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Originally Posted by
Ameh 
Raiden's hand went up; yay for hearing the question this time! And it was something he actually had an answer for.
"Movement patterns, sir? Your footwork can easily fall into a pattern... and they'd gain the advantage of being able to predict where you'll move to next." He paused. "Kind of like... if you tend to step a certain direction after casting, it would be easy to see and aim an attack in that direction, for a higher chance of connecting."
"Excellent. Yes Raiden movement patterns can indeed be a trap that inexperienced duelers may fall into." As it was, that was a specific part of the curriculum for the following term.
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Originally Posted by
Zellanna Lina raised her hand as she considered it. "What about tells, professor? The subconscious things that a person does before each move. For instance, if a person has a tendency to look in the direction that they are about to cast, or the way they hold their arm if they're going to feint and attack."
"Good, Lina. You are right. Some people tense up or even relax slightly, these 'tells' can indeed indicate a lot about what is about to happen in a duel."
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Originally Posted by
SenoritaMaxie Gold raised a hand. "Professor, it's probably not to your advantage, if you use a certain spell too much. Kind of like the whole thing with Harry Potter and Expelliarmus. Death eaters were able to identify him, in the year of the Battle of Hogwarts, because of that." She shrugged, a little, as she thought of the story of the seven Harry's, and everything. "So using one spell too much -- would that be a pattern, sir? Because then your opponent knows what to expect from you." What would they call it, though? Spellwork pattern?
"Yes, only using a few spells, or indeed using a certain spell to counter, attack, defend or parry with every time, does indeed become a noticeable pattern. Your example is a good one." Truebridge agreed.
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Originally Posted by
Mad Eye Touz Neptune had gladly sat with Raiden (hugged him, too GIGGLE), but then he had to go be a busy body, so she was free again to learn on her own. Naturally, she gravitated back towards the main event: Mr. Truebridge. Neptune was almost his shadow as she listened very thoroughly to all his comments and suggestions to other students.
See? Her way of learning.
She tugged on his robes instead of raising her hand. "Kind of like what Gold said - familiarity? My brother Xelly... I ALWAYS know what he's going to do because I've seen him do it a THOUSAND times. Or perhaps he's just not creative. Creativity is important." Hmmm. Poor Xelly.
Tug. Tugtug. GIGGLE.
Ethan carefully extracted Neptune's hands from his robes, shuddered and took a step away from her.
"Familiarity can be telling, all the other things mentioned can be picked up on much quicker if you are familiar with your opponent."
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Originally Posted by
AmbiguouslyMe Bother. Tiberius had occasionally been shuffling, letting others in the line to try the spells squeeze in front of him, but it was his turn now and there was no avoiding it.
Eying the target, and the others around him who had had much success, he raised his wand. "Histedius." He didn't say it particularly clearly or forcefully, as he flicked his wand one way and crossed it the other.
We watched as the green rings left his wand and headed for the target. They hit is weakly, causing the target to teeter slightly but not topple. Tiberius reholstered his wand, sighing. Looking up at the sound of Truebridge's voice, he was relieved to find that they were gathering to talk some more.
Talking about dueling he could handle. Practicing... not so much.
Considering the question as he sat, Tiberius raised his hand. "If you use certain spells together all the time, that would be a pattern to, right? Like if every time you cast a certain spell you also cast a trip jinx right after?"
"Yes good. Relying on particular combinations to the point where your next is obvious can be a pattern that your opponent may use against you."
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Originally Posted by
The1HBIC Marie raised her hand after thinking about the question for a minute.
"What about the use of verbal versus non-verbal spells. After a while your oppenent may be able to predict when you are going to use a non-verbal. You know if you always cast a non-verbal right after a verbal, that sort of takes away the element of surprise."
"Hmm, to some extent, though that is less of a pattern and more something that you master over time. But you are very right about mixing it up a bit and being able to read whether or not an unknown spell is about to be cast at you. Though sometimes if your opponent speaks an incantation when you know they are competent in non-verbals, it can be a trap that they are attempting to lure you into; basically forcing you to respond to their advantage. Of course, that isn't precisely relevant when as a general rule students younger than sixth year aren't able to cast non-verbally with any true proficiency." Ethan nodded and offered a short burst of applause.
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Originally Posted by
grangerfan8 Twirling her wand, Arya left the targets and joined the rest of the class with the discussion. She hadn't made it past the twelve feet line but seeing how she couldn't even reach the target, the girl figured it was time for another break. Taking a seat on the edge of the plateform she swung her feet, still chewing her gum.
Seeing how many of her classmates had already answered the question, she decided just observe the converstion.
He nodded at Arya as she sat down to join the discussion.
"Of course, as we have mentioned, you are limited by the spells you do know and also by those that you are particularly comfortable or skilled with, but keeping in mind all these patterns that can be recognised by keen observation, how might you manage to duel without becoming predictable? What tricks can you think of that may be of use regardless of how many spells you know?"