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"Now, Professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to start this little duelling club, to train you all in case you ever need to defend yourselves as I myself have done on countless occasions — for full details, see my published works."
— Gilderoy Lockhart stating the purpose of the club[src]

This Duelling Club was a club at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, founded in late 1992 by the then Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor Gilderoy Lockhart with the intention of teaching the students of Hogwarts how to defend themselves in response to the revelation that the Chamber of Secrets had been opened for the second time.[1]

Though the initial club was very unsuccessful,[1] it was recreated in 1996 in response to a darker social climate.[2] It was still active during the 2000s.[3]

History[]

First meeting[]

"A haze of greenish smoke was hovering over the scene. Both Neville and Justin were lying on the floor, panting; Ron was holding up an ashen-faced Seamus, apologising for whatever his broken wand had done; but Hermione and Millicent Bulstrode were still moving; Millicent had Hermione in a headlock and Hermione was whimpering in pain; both their wands lay forgotten on the floor."
— A description of the chaos following the first attempt to have the students practise duelling[src]
Duelling Club 1992

The first and only known meeting of the original club, 1992

The first meeting of the club was held on 17 December at eight o'clock in the evening in the Great Hall. It was led by Gilderoy Lockhart and Severus Snape. Lockhart and Snape opened the club with a demonstration of formal duelling, including the accepted combative position, though Snape was rather crude with his greeting. Snape easily overpowered Lockhart, hitting him with a Disarming Charm so powerful that it knocked Lockhart against the nearby wall.

Snape disarming Lockhart COS

Snape casting a Disarming Charm at Lockhart

Presumably deciding that Snape was far too skilful for him, Lockhart barely covered his own ineptitude by lying that he let Snape do it (which angered Snape so much that even the ever ignorant Lockhart could tell) and decided to let the students practise duelling on their own. The students were split into pairs (with Snape making sure neither Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, nor Hermione Granger were partnered with each other) and commanded to practise disarming.[1]

This, however, turned out to be a mistake, as the duelling students quickly became frenzied and had to be broken up by the use of Finite Incantatem by Snape. The frenzied duelling involved Harry and Draco Malfoy using far more malicious spells than the Disarming Charm, Ron's broken wand leaving Seamus Finnigan ashen-faced, and Hermione and Millicent Bulstrode stooping to physical combat rather than spells.[1]

Serpensortia

Malfoy casting the Snake Summons Spell and conjuring a large snake

At this, Snape suggested teaching the students to block unfriendly spells would be prudent. Lockhart agreed, but, having no idea how to do it himself, failed to instruct Harry as to the proper way to do this. Nevertheless, Harry was paired with Draco once again. At Snape's instruction, Draco used the Snake Summons Spell and conjured a large, black snake. Having created the desired effect of scaring Harry, Snape moved to get rid of the snake, but Lockhart moved first, hitting the snake with Alarte Ascendare.

Justin snake

Harry Potter stopping the snake from attacking Justin by speaking Parseltongue

However, this spell only lifted the snake a few feet into the air, enraging it further and causing it to make its way towards Justin Finch-Fletchley. Harry, unaware of what he was doing, commanded the snake to stop in Parseltongue. Snape, becoming horrified at Harry's new ability, vanished the snake and ended the meeting.[1]

Further meetings[]

Presumably, the club was disbanded when Lockhart lost his memory and was removed as the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor.

In 1996, the Club was reinstated by Headmaster Albus Dumbledore as a precaution when Lord Voldemort had been officially announced at large once again. Each house, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Slytherin and Gryffindor had their own personal duelling club and their own head member who acted as a leader and would arrange practice duels. Each house also had their own personal duelling area from which students of all houses could go to duel: Gryffindors gathered in the Great Hall, Ravenclaws in the Middle Courtyard, Slytherins in The Quad, and Hufflepuffs in the Training Grounds.[2]

The club was still active in the 2000s. In 2008, Rubeus Hagrid introduced a Muggle-born student to the club, where they would often engage in one-on-one and two-on-two duels.[3]

Legacy[]

Following the first meeting of the club, the student body (as well as Harry himself) became aware of Harry's status as a Parselmouth. This alienated the student body, causing a large portion of them to believe that Harry was the Heir of Slytherin and was setting the monster in the Chamber of Secrets on Muggle-borns.[1] This opinion only changed when Hermione Granger (known to be a good friend of Harry's) was attacked as well.[4] Harry's knowledge of Parseltongue would later serve him in combating the true heir of Slytherin and, much later, opening Salazar Slytherin's Locket.

Both the Disarming Charm and the knowledge of formal duelling helped Harry to survive against Lord Voldemort in a duel the two would have over two years later, and those same skills would help him face Voldemort again, for the final time during Voldemort's last stand.

Known members[]

Gryffindor[]

Hufflepuff[]

Ravenclaw[]

Slytherin[]

Unknown House[]

See also[]

Appearances[]

Notes and references[]

Defence Against the Dark Arts (D.A.D.A.)
Subjectsdada
D.A.D.A. at Hogwarts
Classroom 3C · Classroom 3C backrooms · Temporary Classroom · Hogwarts Turris Magnus · Teacher's Office · Storeroom · Staircase · Storage room · Lesson Cup · Race Cup · Duelling Club · Dumbledore's Army
Professors
Isidora Morganach · Dinah Hecat · Arsenius Jigger · Albus Dumbledore · Galatea Merrythought · 1984–1985 professor · 1985–1986 professor · 1986–1987 professor · 1987–1988 professor · Patricia Rakepick · 1989–1990 professor · First 1990–1991 professor · Olivia Green · Quirinus Quirrell · Gilderoy Lockhart · Remus Lupin · Bartemius Crouch Junior (as Alastor Moody) · Dolores Umbridge · Severus Snape · Amycus Carrow (as Dark Arts teacher) · Unidentified professor · Brindlemore
Textbooks
The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection · Advanced Defence Against the Dark Arts · Break with a Banshee · Gadding with Ghouls · Holidays with Hags · Travels with Trolls · Voyages with Vampires · Wanderings with Werewolves · Year with the Yeti · The Essential Defence Against the Dark Arts · Defensive Magical Theory · Dark Arts Defence – Basics for Beginners · Confronting the Faceless · Defence Against the Dark Arts
Spells studied at Hogwarts under D.A.D.A.
Aqua Eructo · Boggart-Banishing Spell (Riddikulus) · Bombarda Maxima · Cave inimicum · Concealment Charms · Counter-curses · Counter-jinxes · Cruciatus Curse (Crucio) · Curse of the Bogies (Mucus ad Nauseam) · Cursed barrier spell · Densaugeo · Deprimo Spell (Deprimo) · Disarming Charm (Expelliarmus) · Ear-Shrivelling Curse · Everte Statum · Freezing Spell (Glacius) · Full Body-Bind Curse (Petrificus Totalus) · Fumos Duo · Green Sparks · Hex-Breaker· Hex-deflection · Hex Zapper · Homorphus Charm · Human-presence-revealing Spell (Homenum Revelio) · Impediment Jinx (Impedimenta) · Imperius Curse (Imperio) · Imperturbable Charm · Killing Curse (Avada Kedavra) · Knockback Jinx (Flipendo) · Lacarnum Inflamari · Langlock · Levitation Spell (Levioso) · Limbo Mist anticharm · Nonverbal spells · Patronus Charm (Expecto Patronum) · Pimple Jinx (Furnunculus) · Protective enchantments · Red Sparks (Vermillious) · Reductor Curse (Reducto) · Salvio hexia · Sea Urchin Jinx · Seize and pull charm (Carpe Retractum) · Shield Charm (Protego) · Smokescreen Spell (Fumos) · Snake-Vanishing Spell (Vipera Evanesca) · Softening Charm (Spongify) · Stretching Jinx · Tickling Charm (Rictusempra) · Tongue-Tying Curse (Mimblewimble) · Trip Jinx · Twitchy-Ears Hex · Verdimillious Charm (Verdimillious) · Verdimillious Duo Spell (Verdimillious) · Verdimillious Tria · Vermillious Duo · Vermillious Tria · Wand-Lighting Charm (Lumos)
Creatures studied at Hogwarts under D.A.D.A.
Banshee · Boggart · Chameleon Ghoul · Charmed skeleton · Cornish Pixie · Dementor · Dugbog · Erkling · Flesh-Eating Slug · Ghost · Ghoul · Gnome · Grindylow · Gytrash · Hag · Hinkypunk · Iguana · Imp · Inferius · Kappa · Manticore · Nocturnal beasts · Nogtail · Poltergeist · Red Cap · Snake · Troll · Vampire · Vampire bat · Werewolf · Yeti · Zombie
Hogwarts Duelling Club
Rematchbadge
Duelling Club Captains
Hogwarts: Gilderoy Lockhart · Severus Snape
Gryffindor: Angus Matlock
Hufflepuff: Duelling Club Captain
Ravenclaw: Alannis
Slytherin: Duelling Club Captain
Duelling Club Members
Gryffindor: Edward · Emily · Harry Potter · Hermione Granger · Neil Randall · Neville Longbottom · Romilda Vane · Ronald Weasley · Seamus Finnigan · Stewart
Hufflepuff: Anthony Otterburn · Heather · Justin Finch-Fletchley · Karl Limpley · Kouta Ohnishi · Rhonda Fladbury
Ravenclaw: Andrew · Helen Dawlish · Fawcett · Rebecca · Shoma Ichikawa · Terry Boot · Trevor Birch
Slytherin: Bridget · Draco Malfoy · Fergus Cowley · Irfan Mustaq · Maynard Hatton · Millicent Bulstrode · Peter · Rachel · Roy
Badges
Crossfire Badge · Defender Badge · Duelling Beginner's Luck Badge · Duelling Club Champion Badge · Duelling Veteran Badge · Keen Duellist Badge · Master Duellist Badge · Nine Lives Badge · Persistence Badge · Reflex Badge
Duelling Club locations
Great Hall · Middle Courtyard · The Quad · Training Grounds
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