2021, Stage 3 Group A: Hufflepuff vs Slytherin Finished

Determined to turn things around and properly help her teammate, Lydia set her eyes on Henry and pointed her wand towards him. "Flipendo!" she said, and soon saw the spell leave her wand and move towards the boy that had been previously hit by Amadea's incredible Flipendo.

However, the spell never got to Henry, and Lydia had an incredibly brief moment of frustration, before a strong Flipendo hit her at full force. She wasn't expecting that, not with how concentrated she was on trying to hit their opponents; she wanted to do something, to help her house team reach more victories. But unfortunately that wouldn't happen this time. Lydia barely remembered touching the ground with her back, her landing graceful but still painful, before everything became black around her, as the voices faded away.

The sense of wanting to do better still lingered inside of her, and she thought that it was such a shame that her last duel of the school year had to end like that for her. Now it was all up to Amadea, and one of Lydia's last thoughts before passing out was directed towards her teammate. "You can do it Amadea," she thought, and then everything was black.

Banner Credit goes to Dmitri Jones, utlising this template.

It seemed that such a useful start in strategy had reaped them a good harvest, ensuring an edge they had lacked previously that pulled things in their favour. From the corner of her eye, she could see her partner get pushed back with a well-aimed flipendo at the same time she had cast hers in the opposite direction, taking the brunt of the spell decently, even if his own had failed to land. The Hufflepuff captain was powerful, that much was certain.

Their moderator's voice rang out through the room, a certain hint of surprised authority colouring her motion to momentarily pause the duel, attempting to decipher whether or not the downed Hufflepuff were to stay down between the possibility of a false alarm. A beat. A second.

Astrea cared little for the shifty eyes of their spectators- none of them she knew very well past an occasional glimpse and it was not her job to distract herself in such a serious arrangement- but the tense silence that struck the room swept into a vague sense of battling resignment. She had been successful, at least with taking down the Hufflepuff, and now there was one. After the duel, Lydia would no doubt awaken in the Hospital Wing without the pride of personal victory, as she and her partner had done months prior.

But alas, it was not the time to mull over such things, for it was not long that the duel had the permission of continuing. Drawing herself forward, she readied for the next collection of action.

Action: As strategised.

── ❋ ──

𝓐madea focused as she waved her wand and said, "Flipendo!" She let herself smile quickly as the spell found its mark, hitting Henry squarely in the chest. Her excitement was short lived, however, as a Knockback Jinx came flying toward the Hufflepuffs, hitting Lydia and knocking her out. This was a first for the Hufflepuff duo. They had certainly come close to being knocked out before, but it had never actually happened. As Amadea watched Lydia's body being removed from the stage, she took a shaking breath. She was on her own now. This was definitely going to be tough; two against one was much more difficult than two versus two. But she would fight with all she had. Taking another breath, this one less shaky, she steeled herself for the next round.

Action: Doing as strategized

── ❋ ──

Round 4

What a magnificent feat of duelling.

After having been abandoned left on the battlefield alone, it seemed Amadea brought the artillery into the equation. One of the spells fiercely sent her way was dodged with such a graceful jump that the crowd wowed out loud in awe. The other spell sent her way was dodged as well, although with lesser grace but with a powerful Knockback Jinx sent instantly back at the caster.

Henry would be hit right in the face, somersaulted once and a half to find himself lying on the floor disoriented as it was practically impossible to predict such an outcome. What even Meenauh wasn't expecting was the fact that Henry wasn't showing any signs of someone who was planning to step back into the duel.

"Halt your wands!" Meenauh suddenly cried something strange, giving time for the special people to remove Henry from the stage, "And now continue," she proceeded.

Removing one player from the team seemed to not make things any easier for the Slytherin team. The fact that it was now one-on-one didn't make it any easier at all.

Amadea vs Henry

Reducio

Amadea casts Knockback Jinx at Henry
Wisdom DC: 9 + 2 (Astrea's Lovely Creature) = 11
Wisdom Check: [d20: 19] → Critical Success (Amadea's Advanced Casting)
Auto-Miss (10): [d10: 8] → No Auto-Miss (Astrea's Terrible Presence)
Accuracy Check: [d20: 2] + 10 = 12
Evasion Check: [d20: 6] + 5 = 11
12 > 11 → Hit
Damage: 100 + 13 ARC × 10 + 50 (Flipendo's Critical Success) = 280 –10% (Astrea's Terrible Presence) = 252
Effects:
- Henry is hit by Flipendo and loses 252 HP.
- Henry is Knocked Down by a critically succeeded Flipendo.
- No need to use Get Up action as Henry is rendered unconscious and eliminated.

Astrea vs Amadea

Reducio

Astrea casts Blindfolding Spell at Amadea
Wisdom DC: 10
Wisdom Check: [d20: 17] + 9 = 26 > 10 → Success
Accuracy Check: [d20: 6] + 10 = 16
Auto-Dodge Check (10): [d10: 10] → Auto-Dodge (Amadea's Evasive Maneuvers)

Henry vs Amadea

Reducio

Henry casts Disarming Charm at Amadea
Wisdom DC: 10
Wisdom Check: [d20: 7] + 10 = 17 → Success
Auto-Miss Check (10): [d10: 7] → No Auto-Miss (Astrea's Terrible Presence)
Accuracy Check: [d20: 9] + 6 = 15
Auto-Dodge Check (10): [d10: 1] → No Auto-Dodge (Amadea's Evasive Maneuvers)
Evasion Check: [d20: 8] + 10 = 18
15 < 18 → Miss

Information

1. - You have 96 hours from now to write your posts (50 words min).
2. - In the same time period, send me (Meenauh Silmataurea) your team's actions per owl. Do not reveal your actions in your post.
3. - If you don't post in the allotted time frame, your action is void. Extensions up to 24 hours can be requested before the deadline has passed.
4. - Your Stats, Abilities, and Spells have been locked to what they are now for the duration of this duel.
5. - If you have questions or notice something odd about the mod post, don't hesitate to owl me.

_{Credit goes to Dmitri Jones who made them here}

Unconscious

Banner Credit goes to Dmitri Jones, utlising this template.

Issac Newton's third law of motion dictates that every action must have an equal and opposite reaction and that statement did not just stop at the sciences, for striking down Lydia cost Slytherin's Team 3 a member as well. Astrea had scarcely the time to note down her barely missed spell when, from the corner of her vision, her partner went down hard with a burst of flaring red. And yet, even with the harsh landing that had not only knocked the boy off his feet but also left him wavering, the other still managed to claim his parting words before he went down properly. Yet another momentary stop from the moderator, so close to the last.

Now, if our dear Astrea was even slightly more appropriately knowledgeable about muggle culture, perhaps the quiet beginnings of a speech preached to her would have immediately rung closer to something out of any self-respecting heroic shounen anime. A truly inspirational message intended to bolster the protagonist's sinking morale in times of hardship, invoking strength in the power of companionship. Of course, there were many things wrong with such an admittedly accurate conclusion, but the listed are the most glaring.

Number one: Astrea is, in character, unaware of such a thing as anime. Unfortunate! Number two: Uncultured Astrea has never, and is content to never be, a protagonist. She was closer to a throwaway background character in a particularly droll storyline, not particularly important to the overall plot or main character line up but still acknowledged purely out of politeness. And number three: there was no surge of fist-clenching desire for the greater good, but instead a grim current of pressured determination for both her own sake and her team's. They've already lost one duel and now, with considerable more traction than they had before, they had the potential of a more satisfying end. She had the ability to shift the tides in the same way her lonely opponent could. Hm, let's see.

Action: As strategised.

── ❋ ──

𝓐madea tried to block out the voice inside of her head that was screaming at her to give up now, that it was hopeless to duel against two people. "Flipendo!" Maybe it was the sheer panic Amadea was feeling but she could feel all of her energy being channeled into the spell she casted and it zoomed toward Henry, knocking him flat on his back. Then, almost as if her body was moving on its own, Amadea evaded the two spells flying her way. She felt a pang of guilt as Meenauh halted the duel, calling for someone to assist Henry. She hadn't realized the force of her spell would render him unconscious but on the bright side, it was now one versus one. Astrea was going to be a fierce competitor, so Amadea had to stay alert and ready for anything.

Action: Doing as strategized

── ❋ ──

Round 5

It seemed that the duel's pace caught both duellists off balance — did any of them expect to be left one on one so quickly? Was their strategy ready for such a switch of events? What would be their tactics now? They've got to think harder now, cast harder and dodge harder.

The off-balance was played at the same moment both Amadea and Astrea shot their spells into the nothingness of the stage, caught by the safety wards. Come on, girls — thought Meenauh. They had to start playing as if it was the last day of their lives. Well, it was the last stage of the tournament, really, so they won't have another chance. All or nothing.

Amadea vs Astrea

Reducio

Amadea casts Tickling Charm at Astrea
Wisdom DC: 9 + 2 (Astrea's Lovely Creature) = 11
Wisdom Check: [d20: 11] + 10 = 21 > 11 → Success
Auto-Miss (10): [d10: 9] → No Auto-Miss (Astrea's Terrible Presence)
Accuracy Check: [d20: 13] + 10 = 23
Evasion Check: [d20: 17] + 9 = 26
23 < 26 → Miss

Astrea vs Amadea

Reducio

Astrea casts Softening Charm at Amadea
Wisdom DC: 11
Wisdom Check: [d20: 9] + 9 = 18 > 11 → Success
Accuracy Check: [d20: 9] + 10 = 19
Auto-Dodge Check (10): [d10: 8] → No Auto-Dodge (Amadea's Evasive Maneuvers)
Evasion Check: [d20: 18] + 10 = 28
19 < 28 → Miss

Information

1. - You have 96 hours from now to write your posts (50 words min).
2. - In the same time period, send me (Meenauh Silmataurea) your team's actions per owl. Do not reveal your actions in your post.
3. - If you don't post in the allotted time frame, your action is void. Extensions up to 24 hours can be requested before the deadline has passed.
4. - Your Stats, Abilities, and Spells have been locked to what they are now for the duration of this duel.
5. - If you have questions or notice something odd about the mod post, don't hesitate to owl me.