The Dueling Club will not start until next term! I am however looking for 4 students to be Captains, that I want this term. They will recieve rules and instructions. If you are interested, and I think you can handle the job, you will be accepted. Back to why this is here, I'm simply putting it up, so you may see what it will be like. If you are on your House Quidditch team, you cannot be in the Dueling Club.  Each team will have 8 players, one of whom serves as captain. (The main reason for having a captain is for someone to oversee and organize House Team practice sessions).  Please go here for more information. 

Two House Teams will meet in a competition, set around 3 duels. Each duel involves 1 pair of duelists (and their seconds) from each of the two house teams. Duels can result in either win (2 points), loss (0 points), or draw (1 point to each team). At the end, the team with the best-of-3 record wins the competition, and, at the end of term, the house with the best overall record wins the Dueling Cup!

A general post will announce a Dueling competition between two House Teams. For play to begin on that date, each team must have 3 'duelists' and 3 'seconds'. The 'duelists' will be the first three members of any given team to post after a competition has been announced. The next three members to post will choose who they will serve as 'second' (e.g Crabbe is the fourth person from his House Team to  post, so he will be Draco's 'second'). The final two team members to join the post will be the substitutes. 

[One of the first three team members to join the post may volunteer to be someone's 'second', thus freeing a dueling position for another member joining the post later. This is where strategy can come into play. A more advanced student may choose to second a younger student, thus making a stronger pair with a better fighting chance. With only 6 team members competing at any given time, not everyone on the house team will be able participate. But having an 8-member team safeguards against forfeiture by allowing competition to continue even with two members absent.] 

I will decide the pairings for each duel. When one 'duelist' (or both) is defeated or unable to continue, his or her 'second' takes over for the team. The duel is finished when one or both of either team's 'second' is no longer able to play.  

The use of other characters is more intricate than in normal RP, so you must not control other characters other than to pass the story to them after you have set them up. For instance if Sue Slytherin sends a Leg-locking curse towards Rob Ravenclaw, she must cast her spell and let him write the results. It would be up to HIM if he were hit or dodged the spell. The only time you are allowed to post the outcome of your own spell if if it 1) is not cast properly (like when you're attempting a difficult curse, et al) or 2) when it backfires. These outcomes affect YOU, not your opponent. Anything else could result in your pair forfeiting your duel.

A 'duelist' MUST know when to give way to his/her 'second'. It is up to him/her to choose when they are unable to continue play. If a duelist keeps playing when it is clear that they should be injured or unconscious, I will make that player's pair forfeit their duel.

Yes, Dueling is a competition, but it is also a chance to develop your character and introduce plot elements. You might use it to have a character master a spell that is giving them trouble or to overcome a certain fear. So PLEASE UNDERSTAND that winning isn't always the best outcome. I am counting on everyone being able to play responsibly. This is the best way I can see us making Dueling work in an exciting, interactive way. If people repeatedly break the rules by power-playing, we will eliminate Dueling from the site. 

You must cast spells appropriate for your year. A 1st year cannot cast an unforgivable curse, they are not allowed in the first place, but you know what I mean! You must be very careful in casting your spell-- casting a spell that is too advanced for your age will result in a loss of your pair's match. This said, I will try to be as fair as possible in assigning pairs to duels. To cast a more advanced spell, you must have learned to cast it in a practice session (from a student at the appropriate age level, or from a Professor). It is up to your House Team's captain to call a practice session (which will take place in the Dueling board in the Great Hall). And you must LEARN the spell,  you probably won't land a spell the first time you cast it. OK?