Duelling

> 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.

During the 1984–1985 school year, Jacob's sibling and Merula Snyde were caught duelling over Merula's bullying of Ben Copper. 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.

## 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.

## Practice duels

Duels could also be used for training purposes, as was the case at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, which had a club that students could join to hone their skill at magical self-defence lead by Professor Filius Flitwick, which occupied a room where in the Dungeons of the castle, where students engaged each other while overseen by a teacher. Any damage done to it was left unattended to, so the students there could see them and remember the implications behind the act of duelling.

Practice duels was also commonplace at Durmstrang Institute, where martial magic was a prominent part of the school's curriculum.

## Notable duels

### 1946–1994

#### 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. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Template:PS
2. ↑ Template:HM
3. ↑ Template:HM
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Template:COS
5. ↑ Template:GOF
6. ↑ Template:HM - Duelling Club
7. ↑ Template:WW
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Template:OOTP
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `COS112`