Gerald watched Winslet effortlessly fend off his barrage of attacks.
His left hand quietly slipped out two Mist Talismans and hurled them forward.
Thick fog instantly filled the passage, briefly robbing Winslet of her sight.
"Reducto! Confringo! Sectumsempra!"
With the aid of his Qi-Perception Spell, Gerald repeatedly flicked his wand at Winslet through the fog, launching a furious assault.
The three spells tore through the mist in rapid succession. This time, he successfully cast Sectumsempra's invisible blade of force with steady control.
But this was different from his ambush on Helena. Back then, Lupin had kept her occupied head-on, tying up most of her attention. Gerald had only needed to attack from the flank.
This time, Lupin was absent, and Winslet's attention was focused entirely on Gerald.
As a Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts, however poor her teaching might have been, her magical power and combat experience were far beyond what he could currently match in a direct confrontation.
Winslet soon deflected every one of Gerald's attacks with her wand.
"Tergeo!" Winslet waved her wand, sending a Whirlwind Charm swirling from its tip.
The gale swept up the fog and spun furiously through the secret passage for several seconds, restoring visibility in an instant.
Winslet stood a dozen meters away, her wand held across her body.
"Mr. Green, what excellent tactics. First, you blinded me with fog, then suppressed me with consecutive attacks. You executed every step beautifully. I almost want to award you points." Her voice had returned to normal, and there was even a trace of admiration in her tone. "Unfortunately, even the finest tactics are useless against overwhelming strength."
She began to wave her wand.
"Now it's my turn. Oppugno!"
The moment she finished speaking, over a hundred bullets of compressed air materialized around her.