Hermione was used to the operation of this armor. As her wand fell, the armor that had just been under the wall made a jingling sound and loosely gathered. They rushed forward with a crisp throw posture in unison. This highly oppressive scene with its ominous atmosphere instantly changed Ron's expression.
"Hold on!"
Ron, whose face turned pale, suddenly shouted out. Facing the armors that were ready to strike, he breathed heavily and sweat had already formed on his forehead.
"You guys... what experience do you have? I mean, can you pass on any tricks for evading armor attacks?"
"Tricks?"
Harry and Hermione looked at each other, momentarily speechless in response to Ron's question.
Harry furrowed his brow in deep thought, recalling the journey of being constantly oppressed and trying to find a pattern. However, after careful reflection, he seemed to be unable to come up with any tricks. All he could remember was focusing on dodging, dodging, and then gradually becoming proficient at it.
"You have to--"
After searching through his memories meticulously, Harry finally came up with something. With Ron looking expectantly, Harry struggled to say, "Well, you can't just think about getting through the blockade, Ron. You have to be aware of what's happening around you because the excrement eggs thrown by the armors will attack from multiple directions."
Ron still looked at them with hope, hoping to hear more valuable advice.
"Your evasion must be precise, Ron –"
After a moment of silence, Hermione also shared the key points she had summarized,
"You must always remain calm, that's very important, because only then can your movements be precise. That is to say, you shouldn't start dodging the moment the armor initiates its attack. Instead, wait until the excrement egg is close to you before taking action. This will help you conserve your energy and deal with any subsequent attacks."
Hermione's words were deeper, and Ron furrowed his brow, trying his best to understand her explanations.
"I don't understand--"
After a while, Ron shook his head.
"Saving energy. Okay, that's not hard to understand, but why do I have to start dodging only when the excrement eggs are close? If I move away earlier, wouldn't that be safer?"
"Professor Bran's had these armors designed to mimic our opponents in duels as closely as possible; they can track our positions at any time. Think about it, Ron--" Hermione said quickly.
"If it were in a duel, if you dodged too quickly, it would reveal your avoidance path to your opponent. Your opponent wouldn't just stand there; he would further block your survival space, consume your energy, make you panic, and then leave you with vulnerabilities." Therefore, your evasion must also be deceptive--"
Hermione was talking about highly professional dueling knowledge, which would never be mentioned in any other magical education course and even not by Professor Bran at that time. He only let them experience it on their own.
"Does the evasion need to be deceptive?"
Ron was confused. He didn't underestimate the difficulty of this training designed by Professor Bran, but he also couldn't truly grasp the numerous details hidden within it, which appeared simple on the surface.
"Lunski feint, Ron."
Harry suddenly made a metaphor, and this vivid analogy immediately made Ron see the light.
In a duel, while evading seems passive, it can also be turned passive into active. You can use your evasion to guide your opponent's attack. On one hand, this is using your energy consumption to exchange your opponent's magical energy consumption. On the other hand, if your opponent cannot attack you consistently, it can also bring great psychological pressure on your opponent.
All of these are highly practical dueling techniques and concepts. For a great magician like Professor Bran or Dumbledore, when engaged in conflict with others, there's no need to consider so much because their power is enough to crush their opponents. However, for most wizards whose strength has not yet reached the pinnacle, these techniques and concepts are of great use.
"Is there anything else, Harry, Hermione?"
Apart from Quidditch skills, Ron is rarely so eager to learn knowledge.
But unfortunately, Harry and Ron have no more experience to share with Ron. Many things can only be truly mastered by painstakingly exploring them step by step on their own.
"Take off your robe, Ron--"
Ron stood in front of the starting line again, and Hermione urgently reminded him.
"Although magic can help you clean up the stinky juice, it can't completely eliminate those unpleasant smells."
"Be prepared, Ron--"
Harry swallowed hard, feeling as nervous watching Ron's training as he would if he were to step onto the field himself.
"The excrement eggs are quite heavy!"
Ron grunted twice in response to Harry and Hermione's reminders, then focused his tense attention entirely on the front.
Suddenly, the armor that were everywhere in the castle seemed terrifying to Ron. He remembered how his Gryffindor classmates first went through this training, how exhausted and lifeless they looked every night after returning to the common room. How would he react?
Ron heard that Neville showed an amazing talent in this training, and he and the Ravenclaw girl who was always acting crazy were the best performers in this class, even better than Harry, a talented Seeker. The results shocked many people, but it also proved from the side that Professor Bran's eyesight was amazing. He must have seen something, or else he wouldn't have chosen them as assistants for this class.
"Maybe I can surprise everyone too," Ron cheered himself up in his heart, trying to convince himself that this wasn't as terrifying as it seemed.
"This is just a Quidditch match, only the number of bludgers is a bit excessive."
Hermione's crisp voice fell, and Ron's jumbled thoughts instantly cleared.
Phew!
As Ron ran at full speed, the whistling wind of the rushing air was left behind, and all his attention was focused on the armor on both sides that were maintaining their throwing posture. With his highly concentrated spirit and determination, Ron's observation skills, which he didn't possess normally, were given a boost. He noticed that as he jumped over the starting line, one of the armor in front of him fourty feet to his right had taken action first!
Alright, stay calm and don't rush to dodge.
Ron immediately remembered Hermoine's reminder and widened his eyes to watch the movement of the armor. He saw the armor's arm sweep forward.
I can dodge!
Seeing the armor's throwing motion, Ron felt elated in his heart. Even though the arm of the armor swung so fast that it left an afterimage in the air, he could barely see it!
Stay calm, don't rush to dodge!
In mid-air, Ron reminded himself again to stay calm and not to rush to dodge. But his eyes were shining with excitement, and even a little eagerly hoping for the large stinky egg to attack.
At the starting line, they both watched silently as Ron, whose attention was completely attracted by the large excrement egg on the right, even turned his body and made a slight deviation. They unconsciously tightened their lips and flashed sympathy in their eyes.
Whoosh!
In the instant when the excrement egg left the armor's hand, Ron's involuntary smile froze, and was replaced by a look of horror!
It's too fast!
Being able to catch the trajectory of the armor's arm swing doesn't mean he can catch the flight path of the excrement egg. The thrown excrement egg had appeared ten feet in front of him almost instantaneously after it left the armor's hand, and Ron had completely missed seeing how it crossed the thirty feet of space.
At this moment, everything that Hermione had reminded him was completely forgotten by Ron. His body and mind were completely dominated by instinctual reactions. As his foot landed on the ground, Ron jumped as hard as he could in the direction of the left front!
Whoosh!
Ron felt that he had unleashed his potential at that moment, but the excrement egg flying towards him from the right front was still passing by his side. But that didn't matter, did it? He had dodged it, didn't he?
Bang!
Just as Ron was celebrating in his heart, he suddenly noticed that everything in his vision was strangely tilted. It seemed that his body had lost balance.
Ahh!
Only when he landed heavily on the hard floor, the intolerable pain in his calf, and the stench of excrement juice that spread from his nostrils did Ron realize that he had been hit.
What happened? I clearly dodged it!
With his leg in pain, crying out as he held it, Ron flashed this puzzled thought in his mind.
"I've already told you, Ron--"
Hermione raised her wand to stop the armor, and Harry walked over with sympathy, lowering his head to Ron and said,
"You need to keep your eyes peeled and your ears open."
(Chapter ends)
