Chapter 172: Chapter 175: It Seems Like It's My Own Fault
Harry's attention was entirely on the dueling platform.
This was the first wizard duel between students!
Harry, like many young wizards, was curious and eager to see how powerful this student, Wilson, whom upperclassmen feared, truly was!
"Percy, go for it!"
The Weasley twins waved their arms, loudly cheering for their brother. "Defeat Wilson! Percy, you can do it!"
"..."
Percy took a deep breath.
Although he knew the odds of losing were high, the cheers from his brothers relaxed this Gryffindor student a little.
Of course, he would never have expected that as soon as the twins finished cheering, they started whispering to each other.
Fred leaned close to George's ear and whispered, "George, let's bet. How long do you think Percy can last?"
"Twenty seconds? No more than that."
George casually responded.
Angelina Johnson gave the twins' heads a light slap and scolded them, "What are you doing, you guys? You should have a bit of faith in Percy, your own brother!"
"But..."
The twins hesitantly glanced at the other person on the dueling platform. Since entering Hogwarts, this gray-haired boy had been someone all students had to respect.
"..."
Angelina followed their gaze and fell silent, especially seeing how serious Wilson looked on the dueling platform.
After a moment's thought, she shook her head, "This is just a friendly duel, not a real fight. Percy is two years ahead of us and Wilson. Maybe he can last thirty seconds?"
It was a bit sad.
Even in Gryffindor, few had faith in Percy.
"Let's begin!"
Professor Flitwick earnestly announced the start of the duel.
With Professor Flitwick's command, Wilson and Percy simultaneously gripped their wands in front of their chests, their eyes locking. One looked relaxed, the other serious.
The next moment, they bowed to each other.
After Professor Flitwick's countdown, Percy moved first, his wand flashing out!
"Protego!"
He casted a Shield Charm, surrounding himself with a magical barrier to block any incoming attacks!
"A very good Shield Charm!"
This was a common tactic in wizard duels!
Casting a Shield Charm in advance allowed one to attack their opponent without restraint for a while!
Professor Flitwick nodded approvingly at Percy and clapped vigorously. "Gryffindor, ten points..."
Boom!
The sudden noise was startling!
Before Professor Flitwick could finish, a spell shot out like a meteor, shattering Percy's Shield Charm instantly!
He was hit by the spell's residual force, flying backward. He couldn't believe he had lost so quickly!
This duel ended too quickly!
As Percy was about to crash, his body was suddenly suspended in midair, floating gently as if he would be hung upside down...
This felt familiar...
This use of the Levitation Charm...
"..."
All the students couldn't help but look at Wilson.
The victor on the platform seemed to realize where he was. He slowly used the Levitation Charm to lower Percy to the ground.
"One hit shattered the Shield Charm's defense!"
Professor Flitwick clapped again, explaining the brief duel. "Whether it's Percy knowing to use the Shield Charm in advance or Wilson's powerful spell breaking it, they both deserve applause! That was a splendid duel!"
"..."
The Great Hall erupted in applause.
It seemed like Professor Flitwick was trying to save Percy's reputation, as he was always considerate of his students' feelings.
"Percy only lasted three seconds..."
Fred and George exchanged glances, feeling relieved they hadn't taken the stage. "He is really bad at this..."
As the students discussed the short duel, Professor Flitwick called for quiet and arranged for other students to come up for demonstrations.
As a former dueling champion, he understood the dangers of wizard duels and didn't let students practice alone. Instead, he randomly paired them for demonstrations, highlighting their strengths and weaknesses.
This method was quite safe.
When two students used dangerous spells, Professor Flitwick casually used a Finite Incantatem to end their duel.
The students were pleased with this dueling club gathering. Many young wizards watched their seniors using various spells with admiration.
Wilson stood among a group of Hufflepuff students, arms crossed, casually commenting on the duels. "Those flashy hexes aren't very effective. In theory, you need to be familiar with three spells: Protego for defense, Reducto to break Protego, and Expelliarmus to disarm your opponent..."
"..."
The Hufflepuff students nodded in agreement.
These were pointers from the strongest student at Hogwarts.
As Wilson was speaking, he noticed Professor Quirrell gesturing for him.
"I'll go see Professor Quirrell."
Wilson headed towards Professor Quirrell, telling the others, "Stay here and watch for a while. I might be late getting back to the dormitory..."
Usually, when Professor Quirrell called him, there was a lot to do.
After meeting with Professor Quirrell, he would definitely have to report to Dumbledore. Hopefully, they weren't asking him to fetch unicorn blood again.
Lately, whenever Professor Quirrell and Voldemort needed unicorn blood, Wilson would take the silver cup straight to Dumbledore's office. Dumbledore would then have Professor Snape secretly collect the blood in the Forbidden Forest without Hagrid knowing...
To be honest, Wilson was a bit worried.
If in the future, Harry Potter and his friends were punished and sent to patrol the Forbidden Forest, they might find Snape instead of Voldemort...
That would be hard to explain.
Luckily, Voldemort didn't need unicorn blood all the time.
Professor Quirrell's request was peculiar this time. He wanted Wilson to bring Harry to a specific place...
"I need... you to bring Harry out."
Professor Quirrell made his request seriously, emphasizing quietly, "This is... the master's order... to take him to a secret place..."
This was unavoidable.
Originally, the dueling club was meant to train Harry Potter, but now there were too many students, making it unsuitable.
To specifically train Harry, Voldemort instructed Professor Quirrell to ask Wilson to take Harry to a secret place for wizard training.
Wilson frowned, "Dumbledore would never agree to this... he'll definitely notice..."
Honestly, whenever they discussed Dumbledore, Wilson felt like a mediator between Voldemort and Dumbledore.
And it was true.
"Then... find a way."
Professor Quirrell, looking nervous, stammered, "The master... wants you to find a way... to make Dumbledore agree..."
"..."
Voldemort was really demanding!
As Wilson was feeling a headache coming on, Professor Quirrell added, "In any case... Harry Potter is very important to the master... you must help train him..."
After saying this, Professor Quirrell left.
Wilson's eyes twitched.
Of course, Harry was important to Voldemort...
If he remembered correctly, Professor Quirrell and Voldemort didn't treat Harry this well in the original timeline.
Everyone knew Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor Quirrell favored Harry, always giving him extra points in class... But after interacting with them, he realized something was off about Professor Quirrell and Voldemort.
Originally...
Professor Quirrell and Voldemort always tried to harm Harry!
Now...
These two...
Why were they being so nice to Harry?
They even wanted Wilson to help train him, clearly intending to make him stronger?
What was going on?
Weren't they supposed to be arch-enemies?
When did the magical world change without him noticing? Did something go wrong?
Why was Voldemort acting like this? Was this Voldemort a time-traveler or something? He didn't fit his usual character at all!
As Wilson pondered, he noticed Harry by the dueling platform, clutching his forehead. Tonight, his scar kept hurting...
That scar...
Was a fragment of Voldemort's soul!
Also a sign of Voldemort's Horcrux!
Wilson's eyes gleamed.
All the Horcruxes Voldemort made had been destroyed or were under his control.
Except for Nagini, which Grindelwald was searching for, possibly Voldemort's future Horcrux. Now, it seemed Harry was the only secret Horcrux left...
If someone killed Harry...
Wait...
Was this why Voldemort was protecting Harry?
Wilson's eyes narrowed, feeling like his own actions had forced Voldemort to protect Harry's life. An ultimate villain forced to protect his most hated enemy...
Thinking about it...
There were many ways to exploit this situation.
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