Chapter 254: Why Do Some People Have to Be Bullies?
They kept circling. Lily found her rhythm.
She stopped trailing Regulus and started pressing him, chaining spells to cut off his movement. First shot to his right. Second closed the space to his left. Third arrived the instant he changed direction.
Regulus stepped back twice, caught all three, and needed two extra adjustments to recover his footing.
He paused and looked at her, addressing those three specifically. "The thinking's right. Use spells to box your opponent's movement, wait until they're forced into one direction, then hit that direction. That's what dueling is. Not two people trading shots. It's controlling the field. Those three you chained together, that instinct is good. A little faster, a little tighter on the links, and I wouldn't have gotten out."
Lily listened closely, nodding as he spoke.
"One more thing," he continued. "Watch the opponent's wand angle. Before they cast, the wand points toward the target. The lead time is short, but it's enough for you to read what's coming. Pair that with where their eyes are looking, and you can usually guess where the next spell lands..."
Halfway through the sentence, Lily's eyes flashed with mischief. Her wand snapped forward and a Disarming Charm shot straight at his chest, slipped in clean through the gap while he was talking.
Regulus's eyebrow twitched. His wand flicked sideways, batting the red light into the wall.
The deflection took a touch more effort than usual. A faint smile crossed his face, and he glanced at her.