2025/26 Stage 2 Hufflepuff vs Ravenclaw: Match 2

Middle of 2025-2026 Year

Interactions: @Damion White @Anastasia Blackwood-Varney Mentions: n/a

For the second time, Cassius hesitated.

It was very unlike him to hesitate once and virtually unheard of for it to happen twice. There was something different about this duel that made him extra cautious and he could not put his finger on it. Whatever it was, he needed to get out of this current funk and concentrate again. He did not want to let himself down and, more importantly, he did not want to let his teammates down. He was ready to go the distance.

Wand readied, he prepared for their next moves.

Action:
As strategized.

WANDMAKER (ROUGAROU HAIR)

Reducio

• 10% of the damage done by a "dark" spell is done to a target that was successfully hit by a dark spell every round for the duration of the thread. This is considered to be "bleeding" and can be countered with the bandaging charm.
• In Duelling: This bleeding effect is limited to 4 rounds. If hit by another dark spell in the meantime, the bleeding effect is replaced with the new one.
• On a critical success with a "dark" spell, a second target (only if defined by the caster before this has been rolled) can be targeted, if no secondary target is declared then nothing happens.
• -10% damage done with non-dark spells.

"I GOT IT! Haven shouted, holding up her wand triumphantly, now firmly in her grasp. "See Marcus? I HAVE IT." She stuck her tongue out at him- he thought she had lost it for good, she was sure. Though it would not be the first time Haven had lost her wand, far from it. Once she wandered around for half the day without her wand because she couldn't find it, only for it to reappear in the bottom of her bag, even when she was SURE she had checked and double-checked there. Her current running theory was that Marcus was secretly trying to learn magic, too, and was stealing her wand to practice. He tended to read her textbooks more than she did... and took a lot more naps within the pages, too, though that one was a closer tie. Despite her trials and struggles, she had never been very good at school, and hardly had the whole magic thing under wraps. She had been trying to prove herself a little more in the duels, and it had somewhat worked, but now things did not seem to be going to plan... hm. At least there was still time for them to catch back up!

"Focus, focus, focus," she repeated to herself, over and over again. They could do this.

Feeling a bit off because of the jinxes she got hit with, Anastasia held her wand ready, but didn't say anything. Didn't even try to cast a spell. She was focused on breathing, steadying herself. She wanted to avoid getting knocked out like in October. So it was a good thing that the two Hufflepuff girls were grabbing their wands.
The guy though, Jake, was aiming at her. She didn't know if it was because she looked exhausted and he decided to show mercy, if the unsettling vibe she brought to the table thanks to her father was getting to him, or just that he missed his spell, but the boy's spell simply didn't work. Anastasia exhaled. Okay, now focus.

Round Five

Lea → Anastasia

Reducio

Lea casts the Trip Jinx at Anastasia

Auto-Fail (19-20) (Unsettling Aura): [d20: 19] → Auto-Fail

Effect: Lea automatically fails at casting the Trip Jinx.

Haven → Anastasia

Reducio

Haven casts the Cracker Jinx at Anastasia and the rest of Team Ravenclaw.

Auto-Fail (19-20) (Unsettling Aura): [d20: 1] → No Auto-Fail

Wisdom DC: 12 + 2 (Lovely Creature) = 14
Wisdom: [d20: 8] + 11 = 19 > 14 → Success

Radius vs Haven (19-20): [d20: 9] → Miss

Auto-Miss (19-20) (Terrible Presence): [d20: 17] → No Auto-Miss
Accuracy: [d20: 2] + 11 = 13
Evasion: [d20: 3] + 15 (Active Dodge) = 18
13 < 18 → Miss

Radius vs Damion
Accuracy: 13
Evasion: [d20: 13] + 11 = 24
13 < 24 → Miss

Radius vs Cassius
Accuracy: 13
Evasion: [d20: 13] + 15 = 28
13 < 28 → Miss

Effect: Anastasia, Damion, and Cassius evade the Cracker Jinx.

Jake → Anastasia Cassius

Reducio

Jake casts the Pressurized Water Charm at Anastasia.

Auto-Fail (19-20) (Unsettling Aura): [d20: 12] → No Auto-Fail

Wisdom DC: 13 + 2 (Lovely Creature)= 15
Wisdom: [d20: 16] + 11 = 27 > 15 → Success

Accuracy: [d20: 1] → Critical Miss
New Target: Cassius
New Accuracy: [d20: 15]
Evasion: [d20: 7] + 15 = 22
15 < 22 → Miss

Effect: Jake critically misses and targets Cassius instead of Anastasia. Cassius evades the Pressurized Water Charm.

Cassius → Lea + Jake

Reducio

Cassius casts Limbo Mist at Lea and Jake using Spell Spread.

Auto-Fail (19-20) (Unsettling Aura): [d20: 3] → No Auto-Fail

Wisdom DC: 15 + 2 (Spell Spread) = 17
Wisdom: [d20: 17] + 20 = 37 > 17 → Success

Duration: [d3: 2] → 1 + 2 = 3 rounds

Effect: Lea and Jake are affected by Limbo Mist and will suffer -4 Wisdom and -4 Accuracy for 3 rounds.

Anastasia

Reducio

Anastasia dodges.

Anatasia's Evasion: 8
Dodge Bonus: 5 + 8 × 0.25 = 5 + 2 = 7
Final Evasion: 8 + 7 = 15

Effect: Anastasia's Evasion will be 15 instead of 8 for this round only.

Damion

Reducio

No post.
Strike x1

The gold mist finally settled, sparkles diffusing around the club room as the spell wore off. With their heads back on right, it was time for Hufflepuff to take their strikes unimpeded. And with one eagle still rooted to the spot, they were at an advantage. Yet, the badger team simply could not find their footing. Anastasia was tired of being a target and chose to pay more attention to dodging what came her way. Able to counter that was Lea and it would have been so if her Trip Jinx had actually done something to her target. Pyxis thought the gold mist might’ve been a shield for Lea, blocking her view from Anastasia’s odd presence. But he knew this was untrue as Jake had also failed to cast in the last bout. Lea’s teammates were just as unlucky with Haven dropping a set of crackers far away from the Ravenclaws and Jake firing his water jet wide of Anastasia, practically targeting Cassius instead but still not hitting. Keen on sending the badgers to hang again, Cassius pulled off another Vario Nebula, bringing golden mist onto the piste once more.

Information

1. You have 96 hours from the time of this post to write your posts (50 words min).
2. In the same time period, send me (Pyxis Hellebore) your team's actions per owl. Do not hint at your actions in your post.
3. If you don't post in the allotted time frame, your action is void.
4. I may mod early if all posts and actions are sent in before the allotted time frame has passed. If you do not want me to do this, please send an owl my way.
5. Your stats, abilities, and spells were locked on February 16th and will remain in that state for the duration of this duel. Any trunk updates since then will not be included.
6. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to owl or DM me!
7. Good luck, and have fun~

The spectator thread for this duel can be found here.
Come cheer for your House and friends!

Date: 14. February. 2026

Damion seemed to be lost in his own thoughts. Damion needed to make a point of not getting lost during duels. It was something that might not end well for them. He looked around as spell after spell was thrown around. He smiled as none of them hit him. He held his wand ready for the next round. He was not going to be lost in his own mind now.

Stats: Stamina: 19
Evasion: 11
Strength: 9
Wisdom: 9+2 (11)
Arcane Power: 11
Accuracy: 12
Abilities: Lovely Creature | Statiscally Relevant | Broken Broomshaft | Catch | Advance Casting | Perfectionist | Spell Spread
Action: As strategized.

Middle of 2025-2026 Year

Interactions: @Damion White @Anastasia Blackwood-Varney Mentions: n/a

"Vario Nebula!

Yet again the seventh year duellist fell back onto the limbo mist charm to shroud the opposing duellists in a magical cloud. It was well cast, although not quite as impressive as the first time he cast it. Either way, he hoped it would aid and set up his team with an advantage for the next rounds. There was still quite a bit left in this duel and Cassius was confident in the abilities of his teammates and himself.

Action:
As strategized.

WANDMAKER (ROUGAROU HAIR)

Reducio

• 10% of the damage done by a "dark" spell is done to a target that was successfully hit by a dark spell every round for the duration of the thread. This is considered to be "bleeding" and can be countered with the bandaging charm.
• In Duelling: This bleeding effect is limited to 4 rounds. If hit by another dark spell in the meantime, the bleeding effect is replaced with the new one.
• On a critical success with a "dark" spell, a second target (only if defined by the caster before this has been rolled) can be targeted, if no secondary target is declared then nothing happens.
• -10% damage done with non-dark spells.

The little boost of determination was quickly extinguished once Lea looked up towards her target. The Hufflepuffs had a plan that relied on Lea to better their chances yet somehow, just by looking at Anastasia and how well she seemed to hold her own despite being the youngest of the group, it took Lea back to when she had been in the same position as a first year. A near constant schedule of waking up in the infirmary room, all injuries recovered except the fear moments before everything faded. Their crafted plan was lost and so to was her concentration, the spell dying as the teen shivered. Now is not the time- focus.

Jake was not having a good duel.

He felt like he couldn't aim or cast, and he didn't know if he was just thrown off by the experience of being 'upside down' or not, but nothing seemed to be hitting its mark. At least this time his wand hadn't backfired but it hadn't come close to hitting either - and he was just happy that his wildly off-target spell at least went towards a member of the other team.

To make matters worse, that nauseating feeling came back from more golden mist - NOW what was he going to do? He decided Limbo Mist was his least favorite spell and as he tried to get his stomach together, he got ready to keep casting. Even if it missed, even if he couldn't get the spells out correctly, he couldn't give up either. There was still a lot of life left in him and his team.

Anastasia knew she was the Hufflepuff's target. And it was a logical choice. She was the youngest, probably looked the weakest, and it was her first year as a duellist. Gryffindor had done the same and the strategy had worked. But this time, she was handling it better. Or the Hufflepuff didn't have as much luck as the Gryffindor had. Either way, the opposite team didn't look at their best, and Anastasia managed to dodge the attacks coming her way.

"This is bonkers," Haven complained. She finally got a good cast in, but it didn't even hit anyone. Not to mention, she couldn't even see her teammates anymore, the fog was so thick. They needed to invent some kind of see-through-the-fog glasses or something. Or cast-spells-juice. It seemed their team could use either, with as rough as a day as they've been having. There was still chance for things to turn around, so Haven could only cling on to a shred of hope. Maybe her Valentine's plans wouldn't end up with her in the hospital wing. If she was going to be there, she would much rather it be from excess chocolate consumption or dying from romantic overload from Cyrus, thank you very much, NOT another silly spell time. Why did she sign up for duelling, again?