Cedric gave him an "OK" gesture, then turned and walked away from this side.
After dinner, lingering in the dormitory for a while, Harry and a few of his friends headed up to the eighth floor together.
Sure enough, Cedric was waiting there, beside him was a brown-haired girl with freckles all over her face.
"Shh." Harry made a silencing gesture and said to Cedric, "Let's go in first, we can introduce ourselves after we get inside."
Cedric nodded in agreement—after all, this was not exactly the time to hang around the eighth floor.
Harry stood under the painting of Giant Troll Beating Foolish Banaba, pacing back and forth for a few steps, silently thinking to himself, I need a Duel Room...
Soon, a big door appeared under the painting.
"Cool." Cedric couldn't help but sigh. Before he could say more, Harry dragged him straight into the Dueling House.
Once inside, Harry told Cedric, "Welcome to the Dueling House. Let me introduce everyone first—these are the core members from last term, all from Gryffindor: Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Seamus Finnigan, and Neville Longbottom."
"Hi, everyone." Cedric beamed as he introduced himself, "I'm Cedric Diggory from Hufflepuff, and this is my good friend, Megan Jones."
Everyone applauded their welcome. After the clapping, Harry cleared his throat.
"Everyone's gathered here to help each other grow and master dueling skills together," Harry began. "The goal of our dueling practice is not just to improve our dueling skills, but also to prepare for possible encounters with Dark Wizards in the future."
"So... Cedric, Miss Jones." Harry said, "Would either of you like to step up and demonstrate a duel with me?"
"I'll do it." Cedric drew his magic wand and walked onto the Dueling Platform.
Harry also got up and said to Ron, "Ron, you'll be the referee—Cedric, you know the rules, right?"
"I understand." Cedric performed a duelist's salute. "We start when the referee counts to three, right?"
Harry also bowed and nodded to Cedric.
Ron raised his hand high into the air.
"Three..."
"Expelliarmus!"
Before the word was even finished, Harry flicked out a spell and hit Cedric directly.
The magic wand flew high in the air, landing right into Harry's hand.
Cedric looked slightly stunned—he hadn't expected Harry to break the dueling rules like this. The "three" hadn't even finished, and Harry had already fired off a Disarming Spell.
"Just as I said, Cedric," Harry returned the wand to him. "We prepare in the Dueling House for real encounters with Dark Wizards—and Dark Wizards are naturally cunning and shady. They don't care about so-called etiquette, so... sticking rigidly to the rules can easily be one reason you lose."
"Got it." Cedric nodded seriously. "Let's do it again!"
"Alright, this time we'll actually count to three." Harry raised an eyebrow at Cedric.
Ron raised his hand high again.
"Three..."
"Expelliarmus!"
This time Cedric was the first to cast, but his spell was knocked aside by Harry, who quickly returned the favor with another Disarming Spell.
Cedric hurried to respond, and in a fluster he used Armor Protection to block as Harry cast the spell back at him.
But Harry showed no intention of holding back; his spells came so fast that it was hard to keep up.
Cedric was a bit overwhelmed, and eventually a spell struck his hand—once again, Harry disarmed him.
"You really are strong." Cedric wasn't discouraged, his eyes burning with fighting spirit.
Harry smiled and said, "This is just some basic dueling skills—at school, we don't really get taught much about this, probably because the Professors of Defense Against the Dark Arts have been so unreliable."
"Yeah." Cedric thought for a moment, then sighed, "You know, since I started school, we've had four Defense Against the Dark Arts professors—and except for Lockhart, none of them could even be called competent."
"Why does the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor change every year?" Hermione suddenly noticed the oddity.
"Because that position is cursed by You-Know-Who," Ron sighed, explaining to Hermione. "Back then, You-Know-Who came to Hogwarts looking for work—he wanted Principal Dumbledore to hire him as Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts. Dumbledore refused him."
"Since then, You-Know-Who held a grudge and cursed the position. Anyone who takes the post is bound to leave after a year—either by dying or other 'accidents.'"
"Merlin, he's awful." Hermione muttered indignantly, "Just because he couldn't get the job, he won't let anyone else have it? That's so petty!"
"Tell me about it." Ron shrugged.
Harry arched his brow. About Voldemort not getting the job of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor...
Strictly speaking, Voldemort did do the job at Hogwarts in his own way—not the bit about Voldemort stuck on the back of Professor Quirrell's head, but that one-on-one "lesson" Voldemort gave Harry last term's final exam.
At the very least, Harry thought that practical lesson was top-notch.