Parting the Fire

While Xiwen was still in a daze, Moody had already started speaking on stage.

"Rozier, although I know I'm probably no match for you, I still want to give it a try," Moody said. "The Aurors spirit my parents instilled in me from childhood won't allow me to admit defeat!"

"Then let's go." Xiwen shook his head helplessly, stood up from his seat, and walked up the steps to the third-year dueling platform.

As they reached the steps of the dueling platform, Xiwen casually grabbed two mana-restoring potions from the shelf and asked Moody, "Don't you need to rest for a bit or have a drink?"

Without saying a word, he tossed a bottle to Moody and secretly kept a bottle for himself in the Pocket Watch Space.

Xiwen has suffered from insufficient magic power for a long time. Ever since he entered Hogwarts in his first year, he has been too young and would occasionally overdraw his magic power when encountering danger...

If he had known earlier that Professor Slughorn could concoct this Potions, why didn't he stock up on several bottles in his Pocket Watch Space?

'With all the 50% off coupons for my family's property, it's not unreasonable for me to ask the professor for a mana restoration potion, is it?' Xiwen thought to himself.

Of course, he wouldn't tell Professor Slughorn that even at a 50% discount, the Rosier Family wouldn't lose money...

Moody didn't refuse; he took the medicine, gulped down a large mouthful, and then generously tossed the bottle off the stage.

Then, a scream suddenly came from the audience—

"Moody, you did this on purpose!" Abraxas's voice came from below the stage.

Xiwen instinctively turned to look in Abu's direction and found him clutching his head, glaring angrily at Moody on the stage. Right at his feet was the empty bottle of the mana-restoring potion...

"Would you believe me if I said I didn't mean it...?" A hint of embarrassment appeared on Moody's fierce, round face as he quickly apologized to Abu.

However, Abu had no intention of forgiving him. Instead, he turned to Xiwen and shouted, "Xiwen, teach Moody a lesson for me, for the glory of Slytherin!"

Xiwen's lips twitched. He had a feeling that Abu wanted him to beat Moody badly so he could come up and take second place...

However, the professor, who was acting as the referee, did not give him much time to think and quickly had the two begin the ritual of bowing to each other before the duel.

Following the dueling etiquette taught in Dueling Class, Xiwen held his wand upright in front of his chest and swung it diagonally to the side, while bowing to Moody.

Moody performed the same dueling ritual, then solemnly pointed his wand at Xiwen.

After the referee counted to three, the two moved simultaneously.

"Expelliarmus!"

"Protego!"

As always, Xiwen recited the incantation to end each duel, while Moody, based on his previous combat experience, had already anticipated Xiwen's Disarming Charm and quickly used the Shield Charm to block it in front of him.

However, the level of this Shield Charm seemed to be on a completely different level from Xiwen's Disarming Charm. The transparent barrier that Moody had just set up in front of him was shattered by the red-glowing Disarming Charm in a very short time.

Fortunately, the Shield Charm slowed down the Disarming Charm by a second, and Moody used that second to roll away from the red light.

"Great! Finally, a strong fighter has appeared in the third-year group who wasn't instantly killed by Xiwen!" Mobley, who had somehow appeared next to the dueling platform, excitedly shouted as he temporarily took on the role of commentator.

Abu's expression was not good. He grabbed Mobley's school uniform hood and asked, "Why are you so excited that Moody wasn't instantly defeated?"

"It's the first time I've seen someone not get instantly killed, so I'm a bit surprised." Mobley chuckled awkwardly, then suddenly looked at Abu and asked, "Why are you so anxious just because you saw Moody last a little longer than you against Xiwen?"

Abu: "..."

The situation on the dueling platform continued to change. Moody, still lying on the ground after rolling over, turned and cast a Stunning Spell on Hope, trying to catch him off guard.

However, Xiwen's combat experience was so rich that he easily dodged Moody's Stunning Spell by simply turning his body to the side.

Then he raised his hand and Transformation Moody's robe, which was hanging loosely behind him, into a snake. This snake dragged Moody off the dueling platform in a rather comical way.

These are some practical application techniques of Transformation that Dumbledore had taught in previous Dueling Class. Xiwen modified them slightly, creating this somewhat comical way to defeat his opponent.

"Alright, Moody only lasted one more round than you. Are you satisfied now?" Seeing that Xiwen had won easily, Mobley turned to Abu and said.

"Not bad. If I had used the Shield Charm right from the start, I might have been able to last another round against Xiwen." Abu nodded proudly, but his words lacked any real power.

At this moment, Xiwen also stepped down from the dueling platform and mercilessly exposed his weakness. "Judging by the strength of your Shield Charm, you probably won't be able to withstand my spell for even a second."

Abu: "..."

After dealing with Moody's challenge, Xiwen was completely idle, as no one else was willing to challenge him.

Seeing this, Xiwen sighed and leisurely went to watch the duel between the older students.

At this moment, a fierce duel is unfolding on the dueling stage for seventh graders.

On one side was a Ravenclaw witch with gray hair, blue eyes, and metal-framed glasses; on the other side was a Slytherin wizard with red hair and a slightly large nose.

The two exchanged a dazzling array of colorful spells, which danced like flowing light, leaving the audience below the stage dazzled and overwhelmed.

Before they knew it, a large number of idle young wizards had gathered around the dueling arena for the seventh graders, watching the exciting duel between the two on the stage with amazement.

The young Slytherin wizards spontaneously began cheering for the male wizard, shouting his name.

"Pruitt! Pruitt!..."

Hearing the cheers from the Slytherin side, the young Ravenclaw wizards, not to be outdone, began to cheer for the witch as well.

"Goshawk! Goshawk!..."

However, Ravenclaw has the fewest students among the four houses, so they are relatively weaker in terms of presence.

Seeing Slytherin's performance, the young wizards from Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, two houses that didn't particularly like Slytherin, also started cheering for the witch, causing shouts of "Goshawk" to completely drown out shouts of "Pruitt."

Xiwen thought about his relationship with Miranda, then glanced at the green shirt on his collar, and felt that it wasn't appropriate to cheer for anyone, so he decided to stand quietly in place and not join the others in shouting.

Amid cheers, Ignatius revealed a confident smile, and for the first time in this fast-paced duel, he used a vocal spell—

"Incendio!"

A raging, fierce fire ignited at Miranda's feet, quickly forming a circle that completely enveloped her.

Seeing this, Miranda gently waved her wand, creating a transparent barrier around herself to keep the fire out.

Ignatius swung his wand forcefully, manipulating the fierce flames to make them grow larger and larger, as if they were about to scorch the heavens and the earth.

The flames gradually engulfed the barrier that Miranda had erected.

"Give up, Goshawk," he shouted at the sea of fire that had already formed ahead. "Your Salvio Hexia won't last long; there's no need to fight it out."

However, Miranda had no intention of giving up.

As Ignatius focused on the sea of fire, an almost invisible spell silently pierced through the flames and struck him.

Then, a large bat suddenly emerged from Ignatius's nose. The pain from his nostril made him frown immediately, and also distracted him for a moment.

At that very instant, a very magnetic female voice rang out from the sea of fire—

"Partis Temporus (Partis Temporus)!"

The flames surrounding Miranda suddenly split open, as if deliberately creating a passage for her.

Miranda gracefully emerged from the flames, her wand pointing at Ignatius, who had just recovered from his shock.

"You're the one who lost," she said with a smile.