Hermione Granger was a genius.
But above genius, there exists a level called a "wicked genius", a term from the distant East, where they say a wicked genius is closer to a master of the Way than an ordinary genius.
If a genius scores 99 out of 100 on every subject, then a wicked genius is the one who can score 10 out of 100 on a single exam, and don't underestimate the difference. The former scores 99 because that's their ability, but the latter scores 10 because the exam itself is nearly impossible...
When it came to offensive magic, Harry's talent was definitely at that wicked genius level. Compared to his just-okay grades in other subjects, his offensive skills were off the charts. Even Snape's secret masterpiece spell, the Shadowless Blade Curse, was something Harry had practiced so much he could cast it effortlessly.
It wasn't just powerful attacks, he even cast the Patronus Charm, which wasn't that strong offensively, way ahead of his own Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Allen was still scratching his head over that one, partly because he hadn't studied it much himself.
But that didn't really matter, Harry's offensive spells all came from his professors, and everyone knew the teaching quality of Hogwarts' Defense Against the Dark Arts professors was, to put it mildly, wildly uneven.
Harry was a half-blood wizard, but because his parents died young, none of his family's precious magical heritage was passed down to him. Later, Sirius was too busy on the run to properly mentor him either, which explained why Harry's combat ability never quite caught up.
Ron had mastered curses that made people cough up snot bugs by second year. Ginny's beautiful Bat-Bogey Hex even impressed the knowledgeable old potions professor Slughorn. Hermione's talent for speed-reading let her extract snippets about spells from vast books. Voldemort, meanwhile, had the ability to charm every professor into revealing their best tricks, and he was ruthless enough to seize precious magical artifacts and tomes. That's why his power was so overwhelming.
So what about Harry? He wasn't so charming, couldn't squeeze out professors' best secrets, and the special tutoring from Dumbledore was a bit unorthodox, leaving him with mostly basic spells. But here, Harry showed another advantage, money.
What's money got to do with it? Money means freedom...
Harry's speed in mastering the Disarming Charm surprised Allen, less than half an hour and he was casting it fluently. Hermione's wand was disarmed multiple times just as they stabilized their stance.
Allen, who was reading nearby, couldn't focus anymore, this wasn't practice; Harry was just dominating the others one-sidedly...
"Okay," Allen said, standing up from his lounge chair and clapping his hands to signal a pause in practice. Hermione's eyes were a little red, clearly, the top first-year girl was taking the blows hard.
Seeing Hermione's fingers nearly raw from gripping the wand too tightly, Allen gently said, "Relax. This is a difficult spell. You've done really well, way beyond most your age. Don't mind Harry, his talent in this area is... borderline abnormal."
At this, the "borderline abnormal" student smiled wryly, taking Allen's comment as a compliment.
Allen pulled a Chocolate Frog from his pocket, since a certain snack-loving girl, his pockets were always full of sweets, and handed it to Hermione.
"Here, let your fingers relax. Sit over there and rest for a bit. If you keep holding the wand like that, both your fingers and the wand will protest soon enough."
Hermione obediently bit the chocolate frog and sat down to rest. Allen casually took out his wand and pointed it at Harry.
"Come on, Harry, use the Disarming Charm on me."
"Now?" Harry's voice was full of surprise, Allen was standing in an open spot, not on a bunch of mats like Hermione earlier.
The Disarming Charm wasn't just about snatching a wand. Snape once used it to embarrass Lockhart badly, Lockhart was knocked flying by the spell. That's why Allen had them move mats from the corners earlier.
"Yes, now." Allen nodded, then a jet of red light flew from Harry's wand.
Just as Harry feared, Allen nimbly dodged the spell at the last moment.
"Be precise, enemies don't stand still waiting for you!" Allen's voice was calm, but Harry's excitement at finally mastering a spell was tempered by that reminder.
"Keep going. If one spell misses, immediately cast another! No dawdling. This isn't a turn-based game, you don't wait your turn!"
"Accuracy, accuracy! Do you want me to laugh so hard I drop my wand?"
"Power, power! Even if this spell hit me on my wand, nothing would change, it'd just be like a tickle!"
"Where's your initial instinct? Do you think enemies move at a constant speed? This is magic training, not your video game!"
Finally, Allen's shouting stopped. The savior student, who had endured half a lesson of torment, finally found a chance. He aimed carefully and hit Allen's deliberately relaxed defense with a spell.
To Harry's surprise, Allen's wand flew out of his hand, arcing perfectly through the air and landing in his grasp. He was stunned, after all the beating, he actually succeeded this time!
Unfortunately, his joy was short-lived. Just as he gripped his wand, a neat, well-manicured hand appeared behind his neck and struck hard. Everything went dark as he collapsed to the floor.
The dazzling display left Hermione speechless. Allen's skillful dodging had amazed her, but when Harry suddenly landed a hit, she almost gasped. Then the scene flipped, just as Harry should have grabbed Allen's wand, a quick, clean hand ended it all...
"Oh, that was the main point, I wanted to show him that losing your wand isn't the end of a fight. The fight ends only when your opponent goes down," Allen shrugged.
Hermione nodded, still a bit dazed.
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