The group of young wizards ended up spending nearly half the afternoon exploring and studying everything inside the room.
It was, without a doubt, a perfect place for practicing magic.
On the right side of the room stood a tall cabinet filled with a variety of magical props—many of which they would not officially learn about until much later in their Hogwarts education. There were also ten neatly arranged sets of defensive practice gear hanging beside the cabinet. Nearby stood several magically animated training dummies designed specifically for spell practice and dueling exercises.
The moment they discovered these resources, the room immediately turned into an unofficial training ground.
Under Ryze's guidance, the students began practicing the standard spells taught to first-year students. Soon afterward, they tried using a few simple dueling spells against the dummies.
Their progress was surprisingly fast.
Ryze patiently corrected their wand movements and reminded them about the proper rhythm of incantations. Whenever someone made a mistake, he calmly pointed it out and demonstrated the correct technique.
Because of this guidance, the others improved much faster than they expected.
Spells that had felt difficult in class gradually became easier to perform.
The practice dummies reacted realistically when struck by spells. Some staggered when hit by the Knockback Charm, while others displayed magical effects when targeted by various hexes. This gave the young wizards a strong sense of accomplishment.
Time passed quickly.
So quickly, in fact, that none of them noticed the hours slipping away.
Only when their stomachs began to rumble did they finally realize how long they had been practicing inside the windowless room.
Terry pulled out a small pocket watch from his robes and glanced at the time.
His eyes widened immediately.
"It's already six-thirty!"
Everyone froze for a moment.
Dinner time at the Great Hall wouldn't last forever. If they didn't hurry, the meal might be over by the time they arrived.
Reluctantly, the young wizards stopped their training.
They quickly tidied the room, placing the defensive gear back on the racks and leaving the training dummies as they had found them.
Before leaving, each of them grabbed a book from the cabinet. These books contained introductory explanations of certain magical theories and spells. They planned to bring them back to their dormitory so they could continue studying at their own pace.
As they walked through the castle corridors toward the Great Hall, Anthony still seemed excited.
"I feel like after a few more practice sessions," he said enthusiastically, "we'll be ready to duel each other properly."
He clenched his hand, recalling the spell he had cast earlier.
"That Cutting Charm I used earlier—did you see the spark it produced? It felt amazing! If we keep improving like this, we might even have a chance to pass the first round in next year's Dueling Tournament."
For most young wizards, feeling their magic improve so clearly was an enormous boost to their confidence.
The excitement of successful spellcasting lingered in their minds.
Several of them were already planning their next training session in that mysterious room.
When they finally reached the entrance of the Great Hall, Ryze suddenly raised his hand and gestured for his roommates to stop talking.
His gaze shifted toward the doorway.
The next moment, a familiar figure appeared.
Hermione walked into the Great Hall looking unusually agitated.
Her already bushy hair was even more disheveled than usual, and she seemed slightly out of breath, as though she had hurried there.
"I think I just heard you talking about dueling," she said anxiously. "Good heavens, are you planning to do something dangerous like those two?"
Ryze immediately understood what she was referring to.
He remembered this particular event clearly.
Before Hermione could continue, Ryze calmly interrupted her.
"Miss Hermione, I believe you misunderstood," he said.
"We were discussing the Wizarding Dueling Tournament scheduled for next year. We're thinking about signing up to experience the atmosphere of a real competition, so we're practicing some basic dueling spells in advance."
"This is not a dangerous activity," he continued. "Professor Flitwick will also be taking interested Hogwarts students to participate in the tournament. If you're interested, and if you turn twelve before next year's Easter, you can sign up with Professor Flitwick as well."
Hearing Ryze mention both the Wizarding Dueling Tournament and Professor Flitwick, Hermione slowly realized she had jumped to the wrong conclusion.
Her face turned slightly red with embarrassment.
"Oh… I see."
She awkwardly adjusted her robes, clearly unsure how to respond.
Ryze waved his hand dismissively.
"It's fine. We've been practicing all afternoon and haven't eaten anything yet. If there's nothing else, Miss Hermione, we're going to get dinner now."
The group began walking into the Great Hall.
However, Hermione suddenly seemed to remember something important.
Her eyes widened.
"Wait!"
She hurried after Ryze and quickly caught up with him.
Lowering her voice, she whispered urgently.
"It's Malfoy. Malfoy is going to duel Harry tonight!"
Ryze raised an eyebrow but remained silent as Hermione continued.
"If they get caught, they could be expelled!"
She quickly explained the situation.
During Flying Class earlier that day, Harry and Draco Malfoy had argued. The conflict continued during dinner, and Malfoy eventually challenged Harry to a wizard duel.
Hermione looked extremely worried.
"I was hoping you could find Malfoy and convince him to cancel the duel," she said.
"Everyone knows he doesn't dare provoke you right now. If you talk to him, he'll definitely agree to call it off."
But before Ryze could respond, Anthony suddenly became excited.
"A duel?" he exclaimed.
His eyes practically sparkled.
"When? Where is it happening? Is it just the two of them?"
"Are there assistants? Is there a referee?"
"If they don't have one, I can help! I read the Dueling Code this afternoon—I could serve as the official referee!"
Hermione blinked in disbelief.
Her voice faltered.
Why was this Ravenclaw student so enthusiastic about a duel?
"Shouldn't you be worried about getting caught?" she asked weakly.
Michael, who had a reputation for knowing many Hogwarts rumors, shrugged casually.
"As long as we don't get discovered, it's fine."
He lowered his voice slightly.
"Night wandering is practically a Hogwarts tradition."
"Even Hufflepuff students do it."
"You probably don't know this, but hungry Hufflepuff students sometimes sneak down to the kitchens beneath the Great Hall at night just to find snacks."
Ryze added calmly,
"Hogwarts won't expel students for night wandering."
"I asked Hagrid about it once. If students get caught, they usually lose twenty to fifty house points and then receive detention with either Filch or Hagrid."
"So you don't need to worry too much," he continued.
"A duel between two first-year students won't cause much trouble."
He shrugged slightly.
"Honestly, the power of first-year spells is probably weaker than a solid punch."
"But clearly, Hermione had stopped listening after Ryze mentioned the deduction of fifty house points.
Her expression turned pale.
She had only managed to earn less than twenty points for Gryffindor this entire week.
If Harry and the others were caught losing fifty points…
Gryffindor's score would suffer badly.
She nervously fiddled with the sleeve of her robes, clearly torn between different choices.
Seeing this, Ryze suddenly turned toward Anthony.
"Anthony," he said calmly, "if Draco Malfoy has issued a wizard duel challenge to Harry Potter, what would happen if I tried to stop it?"
Anthony answered immediately.
"A wizard duel represents a wizard's honor."
"If it were a formal duel, interfering with it would be considered obstructing someone's right to defend their honor."
"That could attract criticism from the International Confederation of Wizards."
"Both duelists might even resent you for interfering."
He paused briefly.
"Of course, a duel between two first-year students isn't really formal."
"But Malfoy comes from a pure-blood family, and Slytherin places a lot of emphasis on pride and honor."
"If you forcefully stop the duel, older Slytherin students might dislike you."
"And the Malfoy family could also hold a grudge."
Anthony glanced at Hermione.
"Gryffindor probably wouldn't thank you either."
"If you really want to stop the duel, don't ask Ryze to do it."
"He already doesn't want to get involved with the Malfoy family."
"And Malfoy might not even give him face."
Anthony shrugged.
"You should report the situation directly to Professor McGonagall."
"The professors can definitely stop the duel."
"But you'll have to deal with the consequences."
"You might gain the hostility of Slytherin students… and the misunderstanding of your own house."
Hermione's face turned even paler.
Seeing her reaction, Ryze told his roommates to go ahead into the Great Hall without him.
Once they left, he turned back to Hermione.
"Anthony is right," Ryze said calmly.
"Unless Malfoy provokes me directly, I don't want any further involvement with the Malfoy family."
He paused briefly.
"Of course, I wouldn't mind if they happened to run into a bit of bad luck."
Hermione looked confused.
Ryze continued thoughtfully.
"Right now, the real issue isn't whether you should report the duel."
"That won't benefit Gryffindor at all."
He leaned slightly closer and spoke in a quieter voice.
"Think about it."
"Malfoy just finished serving detention recently."
"He knows perfectly well that he shouldn't cause more trouble for a while."
"Slytherin can't afford to lose more house points because of him."
Ryze sighed lightly.
"At the same time, Malfoy isn't exactly known for careful thinking."
"He probably hasn't considered pure-blood honor or formal dueling traditions."
"In his mind, this is probably just a trick."
"A way to cause Harry—and Gryffindor—to lose a large number of house points."
Ryze's lips curved into a faint smile.
"But if you think about it carefully…"
"This situation could actually become a very good public relations opportunity for Gryffindor."
Hermione blinked in confusion.
Ryze looked at her meaningfully.
"If I were you," he said calmly,
"I would return to the Gryffindor common room right now…"
"…and start preparing."
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