Chapter 526 - Sore Muscles (2/2)
”I severely underestimated my opponent,” Rowan grumbled.
”How?” Reginald further inquired.
”I assumed that my opponent would be thrown off by the smokescreen,” Rowan said with a frown. ”However, my opponent not only was not thrown off by the usage of such a spell, but even used it to their advantage.”
”Correct,” Reginald with a pleased tilt of his head. ”In battle, an opponent can turn a certain victory on its head. Never underestimate the number of cards that your opponent possesses in his or her hand.”
Turning towards his grandson, Reginald asks, ”And you, Severus?”
”I did not counterattack, when I was thrown onto the ground,” Severus mumbled. ”Even if I was disoriented and breathless, I should have still countered with a spell to gain time to climb onto my feet and protect myself.”
”Exactly,” Reginald chorused. ”You left yourself wide open to an attack, and had I used the killing curse on your prone figure on the ground, you would be dead, Severus, and as would you, Rowan.”
Taking a step back, Reginald says, ”You have five seconds.”
Rowan instantly runs away as Severus retreats backwards firmly keeping his gaze on his grandfather, before casting a shield bubble spell.
”Bombera!” Reginald said as he points his wand at Severus. A ripple of sparks flies out creating an explosion as they slam into the glowing defense shield. The shield flickers for a moment, but still manages to stay up.
Reginald manages to hide the fact that he is impressed, and merely twists his head to the side as a hex harmlessly misses him and hits the ground with a fierce spark. Whirling around, Reginald says, ”Stupfey!”
However, Rowan had already anticipated such a reaction, and says, ”Petrificus Totalus!” The white flash of the body binding spell soars to ward's its target. There is a bit of a glimmer of hope in her eyes at seeing that her grandfather will be unable to dodge in time.
But as cool as a cuc.u.mber, Reginald brings up his wand and cast's the Hex-Deflection spell. The sparks harmlessly fly away as he whirls around and does the same to Severus's jinx.
”You have got to be kidding me!” Rowan privately thought to herself. ”Is there nothing the old man can't do?!”
”If your opponent is especially powerful or good at controlling his or her magic, the Hex-Deflection counter spell will deflect a great deal of Hexes,” Reginald explained as he calmly deflected their attacks. ”Naturally, I will have to counterattack in a bit, but it should prove a valuable training experience to you both.” (And since he could see magic, the spell was of actual great use to him. Anyone else would become a sitting duck or was a reckless betting wizard or witch.)
And it did much to the dismay of Severus and Rowan, who were left with their pride and dignity in tatters. Still it only got worse, because Reginald after that no longer voiced his spells, and instead only cast wordless magic. As it turns out, it is much easier to parry and attack when one can hear the curse that their opponent is casting. A rather handy skill to possess, but a difficult one to cultivate for a witch or wizard. But then again, it might just be a lack of common sense in the wizarding world, and that would not be surprising at all.