Isabel grimaced as she quickly bowed along with the Gryffindor she hated this part people and their damn etiquette it was just stupid. Regardless she made her ten steps backwards and got into position she had the perfect spell in mind she'd been wanting to try it on someone ,the dummies didn't really help,when she saw Vinnie her brother and hero do it to her other brother Sean it had been hilarious and dummies just didn't give the same reactions.

Inhaling a deep breath she calmed her her self it would do no good if she didn't get herself under control even though you need a considerable amount of intent which she had in spades she also need a lot of concentration and she wouldn't be able to concentrate if she let the adrenaline now pounding her veins interfere .

She closed her eyes the opened them letting out her breath,she felt her body settle itself into a relaxed form.

Then with a smile and a steady voice she uttered her spell

"Protidor Armatu"

Just as she whipped around, wand at ready she heard the girl call something she'd never heard before. Protidor Armatu? Was that even a spell? Before good sense could kick in she was zapped and seconds later found herself in a fight with her own clothing.

"What the kneazle???"

Her shirt tightened at the collar and her shorts kept tugging her from side to side. "Cool!!!" She didn't know you could do that!!! For a moment her concentration was thrown off. All her focus was on trying to get them to knock it off while admiring because this was a neat spell. How'd it go again? Protidor Armatu? Something she would commit to memory but for now...

"Tarantallegra!"

That should keep her busy for a while and now she could right herself real quickly. "Finite!" was cast at herself and the tugging finally came to an end. Merlin. She looked to Isabel again, waiting to watch the performance that would take place in short order...unless the girl blocked it in which case Lex would go a different route with this duel.

A smug smile emerged on Isabel's face as she took in her small victory. This was definitely better than the dummies. She watched as the lion was clearly taken by surprise. She allowed herself to savor the moment but that moment was cut short when she realized she had let her guard down in her state of smugness.The Gryffindor had cast her spell

Dammit It was too late to avoid and she found the lower half of her body dancing on its own will. Damn that girl.

She waved her wand "Finite" she said with exasperation she shouldn't have been so careless,well she wouldn't make that mistake again.

Thinking quickly Isabel drew for the first spell to come to mind.

"EAT SLUGS" The Gryffindor was always fond of eating slimy creatures her and those retched chocolate frogs.

That last spell had done the trick and had given her some time to catch her breath. She wasn't used to her clothes fighting her, they were more vicious than she first thought and oddly enough it made her proud. Vicious clothes, and they were hers. She wondered what else one could turn vicious with a spell--

Whoooaaa!

NO!

"Protego!!" Absolutely not. She was NOT in the mood for a trip to the Healer's. No thanks. She watched in relief as the spell was deflected. That was a close one. She'd never tried that spell before and she'd never had it tried on her before. Today was not a good day to change that. No day would be. Ah but it was her turn again and she had just the spell. Something simple but a combo nonetheless. "Flipendo!"

And shortly after that was cast, "Petrificus Totalus!"

At least one of them would work, especially given the speed of succession. If not then she would pulled for something more. Obviously certain spells were off limits but she still had plenty more. And just how off limits were they anyway. Technically, if she missed, then it would be fine, yeah?

His head felt all weird, and Mo waited until the tingling went away before he reached up both hands to feel the antlers now sprouting out of his head. They were a bit tender where they connected, and he felt his posture change significantly due to the weight of them. His entire center of balance was off now, actually.

"If I got hit with these in a duel," he began, but Mo decided it was unfair to start making calls without letting Dora and Aidan join in. "Lemme give you antlers first, and then we can decide what we would do if we were given antlers by someone less pretty than Isidora Yelena."

And sure, Aidan was pretty too. He raised his wand. "Who's next?"

Yeah, yeah, he got out of the way, of course. By now, any and all sleepiness was replaced by excitement. It all sank in. Mo was getting ANTLERS! And Dora was doing it! AND HE WAS GONNA GET HORNS TOO!!!

Aidan bounced on his toes off to the side as he watched MAGIC happen. It was obvious Mo was put off balance, and the third year laughed at his displacement.

"ME NEXT! ME NEXT!" he didn't care if that was the order they previously agreed on, if Mo was supposed to be casting at him or Dora. Point was, he wanted antlers TOO and he wanted them NOW.

He stepped forward between Mo and Dora's path, so Mo HAD to cast at HIM.

This was going to be the scariest thing he had ever done in the history of ever.

... Okay... second scariest. After all the Quidditch games. But it was still right up there!

His heart started racing uncomfortably as he entered the arena, a little cautiously at that. His grey eyes looked around at the arena, taking in everything from the way the light was shining into the room to the seating areas around the room and to the actual duelling places themselves.

GULP. Why was he doing this again?

... Oh right. Defence. Assignment. Plus, this was going to be helpful for that impending doom that was more commonly known as the OWLs. Ruffling his hair, Alec made his way over towards an empty seat and sat down. He took out his wand and clutched it a little tighter than was necessary, his eyes on the long platform where other people were duelling. How did they manage to do that? They made it look so effortless and yet... Alec had to muster up a lot of courage just to come here. What if he lacked some serious courage for this? And... what if he hurt his duelling partner?

...

He shook his head. No... no... he'd just worry about that when he actually got himself a partner to work with, yeah? And speaking of... did anyone... need a partner?

Minerva walked into the arena, she had never actually done a duel. How did she go six terms without ever doing a duel. Well she probably would go another six if she could, because she'd much rather stick with the books than hurting anyone, but she had to learn sometime. Looking around she saw others already dueling.


As she went to find a place to sit she noticed Alec. He looked upset or scared or something. Worrying about her adopted little bro she headed over towards him. "Hey Alec.. You alright?" She looked around was he waiting on someone? She wondered if he minded if she sat down. Assuming he wouldn't she took the seat next to him.


As she watched the others she turned, "Have you ever done this before?" It sounded silly to ask a younger student that, but since she had never done it she had to ask someone. Then an idea popped into her head, "Do you have someone to duel? Would you want to be my partner?"

The sound of a familiar voice brought Alec out of his worrying and slightly paranoid thoughts and he looked up at the person who had just came to join him. "Minnie!" ... Was he alright? "Erm... yeah! It's just... this duelling thing looks scary." There was no point in lying; Minnie would see right through it, anyways. "You okay?"

"Never! That's why it's so... scary! Have you?" And was she good? And could she spare him if they duelled together? ... And... that was what she was enquiring about next. Alec paused. What if he ended up hurting his pseudo-sister? How was he going to tell Ethan that he accidentally gave the Ravenclaw's girlfriend antlers or something? "Yeah! I'd love to!" he said, grinning a little, "But... I don't want to hurt you..."

So jumpy this one... She gave him a reassuring smile. "It is scary, but you have to remember. It's just practice. No one is using spells that could permanently harm you. Plus you've been close to a dementor.. This should be a walk in the park." See bud practice is easier than what we all so the other night. "Just make sure you do it with someone you trust. Don't want any fishy sort of accidents." Nope.. if Min found out someone hurt Alec they would probably with they never thought of dueling him in the first place. Minerva was as nice as they came, but mess with her little badgers and she could surprise you.

Shaking her head, "No I haven't.. I have never felt the need to do it I guess, but with things that have gone on lately.. I figured maybe I should." Not that she had her wand in a few of those places that bad had happened, but still it wasn't a bad thought. She saw him struggling and she couldn't help but smile. She had a feeling he was worried about doing something to hurt her. Putting a hand on his arm she tried to reassure him. "I know shield charms Alec so if I don't protect myself in time it's my fault, not yours. Plus again we aren't using spells that can permanently damage, okay?" She was worried about doing something against Alec as well, but she tried to just reassure the same thoughts in her own head.


Standing it looked like the others were just about finished, "So what do you say, want to duel?"

Just practice...

Those words rang in Alec's ears for a while and he nodded. Sure, it was just practice and this was him. Alec. The chances of him hurting anyone in a duel was close to 0, really. Plus, even if he did end up hurting anyone, at least he could give them ice cream afterwards to make up for it. "Yeah... yeah, you're right," he said, before shuddering at the mention of the Dementor talk. Also, how was it that Minnie was always so right and wise? "And it's good to start off with basic spells, right?"

The Hufflepuff frowned slightly when she started talking about things and things that had happened. The idea of this older badger being hurt and sad did not sit well with the younger badger. "Who knows, maybe you'll be awesome at it!" And then no one will ever hurt her in that way. See, this all added up nicely. Or so he liked to think. The pat on his arm brought an instant smile to his lips and he nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right. But if I do hurt you..." Ethan was going to kill him. With a plant. He could just see it now. "... No hard feelings, yeah?"

Oh, were they going to start? "Yeah!" he said, grinning and standing up, "Yeah... bring it on Wheatborn!" ... Okay... calling her Wheatborn instead of Minnie was starting to sound a little weird. He grinned again at her before starting to head towards the long platform, his wand still held in his hand.

Mo had to plant his feet and lean back just slightly in order not to tip forward every time he moved. His antlers felt sort of loose, but he figured that was more about the weight than about the spell.

Since Aidan was so keen on getting antlers too, Mo wouldn't dream of denying the kid the pleasure of nearly falling on his bum every time he took a second. Everyone deserved that chance. Right?

He pointed his wand at Aidan and grinned. "You ready? Don't duck, or Dora will turn into a unicorn. Anteoculatia."

Minerva couldn't help but chuckle at Alec and how nervous he was looking. Really dear no need for nerves, he was dueling Minerva.. Honestly how bad could it be. They would never hurt each other so the best they were going to do is a silly growth spell or something that could be fixed easily. It's bludgers all over again in Min's book. There are certain people she just couldn't hit and Alec was one of them. good thing they were on the same team "Yes the basics are always a good place to start."


She couldn't help but smile at his words, he was always so encouraging. She was the older one wasn't she the one that was suppose to be encouraging, but it seemed this term she had turned to Alec on a few occasions. He really did live up to the brotherly ways at times. "Yeah maybe, but so will you. " Alec was an awesome wizard and she knew he would be great at a duel. Shaking her head she couldn't help but laugh, "Alec I don't see you hurting me, but if you do.. No hard feelings, plus I'll make you a deal... Whatever happens int he arena stays there.. " She gave him a wink. "You hurt me it will be fine no problems, if I.. umm mistakenly hurt you.. No telling Ella.. I don't need Captain mad for yet another thing." She knew Ella would be furious, she had already been not happy with Min most of the season.


As he got up Minerva looked towards the others. Yep they looked like they were heading off, so it seemed like Alec and Minerva could get on with the duel. Her blue eyes snapped towards him at the mention of her... last name. She looked at him for a few seconds before chuckling. Alec actually used her last name that was funny for some reason. "Bring it on Summers... " She joked and headed to the one side of the dueling stage.

Alec grinned sheepishly at Minnie as she chuckled at him. Yeah... he probably looked really silly right about now, right? Silly and fretting over things for no reason. Plus, if you're going up against someone in a duel, you don't tell them or show them how nervous you are. Probably. "Awesome! I think we can do this!" Except... that was a little to help him feel better about this whole duelling thing. And hopefully to make Minnie feel better about it too.

It was nice how much Minnie cared and liked to encourage him when the time called for it. And this was certainly one of those times. Definitely. "I like how you have so much confidence in me," But it was the same thing for her. He knew she was awesome and had lots of potential and sometimes, she didn't see it that way. Maybe. Although, he was glad that she didn't see him hurting her. "Yeah... that sounds like an awesome deal!" GRIN. Nodnod. And... yeah... no telling Ells. She was definitely the scarier one in their relationship. "She won't know a thing!" Which was going to be hard... very hard. "But if you do hurt me, no hard feelings as well, yeah?" Also, hopefully those two can sort things out soon, yeah?

Minnie calling him by his surname sounded a little odd too. A funny kind of odd, though. One that earned her a soft chuckle from him. He shook his head and stepped up onto the platform before turning to face her. "I hope you're ready!" He bowed, turned around and started walking ten steps away from her.

One... two... three... four... five...

This was so totally awesome the gryffindors reaction was priceless but darn she deflected it.

Getting on guard she heard as the lion cast the spell to throw her back a bit, she would have none of that

IProtego

Smugness would not begin to describe how she was feeling at the moment she was awesome wasn't she?. It took awhile for her to realize that the lion had cast another spell before she could protect herself she felt her body go numb

Dammit

It was all over now.

The fact that her first spell was deflected didn't bother her even in the least bit. Oh no, she was much too busy being smug about the fact that the snake was now paralyzed. Heh, that shut her up.

Lex took her own time in strolling over to her, the smug smile still in place. It wasn't much of a surprize to her that she'd won, of course not, she was expecting it and would have used just about any spell to make sure it worked. There was no need though because she'd cast one that certainly did the trick.

"A bloody brilliant move, don't you think?" Smirk.

She took the wand from the girl's hand and dropped it to the floor, just in case she couldn't tell that she was being disarmed right here. All the all the duel didn't last long but she wouldn't complain. Nah. She won. That was the important thing.

"Finite!" Because she couldn't exactly leave her like that, you know.

It was the most fascinating thing to watch antlers grow on Mo's head. She'd never TIRED this spell on anyone, and the fact that she'd cast right, and got to watch without interference was kind of awesome. Taking notice of his balance and how big they got, she thought about how to make the antlers bigger next time, should she need them in a duel and want to throw off her opponents balance completely.

These would do for a first time, and for a Mo.

"They look good on you." She commented idly before listening to him speak about what he would do in a duel, only for him to stop. She wanted Mo opinions now, but she supposed she could wait til she got hers done.

Grinning juuuuuuust the slightest, she cocked her head to the side. "I think I'd be heartbroken to be given antlers by someone less pretty than myself." But you know, she had pretty friends too.

Like these two. They could give her antlers.


Sure. Aidan could go next.

Dora's grin spread into a proper one as she moved out of the line of fire. Even though Aidan was in front of her, she wasn't prepared to be hit with any spells, so in case he ducked she moved off to the side and watched as he got hit with the spell with interest.

Text Cut: Mo and Dora!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassirin

Mo had to plant his feet and lean back just slightly in order not to tip forward every time he moved. His antlers felt sort of loose, but he figured that was more about the weight than about the spell.

Since Aidan was so keen on getting antlers too, Mo wouldn't dream of denying the kid the pleasure of nearly falling on his bum every time he took a second. Everyone deserved that chance. Right?

He pointed his wand at Aidan and grinned. "You ready? Don't duck, or Dora will turn into a unicorn. Anteoculatia."

Quote:

Originally Posted by grangerfan8

It was the most fascinating thing to watch antlers grow on Mo's head. She'd never TIRED this spell on anyone, and the fact that she'd cast right, and got to watch without interference was kind of awesome. Taking notice of his balance and how big they got, she thought about how to make the antlers bigger next time, should she need them in a duel and want to throw off her opponents balance completely.

These would do for a first time, and for a Mo.

"They look good on you." She commented idly before listening to him speak about what he would do in a duel, only for him to stop. She wanted Mo opinions now, but she supposed she could wait til she got hers done.

Grinning juuuuuuust the slightest, she cocked her head to the side. "I think I'd be heartbroken to be given antlers by someone less pretty than myself." But you know, she had pretty friends too.

Like these two. They could give her antlers.






Sure. Aidan could go next.

Dora's grin spread into a proper one as she moved out of the line of fire. Even though Aidan was in front of her, she wasn't prepared to be hit with any spells, so in case he ducked she moved off to the side and watched as he got hit with the spell with interest.

Was he ready? Psssshhhhhhh. WAS HE EVER!!!

The over excited boy tried his very best to stop bouncing so Mo would have a steady target. But it was hard. So enough about Dora being a unicorn and CAST, Branxton!!

...WOAH. Worse than Mo, Aidan was thrown off balance when the antlers appeared. He wobbled from toe to heel, and his head jiggled a lot, causing him to reach up to try and grab the antlers to steady them. Only he had no sense of self with them and hit them with his hand on its way up. Which hurt his hand. Antlers were hard. But also, it hurt his HEAD where the antlers were attached. That bit was sensitive.

After he got his grip on his new bodily addition, he tried standing up straight and then took a shaky step that was really hardly a step at all. This was WEIRD. "Dora, you gotta try this," he grinned.

But did she trust him to cast on her? He was much less pretty than her, after all.

It seemed like she was in the business of learning a new spell everyday. Well not every day that had passed but she was here more often than usual. Now that she had those books there were so many things that she wanted to try and so very little time to try them before the term ended and she had to go back to having no magic. That was what she was looking forward to the least--and she actually wanted to go home.

She entered with Felix trailing behind him. He was used to this place by now and went up to his usual bench to watch her practice. For his sake, she wouldn't spend too long in here but at the same time New spell! New spell! New spell!!!

Lex dumped her things next to her kneazle that had begun his usual curling up process then looked down at him with a grin.

"This is one of the neatest spells so far, you'll love it! It makes stuff unbreakable!! Imagine how epic that would be!!!!" She could see it now, casting at will then blasting but not having to worry about breaking something...while she was here. Obviously that would end when she got home. Ugh. Bloody magic rules.

ANYYYWAAAAAAY.

Lex turned sharply so she was now facing the training dummies and took a few steps forward. Now obviously she didn't know the spell yet but she had a feeling it wouldn't be all that difficult.

Infragilus.

After repeating the wand movement a few times she decided to give it a try. "Infragilus!" But she needed to know it worked...quickest way to do that was to blast at it. Hmmm..."Bombarda!" Much to her initial delight, the dummy went BOOM and scattered but then she remembered what the spell was meant to do and the grin left her face.

"I...uh...meant to do that." She said, giving Felix a brief nod. She stood aside and waited for it to repair itself. When it did, she tried again. "Infragilus!" Lex gave the dummy a funny look before finally deciding to try it again. "Expulso!" But it was no good. The thing blew apart with little to no resistance. This time she scowled. Was this anything like a shield charm, if so then she was about to give up.

This seemed to go on forever, her casting but watching it blow up with the next spell. In her defense...it seemed to put up a bit more resistance with each cast.

Alright. Again. Just once more. "Infragilus! Infragilus! Infragilus!" ONE OF THOSE HAD TO WORK!!

RIGHT! Ahem. "Bombarda!!!"

This time though, after the loud SOUND of the boom...the dummy was...was...still there...

Eeeeeeeeeeep!!!!!!

Yet another spell mastered. She was content.

As Minerva walked up to the dueling area she smiled back at Alec, "Of course I have confidence in you. I know you are a great wizard and hard working." Oh and he liked her deal.. good she didn't need Ella kicking her butt if she accidentally did something to Alec during the duel. She walked to her end still listening to Alec. She for some reason seemed to think he was as nervous as she was. This was going to be interesting.


She laughed when Alec asked if she was ready.. Sure why not. Pulling out her wand from it's holster she looked back at him. "So how do we do this. Do we just start, or should one person do something first." She had no clue what was to happen next. She held up her wand, she didn't even know what spell to do, maybe Alec would know what the next move was. "If it's one at a time, why don't you go first and I will try to shield." That could work, right. This was fun to nonviolent happy people dueling each other.. This wasn't going to end badly.. not at all.

... six... seven...

Minnie having a lot of confidence in him sounded great; especially since he knew that he didn't have a lot of confidence in himself. It was just... kind of great to know that someone didn't think he was as terrible as he thought he was. Especially in things like this. "I... thanks Minnie! That means a lot to me!" Really, it did. "And you're a really awesome witch and... and... don't let anyone tell you otherwise!" Nodnod.

eight... nine... TEN!

He turned around to face her, ready to shoot some spells when... oh? How were they meant to do this? ... In all honesty, he had no idea. She had some good ideas, though. "Erm... I think... we can both bow and count down from three..." Yeah, he was making things up. "And then start shooting spells at each other. What... whatever spells we can think of." Except, not the really dangerous ones, of course. "What do you think? Unless... you want me to start first?"

Minerva couldn't help but smile at Alec. He seemed so nervous which was making her a little nervous, but at the same time she wish he wasn't. If he got her with a spell who cared she could handle it, right. Just as long as she didn't have to go see the queen of the psycho wacka doodles she would be fine. "Well we can just count it off and start than. I guess in a duel they wouldn't be taking turns so maybe we shouldn't either." She wondered if anyone was watching this duel, because she could just hear a snake rolling their eyes saying how Puff they were being about this.

"So I guess a bow should be first." was that right. Man she needed to read up on the duel stuff more, but honestly she never saw herself as much of a dueler. She wasn't even sure the way to bow. Hmm alright then, she put her hands together like movies and bowed to Alec. Giggling a bit, she felt so dumb doing this for some reason. "Alright summers.. be ready..." She smirked at him trying to act touch and knowing she was far from it at the moment.

"Count together" She held up her wand and nodded to start. "3...2...1.. Rictusempra" She shot towards him. There was no way she was shooting anything bad towards him, but why not start out with something that would make him laugh if he didn't shield it. Could you do that one in a duel? Well it distracted the other person so why not.

So she finally got time to come here and start this dueling thing. Though she wasn't here just to duel, she was also here to teach Kace a couple of spells and have him practice on her. She wasn't going to use any hexes on him. Or they'd be really easy ones. He was a firstie and she wasn't going to take advantage with that. It'd only make her look like a bully which she wasn't.

Once she entered, Cassia went and chose a spot near a dummy then plopped down on the floor and sat cross-legged as she retrieved the textbook. She was reviewing some hexes and spells. Ones she wanted to try and others to teach to Kace.

But where was the boy. Did he forget their meeting? She didn't think so, because he seemed excited when they decided to come here and all. So she thought that he probably was on his way. She'd take advantage of the time and practice.

Kace finally made it to the dueling room. He huffed and puffed. "Sorry! i had trouble finding this room. I never knew about this room." he said breathlessly coming towards Cassia. He dropped his bag to the side so it wouldn't be in their way.

Then he remembered his wand was in his bag. He went back and retrieved it. "But don't worry i am prepared to learn some new spells!" he said brightly. He even waved his wand foolishly. He was REALLY excited for this!
He hoped she would go easy on him...

She had been sitting here waiting for Kace as she ran through spells to practice and all. And she must have been carried away not noticing him as he entered the arena. She only looked up when she heard his bag hit the floor. "Oh, hi," She greeted the kid. "No worries," She shook her head and pushed herself up. The snake grinned seeing the the excitement, she hoped he'd have fun. She never really tried teaching anyone. Not that she was going to,more like show him how spells are done and allowing him to try on her. "Good. Then we'll start right ahead," Since he was ready and all.

"We'll start by a simple one," she told him walked over so she faced a dummy. "It's the knockback hex, the incantation is Flippindo," She said it slowly so Kace would know how to say it. "And then you move your wand like that," She said demonstrating. "I'll do it on the dummy then you do try it on me," The fourth-year turned to the dummy pointed her wand then waved the wand in the correct movement, saying, "Flipendo!" With that, the dummy was knockedback and almost fell on the floor but it must have been stuck well.

Turning to Kace she said, "Okay, now you try it on me," She told him with an encouraging smile. She might as well practice her protego.