2022, Stage 2 Hufflepuff vs Ravenclaw: Match 3

Skipping up onto the stage, Dee basked in the feeling, the atmosphere of the duelling room leading up to a duel. She'd never quite get enough of the thrum beneath her skin, the excitement that coursed through the air, that she took in with every breath.

Eun-ji received a bright, encouraging grin. Her fellow third year was new to duelling, but they had practiced, and Dee was feeling good today. Confident, certain. Ignore that her previous duel had been a disaster (as had the one before... and her first one...), she'd just have to turn it around today.

Both badgers across the stage were familiar to her. Julian had been in the duel she had moderated last stage, a second year, but he had put up a good fight and she would do well not to underestimate him. Lydia was a fellow captain and third year, and had been her opponent in her very first duel, when her own spells had been the cause of her downfall. Well, she had gotten over that. It had been months since the last time a spell had backfired on her, and she would make sure that streak continued through today.

So she gave the two Hufflepuffs a cheerful wave. "Sorry we'll have to knock you out!" she called over to them, grinning. It wasn't a malicious comment, not like what she had exchanged with Alec in her previous duel, her tone friendly and teasing, humour in her eyes. This wasn't personal, after all. Readying herself, she then slipped her wand from her pocket and rolled her shoulders, trying to get rid of the tension before she got into stance.

On Dmitri's comments, Dee had to resist the urge to stick out her tongue at the Slytherin captain who was their referee for the duel. So what if he was undefeated and kind of freaking scary. On second thought, she stuck her tongue out at him intentionally. "Considering we have a time limit now, you shouldn't have to worry about how quick we are," she called back, getting into position.

"Eun-ji, ready to hunt some badgers?" she asked, focus narrowing on their opponents. This time, they'd win.

@Eun-ji Lee Hunt | @Julian Pritchard | @Lydia Cooper | @Dmitri Jones I'm hyped let's do this

Eun-ji was nervous. Though you wouldn’t be able to tell from her calm expression, she was very much out of her element here. Unlike Dee who basically skipped towards the stage, the raven haired girl walked slowly and with grace of a dancer that she was. This was her first duel and so naturally, she wanted to leave a good impression. She practiced of course, giving it 200% as she always would but it was still just a training. This here was the real deal. Eun-ji thought she was extremely lucky to have their Captain as a partner. She taught her a great deal and Eun-ji wanted to put all those teachings to good use today. She smiled at her fellow Ravenclaw as she grinned at her excitedly. Somewhere deep down, she was also excited alas she was never good at showing her emotions that well.

Once on the stage, Eun-ji nodded at their opponents in greeting and as a sign of respect. After all, they were far more experienced than she was. She would leave the cheeky taunting to her teammate. The witch didn’t feel like she had earned the right to brag just yet and anyway, she wasn’t someone to do so. The fact that one of their opponents was a Captain didn’t help her confidence either. At least there weren’t any people to watch her. Many might come for Dee but she didn’t expect anyone to show up for her, which was more than fine with her. Good...The girl side eyed Dmitri, who almost seemed ready to leave before the duel even started. Clean and quick game was probably everyone’s goal but you didn’t get that just by wishing for it. Duels were tricky, you never quite knew how it would go and spells didn't always behave how you intended. Nevertheless, Eun-ji was ready to give it her all. “Sure I am,” she replied to Dee’s question sounding surprisingly confident. Yeah, she could do this!

@Julian Pritchard - @Dealla Prince - @Eun-ji Lee Hunt - @Dmitri Jones

For the first time since joining the Duelling team, Lydia walked onto the duelling platofrom with a knot in her stomach. Since the end of her last duel, in which she had fainted so quickly, her confidence in her duelling abilities had diminished, leaving her feeling insecure about it. During the winter holidays she had tried her best to think of new strategies, of ways to improve herself, but that feeling of not being good enough for the team, for the role she had, still lingered. The fact that the team had a lot of exchange of students didn't help with her mental state; of course she should have known that this was something that happened often, and not just to the Huffle team, but being the dramatic teenager that she was, Lydia thought that somehow that was her fault.

Still, she would have tried her best in this duel, for her duelling partner Julian, for her team, her house, and herself. Straightening her back, she carefully tieded up her hair in a high ponytail, leaving her visual free, and she looked at their opponents: she immediately recognised Dealla, and gave her a small smile, but she didn't recognise her partner. The red headed girl then glanced at the duel moderator and recognised him as well, but quickly looked away; something about Dmitri always made her feel slightly uncomfortable, even though she did not understand why - but it seemed to just happen with some people around the school.

She then looked again towards Dealla, and smirked a little, "That's if we don't knock you out first!" she replied, trying to sound more confident than she actually felt; she had to keep herself together and try her best, this was not the time to lose all hope. Taking a deep breath and clearing her head, Lydia then turned towards Julian and gave him a thumb up. "We can do this Julian! Let's just give it our best!" Then Dmitri declared the start of the duel, and Lydia got ready to act.

Action: Doing as strategised

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Action: As strategised.

Round One

Julian Pritchard vs Dealla Prince

Reducio

Julian Pritchard cast Fire-Making Spell II at Dealla Prince.
Wisdom DC: 12
Wisdom Check: [d20: 1] + 10 = 11, failure

Lydia Cooper vs Eun-ji Lee Hunt

Reducio

Lydia Cooper cast Full Body-Bind Curse at Eun-ji Lee Hunt.
Wisdom DC: 14
Wisdom Check: [d20: 2] + 15 = 17, success
Accuracy Check: [d20: 11] + 5 - 1 = 15
Evasion Check: [d20: 6] + 8 = 14
15 > 14 → Hit
Damage: 50
Duration: [d3: 1] = 1 round
Effects: Eun-ji sustains 50 HP worth of damage and is petrified—and untargetable—for one (1) round.

Dealla Prince vs Lydia Cooper

Reducio

Dealla Prince cast Knockback Jinx at Lydia Cooper.
Wisdom DC: 9 + 3 = 12
Wisdom Check: [d20: 7] + 10 = 17, success
Accuracy Check: [d20: 6] + 10 = 16
Evasion Check: [d20: 6] + 7 = 13
16 > 13 → Hit
Damage: 100 + 6 × 10 = 160
Effects: Lydia sustains 160 HP worth of damage.

Eun-ji Lee Hunt vs Lydia Cooper

Reducio

Eun-ji Lee Hunt cast Knockback Jinx at Lydia Cooper.
Wisdom DC: 9 + 3 = 12
Wisdom Check: [d20: 1] + 10 = 11, failure

Already, Dmitri had marginally higher hopes for this duel.

Both sides were able to trade blows with the other to varying effectivity. Lydia let loose a Petrificus Totalus at an unsuspecting Eun-ji, causing her to fumble her attempt at a Flipendo and topple to the ground—much like a felled tree.

Dealla's Knockback Jinx fared better, answering Cooper's curse with a hit to the shoulder. It might not be a devastating blow but it surely would leave a considerable bruise once the duels are over.

On the other side of the Hufflepuffs, Julian almost had his Incendio Duo explode in his own face, but it seemed he has been one of the few students who learned the precautions when casting his spells—instead of letting it blow up, the younger badger was able to flick his wand away in the nick of time, throwing sparks of flames to the side of the stage.

Overall, a respectable beginning to his duels, Dmitri thought. Maybe still far from the end, but he was sure this one would not last as long as his previous one.

INFORMATION

• []From the time this moderation has been posted, you have exactly ninety-six (96) hours to reply and send in your respective team actions. A minimum of fifty (50) words is required for each post.
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  []If you don't post or fail to send your actions within the allotted time frame, your action is void.
  []Your Stats, Abilities, and Spells have been locked to what they are now for the duration of this duel.
  []If you have questions or feedback on the moderation post, please do owl me.
  []Here you can find the rules to the Duelling System.
• Good luck, and have fun!

Spectator Thread

Dee's grin widened when both Hufflepuffs responded to her teasing in a similar fashion. This was nice. Not A-class banter yet, but they could work on that.

Eun-ji didn't chime in but asserted her readiness, and when Dmitri gave the signal, Dee raised her wand. "Flipendo!" Neither the cast nor her aim were great - mediocre at best, really - but it did the trick, light flashing across the stage and hitting Lydia in the shoulder. Twisting her lips into a slight pout, Dee adjusted the grip on her wand. She could do better than that.

Suddenly, there was a dull thump next to her and Dee jumped slightly, turning to see Eun-ji on the ground, stiff as a board. She winced slightly. Not a great start to her partner's first duel. She hadn't seen what had happened to Eun-ji's spell, but it hadn't hit its target. Still, if Eun-ji had to get hit by a spell, this one wasn't the worst it could have been. Sure, muscles cramping up and hitting the ground without any means of bracing yourself hurt, but there were nastier spells than that. "Already so bored you needed to lie down?" she asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow at her partner, but her good mood today was hard to shake, and there was a smile tugging at her mouth still.

With a slight hum, Dee refocused her attention on the badgers. The biggest problem for the moment was that they were now two against one, she would have to hold out on her own until Eun-ji managed to shake off the curse. Having two wands aimed at yourself was always a challenge. Still, Dee sent them a confident smile, chin high, back straight, weight balanced over the balls of her feet, ready to dart out of the way. Go ahead and try.

@Eun-ji Lee Hunt

"Good luck Eun-ji!" The Ravenclaw registered a familiar voice from the crowd. For some reason, it wasn’t hard for her to spot Flash among all the other people watching. Oh no… She really hoped that besides her own teammate, there would be no one to disappoint today. Nevertheless, she smiled at the boy gratefully. She was happy to have some support here but it was also an added pressure she didn’t have time to prepare for. It’s okay. I just have to do my best.

Well…it appeared sometimes doing your best just didn’t cut it. If she was doing her best at failing, she would consider herself a winner but that was NOT what she was going for now. Eun-ji could deal with her first spell missing but finding herself on the ground mere couple of seconds after the duel started was embarrassing to say the least. She had never felt less graceful. Great…just great. She cursed herself inwardly. What a perfect start of her duelling career.

"Already so bored you needed to lie down?" It was good to hear Dee making jokes still... even if it was at her expense. That meant she wasn’t too bothered by her teammate's failure, right? Come on Lee Eun-ji…you can do better. This was a horrible start but it also filled her with a new wave of determination. She needed to fix this…The raven-haired witch knew she could be useful, now she just had to prove it.

@Julian Pritchard - @Dealla Prince - @Eun-ji Lee Hunt

Giving Julian an encouraging nod, Lydia set her eyes on Eun-Ji, ready to cast her spell. For a second she doubted that she would actually hit her, but when she saw her falling to the ground petrified, she couldn't help but feel relieved that the spell had hit. At least this first round she had managed into her task, not like in the last duel...

Shaking her head, Lydia concentrated once more on the duel, but it was too late to avoid Dealla's Flipendo. The jinx hit her shoulder, and the red headed girl groaned in pain, bringing a hand up to massage the sore spot. Dealla had a good aim, but Lydia couldn't let that happen again; she needed to last longer this time, she couldn't just faint at the very beginning...

"Oh! Good save Julian!" she exclaimed then, seeing how her duelling partner had managed to avoid getting hurt by his own spell. "It's okay! These things happen!" she then added, trying to make him feel better; after all, the very same thing had happened to her more than once.

Taking a deep breath, Lydia wondered on how to act next.

Action: Doing as strategised

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Action: As strategised.
@Lydia Cooper