The next afternoon, Eric called together Dorian, Naomi, and Neville Longbottom. Leading them into the field between the school and the quidditch field, they found themselves facing a squad of wooden figures. Neville was the first to succumb to curiosity. "What's this?"
Eric turned to his friends. "Lockhart and the Headmaster have the right idea. We should learn how to cast spells in self defense. However, if we were to wait until we gleaned what we needed from the dueling club, we'll have graduated long before we gained anything useful. I know a couple of attack and defense spells: I thought I could teach them to you, and we could lead the club."
The gathered friends clearly liked the idea of being one up on everyone else, so Eric began showing them a simple disarmament spell. "It's a minimum of moves, with wand straight out at your target: Yiegectum!" A small stick in the hand of the far left figure flew back several yards. "It simply removes the wand from the bearer. Give it a go."
Since the move was so simple, Dorian and Naomi both mastered it instantly. Neville, however, didn't quite show as much proficiency, though far more potency. Upon casting his spell, the entire figure blew backwards more than sixty feet before breaking apart into firewood. He appeared mortified.
Eric, however, was determined to see the positive. "Well, you didn't disarm him, but it's fair to say that you broke his concentration." Dorian began to laugh, while Naomi pulled a hood over her head, obscuring whatever change in appearance her face was undergoing.
"But Eric, what if that was somebody? What if I was just trying to disarm someone and I did that to them instead?"
"Neville, spells work differently on people. It's complicated, but – they just do. It wouldn't have had that particular affect on a living person. Besides, that's the whole point of doing this: to help you learn what you need to be able to get the results you want from the spells you cast. They're just wooden targets - we're supposed to lose a few of them."
With as much reassurance as he could muster, Eric took Neville by the arm and set him in front of the next target. With Dorian over dramatizing a comedic terror and Naomi discreetly moving behind the two of them, he helped pose Neville's arm and checked his aim before easing away, standing well behind Neville and out of the line of fire.
"Now, with feeling – try it again."