After a delicious dinner, Brian went outside with Mira to spar with her. Robert followed, intending only to watch.
"You want to do a few warm up exercises?" Brian offered her.
"Nope. I've got this. Let's do it," she nodded confidently. Brian could see that beneath all the attempts at bravery, she was a bundle of nerves.
"Alright, Nothing larger than a stun spell, got it?" Brian asked. She was still a child, and he didn't want to risk any sort of harm to her. Brian glanced back towards the house and saw Gabe had decided to watch from a window. He did not want to add to her anxiety by coming outside with her. He wanted her to know that he believed she could do this and that he wasn't concerned about it.
"Alright," Mira agreed. They took positions in the yard and bowed. Brian gave her plenty of time to try to take a shot at him but she seemed to be waiting on him. He used an expelliarmus to disarm her. She snatched her wand back up quickly and returned wand fire with an expelliarmus of her own but she was rattled. The shot wasn't anywhere near him.
"Wait," Robert called. "One moment." Robert drew his own wand and went over to Mira. "Breathe," he told her. "You're entirely too tight."
"He's...." she began, unsure really of what she wanted to say.
"Calm," he said. "You're trying entirely too hard. Now, with me, then. Alright, Brian. Give me a moment until she loosens up a bit ." Robert worked with Mira to change her stance so she wasn't such a large target and changed her grip to help her be more flexible. He helped her loosen up her wand arm, her shoulder, and her wrist. Then he fitted himself close to her so he could fit his own arm against hers and practiced the stance with her until she got the hang of it.
"Now, he's going to aim and fire, and you're going to guard yourself and then return fire. Like this." they practiced the move with her, and she seemed to get it very quickly. Robert stepped back a couple steps from her and let them try the duel again.
In the end, Brian set her on her bum a couple of times, but Robert and Brian both saw huge potential in her to be an excellent dueler. She had the desire, and she learned quickly. She learned by feel, and once she could feel what the right stance or technique was, it relatively easy for her to use it.
"Well done," Robert told her. "Alright, let's see how Ruby does. Ruby, are you ready to take on Brian?"