[Ficfiction]: Duel
Title: Duel
Author/Artist: Polarstern (fandom blog)
Prompt: Iceland, Denmark - Magic |Kalmar Union or Modern
Other characters: Mentions of Norway
Rating: PG
Content notes: Denmark=Mathias, Iceland=Einar, Harry Potter AU (my fandom roots are showing)
Summary: Einar wants to learn how to defend himself and asks Mathias to help
"Stand ready."
Einar scrambled up onto the platform, almost tripping over his own feet, and faced his opponent. Mathias stood at the other end, stance relaxed and confident. He tilted his head and grinned mockingly.
Einar raised his wand and lunged forward.
"Stupefy!"
There was an answering flash of light as his feet were blasted out from under him, his spell flying off towards the ceiling, and seconds later his back hit the soft mat on the floor hard enough to knock him breathless for what seemed like the hundredth time that night.
He lay there coughing for a moment. Mathias walked over a stood above him, offering him a hand.
"I'm starting to have doubts about your teaching methods," he grumbled, annoyed at himself more than Mathias.
"Ha!" Mathias responded with a derisive snort. "I did tell you I wasn't going to go easy."
Einar scowled and retrieved his wand from where it had fallen. "So," he said, turning back to Mathias. "What am I doing wrong?"
"Your stance is still all wrong," Mathias said, "You're not going to be able to move if you need to with your weigh balanced that far forward, at least not without tripping over your own feet again." Einar reddened. "You're over-extending yourself so, even if you got a spell off you'd have a hard time properly casting your second." He did an impression of Einar's wild lunge forward, which did look pretty silly. "But mostly-" and suddenly he was in Einar's space, tapping him lightly on the nose with his wand and causing him to yelp in alarm and stumble backwards. "-You aren't paying attention."
"I am paying attention!" he yelled furiously as Mathias laughed at him. "I'm listening to everything you say!"
Mathias clicked his tongue. "You're listening, yes, but you're not watching." He jumped back on the platform. "Come back up, I'll show you."
Einar sighed and climbed up after him, and the faced off again.
"So," Mathias said, "why do you think I'm knocking you down before you can get a spell off?"
"Because you're faster than me?"
Mathias waved his hand dismissively. "It's true, I am - but that's not what's important here. It's not about being the first person to cast. Look, your problem is you're too focused on what you're doing and not paying any attention to what your opponent is doing." He pointed to himself. "You're already at more of an advantage here than you would be with most opponents because you know me, far better than most people. If you thought about it, you'd have a good idea about what I might do. In most situations, you'd need to try and predict your opponent with far less information than that, so you need to learn to pay attention, and to react accordingly on a moments notice." He moved into spellcasting position, and Einar followed suit, leaning his weight back further this time. "So let's say we've never met before tonight. What do you know about me so far?"
"You're a better dueller."
"Why?"
"Experience. You're faster. You know more spells."
"Knowing spells isn't important, I already taught you the ones you need to know - and I'm not teaching you any curses because your brother would kill me - but I am faster, so you know you won't get the first spell off, right? So how are you going to counter that?"
"I don't know," Einar grumbled, frustrated.
"Think about the spells I taught you earlier. And don't try and move first - let me cast the first spell, then react." He moved forward, giving Einar only a split second of warning before he yelled "Expelliarmus!"
Einar gasped and stepped backwards. "Protego!" He shouted back.
Mathias' spell shattered his shield but still rebounded straight back at his caster. Einar gave a cry of triumph as he watched Mathias duck out of the way, a cry which was cut short as he found himself on his back again. He cursed.
Mathias was grinning when he came to help Einar up.
"Now you're getting it!"
"I still didn't hit you though," Einar replied
"Ah, you'll get there." Mathias ruffled his hair, and Einar shoved him away with a scowl. "Now, see if you can do that again."
It took another hour and many more failures for Einar to finally get a hit. Mathias yelped in surprise as his wand went flying from his hand.
"Yes!" Einar exclaimed, but it turned into a cry of shock as Mathias' kicked his legs out from under him. He closed his eyes and flinched away from the fist heading straight for his face.
Of course, it never connected, and Einar opened his eyes to stare wide-eyed at the older boy, who had the gall to look amused.
"That's..." he said, heart still hammering. "That's illegal. There's not physical contact allowed in a duel."
Mathias snorted loudly, still crouched over him and making no move to stand.
"You purebloods are far to reliant on your wands," he said, tapping Einar on the forehead and ignoring his furious glare. "Here's my most important lesson: you can't expect anyone else to follow the rules so why should you? If someone's giving you shit, kick them in the teeth. They probably won't go after you again."
He stood up walked over to retrieve his wand. Einar lay on the floor for a few more seconds before pulling himself up, his muscles sore from so many rough landings.
"Hey so, uh," Mathias said suddenly, "That last thing I told you? Don't tell your brother about that."
"I thought we weren't telling him about any of this?" He didn't bother pointing out that trying to keep their night-time activity from his brother was probably futile (he wouldn't be surprised if Kjell had the entire castle bugged)
"Well yeah but... especially don't tell him that, I don't want my teeth kicked in." He looked up at the hourglass on the wall, which was almost empty. "Speaking of, that's enough for tonight. Let's get back before he notices we're gone."
Einar just rolled his eyes and followed him out, the door vanishing behind them.
(edit: oops, that cut didn't work, gj Livejournal)
Author/Artist: Polarstern (fandom blog)
Prompt: Iceland, Denmark - Magic |Kalmar Union or Modern
Other characters: Mentions of Norway
Rating: PG
Content notes: Denmark=Mathias, Iceland=Einar, Harry Potter AU (my fandom roots are showing)
Summary: Einar wants to learn how to defend himself and asks Mathias to help
"Stand ready."
Einar scrambled up onto the platform, almost tripping over his own feet, and faced his opponent. Mathias stood at the other end, stance relaxed and confident. He tilted his head and grinned mockingly.
Einar raised his wand and lunged forward.
"Stupefy!"
There was an answering flash of light as his feet were blasted out from under him, his spell flying off towards the ceiling, and seconds later his back hit the soft mat on the floor hard enough to knock him breathless for what seemed like the hundredth time that night.
He lay there coughing for a moment. Mathias walked over a stood above him, offering him a hand.
"I'm starting to have doubts about your teaching methods," he grumbled, annoyed at himself more than Mathias.
"Ha!" Mathias responded with a derisive snort. "I did tell you I wasn't going to go easy."
Einar scowled and retrieved his wand from where it had fallen. "So," he said, turning back to Mathias. "What am I doing wrong?"
"Your stance is still all wrong," Mathias said, "You're not going to be able to move if you need to with your weigh balanced that far forward, at least not without tripping over your own feet again." Einar reddened. "You're over-extending yourself so, even if you got a spell off you'd have a hard time properly casting your second." He did an impression of Einar's wild lunge forward, which did look pretty silly. "But mostly-" and suddenly he was in Einar's space, tapping him lightly on the nose with his wand and causing him to yelp in alarm and stumble backwards. "-You aren't paying attention."
"I am paying attention!" he yelled furiously as Mathias laughed at him. "I'm listening to everything you say!"
Mathias clicked his tongue. "You're listening, yes, but you're not watching." He jumped back on the platform. "Come back up, I'll show you."
Einar sighed and climbed up after him, and the faced off again.
"So," Mathias said, "why do you think I'm knocking you down before you can get a spell off?"
"Because you're faster than me?"
Mathias waved his hand dismissively. "It's true, I am - but that's not what's important here. It's not about being the first person to cast. Look, your problem is you're too focused on what you're doing and not paying any attention to what your opponent is doing." He pointed to himself. "You're already at more of an advantage here than you would be with most opponents because you know me, far better than most people. If you thought about it, you'd have a good idea about what I might do. In most situations, you'd need to try and predict your opponent with far less information than that, so you need to learn to pay attention, and to react accordingly on a moments notice." He moved into spellcasting position, and Einar followed suit, leaning his weight back further this time. "So let's say we've never met before tonight. What do you know about me so far?"
"You're a better dueller."
"Why?"
"Experience. You're faster. You know more spells."
"Knowing spells isn't important, I already taught you the ones you need to know - and I'm not teaching you any curses because your brother would kill me - but I am faster, so you know you won't get the first spell off, right? So how are you going to counter that?"
"I don't know," Einar grumbled, frustrated.
"Think about the spells I taught you earlier. And don't try and move first - let me cast the first spell, then react." He moved forward, giving Einar only a split second of warning before he yelled "Expelliarmus!"
Einar gasped and stepped backwards. "Protego!" He shouted back.
Mathias' spell shattered his shield but still rebounded straight back at his caster. Einar gave a cry of triumph as he watched Mathias duck out of the way, a cry which was cut short as he found himself on his back again. He cursed.
Mathias was grinning when he came to help Einar up.
"Now you're getting it!"
"I still didn't hit you though," Einar replied
"Ah, you'll get there." Mathias ruffled his hair, and Einar shoved him away with a scowl. "Now, see if you can do that again."
It took another hour and many more failures for Einar to finally get a hit. Mathias yelped in surprise as his wand went flying from his hand.
"Yes!" Einar exclaimed, but it turned into a cry of shock as Mathias' kicked his legs out from under him. He closed his eyes and flinched away from the fist heading straight for his face.
Of course, it never connected, and Einar opened his eyes to stare wide-eyed at the older boy, who had the gall to look amused.
"That's..." he said, heart still hammering. "That's illegal. There's not physical contact allowed in a duel."
Mathias snorted loudly, still crouched over him and making no move to stand.
"You purebloods are far to reliant on your wands," he said, tapping Einar on the forehead and ignoring his furious glare. "Here's my most important lesson: you can't expect anyone else to follow the rules so why should you? If someone's giving you shit, kick them in the teeth. They probably won't go after you again."
He stood up walked over to retrieve his wand. Einar lay on the floor for a few more seconds before pulling himself up, his muscles sore from so many rough landings.
"Hey so, uh," Mathias said suddenly, "That last thing I told you? Don't tell your brother about that."
"I thought we weren't telling him about any of this?" He didn't bother pointing out that trying to keep their night-time activity from his brother was probably futile (he wouldn't be surprised if Kjell had the entire castle bugged)
"Well yeah but... especially don't tell him that, I don't want my teeth kicked in." He looked up at the hourglass on the wall, which was almost empty. "Speaking of, that's enough for tonight. Let's get back before he notices we're gone."
Einar just rolled his eyes and followed him out, the door vanishing behind them.
(edit: oops, that cut didn't work, gj Livejournal)