Note: This club primarily uses ROLEPLAY. Please remain in character and keep any OOC comments behind spoilers or parentheses.

The long dining tables that once filled the Great Hall had seemingly vanished into thin air, now replaced with a long platform, chairs set up at a safe distance for curious spectators. Along one wall, a gold ornamented banner reading "Dueling Club" hung neatly amongst the usual candlelit scenery of the Great Hall.
A girl is standing in the middle of the platform smiling.
“Welcome to the first meeting of Dueling Club! I’m Beth Hale, your club captain. Please write your name and house down.” she eagerly said and handed the closest student next to her a piece of parchment paper and a quill.
“Before we begin, let’s introduce ourselves.”

PARTICIPANTS

Aderyn Jones Magnus Lee Lyn Hale

Magnus beams happily and signs his name Magnus Lee/Gryffindor on the paper. He was so excited that he almost forgot to hand the parchment to the next person. Dueling sounded so fun and possibly dangerous--which made it all the better in his opinion.

@ Italia "Hi Beth!" said Hannah happily that dueling club was beginning. Hannah and Deme wrote down their names and Ravenclaw house and then handed it to the next person. "Hi Everyone I'm Hannah and this here is Demeogo or Deme for short." Hannah said speaking after Beth unsure it was her turn or not, but still excited.

Magnus shyly looks around for a friendly face and spots Rowan (), the girl he'd met at the feast and did he see Paddy () over there? He was sure he forgetting something (like introducing himself) but truth be told he was more comfortable on his own or reading than socializing.

Rowan gulps, then sees Magnus sign the parchment and adds her name, too.

If you want to be an Auror, Rowan, you have to learn to duel with the wand. Buck up, girl! Make yourself a witch to be reckoned with!

She sits down and waves at Magnus in return, then turns to smile at Paddy.

Paddy steps warily into the room, scanning her eyes over her fellow students, looking for someone she recognised. Spotting Magnus () and she smiles and wanders over to them.

“Before we begin, let’s introduce ourselves.” Paddy's grin fades at the thought of having to introduce herself in front of everyone. Public speaking is definitely not one of her strong points. Taking the parchment that was handed to her, she signs Paddy - Gryffindor and hopes someone else will speak up first.

Magnus finally plucks up the courage to say fairly loudly, "Magnus Lee." Then his blush fell across his face and he wandered over to and Rowan . "'Ullo. Rowan and Paddy, wasn't it? Whatcha think of Hogwarts so far?" He was so bad at this he felt but he did want friends.

Seeing Magnus have the courage to speak up, Rowan found her voice.

"Hi, I'm Rowan. I'm in Gryffindor. My parents are Muggles, and I didn't even know I was a witch until a few months ago." She realizes she's running her mouth from nervousness, whispers, "and I have a dog." She sits down quickly.

Paddy decided it was about time she plucked up the courage to introduce herself "I'm Paddy, and I'm in Gryffindor" she said, stopping before she said too much about herself.

Turning back to Magnus () and , she thought for a few seconds before replying - how can you sum up a place like this after such a short space of time? "It's brilliant" she said "much better than my old school"

Magnus nodded but said no more. The room was buzzing with excitement and he would rather know them better before he told him more of himself

[img align=left]http://i1156.photobucket.com/albums/p562/pikachuemerald/Subeta/DuelingClubHA_zpsxycpz124.png[/img] The door to the Great Hall opened with a loud creak. Lyn slipped in before closing the door behind her as softly as possible. "Sorry for the lateness- I took a wrong turn-" Lyn paused, taking a couple deep breaths to fill her lungs with much needed air. She had gotten distracted with the latest issue of Quidditch Weekly and before she knew it she was bolting down the stairs with abandon trying to get to the Great Hall. Standing up straight, she glanced around the room and upon seeing familiar faces all around felt herself relax. “Lyn Hale, Gryffindor.” She walked over to one of the empty chairs around the platform and sat down.

[img align=left]http://i909.photobucket.com/albums/ac299/blissfuldaisies/Random/Dueling_zpsy1yj9od9.png[/img] Gaia saw as the door to the Great hall closed. "Great" she already knew she was late so she ran as fast as she could to the door and without thinking opened the door and ran inside. "SORRY! I AM HERE!" and then looked around as everyone turned to look at her. "Erm... well hello. I am Gaia, from Ravenclaw." As she curtsy to everyone as a way to lift the awkwardness in the air. Then turned to () Beth and let out the battlecry "CAWCAW" and started laughing. "This is going to be so much fun!" She then turned to her fellow classmates from Gryffindor and waved. "Hello everybody!"

() high five "You call me?" Gaia said with a wink like there was some inside joke. "I am sure ( ) Char, Fade, and Cardamom will be here soon."

[img align=left]http://i909.photobucket.com/albums/ac299/blissfuldaisies/Random/Dueling_zpsy1yj9od9.png[/img] () Shrugs, "I am not sure, but I always try to drag them around with me. I mean we should all have a turn at zapping one another!" Gaia grinned... "I mean to learn how to use our wands properly. I wonder if there is any food left around here."

[img align=left]http://i.imgur.com/S8ReoUj.png[/img]Poppy walked quickly to the middle of the platform that had been set up in the Great Hall. She nodded to Beth and smiled at the others. "Hi, I'm Poppy," she said simply. The piece of parchment and quill made their way around to her and she scrawled her full name and house on the roster—Poppy Blackwood, Slytherin. She had mainly stuck to the small circle of friends she'd made that were Slytherins or prefects, so she was curious about newer faces in the group that was assembled for the meeting.

Encouraged by , Rowan smiles at Magnus and begins to relax. "Well, I know I like it better. It just feels like I really fit in here! Well, there's Slaverus Malfoy. I try to avoid him, but the other Slitherins seem nice.

"Shall we wave to ? I think she's the only one from that house here."

Magnus started to relax even more. Maybe he shouldn't be so guarded? "Didn't have a school," he said slowly, "grew up in an orphanage till rather recently. Adopted near me 10th birthday. Great people, me new mum an' Dad. Mimsy is giddy runnin' 'bout the house cleaning all the time. She says she loves having a new master. Mimsy, being the house elf. Mum an' Dad bought me my new cat for me on me 11th birthday. Kippers, seems to be rather happy at all the mice here." He realised he said far more than he meant to, but waves to the mentioned and then distinctly started looking at the floor.

Having not met any students from other classes yet, Paddy was uncertain about - she'd heard strange things about Slytherin, but she didn't want to appear rude, so she smiled and waved at her.

Paddy felt sorry for Magnus () having been raised in an orphanage, but he sounded friendly enough. "What are house elves like?" she asked while the other students were still signing their names on the parchment, "I've never seen one before."