thattimeofthemonth | Open RP Post

Draco shook his head more amused then anything. He wasn't buying that one bit. Remus is just lucky that Draco fully respects him now.

Quickly, Remus held out his wand. He carefully paid attention to how Remus stood and held his wand wanting to use everything he could to predict what might be done.

Remus' eyes were very serious, brows still up. "I'll give you a choice, Draco, and I want you to be honest with yourself in how you respond. Do you want me to test you like I would a student, or like I would another wizard, properly? The latter means you very well could get hurt if I can't pull the spell fast enough."

A choice? Draco was a bit surprised by it. He was so used to dealing with the his family and the Death Eaters and they never gave him a choice. They automatically treated him as another wizard and expected him to do well. And were always disappointed when he didn't live up to their standards...because he was a student and still needed to learn.

Part of him wanted to be treated like a wizard and prove that he didn't need to be protected. But at the same time he knew he still needed to learn a lot.

"Test me like a student," Draco replied with some reluctance feeling a little ashamed of himself.

Draco might notice the pleased expression in Remus' eyes at his choice and he nods. "Student, then." He watched Draco closely, then adds, "defensive only, for now. I want to see how you defend yourself. No return attacks. After this, we'll try a bit of a free duel, and then I'll know what's best to teach you to work with your style."

He shifted his weight. "Here we go!" Almost happy. This was a man who did love to teach, actually. The movement of his wand was shift. "Rictusempra!"

He noted that Remus seemed pleased with his answer and relaxed a little. He hoped it meant that he had made the right decision.

"Protego Maxima!" Draco quickly replied as soon as Remus had cleared the okay to go. He wasn't going to fool around with this and quickly tried to form a protective barrier. He was quite familiar using these having to help his father put up wards around their house.

Very telling. Remus made a note of the spell and watched as his intial spell bounced off, but as the spell went up, it had a weakness. The more foolish of wizards tried this same thing often enough, and years of fighting for himself had taught him much. So he fired off three rapid fire hexes, two to strike for the front to keep Draco busy and another that seemed to miss, hitting the ground behind and to the side. But in reality, the ward took time to come tigether as a whole - interrupting it was easier than a weaker protection to begin with.

The heather suddenly sprouted vines which leapt for Draco from behind.

Draco cursed softly to himself, realizing his mistake too late. He should have been prepared to back himself up with it since it wasn't necessarily a quick defensive spell to rely on.

While Draco managed to repel the first two hexes, the one that sent the vines out kept Draco busy. Unfortunately, before Draco could think of a spell to use the vines had him quickly entangled. It only left him furious with himself as he tried to get free of the vines.

"The downside to a powerful ward," Remus called over, "is that it takes time to cast and time to form and more attention to cast!" Teaching even as they go. "Layers can provide the time and safety you need to cast such a powerful one." He gave a quick flick of his wrist and dismissed the vines, letting then fall from Draco.

"Power isn't always the best first attack or defense. Sometimes, something more simple can be the deciding factor."

Thankfully, Draco managed to regain his balance so he landed on his feet. It was his once saving grace from the humilation he already suffered from. He listened to what Remus had to say, taking in the advice. He had to admit he enjoyed learning from Remus more then his aunt.

"I shouldn't have picked something so slow."

"Those who focus more on the dark side tend to think always in terms of power. It must be more powerful. That's if they think of defensive protections at all. Before, while you were checking around, I started with a simple spell and built on it - hid my wand first, protective charms after that. Remember what I said about knowledge being power? Falls into that category."

He lifted his wand, which was the only warning he gave before he sent another spell at Draco - something more simple. Another disarming spell.

Draco gave a nod of understanding, a little disappointed with himself. This was going to be a hard transition for him. He had grown up to learning a lot of the Dark Arts and relying on that way of thinking. "I'll admit...this is going to be hard for me to transition. I didn't think how difficult it would be to switch over...until now."

Quickly, Draco reacted by relying on a more simple deflecting spell. He needed to remember that simple was just as effective as big and powerful ones.

"When I had to go underground with the werewolves, I honestly had no idea what I was getting into. Unfortunately, sometimes, you have to learn the hard way - by being pushed off the dock." Teaching, even as he 'dueled'. "Better."

He didn't just stand still like most wizards did when they dueled, he started to move, circling Draco. His next spell came nearly as quick, another attempt to disarm, but then as soon as the spell went off, he pointed to the ground and snapped off another spell. This one caused a massive pool of ice around Draco's feet.

This particular style of dueling threw Draco off a bit. Granted he knew his father could duel well while moving and didn't have to stay in one spot.

Draco went to deflect the spell, but fell for the second attack. He tried to focus on melting the ice around himself and at the same time he knew he left himself open. He frowned not liking being put in this type of situation.

Edited 2015-11-19 02:23 (UTC)

"Good!" Treating him as a student, not at his level, or he would have in for something more dangerous than what he did. His next spell came in during that moment when Draco was distracted and it was a very simple spell. It would grow Draco's lips to twice their current size. Even that had a point.

"Such a simple spell, but it makes it more difficult for you to speak your next spell. It can be the simplest things that give you the edge over your opponent. However, you could have stayed still and got me in a difficult predicament before you removed the ice."

At this point, Draco really wasn't paying attention. He was too busy trying not to panic over the fact that he was struggling to speak and undo the spell. This obviously was a bad decision.

It seemed that this night he was failing miserably, making more mistakes then anything. He finally looked to Remus for help, when he failed to be able to say the spell needed to undo it.

Remus took pity and undid the spell, walking over and giving Draco a pat on the shoulder. "Sorry. Maybe I didn't chose the best path for this but I think you'll appreciate it in the end. You'll be able to look back and see how much you've improved from now. I'm pleased with this as a first attempt... after all, it's not like dueling in school."

He gave a faint smile, then looked a bit hopeful. "Where do you want to start learning?"

"I still feel like I made more mistakes then anything...Beginner mistakes at that," Draco frowned, his pale face red with embarrassment.

Even though he was humiliated, Draco had to admit he did like the challenge. It was different and made him think...and show how much that he needed to learn. There was a pause and Draco frowned a bit.

"I think maybe I should learn more defensive spells..." he weakly admitted.

"Good choice." Remus nodded and thus began their lessons proper. He would take about an hour, just working through the basics of defensive spells as the light thought of them. However, it wasn't like being in class as the way Remus taught were quite different. He taught in less of a structured way, a way wizards rarely thought. His defenses were built in layers instead of a single spell. A quick layer first, building in strength so it would be ready for a bigger attack. People rarely even thought about 'wearing' defenses but, as he pointed out, that was the point. Most wizards believed they could dodge and reflect and redirect everythibg, which was important, but when one did get through... It was important to have some defenses left.

Draco listened taking in everything that Remus had said. He liked the fact that it was less structured. He had never thought about building defenses in the way Remus suggested. It was a unique idea and Draco admitting agreed that not many would have thought to try such a tactic.

"But building these layers take time...how can we properly do this when one is not prepared and an attack happens out of no where?" Draco questioned.

"Given that either way, you would have to be ready, it doesn't make a huge amount of difference. However, there is an advantage. If you're going into a situation that's questionable? You can have them already on you. Secondly, there are times you don't want to give away that you've picked up on someone coming up to you. Hand in your pocket, silent cast, means you can survive a hit they'll throw. Here, this is a particularly good one..."

A mirroring spell. This one turned into a sort of magical mirror that was more limited in size, couldn't cover the whole body, but it could reflect a spell back at the attacker.

He nodded his head in understanding. He had thought as much. It was always easier to prepare if you had any idea it might be questionable.

"Was this what you had used earlier on me when I had first attacked you?" He questioned as he tried to apply the spell.

"No, but maybe I should have. The ones before were purely layered defenses which was why it started to sting after a few hits. ...To be honest, I designed the layered defenses based on Muggle principles. Dont let your parents know." He chuckled quietly as he showed Draco how the mirrored reflect worked- it captured a spell's energy and let him send it out in any other direction.

"The danger here is if you can't contain the energy, it will blow up in your face as I learned the hard way several times."

"Muggle principles?" The explanation caused Draco to raise an eyebrow.. While Narcissa may frown upon the idea he could see his father accepting the idea....secretly. It seemed like a tactic that his father would use.

He gave a small "Oh" at the warning. He had enough spells backfire on him to understand the dangers of this spell.

"They have some fascinating thoughts with science that I think can be applied to magic, at times." Remus looked a touch embarrassed, rubbing the back of his neck.

When he thought Draco had it down, he raised his brows. "Ready to give it a shot? Promise I'll keep the attack low level just in case."

"That science stuff...right. I've caught my father studying some of those books..." Draco sheepishly admitted. He was too amused at the time by his father's reaction to being caught with a Muggle book in hand. He never did get a proper excuse from him just made to do more chores for the rest of that month.

He gave a nod and held up his hand ready to give it a try.

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