He tried to keep up with what was being said, but it was hard. He was not the note taking kinda student. Well he was a student when it suited his schedule to be honest, but his was actually something he wanted to to. But how knew all this went into dueling. It was making his head spin.

He was for once focused on the task at hand. And that was saying something, at least.

Oh no.

SHE WAS LATE!

Sarah had rushed along the first floor corridor, coming to a screaming halt just outside the door.Pushing open said door, she stuck her head inside.Crap.They looked like they'd been talking already.Sliding in, Sarah made a beeline for an empty seat, raising a hand to Professor Truebridge and mouthing a "Sorry I'm late" at him.At least it wasn't class, so she wouldn't be docked points, but she had a feeling she'd missed out on something important.

Meh, she'd find someone to fill her in.

Truebridge nodded in greeting. It wasn't a problem. "Plenty of your clubmates are taking notes, I'm sure someone will share theirs."

He looked around. At least they were interested, that was positive.

"A second is a person who serves as a support for the dueller. If the Code Duello in question has allowances for a second, they will check the wands of both combatants, ensure the arena is ready and ensure the Code Duello is enforced when it comes to limits and completion points. They may also step in if the original dueller is unable to duel or simply duel the other second."

That was simple enough, yes?

"Its worth while, when you can, to watch other duels and take note on what worked, what didn't, what weaknesses and strengths you recognise in the combatants, what might work for you, what spells they rely on and things like that. You can even analyse historical duels in such a way and it can only ever benefit you. You are always welcome to use the duelling arena to watch others, even if you are not duelling in there yourself."

Truebridge slowly walked along the length of the seating area as he continued.

"Thats enough of the what, I think. Perhaps you'd wish to know the 'how'. So can anyone explain briefly how you duel?"

Brant Busted through the doors and said out loud so that the professor could hear him "Sorry Sir, Just posted the Team Rosters.... for Quidditch you see so I've been over run by some angry students" he said while brushing leaves and little peices of branches out of his hair.

He made his way to the seats and sat down. Still out of breath.

And Legend was late. It was a stupid idea to take a nap but all the homework made him tired! Gah. Slipping through the doors of the Dueling Arena Legend really hoped he wouldn't be in TOO much trouble. "Sorry sir I.....I can't think of a good excuse." Quickly taking a seat he knew he would be able to catch up. He was smart like that.

She wasn't taking note, she already had thorough notes on the subject from last term and didn't feel the need for more, but her notebook and quill were sitting in front of her. Just in case.

Twirling her wand, she listened to Truebridge and her brow furrowed as she thought about his last words. How do you duel? She had never really thought about it, probably cause she had never been asked until now. Gazing at the wand twirling between her fingers, she hesitantly spoke. "Do you mean our own dueling techniques or how to duel in general?"

"Instinctively? Smart? Balanced between defense and offense?" she mumbled quietly more to herself than an actual answer for the professor as she wrote down her own thoughts. How did one duel, she had no idea how she could word that into a decent sounding answer. Much less think of an answer...

Placing her notebook down on her lap, Evelyn twirled the pencil in her hand for a moment before tapping it lightly on her notebook and looking up. Hmm...

Jackie thinks carefully about this question. She loved fake duelling at Delsion and thought of the techniques they tought. Disarm, non-verbal, stun, jinx, hex. DNSJX. "I learned a method called DNSJX for duelling. It stands for disarm, non-verbal, stun, jinx, hex. In many school duels the S is left out so it is just DNJX, disarm, non-verbal, jinx, hex. Disarming is an easy spell that can make you simply win a duel. Non-verbal helps because the opponent has no idea what is coming next. An easy non-verbal is levicorpus which pulls your opponent up in the air by their ankles. It is more for fun, but can be used in duels." Wow she said a lot about duelling strategies. She loved the "Duelling Club" at Delsion where they used fake wands to practice duelling.

Tori came in to the arena and saw that she was late as things looked like they were in full swing already.She took a seat quickly and listened carefully. Of course the topic is about duelling. Rules, techniques and spells of defense and offense. She looked up and saw a couple friends.

"Its alright. Just take a look at someone's notes." Truebridge answered.

"In general." Truebridge smiled slightly.

"And a balance between instinct and intelligence is always a good idea." Ethan commented.

"Of course, if one is not able to cast non-verbals, it does change things some. Let me rephrase. When you step up to a duel, what do you need to do in order for a formal duel to begin? How does one indicate they are about to duel?"

"You bow to your opponent," Selena offered, "wands out and then you start?" Selena wasn't 100% certain but she was pretty sure it was at least partially correct.

A second! Man, he'd love to be a second!

But that one won't be getting much advertisement, right? If not, then he wouldn't like to be second.

But, er, yeah..formal duel to begin....?

"They have to bow first, right? The ones involved in the duel" he said, slightly unsure. Yes, he's never been in a duel before. Nor seen one.

Alex looked around confused thinking on it, "You start a duel by taking out your wands and bow to the person your dueling, you and this person are supposed to come up with limits on what you're supposed to do and what's not allowed and what is allowed. You tend to win a duel by not underestimating your opponet and with smarts, by using spells they think you wouldn't use and of course being Sly, Sneaky, and by confusing him or her works just as well." Alex offered up with a shrug, Slytherins were good at confusing people and at being sneaky.

Ellie walked into the meeting. She gave a sigh of relief. Nothing had really seemed to have started yet. They were only talking. She uttered a small, "Sorry." It wasn't right to be late for anything, after all. And she took a seat and listened to the professor. Lalalala.

Ooh. She knew this. "You bow." Small, simple answer. But right. Right?

“With a presentation of arms," Patroclus replied, "Usually with a bow and the striking of an initial pose, to express the duelist readiness, some will even go so far as say something, such as 'En Garde', or even 'Bring It'” he added with a cheeky grin.

Hermione listened to the proper way of dueling. It seemed simple enough, but considering DADA was her worse subject it certainly could be a lot more challenging than she expected.

Arya pondered on how to duel, but before she could answer some of her clubmates had given the same responses she was thinking. So she just sat there and glanced at each student as they spoke.

Gold raised a hand, out of habit.

"Wizarding duels have a pretty different start, from most muggle ones," she said, her mind on fencing - one of her few strengths and something she was pretty good at. "You bow to show your readiness. Then you raise you wand and, well, duel."

Generally, of course. Gold had been in all sorts of duels where nobody had bothered to bow, and wands had been raised straight away. Or lots of other, completely bewildering 'laws' had come into play. Then again, she had no doubt she was glad for all the experience.

Now if only she could get half as good at the theory, as she was at the practical side of the subject.

Miles ran down to Truebridge's classroom and skidded into the door as he opened it. He was so late. He hadn't anticipated the nurse taking so long. Looking around he scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepishly at the few people who knew. "Ummm...sorry I'm late. Hospital wing," he said with barely a glance at Truebridge himself. He was only joining this club so he could duel people. Finding a seat he listened to what was being said, trying to catch up. "Well...it's kind of like Fencing in the Muggle World except with wands instead of foils." Well that made sense to him anyway.

"You bow and then, get ready or just get to it."Tori said.

Kylie listened, trying to participate in discussion but every chance she thought she might jump in, she got caught up listening to all the other ideas.

What was a duel?

She thought about the question, and the specifications the Professor had explained. And, for once, she found herself at somewhat of a loss. She raised her hand regardless, "Professor, isn't that a bit... circumstantial? I mean, it really does depend on the setting. If you're in a school, then there's quite a bit of preparation involved. Discussing limits, finding space, being observed by a faculty member... and after these are all set in place, executing what you earlier agreed on. The... Code Duello. So, wouldn't a lot of your formal duels beginning be dependent on the Code Duello? You'd execute it how you agreed to execute it."

Well, her explanation really only worked in settings where there wasn't some serious battling going on. Dark magic and stuff. But, eh. That was fine. She didn't have to be fully totally 100% right. Or even right in the slightest. Just putting something out there.

Noir raised her hand "First you take out your wand and then bow to your opponent" she wasn't very sure with her answer

Celandine had been quiet so far, taking notes here and there where she'd missed stuff the term before. She heard people mention bowing and saluting and following the code duello but there was one other thing that she wasn't sure she'd heard anyone say yet. Cela raised her hand.

"Professor? Aside from bowing and saluting and following the Code Duello, to signify the start of the duel you also take an agreed number of paces away from your opponent. Either to a marker on the duelling platform, or ten paces but its something that is set out in the Code Duello. I think the paces thing is kind of funny you know? Like it gives you a chance to think and sometimes it gives a chance for a psych out to take effect." Celandine smiled here, if you could do something to make that happen before the duel started, then the pacing part was about when it would start taking effect.

Nia sat and listened, twirling a strand of hair round her finger. It seemed a fair few people had already said about the bow, and there was no point repeating the same. She did make some notes on her parchment though, as she hadn't exactly had much experience of a formal duel.

She thought about Celadine's words. Paces away from each other. It did seem more of a psychological thing. About preparation and maintaining your nerves. Nia needed to remember that. And then...was it about reaction times to get the first spell in. As a Quidditch player she should be quite aware there. She pondered these things as she waiting for what was going to be discussed next.

"Um, isn't it most formal to bow before you begin," she says quietly.