Practice Max vs. Luna Finished

After all this time, Max was beyond excited to finally try out the spells he'd learned on a real opponent. Sure, there'd been rudimentary class lessons where they'd been able to cast on each other - and that tag game organized by the history prof had been fun - but this was a one-on-one genuine practise where any spell could be used. His head was spinning with the possibilities as he mounted the steps to go up the stage and listened carefully to the Hufflepuff prefect explain what to do. A clean duel... he could do that. He'd put on a good show for the people watching.

Turning to his opponent, he dropped in a low, respectful bow, lifting his eyes for a brief second to study her. White hair, huh? Pretty odd, but this was a school for people who did magic so he supposed he shouldn't be surprised. Beyond that, a cursory glance gave nothing else away and he turned his back to pace the required amount of steps. Once he reached the other side of the floor, he spun cleanly on his heel and made sure this 'Luna' was facing his way before beginning.

Deciding to keep his stance neutral until he could accurately gauge how powerful the girl was, he lifted his wand and paused for a moment. There were a number of powerful spells they'd been taught that could seriously injure an opponent, but trying them at this point in time didn't seem appropriate. He wanted to get in at least a few good shots with other spells before breaking out the big guns. With a neat flick of his wrist for the proper movement, he muttered, "Mucus ad Nauseam." There - a somewhat offensive spell but it shouldn't hurt overmuch.

ACTION: Neutral stance & cast Mucus ad Nauseam

Despite her ignorance of the wizarding world, Luna knew what to expect of a duel in its pure essence. It just came down to a formal fight. She had seen plenty of normal fights as well as participated in them. This one just involved magic. Of course, that was the caveat. While she had completed a number of classes and learned quite a few spells, she was still a bit unsure of herself when it came to actually casting them. 

Luna did her best to follow protocol when they began. This Max would be the first Gyriffindor she had any actual interaction with at Hogwarts. The house was supposed to be brave and stubborn so she figured it'd be foolish to underestimate her opponent. She had bowed deeply, her ponytail dropping down the side of her neck. She had put it up so it wouldn't block her vision. She was hoping that Eevee was watching somewhere in the crowd. She didn't really care about anyone else watching. 

As they walked away from each other, Luna's mind raced through tactics that were appropriate for this encounter. She knew little about her opponent in general and decided the first round would be best utilized to gather information. Finally, she decided on her opening move. Gripping her wand tightly she hardened her resolve.

The boot clicked on the final step and then squeaked out a cry as she rotated on it. The beautiful aspen wand was pointing to her opponent, as Luna focus all her intent into her spell. It was time to test reactions. With a smooth exhale Luna incanted "Verdimillious" as her hand glided the wand on its gesture.

Action: Neutral Stance and cast Verdimillious

Amadea stepped back from the stage and the two students wasted no time casting their first spells. Both of them seemed to be just feeling things out as they cast, but both radiated a certain determination that made Amadea glad that she wasn’t a part of this duel herself. 

Max was the first to cast his spell. His wand let out a flash of green light as he sent the Curse of the Bogies flying through the air between the two students until successfully hitting Luna. She would soon find herself with a splitting headache and a terribly runny nose, two of the signature signs of a very bad cold. Amadea did not envy the poor girl; she had cast the Curse of the Bogies in her own duel, leaving her poor opponent sniffling and doubling over with a headache for the remainder of the duel. Hopefully Luna would fair better than her opponent had. After all, the duel was all but over. 

Despite this, Luna was still able to manage to shoot her own spell back at her opponent before being afflicted by the curse. The green sparks from her wand flew through the air until it reached Max and successfully hit him.

Both of them had successfully fired their spells, meaning both had been affected by their opponent’s spells. However neither of them were yet at the point where they couldn’t continue dueling, so Amadea stood to the side, watching them continue into the next round. 

— Max hits Luna successfully with Curse of the Bogies causing 235 damage 
— Luna successfully hits Max with Verdimillious causing 230 damage

— Max is left with 270 HP; Luna is left with 165 HP

The pain split through her skull, briefly blackening her vision. She could feel the mucus starting to drain out of her sinuses, causing her to shudder in revulsion and disgust. Luna had to summon inner reserves to keep her focus. Was her opponent trying to humiliate her? She had expected at a more offensive spell, yet the value in this one was obvious. Making a mental note to watch out for the class to learn that spell she steadied herself to continue the bout.

Looking up from the fountain pouring from her nose. Her spell had made contact as well, so at least it wasn't all for naught, but she felt in worse shape than she had hoped. She'd have to be a bit more careful to pull off any chance of victory. Yet she couldn't surrender yet. The night is darkest before dawn, and she had been through more adverse situations than this. 

Luna needed to make spellcasting as difficult for Max as it would be for her. Mentally going through all that she had learned, she quickly decided on the best option to complete her strategy. Under the mounting pain of the headache, she lifted her wand while preparing to try to dodge whatever else may occur. A bit more stilted than smooth this time, Luna exhaled "Tarantallegra" as her wand traced the gesture through the air.

Action: Defensive stance and cast Tarantallegra

Struck with a myriad of rather hot sparks, Max's stumbled a bit and winced as they skittered along his skin with enough force to hurt. He'd never quite considered that the sparks spells usually used for distraction or a call for help could be used offensively - but now that they'd been used on him, he realized it made sense. Spells could be used in any number of ways so he should take caution when it came to even the most rudimentary ones being cast on him.

Narrowing his eyes at the Ravenclaw girl, he assessed what kind of situation he'd put her in. The mucus spell wasn't something that crippled your opponent, but it sure could be fairly annoying. In a long, drawn-out battle if you were throwing spells back and forth in the blink of an eye, giving someone a cold and then allowing them no time for the counter-spell could make a life or death difference. With a single dip of his head in a nod of acknowledgement, he studied Luna's new stance with a critical eye. More defensive than before - would probably make her harder to hit but it would make it more difficult for her to hit him as well.

Lifting his wand almost in tandem with her, he debated on whether or not he should use something truly offensive now that she was sick and he was in pain from the sparks. Finishing something completely was something he'd been taught from birth, and even though it appeared he sometimes softened more than he ought to, this duel was very public. "Flipendo," he chose, a breath after she chose hers, maintaining his stance as his hand carved the mark into the air.

ACTION: Neutral stance & cast Flipendo

Amadea watched from the side as the second round of dueling commenced. Brushing a stray hair from her face, Amadea wondered who would end up victorious. Both of them had taken quite a bit during the first round, but they also both seemed to still be on their feet. It was anyone’s game.

This time Luna cast her spell first. Despite the side effects of being hit with the Curse of the Bogies during the first round, she still managed to hold her own, firing back a spell. As she cast the Dancing Feet Spell toward Max, his feet began moving uncontrollably. Amadea covered her mouth in an attempt not to laugh. Seeing the Gryffindor dancing wildly all over the stage was a sight she wasn’t going to forget anytime soon.

Remembering she had other duties besides watching the duel, Amadea was about to step in and end it; Max was not looking too well with all of the dancing and wild moves. But before she could stop the duel, Max raised his own wand, casting another spell.

Somehow, Max managed to fire his own spell even though the wild dancing was taking up most of his focus. Despite it all, his spell was quite precise and he squarely hit Luna with the knockback jinx. She flew backward, hitting the ground with a loud thud. Amadea rushed over to the girl, checking for a pulse first, even though there was only a slight chance that something fatal could have happened. After confirming it was there, Amadea felt slightly better. Luna was only unconscious and would wake up in a matter of minutes.

Turning to Max, she smiled at him. “Congratulations, you’ve won the duel,” she said. Glancing back at Luna who was still lying unconscious on the ground, she decided it would be best if someone with medical expertise  took care of her. “Why don’t you bring her to the hospital wing?” Amadea suggested. “Again, congratulations!” 

— Luna hits Max successfully with Tarantallegra causing 230 damage  
— Max hits Luna successfully with flipendo causing 235 damage

— Max is left with 40 HP; Luna is knocked out. Both cause duel to end. 

Dancing really wasn't Max's forte, especially when it was in front of a large crowd of people and he was being forced into it. The spell hit with deadly accuracy and his feet began to move of their own accord, sending him thrashing around like some weird pop star. Luckily he managed to get his spell out just in time, and though the jerky movements exhausted him so much he could go for a long nap, he managed to hold out just long enough to see his spell strike home. He winced at the impact, though seeing it in action was pretty awesome.

Waiting until the dance was all out of him before moving, he crossed the stage with his head held high like it didn't matter that he'd just embarrassed himself in front of everyone. After all, he had won the duel and now people would know not to mess with him if they were thinking he'd be an easy target. "Thanks," he said to Amadea as he crouched beside the girl he'd just knocked out, pursing his lips and studying her. The damage didn't look too bad but it certainly wouldn't hurt to go the hospital wing just in case.

Holding both fingers out in front of her face, he snapped a few times to try to rouse her. He'd rather not touch someone if he didn't have to, and he doubted she'd be happy to wake up with some stranger's arm slung around her shoulders. If she woke up, he'd escort her to the hospital wing to ensure she didn't have a concussion or something similar. If she didn't, he'd simply call over one of the girls in her House to take her - he figured a friendly Ravenclaw of the same gender would make a much better person to wake up leaning on.

Luna couldn't be sure but she felt like she had at least briefly blacked out. Her field of vision had cut to darkness which had swallowed the world. But it didn't take long for her regain awareness. A creeping headache, which threatened to become a migraine if left untended, was radiating throughout her entire head. She hadn't hit her head, but the force of the blow had rattled it nonetheless. She likely wouldn't notice the pain in her rear until later.

As she gained her vision, she could see a pair of fingers snapping. She tried to fight back confusion as her memory attempted to flood back into the empty space the blackout had left. She had been dueling. She had managed to hit with two spells. For a split second, she had thought she had won, was preparing to dodge, then nothing. Blackness. She followed the fingers to the arm to the face of their owner. It was Max. He seemed to be studying her. 

"I lost didn't I?"

It was all she could manage to say as she internally berated herself. She had to improve if she were going to succeed. But that would have to wait. She had a headache she needed to take care of as soon as possible. 

It was a relief when the girl's eyes opened and she began to show signs of consciousness, looking groggy but not overly deathly. She seemed to be confused but not so much that it was cause to panic, and Max dropped his fingers from where he'd been snapping them, rocking back on his heels and resting both palms on his trousers as he watched her slowly become more aware of her surroundings. Yeah, she'd be fine, though she definitely needed to hit up the infirmary wing just to ensure everything checked out alright.

"It was more of a practice than a match, so the outcome isn't that important," he stated, matter-of-fact, despite the fact that he would've been disappointed to lose in front of everyone as well. She'd done well - they'd both done well - so even though he'd edged out a victory, he didn't feel like he needed to gloat or lord it over her. This match had been useful for determining the limitations and extensions of certain spells, so overall the only thing he could feel towards this girl was grateful that she'd been good enough to hit him with both spells.

Standing up, he hesitated for the briefest moment before stretching out his hand, prepared to offer her help up despite his aversion to physical contact. "Can you stand? I'll escort you to the infirmary just in case there are any side effects. I'm willing to bet you aren't feeling the best right now." Perhaps he should apologize as well, but that felt like it cheapened the whole thing. He wasn't sorry and he doubted she was either; none of it had been personal.