Chapter 176: Combat, Guidance, and You've Really Angered the Little Badgers

Just as Marcus Flint was secretly alarmed by the little badgers' gazes, the class bell rang. Quirrell's figure appeared, which somewhat eased the tense atmosphere. Students all returned to their seats. However, compared to the Great Hall, the atmosphere had subtly changed. The little snakes were no longer as mocking and confident as before, as if they had the little badgers completely figured out. Now, they were starting to feel uncertain. But soon, Quirrell brought news that made Marcus Flint's and the other little snakes' eyes brighten. "Very unfortunate news. Hufflepuff House's teaching assistant for Defence Against the Dark Arts, Cedric Diggory. He sprained his ankle and can't make it today. Marcus Flint, you'll have to take on more teaching assistant duties." This delighted Marcus Flint, who nodded repeatedly. "Don't worry, Professor Quirrell. Since Cedric isn't here. I'll definitely give special attention to the junior students from Hufflepuff." The little snakes also breathed sighs of relief, as if they'd regained their confidence. Quirrell didn't waste any time, directly announcing. "I see everyone is eager to try. So we won't do lengthy theory. Combat practice, be... begin... Now the two houses will form groups..." After Quirrell spoke, Malfoy came directly to Ciel. "Ciel. Let's partner up." He didn't mind, nodding slightly. The other little badgers also paired up with little snakes who wore malicious smiles. But what made the little snakes furious was that even at this point, the little badgers continued staring at their eyes without blinking, as if completely ignoring their sinister, malicious grins. This made many little snakes whisper to the little badgers across from them. "I'm going to beat you black and blue in a moment. So you'll never dare look at me like that again. Even begging won't help." But the little badgers remained unmoved. Though they were clumsy, their most precious quality was that once they believed in something, they would do it meticulously. Since they believed in him, and he told them to stare at their opponents' eyes, they would continue doing so. At this time, Marcus Flint, who had been waiting impatiently, replaced Quirrell and shouted loudly. "Begin!" Immediately, spells began flying across the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. Malfoy looked at him hesitantly. "Should we start too?" He paused, then added, "Given that I warned you. Could you go easy on me?" His expression showed some amusement. It seems killing Umbridge had indeed planted deep fear in Malfoy's heart. He said indifferently, "Fine. You go first. Just treat it as normal practice." Only then did Malfoy tentatively cast a spell. But before his spell even left his wand tip, he had already stepped aside. Malfoy's spell naturally missed completely. He said, "Faster. Speed up more." Malfoy was stunned, then quickly cast another spell. This time, his movements were much faster than his previous cautious attempt. But the same thing happened again. He seemed to predict the future, stepping aside once more. Malfoy's spell missed again. Then Malfoy showed an expression of disbelief, waving his wand continuously. But all his spells were nimbly dodged by him, not even touching his clothes once. This was naturally obvious to him. After all, his combat skills had been honed through countless defeats in sparring with Snape. Having adapted to that rhythm, looking at first-year students' so-called combat practice was too immature, lacking any technical content. Even though Malfoy's combat ability was actually among the better ones among the little snakes, in his view, it was still pitifully naive. Malfoy's eyes widened, suddenly feeling defeated. He knew his magical combat was definitely stronger than his... after all, he could kill Umbridge. But he hadn't expected the gap to be this large. Even with his full effort in casting spells, he couldn't even touch his clothes? And throughout, he hadn't waved his wand even once, merely moving his feet. Then Malfoy couldn't help asking, "How did you do that? Can you teach me?" He nodded slightly. After all, they might cooperate with the Malfoy family in the future. Moreover, just previously, Lucius Malfoy's gift of the Serpensortia spell had been quite beneficial to him. Some combat techniques... teaching them to Malfoy wasn't much. With the Malfoy family's resources, if Draco Malfoy wanted to practise combat, even if he couldn't find wizards like Snape, finding several wizards with rich combat experience for training wouldn't be a problem. Then he gave Malfoy some pointers, including what Snape had mentioned about how to watch opponents. Malfoy's eyes suddenly brightened, as if he'd found treasure. Then he eagerly cast spells again. His eyes also showed some surprise. Malfoy's talent was actually quite good. After just a few pointers, his reaction speed immediately improved significantly. Though it made little difference to him, the improvement rate was still quite good. At this rate, Malfoy's strength might be much stronger than in the original story. So he kept changing his footsteps, dodging between Malfoy's spells. Malfoy's eyes grew brighter and brighter. After sparring with him, he could clearly feel his improvement. Compared to this, previous combat practice was simply a waste of time, with completely negligible help for him! Malfoy's admiration for him grew even more. But this scene of him sparring with Malfoy also caught the eyes of other little snakes in the classroom. They couldn't see all those details. All they could see was that he seemed to be getting beaten by Malfoy, unable even to draw his wand to fight back. This excited the little snakes. Having suffered so much at his hands before, they'd developed quite a shadow regarding him. But now it seemed that after missing so many Defence Against the Dark Arts classes, he was just so-so. His strength was no longer on the same level as theirs. If even the outstanding one was like this, what could the other little badgers do? Thinking this, the little snakes no longer felt uncertain, and their hands regained strength. Bullying the weak was what they were best at. While he was instructing Malfoy in combat, the little snakes also launched fierce attacks on the little badgers across from them. They prided themselves on being sharp and clever, considering themselves superior, never taking clumsy little badgers seriously. They indeed had quite a few tricks and schemes. For instance, some little snakes threw ink, and then, while little badgers dodged, waved their wands repeatedly to knock the little badgers down. Others pretended someone behind was trying to talk to the little badgers. In the moment of distraction, they cast spells, making the little badgers flustered. Soon, the little badgers in the classroom were all at a disadvantage. The little snakes across from them were full of excitement. "Continue. Weren't you quite arrogant before? Is this all your house can do? Stop looking around, stop counting on him... he can barely protect himself. This combat training session has a long way to go. If you don't want to get hurt, surrender quickly." And the teaching assistant Marcus Flint on the side, who should have called a stop the moment little badgers were knocked down, showed no reaction whatsoever. Instead, he watched the scene with gloating satisfaction, even allowing little snakes to continue pursuing attacks on fallen little badgers. He himself stood aside with arms crossed, looking delighted as he commented on these first-year students' movements. "Beautiful Leg-Locker Curse, Blaise. Look at that little badger's ridiculous appearance. Haha, is he doing tap dance? Oh right, Crabbe hit his stomach with a spell. Let's see what the little badger ate today! Ugh, disgusting. Did you hear that? I'm talking to you, the one crawling on the ground... you're disgusting!" When he came to the combat scene between Susan Bones and Pansy Parkinson, the sight made his expression darken. Susan was beating up Pansy. Obviously, Pansy had said something that completely enraged Susan. Susan's wand moved repeatedly while she roared angrily. "Who did you call a pitiful creature without parents? You trash! Speak up, speak up!" Pansy struggled to deal with Susan's offensive, cold sweat dripping from her forehead, obviously about to be defeated by Susan. At this moment, Marcus Flint's eyes rolled, and he called out. "Susan Bones! Enough!" Just as Susan instinctively stopped her actions, Marcus Flint immediately said, "Pansy Parkinson, now's your chance!" Pansy unhesitatingly cast a spell, hitting Susan's knee and making her cry out in pain as she fell to her knees. At this time, as if retaliating for the humiliation of being suppressed by Susan earlier, Pansy repeatedly cast spells at Susan while vicious words poured out. "Pitiful creature without parents... that's exactly what you are. Isn't this common knowledge? How many people are left in the Bones family? Oh right, there's still you, Susan Bones, living in your aunt's house, dependent on others... a pitiful creature no one loves or cares for, a burden. Come on, why are you looking at me like that? Where did I say wrong? No parents, dependent on others, a burdensome pitiful creature? If you're capable, stand up and fight back!" When this scene occurred, across from him, Malfoy suddenly shivered as if a bitter cold wind had blown past. He saw his expression. This expression... he'd seen it that night when he killed Umbridge! Malfoy silently stopped his movements, swallowing nervously. He prayed for one thing in his heart: hopefully he wouldn't get splattered with blood later. But unexpectedly, though he was obviously angry, he didn't immediately act. Malfoy whispered, "Aren't you going to act?" He swept the little Slytherin snakes with cold eyes, then looked at the battered little badgers. He noticed that no matter how miserable the little badgers were, even when fallen on the ground, they still stared intently at the little snakes' eyes. His eyes showed satisfaction. "No need for me to act. Do you really think your Slytherin House is so strong? Using some dirty tricks and schemes, you think you can achieve something remarkable? You can never fight hard battles. Also, your house's Pansy Parkinson did the most wrong thing. She shouldn't have touched Susan Bones's painful memories. Now..." His expression was cold. "You've really angered Hufflepuff." Malfoy was stunned, still somewhat disbelieving. Many little badgers had already been knocked down, which must hurt a lot. Hufflepuff wasn't a brave house... they were timid, cowardly, and not good at fighting. Having been beaten like this, how could they possibly still win? But when Malfoy's gaze fell elsewhere, he couldn't help shivering. When Susan Bones was being humiliated, every little badger showed an unprecedented fierce expression. Their gazes at the little snakes in front of them were incredibly tenacious and determined. Usually, even a small scratch would make them cry out in pain. But now, with spells hitting their bodies, they didn't even grunt. They still stared intently at the little snakes' eyes. This gaze, this scene, made the little snakes, who had maintained a superior attitude, feel somewhat unsettled. Even when several fallen little badgers struggled to crawl forward, the little snakes showed bewildered expressions. Their voices trembled when reciting spells, and their wand-waving arms shook. And Susan Bones was now staring at the foul-mouthed Pansy Parkinson with an unprecedentedly cold, sharp gaze. Pansy Parkinson was so scared she unconsciously stepped back two paces. The next moment, Susan got up from the ground and stumbled toward Pansy. Pansy screamed in fright, then was violently grabbed by the hair and dragged to the ground by Susan. Without a word, Susan opened her hand and threw her wand aside. Then Susan ignored all combat practice rules, pressing Pansy firmly beneath her and punching her face repeatedly. "Bitch. Slut. Death Eater's daughter. The Bones family are all loyal heroes... we beat your Death Eater parents!" As Susan violently counterattacked, similar scenes played out everywhere in the classroom. The little badgers were completely enraged by Pansy's insulting words toward Susan. The scene was no longer about spell combat... it had become all-out brawling. The little badgers had only one thought: knock down the little snakes in front of them and give them an unforgettable lesson. Remember: don't really anger Hufflepuff! Under this assault, the little snakes' superiority and dominance vanished completely. Their fierce exterior but weak interior nature was exposed. Some little snakes even turned around to flee, only to be tackled by little badgers who knocked them down and gave them a thorough beating. Quirrell on the platform saw this scene with quite an unpleasant expression. Because in his mind, Voldemort was making angry sounds. "Incompetent! Incompetent! Damn it, how did Slytherin become like this? All incompetent fools! Simply beyond help! I'm furious!!!" He smiled brilliantly. Until Marcus Flint, who had been stunned on the side, finally came to his senses. He roared, trying to make the little badgers stop. But now no one would listen to him anymore. The little badgers had only one goal: beat up the little snakes! Marcus Flint was so angry he trembled all over. Drawing his wand with a cold expression, he aimed at Susan Bones, planning to teach this Hufflepuff girl a lesson. "The next moment, Ciel appeared before Marcus Flint with a face full of frost. Ciel's wand was also pointed at him. "Like bullying the weak? Come. Let's have some fun."