After Hermione spoke in a steady tone, the classroom suddenly fell silent, and even the chattering voices disappeared. People carefully stared at the thin girl's body, seemingly trying to find the courage within her fragile frame.
"Compare--"
Malfoy furrowed his brow, pulling his body back slightly, eyeing Hermione with suspicion.
"What kind of contest?"
"Of course, comparing this project we are currently training for in this class, Malfoy," Hermione said matter-of-factly. Her voice paused for a moment before she sneered at Malfoy.
"Besides this, what other subjects do you think you can compete with me in, Malfoy? Oh, of course, I'll admit you're more skilled in Quidditch."
Hermione's grades were the best in her grade, but even in front of Harry and Ron, she seldom emphasized it. Besides in class, Hermione was actually quite low-key in private. Harry had never seen Hermione show off her grades in public.
Hermione's words were unanswerable, and Draco's face darkened. He glared at Hermione a few times, then twisted the corner of his mouth into a sarcastic smile, as if he wanted to mock something. However, Hermione, who wanted to end the confusion quickly, spoke to everyone first.
"In terms of the current training, Severus's performance is the best. He can walk half a mile - that is, 200 feet - under the attack of a dung beetle. No one else has managed to go over 200 feet."
In fact, this is related to one's own ability to withstand impact. Some young wizards have better dodging abilities than Cedric. However, the age gap brings physical differences, so they cannot withstand as much as Cedric can endure. Of course, Muscular Marcus is more resistant. But his evading skills are much worse than Cedric's.
"I, Neville, and Luna, the three of us have been selected as teaching assistants by Professor Brian."
Hermione stared intently at Malfoy.
"Anybody who is not satisfied with this fact can compete with us. The mark of victory is who can run faster than Cedric's 200 feet. Of course, if someone insists on going the whole way, he will also win."
Neville's forehead was drenched with sweat, and his pale lips trembled. Hermione seemed to have anticipated Neville's reaction, turning her head to look at him, her pure brown eyes reflecting the flames.
"Think about what Professor Brian said about you, Neville. He believes you are very outstanding."
Hermione didn't reveal what Professor Brain had said about Neville, for she knew it would inevitably lead to Neville being mocked, and she herself harbored some doubts about Professor Brain's assessment of Neville. However, at this moment, she could only trust Neville.
The fiery glint in Hermione's eyes seemed to possess a different kind of power, staring directly into the flames, Neville felt as if he was about to be ignited. The heart in his chest still throbbed at an unnatural pace, and his head was still spinning, but gradually, a hint of red appeared on Neville's pale cheeks. This flush was like a spark igniting dry kindling, quickly turning into a blazing inferno.
"I'll wait for you as quickly as possible, Malfoy!"
Neville suddenly turned his gaze, panting like a cow and staring at Malfoy, bellowing abruptly.
"Lombard, you're only bringing disgrace upon yourself!"
Malfoy gnashed his teeth and said.
Harry blinked, looking at Neville beside Hermione, who was staring with wide eyes. Suddenly, he couldn't associate the clumsy Gryffindor boy with that. But Neville's performance undoubtedly inspired a lot of people. Applause and cheers sounded like a tide.
Luna stared at Malfoy with her hazy, bulging eyes.
"Questioning the decisions made by people who are more intelligent than yourself will bring you trouble and is very foolish."
Draco hesitated for a moment, but the situation had reached this point, and he was now caught between a rock and a hard place.
"All right..."
Malfoy said coldly, scanning the Slytherin crowd for a moment, he hesitated for a while and then found the best one among the Slytherin students in this class.
"It's three against three, Sabini, Nott, and I. If any of you lose to one of us, you have to resign under Professor Brian's supervision!"
"You want to play tricks, Malfoy!"
Harry could see that this kind of competition was not in favor of Hermione and her group. Malfoy's team could easily target one of the three of them, thus forcing that person to lose their teaching assistant position. To be honest, Harry wanted to step in and replace either Hermione or Neville, but he knew in his heart that this was their problem. Even if he participated and won against the unpleasant group from Slytherin, they would not give up causing trouble.
"No problem--"
In response to Hermione's questioning gaze, Luna happily lifted her feet and said.
"I'll be the judge for you."
Severus stepped forward to say.
Six people stood on the starting line they usually trained on, with the others giving them space. The Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students who didn't have the professor's intervention in this competition whispered about the results of the match.
And the clear boundaries between Gryffindor and Slytherin guarded each other, they didn't trust each other, both thought that when the match was on, the other party would play dirty.
Harry saw Hermione roll up her sleeve and then find a rubber band from her body to tie her disheveled hair back, after which she sat down calmly to make her preparations.
It was evident that Hermione had been nervous in the public common room earlier, but now she seemed to have put all her worries aside.
"Go!"
With Severus's shout, the six people dashed out like arrows from a bowstring.
To be honest, if just a month ago, Harry would never have believed that these young wizards had such agile movements.
In the first fifty feet, everyone demonstrated an agility that made Ron and the other young wizards who had already given up on this class feel amazed. The six of them used their unique ways to dodge one after another large dung beetle, causing a burst of activity on the field. Various thrilling dodging actions appeared in succession.
To be fair, Malfoy had indeed put a lot of effort into this subject.
He had already adapted to the rhythm of the dung beetle attack, so he ran as fast as he could between each wave, accurately dodging the attacks. Harry couldn't help but admit that Malfoy had once again become his worthy opponent in this class.
"Oh, look at Lombard and Lovgood!"
Unfortunately for Harry, Hermione did not display extraordinary skills. Before reaching the fifty-foot line, she was the only one whose shoulder had been hit by a dung beetle. If this continued, Hermione was certainly going to lose the match.
Harry's attention was fully focused on Malfoy and Hermione until Hermione's Hufflepuff teammates Hannah Abbot let out a scream. He quickly turned his gaze to observe the performance of Hermione's other teammates, and after a few seconds, Harry was shocked.
Is that Neville? What's happening with Luna?
At the fifty-foot mark, everyone's progress was roughly the same, but after crossing the first standard of energy consumption, when the speed of the others clearly slowed down, Neville suddenly let out a low growl and turned into a fierce young lion pouncing on its prey.
Neville once again showed off his astonishing agility!
In the midst of everyone else's speed slowing down, he suddenly accelerated and surpassed everyone, with a large dung beetle flying towards Neville's chin at an awkward angle. As the shadow of the dung beetle approached Neville's side at a distance of five feet, Neville suddenly pivoted and pushed it aside with a flick of his hand!
Snap!
The two dung beetles collided with great force in mid-air, splattering repulsive, foul liquid!
"Lombard!"
Sabini was so angry that he shouted, and his eyes were splashed with the foul liquid from the explosion in front of him. He had to stop and cover his eyes in pain.
"Offensive!"
Pansy Parkinson, the Slytherin supporter, turned into a monster and shouted.
"Lombard should be disqualified; he sneaked an attack!"
It's hard to say whether this was an accident or if Neville intended it, but everyone except Slytherin was impressed by Neville's stunning move!
When the distance exceeded one hundred and fifty feet, most of them were visibly struggling with exhaustion, with one exception: Luna!
(Chapter ends)
