"Are you ready, Neville?"
Night had fallen, and a duel was underway in the Gryffindor dormitory, where the warm breeze lingered.
The four-poster beds, tables, chairs, and stools had all been moved against the walls, leaving an open space in the middle of the dormitory.
Seamus, Dean, and Ron were each standing on their desks by the wall, watching Neville and Harry in the center with eager interest.
Harry and Neville stood twenty feet apart, one holding a wand, the other a sword, facing each other with grim expressions.
Strictly speaking, this could not be considered a duel. Practice was a more fitting term.
Physical education class students were not permitted to duel privately with wands. That was an ironclad rule Professor Breen had laid down.
However, Neville, who had won a splendid victory for Hogwarts, had still managed to obtain a small privilege from Professor Breen.
He had begged Professor Breen to allow someone to practice with him so that he could master his "special wand" as quickly as possible.
After careful consideration, Amosta had agreed to Neville's request.
But he had also set rules for Neville. During practice, both sides could only choose either an offensive or defensive stance; they could not attack each other at the same time. That would make risk control easier.
Amosta had also fixed Neville's sparring partner: Harry.
The reason for this decision was simple. Harry and Neville were both physical education class students, they lived in the same dormitory, and they got along very well. They would know where to draw the line and would not get red in the face over some minor accident.
Another reason Amosta had assigned Neville a fixed sparring partner was to prevent him from using practice as an excuse to go around the castle "causing trouble."