Dueling and Honorariums...

[Bored_in_Texas]

No: HPFGUIDX 157524

Hey, just wanted to throw this out, mainly because I don't really 
understand the true dynamics of this, so I was wondering if anyone 
else did.  

The Dynamics of Dueling:

The quote I have in mind is when Sirius is dueling with a Death Eater 
in the Ministry and "their wands were flashing like swords."  Now, in 
a duel with swords, the optimum distance would be one sword (about 3-4 
feet) and the participant's arm, another 3 feet or so.  If one cannot 
use their wand as a sword and it is more of a pistol (and in numerous 
books, wands have "fired off" spells before), wouldn't they want to 
stay as far away as necessary?  Much like Muggle dueling, the option 
is to win at any cost.  If the victory is a dead Order member, or a 
stunned Death Eater, wouldn't the lesser spells be out of the picture? 
Why would the Death Eaters bother with anything less than a killing 
curse?  Unless they feared that a load of missed AKs would bring down 
the building (like the Potter's house), why wouldn't they?  Are they 
like homing missiles or like bullets which travel in a straight 
trajectory?  When Moody said that Harry was the only person to survive 
an AK, is he saying that Harry was the only one to survive the touch 
of the green light of the curse, in that they never miss?  

Now, if this is reading too much into it, please discount this, but 
this has been confusing ever since Book 2.

Anyway, I was also curious as to the etymology of the name "Hogwarts." 
Was there a wizard by that name?  It can be broken down into an 
anagram of "Ghost War," but that is pure speculation on many people 
who are a lot better at anagrams than I am.

Thanks for any information!

-FT