It seems that everyone showing up's more excited about the demonstration than chattering about Snape, at least. Their entire year arrives, of course - but so do the majority of the upper years, even a good chunk of sixth and seventh years. Mostly Gryffindors and Ravenclaws, among the older students, but all the Houses and all the years are really well represented. There's a sort of excited hum that stills a bit when Professors Reynolds and Flitwick walk in together, Madam Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall a bit behind them. Madam Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall go to sit in one of the seats nearest the platform. Professor Reynolds offers Flitwick a hand up onto the platform, which he chuckles at, and then Professor Flitwick goes to the middle, pointing his wand briefly at his throat.

"I'm excited to see such a turn out today!" he says, cheerfully, his voice carrying perfectly throughout the room. "Now, the older students will likely know how this goes - but, for those of you who've never come to Hogwarts before, or who need a refresher - Professor Reynolds and I are going to be demonstrating practical defense against another wizard for you all. This won't be a formal duel, but rather a spar. We do still have rules - we must stay within the bounds of this here platform. We may not cast harmful spells that risk reaching our audience, though there are protective wards between us and the spectators. If our opponent surrenders, or if serious injury occurs, we must stop immediately. We must not restrict Madam Pomfrey from acting if injury does occur. If Professor McGonagall calls the fight early, we must stop. We may not cast spells that would risk killing or permanently disabling our opponent. We may not use spells or magical talents outside of those agreed upon for each bout prior to this fight." He smiles, and nods to Professor Reynolds.

She steps up, pointing her wand at her throat as well. "For this spar, we'll have eight bouts. The first seven will proceed through the spells and skills that a typical graduate of each year would have. So, for our first bout, we cannot use anything you won't learn in your first year of Hogwarts. For our second, we're restrained to spells from your first and second years. They don't need to be Defense spells - simply ones learned in any classroom. Further, we're sticking solely to wizardry for these seven - no witchcraft, no sorcery, no swords, no," she pauses, and, with an air like she's quoting someone, "'whatever that horrendous brawl you Americans call a wandless magic system is.'" There's chuckles from the crowd. She smiles. "For the eighth, it'll be no holds barred as far as magic knowledge goes - we can use any trick we've picked up anywhere in our lives."

Professor Flitwick takes over: "We'll be doing them in sets of four, with a break halfway through for a light lunch," he says. Then: "We'll observe some dueling formalities, though - namely, we'll be beginning on opposite sides of the oval, starting on Professor McGonagall's cue."

And he lowers his wand, nodding to Professor McGonagall and then grinning at Professor Reynolds. She grins back.

Ellie also is grinning. This sounds like it's going to be fun!

Their Professors - and the rest of the school - certainly seem to agree. Professor McGonagall gives the signal to start with some good natured cheer once Professors Reynolds and Flitwick are facing each other. The two call out their spells - the words carried clearly to the audience still - and move relatively slowly, especially in tracing out wand motions. (A speed that's about, really, what seems to be typical for the new second years.) Still, they're clever, and both weave together their spells well - Professor Reynolds seems to take a special delight in transfiguring the stone under Flitwick into slick mud, pushing the attack with a Knockback Jinx when his feet begin to slide and sink - he uses a basic counter-jinx, though, forcing it to redirect into the ground, before levitating his shoes to pull himself up and out fast enough he's able to drop the levitating charm - landing on his feet on stone - to counter another of Professor Reynold's jinxes.

The 'first year' fight seems mostly to be a mix of silliness (apparently you can use the unlocking charm to untie shoelaces - which Professor Flitwick solves by transmuting his shoes, but not before tripping a bit), creativity, and good fun - first year spells aren't exactly very impressive. Professor Reynolds seems to be pushing or surprising Professor Flitwick for most of it - almost certainly has him on his back feet - until he gets Professor Reynolds to circle so her back's to the patch of mud she made earlier... Which his spell, nominally aimed at her, hits, forcing it to expand rapidly - down apparently, too, because the ground crumbles out from under Professor Reynolds. Professor Flitwick immediately starts levitating a paving stone this knocked loose, sending it careening at her head - she knocks it off course, but she's thoroughly off balance, giving him the opening he needs to levitate an edge of her robes, knocking her down into the mud.

Professor McGonagall calls the match, to laughter and cheers from the crowd (Ravenclaw seeming a lot more enthusiastic about Professor Flitwick's win), and Professor Reynolds climbs to her feet, laughing. She waves off Madam Pomfrey - "Nothing's injured but my pride, Poppy," - and then helps reset the arena.

Interesting use of the environment.

The mud also gets cleaned out of Professor Reynolds' robes before the 'second year' bout.

This one's at a faster pace, wand motions smoother - and with more spells directly targeted at their opponents, too, though also more counter-spells and shields. There's also a wider range of transfigurations - Professor Reynolds turns quite a few paving stones into crabs and other things, sometimes right under Professor Flitwick's feet. Still, they're both creative and both aware of their environment (a bit more than they were showing off in the prior bout, actually), and the match takes slightly longer than the first. Professor Reynolds wins with a swarm of stone crabs that pile onto Professor Flitwick faster than he can levitate or blast them away.

Third year's bout escalates similarly. The spells are getting less simple, now, too - less blasts of energy or direct telekinesis or transmutations. Professor Flitwick gets Professor Reynolds with a charm that makes her start giggling uncontrollably, making her spell work a bit sloppier and distracting her until she can counter-spell it, and she gets him with a spell that turns his buttons into birds. She gets her second win in after filling the arena with flashing multicolored lights and loud pops, disorienting Professor Flitwick enough she can knock him right out of the arena. (Madam Pomfrey insists on checking on him before letting the fourth bout start, even if he's 'just winded.')

They escalate again for fourth. It seems to be more a proper fight, now, less two people with wands goofing around - though there's still a lot of creativity. Professor Reynolds barely missed Professor Flitwick with a spell that blows a hole in the ground, sending chunks of stone flying - which he takes to banishing and summoning repeatedly, filling the air with rapidly zooming paving stones which occupy most of Professor Reynolds' attention. She gets a few spells back at him - manages to make him break out in hives, to fill the air with bees - but he gets in a spell that makes her legs start trying to dance. She isn't able to get off a counter before a stone hits her in the arm with a loud crack - and Professor McGonagall calls the match for Professor Flitwick while Madam Pomfrey sighs and jumps up to the now calm platform.

Still, Professor Reynolds is laughing, even as she lets Madam Pomfrey check her arm and start casting bone mending spells at it. "Good fight, Filius," she calls, "And I do believe that's our first four done."

"Good fight to you as well, Fay," he responds, chuckling.

The next round is probably going to be really impressive. Either that or really short.

There's a break, first - the house elves can bring people lunch, if they don't actually want to go to the Hall (which most don't seem to). The two duelists don't eat much - mostly just a small, light meal, focusing more on getting some drink into themselves.

And then the fights resume with the 'fifth year' bout. This one gets them into notably powerful spells, more and more clearly focused on actual proper combat. Their movements are quick, intense, and neither's laughing, now (though Professor Reynolds has a light smile on her lips). They're actually jumping around somewhat less - the spells are coming faster, in clusters that make simply moving less of a good bet, and Professor Reynolds especially is making good use of counter spells. The spells that hit the ground - rather than being dismissed out of existence - cause the stone to explode or catch on fire, sometimes forcing the duelists to move a bit. (Each time, the relative advantage shifts.) Still, it's over relatively quickly - Professor Flitwick actually gets Professor Reynolds with a second year spell, ripping her wand from her hand. She laughs and concedes.

The sixth year bout - they stop calling out spell names entirely, the majority of the fight proceeding in an eerie silence punctuated only by the shuffle of their feet, the occasional dull impact. Professor Reynolds transfigures a series of stones into a long snake with scales like diamond, whip fast - Professor Flitwick shatters it into crystal shards, and with a wave of his wand they all fly unerringly at Professor Reynolds, who conjures a shimmering barrier over herself. The fight ends with an explosion under Flitwick's feet, sending him flying - he recovers, turning his fall into a roll, but Professor Reynolds hits him again - with the Knockback Jinx, cast far more quickly and smoothly than before, her wand flicking out like a snake's tongue - and he falls out of the arena.

There's a pause while Madam Pomfrey checks him for injury, healing a few bruises and some ringing ears, and then the seventh year bout can begin.

This one has both duelists moving fast, protecting themselves with quick flicks of their wands - forming shields or simply deflecting spells somewhat more violent than the usual condensed ray. Most of their spells snap like lightning, many actually showing the ability to turn and seek their target, making dodging nearly meaningless. Neither Professor is smiling, their gazes intensely on each other, spells exchanged in silence under the repetitive boom of the spells. Professor Flitwick responds to one explosion of stone and dust by flying up and hovering - briefly, still, but for longer and under far more control than he had when levitating his shoes - and Professor Reynolds surrounds him with fireworks. He makes the stones under her feet buckle and ripple; she turns them into vicious things of teeth and claws that surge for him. They seem nearly evenly matched, here, their mastery of these spells equal - until by sheer luck Professor Reynolds gets through a gap in Professor Flitwick's guard, forcing his wand arm to fall limp. He switches his wand nearly seamlessly to his other hand - but he's on his back foot, now, and Professor Reynolds overwhelms him with a barrage of spells over the next minute. He falls, limbs locked together, and the matched is called.

The eighth -

Before the eighth, Professor McGonagall calmly taps a few stones, creating a faint shimmer in the air between the entranced spectators and the duelists. And then it can begin.

These spells have almost nothing in common with what they've exchanged before - Professor Flitwick sends blasts of lightning from his wand, Professor Reynolds swirls between tiger and human form, one of Professor Flitwick's concussive spells is deflected and transforms into an explosion as Professor Reynolds knocks it aside -

Professor Reynolds is back to laughing as she trades spells with her colleague, in the moments she has enough air to breathe. She's clearly not using a wand for all of her magic, summoning barriers and even casting counter-spells in tiger form or simultaneous to the offensive spells she's sending streaming at Professor Flitwick. He apparently lacks the same talent, giving her a distinct edge - but he's good, his spells powerful, each offense coming faster than hers can.

And then Professor Reynolds spins out of tiger form after one leaping dodge, raises her wand high -

And fire streams from it, taking the form of large birds, great cats, snarling wolves - rushing to fill the arena -

("She's bloody mad - " one seventh year shouts, voice strangled, a few seats behind Anathema and Ellie.)

Professor Flitwick gestures, creating a ring of black flame around himself that surges to hold off Professor Reynolds' fire animals. And then he responds, sending blasts of darkness and smoke racing through the flames - destroying many - and apparently trying to find Professor Reynolds herself, who seems to need to keep her wand connected to the fire.

Barely visible to the onlookers - surely not visible to Professor Flitwick, with all the smoke and dust in the way - several of the wolves dive down into the stone, melting it...

And moments later burst from under Professor Flitwick's feet -

He jumps, and Professor Reynolds yanks her wand back, and all the flame winks out, leaving the arena still.

There's a few moments of stunned silence as Professor Flitwick lands - deftly avoiding the holes in the floor - and dismisses his own black fire.

He chuckles, though, holding a hand to his heart. "I think you won that," he says, voice slightly cheerful despite its shaking. "Though perhaps next time a bit less of a heart attack with the Fiendfyre?"

She laughs. "Well, you surprised me with Devil's Protection, so I had to improvise," she teases.

Wow.

Her fellow students seem to agree, going by the delayed cheers. Both Professors wait out the excitement (especially since Madam Pomfrey is definitely fretting over them both), before Professor Reynolds addresses the group, "I hope this has been at least a bit illuminating, as well as fun - we'll go over our respective sides more in depth in your classes next week, don't worry, but I'd like to say, first..."

"Those were extremely dangerous spells, and you two are the most reckless pair of fools - " Madam Pomfrey snaps, interrupting her, startling a loud laugh out of Professor Reynolds.

"That," she says, cheerfully, "Is a good point - the spells we demonstrated in our last bout can be and usually are exceptionally deadly... To yourself, your opponent, and everyone around you." She grins at Madam Pomfrey. "But as shown, there are wizards who know them, and they might not always be as friendly as us, especially to Aurors." Pause.

"Though the point I wanted to make first - you will advance a lot, over your Hogwarts career. You will learn new spells, and more than that, you will learn new ways of using spells. However... Learning doesn't stop on graduation, from Hogwarts or even one of the many international institutes of higher education. Professor Flitwick surprised me with a spell I'd never seen used before, though I've heard of it - and I'd surprised him with a spell I'd never revealed I was practicing, though I've been working on it for close to a decade now." She pauses. "Hopefully we'll still be allowed to hold these inside by the time our first years are ready to graduate..."

There's some scattered laughter. Professor Reynolds grins up at them all. "Well, that's the end of the bouts - five to three in my favor, if I was counting right," she says, with a cheeky grin at Professor Flitwick, who huffs and rolls his eyes. "Thank you all for coming," she says, voice softer. "I hope the rest of your weekend is as fun as today has been - though ideally with fewer explosions. All of us will be keeping our usual office hours tomorrow, of course." And she and Professor Flitwick bow briefly to the students, which seems to be a signal for people to stand and begin moving to the entrance.

The Professors set about fixing the now many scars in the ground, apparently intending to linger for quite some time.

Ellie will let the crowd clear out before getting up herself.

Anathema lingers with her, giggling. "That was amazing."

"It was really cool."

"We're gonna have to study so hard until we're even cooler."

"Definitely."

She laughs, delighted.

"Wanna go congratulate Professor Reynolds on winning, then?"

"Yeah."

She nods, glancing at the emptying auditorium. "Looks clear, now. C'mon." And she stands, offering Ellie a hand up.

She takes it.

And down to where the Professors are rearranging stone like putty.

Professor Reynolds looks up when they approach, smiling warmly. "Miss Potter, Miss Canta," she says. "Did you enjoy the show?"

"Very much, Professor."

"I'm glad."

"Congratulations on your win."

Grin. "Thank you, Miss Potter." Her smile softens a bit. "Though the spar's as fun as the win, sometimes. More so, even."

"It looked that way."