Jasmine raised her hand,"You might also want to make sure you always have at least two ways of escape if possible. You do not want to find yourself contained within a limited enviroment. Especially if you are out numbered."

Megan raised her hand, "You should note their surroundings as well. Also note if what they are wearing, what they are carrying, and if they are alone or not."

"I think it's always important to note what your opponent's level of awareness is, how observant they seem to be of their surroundings, know what their capabilities are, what they are armed with, and what they are capable of."

"His height, weight, possible intellegence indicators, his stance would be the most important," Themea said recalling his training. "Even how they hold their wand. And of course, how they hold themself. It is very easy to take down someone who is slacking."

What kind of attitude they have when they approach us. How their demanour is I mean, if they are snide, then we're in trouble, but if they're slow and stumbly then we might have a shot?" Ariana said softly, not sre of the answer.

suzy thought for a moment and then raised her hand, "we could note whether or not they are actually trying to harm us or if its just a friend trying to mess with us." good thought but doesnt think its the answer shes looking for...

Torie raised her hand once again. "We should notice whether they are nervous at all. An opponent who keeps glancing back and forth, or pacing, or whose posture seems to suggest that they are not committed to a fight, might be easier to talk down than say an opponent who is standing straight and tall with his eyes focused on yours and his wand pointing at your throat."

Kerry enjoyed these logic questions. They really made her think. She raised her hand again, "As I said earlier we need to size up our opponent. We need to figure out if we know their strenghts or weaknesses. We need to know the number of opponents, the size and strength of the opponents, and hopefully we need to realize just how powerful our opponent is. I think the most important way to do this is never underestimate your opponent, as they can take you by surprise, and this can be your downfall.

"Our opponets power, his or her" she raised her hand while answering "Weakness and also strenths, they're ability and if they are at all capable of over powering you. One must never doubt their opponents strenths but they must also never doubt their own because this might be your own down fall" she breathed deep "If the opponent is too egar he or she is trying to scare you so taking a chance maybe a great risk but it my help, If the opponent allows you to go first he or she is waiting for you to be weak or they want to know the power of you hex so they can use somthng even more powerfull"

Dinara wrote down the students answers that were awarded points. She thought about it and they were decent answers. Thinking about this next question long and hard, she then replied with this, "The first things that can be noted are if our opponent seems strong or not. Perhaps if the are approaching us wand drawn, they can be perceived as strong. If they are just approaching us trying to look intimidating, perhaps they can be a bit scary, but maybe they should be perceived as weak and unprepared because they are only threatening without any visible means of "weapon" if you will. Also, we can note if our opponent is alone or in a group. This could be useful in determining a counter strategy to protect yourself."

"Well, one example is how they are smarter than us. They have an advantage since they know more knowledge, and also more power since they can think are more skilled," he said, facing the professor who was currently teaching them about opponents.

Adelle paused before she answered. She then raised her hand, "It would be helpful to know what type of people are surrounding you. Like if they were people that would help you or not. Because in a situation where you know the bystanders could help your opponent, you have to account for that. You have to account for the things that can help your opponent against you," she paused again, "Though that could also be part of the first part, your surroundings."

Savannah kept writing down notes as she listened to what everyone said,
She highly agree'd with most of them.
Savannah raised her hand before saying, "You should note their behavior,"

Quote:

Originally Posted by lemondrop13

"I think it's always important to note what your opponent's level of awareness is, how observant they seem to be of their surroundings, know what their capabilities are, what they are armed with, and what they are capable of."

"Yes, you definitely want to know where they are and whether or not they're ready and capable of fighting. I'll give you three for Ravenclaw."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Themea

"His height, weight, possible intellegence indicators, his stance would be the most important," Themea said recalling his training. "Even how they hold their wand. And of course, how they hold themself. It is very easy to take down someone who is slacking."

"That's a lot of information to process, but the best of it would be the stance. A true fighter's stance... that should scare you. Note the grip on the wand, because that will tell you how close they are to striking. Three for Slytherin."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Health_nut

What kind of attitude they have when they approach us. How their demanour is I mean, if they are snide, then we're in trouble, but if they're slow and stumbly then we might have a shot?" Ariana said softly, not sre of the answer.

"Not just in their alertness, but you probably also want to pay attention to how arrogant they seem. It could be well placed, or it could distract them. Three for Ravenclaw."

Quote:

Originally Posted by suzy18

suzy thought for a moment and then raised her hand, "we could note whether or not they are actually trying to harm us or if its just a friend trying to mess with us." good thought but doesnt think its the answer shes looking for...

"I think that's excellent, my dear. You need to watch for indicators about what is motivating the attack. A prank. Anger that you're talking to his girlfriend. Or something sinister. Five for Hufflepuff."

Quote:

Originally Posted by marfamarfa

Torie raised her hand once again. "We should notice whether they are nervous at all. An opponent who keeps glancing back and forth, or pacing, or whose posture seems to suggest that they are not committed to a fight, might be easier to talk down than say an opponent who is standing straight and tall with his eyes focused on yours and his wand pointing at your throat."

"Nerves are something you can take advantage of for sure, and a lack of nerves show you have a true opponent, as opposed to someone reacting out of emotion. Three for Gryffindor."

"And of course... I didn't hear these, and I'm shocked. Handedness... left handed, right handed. You don't know how to immobilize if you don't know where they're wand is. On that note, what weapons do they have? Just a wand? A Dark Object?"

Megan just kept writting things, her hand writting becoming messier and messier.

Torie grinned as the teacher awarded her points for her answer. She was well on her way to helping Gryffindor win the cup again this year!

"Professor what if they can use a wand with both hands? Woudn't we have a harder time of figuring out how to immobilize them? As for weapons, they would probably have a knife or something even more dangerous like a gum I think it's called." Ariana said as she wrote down the answers to the question.

Atmor sighed she thought her answer was pretty good but figured others were better. Writing notes made by fellow classmtes and the professor she also added that opponents can also be under a spell so one should try and understand their motives.

Suzy beamed as she got 5 points for the huffies. she raised her hand, "well if its just a friend pulling a prank on you then they probably just have a wand and you could disarm them every easily, but if it is a dark wizard, they could have dark objects, so we need to learn how to defend ourselves against those as well as normal hexs"

Themea thought on that one. He was only trained to take out people with wands, or no wand. "If they have a wand, and only a wand, I imagine you're pretty well off, but if they have a Dark Object, I have no idea. I don't even know what one is let alone identify it."

Savannah raised her hand as she thought of something,
"Professor, I know this is abit off the subject, but what if the opponet wasn't using a wand, What if they were saying spells in their head?" She asked, not remembering what it was called when you did spells without your wand.
"There isn't much you can do then, Is there?"

Torie raised her hand. "Professor, can someone cast a spell without a wand? I mean, dark objects act on their own, since they already contain magic, but since the magic we use when we use our wands comes from the wizard themself..."

Kerry raised her hand, "Well if they have a wand, chances are you have your wand too, and a duel will insue.. or at least you better have your wand on you at all times. In this case of a duel, all the things we just talked about will come into play in our observations of the situations ..our biggest challenge will be choosing the right spell. However, dark objects are harder to deal with as some are disguised as regular objects. A general rule of thumb when encountering an object your unsure of is never trust an object that doesn't have a brain or can't think for itself," Kerry laughed, trying to bring a little light to a serious subject. "Dark objects are also difficult, because you don't know the kind of magic that's put into it. You should always try to be prepared for the unknown. And as you said professor, the best way is knowledge and learning! Studying up on all you can and using that knowledge and common sense is the best defense you can have."

"Great... let's move on to the next one. What should you check when you're looking at your own abilities?"

Jasmine hesitated then raised her hand and said, "You need to stay within the limits of your own abilities. Trying something new in the heat of battle and having it fail could prove fatal for you or those who were fighting with you. Play to your strengths and avoid your weaknesses if possible. Never stop training either. There is always something new to learn. Stay on top of the game."