It was nearly evening when Kevin walked towards the Dueling Arena to practise. He had gotten a few books from the library about curses and counter-curses as well as how he had to defend himself. But he still needed to actually practise them. As he opened the door, he was surprised by the amount of light shining in to the room despite it being almost dark and dinner time. Magic, he loved it.

He checked his watch and saw that it was almost dinner time. He then turned back around and walked towards he back wall where the practise dummies were. Looking at them, he decided on the stationary one first. Better start low and build your way up eh? Even though the moving one was one he wanted to try as well. He grabbed his wand and spun it around in his hand as he waited.

Seeing as Defence Against the Dark Arts wasn't his best subject Donny could probably use some practice... even if he'd rather be sitting out by the lake eating sweets. Sweets could wait. He sighed loudly as he entered the duelling arena. This would be no fun at all... and Donny considered a lot of things fun. Duelling was not one of them. Not at all. Ew. But.. practice makes perfect, that was what they said, right? Perfect! Donny would be pleased if he could just be 'decent'.

Oh, lookit! There was Kevin, sweets boy! Kevin had been kind enough to give him some sweets when he'd lost his own, maybe he'd be kind enough to duel him. He was a second year... A second year couldn't possibly make him look silly, could they?
"Hiiii, Kevin!" Called Donny in an attempt to sound just as cheerful as he always did. Was that convincing? "Fancy seeing you here!"

While setting up the dummy, Kevin heard someone come in to the Dueling Arena and his gaze immediately turned to the sound. Seeing that it was ...whats his name.... he waved at him. He looked at the older guy again. The same way he had done in Diagon Alley. Judging. He was judging him whether or not he knew some good spells he could learn and use against the Professor. "Dude you came at a good time!" he said and pointed at the dummy he had set up. "Do you know how to duel? I NEED to learn how to duel and how to use spells AND learn how to defend myself BEFORE saturday."

It was slightly freaking him out how much he had to learn. But there was no way he was going to get defeated by that crazy space man. And hey? Maybe he turned out to be good at this? He rubbed his forehead where the date time and location of the duel was written and switched his wand in to his right hand and pointed it at the guy. "Well? Are you helping me out or not?" He only cared about his own practise.

Kevin still didn't look very friendly. Just like last time.. but he'd offered the sweets then.. Looks could be deceiving. Dude. Oh, right, that was him! Donnacha slowly made his way over, trying to postpone the awwwwful practising as much as he could. "I diiid?" Donny hadn't realised that his service was required. Kevin seemed like the kind of person who'd rather do it all by himself. Oh. Did he know how to duel? Well... he had seen people duel. He knew some spells.. but.. Donny anxiously eyed the dummy as if it would attack him any second. "I know a thing or two, maybe?" Two at the most. "What's happenin Saturday? Something essiting?" In other words; something dangerous that would be fun to watch??? Donny was in!

Whoa! Donny got his wand out and aimed it at Kevin. "Don't be aimin it at me when I'm not ready!" He was a peaceful kid, alright?! And he's also appreciate it if he could make it to Halloween with all limbs attached. Donny could at least teach him not to do that again. "Um.. I guess.... yeah..?" He forced a smile grimace onto his face and cleared his throat. Goodbye world.

He knew a thing or two. Was that an expression or the truth? Did he really only knew a few spells? But he was a third year so Kevin thought it was better than nothing. Especially since apart from reading in the library books he had gotten he knew absolutely nothing. Way the go pureblood parents who kept him in the dark so that things would be a 'surprise' for him!

Ah Boggarts! Why had he said that?! The less people knew about this duel the better because he didn't want to go down in front of a group of people. Yes, he still had the writing on his forehead but it was backwards and it seemed that most people didn't bother with decoding the message. Mostly because he never talked to anyone... "None of your business is happening saturday" he snapped. It took him a few seconds to realise that he was going to help him out so maybe he SHOULD fill him in with some details. okay i'll tell but don't tell anyone! And if you do i know what house you're in!" Did he just threatened an older student? Yes he did.

"I'm having a duel then" that was all he was getting. He had kind of figured it was pretty obvious since he needed to learn how to duel before that time so the Gryffindor had doubts again on whether or not this supposedly older kid was smart enough...

The raised wand at him was actually a test. He wanted to see how the guy reacted to it and Kevin grinned when he did the exact thing he was hoping for. He had aimed his wand as well. Hmm seemed like he wasn't as slow as he thought he was. "It's a deal!" The second year smiled which just looked weird because he never smiled. Still not lowering his wand, Kevin nudged his head to the dummy he had set up earlier. " I think we should practise on that" he said. "which spells do you know?" and as he talked he still hadn't lowered his wand but still aimed it at the guy. Whaaat he was scared that if he did he would get a surprise attack! It happened last year!

Really Kevin, were you still going to be rude? Donny wasn't quite sure how to deal with rude kids, his parents had taught him manners before sending him off to Hogwarts. And.. what was that on his head? Did someone sign it? Mr. Oliver had signed his head once! Best day ever. Oliver didn't attend Hogwarts, which was a shame, so someone else must have signed his head. Donny squinted in an attempt to read the message but was too far away to make any sense of it. "What's your head say?!" Did he even know about the message?

Ooooooh, none of his business. So.. why exactly would he be helping the kid? Cause he was nice was why. "My esspertise is none of your business then." Maybe he'd get off easy and he wouldn't have to duel the kid. That's right, Donny could be unfriendly too. Aha! He raised an eyebrow, Donny might not be the smartest, but how exactly would that help Kevin? Hufflepuff, where else would he be? "And.. you're a Gryffindor, apparently." It didn't show. "How does that help you? Or better yet, how will that keep me from telling anyone?" Asked Donny while trying to keep a straight face. Donny wouldn't tell, he was good at keeping secrets, but Kevin didn't need to know..

A duel?! It seemed logical enough, duels required practice and Kevin seemed pretty desperate for some help. Why else would he ask Donny?

Who would he be fighting then? Because if it was another second year it would be unfair to help him, being a third year and all. Well...? Was that all he was telling? Lame. If it was one of his friends he didn't know if he wanted to help Kevin. He wasn't quite sure if Kevin was a friend or not. "Who are you fighting then?"

Why was he grinning?! This wasn't fun. This was no fun at all. Couldn't they just throw marshmallows at each other or something? Something that didn't involve a lot of brain power. Donny didn't remember making any deals. He eyed the Gryffindor warily, he didn't trust him one bit. Nope. "We didn't shake on it so it isn't a done deal, actually."

Oh, good. Kevin didn't want to practise spells on each other. Of course not. He carefully approached Kevin and the dummy, not yet lowering his wand. "Of course we're practisin' on that." Said Donny as if it was the most obvious thing ever. He hadn't thought of it, but lets not mention that. Lower your waaaand, kid! Kevin should be the one to lower it first, he was the unreliable one here. After clearing his throat Donny shrugged, not quite sure which spells he knew. "Well... I know plenty." Was he sounding convincing? "Which kind would you like?" And he'd better ask nicely this time!

Ugh, it seemed that the Hufflepuff was more observant than he thought he would be. Kevin quickly pulled his hoodie over his head, but he knew that it wasn't covering his forehead completely. UUUUGH. "Its...the day time and location" he mumbled. "I got hexed okay?" was that what he wanted to hear? fine. whatever.

The lion shrugged his shoulders. "I heard it before, when someone threatens another person they say that they know which house they live in. Muggles are weird..." Because apparently his threat had not worked. Maybe it was just a muggle thing? How does that keep him from telling anyone? Kevin thought about that. "Oh i don't know! lets not talk about this!" he huffed. He still needed to learn how to scare someone properly...

And the same kind of question again. Who he was dueling in a few days. Kevin made a sound of annoyance, couldn't he just accept the practise without being so nosy? He looked at the older kid before sighing as if giving up. "Alright alright i'll tell. Crazy Space Man. I'm fighting against Crazy Space Man" and if he did not know that that was the Astronomy Professor than it was not his fault.

"I don't do handshakes" he said as he turned his head to look at the dummy before looking back. Everything was set now. "It's a deal when i say so and it's a deal now, you offered to help me out and hey think of it like this, you'll be getting better and stronger as well now" Wasn't that awesome?! He got to help the amazing Kevin which was the most important part AND practise his own spells! Seeee! He could be nice to people.

The Gryffindor raised a perfect eyebrow at the tone when he said that they were of course practising on that. "What did you think? That i'd shoot you right away?" He asked. "I'm rude, not a cheater you know" The only person who was a cheater was Crazy Space Man for attacking him last year out of nowhere!

This time, he did lower his wand but still held it in his hand just in case. Oooh he knew plenty ? It did sounded like he knew a lot of spells! He better not let Kevin down... "I read in the curses and counter-curses book a spell that BLOWS STUFF UP!" yeaaah...he was going hardcore right at the start. "But i think i first need to know how to petrify someone ...whats the incantation called again? Petriroly totalus or something?" he blinked a few times and scratched his head. "I also need to know how to make a shield around me!"

Did he know how to do those things?!

Day. Time. Location. That was incredibly helpful, not. Donny didn't want his powers being used for evil.. Kevin so could be using his powers for evil. He hated being responsible, why couldn't someone else help Kevin?! "Who hessed you?" The logical thing to do was to tell a teacher, duh. Even Donny knew that and he wasn't always the most logical thinker. "And day time and location isn't a very good answer.." Donny added and shook his head.

..that didn't make any sense. His house didn't have anything to do with this. "Well I know where your house lives, too. And I'm older." Older meant you were the boss. Being the boss meant that, if he wanted to, he could tell anyone about this and Kevin wouldn't be able to stop him. Hah! Donny wasn't mean though, but he wasn't going to tell Kevin any time soon. Hehe. "I wants to know stuff before we duel. So you should tell.... or I'm not helpin." The Hufflepuff nodded, but he wasn't sure if he would be mean enough to leave Kevin here.

Crazy Space Man..? The only crazy person around here was Kevin. Donny sniggered. Kevin still wasn't being helpful, so Donnacha sighed loudly and stretched his legs a bit before speaking. "And............ why?" Maybe he'd find out who this Crazy Space Man was this way.. he wasn't about to look like he didn't know anything, not in front of a second year. A second year he didn't like.

It was the bowing part that mattered. Donny wasn't sure if he even wanted to shake Kevin's hand. ...........sigh. Donny was wasting sacrificing his precious time to help the kid out, some manners or even a smile couldn't hurt. Imagine the amount of sweets he could've eaten by now. "I said it because maybe you wouldn't know that it was obvious." Being nice was overrated.

Seemed like Kevin had done his research, hmm? Donny hadn't done his research, so for now he would have to rely on his memory. Blowing stuff up.. right.. He had learned this at some point, right? Bombarda? That was a blowing stuff up-y spell, but he wasn't sure it was meant to be used on people. Instead he pretended not to have heard the first part and simply nodded when Kevin moved on. Petrificus Totalus. Donny didn't see the harm in that one, just as long as Kevin wasn't going to use it on Donny, that would be bad. "You mean petrificus totalus." That wouldn't be very helpful against a proper wizard though. Really kid, just tell us who the Crazy Space Guy is.

Shields.. For a moment Donny considered giving him the wrong spell, it would be pretty funny to see Kevin lose, but decided against it after a few moments deliberation. That was an evil move. Donny wasn't evil, nope. Didn't plan on becoming evil anytime soon either. His help wouldn't do much though, Donny wasn't able to cast a proper shield charm and he didn't expect Kevin to do it. "Well.. SHIELDS. You just.....it's protego!" There. Done now? Please?

"It's hexed, with an X" Kevin answered after he had noticed the mistake. "You didn't know that?" Couldn't he speak English or something? Wait, if he couldn't even pronounce that word ...was he even able to use spells? Because saying the incantation right was just as imporant as the wand movement. The Gryffindor looked him up and down again with that judging look of his and had serious doubts.

But before he could say anything, he was distracted by the Puff's sudden outburst that he demanded to know what was going on. Rolling his eyes, the second year sighed loudly. "Alright i'll tell geez" The kid was ANNOYING! Was he like that as well? Because if he was he now knew why people thought he was annoying. Was he going to change...nah.

"Saturday at 1pm" he said as he pointed at his forehead. "I have a duel with the Astronomy guy. You know? The crazy one who jumps on tables during his classes and is just plain weird?" yeah , that one. What was his name even? He didn't even remember the Hufflepuff's name! "Last year, he used that petrifying spell on me at his office and i hadn't even done anything but knock on the door!" Which was the whole truth. "So i challenged him to a duel but last year i got super old so we changed the date but...." he started to speak rapidly now, obviously panicking a bit. "I couldn't practise because of that stupid no magic outside of the school rule and i'm seriously starting to doubt if i'll even survive this and " breeeathe Kevin. "Happy now?"

He turned around and looked at the dummy but then the third year spoke again and he turned back. "Petreficos Totalus, right!" But because he still had his wand in his hand a spark of light suddenly hit the ground and it bounced up to the the ceiling. Smashed against it before going straight down to the top of the Hufflepuff's head. "IDIDN'TDOANYTHING!" Just give him potions class. He was waaaay better at that!

Heeeey. That was uncalled for. He was very much aware of this issue, thank you Kevin. He scowled at the kid, when was he going to stop talking? Donny didn't like his talking. "I know more than you do." Donny said impatiently. If Kevin knew everything so well why wasn't he just doing this by himself, hmm? Abbi had less of an attitude than this mini Gryffindor here. "So if you want help you need to stop it with your ATTITUDE." There. He said it. He frowned at Kevin to make sure he would listen. That's what his parents usually did when bossing him around.

Donnacha rolled his eyes, Kevin was really wasting his time heeeere. That dramatic sigh wasn't doing him any favours either. "So... waiting." No more nice Donny. Nope. Donny Danger. He grinned at that name, Donny Danger. He would have to write it down as soon as he got back to the common room, in case his superhero powers were ever needed.

Snort. Kevin was fighting professor Flamsteed? He definitely had to see this. He smiled at the thought of Kevin embarrassing himself in front of everyone. and maybe felt a little bad about it too Weird! Where did Kevin live? Boringville??? At least Flamsteed wasn't boring, Donny thought he was actually pretty cool. Nice suits too. But that was all besides the point, Donny couldn't possibly help Kevin beat Flamsteed, the dude was like a bazillion times more experienced. The second year was going down. "You should go pick some.. some four-leaf clover and hope he doesn't blast your nose off, I think." Donny said calmly. That might not be true though, professors probably weren't allowed to deform students. He eyed Kevin suspiciously, not sure if he believed the "just knocking on his door" thing.. and.. who on earth got themselves into a duel without knowing how to duel?! Donny could see why he wasn't in Ravenclaw. "You should've thoooought before you said stuffs." Not that Donny always thought things through, but this was really dumb.
Donny yawned when Kevin turned to face the dummy, he didn't think that petrificus totalus would work on a dummy, but who knew? He didn't want to be the backup dummy.

That wasn't how you pronounced it! Donny panicked, WHATWASHESUPPOSEDTODO?! Combat was no fun, why did people do this??? Before the Hufflepuff could come up with an appropriate response the spell hat bounced of the ceiling and hit him on the head. Ow. Donny froze for a moment. His wand fell out of his hand and he fell back on the floor with a thud. "REALLY KEVIN?!" Donny shouted and attempted to tilt his head. When that didn't work he just huffed loudly. "You're the loooowest."
Another few seconds passed and Donny could feel his arms and legs twitch a bit. Kevin was going to be in soooo much trouble if Donny ended up limbless. But instead of falling off, he regained control of his arms and legs. Hah! He quickly grabbed his wand and aimed it at Kevin before getting up again. Donny glared at the Gryffindor and tried to think of any useful spells he could use on the kid, but none came to mind. He had to do something! Looking like a fool in front of Kevin was not an option, so Donnacha huffed and cast the only spell that had come to mind. "Rictumsempra!" Who knew, maybe the Gryffindor was ticklish.

Attitude? Kevin frowned at the guy. "I don't have an attitude, YOU have an attitude!" Alright maybe he DID know he had an attitude but he didn't like people saying he had an attitude just because he HAD an attitude. Following it all? "Why can't you pronounce the X anyways? Is it an accent thing or something?" Just a harmless question. He could be harmless!

Kevin shrugged his shoulders. Whatever. If he didn't want to help him out he would just figure how to duel by himself. But at the same time, Donny WAS right. He probably DID know more than he did and he could use the knowledge right now.

When Donny told him that the Professor was most likely to blast his nose off, the Gryffindor felt his nose out of habit. "But i like my nose!" He whined. He wouldn't actually do that right? But judging from what he knew about the man he found him highly unpredictable. A true Gryffindor hehe. "I didn't say stuff! HE attacked ME ...you really think i let someone off when they attack me?" no way, the Gryffindor would go down fighting. Or was he talking about something else? Whatever it was, it annoyed him.

The flash of light HAD been a total accident and as he watched it fall down and hit Donny on the top of the head he wondered what would happen. He cocked his head to the side and when he fell down the Lion laughed. "You should have seen your face!" he laughed more as he realised that Donny couldn't lift his head. Oh? he was the lowest? Kevin folded his arms and frowned down at him. "It was an accident!" he said as he saw that Donny could move again. "Plus, you aren't really hurt ri----"

The spell hit him full in the chest and he fell down as well but instead of feeling any pain , Kevin began to LAUGH.

He laughed so hard that he began to spasm on the floor, trying to stop whatever was tickling him. "HAHAHA HA...STOP...HAHAHAHA!" This wasn't funny AT ALL! He searched for his wand but he realised he had dropped it during the attack. "Who's the..hahaha...lowest...ha okay stop...now?!" After a few moments, Kevin realised that he wasn't laughing anymore and knew that the spell had stopped. He breathed heavily like he had just ran a marathon but instead of getting up and grab his wand, the Gryffindor reached out with his leg and tried to give him a kick.

Sander had made mention about having spent some time in the dueling arena, practicing his dueling moves, in addition to getting better acquainted with his friends while dueling with them. Having best Sander a couple of times back home, while under the adult supervision of their parents, Cris decided to check out this infamous place of sweat, grunts and dueling prowess.

The moment he entered the dueling arena, he knew that he was in a place where famous witches and wizards had fought it out, sometimes not under friendly circumstances. He could imagine the amazing power of magic vibrating through this wall and he was in awe.

Noticing some dummies placed strategically at one end of the arena, Cris walked up to them and examined them. Were those scorch marks on some of them? Nah...Cris quickly brushed that thought aside even as he began smiling to himself as he walked away from them.

Glancing first to the left and then to the right, front and then a backward glance, Cris pulled out his wand and with a flick of his wrist, called out, "Incarcerous" sending ropes flying from his rope. He watched as the ropes wrapped itself around one dummy and stayed there.

Score one for Cristoffer Strand.

Cris was about to launch into another offensive move, when he noticed someone entering the dueling arena. Blinking his eyes, allowing them to adjust to the dim lighting of the arena, he immediately recognized the figure as it slowly approached him. It was Jasmine.

Jasmine had heard about the dueling arena and thought it might be a good idea to give her spellwork a little practice. Having a rare free moment, the time seemed right. Finding her way there without difficulty, she entered the room and looked around for a moment. Jasmine noticed that another student apparently had the same idea. A smile spread across her face when she realized that the student was Cris. Walking toward him, she said, "Hello handsome.". "Fancy meeting you here." Jasmine put her bag down and stood silently, watching Cris practice his spells.

Cris smiled when he heard the affectionate term Jasmine used to say hello to him. Was he handsome? Cris didn't think so but he still liked knowing that Jasmine thought he was. "Hi gorgeous," Cris grinned back at Jasmine as she walked over to join him. "Fancy meeting you here. Let me guess. You were planning on practicing your dueling skills here today, just like I was also planning to do. Great minds think alike, right, " he affectionately bumped shoulders with her.

Motioning over to the dummies behind him, "Here have a go at them. I don't mind watching," he grinned at her as he stepped back to give her room to work.

Jasmine smiled at Cris' greeting and walked over to meet him. "Why yes I did come to practice my dueling skills. You can never be too prepared in that department, you know. I am happy to see you here.". She was happy to see him, but a little nervous about putting her dueling skills on display.

When Cris stepped back to let her have a try, Jasmine was a little reluctant. She went ahead anyway and started with a little stretching to get the muscles warmed up. Then she approached one of the dummies. Deciding to make this sort of realistic, Jasmine tuned and took five steps. Turning back around quickly, Jasmine raised her wand and said, "Stupefy". As the dummy fell backward, she moved on to the next one. "Ligatenous", Jasmine said and watched as chains wrapped around the second dummy. Pointing her wand and saying, "Finite", Jasmine turned back to Cris. "Your turn", she said to him with a smile.

That was an outright lie! Donny did NOT have an attitude! If anything, he had the opposite. An unattitude. Liar liar. "You tell lies!" And nothing but lies. And the occasional mean comment. Never mind the silly X, there were more important things to life, didn't Kevin know that? Donnacha snorted, pretty sure that Kevin was still mocking him. It wasn't any fun, okay? "MY ESS IS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS. KID." There. Make sure he knew who was in charge here. It was Donny, in case that wasn't obvious.

A shrug?! Donny shrugged in return, not quite sure what Kevin was shrugging about, but whatever. The Hufflepuff ruffled his hair and looked around the duelling arena, could he leave yet?

It wasn't funny, Kevin! It would have been funny in any other situation, but it wasn't funny today. It wasn't funny because Kevin had done it. He scowled at the second year. Donny had a cute face, thank you, many girls had said so. Nothing to laugh about! He brushed some dirt off his clothes, lookin' fresh. "You've gots to see your face when I'm done!" Was that a threat? He shrugged, it probably was. Accident, hmmmm? Sure, Donny probably could've made the same mistake, but this was Kevin. "Uhuhhhh, an assident." ..true, he wasn't hurt. But he could've been seriously injured! Not that the possibility of getting injured had ever stopped him.. "I could've died. Y'know, maybe." He nodded.

LOL. Donnacha stared at Kevin for a few seconds as the Gryffindor lay on the ground laughing uncontrollably. This was amazing! He laughed along with Kevin, if only he was like this all the time!

Awww! Kevin had stopped laughing already. It was over all too soon. But Donny just stood there, unable to stop laughing just yet. He should do it again! He wiped a few tears away and twirled his wand around as he watched Kevin, but he wasn't prepared for what the Gryffindor did next.
Merlin! What kind of shoes was he wearing? Were they made of steel?
Donny groaned and grabbed his ankle, awkwardly hopping around the duelling arena. That was definitely cheating! "That's not fair!" Donny turned around, swinging his wounded leg back and forth a bit while he glared at the kid. If that was how Kevin wanted to fight.. He reached into his pocket and found an old liquorice wand that had been chewed on probably by Cian but he wasn't going to eat it, nope. Instead he threw it right at Kevin, hoping it would hit.

Was that a threat Donnacha? Was it?

Kevin took a step forward and narrowed his eyes. Was he really threatening him by saying that his face would look different once he was done with it? "You don't even got the guts to do it!" He laughed. Why had he even asked for his help in the first place? The Puff was just annoying him. And his accent was annoying him as well. If he couldn't even say ACCIDENT right HOW on EARTH could he do magic?!

The Gryffindor hadn't realised that Donny had been laughing at him because he had been too busy with laughing himself but when the tickling spell had stopped and his shoe had connected with his ankle Kevin laughed again.

He watched him hopping around on one leg through the arena and got up from the ground. "Not fair? Welcome to the REAL world! There is no fair" he said. The second year had learned that the hard way. Having been bullied because of his miss-matched colored eyes AND the fact that he had been a *freak* as the neighbouring kids had put it when they had seen him doing magic by accident.

The second year frowned as Donny's hand went in to his pocket. What was he trying to do? Wait...was that...did he have 2 wands?! Kevin quickly pointed his wand at him but then he ...threw it... He had been too weirded out by the fact that Donny actually THREW a wand that he forgot to dodge and it hit him on his chin. "Oww! what was that?!" He looked down at the floor to see a liquorice wand at his feet. "Candy? REALLY? you're throwing candy?!" If the thing didn't looked like it had been half eaten he would have stolen it.

This whole thing made Kevin more and more angry though and he even took a couple of deep breaths to calm himself. "Just...get out of here, i don't need your help!" he should be happy he wasn't attacking him right now. "But don't think this is over" Once he knew how to use proper magic, Donnacha Harper was his prank target. Oh yes. He turned around and walked towards the dummy he had set up earlier. "And if you try anything right now, you'll be sorry!"

Cris was in awe. The fluidity of Jasmine's movements as she cast spell after spell was an indication that she was well versed in her spell work. He clapped his hands in admiration when she ended her practice. "Wow! you're amazing. Your moves are so smooth and fluid. It must be that dancer in you," he complimented her.

"I don't think I'll be able to look as confident as you did, but I'll give it a try," Cris smiled and bowed before turning towards the dummies. He did a couple of stretches to limber up, and then unholstered his wand. Taking a couple of deep breaths, he rolled his neck to loosen up his neck muscles and then he began.

Jabbing his wand at the first dummy in front of him, he called out, "Petrificus Totalus," casting the Full Body Binding curse, quickly followed by "Incarcerous" with two flicks of his wand. Stepping to the side, he performed a quick 360 rotation before pointing his wand at the next dummy and sayiing, "Incendio," setting the dummy on fire.

Cris didn't even notice the fire extinguishing on its own, as he waved his wand in a squiggly line, called out "Flipendo" sending another dummy flying backwards. Even as the dummy landed on the floor, Cris ran to the next dummy, performing a quick tuck and roll. As he sprang back up into a running stance, he turned sideways, pointed his wand at the dummy and said, "Confringo". He watched as a orange stream of light shot out of his wand and hit the dummy causing it explode into pieces.

Eyes wide open, Cris immediately ended the spell, before turning to look at Jasmine, a look of dismay on his face. He had just destroyed Professor Romanos' dummy!! He quickly ran towards to the dummy, hoping that he would be able to find enough of its pieces to glue it back together again. But to his surprise, there stood the dummy, with not a mark on it.

He smiled when he realized that the dummies had been charmed to repair themselves, which made lots of sense. With all the dueling practice that was done here, the school would go bankrupt if they had to keep replacing the damaged dummies.

Cris walked over to join Jasmine with a smile of relief on his face. "And that's all folks," he grinned at her.

Jasmine watched with her mouth open as Cris gave a dueling clinic. He was so quick and agile as he performed spell after spell. It was quite clear that his participation in multiple sports had only added to his dueling ability. Man, he was good. Jasmine was extremely glad that if there was ever a dueling situation, Cris would be on her side and not fighting against her.

Jasmine finally managed to close her mouth and said, "You know, that was a pretty impressive demonstration" "Would you be my remedial dueling teacher? Please, huh? Pretty please?" Cue the puppy dog face. "I guess being a mixed martial arts master comes in handy, doesn't it?"

Cris blushed at Jasmine's compliment. Chuckling, he quickly shook his head. "I'm the last person you want to be your dueling teacher. I'm still learning myself. Being fast and agile does not make me a dueling master. Now Sander, he's the one that's good. He'd make a good instructor," Cris told her with a smile.

Then he laughed when she put on a cute puppy dog face, "Aw man...that's not fair. You know I can't say no when you use that face on me. Okay, I tell you what, why don't you show me what you know. Let's duel. That's the best way to see how much we both really know about attacking and defending ourselves. Are you game?" Cris paused to put on a pout and sad droopy eyes.

"Please, please say yes. Pretty please," he clasped his hands together. Yes he was now pouting, looking sad and begging. Now try saying no to that face.

Cris was so humble. That was one of the things Jasmine liked about him, but she had to give credit where credit was due. He was good, no better than good. She was was sure that brother Sander was exceptional at dueling, but Cris appeared to be so too. Jasmine had noticed that Cris often comapared himself to his brother, always placing himself second. That bothered Jasmine. Did Cris not know how amazing he was?

When Cris suggested they duel, Jasmine was a little leery. She had just seen him annihilate a dummy and she was not feeling that confident. However, her competiive natuture kicked in. Never one to back down from a challenge, Jasmine agreed to the duel. "I will accept your challenge sir", Jasmine said. How could she say no to his puppy dog face? She hoped he never used that face on her in a serious situation because she'd be a goner. "Are you ready?", Jasmine asked Cris.

Beaming from ear to ear, Cris punched the air jubilantly with his fist. "Yes!" he exclaimed while dancing a little jig on the arena floor. Once he had gotten that out of his system, he nodded enthusiastically.

"I'm ready. Let's start on the count of three," Cris suggested to Jasmine, as he turned around and took a few steps away from where Jasmine was standing, before turning around, wand at the ready position.

"One....Two.....Three....Impedimenta!" he called out as he waved his wand in an arching motion like he was tracing an upside down U, and cast the Impediment Jinx. Immediately a turquoise beam of light shot out from his wand and headed towards Jasmine.

Would she deflect it or dodge out of its way?

Jasmine stifled a smile at Cris' little ahem performance. Losing her focus now would not be a good idea when she was going up against the master. Jasmine turned her back to Cris and took several steps away from him.. Turning around, she prepared her wand and listened to him count one, two, three........ Wow, he really was fast. Almost before she could initiate the spell, Cris had sent a beam of light in her direction. She was almost too slow, almost. Just in the nick of time, Jasmine was able to say, "Protego", and barely block his spell. She immediately countered with a spell of her own. "Rictusempra", Jasmine shouted. She tried to prepare herself because she knew that Cris would likely be sending a spell right back at her. This was not going to be easy.

As expected, Jasmine successfully blocked his jinx before sending another back at him. The Tickling Charm. Cris would have loved to be tickled by Jasmine, but at another place and time. Right now, he couldn't afford to let his guard down.

In a blink of an eye, Cris had his wand up and waving his wand in
neat circular motion, with his wrist flicking just the slightest, he called out,"Impiriano," creating a blueish bubble shield around him. Even as he watched his shield deflect the spell that Jasmine had cast on him, Cris immediately launchd into the offensive again. Bending on one knee, he called out the incantation to another Tickling spell, "Titillando!" as he waved his wand in an upside down curving movement and watched as purple hand-shaped ribbons of light flew out from his wand towards Jasmine.