The Winds Were Shifting

"Miranda, are you really that determined to win?" Xiwen asked helplessly, rubbing his forehead, which was red from being hit by a rock. "Why are you even using pebbles? They're making my head hurt..."

Miranda, however, seemed somewhat embarrassed.

"If I said... I didn't mean to throw stones at you, would you believe me?" she said weakly.

Despite their verbal exchange, the two spells remained locked in a stalemate in mid-air, neither of them showing any sign of letting up.

"Aren't you trying to interfere with my spellcasting?" Xiwen asked curiously, while adding more magical power to the fused lightning, pushing it a few inches toward Miranda.

Seeing this, Miranda increased the supply of magic to the Disarming Charm again, pushing the Xiwen Fusion Charm back to the very center between the two of them.

"What are you thinking? Do you think I'm the kind of person who would believe that a tiny pebble could interfere with an opponent's spellcasting?" Miranda gave Xiwen a reproachful look and said to him.

"Actually, I wanted to test if I could control the spell while casting a wandless Transformation with my other hand. But after throwing the pebble, I found I couldn't concentrate and couldn't Transformation at all, so it accidentally hit you on the head..."

Xiwen shook his head, both amused and exasperated.

Then, he looked at the pebbles that had fallen to the ground, and his eyes lit up.

He extended his left hand and easily used a basic Kamar-Taj spell to collect the pebble from the ground into his palm. Then, Xiwen tossed the pebble aside, looking at Miranda's forehead, which was covered by her bangs, with a half-smile.

"I surrender!" Miranda glared at Xiwen, then suddenly withdrew the Disarming Charm that was locked in a stalemate with Xiwen's fused lightning, and shouted to Professor Merrythought.

Miranda's sudden surrender surprised Xiwen. He quickly stopped casting the spell and asked her in confusion, "Miranda, you should have been able to sense it too. If you could have lasted a little longer, my magic would have been completely exhausted, and you would have been the winner."

"I know," Miranda said matter-of-factly.

"If that's the case, why did you admit defeat?" Xiwen asked, puzzled.

"I don't want to get hit by you," Miranda rolled her eyes and said casually. "Do you think I don't know you practice all sorts of fighting moves on the lawn northwest of the castle every morning? It would definitely hurt if you hit me, and I don't want to experience it."

After saying that, Miranda walked off the dueling platform on her own, leaving Xiwen alone on the platform.

As Professor Merrythought announced the final result of the duel, the entire arena suddenly erupted in enthusiastic applause and cheers, pulling Xiwen back from his dazed state.

As soon as he stepped down from the dueling platform, he was immediately surrounded by extremely enthusiastic Slytherin wizards and almost escorted to the Slytherin table the House-Elf had placed back in its original position in a very short time.

Besides that, Xiwen also vaguely heard Abraxas and Mobley talking proudly to others in the crowd--

"See that first place winner in the whole school duel? That's my roommate!" The two sounded extremely proud, as if they themselves had won first place.

Sitting in the very center of the Slytherin crowd, Xiwen finished his last dinner of November with an extremely stiff expression and movements, and then fled the Great Hall as if escaping.

Only when he reached the spacious Entrance Courtyard did he exhale deeply and feel relaxed.

Xiwen really couldn't stand being surrounded by a bunch of people asking him all sorts of questions and showering him with praise and flattery. It was just that it was Slytherin's nature to befriend people who could bring them benefits in the future, and Professor Slughorn, the head of Slytherin, was the most prominent example of this.

It was already quite cold at the end of November. Standing in the center of the Entrance Courtyard, you could see the dark night sky covered with thick clouds, as if a huge storm was brewing.

There was more than one person in the courtyard Xiwen; another figure seemed to have arrived earlier and was waiting for Xiwen's arrival.

Miranda sat on the railing of the covered walkway around the courtyard, leaning gently against a stone pillar, her feet dangling in the air, occasionally swaying slightly.

Seeing Xiwen approach, she smiled and greeted him.

"How does it feel to have the title of King of Duels at Hogwarts?" Miranda asked with a teasing smile.

"Don't even mention it, the Slytherin wizards' enthusiasm is a bit overwhelming for me." Xiwen sighed, then jumped up and sat on the railing next to Miranda.

"Actually, you should have been the winner of this duel," he said to Miranda. "The total amount of magic power within me is still far less than yours, and my spellcasting skills are not as good as yours either. I shouldn't have won the final victory."

Miranda smiled, not answering Xiwen's question, but instead asking in return, "Didn't you come to duel me to test your strength? Now that the duel is over, how did it feel?"

"So it seems my strength isn't bad after all," Xiwen laughed. "After all, to be able to fight the author of the <Book of Spells> without being defeated, that must surpass most wizards in the Wizarding World, right?"

"Then I thank you for the compliment!" Miranda said casually. "With you saying that, I feel more at ease about my abilities."

Silence fell between them.

Because of the cold weather, the white breath exhaled from Xiwen and Miranda's mouths and noses kept surging out, adding a slight ripple to the air.

"After Christmas, I will officially travel to the other side of the strait to participate in the coalition against the Pure-blood Party, and also to explore the future of the path of magic there." After a long silence, Miranda suddenly spoke.

Xiwen's eyes flickered, and he glanced at Miranda.

"Then let's work hard together!" Xiwen thought for a moment, then said with a smile. "I'll also go to the other side of the strait for Christmas. I hope we both have good luck."

"What are you going to do on the other side, Xiwen?" Miranda asked, looking at him with a puzzled expression.

"I want to go... and use my own strength to change the world!"

Xiwen looked up at the dim sky, his eyes and voice gradually becoming firm.

A bolt of lightning flashed through the thick clouds, illuminating half the sky, followed by a torrential downpour.

The world has changed!