In Hogwarts' thousand-year history, this was perhaps the very first time such an unprecedented event had occurred.
Three young wizards, still students, not even graduated yet facing off against a high-ranking Ministry of Magic official in the Great Hall. The notion seemed somewhat absurd and laughable on the surface.
Yet now, in this electric moment, no one in the crowd paid any mind to that perceived absurdity. Even Professor McGonagall, usually the most rigorous and rule-abiding teacher in the castle, hadn't voiced a single objection to this highly irregular event.
Her only dissatisfaction might have been that she couldn't personally teach this detestable Ministry woman a lesson herself.
Not a single professor showed any worry that the young wizards personally trained by Bryan for over a year would be harmed at Umbridge's hands.
Though they hadn't been directly involved in Bryan's intensive training program, hadn't observed the sessions firsthand, the professors regularly communicated with each other about their respective teaching situations during staff meetings. They had heard Bryan describe in detail the remarkable level these young wizards had reached under his guidance.
Without exaggeration, without any embellishment, even the regular professors excluding the House heads themselves, if facing the Physical Education students one-on-one in a duel and being careless or underestimating them, would suffer greatly.
And now it was three against one, three students working as a coordinated team against a single, overconfident opponent. There was nothing to worry about.
"Hey, lads! Ladies! Place your bets!"
Fred had somehow managed to pull out a large piece of parchment from his bag and called out excitedly to those around him in the Gryffindor section, waving it like a banner.
"Bet the old toad lasts a full minute—odds are seven to one! Forty to fifty seconds—five to one! Thirty to forty seconds—three to one! Twenty to thirty seconds—nine to one! Who wants in?"
Eager crowds immediately gathered around the twins, pulling out their money pouches. The prospect of winning galleons while watching Umbridge get humiliated was irresistible.
Harry grabbed seven or eight heavy Galleons from his pocket with fumbling fingers and stuffed them all into the bag George held open wide, saying through gritted teeth with fierce determination,
"I bet she only lasts one round! Less than ten seconds!"
"Oh, crafty little fellow, trying to strike it rich in one go, are you?"
Fred said with an approving grin, clearly impressed by Harry's aggressive bet.
"That's under ten seconds—quite ambitious! We can give you ten-to-one odds for that!"
"You're being a bit impulsive there, mate—"
Ron said with regret, watching the substantial pile of coins Harry tossed into the bag. He sniffed disapprovingly. "That's most of your spending money for the term!"
"No—"
Harry said stubbornly, his green eyes flashing with absolute certainty.
"I believe they can definitely do it!"
Such betting scenes weren't limited to one spot in the hall. Similar exchanges were happening at all four house tables, though Slytherin was particularly quieter. And the professors, all intensely focused on the stage and the combatants, deliberately didn't intervene or shut down the gambling.
Let the students have their fun.
The terrifying expression on Umbridge's toad-like face, twisted as if she wanted to devour someone alive, didn't frighten Hermione in the slightest.
In comparison to the challenges they'd overcome, Umbridge was far less frightening than a lively, fire-breathing dragon.
Meanwhile, Neville, also under Umbridge's menacing, hate-filled gaze, looked positively eager to try, bouncing slightly on the balls of his feet. He appeared as if he couldn't wait to begin the battle.
"Even the Wrackspurts don't like her," Luna observed in her dreamy voice, shaking her gold hair so the Butterbeer caps around her neck clinked musically. She removed her wand from behind her ear where she'd tucked it for safekeeping.
Her silvery eyes gazed at Umbridge with that distant look—that one simple sentence seemed to say everything that needed saying.
"I will prove to you that the magical education you've received thus far has been completely wrong!"
Umbridge said viciously. "Hogwarts' methods are outdated and dangerous! Educational reform at this institution is urgently needed, and I am here to provide it!"
But the three young wizards on stage paid absolutely no attention to her threats and bluster. In the brief moment before Professor Watson began, they huddled together and discussed their division of labor in quick, quiet voices.
"I'll handle defense and coordination, Neville, you're the main attacker and Luna, you're secondary attacker," Hermione said quietly, squinting with concentration as she analyzed their opponent.
"No objections from me, Hermione. Sounds perfect."
Neville said with a confident grin.
"Mm-hmm!" Luna responded with a light, agreeable nasal sound, twirling her wand.
"Well then!"
Bryan raised his voice, the sound cutting through the ambient noise. He looked with satisfaction at the three young wizards who, despite being watched by literally hundreds of eyes from every direction, showed absolutely no signs of nervousness or stage fright.
"Are you ready?"
Hermione tightened her grip on her wand. Luna spun her wand gracefully around her fingertips like a baton, releasing a few bright silver sparks that crackled and popped.
Neville's hand reached into his robes, ready to draw his wand at any moment for a fast-draw opening. All three gave clear affirmative responses.
"And you, Madam Umbridge?"
Bryan's lips curved into a faint, knowing smile.
"I feel it necessary to remind you, Madam Umbridge—failure means elimination from consideration. Hogwarts will not give you a chance for a 'retake' or a second attempt. This is your only opportunity."
Umbridge said nothing in response, only stared at him with ominouly.
Bryan knew exactly what she was calculating behind those bulging eyes. She was planning how to teach his selected students a brutal lesson, to embarrass him and all of Hogwarts' staff in front of witnesses, and then cleverly shift the blame for seriously injuring students onto him. After all, the proposal to duel students had come from his mouth.
"I'll count down from three, then you may begin," Bryan announced clearly.
At that precise moment, the Great Hall suddenly fell into profound silence. Everyone's gaze focused on Professor Watson's raised hand. Even the dust motes floating lazily in the afternoon sunlight seemed to freeze in place, suspended.
"Three... two... one... begin!"
The instant his hand dropped sharply, the frozen atmosphere in the Great Hall dissolved explosively.
The eruption of cheers and shouts nearly lifted the enchanted ceiling!
Apart from Bryan and Dumbledore, who remained perfectly composed, no one in the hall could maintain complete calm. The heads of the four houses and the other professors had already hurriedly abandoned the staff table and crowded eagerly to the very front of the stage to watch the action up close!
The instant Professor Watson announced the start, Hermione, Neville, and Luna's varied expressions became consistently blank.
This wasn't daydreaming or loss of focus. This was a manifestation of their concentration reaching its absolute peak, a state of pure combat awareness.
This special mental state had been painstakingly honed during their previous intense confrontations with Professor Watson in his spiritual world.
The casting speed of a first-class wizard and their mastery of advanced dueling techniques were beyond most people's imagination. Beyond what normal students could grasp.
Confronting Professor Watson in those training sessions had required their complete attention. The slightest distraction, the smallest lapse in focus, would bring intense magical pain and simulated 'death' that felt horrifyingly real!
Under the intense gaze of thousands of eyes, the three smoothly entered their battle-ready dueling state and immediately adjusted their formation with precision.
Neville quickly flashed behind Hermione in a blur of motion, while Luna, who had been standing casually beside Hermione, rapidly moved two steps away and positioned herself longitudinally between Hermione and Neville, creating a triangle.
This strange, unconventional positioning puzzled many inexperienced young wizards in the crowd. They whispered to each other, looking confused. But the Physical Education students who'd studied formations immediately understood the tactical purpose, their eyes were lighting up with recognition.
"They're actually using the 'assault formation'—"
Harry said bluntly to those around him.
"They're giving this pink toad too much credit, honestly. If you ask me, since Professor Watson set a time limit, an all-out simultaneous attack by all three would be most reasonable and efficient. They're perfectly capable of handling defensive spells and counter-attacks individually! They don't need this much caution!"
Harry thought the three were being unnecessarily cautious, overly conservative. However, Umbridge, their actual opponent on the stage, felt entirely differently about the situation.
One second ago, her mind had still been confidently imagining how to precisely deal with these three brats. She not only wanted to win beautifully and smoothly secure her entry into Hogwarts, but also, before Dumbledore and Watson could physically intervene to stop her, she wanted to brutally torment the three little brats.
Make them cry, break them.
Make those at Hogwarts who dared oppose the Ministry lose all face and credibility.
The next second, the sharp, predatory aura emanating from the three students in their tight formation rushed at her like a physical force. Though they hadn't yet closed the distance, though they were still meters away, Umbridge already felt suffocated.
They moved!
Even in their astonishingly fast forward movement, faster than she'd expected from students, the three maintained perfect integrity of their formation. Not a step was out of place.
The hidden oppressive force they projected made even Snape, who had mentally placed himself in Umbridge's position, slightly change color with surprise.
The exchange hadn't even begun, not a single spell had been cast yet. But in the crucial clash of momentum, of presence and fighting spirit, Umbridge had already been utterly defeated, was psychologically crushed.
She instinctively retreated half a step backward; her confidence was cracking. Having never undergone professional combat training, having spent her career in politics and paperwork, she followed her panicked instincts and randomly shot out a spell without proper aim or technique.
However—
Bang!
The air rippled slightly with displaced magic!
An Iron Armor Charm, shimmering and translucent, appeared as if it had been waiting there all along, positioned perfectly. It easily intercepted her poorly-aimed spell, deflecting it harmlessly to the side where it scorched the stage.
Pale-faced, Umbridge stared blankly at her blocked attack. The Triwizard Tournament champion, Hermione Granger was holding up her wand with steady confidence. She had cast that flawless Iron Armor Charm.
Only three seconds had passed since Watson announced the start of the match. Just three seconds!
And the three Hogwarts students had already crossed half the distance between the dueling parties, closing the gap with frightening speed!
The immense pressure tormented Umbridge's unravelling nerves. She couldn't understand why three brats recklessly charging at her would make her feel genuine fear. They were children!
Perhaps the extreme pressure triggered hidden potential she didn't know she possessed. Umbridge flung out three spells in rapid series, her wand arm was jerking—two aimed at Hermione, one at Luna.
"Attack! Now!"
The instant she caught and calculated the trajectories of the three incoming spell lights, Hermione made her tactical decision. Her clear voice rang out sharply like a bell, cutting through the noise.
Immediately, responding to the command with perfect synchronization, Hermione and Neville, who had been moving in a line, suddenly crossed positions in a blur of motion.
Neville flashed to the left in a wide arc, incredibly fast. Meanwhile Hermione appeared directly in front of Luna like a shield and swung her wand down sharply, forcefully dispersing the spell aimed at her teammate with a burst of light.
Using Hermione's body as perfect cover, Luna briefly disappeared completely from Umbridge's line of sight, vanishing from view. She flicked her wrist with precision, and several silvery 'notes' emitting sharp whistling sounds traced beautiful, deadly arcs through the air toward Umbridge's exposed left side!
At the same time, Luna and Hermione suddenly accelerated even more, moving in the same flanking arc toward Umbridge's left, as if to surround her from that direction. A pincer movement.
"Protego!"
Umbridge raised her wand desperately and shrieked the incantation. The incoming silver notes and the young witch flanking aggressively from the left involuntarily drew her vision and body toward the left side! She turned, focused there.
Clang!
Before she could celebrate blocking the 'notes' with her hastily-cast Iron Armor Charm, a crisp ringing sound from her right blind spot made her face change color instantly!
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