The Duel Begins

"Professor Baker! Professor Baker!"

At six o'clock on Sunday morning, just as the sky was barely light, "Professor Baker"—who had been feeling short on energy lately and was sleeping heavily—was jolted awake by a frantic pounding on his door.

What's going on?

He rubbed his head, then quickly got up, casually Transfiguring his pajamas into formal robes before leaving his bedroom and striding to the office door to open it—faculty quarters at Hogwarts were usually set inside the office, separated from the student-facing area.

As the door swung open, he saw a young, anxious face, and immediately recognized the visitor: it was first-year Baron Shafiq, a Slytherin who had performed exceptionally well in his class and left a strong impression.

"What's wrong, Mr. Shafiq? Take your time, calm down, and tell me clearly what happened."

He spoke in a gentle tone, trying not to add to the student's distress.

"My friend, K—he was sucked into a black crystal ball right in front of me!" Baron's voice was frantic, tinged with tears.

"What?! Tell me exactly what happened."

"We... we found a secret room on the eighth floor, full of strange magical items... We just wanted to explore, but when K picked up a black crystal ball, he... he..."

"He was suddenly pulled in! Like water, stretched out long, and then just sucked inside... That crystal ball was too heavy for me to lift; Professor Flitwick's door wouldn't open... Please, you have to save K!"

"Take me there immediately." The fake Baker was startled, then spoke to Baron with a serious tone. As he started running, he added reassuringly, "Don't worry too much. That crystal ball might just be enchanted with an Undetectable Extension Charm, which is why it sucked Mr. K in when he touched it. A true Dark Magic artifact could hardly be brought into Hogwarts. So your friend should be fine—just trapped..."

As he spoke, they had already dashed up the stairs and reached the eighth floor. Baron quickly ran to a blank stretch of wall, walked back and forth three times, and a smooth door appeared on its surface.

"So it's this room."

The fake Baker's expression relaxed considerably. "I know this place. The things in here shouldn't be dangerous... Wait, I have a vague memory of us meeting here once before..."

He frowned slightly, feeling like he was forgetting something, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't recall it. He set it aside for now and focused on the situation at hand. After Baron opened the door, he followed him inside and immediately spotted the black crystal ball sitting conspicuously in the middle of an open space.

"That's it!"

Baron's face twisted in terror, and he instinctively hid behind the fake Baker.

The fake Baker stared at the smooth, deep black crystal ball, momentarily stunned. For some reason, it looked vaguely familiar. But he ignored the strange feeling, stepped forward, drew his wand, and began examining the crystal ball meticulously.

"Looks like a prophecy crystal ball. The material is incredibly tough—unbelievably tough..."

"No good, I can't see through it. I can't tell if there's an Undetectable Extension space inside just by looking..."

He took a few more steps forward, crouched down, and touched the tip of his wand directly to the crystal ball. But just as he was about to cast a deeper diagnostic spell, a sudden wave of weakness erupted from within his body, sweeping through him and making even standing feel like a struggle...

"Poison?!"

The fake Baker turned his head in shock, trying to look at Baron, but before he could act, a shout came from behind: "Expelliarmus!"

Years of combat experience kicked in instantly. Forcing out a sliver of strength, he kicked off the ground like a grasshopper, leaping into the air to dodge the Disarming Charm while twisting midair. He saw Baron pointing his wand at him with a grim expression.

"Mr. Shafiq! What are you do—"

Suddenly, a red light erupted from just a few meters away, slamming into his body and knocking him backward. His wand flew from his hand—and vanished into thin air mid-flight!

"Someone else?!"

The fake Baker's right hand twitched, and another wand slid from his sleeve into his grip. He swung it forcefully, about to summon a burst of flame to flush out the invisible enemy, when a sharp pain stabbed through his head, followed by an overwhelming fatigue that nearly knocked him unconscious!

"A curse! Targeting mental strength! On the ground!"

Nearby, Avada—hidden under a Disillusionment Charm and having just pocketed the confiscated wand—was holding his breath, watching the fake Baker's reactions. Professor Baker's voice echoed in his memory:

[As first-year wizards, your biggest gap with Aurors, aside from the number and skill of spells you know, is stamina and mental strength. A fully energized Auror can easily wear you down to exhaustion just by defending, without even attacking. So the first thing you need to do to defeat my fragment is to drain his stamina and mind.]

[Poison and curses are the best choice. As long as you take the antidote and cast counter-curses beforehand, they won't affect you at all. But the downside is they're easy to detect. However, if handled well, that detection can be used against him...]

[I once created a technique during my adventuring days, which I named 'Dual Casting'—it lets me wield two wands in battle, casting completely unrelated spells without interference. That's one of my trump cards for beating strong enemies. So you must knock away my first wand at the start of the fight to stop me from using it; otherwise, you'll face double the pressure... Don't think you can end the fight with a Stunning Spell right away—your spell power isn't strong enough to incapacitate me directly.]

[After falling into a disadvantage, I'll probably use a Bubble-Head Charm to block the poison, then Transfigure some grappling lines to stick to the ceiling and swing around like an ape to escape the ground curse, gaining aerial control while healing myself quickly. In that case, you need to...]

The next moment, the fake Baker's sleeves suddenly unraveled into several grappling lines that shot upward and stuck firmly to the ceiling. These lines yanked his body into the air, where he moved nimbly to dodge attacks, buying himself time to cast a Bubble-Head Charm over his head.

"Mr. Shafiq, what are you doing?! Why are you doing this?"

The fake Baker looked down at Baron on the ground, his voice heavy. But Baron said nothing, constantly shifting positions while firing weak, harmless jinxes upward.

Suddenly, several powerful spells shot out from behind a pile of debris, aimed straight at the fake Baker. He twisted the lines to dodge them.

"I was waiting for you!"

The fake Baker snorted coldly. "Precise and seasoned spells... So you're the one who coerced Mr. Shafiq into luring me here for an ambush? Is Hogwarts really this easy to infiltrate? I'll have to report this to the Headmaster afterward..."

"Who are you? A follower of Aethelred? A Death Eater? Or some other Dark wizard's subordinate I've killed?"

The invisible figure gave no reply, only silently firing one powerful spell after another at the fake Baker, seemingly unconcerned about exhausting his energy, forcing the still-recovering fake Baker to dodge constantly.

"Like a rat."

He snorted, a glint flashing in his eyes. "Looks like I'll have to put in some effort to flush you out."