What in the... what... what was Dakest going on about?

Dark side... cookies... what...? No. No, Daxton did not care enough to even try and work out what he was talking about, and besides, there was no time, not if he wanted to avoid getting hit by a spell. Sure, Dakest was protecting him, but right from the off he did not appear to be doing a marvellous job. Daxton had seen how close that jet of water came to hitting him (he had also seen the Ravenclaw that had sent it, and would not forget), and he had to wonder if maybe the professor had decided to 'protect' him in order to intentionally do a bad job. He had not been hit yet, of course, so the theory was not entirely proven.

The mug on his head was downright annoying, it was getting in Daxton's way, distracting him from retaliating against the water-sender, and even just moving a couple of steps had made whatever liquid was inside start to spill over. It was disgusting, it was wet, it smelled sickly sweet, and it was in his hair. His preoccupation with his discomfort took some of his concentration away from the activity, and so Daxton paused momentarily to quickly lean his head forward and empty the contents of the mug out onto the floor - there was no rule against that, he would have remembered, and this dealt with one pressing issue, at least.

Then he was back on task, barely sparing a second to see what was happening with the other groups, keeping an eye on everyone to try and guess who might attack him. There was not a single person in this room that Daxton did not think would try it, but that meant he had to watch everyone at once, and that was nigh on impossible. He knew from experience.

He was not looking at David Truebridge when the spell came his way, but the start of an incantation drew his attention at once. By the time it was spoken, Daxton had only just realised what was coming. He started to dodge, having zero desire to get hit by that spell in particular, though he knew he would not be fast enough. It was a surprise to him when Dakest suddenly jumped directly into the path of the spell, which turned him into, quite frankly, a bumbling mess. 'Dancing.' Sure.

Daxton quickly clamped his hands over his ears, an automatic reaction to the awful clanging of china, and kept his eyes on Dakest, glancing up briefly to look for any imminent threats. Thankfully there were none, so he had time instead to blink at the prof-... at the professor. Not long, but time enough.

Perhaps his theory was not quite correct, then. Daxton did not believe anyone would jump in front of a spell that would make them look quite so stupid. Even for a silly game such as this. It was... weird.

The dancing stopped, and Daxton lowered his hands again. He still held his wand, and looked at it now, then up at David Truebridge. He did not have to get him back now, would have plenty of chances after the meeting - they shared a dormitory after all - but Daxton felt he would be missing a great opportunity if he did not do so. No sooner than thinking it, Daxton pointed his wand at David Truebridge and sent a zapping spell right at him. It was not an official spell, which was perhaps the only reason he could 'cast' it wordlessly, and the most he had ever done was kill flies with it, but it was all he had. And it would do.

Okay, GOOD, Zeke had his wand back. That was a relief. Because frankly, Maggie wasn't sure she would have been able to defend them both. Especially seeing as she was only allowed to ATTACK, not PROTECT. What an annoying rule. Seriously. Like, attacking was better but a mix of the two would have been ideal. That was probably the point of this exercise though. Them working together.

So it was definitely a relief to know that her partner had his wand back.

Maggie smirked but didn't really have time to properly enjoy the fact that her spell had hit the younger girl (Ava). Too much was happening at the same time. Wait....water? She had absolutely no idea where that had just come from but seeing as it wasn't aimed at either her or Zeke she should probably just be glad thanks Sabel. Friendly fire perhaps? Was someone on their side?

Unfortunately, while the gesture was appreciated it was also distracting which was why Maggie missed the Muffliato spell headed her way. UGH. She even reached up to cover both her ears which...didn't really do any good. Ugh, that incessant buzzing- Oh. Okay. Thanks, Zeke. It was over before she had the chance to send him a glare for help. Well done, Zeke, well done.

"Expelliarmus." Only right when she finished, Maggie was pulled away which sent her spell ANYWHERE BUT CHARLOTTE who she'd been aiming for. Really? At least he'd had the presence of mind to cast some kind of protective spell around them too. Okay, they seriously needed to work together better. Invisibility? "Okay...?" Who would be invisible? Both of them? For how long? Like, the others would probably figure it out rather quickly.

Oh man, Zeke got back his wand! Henric managed to non-verbally cast the shield charm in time before Zeke's spell hit him. Ava was shouting at him for a chance to knock Maggie's cup off her head. But he wasn't able to do so because Maggie used that throwback charm towards Ava and Henric had no choice but to grab Ava by the arm and pulled her down beside him so they could avoid the spell atleast. Thank goodness for his quick reflex."FINITE!" he cast. However Henric got hit by a blast of water on his side. WHAT THE! His uniform and his HAIR he took all morning to perfect is wet now!"Thanks guys...thanks!" he frowned to whoever cast that spell. Oh so it was the professor who did it! Who would have guess...wait... Professor Dakest was dancing next! HAHA! WOAH! Look at him go!

By the time Henric returned his attention back to the fourth-year defense couple duo, it was too late they were blast with a a smokescreen spell. Deng it! He half-covered his face from the smoke from entering his eyes. *coughs* so much smoke...urgh. Great...it was hard to aim his wand towards his targets now!

Was there even a method happening here? There didn't seem to be. Hady brushed a strand of hair from her face as she sipped her still hot coffee. Thank you whomever invented charms to keep things hot! Anyhow this task was confusing. Many spells were cast yes, others were being blocked or deflected, while people were getting into pairs.

Still yet Hady hadn't seen not one cup clatter to the floor. This seemed strange to her especially for the paired couple whom appeared to have several of her mates going at them with spells. Where was all the strategy with the attacks and defense. Shaking her head a little bit mostly to herself she backed away a bit more to lean against the wall her eyes still following what was happening even as she moved. It wasn't that she didn't want to duel really for she could join in at any time she just simply had chosen not to, rather to watch and see what was being done.

Whoaaahohohoho, did everyone SEE THAT? Did they SEE the professor dancing out a hilariously bad tap routine, all because of him?! Davie was positively proud of himself, and couldn't resist nudging Char so she saw the outcome of his spell too. HE'D GOTTEN THE PROFESSOR GOOD. Hehehe. Heehee.

So proud was he that Davie did not see nor expect the little stinging hex that hit his elbow mid-celebration. "Ouch!" He exclaimed, rubbing his elbow and stepping sideways to see where it had come from. One of the attackers/defenders, maybe? Did it matter? Point was that he had made the professor dance, and now he was aiming for someone else: his housemate and former enemy. Were they ready for this?

"Expelliarmus!" Davie cast, confidently pointing his wand at Blaise.

He didn't know what was going on. Really, between Char asking for more compliments, Rooney walking away and Davie patting him on the shoulder, Blaise Bellaire was LOST. So lost that it was like he didn't hear Charlotte's encouragement to give her more compliments and anyway he needed to pay attention to the Professor--

EH???

The Gryffindor shot the man a strange sort of look, even as he walked over to him. He didn't know what he wanted but he didn't think he wanted to know either. These sorts of things never ever went well and the more he listened was the more convinced he became of this. The Professor wanted him to do WHAT?????

Uhhh...how's about NO? Nope. Absolutely not. He was NOT gonna stand here and become a human target for a bunch of well learned students who actually knew how to cast spells. Not possible. Rooney lost his duel. WHY would he trust HIM to protect him?? Nope. Nooooope. Blaise made to move away from Rooney and all this crazy stuff but the next thing he knew, he was ACTIVELY BEING AIMED AT AND THIS WAS NOT COOL. What made the Professor think this was such a good idea??????? This had to be illegal and the boy had no choice but to quickly shuffle back behind Rooney who'd now taken on a defensive stance as the Hufflepuff Prefect took aim.

One hazard over with and he thought he could breath--until DAVIE decided he was a good target too. Kid didn't even wait for the spell to hit, he just dropped his wand immediately. Not doing this. Nope.

Cutty came up behind Adi and placed his chin on the Hufflepuff's shoulder. "Hey Rehman, wanna team op?" If their recent duel proved nothing else, they each knew how to work off of each other. He stepped back and noticed that the ground was wet. He hadn't seen Mancini wet the floor with her spell, but if he had he would've commended her. Grass was a brilliant terrain for fightin' on and he took a moment to turn his foot in it right and then left as he fastened his grip upon the hilt of his rapier like aspen wand.

Not waiting much for an answer, Cutty stepped out to get a much clearer shot. Easier said than done and most everyone was taking their fire. He could do prep work, though. He steadied his aim with his left forearm and shot a "Confundo." at their Professor figuring that Prince wouldn't last a moment on his own. If he made it, Adi could take that cup.

Adi barely had time to register the young Ravenclaw and Gryffindor he had taken aim to when he felt somone's chin on his shoulder. He knew instantly it wasn't Benny because his more-than-friend-yet-best-friend did not show affection with many people around. Yep, sure enough... it was Cutty. The one and only. Adi moved to pull his shoulder away from the chin but the other boy had already stepped back. Sorry, Cutty. His other half was right there. He had to consider how he feel upon seeing this little scene.

"Mordaunt,'' the Puffer said with a grin. "Why not? Your move first.'' He would follow up with a spell the moment Cutty had casted his own. He didn't have to wait long. NICE! The Slytherin had taken aim at Dakest a.k.a the Protector. This left Daxton wide open at least for a bit if Dakest was occupied with Cutty's spell. "Flipendo!'' Verbal spell work this time from Adi. And yes, he was really aiming for the mug on the kid's head. Merlin knew he was having to deal with so much... especially that Happy Feet spell Charlotte had cast at him.

If one discounted looking like a fool in front of their entire class, things were going quite swimmingly. And he had to give the Zeggie team props. Smoke screens and disillusionment? Brilliant and bravo indeed! Though, did they consider what might happen if they both lost track of each other?

Speaking of, that smoke was doing an edging thing towards him and his partner, who seemed to be adept in some wandless magic given there was no utterance at all from him. Had he the time, he would have cast a look at the boy, but Truebridge seemed no worse for wear and that smoke...and Henric's hair......

And two more brave souls up to the batting plate of the Professor and constantly scowling Ravenclaw. Sabel nearly grinned in welcome at them. Little surprise that it was Mordaunt and Rehman who thought to challenge.

As soon as he saw the direction and determination in their gaze, he wasted no time. "Prince, close your personal bubble and get close!"

Then the spells were being zipped off. Two quick flicks of his wand and two Protego shields popped up and flashed out, popped up and flashed out. One close to him, the other a little off to his side to cover Daxton's retreat, or advance (depending on how one wanted to look at it). The two cast spells fritzed as they knocked against the shields, and abruptly sprang back towards their attackers.

"Admirable aim, gentlemen!"

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OOC: As a heads up, we'll be wrapping up in about 24 hours

Seeing the zapping spell hit its mark was quite satisfying, but Daxton knew that he did not have time to truly appreciate it, what with basically being out in the open for anyone to take a shot at him. He did, however, make something of a mental note to himself, then and there.

Facing an entire room full of people was a little overwhelming, considering they were almost all of them looking in the direction of the protectors and the protected, of which Daxton was obviously one, but it seemed as though he had gotten off relatively lightly. Most attackers were going for the older student pair, who had now partially disappeared. A glance across at the other pair told Daxton that Blaise Bellaire was now without a wand, but other than that, he had no real gauge on how they were faring, and he could not spare the time to observe for very long.

Because there were people still going for him and Dakest. Daxton could see students - older ones, like that Hufflepuff prefect and whoever that was stood beside him - looking right in their direction. It did not take a genius to work out where they would be casting their spells.

Daxton got ready to duck out of the way, convinced that he would be the target rather than Dakest, but then the man himself was barking an order at him, an order that Daxton was not so enthusiastic about following. He did not want to get in close, that went against every instinct he had. Daxton stalled, and his hesitation meant that he did not dodge the prefect's spell at all, but a sheild spell thrown up by Dakest protected him all the same. There was nothing for it; he would not be able to conjure a shield like that, not a chance, and he could only dodge for so long. The only real option, if he wanted to avoid getting hit by any of these spells (and so far they were all a good mix of unpleasant and potentially humiliating), was to draw in close. So Daxton did. In a few strides he was there. Visibly unhappy, clearly uncomfortable, but there, close. For the sake of self-preservation.

And he sent another one of his silent zapping 'spells' out at the Hufflepuff prefect too, as it had been so satisfying the first time against his housemate.

Cutty watched with a mixture of excitement and subdued frustration as the spells he and Adi had thrown toward the Professor and the Prince kid were blocked and THEN HEADING RIGHT FOR THEM. He realized as his big feet flew well above his head that that of course it would take more than a simple one strike method to take down their defense teacher. "Levicorpus!" He uttered in a panic as he almost hit the ground stopping himself mere inches from coming into contact with the sharp end of his wand.

Placing his hand out in front of him, Cutty felt his palm against the grassy and damp ground. He pushed up and off to right himself onto his feet again something like a seesaw motion. Now, to get rid of that pesky protection spell. He gathered his focus and casted at the protective shield guarding the Professor and the Prince. "Finite."

Well, it seemed that the activity was dying down. Zeggie had disappeared in a cloud of smoke that was slowly trickling over. Daxton had become his shadow behind a shield. And Blaise and Rooney were making out decently well. But there was a time for everything, and a glance at the window showed that it was most certainly well past the time.

Lowering his wand, Sabel let Mordaunt's finite cancel his shield spell. He gave a quick wave of his wand and did the same to the other spells in effect. "Alright everyone. Sorry to cut this so short, but it seems time has got away from us."

Tucking his wand back in his holster, he considered the room. Did they get something from the activity? He wasn't sure. "Remember to keep focus during your duels. Keep your head and your heart on what you are doing. You've all done extremely well so far."

He left it unsaid that he expected even more from them next time.

"A challenge, as well as your pairings will be posted up shortly. The spell assignment, will be covered in our next DADA class." Wink wink, nudge nudge. "Best of luck to you all."

And with that, they were dismissed.

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OOC: Sorry to cut it abrupt, but gotta wrap this up I'll close the thread tomorrow Thanks all!