The last thing Tom wanted right now was attention. Even with the commotion and confusion already in the great hall, they were starting to draw a great many eyes towards them. He needed to finish this or get out of there before people started to ask questions.

He needed something that James couldn't block, that the simple shield created by a young upstart could not defend against. But was James' shield really so flimsy? He couldn't be sure. But he couldn't exactly start throwing around one of the surefire unblockable curses here in Hogwarts.

He hissed out a curse of his own devising, slashing his wand upward. Green light slashed at James like the nasty crack of a whip. It was meant to cause sharp, welting pain, but more surface than the cruciatus would have conjured. However, it was as if the spell shot out of both ends of his wand, feeling the sharp sting across his chest so intense, it made him stagger backwards.