Tarelin had not had many dealings with Honorius Stilicho. To the young trainee, the senior Auror seems rather standoffish, almost snooty. He knew a little about the man’s family from History of Magic classes at Hogwarts, and how the line dated back to the ancient Romans. Honorius’ name had also appeared in a number of cases that Tarelin had glanced through during training, but beyond that Honorius Stilicho was an Auror shrouded in mystery…

He had, however, heard that he was an excellent duellist, and right now that was what Tarelin needed. Throughout his training, Tarelin had excelled at defensive spellcasting, yet had not had such great success with the offensive side of magic. With his training coming to a close, he had gone to see the head Auror for her advice: her advice was to see Honorius for some extra training. Of course, that was the easy part, and Honorius had proven decidedly difficult to convince that helping with Tarelin’s training worth his time. However, after numerous inter-departmental memos and bugging in the corridor, Honorius had finally broken and agreed to join Tarelin in the Auror duelling room.

Now Tarelin found himself opening the door to said room, still dressed in his Auror robes: after all, it was still office hours, and if Tarelin was going to end up in a duel, it was likely to happen while in uniform. All too used to rooms just like this one while training, Tarelin’s hand moved instinctively towards his wand, which sat at his side. One of the first rules he had learnt at the Auror academy was to know exactly where your wand was at all times, because you never knew when you’d need it. Slowly moving around the outside of the room, he fixed his focus on an empty space, as though watching some invisible foe. He hand gripped the handle of his wand, tightening and loosening his hold on it, ready to snatch it from his pocket at a moment’s notice. Tarelin seemed almost in a trance, and anyone walking by might seem confused by the sight.

After getting a few meters into the room, Tarelin brought himself back to reality, letting his wand go as it slid back into his pocket a little, straightening his robe and glancing at the doorway, eager to start his training.

OOC: I am sorry for the lateness of my reply. Sorry about the length, my next post will be longer.

Honorius had a thousand things to be getting on with. And yet his superiors thought his time would be best spent teaching some little child how to fight. If the kid was not up to scratch he should never of been admitted surely? The corps was getting soft, only the best should get in. Straight Os and skilled duelists only. No slackers and No Es would be his motto. He believed half the Aurors in the corps would not survive a war on the scale of the Second Wizarding War.

Survival of the fittest.

Honorius was already in the room when Tarelin had arrived, however he was using a powerful Disillusionment Charm to hide himself. He wanted to see how the young Wizard acted. He noticed that the Wizard had a grip on his wand but when he let it go he almost sighed. He had decided not to go easy on him, after all no Dark Wizard would. He took hold of his wand and within seconds  he dropped the Charm, pointed his wand at the Faust and sent a Non-Verbal Full Body-Bind Curse at him.

OOC: No worries, glad you're here.

Tarelin only saw Honorius for a split second before the bolt of light shot from his wand, hurtling towards the young trainee. Tarelin's eyes widened, and he instinctively threw himself to the left, diving just clear of the curse that whizzed past his ear. He could hear Stilicho's spell hit the back wall, dissipating as it did so. He had suspected that the senior Auror wouldn't go easy on him, and it seemed his suspicions had been confirmed. Panting, Tarelin instantly regretted putting his wand back: Stilicho looked positively terrifying as he loomed in the room's only exit, weapon at the ready and trained on him.

On the floor, however, Tarelin was a clear target. He had to get to his feet, so he could better defend himself. Luckily, he wasn't too badly winded, and his hand quickly found his wand again. Drawing it into his off hand, Tarelin pointed it in Stilicho's direction, calling out the first offensive incantation that came to mind. "Expelliarmus!" It was a clumsy casting, but Tarelin wasn't looking for anything special. He just needed something to buy him time... Fortunately, the disarming charm was close enough to a protective spell that Tarelin knew he could at least summon a weak casting, and to his delight a half-dozen sparks flew towards the Auror.

The spell missed by a few centemeters, hitting the door frame, but it was close enough that Tarelin knew it would catch Stilicho's attention. In truth, Tarelin had never been aiming to hit, as doing so from his prone position with his wand in the wrong hand would have been near impossible, even for the most skilled Auror. Rather, he planned to use those few seconds to move to his right and get to his feet. As soon as the spell was cast, Tarelin rolled a few feet towards the centre of the room, pushing himself up into a more upright stance. Whether he would have time to get his wand into his other hand depended on just how quick his reflexes were against the older but more seasoned Auror.