SnitchSeeker.com - DADA Lesson 1

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- Term 54: January - April 2020 (https://www.snitchseeker.com/term-54-january-april-2020/)

- - DADA Lesson 1 - Duelling 101 (https://www.snitchseeker.com/term-54-january-april-2020/dada-lesson-1-duelling-101-a-113810/)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Felixir (Post 12440618)

... It was ridiculous, that something as simple as the idea of practicing a bow was suddenly giving him such a bad feeling. Ridiculous, and yet it made horrible sense, when he really thought about it. Kaiser swallowed and wiped his sweaty palms on the insides of his pockets, and, pretending he didn't know exactly how pale in the face he had gone, went to retrieve some padding. He moved slowly, delaying things as much as he possibly could, trying his very hardest not to look at the dummies now, or Trent, or indeed a anyone at all.

This padding. Fiddly stuff, right? Crazy![/font]

Was...was he gonna do this today or....was this...this internal monologing it? Because this dummy had places to be and others to see ~~as if~~ and didn't have the time ~~most certainly did~~ to sit around waiting for this one to decide to be ready. Just it's luck to get the indecisive kid.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ginevra (Post 12440619)

Fiona noticed the stillness of the dummy/her duelling partner and then looked down. She was probably playing it a bit safe so she decided to position herself over the red line and reattempt her 45-degree bow. Maybe this time would be more effective.

Stepping over the line certainly does the trick. One minute the dummy is looming over the girl in all its solemn silence and the next--in one brisk motion--it had mimicked her 45 degree bow. Well executed. It would wait for her to straighten before doing the same.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Weasley174 (Post 12440620)

Tom blinked, he then blink again as the Headmaster continued to speak, the guy didn't seem like a joker but well had he just said the dummy could get insulted by the way he bowed to them, now this was scary, doing exactly what the headmaster said, he soon was stood behind a line looking at the dummy, did he dare cross the line and try, now that was the question.

Tom stood for what felt like eternity but was in fact just mere moments, he decided that he was going to just play it safe and practice from behind the lines, he was shaking with nerves as he bowed, which made it a very clumsy one.

It's a good thing that bow had taken place beyond the line or the boy would have suffered the fate of several other of his classmates. While behind that line, he could make as many mistakes as he needed in order to get it right. It was the side of the line to stay on if he never tightened that bow.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tegz (Post 12440622)

After a brief moment of serious consideration from his big blue eyes, Flynn bowed an exacting 45 degrees, eyes cast down as his body bent so carefully, and then without lifting his head his gaze lifted, looking towards the form in front of him, remaining so still, a little apprehensive, but mostly entirely curious.

The dummy "watched" the boy as he stepped up to the plate. Did he think he had the right bow? As it turned out, he did and after only a moment, the dummy bent in its own 45 degree angle to mimic the boy.

Well done.

Quote:

Originally Posted by griffin (Post 12440624)

When she was satisfied with her ability to bow at exactly a 45 degree angle, Cordelia stepped forward of the red line to face the dummy. Carefully, she lowered her torso to a 45 degree angle while maintaining eye contact with the dummy. She would not move from this position until the dummy had its opportunity to bow back.

Smart, quite smart to allow the dummy the necessary time to bow. It certainly saved the Gryffindor fro suffering the way some of her classmates had. Rather than ram her as the dummies seemed wont to do, this one did a brisk bend that landed it in its own 45 degree angle. It would remain like this for as long as she did.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nordic Witch (Post 12440636)

With nervousness Cole stepped over the red line and faced his dummy again. "I'm sorry for angering you." Taking a shaky breath he eyed his dummy partner for whole more minute before he bowed down in a new 95 degree angle and held there, waiting for the dummy to react.. Please, please don’t be still be angry.

95?? 95?

It was as bad as raising from the bow before the dummy had a chance to bow! It was an equal insult! It was ludicrous! The dummy would only accept 45 or 90. Not 95, so again and without warning, the dummy rams into the boy and sends him reeling once more.

Hmph. That would teach him.

SPOILER!!: Fuller-Thompson

What...honestly....was this boy...?

Trent watched, not sure if he was more annoyed than he was puzzled. Once again, he'd walked by an opportunity to right the situation. Given the choice to simply apologize and join the lesson...he chose to go wait outside. This was....what had Piers been doing with this one all these years?

"Detention it is, then." As loathed as he was to utter the words. The Headmaster already had a detention. It was only the second day of school. This was much too early for that sort of thing and yet....yet he was onto number 2. Lovely.

He'd go over the details with the Slytherin at the end of the lesson. There was no point taking away anymore time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GD2204 (Post 12440643)

Finally, he was ready to walk up to the red line and see what the dummy had for him, not really worried how it would react. He had his wand at hand if anything went wrong anyhow. Standing upright now, he walked confidently up to the red line and stopped. Appraising the dummy for a moment, he eventually bent with an air of confidence 90 degrees, showing the dummy a little respect, his eyes still on the stuffed enemy in front of him now as he waited for some sort of reaction.

Quite the bow, yes it was. Enough to make the dummy bend in its own 90 degree bow after another moment. It was good of the boy to wait. The patience had paid off and he would not be rammed hard. Well done.

Quote:

Originally Posted by love-for-HP (Post 12440645)

Taking a moment to practice his bow rightfully this time. He again stepped in front of his dummy, crossed the red line. Took a deep breath and bowed to 45 degrees (at least he prayed it was 45). He paused in his position for a moment waiting to see if the dummy dueling partner would accept this his bow this time.

Was it 45 degrees?

Was the boy safe?

As it turned out, this time he was. Yes. Well done. There was no need for him to worry anymore. The dummy bent at its own 45 degrees and waited for the boy to straighten.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daydreamer11 (Post 12440650)

Deciding that it was time to give it a go for real, Naya was ready to step in front of the red line. First though, she wondered something. Since these dummies were sensitive, she definitely did not want to offend them. When she bowed, should she keep her head up and look directly at the dummy? Orrrrrrr.....should she keep her head and eyes down so as not to get on the dummy’s bad side. Since a duel was basically a challenge, she decided to keep her eyes on the target. Constant vigilance and all that.

On the verge of overthinking yet another task, Naya decided to just get on with it. She took a step in front of the restraining line. Eyes up, she bent forward and executed what she thought was a pretty impressive bow. Now what?

Now what? Now she waited. The dummy didn't move at first, appraising her bow but after another moment, it did return the bow with brisk elegance. Well done. There would be no harsh reproach here.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hjhm (Post 12440651)

Jillian froze in place and awaited for the dummy to move. She watched it carefully but at the same time glancing at other students. The dummies seem to be responding to them. She needs to be patient since the dummy is watching her, right? A few seconds she noticed it moving- some of it's part creaked softly as it bends down in the same manner as she did. Phew. This is a good thing, yes? YES.

A smiled formed on Jillian's lips, happy with the results she have. Pulling herself up and straightened her back. "thank you for that" giving it a cute wink. Y A Y. Oh she's definitely excited for what's next.

The wink meant nothing to the dummy but it did straighten when the girl did. Bound by its charms, there was nothing more it could do for now but it silently waited for the next bit.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DuckyLinJi (Post 12440653)

He decided not to practice though, just because he didn’t bow to his elders anymore did not mean he forgot how to do it. With a determined look on his face and not a sign of fear at all, the brave Hufflepuff stepped over the bright red line and walked up to one of the dummies. He stopped in front of it and placed his feet next to each other before he bend down from the waist, giving a perfect 45 degree angle bow and kept it there while he kept his eyes on the dummy as he waited for it to respond.

Come one...bow back...he wanted to duel!

Patience patience.

The dummy didn't react to the boy's bow at first, silently appraising him. It didn't take too long for a reaction, however. Soon, the dummy gave its own brisk bow and bent itself at 45 degrees to match the boy's bow. A well executed bow, well done.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArianaBlack (Post 12440659)

So despite the dust, she didn’t mind the lesson thus far. With that in mind, she walked up to grab some of the thin padding, after which she chose a dummy. Following their Headmaster’s instructions very carefully, she made sure not to step too close. Though practicing a bow was something she felt was almost below her, she did understand the reasoning. She also wanted to assume that this was done for the benefit of her younger, less tasteful peers. Of course Nina had never dueled anyone, but she did pay very close attention to Headmaster Trent as he demonstrated.

When she had felt she had gotten enough “practice”, she stepped forward to indicate to the dummy that she was ready. Then she paused to make eye contact before lowering her torso into a 90 degree bow. Here she waited, politely.

What a polite student. Yes, this would certainly do. After a moment, the dummy does its own bending so it can match the girl's 90 degrees. Equally polite.

Well done.

Quote:

Originally Posted by siriusblackliveson (Post 12440676)

Stepping beyond the red line again she started forward and took a deep breath before bowing to the 45 degrees that she had before, and waiting. ~~Not so~~Ever so patiently for the dummy to bow back at her. And hopefully not come ramming at her full speed. If that was the case she was done, her parents could transfer her. She'd be done. She didn't need bruises to cover her for seven years. She was too pretty for that.[/font]

There, that wasn't so hard now was it?

The dummy checked the bow, not immediately reacting but when it did, it was with a 45 degree bow of its own. No harsh reaction this round, just a satisfied dummy.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anna Banana (Post 12440683)

She started to step across the line with her eyes wide shut, but then she realized that if the dummy was going to attack, she at least wanted to see it coming. So with her eyes wide open and fixed on the dummy, the first year stepped across the line. Then, with trembling hands and legs that she was sure were about to fail her, she bowed at what she guessed was another ninety degree angle.

Stepping beyond the line wasn't the worst thing to do. As it turned out, the bow had been correct. Rather than move forward in anger, the dummy bent at 90 degrees in response to the young girl.

It would wait to straighten until she did.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19 (Post 12440692)

In the meanwhile…

The Snakette looked idly around at the other students. Some, like her, seemed to have gotten their dummies to bow but most… tough luck.

Claudine sniggered as Blake’s sent him a blow that made him cross back over the red line. But poor Bernie. “Try to be confident. And step over the line.’’ Why didn't some of the students done that? Trent had indicated that they do.

It had indeed bowed back but once the girl had straightened, so did the dummy. It returned to its upright position to await the next set of instructions.

Quote:

Originally Posted by littledhampir (Post 12440703)

Bowing, okay, that didn't seem too difficult to start off with. He could bow. Especially after watching the headmaster demonstrate. That seemed like something he would be able to imitate. He practiced to himself a few times before making his way to an open dummy. His dawdling meant that he had an opportunity to watch a few of his classmates do their bows first, some with the proper result and some... not as much. He stared wide eyed at the ones who were knocked back by their dummies, trying to figure out what it was they had done wrong because he definitely didn't want that to happen to him.

Alexandre, turned to face his own dummy again. He tentatively stepped over the red line and imitated the headmaster's 45 degree angle bow. And waited.

Waiting was the smart thing to do. Getting the bow right was even smarter as the boy likely wanted to avoid the fate of several classmates. With no hostility, the dummy moved into action. It mimicked the boy's 45 degrees and would remain there until he straightened.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BanaBatGirl (Post 12440709)

SEE, HEADMASTER! See why they all needed more practice?! She glanced at the teacher and loudly asked, "What spells are we practicing casting, sir? Any?" She hardly KNEW any besides transfiguration!

"Patience, Grantham. We'll be getting to the next spell once everyone is finished with their dummies."

He'd learned quickly that this one was often eager and...excitable, for lack of a better word. In a moment she'd be able to put all that energy to good use.

Quote:

Originally Posted by emjay (Post 12440718)

But now they were moving on to practical applications and he was certain to be more involved. Taking his time with the padding, he watched some of his classmates bow to the dummies - with varied success - while he waited his turn. And it was hard not to be amused by those who evoked the dummies' wrath.

Being fairly attuned to the art and practice of dueling, Gunnar stepped over the line facing one of the dummies once it was his turn. Pausing to make eye contact - or at least where the dummy would have eyes - Gunnar slowly and crisply bowed to a 45 degree angle, patiently watching for his opponent to do the same.

This one's patience had paid off. After a moment, the dummy did its own brisk bow that put it at a 45 degree angle as well. From this position, it would wait for the boy should straighten. Well done.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bazinga (Post 12440721)

She couldn't help but feel like someone was looking at her after her response and turned to see Nina near her, but she wasn't exactly looking at her. Maybe she had just been dumb in thinking someone was, so she shook it off and listened to the direction. Heading to the front and grabbing what she was told Chlo headed toward the tape. Now he said there was two ways to bow, but which did she want to do? If she did the 90 it could mean falling on her head, but not doing enough could have it's own issues. So Chloe took a deep breath and bowed at the dummy, she didn't go all the way down to 90 but she had gone too far for 45.

What an INSULT. WHO was THIS GIRL and WHY did she think the dummy would accept a bow like THAT???

The nerve! The gall!

Quite suddenly, the dummy moved forward, ramming with full force into the girl (though thankfully the padding absorbed most of the blow). The dummy knocked the girl so hard she'd have fallen back behind the line with that pathetic thing she called a bow. Rude.

He'd been a bit concerned at first when so many of them managed to get knocked back onto their behinds but it seemed less an issue once they realized the issue and corrected it. The fact Vance was onto his second knockdown made the man cringe some but he knew the boy was fine. They would all be fine, he'd taken measures to ensure that.

Perhaps, they'd even have the angles etched into their brains after this experience. One could hope. Some of them had even gotten it right the first go.

And now it was time to move on. "Eyes back on me everyone. Step away from the dummies. Back behind the red line for now while I move us into this next part of the lesson." Malachi waited for them to do as he said before continuing. "Now, as I did mention we'll be going through the basics this lesson, the next thing we'll focus on is defense. Sometimes, if you don't have much offensive skill, a good defense could make the difference in a duel. Don't get me wrong, you'll still need to attack if you hope to have a chance, but there's no denying that defense plays a big part in giving you that chance to attack."

Just making that clear. Didn't want anyone going in with the goal of only defending. At some point, there would need to be push back.

"We'll take 10 minutes to go over the shield charm. The incantation, for those of you who don't know, is "protego". The wand movement is a horizontal line going down, like so." The Headmaster demonstrated the technique, hoping they were paying attention as it would become useful. "Before we jump back in with the dummies, I'll give you a moment to practice. Older students, you may attempt the second and third levels of the spells should it suit you. Let's go."

____________________

At the end of the 10 minutes, Malachi called the students back to attention. Were they ready? He sure hoped so because they were ready to move on to the last portion of the lesson.

"Wands at the ready. It's time for the final activity of the lesson. When pressed, sometimes the best offense is a good defense. The loser is the one who is disarmed--depending on the type of duel anyhow--so it seems logical to not want to be disarmed." He leaned up against one of the spare dummies. "These bad boys will be shooting the disarming spell "expelliarmus" at you. It's up to you to cast any variation of "protego" to stop them. Be warned, once they start, they won't stop. You win if the dummy gives up." And a quaint little smile to end the explanation. "When you're ready, step forward and begin."

OOC: We've hit the final section of the class! For this, your character will once again step in front of the red line and defend against the dummies. Again, I'll be playing the dummies so please don't RP for them. You have until January 14 @ 5 am EST.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaniDiNardo (Post 12440611)

It had been okay, at first. The bow had been well executed, the speed just right. It was all just right until the rude girl rose without the return bow of her opponent. Was the dummy not SOMEONE?? Did it not DESERVE to get in a bow before she ended hers?? A duel was NOT one sided. Rude. So rude.

Rude enough that the dummy charged at her, slamming its frame into her (a good thing that padding was there) with such force that it propelled her back behind the safety of the red line. Good thing too because it wasn’t done with her but that line...that line. Reluctantly, the dummy went still once more.

Before she could react, the dummy slammed into her and she fell back, behind the red line. Thanks to the padding, it did not hurt at all, but she was shocked nevertheless. She sat there on the floor for a moment, her heart beating madly, and watched as the dummy went still. She waited for a few seconds to make sure it really was not going to attack her again and exhaled. What did she do wrong? She must have done something wrong, because other students like Jillian were receiving bows from their dummies. Oh, she got it! Her mistake was straightening up without waiting for the dummy to bow. Okay … fair enough.

She listened to the headmaster speak again. She agreed that a good defence can be the best offence at times. She was already familiar with the shield charm, so she decided to attempt the more powerful one that she was not so good at: Protego Duo. After two failed attempts, the charm finally worked and she successfully conjured an invisible shield.

It was reassuring to know what the dummies will be doing this time. Being disarmed would be humiliating, but not physically painful. Okay, she was ready … Making sure the paddings were in place and holding her wand by her side, she stepped forward before the safety line. She repeated the precise ninety degree bow she had performed earlier and waited. She had no idea that bowing could be so scary.

Rising from his bow, he turned and listened to what the Headmaster had to say about defense spells only. That was fine by him, he wasn't really into casting curses and hexes on people .. even if they were dummies.

Turning to practice for sure this time he practiced the wand movement and said "protego" out load a few times to make sure he was pronouncing it right, he had learned his lesson on that one, he again listened to directions and took his place once again at the dummy ... were they suppose to bow again?? Was this like starting all over? He didn't want to risk getting knocked down again so stepping just over the safety line, he took his 45 degree bow and waiting.

Alexandre was pleased that his bow had gone so well. He straightened from the bow and stepped back behind the line as instructed and listened to the next set of instructions. All he had to do was the shield charm? That seemed easy enough. Alexandre quite liked that actually because he thought that if he got into any real duels he would like to know how to shield himself. He watched, and then held out his wand to practice.

"Protego." As he said the incantation he swept his wand down in a horizontal line in front of him, and a shield appeared. It was not quite as strong as some of his classmates, but he thought it was pretty alright for a first attempt anyway. He tried a few more times until he felt satisfied with it. Then he stepped back over the line to begin.

Down she went, it wasn't like she hadn't been knocked down many times. This summer alone she had been knocked off her broom more times than she would like to count. Though this hurt her ego a bit because it was in front of so many of her classmates and ones that were... well cute.

Glancing to see if Kaiser, Al, or really anyone saw she got back up really quickly and dusted off her robes. Stepping up the line again she was about to bow once more when the headmaster stopped her. Stepping back she listened to what he had to say before pulling her wand.

It was on now dummy.

Moving back to the line she bowed perfectly at a 90-degree angle and then got her wand ready to pounce. She had done the spell many times and she wondered if she could even start trying nonverbal. Maybe she'd ask the headmaster his thoughts. For now she was ready for the dummy.

Claudine looked down in the direction of Bernie’s feet. Oh. She had completely missed the fact that her friend was standing over the line. Maybe she had been so caught with her pride at being successful and the satisfaction at seeing Blake being tossed about she had failed to realise. Anyway, they were moving on. Aiming to keep her perfectionist streak going, she stepped back behind the line.

Shield Charm.

Got it.

The second year could only just manage the basic Shield charm but already she was refreshing herself with the wand movement, imitating Trent exactly as he had earlier. The incantation's pronunciation? That was a no- brainer; easy peasy lemon squeezy.

When the dummy in front of her reciprocated her bow Fiona straightened up, smiling internally. She felt it was somehow disrespectful to smile at her opponent. Duelling was a serious subject, after all. When Headmaster Trent called for the class' attention, Fiona stepped back behind her red line and listened attentively to him discussing the Shield Charm.

Fiona needed to practise before duelling with her "partner" so she took a few moments to finesse the precise wand movement and incantation of a couple of Shield Charms. Fiona then stepped over the red line and performed the exact same 45-degree bow as she had before and then readied her wand.

Dueling was not exactly anywhere near her forte. Carys had come to terms with that over the years, just as she’d established her skills in other venues, like her art and Quidditch. Just like last term, she was determined to find a way to keep up her Chaser skills, and the speed at which she’d stood and gone over to the red line upon instruction (and the reprimand hadn’t gone unnoticed either, but at least it wasn’t as bad as what that poor fourth year Slytherin boy had been handed. Standing back up was simple)

Bowing practice hadn’t gone undone either, both of the 45- and 90-degree variety, but she’d stayed behind the red line for the time being. The collisions the others were experiencing rather looked more dangerous than bludgers, so she’d shown her respect from a distance. Stepping forward would happen eventually.

By the time she’d thought she was ready, the class had moved on. More time to prepare, apparently, which both frustrated her and she was a little glad for. The dummies really did seem apt to offense awfully easily. Although, shield charms were something she knew rather well, what with the terror of the past few terms behind her. She figured she had the basic charm down, so instead, she chose to work on Protego Duo. A little bit more difficult, but she figured it wouldn’t be hard to get mastered. Practice makes perfect.

Phoebe's handshake hadn't worked, as far as an introduction, but she'd been bowing like one of those toy birds. Bobbing. Bowing. Was it working? Was she the only one who had a defective dummy? C'MON, dummy. She was... oh. It was over. Okay, maybe later.

She watched the Headmaster demonstrate the next part of the lesson. Protego. She KNEW THIS ONE. Did she know it well enough to protect herself from a very unfriendly dummy? Probably not. Definitely not.

But honestly, a nap with the nurse might be nice. Phoebe stepped forward to the red line and bowed loooooooow, letting her long blonde ponytail sweep over the top of her head in a little wave.

Still in a bow, Isla allowed one eye to open toward the dummy, but the other eye stayed closed. What she saw surprised her. The dummy bowed back, but just like her, it had stayed in a bowing position. "Oh," she said, standing back up, "sorry." Then she felt stupid. Not only was she having a conversation with a dummy, she was apologizing to it.

Nobody had heard that, had they?

Apparently if they had, it wasn't a big deal, because the lesson was moving on. She was more than happy to get back behind the line, which she promptly did. Out if the corner of her eye, she had seen what these dummies were capable of doing, and thanks, but no thanks. Isla spent the next ten minutes moving her wand in the same downward-type motion the professor had done and calling out the the occasional "Protego."

She thought she had everything going for her, but when the professor called for them to get their wands at the ready, Isla panicked. She was terrified of the dummies and of being attacked. For all it was worth, she'd just step right up and toss her wand to the dummy if the wand was what it wanted. Had she not been a strong-minded little girl, she'd have probably cried, but thank Merlin she didn't.

Isla just froze in place behind the red line. Jumping into battle being terrified was probably the worst thing she could do.

SPOILER!!: Dani & Dummy

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaniDiNardo (Post 12440748)

[COLOR="Purple"]
95?? 95?
It was as bad as raising from the bow before the dummy had a chance to bow! It was an equal insult! It was ludicrous! The dummy would only accept 45 or 90. Not 95, so again and without warning, the dummy rams into the boy and sends him reeling once more.
Hmph. That would teach him.
He'd been a bit concerned at first when so many of them managed to get knocked back onto their behinds but it seemed less an issue once they realized the issue and corrected it. The fact Vance was onto his second knockdown made the man cringe some but he knew the boy was fine. They would all be fine, he'd taken measures to ensure that.
And now it was time to move on. "Eyes back on me everyone. Step away from the dummies. Back behind the red line for now while I move us into this next part of the lesson." Malachi waited for them to do as he said before continuing. "Now, as I did mention we'll be going through the basics this lesson, the next thing we'll focus on is defense. Sometimes, if you don't have much offensive skill, a good defense could make the difference in a duel. Don't get me wrong, you'll still need to attack if you hope to have a chance, but there's no denying that defense plays a big part in giving you that chance to attack."
Just making that clear. Didn't want anyone going in with the goal of only defending. At some point, there would need to be push back.
"We'll take 10 minutes to go over the shield charm. The incantation, for those of you who don't know, is "protego". The wand movement is a horizontal line going down, like so." The Headmaster demonstrated the technique, hoping they were paying attention as it would become useful. "Before we jump back in with the dummies, I'll give you a moment to practice. Older students, you may attempt the second and third levels of the spells should it suit you. Let's go."
____________________
At the end of the 10 minutes, Malachi called the students back to attention. Were they ready? He sure hoped so because they were ready to move on to the last portion of the lesson.
"Wands at the ready. It's time for the final activity of the lesson. When pressed, sometimes the best offense is a good defense. The loser is the one who is disarmed--depending on the type of duel anyhow--so it seems logical to not want to be disarmed." He leaned up against one of the spare dummies. "These bad boys will be shooting the disarming spell "expelliarmus" at you. It's up to you to cast any variation of "protego" to stop them. Be warned, once they start, they won't stop. You win if the dummy gives up." And a quaint little smile to end the explanation. "When you're ready, step forward and begin."

Cole had really thought he had done it right this second time so it came as an absolute shock when the dummy sent him reeling backwards from another attack. Crawling back to safety behind the red line Cole sat hunched for several minutes. He looked over at Headmaster Trent wondering if he had seen Cole's troubles. Should he just sit the last part off the lesson out? By now he was even though he had padding still on feeling ache in a bunch of places all over his body. A lion didn't give up though, he kept fighting he reminded himself. Scrambling up on his feet with some difficulty, he joined in the shield charm practice, trying to really get the wand movement of the horizontal going down motion right. It might prevent him from getting hit again with brute force. After 10 minutes of casted "Protego!" spells he felt okay to face his dummy again.

Terrified and aching Cole stepped over the red line again bowing down low in a 45 angle this time towards his dummy partner. He held there for several moments, waiting for the dummies reaction before he straightened up and casted "Protego!" with a nice horizontal downward motion to his wand. Please dummy don't hit me where i already hurt again!

The last of the incantation that she had been murmuring in practice faded from her lips as Trent called for their attention once more. Whereas she had been confident before, she was now slightly worried about her Disarming Spell being too weak. Then again, this wasn’t a real duel. Still… a huge part of her wanted to win. She tried not to let the mild insecurities mar her moment. Claudine took a step forward, raising her wand in the process.

Right.

She was prepared.

Her intense gaze fixated on the dummy before her. Whenever it was ready.

Charlie glanced ever since slightly to see the dummy bowing to her. Wait, she’d done it?! She’d really done it. She felt so accomplished in the fact that she had bowed correctly and didn’t get knocked back behind the red line. But what was she supposed to do now? She stood waiting to see what the dummy would do when she heard to retreat behind the red line.

Phew.

Scooting back behind the red line she turned to their headmaster and listened. They were actually going to try to duel. At least it was with dummies. Charlie felt that if she was with an older student they’d take advantage of having a younger student and just disarm them immediately. Although. She supposed it would be just as easy for the dummies to disarm the younger students.

Maybe what the wand maker she met over the summer would be true and she’d be good at this subject. Protego was all they had to say? She wondered if she could actually make this happen. Taking a deep breath and squeezing and releasing her wand. “Protego” she moved her arm downward and nothing happened. Taking another deep breath she tried again. This time she got a little sputter of something from her wand but not a full shield like most of the students.

Well it was now or never she supposed. Stepping back over the line she bowed at a 45 degree angle waiting for the dummy to bow to her again. She would in no way stand up and get knocked back really hard again because that was not fun.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaniDiNardo (Post 12440611)

She had every right to be nervous. The utter GALL of some students this day and age. Bowing then straightening like that. No time for the dummy to get in a bow of its own. What was it, chopped liver?????? Was it not a worthy enough opponent for her to wait for a return bow??????

Was it some kind of JOKE to her?? Was it dressed in clown garb??? Did it LOOK funny??

It thought not and so quite suddenly after she’d risen, the dummy rammed into her at full force (the passing absorbing most of it) and shoved her back beyond the red line where she belonged if she couldn’t learn manners. Rude. RUDE.

That sorted, it went perfectly still once more.

Had the bow been good or...?

Cecelia was about to try again when she was being SLAMMED into, a not so lionesque squeak escaping her as she stumbled backwards RIGHT on to her bottom. Luckily for her, it was behind the line. Blinking, the second year got up and dusted herself off, the corners of her lips tugging upwards. "Whoa." That was INTENSE! Was it wrong that she was amused?! Dummies really were very touchy, apparently. Good to know.

"Sorry about that. I'll wait next time." She'd be lying if she'd said she knew what she'd done wrong as soon as it happened, but watching some of the other kids helped shed some light on her error. Who knew you had to give your opponent a chance to bow, too? She just sort of figured it would've happened at the same time, but maybe not everyone was as quick a bower as her. Huh.

She would've given it another go, but soon they were ready to move on and THIS time, spells would be involved. THAT was cool! The small blonde turned her attention to the headmaster, eager to get going even if she WASN'T the best at the shield charm. At least she'd used it before! That gave her a leg up on some of the first years. She TOTALLY had this.

....What was the incantation again?

Ohhhh right, protego. Thanks Headmaster. She smiled a little drumming her wand against her leg and just WAITING for the moment they could begin. This was going to be fun.

Stepping forward, Cecelia bowed low and watched to make SURE she was giving the dummy a chance to bow, too. She waited until it had and then started to rise, her wand ready, the incantation on the tip of her tongue.

A small grin spread across his face now was the dummy did its own 90 degree bow towards him, as easy as you like. His grin only got wider as he saw some of the other students get knocked back onto their bottoms because obviously, their bows were not quite as good as his. Some people just needed to know when to show that extra little bit of focus or respect. Speaking of that, he couldn’t help but flinch a little when the dummy rammed into Chloe, his eyes a little wide as she fell back onto the floor.

Trying his best to put that out of his mind, he focused on the words of the professor and dragged his eyes away from the short blonde and back to the Professor as he moved away from the dummy. So, it’s defence next? Just as he was about to complain about how easy the protego spell was, the Professor had addressed the issue, allowing him and some of the older students to use the higher level protego charms. Finding a little space, Ewan decided to work on Protego totalum as the basic protego spell was just a little bit too simple for him. Raising his wand, he called out “Protego totalum”. Even though nothing much happened, Ewan could tell that the spell had worked, his eyes catching a faint disturbance in the air in front of him. Easy.

Fiiiiiiiiinally, they were about to actually practice. With a grin, the prefect stepped up to the red line, bowing 90 degrees to the dummy as he did earlier before finally raising his wand ready for the first Expelliarmus spell to sent his way, the protago duo spell on the tip of his tongue. He could have used protego totalum, just like he’d practiced but due seemed like the more fitting spell for this dummy.

Right, protego. The shield spell. Bernie could remember that; she'd TOTALLY heard of this spell before. Not practiced it, but heard of it.

First off, she took a step back so that she was behind the line, and then practiced the horizontal line movement like the professor had said. She chanted the incantation whilst doing this and then felt sure and ready to face the dummy.

The second year hopped back over her line and decided to hurry up and cast before the dummy did. "PROTEGO!" she bellowed confidently, doing the wand movement and EVERYTHING, and waiting to see if it worked! SURELY it DID!

SPOILER!!: Morin

The dummy got, once again, mimicked the girl's bow. Straightening, it gave not a moment's pause before it began a series of rapid fire spellwork. There was no break between each and no signs the dummy planned to let up.

SPOILER!!: Ryan

This time, the bow was well executed and the dummy returned the 45 degree bow. Smart boy, but was he prepared? They would find out in a second as the dummy fired at him. Once. Then nothing. Nothing for nearly a minute before it sent three in rapid succession.

SPOILER!!: Pascal

And begin he would not.

Back over the line, the dummy waited and waited then waited some more for the boy to bow and begin the duel but it seemed this dummy would be left waiting for a while more.

Whenever he was ready.

SPOILER!!: McCarthy

This time, the bow was acceptable. This time, the dummy wouldn't knock her into the next century.

That wand, it made no promise with however. Shortly after straightening, the dummy was on the attack. It was strange but the spells almost seemed...timed. Set to a pattern. Predictable even. How strange.

SPOILER!!: Jenovick

Her 45 degree bow was returned with a precise 45 degree bow from the dummy. It shot a test spell at the girl, her reflexes being put to the test before it fired a second two in quick succession. Just testing.

SPOILER!!: Rose

While the girl practice, her dummy remained beyond the line in silent patience. Whenever she was ready, it would begin.

SPOILER!!: James

The dummy that had shunned the girl's disdainful handshake earlier now conceded with a bow of its own.

No sooner had it straightened, however, that it immediately began bombarding the girl with spells. One after another with no hope of a break to be seen. Out of venegeance? ~~maybe~~.

SPOILER!!: Bellchant

Terrified as she was, nothing would happen until she began the "duel". For now, the dummy stared on in silent judgement as it waited for them to begin. When they started was up to her.

SPOILER!!: Vance

The bow was accepted this time, well done! Perseverance.

The preemptive shield charm before the assault even began was...commendable. Forward thinking. It didn't stop the dummy from hammering spells one after another in rapid succession. It would break that shield then it would get that wand.

SPOILER!!: Blaze

No, it was whenever she was ready to start the "duel". This time around, the girl didn't seem as observant as some of her other classmates who had managed to get their dummies started.

Her dummy didn't move an inch, silently waiting for her to do what needed to be done.

SPOILER!!: Rivers

The dummy returned the 45 degree bow, straightening once the girl did--then immediately began firing spells in rapid succession giving the girl little time to react. Spell after spell game flying at her. Was she ready?

SPOILER!!: Summers

This time she waited, this time the dummy bowed back and there was no need to toss this girl into the next century. There was, however, need to disarm her so the moment the dummy straightened, it began an all out attack leaving no room for pause or second guessing herself. It was time to take action.

SPOILER!!: Jones

The dummy returned the 90 degree bow, straightening with the bow. At first it seemed to be a stand off, with neither immediately making a move but just when it appeared the dummy had no intention of casting, it shot a quick procession of spells at the boy. Just as quickly as the assault started, it ended. Huh.

SPOILER!!: Grantham

Well, if she thought the dummy was gonna do anything, she was sorely mistaken. The Second Year could cast all she wanted but until she properly began the "duel", the dummy would only stare on in silence.

i hope you're enjoying yourself, dani *EYEROLL*

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaniDiNardo (Post 12440849)

Bernie felt like one of those video game characters, bouncing on her toes, ready to go, wand out in a fighting stance, shield spell ... er, on? Only her opponent was like sitting there with the controller unplugged... there wasn't even a twitch from the dummy.

She glanced down at the line. She was over it? She was facing the thing? Did she have to bow again? Was the line like a reset button? UGH. THIS WAS SO TEDIOUS. Did the Headmaster know how tedious this was? Was this activity deliberately full of rules so that it would sap all the joy out of duelling and make them not want to duel anyone ever?

"This is tedious," Bernadette announced so that he could hear it. She stepped back over the line, shook out her hands so she'd be ready again, and then stepped back over it, this time quickly jerking her body forward at a 45 degree angle and then back up. She still held her wand at the ready, but she'd wait for the dummy to bow too before casting this time.

SINCE SHE SUPPOSED that was what they were supposed to do.

WHAT THE HEY DIDDLE DIDDLE!?!? The moment she rose from her bow, the dummy was firing spells at her. And not just one, but one after another after another. Phoebe should have thrown up a shield spell immediately, but she wasn't fast at spellwork yet. And her gut was never to throw a spell. It was to throw a punch...

She dropped to the floor and rolled away from the cast spells. She kept rolling, popping back to her feet in a kip-up. Wand extended, Phoebe cast a weak Protego. But it was something, and would hopefully protect her until she could cast a stronger one.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaniDiNardo (Post 12440849)

Blake jump and shouted "Protego" and was able to dodge the first attack. And then Blake straight and stood waiting. There was a lull and then the dummy sent a rapid fire at him. Blake wasn't ready, he had made the number one mistake and let his guard down after the first shot. He shouted "Protego" but wasn't able to get the spell off in time and was hit BAM, BAM, BAM! His wand flew out of his hand and Blake was for all intensive purposes 'defeated'.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaniDiNardo (Post 12440849)

Terrified as she was, nothing would happen until she began the "duel". For now, the dummy stared on in silent judgement as it waited for them to begin. When they started was up to her.

A quick glance to her left then her right told Isla that she was pretty much the only one not taking the plunge. She couldn't decide if that made her feel better about possibly stepping across the line, or worse for not having done it yet. She closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath. She knew she was being ridiculous. She was a pureblood, and magic ran deep in her very own blood. She could do this.

Isla opened her eyes and stepped across the line before she could change her mind. She'd already bowed, correctly for the most part, twice to this very same dummy in their previous activity. She had this! She then completed a full ninety-degree bow in as respectful of a way as she possibly could, making sure to stand back up this time. Her wand maintained a position that said she was ready. Let's do this! Please don't kill me, dummy. Was it just her, or were the other dummies firing way too many spells at once? (Way too many in her opinion, at least.)

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaniDiNardo (Post 12440849)

Luckily for Fiona, she was known for quick reflexes because as soon as the dummy had fired off the first spell, she had performed the correct wand movement and yelled clearly, "Protego Duo!" Fiona was still "armed" and the second spell missed her. She felt a bit disappointed that she couldn't perform any disarming spells. Maybe at a later stage, she would be given the opportunity.

Nina waited for the dummy, still bowed down in her 90 degree angle. Once her dummy met her stance, the Slytherin then moved to straighten her back. She waited for the dummy again, before stepping back as per their Headmaster's directions. She appreciated Headmaster Trent. He, unlike others such as Professor Schmoe, was an incredibly well poised man who knew how to command a classroom. He was firm, but encouraged growth without being overly intimidating. His lessons were sensical unlike some of the others, such as Astronomy where they were made to do things such a rollerskating. He was in all ways incredibly sensible. It was something Nina Castillo appreciated immensely. He was also very pretty, which made listening to him all the more pleasant. It's why she was always one of the first few to settle down and turn her attention towards him after an activity. Now was no exception. He had her undivided attention, even with all the sneezing she was still doing. This dust was going to end her.

She was relieved to know that they would be practicing defensive spells rather than working on offensive ones today. It wasn't that she didn't see the value in learning offensive spellwork, but she found defensive skills were better fit for this crowd. Honestly, some of her classmates were far too eager with their wands and they did not need to learn more skills to attack one another when it already happened on the regular. She had heard of the way Alessandro had attacked Jove last year and with students like him on the loose, Nina really worried. That and Nina hated dueling. Had she mentioned that before? That she saw no point in it? Because she didn't. There was no point, not even for sport. It was a waste of time and energy that could otherwise be used in a more productive manner that did not encourage violence against one another. And that was her hot take.

Of course she felt confident in her ability to cast the shield charm, but because she was smart she would practice it anyway. First she began practicing the movement, a single horizontal line going downward. It was always a good idea to practice a movement beforehand, as it required fluid motion. Stiff wrists could make for an unfortunately inaccurate movement and she wanted everything to go well in the moment. It was like stretching before going for a run. It slowed down the process, but it saved time in the long term and made for avoidance of otherwise horrible situations. After practicing the movement on its own, she added the incantation in. "Protego," which gave her a full shield. Of course she felt the simple incantation was almost below her at this point as mere first years were using it. And so she opted to work with the other levels as well. Practicing "protego duo," next.

After all the time spent practicing, she finally stepped back up to the red line. Once again she eye contact with her dummy, before bending down into a 90 degree angle. Here she waited for her dueling partner to do the same. She had seen some of the tragic students who had been impatient, straightening their backs before their dummy had a chance to return the bow. So immature. She pitied them, honestly. They did deserve to be knocked down though. She did enjoy watching that happen.

Carsyn watched and waited for her dummy to do something but only realized a moments too late that she was still behind the red line. Well, doh. Of course if wasn't going to do anything. This was the safety line. Fortunately there would be time to continue practicing the bowing but now they were also adding in offensive spells.

The shield charm was one that the fifth year could confidently cast in her sleep. Which was why even though on some level she knew she should be casting a stronger shield charm, the most basic shield charm was one that she could do well enough. It was forceful on its own because of the confidence that she had with it.

Deep breath. Taking a step over the red line. And she repeated her forty-five degree bow, while simultaneously casting a "Protego" because she didn't need to be disarmed mid-bow.

Jillian waited until the headmaster would give them more procedures after the bowing practice with their dummies. After he did, she took a step back aligning herself with her practice dummy. She had her hair up into a ponytail and drew her wand out. This was nice, they're going to defeat a bunch of dummies until it 'gives up'... will it work though? Will these dummies reallllllyyyy give up? Guess she just have to wait and see.

Her feet planted on behind the red line, she looked at the dummy closely, casting the shield charm on her "Protego Duo" she said under her breath and repeated the same bow she did earlier. Hopefully she can think fast on her feet with all the spells she will be using today.