"Hooray!"
"I love watching real duels."
"This is fantastic! I never expected this Defence Against the Dark Arts class to be so interesting."
The students, who originally held no hope for this class, were now all genuinely excited.
Defence Against the Dark Arts should be teaching them how to deal with real dangers, actual Dark Magic, not just having them memorise knowledge from textbooks. That would be completely useless.
"Very well," Dudley said, standing up and walking onto the platform.
He was also curious to discover whether this Lockhart possessed real talent and knowledge or was just an attractive fraud.
Lockhart's descriptions of some scenes in his books were still relatively accurate, very much like personal experiences, except for the combat descriptions, which contained too many theatrical elements. The rest was reasonably well-written.
If he was just adding some artistic flourishes when describing combat, then overall this professor might still be qualified.
"Haha, Dudley, you don't need to be nervous. We're just doing a simple demonstration. It definitely can't compare to real dangerous situations," Lockhart displayed a broad smile and addressed everyone present.
Looking at the expectant faces below, Lockhart felt very satisfied with himself.
Although Dudley was somewhat troublesome and had criticised quite a few aspects of his work, as long as he dealt with Dudley convincingly, the others naturally wouldn't question him anymore.
Besides, he could also learn about that Dragon Knight versus dark wizard battle from Dudley. Although he couldn't copy it completely, he could adapt it. Change the setting to another country, and it could easily become another bestselling novel.
Thinking of this possibility, Lockhart became genuinely excited.
He temporarily moved all the furniture on the platform aside, creating enough open space.
The students below had all stood up by now, afraid of missing any details of the upcoming demonstration.
"Everyone watch carefully. This is a very rare opportunity. You should know, I've never demonstrated actual combat techniques in front of others before. You are the first to witness this. It's truly your honour!" Lockhart said, not forgetting to emphasise this while displaying his trademark charming smile.
"Alright, Dudley, what you need to do is very simple. Just attack me according to the actions described in the book."
"Let's start with a wolf howl," Lockhart instructed.
Dudley's mouth twitched slightly, but he still howled once according to Lockhart's request.
"Not bad, but the sound is a bit quiet. Louder, please," Lockhart critiqued.
Dudley gritted his teeth and howled again, more loudly.
"Good, very good. You howl quite realistically," Lockhart finally nodded with obvious satisfaction.
Below the platform, Ron whispered to Harry, "I feel like Dudley's eyes are about to murder someone."
"There's going to be quite a show. I've never seen Dudley look so humiliated," Harry replied with anticipation.
The two watched the scene on stage like they were observing entertaining theatre.
Since coming to Hogwarts, Dudley had always given them the impression of being mature, steady, and possessing a wise temperament.
This was the first time they'd witnessed Dudley howl like a wolf in front of so many people. It was really completely out of character for him.
"Excellent. Next, Dudley, I'll suddenly pounce at you and pin you to the ground," Lockhart explained his plan.
"Professor, may I resist?" Dudley asked with deceptive politeness.
"Of course, you can certainly resist. You're a werewolf now, an irrational werewolf. Use your strongest power," Lockhart said confidently, waving his wand.
"But I should remind you, you can't use a wand. You're a werewolf now. Do you understand what I mean?" Lockhart added with obvious smugness.
"Understood perfectly," Dudley nodded and clenched his fists meaningfully.
"Very good. Come on, bare your teeth..." Lockhart looked at the expressionless Dudley and instructed.
"You don't look like a werewolf at all."
Dudley clenched his fists even tighter, then opened his mouth to show his teeth in a menacing grimace.
"Yes, much better. Now you look more like a proper werewolf," Lockhart nodded approvingly and continued speaking to the audience below. "Next, students must watch very carefully. I'll demonstrate this technique once."
"When I pounce at the werewolf, I'll cast a Shield Charm on myself. This way I can prevent being bitten by the werewolf. Also, believe me, I only need one hand to completely subdue a werewolf."
"How absolutely shameless," Harry muttered under his breath.
The current 'werewolf' was just a second-year student. If this person weren't Dudley, Harry believed Lockhart would hardly need to expend any effort to subdue them.
After all, the supposed power gap between a second-year student and a werewolf was enormous.
Lockhart repeatedly emphasising this point was just manipulating concepts, making people equate Dudley with an actual werewolf.
"Professor, can we start now?" Dudley couldn't help but ask with growing impatience.
"Yes, yes, we can start immediately. I need to let everyone see my movements clearly so they can learn proper technique," Lockhart said with theatrical importance.
"Ready, Dudley? I'm going to pounce at you now," Lockhart said to Dudley with confident smugness.
"Ready," Dudley replied with ominous calm.
"Very good."
As Lockhart's words concluded, he suddenly pounced at Dudley while waving his wand and chanting a protective spell.
"Protego!"
Just as Lockhart made his move, Dudley also moved with lightning speed.
His velocity reached the extreme as he suddenly stamped on the ground and charged directly at Lockhart with devastating force.
He didn't use magic, nor did he employ beyonder abilities.
Actually, under the enhancement of dual sequences, Dudley's physical strength was already exceptionally high. He completely didn't need to use magic or beyonder abilities to enhance his natural power. After all, this was just a classroom demonstration, not genuine combat.
A thin, shimmering barrier sprayed from the tip of Lockhart's wand, forming a defensive shield around his body.
"Students, watch carefully. This Shield Charm..." Before his words could finish, Dudley's fist had already arrived, directly smashing through that thin defensive shield, then continuing unabated to slam into Lockhart's chest with a sickening crash.
Crack...
The next moment, Lockhart's body flew backward through the air, crashing into the stone wall behind him, then falling heavily to the ground with a dull thud.
At this moment, the entire classroom fell into stunned silence. Everyone stared at this scene in complete shock, unable to speak or even breathe properly.
Their new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, that bestselling author, the supposedly powerful wizard who had experienced numerous thrilling battles, recipient of the Order of Merlin Third Class and honorary member of the Dark Force Defence League, Professor Gilderoy Lockhart, had been sent flying by a single punch from a second-year student.
"Professor! Professor, are you alright?" With a scream of alarm, several students closest to Lockhart hurriedly ran over to check on the extremely pale and motionless figure.
Intense pain radiated from Lockhart's chest, but to maintain his dignified image, he squeezed out a very twisted expression that was supposed to be a smile. "I'm... I'm perfectly fine..."
"Oh my! Professor Lockhart, your ribs are broken!" Hermione cried out in genuine alarm after examining him.