displeased.
"3!"
Matthew and Lockhart swung their wands at the same time.
"Expelliarmus!"
"Armor Protection!"
Just as even Snape thought they were about to recreate the first round of the previous duel, Lockhart's wand seemed to jam, its wand tip sputtering several red sparks.
The classroom instantly fell silent enough to hear a pin drop.
Snape stared at Lockhart with a meaningful expression. It seemed this fool was only good at the Iron Armor Charm.
"Ah—?" Lockhart had not expected himself to fail at such a critical moment, but his ability to react on the spot was excellent. He quickly recovered. "Ahem—I was suppressing my power too much—you know—my spells are too powerful—I was afraid of hurting Black—a teacher who hurts students is not a good teacher."
When Lockhart had made a fool of himself during Magical Creature practice, he had realized that, over the years since graduation, he had returned many of his Casting Skills to Professor Flitwick.
The adoration of his fans over the years had made him swell with pride. He no longer had a clear understanding of himself.
This time, he had wanted to use the Iron Armor Charm technique he had obtained from that lord to salvage some of his reputation during the Dueling Club event.
But