Duelling (Harry Potter)

> I'd take you on any time on my own. Tonight, if you want. Wizard's duel. Wands only — no contact.
>
> Draco Malfoy issuing a challenge to Harry Potter for a formal duel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

 File:Duel in ministry.gif
**Duelling** was a formal practice 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, as a sign of respect, before they placed themselves in an ***accepted combative position*** and, at the count of three, attempted to disarm, stun, injure, defeat, or kill each other in order to force submission, and thus a winner would be decided.

Duelling also existed as a sport in the same way that fencing is a sport in the ***Muggle*** world. Outside of actual combat it could 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 centre of the circle they had been treading, marked the point where the spells collided.
>
> Harry Potter's and Voldemort's infamous final duel, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Sometime before 1984, ***a room*** was set aside at Hogwarts Castle to allow students to practise duelling. The marks on the walls from various spells were left as a visual reminder of the dangers associated with the practice. Duelling outside of this environment was strictly forbidden and grounds for expulsion.

They had previously learnt how to duel from a ***secret duelling book*** found in the ***Artefact Room***. In response, Albus Dumbledore formed the Hogwarts Duelling Club, under the supervision of Professor Flitwick and Jacob's sibling's Head of House, to allow students to practise in a safe and supervised manner. The club presumably ended sometime before 1992.

 File:B2C11M2 Great Hall Duelling Club.png
During the 1992–1993 school year, Albus Dumbledore allowed then Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor, Gilderoy Lockhart, to start a Duelling Club at Hogwarts, perhaps in part because he saw dark times coming in the wizarding world and therefore the need for training students in the art of battle. Professor 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.

 File:Dumbledore's Army learning Expelliarmus.gif
A full-on wizard's duel was something incredible to behold. The duel between Dumbledore and ***Grindelwald*** in 1945 was 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.

 File:DH2 Kingsley Shacklebolt Protego.gif
Many duels involved non-verbal spells for speed, but saying the incantations aloud seemed to be preferred if there was time (e.g. Voldemort used verbal spells in his duels with Harry). The Shield Charm was one of the most common duelling spells. Other spells typically used in duelling included Stunning Spells, the Impediment Jinx, the Full Body-Bind Curse, and the ***Dancing Feet Spell***. Harry’s use of the Disarming Charm in duelling could be considered somewhat unusual in more serious and life-threatening situations, but this spell was actually one of the key spells to any duellist’s arsenal.

## 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, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

 File:Duel harry draco.gif
There were rules and customs that defined how a proper duel was performed, and that were 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.

### Limits

 File:Priori Incantatem.png
There was a standard rule in duels that only magical means could be used to fight an opponent, and that there was to be no physical contact (which wizardkind refers to as Muggle duelling) 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 could also agree to other limits, unless they were planning to duel to the death, which was only common practice 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 agreed not to use particularly dangerous and/or illegal spells, such as the Unforgivable Curses.

## Notable duels

### Second Wizarding War

#### 1998

 File:Skirmish malfoy manor.gif   | Harry and Ron were freed from the dungeons by Dobby and raced to rescue Hermione Granger, who had been tortured into unconsciousness with the Cruciatus Curse.

## See also

* Duelling Club
* Duel in the Ministry Atrium
* Duel between Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald]
* Duel in Little Hangleton
* Voldemort's Last Stand

## Appearances

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* *Harry Potter: The Wand Collection*
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## Notes and references

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1. ↑ Template:HM
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Template:COS
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Template:GOF
4. ↑ Template:DH
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Template:OOTP
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Template:WBS
7. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `PS9`
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Template:DH
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Template:OOTP
10. ↑ Template:GOF
11. ↑ Template:DH
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13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `DH4`
14. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `DH23`
15. ↑ Template:DH
16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 16.5 16.6 16.7 16.8 16.9 Template:DH