Max tightened his grip on her arm. Not enough to actually bruise, but hard enough to remind her that he could if he wanted to. And he used that grip to keep himself close to her even as the force of her attack pushed him backward and away. Still, that point of contact was enough to keep him from losing his feet altogether.

He reached forward to tap at the wall. "Unless you can go through my hand you lose," he suggested.

[And now I'm off to see HP again!]