The Art of Duelling; Part 2: Principles of Duelling the Beast
Compiled by Moiraine Lee

Introduction
Welcome to part two of online duelling. Today will perhaps be easier then our last lesson, as I hope most of you have the basics of duelling from last month's lesson. This month will perhaps be a little more understandable and a lot more interesting. How? Well we're going to be looking at the combat of magical creatures that can literally bite back. But first, let me remind you of our few key rules in duelling:

  1. No horseplaying because that could easily lose yourself a limb
  2. Only use spells confirmed by the professor or his assistants
  3. Keep language fair not foul
  4. Referee has the final say. No arguments, and no pipe bombs
  5. Do not use any bot commands while duelling
  6. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!
I would like to add that we've got 2 additional IRC referees in our midst. Please welcome Ryan Lobiesk and Fern Davant, along with myself (Moiraine Lee) and Arianna Diamth as official class duelling referees. They can and are also availible for reffing games for you so feel free to ask them, as long as they are not busy that is. ;) Additional refs are not needed at this point and time, as we have a sufficient amount for the time being to handle the demand, so please no applications. We'll request them when we need them.

Also this month, I will be detailing you on your hit points. From now until the end of the year, hit points will be important, and in order to gain more of them, you simply require to defeat certain creatures or persons. Now how much depends on the person, or the creature. Each creature is split into levels of difficulty, the higher the difficulty, the more Hit Points you win with every win. Boggarts I'll tell you now, was like the practice round, as they are incapable of attacking until they transform. Now, these creatures can and will hurt you.

All students start with 6 HP. With every battle you win, you can gain more hit points. This, I will tell you now, will be important for your final exam. Why, I won't tell you. Lets just say, you'll need the endurance and strength.

Now how can these creatures fight back now? Well for example with the boggart, once they answer a question in the 'normal' round, he immediately gets 1 hit, or transformation to win. In this battle, the creatures actually have actual attacks (like bite or tackle) They MUST say they'll attack (as in after winning the normal mode, type 'bite' or 'tackle,' like how you, the castor, say a spell after YOU win). Along with this, they now have to toss a coin for how lucky they're to actually successfully attack you. They DO NOT have to go into battle mode though.

So, as an example:
Taken from the Doxy Duel demo
Referee> 5. Which book did Harry learn the disarming spell in? (Full title required)
Doxy> harry potter and the chamber of secrets
Referee> Winner is: Doxy Correct Answer: harry potter and the chamber of secrets
Doxy> bite
Referee> !pause
Referee> heads or tails?
Doxy> tails
Referee> Success. Harry is now at 4 hp

Does that further clarify how beasts fight?

Now this month, we'll be looking at 3 very different levelled creatures of strength, skill and so forth. With each creature comes spells that you can or can't use against them, and you should always keep those that you can't use in mind. For example, you would NOT use the spell 'incendio' while dealing with an Ashwinder. If you do not know why, I suggest you consult either the Lexicon or your Fantastic Beast books on the creature created by magic fire.

So what will those creatures be? Well they are a Doxy, Erkling, and a Dementor. Each evidently have their own skill level, strength and weaknesses.

Now the following information on all three of these creatures are supplied from an external books, which is still in the making. So here's the necessary information for this month's lesson.

Finally, you can find a list of accepted spell you can use this month right here. Please use only those 8 spells I provided during you IRC duels. Any others will be nullified or penalized.
Doxy (aka the Biting Fairy)
MOM Classification: XXX
Hit Points: 3 HP
Attack: Bite (1 HP)
Description: (Taken from 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' by Newt Scamander)
The Doxy is often mistaken for a fairy thought it is a quite separate species. Like the fairy, it has a minute human form, though in the Doxy's case this is coverted in thick black hair and has an extra pair of arms and legs. The Doxy's wings are thick, curved and shiny, much like a beetle's. Doxies are found throughout northern Europe and America, preferring cold climates. They lay up to five hundred eggs at a time and bury them. The eggs hatch in two or three weeks. Doxies have double rows of sharp, venomous teeth. An antidote should be taken if bitten.
IRC Information
Duelling Advantages: It's a quick little creature though like the fairy, lacks some brain. However, they are smart enough to know that their bite can bring you down. And it being highly poisonous, after the third bite, it will render you in the confusion state, in which forces the castor to flip two coins every time you cast a spell, one to determine luck, and the SECOND for confusion. For the second coin flip, if you call incorrectly, you do damage to yourself, and lose 1 hp. Only way to nullify this effect is to take an antidote, which unfortunately, won't be with you in this game, so lets just hope you don't get bitten more then twice.
Weaknesses: Their main weakness is that they are covered in dark hair. How is that a weakness? Well, to put it lightly, hair is incredibly flammable. Also, they prefer cold climates to hot, which indicates that they do not like warm weather, or warmth in general.
There is in fact a Doxycide on sale in the wizarding world. However, unless you are one of those individuals who carry them around in their pocket all the time, I'm afraid you are not allowed to use the pesticide in battle.
Recommended Spell: Incendio (would do double the HP damage)
HP Rewarded: 1 HP
Demonstration
RPG Duelling
The system here is similar to that of the Boggart Duelling. This time however, you'll have to answer the 7 riddles as well as one knowledge question. Basically, you'll be given a name, and you'll be required to answer what animal it is. For example:
Knowledge Question: Biting Fairy
Answer: Doxy
Simple enough right? You are still required to get 4 of the 3 riddles correct however.

Erkling
MOM Classification: XXXX
Hit Points: 1 hp
Attacks: Tackle (1 hp)
Description: (Taken from 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' by Newt Scamander)
The Erkling is an elvish creature which originated in the Black Forest in Germany. It is larger than a gnome (three feet high on average), with a pointed face and a high-pitched cackle that is particularly entrancing to children, whom it will attempt to lure away from their guardians and eat. Strict controls by the German Ministry of Magic, however, have reduced Erkling killings dramatically over the last few centuries and the last known Erkling attack, upon the six-year-old wizard Bruno Schmidt, resulted in the death of the Erkling when Master Schmidt hit it very hard over the head with his father's collapsible cauldron.
IRC Information
Duelling Advantages: A rather strange and haunting creature, lets just say, when battling this creature, you'd have to silence him first, because in truth, his voice is so entrancing that you won't be able to attack him at all without silencing him. Now basically, you have 5 turns (As in 5 questions played in the 'Normal' mode) to silence him before he succeeds in devouring you. If you fail to silence him after the 5th question comes up, you lose the duel, if you succeed you'll be able to take him out quickly, as his hit point level truly does stink.
Weaknesses: Their main weakness is that once their voice is gone, they are rendered defenceless against attack. With a poor HP score, if they weren't so entrancing in voice, they would have been wiped off the face of the earth many years ago by creatures with a lot more endurance.
HP Rewarded: 3 HP
Recommended Spell: Silencio (Silences them)
Demonstration
RPG Information
The real challenge of RPG duelling comes into play here. You have to silence your opponent. How? Well you'll at first be given 3 items to find which can be found on any of these three sites: HOL-Virtual Hogwarts, Harry Potter Official Movie Site, and the Harry Potter Lexicon. You MUST find them all before your 24 hours are up, or else, you lose.
If you find them all and PM the answers to the ref of the game, you get 4 riddles. You need only answer 2 correctly to win. However, you must answer them within the time frame given when the game started, or else, you lose. Difficult huh?

Dementor
MOM Classification: None, though you can assume they'd fall under XXXXX or more
Hit Points: 20 HP
Attacks:
Despair (2 HP)
Dark Dreams (originally 1 HP and doubles every time it is used in the duel)
Dementor's Kiss (KO Attack)
Description: (Taken from the 'Harry Potter Lexicon')
Remus Lupin gives this excellent description of a dementor (PA10):
"Dementors are among the foulest creatures that walk this earth. They infest the darkest, filthiest places, they glory in decay and despair, they drain peace, hope, and happiness out of the air around them. Even Muggles feel their presence, though they can't see them. Get too near a dementor and every good feeling, every happy memory will be sucked out of you. If it can, the dementor will feed on you long enough to reduce you to something like itself...soul-less and evil. You will be left with nothing but the worst experiences of your life."
They feed on positive human emotions; a large crowd is like a feast to them. They drain a wizard of his powers if left with them too long. They are the guards at Azkaban and make that place horrible indeed. There are certain defenses one can use against dementors, specifically the Patronus Charm. A dementor's breath sounds rattling and like it's trying to suck more than air out of the room. Its hands are "glistening, grayish, slimy-looking, and scabbed." It exudes cold (PA5).
The dementor's last and worst weapon is called the Dementor's Kiss. The dementor puts back its hood and clamps its jaws on the mouth of the victim and sucks out his soul, leaving him an empty shell, alive but completely, irretrievably "gone." (PA12, 20)
IRC Information
Duelling Advantages: Dementors are among the most dangerous of all creatures in the magical world, with its powerful endurance and almost unbeatable power that makes it almost invincible to the student dueller. Really, the creature itself is a strength. Most normal spells have little effect on them, and the closer they get to you, the more dangerous they become. Their attack/power despair can never miss. And with its Dementor's Kiss, it can take out any dueller with one swipe. However, that power is very carefully controlled by the Ministry of Magic, so I can assure you, unless you set up an impromptu duel with a Dementor, you won't be having your soul sucked out of you.
And I will tell you right now, the only spell known that can take down a dementor is the Patronus Charm. So if you were thinking of doing as Aragorn from Lord of the Rings did and throwing a flaming brand at these Dementors (or casting incendio) as if they were Nazgul, it won't work. Though they sound somewhat the same, I can assure you, Dementors and Nazgul are very different. And fire angers a Dementor to no end, and I can't say he WON'T use his most lethal weapon on you whether we want him to or not.
Weaknesses: A Dementor has only one known weakness, and that is of course, a creature made of hope and happiness, known as the Patronus, a spirit created by a spell called the Patronus Charm. Now this charm is incredibly difficult to summon, and is way beyond that of Ordinary Wizarding Levels. But once summoned, it cannot miss. All you'll have to be concerned of is to get the necessary power and luck to have at least a wispy cloud-like silver shadow to appear. If you wish to know how, please see here.
HP Rewarded: 10 HP
Recommended Only Useable Spell: Expecto Patronum (Creates a Patronus)
Demonstration
RPG Information
This is also quite a challenge. First you have to find FIVE (5) Scavenger hunt items on any of these three sites: HOL-Virtual Hogwarts, Harry Potter Official Movie Site, and the Harry Potter Lexicon. All must be found before 24 hours are up, and they MUST be correct the first time around, or you have lost.
Once you found them all, you will be given TEN (10) riddles, and you MUST be able to answer EIGHT (8) of them correctly, or you would lose. Yes that is the accuracy required of you in RPG duelling to properly defeat this creature. And like in IRC duelling, I really don't expect you to even try this...