Of course he knew there was always a chance but till the moment he faced a girl in a duel Henry wasn't sure how to act. He was well aware girls could be very good duelists and the girl he was facing off now certainly wasn't the first he'd seen or heard of, his sister was in the dueling club after all. In truth Henry just wasn't sure if it would be polite to hex a girl even if this was a duel and it was allowed. On the other hand Miss Mulciber clearly knew what she was getting into by signing up for the dueling competition so expected to get hexed.

Taking a deep breath while Mr. MacMillian explained the rules, Henry reconciled himself into thinking this was no different than any other competitive sport at Hogwarts which allowed girls to join up, like Quidditch. The fact Miss Mulciber was a Slytherin automatically put her into the 'main rival' category for any Gryffindor Quidditch player. So be it, she came into the dueling competition fully aware she may be paired up against boys just as he did knowing he may face a girl. He wasn't going to throw this competition to avoid hurting a girl.

When everything was ready, he bowed to her respectively like he would do any other opponent in a dueling match then prepared to cast his first spell. Despite his resolve not to hold back because he was facing a girl, he elected to cast a disarming spell instead of something more aggressive, like a stinging jinx.

Charles Macmillan Flora Mulciber