Unfathomable Power PV: Phaedra Closed

Another day, another study session. Phaedra poured through Hogwarts' collection of cosmology texts for her homework. Star charts, again. After four years of Astronomy, she'd have thought they'd be assigned something different by now, but it wasn't as if the cosmos had any shortage of new things to discover. Finishing off her notes concerning Canis Major in the margin, Phaedra turned in her seat to glance at the clock; the hands indicating it was almost time for dinner. She hummed to herself. The hollow pang in her gut was getting rather hard to ignore, plus Cleo was due for another feeding as well. It would do her well to get back to her dorm as soon as possible, lest she find out that the hyper feline had torn up her pillows again.

After clearing her table, she heaved the straps of her bag onto a shoulder and sauntered out of the library doors. There was little traffic in the corridors, unsurprisingly; most students were unwilling to sacrifice a full stomach in favour of dusty, old books. Phaedra barely made it a few feet away from the entrance before an unknown boy stopped her, calling out her name behind oval spectacles. She blinked, assuming that he was yet another student interested in the school newspaper. Or there to complain about something that was written in the paper. Regardless, after giving him a good once-over with a perked brow, she decided he couldn't have been older than twelve, and therefore, possibly in need of her help. She tossed her hair over her shoulder, so that her badge was viewable.

But he wasn't in need of her help. At least not for anything drastic that she could see. In fact, he went off on something else entirely: her previous duel against the Slytherin. Oh. Of course. That experience had long been buried away into a remote part of her memory. It wasn't the outcome itself that ticked her off, but rather how it had happened. Control was something that Phaedra valued dearly—control of her life, her studies, her wand, and so the onslaught of bad luck that day had been hard to accept. Even harder to swallow was the judgment following her decision, as if she had committed the grave crime of forfeit when her partner was the one who flaked first.

Instinctively, she tensed up, prepared for more interrogation on why she did it. One hand fell to search for her robe pockets as she waited for the gangly boy to finish. But as quickly as her posture stiffened, it relaxed upon the realization that the Gryffindor only had compliments for her. With a smug look, she leaned her weight onto one foot, hip jutting out with unintentional sass. Fiiiine. She couldn't reject a praise or two. "Is that so? Well, you and I both, kid."

Her free hand tugged at the leather strap across her chest. Was this just an attempt at small-talk or did he have anything more to say? Hungry as she was, she could play nice for now. Jackson did not seem to her as ill-intentioned. Just painfully extroverted and curious. She supposed she couldn't blame him though. The duels were interesting. "Sorry, but who are you and what do you need?"

@Phaedra Stavrou

"Valentine," he replied softly. "I'm a First-Year from house Gryffindor. I was hoping I could make some friends who shared my interest in dueling."

Upon saying this, he beamed so hard that his cheeks turned bright pink. It surprised him, the straightforwardness of his response. Usually, he'd be more cautious about revealing his ultimate intent, resulting in a few minutes of beating around the bush before finally leading to his intended conclusion. Perhaps it was the vibe that Phaedra gave off which led to him being more comfortable expressing how he felt. Or it could have been his lack of success in charming Santario Martin that taught him to use the direct approach. Or hard as it was to admit, despite his initial resistance, he was beginning to feel comfortable in the wizarding world.

"During the tournament, I saw you and the Slytherin boy. . . I think his name was Timmy or Dimmy or something like that. You both did something that I've never seen any other person do before."

His eyes widened with youthful curiosity, and he leaned forward slightly as if closing the distance to prevent the older girl's prized secret from being spread.

"Your spell split in two and targeted both your opponents. How did you do that?"

"Charmed," she replied, not all too sure of it herself, but it was the polite thing to do. So, this Valentine kid wanted to be friends with her, huh? He was bold. She'd give him that. Any relationship she'd had with a first-year lately had been strictly mentor-protégé. In fact, she was pretty sure she didn't even know how to be friends with a first-year anymore. For Merlin’s sake, half of them picked their noses and ate paper.

A brow raised at something he said next. Dimmy? Apparently this equal of hers was male, a Slytherin, and—from what she could only assume based off of the Gryffindor's description of his skill—an older student. Did Valentine mean Dmitri Jones? She interviewed him for the Hogwarts Headliner. Once, for a post-match update. Other than that, Phaedra was unfamiliar with the captain and his strategy. Her duelling timetable conflicting with his hadn't helped matters either. She did hear, however, that he was a force to be reckoned with, and if Valentine wanted to confirm that he could split his spells just as she could, well, why stop him? Maybe information more useful would spill from the talkative boy.

Phaedra leaned against the stony wall and chuckled at Valentine's butchering of Dmitri's name, but made no move to correct him. "Cool, huh?" she asked at his excitement, a smile tugging at her lips as she inspected her nails. She certainly hadn't invented the ability, but the spell spread had saved her hide many times now. After a purposeful, tense pause, Phaedra suddenly tore her eyes away from her hands and scanned the corridors before turning back, her voice lowered to match his.

"But I'll have to disappoint you today, friend, because that is classified. Especially for other houses." An accusing finger pointed at Valentine's scarlet and gold robes, almost dramatically so. "How do I know you won't go blabbing?" It wasn't as if the move was difficult to pull off. All it took was just a bit of concentration, visualizing, and a close bond with the wand. Sooner or later, more than just her and Dmitri would have the technical know-how to perform it anyway, but knowledge was power as long as it lasted. Her hesitation to share with outsiders would ensure Ravenclaw an edge over most of their opponents for just a while longer. Enough to catch up from third place. After their pitiful display in the matches so far, they needed the time.

Eyes narrowed, and feeling as if she had efficiently made her point, she pushed herself from the wall and adjusted her bag. Knowing how young students could be, Phaedra hoped the boy wouldn't fight it. "Plus, it's advanced and you're inexperienced. I won't be responsible for you blowing yourself up."

@Phaedra Stavrou

"How do I know you won't go blabbing?"

"I won't!" he replied redundantly, though, at that moment, he certainly meant it in earnest.

"It'll be our little secret."

Besides, it wasn't as if Valentine was going to be in any position to threaten Phaedra, not that it was in his nature to stand to do so in the first place. The Gryffindor dueling roster had been filled out for months, and it didn't look like he was going to make it onto the lineup anytime soon. Players waiting in reserve weren't even allowed to use the Dueling Club facilities to practice. That, and there was the fact that Phaedra was three years older in age than he. He was just a boy.

That didn't mean, however, that he was without anything to offer in return for her help.

"I've been trying to apply for the Gryffindor dueling team for a while now, but they've only accepted second years and third years, and we're still being stomped by every other house," he began by explaining his situation. "I want to help, but they have no reason to pick me for the team over all the older kids, and players who aren't on the team have nowhere that they're allowed to practice."

At the mention of this, his face seemed to sink into incriminating seriousness.

"Even if they do decide to sub me in, it'll be when one of their main players aren't able to make it for the round. They're not giving the rest of us any time to prepare or practice."

There was a certain change in his expression, an uneasiness at the offer he was making, but to meet the needs of a broken system, bold methods had to be devised.

"If you teach me how to duel and show me how you do your spell splitting thingy, I'll tell you everything I know about every player in Gryffindor and on the other teams. Their tactics, their strategies and their weaknesses."

On the other teams? Narratively speaking, Phaedra had no way of knowing this, but she wasn't the first person he had approached. Not even the second or third.

"Wait. Hold on. You're not on the team at all? What tactics of Gryffindor's, or anyone else for that matter, could you possibly know?" The timbre of her voice was rich with confusion; completely taken aback by this new detail that Jackson had provided. This changed everything. Just from his earlier enthusiasm alone, she had been under the impression that he was a Duelling Club member already. Since he apparently wasn't, she couldn't really expect him to deliver on his promises. Unless Gryffindor was including waitlisted players in their strategizing—but why would they do that?

Deep down, Phaedra was torn, concealed by the way she investigated the boy as if he were a hairy bug. Gaining insider information was so tempting, but using him looked less appealing now. With neither of them on Gryffindor's duelling team, she imagined there was little difference between what he knew on other players and what she knew. As far as she was concerned, she could do the research herself for similar results; no Valentine required, and no sacrificing of her abilities. The decision was simple. Phaedra pushed a strand of hair behind her ear, her mind made up.

"It's a no. You see, I'm a very busy person, and I don't have time for last minute additions to my schedule. Even if I did and wanted to teach you, I would require payment in the form of information up front. I seriously doubt you have any. You're not on the team, and according to you, there's a waitlist, so you won't be for a while."

This friendly exchange had steered into something akin to a transaction. She supposed she felt a bit bad for turning him down so bluntly, but there were far too many risks for her comfort. "If you get accepted, maybe then we'll talk. Maybe," Phaedra said after a pause, a subtle attempt to keep Valentine in her good graces despite the rejection. "Anything else I can help you with?"

@Phaedra Stavrou

Considering the fact that Gryffindor had lost almost all of their matches and nearly lost the one that they had won, it was unclear why Phaedra would want to know what went on within their strategising sessions. Valentine stood apart from them in this regard, apart from even the other house teams. He was a neutral party, part of no house or team. But above all else, he was an observer, and she underestimated what an observer could see.

He had only framed it as a transaction too, only because he knew it might give him some additional leverage. Truthfully, he would have discussed the things he knew without requesting for anything in return. He was charitable with his knowledge in that sense, believing that all should have access to the resources they needed to strive. Besides, knowledge without hard work amounted to nothing. If one was willing to dedicate the time to improve themselves, they probably deserved it. It was possibly the most Ravenclaw trait about him.

But alas, how terrible was wisdom when it brought no profit to the wise.

“Well, for starters, I know the tactics which Ravenclaw employed during the tournament, ” he offered. He wagered that she’d be surprised, even if just a little. After all, not every busy student such as herself had the time to afford watching nearly all of the rounds of the tournament. There was also the underlying truth that he knew what they were doing, a worry to occupy her mind, at least for the moment. Unless of course she expected the average or even above average student to know these things, then well, that would suck.

“Not everyone is built physically and mentally to be a duelist. It’s a simple fact of life, like how some people are just better at sports and others better at their studies. Ravenclaw understood this and found a way for their players to put up a fight using a method that relied as little as possible on their abilities.”

He was talking of course, about the Bogie-Stalling strategy employed by Mars T’ien and Damion White in their respective duels.

“Unlike damaging spells such as Incendio Duo and Flipendo which scale with a caster’s innate magical gift, the Curse of the Bogies has the same or approximately same effect when casted by anyone. After which, focusing more on survival by avoiding spells at all costs allows one to bridge the remaining difference in skill and ability through a time determined win condition which favours the user.”

He folded his arms across his chest. He knew a bit more than just that too. Depending on the caster, some individuals had a higher chance of their spell backfiring on themselves before they actually managed to land a single hit on their actively moving opponent. He even had a dependent probability assigned to such an outcome, but that was something she’d be hard pressed to get him to reveal.

However, it seemed that there was no changing her mind. Valentine let out a dejected sigh.

“If I do manage to get on the team, I don’t think it’s very sportsman-like of me to be your little spy,” he shrugged. “Thanks for your time, I guess. And yes, I would appreciate if you could point me in the direction of Dmitri Jones.”

He didn’t say it in a spiteful way, nor did he mean it in one. Rather, his tone was controlled, even expressing some of the disappointment within. Whether or not Phaedra had yielded to his request, his learning and growth as a Wizard still had to continue. Although he would have significantly preferred her, if testing the wrath and hubris of the infamous Slytherin Captain was what he needed to do, then so be it. She may also have noticed that he did in fact, know his name after all; what transpired prior was a self-downplaying mechanism to avoid being perceived as a threat. Whatever ensued, Jackson Valentine would not stop with Phaedra Stavrou in his journey to grow stronger.