Duelling Stage 1, Day 1 Spectator Closed

Afternoon Slot - 12:30 – 13:30

Mentions: @Ileen Knight @Dealla Prince @Pericles Dralt @Alexander Varellion

~ Closed to Interactions ~

Morning Slot
@Illowy Magnard and @Erik Tharaldson

The first duels of the year were starting today, and there was an undeniable air of excitement among the majority of the student body. Bridget could already feel anticipation building up for her own duel, but that wouldn't be until tomorrow. For now, she had the advantage and curse of observing other duels first. Not going first had its benefits, of course, namely as it would allow her to see what worked and what didn't, but all the other teams would have that added knowledge, too. Besides, while it was in some sense helpful to know how the rest of her team had performed going into her duel, it also would add an extra bit of pressure.

All the pros and cons of her duel being on the second day aside, there was no way she was going to miss today's matches. She was rather passionate about House spirit and hoped to see Slytherin dominate. Plus, several of her friends had duels today. Bridget perhaps wasn't a very openly affectionate person, but she did care about her friends and wouldn't miss their games for anything.

Illowy's match was one the first. Three duels all happening at the same time was an interesting set-up, to say the least, and she imagined trying to watch multiple duels at once would be a pain. At least for the morning slot she only really needed to pay attention to Illowy, though she would keep an eye on the other pair of Slytherins duelling, too. She wondered how Illowy felt about being paired with Erik. He was an aggressive sort of person, and those aggressive tendencies had lost him Bridget's respect. She supposed the real question now would be how he was with a wand.

Illowy belonged on the Slytherin duelling team and she wasted no time in proving it. A Knockback Jinx hurtled out of her wand and nailed her target within seconds of the duel starting. Erik had a brain in there somewhere, it seemed, as he used his spell to mute his opponent. It was a smart move. At this point, the Slytherins seemed to be winning, and though it was still early on in the duel, Bridget didn't doubt Illowy and Erik's shot at winning this one.

Afternoon Slot
@Katrina Walker and @Ileen Knight

After an hour break, during which Bridget ate lunch and jotted down a few notes of things to remember for tomorrow, she was back in the duelling room. She figured being a spectator would be a little more complicated this time; there were two simultaneous duels she wanted to watch. The majority of her attention would be directed towards Katrina, since the redhead Gryffindor was her friend, but she also wanted to watch Ileen, and not just because the younger girl was a Slytherin. They'd met about a week ago and Ileen had Bridget's respect. They'd also given each other a few pointers on their spell-casting, so she'd be happy to see if her advice helped.

She drummed her fingers on her knee, anxious for this round of duels to start. Well, nowhere near as anxious as the people actually about to duel, she imagined. Since Bridget had technically duelled against Katrina before for Chess Combat, she wasn't too concerned about the Gryffindor getting hurt. This was duelling and it was bound to happen. Watching her friend get battered by spells certainly wasn't something she wanted to watch, but Bridget was sure Katrina would be fine. And while Bridget wasn't a particular vocal person, different teams or not, Katrina had every ounce of Bridget's silent support.

Afternoon Group C: @Ileen Knight @Alexander Varellion

Morning Slot.

Søren never felt the need to exhibit house pride outside of Quidditch. Winning the House Cup and watching broom racing did little to keep him interested. Yet, he knew he should take more delight in watching his housemates succeed. Duelling wasn’t something that he felt excitement for. Perhaps he was jealous of the duellers for their talent with magic, something that he lacked greatly. He doubted the feeling of watching a duelling match could provide him with the same adrenaline rush of watching Quidditch, but he was willing to give it a try for his house’s sake.

Taking a quick look at the schedule for the day, he realised that watching the matches would be more difficult than he expected. With matches going on simultaneously, he didn’t know how it would be possible to pay attention to the two Slytherin pairs. Vowing to try his best, he began hunting for the best seat in the house that would give him an angle on the two Slytherin matches. He spotted the perfect position within a few minutes of walking around the room. However, it was occupied by a familiar scowl-marked face.

Søren didn’t want to disturb her. Cupcake Frosting, as he liked to call her, rejected many of his attempts at friendship, and from the look on her face, he assumed nothing had really changed since last year.

Instead, he made his way over to the spot and stood behind her. The view of Groups A and B was still decent as the petite girl barely blocked his sight. The faces of Group A were all familiar as second years, but Søren knew none of them by name. In the first round, both Gryffindors’ spells backfired, one even hurting the bloke who casted it. To make things better, both Slytherins’ spells hit their mark, eliciting a loud cheer from Søren. Unaware of if the noise alerted Cupcake Frosting to his presence, the boy continued to watch as both pairs traded blows in the second round.

While watching the events of Group A, his gaze shifted occasionally to Group B. There were two faces he knew by name fighting there; Maria, the badger who found her way into the Slytherin fight club over the summer, and Erik, the wolfish boy who he had a fine time grouping with before all chaos broke free. Obviously rooting for Slytherin, Søren clapped at their successful first round of attacking the other Hufflepuff girl and muting Maria. He did feel a wash of guilt as Maria was hit. The girl was in his group during the fight club madness and he didn’t realize what a soft spot he had for the other members until watching Maria be hit with a spell. Unfortunately for the other Hufflepuff girl, every one of the Slytherins’ spells hit her and she was disappointingly eliminated.

Happy for the Slytherins but expecting that Maria would put up a good fight, Søren watched on eagerly, eding forward just enough to bump into the girl he was trying to avoid. “Oh! Sorry about that… er… Cupcake Frosting…?” he offered, unsure if the girl would be offended by him using that nickname after the long time they spent not interacting.

Interaction Status: CLOSED
Interacting With
@Calanthe Choi
Mentioning
@Maria Dee @Erik Tharaldson and others in Groups A and B

Afternoon Slot.

Racing back into the Duelling Club room just as the pairs took their stances on the stage, Søren leaned against the wall, out of breath. Watching duelling was more entertaining than he thought it would be, but his neck and legs hurt from standing around during the first slot, swivelling his head every second to ensure that he didn’t miss anything good from the Slytherin matches. He wished the break was longer so he could have more time to rest in the courtyard. His classmates were about the castle during the break, chattering excitedly about the first set of duels. He was impressed that he could actually hold a conversation about spells for once.

Fixing himself so as to not look unruly, Søren took another look at the timetable and groaned. He would have to pay attention to all three matches this time around. He ran back to his spot that was thankfully unoccupied and watched as the duels began.

Dee looked right at home on the stage. She exuded an energy that Calanthe, one stage across, was severely lacking. Søren wanted to make it back in time to wish the Gryffindor some luck, but he selfishly prioritized the soothing of his aching neck. He wasn’t close with Dee, but she had always been kind to him and he admired her perseverance during the fiasco of the summer camp. Despite there being no Slytherins in her matchup, he would pay close attention to her duel while, obviously, rooting for her.

Bringing his attention back to Calanthe, Søren noted her contemplative stature and lack of skill with handling a wand. He could definitely relate there, despite being a pureblood. He knew she was smart too. The girl made the intelligent call to drop a boutonnière to the Quidditch pitch while the two were escaping the mosps at the cursed Blossom Ball. Her move was enough to ensure that they got out of the ball in one piece. Wincing as the two Gryffindors missed their shots while the Ravenclaws hit their marks, Søren cursed under his breath. Like Dee, he was unaware of Calanthe’s abilities in spellcasting. Though, he was confident that Dee had more than enough skill, seeing as she was able to bag the captain spot.

The matchup of Group C contained many faces that Søren could recognize. On the badger’s side, his old friend, Alina, had a bright smile on her face as the match started. He’d known Alina for a long time, so rooting for her was another evident choice. However, she was up against two Slytherins. He exchanged blows with Alexander over the summer. The bloke put up a good fight, but was ultimately taken down by Søren’s team. Søren wondered if his arcane abilities were stronger than his physical ones. Standing next to Alexander was Ileen. About as close with her as he was with Dee, Søren still felt like supporting her. She was nice and a Slytherin. All the boxes were checked as far as he was concerned. He let out a loud cheer as she knocked a Hufflepuff’s wand out of her hand, then was immediately quieted as she was hit with the Dancing-Feet spell in return. Alina seemed to be the only one escaping any damage in that round, and Søren was pleased that his friend stood strong.

Interaction Status: OPEN
Mentioning
@Dealla Prince @Calanthe Choi @Alina Rosier @Ileen Knight @Alexander Varellion

~ Closed to Interactions ~

Morning Slot
@Illowy Magnard and @Erik Tharaldson | @Amara Dragamior and @Henry Knight

Illowy's duel continued to go well. Bridget felt a little bad for the younger Hufflepuffs they were facing, but then again, she wanted her friend to win, not to mention her desire for Slytherin to get every win it could. This was duelling, after all, and while a different kind of brutality than Quidditch, it was far from a sport for the faint of heart. You simply had to accept the fact that the other team wouldn't be going easy on you and return the favor. Besides, Slytherins were reputationally ruthless.

With her teammate tongue-tied, the other Hufflepuff didn't stand a chance. Illowy and Erik fired Flipendo after Flipendo at her and Bridget knew from experience that those things hurt. She tried to fight back, but her Green Sparks Charm missed and even when she decided it was best to just focus all her attention on dodging, she was too dazed to avoid the deadly accurate spells from the Viridian Vipers. The girl was knocked down and didn't get back up.

At least the remaining Hufflepuff seemed to have finally found herself with an unknotted tongue, though Bridget wondered how much of a fight she'd be able to put up. She hadn't taken any damage yet with all of Slytherin's spells directed at her now unconscious teammate, so she had that going for her, but neither had Illowy or Erik. Things certainly weren't looking too bright for her, but this was certainly a chance to prove herself. To go down fighting. And she was trying, she was certainly trying, but the Hufflepuff's spell backfired. Bridget tapped her fingers against her knee. This wasn't looking good. Illowy landed a solid Incendio Duo, adding injury to the embarrassment of a spell going in the completely wrong direction. Erik's spell, however, went straight towards Illowy. Bridget's eyebrows raised slightly; was that an accident, or on purpose? With Erik Tharaldson, it was honestly quite possibly he had purposely attacked his teammate, although considering it hadn't been a physical blow, maybe it really had been a fluke. At any rate, Illowy dodged the blindfold shooting through the air towards her face.

She couldn't help but roll her eyes at the banter between the two. She felt bad for her friend; Illowy probably hadn't been too thrilled with the pairing, but really, was the duelling platform the time and place for insulting your teammates? Her gaze travelled towards the simultaneous Slytherin match where something similar seemed to be happening. Really, did no one understand that bickering was more likely to harm your performance than help it? Still, both teams seemed to be doing quite well. She'd missed most of Amara Dragamoir and Henry Knight's duel due to her attention being elsewhere, but the two had successfully taken out one of their opponents. If her last duel was any indication, two vs. one was a good position to be in. They both looked at least somewhat battered, but their remaining opponent seemed to have a nasty magically-induced cold. Slytherin was doing quite well so far.

Afternoon Slot
@Katrina Walker and @Calanthe Choi | @Ileen Knight and @Alexander Varellion

Ileen and Katrina's duels took a while to get underway, but once they started, Bridget was rapt at attention. She was going to need to figure out some way of keeping her head on a swivel; she really didn't want to miss a minute of either duel. And... well, her friend's duel was not looking too great. The older girl Katrina was facing, some fourth year Ravenclaw Bridget vaguely recognized, sent a Full Body-Bind Curse her way and the Gryffindor promptly fell over frozen. The Slytherin winced; at least no one could target Katrina while she was like this, but she imagined being petrified wasn't a great way to start off your first duel. Her own missed Incendio Duo provided no consolation, nor did her teammate's missed spell. Speaking of which, she actually recognized Katrina's partner from the Quidditch Match over the summer. Calanthe, if she recalled correctly. Bridget wondered why she'd opted for a Levitation Charm.

Meanwhile, Ileen's duel seemed to be going a bit better, though not by much. Ileen executed a flawless Disarming Spell and her target's spell went flying somewhere off the platform. Bridget felt a swell of pride; her tips a few days prior had likely helped. Before her target's wand was sent spinning out of the Hufflepuff's hand, though, she managed to hit Ileen with the Dancing Feet Spell. Not the worst thing Ileen could've been hit with by a long shot, but it would certainly make spell-casting harder. Her teammate, Alexander, a boy Bridget admittedly barely knew, traded Flipendos with the other Hufflepuff. So far, things looked fairly even, though the brilliant strategy of disarming an opponent would likely give the Vipers an upper hand.

And indeed it did. Alexander nailed the girl searching for her wand with another Knockback Jinx. She imagined the accumulated effect of two powerful spells was starting to take its toll. Ileen, however, cast an impressive spell, demonstrating her knowledge of magic beyond her year. Her forced dancing made aiming difficult, and instead of launching the spell at one of the Hufflepuffs, the spell was fired off at Alexander. At least he managed to dodge it.

Ileen didn't let the misfire throw her off, thankfully, and when she next cast her spell, the blue light of the Flipendo hit its mark. The Hufflepuff girl had finally retrieved her wand, but she'd taken a lot of damage. How much longer would she last?

Afternoon Slot - 12:30 - 13:30

It was the day before his own duel and just a day after the events of the ball had occurred, Zykeal was late, but, at least would show his face in the area to scout his potential opponents for future matches. The second-year Gryffindor was calculated as ever as he entered into the area, shifting his way through the crowd and pushing other students aside until he made his way over towards where another girl was standing. Recognizing the white-haired girl from Dealla's birthday party, he stood next to her, arms crossed tight against his chest, and caught the actions of the duel that was going on before them. The boy knew the one girl that Dee was going against, he knew she was quick with her wand as he had tested her before on it and wanted to gauge how Dealla would deal with the girl.

Unfortunately, it didn't look as if the duel was going well for Dee. Maybe the events of the ball were still upon her mind or her focus lay elsewhere because as he watched, a curse of her own backfired against her and almost nearly knocked her over. Zykeal watched with those golden irises staring directly at her, under his own breath, "Concentrate Dee," he mumbled. After a moment, he flicked his eyes over towards Lydia and honestly couldn't wait to get into a duel with the girl, how exciting it'd be, to take her on and see how well she could fare against him. Lydia was once again proving how quick she was with her wand and he had to admire that, but, he wasn't here for her and his eyes left the badger to focus back upon Dealla. The other Ravenclaw seemed to be fairing poorly, no help to her, and Zykeal couldn't help but feel despise for the necessary allegiances to houses that formed the teams.

Despite the conditions the curse held upon Dealla, she still looked radiant. A fierce competitor and a wonderful spellcaster; he admired these qualities. She seemed shaken though, from her failure and Zykeal wanted to call out words of encouragement to her to keep battling those bloody badgers and to beat them into the ground. This just wasn't Zykeal though, he just stood there, eyes glued to the aquamarine eyes of the girl he has had such a complicated relationship with and hoped that she could pull back this duel from the depths of despair that it currently resided in. Zykeals hand that held the ivory-colored aspen wood wand twitched, index finger tapping against the hilt as he kept his arms crossed tight, knowing it wasn't his place to interfere and knowing that Dealla would hate him if he did so.

@Dealla Prince | @Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood | @Lydia Cooper

~ Closed to Interactions ~

Morning Slot
@Illowy Magnard and @Erik Tharaldson | @Amara Dragamior and @Henry Knight

Erik recovered from the egregious miss of his previous spell, or perhaps simply deciding to aim at his opponent rather than Illowy, and landed a Flipendo against the remaining Hufflepuff. The poor girl was already suffering from being aflame and the painful tickling of her own backfired spell, which likely threw her aim off, and the jet of fire that emerged from her wand was easily avoided by Illowy.

At that moment her friend's spell blew up in her face. Bridget frowned; Illowy's casting was typically quite consistent, all successful casts and deadly aim. Maybe the prospect of being attacked by her own teammate had distracted her. Erik, of course, used this opportunity to insult her. Really, did no one understand berating your teammate when they messed up didn't help whatsoever?

She did slightly better the next round, with her spell at least going off successfully, but the Hufflepuff dodged it and just barely landed a hit on Illowy. At least Erik kept up his casting; it was the least he could do if he was going to be annoying. The remaining Hufflepuff really wasn't looking too good, and while Illowy had taken some damage, neither Slytherin was all that close to being taken out. Unless she managed to pull off some impressive dodging, she likely wouldn't last much longer.

And she didn't. At least she went out with a bang, lighting Erik aflame, but she in turn was set on fire by Illowy and hit with one final Flipendo. Just like her teammate, she didn't get back up. And just like that, Slytherin had won a match. Looking over at the other Slytherin duel, it looked like they too had reigned victorious. Both Henry and Amara looked somewhat battered, but they'd come out victorious, which was likely enough to distract them from whatever injuries they'd sustained. Slytherin was off to an excellent start.

Afternoon Slot
@Katrina Walker and @Calanthe Choi | @Ileen Knight and @Alexander Varellion

Ileen and Alexander had a brilliant strategy, not to mention one that was likely quite frustrating for their Hufflepuff opponents. Just as the first Hufflepuff managed to retrieve her wand, Ileen sent the other girl's want spiraling out of her hand. Alexander's aim was a bit off, his spell veering away from his initial target and towards the other Hufflepuff, but was far from accurate enough to actually hit. Both of the Hufflepuffs had teamed up against Ileen, and Bridget bit her lip as a flash of blue light and jet of flames hurtled towards the girl. She avoided the flames but was hit with the Flipendo; Ileen wasn't looking too great at this point. How much more damage could she take?

Ileen was going to last longer than the Hufflepuff who still had her wand, anyway. Both Slytherins sent Flipendos at her, perhaps sensing she didn't have much left in her. Alexander's missed, but Ileen's aim proved true. One down, one to go.

The remaining badger had gotten to her wand, perhaps helped by the fact she hadn't been a target last round. She took advantage of it and set Ileen on fire. Bridget was getting worried for the girl. Her dwindling stamina wasn't affecting her spell-casting, though, and this time her impressive Wind Jinx went exactly where she wanted it to. The Hufflepuff girl would definitely be put at a dodging disadvantage thanks to that.

Following Alexander's landed Flipendo were two more Knockback Jinxes. The poor girl just didn't stand a chance of getting out of the way while she was trapped in the vortex of wind. She tried to hit Ileen and may have finished off the Slytherin if her Flipendo had landed, but it didn't. And there it was, Slytherin's third win. The Viridian Vipers had gone 3 for 3 today and had all left their respective matches on their feet. The pressure was certainly on for her to keep up the success tomorrow, but it was nice to know they were ahead so far.

Meanwhile, Katrina's duel wasn't going well but wasn't going terribly either. Her friend managed to break out of the spell, getting back to her feet. She still looked a little stiff, but the ability to cast at all was likely appreciated. Her teammate hadn't managed to do anything while she was petrified, though the fact her target had decided to dodge instead of cast likely was the reason for that. She wasn't on fire, which a plus.

The next round was much of the same for the Gryffindors. The younger Ravenclaw decided to actually cast instead of dodge, though both their spell and the lions' spells missed. As for the older Ravenclaw, she was taking advantage of Petrificus Totalus. It was smart, she'd give the eagles that. While they couldn't target the petrified opponent, it was one less spell heading their way.

Bridget frowned as Katrina took the time to cast the General Counter Spell on her teammate. It wasn't a bad idea--they were stronger together--but Gryffindor wasn't going to win if they didn't land a hit on their opponents.

More misses, more dodging. Katrina seemed momentarily at a loss for what to do and didn't get a spell off in time. The older Ravenclaw was undeniably talented and disarmed Calanthe, who seemed to be suffering more and more by the minute from the Curse of the Bogies.

The older eagle petrified Calanthe again just as she reached her wand, but there was one notable, important difference. Katrina landed a hit. While the Ravenclaw had a spell to at least delay the effects of the snot pouring from her nose and the cold forming, it would still be a pain and it would still hurt her performance. It was a step in the right direction, at any rate.

The small spark of hope that had started to brew that perhaps Gryffindor could turn this around was dashed pretty quickly. Katrina went back to missing and a blindfold secured itself around her head. That was bad. Well, she supposed only time would tell how the duel would turn out. "Come on, Katrina!" she called, hoping her encouragement would help even just a little bit.