2020, Stage 1 Group B: Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw

Why in the merlin's name did Katrina think that she was ready for this? Sure, when she had signed her name on the roster, it hadn't felt like that much of a big deal. She was simply signing up for another club. Another event to participate in. It wasn't a big deal. But now, she couldn't believe that she was standing on the edge of the stage listening to the History of Magic teacher go over the rules again. The rules of dueling. Because she was about to duel two Ravenclaws.

Katrina bit her lip so hard she tasted copper. Her fingers traced up and down her wand, twirling it at her side. Her mind raced through the options, the spells she was planning on using. Flippindo, Incendio, Fumos, Tarantallegra, Obsuro. The list went on and on. She didn't want to hurt anyone. She never wanted to hurt anyone. But she was going to duel, it was allowed, it wasn't just encouraged, it was necessary to win.

Katrina had signed up because she needed to learn how to apply spells. She needed to learn how to cast things and what it felt like. She needed to learn how to protect herself. Protect her brother. Protect anyone who decided it was a good idea to show up at a school ball. She wasn't doing it to get back at anyone. She wasn't doing it to hurt anyone. It was to learn. It was just to learn.

Katrina took a breath and carefully hid her insecurities. She relaxed the tension in her shoulders, let them drop. Stopped fidgeting with her wand or her lip. She looked at her partner whom she had hardly met and at her new opponents with a spark of defiance. Katrina stepped onto the stage with almost a swagger, a cool confidence. As she passed Calanthe she murmured, "Remember what we planned," before turning to her opponents.

"Let's get this party started,"

Doing As Stragigized | @Calanthe Choi @Mars T'ien @Phaedra Stavrou

Mars couldn't hide the grin that spread over their features as they bounced onto the piste, hands half-tucked in their pockets. They could feel the weight of their cherry wand in their back pocket, a comfortable reminder of what was to come. A duel. The sparks in their chest exploded at the very thought, fingertips tingling with phantom magic.

They skirted over to the Ravenclaw starting side, rolling their shoulders lightly. Across from them, one familiar face and one new one stared back. Katrina and Calanthe, hmm? They didn't know much about either in terms of duelling skills, so it should prove interesting.

"Hope you're ready to lose!" they called, smirk slipping out. Maybe it was a bluff, but a bluff did what a bluff was supposed to do. Besides, what was the point of being stiff? This was supposed to be fun, magic hurtling danger in an adrenaline-driven rush.

Humming, Mars pulled their wand out, flipping it twice. It was a ritual by now, running their fingers over the wooden contours. Glancing to the side, they took in their partner. Short, maybe a little unassuming, but something about her aura immediately put them at ease. I mean, they were already lucky having a Fourth Year on their side, but they had a feeling this would be better than they thought.

Extending a hand, they grinned.

"Celynne, right? I'm Mars, they/them," they paused, looking at the two Gryffindor's opposing them. Oh gods, this was gonna be so fun, wasn't it? "Ready to kick some ass?"

Calanthe was not sure why she put her name down for duelling and, as she walked up the stairs to the piste, the young witch was becoming more conflicted with her choice. Her partner, Katrina, looked confident, strutting forward with the conviction of someone who believed in their abilities. Calanthe was aware that the upperclassman could be faking her poise, but the girl with the striking teal streak gave no tells.

Calanthe felt like the polar opposite of Katrina. She stood aligned with her partner, but just a few inches back. If anyone paid her attention, they would notice her head looking downwards, admiring the design of the piste’s floor. On the contrary, the girl’s eyes could not focus, her mind running through spells that were beginning to blend together. Taking a glance at Katrina, she noticed the older witch twirling her wand. Instigated to follow suit, Calanthe tried tunneling on her own wand to calm down. She observed the odd thing, unsure of what its qualities were. Both the wood and core were endemic to North America and the research she found was useless in telling her if it would help her with duelling or not.

Fumbling with the magical item - treating it as an extension of her body was still a foreign concept to the half-blood - Calanthe readied herself to face off against the two unfamiliar Ravenclaw opponents. The raven who taunted seemed loose and excited. Calanthe was jealous of their ability to be at ease in this situation, about to fight in front of a crowd for the honor of the house. She hated being on the stage. Still, the Gryffindor hummed in response to her teammates murmur.

May the best duo win.

-

There was a certain something about competition that lit up under her skin, not crawling along her veins as fear or disgust might, but pumping through her—she couldn't be sure that she liked it or not, but it was there and it didn't seem like it was going to go away anytime soon. And anyway, as she tightened the fabric around her waist, it was good to have a little something exciting sometimes. Not that she needed it, given the happenings in the castle, but she definitely wasn't unaccustomed to it at this point.

Her partner was a second year she didn't know very well. Red hair stood out easily, and so did the smile on their face. Well, she wasn't going to criticize enthusiasm. "Most people call me Cel," she said, acknowledging the greeting with a slight grin and a nod. In hindsight, it might've been a good idea to strategize better beforehand, but hey! Not like she could strategize in the quidditch pitch, or the forest, or any other time when she half died. And half the time she got out without a scratch, so maybe she'd be all right.

She merely smiled again at the comment—as fun as it was to think that way, Mars probably had enough swaggering comments for the both of them, an agreement wasn't necessary. With practiced ease, she drew her wand out of her sleeve—chestnut, nothing special, but it'd gotten her out of many mishaps so far, and she trusted the stick of wood as well as her own abilities. Her thumb brushed over the locket around her neck, then went up to brush her hair back, braided back and out of her face for once, black as night today. She didn't need color to stand out in dueling.

Inclining her head to acknowledge her opponents, she turned to her partner again. "Get ready to dodge," she said playfully, then switched her gaze back to focus, adjusting her grip on her wand once again. Even Cel felt thrumming under her nerves now. Breathe in, breathe out—time to go.

-

Round 1

Katrina vs Celynne

Reducio

Katrina cast Incendio Duo at Celynne.
Wisdom DC: 12
Wisdom Check: [d20: 17] + 11 = 28
Accuracy Check: [d20: 9] + 5 = 14
Evasion Check: [d20: 13] + 10 = 23
→ Miss

Calanthe vs Celynne

Reducio

Calanthe cast Wingardium Leviosa at Celynne.
Wisdom DC: 9
Wisdom Check: [d20: 6] + 7 = 13
Accuracy Check: [d20: 5] + 9 = 14
Evasion Check: [d20: 10] + 10 = 20
→ Miss

Mars vs Calanthe

Reducio

Mars cast Mucus ad Nauseam at Calanthe.
Wisdom DC: 12
Wisdom Check: [d20: 9] + 7 = 16
Accuracy Check: [d20: 11] + 8 – 1 = 18Opponent's Charmer
Evasion Check: [d20: 11] + 5 = 16
→ Hit
Rounds till Faint: 8 >5 in Calanthe's Str
Effect: -1 Acc & -1 ArcP; 8rounds till fainting

Celynne vs Katrina

Reducio

Celynne cast Petrificus Totalus at Katrina.
Wisdom DC: 12
Wisdom Check: [d20: 18] + 12 = 30
Accuracy Check: [d20: 18] + 10 – 1 = 27Opponent's Charmer
Evasion Check: [d20: 13] + 8 = 21
→ Hit
Duration Roll: [d3: 2] → 2 rounds d3:2=1r + 1r per 10Arc of Caster (10)
Effect: paralysed for 2 rounds

All four duellist went for it without hesitation. As soon as Zahid told them to begin all four of them cast their first spell. But while they were all equally quick on the draw, it seemed luck favoured the Ravens in this round. Both Gryffindor's spell went for Miss Gray – and past her, harmlessly. The Ravenclaws were off to a better start with both their spells aiming true and hitting their opponents. Impressive.
Miss Walker froze up and fell over as the Full-Body Bind took hold, while Miss Choi would feel the abrupt onset of a beginning cold.

OOC info:

Reducio

- The minimum WC for this duel is 50 words.
-You now have 72h to post your next (reaction) post.
- During these 72h send me (Zahid al-Benghazi ibn Masoud) your (team's) actions per owl. Do not post any action in your post. You can rp your (re)action after every Modpost.
- If you do not post in the alloted 72h, your action is void. (If you require an extension, you can do so in an owl addressed to me before the next modpost. You will be given, at most, twenty-four (24) hours' extension in addition to the original 72.)
- Your spells, stats and abilities are locked for the duration of this duel.
@Katrina Walker
@Calanthe Choi
@Mars T'ien
@Celynne Gray

-

Contrary to popular opinion, Celynne was not a girl with extremely fast reflexes. No, she actually reacted quite slowly in times of stress, but the problem was that she was very bad at staying in one place when she was uncomfortable, and she was just a really damn tiny target, which had gotten her out of a lot of not-so-peaceful situations at Hogwarts before. Then again, having been in said situations, it was hard not to flinch when you saw magic coming your way at this point. This fact was exemplified when two spells sailed right over her shoulders as she ducked down instinctively.

She couldn't say she wasn't surprised, though. She had been so sure they'd aim at her partner, who hadn't had as much experience as her. Satisfaction sparked in her chest as twin beams of spell-light landed right on their targets. Her own opponent stiffened and fell over, to which she winced a little when she heard the sound of a body hitting the floor, internally apologizing. Hopefully that would buy them a few rounds. The other had been struck by Mars's spell—the Curse of the Bogies was a great choice, even if she hadn't used it very often. Mentally, she applauded them for quick thinking, offering a smile.

Stumbling a little as she came up from her dodge, Cel darted to her partner's other side to get out of the line of fire. Grinning as she crossed them, she spun to face the right direction again and raised her hand for a high five. She leaned forward quickly to whisper a couple words into their ear—and then she'd whirled over into position again, wand up and at the ready.

-

The instant her words escaped her mouth, Katrina rose her wand. What to do, what to do? The plan, of course. Follow the plan. She shouted out a distinct 'Incendio Duo'. Inwardly cringing as the fire shot out from her wand. Only to sail over Celynne's hunched over form. Her partner's spell did the same thing, them both not anticipating her move. This was not starting well. The first round was supposed to knock her down good, but this, this wasn't going to do anything but boost their opponent's ego.

Katrina was deep planning the next move that she wasn't quite able to dodge the spell that came at her. In the split second, before it hit, she worried what it was. Then every muscle in her body stiffened and her eyes went wide. She had a split second flashback to Beckett dragging her onto the bed, covering her with sheets for the entire day. But this was a duel, she was going to be fine.

She struggled against herself, trying to force her muscles into cooperation. Thankfully, she knew that they couldn't target her while she was paralyzed, but it didn't help her from continuing to struggle against the spell.

Doing As Stratigized | @Calanthe Choi @Mars T'ien @Phaedra Stavrou