Old Grudges
BOOM!
A reddish explosion completely covered the spot where Lockhart was standing.
Ron immediately raised an arm in front of his face while Hermione took a step back.
"Did that hit him?" Ron asked.
"I don't know."
Hermione tried to look through the smoke.
Mark, on the other hand, didn't even wait to find out.
He pulled two more vials from his robes.
"Depulso!"
The smoke exploded out to the sides.
Lockhart appeared in the middle of it completely unharmed, his wand extended and a furious expression on his face.
"I'm sick of your stupid vials!"
"Wow, I can tell you're different. The old you probably would've died just now," Mark said mockingly as he threw the vials in his hands.
Lockhart immediately moved his wand toward the first one.
"Reducto!"
The vial exploded.
But this time Lockhart didn't make the mistake of staying there. He immediately jumped to the side as its contents spread across the floor.
A thick black substance covered the floor and walls, but barely touched Lockhart.
The second vial passed over his head, making Lockhart let out a mocking smile.
"You missed."
"That arrogance alone tells me you're the real one," Mark said indifferently.
CRASH!
The vial struck the ceiling, and a rain of yellowish liquid fell over Lockhart.
"Protego!"
The liquid struck the barrier and began sliding down around him.
Lockhart frowned.
Nothing happened.
Then he heard another sound at his feet.
CRASH!
A third vial had shattered against the floor. The blue liquid inside immediately began mixing with the black substance already surrounding him.
Crack.
Lockhart looked down.
The mixture began to glow.
"What...?"
An intense cold swept through the area, and instantly, enormous spikes of ice erupted from the floor and walls.
Lockhart's eyes widened.
The sharp points pierced through his magical shield as if it wasn't even there.
But he quickly twisted his wrist.
"Incendio!" he shouted forcefully.
A large amount of fire burst from his wand and began surrounding him like a dome.
Mark raised an eyebrow slightly.
Then smiled.
"Useless."
The flames touched the substance still covering the floor.
Lockhart's eyes widened.
BOOM!
All the fire around him violently exploded.
Chunks of ice were sent flying in every direction without even having the chance to melt, while Lockhart was thrown several meters backward.
His body slammed violently into one of the walls.
Mark took advantage of that moment to pull another small vial from his robes and hold it between his teeth.
"Professor!" Hermione shouted on reflex.
Ron looked at her.
Hermione went silent for a second.
"Sorry, force of habit," she said, somewhat embarrassed, while at the same time looking at Mark with quite a bit of interest. How he could fight using nothing but potions was something she'd never seen from a wizard before.
Ron also couldn't help being amazed by how cool this guy looked.
But their thoughts were immediately interrupted when several pieces of stone fell to the floor.
Lockhart got up from the ground. Part of his robes were burned, and blood was running down from his forehead.
His face seemed to be trying to show that same calm and arrogance as always, but he could barely contain his anger.
"That..." he muttered as he touched the blood on his face. "That could've ruined my face," he said as he stared at Mark and adjusted his torn robes.
Mark raised an eyebrow.
"So, did you learn anything else over the years, or just that?" he asked mockingly.
Lockhart gritted his teeth.
"Yes, many things. But the best one of all is..."
The little calm he was still trying to maintain disappeared completely.
"Avada Kedavra!"
A green flash shot toward Mark.
"Watch out!" Hermione and Ron shouted, knowing there was no way a potion like the ones before could stop that spell.
But Mark, without any concern, simply gave the floor a light stomp.
Instantly, the liquid he'd thrown earlier, which had been bubbling as it mixed with the nearby floor tiles, suddenly erupted, lifting them up and creating a shield of tiles in front of him, protecting him.
And at the same time, he pulled the cork from the vial in his mouth with his teeth and drank the liquid in one gulp.
Lockhart only saw the tiles rise and stop his Avada, so he flicked his wand again.
"Bombarda!"
The spell changed direction and struck the floor in front of Mark, sending the tiles blocking his view flying.
But when the dust began to clear...
Mark wasn't there.
"What?" Lockhart said in confusion, quickly looking around with his wand raised and completely on guard.
But that wasn't enough, because he suddenly felt something grab his wrist.
Then he saw Mark slowly begin to appear from an invisible state.
Mark gave him a mocking smile.
He immediately grabbed Lockhart's wrist, twisted his arm, and punched him directly in the stomach.
Lockhart doubled over in pain.
Mark took advantage of the moment to grab Lockhart by the head and drive his knee into his face, making his head snap back with blood pouring from his nose.
"My nose!" Lockhart shouted.
But before he could worry much more about it, he saw another fist coming toward his face.
BAM!
Lockhart fell onto his back.
Mark calmly walked toward him.
Ron and Hermione waited for another vial.
Mark simply crouched down.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
Both of them went completely silent.
The elegant battle of magic and potions had just turned into a completely one-sided beating.
A few seconds later, Mark finally stood up and let out a tired sigh.
"That finally settles my grudge from back then. Though you certainly improved compared to before, you're still the same weak idiot," Mark said calmly, looking at the utterly beaten Lockhart at his feet.
Then his gaze, which had been resting on Lockhart with satisfaction, suddenly changed.
Mark frowned.
Something glowed beneath Lockhart's torn robes.
"What...?"
He moved closer again and, without the slightest bit of care, pulled open his robes around the chest.
There, several reddish lines glowed beneath his skin.
Mark stared closely as the lines slowly appeared, connecting with one another until they formed a pentagram over his chest.
But it didn't look like a simple tattoo.
The lines slowly brightened and dimmed, almost as if they were following Lockhart's heartbeat.
A pentagram.
"This... why does it look familiar? And since when have you had this, Gilderoy?" he murmured.
Mark was about to touch the pentagram when he heard hurried footsteps approaching through the corridor.
He immediately turned.
Sirius and Snape appeared, quickly making their way toward them, strangely not arguing with each other like they normally did.
Both of them stopped the moment they arrived.
They looked at the destroyed walls.
The remains of the potions.
Ron and Hermione.
Mark.
And finally, the unconscious and bloodied Lockhart lying on the floor with his robes pulled open.
Neither of them asked what had happened.
"Where are Harry and Percy?" Sirius asked immediately.
"Where is Potter?" Snape asked almost at the same time.
"You finally made it. I was starting to wonder if this useless idiot had somehow managed to keep you busy too. The security at this school really disappoints me," Mark said disdainfully.
But seeing the seriousness on both their faces, he put the sarcasm aside and pointed toward the enormous hole not far from there.
"They were already gone when I got here, but knowing those two brats, I'd bet they decided to play hero and went in there after whatever that monster is."
Sirius and Snape looked toward the enormous hole.
Neither of them needed Mark to say anything else.
"Let's go," Sirius said, taking the lead.
Against all expectations, Snape didn't make any comment. He simply started following him.
"You two go ahead. I'll deal with this guy," Mark said calmly as he looked back at Lockhart. "I still need to hear a lot from him when he wakes up."
Sirius briefly looked at Mark before nodding and continuing.
Mark, meanwhile, looked back toward Lockhart or, rather, toward that tattoo.
For an instant, he almost remembered something.
A building.
People dressed in red.
His expression changed slightly.
But just as quickly as it appeared, the memory disappeared again.
"Tsk."
Mark looked away in annoyance.