A Duellist in the Making
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A Duellist in the Making━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Interacting w/: @Maisie Gemmell
Date: 06.09.25
Outfit: portkey
WC: 494
#38466B, #1A1A1A,#806251
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ooc// So sorry this took so long xoxo"Arresto Momentum," Robin shouted, willow wand raised and directed toward a wooden dummy across the space of her corner in the massive duelling club room. A blue streak shot from the tip of her wand, striking the dummy at its waist, instantly causing it to slow from its quick approach. The wooden dummy looked almost comical in its half-frozen form, wheels still moving just a fraction of the speed it was before. "Finite Incantatem."
The dummy resumed its original pace towards Robin, allowing her to switch up her attack.
"Spongify!" she said sternly, a chuckle slipping as the wooden construct transformed into a jelly-like substance. The momentum forced the jelly into a weird-looking jiggly dance. Robin tilted her head, assessing the amusing result before casting another general counter-spell and grabbing the construct before it wheeled off any further.
Since she found out she'd made it onto the team, practicing dueling spells had become ingrained in Robin. The pressure she had herself under felt natural - like an undercurrent of persistence was sweeping over her, solidifying the need to improve into her skin as if it were made of iron itself. Robin had only watched one official duel before - but it was enough. When she discovered that witches and wizards had a sport where she could use her offensive spells to her heart's desire, it had been solidified for her. She was a duellist.
Robin wasn't physically strong - she was a very small girl. But she was quick - and that meant that as long as she did everything to avoid getting hit in the first place, she might have a chance at actually winning one of these damned things. She knew what she was getting into - going against older, more experienced duellists. She was going to lose. But she would do everything in her power to fight against succumbing, which required her to get better. For the entire last month of school the previous year, Robin had perfected every spell she had learned over her first year of magical schooling. A few certain spells were her favorites - Incendio, especially, followed by Flipendo.
Now that she was back at school, she had time to train not only her second-year spells but also purchased the books for a few third-year spells for duelling that she wanted to perfect before her first match.
Pulling out her book, Robin reminded herself of the incantation and wand movement for the Bravery Charm, before stuffing it away and squaring her shoulders. "Animosus," Robin waved her wand, casting the spell on herself.
"Huh..." The feeling was wonderful. Robin laughed, her hands steadying and her self-confidence boosted, giving her the sense that she could take on the world and live to tell the story. "Well, that was actually pretty easy..." Robin mumbled aloud, curious about how many third-year spells she could master before her first duel... "I'll be unstoppable!" Robin was laughing to herself before she knew it.
A Duellist in the Making
There was never a bad time to visit the duelling club: either it was full of people you could practice with or it was quiet and that gave you time to refine your strategy. Maisie came often enough to practice with her coach, Mylo. And yet, they didn't always see eye-to-eye so time here on her own was just as useful.
As she approached, the sound of spells flinging was quick and loud, but never unexpected. That's what you did here: practice. For Maisie, that was effort, over and over again. But what heard now was something different: a deep confidence, a sound of someone unstoppable! And what she saw was a girl who certainly exuded that level of confidence.
Maisie recognized her vaguely from the common room. There had been plenty of new names on the Ravenclaw roster—a positive growth in her opinion—and if she were a guessing woman, she would have guessed this was a new teammate. "Hey! We could use that energy on the Ravenclaw team!" she chirped as she looked across at her while pulling over a dummy. And she meant it: last year had been, well, just plain sad. And not just for her; even watching Mylo's matches had ended unfavorably.
Noting the girls's book—Maisie went about her prep very much the same way—she decided two heads were better than one. "Want to practice together?" she asked, "I'm Maisie by the way. I don't have the best duelling record, but what I lack in skill I make up for in enthusiasm." The smile was short because even if she taken the Hufflepuffs to the last round alone twice—once without going to the hospital wing—it was still far from victory. Hopefully, her new companion wouldn't mind.
@Robin Marie
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A Duellist in the Making
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Interacting w/: @Maisie Gemmell
Date: 06.09.25
Outfit: portkey
WC: 398
#38466B, #1A1A1A,#806251
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Robin was lost in her own world, dreaming of her future dueling victories and feeling prepared to take on the world, when a feminine voice startled her. “Hey! We could use that energy on the Ravenclaw team!” The brunette girl chirped as she approached Robin’s corner. Easily recognizable was Maisie Gemmell, one of her classmates in Ravenclaw, who was on the dueling team the previous year.
“Good thing I’m on it, then,” Robin smirked, unable to hide her confidence. Robin didn’t know much about Maisie and usually would have been suspicious of her approach, but the bravery charm she had just cast brought a settled ease into her shoulders. Maisie pulled over a dummy of her own, clearly intending to practice next to Robin.
Robin hesitated for a moment, startled by the girl's friendliness. It was kind of a rare occasion for someone to just walk up to her. “Want to practice together?" she asked. "I'm Maisie, by the way. I don't have the best duelling record, but what I lack in skill I make up for in enthusiasm."
“I know who you are. I’m Robin.” Robin said, making eye contact with Maisie and smiling warmly. “You lost a battle last year? Where do you think you went wrong?” Robin questioned out of curiosity, not giving any consideration to how she was coming off. Her large eyes stared up at her fellow Ravenclaw, curls bouncing right alongside the rest of her as she balanced on the tips of her toes.
A Duellist in the Making
Before this exchange, Maisie would have considered herself a confident person (in perhaps everything except duelling). She did not run from challenges, she wore what she wished, and she believed she could solve most things with good old city gumption. But Robin blew that out of the water with her bluntness, that almost staccato way she accentuated the truth.
“I know who you are. I’m Robin.”
"Right, I knew that," she replied, somewhat disappointed in herself that she hadn't put that together but that Robin had. Of course they had classes before and shared a common room, but the truth was that Maisie hadn't looked the duelling roster that hung in the common room in some time. It waned and filled in currents like the other two sport rosters, and frankly throughout the course of her losing streaking and revolving door of teammates, the only name that mattered on it was Mylo's. Adjusting the dummy, she moved beside Robin and quickly rebraided her plait so none of the stray hairs would get in the way of practice.
“You lost a battle last year? Where do you think you went wrong?”
For a second she froze, eyebrows slightly raised, resisting the urge to correct her: battles, plural. Looking down at her wand, she realized no one had ever quite phrased it that way. Mylo was a good coach and could analyze things, but prioritized safety. Avis was her constant support no matter what. But this—this was different. This approach forced her to confront the fact that it really was that bad.
Biting her lip, she started, "A lot, actually. Missing people by a hair. Getting matched against older years with spells I'd never even seen before. Some people just standing on the block, unmoving. Others with spells blowing up in their face." Once she started listing it, it seemed, in those seconds, to be perhaps more complicated. But as she twirled her aspen wand in her hand, she rejected that idea. "Basically, I kind of suck," she confessed, "but the last time, they didn't send me to the hospital wing. I made it to the very last round."
And she was here trying.
That was something.
@Robin Marie
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A Duellist in the Making
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Interacting w/: @Maisie Gemmell
Date: 06.09.25
Outfit: portkey
WC: 322
#38466B, #1A1A1A,#806251
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As Maisie spoke, Robin nodded her head as she listened, eyes flickering to and fro, consciously making an effort not to stare at the girl's face for too long. She'd clearly said something wrong – when she asked her question, Maisie's face fell in a way that Robin supposed looked like discouragement. This wasn't her intention. She had asked only in hopes that the more experienced Ravenclaw could give her some kind of advice.
"Don't say that. You don't suck. Your freezing teammates do suck a bit, though. Anyone I should avoid in particular?" Robin asked, a smirk on her lips, hoping she could leave an impression that would bring the girl's cheery composure back. The girl had a bright, irresistible smile. Robin especially had noted the way her eyes crinkled at the corners when she grinned. "Besides, you have me now. We're gonna practice until our arms fall off, yeah? Then they can send us to the infirmary and they'll fix us right up, you'll see." Robin smiled brightly, now directing her gaze to make direct eye contact.
"So... any tips? I just cast a bravery charm on myself and am feeling particularly pumped. I'm not usually this assured, I assure you! I have plenty of older brothers and I'm used to losing... unfortunately..." She trailed off, furrowing her eyebrows as she realized she was rambling and maybe not sounding like she was going to be the best of teammates. "But I'm also used to losing and then eventually winning because I worked my arse off."
With that, Robin flipped her hair over her shoulder and pointed her wand at the dummy. "Incendio Duo!"
The dummy was pushed backwards by the large burst of flame that flew from the tip of Robin's wand, enveloping it for a moment before disappearing with the scent of heated metal remaining. She smiled proudly and returned to Maisie, full of energy and bouncing on her toes.