Messer smiled when he saw Ella was sitting next to him, as long as the girl keep her wand to herself he's good, right? Messer's eyes went from Ella to Professor Romanos as she began the lesson.

Wait, WHAT?! Dueling? After the Professor mentioned that, the fourth year could feel Ella's smile without turning his gaze toward the girl. Was this mean they would practice dueling after this? And Ella would be his partner? Yes, he would end up flying across the room again today.

Oh yes, Romanos's question. Hand up. "Dueling is a combat or a fight between two people using matched weapons accordance with rules that have been agreed upon."

Okay, Selina understood ONE person using Latin. That made sense. It was not completely bonkers that one person would use Latin and be knowledgable about the roots of the word... but as soon as a ton of people started using Latin the redhead could have broken out Mortimer with no regret. Not EVERYONE in the room had swallowed a bloody dictionary. People just did NOT have the time to know that much. Honestly, people were copying the first Latin users answer. Although, Selina had no idea why she was so upset. Maybe it was because she was a rather passionate Latin lover herself. Hmph.

ANYWAY, let people copy others answers. Whatever.

Moving on from the Latin issue, she collected herself and raised her hand to answer, "Dueling, ma'am, is basically a fight. Its more civilized and socially acceptable then what most people would consider fighting, but its a fight." AND AN AWESOME ONE AT THAT. Selina played Quidditch. A bit of violence was always welcomed.

Jory looked at the word on the board. They would be dueling? How cool was that! He thought of his answer to the question, putting the words together so they made sense.

He raised his hand. "Dueling is an arranged er... contest.'' Was it a contest? He couldn't think of a better word to put there. "It's where participants agree on certain rules and battle each other to determine a winner.''

Rachel payed attention to the Professor as she started the class. The girl raised her hand to answer the question.

- Dueling is a fight between two people. - said the Ravenclaw - In our world dueling is most of all a wand fight, and we use several spells to deffend ourselves and overcome our opponent.

DUELING! Why was this a theoreticaly lesson, then? He wanted to ACTUALLY duel! ...Even though he'd probably be terrible at it since actually casting spells...was still hard for him.

BUT DEULING!

"That's when you fight with MAGIC!!" Aidan chirped. Because fighting the muggle way..........was just 'fighting'.

Minerva watched and listened as others began to come into the class and ask about the other professor on the floor. It was just odd, was that how his classes were going to be as well....odd... Hmmm it might make going to the tower interesting though.

As class began Minerva sat quietly and was a little shocked at the word on the board. Dueling, would they actually be doing that this term. She knew they learned spells to do some things in the past, but actually dueling each other. That sounded a bit fun and scary at the same time. Putting her hand up Minerva answered, "Professor Dueling is when you go up against another wizard in a type of fighting match. It can either be a friendly duel like a classroom setting or competition, or it could be dueling ones enemy or a darker wizard."

Theo had been sat near to the back of the room for quite some time now. He wasn't socializing much, because he felt as if he really needed to buckle down with classes this term, particularly wand work. His eyes lingered on the odd Astronomy teacher for a while, but as soon as the topic of the day was written on the board, he was ready to learn stuff.

Dueling! OoooooOOOooooOOOOh.

"Dueling is like a wand battle." Theo said, lowering his hand as he finished. Were they gonna be learning some deuly spells? Were they? Were they? Weeeeeeeeeeeere they?

Melody finally stepped to the front of the class now that it seemed safe. Just like Professor in front of her she too ignored Professor Flamsteed. DULLING! Cool, look like they would be dulling today or soon. Hopefully, today.

"If I may, Professor, Dulling is a fighting match between two people. There are certain rules they have to agree to and follow by. It can be either by death or something more friendly. In the magic world we duel with magic, however I know non magic folks have other forms of dueling, like fencing. The tool they use is some sort of thin sticks made out of metal." Melody had actually seen some fencing before. It was pretty entertaining coming from muggles.

Sarah raised her hand they were finally be doing dueling. She loved to duel, although it was a bit nervewracking."A duel is when 2 or more wizards or witches meet and attempt to disarm, injure or even in more serious cases kill each other solely through magical means.". Sarah fingered her wand in the holster, she was a peaceful person, yet she wanted to practice dueling in order to be prepared in case she needed to duel a serious duel.

Theory based? More theory based? Aspen's disappointment quadrupled. She didn't want to talk about dueling - DOING was so much more effective as a way of learning. And if some of Aspen's peers needed anything - it was more learning.

...

Theory based. Pah.

Aspen had a theory about theory based classes. She was, of course, silent. West had already answered best anyway. So, while the rest of the class went on and on, trying to one up each other in best answer category, she pondered Flamsteed. She'd gotten away with setting one person on fire in this class... could she again? She needed REASON though. Hmm... Not being dead didn't seem a fair enough reason. Yet.

As she waited for class to begin, Lily shifted on her pillow/seat/mat/thingies while setting up her notes. When class finally started, the fourth year tried her best to take good notes, only pausing now and again to listen to her classmates voice their opinions on what dueling truly was. Only once she felt that her notes were decent did the redhead raise her hand. "Dueling is somewhat like sparing in what muggles call karate. The goal is to score points, or in some cases defeat the person whom they are competing with. Only in dueling, the two people don't typically come into contact with each other." Unlike when she and her little brother sparred each other.

Speaking of dueling, was that why the new astronomy professor was in the classroom? Had Professor Romanos had a duel with the professor and gotten him with a spell or something?

...Dueling? They were going to talk about dueling?

"It's pretty much a spell battle...?" Yes? COuld that be a definition? "It's a bit..." Violent? Dangerous? She didn't finish her sentence out loud, though, because she knew that there could be some duels that were 'just for fun'.

She could never see dueling as something fun, but some people were weird.

Only if it were a Charms Duel! That shoudl be fun! And totally not dangerous!

Professor Romanos said they'd focus on the theoretical part today, right? So that was good. Although the badger did remember all of their homework from last term, where they were asked what to do if they were hit by this or that spell during a duel...

Oh, Merlin!

Dylan's eyes lit up! They were going to practice on the guy? Man that would be soo cool! "Cool!" he said looking at the floor professor, wondering what spell he could do on him. Maybe the Defence professor could give him some ideas. He then heard some prefects talking about Bombara Maxima.. levitation? but wasnt that a spell to blow things up?! Ooo actually that wasnt a bad idea! he would LOVE to practice that spell on the professor, though he wasnt sure it would turn out well. Mm unless that professor wanted to be practiced on and other stuff.. he had better move!



Dylan's mouth nearly dropped open, they were just going to talk no actually spell stuff? Oh man! just when he was hoping the lessons would get cool again they were gonna get boring? He didnt know why he came now, what if she made them do yoga again? As much as he didnt appreciate doing all of that, he had to admit it was funny to see others lose their balance and fall on the floor. But he wasnt going to fall cause he wasnt doing the yoga. He then looked at the other professor that was still on the floor and listened as the professor tried to explain what he was doing there.. on the floor of all the cool places he could have chosen to sleep, he chooses the hardest place of all. Was he ok? Didnt seem like it!

Dueling? well now there was an awesome topic to talk about, he put up his hand in order to answer the question. "Its a wand fight between two wizards!!" he said excitedly cause that was one thing that he wanted to do, a duel! "Like.. one" student "wizard does a spell and the other" professor like dodges that spell and he fires back, and the other throws a spell too and also dodges it, then the second guy throws out another spell but not before getting hit by the first guys spell![/b]" you hear that Mr Wood-Plank professor, you gonna get hit with a spell, just like in Dylan's story! Oh yes!

"Yes, personal quarrels between two people or parties are a common starting point for duels to begin, though most often then none, these duels are not formal in nature." She found it hard to not smile at the mention of the 'something serious' being a boy or girl.

Medea nodded her head. "Right. A formal duel does indeed have rules the duelists follow, which we'll get into in a moment."

"Yes, honor is one of the most common reasons for a duel to begin, whether it be formal or a straightforward fight. Though most people would go with a formal duel for the sake of providing some aspect of honor to the matter, and we'll get into why in just a moment."

There was never a dull moment with West around. She was still amazed at the things he said or knew...or even remembered. "Yes, they probably do feel...belligerent...don't they." Medea slowly nodded. Ahem. Alright.

"With duels in a general view, yes, you are allowed to whatever resource you see. Using your surroundings would be an excellent advantage, thank you for bringing that up."

"Indeed, opponents are only allowed to use magic in combat, though some don't always follow that rule do they?" A rhetorical question, but one to think about all the same.


"So, a duel is an encounter between two people in the manner of combat using matched weapons and may occur for various reasons. There are two types of duels. One, being most common, is when a duel breaks out without the use of rules and customs that define how a proper duel is performed. Usually these duels won't end until an opponent cannot move due to injuries sustained during the combat or death. The second type is a formal duel, where there are rules and limits that one follows. These are, unfortunately, rare to see out there in world, but they are a common method when it comes to practice duels; developing your skill with magic in offensive and defensive ways." Medea paused for a moment to let that sink in.

"With formal duels, the object is to disarm, injure, outdo, or even kill your opponent. How to decide this is between you and your opponent before the duel begins. We call these rules and limits Code Duello, which establishes this type of combat to be the more customary route to go when it comes down to one's honor. It helps prevent duels from turning into feuds."

"Does anyone know what else results with Code Duello? Or what some of these rules and limits could be? One answer per person please."

Alyssa quickly noted down what Professor Romanos told the class in her journal.



Then she put down her quill and thought of the possible rules and limits that would be included in the code. Once she had a possible rule, she raised her hand.

"Professor no one else should be involved in the duel especially if it is between just two people. This prevents either party from being 'ambushed' by someone else."

Ella was scribbling notes like mad because...well because DUELING! Dueling was fascinating, well except for the whole death part. She'd never want to be in a duel like that if she could help it.

Oh? Other rules and terms of the Code Duello? The blonde couldn't be sure but she figured what she was about to say was legit. "Professor, if someone fails to show up to a duel then the other person would be the winner and erm...well the one who failed to show would kind of be an outcast, yeah? Looked down on and stuff?" Ells wasn't sure this counted but she figured she'd give it a go.

Laura wasn't sure what to say but she decided to guess, she raised her hands. "Professor if one of the girls decided to trick the other into going to a place and time and then not showing up and like telling a Professor would that be against the rules, if they have arranged it?" Laura wasn't sure she would like that. "Also Professor if a girl was cheating in the duel because they were losing would they get into trouble?" Laura was enjoying this lesson.

Susan sat there furiously taking notes. She wanted to make sure she didn't miss anything the professor said. So there were a ton of rules when dueling...sounds like it should come with a handbook so you don't accidental break any rules.

Sue wondered what would be a good rule to have when dueling..."If one person kills the other can they be punished for it?" They did technically kill someone but the other person said it was ok, in a way.

Alex raised his hand. "Well, I think in Code Duello, it says that if you DO need to duel, you should bring a second, right? Someone to take over in case you die?" he said, wrinkling his eyebrows. That seemed...counter productive. Why have a duel if you would just replace the loser and keep going? That seemed pointless to him.

Ignore the Professor?

That would be a little difficult seeing as he was right there taking up someone's potential leg space but she figured she could handle that. He wasn't there. Nope. And he wouldn't be there until the Professor gave extra instructions concerning him.

Dueling???

Were they gonna duel?? She'd always wanted to--why was she saying something about it being theoretical?? Nuuuuuuuuu! This meant books and reading and not being able to try out cool new jinxes and such!!!

Slowly and quite disappointedly she raised her hand. "It's that thing where people fight each other, right?"



Merlin, there were rules governing fighting??? Since when had there been rules?? Wasn't it as simply as hitting the other guy without getting yourself hurt?

...

This was just one of those things she ended up being wrong about, wasn't it? SIGH. Well all her life she'd gone thinking anything goes when in a duel--the Professor even mentioned that people could possibly die so she would stick to that way of thinking.

However, for the sake of answering the question..."I think certain spells are banned from duels, right Professor? Like you wouldn't be able to use any of those three curses. I'm pretty sure you'd go to Azkaban for those but I don't know what punishment you'd get from the duel officiator themself..."

Did people even try using those in duels?

"Will we get a chance to duel at all this year?"

Dueling code, hmm? Like things that one had to do to make it all formal and showy? It wasn't really that way in a fight. That's what his mum said, and that's what the professor was saying, but Mo supposed there was a lot of benefit in learning to duel in a safe environment before getting into crazy fights to the death.

He raised his hand. "There are formalities and traditions that take place as part of the duel, like bowing and taking paces. I guess the bowing might be about showing respect to each other, or a mutual acknowledgement that you're following the rules, because if anyone decided not to follow the rules... that would be really dangerous. And the pacing is to get far enough apart for proper spell casting." Or, you know... something like that.

Rawdon was rather quiet as he took detailed notes on the discussion and forgot to answer one of the questions. Oops! Another question was now asked and he raised his hand. "Professor, in Code Duello there should be witnesses present to ensure that the duel is fair to both parties involved and they can get medical help if someone is injured."

Wait, wait, wait...Were they going to be able to DUEL this year? Dylan eyed his peers. A lot of people were asking...

THAT would be AWESOME...Sweet Merlin...

He eyed Aspen Odessa eyeing him.

Yes, ma'am...It. Would. Be. ON, Ravenclaw.

As to answer her question, though...the Slytherin shrugged. People had already said the good ones...Hmph. "I know the opponents are supposed to bow to each other." Glares for Aspen.

Was THAT a question, Odessa?!

Jory quickly wrote some notes as the Professor spoke. After the next question was asked, he listened to a few responses before raising his hand.

"If one of the challengers did not appear he was looked down as a coward,'' he said.

Sophie wasn't quite sure she liked where this subject was going. Death??? Even in formal duels?? That was crazy! Who would ever want to duel knowing they might DIE??

People could be weeeird...

The badge obviously knew almost nothing about this Code Duello thing, so she kept quiet, just thinking it would be way better to just have a Charm Duel. It would be totally fun and clearly MUCH safer. Oh, she also took notes, but just because they might need them for homework.