2025/2026 Stage 3 Hufflepuff vs Gryffindor: Match 2

Round 6

Sunday, 31st of May, 2026
Morning Slot

With one duellist under careful medical supervision and others in poor condition, those still on the piste were playing it safe. Momentarily taking on Haven’s abandoned healer mantle, Rose opted for a familiarly purple Reparifors. Interestingly enough, there seemed to be something about her spellwork that shone naturally brighter than the textbook examples that Cassius had been learning to identify. Evelynn, Gryffindor though she was, set her sights far more ambitiously. No light burst from her wand or surrounded Kim, but with just a bit of luck and effort, he’d feel greatly refreshed with the piste’s possibly least-used healing spell nonetheless.

Emboldened, some of his aches momentarily soothed, it was up to Kim to break through Hufflepuff’s diminished defences. A somber lack of explosions graced the piste for the first time in many, many exchanges, but, if things were left up to him, that would all change. He raised his wand towards Lea, a light-footed Lindsey already prepared to take the blow for her teammate if needed, but met nothing but air—just as Gryffindor’s own side of the piste remained gratefully absent of wizarding crackers, so too did Hufflepuff’s. It was only because of the often-pronounced incantation that his intended spell could be identified.

And yet, despite what many upperclassmen duels implied, not every attack needed to be flashy. Lea took the risk to split her spell once more. Flipendo, any duelling team’s overlooked ‘old reliable’, manifested in two separate flashes of brilliant red light, one soaring across the piste towards Rose. The other, aim dangerously swayed by Lindsey’s protective instinct, nearly knocked Lea’s fellow Hufflepuff out by her own hand. Both—only by the slimmest of margins—flew just barely past their targets and hit the piste harmlessly.

Every other exchange had been so chaotic that the momentary lull rang ever louder. There was something greater here than the perpetual quid-pro-quo that had characterised the rest of the duel. Not a single attack had hit, for better or for worse as the end-stretch grew ever closer. In the rat race to reloading their artillery, it seemed, even the quickest of shots took time as the greatest currency to spend.

Information

1. You have 96 hours from now to write your entrance posts (50 words min).
2. In the same time period, send me (Cassius Hirano) 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. If you have any questions or corrections, don't hesitate to owl or DM me!!
5. Good luck, and have fun!

Duelling Spells

Duelling System

Newest Patch

Perhaps the ongoing pain had made her more clear-headed, and Lindsey was ready to spring into action at any split second. Eyes on Lea, she had decided that it might be best to sacrifice her wobbly body as a meat shield; she wasn't gonna survive to the end of this anyway. Alas! How she wished for a perfect ending to her final duel. Life was just a series of regrets, and hers was no exception.

She narrowly escaped a misdirected Flipendo from Lea - her fellow badger seemed to be distracted by this endless, tiring battle as well, and thank Merlin Lindsey was quick on her feet this time. She gave Lea a small, reassuring smile, before retaking her stance. Oh, she was going to fall asleep. Ice cream sounded like a beautiful dream too far away.

Decipio suggested that they should acknowledge their loss. Lindsey chewed on her lower lip, half thinking, half helping herself to stay conscious. "You have a point." Her voice was low due to her draining physical strength, but firm. "But no. It's not the end yet." How could she retreat? While it was probably a wise choice, what would the lower year Hufflepuff duellists think, if they gave up as the highest league players? And speaking of hospitals, she thought Haven wouldn't mind having some company. Having ice cream together on the hospital wing bed didn't sound that bad.

There was some hesitation when Evelynn brought up her proposition. The Gryffindors hadn't fought for this round, opting to heal to levels that Lea didn't not think they could bring back down with Lindsey barely standing. It certainly didn't help that their performance had done nothing, Lea nearly being the one to strike down her teammate. "Sh- I'm so sorry."

Yet it was Lindsey, at the last of her reserves, that demanded they continue. The Sixth Year certainly wouldn't oppose the wishes of the near graduates at their last duel, a laugh bubbling up. Oh what a terrible position they were in- but it certainly wasn't new. "What's one more fall into unconsciousness? Practically an old friend at this point." How novel an experience to be the most healthy of her team with how quickly the girl had fallen previously. She didn't agree with Evelynn's accusation of pride, at this point it felt like stupidity and fun but was this not a great opportunity for both? She was a teenager after all, perhaps she should act more like it.

"We should see eachother from time to time after you two graduate." Kim said as he looked over at Rose and Eve. He couldn't help but smile a little as Rose spoke of having ice cream and chocolate frogs. "I mean, we gotta celebrate with sweets. But I'll bring some savory stuff too." He said with a nod because they couldn't just get high on sweets. They needed something with substance too. Earlier, Lea had tried to target Rose and him with one of Kim's favorite spells, an oldie but a goodie. She ended up barely missing Rose but the spell that tried to head for him suddenly changed direction and went for Lindsey instead. Lindsey also just barely avoided it. Apparently there were lots of close calls for Lea's Knockback spell.

Eve and Rose both healed him to keep him steady on his feet and Kim had to admit, he was feeling much better after all that. But he was worried about the state of his fellow teammates too. He didn't like being cared for by others, much preferring to change that to him caring for others instead. Even though Eve and Rose were his seniors, Kim also wanted to take care of them. Unfortunately, this time around, his spell fizzled out before it was even released from the end of his wand and a sigh escaped him. "Hell." Kim muttered under his breath. He hated when spells failed like that, it was worse than missing with them. At least if he missed it was because of his opponents being luckier or better than him. With this... it was all his fault.

He glanced over at Eve as she gave their opponents an option to forfeit and looked back at the two remaining Badgers. One of which seemed to be teetering on the precipice of unconsciousness. It would be a smart move to forfeit there, but they would have to abandon their pride. If it had been Kim, he would have rejected the offer because he was the type who would go out with a bang, giving his all to the match, even if there was no hope. Apparently Lindsey and Lea were of the same mindset. He nodded at their words and glanced over at Rose and Eve. "Thanks for the help. I should be good now. Let's focus and win this thing!" He said with a smile. If they knocked everyone out in the end, he'd visit the hospital wing later.

After all, leaving some chocolate frogs for them would be the best thing for them when they woke up. Chocolate always made everyone feel better, unless they were allergic to it.

The end of the battle seemed to be nearing. But instead of the expected barrage of offensive spells from the lions that was likely expected with their lead, both of the redheads turned to Kim instead. Hopefully feeling some strength reenter his limbs, Kim seemed to feel the effects of their healing efforts. "No problem," Rose said warmly. But the fight wasn’t over quite yet. Rose had to give credit where it was due to Lindsey- the young witch looked like she could barely stand, but was still holding on, had thrown herself in front of her teammate, and had declined yet another offer from Evelynn to forfeit.

It would have been the smart move to do so, but these were no Ravenclaws across from them on the piste, and Rose had to say she admired their choice to fight, despite their clear disadvantage of a missing teammate. A small smirk crept over her face at her opponents’ determination, knowing she would have done the same if she were in their place, fighting as hard as possible even if the odds seemed slim.

Round 7

Sunday, 31st of May, 2026
Morning Slot

A curling billow of clouds formed overhead the piste, black with anger, as Lea raised her wand vaguely against Gryffindor’s half of the piste. Unlike the regular Metelojinx Cassius had gotten used to seeing, they formed so artificially low to the ground that there was scarcely a moment of warning before three bolts of lightning immediately cracked down. In quick succession, they flashed seemingly at random towards both Kim and Rose in a wild tempest. Between the three duellists’ instincts—Lea and Kim with particular distinction—, one could never mistake the upperclassmens’ duels for anything but experienced. Even with such cascading feats of pure instinct, however, both lions would become unwitting electric conductors. Though perhaps too quick to tag-team greater electrical damage in a single clash, a pressurised burst of water in the face courtesy of Lindsey would further target Rose.

And yet, Hufflepuff was not alone in their flashy cooperation as Kim sent back a sharp gust of wind. The already disappearing storm clouds faded quicker than ever as Lea’s hair and clothes whipped back in the new breeze. With one of their own briefly revitalised without much offensive work, Gryffindor returned their previous artillery fire. Evelynn and Rose worked together to perpetuate the ringing in their ears as wizarding crackers and explosions alike crashed across the piste. Lea took the blunted pain of attacks just barely in range, but, struck directly, Lindsey fell amid a cloud of gunpowder smoke, and did not get back up.

Like before, the match paused to take unconscious duellists away for medical attention. Hufflepuff’s side of the piste stood emptier with only one badger still defiantly standing, but a moderator’s vigil was straightforward. Once the coast was clear, Cassius allowed all duellists a moment to reset their stance or catch their breaths before stepping back and dropping his hand. The duel, as ever, was still on.

Information

1. You have 96 hours from now to write your entrance posts (50 words min).
2. In the same time period, send me (Cassius Hirano) 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. If you have any questions or corrections, don't hesitate to owl or DM me!!
5. Good luck, and have fun!

Duelling Spells

Duelling System

Newest Patch

The lions were once again on the offensive, but they weren't the only ones. While Lea and Lindsey were hit by wind, shards of the stage, and wizarding crackers, Rose wasn't quite able to dodge a jet of water sent her way. At its approach, she threw her arms up, shielding her face from the brunt of the spell's strength. Then, a cloud bloomed over their heads, and though she almost flinched out of the way, a bolt of lightning just singed her.

She hadn't been feeling amazing prior to this round, her body ready for the combat to stop, but in the momentary pause that followed Lindsey's collapse, she found herself catching her breath. Now three on one, Rose took another glance at her teammates. While some might say she was stupid to keep fighting when the odds were clearly against her, Rose decided Lea was brave to remain standing. There would be more duels for the badger to win, and the redhead didn't want to win without a good fight.

But it wasn't quite over yet.

A burst of water shot towards Rose who was not able to avoid the water jet, probably because Lea's lightning strike cloud managed to send off three bursts of lightning towards them. That was pretty impressive he had to admit as Kim managed to easily avoid the first strike but ended up just barely getting hit by the second strike. He hadn't expected the lightning to go after him twice in a row! He was almost able to avoid it completely but fell just short of doing so. On his guard now, Kim waited to see where the lightning would strike next, expecting it to go towards him a third time. After all, third time's the charm. But instead it went towards Rose instead. It seemed as if only Rose and him were getting targeted now but it made sense.

After all, they had taken more damage than Eve and with how the Badgers were just barely holding on, the only thing they could really do now was see if they could take someone out before they lost the match. Eve's spell went off well, just as Kim had expected it would, Eve was what Colin would have called 'awesome-sauce'. He couldn't help but think again how much he'd miss the two of them. But then again, perhaps it wouldn't be 100% bad because he could always track them down outside of Hogwarts. This time, Rose's spell hit and was a complete success and Kim couldn't help but smile. The best part was Kim himself was able to successfully hit with his own spell this round too. He didn't feel like such a failure this time!

He'd gotten the cast off AND he'd made it hit someone! But poor Lindsey. Kim knew she would be alright, there had been nothing dangerous that magic couldn't cure at the hospital wing. But it didn't ever feel good to be knocked out during a duel. "Let's wrap this up and make it a year to remember." Kim told Rose and Eve with a smile. If they or WHEN they won this duel, it would mark a great year where his team won every single dueling match they participated in. A great send-off for Eve and Rose. He gripped hold of his wand and waited for Lea the only remaining Badger to steady her own self before her opponents struck the final blows. Once it was over, it would be time for celebration for the Lions soon after.