Training

Chapter 4

Duels used for training purposes straddle the boundary between informal and formal duels. While not following as strict guidelines as a formal duel, a training duel requires certain limitations be in place to avoid any unnecessary violence or harm come to either participant. These duels are merely meant to allow young witches and wizards to practice the spells they are learning and to experience the illusion of an opponent without the pressure of any real danger. 

The Foundational Techniques of Dueling

While all of the scenarios described above differ greatly in rules, restrictions, danger and pressure, the basic mental and physical techniques should be the same when entering into any kind of duel. Certain dueling experiences will require advanced or specialized skills to procure victory—and later chapters of this text will help to build upon the foundational techniques explained here—but every witch or wizard must first learn the basics before any specific skills will do him or her any good in a duel.

Mental and Psychological

The first mental and psychological part of being prepared for a duel is to understand what you are getting into by participating in a duel. The What is a Duel? is meant to prepare a witch or wizard for just that. Knowing how a duel works fluently is the first step. If a witch or wizard were to walk into a duel without any idea of what he or she is about to experience, every spell or skill he or she possesses could fail to be sufficient. Much like a blind man approaching a cliff, witches and wizards with an awareness of the workings of a duel will be able to tell when the ground runs out.

Concentration and focus become a crucial component of a witch or wizard’s mental technique when entering into a duel. A distracted duelist is a disarmed duelist. The best foundational technique any witch or wizard could perfect is the ability to focus and pay attention. A dueling witch or wizard must concentrate to determine which spells would be effective, as well as to figure out whether to act offensively or defensively. Predicting an opponent’s next move also requires focused attention and observation (see chapter Predicting an Opponent’s Next Move for more explicit detail on that subject). If a witch or wizard is diverted by other things or emotions, or is not present in the duel, he or she could not possibly manage to do any effective damage to the opponent. Concentration is an absolute necessity in any duel, as all other mental and psychological preparations build from there; it is the consequences of a lack of concentration that vary.

Tied to concentration, a dueling witch or wizard needs to check his or her emotions when entering into the duel. A duelist acting in anger can produce out of control magic or behave out of control himself. Emotions that impede the mental capacity of a duelist can also have unpleasant results. While beginning duelists cannot be expected to shut off their emotions completely, they should do their best to clear their minds of distractions to permit greater concentration.

Finally, a basic knowledge of defensive spell work is something that spans both mental and physical. One should create a general arsenal of offensive and defensive spells, including Expelliarmus and Protego. A witch or wizard will be better mentally prepared if he or she knows spells that will be useful in a duel. A knowledge of effective, if simple, spells is indispensable as it prevents a witch or wizard from floundering in a duel unable to come up with a spell. Being able to actually perform the spells and target the opponent crosses into the section of physical technique.

Physical

A witch or wizard should begin a duel standing stationary with his or her wand raised and pointed at the opponent. From there, a duelist must be able to aim and target the opponent in order for any spells cast to have any beneficial effect. The opponent is going to move, so the ability to aim well enough to hit a moving target is necessary. This draws on the mental capacity to concentrate on the target. Flexibility of wand arm plays a part in this as well.

Being able to move and dodge spells is another fundamental physical technique to be brought into a duel. In informal duels that do not take place within the confines of formal spatial boundaries, this technique becomes even more valuable. An opponent’s spell cannot do harm if it cannot hit its mark. The ability to hit a moving target is necessary but it is also necessary to become a moving target as well.

Finally, the ability to properly cast basic defensive and offensive spells is vital. It is all well and good to avoid being hit by an opponent’s spells, but a duel will never end in victory if one cannot, at the very least, disarm one’s opponent. Practicing a streamlined and simple arsenal of spells is great preparation for dueling. If a witch or wizard can cast Expelliarmus, Protego and at least one offensive spell, such as the Knockback Jinx, effectively, along with all the other foundational techniques expressed here, then he or she can win a duel.