Professor Brian waved his wand again, and the suits of armor, with their jingling and clanging under the walls, were instantly prepared to toss dung eggs. The air was filled with a heavy scent like lead and mercury.
"Harry!"
Hermione clutched her chest, nervously exclaimed, Harry turned around and gave Hermione, and Neville and Ginny who are equally concerned about him, a smile. Perhaps it was a smile or a face spasm like toothache, Harry was not sure. Fred and George were excited about the appearance of these dung eggs. Perhaps they are the small witches in Hogwarts who have more interactions with the dung eggs than others.
"Prepare!"
Professor Brian held his left hand up in the air, making a slicing motion.
The other three little wizards didn't quite understand what the bizarre gesture meant, but Harry had seen it before. He had seen it when he was in Muggle school during the sports event organized by the school, where the referee would also make such a gesture before the start of the race.
Harry stared intently at Professor Brenn's outstretched hand, and gradually, all the surrounding noise was pushed aside. He could only hear the sound of his own heartbeat. This feeling of complete concentration was somewhat like what he experienced before each Quidditch match when he had to catch the Golden Snitch—the moving objects seemed to be trapped in amber about to solidify.
Draco, Cedric and Zhao Qiu all rushed out after the brief and solemn "start". Only Harry dashed out at the moment when Professor Brenn's hand fell!
In one second, Harry had already leaped over a distance of twenty feet across the starting line, but this distance was still negligible compared to the quarter-mile track.
At this moment, Harry regretted that he didn't spend more time training himself in running during the past few weeks. If he had, then at least there would be fewer dung eggs that could land on him.
Draco looked at Harry who was several paces ahead, his eyes filled with resentment.
Whether it was dealing with the undead or rowing, the final fruits of victory fell into Harry Potter's pockets. Even in Quidditch, he was one step behind. His pride and self-respect made him unable to tolerate being defeated by Potter again and again in such competitions. He put all his effort into chasing after him and decided to beat Harry tonight.
But this competition isn't about speed.
Just as Draco was focused on "revenge", the moment had arrived for the dozen dung eggs to be thrown!
To be fair, the situation Harry and the other three faced was much better than what Professor Brenn had demonstrated. When he was demonstrating, they were facing dozens of dung eggs in the first wave, but now there were only about a dozen coming at them. Moreover, the number of targets had suddenly quadrupled, meaning that each person only had to avoid about four or five dung eggs.
But this makes the situation theoretically easier, but much more difficult to actually execute.
Draco's eyes widened in terror as he saw several shadows flying towards him, he wanted to dodge them but his brain gave orders while his body couldn't respond to those complex instructions. He couldn't make any complex evasive actions. In a critical moment, Draco grabbed his head fiercely and fell on his knees, flipping several times on the ground and letting out a weird scream!
Harry wasn't much better off than Draco. He clearly wanted to imitate Professor Brenn's stunning 'C' shape maneuver from earlier, but unfortunately, he didn't have a flying broomstick. Making sharp turns at high speeds is not that simple. Harry slipped on his feet and went crashing down to the ground flat on his back with a loud thud.
"A!"
A shrill scream that could shatter glass rang out suddenly.
Xiu Zhang couldn't react in time and was hit by three dung eggs. It was like she was hit by three heavy punches simultaneously, and the subsequent explosion of smelly juice made her face pale. She fell directly to the ground, tears streaming down her face, and made a vomiting sound.
"Xiu Zhang!"
Perhaps due to luck, perhaps due to calmness, as always, Cedric stumbled but managed to avoid the first wave of attacks. With the corner of his eye, he noticed Harry and Draco falling almost simultaneously and felt a hidden joy. Just as he was about to take advantage and move ahead, the sharp scream behind him made his heart tighten. Cedric immediately stopped his forward momentum, turned around, and fell down beside Xiu Zhang to help her up.
"What are you doing, Mr. Digory?" The voice of Amos Dagonet was as cold as never before, "Do you think this is just a game? A good opportunity for you to show your gentlemanly demeanor?"
Amos Dagonet then turned his cold eyes towards Qiu Xiu, who seemed to have lost her fighting spirit.
Would the smell of dung eggs be more nausea-inducing to you than the scent of blood? Stand up and finish the remaining distance!"
Cedric gritted his teeth, ready to leave Xiu Zhang's side and continue his challenge. However, just a momentary delay allowed the second wave of attacks to catch up to him. Before he could even stand up, something heavy smashed into the back of his head, causing him to lose his vision and fall flat on his back.
The venomous scolding from Professor Brenn left Xiu Zhang flustered and at a loss. She instinctively obeyed the command but, the sticky, stinky sludge left her limbs completely powerless. Struggling several times failed to make her get up. The continuous explosions of dung eggs around her pushed her to the edge of collapse. She could only cover her face with her hands, shaking shoulders, and sobbing quietly.
Draco's knees had been severely injured from the first wave of attacks, and Harry's heavy fall had left him with a numb head.
The two of them didn't give up. Facing their own crises, they continued to move forward, not having heard what Professor Brenn was scolding them for.
But now, Draco and Harry had lost their composure entirely. They adopted the same foolish method, one hand protecting their faces while crawling forward.
This method was clearly unsustainable. After running only fifty feet, both Harry and Draco, who had been hit with numerous "heavy punches," collapsed. They curled up on the floor, hands clasping their heads, no longer able to stand up.
"You can't just sit there and wait for the attack to come. You have to learn to predict and observe your opponent's movements--" Amos Dagonet ordered the armor to stop attacking, sighing helplessly, "Hiding your eyes and running like this is suicide."
As Harry had predicted, every little wizard who entered the classroom tonight was subjected to a thorough torture. None of them could reach the fifty feet mark, and all of the girls who participated in the training were in tears by the time they left the classroom.
"You won't need to be at the Quidditch pitch before six in the morning anymore, but you will have to spend half an hour running every day. Choose any time you like, but I will know if you are doing as I asked."
Before leaving this classroom, Professor Black's instruction left all the little wizards with tears in their eyes.
"Before returning to your respective dormitories, you should first go to the school hospital to deal with your injuries. I've already informed Madam Pomfrey in advance, and she will take care of you."
Professor Brenn returned to his usual friendly tone, smiling as he addressed everyone.
"Now you can leave. Well, Harry, you stay back a moment. I have some things I need to talk to you about."
Many little wizards looked at Harry with sympathy in their eyes, except for those from Slytherin House.
Harry had never wanted to get away from Professor Brenn as much as he did now, but he could only watch with longing as Hermione and the others raced out of the classroom.
"Professor Brenn——"
Harry tried his best to appear weak, and said pitifully, "I'm not feeling well, Professor Brenn. I think I need to rest."
"If you're asking me to try again, I'm afraid-- that is to say, I'm in a lot of pain."
"That doesn't matter, Harry."
Amos Dagonet chuckled happily, saying,
"I didn't expect you all to be able to master everything in just a few training sessions. In fact, I kept you back because I have a gift for you, oh-- a belated gift."
(Chapter ends)
