"Thank you, Professor McGonagall. You taught very well," Dudley smiled and thanked her.
"I know what it'd look like if someone else tried to learn these spells. You don't need to be so modest," Professor McGonagall said with a shake of her head.
If it were an ordinary wizard, never mind learning these two spells in one class... they probably wouldn't even understand what Apparition was about.
"You may go back now. Remember, use it with caution!" Professor McGonagall finally instructed.
"Alright." Dudley thanked Professor McGonagall again, then turned and left the classroom.
"His talent's already surpassed even a genius like Professor Dumbledore. I wonder what heights he'll reach in the future..." Professor McGonagall thought silently to herself.
Monday morning brought grim news. Word of Crabbe's attack had spread throughout the entire school. Everyone realised that even pure-blood wizards weren't safe anymore, filling Hogwarts with an atmosphere of panic and tension.
Fortunately, Professor McGonagall had the foresight to have professors take turns patrolling the corridors. That dispelled some people's concerns. Otherwise, many wouldn't even dare leave their common rooms.
But this wasn't a long-term solution either.
If Hogwarts couldn't solve this problem, it might very well have to close down.
Especially since Crabbe, who was attacked this time, had a pure-blood family behind him. The school was now facing tremendous pressure.
However, what surprised everyone was that even at this point, Professor Dumbledore still hadn't appeared. He seemed to have been missing for quite some time.
What surprised Dudley even more was that Lucius, who'd been clamouring to have Professor Dumbledore dismissed, hadn't jumped out to say anything at this critical juncture.
Obviously, he should know what Dumbledore was doing. That Dumbledore had sufficient reason not to be at school right now.
And this also meant that what Dumbledore was handling might be more serious than the problems Hogwarts was currently facing.
Early in the morning, when Dudley and the others passed through the entrance hall, they saw quite a few people gathered around the bulletin board, discussing something heatedly.
"Come and see," Seamus noticed Dudley and the others and immediately waved them over.
"They're starting a Duelling Club!" Seamus said excitedly. "Tonight's the first meeting. I definitely want to go see... might come in handy later."
"Right, are you going to participate?" Dean Thomas asked from the side.
"You don't think that learning some duelling will let you fight the Chamber monster, do you?" Ron pursed his lips.
"It's good to make some preparations. I don't want to be helpless when I really encounter the monster," Seamus said seriously.
"Maybe you could blow up that monster," Ron joked.
Seamus rushed forward and gave Ron a beating, making Ron immediately beg for mercy.
"Are you going?" Hermione seemed very interested.
"We could go take a look. Maybe we really could learn something," Harry said.
Recalling the scene of fighting those giant spiders in the Forbidden Forest, several people's faces became serious. If Dudley hadn't been with them, they probably wouldn't have been able to leave there alive.
In any case, being able to learn something would be good.
"Let's go take a look then. I wonder who'll teach us," Dudley said.
At eight o'clock in the evening, everyone gathered in the Great Hall.
The long dining tables had disappeared, replaced by a gilded stage, with hundreds of candles floating above for illumination. The ceiling had turned to velvet black, and almost all the students in the school had come.
After all, no one wanted to be helpless when attacked.
"Guess who's going to teach us?" Ron asked curiously, while giving his own answer. "I guess it's Professor McGonagall."
"Just don't let it be Professor Snape," Harry said casually. "Oh, and preferably not Professor Lockhart either."
"I guess it might be Professor Flitwick. I heard he was a duelling champion when he was young. It'd be perfect for him to teach us," Hermione said thoughtfully.
"Of course, if it's Professor Lockhart, that's not impossible either."
Harry immediately gave Hermione a questioning look, as if to say, Are you serious?
Hermione pretended not to see it. "Dudley, what do you think? Actually, I think you teaching everyone wouldn't be bad either. You've got talent in duelling."
Dudley glanced at the situation and said directly, "I think Harry might be right, but it's the opposite!"
"What d'you mean?" Harry and Ron were stunned.
But soon, expressions of despair appeared on both their faces.
They saw Professor Snape and Professor Lockhart appear at the entrance to the Great Hall at the same time, walking toward them.
"Oh! No!" Harry let out a despairing voice.
The two professors he least wanted to see were now all together.
Professor Snape still wore his black robes, unchanging for years, as if they'd never even been washed.
On the other side, Lockhart was dressed brilliantly. Purple robes, carefully styled hair, and that standard charming smile.
"I've got no hope for this Duelling Club anymore," Harry said, looking at the two on stage, completely giving up.
Ron nodded, deeply agreeing.
Only Hermione, looking at Professor Lockhart, had an intoxicated expression.
Under everyone's gaze, Lockhart gave a simple self-introduction, then launched into a long speech. Under Professor Snape's impatient expression, he finally began to demonstrate to everyone how wizards duel.
As expected, Lockhart was directly blasted away by Snape with a Disarming Charm and didn't get up for a long time.
"Professor Snape's strength is still pretty good," Harry said, seeing this.
Finally, Lockhart climbed up from the ground under everyone's concerned gazes. After straightening his clothes, his pale face squeezed out that signature charming smile.
"Well, everyone saw that... this was a Disarming Charm. I lost my wand."
"Yes, Professor Snape demonstrated this move to us. This was really wonderful. But don't mind me saying so... your intention to use this move just now was too obvious."
"When you raised your hand, I knew what spell you were going to cast. To be honest, if I'd wanted to stop it, it would've been effortless."
"But I thought, in order to let everyone see the effect of this spell, I'd rather sacrifice myself."
When Lockhart finished speaking, seemingly sensing Snape's murderous gaze, he quickly changed the subject: "Alright, next, let my student experience Professor Snape's strength and give everyone a demonstration."
"Dudley Dursley, you come up!" Lockhart directly pointed at Dudley in the audience, not giving Dudley any chance to refuse.