Duelling Beta Test Match 5 - Saskia vs Koko

Koko Riddle was many things. An idiot could or could not be one of them. It depended on the time, and this was definitely the Time of the Idiot. Koko was still grinning, and she was also sneezing. And she had a runny nose. And we couldn't forget that she also felt completely congested. She felt better than ever. Koko noticed Saskia also sneezing and coughing and whatever, and she felt even better. Ha. So the other girl was also feeling this amazing, wonderful sickness.

Saskia cast her spell, and in a few seconds Koko was able to blurt the words, "Wooaaaahhhh, it's fire!!!! Cool!!! I want to touch it!!!" It was a second or so after when she realised that no, in fact, she did not want to touch the fire. "RUN." she whispered aloud, trying to dodge to the side in the few seconds she had. Oh shit. This was bad, very bad, so bad that it could kill the cold-ridden preteen. She was going to die.

Running around her half of the podium, she soon found that she needed to cast otherwise the death would be immediate. "Uh - achoo! - Uh...." Yes, this little idiot child had no idea whatsoever to do. This was no sneezing hex, but it certainly took the breath out of her. "F-fle... No, that isn't right..." Koko kept running, knowing that all this had happened during the span of a few seconds even though it felt like an utter lifetime. She turned to face Saskia, stopped sprinting, and caught her breath for a counted total of three seconds. Then she raised her wand. "FLIPENDO!" Koko yelled, waving her wand just so, because she did not want to make a mistake.

Fire was not something to play with. Did that matter to the young Slytherin? No. It absolutely did not. Koko grinned as the spell hit her in the chest and a warm sensation filled her from head to toe. She wanted to touch the fire, wanted to light more. Some might call her a pyromaniac. Sadly, Koko was not lit aflame. Unbeknownst to the child, that was a good thing, but what did Koko care? She actually wanted to be on fire.

She was almost doubling over with laughter, coughs, sneezes, and a runny nose. But she would persevere. Perhaps she would be hit with another fire spell, who knew? That little bit of knowledge game her the energy to go on.

Being repetitive was something that the little girl loved. She would repeat others mockingly, and she would repeat her actions until they became habits, such as bathing or brushing her teeth. Perhaps she could repeat a spell enough to perfect it, but she wasn't sure how the outcome would work.

Koko would take her time to cast - it was her turn, wasn't it? she got to choose. Choosing mattered to her, but she could never make a decision. Oh well. Who gave a damn about that anyway? Koko was ready for whatever spell that Miss Nicholson threw her way. But again, she got to go first. She got to choose what pain to inflict upon this worthless excuse of a Hufflepuff. Not that many Hufflepuffs were noteworthy in the first place... That could certainly cause a debate later...

Still smiling somewhat cockily, Koko waved her wand to make sure her grip was still tight. She coughed and blinked tears of something out of her eyes - not tears of sadness, that was what she was sure of - and she pointed her wand at Saskia. "Spongify!" Koko called out, her golden eyes alight with mischief and laughter.

Saskia widened her eyes as she felt a blast in her chest that sent her flying towards the ground. The girl sighed to herself, already feeling the urge to cough again. She really needed to get better at dodging if she didn't want to die in this godforsaken place. Getting up from where she fell, she tried to get some of the snot away from her nose with her sleeve. It was gross, and she hated it, but it was becoming a rather annoying distraction.

Saskia groaned in irritation as she heard Koko cast her next spell. What was with this girl and her obsession with Spongify? It was a good spell, she'll admit that, but seriously? Could she at least come up with something a bit more different? There were plenty of other spells that she could cast, and here she was, trying to make her suffer as much as possible. As much as Saskia didn't want this girl to get on her nerves, she was slowly starting to lose control of her temper again. With that stupid grin and attitude, it was getting harder not to punch the girl. Not that she would actually do it. Probably.

Either way, it was time for a new strategy. Every time Koko casts a spell that would try to make casting harder for Saskia, she would have to repeat the same thing. It wasn't the most creative plan, but it was better than just casting spells all over the place without knowing what to do. Besides, it would put Koko at an equal disadvantage, which would benefit her in this duel.

Rolling her eyes, Saskia gripped her wand tighter than before and pointed it at the Slytherin, shouting out for what seemed to be the second time, "Spongify!"

Actions: Cast Softening Charm (Spongify) again

It could have been worse. But it could have gone better too. Saskia was able to hit Koko's wand with the Spongify spell, which meant that Koko would have a harder time casting spells. It would have been nicer if she could have hit her arm, but it would have to do. Unfortunately, Koko managed to hit Saskia's foot with the same spell.

Saskia sighed, trying to move her now jellyfied foot. Even if it was just that one foot, it would make moving a lot more difficult for the Hufflepuff. And with her current runny nose and fever, she was probably going to be spending the rest of the duel in misery. Oh well. She did sign up for this, after all. Might as well try to finish it.

Decisions, decisions. What was there to do? Go on the offense, now that she might have had the opportunity to hit first? Perhaps her opponent might also go for the offense as well. She did look like she was in a slightly better condition than she herself was, in spite of the cold and jellyfied wand she had going on. Or maybe it was her imagination. Who knew?

Maybe Saskia just needed a bit of positivity, as hard as it was right now. Just a small spark of hope that she could cling onto, and maybe things won't completely blow up on her. Trying to keep the straightest face she could make, she made a gesture with her wand and called out, "Flipendo!"

Actions: Cast Knockback Jinx (Flipendo)

Eek. Not again! At least her spell had hit. That was the good thing. The bad thing was that that useless Hufflepuff's spell had also worked. Hufflepuffs were so annoying. The caramel-blonde haired girl couldn't fathom how anyone could ever like a Hufflepuff. Koko cursed under her breath after she realised that her wand had become spongified. Damn thing. She wouldn't be able to use it accurately anymore. Should she give up? She already felt tired and somewhat nauseous. Do. Not. Puke, the Slytherin told herself. Do not puke. Especially not on yourself.

If anything, she would puke on her.

Why? Because Koko could be a little brat at times. Aaaaand.... This was one of those times. You did not want to piss off a Riddle, and that was what Saskia had done.

Koko dug through her incredibly tiny list of known spells to try and find one to use, and she remembered the fun of fire. Being a pyromaniac was something she was known for back home - she would always light the birthday candles, she would always light the celebratory fireworks. She was the one to burn a toy car to the ground because her brother had done the same to one of her dolls. She wasn't like that anymore, but she still did love the thrill of fire.

The thrill of fire was something that a child so young as her shouldn't have been interested in, but who said she was a normal child? Well, she was, except for two things: her fear of people and her love of fire. So of course, this brought three spells to the girl's mind, two of which she didn't yet know how to perform. She would have to use the only other way to make fire that was permitted.

First, of course, Koko listened. Listening was a skill that most took for granted, but not this little girl. This little girl knew the power of listening, and she used it to her advantage. She heard her opponent cast the Knockback Jinx, and Koko knew she had seconds to react.

"Incendio!"

Koko's golden eyes darkened with determination. Determination was a superpower in itself, just the power to put your mind to something and actually do it. And so Koko prided herself on her determination. It was either that or priding herself on her fear, which she really didn't want to do...

Oh crap. Her spell had missed, and she was still fevery and sneezing and AGH. This was so annoying. And she still had to cast a few more spells. She still had to win this. Frowning at Saskia, she waved her wand. "Verdimillious!" the girl shouted, trying to blind her opponent. Blinding always worked, right? It was just easier. Make the opponent unable to do this. That was what would make the sneezing, snotty child win.

And another spell missed. Was it really a surprise at this point? Her cold was getting worse, evident by the mucus threatening to drip down her lips, and she was quite literally pissed off. She didn't even care about winning anymore. Winning didn't sound very appealing, especially when she was still a snotty mess. No. She wanted to teach her opponent a lesson. She wanted to wipe that stupid smirk off her face.

But how would she do that? Koko was about to hit her with a spell that would have blinded her, and with her jellyfied foot, it would have been harder for her to move out of the way. Then again, Koko's aim was also getting worse. Maybe if luck smiled upon her today, she would have also missed this spell.

Still, she didn't want to rely purely on luck. She needed to do something. Saskia waved her wand around and yelled out the first thing she could think of, "Flipendo!"

Actions: Cast Knockback Jinx (Flipendo)