Harry's First Battle

From a distance, Felix could see the lights of Loland, the village square filled with people, and the huge bonfire billowing thick smoke toward the sky.

Additionally, Felix also noticed many dragons. At a rough glance, there were about ten of them.

The village of Loland is isolated from the world and does not possess many commercial attributes. It is entirely different from Hogsmeade. This place typically sustains itself by providing unique magical products to other wizard shops and by cooperating with dragon farms.

Simultaneously, there are also numerous non-spellcasters in the village who choose to seek education and settle in ordinary towns far away from the magical world.

Of course, most Lolanders still opt for the wizarding life, even if they aren't all spellcasters.

"We also have an agreement with the Norwegian Ministry of Magic to oversee the security of wizards in this area," Evan explained. "You see, the world is vast and wizards are few. Especially in a place like Norway, which is vast, sparsely populated, and on the edge of the world, it's even easier for dark wizards to proliferate. We don't want our homeland to become lawless like Romania."

The Romanian forest is notorious in the magical world. Various creatures like vampires and werewolves congregate there, causing trouble.

Upon landing in the village, a group of people quickly gathered around. Felix noticed another group of Viking warriors, much younger than the rest. They were evidently returning home for Christmas.

They were tasked with maintaining the security of the village after Evan's troops had chased intruders away.

Afterward, Evan introduced Felix to the villagers, followed by an overwhelming wave of thanks.

Only after everything was over did Felix think of Harry and Kerry.

"Where are those two boys?" Felix scanned the crowd and quickly located them.

At that moment, Kerry was doing warm-up exercises by the campfire and asked Harry curiously, "Have you ever engaged in a duel?"

Harry shook his head. "I've only read in books that I need a dueling partner, right?"

"That's the behavior of wizards who think they're superior to others," Kerry shook his head and stretched his body. "Vikings just need to fight."

"I'm looking forward to it," Harry nodded.

Evan also noticed the two boys, engaged in their own conversation, and immediately stood up, making his way to the bonfire. The rest of the people were aware of Kerry's challenge to the wizard kid, and their attention shifted to the two of them.

"Come on, wizard boy, show Kerry what you're made of!"

"Kerry, don't disgrace the Vikings. Hold your ground a little longer."

Various shouts of encouragement were heard, with most directed towards Harry, as he was the challenger and a guest.

"Kerry Evanson! Are you sure you want to..."

"Peter Peregrine," Harry added.

"Do you challenge Peter Peregrine to a duel?" Evan looked at Kerry seriously. "Whether it's injury or death, after the duel, you cannot hold grudges or be envious."

Kerry twirled the handaxe in his hand. "Come on, Dad, I can't wait."

Evan smiled, picked up a burning torch from the bonfire, and placed himself between Kerry and Harry.

The surrounding Viking warriors formed a circle, chanting war songs that Felix couldn't understand. The atmosphere was so intense that Harry felt the blood in his veins boil.

"When the torch falls, the duel begins!" Evan stood at the edge of the crowd, holding the torch high.

After confirming that both were ready, he tossed the torch high into the air between them.

Harry felt nervous. This was his first real fight.

But he wasn't afraid.

The torch trailed flames through the air before - bang!

"Petrificus Totalus-" Harry immediately cast a spell, sending a beam of white light speeding towards Kerry.

Just before impact, Kerry's dragon swooped in to intercept the spell. The dragon's scales provided high magical resistance, rendering Harry's spell ineffective.

Simultaneously, the dragon curled its tail, placing Kerry on the dragon saddle on its back.

Seeing his attack fail, Harry darted straight towards Kerry on his broomstick without hesitation.

Felix was a little surprised. Was this kid already so proficient at flying?!

Unfortunately, Kerry and his dragon were evidently more experienced. As they swiftly maneuvered to evade Harry's attack, the dragon's tail lashed out forcefully. Though Harry dodged quickly, the impact sent him staggering.

Then, Harry swiftly ascended into the sky.

"Isn't this unfair?!" Evan said worriedly before quickly adding, "I mean no offense, it's just that Kerry and Bart have been together since birth, and Bart doesn't look like your usual broomstick."

Felix shook his head calmly. "It's fair. But...provided he's truly learned something."

"He's only in first grade," Evan said with concern. "How much magic can a first grader learn?"

"No, he hasn't even started school yet," Felix said. "More important than so-called magic is the combat mindset. While wizards typically cast spells from a distance, many wrongly liken them to archers. In reality, the strength of wizard combat lies in its unpredictability."

" As long as he can have a flexible fighting strategy, he has a chance to win."

"Really?!" There was a pensive look on Evan's face. For this group of individuals, they might not be interested in discussing mathematics, physics, and chemistry. However, when it comes to combat tactics, they are certainly willing to engage their intellect.

"Most of the wizards I've encountered just waved their wands."

"That's a fundamentally flawed approach to combat," Felix affirmed calmly, his gaze fixed on the battle above.

Kerry and Harry weren't flying too high. At this moment, they maintained their distance from each other, with Harry clearly intending to leverage the unique advantages of wizardry in the fight.

Suddenly, Felix observed Kerry retrieving a bow from the dragon's saddle with great skill. In the blink of an eye, the arrow was aimed at him and released.

He swiftly dodged and retaliated by aiming at Kerry.

"Petrificus Totalus!"

A magical incantation sped towards Kerry, only to be deflected by Kerry's Dragon Bart.

"Incendio!"

"Incendio!"

"Petrificus Totalus!"

Arrows and spells crisscrossed the airspace, with Kerry dodging while simultaneously launching arrows at Harry.

However, after a moment, Felix noticed Harry's expression gradually becoming impassive. He called out loudly, "Engaging me in close combat might be your only chance. The dragon's scales are still too formidable for you at the moment."

With that, he notched another arrow, but Harry seized the opportunity and swiftly descended.

"At last!" Harry's eyes gleamed with excitement as he leaned over his broom, making slight gestures with his fingers.

"Incendio——"

The wind might have muffled the incantation, but Kerry keenly observed Harry's mouth movements, focusing all his energy on Harry, staring him down intently.

Yet, nothing emerged from Harry's hands.

Before he could react, he saw flames erupting from the cloth bag behind him.

"A mere diversion!" Kerry kicked out, sending the burning bag hurtling toward the ground.

However, in the ensuing confusion, upon regaining focus, he found Harry hurtling the blue steel sword straight at him.

"Engorgio!"

In an instant, the sword expanded in size, towering over a man's height, spinning towards him at breakneck speed.

Narrowly evading the sword, Kerry looked again, only to find Harry had vanished.

Amidst the onlookers, a wave of exclamations rose.

As Kerry's discarded cloth bag neared the ground, a figure swooped down from the sky at high speed, snatching the bag before stirring up sand and dust upon the ground, then ascending once more.

At one point, he seemed barely a foot above the ground.

Harry reached into the burning cloth bag, disregarding the pain, and retrieved - the wand!

It was the same wand Kerry had obtained from the goblin earlier.

"I'm not merely a wizard who can only cast spells," Harry said slowly, pointing the wand at Kerry.