9 Duelling 101

Hadrian and his friends all reached the Duelling classroom right on time. As they all took their seats, they realized that the classroom has one feature that the rest didn't. It had a blackboard with bright blue runes placed above it.

Hadrian didn't know what the rune was but felt drawn towards it. He glanced at his Potter Heir ring, it seemed to be flashing ever so lightly.

''Ahem. Hello Class, I am Professor Anderson. You can call me Professor Andy. Welcome to Duelling Tactics - or what I like to call it, Duelling 101.'' he said, grinning widely as he was speaking.

This teacher had sandy blond hair that fell onto his forehead. His eyes were light grey and a crooked smile. He looked average from a distance but if you were to look closer you would see that he had many scars decorated across his face and neck.

'' I know that you guys are too young to enter the Duelling Circuit, but here in Aunriton Duelling Class - I will teach you how to duel with simple spells.'' He finished, the grin stayed fixed on his face throughout his whole introduction.

Nearly everyone in the whole class was looking up at Andy in awe. Professor Andy smirked at their reactions and flicked his wand at the blue rune.

The rune flashed brightly and the image of Professor Andy in dueling armor appeared.

'' We are going to watch a practice duel I had with one of my duelling apprentices - Demetri, a second-year House Dragon student. In this duel we only used simple and easy spells - have a look.'' He said, brandishing his wand and flicking it which spurred the image to start moving.

Hadrian, Daphne, and Theo all had looks of recognition when Professor Andy mentioned Demetri. He was the one they sat next to in the submarine.

Hadrian was interested - he thought that Demetri must be strong for him to be a duelling apprentice.

The video started playing and Hadrian watched as Professor Andy and Demetri bowed to each other.

Almost instantly after they bowed, Demetri began sending spells to Professor Andy. The spells came one after another. Professor Andy just stood there, batting away all the spells that came towards him.

Hadrian focused his eyes on the spells Demetri was sending. He recognized the wand lighting spell, not 'Lumos' but 'Lumos Solem'. This particular variation shot a beam of light from the user's wand. Hadrian thought that would be a good spell to use and desperately wanted to learn it as soon as he reached his dorm.

Another spell he saw was the Fire-Making Charm 'Incendio' and the Severing Charm 'Diffindo'. Hadrian recognized these two spells, they were in 'The Standard Book Of Spells, Grade 1'. It was part of the syllabus and all students had to get the book as part of the course in Aunriton.

The video ended with Professor Andy sending an Incendio onto Demetri's feet and then a Lumos Solem in his eyes which made him fall flat on his rear.

The class laughed at Demetri's expense. Professor Andy chuckled heartily, ''Who can tell me what they learned from that duel?'' he said, scouring the class for an answer.

A brown-skinned boy with long afro curls raised his hand, ''Yes - you Mr...?''

'' Devon Romario'', replied the boy.

''Yes, Mr. Romario - what did you learn from the duel?'', asked Professor Andy.

'' I learned that It isn't the number of spells your fire but the accuracy and timing of the spells.'' the boy answered.

''Yes - quite right! Great answer Mr. Romario. How about from a technical value?'' He asked once more, turning towards the whole class.

Hadrian raised his hand.

''Yes, Mr. Black?'' said Professor Andy with a knowing smile.

''Yes- wait what? How do you know my name?'' Hadrian asked, confusion written on his face.

'' I talked with the teachers during lunch and heard them speaking about a young boy named Hadrian Black who is very gifted. Nevermind that, your answer please Hadrian?'' He said, an expectant look fired at Hadrian.

Hadrian noticed that the class was once more looking at him again, he didn't feel embarrassed but he was wary about some of the looks his classmates were sending him.

''Um... Yes, the spells that were cast all started with the same motion the previous spell ended with. This allowed Demetri to seamlessly transition between spells and that was how his spells were cast with no time between them.'' Hadrian said, boring his eyes at Professor Andy.

Professor Andy nodded and began grinning widely again. He gestured for him to carry on.

''Also, you were flicking away his spells instead of using the Shield Charm or dodging.'' He finished, looking away from Professor Andy as a sign to show he was done explaining.

''Excellent! Brilliant explanation Hadrian! Now, who knows why I didn't just use a Shield Charm or dodge the spells?'' He said, once more scanning the class for hands.

Nobody's hands were raised except Hadrian, Daphne, and Oliver's. Daphne and Hadrian's hands raised as soon as Professor Andy asked the question whereas Oliver raised his hand after he saw Daphne raise hers.

''Yes? Mr...?'', he enquired as he pointed towards Oliver.

''Oliver Gooseberry,'' he said, gulping rather loudly.

Professor Andy motioned to him to begin explaining.

'' Is it because... you... don't know ... how to d-do... it?'' Hadrian and the class looked at Oliver incredulously.

Professor Andy's left eyebrow began twitching heavily. ''Do not raise your hand, if you do not know the answer Mr. Gooseberry.''

He then pointed towards Daphne and asked, ''What do you think Miss...?''

''Daphne Greengrass, sir. I think the reason you didn't dodge or cast the shield spell was that it cost less energy to simply bat the spells away instead of using a shield spell on low-level spells,'' she said, glancing towards Hadrian as she spoke.

Hadrian nodded at her when she was finished explaining. Daphne smiled at Hadrian.

''Yes, Miss Greengrass! Precisely. We use a simple 'Finite' to block and counter simple spells. We will learn this spell first!'' He said, clapping whilst speaking in a giddy manner.

He flicked his wand and the rune flashed once more. Now there was an image of the wand incantations and the incantation on the projector.

Professor Andy told everyone to practice until a red light appeared at the end of their wand. Since this was an easy spell, half a dozen people managed to get the red light to appear. Hadrian, Daphne, and Crow were amongst the six students that managed it.

Professor Andy rounded up the students that learned it and tested their countering by firing slow spells that produced flares towards them. They managed to block some but they did find it a little bit hard to maintain their focus on the spell while countering.

Hadrian managed fine with that aspect and was soon blocking spells with average speeds, which was very different from the slow spells that Professor Andy was sent to them earlier.

By the end of the lesson, everyone was able to perform the countering spell. Not all of them got to try it, but they were all pleased with the improvements they had made. Hadrian was very happy to learn this spell - it would help him immensely.

''Hadrian, come here for a second.'' Professor Andy called for Hadrian as everyone was sitting in their seats, waiting for the bell to dismiss them.

As Hadrian approached, Professor Andy began speaking, '' I don't know if you were aware but we have a duelling arena that is only available for 3rd years.'' Hadrian nodded, a look of disappointment settling on his face.

''However, that rule is bypassed by the duelling apprentices from each year. Since there is no boy apprentice for the first years, I was thinking of asking you to become one.'' Hadrian's look of disappointment washed away instantly and he began smiling and nodding furiously.

''Wait, you said boy apprentice, I'm assuming there will be one for the girls too?'' Hadrian asked

Professor Andy nodded, ''Yes. I was also going to ask if you had any recommendations, you are the most advanced in your class with the countering charm. Who would you say is the closest to your level out of the girls?''

Hadrian thought for a moment. The only two girls that could perform the spell at the beginning of the lesson were Daphne and Sammie. However, Daphne was more advanced the Sammie.

Hadrian nodded, ''Sir, I believe Daphne Greengrass is the most advanced at the countering charm out of the girls and second-best compared to me.'' he responded.

Professor Andy looked at Hadrian with one eyebrow raised, ''Yes, she did seem quite good. Alright! - you will be the one to tell Miss Greengrass. The training is on Saturdays, from 12:00 to 1:00. Don't be late or I'll be forced to pick someone else!". He finished, smiling gleefully.

Hadrian grinned and hurried back to his friends.

"Guys, good news!", everyone turned to look at Hadrian, "Daphne and I have been chosen to become Duelling apprentices for our year!"

"Wow!" was the collective response from everyone, including Daphne.

"Why would he pick me? I understand why he picked you Hadrian... but I'm not as talented as you..", said Daphne in a diffident manner.

"Daphne, you are very talented! You have a good mind for Duelling, you answered Professor Andy's question perfectly.", Daphne began blushing at the praise Hadrian was giving her, "Also! You were amazing with countering charm!", by now Daphne was as red as a tomato.

"Thank you Hadrian, but I still don't think I should have been chosen, Primrose could also do what I did.", she said.

Hadrian shook his head in exasperation.

Seconds later, a spell shot towards her to which Daphne blocked with the countering spell instantly.

''See!", shouted Theo who was laughing and high fived Roan.

Daphne sent a sharp glare at Theo and Roan who immediately stopped laughing. Now Hadrian started chuckling, which was soon joined by Crow and Oliver. Soon everyone stood there laughing at a blushing Daphne as the bell rang for the next lesson.

Daphne grabbed Hadrian's hand and said, "We should probably go to our next class!".