Lockhart clearly had hurt his back in that fall.
He lay on the ground for several seconds before finally staggering to his feet, clutching his waist. He looked utterly disheveled—his hat gone, his carefully styled curls sticking out in all directions.
"Ahem… the floor is rather slippery," he said, offering the worst excuse imaginable.
"And the space is too small—not ideal for proper demonstration," he added, with an equally terrible follow-up.
Seeing everyone staring at him, he coughed twice and forced a recovery:
"Well! As you all saw, that was a disarming charm! As demonstrated—I lost my wand! Yes, Professor Snape, brilliant idea to show them that!"
"But of course, if I had truly intended to stop you, it would have been effortless…"
He trailed off.
Because he saw Snape's expression.
And the wand already raised in his hand—
Say one more word, and we duel again.
Lockhart immediately shut up.
"Now then! Let's move on to practice! I'll divide you into pairs—Professor Snape, if you'd assist me…"
He quickly stepped off the stage.
The students exchanged confused looks.
Wait—
What exactly did you teach us?
But regardless, the two professors began pairing students.
Lockhart matched Neville with Justin Finch-Fletchley.
Snape deliberately separated Harry and Ron—pairing Harry with Malfoy.
Lewis noticed Malfoy strutting toward Harry, smug satisfaction written all over his face.
They really did care about each other.
Touching, honestly.
Hermione was paired with Millicent.
Snape completely ignored the fear in her eyes.
After all, her legendary "one-versus-seven" moment on the pitch was still fresh in Slytherin memory.
As for Lewis—
No one dared face him.
With his Chimera kill and First-Class Order of Merlin, nobody thought they were stronger than a magical beast.
Unexpectedly—
Snape gave him a role.
"Since everyone acknowledges Mr. Green's ability," Snape said coldly, "you will act as an assistant."
"Simple job—if any troll-brained idiot breaks the rules, deal with them."
Lewis looked at him.
Beneath that blank expression—
Malice.
Ah.
So that was the plan.
Still, assistant it was.
Lewis stepped into the crowd, ready to maintain order.
"If you're not planning to duel with words, then start casting!" Snape snapped. "This is not my Potions class."
"R-right! Face your partner!" Lockhart shouted from the stage. "Bow!"
"Raise your wands—prepare!"
"On three, cast only disarming spells! Only disarming spells—we don't want accidents!"
"Three—"
The moment he finished—
Chaos erupted.
It was absolute mayhem.
Students completely ignored the rules.
Spells flew everywhere.
Neville and Justin had already knocked themselves out in a cloud of green smoke.
Seamus lay on the ground vomiting slugs—courtesy of Ron's broken wand.
Ron himself had been blasted three meters away.
Hermione, however, handled things efficiently—
Millicent was wrapped up like a cocoon in her own robes, dangling upside down from the ceiling.
Cho Chang, trying to impress Lewis, got too carried away—
Her opponent was now bleeding heavily, while she knelt beside them in panic, begging them not to die.
As for Ciri—
Her opponent, Flint, didn't even get to draw his wand before being thrown to the ground.
The witcher clearly thought this was a no-rules fight.
"I said disarm only! Stop! STOP!"
Lockhart screamed uselessly, hopping around like a panicked rabbit.
He couldn't help anyone.
Meanwhile—
Snape and Lewis were actually fixing things.
"Finite Incantatem!"
With a flick of Snape's wand, Harry stopped his uncontrolled dancing, and Malfoy's laughter ceased.
Snape moved through the crowd, calmly lifting curses one by one.
Lewis's method was far more direct.
He raised his wand—
A field spread instantly.
"Lesser Spell Nullification Field!"
Within it, all spells below third-tier ceased functioning.
Millicent dropped from the ceiling.
Seamus stopped vomiting slugs.
(Under Lewis's suggestion, he even began collecting them—they sold for a decent price in Diagon Alley.)
Marietta's rapidly growing teeth shrank back to normal.
Of course—
Some still needed manual help.
Ron was given a few drops of stimulant potion.
Cho's victim received a healing spell just in time.
After a round of cleanup—
Order was finally restored.
Snape was clearly satisfied with Lewis's performance.
Lewis, however—
Was not satisfied with Hogwarts.
The students' combat ability was… lacking.
The Dark Lord had only fallen ten years ago.
There were already signs of his return.
Even Dumbledore knew this.
Yet—
Students struggled with even basic spells.
Lewis recalled how, in the future, Harry would teach older students the Disarming Charm.
That alone said everything.
To Lewis, this was deeply worrying.
A society where everyone could cast magic—
Was basically a world where everyone carried a weapon.
And wands were far more dangerous than guns.
The Ministry couldn't ban offensive spells.
That was impossible.
Even a simple Levitation Charm, used correctly, could kill.
So what was the solution?
Lewis's answer was simple:
Teach everyone how to defend themselves.
After all—
When everyone is armed,
That's when things stay stable.
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