Sander walked into the Dueling Arena and looked around.

So this was the place where dueling champions were born. Where good vs bad was played out here. Where winners were born and losers went back to learning how to defend themselves.

Sander didn't know which category he fell into. He just knew that he needed to practice in order to hone his Defense Against the Dark Arts skills.

He walked among the dummies. Some seemed to be only stationary while others were capable of movement. There was one other dummy and Sander wondered about what that one did. He would find out later. But for now he was content to concentrate on the dummies that remained stationary and those that moved.

Yes...those that moved were better. A more realistic scenario since no known opponent Sander had met, stood still while one cast defensive and offensive spells at them.

Sander walked a short distance from the back wall where the dummies stood and began warming up. He stretched and flexed his body's muscles, each movement to help to loosen the tightness in them. He couldn't afford to be stiff in his movements, wand and body wise. Every movement had to be fluid.

Yes...grasshopper be one with your wand and your mind.

Shaking his head sideways to loosen his neck and shoulder muscles, Sander then stood still and closed his eyes. He blocked out all noise and thought distractions. He breathed in and out slowly and when he was ready, he opened his eyes and approached the dummies.

He bowed to the dummies, turned around, took five step and then turned around......and let fly each spell.

Pointing the wand at the first moving dummy he said, "Incarcerous" sending ropes flying from his wand with a flick of his wrist. Even as the ropes wrapped themselves around the dummy, he quickly followed with a slashing downward motion of his wand and called out, "Diffindo" cutting the ropes and letting them fall to the ground.

Quickly side stepping, with another slash of his wand, he called out,"Deprimo" and immediately a strong powerful wind flew out of his wand, headed straight for the second dummy he was pointing at and blasted holes in it. Without a second's pause, he then sent the dummy flying backwards by waving his wand in a squiggly line and casting the Knock Back spell, "Flipendo.

Then he turned sideways and aimed for the dummy that was moving a little more faster than the earlier two, aimed and pointed his wand at it and set it on fire, calling out,"Incendio".

Okay dummy repair thyself...stop burning...the room arena was beginning to fill up with smoke. Sander quickly ran up to the dummy, pointed his wand at it and said, "Aguamenti". Water quickly flowed out of his wand and soon the fire was extinguished.

Sander quickly looked around. Good no one had seen him to do that. The scorched dummy began to repair itself and soon it was back to normal again.

...and then just because he needed to know he hadn't forgotten how to cast the Blasting Curse, Sander pointed his wand at the next innocent dummy and said, "Confringo". An orange like beam of light shot out from his wand, hit the dummy which immediately exploded into pieces.

Stuffing from the dummy flew everywhere...and Sander quickly picked up as many as he could as quickly stuffed it back into the dummy.

Then he stepped back and bowed at the dummies he had inflicted his spells on.

Alex decided that she would practice her dueling for a while. She could use all the practice she could get before class started. Arriving at the dueling arena, she noticed that it was occupied. She peeked inside just in time to see Sander cast a spell that destroyed a practice dummy.

Entering the arena, Alex said, "That was pretty impressive twin. I didn't know you were a master at hockey AND dueling. You've got skills.". Alex had planned to practice her dueling with the dummies, but wasn't it better to hone your skills with a real live person? A person that could make you explode.....ah, maybe not so much.

Sander heard footsteps approaching and quickly turned around, only to smile widely when he saw that the newcomer was Alex, his friend and name twin.

He blushed when she complimented his skills and then laughed. "Thanks for the compliment but to to honest it's lots easier when you're not having to think about having to defend yourself and avoid getting hit." he smiled back at her.

"You may not think I'm that great a duelist if you see me dueling with an opponent. So what brings you here? Were you thinking of practicing dueling too? " he asked the beautiful Ravenclaw.

Then he had an idea. Maybe they could practice together.

"Um...I was wondering. Would you agree to practice dueling with me? I definitely could use the practice." Sander asked.

"We could try a few rounds. Just one request though, be gentle with me. I suspect you're a better duelist than I am." Sander grinned back at Alex.

"You're probably right. It's totally different when you have possibility of bodily harm. However, I'm sure that you are a more than capable duelist."

Alex admitted, "You are right though, I did come here to practice my dueling. I might be persuaded to practice dueling with you, but I definitely need to go a couple of rounds with the dummies first. That way, if I'm too terrible you can still change your mind."

Sander nodded in agreement, then shrugged when she complimented him.

"I don't know about that. Practice does make perfect though." he admitted.

...and there was something about practice that he wanted to tell her.

Oh yes! How could he have forgotten. Ice Hockey!!

"Oh yeah I wanted you to be the first to know. I managed to find a place to practice playing ice hockey. Tessa, a Gryfffindor student mentioned that there's a place called the Room of Requirement and told me how to find it." Sander began to smile. He was getting excited just telling Alex about it.

"Well I did what she told me I needed to do and this door appeared in the wall and went I walked in, I found myself in an Ice Hockey Skating rink."

"You know what that means, Alex? I can get to practice playing Ice Hockey and if you want to, you could come and skate on the ice too. We can use the room until the lake freezes outside and then we get have fun outdoors." Sander grinned at Alex.

"Let me know when you want to join me? I'll be most grateful for your company." Sander admitted to his name twin.

....now enough of talking....it was time to practice dueling.

"Let me step back and let you practice. That way I won't get in your way and you can practice freely. I'll just sit on the stands and watch...how you're going to decimate me." Sander grinned at Alex.

Alex listened excitedly to what Sander was telling her. He had found a place to skate. He seemed so happy to have achieved his goal and Alex was happy for him. She knew how badly Sander wanted to continue his skating year round.

"Oh my goodness!", Alex said. "That is so wonderful. The Room of Requirement, of course, that's perfect. That never crossed my mind, but that would be the perfect place to have whatever you want.". Alex also thought about how much fun it would be to hit the ice again. The thought of breaking out her skates again made her smile.

"OK, so you tell me the good news and NOW I'm supposed to focus on dueling? That'll be kinda hard to do." Especially with Sander sitting in the stands watching her, Alex thought.

She walked over in the direction of one of the dummies, trying to clear her mind and focus. Alex closed her yes and took a deep breath. "OK, here we go", she thought. Alex bowed to the dummy and then turned and stepped away. "One, two, three, four, five", she counted silently. She turned quickly,raising her wand and shouted, "Stupefy". The dummy was blasted backward and fell over with a thud.

Satisfied with her first result, Alex turned toward the next dummy and shouted,""Petrificus Totalus".. Another dummy was upended, but Alex was not completely satisfied with how quickly she had cast her spell. She decided to pause and let Sander have another go at it.

Sander grinned widely when Alex immediately began smiling when he told her about changing the Room of Requirement into an ice hockey rink. "Well I remembered you telling me about how much you loved to skate, so I knew that I had to tell you about it." Sander smiled at her.

"I look forward to seeing you skate." Sander told her as he walked away to allow her to practice.

He sat on the stands and watched in admiration when she started casting her spells. She would prove to be very good adversary to have in a time of crisis.

Then he noticed she had stopped practicing. He quickly got up off the stands and walked over to her.

"Is everything okay? Did you hurt yourself?" Sander asked concern written all over his face.

When Alex decided to take a break in her practice, she was surprised to see Sander rush toward her. He genuinely seemed concerned about her well being and she was touched.

"I'm fine", she said with a smile. "I didn't want to completely hog the arena. I figured I'd let you have another turn, so tag you're it. My turn to sit in the stands and supervise.". Alex laughed as she passed Sander to head toward the stands. "Oh and by the way, it would be my pleasure to skate with you anytime. Just say the word and I'm there."

Sander breathed a sigh of relief when Alex reassured him that she was alright and that the only reason she had stopped was to allow him to take a turn again.

"Now you know it'll be my turn to be all embarrassed and awkward knowing that I now have someone observing me." Sander grinned back at Alex.

Then he smiled widely when Alex agreed to skate with him. "That would be awesome. I was planning to be practice tomorrow. If you want to, I could meet up with you outside your Common Room and we could go there together." Sander suggested to his name twin.

....and while he allowed her to think about his offer, Sander took his place in the middle of the dueling arena. Like before, he stretched and limbered up before walking towards the dummies.

Like before he bowed to them...yes even dummies should be given the same respect, alive or not. Then he turned around, took a couple of steps before turning around. Then he assumed the attacking position.

Whipping out his wand, he waved his wand in a vertical, then horizontal and then vertical upward motion, and said, "Defodio". A beam of light shot out and hit the dummy he was aiming at, gouging holes in the dummy.

Even as the dummy was repairing itself, Sander did a quick 90 degree turn and pointed at the dummy behind him and with a downward slash of his wand, called out,"Flipendo Duo". Immediately a beam of blue light shot out from his wand and when it hit the dummy, it flipped backwards a couple of times before lying still.

Then Sander did a 180 degree turn in the opposite direction and pointing his wand at the next dummy, said the incantation, "Ebublio". A purple beam of light shot out from his wand and flew straight for the dummy, and immediately the dummy was encased in a giant bubble.

Taking a step back, Sander pointed his wand at the dummy and non-verbally ended the spell and the giant bubble disappeared.

Then he looked back up at the stands where Alex sat and called up to her. "And that's all folks." Sander grinned up at her.

"Now how do I stop blushing?" Sander asked her. He could feel that his face was burning.

" That's right twin, I will be watching", Alex smiled mischievously. She took a seat in the stands and settled in for the show. She was not disappointed. Sander WAS really good at dueling, no matter how modest he tried to be. He was quick with the wand and very agile. Alex guessed that one would need those skills to play hockey well.

Sander threw in some spells that Alex was not familiar with. As he ended his master class on dueling, Alex stood up and clapped. "What have they been teaching you at Durmstrang? That was awesome! Wait, was he blushing?

Alex had considered Sander's offer to skate (like she was going to say no) and definitely wanted to take him up on it. How could she refuse? Those were two things Alex enjoyed, skating and hanging out with her new bud/twin. "Sure, tomorrow sounds like a great day for skating. I would be honored to accompany you sir, she said with a bow. I can meet you outside of my Common Room, just let me know what time.". Alex was looking forward to tomorrow already. She couldn't wait to skate and see Sander again.

Sander continued to blush even as his name twin clapped after he was done. Okay this has to stop....time to stop blushing. Sander quickly pulled out a towel and wiped his face...and at the same time hid his face inside it, until he could feel the burning sensation dissipate.

Okay it was safe to look at Alex now.

"What do they teach us at Durmstrang? The same spells that I'm sure they teach you over here." Sander shrugged his shoulders not knowing whether that was the correct answer.

Wait did Durmstrang teach students things they really shouldn't be learning. Nah!...they wouldn't do that....or would they?.....Nah....

Then Sander's thoughts were interrupted when Alex said the words he was hoping to hear. She had agreed to meet up with him and join him on the ice hockey rink in the Room of Requirement.

"You will?? YES!!...oh I mean....that's great." Sander hadn't expected her to agree, that his first reaction was to punch the air with his fist in jubilation...but then he realized what he had done, and meekly toned down his excitement.

Sander returned her bow with one of his own, "And thank you kind lady ffor accepting. It's a deal. I'll meet you outside your Common Room around 10 a.m. and then I'll show you the place. Don't forget to bring your skates, and I'll remember to bring the cushions " he grinned back at her after making that tongue-in-cheek comment.

"So do you want to practice some more? If not, would you like to grab some dinner." Sander suggested. They could always come back here another day after they had permission from the Professor to duel each other.

" Ha ha very funny, cushions......riiight, Alex said taking mock offense. Then she said seriously, "10:00 will be fine. I'll be ready.". Sander asked whether they should continue practicing or get dinner. Alex was never one to pass up a good meal. "Hmmmmmm, good question. Tough choice....dueling-food, food- dueling. I'm going with food. Want to check out the Great Hall and see what they've managed to cook up today?", she asked.

Sander laughed when Alex mockingly took offense at his offer. "Hey I'll make sure they are all nice and plump and filled with the softest goose feathers." he grinned back at her.

But now decision time. Eat or duel....he was glad when Alex picked food. Dueling practice could definitely make a person hungry.

"Most definitely food. Ladies first." Sander stepped aside to let Alex leave the arena first. Then he followed closely behind.

Sander entered the dueling arena and looked around. Nothing had changed since the last time he was here practicing his dueling skills. However instead of Alex, Tessa would be here.

Sander didn't know why he was nervous but he was? Maybe it was because he had never actually dueled with a girl before. The fact that she was also pretty didn't help at all. He knew that would be a source of distraction for him, so he made a mental note to himself to not look at her face if possible.

While he waited for Tessa to show up, Sander started limbering up. He first stretched his limbs and then his torso. Then he swung his arms round and round. He needed his movements to be fluid and fast and couldn't afford to get a strained muscle because he hadn't warmed up enough.

So he continued to warm up until Tessa joined him in the arena.

Tessa hadn't done much dueling in the past, so she had to admit she was a little nervous about this duel with Sander. And, the thought that it was Sander added an additional round of butterflies. She just didn't want to hurt him, that had to be the reason...

She rolled her shoulders and shook out her arms as she walked into the Arena, looking around to get her bearings. It looked like other dueling arenas she had been in, so that was reassuring. They even had practice dummies- also exciting. Motion out of the corner of her eye caught her attention, and she turned to see Sander warming up.

"Hey there," she said, walking over to him, stretching as she went. "Ready to lose?" she teased.

Sander could sense someone entering the dueling arena before he saw them. He turned and smiled when he saw it was Tessa. His tummy began to have butterflies. He placed his hand on his tummy....hoping that it would settle his stomach. Now was definitely not the time for him to go visit the men's bathroom.

"Hey there. Yep...maybe...we'll see." Sander grinned back at her. As Tessa got closer to him, his tummy began acting weird again.

....Tummy will you stop feeling this way. Dueling is serious business, Sander kept telling himself.

He risked one glance at her face and then his tummy acted up again. Okay we need to get started before I have to call a time out for an emergency.

"I'm ready when you are," he called out to her as he stepped away from her and headed to the middle of the arena.

It was time to duel.

Tessa hesitated ever so slightly when Sander smiled at her. He looked... no, it was time to focus. They were about to duel and she would not let herself get distracted. "You alright?" she asked, concerned as he put his hand on his stomach. "If you want we can reschedule..." she didn't want to, but she didn't want him unwell either.

"Indeed we will," she replied with a grin. When it seemed like they were ready to head to the arena, she took off her student robes and hung them up. She was wearing her usual work out clothes, which weren't baggy, but certainly loose and flexible enough to move in. Her multi-color striped hair she pulled back into a pony tail before shooting Sander a grin. She was ready.

"Born ready," she told him as she trotted to catch up with him as they walked to the arena. "Any ground rules we want to set?" she asked, looking up at him. She saw him keep glancing at her face and turning away and frowned slightly. Was there something on her face. She quickly wiped off her lips and cheeks, hoping she had gotten whatever it was that might have been there.

Sander quickly nodded when Tessa asked him whether he was alright. Yes he was, he just had to get his tummy under control...and stop that heart. I know you're excited to be dueling but you need to stop skipping around like that.

Yep...Tessa was definitely going to be a distraction. Even the clothes she wore looked nice on her.

Okay Sander concentrate and keep your mind on the duel....

He grinned when Tessa joined him in the middle of the arena. Ground rules?

"Ground Rules? Oh yes the ground rules. I think we should not use jinxes or hexes that will cause harm or injury to the other person. Other than that I can't think of anything? Do you think we should limit the number of rounds? Maybe best out of three?" Sander asked Tessa.

He couldn't wait to start dueling.

Reassured, Tessa grinned at him, feeling her own heart's pace pick up. She was looking forward to this duel. She continued to stretch as they walked out toward the center of the arena.

She looked over as he spoke, nodding in agreement. "Sounds perfect to me!" she agreed, feeling her stomach flutter again as she looked at him. She really needed to get herself together if this was going to do well. Think of it like a Quidditch match, she told herself. She took a breath and tried her best to clear her mind. "Alright, you ready Sander?" she asked.

Sander nodded in agreement. "Yes I'm ready. I guess we'll adopt the formal dueling process. We bow to each, turn around and take five steps back, then turn around and then get into our dueling positions." Sander informed Tessa and he did just that.

He waited for Tessa to get ready, and then he placed his feet together and then bowed to her, before turning around and taking five steps back.

1....2....3....4....5

Turn around and adopt the dueling stance. He positioned his legs with his right foot pointing forward, and his left foot slightly apart and pointing away. The position of his feet was now like a backwards L shape, with his weight distributed on the balls of his right and left foot.

He raised his wand and held it in front of his face .

Now he was ready to duel.

Tessa nodded once and then proceeded to enact what Sander had described. She bowed with him, and then turned. She took a breath and then stepped forward.

1... Spells, think spells...2... 3... focus on the match...4... 5...

She turned to face Sander and shot him a smile. She was ready.

"Cantis," she called out, whipping her wand in the proper motion. Now, the question was- how good of a singer was Sander?

Sander was surprised when Tessa immediately went on the offensive. He quickly blocked her spell by waving his wand in a tight circular movement, with his wrist flicking just the slightest and said,"Impirano".

Immediately a blueish bubble appeared around him.

Watching as Tessa's spell bounced off his shield, Sander immediately pointed his wand at her and through his shield, he cast the full body binding curse,"Petrificus Totalus" at her and watched to see whether she would be fast enough to block his spell.

Tessa smiled as Sander blocked the spell. If it had been that easy, it wouldn't have been any fun. She watched him closely, and when the spell came, she quickly dodged to the side.

"Protego," she cast, the shield absorbed the spell and Tessa found that she was still smiling. She had forgotten how fun dueling was.

"Locomotor Wibbly," she called out the Jelly-legs jinx. Quickly, she moved over and cast a second spell from another angle, knowing that he may not be able to block both. "Titillando!" The tickling hex was one of her favorites.

Sander hadn't expected Tessa to be that quick on the draw. He was glad that his shield was still holding up. Even as he watched both her spells hit his shield he was already in offensive mode and with a flick of his wrist he said, "Incarcerous" sending ropes flying her way and then quickly in a crouching position, he waved his wand in a vertical slashing movement, and said "Impedimenta".

Immediately, a turquoise beam of light shot out from his wand and headed towards Tessa.