Chapter 449: The Know‑it‑all King Gilderoy Gilderoy Lockhart

After listening to them ramble for a while, Bai Lang finally realized that Harry Potter had risked his life to catch the Golden Snitch, but had fallen from the sky and broken his arm. Then Gilderoy Gilderoy Lockhart volunteered, claiming he knew best how to treat fractures, calling himself a generation's "king who understands." Predictably, he turned Harry's arm into rubber......

Then he slipped away, and Harry had to spend the night at Mrs. Pomfrey's, where he drank a mysterious‑tasting raw bone water that Bai Lang didn't know the flavor of. Neville Longbottom and Seamus Finnigan were driven out by Mrs. Pomfrey while they were visiting Harry. "If you ask me, Harry is really unlucky—how did he end up being treated by that Gilderoy Gilderoy Lockhart?" Bai Lang sighed, and the others all agreed that it was exactly so.

The next morning, the news that Colin Creevey, his number‑one admirer who had been chasing Harry around to take photos, had been petrified spread throughout Hogwarts.

This time no one cheered, not even Draco Draco Malfoy—perhaps still shaken from Bai Lang's intimidation—so he didn't swagger out to claim it was revenge against mud‑bloods. Almost every younger student was terrified, and the sales of so‑called talismans in Hogwarts's black market jumped up a notch.

Bai Lang knew exactly which creature caused the panic: "It moves around in the Chamber of Secrets and the connected passages; it seems there's really no way to confront the beast directly." He vaguely recalled that the Chamber was beneath the Black Lake; if he didn't speak Parseltongue he couldn't open the door, and it really seemed there was no way to deal with that basilisk.

"If only the Chamber had another exit!" Bai Lang sighed. Otherwise he could try to find an entrance, then go down with a dog and a cat—there's no reason he couldn't kill that basilisk. During Christmas, Bai Lang still didn't stay at school, and this time he didn't need to leave Dio in the Forbidden Forest; he planned to pack Dio into his suitcase and take him away.

At this point Bai Lang hadn't yet mastered the invisibility spell, so he couldn't freely release Dio outside. The creature had already grown to about the size of an Asian elephant—at shoulder height—and Bai Lang's estimate might have been off because Dio's growth had slowed. Its mane was fully grown, majestic and splendid, even covering the back side of Dio's fore‑arm, chest and back; for a lion this was exceptionally abundant hair.

Its mane had been almost black from the start, like that of a mature lion. Hagrid really loved Dio, and reportedly was very sad when he heard Bai Lang was taking him away.

Bai Lang planned to spend this Christmas break at his own home; he didn't have much time to study without any "surveillance." Over the past half‑semester he had read many books and tried daily to control his magical power, resulting only in a slightly higher spell success rate, and his wandless casting seemed to have improved.

However, half of the spells have a chance to fail, and even successful ones have about a thirty‑percent chance to turn into a different spell. Bai Lang was preparing to use the Christmas break to seriously conduct research at home.

But before that, he had to deal with the explosion incident in Potions Class—he had already managed to cut the explosion chance down to one‑third. He and Seamus Finnigan's demolition duo had improved a lot in that regard, yet the potions they brewed remained bizarre, and none of them earned Severus Snape's approval this semester.

This time, however, the explosion wasn't Bai Lang's fault; he thought the blast originated from either Draco Draco Malfoy or Potter, which triggered a chain reaction of their potion crucibles. Thanks to Bai Lang's quick reaction, he kicked the crucible out of the classroom again; otherwise things would have turned out differently.

Now Draco Draco Malfoy was the victim, his nose swollen to the size of a melon; others also had swollen spots where the potion splashed, but Bai Lang and Seamus Finnigan were unharmed—as were Harry and Ron Weasley. Professor Severus Snape was visibly furious; he declared that anyone found responsible would be expelled. Fortunately, Bai Lang and Seamus Finnigan were not the primary suspects…

After finally sorting out that mess, he saw a notice for the so‑called Combat Club on the bulletin board. Bai Lang scoffed at the wizarding "Combat Club," saying, "If it's a duel, I think I'm the Hogwarts Duel King! After all, I don't think anyone here could face me one‑on‑one."

His remark earned the approval of the young wizards who heard him; they knew the campus bully's strength was no joke, and they were aware that their spells probably couldn't hit him anyway. Moreover, no one wanted his wand—like a weapon—to strike their own heads.

As for the power of Bai Lang's spells? None of the present youngsters cared. He could only cast a limited set of spells, and their potency was barely at the lower bound; in a proper wizard duel even Neville Longbottom would have confidence in beating Bai Lang.

At eight p. m., the Great Hall had been turned into a dueling arena; a golden‑glittering Gilderoy Gilderoy Lockhart emerged amid Harry Potter's sighs, while on the other side stood Professor Severus Snape, wearing obvious malice and contempt.

Gilderoy Gilderoy Lockhart seemed completely unaware of how events were unfolding; he loudly praised how well he understood dueling, how he was a mighty dueling master, and made some ill‑timed jokes—at Professor Snape's expense. Bai Lang snickered, while Harry and Ron Weasley chatted about how badly Gilderoy Gilderoy Lockhart would die… Hermione rebuked them for being utterly lacking in compassion.

Sure enough, the duel unfolded exactly as Harry and the others expected: Snape swung his wand, sending a red beam like a slingshot, and Gilderoy Gilderoy Lockhart not only lost his wand but was hurled into the wall, embedding himself. The female students gasped, while the male students snickered behind their hands—like Harry and Ron Weasley.

Alright, after getting to his feet, Gilderoy Gilderoy Lockhart blurted out a few more boasts, insisting that he fully understood the spell Snape was about to cast on him and that no one knew it better than he did. Then he and Snape began forming pairs, with the young wizards dueling two‑by‑two. Snape separated Ron Weasley and Harry, assigning Draco Draco Malfoy as Harry's opponent. As for Bai Lang, he looked at Goyle, who was a head taller than him and trembling, and gave a sympathetic smile.

The chubby one even clumsily saluted Bai Lang, so Bai Lang decided not to fight him for the moment. Before the duels began, Draco Draco Malfoy and Potter would first stage a show‑duel under everyone's gaze—Snape's malicious command.