A duel is a confrontation between two or more wizards or witches. The combatants face each other, bow, and then attempt to disarm, injure, or kill each other in order to force submission, and thus a winner is decided. Opponents are only permitted to use magical means of combat.
There are rules and customs that define how a proper duel is performed and that are normally known to wizards and witches born to magical families, even at a young age.
I. In a formal duel, one wizard or witch challenges another, although it is implied that duels are not commonplace in modern polite society. If the other person accepts, they then arrange a meeting time and place for the duel. Opponents bow to one another before beginning to fight.
II. Duellists will often have a "second" in a formal duel — a person, usually a trusted ally, who will act as a replacement for one duellist if necessary.
III. There is a standard rule in duels that only magical means may be used to fight an opponent, and that there is to be no physical contact between the duellists.
IV. The parties of a duel might also agree to other limits, unless planning to duel to the death, which is only common practice in a war. This may indicate that duellists generally agree not to use particularly dangerous and/or illegal spells, such as the Unforgivable Curses.
Professor James Wilson
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