Alex was quite pathetically excited about having a duelling club meeting again, but her usual tactic of self contempt was doing little to calm her down and she was beginning to think that it would take the arrival of the miniature trolls that masqueraded as students to calm her down. If they failed, she was in serious trouble because there was very little that was more frustrating than having to correct stance, pronunciation, and wand-grip of a group of obnoxious, irritating students for an hour.

But after spending far too long in a hospital bed even such a terrifying prospect filled her with joy and excitement, and since she was finally back to full health (or at least, she was sufficiently healthy to pretend that she was back to full health) she could put into motion the double battles that she and Gracie had been planning to do before she'd been violently ill.

One of the few advantages of having to sit around in a bed all day was that she'd managed to work out the perfect pairs for the session, ones that avoided putting people who openly hated each other together. She still winced when she thought about the results of some of the less well-judged pairings, but since the start of duelling club she'd learnt a lot. For example, that boys needed to tone down on the testosterone. And she'd become a lot better at diagnosing injury. And reversing spell damage. And getting just the right tone of voice to get people to shut up thank you very much and listen. And ducking.

Alex lifted her wand, a piece of chalk scraping across the floor of the classroom in what would doubtless be a vain attempt to structure the chaos. When she'd finished, a red rectangle had a second rectangle, this time in yellow, around it. Duellers inside the red rectangle, spectators outside the yellow. As safety precautions went, it was hardly monumental, but it gave people time to duck, or, if they wanted, to cast a shield, although considering the reflexes of some of the members she was amazed it made any difference.

Admiring her handiwork- they were very, very, straight lines- she put her wand back in her pocket and sat down, waiting for the horrors, and Gracie, to arrive.

---

This is the main thread for duelling club- if you have a character who will be in attendance, please post in this thread first! Duels will take place in separate threads, while those waiting are free to post here if they want. If you have a character who isn't on the member roster, please feel free to have them attend- the more, the merrier!

Silvia glanced herself over in the mirror one last time.  Not out of any real concern for her appearance (she'd pinned her hair back this morning and, as per habit, hadn't touched it since), but because she didn't have grandmaman around to straighten the pleats in her skirt and fuss over her shirt and give her that grim, cursory nod that indicated Silvia had passed inspection--barely.  The routine, though harrowing, had been reassuring.  Now, feeling ever so slightly on edge, she passed through her own inspection, which very quickly deteriorated into striking intimidating poses with her wand.  She wasn't nervous exactly, but anxious to succeed in the duels to come.  Nodding to herself, she tucked her wand into the belt of her skirt and was relieved to see that nobody had entered the dorm room to embarrass her.

Sufficiently pysched up, she navigated the labyrinth of darkened hallways that was the cellar of Hogwarts before emerging into the light and finding herself in front of the door to the spare classroom where the Dueling Club had taken up residence.  Feeling thoroughly anti-climatic, she slipped inside, only to find herself the first to arrive after Carstairs herself.  The slight second year froze momentarily, before nodding gravely in the direction of the upperclassman, hoping this wouldn't lead to any sort of conversation.  Though Silvia had no problem dealing with her peers and didn't mind bullying first years, anybody more than a few years older than her made her uncomfortable.  She always felt the need to be strangely obedient, a sentiment that went against every other instinct she possessed.   

Figaro's attendance to Dueling had been spotty, but that didn't seem to shake his confidence at all.  He arrived at club early and loudly, chattering with his friends.[1] 

"Uh, hey Carstairs," he said as he ambled in.  Things were just a titch awkward between them,what with them being pegged as unlikely Champs together, but then Alex having to be replaced at last minute, after they'd spent so much time preparing... it sucked.  But it wasn't the end of the world. 

"You look good.  Better, I mean," he said as he walked along the chalk lines of the dueling area.  His feet smudged the chalk in little trainer-patterned foot prints. 

1.	Can be anyone, or NPCs.

Friggin' Frigid winter. Ugh.

Casey had been feeling so good over the weekend. Initial working of dual wielding wands appeared to be promising and Torret's new wand had given him a bit of a pep boost.[1] But once that had faded he caught a cold. Or whatever was causing the snot to dribble from his nose.

So Casey was ready to get to dueling. He hadn't had a major battle with his replacement wand yet so he was itching to get casting.

Blowing his nose into his handkerchief sounded like a wet Exploding Tuba.

1.	Soulfire - Dec 13

Today was Dione's second appearance at a Dueling Club meeting. She'd officially signed up at the last one, but spent the time observing rather than participating, to get a feel for how the club was run. Confident that she could stand her ground against the other first-years, she entered the club today with her wand in hand, ready to step into the ring.

What she wasn't ready for was the sound the greeted her there, like a drunk elephant snoring into a custard. Dione jerked away from the noise on instinct, only realizing a moment later that it came from an older Slytherin, one she vaguely recognized. O'Doherty, heir to a respectable magical lineage. Shame he was such a disgusting creature, always so coarse and ill.

Dione took another step away from him, then folded her hands against her chest and nodded her head in a semi-polite bow. She then put as much distance between herself and the fourth-year as she could, scanning the room for her fellow beginners and younger years. Where was Blossom, or Rico? Hell, she'd take a Gryffindor if it meant not being alone in the crowd.

Zoe had truly considered bringing her new wand[1] to the Dueling Club. It would have gone against her grandfather's wishes, and people would probably ask questions, so in the end she had decided against it.

Armed with her reliable old pine wood wand, the Ravenclaw raced to the classroom in which Dueling Club was held. This might be the last time she dueled with this wand, so she was ready to supply the best that she could coax from it. While preparing with wandwork for exams, Zoe had even tried to learn a couple new jinxes.

She walked in to see a Slytherin girl make a retreat across the room, away from Casey. Zoe could see why, sickness was rarely attractive. It was unusual to see someone with Hogwarts with a cold, as most were sent to the Hospital Hut at first symptoms to drink some Pepper-Up Potion. Merlin knows that Casey was allergic to everything, probably something in Pepper-Up Potion as well.

Looking over the chalk lines on the floor and careful not to smudge them with her shoes, Zoe made her way to the side of the room. There she fingered the handle of her wand.

1.	New Day, New Wand

Dueling club was something Naomi had a passive interest in--she'd rather go to have a good time than to actually learn anything from it. She had enough older brothers and got into enough fights with Gracie that she felt quite comfortable with her skills. But with the extra projects she was doing with Alex, and with Gracie as co-captain,  it was hard finding a reason not to attend lest they... gave her a helpful reminder should she miss any.

With the onslaught of puberty and new priorities facing her friends, they were making it harder and harder for Naomi to stick to comfortable habits. At least it was a welcome break from exams.

So she arrived at the dueling club early with her hair tightly french braided into a ponytail and in a dark, cozy, casual set of grey clothes. She mostly kept to herself, with her arms folded across her chest as she waited for the meeting to get underway. Then a little first year Slytherin appeared next to her, and it wasn't because she was arriving late. As Naomi traced her gaze back to where the girl had come from her eyes had landed on O'Doherty.

She kissed her tongue against the back of her teeth and then looked down on the Slytherin, and then her gaze landed on Alex as she quietly mumbled, "Great." One would think that Casey were allergic to air with how well he held up to illnesses.

Heinrich stretched, loosening up his muscles.  There would be no point in holding back now.  After his participation in the tournament trial and the aftermath, the chances of anybody believing that his duel was actually as bad as he was letting on were remote in the least.  He was surprised that he was still at the school, truth be told.  The final results of his actions in the Great Hall had not yet been felt.[1]

1.	Upcoming thread - set on Nov 21 or 22

Sometimes it felt like her life was a consecutive string of never-ending responsibilities and rigour... but there would always be time for duelling. Raine had come to the meeting with her wand already drawn, prefect tie loosened and curls pinned back. She glanced at Alex with slight hesitation and only waved at the Ravenclaw. The pair had been vaguely avoiding one another since the last minute replacement scenario during the second task.

Pulling her thoughts away from Tournament conflicts, Raine moved to the other end of the classroom to join Naomi. The fourth year did not appear to be in the best of moods.

"Disdain, Foley? How surprising..." she greeted her friend with a dry smile. "Not that I can blame you."

Between snivelling O'Doherty and the Durmstrang boy doing belated stretches, there was perhaps some cause to express contempt. Nonetheless- Raine would prefer to save her energy for the actual duels. Extra lessons with Storm (coupled with the general zaniness of the Racketeers) were useful but nothing could be quite as useful as matching skills with her peers, after all.

Alex smiled- well, she lifted a corner of her mouth- in recognition of Fig's words, "Thanks, Fig brain," and if she didn't sound generous, she didn't sound like she wanted to gut him either, "You look like a teddy in a wig." Having got through that- and it was just Fig, not even Raine- she turned to the club members, feeling resignation wash over her. She acknowledged Raine with a nod and a small smile, the Ravenclaw's gaze skating over her to grin at Naomi's obvious disapproval of Casey's allergic reaction to whatever it was this time, and raising an eyebrow at Faust- although maybe it was some kind of strange Durmstrang ritual. It certainly looked odd.

"Stop smudging the lines, Fig- everyone, listen up!" she called out, pausing to allow everyone to form a group. When they had formed a rough semi-circle, she started again, "This time we're doing something a little different- nothing too challenging, but hopefully it'll get you to think a bit more," the frustration in her tone was evident, but she quashed it to continue, "so, you will be duelling in pairs. You have to work with your pair to defeat both members of the other team. Stop looking around with intent, I'm not letting you pick. " She was sure that she'd forgotten something, and remembered the chalk in her trouser pocket.

"If you're duelling, inside the red box, and if not, outside the yellow one. Other than that, all the usual rules apply- and please, no injuries!" Alex scanned the circle of faces. There were a few missing- she'd have to pair those up appropriately, but for the most part the pairs she and Gracie had arranged should work. "Any questions?" Alex asked, more as a formality than anything else- although she wouldn't be surprised if someone asked something stupid just because they could.

"Okay, first duel, Raine and Casey, you're a pair and duelling against Silvia and Faust," Alex instructed. "Everyone whose name I did not say, outside the red box. You four, go!" Alex stepped out of the chalk box, making that she wasn't next to Fig before she turned to watch the duellers.

---

The first duel will take place in a separate thread, here. The usual post limit- five posts each- is lifted, however teams must take turns posting, (so, Nuri/Will followed by Spiderlegs/Bud, then Nuri/Will again,) and I expect you to use your discretion to allow both members on a team to post. If I think that one person is posting too often, I'll ask them to allow their team mate to post, and if the duel is dragging on, I will similarly intervene with Alex. Everyone else is free to spectate in this thread.

Heinrich looked at Alex.  Was she serious?  Pairing him and a second year against a sixth year and the  fourth year Slytherin who dueled at an advanced level?  Talk about setting them up for failure.   He'd have to really pull the stops out to win this one.  He looked over at the younger girl.  "Shall we, Sylvia?" he asked, offering her his arm to escort her to the dueling zone.

Nicholas came skidding into the room, stopping short of the red box that everyone was avoiding save for a few people who were walking into it.  "Sorry, I didn't miss anything did I?"  He'd been waylaid by a first year, who might have seen Nicholas's attempt at transfiguring a tapestry in the Gryffindor common room.  A tapestry that now had a nice sized burn in it, which thankfully a chair placed in the right place managed to cover up.  He counted the people walking toward the ominous red box that Alex was vacating.  He quickly did the math, "Oh couples dueling.  Cool."  He said, looking around, hoping that he hadn't missed out on choosing a partner.

Blossom looked at the Durmstrang boy and the second year student that was paired with him.  I hope they turn Casey into newt or something.  It wasn't likely though.  Assuming all things were equal, the second year would fall under Casey's wand and then the two Hogwart's students would finish the German boy.  He grinned.

"Odds favour the home team.  Place your bets, ladies and gentlemen.  Deus is not in the house so I'll covering this event on his behalf."  He pulled out a small note pad.  He wasn't as proficient at the older boy's system as its creator but he could handle it as long as the flow of business wasn't too fast.

Figaro obeyed Alex's instructions to get off the lines and out of the dueling area.  Raine and Casey O'Creepily against Heinrich and some half-sized Slytherin Figaro couldn't remember the name of.

"This outa be good," he said happily and handed the plucky Slytherin (who was channeling Hogwarts' resident criminal underlord) a handful of sickles.  "Twelve sickles on Raine and Casey.  And another that we'll see something unnatural coming out of someone's nose."  Modern magic offered a variety of options, all myriad and sickly.

Figaro clapped his hands loudly a few times.  "Let's go! Let's go!  Bring on the violence!"

"Define unnatural,"  Blossom replied, writing down Figaro's bet.  "Are we talking slugs or worms or just copious quantities of snot?  I'll give you odds on the slugs but not the snot."  He was glad he's paid close attention to the formulas for setting odds.  People were wagering on who would go down first (Silvia topped that list, for obvious reasons) as well as how many spells it would take to end the duel.  It was taking a great deal of mental math but he was staying on top of things.