From the Sidelines PV G.W & E.V.

As Ebony Vetra heaved the oak doors of the Duelling Club open, only one question was recurring in her mind: why was she here? She was probably the furthest thing from a duellist that one could find, and it was not as though she had been invigorated by the previous duel that she had participated in. Was it enjoyable, lighting children on fire and casting endless Knockback Jinxes? Somewhat — adrenaline-inducing momentarily, she supposed. But the beater clearly was not built to be a duellist, for she had found a duel against first and second years somewhat challenging already. It was evident that she had to brush up on her spellcasting skills; though she was no perfectionist, being so unbelievably incompetent in something was rather unacceptable. Becoming more well versed in other sports was not a bad thing.

The Duelling Club room was quite stunning; levitated candles illuminated the ceiling, floors beautifully worn with the marks of spellcasting, well-drawn portraits lining its walls — though nothing could beat the view of the Quidditch Pitch from up high, unfortunately. As the girl paced toward the back of the room, she spotted Lily, a Gryffindor girl whom she had met way back in second year. She couldn't recall whether the Gryffindor was a duellist or not, considering how long ago they had become acquainted.

Ebony was mulling over the option of simply sitting at the edge of the piste and observing those duelling and practicing around her. Perhaps she could wait until individuals began to trickle out before having a go at one of the training dummies that lined the sides of the room. Fate didn't seem to like that idea very much, however, for somebody approached her (Rowena Ravenclaw was not smiling upon her today).

"Hey, so, uhh, what do we think about a quick practice duel?"

The brunette froze — it had been almost four years, but the voice was still recognisable. Turning around confirmed her suspicions; Guinevere Russetwood was talking to her? Ebony had met the Slytherin in the Library once upon a time, and she had not seen the girl much after that awkward encounter (though they had briefly come across the other during Capture the Flag event in Castelobruxo earlier this year). The childish tensions that had arisen what seemed like decades ago had long since dissipated. She did not expect the girl to recognise her, much less approach her. And Guinevere was asking to duel — wasn't she a duellist? The Ravenclaw's ego would not allow her to refuse however much she wanted to; she could become quite competitive when it came to sports, no matter how much remained hidden under her mask of nonchalance.

"Hi — yeah, sure, why not?" Ebony stepped gingerly onto the piste, drawing her wand and hoping dearly that her lack of preparedness was not given away.

Guinevere stepped onto the piste as well, her steps holding the certainty of a well-trained duellist. It was as though the Slytherin girl knew exactly where to place her shoes, the precise spots that would provide an ease for aiming on the duelling piste. Ebony's own steps, conversely, were stumbling and unfamiliar. The texture and placement of the piste were foreign to her, feeling strange under the soles of her shoes. Despite her having participated in one or two duels before, the piste did not make enough of an impression on her for it to become any less alien. The brunette was clearly an impostor standing in a duellist's position.

One could say that she was confunded upon where to begin. Now standing solo on the piste, she was quite lost. At least in her previous duel, she had had a partner; this time, it was uncoordinated, a muddle of inexperience clouding the Ravenclaw. Giving herself an obligatory pre-duel knuckle crack, the wand was drawn to be held in a defensive position, though she was unsure what spell the wand should cast. The Impediment Jinx had functioned quite decently against her previous opponents, so perhaps a renewed attempt would yield even better results. She was still exploring the realm of more advanced spells such as the aforementioned, but she resolved to try anyway. She had realised that the duelling piste, for her, though she of course chased victory, was only a strip for experimentation and spellcasting practice. So what if her spells backfired? The worst that could happen would be a visit to the Hospital Wing, and Ebony had had her fair share of being bludgeoned by bludgers — she was no stranger to the place.

It seemed as though Guinevere was about to fire a spell of her own, and so she pointed her wand firmly to its target, simultaneously yelling "impedimenta!" with a certainty and confidence that did not exist the last time she had stumbled onto the piste. It seemed as though the spell had hit? The instance created quite the flurry of confusion. Ebony turned for a split second to look at the side of the piste, glimpsing Lily watching them with a bag of popcorn in hand — wait, where in the bloody hell had the girl gotten popcorn? She turned back toward her duelling opponent, only to realise that her movements were more lethargic than they were before. It finally struck amidst the confusion that the two had hit each other with the same spell simultaneously. She supposed great minds think alike; maybe they were not as different as she had once thought.