"Alright! Now, for everyone who's been waiting to know who the guests in today's exhibition duel will be… Are you ready!?" shouted Lee Jordan, firing up the crowd, who answered with cheers and excitement from the stands.
"They're both Hogwarts professors… again," he added in a slightly resigned tone. Several annoyed looks rose from the audience.
"Come on, they're the easiest to invite! They're already here, after all," he added quickly with a nervous smile.
"Alright, let's introduce the first combatant… everyone's favorite professor," he said enthusiastically, "especially among the Gryffindors.
He doesn't even need to be a professor, because he comes from one of the oldest magical families… Though most suspect he's only at Hogwarts to annoy a certain colleague and maybe try to charm our lovely professor…"
The crowd burst into laughter"everyone except Natasha, who was sitting next to Harry and Hermione in the stands. She had agreed to come due to Harry's insistence, though she was clearly in a bad mood, especially after what her mother had told Sirius.
From a higher spot, Stephen and Wanda waved at Jordan, signaling him to look at Natasha. The moment he saw her, Jordan went pale.
"Ahem… that's just what the rumors say, of course. Not me!" he corrected clumsily. "So… please welcome the charismatic Professor Sirius Black!"
The students' cheers"especially from Hogwarts"filled the stadium. Sirius walked into the coliseum with confident steps, greeting the crowd with his signature charming smile. He was dressed entirely in black, his elegant attire emphasizing his rebellious flair. The girls screamed excitedly, and Sirius blew a couple of kisses into the air, as if he were on stage.
Harry tried to look away, but a chill next to him"specifically from where Natasha sat"made him glance at Hermione, searching for answers.
"Women are complicated, Harry," she whispered with an amused smile.
"Alright… and now, our other guest: Professor Severus Snape," Jordan announced without much enthusiasm. His dry tone made several people in the stands laugh, especially those unfamiliar with the Potions Master. Still, there were some claps"mostly from Slytherin students, though their applause was a drop in the sea of cheers for Sirius.
Snape appeared with firm steps, his robes billowing behind him, his face twisted in a clear scowl. Despite being surrounded by hundreds of eyes, his focus was unwavering. He was here to fight. Even if death was symbolic in this duel, the desire to defeat Sirius was very real.
Both professors greeted each other with proper etiquette: a slight nod without breaking eye contact. Then they separated to gain distance under the expectant gaze of the crowd.
"Well, it seems the professors are more interested in a magical duel than a coliseum brawl," Jordan commented, caught up in the growing tension.
"They're always picking at each other at Hogwarts. I guess they've got unresolved issues," Stephen added, arms crossed.
"I hope Snape wins," Wanda said calmly, provoking several surprised glances. Stephen and Jordan turned to her, puzzled.
"If Sirius wins, he'll wear that smug face for weeks," Wanda quickly explained, causing the others to nod in agreement.
Meanwhile, at the center of the coliseum, Sirius and Snape stared at each other in silence.
"Doesn't this bring back memories?" said Sirius with a slightly crooked, barely sincere smile.
"Memories? You mean when you and your friends used to gang up on me like cowards?" Snape replied with an icy glare.
"I'm not proud of that," Sirius said more seriously this time. "But it didn't help having a dark arts fan trying to get us expelled every week. And yes, you were friends with quite a few who idolized Voldemort…"
Snape let out a dry, cruel laugh.
"Ah, right… and that justified luring me into a trap to be torn apart by your werewolf friend?"
"It wasn't a plan. It was stupidity. I admit it. You were snooping around too much… and I wanted to scare you. I didn't think about the consequences. I regret it."
"Your apologies mean nothing to me, Black," Snape spat, his voice cold as steel. "Draw your wand."
The countdown began.
"3… 2… 1… Begin!"
Both raised their wands instantly. The air crackled with magic.
At the very signal, Snape was the first to strike.
"Sectumsempra!" he roared, his wand slicing through the air with speed and precision.
Sirius barely managed to dodge, rolling to the side as the slashing spell tore through the ground behind him.
"Expelliarmus!" shouted Sirius as he got back on his feet, firing a quick spell that Snape deflected with a sharp flick of his wrist.
Without delay, Sirius spun gracefully and cast a double spell while closing the distance.
"Incarcerous! Confringo!"
Magical ropes shot toward Snape, but he raised a shield elegantly before redirecting the explosion to the side, causing part of the coliseum to rumble.
Snape quickly fired another Sectumsempra, as if determined to make his self-made spell fulfill its intended purpose.
Sirius moved fluidly, almost as if he were dancing between attacks. When Snape launched another cutting spell, he rolled aside, dodging by mere inches. Then, to everyone's surprise, Sirius propelled himself with a side flip, landed right in front of Snape, and swept his leg around in an attempt to knock him down using a martial takedown.
"Oh, that's clearly a Russian-style takedown… or maybe 'Natashan' style," Wanda said enthusiastically, flashing a mischievous smile toward the stands, where a certain redhead was glaring at her. Wanda played innocent as she kept munching on some magically regenerating popcorn from her floating bowl.
"Hey, that was awesome!" Jordan exclaimed.
"Yeah, something like that… though my fighting style is way cooler," Stephen replied competitively.
Snape, annoyed, cast a dark spell that looked like a liquid flare. Sirius rolled to the side and briefly hid behind a magically summoned stone wall. Snape followed him with his eyes.
"Are you going to hide, Black? Is that what you did when things got tough? Like when you left Potter alone with the Death Eaters..." said Snape, partly with resentment and partly with guilt.
"Don't mention James!" roared Sirius, bursting out, his wand glowing with a bluish intensity. "Fulgaris Tempesta!"
A storm of magical lightning spiraled down from above, aimed directly at Snape.
The Potions Master frowned, and with a quick twist muttered:
"Vaporum Obscuro."
A thick black mist covered him completely, causing the lightning bolts to explode harmlessly in the air.
"We've lost sight of him! This is getting intense!" shouted Jordan.
From within the dark fog, a sharp thud was heard, followed by a series of magical sparks speeding toward Sirius.
"Oooh, that spell creates shadow whips with electric charge!" explained Stephen, delighted.
"It shows how much control Professor Snape has to create new spells," he added with great interest.
"My grandma made whips too, but with real ropes!" said Wanda happily, completely unrelated to the topic.
"Why am I not surprised?" muttered Stephen as he glanced at his sister.
Meanwhile, Sirius was moving nimbly, dodging the whips that sought to tear him apart, quickly using his wand to counter them with a magical slash.
Snape cast another spell, this time making the ground beneath Sirius as slippery as ice. Sirius slipped slightly, but just as he was about to fall, he twisted mid-air and landed outside the frozen zone.
"Such good balance, right? But how do you fight if you can't see the enemy?" asked Jordan.
"Natasha probably trained him not to be such a klutz!" said Wanda, laughing.
"Most likely," Stephen agreed.
Then, a spell came from the stands aimed at both of them, but it stopped right in front of their faces before vanishing. They both knew it was just a warning, so they quickly shut their mouths as Jordan looked at them with a grin. Fortunately, it didn't escalate.
Sirius stepped back, closed his eyes… and his body began to glow with a white aura. With a firm voice, he pronounced:
"Homenum Revelio."
A blue light spread out from him, slicing through the mist like air, revealing Snape's body, who was briefly blinded by the glow.
Sirius seized the distraction and cast a spell with a wide gesture that summoned a pack of ghostly dogs. Snape countered with a magic wave that disintegrated the creatures.
"Finite Incantatem Maxima."
Both men were panting. There was no doubt"this duel was personal. Magic buzzed in the air like raw electricity.
"Not bad... for a reckless Gryffindor," muttered Snape in a low voice.
"And you? Still enjoy playing the bitter martyr, Snape?"
They lunged at each other at the same time, and their spells collided mid-air like crossing lightning bolts.
The crowd went wild.
"This is insane! This is a duel! This is Hogwarts, damn it!" shouted Jordan, nearly losing his voice.
"They're not stopping! This isn't just a fight anymore"it's a reckoning!" he shouted again, fully swept up in the excitement.
"And to think they only used to argue in the hallways," said Stephen, arms crossed. "This must be years of pent-up tension."
"So many years?! Like how many? Ten? A hundred?" asked Wanda, her mouth full.
"About twenty, Wanda. I don't think they're that old," Jordan replied quickly.
"Oooh! Then they're still young enough to fight!" she said happily, continuing to watch the battle with excitement.
On the battlefield, the duelists stared at each other. Both were slightly bleeding, both were trembling, but neither stepped back.
"Let's finish this, Snivellus," growled Sirius, pointing his wand to the sky.
"With pleasure, Black," replied Snape, elegantly flicking his wrist.
"Stellaris Canem!" bellowed Sirius, using an ancient spell of his family.
From the sky, a constellation shaped like a dog"Canis Major"broke free from the stars, descending like a bluish-white comet.
Snape, in response, rapidly recited a sequence of three spells of his own invention:
"Umbrae Tela! Mors Viscera! Fractalis Nocturnum!"
Shadow spears, dark blades, and a magical rift rose to meet the celestial hound.
When the spells collided, a thunderous explosion rocked the entire arena. The blast was so violent that a shockwave swept away dust, mist, and even part of the magical stands.
The audience held their breath.
When the light faded, both of them were buried under the debris of the explosion.
"They… they killed each other!" exclaimed Jordan.
"Well… I didn't see that coming," said Wanda quickly, surprised.
"They threw everything they had left. They couldn't defend against what remained," Stephen added swiftly.
Seconds later, a white light fell from the sky, returning both fighters to the center of the coliseum.
They reappeared. Their expressions were grim: a draw only meant they were on the same level.
"Tch," Snape clicked his tongue, and without a word, turned and walked away briskly, his cloak fluttering behind him.
Sirius didn't follow. He simply lowered his gaze and muttered:
"Always running away in the end…"
The atmosphere slowly began to calm, but everyone knew that fight wasn't over. It had merely been paused.
Sirius then raised his hand, waving to the crowd with a grin before blowing a kiss toward Natasha, who was in the stands. Upon seeing her icy glare, he immediately ran toward the exit.
"That was awesome. Just awesome," said Jordan, watching them both walk away.
"Well… I have to admit it. They're not bad," said Stephen with a smile.
"Which means we can tease Sirius"so it works!" said Wanda cheerfully with a big grin.