Duel #1.

Carl had been looking forward to this! The Dueling Club was fun and even though he almost never won, he had signed up again this term. He thought his magical abilities had improved quite a lot, thanks to the experiences he gained from the duels. He was hoping he got to learn new stuff this year as well.

... However, the Hufflepuff was not hoping to get paired up with a girl again. He felt bad having to jinx girls, and he barely knew Cassandra. "Hi," He smiled at the Ravenclaw as he bowed, then pulled out his wand from his pocket. He started running through the list of spells he had in mind, before choosing one that he felt comfortable performing.

Raising his wand, he cast the Ears to kumquats spell at his opponent. He almost grinned at the memory of getting hit by this spell in a duel when he was a First Year.

First duel of the term.

Professor Hirsch always reminded them that this was an important one so Cassie had tried to practice before hand to make sure she hadn’t forgotten anything from the previous two years. She’d give it her best shot, even if she had no clue what to expect from the boy she was faced against. At least it was a fellow third year, one she didn’t have to compensate for like if she was up against someone older. They were pretty much on an even playing field for the most part.

“Hey…” she said, returning his polite greeting as they joined each other in the dueling area, each outfitted in proper attire. The Ravenclaw too moved to bow, readying herself for whatever was to come and what her best course of action was.

Ears to kumquats?

Weird one. But nope…too much of a hindrance on her. Can’t defend against what you can’t hear. “Protego!” she cast, bringing a shield up to block it before answering with her own spell work. So he wanted produce…lets see if she could give it to him. “Melofors..” she cast, following it quickly with “Flipendo…” in hopes that one or both of the spells caught the boy.

The Ravenclaw had defended herself against his spell and Carl raised his wand again, ready for the followup spell that was sure to come.

Melofors! Nope, he was not going to get a pumpkin head again. It was really weird - the last time he had been under that spell, he could not see anything and his hair smelled like pumpkin for a whole week. "Protego!" The Hufflepuff cast. A shield was created and blocked the spell successfully.

However, it did not stay long enough to defend him against the next spell. The Knockback Jinx caught him in the stomach and Carl was pushed backwards to the floor. Woah, that hurt!

Rubbing his stomach, he stood up quickly and directed his wand at Cassie. "Titillando!" He was a ticklish person, so he was weak with this hex. He hoped she was as well... "Impedimenta!" He quickly said. Another good spell!

What was interesting about this duel was that both had something to learn from one another. Mr Leonard had potential, he knew it, and Miss McNally could be introduced to the world of duelling without being thrown into the deep end. In his opinion, this was a safe duel.

And that was proved right when the duel kicked off.

Something told him that the Hufflepuff had gotten a lot better at his reflexes. They were sharper, more precise and better in delivery than before. Noted, it was. And Miss McNally seemed to be pretty good for someone who had never been duelling before. Did she have a secret talent or had she been practising? The Professor wanted to know.

It was just a pity that it had to be cut short sooner rather than later.

The shield was struck up once more, saving the Ravenclaw from her opponent's spells. "Excellent!" he called, stepping out from the shadows and towards the pair, "It's clear that there's been quite a bit of improvement here and some natural talent too. Well done, both of you, but Mr Leonard, you've taken the lead today. Congratulations!"


Stats:
Carl Leonard: 94.33%
Cassandra McNally: 94.17%