The demonstration duel between Kyle and Moody was, to these clueless students, quite literally:
A small knife slicing a pig—it opened their eyes wide, folks!
First, Moody had attacked with a sneak attack, ignoring all rules of fair play despite having explicitly counted down from one to three.
If Ravenclaw's Head of House, Professor Flitwick, had been here to witness their battle, he absolutely would have beaten Kyle to a pulp for launching into random teaching right after Moody's initial sucker punch.
He probably would have pummeled him while roaring: Weren't we supposed to be having a wizard's duel?! Where has your sportsmanship and fair play gone!
To a duel master like Flitwick, the behavior displayed by both Kyle and Moody was an absolute, blatant provocation.
Wizard duels were supposed to observe the rules of dueling.
Dark wizards, however, didn't care about any rules.
What they were much more likely to do was—
When enjoying a numerical advantage: We practitioners of the dark arts don't need to discuss chivalry or martial honor with these righteous paragons—everyone charge together!
When lacking a numerical advantage: Aren't you supposed to be righteous paragons?! What kind of honor is there in gang-pumping us, if you've got guts, step up for a single combat!
Never pick a fair fight if you can outnumber the enemy; never fight fairly if you can ambush and backstab...
Therefore, this style of teaching by Kyle and Moody was precisely the most suitable way to train Aurors or prospective Acolyte reserves.
An ominous, thick black mist, almost on the verge of condensing into physical form, spewed from the tip of Moody's wand, looking as though it intended to swallow Kyle whole.
"That's about enough, Professor Moody," Kyle said, though his hands didn't slow down for even a fraction of a second.
A silver-white honeybadger surged out from the tip of Kyle's wand, and the radiance radiating from its body instantly forced the black mist back.
After circling around Kyle once, the honeybadger charged fiercely toward Moody in the distance.
Moody let out a cold snort. "A Dark wizard like you is actually capable of casting the Patronus Charm."
Dark lines covered Kyle's forehead. Open your own dog eyes—no, your magical eye and take a good look—which one of us looks more like a Dark wizard right now?!
Moody flicked his hand, casting a Blasting Curse that instantly shattered the silver-white mist-formed honeybadger into a sky full of starlight.
Taking advantage of the blinding glare generated the moment the Patronus burst, Kyle made his move.
He twirled his wand in his hand and then jerked it upward—this was the opening motion for the Disarming Charm.
For wizards of Kyle and Moody's caliber, casting basic spells like the Disarming Charm didn't actually require sticking to hand gestures, nor did it require verbalizing the incantation aloud.
However, both men tacitly chose to display the casting gestures right before the students' eyes. If circumstances permitted, clearly speaking the incantation aloud was even better.
They did this solely so the students down below could actually understand this battle.
Otherwise, had they utilized various advanced casting techniques throughout, the students would have seen nothing beyond glowing arcs of electrical light darting back and forth like welding sparks across the arena, learning absolutely nothing from it.
"Expelliarmus your dog life!"
A crimson beam, thick as an adult's thigh, pierced through the air like a thunderbolt the exact instant Kyle's voice finished falling.
Even though Moody possessed a remarkably powerful Magical Eye unaffected by the blinding glare, the Shield Charm he threw up before himself in the blink of an eye functioned roughly like a decoration, failing to obstruct this Disarming Charm for even a thousandth of a second.
BOOM!
A terrifying explosion, sounding like a clap of thunder, resounded through the classroom.
Moody, who had still been standing on the arena platform a second earlier, vanished instantly, leaving behind only a bare, claw-like wooden prosthetic limb on the ground.
The students below the podium all wore looks of utter bewilderment: ???
So the question was, where had Professor Moody gone?
A series of glass-shattering sounds came from the side wall. Following the noise, the students looked over and discovered that one side of the rectangular, transparent cubic barrier that had enclosed Kyle and Professor Moody was now crawling with spiderweb-like cracks.
At the center of the cracks was a vague human silhouette.
Because the barrier was translucent, the students couldn't see clearly, but that didn't stop them from recognizing the general shape of the outline.
Because the wall behind also bore the exact same human silhouette.
This silhouette seemed to... also be missing a leg?
Mhm, and it was clutching a walking stick in its hand.
It was Professor Moody, confirmed without a doubt.
Kyle waved his hand, dismissing the barrier while restoring the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom to its original layout.
Before repairing the wall, he didn't forget to toss Moody's claw-shaped prosthetic leg back through the humanoid silhouette in the wall.
A moment later, Moody limped back into the room from the neighboring classroom, grumbling curses while leaning on his walking stick.
As he walked, he rubbed his chest, clearly having taken a heavy blow from that last "Expelliarmus your dog life."
After resting for a good while, Moody finally caught his breath.
"Alright," Moody said, his fierce gaze pressing down upon every single student seated below the podium. "Combat like what you just saw is far too distant for you. Let's start by learning things a bit more fundamental."
"According to Ministry regulations, I'm not supposed to tell you what illegal dark curses look like; I'm only supposed to teach you various counter-curses."
At that, Moody let out a scoff. "Ministry regulations are no different from a fart. When drafting the curriculum, they never once considered: if you've never seen something, how can you possibly protect yourself against it?"
"Take those few dark magic spells I just cast, for instance—how many of you can name them? And who dares claim they could counter them merely by mastering the counter-curse?"
Hearing Moody's words, Harry desperately wanted to stand up and inform Moody that he could actually counter that black mist from earlier...
Because he had seen Kyle use the Patronus Charm to banish that ominous black mist.
It was just the Patronus Charm, after all—making it sound like something nobody else knew.
Professor Lupin had taught him the Patronus Charm last year.
Yet Harry missed a crucial point: if he were standing in Kyle's shoes, facing that black mist, would he actually have thought of the Patronus Charm amidst all those defensive White Magic spells available?
"Potter, you seem to have something to say?"
Just as Harry's mind wandered, Moody's cold, emotionless voice drifted over from the side.
Harry jumped in fright and waved his hands hastily. "No, sir."
Seeing that Harry had refocused his attention, Moody stopped minding him. "Then, this class we will start with the three spells Dark wizards are most likely to use—the three spells that carry the harshest punishments under wizarding law."
"Can anyone tell me what these three spells are?"
The little Beaver's arm shot high up into the air.
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