Chapter 223

He was already irritable because his mind was being invaded, his privacy constantly pried into, and he had to endure Snape's constant insults.

Therefore, after Snape insulted Harry's father, Harry could no longer hold it in.

He stood up and retorted to Snape.

Snape showed no reaction to Harry's outburst.

He continued to mock him coldly.

"Even your anger is like overnight tea—cold and weak."

"Truly pathetically weak, Potter."

Harry's chest heaved violently, like a cat with its fur standing on end after being stepped on.

"I am not weak!"

"Then prove it to me! Cast aside distractions! Control your emotions!"

Snape commanded coldly, then raised his hand and cast Legilimens again.

Harry's mind was invaded again, caught off guard.

He fell back into the chair he had just stood up from.

But this time, Snape's invasion lasted longer than the previous ones.

It seemed Harry's brain had finally organized some decent resistance.

But clearly, he still couldn't withstand Snape's continuous invasion.

Before long, he was defeated again.

Snape's expression, which had softened slightly, turned cold again, and he clicked his tongue in disappointment.

"Is this your proof?"

"If you can't even control your emotions, how can you control Occlumency?"

Harry couldn't help but lose his temper.

"Enough! We've been practicing for two hours today! I need a break!"

"A break? The Dark Lord won't take a break!"

Snape continued coldly.

".... Hmm... as long as the Dark Lord is still a carbon-based life form, he should still need to rest..."

Just then, John, who had been working quietly in the back, suddenly had his underlying code kick in.

He blurted out a sarcastic remark at Snape.

"......" Snape turned his head slowly and stared fixedly at John.

Harry was also stunned; he couldn't even think of a retort like that when he was looking for a fight.

The air froze for three seconds.

Snape suddenly sneered.

"That's right, Merrick, perhaps our Potter does indeed need a break."

The next second.

Professor Snape waved his wand.

The center of the workshop was instantly cleared into an empty area.

A straight dueling platform appeared.

"Potter, I grant you a halftime break."

"But your lesson isn't over yet."

"Merrick, get up here, take out your wand, and prepare to duel."

No way!

I just made a casual remark, is a duel really necessary!

John looked at Snape in disbelief, but after meeting his unyielding gaze, he had to swallow his protest and reluctantly moved onto the platform.

Although he hadn't sparred with Snape before, John knew Snape was no weaker than Professor Flitwick.

"I trust Professor Flitwick has taught you the etiquette of dueling."

Professor Snape looked at John opposite him and said calmly.

The two came to the middle of the dueling platform, took out their wands, held them vertically in front of their chests, and nodded slightly.

Then they both took five steps back and assumed a fighting stance.

Harry, off the platform, watched all this blankly.

How did things go from normal to a duel between Snape and John?

But Snape wasn't letting him leave; was he trying to let him observe and learn?

And John, after bowing, entered his state.

He wasn't afraid of dueling Snape; he just found it troublesome.

Normally, when facing an unfamiliar opponent, one should first set up defenses to test the opponent's level.

But John and Snape both started with attacks simultaneously!

"Stupefy!"

"Expelliarmus!"

Two red spells were cast almost at the same time and brushed past each other.

Facing Snape's Stupefy, John flicked his wand and neatly deflected the spell.

Snape waved his hand casually, and an invisible barrier blocked John's Expelliarmus.

Neither of them stopped their movements.

They continued to trade spells.

Blue and red spells flashed wildly in the room, then were blocked by the isolation spells set up around them, preventing damage to the workshop's contents.

This scene left Harry dazzled and shocked.

In his mind, John's image had always been one of using mind-boggling Transfiguration to conjure a bunch of stone men to help him fight.

He hadn't expected his firepower and reaction speed to be this strong in a pure spell duel?

As Snape's Levicorpus was dodged by John with a sidestep, Snape also deflected one of John's binding spells.

Finally, Snape's eyes sharpened; he stopped testing.

"Sectumsempra!"

John was having fun when he suddenly felt a chill all over.

He abandoned his planned attack and chose to defend for the first time.

"Protego!"

The defensive barrier had just been set up when there was a crack.

The Shield Charm shattered, blocking a large amount of damage, but John's body and face were suddenly covered in several bloody gashes!

He stumbled back a step, feeling blood beads sliding down his cheeks, and John was also shocked.

But then he turned cold and got serious.

If the Shield Charm hadn't blocked it in time, that hit could have cost him half his life.

Since that's the case, let's test the spell I recently developed on you!

"Impedimenta!"

John waved his wand again, and dozens of walls rose from the ground, blocking the path on the dueling platform.

Seeing this, Snape's face couldn't hide his disappointment.

He hadn't expected that after just a slight setback, he would choose to play the coward.

"Confringo!"

Snape just waved his hand casually.

A series of explosions blasted straight through the dozens of walls in front of him.

John, hiding behind them, appeared before his eyes again.

But at the same time, he was also exposed within John's range...

"Go!"

Hiss!

Whoosh!!

The feeling of being hit arrived faster than the sound of the wind breaking.

Relying on the Impediment Jinx to block his line of sight, three steel balls, fully charged, struck Snape's left shoulder, right hand, and left leg.

Under the blast propulsion spell John developed, the launch speed of the three steel balls had already exceeded the speed of sound.

At this speed, the Shield Charm couldn't fully block them, only helping him offset most of the kinetic energy.

Snape's pupils shrank; he was sent flying by the immense impact, the bones where he was hit nearly shattered, and his wand nearly flew out of his hand.

But before he completely collapsed, he used his terrifying willpower to wave his wand again.

"Sectumsempra!!"

This time, an even more terrifying invisible blade attacked John.

John's pupils shrank; he subconsciously raised his Shield Charm while blocking with both hands in front of him.

Crack!

Hiss!!

The Shield Charm shattered upon impact, and John was sent flying, covered in blood.

Both of them fell off the platform almost simultaneously.

Harry, watching from the side, looked at this scene in disbelief, standing frozen for a moment.

John had actually ended up in a mutual destruction with Snape?

"Cough... sss—" John lay on the ground, blood foam choking his throat.

Since transmigrating to this world, this was the first time he had been injured this badly; it hurt so much his fingertips were trembling.

He was covered in bloody gashes, and his clothes were shredded into strips.

He even started to feel dizzy from blood loss.

If it weren't for the fact that he had undergone special training in taking hits while training with Professor Flitwick.

He could have just passed out right in front of them.

Snape, on the other side, was in no better shape; his left scapula, left femur, and right hand bones were all shattered.

The flesh hit by the steel balls was even more mangled, stained a purplish-black with blood.

He struggled to get up, supporting himself with his left hand, but halfway up, his left elbow suddenly went soft, and he fell back down, kicking up a small cloud of dust.

"What are you standing there for... go find someone to save us..."

John lay on the ground, spitting blood while complaining to Harry.

"Uh... ah, ahhh!! Hang in there, John! I'm going to find Madam Pomfrey right now!!"

Harry finally snapped out of it, scrambling toward the exit and running toward the school infirmary.

Then, only John and Snape were left in the workshop, lying on the ground and staring at each other.