Duelling Club

The details of the Duelling Club quickly spread among the students.

When they learned that the club had been founded jointly by Professors Lin Du and Snape, everyone was taken by surprise.

Including Chao Feng—

Chao Feng flicked his tail and glanced at Lin Du, who was making tea. "You know Snape would love nothing more than to poison you right now, yet you still asked him to work with you?"

Lin Du gently blew away the steam from his tea. "McGonagall and Flitwick have both been looking at me rather warily lately."

"So?"

"Bringing Snape in at least makes our faculty team look 'united.'" He took a sip of tea. "A professor who researches Dark Magic ought to avoid suspicion."

Chao Feng snorted. "United? I think you're delivering yourself to him to be beaten up."

Lin Du blinked. "I had to give him an outlet. An open attack is better than a hidden arrow. In front of the whole school, he'll have to restrain himself somewhat."

"Then be careful," Chao Feng said, his tail slapping the floor. "He's been holding it in for so long, just waiting for this chance."

"It's fine," Lin Du said with a light laugh. "I have thick skin."

On the night of the Duelling Club's first event, the Great Hall was cleared out, leaving a large duelling area in the centre.

Students from all four houses had gathered early, their voices creating a deafening buzz of excitement and anticipation.

When Lin Du and Snape entered the Great Hall side by side, the noise instantly died down. All eyes focused on this unexpected pairing.

Snape was still dressed in his signature black robes, his expression even gloomier than usual, as though he had not come to instruct a duel but to attend someone's funeral.

As for whose funeral it was, the answer was obvious.

Lin Du, meanwhile, wore a relatively simple dark Eastern-style robe, his usual relaxed smile on his face.

Without any unnecessary words, Snape stepped forward. His icy voice echoed through the silent Great Hall:

"Just looking at you, I can tell that most of you have come here without the slightest idea of what you're doing." His thin lips twisted into an almost mocking expression.

"Perhaps you're even expecting to watch flashy spells and... dramatic falls, as though you were watching a Quidditch match."

"If that is what any of you are thinking, you may leave now."

No one spoke, and no one moved.

Snape nodded, his black robes stirring without wind. "Duelling is an activity defined by efficiency. When two wands face each other, only two things matter: who completes their spell first, and whose spell is... more effective."

His gaze turned to Lin Du, becoming sharp and cold. "As for you, Professor Lin... I hope you have prepared a sufficient price for your harassment over the past few days."

The corners of Lin Du's lips lifted as his wand spun around his fingers. "I never doubted that you would prepare seriously, Professor Snape. Please."

Snape's mouth twisted into a cold curve.

He said no more, his wand suddenly pointing to the side—

A red beam skimmed past the edge of Lin Du's robe, only to be deflected at the last moment by his raised wand.

The colliding spells burst into tiny sparks.

"Duelling does indeed value efficiency." Lin Du remained perfectly still, with only the hem of his robe fluttering slightly. "But before demonstrating how to launch a sneak attack for the students, shouldn't you first observe the most basic etiquette?"

"I am demonstrating what happens in a real duel," Snape said expressionlessly. "Did you think an enemy would give you time to bow?"

"Wow—!"

The students below finally erupted with suppressed cries. Some Gryffindor shouted first:

"Show him what you can do, Professor Lin!"

That cry was like a lit fuse, and the Great Hall instantly exploded into commotion.

"Professor Snape, teach that arrogant fellow a lesson!" several Slytherin students shrieked.

"Get revenge for our House Cup!" someone among the Hufflepuffs called in response.

The Ravenclaws were relatively restrained, but they could not help whispering among themselves, their faces full of anticipation.

Shouts rose and fell, the names of the two sides clashing through the Great Hall—

"Professor Lin!"

"Professor Snape!"

"Professor Lin!"

The Slytherin students were hopelessly outnumbered, and Snape's name was soon drowned out.

Snape's upper lip curled. His sinister gaze remained fixed on Lin Du, but his feet began moving backward to widen the distance.

"It seems that, compared to words," he said in a low voice, "it will be quicker to show these trolls what duelling is through action."

"Just what I wanted."

Only then did the two formally move apart and give each other a symbolic bow.

The next moment, the duel officially began!

Snape's offensive was fierce. All manner of swift, dangerous spells shot at Lin Du from different angles like black venomous snakes.

Disarming Charm, Petrificus Totalus, Obstruction Charm... mixed among them were even several curse-lights that made people uneasy, carrying the aura of Dark Magic.

His style was ruthless and precise, aimed at ending the fight as quickly as possible.

Lin Du's response, however, appeared calm and unhurried, even pleasing to the eye.

Rather than meeting Snape's spells head-on, he moved with an almost prophetic sharpness, his flowing, dance-like footwork allowing him to evade or casually dispel every attack at the very last instant.

With each sweep of his wand, he sometimes summoned the faint gleam of a Shield Charm, sometimes raised stone pillars with Terraforming Magic to block the attacks, and sometimes used the gentle Water Jet Charm to extinguish the flames Snape had ignited.

His magic seemed mild, yet it drew all of Snape's storm-like attacks into itself and dissolved them without a trace.

"That's incredible... Professor Lin doesn't even look like he's trying!"

"Professor Snape's attacks can't hit him at all!"

"Look, Professor Lin is still smiling!"

The students could barely keep up, cries of astonishment and praise rising one after another.

Unable to break through after so long, Snape's expression grew increasingly unpleasant.

Seizing an opening, he thrust his wand forward. An exceptionally concentrated spell glowing with ominous red light tore through the air and shot straight at Lin Du's face, faster than any spell before it.

Lin Du's eyes narrowed slightly. This time, he did not dodge.

His wrist flicked rapidly, his wand drawing a complete circle before him. A solid silver barrier, like a crystal wall, instantly formed.

Boom!

The red beam collided violently with the silver barrier, producing a dull explosion. The scattered energy sent the hair of nearby students flying.

The silver barrier rippled violently, but ultimately held firm against the powerful attack.

At the instant when the brilliant light of the impact obscured everyone's sight, Lin Du and Snape made their choices at the same time—

The golden light at the tip of Lin Du's wand stopped steadily less than an inch from Snape's chest, while Snape had somehow silently set up a dark, spiderweb-like defensive spell that hovered beside Lin Du's neck.

The two exchanged a glance amid the dazzling light and, with remarkable understanding, simultaneously withdrew the spells that were about to trigger.

When the light faded, the students saw the two professors standing opposite each other, both wands lowered, as though the heart-stopping clash had never happened.

The entire Great Hall fell into deathly silence, followed by thunderous applause and cheers.

Snape's face turned from green to white. He stared fixedly at Lin Du, his chest rising and falling slightly.

After a long while, he finally forced out a sentence through clenched teeth, his voice lower than usual:

"Your growth... is unexpected."

This was already the highest praise the Potions master could offer.

Lin Du put away his wand, a trace of genuine warmth appearing in his smile.

He stepped closer and spoke in a voice only the two of them could hear:

"Should I feel honoured to receive Professor Snape's approval? Or..." A sly gleam flashed in his eyes. "Do you actually enjoy this kind of evenly matched contest?"

Snape's breathing visibly caught, and the colour that had only just returned to his face darkened once more.

He looked at Lin Du's smiling face, and all his complicated emotions finally condensed into a single murderous word:

"Get out!"