Ethan walked into the arena excitedly, ready to practice his spells. He noticed that nobody else was in the large, empty room and it looked like it hadn't had any visitors in a while. He walked up to the bleachers and set his things down. He wondered if any one else was going to come. He had read about a few spells that he was itching to try out in a duel. He took out his wand and headed over to some of the practice dummies.

As Ethan walked over to the first one he saw that it looked pretty battered. Guess Self-Repairing Charms can't make everything look new again. Hmm. He thought for a moment about the spell he wanted to use. "The Blasting Curse should work for this one.", he muttered to himself. Visualizing the dummy blasting apart into pieces, he raised his wand and stepped forward. "Confringo!", he yelled at it. To his immense satisfaction, the dummy had blasted into many pieces, all of which were coming back together. He stepped over to the next dummy.

Wondering what he should do for the next dummy, he stepped over to it and started staring at it. Ethan, in his reading had had a fascination with conjuring spells, and knew one he might be able to try. Hoping that it would work, "Avis!", he said firmly. Immediately, a flock of little birds appeared out of his wand. Still surprised that he actually got the spell, he tried to remember what the spell was to make conjured objects attack the target. Oh yeah. Raising his wand once again and pointing it at the dummy, he shouted, "Oppugno!" The cute little birds that he had conjured that had been previously flying about, chirping happily, suddenly adapted a whole new attitude. They started flying very rapidly at the dummy, chirping furiously, and, using beak and claw, started ripping it to shreds. Ouch. Ethan reconsidered using that as a dueling combination with live opponents.

"Evanesco!" he shouted at the flock of birds. They vanished. What now? Maybe it was time to practice the Disarming Charm. He went over to the next dummy. Visualizing the dummy's wand flying from it's grip and into the air, "Expelliarmus!", he said. The wand budged a little but after leaving the grip of the dummy just fell down to the ground. Ah well. At least it moved. Ethan hadn't noticed how tired he was, he had had a long day. Deciding to take a little break, he moved to a position where he could watch and see if somebody came in. After just a little bit of practice, he was itching to try the real thing.

There were innumerable places to practice spells all over the school, especially with the amount of cleaning that was required in some of the odd corners here and there, but for learning new spells... especially new spells... there was really no better spot than the Dueling Arena. And since they were specifically tasked to try to learn new spells, Mo found himself wandering into the Arena.

He could beat up a dummy for a while, if necessary. Then again...

"Hey," Mo nodded to the younger Ravenclaw. "You're pretty good for a first year. For a third year, even. Did you know spells before you started?" Mo removed his outer robe and left it on the bench before moving over to stand near a punching bag. "Do you want to practice with a real person?"

Finally. Someone to practice with. "Yeah, I pick up a lot of spells from reading.", he replied. "I would love to practice with a real person!", he said, standing up and walking over to where the older Ravenclaw was getting ready.

Words couldn't describe the excitement the Third Year felt as she bolted down staircase after staircase, shoved student after after student that stood in her way and jumped over this one kid that seemed to like the ground, really she couldn't tell, nor did she WANT to tell because at the moment her mind was gainfully occupied with the activity ahead.

She threw the door to the dueling arena open and stopped only briefly to catch her breath and ensure Felix was still breathing. That done, she made big, important steps into the room. Today seemed to be her lucky day, she had the arena all to herself. GRIIIIIIIIIN. Lex set Felix down on a bench, the poor thing was motion sick, and plopped down on the floor next to him. "Alright Felix, you get to see something epic today." She said, while flipping through the book of spells her father had gotten her to go with her hexes, jinxes and curses books. Such a good man, quite supportive in her endeavours. Quite shocked she actually wanted to read too.

Ah hah! Just the one she wanted. She held the book higher so the kneazle could see. "This one's just like that other spell Mr. Vinteren taught me...only not because it's not a curse really." Lex slapped the book shut. "Hang on, I'll show you." She hopped up and placed the book next to him before walking closer to one of the dummies.

Alexa raised her wand, took a deep breath then aimed at the thing. "Bombarda...bom-bar-da..." Just getting the incantation first. "Alright, now watch closely."

First, she focused just the way Mr. Vinteren had instructed her that time. "Bombarda!"

BOOM!

Lex squealed with absolute delight at the sound of the explosion. IT WORKED! "Did you see that????" Clearly Felix did because he was now sitting with his back a bit straighter. She had his attention! Eeep! Usually the feline was fine with sleeping until she completed whatever it was that she had dragged him along for.

She took aim at another. "Bombarda!" And another and another until there was a succession BOOMs and ripples of giggles escaping the Gryffindors lips. She liked explosions, they made prettiful noises and were EPIC, not to mention the fact that they were LOUD. "Bombarda!" It was good the dummies fixed themselves up right after, meant she had more to blow up. Hehehehehehehe. She could do this all day.

"BOMBARDA!!"

"That's handy. There are some things I like to read, but spell books... not on the list very often," Mo twirled his hand nervously before heading out into the middle of the floor. "So first we bow."

He did so, with a little flourish for comic effect. "And then we take paces away from each other. How about 10?" He turned on his heel.

Okay. This fourth year knew how to duel properly. Not knowing a thing himself on formalities, Ethan decided it would be better to follow his lead. He bowed without the grand flourish. "1, 2, 3, 4...", he said each time he took a step. He stopped at the other end of the stage and raised his wand.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaniDiNardo

Words couldn't describe the excitement the Third Year felt as she bolted down staircase after staircase, shoved student after after student that stood in her way and jumped over this one kid that seemed to like the ground, really she couldn't tell, nor did she WANT to tell because at the moment her mind was gainfully occupied with the activity ahead.

She threw the door to the dueling arena open and stopped only briefly to catch her breath and ensure Felix was still breathing. That done, she made big, important steps into the room. Today seemed to be her lucky day, she had the arena all to herself. GRIIIIIIIIIN. Lex set Felix down on a bench, the poor thing was motion sick, and plopped down on the floor next to him. "Alright Felix, you get to see something epic today." She said, while flipping through the book of spells her father had gotten her to go with her hexes, jinxes and curses books. Such a good man, quite supportive in her endeavours. Quite shocked she actually wanted to read too.

Ah hah! Just the one she wanted. She held the book higher so the kneazle could see. "This one's just like that other spell Mr. Vinteren taught me...only not because it's not a curse really." Lex slapped the book shut. "Hang on, I'll show you." She hopped up and placed the book next to him before walking closer to one of the dummies.

Alexa raised her wand, took a deep breath then aimed at the thing. "Bombarda...bom-bar-da..." Just getting the incantation first. "Alright, now watch closely."

First, she focused just the way Mr. Vinteren had instructed her that time. "Bombarda!"

BOOM!

Lex squealed with absolute delight at the sound of the explosion. IT WORKED! "Did you see that????" Clearly Felix did because he was now sitting with his back a bit straighter. She had his attention! Eeep! Usually the feline was fine with sleeping until she completed whatever it was that she had dragged him along for.

She took aim at another. "Bombarda!" And another and another until there was a succession BOOMs and ripples of giggles escaping the Gryffindors lips. She liked explosions, they made prettiful noises and were EPIC, not to mention the fact that they were LOUD. "Bombarda!" It was good the dummies fixed themselves up right after, meant she had more to blow up. Hehehehehehehe. She could do this all day.

"BOMBARDA!!"

Mika had heard a boombing sound as she was walking into the room and just glanced around the room. There was the person making all the noise – and she just beamed. “Awesome work Lexa” she just beamed at her Gryffindor friend and walked further into the room.

She however had another spell she wanted to try. She beamed over to Lex though, “hows the bombarding going?” she asked beaming at her friend. As she took out her wand and walked around the dummy as if she was scoping it out for a weak point. Sure it had a wand in hand but it wasn’t alive. Which was good. She walked right up to it, stood, on her tiptoes and looked at where its face would be. “I’m going to take you down” she smiled in a sincerely creepy smile. Seriously, if she’d used that smile when she first met Mo he’d think she was creepy and not just call her it.

Lucky she was only in the room with Lexa right? Cause that face wouldn’t creep her out, “Its my imma attack your face-face” she beamed at Lexa. She kept beaming as she turned to the thing with a slight smirk in place as she thought of the hex, jinx, curse...whatever to cast at it.

She knew a spell she wanted to try...there was a witch in Africa who told her about it...yep and then she studied it - and it was awesome. "Redactum Skullus" she watched as the dummy's head shrunk down to half its normal size. "That would not be comfortable." she muttered but burst out laughing at the funny looking dummy.

Ronnie entered the dueling area, her wand in her hand. She had been looking forward to dueling with her best friend Jory ever since they planned on it. She was very glad to have a partner to do all this DADA stuff with, doing it all alone wasn't much fun. Being with friends made it awesome, especially when the friend was Jory!

She leaned against the wall, slipping her wand into her pocket. Now to wait for Jory. As she stood there, she quickly tied her bright orange hair up into a ponytail. She liked keeping it up when dueling. She sighed, glancing at her watch. He should be here aaannny minute. She looked up from her watch at the entrance, waiting for Jory to walk in.

"Bombarda!"

BOOM.

She had just watched another explosion when she heard the door swing open. Glancing away from the dummies didn't cross her mind even once. Sure she wanted to know who'd joined her in the arena but not enough to stop what she was doing. "Bombarda!" Whoever it was would speak eventually and if they didn't, that worked out better for her and the excuse 'but I didn't see him/her there, I swear I didn't mean to blow him/her up'.

Ah but the person did speak and it turned out to not be just a person, but Mika!! Lex lowered her wand and turned to face the girl who thought she'd been doing a good job of blowing things up. "Thanks and it's going wonderfully, explosions are quite entertaining, don't you think?" GRIN.

A curious eye fell on Mika the moment she tried intimidating the dummy with her...sweet face? That wasn't how it was meant to work...you blasted spells at them...but she would leave the girl to that--

WHOA....

"Neat!!! Can you teach me that????" It was spells like those that she could appreciate.

Mo turned on his heel and lifted his wand, pointing it directly at the younger boy. Yes, he wanted to try out some new spells as part of DADA training, but he also didn't want to overwhelm the kid. Like... did he know any shield spells? Best to test him first, right.

Mo stepped forward, putting his weight into the ball of his forward foot as he cast. "Expelliarmus." Yep. Back to basics here.

Okay. Good so far. Ethan was growing steadily more nervous but still retained some confidence, until the other Ravenclaw pointed his wand and shot a Disarming Charm at him. Struggling to make his body work, "Protego!" At the last second, a shield appeared and deflected the other charm. Wondering what he should use as retaliation, he got it. "Densaugeo!" If that worked, the nurse would have quite a bit of trouble getting the fourth year's teeth under control again.

Jory could hear voices as he entered the Dueling Room. He wondered if Ronnie was already there. He hadn't dueled in a while and was quite looking forward to it. Students were already practicing their spell work, no doubt for the DADA project. And there was Ronnie! Jory snuck his way over to her. "It looks better when its down,'' he said, from behind. He pecked her on the cheek. "Hi, Ronnie.'' He still couldn't believe Ronnie was his girlfriend. A goof like him had a fun girlfriend.

"Ready for me to dominate at this duel?'' the badger asked. It was probably not something a guy would tell a girl but he knew Ronnie would not mind.

Ronnie jumped as a familiar voice spoke from behind her. She blushed slightly, turning to face her boyfriend. Eeek! It felt so great to call him that. She then quickly took her ponytail out and her bright orange hair fell back down along her shoulders. "Better?" she asked, winking and pecking him back on the cheek.

She then laughed. He was so silly, Ronnie was SO going to dominate him! "You're so cute, Jory. Prepare to get beaten." she said, ruffling his hair. "Now, let's get started then!" she said.

"Better,'' Jory responded with a smile. He really liked her hair. He thought it was one of the best things about Ronnie. "Why thank ya, my beautiful lady. Has anyone old you you're adorable?''

"Yes, time to show you I'm the boss when it come to spell work.'' Jory was kidding, of course. He was good but not a master or anything. So, they should start with the basics, right? He stood to the opposite side of Ronnie and raised his wand. "Expelliarmus!''

She smiled and shook her head. No one had ever really called her adorable...unless you count her uncle calling her that when she was a young toddler. Heh.

She rolled her eyes and laughed at what he said. She then readied herself, her wand out and in front of her. She was ready. Here it goes. She raised her wand, but wasn't prepared for his spell and it flew out of her hand. "I...I was just being easy on ya!" she said as she bent down to pick up her wand. "But NOW prepare to be beaten!" she said as she quickly stood back up and pointed her wand at him. "Levicorpus!" she said.

Jory watched as the red beam of light shot from his wand and flew towards Ronnie. And her wand flew out of her hand! "Sure you were,'' he replied. Grin. "I'm gonna be ready for whatever you throw now.''

But quite the opposite, the Puffer was not ready. "AAHHH!'' He was suddenly dangling by his left ankle. "Nice one,'' Jory called down. "Wanna join me, Ronnie? There's a pretty good view from up here.'' He stuck his tongue out at her. He could be so childish sometimes. "Liberacorpus!'' The badger crashed back onto the ground. "I'm alright, I'm alright,'' he said, picking himself up. "Tarantallegra!''

She beamed, looking up at the dangling Jory in the air. Heh heh. This was actually really fun! She had been looking forward to dueling with him ever since they planned on it.

He laughed as he spoke to her and stuck his tongue out at her. D'awww. He was so cute and hilarious! She then was about to go help him when he fell down but he said he was alright. Hopefully he wasn't acting... tough or anything. "Are you sure you're oka-" she began, but then he was shooting another spell at her. Oh Merlin. Why this spell? Her legs began moving, dancing out of control. "Oh Jory! Out of ALL the spells, you had to choose this one?!" she said, laughing. She probably looked so silly right now. Jory was most likely getting a kick out of this.

Once she stopped dancing, she readied her wand again. She had the perfect idea for her next spell. Oh yes. She smirked, pointing her wand at him. "Rictusempra!" she said.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaniDiNardo

"Bombarda!"

BOOM.

She had just watched another explosion when she heard the door swing open. Glancing away from the dummies didn't cross her mind even once. Sure she wanted to know who'd joined her in the arena but not enough to stop what she was doing. "Bombarda!" Whoever it was would speak eventually and if they didn't, that worked out better for her and the excuse 'but I didn't see him/her there, I swear I didn't mean to blow him/her up'.

Ah but the person did speak and it turned out to not be just a person, but Mika!! Lex lowered her wand and turned to face the girl who thought she'd been doing a good job of blowing things up. "Thanks and it's going wonderfully, explosions are quite entertaining, don't you think?" GRIN.

A curious eye fell on Mika the moment she tried intimidating the dummy with her...sweet face? That wasn't how it was meant to work...you blasted spells at them...but she would leave the girl to that--

WHOA....

"Neat!!! Can you teach me that????" It was spells like those that she could appreciate.

When Lexa had asked about the explosions all Mika could do was smile. “Yeah the explosions are pretty amazing?” She nodded, “I mean…aren’t they always?” She asked and beamed. Sure she might have had somewhat destructive tendencies but it wans’t her fault. Some things just looked really pretty when they went boom. Like pumpkins.

She did beam of course when she heard Lexa’s excitement over the skull-reducing spell. “its pretty cool isn’t it?” she asked beaming at her hard work. “oh – its pretty cool its also the counter-hex for engorgio skullus.” She beamed. “All you do is point at the head and then say Redactum Skullus she said as she was standing there infront of the miniature-headed dummy.

Pointing her wand back at the thing she said “engorgio skullus – now, um…you wanna have a go at it?” She asked beaming at Lex. "And of COURSE i'll teach you it!"

Jory burst out in laughter as he watched Ronnie feet began jerking in every direction. "Nice moves,'' he called. "Teach me some of them.'' He carried on laughing until- oh no! Not the tickling charm!

It hit the Puffer and he fell to his knees, laughing rather loudly. "No,'' he began but stopped due to more laughter. He thought he'd die of all the tickles. "Stop...Ronnie...get you!'' Jory tried to gain some control and finally succeeded. "Silencio!" He jabbed his wand in Ronnie's direction.

Ah, the perfect spell to use on Jory. He had the cutest laugh EVER. She smiled, watching as he was on his knees laughing uncontrollably. "I could watch this all da-" she began but was cut off by his silencing charm. That was a good one...but not as good as her tickling charm. Heh.

She could still get him with a spell non verbally. Good thing she had had plenty of practice with non verbal spells...it was quite hard. "Locomotor," she thought in her head as she pointed her wand at Jory, lifting him in the air and moving him around. She grinned at him and then set him back down after a bit of moving him around.

"Gotcha back,'' Jory said, grinning. He had managed to get serious enough to lift the Tickling charm. He realised Ronnie had not answered him and guessed the Silencing charm had hit her. He was about to lift it when-

"Aaahh!'' He was moving all over the place! Ronnie's obviously good at non verbal spells, he realised. Woah! He almost hit the ceiling. Almost. Ronnie would not make him hit anything. Up, down, sides! It was crazy! But strangely fun. Finally, she set him down. "That was fun!'' Jory exclaimed giddily. "Let's do that again!'' His head was spinning, so he found it appropriate to collapse on the ground. "You're pretty good with the non verbal spells,'' he told Ronnie.

"So, how about we do a few spells we learnt during the previous terms?'' Jory was feeling back to normal now. But he had to admit, that was awesome! "How about we start with Torparticus. That's the spell that gives you the feeling of being pricked by loads of needles. Like from when you sat on your legs for too long.'' That numb feeling.

Ronnie laughed, watching as he fell onto the ground. Aww, he had gotten a little too dizzy there! She reached down and grabbed his hand, helping him up. It actually did look a bit fun, that spell. She beamed. "Why, thank you! I've practiced with them a lot for quite a bit." she said, nodding. You never knew when a non verbal spell would come in handy!

"Alrighty, good idea." she said, smiling and listening to what he next said. Torparticus...she didn't quite remember that one too well. But she vaguely remembered learning it. And it sounded...lovely.

...not really.

Lex was still re-living the explosions just now...actually it was her ears ringing that she was dealing with at the moment but she still managed to nod her agreement at Mika's words. Clearly explosions were amazing, that was that, now if only her ears would behave. "Uh-huh, always." She muttered, placing her palm to her ear. Ugh. The next spell she'd learn would be one just for this, an anti-ear ringing one. NOD.

Finally deciding that she had no choice but to ignore her ears, she lowered her hand and gave Mika her full attention. Was it just her or was Mika EXTRA happy today??? Like extra happier than she'd been just now when she was blowing things up?

Eh. Today was a good day. It was warranted. GRIN.

Alexa watched Mika's every moved. It was important that she saw every step--more important that she tried seeing as she learned best by doing but for now watching would be enough so that's what she did. After the demonstration she turned to another dummy, one that wasn't too busy trying to get itself fixed up.

"Redactum Skullus!" The intent was there as the spell was cast and the smirk was set once the head started shrinking. Heh, yeah, she could definitely find use for this one. "You say the counter spell is just as simple?' She asked, now looking to her present company again.

Jory grabbed Ronnie's hand and pulled himself up. He liked holding her hand. She should have figured that out by now. "Thanks,'' he said. But now he was having second thoughts about that spell. It would not be right to hurt Ronnie.

But here's an idea! "You practice it on me first,'' the Puffer suggested. He could practice it on her afterwards but only if she was alright with it. "So the incantation is Torparticus and the wand movement is a jab towards the target.''

Simple enough. He waited for Ronnie to get started not realising he was still holding her hand.