Duelling



"I'd take you on any time on my own. Tonight, if you want. Wizard's duel. Wands only — no contact. What's the matter? Never heard of a wizard's duel before, I suppose?"

- Draco Malfoy challenging Harry Potter to a duel in 1991

Duelling was a practise in wizarding culture in which two or more wizards or witches engaged in combat under the condition that only magical means could be used. The combatants faced each other and bowed. After bowing the two would then attempt to disarm, stun, injure, defeat, or kill each other in order to force submission, and thus a winner was decided.

Duelling also exists as a sport in the same way that fencing is a sport in the Muggle world. Outside of actual combat it can be turned into a friendly sporting competition.

History
"The bang was like a cannon blast, and the golden flames that erupted between them, at the dead center of the circle they had been treading, marked the point where the spells collided."

- Harry Potter's and Voldemort's infamous final duel



Dumbledore allowed Lockhart to start a Duelling Club at Hogwarts during the 1992-1993 school year, perhaps in part because he saw trouble coming in the wizarding world and therefore the need for training students in the art of battle. Lockhart taught the formalities of duelling: bowing, holding the wand in a certain way, and flourishing the wand in the attack. Harry found himself, two years later, facing Voldemort in a desperate duel to the death. Voldemort used the Imperius Curse to force Harry to bow and obey the other niceties of duelling. Harry, who had learned to resist the Imperius Curse, used the moment to duck for cover, although he later successfully defeated Voldemort using the one spell he learned from Snape during Duelling Club — the Disarming Charm.

The following year, Harry began teaching duelling techniques as part of his Defence Against the Dark Arts study group, Dumbledore's Army. He was so successful that some of the students he’d taught fought well against experienced Death Eaters in the Battle of the Department of Mysteries. Some of them used those same duelling skills against Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle aboard the Hogwarts Express on the way home from Hogwarts.

Members of Dumbledore’s Army proved themselves to be valiant duellists, in the subsequent battles of the Wizarding war: the Battle of the Astronomy Tower, Battle of the Seven Potters, and the climactic Battle of Hogwarts, where many of them even manged to hold their own against seasoned Death Eaters, such as Bellatrix Lestrange.

Professor Flitwick is rumored to be a champion duellist. It is unknown if this is true and if it is, whether he is a champion of some particular competition.

The term “Warlock” originally referred to a Wizard who was trained in duelling and martial magic, as well as to those who had performed feats of bravery.

During the fall of 1995, the Ministry was trying to get other countries to sign an International Ban on Dueling. Percy Weasley in particular was working to get the Transylvanians on board. It is uncertain if this type of duelling is the same as the sport variety or if it refers to the more lethal “pistols at dawn” variety of duel.



A full-on wizard’s duel is something incredible to behold. The duel between Dumbledore and Grindelwald in 1945 is legendary, and the duel between Dumbledore and Voldemort in the Ministry Atrium at the climax of the Battle of the Department of Mysteries was equally spectacular.

Many duels involve non-verbal spells for speed, but saying the incantations aloud seems to be preferred if there is time (e.g. Voldemort used verbal spells in his duels with Harry). The Shield Charm is one of the most common duelling spells. Other spells typically used in duelling include Stunning Spells, the Impediment Jinx, the Full Body-Bind Curse, and the Dancing Feet Spell. Harry’s use of the Disarming Spell in dueling may be considered somewhat unusual, but this spell is actually one of the key spells to any duelist’s arsenal.

Aspen wands are favored by those who aspire to be top duelers. In fact, a secretive 18th century dueling club called itself the Silver Spears because they exclusively used aspen wands. Other good wands for duelling include red oak and rowan. Yew wands are feared in duels for their association with curses and evil magic.

Winners of Duelling competitions include: Alberta Toothill: Winner of the All-England Wizarding Duelling Competition of 1430. Famously overcame the favorite, Samson Wiblin, with a Blasting Charm. Elizabeth Smudgling, who won the title of Supreme Dueller in a famous Dartmoor contest in 1379 using a spell of her own invention, the Disarming Charm.

Rules
"You have been taught how to duel Harry Potter? We bow to each other, Harry. Come, the niceties must be observed... Dumbledore would like you to show manners..."

- Lord Voldemort to Harry Potter in the graveyard of Little Hangleton

There are rules and customs that define how a proper duel is performed and that are normally known to wizards and witches born to magical families, even at a young age. For instance, Ron Weasley told Harry Potter some of the rules of duelling as a first year student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry after Harry was challenged to a duel by Draco Malfoy in 1991. In the 1992–1993 school year Gilderoy Lockhart formed the duelling club, in which duelling strips were used in a system similar to that of modern fencing.

The challenge
In a formal duel, one wizard or witch challenges another, although it is implied that duels are not commonplace in modern polite society. If the other person accepts, they then arrange a meeting time and place for the duel. Draco challenged Harry this way in their first year, though it was really an attempt to get Harry into trouble for being out of his dormitories after curfew. Opponents bow to one another before beginning to fight, as Lord Voldemort reminded Harry Potter before their duel in the graveyard of Little Hangleton in 1995. Lockhart has gone as far as twirling his hands while bowing, possibly trying to make himself look more gentlemanly. However, duellists who do not respect their opponents do not usually bow correctly, as Snape simply jerked his head, while Harry, Draco Malfoy, and Voldemort barely bent their heads at all.

Seconds
"Well, a second's there to take over if you die..."

- Ron Weasley

Duellists will often have a "second" in a formal duel — a person, usually a trusted ally, who will act as a replacement for one duellist if necessary. Ron Weasley volunteered to be Harry's second in the aforementioned planned duel with Draco, who chose Vincent Crabbe.

Limits


There is a standard rule in duels that only magical means may be used to fight an opponent, and that there is to be no physical contact between the duellists. Millicent Bulstrode broke this rule when she duelled Hermione Granger in 1992 in the Duelling Club; the much larger girl ended up wrestling Hermione to the ground and holding her in a headlock.

The parties of a duel might also agree to other limits, unless planning to duel to the death, which is only common practise in a war. For example, Minerva McGonagall informed fellow professor Horace Slughorn just before the Battle of Hogwarts that if any Slytherin attempted to sabotage their defence efforts or to fight them, they would "duel to kill", which alarmed him. This may indicate that duellists generally agree not to use particularly dangerous and/or illegal spells, such as the Unforgivable Curses.

Practise duels
Duels can also be used for training purposes, as was the case in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in 1992, when Defence Against the Dark Arts professor Gilderoy Lockhart founded the short-lived Duelling Club. Its function was to teach students self-defence while "Slytherin's Monster" was on the loose. The club did not last long, as Professor Lockhart was incompetent.

Appearances

 * PS undefined
 * PS F
 * Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery‎‎
 * Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery‎‎
 * Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery‎‎
 * Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery‎‎
 * Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery‎‎
 * Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery‎‎
 * Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery‎‎
 * Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery‎‎
 * Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery‎‎
 * Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery‎‎
 * Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery‎‎
 * Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery‎‎
 * Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery‎‎
 * Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery‎‎
 * Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery‎‎
 * Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery‎‎
 * Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery‎‎
 * Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery‎‎
 * Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery‎‎
 * Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery‎‎
 * Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery‎‎
 * Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery‎‎
 * Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery‎‎

Notes and references
Duelo Pojedynkowanie