(1937-10-08) Dueling Primer
Details for Dueling Primer
Summary: Auror Bates holds a seminar on the basis of dueling for the Hogwarts student body, followed by a practical demonstration between himself and Professor Dumbledore.
Date: October 8, 1937
Location: Great Hall, Hogwarts
Related: Plot: No Magic In the Halls - 1937

OOC Note: Even if you weren't logged in for this scene, any student characters may assume they were present, if they wish.

Great Hall, Hogwarts Castle





Bannon Benjamin Bryson Bates is moving around the setup for the dueling primer, his eyes going over each of the target dummies in turn, testing the strength of their chests and the grip on their wand with the help of several ministry officials. He seems satisfied with the dummies, then nods his head to the ministry crew, "Let us proceed, shall we?" He is dressed in his best suit, stripped away of the jacet to reveal the vest underneath. Upon his head, is the ever present red-banded bowler, and in his hand is his walking stick. The ministry officials move into the crowd, finding seats as Bannon moves to the center of the dueling strip. He clears his throat, pulls a wand from the end of his walking stick and points it towards his throat, "Sonorus." The next time he speaks, his amplified voice carries through the entire Great Hall at just the right volume to reach ever corner.

"Greetings, students. Please come in and sit down. My name is Bannon Benjamin Bryson Bates, and I will be teaching a class on wand dueling this evening, as well as kicking off our special event, the No Magic in the Halls Dueling Championship." There is a brief pause. "I have been an Auror for almost fifteen years now, and during that time, I have honed many skills which have kept me safe in dealing with some of the darkest witches and wizards of our time. I hope, in this short time we have together, I can convey some of those skills to you. If you will all please find your seats, we will continue."

Maeve enters, and immediately finds a seat with a group of Gryffindors, the tiny first year idly brushing a stray curl out of her face. Her wand sits in her lap as she settles in for the primer.

Arevan is about ready to explode with excitement. The second year Hufflepuff is, in fact, bouncing as she enters the great hall, her pigtails flying. Not exactly what she would like, but moving in a good direction at least. As students file into the Great Hall around her she burbles to whoever will listen to her, "I've never met an actual Auror before. Do you think he'll have magical armor and a giant sword? Oh and all sorts of scars and incurable curses." She adds, as if those would be the best things she could imagine, "So like, he has to wear a mask all the time…" Her little ramble cuts off as Bannon speaks up and she looks slightly disappointed that the Auror is, in fact, good looking and not horribly disfigured.

Josie has a huge smile on her face as she comes in, and only the fact that they seem to beginning pretty much immediately keeps her from running over to greet Bannon. She does give him a big excited wave, though, should he look her way, before she moves to quickly find her seat.

Idrissa glances around while she makes her way on over towards a seat, of course there doesn't seem to be any of the few she calls friends around here at the moment. She clears her throat slightly before sitting down upon a chair, her hands quickly smooth out a few wrinkles across her robes and she a few strands of hair is tucked back behind a ear. As Bannon started to speak she looks up, chewing on her lip as she listens. She has to ask herself why she did this again, like something just got her to sign up, and thus here she is looking very much so out of her element to say the least. After all there are no magical animals wandering around the Great Hall at the moment.

Despite Lucian's several attempts, Ria has made a considerable effort to dodge any hand holding opportunities. "Cut it out or I'll hex you," she mutters to him with a slight mix of annoyance and embarrassment clear on her face. Though she eyes Josie's smile at the Auror. She doesn't think about it too much though and continues her haughty stride to find her place with her fellow snakes.

Mabel has clustered among some of the Duelling club members, until the call to take a seat has that little group breaking up to take seats by Houses. She joins the Gryffindor table as the Auror begins to speak, with that look about her like 'this ought to be a bit of fun,' something she seems to say a lot.

Claire strolls into the Great Hall, doing her best not to get swept up in the crush of students filing into the hall. Her hands are in her pockets, wand tucked up her sleeve. Though she tries to affect a manner of cool disinterest, there's a quickness to her stride that betrays her interest.

Lucian frowns at Ria, "I thought we were past this," he mutters, irritated. Girls. Who can possibly understand them? He walks alongside Ria, and points to a space where they can both fit. Still, he orders one of the younger Slytherin's to scoot over and make room for Miss Sykes.

Leander paces into the Great Hall, looking around at the gathering clumps of students and instinctively picking out a path that avoids the biggest clumps of chatters. Eventually he chooses a place where he can stand in solitary silence to wait for the beginning of the event - he does shoot a dark-eyed glance in Ria and Lucian's direction, but his lips remain stretched into a thin and unreadable line until he peers back at where the auror is doing his work.

The diminutive Hufflepuff prefect known as Seamus Cavanaugh leads those of his House that wanted to attend into the Great Hall. It's true that he's eager to see what will be coming as any other but he's keeping himself outwardly calm. The young lad moves to take a seat and remain as restrained as ever. He is the type that feels the need to hide emotions from folks other than when he wants to smile.

Maeve waves to both Mabel and Josie, making room for both of her housemates, an excited grin on her face. "I'm glad ye both came. I was beginnin' t' wonder if anyone else was gonna show up. I'm glad t' see I was wrong."

Looking around a bit carefully as he enters the Great Hall, Alexei mutters something under his breath, most certainly not in English. Looking around for a few moments before he moves to take a seat not far from Seamus, offering a bit of a grin. "Will be an interesting happening, this one," he remarks.

Dumbledore is there, sitting in his chair as an Aide to the Auror today in the management of the students and as acting Supervisor of the Dueling Club. Before things have really begun, Tom Riddle is up by the chair having a private talk with the Deputy Headmaster. But as things get started and introductions made he takes a seat in Slughorn's chair next to Dumbledore.

Slughorn for his part was going about wishing the Slytherin's and those in the Slug Club the best of luck. When things get underway he was heading to his chair so he can be simply an audience member. When he finds Tom Riddle in his chair he gives a strained little smile and instead of ejecting the first year he says, "Hello Tom." As he takes the vacant chair to the other side of Dumbledore, "Nice to once in awhile gain a different view and perspective on things. Don't you think Albus?" The Potions teacher makes the excuse with a soft awkward chortle. But he joins in when Dumbledore starts to applaud a welcome to Bannon.

Est is here as a bit of a joke, it being generally ill advised that he attempt magic except under duress (and being under duress is not a helping factor in matters). He's claimed a seat where he can put his feet up on the chair in the row in front of him and is telling tales to a pair of first years that made the mistake of sitting next to him.

Bannon watches people flit into the Great Hall, finding their seats. To Josie, he waves in response, "Hello, Miss Davies." He then continues, beginning to pace the dueling strip, looking out towards the crowd, "I would first like to thank Professor Dippet for allowing me the honor of giving this lecture to you. I also wish to thank Professor Merrythought for adivising me on the content of this primer. I assure you, had I not had the patient advisement of Professor Merrythought, this lecture would have gone much longer. I would also like that thank our surprise guest duelist, Professor Albus Dumbledore, for assisting in the practical demonstration later on in this lecture."

He returns to the center of the strip, "A duel, in the sense we will be discussing today, is the ritualized test of magical ability for the purpose of solving a dispute between the two wizards. Why would have such a thing in our modern civilization?" He holds up his wand high in the air, "Simply put, this. In each of your hands lies a weapon that can cause great devastation. The reason Hogwarts exists is to teach your how to use this safely, and with discretion and good judgement. I will sum it up with a limerick in the form common in the Muggle world: In days of old, when knights were bold, and wizards walked around freely. They took to talk, then took a walk, then blew themselves away completely."

He shrugs his shoulders, "Not historically accurate, but it drives home the point. Duels exist to solve the unsolvable issues without death or bloodshed. In more modern times, we have made a sport of it, much as Muggles value pugilistic endeavors like fencing or boxing…"

He then pauses for a moment, eyeing his charges, "Make no mistake. While this may be sport to you, the concepts you learn here may very well save your life today. I arm you, with the prayer that you may never have to use it." He glances quickly towards Josie and then continues, "I will begin with a few of the spells which will help you get by through our tournament taking place in the coming weeks. To help illustrate, I will be using these target dummies." He gestures to the wooden dummies, "I encourage you all to take notes."

Lucian grins broadly at the mention of sport dueling, leaning in toward Ria and whispering, "That'll be me someday."

Arevan slips into a seat as near the front as she can manage before Bannon begins speaking again. Not quite able to contain her pent up energy, she rocks slightly forward and back as he speaks. She becomes slightly more disappointed when he announces he's going to be demonstrating on the dummies. "I was hoping he'd bring in a troll or something."

Maeve simply listens, paying close attention to Bannon's words. Idly, she glances at Josie, surprised that her friend already knows the Auror, but not saying anything. After some of her experiences, learning to duel is probably a good thing.

Notes! Who better to take notes then Idrisa? A pad of parchment is taken out and quill and she goes abou scribbling down a few things while she listens the words spoken by Bannon. Her gaze drifts over the room now and then picking up a few people in the process, though her gaze always turns back to the speaker.

Mabel starts to applaud a little at the mention Dumbledore will be demonstrating along with the guest lecturer, checking herself about in time to mention to the younger Gryffindors, quietly, "Now this ought to be a treat."

Gabriel, like Idrisa, has come prepared to take notes. But instead of scroll and quill he pulls out a Muggle spiral notebook and pencil, poised to write everything he can down.

Josie smiles a little brighter as Bannon returns the wave, but then settles in to listen seriously, and nods a little at the mention of it being able to save their lives. It's the mention of taking notes that seem to worry her, and her eyes widen. As she digs parchment, quill, and ink out of her bag, she asks Maeve, "If I miss anything, can I get notes from you later? I'm so slow at writing."

"You better take notes then," Ria mutters, crossing her legs and her arms as she watches on. Though she can't help but wander an eye over to Tom Riddle and stare at the boy sitting between the two professors. Her eyes narrow at what Slughorn had told her earlier on in the year and she nods politely to her head of house before focusing her attention back onto Bannon.

Notes? Leander can take notes. He has a small pad of parchment in the pocket of his robe for just such occasions, along with a quill; he retrieves these nonchalantly as the auror finishes his message and shuffles away from a pair of students who are blabbing enough to make his concentration waver. The Slytherin boy shoots them a dark look and then flips the small pad open and scribbles a light heading on the top of the page.

In much of the same way as Gabriel, Alexei digs out something looking to be a really battered old notebook and a pencil, looking through the book for a good page to start taking the notes. Looking to the front again, watiing patiently for the happenings now.

Maeve nods both to Mabel and to Josie, but doesn't speak as she scribbles down her notes. Like Gabriel and Alexi, she's using a muggle notebook, although at least she's also using a quill rather than a pencil.

Claire takes a moment to cut a fresh owl feather into a quill and jots down two brief notes. They read 'dangerous weapon' and 'don't get killed.'

Bannon continues, "Of the seven types of spells there are, we will be discussing five. The other two are as follows: healing spells, and curses. Healing spells, which are wonderful for after the duel, but counter-productive to winning one. Curses are generally more advanced magic, and we will not be covering them today." Bannon voice dips back down to its genteel, soft-spoken levels as he continues, "The five which we will be discussing are Transfigurations, Charms, Jinxes, Hexes and Counter-spells. We will speak of them in the context of the four main tasks in a duel. The four tasks are: Attacking, Defending, Distracting, and Disarming."

He moves over to one of the dummies, "Attacking is done in a duel in an attempt to disable your opponent. The path to victory lies in creating situations where your opponent can no longer cast spells at you. This, of course, is quite valid out there in the real world as well. An opponent taken beyond the ability to cast is no longer a threat to you. Jinxes and hexes are the main areas of spellcasting where you find spells geared towards this aspect of dueling. In the context of dueling, we are preparing for the possibility of more dangerous encounters. Always keep that in mind. You will find spells suitable for this task in all the various types of spells, so don't JUST study jinxes and hexes. Your ability to do harm to someone is only as limited as your imagination. Please be careful with that information."

He turns towards the target dummy, "One of my favorite jinxes for disabling a lesser skilled opponent is the Langlock jinx. Being that this is a wooden dummy, it will have very limited effect. The langlock jinx will meld your target's tongue to the top of their mouth, rendering them unable to speak the words of the spell. However, this is only a mild distraction to a target who can cast wordlessly. It is a useful distraction however, as the tongue precludes breathing to a point, rendering them less able to do prolonged magics." He then turns out to the audience, "Who else knows some good spells suitable for use in a duel? Please raise your hand to draw our attention and speak?"

Lucian raises his hand, speaking up. "One of the most basic is a Disarming Spell. Most wizards can't fight without a wand."

Maeve raises her hand nervously. "Um, Rictusempra?"

Leander scribbles down notes the whole time the auror is speaking, writing in a quick, thinly scrawled shorthand that is far more functional than fair to look upon. When at last Bannon asks a question at the end, the boy's hand shoots up, his dark eyes scanning the rest of the room and waiting until no other students are speaking. "The Stunning Spell."

Josie scrambling to keep up, writes notes in a personal shorthand, writing just enough of each word that she'll know later what word she meant, and moving on. When her brain catches up, though, that he's asked a question, she stops to raise her own hand and says, "Protego."

Ria is quick to raise her delicate hand and offer, "The freezing charm." And then she retracts it back to cross her arms once more.

Idrissa watches curiously, she chews upon her lip while jotting down notes on the more important items that is brought up so not to forget about them it seems. Her gaze flicks around to the ones here, everything offering up the charms that come to her mind at the moment and she is left unsure what to say. Though after a moment she lifts a hand. "The Silencing Charm?" She may be a third year but that doesn't mean she can't read up on things.

Alexei keeps quiet for the moment, writing down notes as he listens to the others. Looking hard at work for the moment, it would seem.

Lucian gives a smile toward Josie when she mentions the Shield Charm. Someone's been paying attention in Dueling Club.

Mabel is neither particularly taking notes, nor attempting to interject, just fiddling with a tortoiseshell fountain pen and paying attention to the lecturer, says to Josie, quietly, "That's a defensive one, very good, but rarely disarms. " Adds, with a little smile, "One of my very favorites, though." She winks.

Bannon nods to Lucian, "You're exactly right. Here… Catch!" He turns to one of the target dummies, pointing his wand towards the stick of wood which serves as its wand, "Expelliarmus!" The 'wand' flies out of the grip of the dummy, arcing through the air towards Lucian. He turns to point towards Maeve, "A good distraction, but we're not to that part of the lecture quite yet." He points towards Josie, "Same there." He then nods to Leander, "Right! A stunning spell, which you have no doubt learned from your Charms teacher, is one of those instances where a Charm is as effective in a duel as a hex or a jinx." He turns around, waving his wand silently towards one of the dummies. Immediately, the dummy begins moving towards him. With a thrusting point of his wand, Bannon calls out, "Stupefy!" The dummy reels back with the force of the spell, falling flat onto his back. He waves his wand again, sending another dummy his way, which halts in mid-stride to his intonation of, "Imobulus!" He turns towards the gathering again, a broad smile on his face, "I'm quite impressed!"

He points out into the audience, "Someone mentioned 'protego', which dovetails nicely with our next topic. Counter-spells and defense in a duel! Protego, the Shield Charm, serves as an apt defense for many of the spells which you will be dealing with in your duel. There are other versions of the Shield Charm as well. Protego Totalus can protect an an area of from offensive spells, while a particularly powerful wizard can perform Protego Maxima. There is also Finite, and Finite Incantatum, which causes all spells on the target to cease functioning. Including yourself." He raises an eyebrow, "Any others you can think of?"

Ria catches said wand heading straight for Lucian in mid-air since his player is afk. She then places it on his lap for him to take a souvenir. Man, this Auror is fast. She eyes Bannon with great interest. "Rennervate, to counter a stupefy," she says after she raises her hand once more.

Warren voices a suggestion of, "An imperturbable charm." He'd been relatively silent through the demonstration thus far, fiddling with a small sheet of parchment in hand. "In instances of physical manifestations of magic." Then back to scratching notes.

Maeve continues to jot down notes, every now and then casting a glance over to Josie. With every charm and spell mentioned, she notes the name of it down, a fascinated look on her face.

Gabriel isn't doing anything but jotting down spell names and effects. When possible he also jots down descriptions of wand and body movements.

Josie smiles as she goes back to her notes. She looks up at each spell demonstration, then writing the spells phonetically and adding a squiggle for wand movement. When a new question is asked, she raises her hand again, a little more tentative this time, "Fumos?"

Leander's quill continues to flit across his parchment, though he stops for a while when Bannon begins casting spells on the dummies. For now, he makes no more suggestions; he seems preoccupied with jotting down things that the auror (and his peers) have said.

Lucian smirks at Ria when she catches the souvenir wand. "Show off."

Ria gives a snaky and smug sort of smile to Lucian and replies, "You're too slow." Now back to this dueling stuff.

Idrissa ponders while she goes about writing down a few notes to remind her of things later. She taps the end of her quil against her page a moment. Her hand raises. "Obscuro?" If one can't see it is hard to cast anything on the other person right?

Eventually Leander lets the hand holding his parchment dip down to his side. The other goes into the air once more. "Blasting Curses are useful in duels."

Alexei keeps on taking notes for now, just listening rather carefully. Glancing between the others once in a while too.

Mabel says, quietly, to the firsties about her, "The Jelly-fingers jinx, if you can be accurate," she winks. Then comments at Leander's suggestion, smilingly, "With armored cars and erumpents, I'm sure."

Lucian grins at Ria, whispering back, "Patience is everything." He raises his hand to speak, waiting for a quiet moment. "If I may, sir? Fumos is fine in a real fight. But on the dueling stage, a smokescreen won't do very much to hide where you're standing." Though speaking to Bannon, his eyes keep moving to Josie. When it comes to dueling, he never really stops trying to mentor.

When he hears Mabel's suggestion, Leander glances sidelong at her, his expression relatively blank. His voice might hold a slight hint of know-it-all annoyance, though. "Alberta Toothill won the national dueling competition in 1420 with it." But he's too busy taking notes again by this time to respond more lengthily.

The auror smirks as Ria catches the wand, a laugh bubbling up from within him, "Well done." He tilts his head, nodding as he turns to the stupefied target dummy, "Rennervate!" The target dummy pops up and then slides back into its cardinal position, while Bannon turns back towards the audience, "The Inpurturbable spell is more generally used for places. The same effect can be achieved with the Impediment jinx." He turns, waving his wand and causing yet another target dummy to approach and full speed. With a quick circular gesture of his wand, Bannon calls out, "Impedimenta!" The dummy seems to hit a solid wave of air, slowing down quite a bit. With another wave of his wand, Bannon sends the dummy flying backwards and away from him. He turns back to the audience, "We have covered disarming with the Expelliarmus spell, which leaves the strategy of distracting your opponent during a duel. When one is distracted, it can cause them to miscast or misaim spells. Given the right combination of distractions, as well as a good dose of opportunism, one can win a duel quite handily." He then nods to Josie, "Fumos is a great spell to distract an opponent. The smokescreen gives you ample time to reposition and rethink your strategy under cover from incoming spells." He then nods to Lucian, "In most cases, yes, but it does allow you to change levels on the dueling strip. If you are six feet tall, you are likely to have spells aimed at your chest. From four to six feet high, for example. If you take a knee behind a smokescreen, it is quite likely that you will have changed levels far enough to effectively avoid any spells aimed high." He then adds, "The number of spells which can be used to distract your opponent are only limited by your imagination, which is why I won't go through every single spell I know. A few examples are Locomotor Wibly, the Jelly-legs Jinx. Tarantallegra, the Dancing Feet Spell, and one of my personal favorites. Avis, the transiguration spell which summons a number of birds at your enemy, and levicorpus." He grins slightly and continues, "Lets see your enemies make that body-bind curse stick when they can't walk, they're upside down, doing the waltz, and have a face full of canaries."

Tom Riddle interjects, "But it will make it impossible for your opponent to see what's coming next, Lucian. Isn't that a good tactic? If not the actual intention for the topic at hand."

Bannon pauses, taking a look around with a nod of his head, "Again, while dueling is quite fun, it is my sincere hope that you will never use these spells with the intention of harming another. I hope you never have to use these spells to defend yourself in a life-threatening situation. However, I feel that you have a firm grasp of what you may be facing as well as the tools you may avail yourself of. Thank you so much for your attention, and participation."

He turns, pointing his wand towards each of the dummies, which withdraw from the dueling strip with tremendous speed as he intones, "And now, what you have all been waiting for. The practical demonstration." He finishes the work, looking back towards the audience, "Will you please welcome Professor Albus Dumbledore to the dueling strip."

Maeve sets aside her notes, and begins to clap as Dumbledore is introduced.

Professor Dumbledore dueling maybe? You have Ria's devout attention and she claps her hands to sit up straight and pay attention. She leans over to Lucian muttering, "This Auror's really swift, I really want to see him in action, but Dumbledore's the best of the best. This should be really good…"

Alexei remains quiet, although he applauds a bit as he hears Dumbledore being introduced. Sitting up a bit straighter in his seat as well.

Dumbledore rises and gives the applause received with a warm smile and a humble gesture of the hand for it to die down. "Let's knock a bit of rust off of these old bones, shall we Auror Bates?" The Professor takes up his position at one end of the dueling mat and withdraws from his robes his wand and stands at attention and gives a salute and bow to his opponent.

Arevan is slowly becoming more and more dejected as the lecture goes on. Sure the spells are interesting, but it's all so SAFE. Though, when Dumbledore is called up, she perks up a bit.

Lucian sighs and shakes his head, giving an expected (if dispassionate) clap. "Don't be too wowed," he says quietly to Ria. "Kneeling behind a smokescreen can put a shot aimed at your chest right into your head. There are far better spells than Fumos in a formal duel."

Josie pretty much beams as Bannon says she has a good idea, but she does take note of Lucian's words as well. She takes note of each of the spells Bannon mentions, giggling at the description of the victim of them. She too looks up and applauds as Dumbledore is called up. She picks up her quill again to write a few last-minute notes while Dumbledore steps up, then puts them down so she can watch attentively.

Claire pockets her sparse notes - downright terse compared to some of her housemates, for certain - and leans forward avidly. She's too engrossed to remember to clap.

Warren's head bobs briefly, the boy's eyes flickering up again when his suggestion is improved on. More attention when Dumbledore comes to the stage, notes set aside to make polite applause for the man.

Idrissa slips quiet as she listens and watches, a few more notes are jotted down to continue on with the lecture part. As Dumbledore steps up to the stage area she claps as well, and as a results gets ink from her quill all over her hands. She ooks to her hands and sighs a moment to herself.

Leander shuts right up once Dumbledore takes the floor. He's clearly interested in seeing the results of this duel, and is doing his best to block everyone else out who might cause his attention to deviate in the slightest.

Gabriel definitely doesn't stop taking notes. This is the most important part, taking notes about the practical duel, the flow, the spells used, how they work… Nope, he quickly changes to a clean page so he can write without having to turn a page at the wrong moment.

Maeve once again begins to take notes, as she waits, watching intently as Dumbledore takes the stage. She glances to her friends once more, grinning over at Gabriel as well as Mabel and Josie

As the two duelers step up to the stage, a middle-aged Ministry official steps forward to act as Mistress of Ceremonies, standing midway along the length of the dueling area. She looks to Dumbledore and to Bannon, nodding respectfully to each. "Duelers, take your positions, please."

The M.C. goes to explain (largely for the benefit of the students), "You will begin the duel by bowing to or saluting your opponent. You will then assume your stance. On my signal, you may begin."

Bannon smiles towards Dumbledore, "Oh, I don't believe you have the capacity to rust in any sense of the word, Professor, but I'm happy to oblige." He takes his place opposite Dumbledore, raising his wand to face-level and then bowing politely as he sweeps it away in a salute. He steps forward with his right foot, his eyes on Dumbledore as he reaches up with his left and to press the bowler further down on his head. He nods across to his opponent, awaiting the beginning of the duel.

The M.C. lifts her wand, and drops it suddenly, calling out: "Begin!"

Mabel starts applauding, just smiling over toward Leander, since further comments would be impractical. Then back to the firsties. The glance follows around to the various older Duelling club members, eyes a bit alight. Makes a series of gestures to some of those older students, holding up her wand in front of her chest and miming a magical shield with her other arm, then pointing to the tables. No sense stopping things just in case of any stray charms or flying things, perhaps. Then rests her wand in her lap to sit attentively, scanning the developing duel.

As the M.C.'s signal drops, both master duelists takes action. Bannon's Shield Charm flashes bright with a shout of "Protego!" But the clever Dumbledore times his spell to slip through those defenses, declaring a more unusual incantation: "Densaugeo!" Blue light streaks from the Transfiguration Professor's wand, finding the chinks in the Auror's armor, and striking him without any apparent effect…until Bannon's two front teeth begin growing at an alarming rate, giving him an exaggerated buck-toothed appearance, and a whistling lisp.

Maeve tries, unsuccessfully, to stifle a giggle as she watches, with wide eyed wonder, the effects of Dumbledore's spell. The Muggle born girl jots down quickly the incantation and wand motion from the spell, hoping to be able to duplicate it.

Bannon puts his shield charm up at a moment's notice, but he knows all too well that he was just a hair late. He blinks as the spell impacts but does nothing at first, his eyes then widening as his teeth begin to enlarge to the point of stick out past his lower lip, "Vell dis is embarassing." He nods to Professor Dumbledore, "Vell flayed buht ahm not out yet." He raises his wand to continue the duel, reaching back to prepare his next spell.

Dumbledore snaps his wand back into a riposte stance, "Apologies, Auror Bates." He says genuinely, but he is also grinning at the Auror's new appearance and then lunges thrusting the tip of his wand at Bannon's feet and then twitches the wand in an almost tickling way that ends in a flourish of winding orchestrative like moments like someone instructing some dance number.

Bannon brings his wand down, and around, calling out, "Tarantallegra!" Both spells hit, and Bannon's feet begin to move much to his own chagrin. His feet begin moving forward and backward in a Charleston, his left arm swinging while his right arm remains somewhat steady. He smirks towards Dumbledore, preparing his next spell with a flick of his wand.

Dumbledore giggles a little when they both enchant "Tarantallegra!" at the same time and he suddenly has happy feet! He lifts up his robes just ever so slightly so that the students can get a good look at the little toe tapping jig they are doing with a mind of their own. "May I cut in Auror Bates?" He as well winds up for round three.

Leander moves forward slightly, being careful to stay out of any reasonable line of fire, but he wants to get a closer look at the duelists. He seems especially impressed by Dumbledore's skills, and gives a few short, polite claps with each successful spell.

Maeve can't stifle it any longer, her soft, musical laugh ringing out, a huge grin on her tiny face.

Ria seems to be watching with intensity, smiling on occasion at the ridiculousness of it all. But really she's studying the duel and half day dreaming about how she'd love to make Leaner dance like a fool in the same manner. Or worse.

Eamon is late to the party. Oh well. He had homework, it happens. Still, it ooks like he's in time to still catch a part of the duel. The blond lad pushes up to see over the heads of a few shorter students, getting a good view of Dumbledore and Bannon.

Warren finds this part much more interesting. So much that he folds his note in half, tucking it into a pocket to foucs his attention up ahead. "I feel sorry for the poor man and his teeth," He murmurs to the students next to him, attempting to stiffle laughter. Most of it.

As first one, then another spell gets through Bannon's defenses, Josie winces a little. She's looking totally shocked that anything could get by to hit Bannon, even cast by Dumbledore.

Gabriel doesn't stop taking notes, although at this point his lines of text are getting somewhat squiggly since half the time he's writing without even look at his notebook. When both duelists start to dance a giggle escapes the boys lips.

Arevan has to surpass a giggle as the two adults force each other into a dance-off. "Go mister Auror! Go Professor!" She cheers them both on. Wondering just how much more they can take. Though, she can't help wondering what it would look like if it weren't a duel and both went all out.

Mabel smiles to the youngsters, explaining quietly, when she tears herself from watching the motions of the duellists. "What you're seeing here is expert duellists using simple spells and jinxes you'll mostly learn quite soon. A tearing sound precipitates her addition, "Also, possibly, someone duelling in his underthings."

Maeve is still laughing, until Bannon ends up in his underclothes. At that point, the irish girl goes a bright pink, and the laugh turns into a embarrassed giggle.

Dumbledore continues to dance! Making it appear that the spell perhaps didn't wholey work, but it's just a rouse and at the last split second he halts his dancing and speaks clearly, "Diffindo!" He makes slashing sweeps with his wand and with every slash a seam of Auror Bates' clothing bursts open and his sleeves slide down his arms and his pants slide down his legs possibly tangling him up. But all of Bannon's undergarments are spared.

Eamon spots someone and sliiiides that way. "Come now, Hawker, surely ye aren't opposed to dueling in yer underthings?" says the Gryffindor boy, overhearing Mabel's explanation to the younger students.

Gabriel finally stops taking notes as his pencil slowly grinds to a halt and his face contorts once, twice, three times before he breaks down and busts out laughing so hard his chair actually topples backward to the startlment of the people behind him!

Leander crosses his arms over his chest and /blinks/ at the results of the duel so far. When Dumbledore makes short work of Bannon's clothing, his complacent expression gives way briefly to a snicker and a smirk.

Ria's eyes go wide and she turns red when she gets a peek of underwear. Her hand goes to cover her mouth That's right, those a Jude Law's undies and she's gunna stare at 'em. Forget you, Lucian.

Llewellyn has been watching quietly for the most part, but this latest development catches his interest. Not because of the clothing damage that Bates is suffering - Merlin's drawers, he wishes he could spell himself to forget that sight - but because of Dumbledore's fake-out that preceded it. "Nice one!" he calls out.

Idrissa blinks while she looks upwards as she was working on a few notes while watching the show. She is well, shocked at this outcome, a faint um escaping her and she blinks and looks to Gabriel. "Ah.. ah…. You alright Gabriel?" Her cheeks are bright red as she attempts to not look over at what all is oging on with the two wizards. She even leans over to offer a hand too him to help him back out it seems to try and hide her embarassment.

Claire stifles a chortle. "Seems a bit immature," she says to no one in particular.

Mabel is, by now, laughing a little under her breath, but, without particularly looking at Eamon, says, "Well, if you keep trying, you might see it, mister," in a not-particularly good Mae West impersonation. Then again, there's a duel in progress… That's it.

The laughter from the students quickly rises to a roaring din. Even Professor Slughorn titters quietly. But Caretaker Pringle doesn't seem to find the humour in the situation. Putting his wand to his throat, he booms above the noise, "SHUT IT!"

Warren is still doing his best to remain composed at this point. He even has the courtesy to keep a hand over his mouth, for all the good it does. He's clearly shaking with the force of his snickering. Even being asked rather forcibly doesn't do much to quell it.

Lucian rolls his eyes, then lightly elbows Ria with a look that says: I'm right here.

As much as Josie is obviously cheering for Bannon, she can't help but burst into giggles at this latest spell. She quiets quickly at Pringle's shout, though she still grins, and brightens considerably as she notices Bannon's cancelled the spells that were distracting him.

Yup, no horrible disfiguring scars, growths, or obvious horrible curses, how disappointing. "If you'd brought your magical shining armor that wouldn't have happened." Arevan calls out. Surely Aurors have magical armor and swords, like knights. "Use you're sword!" She clams up at Pringles shout.

Est's jaw snaps shut automatically. He'd been laughing with the best of them, but Pringle's voice has been conditioned to Shut Up and Get Out At All Costs.

Gabriel manages to control his laughter enough to accept Idrissa offer to help. Getting back up to his feet he puts his chair back in its place, picks up his things and sits back down, chocking down the laughter until its no more than an occasional chortle. Evenn that he tries to hide, shooting PPringles glances to make sure he isn't caught.

Oh, Mabel, why would you go and say that? Eamon grins widely. "If I keep trying, I'll getter see what? /Yer/ underthings?" he asks, just for clarification, and wisely sidesteps in case she's going to punch him, or hex him. "Joking, Hawker, don't hurt me."

Ria oofs at Lucian's elbow nudge and frowns. But she's still pink when she mutters an annoyed, "Sorry." He's a good looking older man, who's really good at magic. What else did you expect her to do?

Bannon grins at the joke, still doing the Charleston even as he is whirling his wand quickly and he intoning, "Finite Incantatum!" Bannon's feet stop moving, but his pants are ripped off. He looks down for a moment, his jaw dropping as he realizes he is in his nice white shirt, stylish vest, and the most boring pair of blue and white boxer shorts one can imagine. The garters which hold up his socks scream of manliness. He glances towards the students, a smirk settling across his face. This is sure to make the Daily Prophet, so he had better be smiling! He looks back to Dumbledore, the smile still on his face, "Really Albus…"

Maeve is cowed by Pringle's shout, but isn't able to completely stifle her giggles. She does, however, cover her mouth, continuing to watch the duel, face still bright pink.

Idrissa squeaks, yes she squeaked when hearing Pringle shout. A soft smile and nod is sent to Gabriel befoer she is looking back to Dumbledore and Bannon. She has to bite down on her lip to keep from making any comments, or snickering now.

Mabel smirks thinly with a side-glance to Eamon as Pringle attempts to quell the merriment, attempting to coquettishly slug her Housemate in the shoulder, discreetly. Though his wise retreat is otherwise effective. A sidelong glance. Boys. She's trying to watch a duelling demo here.

Eamon will be good! He takes the punch with good humor, grinning mischeviously at his house mate while stuffing his hands into his pockets and returning his attention to the duel.

Lois is embarrassingly late to the show, slipping in from the doors into the Entry Hall. The Sixth Year looks flustered and annoyed, the more so as she realizes that A) there are a lot of people watching the duel, and B) she put no points in chargen into 'being able to see while in crowds'. With a muttered grumble, the prefect starts to sidle her way towards familiar faces.

Leander is staring intently at the duel, even if Bannon /is/ only in his skivvies. It still seems to be a toss-up how this will turn out, and he doesn't want to miss the deciding moment. He hears the door open and sees Lois enter from the corner of his eye, and breaks his attention from the spectacle long enough to wave and smile at her, but afterwards he's right back to giving his full focus to the competitors.

Lucian's eyes are intent on the duel (once he's chastised Ria for ogling the Auror). "Merlin…this is amazing. Two masters clashing. This could go on for hours."

Bannon notes the next spell coming as the Impediment Curse. Bannon steps back on the dueling strip, bringing his wand up and out in front of him. A bright energy bounds from the tip of his wand, shooting out and then diffusing itself into a circle in front of him. The curse rebounds from the shield the Auror has erected, eliciting a grunt from the Auror, speeding back towards Dumbledore.

Dumbledore isn't just all giggles, "Apologies Auror Bates. Just can't have you being so quick!" The Professor realizes that the Auror is young and spry so in effort to try to slow him down casts, "Impedimenta!" Trying to get it aimed just right to get in before any counter spell can be done. But the Protego reflects his spell and the old man proves that he is still spry enough to quickly side step the worble of air that giggles like clear gelatin past him. "Nicely done!" He's a very good loser. Of course with a view like that, who wouldn't be?

Josie gives a cheer as Bannon deflects the spell this time, but she quiets quickly with a nervous glance towards Pringle. She bites her lip, looking back to watch as the duel continues.

Bannon is flung into the air by Dumbledore's powerful spell. He is seen cartwheeling out of control almost up into the great skylight of the Hall. There is a flick of his wand, and the sound of Bannon shouting "Ascendio!" can be heard all about. Instead of gravity taking its full hold of him, he hangs in midair for a long moment as his body rights itself in midair. With a certain speed, Bannon comes back towards the ground until he almost touches, at which time he slows considerably and lands with a light thud.

Alright. Now Ria's impressed. "An Ascendio…that's what he used? Hmm." She will have to note that.

Mabel starts to put up her wand, again, as jinxes start rebounding, just in case any end up straying in the audience's direction, but is distracted by the impressive flying maneuver to applaud as she can instead.

"Oh well done!" Claire cheers, clapping appreciatively. That is good duelling, reversing your opponents advantage. "Superb," she says like her praise means something in this context.

Lucian's brow lifts, impressed. "That was brilliant. He saw Dumbledore's spell coming, and didn't bother to stop it. He just controlled the situation." He claps for the Auror.

"Don't worry, Hawker, I'll protect ye," says Eamon cheerfully as he sees Mabel lift her wand. "If any Aurors in their knickers should come yer way, I shall fling myself in front of ye and protect yer virtue. And yer eyesight." See? He's such a gentleman!

Josie's eyes widen again as Bannon is thrown in the area, but grins as he catches himself. "Brilliant," she says, softly this time, clapping along with some of the others. Her earlier worry for the auror seems to be gone now.

Warren calms when the duel gets a bit more serious, smoothing hands over his robes in effort to look more composed and prefect-y. He keeps eyes on the two duelists, though. There's a small note of amusement when Bannon begins flying around, though he murmurs to his compatriots, "Dumbledore's still going to come out on top."

Lois joins in the applause at Bannon's clever use of Ascendio, looking rather relieved - she's never been one to enjoy the prospect of watching someone hit a skylight, after all. Leander gets a wave and a smile, but it's Mabel and Eamon she finds herself nearest to first, so she slips her way between them. "Hello -" without pausing to switch subjects, she adds "Oh, I don't think our eyesight's going to be damaged…"

Dumbledore is clapping himself as Bannon lowers himself to the ground. "Very well done!" He takes a moment to salute his opponent with his wand in a bow and then wags a finger at Pringle in the corner who's about to get all grumbling and 'Shut it!' at the students again. "Let them cheer, it's very well deserved." He smiles brightly to Bannon and then he waits for the Auror to be ready for their next round.

Mabel laughs to Eamon, as the general applause she's been participating in gives a chance to look around, and says to Eamon, "It was a near thing, but I think we've escaped that *terrible* fate. Do keep an eye on the firsties, in case of stray jinxes. I've got to cover the Ravenclaws, I think… Oh!"

Bannon returns the bow to Professor Dumbledore, replying, "Thank you, Professor." He then asks, "Well, our judge is getting nervous. Shall we?" He takes a step towards Dumbledore, his wand whipping forward as he calls out, "Expelliarmus!" There is an explosion as the two spells meet. When the smoke clears, there is a finch alighting on top of Bannon's wand, which lies on the ground. And no Bannon. The bird takes to the air, flying towards Dumbledore for a moment and then up and over to land on the head of the target dummy.

Eamon nods his understanding to Mabel, placing a hand over his heart and bowing to her before pulling his wand out. "With my life, fair maiden," he promises, but it looks like the duel is coming for an end because, "Well, this duel just went ter the birds," he announces cheerfully. "It would seem yer not needed to be protecting the Ravenclaws after all, Hawker."

Jackson peers towards Eamon, shaking his head slightly, "You've gone and read Withering Heights again, haven't you?"

Dumbledore looks highly impressed and gives an, "Exemplary!" praise when his wand rolls over the the dueling mat the Professor goes to take up his wand again and then lifts up Bannons wand and holds it out like a little perch. "You wand Auror Bates? Let's get you back to normal so you may continue with this fine demonstration." And so, being a good sport Dumbledore changes the Auror back into his Human Self and with a repair charm makes sure he doesn't spend the rest of his day in his underroos.

"You're lucky I can't take points from a fellow prefect for bad jokes," drawls Lois, rolling her eyes at Eamon before she peers towards Birdie Bannon as Dumbledore returns the man to humanity's ranks.

Leander claps once more after the last round of the duel is concluded. "Bloody good show," he comments half under his breath - though he doesn't look quite as enthusiastic as some of the others. And the jokes are completely lost on him (perhaps that's a good thing).

The M.C. steps forward, lifting her wand for silence. "Both duelers were rendered unable to continue. But the more decisive incapacitation was performed by Professor Albus Dumbledore. Winner: Dumbledore."

Bannon is returned to the form of a human, his legs stradling the shoulders of the target dummy with precarious balance. He looks around quickly, then his eyes settle on Dumbledore. He gives a quick smile and adds, "Well done, Professor Dumbledore. Rusty, indeed!" He takes his pants, returning them to their intended position. He takes up his wand, "Acio walking stick!" His walking stick comes flying through the air, caught by the sure hand of the Auror, whereby he tucks it under his left arm. He looks towards Dumbledore once again, bowing formally and placing his wand to his throat, "Sonorus." As the winner is announced, Bannon claps his hand and calls out loudly enough for all the hear, "Let's here it for our special guest duelist, Professor Dumbledore!"

"I told you." Warren's hands clap together, elbowing one of the boys sitting next to him after. "That's two galleons, right?" He seems very pleased with these proceedings. Clap clap clap.

Mabel sits there and applauds for the display, and, says, "Oh, good show!" and gives a smile back to the other Gryffindors about.

Eamon sighs tragically at Lois. "Pym, my heart, ye cut me ter the quick. My jokes are not bad, they're simply…" he twirls his wand, trying to come up with a more flattering way to express his awful puns, and shrugs, falling silent when the M.C. gets order under way again. Clapping politely for both duelists, the prefect says with smug house pride, "Gryffindor is the best. Of course Dumbledore won." Never mind that Bannon could very well also be a Gryffindor.

Gabriel hops to his feet and starts clapping wildly,"Bravo! Bravo!" and in a slightly lower voice,"That was so much fun. And I learned so many possible new spells. I hope I can learn at least a few of them before the tournament. I wonder who I will be matched with. It doesn't matter who it is it will be sooooo much fun. Unless I get turned into something. I really hope I don't get turned into something. What if I get stuck as a snail, or a snake, or a slug, or a rabbit, or a parrot… Actually, a parrot wouldn't be too bad. Then I could be Patch's pirate companion!"

Llewellyn, back to watching quietly for a while - he has better things to do than cross Pringle to his face, Dumbledore's exhortation notwithstanding - finally pipes up again, turning around to face Gabriel. "That can happen," he murmurs.

Caretaker Pringle's keen ears pick up the jingle of…coin! He stalks toward the students, eyes on Warren and his bunch. "You! Yeah, you. What have you got there?" he demands, just as the boys are tucking the Galleons away.

"They're terrible." Lois reaches up, intent on flicking her fellow prefect on the ear. There's no force behind it, though, and of course she's also grinning - because, y'know, Head of House totally just ruled. "We should bake him a victory cake," she adds, beaming. "With a finch, in its underthings, in icing."

Bannon steps up to the edge of the dueling strip, calling out once again, "And with that…" He removes a piece of parchment from his jacket, unfolding it, "I have here with me the first round of matches from the tournament. Without further adeiu… Match One will pit Lucian Proudmore versus Arevan Van Dragor!" He gives a moment of pause between each reading, "Match Two, Seamus Cavanaught and Alexei Moscovitz! Match Three, Theodore Dupont and Claire Cameron! Match Four, Mabel Hawker versus Idrissa Clayworth! Gabriel Ward versus Aria Sykes in Match Five. Maeve O'Brian vs. James Howell, Junior in Match Six." He frowns slightly as he reads the next, "Christmas Jones versus Josephine Davies in the Seventh. Finally, Leander Fox versus Eamon MacCaille for Match Eight." He adds in a very non-plussed manner, "The following students have been disqualified from the Championship. Llewellyn Blishwick, for adding Charlus Potter's name to the signup sheets without Mr. Potter's consent. Jackson James, Junior for… nevermind, he's just not duelling. I am assured appropriate punishments will be meted out. With that…" He gives a short pause and then cries out, his voice echoing across the Great Hall, "Let the No Magic in the Halls Dueling Championship begin!"

Josie blinks at first at the result, a little disappointed, but she seems happy enough now that Bannon put on a good show first, and claps along with the rest for Dumbledore. To those nearby she asks, "Think Professor Dumbledore was an auror before he was a teacher?" Then she's looking back to Bannon as he reads out the names.

Lucian blinks, looking to Ria, then to Bannon. "Is he joking? He's putting me up against a Second Year?" He starts searching the crowd for Arevan, brow furrowed in concern.

"I dropped some coins, sir," Claire interjects to Pringle. "I had some money left in my pocket from Hogsmeade this weekend, it must have fallen out when I took my hands out of my pockets to clap. Thanks, Warren, you're a mate." She holds her hand out for the return of 'her' money.

Eamon considers Lois' suggestion. "Can I break the eggs?" he asks hopefully. Yes, it's time to suck up to the cousin of a certain girl he's rather keen on. Also, prefectly love. His head lifts when Bannon reads off the match pairings and his eyes glance over to Leander. "Of course I had to get paired against that brainiac," he mumbles, clearly dismayed. "Those pairings don't sound very fair, though. First years shouldn't be dueling sixth years. What are they going to do, shine lumos in their opponent's eyes?"

It's the cops! Warren's eyes flicker up when Pringle approaches, as probably does anyone in his immediate presence. "Ah-Mr. Pringle." Warren makes his best innocent face up at the man. It's a very good face, he practices it a lot. "I-" Then Claire is there to help! There's hardly a stutter when Warren picks up after her: "Was just grabbing this for Claire." And he turns, planting the coins into her hand. "Here you are. Now, quiet in the hall, right? Mr. Bannon is trying to say something."

Idrissa smiles and claps again once the show is over, she doesn't speak up though. Once the names are read off she blinks and glances around curiously pondering whom this Mable person is it seems.

Ria quirks a brow at Lucian. "A second year? You against a second year? Doesn't he know that could be dangerous….?" From the look of her face, it doesn't look like she's mocking or purposely trying to scare anyone. She's very much serious. She ponders over her partner though, "Who's Gabriel Ward though? I've never heard of him…"

Pringle eyes Claire suspiciously, watching the money exchange hands again. His lip curls, about to speak, when he overhears bannon mention the word punishment. He whirls about, "What's this? Blishwick and Jackson, eh?" Pringle gets a pradatory grin.

"You may both break the eggs and lick the spoon, if you behave yourself," Lois tells Eamon, expression beatific. "Please try not to break Fox, if you don't mind. Or," she adds this as an afterthought, "let him break you." The comment about the pairings makes her nod, slowly. "Odd. I… s'pose we older students could coach our young'uns in advance, a bit?"

Lucian nods in agreement with Ria. "I won't hurt her. But I want to talk to her." Then her question seems to register. "Ward? No idea."

One nice thing about staying quiet amidst large crowds? It helps when you don't want to be noticed. Except when it doesn't. Llewellyn sighs and draws his knees up to his chest, somehow looking even smaller than usual. Should have seen it coming, really.

Eamon tips his head sideways towards Lois and sighs happily. "Yer an angel amongst the weeds, Pym. And if I skin my knees do ye think yer cousin might patch me up?" Such a wicked grin he casts his fellow prefect.

Leander listens carefully as the pairings are listed off, and nods when it's announced that he'll be going up against Eamon. He casts an estimating glance at the other boy, then looks back at the auror for any further instructions.

Mabel nods to Lois, and, considering her own match, stands when Lucian makes his statement, "Just be a sport, Proudmore, there'll need to be a Dueling Club after we've gone, won't there?"

Lois rolls her eyes pointedly at Eamon, though there's a twitch of a grin at the corners of her mouth. So, she's not totally immune. "Why would you want Mabel to do it?" she asks, amused. "Mabel, have you been studying healing spells on the sly?" As the crowd shifts its attention to the contemplation of future matches, she sneaks Leander a quick little 'c'mere' gesture, smiling warmly.

"Theo? Crud!" Claire has been playing quidditch against him for years; he's not a person she'd chose to fight with. "Why couldn't I have gotten a first year? Well, at least it's not Proudmore." She pockets the galleons as Pringle leaves, grinning and winking at Warren.

Pringle haunts the crowd, looking for Llewellyn and Jackson…but in the chaos of students leaving the Hall, a Slytherin Third Year boy literally runs right into the Caretaker. Pringle's cat-like reflexes nab the lad by his collar. "No running in the Great Hall, Abernathy!" Many students watch, fearing this may be the last anyone sees of Abernathy as he is dragged out.

Gabriel groans and falls back into his chair after the names have been read and he hears talk about himself. Not only is he against a sixth year but she's a sixth year Slytherin.

Maeve blushes, as she considers her draw. She's not familiar enough with her opponent to know how truly lucky she is, at least as far as first years go. With Est's….er…skills as a Wizard, the first year may actually have a fighting chance.

Warren makes sure Pringle has ceased paying attention before the boy leans back in his seat, craning head to cast a glance at back Claire. He merely offers a quick, impish smile to mirror hers before his attention returns to the stage. A few short words to his companions, and he begins to make his way out of the hall once it comes time to move.

Eamon gets all mushy-faced and starry eyed. "Fair Mabel makes my heart go pitter-pat. If she knew no healing spells, I'd settle for a wee smooch to me boo boos. It worked when I was a lad, after all." Hopefully Mabel doesn't hear this, he'll be embarrassed.

Ria hmms and shrugs casually at Luc and says, "I guess I'll find out who he is when I face him." The poor little Ravenclaw, she's so far up her own butt she doesn't even know him.

Josie, when people start to get up to leave, instead stands and starts to make her way over to Bannon, if she can manage to without any obvious trouble.

Idrissa guesses she'll have too find out whom Mabel is later. She picks up her things, a soft unsure sigh escaping her before she turns and starts to slip off. Well there are other classes too get off to after all.

Lucian rises to leave, and offers a hand to Ria in gentlemanly fashion, giving her that please, just take it look.

"You're a Fifth Year," Lois tells Eamon, brows raising. Her expression is an odd mixture of 'incredulous', 'entertained', and 'calculating'. "That's social death, MacCaille. Or social maiming at least." Because there's such a huge difference between a fifteen and a sixteen year old, of course!

Gabriel very intentionally waits for Lucian and Ria to walk by them and waves at them as they go by, giving them what he hopes and thinks is a sly, confident smile. And for once he doesn't really say anything.

Camilla was hiding, Kettleburn is on suspension for the day because he got kicked by one of the Thestrals he didn't realize he was giving quite the inappropriate petting to. So Cami came to substitute, hearing what was going on she stayed in the room off shooting from the Great Hall and was peeking out so as to not cause any sort of distraction. But now she comes out of the room and gives a whistle. It's the Fawley Family whistle and sounds a bit like an Augurey, otherwise known as the Irish Phoenix. The two people that it's aimed at are of course Bannon though mostly Josie.

Leander finally turns his attention away from Dumbledore and Bannon, and is about to make his way towards the exit when he notices Lois's wave. He smiles sheepishly at her in reply and wanders over in that direction, although by the time he's reached her his expression is once again indistinct. "Hi, Lois. What did you think of the end of the duel? Dumbledore is extremely impressive, isn't he?"

Mabel glances back over to Lois, hearing just her question out of the chaos, seeming to be distracted long enough to suggest a sporting bit of crash course for the younger students, sighing, "Oh, I do hope I've picked up a little of healing charms from you, Lois, this could be a tough one. Where's O'Brien? She casts her eyes about looking for Maeve."

Maeve just happens to be still sitting in the same place she's been the whole time, but when she hears her name, she looks up from reviewing her notes, and hops out of her chair. "Ye're lookin' fer me, Mabel?"

"What can I say, Pym? I like a woman with experience!" Clearly, Eamon is asking for it. 'It' being a swatting for being an unrepentant flirt, obviously. "I'd ask her to the ball if I didn't think she'd laugh right in me face." With quite the tragic look to his face, he nods to Leander as he joins him. "Hey there, mate. When are ye free to scramble me eggs?"

Ria stiffens her jaw at his offered hand and gingerly takes it, as she begins to walk out with him. But once they pass the waving Gabriel, she turns red and balks, slipping her hand out from Lucian's grip again. Meanwhile, she gives the first-year Ravenclaw a panicky death stare as they pass. Once they're a safe distance away she half-apologizes to the fellow prefect and says, "Sorry. That firstie was looking straight at us. Who is he? What does he want?"

Josie smiles up to Bannon as she gets close, "You were brilliant. That was so close at the end…" Then there's that whistle, and she turns to look towards the source, and she laughs. The one thing that could make this day even better for her. She runs over to Camilla, "Hi!"

Lucian's teeth clench as Ria pulls her hand away. He gives the First Year boy a glance. "I have no idea. I can't keep track of all the Firsties if they're not in Dueling Club." Then someone else catches his eye as they pass her. "Professor Fawley? I mean…Camilla," remembering she prefers a first name basis with her sometimes-students. "Are you going to be around for a few days? I'd like to talk to you about…extra credit."

"Of course he is," Lois informs Leander, reaching over with the intent of casually looping her arm with his. "He's Gryffindor's Head of House, isn't he? Dumpling is brilliant." Dumpling is… hopefully not in hearing range of her calling him that, what the eff, Lois. Eamon gets another eye roll, but a good-natured one, and a murmured, "I'm looking forward to seeing you two have a go at each other", before she turns her attention briefly to figuring out why Mabel was calling for Maeve.

Mabel stoops a bit to say to Maeve, "It seems a few plucky students in their early years have signed on to this tournament. Given the match-ups, I think a few might be in need of such lessons as we can fit in, toot-sweet, don't you think? I'll have a talk with the rest of the Club when I can catch them, but for now, you and Davies, and your young Ravenclaw friend, be ready to catch me after classes tomorrow."

Maeve nods. "I was thinkin' 'bout askin' ye if ye could help me with spells. I'll be there, diinne worry.

Camilla looks like she could just scoop up Josie and hug the stuffing out of her. But she refrains and tries to be the Cool Guardian an instead just gives the girl a sweeping of an affectionate hand through her hair. Doing her upmost not to embarrass Josie in front of her friends. Because she also quickly stops her preening of the first year to smile to Lucian. "Lucian, hey… yeah, I should be around at least a couple of days, that Thestral had about the aim as Professor Dumbledore it seems." She grimaces and then smirks down at Josie. "You and I will have to pretend this day never happened if Bannon's going to ever see us again." She is teasing and winks and then peeks over to Bannon while he's doing some clean up and question answering. "That was something huh?"

Gabriel pops out of his seat as he overhears Mabel and saunters over to the little group around her, one hand stuffed in his pocket the other tossing the ubiquitous baseball up and down,"Oh! Did I hear you right? We might be able to learn a couple of spells before we duel? I think I need that! I learn fast but I pulled a sixth year!" The next he adds as if it was the worst fate in the world,"And she a Slytherin… I don't usually need help for things but I think for this one I will to be able to learn enough, quick enough. Learning spells out of books is not as easy as I thought it would be." He looks at Mabel hopefully as his words finally come crashing to a stop leaving just a smile behind.

"I'll duel with you whenever you'd like, MacCaille." There's no threat in Leander's voice - bravado isn't his thing. Despite his stubbornly matter-of-fact facade, his cheeks flush when Lois holds her arm out for him, and he takes it instantly (perhaps even obediently). Yup, he's whipped. The Slytherin boy looks around, and when he sees Mabel, offers her a brief, friendly wave despite his somewhat cool response to her earlier.

Lucian give Camilla a slightly boyish grin (a common sight among the male students when she substitutes for Kettleburn…but then that's pretty much how the female students look when Kettleburn is there). "Fantastic. I'll talk to you tomorrow, then!" He quickly rejoins Ria, looking satisfied.

Ria peers curiously at Camilla while she waits for Lucian. My, she's a pretty one isn't she? There's a slight jealous way she narrows her eyes when Lucian smiles. "Extra credit?" she asks curiously and begins to walk out with her housemate.

Eamon is a sharp tac, and grins impishly, seeing Lois and Leander interact. "Sounds good, Fox. Maybe after classes tomorrow or the day after? I've got a lengthy essay due for Ruins to tackle first." And then, with the attention span of a puppy, he lopes after Mabel. "You know, I'd be happy to help the firsties with their spells, too, Hawker." Wait, didn't he just say he had a paper? Oh, silly boy.

Josie giggles a little and nods quickly to Camilla. "I think he did brilliant, until the end. Professor Dumbledore must be really really good." There's no doubt in her mind, still, that Bannon is among the best. She smiles and asks then, "You get my letter?"

Lucian either doesn't notice the jealousy, or he's revelling in it, because his smile only gets bigger at Ria's question. "Take a walk with me, and I'll tell you about it."
