Marie watched Carter as he had difficulty getting the spell to work. "Come on Carter, you can do it," she said trying to encourage him after his first failed attempt. She concentrated on the target falling as if she was the one casting when he tried the second time. Yeah, that was no help.

"Well, when I finally got it to work I was picturing Kay's face on the target." Oh how she would love to knock Kay and her know it all self down. "Maybe that could work for you too. Got someone you want to knock to the ground?" She had an idea of at least one person he may want on that target but chose not to say anything in case she was wrong.

Carter laughed. "Me?" he asked. He wasn't sure if he'd ever really been mad enough at someone. "I don't like I've ever wanted to knock someone to the ground." he said. But maybe it was worth a shot. He readied himself. He imagined a situation that would make him angry.

He readied himself again. "HISTEDIUS" he said. This time the target fell over without a problem.

"Thanks for the advice." he said. "Looks like you're up again."

Mina continued to eye the target. Really sixteen feet wasn't all that far away. She could do it, but it would take some time. She was pretty certain she wouldn't get it on the first try, but she would get it.

Toeing up to the line, she gave her wand a tight squeeze and let it loose.

"HISTEDIUS!"

Watching the green rings shoot out from her wand in a dark hue of green, they moved quickly toward the target only to fade a little more than half way there. Well, she didn't really expect to get it the first time. She was pretty confidence of herself but she wasn't that confidence to think she was that good.

Loosening up a bit, she closed her eyes again and inhaled. Calm yourself. You know the wand movement, you know the incantation. Now make it work for you.

Opening her eyes, she exhaled. Focus was key for her and that was what she needed to do. Focusing on solely the target, she tried again.

"HISTEDIUS!"

This time, the green rings shot from her wand in a brilliant bright green at a rapid pace. Speeding through the air it found its mark in the center and wobbled side to side before toppling over.

Now that was a whole lot better.

"Yes you. You can't tell me there isn't at least one person that has made you so mad you would want to see their face on that target." she said pointing at the target they were trying to knock over.

She watched as he concentrated on something and knocked the target over. "You're welcome. anything for a friend," she said when he thanked her for the advice. Yeah, she knew it, even a Gryffindor could have some sort of anger inside, even if they weren't willing to tell anyone.

Moving back to the twenty foot mark...the final mark, she readied herself. This time she was going to picture someone on the target that she disliked even more than Kay....VIOLET.

"HISTEDIUS!"

With a flick and a jab of her wand all she pictured in her mind was Violets face getting hit with those green swirling rings. "YES!" she shouted as the target fell back. She was so excited to get it right on the first try that she turned to Carter and gave him a hug. "I can't believe it worked on the first try. I guess Violet is good for something after all." Who would have guessed that the little brat would be of some use to her.

Carter hugged her back. "That was great." he said. From the expression she had on her face he could only assume that she thought about Violet when doing that.

Alright his turn now. "HISTEDIUS!" he said. There was such force in his jab that he nearly fell over. That, was graceful. He looked up just in time to see the target fall over.

It took him a while (well longer than Lina) but when Raiden finally stepped to the last line, he actually felt kinda good. He'd knocked down the previous targets... this one looked a bit far away though.

Hmmm.

The boy focused his eyes intently on it, fingers tightening around his wand as his head tilted to the side, as if considering something.

"Histedius." There was quiet intention in the spell; the rings immediately sprang forth, aiming right for the center of the target. The boy didn't even blink as they zeroed in on it; the target did not fall nearly as forcefully as he would have liked, but it went dooooooooown.

"Heh."

He was done now, but he'd totally missed whatever the professor had just asked. Stepping aside, he turned his attention to what answers were being given.

"Thanks" Marie said as she let go of Carter. She still couldn't believe that she had actually accomplished the twenty foot mark on her first try.

She watched as he got ready to take a shot at the final target hoping he would be as successful on his first try as she was on hers.

Seeing him stumble back she quickly reached out to grab him so he wouldn't fall. "Carter, you did it, that was awesome." she said as she looked at the target that was still on the ground. That's odd, why didn't the target pop back up? What had he been thinking about when he cast that spell?

"Hey, we made it to the end. We knocked the target down at every distance that is marked." She was so excited about this that she gave him another hug. Yes, she likes to hug.....a lot. Hopefully he wouldn't get tired of her doing that.

Amelia grins as she walks into the class again after their break. She notes that the class is set up differently. Slipping into the crowd of people, she looks around at the objects that they would be targeting at. She grips her wand excidedly waiting for the class to begin.

Mina stood at the last line and zoomed in on the target. She just needed to knock it over and she would have accomplished her task. Hearing everyone around her, she tried to block the voices out. Yet, she couldn't really complete do so. She could still hear a faint whispering of what was going on around her.

Shaking her head, she gripped her wand and closed her eyes. Focus and make it work. Focus, make it work for you. She was silently chanting it in her mind. Inhaling deeply, she slowly exhaled and opened her eyes. Her mind was clear but as her eyes opened, it lingered to a thought. As she raised her wand, she flicked and jabbed with force in a relatively precise and clean movement.

"HISTEDIUS!"

With her wand still extended, she watched as the rings sped through the air at the furthest target. As they moved closer and closer, their color intensified before almost turning a dark emerald color as they hit the middle of the target. Unlike the other times, the target toppled with ease and hit the floor hard.

Slowly, she lowered her wand and stared at the toggled target in slight disbelief. What had she done this time that differed from the other times? Blinking rapidly, she tilted her head in thought. Was the thought in her head the difference?

Whatever it really was, she needed to figure it out and use it to her advantage in the future.

"Thanks." Carter said happily. He felt very accomplished. "Yeah, that was a lot of fun." he said hugging her back. He hadn't done that well in this class since the day last year they learned how to disarm.

Carter gave Mina a thumbs up. "That was a great hit." he said to her. Even though the spell turned creepy dark green.

"Carter, Mina, Marie." Ethan had been watching the students encouraging each other and working together. "You are doing very well. I appreciate you encouraging one another."

He nodded at Raiden, noticing the prefect was getting the hang of things, he could see the boy's concentration.

"Good, Lina." Truebridge nodded in agreement. "I appreciate you mentioning the definition of a parry also." He added a point for Lina on his little mental list.

"Expelliarmus is one of those interesting spells that are often used to 'attack' when it is actually, by nature, more of a defensive spell. As for countering, you have the concept right, but again Finite is more of a defensive method." Truebridge answered. She wasn't wrong, but her answer clearly showed she tended towards a more defensive duel.

"You are more than welcome to have a go, but please make it quick as we are moving on now. You can join in practicing when the lesson finishes."

ooc: If you could manage it in one post that would be awesome but otherwise just pay attention to what is going on. p.s. you are awesome.

"Five points from Slytherin for being late." Truebridge frowned, never one to enjoy taking points, especially from his former house. But he wasn't about to let it slide either.

"Being able to read a duel is important. Often duelers unwittingly fall into a pattern. Sometimes a simple 'attack, defend, attack defend' sometimes, 'attack, counter, attack defend', or indeed when the duelers are more advanced a parry may be a part of the pattern," Truebridge nodded at Lina in acknowledgement. "Of course there are many possible patterns, but if your opponent can identify a pattern in your dueling, it can give them a great advantage. Aside from a pattern of attack, defence and so forth, what other patterns might be recognised within a duel?"

ooc: moving on with the lesson now. You are more than welcome to try the spell as long as you wrap it up in one post and pay attention to the lesson. As I said, at the end of the class anyone who wishes to will get another opportunity to practice AND to work on another skill with that particular spell

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."

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."

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?

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.

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?"

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."

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.

"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.

"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."

"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.

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."

"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."

"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.

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?"

Gold raised a hand. "In my opinion, the biggest trick anyone can employ is creativity, professor," she said, quietly. "I've noticed that, in a lot of duels, the person to win is not the one who knows more; but the one who can maintain the surprise factor, till the end; and that's where creativity comes into play. To do what the other won't expect."

NOT to do the exact opposite of what they would be likely to expect -- THAT would just become a pattern, too.

Anddd examples. Yes, she had examples. "In our second Defense lesson this term, sir, there was a duel between Tibi and Cela." She paused for a second, her mind on Cela, then jerked herself back to Earth. "... and one of them conjured really colourful butterflies. That was the most expected shield they could have conjured, and it helped."

"... and when I duelled Ivory, a while back." Sweet girl, Ivory! "She managed to distract me by cloning her shoes. There were birds all around, and I only saw the cloned shoes, which made me think Ivory was standing there, when she wasn't ... and, in another duel, I sprayed a jet of water to my opponent's right and, when she was taken by surprise and looked there, used that to my advantage to hit a spell at her."

"Sooooo... what I'm trying to say is, that one needs to be creative, and come up with things one's rival doesn't expect. Bring one's surroundings into play, if one can. Use simple spells, to big effect. Like Papilio. It's very simple, and only conjures butterflies, but when you imagine the butterflies to be big and blindingly-coloured, the spell is really useful."

ANDDDD.... she had just rambled on. A whole, whole lot. Gold frowned at the thought, and quickly lowered her hand.

Tiberius felt his face grow red as Gold mentioned the butterflies. It had been an accident.

Squirming uncomfortably, he muttered, digging through his bag for a parchment and quill to take notes.

Butterflies. Bah. That was Tibi. Panicky little boy who defends himself with insects.

Wonderful.

"Creativity yes," Ethan agreed, "Thinking out of the box is often a a good way of giving yourself the element of surprise. Those are some good examples." Ethan turned his head to eye young Tiberius, wondering how he'd managed to get himself paired with one of Hogwarts best duelers and how he'd fared.

"Any other answers?"

Herminny raised her hand responded, "Well theres nonverbal spells that way the opponent does not know whats coming".

Neptune GIGGLED. Professor Criminal was a bit of a busy body, too. He kept moving AWAY. She followed relentlessly though. To illustrate her answer, she raised BOTH hands and wiggled in her glitter and pink nailed fingers at him. "You could become ambidextrous," she suggested.

"Yes, yes. Non-Verbals but the vast majority of you are unable to cast unverbally, though it is useful when you are able." Truebridge agreed.

"Yes you could." Ethan paused heavily, as it was he and Kazimeriz had both done the whole wand hand switch thing in their duel. He spent a moment recalling this and then shook it off.

"There are plenty of other tricks, I'm sure you can each think of more. Also, you can identify how to use a defensive spell to attack, and offensive spell to defend. Which brings me to my next question, How do you know whether to attack or to defend, or indeed to counter or parry?" He nodded once at Lina in acknowledgement as he phrased the question.