Harlow was watching the practicing pairs from the sideline when someone called out to her. She looked up in surprise. "Oh um that would.." she was about to say nice when someone else spoke up.

She looked at the new girl, "Nothing." Harlow was not about to get into some turf war over partners. She was minding her own business sitting alone and watching.

"Ah sorry, Miss...? I didn't want to interrupt you when your shield charm was coming along so much better than mine. I couldn't even produce a spark the second time and I saw this other first year all by herself so I thought I'd practice with her until you finished. I think I'm better off just ducking rather than shielding," he shrugged with a small smile, hoping she wasn't mad at him.

"Well anyway," he said, putting a few paces between them and drawing his wand with a rouguish grin, "You ready for a little knock-back jinx a la Cael?" he laughed, getting ready to cast.

"Alright, alright."

Gnaeus announced and clapped his hands twice to get the students' attention. "Third and fourth years can start practicing the Hurling Hex. Fifth through seventh year students can begin practicing the Stunning Spell.

The incantation for the Hurling Hex is 'Everte Statum' and the wand movement is a flick. The incantation for the Stunning Spell is 'Stupify' and the wand movement is pointing the wand at the target. The purpose of this is to increase the power of your Shield Charm, so if you still can't protect against a Knockback Jinx, don't move on just yet.

Remember, intent is of the utmost importance, so concentrate. Protego means 'I protect,' so you have to mean it when you say it, and not just say it because you have to. Precise wand movement will increase your chances of success.

Carry on."

Kurumi nodded. "Okay, ready yourself," she said taking several steps backwards and took a sideways stance. Silently she counted to ten in her head, it was better to not announce when she would perform the spell, right? All about working on reflexes and what not.

Without warning, Kurumi drew a squiggly line in the air with her wand. "Flippendo!"

The spell instantly shot from her wand and flew towards Kennedy.

Just as she was considering trying to cast it nonverbally, someone said her name - and that someone turned out to be Treyen. A sixth year. YES. FINALLY. She knew she couldn't be the only one who'd decided to attend the meeting.

"Yes," she answered with a grin. "You want to try the Knockback Jinx first or should I?" What was the wand movement again? Point? Or make a squiggly line? Something like that.

But then suddenly Mr. Spenser was talking again...and sixth years had to start practicing the Stunning Spell? But they hadn't even practiced the Knockback Jinx yet! It probably wouldn't take long for her and Treyen to get it down though since it was supposed to be such an easy spell. So hopefully it'd only take them a few minutes and they could move on to what Mr. Spenser wanted them to practice.

He was SO ready. The readiest Kennedy would ever be. He had his wand hand up and a steady stance and knew what spell he would be using to protect himself, but at the same time his ears were trying to make out what the professor man was saying. The only reason it caught his attention was because he mentioned something about fourth years. His attention was snapped back into the present when a light coming from Kurumi's wand caught his attention.

Oh, crud!

"P-Pro...P-Prot-" Gah! His nerves got the best of him and his legs froze, just like they had that time at Charms when Harlow's wand had shot at him. He felt his body fall backwards and his bottom hit the ground. Kennedy groaned and stood up. This was SO embarrassing. "S-Sorry, go again," he said as his cheeks flared up.

Awesome.

They could start practicing...his head turned to the dwarf man as he spoke again. Stunning spell, eh? That sounded...appealing. He wanted to practice that one, not the Knockback Jinx. But...it was logical to start at the beginning, no? "I'll go first, then you go, okay?" Knockback Jinx first, then Hurling Hex and then the Stunning could begin, yes? They should work their way up, just in case. He had no idea if Vashti was a genius when it came to dueling, he may have been protecting himself from any injury.

He'd taken a few steps back, and tried not to step on the dwarf man, nor to get in the way of any dueling student, because that would be...disastrous, right?

"We bow." Why was there a smirk on his face? Because he was certain they'll be moving to the Stunning Spell soon.

He bowed, and pretty soon after that his wand was pointed at Vashti, no hesitation at all. Weird, he should've hesitated a little, what with Vashti being a girl and all. "Flipendo!"

Treyen waited very little to cast a Shield on himself, by the way. Afraid much, Lockhart?

Gideon watched as it all transpired, glad to see that Louisa had managed the shield charm this time. Giving it all he had was one thing but not necessarily something he wanted to do especially when they were just practicing. "Aye it can be. It just takes a lot of practice," he agreed, remembering as he had first learned it. He wasn't about to act like he was good from the get go and that it hadn't taken quite a bit of practice because that would be a lie.

The Gryffindor was about to answer her question about continuing to practice when their dueling leader caught their attention once more. It seemed they were to move onto another spell already if they thought they were ready. Gideon turned back to his partner to see her opinion on everything.

"Would ye like to move on or continue with the trip-jinx? Up to you," he questioned giving Louisa the choice in the matter.

Vashti nodded and backed a few steps, making sure she wasn't in the way of any of the other students' duels. She bowed as Treyen did and...was he smirking? What was that look for? Did he think he was going to beat her already? She sure hoped he wasn't thinking that - pride comes before the fall, after all. And she WOULD make him fall if-

MEEP!

"Oof!" She suddenly landed on her bottom.

MERLIN. Had she really let herself get distracted like that? He'd cast the spell and she hadn't even noticed! Merlin's beard, she was worse at this than she thought.

But not for long.

She jumped to her feet, pointed her wand, and cast, "Flipendo!"

His shield was still on, because that could be a trap, you know? Falling so the other would forget about dueling and come to aid her? That was a strategy, and he wasn't taking his shield off just to ask her if she was alright. Sorry.

She was alright, because she did cast at him soon afterwards.

And the light from the spell got reflected away from him. Thank you, shield. One wand motion and the shield was totally off. "Do you want to practice Protego before we move on to the next? I think we're ready to try a Hurling Hex...," if she was up for the challenge.

AND HE DIDN'T EVEN ASK IF SHE WAS OKAY?!

Truth be told, he was actually surprised that the Knockback Jinx had hit her, he thought she was more than ready with her shield. Can you imagine if they'd gone with the Stunning Spell first? Considering he'd gotten it right? Smirk.

Selina had to stop zoning out in class. It was starting to get the best of her. She would zone out for only a few minutes and all hell would break loose. Seriously, by the time her eyes came back into focus everyone was already paired up and some were even starting spell work.

If she could smack herself in the head she would. From now on she would pay extra special attention to what was transpiring around her. Merlin, if she didn't there was no way she was going to pass any of her classes this term.

So as meekly as Selina could muster she said, OI! I NEED A PARTNER! ANYONE NOT PARTNERED UP?"

"Thanks," Nora mumbled, feeling her cheeks that went sliiightly pink.

She also turned her attention to Mr Spenser when he talked, but he seemed to give instructions only to the older ones, but not for the first and second years. And her partner didn't look older than her, so they should be fine.

Holding her wand so she wouldn't lose it again (which would look pretty lame), she pointed it towards the boy and said "Flipendo." After he'd cast the shield, they should stop for at least a moment to introduce themselves, because it was getting awkward.

Kourt scampered over towards a young girl sitting on the ground. She looked as though she could...

Oh. Looking back and forth between the two students who were nearby, Kourtney blinked in obvious confusion. Okay....that was weird.

"Wanna be partners?" She asked the sitting girl.

Harlow was glad the pair had moved away from her and was practicing their spells.

She looked up when another girl spoke to her, "Oh that would be splendid I think." she smiled at the girl as she stood up. "I'm not very good at this just to warn you." she giggled a little bit. But that was what they were there for. To learn how to properly duel.

EEK!

Kurumi jumped in place and covered her face when she saw her spell his Kennedy and knock him over. She was supposed to be proud of that, right? That her spell had hit? Merlin was she going to be a terrible dueler.

"K-K-Kennedy! Are you alright?!" she squeaked as she ran over to him. Just as she was about to bend over and try to help him up, he stood up on his own. "I-I-I should have warned you. I'm sorry!" And thus began the bowing routine of apology.

After a few moments of this, Kurumi ceased her bowing. "Um...I'll do the same spell first. Then we can move onto the others?" First they both needed to master casting Protego with Flipendo coming at them, right? It made sense logically anyway.

Kurumi turned her back for a moment to take a few steps back. "Ready?" She waited a few beats. "Here I go." And a few more. Kurumi spun around suddenly, wiggling her wand in the air. "Flipendo!"

Thank Merlin for that. She was worried that she'd never find a partner. "Great!" She replied with a grin. "Ah, I'm the same, so don't worry about it. We're here to learn after all."

She took her position indicated by the instructor and made a little bow. "Want to protect first or cast the jinx?"

Harlow thought about it for a minute, "I can protect first." she felt better about a shield charm than a jinx.

She smiled at the girl, glad that she had found a partner. It was getting lonely sitting by herself watching everyone else going at it. "And learn we shall." she gave the girl a curtsy.

Kourtney nodded in understanding when the girl stated that she would protect first. Great. She was looking forward to casting the jinx.

Drawing in a deep breath, she shook her wand in a squiggly line as shown by the instructor, all while exclaiming. "Flipendo!!"

Harlow looked at her partner and prepared her for the jinx. "Potego!" she said but nothing happened and too late she tried to dodge the jinx but it caught her in the shoulder and knocked her back on her bum.

She bounced, "Ouch." she scrambled up and rubbed her backside. "Maybe you should try a shield charm." she told the girl with a smile.

Ira was writing down notes and then started to search for partners... She observed others practicing these charms and took a few hints as well...
She was eager to find a partner and start practising...

Kourt's brow creased in concern and she cringed when the girl fell backwards. "You ok?" She asked, certainly not meaning to hurt her, of course.

"Sure thing." She readied her wand, silently practicing the incantation in her head as she waited for the jinx.

Harlow smiled, "Oh I'm alright." she assured her partner.

She repeated the phrase in her head a few times with the wand movements to make sure she got it right. "Flipendo." she said in a loud voice pointing her wand right at her partner.

Eino searched the room for a lost soul, like himself, so he could, well, not be so long anymore. he was in desperate need to practice these spells, especially the Shield Charm. He had never attempted to cast one before, so this was all new to him. After looking, he noticed a familiar girl looking for a partner. Eino approached the slightly younger Gryffindor girl and lightly tapped her shoulder. When she looked, he waved. "Would you like to be my partner?"

Great. They'd been given even MORE spells to practice and Princess Tori still hadn't found a partner!

"Hey! You need a partner? Yes? Let's partner up. I'm Tori." She smirked at the girl and held out her hand.... but just as she did so, a Ravenclaw boy came up. BOOO. He got there first.

"DOES ANYONE NEED A PARTNER?" Seriously.

"I-It's alright," he said, as his cheeks turned red. He was alright, just a little fall and maybe a bruised bum, but he was okay. Kennedy wasn't sure why she was bowing, but he bowed back. Eh.

He nodded and got back into his dueling stance. This time he wasn't going to let anything or anyone distract him hopefully. His eyes caught as Kurumi spun around and shot the spell at him.

Concentrate.

"Protego!" And, a small barrier was produced in front of the Slytherin, protecting him from Kurumi's spell. His eyes grew wide and a small smile spread on his face. He did it! Getting over his shock of not getting knocked back, Kennedy readied himself. Drawing a squiggly form with his wand he said, "Flipendo!"....This was a duel, so he was allowed to do it back, right?