Dueling Club [Open]

((Anyone who wishes to join this class may join, regardless of year and House. The lesson will contain something useful for the upcoming plot twist, so pay close attention~))

***

Usually, when Dueling Club took place in the Great Hall, the tables were replaced by a staging area while the surrounding floor contained stone benches or other seating arrangements. Two students would face off against each other, spells flying from their wands as they tried to knock the other off the platform or disarm their opponent. The other students would watch on in either fascination or terror, waiting for their turn to be called to perform under the weighty stares of their peers. Dueling Club gained a reputation for itself as a brutal, sometimes humiliating class where the differences between Purebloods and Muggle-born witches and wizards were more pronounced than anything other than Muggle Studies.

This Professor intended to change that reputation. He was a new hire, related by blood to the current Headmaster, and (at least in his mind) very much prepared to reshape the minds of the young students who believed that only Purebloods could truly excel in waving their wands and casting spells. He knew through the grapevine of Professors that this class was one of the students' favorite. Where else could they subtly bully another student they disliked without reparation? Certainly not in Transfiguration or Potions!

He examined his handiwork, pleased. The Great Hall was fairly empty, save for what looked like every throw pillow in the entire Castle gathered into one pile in the center. He had sent the House Elves on a pillow-gathering spree before class, and they had come back with armfuls. Thankfully, there were many extras about the Castle, so no actual pillows from Common Rooms or students were taken (though if one looked close enough, they could see a pillow that looked suspiciously like one belonging to the Headmaster). Now all he had to do was wait for students to actually arrive, and then they could get their little dueling party started!

Gilbert loved dueling, not only was it chance for everyone to be looking at him and applauding his greatness it also happened to be one of the things that he was confident and happy doing. He felt that it was one of the things that he was born to do and was a bit disappointed that he could not it more often as using spells on students both here and at Durmstrang outside of classes was not permitted.

As soon as Gilbert found out the school had a dueling club he knew he was going to join it. Although he had liked the laid back style of Hogwarts and it had been rather fun and enjoyable at times he had been starting to miss the high intensity training that Durmstang had offered. Gilbert is a natural when it comes to competitive dueling, his gifts in magic defiantly do become noticeable in practice while in theory classes it may look like he is falling behind and often looks like he isn't paying attention but he did try hard, his ego was too big to let himself fail. That serious, strategic and intellectual side of Gilbert came out when he dueled, a side of him that people barely saw and often did not even know he possessed. The people that did know about it often wondered why he did not show it more often and instead decided to promote his loud rougher side more that he was well known for.

He entered The Great Hall, eager to be able to practice the last thing we wanted was to become rusty. He was a little disappointed that the hall seemed rather empty, he must have been early. He sighed and let out and impatient puff of air, this would mean he would have to wait for the other students to arrive. He wondered what all the pillows were for and grinned in amusement as he imagined all the students having a giant sleepover in the great hall as his mind wandered while he waited for people closer to his age to arrive, there was really no point in his mind to challenging one of the eager younger students that were milling about. That is when he decided that he would challenge the next student that came in that was close to his age, leaning against the wall as he waited.

Ever since his second year, Arthur had a secret love at Hogwarts. Sure, the Quidditch and classes were splendid, but he always harboured a special place in his heart for Dueling Club. The exhilaration and quick thinking that duels always inspired in him, the competitive spirit, and the one-on-one battle Quidditch couldn't provide him. Arthur was an excellent strategist, had proven it many times with broomstick and quaffle, and many more times with nothing but his wand and his mind. How he loved the delicate dance two skilled duelists could perform.... It was direct and in sync to the point of being almost intimate.

Arthur just hoped he'd find an adequate opponent this year.

Last year it'd been John, a boy from Hufflepuff with dark hair and a dorky sort of smile, but he hadn't been half bad with a wand, for a muggle-born. Though, at first he looked less like he was trying to curse Arthur and more like he was trying to pretend his wand was a hammer from the way he kept flicking it. Not much of a challenge, unfortunately. This year he made sure to be here extra early, to have the proverbial pick of the litter. Arthur liked to think he made quite the challenge himself, as only the bravest (or in that John boy's case, most idiotic) of students would dare ask to be his dueling partner.

As he entered the Great Hall he raised a single dark eyebrow at the sight of the massive collection of pillows that had been piled with great care, it seemed, at the centre of the room. Frowning, he called out to the professor he noticed loitering about (he must be new; Arthur hadn't seen him before, and as Head Boy he made a point to know all of the professors, especially ones he'd be dealing with for classes and whatnot), his usual (typical) British sarcasm already in place. He didn't mean anything by it, of course, but it was simply his particular brand of humour. "Excuse me, Professor, but I was under the impression that this was meant to be a dueling club, not Witches' Weekly's sewing club." The statement was met with a few quiet snickers from the scattered students waiting for others to trickle in, though they quickly shut up the moment Arthur turned to see who it'd been. As he moved, however, he caught sight of a familiar Slytherin boy hanging around.

Gilbert Beilschmidt, as the blond recalled, was another Quidditch player, as well as a pureblood like Arthur, though it seemed he hadn't yet been involved with Hogwarts' dueling club. Mentally he put this boy's name at the top of his list of prospective dueling partners; he'd seen him on the Quidditch pitch, and the boy was good. Now, if only he wasn't such an arrogant piece of Slytherin shit, Arthur might find a friend in him. Too bad.

He nodded to the albino boy and turned back to the Professor, waiting curiously for an answer and hoping inwardly he hadn't offended the man. The teachers usually got along swimmingly with him, but this one was new and might not take his sarcastic words so well. Then again, he might after all. It was hard to tell since Arthur didn't know him.

Kiku knew he was late...but 'late' was only ever a relative term when one had a timeturner and an insane workload. Still, it wasn't as though he could simply poof out of time into the Great Hall for his classes, despite there being plenty of dark corners that could easily hide him. He wasn't allowed to be seen, and the last thing he needed was for the Headmaster to get in his case for misusing the thing. He kept it secret for that reason, though he had his suspicions that some of the other students knew. He was thankful then that those students weren't the mischief-making types, or the types who would have thought of far more...creative...uses for such a device. Nearly-infinite rewinds through time did have the potential to tempt students to do things they really ought not to do.

Instead, he was careful to appear in an unused broom cupboard, knowing his other 'self'--it really didn't work that way, but no one cared to try to explain temporal travel in a way that didn't bore him--would be in class. He peeked out into corridor, making sure that no one had seen him appear in the small space. He then made his way casually into the Great Hall, surprised then to see that he was one of the first students to have arrived. 'But I thought...hmm, perhaps I did not entirely calculate for the time I turned...or perhaps the class is running late. Either way, I am relieved to see I am not late.'

He blinked in curiosity at the mass of pillows in the middle of the Great Hall, resisting the urge to approach and see if one of them belonged to him. A certain pillow of his liked to go for strolls around the school, though he suspected it often had help. A familiar voice caught his attention, and he turned just in time to see Arthur, the Head Boy, questioning (rather rudely) the Professor about the pillows. Kiku wasn't the meddling type, or the type to disrespect those in power, or he might have said something to Arthur about it. Instead, he approached the pile, picking up one of the pillows and fluffing it experimentally. To his immense relief, the pillow did nothing more than fluff beneath his fingers. Some students thought it odd that he touched pillows cautiously, though he swore by all things magical that sometimes they made very curious noises when he did.

Well, so long as they weren't starting class yet, he could look at the pillows, couldn't he? Kiku placed the pillow aside, picking up another and fluffing it, glad that it too remained quiet. He began creating an intricate stack, moving pillow after pillow (after fluffing it) until he had a small square around himself. He decided he wanted to make a small fort, at least until class began. Then he would stop and pay attention like a responsible student, ignoring the temptation that was every single pillow in the pile.

Gilbert could feel the excitement in the pit of his stomach as it threatened to leap out and ruin the cool atmosphere he was trying to create by trying to remain stoic and confident in the corner. Someone who was up to his level in dueling would have to come through those doors eventually and it was not long waiting until someone did. His opponent today it seemed would be none other than that bushy eyebrowed Gryffindorr chaser, Arthur. Arthur of course was a pure blood, he knew that of course as large pure blooded families were always well known or at least heard of and Gilbert had done a little research on British Pure bloods in preparation to coming to Hogwarts as a little study on the competition. Gilbert was not exactly sure about how good Arthurs skills were, he had not grown up at Hogwarts so he was unaware of who could be a good opponent and who was just full of hot air. At least from what he had seen of Arthurs Quiddich skills he knew Arthur had good reactions and a lot of confidence so it would be quite fun to try and knock some of the stuffing out him.

The Slytherin watched the other out of the corner of his eye as he planned his next move and tried not to snicker when Arthur pompously insulted the oddly large gathering of pillows that had decided to take audience and guessed that Arthur was not as amused by their appearance as he was. He would of strolled up and challenged Arthur then and there and let his eagerness show if not were he distracted by another entry into the great hall that looked rather familiar. He was rather glad that Kiku had come in after Arthur, not that he doubted that Kiku had ability but he did not really like the idea of embarrassing him in front of so many people as Dueling was something that he took no mercy in and well, he considered Kiku to be a friend. He watched in amusement as the quirky Ravenclaw started to stack the pillows in an odd fashion and held back and urge to crash tackle the pile or join in the game of pillow forts.

But Gilbert had more important things right now to deal with and his attention turned back to Arthur as he felt the Gryffindor glance in his direction and saw the other nod at him. The Slytherin grinned and tilted his head as he nodded back, it was official, Arthur would be his opponent and he would suffer a humiliating defeat at the awesome hands of Gilbert, honestly he should feel rather honored that he was considered good enough to be his rival.

Gilbert strolled over to intercept Arthur and the teacher. "The pillows are there to have somewhere to put you after you faint from pressure of having to duel yours truly~" The boy laughed in a confident manner, hands going to his own hips as he smirked. "That is if you are even brave enough to face the awesome me, Gilbert Beilschmidt, in a duel in front of an admiring crowd~" Gilbert leant in and grinned at the other. "Hmm... although I could probably find someone better to save my first duel with at this club... I was defiantly thinking to make it a battle that was at least interesting to watch." Gilbert smirked and hoped that the other would take up his offer even if people would think he was probably just doing this for the sake of the 'Gryffindor and Slytherin rivalry' but Gilbert was just sticking to his word about challenging the first one who walked through those doors.

The Professor smiled as the first student entered, though the student did not look pleased to be the first one in the door. Well, he would simply have to change that, now wouldn't he? After all, there had to be something, some special reward perhaps, for such a punctual arrival. And what better way to show his appreciation than to allow the other student the great privilege of going first in the order...or to choose who would go first. Judging by the way the other student surveyed the room, he was surely looking for a worthy opponent to test his dueling skills. Luckily, the Professor's teaching plan would be very accommodating to him.

He turned at the sound of the sarcastic student, recognizing him immediately as Arthur Kirkland, or rather, Head Boy to his relative (and thus, also partially Head Boy under him). He ignored the snickers from the other students, choosing instead to keep his focus on Arthur. He knew they wouldn't be snickering for long, especially after they found out exactly what the pillows were for. He blinked at the blond, genuinely surprised by his observation concerning the pillows. "Really now, you attend as well?" The 'excitement' in his voice was about as sarcastic as Kirkland's comment had been, though instead of a raised brow, the Professor acted as if he genuinely hadn't MEANT to blow the blond's 'secret hobby' in front of the entire class. He honestly had no time for such gatherings, but it wasn't like he was going to judge if Kirkland did.

The snickers had resumed, though most of them were now aimed at the Head Boy. He knew he ought to be more responsible, perhaps even apologize to Kirkland for his rather unprofessional remark. Instead, he merely smiled as Beilschmidt added in a taunt of his own. He recalled being a student once, and though he was a professor now he had not entirely outgrown the harmless teasing of others. Of course, most of the time his teasing was aimed at his relative, but the Headmaster never forbid him from poking fun during his classes.

Amusing as Beilschmidt's taunt had been, the more amusing sight happened at that moment to be the Ravenclaw building himself a little wall of pillows. Curious...he would certainly do well in the creativity department. He gazed at all three, occasionally glancing to the door as more students trickled in. It would not be long until the class would begin. "All of your questions will be answered in time. For now, you may converse among your fellow students...perhaps even find yourself a partner, if you so wish." He gave the three students nearest to him (Beilschmidt, Honda, and Kirkland) a smile, then turned his attention back to watching as a few more students entered the Hall.


((Next post will be his introduction to the class. This one got a little long for the usual NPC posts...just because it was so fun to answer!))

The nerve! Sure, his mum read Witch Weekly and attended the sewing club, and sure, Arthur'd been to a few meetings..... But that certainly didn't mean he was a regular attendee. (Secretly he was glad the professor seemed to have a sense of humour, but still, that was a low blow.) He pasted a confident smirk on his face, though, and chuckled. "I was wondering why you looked familiar, Professor. My mum said she adored that frock you made last time." The scattered snickering resumed, though this time Arthur knew it wasn't at his expense.

He turned his attention back to the albino twit challenging him, the smirk already growing to a grin. "I do hope you mean to say you will be using the pillows, you'll need them after I knock you on your arse~" he retorted, looking him up and down with a slight air of disdain. "You do know what you're getting yourself into, challenging me, yes?" he scoffed nonchalantly, looking away as though simply seeing Beilschmidt was a waste of his time. "Who knows? Perhaps you'll prove a worthy opponent. Though I'm sure any crowd'll have a rollicking time watching you make an utter fool of yourself just as well."