"Ever since I first laid eyes on you, I've disliked you. Later, when Father gave you one of our family's most precious magical artifacts, the Pure White Pocket Watch, just to keep you stable, I became even more disgusted by your existence.
Today, here you are, in Bulstrode Manor, in my home, provoking me and injuring my servants. No matter what Father says, I'm going to teach you a proper lesson."
Sean looked at Borrell, observing that expression on his face. It was the look of someone forced to act due to being provoked and offended. A Snape-like mocking sneer crossed Sean's features as he replied, "My dear uncle, just as you said, when I first met you, I disliked you just the same.
Besides, whether you'll be teaching me a lesson today or I'll be teaching you one, that remains to be seen!"
Once upon a time, Sean had given himself a plan of four to five years to ensure he could protect his parents and himself, avoiding harm to his family from Borrell.
Now, after two years, standing before Borrell again, Sean was confident he could protect himself and even defeat this blood-related uncle who had served as his goal two years ago!
"Marcellus, take your mother and step back."
"You two should also get away from here."
Doris, Marcellus, and the two servants all retreated, clearing space for Sean and Borrell.
The moment they stepped back, both Sean and Borrell wasted no words and immediately attacked each other.
Borrell's opening move sent several deep purple streaks of light from his wand, crisscrossing through the family hospital corridor and weaving toward Sean.
Seeing this, Sean's figure instantly vanished. He crouched low, moving with extreme speed and agility through the corridor, dodging Borrell's attack. He kicked off the wall, his body soaring upward, pressing one hand against the ceiling to quickly descend, avoiding Borrell's second wave of attacks. The instant he landed, Sean crouched low again, evading Borrell's third assault while thrusting his wand forward, casting a spell at Borrell in that same moment.
"Confringo!"
This third-level Blasting Curse, learned from Voldemort's soul fragment in the diary, was so powerful that Borrell's expression changed the instant Sean cast it. He immediately transformed into a white light mist and rapidly retreated.
The bright yellow flames of the Blasting Curse surged forth, exploding instantly at Borrell's previous position, forming a massive fireball that spread along the corridor in both directions.
It was fortunate that both combatants had cleared away their companions before the duel began, or this single Blasting Curse would have been enough to severely injure them.
Wand in hand, Sean watched Borrell rapidly retreating as white mist. He raised his hand and swung it forcefully downward. A blue-white light accompanied his wand's movement, radiating from Sean's body and spreading along the corridor walls. These lights expanded rapidly, catching up to Borrell's light mist form in the blink of an eye. At that moment, stone and earth hands suddenly emerged from the walls at tremendous speed, reaching down to grab at Borrell's misty form.
Bang! Bang! Bang...
Stone and earth hands extended from walls, floor, and ceiling corners, continuously grasping at the mist. But the mist was fast and agile, escaping the encirclement of these stone hands in an instant, transforming back into Borrell's true form as he raised his wand toward Sean.
"Stupefy!"
Striking second but arriving first, Sean pointed his wand at Borrell and cast a Stunning Spell.
"Expelliarmus!"
Two red lights collided and exploded between them.
Sean's wand moved again, and blazing flames poured from it, churning and rolling before him to form seven fireballs that shot toward Borrell in succession.
A combination of flame charm and transfiguration.
Though Sean currently couldn't perform precise elemental transformations, simple effects like condensing flames into fireballs were entirely within his capabilities.
Boom boom boom...
The fireballs exploded, but all were blocked by Borrell's Shield Charm.
Watching Borrell easily counter his attacks, a thought suddenly occurred to Sean that was somewhat unrelated to the battle. Earlier, when his father had grabbed Borrell from behind, choking his neck, knocking away his wand to prevent him from using it or speaking incantations, and then beating him with his fists, at that time, Sean hadn't realized Borrell's true magical abilities were so formidable.
At the same time, Borrell's situation proved another point.
A wizard's body was actually not much different from an ordinary person's, or perhaps exactly the same. The vast majority of wizards, or rather almost all wizards, would die immediately if their throats were slit, necks broken, or hearts pierced, just like ordinary people.
In other words, if one could get close enough, just a small dagger could kill a wizard, even if that wizard was famous throughout the magical world, even if that wizard represented nightmares in everyone's minds.
While Sean pondered these thoughts, Borrell transformed into white mist again, bursting through a nearby window to emerge outside the family hospital. Sean followed closely, though he didn't use his flying ability that required the smoke rope charm, instead relying on his powerful physique to charge out in the direction Borrell had taken.
Bang!
Sean landed on the ground, his wand moving without the slightest hesitation, flowing smoothly as he cast spell after spell like a violent storm toward Borrell.
After the previous battle, Sean had roughly gauged Borrell's strength. In terms of spell proficiency and power, Borrell exceeded Sean considerably, but with the help of his agile and swift spellcasting, Sean compensated for the gap between himself and Borrell, making them roughly evenly matched.
At this moment, Borrell's wand moved continuously, blue-white halos blooming to block Sean's spells from reaching him.
Seeing this, Sean suddenly pointed his wand at the ground. The earth immediately began to sway like the ocean's surface, and following Sean's wand movements, the ground rolled up into waves of earth and stone, one after another, surging endlessly toward Borrell.
The waves of earth and stone approached Borrell's position but suddenly stopped there. Beneath the ground where Sean couldn't see, numerous root systems had penetrated the earth, preventing Sean's transfiguration from continuing to control the soil and stone, causing his offensive to collapse entirely.
Simultaneously, Borrell raised his wand high, and numerous thorny vines as thick as large trees burst from beneath the ground, sweeping toward Sean's direction.