Dueling Club Opens for Business

"What's wrong?"

Harry and Draco Malfoy were suddenly stopped by Eli.

Eli did not answer. He merely stared tensely at the dark figure on the ground, tightening his grip on his wand.

The dark figure quickly noticed the three newcomers as well and slowly raised his head. Most of his face was obscured, and silver blood still dripped from the corner of his mouth.

"Ah!!"

Draco Malfoy let out an especially shrill scream and grabbed the other two, trying to run. But he carelessly tripped over a tree root and fell to the ground.

"Ah, hss..."

The instant the dark figure raised his head, Harry felt a piercing pain shoot through the scar on his forehead. He clutched his forehead in agony.

Eli knew what that dark figure was: Quirrell, possessed by Voldemort!

Quirrell had let the Troll in on Halloween, Quirrell had cursed Harry during Quidditch, and Quirrell was the one who wanted to steal the Philosopher's Stone!

Voldemort had only a remnant soul left, his life incomplete, and he wanted to steal the Philosopher's Stone to restore his power.

Before obtaining the Philosopher's Stone, he had been relying on Unicorn blood to maintain his strength.

Of course, he knew the consequences of drinking Unicorn blood, but he had gone mad for power and survival.

A sickly green flash suddenly came hurtling toward them. Eli's pupils contracted as he desperately shoved Harry and Draco Malfoy aside.

He barely dodged the Killing Curse, his heart still pounding.

Fuck, that was ruthless. He opened with Avada Kedavra.

If Eli had not reacted quickly just now, they would have been finished right there.

It was not that he had forgotten to block with a spell. The main issue was that the Killing Curse could only be blocked physically; magic could not stop it unless he overpowered it head-on.

"Diffindo!"

Eli swiftly counterattacked, but he had no intention of getting entangled with him. The other side could cast the Killing Curse with Silent Casting, so what did Eli have to fight him with when he still had to stupidly recite incantations?

After firing off the attack, Eli quickly cast a Shield Charm on himself, Harry, and Draco Malfoy.

Fang had already run off. Eli could only hope Hagrid would arrive soon.

Another green flash came flying at them. Eli controlled a fallen tree trunk on the ground to block the spell.

Boom!

The powerful spell blasted the trunk apart, sending wood chips flying everywhere.

"Stupefy!"

Eli struck quickly, trying to catch his opponent off guard while the wood chips obscured his vision.

But his opponent was no pushover either. A Shield Charm directly knocked Eli's spell away.

Eli did not know whether Voldemort or Quirrell was controlling that body now. In any case, the opponent's strength was not something he could contend with; even with two more people, it would have made no difference.

"Get out of here! Go get help!"

Eli swiftly erected several barriers, then turned and urgently shouted at the two on the ground.

But they could not bear to leave. Harry even wanted to pick up his wand.

"Draco, take him with you! Don't throw your lives away!"

Draco Malfoy was jolted awake by Eli's roar. After struggling for a moment, he pulled Harry up. "Be careful!" Then he ran off with Harry.

Seeing the two leave, the dark figure let out a roar and quickly chased after Harry, firing several spells as he went.

It seemed his primary target was Harry!

Eli darted in front of him. "I'm your opponent! Stupefy!"

Under extreme tension, Eli began releasing his magic without restraint. Every spell he fired carried considerable force.

The dark figure again tried to knock away Eli's spell as he had before, but he had underestimated a wizard artilleryman!

The instant the spell struck his wand, it actually knocked the wand from his hand.

The dark figure staggered back again and again.

"Useless trash!"

Eli faintly heard an angry roar. The dark figure convulsed, then stretched out a hand, and his wand flew back into his grasp.

Eli was not about to stand there and let him act.

"Reducto!"

The dark figure dodged somewhat awkwardly. Having witnessed that absurd spell just now, he did not dare take it head-on.

The battle seemed to have turned around.

Yet Eli's expression grew even more solemn.

"Avada Kedavra!"

"Reducto!"

The two of them continuously poured out magic, their spells forming lightning-like beams of light that clashed together!

A large stretch of forest was illuminated by the two colors of light, and explosions continuously rang out where the spells collided.

Eli felt the immense force transmitted through his hand and poured out magic as though it cost nothing.

The dark figure was not having an easy time either, veins bulging on his hand.

In terms of magical power, Eli was not much weaker than him. But the opponent's spell was extraordinarily condensed, and it cut through Eli's power like a blade through tofu, forcing Eli back!

Cold sweat covered Eli's forehead, and his hand trembled nonstop. Even so, the Killing Curse continued pressing closer and closer toward him.

Suddenly, hurried and chaotic hoofbeats sounded nearby. Perhaps unwilling to fight to the death, the dark figure suddenly burst forth and brutally severed the connection between their spells.

"Fuck..."

Eli had no strength left to react and was directly blasted away.

He landed ass-up in an extremely embarrassing position.

The dark figure turned to leave.

At that moment, Ronan and Firenze arrived with the other centaurs, just in time to see Eli with his ass in the air.

"Ah, I'll fight you to the death!"

Having fallen flat on his face and then been seen, Eli flew into a rage from humiliation. He fired several Reductos in the direction the dark figure had fled, and a series of explosions rang out.

The centaurs were left awkwardly speechless, and Firenze hurried over to restrain Eli.

Hagrid arrived as well, carrying a crossbow and accompanied by Harry and the others. Seeing the centaurs there, he breathed a sigh of relief and lowered the crossbow.

But when he saw Firenze seemingly holding Eli back while Eli struggled, Hagrid thought they were in conflict and immediately stepped forward to explain.

"Oh, he's my friend! He means no harm, he's very friendly!"

"You son of a bitch! Come on, fight me again! I'll beat your asshole to pieces! Fuck! Shift!"

Eli's furious shouting came from nearby.

Hagrid: "..."

"This... he's not usually like this..."

Hagrid suddenly did not know what to say.

Ronan knew Hagrid had misunderstood and stepped forward. "It is not as you think. He is our friend too. He just fought that person who attacked the Unicorn, so perhaps... he is still angry?"

After that incident, the patrol of the Forbidden Forest was immediately called off, and everyone returned to the castle.

No one mentioned what had happened in the Forbidden Forest again, but something good was about to happen.

The Dueling Club officially opened!

The notice board was packed with people. Everyone was extremely interested in this suddenly appearing Dueling Club.

An empty classroom had already been arranged as a dueling venue.

The place was packed, with Professor Flitwick and Eli standing on the dueling platform.

Professor Flitwick looked especially different today. He was dressed very smartly and gave off a sharp, formidable air. The young wizards marveled at their professor's unusual appearance.

"Ahem..."

Professor Flitwick cleared his throat, and the surroundings fell silent.

The professor looked incredibly energized. "Welcome, students. I am your Professor Flitwick. In order to promote communication among students, in order to... blah blah blah."

He spoke for over an hour, so passionate and so endlessly talkative.

The students below were nearly asleep.

"Now then, let us invite the president of our club, Mr. Hall, to say a few words."

At last, it was Eli's turn.

Eli cleared his throat in a rather convincing manner. "Ahem... I... um... the Dueling Club is officially established!"

He could not think of anything to say even after racking his brains, so he might as well declare it established and get it over with. He was tired.