Overcoming Handicaps [Dueling Club]

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Ahh, the Dueling Club. Neville was not a fan of combat, but he recognized the need to be good at it. And two things he was good at were fighting and teaching. Tonight's meeting of the club was going to be interesting indeed. As usual, the house tables had all been pushed up against the walls, leaving the Great Hall clear enough for dozens of students to comfortably duel one another. One of the benches from the tables had been placed near the staff table, where Neville currently sat in the high-backed center chair. He was dressed in his usual black robes--this particular lesson would be better taught without the robes, but even exposing his arms would show off more scars than he cared to. Neville was currently studying a skinny plant with a large bulb on top of it by the light of a thousand floating candles--it was nighttime, and cloudy, so the ceiling did not provide even moonlight by which to see, which was causing his current problem with the plant, actually.

At one end of the bench, a cauldron large enough for a grown man to sit in simmered over a low fire, the color of dark gray stone...

@remy4
@hugo
@crystal4
@mathieu
Albus Severus Potter
@jonathonwatts
@lucyweasley
Rozalina Antonina Nightshade
@mercy
@crystal2
@cainedge
@remy
@marcia
@abigail
@emrys
@whitby3
@alina
@nicole

(Here we go again ^^)

[Deleted]

One of the very first things that Alina had found herself signing up for the dueling club that was taught by Professor Longbottom. It was not the fact that she enjoyed dueling, no she enjoyed this side activity since she was able to learn something new that would help her out in any and all dueling, whether it was just a friendly fight or actual combat. Alina learned long ago that she would need to be prepared for anything, especially after being subjected to the many punishments that her father had used, that always included magic, so she knew what almost any type of spell felt like when it hit you after such repetition. She was a natural when it came down to dueling both offensive and defensive and the club was run by one of the only people outside of her family that she knew that she could trust.

Alina was curious as she stepped around the corner and entered the Great Hall and saw Professor Longbottom up by the head table examining some plant. This was a time to be serious and she was already prepared to do what was asked of her during this “class time”. So she casually walked up to the head table, passing Cain on her way, and with genuine interest as to what the plant was she said to one of the few people that she looked up to and actually listened to. “Evening professor. What plant do you have here?” Alina did fairly well in Herbology and she would even take time to go to the greenhouses and make detailed drawings of plants that she found interesting and she enjoyed learning about them as well, however not enough to want to become a herbologist or anything like that but plants were interesting in general.

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Neville had spent the better part of the last 25 years of his life fighting. Even as recently as last summer, he’d been taking part in particularly large-scale or dangerous Auror jobs. And even if he hadn’t, it wasn’t easy to just put the DA behind him. It was inconceivable, after the things they’d seen and the training they’d done, to just sit around and let their blades dull. And some skills and instincts would never go away. Despite not being able to see Corvo at first, Neville was entirely aware when he’d entered the room, though not the identity, of course. He continued to work with his plant, curious to see if a student was trying for a sneak attack of some kind, but Corvo just dropped his Disillusionment Charm and sat down to center himself. The half-vampire was quite diligent in controlling his instinctive bloodlust, something he had every right to be proud of.

Alina followed shortly after, though she did approach to greet him and ask what plant he had. Neville looked up and smiled at her. “Good evening, Miss Winter. This is a moonblossom. I was hoping that it would bloom tonight, but, well, the weather being what it is…” he gestured up at the cloudy ceiling with not a hint of moonlight and shrugged helplessly.

He’d have to stop messing with it soon enough—the club activities were about to begin, after all.

@remy4
@hugo
@crystal4
@mathieu
Albus Severus Potter
@jonathonwatts
@lucyweasley
Rozalina Antonina Nightshade
@mercy
@crystal2
@cainedge
@remy
@marcia
@abigail
@emrys
@whitby3
@alina
@nicole

[Deleted]

Marcia skipped into the dueling club meeting. It was dark and there was some strange glowy plant... but she finally found who she was looking for and went straight to Cain, sitting beside him and linking her arm through his. "Hey there buddy. Ready to play?" she spoke in a happy tone, for today was going to be a good day! Marcia was quite the fan of dueling, and felt herself to be pretty good at it. What she really needed was discipline... which she often lacked. She looked up as the Professor answered Alinas question, nodding intently at the description of the plant. She had heard the name in passing, of course. She was sure he had brought it up in class before... well, she never really did dwell on herbology.

"Well, it's beautiful! Hopefully it blossoms tomorrow," Marci said, trying to show her support even though she didn't know much about what he was working on. She then glanced over at Alina, winking at her. "Hey there, beautiful," she said, though she didn't move from her spot linking arms with Cain. He was probably starting to get uncomfortable now but... eh!

@cainedge

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“Good evening, Miss Winter. This is a moonblossom. I was hoping that it would bloom tonight, but, well, the weather being what it is…” Alina smiled at the greeting and the explanation that she was give. Moonblossom was a plant that she had only read about or heard about in class, well unless she was in the apothecary which was also out of the plant. But here it was, the actual plant. She had glanced up at the ceiling and frowned slightly at the cloudy sky. "Well hopefully the weather clears up a bit while we are in here so that the plant can bloom tonight." Alina said turning her attention back to her professor. To be honest she was curious as to what the plant would look like, and plus she wanted to get a mental image of it so that she could draw it later.

Turning around as she heard the familiar voice of Marcia talk to Cain and also greeted her. "Well someone is in a happy mood tonight. I wonder why that is Marci?" Alina greeted her friend in a teasing tone. Having walked over to where Marcia and Cain were she sat down net to Marcia, who she knew was just as excited if not more so than herself to be here tonight. She wished that more people would show up soon but then yet again maybe it would not be so bad if it were just the three of them and the professor. However she had the feeling that more people would be showing up soon.

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Neville inclined his head in thanks when Marcia said she hoped the plant would blossom tomorrow night, but let her wander over to the others. He had a general idea of who was and who wasn't enthused by his subject, and as a rule, he tried not to force the topic down anyone's throat. Marcia didn't seem to dislike it, but she wasn't interested in it the way many of his students were. He let them talk for a few more moments before standing up and clapping his hands together. “Alright then, gather round the cauldron.” He walked over to it himself, placing both hands on the rim and leaning over the opaque gray liquid within. He waited a moment for the students to gather before clearing his throat. “As you know, the Dueling Club is about learning the mindset for combat. Getting experience in a safe environment. Now, there are a great many situations that we simply cannot simulate, owing to the inherent danger of them. And even if we tried, none of you would be able to forget that if you messed up, I'd be there to cover you. But over the years, I've come up with a few ways to simulate bad situations. Observe.”

Neville slowly lowered his left arm into the cauldron, immersing it in the solution halfway past his elbow. After a moment, he pulled his arm back out, to reveal that everything the liquid had touched—arm, robe, and all—had turned into solid stone. Heavy, immobile, dead weight. The proof was in how he removed his arm: by stepping back, dragging it out over the rim of the cauldron. “This,” he said dryly, “is a Petrification Potion.”

He stepped back from the cauldron and shook his right arm, where his wand slipped from the sleeve and fell into his right hand. “Tonight, all of you will dip your wand hand into the solution—past the elbow, mind. At the end of the lesson, I'll distribute Softening Solution for you to use. This lesson will teach you how good—or how bad—you are with your off hand. In a real duel, you cannot count on having the use of your good hand. Enemies may have targeted it. You might have to use it for something requiring even more dexterity than your wand. You might have to support another person. And the weight of your arm being made of stone will throw off your balance, as well. Without your elbow, you can't control the dead weight. Having your balance thrown off, being disoriented, being blinded by pain—these things happen in fights. Your enemy won't care. You can't either.”

Neville spun his wand through his fingers and around his thumb with nearly as much skill as he could do with his left hand, ending with it raised in a defensive stance. “Arms into the cauldron then, and pair off. If there's odd numbers, I'll pair off.

(OoC: It's not too late to join and say you were with the group when they gathered around the cauldron!)


@mathieu
@ranger
@al
Rozalina Antonina Nightshade
@crystal2
@cainedge
@marcia
@abigail
@alina
@nicole

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they were supposed to stick their hands into the liquid to turn their arms to stone? well no one could say this wouldn't end up being an interesting night. he could just imagine it now, rouge hexes and spells going all over. he knew for a fact that his left hand was far weaker than his right for casting or using so it was going to be a challenge for him to sat the least. looking into the cauldron he nodded his head a little as his father told them to stick their hands into the solution and pair off.

dipping his arm into the cauldron he couldn't help but cringe at the uncomfortable feeling that came with having his arm feel completely dead and heavy. dragging it out of the cauldron he stepped back and shook his head. "that's .. something all right" he said as he glanced down at his arm and scratched it lightly with his other hand and shook his head. smiling a little he pulled his wand from his back pocket, gripping it a little tighter than usual and getting the feel of it being in the wrong hand while he waited for the others to turn their arm to stone and pair off.

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Marcia shrugged at Cains words, "isn't every day a curve ball with Professor Longbottom?" she mused, chuckling as she turned to face Alina who sat beside her. "Hmm, no idea!" she answered as Alina said she wondered why she was in such a good mood. Really, Marcia just loved dueling. It would be much better without all those fancy dance rules, but she was sure rules didn't apply in the real world. Not when your life was on the line.

As if on cue with her thoughts, the professor gathered them around the cauldron and began talking about the impossibility of simulating certain scenarios. But, he went on to explain that there was indeed a way... and a fascinating one at that. Her jaw dropped a bit and she smiled, a mischievous little grin. "Brilliant," she commented as she plunged her arm in, looking past the strange sensation to switch her wand to her other hand.

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Alina watched as her fellow classmates put their arms into the cauldron with the petrifying potion in it as Professor Longbottom had. She took out her wand with her left hand since it was the one that she usually didn’t use when dueling and so this would give her an opportunity to get used to the feel once more of her wand being in her left hand. Stepping forward she dipped her arm into the potion and she bit back a laugh as she felt her arm turn into stone. Well the weight was definitely something, however it would not throw her off to terribly.

She smiled as Cain had decided to pair off with Marcia which was fine with her and since there was only one other person in the room that had already turned their arm into stone. Alina walked over to Jayden and stood in front of him. “You wouldn’t mind being my dueling partner tonight would you?” She asked the youngest Longbottom. Alina wanted to see how good of a fighter one of the Longbottom kids were. She just hoped beyond all reason that Jayden would be a challenge and if he needed any help or anything of that nature when it came to dueling she would be more than glad to help, however she was sure that Professor Longbottom could teach her how to be a better fighter but that was one of the reasons why she had signed up for this club.

@henry

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Jayden was the first one up—a trait he shared with his father, though Neville had not embraced this trait so early, to be the first to plunge in, to lead others into danger by example. Next up was Marcia, a Slytherin with quite peculiar hair. Cain took a moment to remove his cloak before he too stepped up, and he was then followed by Alina Winter. Neville smiled, standing back as he watched them pair off and more students moved forward to petrify their arms. He liked that the first four to line up for the night were each from a different House. There was a unity there that had no existed when he was a student. The idea of either Draco or Harry petrifying their good arm before the other had was absurd. They would steadfastly refuse to do it until Snape forced Harry to go first (git).

Still, no reason to point it out and make a big deal of it—friendship and cooperation between all four Houses shouldn’t be a big deal, just the norm. Neville cleared his throat, cutting across the chatter with the sound like none but a father could do. “Alright, finish pairing off. We’ll begin when you see the purple sparks. Remember—sparks, light jinxes, and charms only. Nothing too serious. You’re learning a mindset here. You want to get creative with the actual spells you use, find a training dummy.” He jumped up on the table using it along with his own natural height to make sure he could see all the pairs of students at once. Satisfied, he raised his wand, and several purple fireworks shot toward the roof.

@mathieu
@ranger
@al
Rozalina Antonina Nightshade
@crystal2
@cainedge
@marcia
@abigail
@alina

[Deleted]

walking to the cauldron after the people before him had, casey plunnged his left arm into the deep of the copper warmth and felt his arm go dead almost straight away. it was a horrible feeling, to have his stronger arm suddenly dead and not able to do anything, especially as they were about to start shooting spells at each other. he wouldn't go so far as to say it scared him, but he was a little worried about not being able to protect himself, even if it was only light jinxes and curses they were allowed to use on one another.

gripping his wand in his weaker right hand, casey let the feel of it adjust and he moved his hand around a little trying to get the right movements to the spells before actually casting. he figured he'd have to wait a while for someone to cast something at him or to be able to cast something at someone because the other people in the room had paired off. he glanced around and saw a dummy standing not far from the cauldron and he turned to it. okay so it couldn't give up much of a fight, but it would give him the chance to cast right? "aqua erecto" he said, gripping the wand tighter as the water started shooting out of the end of his wand at the dummy, but it wasn't a stream of water as it should be, but a spurt of water that fanned out in drops. dropping his wand to break the spell he laughed a little. "well .. that didn't work"

[Deleted]

Marcia smiled wickedly as Cain approached her, nodding once. "Done," she said. Once they were both crippled, with wands switched, Marcia stepped away from the group, assuring that she and Cain had some room to fight. She felt a little funny, using her left hand instead of her right. But the Professor had a good point. What if one of these days she lost her right hand? Her arm? Or perhaps was bound by a spell of some kind? Yes, it was important to learn the skills without the correct hand. It was also important to learn the skills of not having a wand at all, but that was for another day.

"Care to start us off, little eagle?" she asked ready to give a little bow.

[Deleted]

Angel? That one was new, and if anyone else had set it she probably would have punched them. But no, she smiled instead. As the blue sparks started to make their way towards her, she raised her arm to cast a shield spell, thinking she succeeded for a short moment before realizing that his sparks had stopped on their own. She rolled her shoulders, this really shouldn't be that hard! He spent another shot of blue sparks and they didn't reach her, but she took two steps closer right after they fizzled out, crossing her want in a slashing motion across her chest, sending green sparks his way.

They should have made it too him, but she didn't notice because she was too busy watching him enchant his own arm. "Is that cheating?" she asked, swooping her wand upward again, "flipendo!" Nope. The chair to the left of Cain flipped into the air. Her aim seemed to be broken. She growled slightly, readjusting her stance.