Duelling Stage 2, Day 1 Spectator

[font=Monotype Corsiva]Afternoon Slot
Group E: Gryffindor vs Slytherin
Group E: Ravenclaw vs Hufflepuff[/font]

@Meenauh Silmataurea @Opeila Winters @Adonis Thorn @Willow Anderson

Once the next stage of duels were announced, Flash had been brimming with excitement to see the match list, eagerly awaiting the day he could go an spectate the matches. There were quite a few duelists whose careers she was watching carefully, and he was relieved to see that he wouldn't have a day where he was trying to keep track of all three matches at once again. That was a headache, not to mention all the things he must have missed.

Feeling upbeat, the first day had the matches of both Willow and Opeila again, though thankfully not against one another this time. He was glad to see that Willow's partner had been switched out-- that last one, May, had spent most of the match distracted and was lucky she got the win. He'd be watching this new partner closely to make sure she was a suitable match for his beloved sister. Across from them was their opponents-- two Ravenclaws he did not know. They seemed to have some chemistry in the way they interacted with one another, but besides that there wasn't anything to glean from looks alone. From a statistics standpoint, Ravenclaw had a terrible first stage. It wasn't enough data to draw any conclusions from, but by comparison, Hufflepuff had secured a great deal of wins. Second only to Slytherin, who had dominated the first round.

That was, all except for poor Opeila. She and Adonis were the only Slytherin team to not win, and against Willow no less. Looking to her match nearby, Flash was overcome with dread. She was facing off against Miss Meenauh, the ex-prefect. In Opeila's position, he would be admittedly intimidated. Their team were older and more experienced of course, but Flash also saw Meenauh in another light as well. She was decisive and perceptive. He of course wanted to believe that Opeila and Adonis could beat the odds, but the hope had very little grounding. Everyone loved underdogs though, it would be something worth bragging about if she managed it. He made a silent wish for them-- for what good it would do.

With little fanfare, the duels burst into action. His eye naturally being drawn to Willow's condition first, it seemed she got a face full of the infamous spell-- the curse of the bogeys. He could admit that it was extremely effective, and even decisive in some of the matches, but his hand flew to his face in regret. To be put under its effects first thing in the match was... unfortunate. He knew she hated being cursed and hexed, but she was also exceptionally tough. Perhaps it was just part of dueling that he would have to get used to. What he didn't expect was for this to subsequently cause Willow's own spell to... target herself? He felt overwhelmed with the urge to approach the stage with a handkerchief, but instead he worriedly tried to rub the stressful concern from his temples. At least his partner seemed to be faring well, and one of the Ravenclaws accidentally targeted her partner. Overall, the round was alright, hard to tell which direction it would go.

When turning to Opeila's match however, things were immediately far worse. Opeila and Adonis both cast the same spell at the other third year Gryffindor, his name was listed as Galton, for some reason. He presumed it was to make sure it landed, but didn't that move show their opponents a lack of confidence in their skill? Even worse, Meenauh conjured whipping wind that disoriented Adonis, while Galton managed to somehow disarm both of the Slytherin combatants. What a wreck of a first round... Flash needed something for the headache that was growing in his skull.

It only got worse from there. From their advantageous position, the older Gryffindors started to fling spell attacks out, already making the wind-ravaged Adonis look... winded. As Opeila frantically looked for her wand, Flash could barely see the match through the fingers of his covered face. He was certainly on the edge of his seat, figuratively speaking, and even the moderator Miss Dealla seemed to be slightly cringing. Bridget's match last stage had also quickly looked one-sided yet still turned into a victory, so he wasn't about to just assume all was lost. Still... it hurt to watch.

Open to interaction

The only problem with being co-captain was the time it took away from spectating as many duels as she could. While she'd been moderating that morning, she hadn't been able to watch Katrina's duel, but at least she hadn't missed any Slytherin duels. She would tomorrow, though, during her own. Still, she'd find a way to get the details of the matches, even if actually watching them would be preferable.

All in all, she was feeling better than she had since... well, since before winter break. The excitement, the thrill of today and tomorrow, was enough to effectively bury her worries for a while. She was running late, unusual for her but perhaps not surprising amidst all the activity. All three duels were already underway, though she wasn't that late and could have only missed the first few rounds or so. A glance at the different platforms made it clear no one had been knocked unconscious yet.

Glancing around for somewhere to sit, she caught sight of someone familiar. Someone she'd enjoyed spectating with before. She was pretty sure she could juggle taking notes like she'd planned and spending some time with a friend. Okay, so maybe maintaining something of a conversation and following two duels simultaneously would be a challenge, but she'd manage.

"What did I miss?" she asked, sliding into the seat next to Flash. Her attention went towards the sole duel with Slytherin contenders: Opeila and Adonis against Meenauh and Galton. It wasn't going great, but then again, it was two 3rd years versus two 2nd years, so from a purely numerical standpoint, Slytherin was at a disadvantage.

Even though she'd missed the spells themselves, Bridget could pick out some of their effects. Galton's icky cold was clearly from the Curse of the Bogies, and as she watched, both Adonis and Opeila picked up their wands. Both of them disarmed... that was already quite the obstacle on top of their disadvantage. And just as it looked like they would have a chance to fight back, a blindfold wrapped around Opeila's head, Adonis only barely managing to avoid the same fate. Could Galton do the thing Dmitri could, that Phaedra had done, where a spell could split? Their shot at winning wasn't helped by how winded Adonis looked; clearly he'd been the victim of a few painful spells.

She bit her lip, worried for their prospects. It wasn't like Opeila and Adonis would really be letting anyone down by losing, as anyone with a brain could see the odds were stacked against them, and yet she wanted them to win. They were the only Slytherin team to have lost in the first stage and it wasn't for lack of skill or effort.

As their duel lapsed in action momentarily, gearing up for the next round, she turned her focus towards the other match she was here to watch. She hadn't spent the last few months helping Valentine with his spellwork to not see for herself how he did in a real duel. The fact he was on the Gryffindor team at all so quickly had come as a surprise, aided by the dissolution of one of the red and gold pairings. Unfortunately, that meant he'd been paired with another first year. Not exactly great, but experience was better than nothing. There were some things you couldn't learn no matter how often you practiced your spell-casting.

It was hard to tell how the match was going, the platform obscured by thick smoke. Well, she'd just have to wait to see how things were going. There wasn't much use watching a duel she couldn't see, so until the smoke receded, she turned her attention back to the Slytherin versus Gryffindor match. Hopefully Adonis and Opeila could turn things around, or at least go out with a bang.

Afternoon Slot
All Three Duels

Open to Interactions
Mentioning @Opeila Winters, @Adonis Thorn, @Martyna Romero, @Willow Anderson & @Everly Charlton

Starlee had made it to the duel little late, having been caught up in her studying that morning. She had missed the last stage of matches, but with Tina being a newly active member on the Hufflepuff team, there was no way she was going to miss them this time. Well, at least she wouldn't be missing Tina's match. She grabbed a quick bite to eat from the Great Hall and made her way into the Dueling hall.

Three matches going on at once meant there was quite a lot happening. She quickly took a seat to where she could watch Tina closely, yet still have an adequate view of the other duels. She peered over at Gryffindor Vs. Ravenclaw, where she caught a glimpse of her acquaintance, Everly, before everything disappeared in smoke, and a glint of fire was seen on her sleeve. Starlee was impressed. She knew Everly was another first-year like herself and to be placed on the team so young was an achievement. At the same time, Starlee was certainly glad she was not in the girl's position... unable to see while simultaneously on fire did not seem like the best of combinations.

She turned her attention toward where her fellow teammates, Adonis and Opelia, were attempting to take on a stronger pair. When Starlee turned to look, the two had both manage to grasp onto their wands again, while Opelia was instantly blindfolded, while Adonis managed to miss the blindfold, but took the brunt of a knockback jinx. Ouch. Starlee wondered if she would really be able to do well in dueling with so much pain... she wasn't one for pain. She would simply have to win then. She clapped a little and yelled, "C'mon Slytherin's you got this!" in her typical cheery voice, hoping it would give them some motivation to keep going, especially with Adonis not looking so great.

And, saving the best for last, she looked directly in front of her, at Martyna and Willow. Of course Starlee was excited for Tina, but she also couldn't help feeling a little jealous that Tina got to actually duel. Sure, Starlee got to practice with the rest of the team, but she couldn't wait to actually get up on the stage and cast some spells.

Turning her attention back to the duel, she noted Willow as having quite the nasty cold, probably a curse of the bogies, no doubt about it. It seemed Tina was fine, until not only did her spell miss, but she got hit right back with an even more powerful incendio, instantly catching her robes on fire. "Shake it off Tina! You've got this!" she yelled at the girl, hoping to give her a boost of confidence.

Crap, crap, crap.

She was such dead meat.

Ami skidded into the Duelling Club room, frantically scanning the room for a head of blonde hair she was still growing accustomed to. What was with everyone coming back to school with blonde hair, now? Picking her way through the body of students to the match she wanted to see, her face split into a smile at the sight of one of her best friends in the entire universe.

Okay, so no one was on fire yet. That was good.

Although she'd never admit it out loud, Ami personally thought that duelling was much cooler than Quidditch. Quidditch was epic, of course, and it was one of her favorite pastimes in the entire world. There was nothing quite like soaring through the air on a broom, trying to nail your classmates in the head with a giant metal ball. But duelling was amazing- as someone who didn't have very strong nor consistent magic skills, she was truly in awe of duellists who were able to fire spell after spell at their opponents, all while thinking about their next move. It was basically sparring but with magic, and that would've been right up her alley... if only she could actually cast spells.

But watching sparring- sorry, duelling matches was still ridiculously fun, and Ami was more than disappointed in herself that she hadn't gone to see any of the matches in the last round. What kind of a captain was she if she didn't go to support her house's other team? This time, however, she wouldn't make the same mistake again, even if she was just a hair late to watch Amadea fire off a few spells.

Cheering, unlike Quidditch, would probably only distract Amadea and her redheaded teammate, so Ami shut her mouth for once in her life so she didn't accidentally make the Hufflepuffs misfire their spells. Beaming with pride at the two Hufflepuffs on the stage, she rubbed her hands together in excitement as she prepared herself for what would definitely shape up to be a great duel.

[font=Monotype Corsiva]Afternoon Slot
Group E: Gryffindor vs Slytherin
Group E: Ravenclaw vs Hufflepuff[/font]

@Bridget Collins @Meenauh Silmataurea @Galton Lansdale @Opeila Winters
@Adonis Thorn @Willow Anderson @Martyna Romero @Robert Toukmond

Flash would only shrink further as the match continued, the bad luck almost comical if if weren't the fact that his friend was on the receiving end of it. He flinched as Opeila and Adonis were continually disarmed and blinded, not being able to clear themselves of one thing before another was actively impeding them. Although Galton had the Curse of the Bogies, the two Gryffindors were remaining practically untouched. Not only that, but they were working at a ruthless pace. Though he was cringing to watch it, he had become focused on it, unable to avert his attention from the train wreck. Thankfully, he was interrupted by a familiar voice as Bridget sat beside him.

"It's good to see you, Bridget. Things are not going well, unfortunately." Flash's voice was quiet, but his pronunciation and projection made him still easy to understand. The matches and crowd were loud already, but part of him felt their pride might be wounded if too many people's attention were drawn to it. "Miss Meenauh and Galton have them pretty much locked out of retaliation."

It was obvious which match he had been looking at, and it furiously powered further. Meenauh healed Galton, Opeila's attack missing, Adonis being chipped away at while unable to defend himself. Flash glanced over at the other match-- at least Willow seemed to be doing alright. Her spells were hitting beautifully, and her partner seemed to be an excellent spell caster. Who was she? Flash would certainly be asking Willow all about her at their next tea session together. For them, it was the Ravenclaws who were unable to get anything meaningful out of their wands. Backfires, misses. The male of the pair seemed to have been singled out, and things were not looking at all good for him. A shame for him, but Flash's anxiety released in a heavy sigh turned into a smile. If Willow won both of her matches, it would certainly help her anxiety about giving up the prefect position she had been offered that year. Becoming co-captain instead certainly seemed like a bit of a lateral move, but it certainly seemed to fit well with her. She was becoming quite the spell caster herself. It seemed the blindfold she put on the boy was cast so well that he struggled to remove it-- impressive.

Returning his gaze reticently to the other match, which seemed to be wrapping up. Adonis was knocked out fairly quickly, and Opeila only had a hold of her wand long enough to cast a fire that was promptly extinguished. After that, Opeila second attempt at firing at her opponent ended up blowing up in her face. It was all she could do to put herself out before collapsing, calling the match. It was a brutal one for sure, it was certainly in the realm of what Flash would consider a worst case scenario. Unlike for Willow, this meant Opeila lost two matches. That couldn't be great for her self-esteem.

"Poor Opeila..." Flash added somberly, knowing there wasn't much else to be said.

He then turned his full attention to Willow's duel. It seemed while the Ravenclaw could not land their fire, Willow's partner threw out a flame more impressive than most incendios he had seen. Martyna was her name. He was glad that the matches had been posted, there were simply too many students at Hogwarts to know everyone.

"Willow's match is going very well. I expect Hufflepuff is Slytherin's biggest threat." Flash postured, glancing over to notice Bridget's attention on the third match. The only person he knew there was Robert Toukmond, who was in the running for worse luck than even Opeila last round. He was still standing, which was a vast improvement over last time. "What's your interest with that group?"

Perhaps Bridget was simply keeping an eye on everyone, seeing as she was a co-captain herself now, but he was always glad to hear her thoughts, on any topic.

His summary was short and simple: things weren't going well for Opeila and Adonis, not just because they'd been hit but because they didn't have much in the way of opportunity to hit back. There was still some small sliver of hope they could turn things around if they just managed to land a few solid spells and stay quick on their feet. That hope was crushed almost immediately. Meenauh's Flipendo landed and Adonis was knocked unconscious. His attempt to hit Meenauh with a Flipendo of his own missed and Opeila would remove her blindfold only to have her wand sent flying again and to see the sprawled form of her teammate.

Bridget couldn't picture a realistic scenario where Opeila won on her own. Not when both of her opponents were completely untouched, save for Galton's cold that they could almost certainly deal with as third years. The second year was doing decently, even, quick enough on her feet to avoid incoming spells, or at least the brunt of them. Slowly but surely, the damage added up and she couldn't do enough to make up for lost ground. Her grimace gave way to a bit of a smile when Opeila managed the more powerful version of the Fire-Making Spell, catching Meenauh aflame. It faded just as quickly with a sigh the next round, the very same spell backfiring. Between that and the final blows of the Gryffindors, it was too much.

Flash voiced her thoughts exactly. Poor Opeila. She had hopes for their next match against Thomas and Callie. Facing duellists in the same year as them would even the playing field and hopefully make it so they didn't go the whole season without a win. Bridget jotted down a few observations, things she could perhaps analyze later to suggest as improvements.

Speaking of that particular pair of Ravenclaws, she looked over to assess how their match was going. With considerable difficulty, Thomas Baines pulled the blindfold off, only to be struck by a bout of flames that marked the end of his participation in today's duel. Typically the elimination of a player would make it fairly clear who was likely to win, but Willow's teammate, a first year new to duelling whose name she couldn't recall, was taken out by Callie. A one on one, then. Being Flash's friend, she hoped Willow would emerge victorious. What she wanted to happen was different from what was more likely to happen; there was nothing Willow could do about the Curse of the Bogies. At this point, Callie could simply play it smart and wait for her to faint, which was exactly what she did.

"Agreed. It depends how everything goes today and tomorrow, but that's what last stage made it out to be." Hufflepuff wasn't very far behind Slytherin, though things could change quite a lot depending on how this stage went. Yet another reason to make sure she and Santario won tomorrow against Logan and Lucia.

The smoke obscuring the Gryffindor vs Ravenclaw match had faded. All four players were still standing, which was something. Valentine's teammate--what was her name again? Eve?--had clearly taken some damage, and yet she was doing an impressive job of avoiding most of the spells sent her way. The Gryffindors' strategy seemed to involve lots of dodging. She wasn't sure what exactly they hoped to achieve by that outside of perhaps lasting a bit longer. It would make a little more sense if they'd bogied the Ravenclaws, which it looked like Valentine was trying to do, save for the important detail that Delilah was a fourth year and therefore bound to know Reparifors.

Well, Valentine's teammate looked about a spell away from fainting, he'd been blinded, and while Robert wasn't in the best of shapes, Delilah was totally fine. In other words, Gryffindor, unsurprisingly, wasn't doing very well. Her main curiosity was how long they'd be able to drag things out.

Likely noticing the attention she was paying to the Gryffindor vs Ravenclaw match, Flash inquired about her interest. "Well, the boy on the Gryffindor team came up to me after the last stage and I could tell he was pretty interested in duelling. I've been helping him with his casting a bit, mostly so he'd be prepared for anything... dangerous happening. I didn't expect him to get on the team quite this fast, but at least he's getting experience." Inexperience aside, no one expected a fourth year to lose to two first years. His next duel would be even worse, a slaughter really, up against Dmitri and Ruby. Again, at least it was practice.

[font=Monotype Corsiva]Afternoon Slot
Group E: Ravenclaw vs Hufflepuff
Group F: Gryffindor vs Ravenclaw[/font]

@Bridget Collins @Willow Anderson @Robert Toukmond @Jackson Valentine

Bridget was never much of a talker, but that fine with Flash. They were both interested in how the duels would go, so it was logical that they both were paying close attention rather than yammering on about something else. Bridget even seemed to be taking notes, jotting things down as Opeila's match wrapped up. It was a good idea, he really ought to start doing that himself in Quidditch rather than relying on his captains to have it all under control without any input. Perhaps it was big-headed of him, but he knew he was better than most of his peers when it came to information gathering. Not a surprise, since they were all still children and had other things to worry about.

After Opeila's match wrapped up far too quickly, Willow's was not far behind. Bridget remarked that it was only last stage that made Hufflepuff out to be a threat, which was a fair observation. One round did not reflect how the competition would play out, it wasn't enough data to make a useful guess yet. After this stage there would be a lot more to go off of. "Right. It's only day one."

Flash was left to cringe once again as Miss Martyna went from dynamo to unconscious impressively quickly. She might have been a good spellcaster, but it seemed like she did not have much in the way of stamina, as it only took a few hits to end her debut. Now Willow was alone with a head full of cold. It was an unenviable position, it was a curse after all. Spells didn't get called curses for nothing, it was only a matter of time before that head cold would be enough to relieve her of consciousness as well.

With one Ravenclaw already out, it was a race to see which of the two would come out on top. Sadly, the cold didn't exactly make it easier to cast spells either. All of Willow's spells were shooting sideways, as the eagle managed to make Willow dance and sing while her cold worsened. His heart wept in empathy for how uncomfortable Willow must have felt in that situation-- this moment more than any before it secured Flash's conviction that dueling was not for him. He was already frightened of what magic was capable of without the added looming threat of humiliation. In short order, Willow indeed passed out. At least she could be free of the curse.

With that, the duel Bridget had been watching was the only one left standing. The variety of length in dueling was certainly an interesting facet of it. Flash could leave now, really, but since Bridget was interested, he was too. Not only that, but he might as well get to know a few more duelers than just the ones he was interested in already. All spectator sports were better when one knew the players. Bridget explained her involvement with the Gryffindor boy as a kind of mentor. A small smile quirked onto his lips as he imagined Bridget helping out a first year. He knew she was helpful, but it was a fairly sweet gesture. "He went to a Slytherin after last round, that's clever."

Alas, it did not seem like he would be winning his match. It looked like it was being drawn out, no one making any real decisive moves, and no big explosion of power. It was mostly first years it seemed, with one older student. All at one, fifteen rounds in, both of the Gryffindors were knocked out at once. Bridget's protégé from the selfsame curse, and his female partner from a knockback. Flash clapped along with a few others in the crowd as that day of dueling wrapped itself up. It seemed little Robert got to win a match, good for him!

"A shame, experience really matters a lot in spellcasting." Flash said, his uninformed conclusion on the final match. "I'll be interested to watch your match tomorrow, I'll be rooting for you."

With an earnest smile, Flash would stretch a bit and then wave goodbye as he went back to his life, intent on collecting information about all the wins so far in a corner of his own journal.

Afternoon Slot
All Three Duels

Closed to Interactions
Mentioning @Opeila Winters, @Adonis Thorn, @Martyna Romero, @Willow Anderson & @Everly Charlton

No sooner as she had cheered on her fellow Slytherins that the two of them collapsed, one shortly after the other, and she could hear the roar of approval from the surrounding Gryffindor's. She huffed aloud, hoping that the two would be okay. They were on the Slytherin dueling team after all, she was sure the two of them could handle it.

Tina, on the other hand, she was definitely worried about, and she was rightfully so. She watched in horror as Willow tried to put out the flames that had formed on the hem of Tina's robes, and she shuddered at the thought of being on fire like that. Out of what seemed like nowhere, one of the Ravenclaw's sent a Flipendo soaring at her, and she was knocked out cold. They quickly retrieved her from the stage, and Starlee knew that the hospital wing would be her first stop after the two duels ended. Tina hadn't gone out alone, however, she had managed to take the Ravenclaw boy out with her, for which she was proud. Starlee would be sure to tell Tina when she finally awoke. She continued to watch as Willow tried to valiantly win the duel for the pair, but alas, her curse of the bogies caught up with her, and she wasn't able to strike the Ravenclaw, and so she fainted. The second team she had been cheering for lost as well. She considered leaving then and there to trail after Tina to the hospital wing, but decided to stay to finish off the final match. She still had more to learn about dueling after all.

After all that, she refocused on the final duel still in progress, Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw. While she knew the young Gryffindor girl, she really hadn't fully picked a side to cheer for. But at the same time, three first years and a fourth year was quite the matchup, and she hoped that the two Gryffindor first years would be able to pull through. This duel was turning out to be the longest of them all, with Everly managing to mysteriously dodge quite a lot of spells, almost like she knew they would happen before they even cast. However, even with the good dodging, it seemed like the duel would be winding down soon. The Gryffindor boy had gotten hit with the curse of the bogies, and he was on his last leg. The two Ravenclaw's had also managed to get hit with it as well, but they were faring much better, especially with someone who could cast a healing spell on them. The older Ravenclaw girl repeatedly did so, managing to mitigate the worst of their colds for as long as she could. Starlee made a mental note of this, 'Avoid Curse of the Bogies... at... all... costs...' she thought, underlining each word in her mind. However, the pair couldn't hold out for much longer. Everly and her partner collapsed at the same time, and that was the end of it.

And that was that. All three of the duels she was watching had resulted in losses for those she was cheering for. Was she bad luck? She had to think not... surely it was a matter of skill... surely. And so, she got up, off to see how Tina was faring in the hospital wing, determined to practice her spellwork so that she too could finally participate in a duel.

Little did she know, she would be dueling in the next round.

Starlee leaves the thread.