2021, Stage 1 Gryffindor vs Ravenclaw: Match 2

Hex code:#A0A9B8 @Henry Knight

These were the moments. Alec had to be careful, they weren't going to get anything done otherwise. He wasn't going to focus on useless matters. The effort that moving his mouth required has suddenly become too much when Dealla decided she'd blow a kiss at him. Dealla was annoyed, Alec knew that, and so it was more like socking him in the jaw then it was anything else. The third-year shielded himself from it like he was allergic. What professional duellist used those tactics in duelling? It was a cheap shot. A low blow even though Dealla didn't know it. The duellist tried to stay focused on matters of importance, but it wasn't working out well for him. His spell in conclusion of the round had once again, started off fine, it was the aiming. Alec had missed far too much for his liking. Maybe if it had happened less he would resign himself to a fate, and the ideals that, you know, perhaps avoiding looking at someone while trying to aim a spell their way was not the best strategy. It had happened before he was doing that... Alec was going to need to practice duelling a lot more from now on.

Alec's eyes flicked from his shoes, where they had fallen once more while in reflection. Too the shouting. The voice had sounded underwater at first, all until Alec pulled himself outside of his head and present at the scene in front of him. It was Knight. Of course it was Knight... Always inserting himself in things he didn't need to be involved in. Alec had been practically nonverbal for a while, other then casting spells. Alec had been on the defense for a while. A social thing rather then a duelling thing.

The way he stood when he looked at Knight only proved it more. “Watch it Knight-” Alec's words dared Henry to say anything more. Perhaps this wasn't personal to Henry, but it was very much so to Alec. Alec's voice loud enough to draw attention but less reactive given the situation, firm and surprisingly calm. “Given your history, you should restrain from commenting.” Alec, aware he was looking defensive, lets his arms fall to his side and behind his back. He wasn't trying to accidentally threaten someone via his wand. Especially with words like those, his tone was edging out, he didn't want to deal with this today.

Alec had held back information for Henry's sake. There was a reason Alec getting punched hadn't come back with any fire towards him. Solidarity. Alec offered enough respect for him that he hadn't said anything. Knight was one of those people who were annoying, but rarely lost their temper. Alec was aware of what he'd done to cause it. This. It was unacceptable. If he was mad, he didn't need to stay, he was choosing it. Nobody was getting hurt just because Alec had a couple of choice words. Move on, stop acting as if you're five, be mature.

Then Henry let the house thing slip. Alec was supposed to be representing his house- At that Alec turned around. Back to the duel. Because if Alec even glanced back, there were going to be issues. Alec was making a scene already, he had been making a quiet one, one that was really only focused towards the people involved in the duel. Everybody else could have just kept quiet. It was drawing a line Alec wasn't going to cross yet, he wasn't going to turn around and start shouting. That would have been a weak move.

Alec set his eyes on Rose, scowling slightly, he ran a hand through his hair before letting out a sigh. “Let's get this over with,” as in this needed to end soon, it had been going on far too long. They were given an antsy crowd now, and an Alec who in that moment, would have preferred to be elsewhere.

Action: Doing what was/will be owled~

A few swift steps carried her out of the way of yet another blindfold coming her wait. It seemed that the Gryffindors were returning to their earlier tactics - their exhausting insistence on blindfolds and Knockback Jinxes. A quick glance told her that Samantha had dodged the spell meant for her just as easily, while the younger girl's attack on Rose missed just barely. "Almost," Dee forced out beneath clenched teeth. The prolonged time of intense focus and frustration was getting to her. "You'll get her next time." If they were going down, they wouldn't go easy.

Happy new year you lovely people

It seemed like every spell had missed its target, except the healing spell from Dee. Samantha felt a little better after Dee had healed her, but it didn't make up for the annoyance the young girl felt when her spell missed Rose. Still, Samantha gave her teammate a little smile, "Thank you," she said both for the healing and the encouraging words.

Then a voice, which did not belong to any of the duelers, reached Samantha's ears. She quickly searched for the speaker, Henry Knight. Samantha didn't really know him, but they had spoken a few times. Alec was the first to answer Henry, saying something about his history. Samantha was curious, what was Alec talking about? She hoped Alec would give some more information so she would know what he meant, but he didn't.

When Henry spoke up again, Samantha agreed with him. "Yeah, Alec. Did you hear that? If I'm being honest, I have no idea why anybody would even support to begin with, but now they most certainly don't." After that the brunette turned to Henry. "Thank you for your wise words. You are a lot smarter with words than Alec, you are probably smarter than him in general." Samantha threw her idea of ignoring Alec away, it was way too much fun to reply to him and annoy him.

@Alec Mason | @Dealla Prince | @Samantha Salwis | @Henry Knight

The only spell that worked that round was Dealla's healing spell, which was smart on their end, but still annoying. It did let them know that Dealla did seem to have a heart, after all, despite Alec's doubts and taunts. The rest of the spells were dodged. Rose dodged a tickling spell, Samantha dodged Alec's Flipendo, and Dealla was able to dodge Rose's blindfolding spell. This was getting frustrating. Rose was becoming more and more anxious that she would get so close and then not make it. That she would get so so so so so near to victory and dip out at the last second. She couldn't let Alec down. She couldn't let her entire team down. She couldn't let herself down.

The one little spark of joy was seeing how flustered Alec was at seeing Dealla's kiss. Honestly, it had been a joke, but he seemed so put off by it. Maybe there was a little something between them? Or maybe Alec was just a teenage boy who didn't know what in Merlin's pants feelings were. Yeah, the latter was probably true.

Rose then heard a shout from the crowd. It was a familiar voice- Henry. Alec warned him, telling him to watch it. Obviously they knew each other, since they were using each others' names. He then proceeded to say something else to Henry.

“Given your history, you should restrain from commenting.”

Her patience for Alec dissipated.

Rose's brow furrowed. "What is that supposed to mean?" she asked. Rose would defend Henry with her life. Her tone had suddenly lost its warmth and friendly tone, stone cold. She didn't sound mad, however- just suspicious and cold. She could stand Alec being mean to total strangers to her, but if he took one jab at Henry, a single step towards hurting him, she was going to speak up.

Honestly, Henry was right.

Rose nodded shortly as he said they should get this over with. Rose was confused and tired. She didn't know how much more of this she wanted to endure.

Round 13

Jake looked up. He didn't know WHO Alec was talking to at first. He'd thought he'd meant Dealla, even though he hadn't been looking at her, but of course Dealla was PRINCE not Knight (they were very different names, they just both made Jake think of castles). It must have been Henry Knight. Jake saw him now in the stands shouting something, but if the boy had said anything before Jake had been too focused on the duel to even hear it. There was enough going on with the four of the duelists, Jake didn't have it in him to start listening for the audience too.

But Alec seemed upset, and for a moment Jake was worried that now Alec was going to start fighting with the audience too, and then EVERYBODY in the whole ROOM would be fighting. Samantha turned to speak to the Slytherin and now there were FIVE people in the conversation. And Rose seemed maybe kind of mad at Alec now, if Jake was reading her face right, and now Jake didn't know WHAT was going on.

If they all started dueling the audience then Jake was REALLY gonna have to do something about this...

But they didn't.

They turned back towards each other. Both of the Gryffindors seemed ready to end this. It seemed like they were just about to win...but the Ravenclaws would not go down without a fight.

Another knockback jinx came for Samantha. Rose was tired and determined to take out the Ravenclaw it seemed, who had been on the ropes just moments before. Samantha had to dive out of the way just to dodge the powerful spell, but she was determined as well - determined to hang in the fight!

Dealla sent a speeding wind jinx in the direction of Rose though, and perhaps Rose WAS tired, because the wind jinx would begin to blow her back before she could escape it! Then, Dealla's vision would go black. She was blindfolded again! Alec's aim was true this time....and it was a good thing too. The Ravenclaws may have SEEMED out of the fight but if they kept dodging and hanging in there, slowly little by little perhaps they could outlast their opponents after all. Soon it would be ROSE who would begin to feel the fatigue....gradually, her energy chipping away little by little.

Information

1. You have 96 hours (4 days) from the time of this post to post at least 50 words and owl me (Jake Morris) your moves.

2. Please don't hint at your move inside of your RP, as it gives the other team an advantage.

3. If you don't post before the deadline, your move will be void.

4. If you have any questions, or notice anything wrong in the mod post, please don't hesitate to send me an owl!

5. Your stats, abilities, and spells have been locked for this duel. Any new abilities added to your trunk after this duel started cannot be used.

6. For your convenience, here are the duelling rules, the duelling spells, and the latest patch.

7. Good luck!

The spectator thread for this duel can be found here
This duel takes place during Day 1!

Hex code:#A0A9B8

Alec sighed, he frowned, trying to pick out words too find ways to answer Rose's own. Alec simply wasn't allowed to explain the complicated duelling history or the personal history between him and the person yelling from where he should he have been sitting quietly and watching. “I don't have the time to explain what it means. Nor would I anyway, if he wants to share he will. I take it rather dishonest that he wouldn't, and even manipulative if he didn't, but that's not accusing him of anything.” Alec said, his voice quieter. He didn't want to be involved. He wanted to go. But he couldn't simply walk away. Besides, not responding earlier would have been weakness. Why ignore? There's no point.

Alec was rather distressed, though he tried to look more collected than he felt. He needed to focus and be in the moment to get anything done during this duel. They needed to finish it, Alec needed to leave.

Alec had been waiting for the proper time to respond to Sam, and right before the spells began seemed perfect. Sifting through words choices eased the sense of helplessness Alec was feeling as he spoke. “Yes... And that's applicable and important how? Why would I want support? Why is it at all important?” Not when, as you have been implying, support is pushing myself to the whims of none other than Henry and of course you. Following suit Alec rolled his eyes and shook his head, and spells began. Alec was after Dealla. Going for the same thing again, but whatever. Who cared as long as it ended up working out?

“Obscuro!” Alec smiled as his blindfolding spell hit Dealla. Regaining an attitude of confidence. The spell hadn't gotten old, he decided he rather liked it. His eye watched the scene before him and the other spells. Dealla's had hit, Alec grimaced, this wasn't that great for them. On the other hand, his eyes seemed to spark as he watch Rose's rather powerful looking knockback jinx. It missed. Alec was still impressed.

“They say we've been using the same spells over and over, but their attempts have seem to become a routine as well.” Alec commented to Rose quietly. “You might need to watch out for it. That spell seems to have become a favorite.” Alec was still on board for getting this over quicker. Anything to help with strategy? Dealla had been using that quite a bit Alec thought, well, whenever she wasn't healing.

Action: Doing what was/will be owled~

@Alec Mason | @Dealla Prince | @Samantha Salwis | (Mentions @Henry Knight in thinking)

Rose was steadily starting to like the Ravenclaws more than Alec, which was annoying, since she was technically supposed to be on Alec's side and against the Ravenclaws. Alec sighed, as if it was some kind of huge feat to reply to her words. Rose furrowed her brow at Alec, and refrained herself from repeating her question from earlier. Now she was even more confused. She had picked up that Alec and Henry probably knew each other before, and didn't like each other. But why would it make Henry dishonest and manipulative to not share something with her? They were friends, siblings. They weren't married or anything- he most certainly wasn't obligated in any sense to share everything with her.

And how come it would make Henry dishonest and manipulative to not share, but Alec wasn't sharing? "Does that make you dishonest and manipulative?" she asked him, appearing void of any emotion.

The wind from Dealla's Wind Jinx hit her before she could jump out of the way. Rose just hadn't been fast enough. She lifted a hand to shield her eyes against the wind, gritting her teeth. Her braided hair was blown back in the wind, the flyaways around her face doing the same.

Unfortunately for Rose, her spell missed just barely. Wow, this round certainly wasn't going as well as she could have hoped. Rose was starting to feel tired, the exhaustion getting to her. Couldn't this duel just end?

If they were being fair, yes, they were using many of the same spells over again. But as she saw the Blindfolding Spell hit Dealla, she was reminded that, well, they worked. At Dealla's Wind Jinx hitting, Alec commented that she should watch out for the spell, as they seemed to be using it quite a few times.

She bit bak a growl of "I am watching out!" and gave only a curt nod towards her partner.

Hi all! There are roughly 21.5 hours left! I still need the Ravenclaw moves!

@Dealla Prince @Rose Moon @Alec Mason @Samantha Salwis

Support apparently wasn't important to Alec, maybe he found it useless. For Samantha, the support of her family and friends meant a lot to her. "I guess you don't care about people liking you. Or maybe you do, but you are just too annoying for anybody to like you, and you act all mean and stupid because you know you won't be able to have friends even if you tried."

Satisfied with her words, Samantha focused on the duel. She could feel it was harder for her to focus as the duel was taking its toll on her. Dee's healing spells had helped a lot, but the young girl barely dodged Rose's spell. Samantha hadn't had the time to see what spell it was, but she had been able to see it was very powerful and she was happy she had been able to dodge it.

Even though she had been able to dodge the spell, Dee wasn't as lucky. Samantha rolled her eyes when she noticed the familiar blindfold blocking Dee's eyes. "I think I know what Alec's favorite spell is."

Well, everyone seemed to be picking on Alec now. It was a little funny, honestly. The duel had been ignoring him for a while now - when was the last time someone had cast a spell at him? But his continuing babbling had made everyone turn on him verbally. There were comments from the audience - Henry Knight coming to Dee's defense? Odd, not to mention unnecessary, but kind of hilarious. Samantha, who Dee knew as nothing but kind and eager to learn, was throwing downright cutting words at the boy. Even Rose didn't seem too pleased with him.

Well, that left Dee free to metaphorically lean back and watch. Despite the verbal hits he'd landed early in the duel, the accuracy of Alec's insults had gone down even as his spell accuracy had proven impressive during this duel.

Smiling slightly, Dee turned her wand on Rose once more. The Wind Jinx had been a good choice earlier, she'd give it another go now that neither Samantha nor herself looked to be about ready to keel over.

The gust of wind rushed across the stage, hitting Rose, but Dee didn't have time to gloat before, once again, a blindfold wrapped around her eyes and the world went dark. "Really?!" The annoyance was audible in her voice, frustration louder than it had been before. How come she never noticed it before it was too late? It wasn't loud or flashy or bright, perhaps that was the answer. At this point, perhaps she should just train herself to duel with a blindfold on. It seemed to be her new normal state.