SDA Event Y38 | Practice Your Reflexes

[Tyler Lee]

Tyler wanted the SDA to do well in his final year as leader. He knew Sydney would make a royal mess of it next year, but for now, he was still responsible. Besides, as he was graduating earlier he felt like it was his right to take charge for a bit now, while he still could. He had spoken to her about today's event but had put a lot of work into getting it perfect. Now, he hoped it would go as well as he imagined. He mostly hoped Sydney wouldn't mess it up.

The room had been almost entirely cleared, leaving a lot of space to practice. One wall was lined with training dummies, the same kind they sometimes used in Charms. The other side of the room was empty, leaving plenty of space for pairs to practice together if they preferred. Tyler stood at the end of the room, waiting for the members of the club to arrive. When everyone arrived, Tyler launched into his explanation. "Afternoon, everyone. Today's event will be a useful one, especially for those of you who want to participate in the dueling tournament later on in the year." He said with a slight smile. "With the focus on duels and practicing spells for it, we often forget that the club is actually primarily focused on defence. And that is what we will be focusing on today." He said, gesturing to the dummies. "We will be practicing our shield charms, and most importantly, how fast we can get them up. Casting a protego spell is a piece of cake, but it is important to practice your reflexes and get them up fast." He paused for a beat. "You get two choices for this event. You can either pair up with a training dummy, which will shoot a stinging hex at you at random times that you'll have to block. Or you can pair up with another person and have them shoot spells at you that you have to block. Please remember that we're trying to practice defence, so don't get too caught up in trying to cast the most impressive offensive spell. Or anything that a shield charm won't block." He said, looking around to see if the assignment was clear. "Dodging is also not what we are practicing today. Try to stay in one place and use your magic to block spells, rather than jumping out of the way. It is a lot more efficient." He said, then looked at Sydney. "Do you have anything to add?" He asked her, almost as an afterthought.

Please wait for Sydney to post before replying

 

[Sydney Townsend]

Working with Tyler on SDA projects was like pulling teeth. The only way Sydney was making it through it was the constant reminder that she only had to do it for one more year before she was rid of him. It did help that they'd settled on a goal for today's meeting that Sydney thought was actually worth while, though she was content to sit back and let Tyler think it was all his idea.

She didn't bother trying not to roll her eyes though as Tyler launched into an introduction once the club was assembled, content to pace quietly behind him, watching the club as Tyler explained things before oh so graciously passing it over to her. "It's not escaped my notice some of you have relied on fancy footwork in the past to stay on your feet in duels. And while it never hurts to stay on guard and be ready to move when you have to, if it comes at a cost of not being able to reliably produce a shield charm then you've already lost before you've begun," she said, leveling a few of the younger club members with a pointed stare before continuing, "With that in mind, if I see you dodging any spells instead of using your wand, I won't hesitate to stick you to the floor for the rest of the practice," she said, giving the club a sharp smile to show she meant it, "And don't be afraid to pair up with older or younger students if you don't want a dummy," Sydney finished, waving an arm to dismiss everyone so they could get started, her wand already drawn in case anyone was doubting her threat about the sticking charm.

 

[Aisa Hunter]

Aisa arrived at the SDA meeting and looked around, noticing the dummies at once. When the event was explained, Aisa thought it was a pretty good idea. She decided to at least start out practicing with the dummies, as she usually preferred the least amount of human interaction possible. Aisa picked one out and started throwing up her shield charm when it sent a stinging jinx her way.

 

[Indira Khatri]

Indi wasn't sure what to expect at this meeting. She just hoped it would be interesting and worth her time. She was at least more interested in the meeting this year knowing she would finally have a chance to participate in the dueling tournament this year. She sat up straighter when one of the club leaders said the meeting would be useful for that. She was eager to get started once all the talking was over, and wasted no time going over to the dummies. Indi had considered finding a partner but she thought tryin to dodge an inanimate object that she couldn't read would be the right kind of challenge for her.

 

[Brooke Townsend]

Brooke was always torn between wanting to stand out during SDA events and wanting to stay out of her sister's eye as much as possible. Gathering for today's meeting however, she couldn't ignore it intrigued to that they might be working on something that would help improve her duelling. Being knocked out of the tournament in round one last year had been embarrassing, and Brooke wasn't keen on a repeat performance.

Eying the rest of the club curiously, Brooke hurried to see if she could find a partner, wanting to avoid drawing her sister's ire. She knew she could practice with a dummy, but Brooke thought it would look a lot more impressive if she could find an older student to partner up with. She looked around hopefully, trying to catch someone's eye before Sydney did.

 

[Flynn North-McGowan]

Flynn was hoping to do much better than being knocked out of the first round of the dueling tournament this year, so he was hoping that the SDA meeting was going to help him brush up on his skills. Though he was just marginally disappointed when he learned they were just practicing the shield charm. Sure, it was a useful spell to know and to be able to master, but being able to move around and dodge things as well was just as important. Not to mention he saved on magical stamina so you could fire off more spells without getting tired. But he didn't really fancy getting his feet stuck to the floor so supposed he was just going to have to do as he was told, wandering towards one of the dummies to practice with as he really didn't want to be dealing with anyone else and could save on sending any jinxes himself.

 

[Lysander Summers]

Lysander knew he had to put a lot more work in this year if he wanted to defeat Juniper and take back his title. He was glad for the chance to practice his reflexes with the SDA, though after Sydney had attacked him the previous year in a club meeting, he hadn't been so sure about coming back to them. That was until he'd heard about some ridiculous note she'd left for Michael. She seemed a whole lot less tough and intimidating now. He looked around the room for a partner, not too interested in fighting a dummy, before eventually walking up to Sydney instead. "Need a partner?" He asked. If he could practice with one of the leaders, then he'd have no problem taking on Juniper later in the year. Sydney might have caught him off guard before, but if he was ready for her this time, he thought he stood a solid chance of showing her he was actually decent.​

@Sydney Townsend

 

[Nell Night]

Of all the clubs she split her time between at Hogwarts, Nell knew all too well that the SDA was the one she was worst at. The few duels she had fumbled her way through had been complete luck, and more often than not she found herself knocked out within the first few rounds of a tournament. She had considered dropping out of the club entirely, but with only a year of school left it would feel silly to quit now. So she had come along to the meeting, listening as Tyler and Syd introduced the day's task. Nell definitely didn't feel up to practicing against a human opponent so she lined up with a practice dummy, bracing herself to shield. "OUCH!" She yelped as a stinging jinx hit her before she had even finished bracing. Oops. Nell started getting ready again, when another spell shocked her and she yelped again, jumping out of the way too late. She definitely wasn't cut out for this.

 

[Blake van Houten]

Ever since Tyler had taken over the SDA, Blake had half-avoided the meetings. He didn't really need to give Tyler any more excuses to treat him like crap. He was determined to win the tournament again this year though, hold on to his place just to spite his former best friend. So he had turned up to the meeting, only half-listening as Tyler and Sydney told them what to do. Shield practice, noted. He wondered if this said anything about Tyler's strategy this year, if the other Slytherin was going to be relying on a heavier defense this time around. Blake was fond of dodging and catching people from unexpected angles, and if this was an attempt to train him out of his favoured strategy it wasn't going to work. He could always use more practice though so he set up with one of the dummies, easily blocking its spells as the practice began.

 

[Tilly Drage]

Tilly was excited for the first SDA meeting of the year. She felt that she’d won the Duelling Tournament last year by sheer luck. If she stood any chance of keeping her title as champion, or even advancing through the rounds, she would need to put in the work. Tilly listened as Sydney and Tyler explained the activity for today. Throwing up Shield Charms seemed easy enough- but was it, really? She noticed Brooke looking around the room. Waving at Brooke her voice maybe a little too loud, Tilly asked, “Wanna be partners?"

@Brooke Townsend

 

[Sydney Townsend]

Sydney was keeping an eye on the club as people began pairing off or squaring up against the dummies, ready to catch out anyone she felt didn't have their shield charms up to snuff. She'd been ready to ignore Lysander, assuming he was just passing by, so she didn't immediately register he was actually asking her to partner up until a short beat had passed and she had to double-take. "You really want to take me on again?" she asked him with a smug smirk, crossing her arms. "Historically, that hasn't gone very well for you."

Admittedly, Sydney hadn't been planning in taking part in today's exercise, she got enough practice on her own, but she wasn't one to turn down a challenge. Or a chance to put any of the uppity Gryffindors in their place. "Fine, get ready," she said simply, turning quickly and pacing away from Lysander to give them some space before firing off a stinging jinx. Hopefully this time he was ready for it. @Lysander Summers

 

[Brooke Townsend]

It was hard to miss Tilly's invitation to partner up, Tilly's voice loud in the duelling chamber, so Brooke couldn't pretend she hadn't heard. Though, she supposed, turning around and giving Tilly a polite smile, there were far worse partners she could end up with than last year's champion. If anything, it probably looked just as good as pairing up with an older student. "Sure! You want to block first?" She asked, giving Tilly enough time to get ready before casting a disarming charm at her. Maybe if she was lucky she'd get past Tilly's defenses immediately and some of the other club members could see her disarming a champion. On the other hand, if it failed, at least Brooke had a decent excuse. @Tilly Drage

 

[Ivy Ashworth]

Ivy headed into the SDA meeting and listened as one of the leaders explained what they were going to do. It sounded interesting and useful, and Ivy was eager to get started. But when she saw that Brooke was pairing up with Tilly, she felt a bit lost. Ivy wanted to practice with another student, but it seemed like a lot of people were choosing the dummies instead. She walked over to Flynn and watched him for a moment. "You know, I could give you a bigger challenge than that dummy." She commented as she watched him practice.

@Flynn North

 

[Juniper Zumwalt]

Juniper was glad to attend her favorite club because it meant getting to really practice to beat Lysander again. As Tyler and Sydney explained their goal today, Juniper decided to spend time with a dummy. Well, an inanimate one. Her options to partner up with seemed rather slim, and she figured it couldn't hurt to be more strategic when it came to this duel, as she was normally dodging spells or blocking by the skin of her teeth. Noticing Adorah's girlfriend nearby, she gave her a wave before starting to block some of the spells that had appeared in her vicinity, trying to remain in place and get hit rather than moving. Although, she wouldn't be too heartbroken if one spell went array and hit a certain fifth year.