Draco decided to spend his entire precious hour that day dueling Sains.
He wanted to prove to this young man that his theory had considerable practical value in combat.
Sains readily agreed.
The two took over from Crabbe and Goyle. The two lackeys were still at the stage of spamming a single spell at each other until one of them died; they had not even learned the spell counters Draco had taught them.
Draco's palm was rather small. Placed in the center of the stone slab, it looked like a pattern on a piece of clothing.
"You could try putting both hands on it," Sains suggested.
Draco thought he was being insulted and snorted. "There's no need."
Sains was using Hufflepuff. The kindly female founder wore a forgiving smile, and before the match, she even kissed the earth beneath her feet with her wand.
Draco was still using Slytherin.
On the screen, the opening animation flashed past.
Neither hesitated. Both attacked at once, knowing that humility and elegance in a game were words that only came into play after victory.
Sains controlled Hufflepuff, whose round, sparsely adorned wand flashed coldly as a jet of flame burst from its tip.
Incendio!
Draco had studied this. Nearly sixty percent of players opened with this spell to test their opponent, because it cost little mana and ranked among the highest-damage minor skills.
Anticipating it, he had been ready to cast his counter from the moment the game began.
Aguamenti!
Also a minor skill, Aguamenti dealt very little damage, but its advantages were an even lower mana cost and a suppressive effect on fire spells.
A pool of clear water swirled out of Slytherin's wand, instantly extinguishing Hufflepuff's flames. Draco had spent less mana in this exchange, clearly coming out slightly ahead.
Moreover, after winning the clash, a fair amount of excess water splashed onto Hufflepuff.
Draco gave Sains a provocative glance.
But Sains showed no sign of panic. He stared unblinkingly at the screen, as though nothing else existed.
The disadvantage of attacking first was that the opponent could predict or react to the attack. Sains could not possibly have been unaware of this. He had chosen to attack first, using the extremely common Incendio, because he already had a follow-up ready.
Growth Charm.
Hufflepuff's character trait granted a ten-percent bonus to the effects of creature- and food-related magic, which included the Growth Charm.
Hufflepuff bent down on the screen, and clumps of wildflowers and grass instantly sprouted. Among them were thorn bushes and Biting Cabbages that Draco recognized, as well as strange-looking plants he did not.
This really was a gap in his knowledge.
But most plants feared fire. Draco wanted to use Incendio, yet worried that Sains already had a water-related spell waiting for him. He hesitated, not attacking.
Meanwhile, the Hufflepuff under Sains's control never stopped moving.
She waved her wand constantly, and small animals appeared at her feet: badgers, rabbits, snakes, and even a Niffler. Together, they attacked Slytherin.
Summoning Charm.
Faced with the surging army of animals, Draco did not know how to respond for a moment.
Single-target spells could only clear them one at a time, while area spells cost too much mana and required preparation time. No matter how he looked at it, he would have to lose both health and mana.
"Damn it, Hufflepuff is seriously overtuned."
Draco tried to counter with Serpensortia, but a single snake did not last three seconds against the opposing animal army. Besides, Hufflepuff's character trait already favored summoning spells; he was no match for her even one-on-one.
The wizards watching behind them could not help clicking their tongues in wonder.
"That's disgusting. A stall build-put up a plant wall, then hide behind it and churn out an animal army."
"A playstyle with no wizard overlord soul."
"So Hufflepuff is this strong? I was saying earlier that her summoned animals were no different from anyone else's, since they all got one-shotted."
Looking at his guaranteed victory, Sains mechanically churned out animals with one hand controlling Hufflepuff, finally finding a chance to spare some attention elsewhere.
He turned toward the crowd behind him and said, "It's a little slow, but nobody has broken this strategy of mine yet. There's much more to this game's brilliance than that. Just as water-related spells counter fire-related spells, water-related spells can also help wood-related spells take effect. Look at the plants in front of me. They grew this lush because of Slytherin's Aguamenti."
"You can do that?"
"Why do I feel like I've been playing it all wrong?"
Draco was under immense pressure. He could not keep letting these animals chew through his health, so he spent most of his mana to unleash an area spell.
Thunderstorm!
Lightning swept across the screen. The animals caught in it dissolved into motes of light. The Aguamenti cast earlier increased Thunderstorm's range, but an area spell was not a full-screen attack, after all. Hufflepuff, hiding behind the plants, continued leisurely releasing all sorts of animals.
Someone raised a question. "Wait, why isn't Hufflepuff's mana ever running out?"
Sains himself answered with a soft chuckle. "The Summoning Charm has a chance to summon the magical creature Niffler. While it's alive, it slowly restores its master's mana."
"You can play like that? Doesn't that make her invincible?"
"This game is way too unbalanced!"
The crowd immediately grew noisy, all of them discussing ways to beat the strategy. Sains did not care in the slightest, declaring that his strategy guaranteed victory one hundred percent of the time.
"Save up some mana. Health is the least useful thing."
A steady voice suddenly came from the crowd. Lorne had stepped beside Draco and quietly offered the reminder.
He had not wanted to interfere in someone else's match, but Sains's strategy would make people mistakenly believe his game was unbalanced. And since Sains himself seemed not to mind anyone stepping in at all, Lorne had no choice but to deliver a dimensional strike.
"You can put both hands on it. That makes the mana connection more efficient."
For some inexplicable reason, Draco did as he was told. He could feel that with both hands on the slab, most of the lag between his thoughts and Slytherin's movements had disappeared.
But Slytherin on the screen had already had most of his health chewed away. The outcome of the match seemed beyond doubt.
"The Niffler won't stay around forever. The animals' attacks only count as minor-skill attacks and don't cause hitstun. A single fire spell can actually destroy the plant wall, while casting the Summoning Charm leaves a long recovery animation."
Lorne watched Slytherin's health, his voice overlapping with Draco's actions.
"Now!"
Draco instantly understood what Lorne meant.
He drove Slytherin forward, completely ignoring the small animals on the ground. Even as his health kept dropping, he continued closing in on Hufflepuff.
A casually cast Incendio burned away the plant wall, instantly leaving Hufflepuff, who had been casting behind it, with nowhere to hide.
At that moment, Hufflepuff was still casting the Summoning Charm.
Draco gave a sinister smile.
Then let me show you Slytherin's full-mana seamless combo, the one I stayed up late at home working out!