September: Defense Against the Dark Arts (DADA)

Duelling has some very important rules that one must follow in order to do it properly and fairly. Most families that are born into magical families are taught these rules since they are young. First of all there is a challenge, where one wizard has to challenge the other wizard. If the other person accepts the duel, they meet in a place that’s agreed on and at the time that’s decided. Opponents then would bow to each other before fighting. 

With every duel there is a “second”, which is someone that is a trusted friend or partner that would be a replacement if the person duelling wasn’t able to continue. 


The man rule was that they couldn’t physically touch each other. There are also other limits that both wizards or witches can agree to. For example, they could agree not to use the Unforgivable Curses. 


One of the most famous, and influential, duels happened between Albus and his brother Aberforth Dumbledore against Gellert Grindelwald. It happened in Godric’s Hollow and they duelled because Albus and Grindelwald were going to reveal the magical world and then they were going to make muggles into slaves. Aberforth tried to stop this from happening, but Grindelwald was so angry that he tortured poor Aberforth. Albus was there to save his brother but then the three of them started duelling. At the end of the duel, the Dumbledore’s sister Ariana stepped in but she was killed by a spell that went the wrong way. Grindelwald ran off, and the Dumbledore brothers were left to deal with the mess that had happened. 


This duel was important for many reasons. For one thing, the revealing of the wizarding world to the muggles is a serious crime. Plus, enslaving muggles would be even worse. Another important part of this duel is that it was a very significant event in Albus Dumbledore’s life. His own sister died, and it was something that was an important event in the relationship of the two brothers. 

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