The professors' discussions did not affect the progress of the dueling tournament.

In fact, the booing subsided quickly, lasting less than two minutes.

After all, only the Slytherin students truly cared about the outcome of the previous match.

For most spectators, Draco and Harry's "fixed match" was entertaining enough in terms of spectacle.

Moreover, after the prefects stepped in to deter them, the Slytherin students, having cooled down from their anger, began to realize another thing:

Even the strength Draco Malfoy displayed in that "fixed match" was enough to easily handle most students below fifth year.

As for the fifth, sixth, and seventh-year students, they were mostly focused on the Ministry of Magic's official exams in a few months. While they might have shown some emotional reactions during the match, it was unrealistic for them to take the time to deliberately target a "second-year" student—refined self-interest was the survival rule for many.

The third match of the inter-house dueling tournament began quickly.

McCork MacLaggen walked out of the entrance passage with a confident expression.

After the first two victories, the Gryffindor team's morale was clearly at a high point.

As the final contestant in the singles matches, McCork MacLaggen felt extremely relaxed after learning about his opponent's information.

In fact, he even spent a few minutes in the lounge, carefully considering his celebration pose after the victory.

The Slytherin team had chosen a nameless third-year witch who was not outstanding in class and had not been selected for the Quidditch team.

Compared to the first and second-year contestants, she seemed more like a "lame horse" temporarily chosen to make up the numbers. The only slightly notable thing might be her long and somewhat Egyptian-sounding name. According to information Lee Jordan had gathered, the insignificant Slytherin witch's mother seemed to be from Egypt.

"Cassiopeia Du Karkao... Oh, don't you think your name is a bit of a mouthful?"

McCork stood in the dueling arena, glanced at the silent witch opposite him, and shrugged jokingly.

"Oh, don't be too nervous. I'll give you time to concede. It's more dignified to give up voluntarily than to be blasted off the dueling ground by a spell..."

On closer inspection, the Slytherin girl with the long name had very fierce eyes.

Clearly, after the first two matches, the Slytherin team's situation was not optimistic.

As many had guessed, Slytherin House was slightly disadvantaged in magical combat compared to Gryffindor, who often frequented the dueling arena.

"...Don't even think about it. I will never give up."

With McCork's words, Cassiopeia became noticeably more nervous, took a deep breath, and gripped her wand tightly.

Gryffindor House has always been recognized as top-notch in Hogwarts in terms of trash talk and dueling strength.

Perhaps she would also find herself in a difficult battle, but she did not intend to give up—McCork MacLaggen had been shortlisted for the Gryffindor Quidditch team trials for two consecutive years.

However, because his first choice was the goalkeeper position and he did not accept any substitutes or adjustments, he was directly rejected by the current goalkeeper and Quidditch captain, Oliver Wood.

It should be known that in Gryffindor House, any wizard with some Quidditch talent is at least among the top in other aspects.

Compared to Cassiopeia, who was somewhat unknown in Slytherin House, McCork MacLaggen was significantly stronger on paper:

In the betting odds for this match, the ratio of their odds even reached an outrageous 1.02 to 7.99.

Even many Slytherin students quietly bet their points on the other side—making a little is still making something, even a mosquito's leg is meat.

"Tsk, tsk, the little lions look so proud..."

Eileen quietly glanced at the real-time odds, a meaningful smile on her lips.

After the first two matches, most of the students suffered heavy point losses, and this match was the killing blow.

"Contestants, get ready—"

"Three—"

"Two—"

"One! Begin!"

Pale golden magical barriers rose around the dueling arena.

Cassiopeia thrust her wand forward, taking a small step forward with her whole body.

Golden-red magical energy brushed past her hair and flew backward, but a magical glow also surged from the tip of her wand.

"Mud!"

"Petrificus Totalus!"

"Serpensortia!"

"Serpensortia!"

Cassiopeia recited the spells quickly and continuously, and the spells rained down on McCork in less than two seconds.

While waiting in the lounge before, Cassiopeia had simulated fast spell casting at least dozens of times.

Unable to omit the incantations, she could only cast spells quickly by increasing her speech speed.

While casting spells, she also learned from the experience of the first match, bending over slightly and pouncing forward, like a seductive snake suddenly springing up.

"Prote—"

McCork's pupils shrank as his first offensive failed.

He subconsciously dodged to the side, frantically waving his wand to defend.

Just then, a small patch of muddy swamp appeared out of nowhere under his feet, trapping the foot he was using to exert force.

Before he could dodge to the right, the Petrification Curse accurately hit his chest.

Then, four snake fang spells emitting a cold light...

…………

"McCork MacLaggen is unable to fight."

"The winner of this match, Cassiopeia Du Karkao!"

Looking at the unconscious McCork, Eileen casually dispersed the two snake fangs suspended in mid-air.

"Alright, no need to finish him off... I'll have to penalize you if you continue to attack."

This was perhaps the shortest match.

From start to finish, it took less than five seconds.

Apart from the first two control spells, Cassiopeia Du Karkao had only used one attack spell from beginning to end.

If Ginny, Eileen, and Draco were trying to showcase the diversity of magic as much as possible, then Cassiopeia had maximized her specialization points.

She used the same spell non-stop, like rapping, for a barrage-like suppression.

Even if McCork hadn't been hit by the Petrification Curse first, he probably wouldn't have been able to withstand this high-frequency spell barrage.

Although Eileen had known for a long time that McCork MacLaggen was a useless pretty boy, she didn't expect him to be so unlucky as to meet a little genius with continuous spell casting.

Watching Cassiopeia walk quickly back to the Slytherin stands like a hero, Eileen shook her head and used her wand to move the unconscious McCork MacLaggen to the temporary medical point on the other side of the field. As the main referee, she was not responsible for field treatment. Eileen was just the "ultimate insurance" to prevent malicious accidents.

As for McCork MacLaggen, and other wizards who might withdraw later...

Anyway, there's no life-threatening danger, so it's just right to give it to Hannah to practice, and by the way, let the silly girl follow Madam Pomfrey to learn magical healing.

…………

"It's finally our turn to go on stage..."

"McCork that guy, his reaction was too slow—"

Gryffindor contestant lounge.

Fred and George stretched their bodies while waiting for Eileen to announce that they could enter.

Fred and George didn't like the arrogant guy who wanted to take Wood's place from the very beginning.

If it weren't for the fact that they were teammates and for Percy's sake, they almost couldn't help but mock McCork a few words when he asked everyone about "victory poses" in the lounge just now.

"Fred, George, don't be careless."

Charlie Weasley turned to look at his twin brothers and earnestly instructed them.

Although they had prepared a "secret weapon" with Miss Granger's hint, who knew if the other side had the same trump card.

Most importantly, the doubles match was a ladder match—if they were defeated one against two, that would be a four-point difference.

"Don't worry—"

Fred grinned, picked up a customized "metal bat" from his seat, and swung it a few times forcefully.

"If there's anything suspenseful, it's probably how long they can last. What do you say, George?"

"Yes, magical duels may be hard to say, but Quidditch..."

George Weasley nodded, took out two constantly shaking glass bottles from his pocket, and said meaningfully in a low voice.

"The four of them combined are no match for us—"

Four or five shadows, like flies, collided and flew wildly in the magically reinforced bottles, making a thumping sound.

And around Fred's waist, there were also two of the same strange glass bottles hanging.

————

————

Yay!