2023, Stage 3 Hufflepuff vs Gryffindor: Match 5

With one win under her belt already that year, Rose didn't feel hopeless about this duel. She was pretty excited, actually. At first, Rose had no idea why she had stuck with dueling- losing and losing and losing over and over again hadn't been fun when she first started out. It was quite the opposite, really. But her next year had been wins, even though the summer after her third year had ruined that streak. That was okay, though. That duel was funky, anyway.

Five losses, and four wins, if she counted correctly. She just needed one more and she could be even, and then she could work on having more wins than losses. Rose was starting to believe in herself a little bit, and realize that really, she was good at this. Not spectacular- no, but maybe that would come with time. But she was good.

And that was enough for her, at least for now.

She had french braided her hair in preparation for the duel, knowing that it needed to be out of her face while she dueled. She had been practicing for today, and she was determined to do well.

Rose smiled as she saw Kim. For some reason, she was pretty sure that he was the reason they had won their last duel. "Hey! Are you ready?" she asked, bouncing on the balls of her feet. The adrenaline was just nervous energy right now, but in a few moments, when they started casting, it would all hone in to focus on the task at hand- beating the Hufflepuffs.

As the moderator called them up, Rose heard almost nothing of what he said (though she felt bad aferwards for not really listening). Lucia Fox had been one of her very first dueling partners, and had beat her during her very first duel. Rose had not taken that well, even though it was a long time ago. Still, Lucia had been nothing but ugly to Rose (even though Rose, admittedly, did kind of sort of start it), and every time Rose tried to be civil, Lucia had ruined it all. Rose had pretty much come to the conclusion that Lucia was going to hate her whatever she did, and there was pretty much nothing she could do about it.

She got up on the dueling stage, and sent a smile towards the other team, as if in agreement with Kim. For a moment, she remembered that this wasn't all that different from how it was two and a half years ago, when Rose had first dueled Lucia.

She steeled her gaze at the other team. No, this time was going to be different, because this time she was going to win.

Of all the people whom Lucia could have been chosen to duel against, it just had to be Rose Moon and Kim Sato. Not even one at a time, but both together, Merlin help her. It wasn't even that Lucia was worried about being beaten (although it would be a terrible experience to be beaten by Rose-flipping-Moon) but she wasn't sure this duel would be quite as fun as her others had been. Not when she had personal stakes in this one.

Lucia was quick to condemn those who used dueling as a form of revenge. David, Jannette, Cynthia... these three had all tried it, but Lucia had taught them a lesson: duelling was a sport, for fun, not for settling disagreements or getting back at someone. So why did she feel like she had to win this duel not because it may be the difference between Hufflepuff winning and losing, but because Rose Moon was one of her opponents? It seemed like fate, almost, that the very first person Lucia had knocked out with in a duelling match would be here, now, in the last match of the duelling season all these years later.

Looking back on it, it seemed almost childish that Lucia and Rose had clung onto one disagreement for over two years. Still, Lucia could be stubborn if she wanted to be, and Merlin damn it but she wouldn't forgive Rose until the other girl offered an olive branch first! The Hufflepuff wondered for a moment whether Rose was still as sore a loser as she had been in second year. Hopefully, Lucia would get a chance to find out.

And then, of course, there was Kim Sato. Lucia wasn't entirely sure what her feelings were regarding this boy. He creeped her out a bit, with his perceptive remarks and hazy insinuations, especially about Eun-ji, but Lucia couldn't pinpoint a single thing he'd done that wasn't nice or kind. Maybe Lucia just didn't deserve kindness, and that was why she subconsciously was repulsed by it. Or maybe it was the way that Kim was so entangled with Eun-ji in her mind: he was her fiancé's best friend, after all. Before Lucia found out about that, she only knew Kim as a vague face in the corridors, a name on the sign-up sheet of her book club.

There was one more person who would be with Lucia on the piste today, and the only one whom Lucia could unequivocally say she liked. Emma Wynn would be Lucia's partner this stage, and Lucia was looking forward to it. It was a shame that she wasn't paired with Lindsey again, but from what she knew of Emma, the younger Hufflepuff seemed to be a nice person. Plus, she'd won her duel last stage - Lucia had watched and cheered for her and AngelFyre - so was definitely experienced on the duelling ground, if not as much as Lucia was.

A few minutes before her match started, Lucia entered the duelling club alone. She didn't expect anybody to be in the audience to support her specifically, unless Lindsey decided to come and watch. Briar wasn't here, not that Lucia was surprised at this point. Briar had better things to do than her older sister fling spells at someone in duelling club. Maybe AngelFyre would come to watch her old partner, especially since Lucia had cheered for her last stage. But Lucia wouldn't be disappointed if nobody turned up: you couldn't be disappointed if you expected the worst, right?

Lucia gave Emma a smile as the duellists all ascended onto the piste, very deliberately not catching Rose's eye. She had to try and give the impression that she didn't care who her opponent was: that way, it would be easier to convince herself of the same thing. "You ready? We've got this!"

Kim called across the stage, and Lucia echoed the referee's words when she spoke. "Of course! A fun, clean match." It might have sounded like she was insinuating that the Gryffindors would cheat, but she was trying to make it obvious that she had standards she would uphold. Being called a cheat was possibly one of the greatest insults Lucia had ever received, mostly because it wasn't true, and she was going to make it as clear as day that she was following the rules in this match. Then, even Rose Moon would be forced to admit that Lucia (and Emma, of course) could beat her on skill alone.

@Rose Moon • @Kim Sato • @Emma Wynn • @Fang Hui-Ming

Credit to Lucia Fox for my awesome banner!

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Emma was nervous. Even though she had won her past two duels, she couldn't help but be a little intimidated by being paired with and therefore facing off against a fourth year. After all, they would have much more knowledge than her. Of course that was the whole point of being partners with someone who was also a fourth year, Lucia, who she didn't really know other than by sight. But still. What could she really contribute? Not to mention the last two matches, she had been paired with Angelfyre and she had been an excellent teacher for Emma about strategy and timing. Kim was also on the opposing team, and even as she was nervous, she was curious to see how she would fare against the Gryffindor student. They had conversed several times before and Kim seemed quite kind. But of course in dueling, there were no concerns about the kindness of the opposing team.

Grinning at Lucia shyly, Emma ducked her head slightly, nodding. Clearing her throat, she did her best to look up, trying to project more confidence, something she had wanted to work on since becoming prefect. "You're right. We've got this. Hopefully fairly quickly. Oh shoot! I didn't mean that, knock on wood!"[/b] Emma realized she might have jinxed them and hoped that she hadn't just ruined their chances for the match. She wasn't very superstitious but in these types of instance, it helped to have luck or fate or whatever on your side.

"Nice to see you Kim, looking forward to a good match." Emma had answered without much thought, unlike her usual tactics of overthinking. Kim's partner, Rose, was someone that Emma had not met before, so she was a bit curious about the girl, but honestly they were facing off against each other so she didn't really feel any interest in knowing more at this point. Taking a breath, she waited to see what the first moves from the Gryffindor team would be.

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Round 1

Kim

Reducio

Kim cast Verdimillious at Emma
Wisdom DC: 6
Wisdom Check: [d20:11] + 8 = 19
Auto Hit & Auto Dodge Cancel out
Accuracy: [d20:14] + 9 = 23
Evasion: [d20:6] + 7 = 13
13 < 23 → Hit

Rose

Reducio

Rose cast Arresto Momentum at Emma
Wisdom DC: 10
Wisdom Check: [d20:7] + 10 = 17
Auto Dodge Check [d10:1] → Miss

Emma

Reducio

Emma cast Mucus ad Nauseam at Kim
Wisdom DC: 12+2 = 14
Wisdom Check: [d20:18] + 9 = 27
Accuracy: [d20:12] + 7 = 19
Evasion: [d20:15] + 10 = 25
25 < 19 → Miss

Lucia

Reducio

Lucia cast Ventus at Rose
Wisdom DC: 11+2 = 13
Wisdom Check: [d20:15] + 10 = 25
Auto Dodge Check [d10:5] → No Autosplit
Accuracy: [d20:13] + 9 = 22
Evasion: [d20:2] + 9 = 11
11 < 22 → Hit
Duration Check: [d3:2] → 1 round

And the duel began with a flurry of spells, some familiar in the duelling circuit and some that have not been seen for some time.

Lucia, the older Hufflepuff duellist, ironically chose the noble course of action -- a Gryffindor trait -- in buffeting the older Gryffindor girl with a Wind Jinx. Perhaps Fox had hoped to make this duel into two 1v1s? Not that the Gryfindors would have any of it

The Gryffindors began the game by targeting Emma, the younger of the two Hufflepuff duellists. A sensible course of action. But also a predictable one. The young Hufflepuff prefect seemed to have expected a volley aimed at her, and nimbly dodged out of the way of a slyly cast Slowing Charm by rose.... right into Kim's green sparks. The poor blinded girl tried to retaliate with a Curse of the Bogies -- an old duelling favourite that went out of fashion some years ago -- but the spell went wide.

The duel was just beginning, and things were already interesting

Information

1. You have 96 hours (4 days) from the time of this post to post at least 50 words and owl me 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.
Come cheer for your House and friends!

Rose turned her wand on Emma. ”Arresto Momentum,” she whispered, seeing the spell zip towards Emma, who was able to dodge out of the way. However, Kim was able to hit her with his green sparks charm. Rose saw Kim, out of the corner of her eye, dodging a spell that she recognized. Curse of the Bogies- Rose hated that spell. It was brutal to endure.

The redhead saw Lucia’s spell coming towards her, but she wasn’t fast enough, and she was trapped in a gust of wind. Rose growled to herself. It was annoying, but Rose had been through worse. A little bit of wind was pathetic compared to what she had seen in duels. She smiled at Kim, letting him know she was okay. It was just a little bit of wind.

Plus, for Lucia to attack Rose first was petty. Rose was sure she was smirking on the other side of the platform at seeing Rose. The redhead kept her composure, deciding that she wouldn’t be like Lucia. Her decisions would be objective and logical. If she was going to hit Lucia, she was going to do it because she had to to win the duel, and she would take no satisfaction from it. Rose might have been a sore loser her first duel, but this duel she was determined to be a good sport when she won.

All of this seemed so dumb to Rose in the moment. Why did she hate Lucia so much? Why did that Hufflepuff get on her nerves? Rose had started it, after all. Maybe they could put all of this behind them someday. If Lucia could put down her pride.

Rose shook away the thoughts. Never mind that- she had to focus. She had to win first.

Credit to Lucia Fox for my awesome banner!

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Emma nodded back at Kim, not worrying about responding as the match was soon to begin and she wanted to be prepared for whatever came their way.

It didn't take long for the match to start, spells starting to fly and Emma settling a bit. She cheered her partner on as Lucia cast a spell towards the older of their two opponents. She had no clue what the spell was, but it looked impressive and thankfully it hit. "Well, that's a good start Lucia!" Emma didn't know what had come over her, but she was almost giddy, ready to get started all of a sudden, so different from her previous nervous attitude.

The confidence was enough to have her sidestepping the first spell that came at her but it was as if the two Gryffindors had coordinated the actions as instead she walked right into Kim's green sparks. Grimacing, Emma shook her head slightly before frowning at Kim, raising her wand and aiming at them. Unfortunately she must have still been somewhat blinded or disoriented from the green sparks that had hit her that she missed the spell she had meant to cast. The Curse of the Bogies had been used quite successfully on the Hufflepuff duo the match before, and she had hoped to make sure that that hard won lesson would come in handy. Unfortunately luck was not with her this round. But she needed to shake it off and move on to the next round just as confident that she would be able to make something happen.

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The duel began, and everybody on the piste sprung into action. The Gryffindors decided to concentrate all their efforts on Emma, and Lucia grinned as the younger girl Rose's attack. Kim's spell did hit, and Lucia tried not to smile at that one too. She wondered whether Rose had told him to cast that, or if she was reading too much into it - after all, the green sparks charm was the first spell Lucia has cast in her first official duel. Her first in this duel was dramatically more aggressive, and a gust of wind hit Rose square in the chest. Lucia hadn't aimed for the girl because she was trying to get revenge, or prove anything... at least, that was what she told herself. It made sense, tactically. The fact that it really was very satisfying to watch Rose Moon be impaired by Lucia's spell had nothing to do with it.