Melanie stared at the girl in utter bemusement. She didn't know WHAT she was doing, but it was definitely working for her... And leaving Melanie in confusion. The Hufflepuff had decided to keep back, so she had more time to dodge the spells, and react. Unfortunately for her, it would probably give Ivory more time as well. It was the best she could do, though, for if she got hit by a spell that would immobilize her, and keep her from casting, Melanie was gone for.... And a first year would have beat her in a duel. That would be more than a small hit to her ego, even if the first year she was dueling with at the moment seemed to be quite smarter than the average eleven year old.

Both of Melanie's eyes darted back and forth, trying to keep up with the movement of the younger girl, watching her fall to the ground (not without guilt welling up in her stomach), and then hop to her feet once more. She didn't fail to spot her yelling ...and then speaking something...

Problem was, Melanie had absolutely no idea what she was doing... at first. She wasn't the best lip reader. However, though it took her a moment, Melanie recognized the wand movement she had only just used. It appeared the Ravenclaw was employing a shield charm.

Things are not always as they seem though. It was something Melanie should know by now...something she was learning, by dueling Ivory. She had only a split second to react to the beam of light flying toward her, and she took full advantage of that, flicking the shield she'd formed earlier up to protect her face and shoulders. She took another step backward, to find herself standing against a wall. Not good.

The shield flickered once more, disappearing moments after the curse hit it.

The spell hit her. It came through the shield, so it didn't hit directly, but it still hit Melanie. What was left of the spell bounced off her shield and flew back toward Ivory. Melanie's left shoulder was paralyzed by the fraction of the spell that hadn't been deflected by her flickering shield. She knew she would need to at least make an attempt at ending the duel soon or she would be letting Ivory take advantage of her, now passive, left shoulder. Thankfully, her legs still worked perfectly fine, and so did her wand hand.

She charged her, in order to make sure her aim was sufficient and in order to give Ivory a small time to react. "Expelliarmus!" she whispered, flicking her wand Ivory's wand hand, and then up slightly. Melanie didn't attempt to stun her. That way if Ivory really had cast a shield charm, the spell that bounced back at her wouldn't completely handicap her... Melanie spinned around, looping around Ivory so she was now standing behind her, and no longer up against the wall she'd backed herself into mere seconds earlier.

Dueling was proving to be more difficult than she could have imagined, but Melanie didn't mind one bit. She liked excitement, and if dueling wasn't an adrenaline rush she didn't know what was.