"Silent wandless spellcasting?" Snape's expression was extremely ugly. He never expected to be ambushed by Dudley and had completely failed to anticipate that Dudley could perform silent wandless spellcasting. This wasn't something a second-year child could do.
"What's going on? What happened?"
"What was that about?"
"What just occurred?"
The students below all showed bewildered expressions.
Everything that had just happened on stage... they hadn't reacted to it at all and couldn't understand it.
They'd clearly seen Snape casting magic and were about to succeed, but at that moment, he was suddenly hit by a red light that came from nowhere and was instead disarmed.
Looking at Dudley's side, he'd seemingly done nothing at all. Just standing there like a fool. He hadn't used his wand, nor had he recited any incantations. He seemed to just be standing there prepared to receive Snape's spell.
Yet under these circumstances, Snape had become the one who was disarmed.
His wand had even flown into Dudley's hand.
Many people couldn't understand what had just happened. Only some upper-year students showed thoughtful expressions, having caught some clues.
"Dudley... was that silent wandless spellcasting?" On stage, Professor Lockhart asked with a shocked expression, even forgetting to show his signature charming smile.
"Yes, Professor," Dudley openly admitted it.
When competing with a wizard of Snape's calibre, in situations where beyonder abilities weren't used, silent wandless spellcasting was the most effective method. Unexpected and extremely fast to cast.
"My goodness, you actually did it," Lockhart couldn't help but exclaim in amazement.
"Cheating! He cheated!" Malfoy shouted loudly from below, not having heard what Lockhart said at all.
"That's bullshit! He cheated!"
"Cheating!"
Many Slytherins hadn't seen clearly what happened and just heard Malfoy shouting about cheating, so they joined in shouting together.
"You're the one cheating! Don't talk nonsense if you don't understand," Ron and Harry loudly retorted.
When they saw Dudley not waving his wand, they already knew what Dudley was going to do.
And the result was indeed as they'd expected.
"Professor Snape, your house students seem to have some objections. Do you need me to explain to them?" Dudley asked with a smile.
Snape's expression was already very ugly, but with so many people watching, he couldn't actually say Dudley was cheating. He clearly understood what advanced magical techniques Dudley had just used.
"Shut up, Malfoy!" Snape barked.
Only then did the Slytherins quiet down.
"Professor..." Malfoy urgently wanted to say something.
"Dudley used a silent spell and can cast wandlessly. I indeed lost," Snape explained with an iron-blue expression.
Hearing this, Dudley smiled at Malfoy.
"Malfoy, not convinced? How about you come up and we duel? What d'you say?" Dudley invited.
Malfoy's expression turned ugly. He didn't dare go up.
Even Snape had been disarmed by Dudley. Going up himself would just be asking for trouble.
"Silent spells! My god, he actually knows silent spells."
"And he didn't even use a wand. This is a very advanced magical technique... even I don't know it."
The speaker was a sixth-year student. Obviously, the magical talent Dudley had just displayed was beyond what even some upper-year students could match.
Some who understood a bit began explaining to those around them what Dudley had just done. After learning about the methods Dudley had used, almost everyone let out sounds of amazement.
Many people knew Dudley was excellent, but hadn't witnessed it personally. This time, they truly saw Dudley's magical abilities. It definitely wasn't just talk.
"Can second-year students already do this level of magic now?"
"How're we supposed to live?"
"I suddenly feel like these past few years at Hogwarts have been wasted."
At this moment, those upper-year students all felt what it meant to be thoroughly beaten down.
"Wonderful, absolutely wonderful!" Lockhart's voice boomed across the hall.
"Mr Dursley actually defeated Professor Snape, the Head of Slytherin House. This is truly shocking to me."
"In the duel just now, Mr Dursley displayed advanced magical techniques, using silent spells and wandless casting... something even ordinary adult wizards can't do."
Lockhart showed his charming smile and winked at the audience below.
"However, I should mention that I happen to be able to do this as well."
Seeing Snape's murderous gaze fall on him, Lockhart quickly shut up.
"Alright everyone, for the remaining time you can pair up and practise."
"Of course, I think we could also invite a few students up on stage to demonstrate for everyone."
After Lockhart finished speaking, he looked at Professor Snape.
Snape frowned, but soon looked toward Malfoy.
"I'll do it, Professor," Malfoy volunteered. As long as it wasn't against Dudley, he was still confident.
"Harry, how about you and Malfoy have a match?" Lockhart immediately said.
Another Slytherin versus Gryffindor showdown.
"Fine!" Harry hardly hesitated before immediately agreeing.
Snape didn't wait for Lockhart to continue and directly went on.
"Goyle, you go with Ron."
"Parkinson, you go with Granger."
"I think your little dream team should be broken up," Snape sneered.
Hearing this, all the students below seemed to smell gunpowder in the air.
Snape had just been embarrassed, and now it seemed he wanted to rely on Malfoy and the others to regain face.
In everyone's impression, Dudley's magical talent was indeed very high, but Harry hadn't shown much magical talent. As for Ron, he was about the same as Harry.
And Hermione Granger... she was excellent at book learning, but in this kind of practical combat, she might not necessarily beat pure-blood wizards who'd been exposed to magic since childhood.
"Very well, Professor," Pansy Parkinson showed a nasty smile. She'd never liked that mudblood Hermione, and what made her even more angry was that Hermione far surpassed her academically. Today she finally found an opportunity to deal with Hermione in a real wizard's duel.
"Come at me, Weasley," Goyle cracked his knuckles with loud pops.
Without Dudley, weren't these three just there for them to handle as they pleased?
"You're about to learn what happens when you face your betters, Scarhead!" Malfoy pointed his wand at Harry and made a throat-slitting gesture.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at each other and all saw the smile in each other's eyes.
They were delivering themselves right to them.