Chapter 27
"Why—why not! We're all from the same family. I haven't disturbed your practice at all. So why won't you let me be alone with my practice?" Cedric stumbled a bit at the start, but quickly slipped into his role.
"Why not?" The student playing the "villain" paused for a moment, momentarily forgetting his lines. But he remembered the story's background—his job was simply to mock and oppress the "Cedric" in front of him and drive him away.
With that in mind, he improvised "You're a Squib who can't even cast a single spell. Standing here, you'll only drag everyone else's morale. You should understand your situation better than anyone else."
At that moment, Lucian's low whisper reached his ear "Use the Binding Curse on him. Let this Squib who dares to defy you taste your power."
The student hesitated, glancing at Lucian, who gave an encouraging nod; gritting his teeth, he decided to go through with it.
Cedric was about to say something when he saw the person in front of him raise his wand.
"Petrificus Totalus!"
The flash of light struck the defenceless Cedric, binding his arms behind his back and tying his legs tightly together. Lucian waved his wand again, and a large tree shot up from the ground.
His impressive spellcasting left the students so stunned that they even forgot to react to Cedric being attacked. In the next instant, Cedric realized his viewpoint was rising higher and higher—he had somehow been bound with his hands behind his back and hoisted upside down into the tree.
At the same time, Lucian's voice rang out across the sky, serving as a narrator.
"A mere verbal dispute, and Ryan Johnston treats his fellow clansman Massey this way. Others who can't stand it any longer step forward."
Following Lucian's cue, five students emerged from the side, looking slightly nervous as they recited their lines "Ryan, How can you do that to a fellow family member? get him down this instant!"
At the same time, another five students stepped forward from the opposite side.
"What's wrong with what Ryan said? Does a Squib even deserve to study magic with us?"
The off-screen narration sounded again.
"The atmosphere on the field is so tense that a full-scale battle seems inevitable."
"Everyone, use the spells you're most confident in. Find a way to defeat the opponents in front of you—your performance will determine how the story continues!"
It was unclear who fired the first shot, but in an instant, the entire scene descended into chaos.
To Lucian's relief, after a month of teaching and practical drills—combined with the fourth-years' decent baseline abilities—they at least avoided the kind of fistfights that lower-year students might have devolved into.
But as for performing well... watching them attack relentlessly without any concept of evasion, Lucian couldn't help but sigh.
There was still so much to teach; These students had no understanding of footwork or the rhythm of combat.
He had already taught them the Impediment Jinx and demonstrated its various uses, yet when faced with incoming spells, why did they still stand there stiffly and take them head-on?
Was it because, when fighting magical creatures, they only ever faced low-threat beasts that relied on close-quarters combat? By the time the fight ended, not a single student remained standing.
Some were grinning maniacally like lunatics—that was the effect of the "Tickling Charm" variant, "Rictusempra." Strictly speaking, a spell like Rictusempra could be classified as a curse, a form of dark magic, right?
If no one intervened or the victim didn't know the counter-curse, it could literally make a person laugh themselves to death.
On one hand, such a dangerous spell circulated freely around the school. On the other hand, Professor McGonagall forbade Lucian from teaching students any offensive dark magic.
The contradiction felt rather bizarre.
Lucian shook his head to clear the stray thoughts, casting counter-curses to lift the dark magic while handing potions to the injured students.
"There is no victor. All ten of you have lost the ability to fight, but for the side who seek justice for Massey, this is undoubtedly a crushing defeat." Lucian's narration rang out once more. "Because of their defeat, Massey Johnston, no one is left to help you. You must remain hanging from the tree until someone else discovers you and pulls you down.
"Furthermore, regarding the conflict between you and your cousins, your uncles or even your parents might assume you were the instigator and punish you by sending you to the family's long-abandoned library."
Cedric nodded, uncomfortably rubbing his wrists—the sensation of being restrained and displayed high in the air for all to see was truly unpleasant. The other students, having worked up real anger during the earlier fight, now eyed each other with lingering hostility.
Cedric remained suspended as everyone gathered around him. If they hadn't known this was just a play, it would have felt genuinely uncomfortable. In front of the entire class, Lucian announced the previous month's scores for "Theory and Practice." Cedric took first place by a wide margin.
Faced with the prize—a pair of alchemical dual pistols, one long and one short—he hesitated before choosing the white short-handled one.
But since he was still hanging, he couldn't take it. Lucian thought for a moment, then casually tossed Cedric's gun to the student playing Ryan Johnston.
???
Cedric, who had been hanging calmly until then, instantly hit red mist. In that moment, he fully immersed himself in the role and genuinely wanted to kill Ryan on the spot!
"There's no helping it. The wizarding world is just this harsh. When you face a villain without power, you can't even protect the things you cherish."
"Of course, reality isn't a play. With a teacher like me, I naturally won't let you end up this miserable."
With a shift in tone, Lucian lowered Cedric from the tree amid his flushed face and pulled out a brand-new alchemical weapon, handing it to him.
Realizing Lucian had only been joking, Cedric scratched his cheek with a finger, somewhat awkwardly saying "Professor, could I switch to a different style?"
After that white gun had been touched by someone else, he suddenly didn't want the same model anymore.
"Of course." Lucian was a little surprised but nodded. It seemed this student wasn't as indifferent to everything as he appeared on the surface—he had his own inner convictions.
His actions this time had been a bit rash.
But the goal had been to stir their emotions, and in that sense, it had succeeded.
"Alright, let's move on to the next scene."
"The Squib Massey Johnston, while cleaning the library, discovers a dust-covered wand. To his astonishment, he finds that through this wand—even as a Squib—he can actually gain the ability to cast spells.
One month later, it's the day where the family head will bestow the reward according to the younger member's duelling capabilities.
The top three will receive extremely valuable potions and the very best among them will receive—" Lucian pulled a bottle of golden liquid from his pocket—"five drops of Felix Felicis."
Gazing at the exquisitely beautiful golden liquid in his hand, even the usually calm and gentle Cedric felt his heart pound uncontrollably!
Note : Drop Powerstones.
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