2021, Stage 2 Group B: Gryffindor vs Hufflepuff

Katrina stole another glance to her partner in an attempt to communicate strategy but the opposing team took advantage of her split-second distraction. A spell with the familiar color of sickly green hit her right in the chest. Almost instantly her head started to swim. She coughed once and turned back towards the Hufflepuffs with deadly fire in her eyes.

A burst of fire erupted from the tip of Katrina's wand, fueled by the rage that consumed her. The smell of charred fabric filled the air. She wasn't done yet though. It hadn't been Autumn that had cast the curse, but Katrina still went for her with a steely determination. Again Katrina cast the fire charm at Autumn, she'd practiced it the most after all. True to her practice, the spell hit home. Autumn collapsed. Katrina felt a round of sick triumph. Not just sick because of the Curse making its way through her body, but sick because she wasn't like that, to triumph at another's unconsciousness. It was revolting. Katrina set aside her guilt for later and watched as two students came up to the stage and take Autumn off for the Hospital Wing.

They weren't done yet. Maria was still standing. Katrina vowed that it wouldn't be for long. She took a glance at the charm on the bracelet on her wrist. She needed to win.

@Calanthe Choi @Maria Dee @Autumn Ivy

Banner by Lucia Fox

Sometimes you have to fight fire with fire. In this case, they did. Maria when a sense of relief when she’d realized she managed to hit Calanthe. But that was short-lived as both of their opponents had managed to land a hit on Autumn. She watched as her partner went down and on fire. They had to pause the duel to have her taken to the hospital wing.

Now she was alone, and facing strong opponents. So much could go wrong. But she didn’t have to option of panic at the moment, and for the most part she had to ignore the nervous feeling in her gut. If she was to survive this, she needed to focus.

Badgers have been known to be able to take down lions – or lionesses in this case. Maria just hoped she’d be strong enough to take down two.

@Autumn Ivy | @Katrina Walker | @Calanthe Choi

Round 6

[Katrina Walker, Year 3, Human] 94% HP (845/900) STA: 9 | EVA: 8 | STR: 3 WIS: 11 | ARC: 9 | ACC: 5 --------------- Healing Sage Perfectionist Charmer ────── -55HP (Spongify) –3 ACC, –3 ARCP (Bogies) Faints in 6 Rounds	&	[Calanthe Choi, Year 2, Human] 58% HP (576/1,000) STA: 10 | EVA: 5 | STR: 2 WIS: 7 | ARC: 9 | ACC: 9 --------------- Statistically Relevant (+2 STA) Prodigal DADA ────── –1 ACC, –1 ARCP (Bogies) Faints in 7 Rounds +56HP, -2 Faint counter and reset ACC + ARCP (Reparifors)
	VS
[Maria Dee, Year 2, Human] 100% HP (700/700) STA: 7 | EVA: 6 | STR: 5 WIS: 8 | ARC: 6 | ACC: 8 --------------- Sixth Sense Evasive Maneuvers ──────	&	[Autumn Ivy, Year 2, Human] 0% HP (0/500) STA: 5 | EVA: 5 | STR: 7 WIS: 7 | ARC: 8 | ACC: 8 --------------- Sixth Sense Perfectionist ────── Eliminated

Katrina Walker at Calanthe Choi

Reducio

Katrina cast Reparifors at Calanthe
Wisdom DC: 11
Wisdom Check: [d20: 9] + 11 = 20 > 12 → Success
Healing: 10 + 7 (9 ArcP - 2 CoB) × 5 = 45 + 11 (Healing Sage +25%) = 56HP
Healing Spell resets the Curse of Bogies debuff to –1 and delays fainting by 2 rounds

Calanthe Choi VS Maria Dee

Reducio

Calanthe cast Knockback Jinx at Maria Dee
Wisdom DC: 9
Wisdom Check: [d20: 11] + 7 = 18 > 9 → Success
Accuracy Check: [d20: 3] + 9 - 3 (Bogies) = 9
Auto-Dodge: [d10:8] → No auto-dodge
Evasion Check: [d20: 15] + 6 = 21
9 < 21 → Miss

Maria Dee VS Katrina Walker

Reducio

Maria cast Spongify at Katrina
Wisdom DC: 11
Wisdom Check: [d20: 18] + 8 = 26 > 11 → Success
Accuracy Check: [d20: 3] + 8 -1 (Katrina's Charmer) = 10
Evasion Check: [d20: 2] + 8 = 10
10 = 10 → Impaired Hit
Target: [d6:5] Chest - Damage
Damage: 50 + 6 × 10 = 110/2 (Impaired) = 55

How much trouble could one badger be? Evidently, a great deal. Maria was fast on her feet, so incredibly elusive that it seemed as though she knew where the spells might strike, dancing out of the way accordingly. It was bad enough that Calanthe's aim was off. Try as she may to hit the Hufflepuff with a Flipendo, the witch could not help but be distracted by her hex.

The Curse of the Bogies was a wretched way to go. For many first and second years, it was an inevitability, an excruciating "KO by boogers". Third-year Katrina had something they did not: Reparifors. She cast it at her teammate, granting Calanthe a small reprieve. An alarming current of slime had started to flow from her nose, but in the wake of the healing spell, it dwindled down to nothing more than pressure in the sinuses again. In contrast, Katrina's condition was worsening, though this was a small price to pay for keeping Calanthe in the duel.

This spell made Katrina quite the threat. Maria took aim, fired, and almost missed the lioness. The cast clipped Katrina's side. In its wake she experienced an altogether bizarre sensation: her abdomen had become oddly rubbery. Spongify might have made someone more flexible for gymnastics, but between that and the excess of bogies oozing from her face, it didn't bring Katrina any kind of comfort during the duel. The annoyance was at least one she could work around.

Reducio

{ @Katrina Walker | @Calanthe Choi | @Maria Dee }

-You now have 96 hours to add your posts (this time on the 13^th).
- The minimum WC for this duel is 50 words.
- By that deadline, please owl me your team's actions. This should include 1) both character's spells or actions 2) who your targets are. Do not post this info before the next round's mod post, as it will give your tactic away!
-If you don't post in the allotted time frame, your action will be considered invalid. If you require an extension, you can contact me via owl or Discord (Lib#1474) before the next moderation. You will be given a 24 hour extension in addition to the original 96.
-Your spells, stats, and abilities are locked in for this scene as of this post.
-Good luck!

Autumn, preparing to dodge for her life, smiled as she noticed Calanthe mouth an incantation. Ready to move out of the way, she watched as the blue light left the lioness's wand. Her grip on her wand strengthened in fear of letting go of it as she leaped easily to the right of the spark.

Exhaling in relief, she was not prepared when she saw a second spell heading her way. She almost dodged it, and did so fairly easily too, with the third year's aim being off due to the curse of the bogies taking its toll on her. She almost exhaled again, glad she had dodged the fire, when she realised a heat coming from the edge of her robes. Not wanting to look down, yet knowing the exact cause, Autumn carefully eyed the source of the heat, only to have her suspicions confirmed.

Fire.

Autumn had always found fire to be interesting. She liked that something so destructive could be so beautiful. It applied, in some aspects, to life and people, and reminded her to always be cautious and aware. However, she was currently not the biggest fan of fire.

It turned out that her body wasn't either. She tried her best to regain posture and begin casting another spell, but found herself unable to do so. Each strike of the fire was more painful than the last. Eventually, within a few seconds, her body stopped trying and she collapsed.

She was eliminated, but found herself to not care much. The pain was somehow stronger than her hatred of failure. She found herself getting light-headed, but at some point or another, someone- the moderator, she thought, the Ravenclaw prefect- yelled out and the spellcasting stopped. Sometime after that- it could have been seconds or a minute or two, Autumn didn't know; all that mattered was the pain- the fire was extinguished.

Slowly gaining awareness of her surroundings again, she did her best to endure the afterpain of her burns and gain awareness of her surroundings. She was on a stretcher. She was being taken to the infirmary, most probably. Maria was now alone on the Hufflepuff half of the podium. Autumn, almost subconsciously, found herself whispering the words "good luck".

Maybe it had been those two words- although Autumn doubted it-, or the skill of the badger, but Autumn watched in almost awe as Maria dodged an attack and muttered out a Spongify, hitting her opponent. Although she thought clapping to be too extravagant for a single spell gone right, she found herself half-smiling- in hope, or maybe pride?- as she was carried out in the stretched.

As Autumn has been eliminated, this is her outro post.

@Calanthe Choi, @Katrina Walker , @Maria Dee

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Despite her determination to win, Katrina stole a glance at her partner. Calanthe wasn't looking so good. Between the Bogies Curse and a few other spells that she managed to miss, Calanthe seemed a bit unsteady, not ready to collapse quite yet, but not doing incredibly well either. Katrina made the split-second decision to give her a bit of aid. The healing glow of blue encapsulated Calanthe as Katrina's healing charm did it's job.

Katrina turned back to her one opponent just as a more unfamiliar spell hit her right in the stomach. Katrina had the odd sensation of a rubbery torso. Keeping her top half upright became more of a challenge. Katrina wiped some snot from her nose disgustedly and faced back her opponent. No one got away with hitting Katrina with any spell without some trouble.

@Calanthe Choi @Maria Dee @Autumn Ivy

As the light of the Flipendo left the tip of her wand, Calanthe knew it was not going to hit the badger. Her world became more unsteady by the second, and it was only through Katrina's healing spell that she was able to take a deep breath for the first time in four rounds. The abysmal feeling eating away at her head was still present, but much more tolerable. In contrast, Katrina looked as terrible as Calanthe felt just a while ago. The lion cub was surprised to see the badger take aim at her partner, though the near miss seemed to do less damage than she expected. She mumbled a quick thanks to her partner before turning back to the pain-in-the-arse badger who refused to take a hit.

Banner by Lucia Fox

Maria’s eyes widened when she saw the familiar glow of a healing charm. This duel was probably going to take a while if things kept going the same way they were right now. So far she’d managed to dodge most of the attacks coming at her, and she hoped to keep doing so because her opponents seemed like they could really pack a punch.

She could see that her opponents shared similar sentiments. Calanthe looked like she was about to bite Maria’s head off and Katrina didn’t take kindly to being targeted either. She had to be smart about her next few moves. She didn’t want to let Autumn and the team down.

@Autumn Ivy | @Katrina Walker | @Calanthe Choi

Round 7

[Katrina Walker, Year 3, Human] 94% HP (845/900) STA: 9 | EVA: 8 | STR: 3 WIS: 11 | ARC: 9 | ACC: 5 --------------- Healing Sage Perfectionist Charmer ────── –3 ACC, –3 ARCP (Bogies) Faints in 5 Rounds	&	[Calanthe Choi, Year 2, Human] 45% HP (446/1,000) STA: 10 | EVA: 5 | STR: 2 WIS: 7 | ARC: 9 | ACC: 9 --------------- Statistically Relevant (+2 STA) Prodigal DADA ────── -130 HP Aflame 2 rounds (Incendio) –2 ACC, –2 ARCP (Bogies) Faints in 6 Rounds
	VS
[Maria Dee, Year 2, Human] 83% HP (580/700) STA: 7 | EVA: 6 | STR: 5 WIS: 8 | ARC: 6 | ACC: 8 --------------- Sixth Sense Evasive Maneuvers ────── -120 HP Aflame 1 round (Incendio II)	&	[Autumn Ivy, Year 2, Human] 0% HP (0/500) STA: 5 | EVA: 5 | STR: 7 WIS: 7 | ARC: 8 | ACC: 8 --------------- Sixth Sense Perfectionist ────── Eliminated

Katrina Walker VS Maria Dee

Reducio

Katrina cast Incendio Duo at Maria
Wisdom DC: 12
Wisdom Check: [d20: 12] + 11 = 23 > 12 → Success
Accuracy Check: [d20: 14] + 5 - 3 (Bogies) = 16
Auto-Dodge: [d10:4] → No auto-dodge
Evasion Check: [d20: 2] + 6 = 8
16 > 8 → Hit
Duration: [d3:2] Aflame 1 round (-60 HP /round)
Damage: 60 + [9 ArcP - 3 (Bogies)=] 6 × 10 = 120 HP

Calanthe Choi VS Maria Dee

Reducio

Calanthe cast Incendio at Maria
Wisdom DC: 9
Wisdom Check: [d20: 1] → Critical Failure
Duration: [d6:6] Aflame 2 rounds (-40 HP /round)
Damage: 50 + [9 ArcP - 1 (Bogies)=] 8 × 10 = 130 HP

Maria Dee VS Calanthe Choi

Reducio

Maria cast Flipendo at Calanthe
Wisdom DC: 9
Wisdom Check: [d20: 7] + 8 = 15 > 9 → Success
Accuracy Check: [d20: 12] + 8 -1 (Katrina's Charmer) = 19
Evasion Check: [d20: 20] + 8 = 28
19 > 28 → Miss

It was not a referee's place to take sides, but Pericles couldn't help hoping Maria's excellent evasiveness would hold up. In his own initial duel, he had been struck unconscious at the exact moment his partner, Dealla, succumbed to the bogies curse. As he watched the Hufflepuff hold her own against two Gryffindors, it occurred to him just how stressful it must be to stand alone on the piste. Besides, he had a soft spot for underdogs. As Autumn was carted away, his mouth pressed into a telling line of concern. Yet duelling came with a cost, all fighters knew this, and one had to be willing to pay if they wanted to play. Children grievously injuring one another aside, this was a spectacular showdown to witness. Would Katrina and Calanthe be able to take her out before they were overcome by the hex? Or would Maria become all the more quick on her feet now that the pressure was on?

Maria was fighting valiantly for her life team. With a concentrated cast, she sent a knockback jinx hurtling towards one of the Gryffindors. The nigh nauseating waves of slime were catching back up to Calanthe. Despite this, she saw the spell coming, managing to muster her strength so to lurch out of its path. She had been granted a small relief by her partner, but being under the Curse of the Bogies was exhausting. It was getting hard to breathe, to think, to cast. What would have otherwise been a simple Incendio backfired. The flame darted from her wand to her sleeve, catching the cloth and spreading up at an alarming rate. Katrina suffered the snot in equal measure, yet somehow, by spite and determination alone, she fought against its effects and fired off a more powerful iteration of Incendio. The flame barreled across the stage and struck Maria head-on, igniting her robes in retaliation. This match was incredible and awful. There was fire and boogers everywhere.

Reducio

{ @Katrina Walker | @Calanthe Choi | @Maria Dee }

-You now have 96 hours to add your posts (this time on the 16^th).
- The minimum WC for this duel is 50 words.
- By that deadline, please owl me your team's actions. This should include 1) both character's spells or actions 2) who your targets are. Do not post this info before the next round's mod post, as it will give your tactic away!
-If you don't post in the allotted time frame, your action will be considered invalid. If you require an extension, you can contact me via owl or Discord (Lib#1474) before the next moderation. You will be given a 24 hour extension in addition to the original 96.
-Your spells, stats, and abilities are locked in for this scene as of this post.
-Good luck!

Banner by Lucia Fox

Like a trope in a bad sit com, Maria was on fire again. This was the first actual hit she’d taken throughout the duration of the duel. She was tired, hence she was getting sloppy. But she couldn’t succumb to it now, there was too much on the line. What’s life as a Hufflepuff without a little fire? A horrible way of looking at it, but it was the best she could muster at the moment. This was likely either going to end in flames and boogers, and she was not sure who would come out triumphant, but she wasn’t going down without a fight.

@Autumn Ivy | @Katrina Walker | @Calanthe Choi