Chapter 29: Chapter 7: Arrogance of a Remmenant
In the midst of the tense faceoff between the Ravenclaws and the Slytherins, an unexpected surprise occurred. Suddenly, Toby felt an invisible force strike him. He was knocked back by a yellow light. Startled, the students in the class looked at Cassandra, expecting that she was the one who cast the knockback curse, but to their surprise, she looked as surprised as they were.
"Look at Professor Quirrel," exclaimed a Ravenclaw student.
Professor Quirrel was holding his wand towards Toby, his wand still glowing yellow, an indication that the knockback jinx was thrown by him. 'Quirrel' retracted his wand and spoke," Children no fighting in class. Although I advocate challenging others to prove your strength, there should be no disrespect towards the Professor. For that, ten points from Ravenclaw."
As if directed by an invisible force, the students in the class put away their wands and sat back down in their seats. One of the students whispered," Does anyone think that Professor Quirrell changed."
"Yeah, he suddenly became more confident."
"He even fired a spell at a student."
Toby got back up and made eye contact with Cassandra. She silently nodded and mouthed the words, 'Jackpot.' Toby made his way back to his seat, not wanting to provoke Quirrel anymore since the task was over, but 'Quirrell' would not let him go that easily.
"Did I let you sit down, Mr.Maguire?"
Toby paused and made eye contact with Professor Quirrel," Professor, this matter is over right. Ravenclaw lost ten points and I was hit with a jinx. I think I learnt to respect Professors more."
"But the main issue had not been addressed," said Quirrel," The reason for the argument was my dueling skills, so how can it end without me proving my skills."
Quirrel lifted a finger, and all the benches were lifted in the air. Ignoring the exclamations of surprise by the students, the benches were rearranged in the back of the classroom, leaving the middle empty. With a wave of his hand, a glowing circle of light appeared.
"Oh the light is quite harmless Mr.Maguire," said Quirrel, enjoying the gaping expressions of shock displayed by the second-year students," It's nothing but a Lumos charm. The key is about excellent control, something which you may find yourself lacking."
"Professor, it's unfair to let a student duel with a teacher," said Cassandra.
"Be quiet Ms.Reeves," said Quirrel," You will have your chance after Toby.."
Cassandra kept her mouth shut. Any more provocations done by her would be counterproductive. She shared a worried look with Toby. Seeing no way out of this situation, Toby had no choice but to bite the metaphorical bullet head-on.
As Toby stepped into the ring of light, Quirrel showed a sneer on his face,"'Is that regret I see on your face, Mr.Maguire."
"No Professor, just anticipation and excitement," said Toby.
"Is that so? Then, I assume that you know what the proper duel etiquette is?" asked Voldermort through the body of Quirrell. Although Voldemort was a villain, he always acted elegantly and charmingly back in his school days. Back at Hogwarts, even Voldemort couldn't help but think back to his glorious days when he still had a nose.
"Of course, Professor. No magical artifacts, only magic is permitted. We must bow before starting a duel." replied Toby, making a plan to get by the duel.
Toby and Quirrel bowed down to each other. After bowing, they turned around and walked in unison towards the opposite ends of the classroom.
"Expelliarmus!" Professor Quirrel took the lead in casting a spell. At the same time, Toby fired the knockback jinx. The two spells collided midair and canceled themselves out.
"Petrificus Totalus" Quirrel did not stop casting spells. Toby dodged the spell by crouching down. Quirrel sneered," Never crouch without sufficient cover boy. Stupefy!"
The red stunning spell raced towards Toby, but a wall made of dirt rose up and intercepted the spell. "Lesson learned, Professor Quirrel," Toby told Quirrel with a little bit of smugness.
Toby conjured up a smokescreen using a spell taught by Albernotch," Fumos". Clouds of dark gray smoke enveloped the classroom. Quirrel simply waved his wand and said," Finite '' to cancel out the smokescreen.
To his surprise, Toby was nowhere to be seen. Vigilant, Quirrel held his wand out, ready to fire at the slightest sound. Suddenly, the ground started to wobble like waves in the ocean. Surprised, Voldemort lost his footing and fell backward. Without wasting a moment, Toby fired a Reducto at Quirrel, but he didn't expect Quirrel to be dragged into the air by his left foot and get back onto his feet with a flip. Toby recognized the spell. It was the spell created by Snape during his student days. It was meant to be used to drag the opponent in the air, but theoretically, it could be used to get back up from the round rapidly.
After completing his flip, Quirell started to pant heavily. He hated to admit it, but this boy had caught him by surprise. Voldemort wanted to give up the duel because his current state of mind could definitely not sustain the magic consumption, but his pride did not allow him to back away. Quirrel yelled," Serpentosia"
A scaly dark green snake emerged and slithered rapidly, hissing, but its head was cut off by a water blade made from the Agudiffindus charm. Before Quirell could continue, Toby raised his hand," I Surrender. After all, Professor, you have proven your dueling capability to others."
Voldemort weighed his options heavily. Finally, he decided to let the wizard go, for now. Quirrel lowered his wand and the circle of light vanished. "Since I have proven my skills, I shall not tolerate any more rude remarks. By next week, I want you to submit a seven-inch report on the duel and how you learned from the battle. Class dismissed."
After the students left, Quirell propped down onto the floor and began to cough blood. Voldemort gave up control of the body and left some instructions for Quirrell," Don't forget to collect more information about the students. I will be recuperating, so don't disturb me."
Poor Quirell could only slowly make his way to Madam Pomphrey to let her heal his wounds.
…
"...And then Quirell conjured up a large five-headed snake from a table and poisoned you," Fred told Toby.
"Is that the story that you heard?" questioned Toby.
"We may or may have not slightly modified the story a little bit." winked George.
"Figures," mumbled Toby.
"Honestly, the stories are getting out of hand," said Cedric.
Cedric, Fred, and George were eating at the Ravenclaw table with Toby, to hear more about the duel. By lunchtime, the news had spread like wildfire throughout Hogwarts that Toby had dueled Professor Quirrell. Excited second-year students eagerly recounted the events, portraying Professor Quirrell as supremely confident while imparting a valuable lesson to Toby. Some even embellished the tale to claim that Quirrell had deliberately restrained himself, allowing the duel to end in a draw to spare Toby from public humiliation.
The embellished version of the story quickly gained traction, echoing through the corridors of Hogwarts. It was the kind of underdog story that Hogwarts students loved, where a seemingly weak professor unveiled his hidden depths of strength and resilience, turning his reputation around in the process. The duel had added an air of excitement and mystique to Professor Quirrell's previously unremarkable and timid persona.
People started speculating if the incident with the Vampire had traumatized Quirell to gain a split personality. One personality would be weak, having negative qualities like timidity, whereas the other personality would be strong, confident, and charming.
Another popular speculation was that the turban worn by Quirell was enchanted to contain his power. Quirell would unwrap his Turban and unleash his full strenght when he was in danger.
"Seriously though, I suspect that Fred and George were the ones to spread half of the stories," grumbled Toby.
"Half," said Fred," You think too lowly of us. Do we look like amateur prankers to you? "
George continued," At least three-fourth of the stories have become exaggerated because of us."
"Why am I not surprised." Toby threw up his arms in exasperation.
The remaining tables were also discussing the stories, but they only had the biased stories against him, or the heavily exaggerated stories in favor of him. The Slytherin table was the only table that was not as exaggerated as the others. Slytherin favored calmness and facts above hearty tales of bravery. The elder students knew this well, so they did their best to absorb as much information as they could.
Cassandra, as the unofficial representative, explained what happened in class. She did her best to emphasize that Quirell was not as simple as he looked and therefore should not be provoked. It was a simple explanation, but the first years did not listen to anyone easily.
Draco Malfoy said," We should also have someone challenge a professor. If a mud- a second-year challenges Quirell to a duel, then so can we."
"That's stupid," said Theodore," Toby challenged him because he had confidence in his skills."
"Is he better than Cassandra?" asked Draco incredulously.
"It's difficult to say," interjected a girly voice next to them. Pansy sneered at the girl," What are you doing, trying to talk to us you half-breed."
Mikasa closed her mouth, but Cassandra stood up for her," It's okay. I would like to hear your analysis."
"I think that Cassandra will win," said Mikasa," From what I've heard, Toby has only one mode of defense which is to raise a mud wall. Spells like those require the user to be in contact with the ground. As long as Cassandra can get Toby into the air and hit him with a hex, she can win."
"And where would we find a spell like that," scoffed Pansy, but Cassandra was thinking about Mikasa's words. She finally said," There is a spell like that called 'Levicorpus'. Theoretically, it could work."
Mikasa went back into her own world and pulled out a book. Cassandra looked at the thick pages with surprise," Runes? That subject starts at the third year, there's no need to learn it now right."
"I want to learn it because I want to get started with Alchemy." said Mikasa.
"Alchemy requires a solid foundation in Transfiguration," said Cassandra," Its good to reach high Mikasa, but blindly leaping towards your goals will get you nowhere."
"But I'm pretty good at Transfiguration," said Mikasa, looking up from her book." I've been learning Transfiguration for three years now."
"Since you were eight years old?" Cassandra looked surprised," Mr.Ollivander does not give out wands until you reach the age of eleven. Where did you get your wand?"
"My wand was made in Korea." answered Mikasa," Apparently, I have better control over magic so my mother was able to get me a wand earlier than the rest."
Looking at Mikasa speaking as if it was natural for her, she couldn't help but ponder. Alyssa already revealed that she had been learning magic from the age of seven, but she was a descendant of the Grindelwald family, so it was not an impossible claim, but Mikasa was just a Burke. It wouldn't make sense for her to be able to learn magic at the age of eight. Unless… she was not as simple as she looked.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone