2023, Stage 3 Hufflepuff vs Slytherin: Match 6

Fang Hui-Ming is the first to step into position, with something akin to a twisted amusement running through him. Last stage, he had been matched against Barlowe, and this time it was Pritchard. Perhaps it was his fate to duel against every new duelling captain that was announced.

Tragic. But adversity breeds competence. And if there was one thing that he needed, Fang Hui-Ming needed to prove his worth. Especially after the embarrassing showing in the last two duels.

A tilt of his head, a small nod to their moderator.

He was ready

Hades had not overcome losing his first duel against Kim, and that had increased a slight grudge against him. But at least now he would have another duel to focus on. And it was against some students from Slytherin. The badger was the second to make his appearance, his eyes watching who appeared to be the referee. He snapped his tongue, keeping silent until the referee finished speaking and making the presentations. His eyes settled first on Ming and then on the other person, whose name was Starlee.

He bowed and looked at his dueling partner “We have to do it right.” he commented, and looked at Slytherin’s “And you two... I’ll wish you luck.” he said. He grunted slightly, and remembered that Starlee’s last name was Kennedy. Without knowing why, he could not help but think that they would still be marked by tragedy in some way. The number of times Hades had heard someone mention that everyone bearing the Kennedy last name seemed to have some tragedy somehow... And in this case, lose the duel.

The third to appear for the duel, was none other than Starlee herself. She had once again been paired with a younger student, but one who had been recently promoted to captain of the dueling team. She didn't know him well, heck, it felt like she barely knew anyone anymore with how much the death of her father had shaken her. She put most of her extra time into studying, practicing, and working on broom racing training that she didn't have time to idly chit chat with anyone, and she didn't want to anyway.

She knew Pritchard from her fateful duel against her old BFF Martyna, but that was it. Hopefully this duel would end like that one did, in a Slytherin win. The other Hufflepuff, Schweighöfer, offered her luck, to which she nodded in return. She could do better than luck. All her practice wouldn't be for nothing.

Julian had never handled duelling nerves especially well, but stepping into the duelling piste as a duelling captain had shot them to new heights. Suddenly, winning mattered beyond not letting his teammate down. Messing up and getting defeated meant letting the whole team down and failing to set an example or prove he was a good enough choice for the position. The weight of it made his hands shake slightly as he took to the piste, giving a small nod in the direction of Hades, his new teammate.

"Right," he told the boy. He didn't disagree with the sentiment, though he privately felt like Hades could've been more explicit in how he thought they should do it. He his gaze towards the opposing team and musted a small, nervous smile. Starlee had beaten him in his very first duel. He wish he felt more confident than he had that first time.

"Yes, good luck to you both," he echoed Hades.

Round 1

Julian vs Ming

Reducio

Julian casts Blindfolding Spell at Ming
Wisdom DC: 10 + 2 (Lovely Creature) = 12
Wisdom Check: [d20: 3] + 11 = 14 > 12 → Success
Accuracy Check: [d20: 15] + 10 = 25
Evasion Check: [d20: 7] + 6 = 13
25 > 13 → Hit
Effect:
• The opponent is blindfolded, making them unable to see.
• Evasion and Accuracy stats are equal to 0 as long as the target is blindfolded.

Hades vs Ming

Reducio

Hades casts Incendio Duo at Ming
Wisdom DC: 12 + 2 (Lovely Creature) = 14
Wisdom Check: [d20:18] + 9 - 5 (Transfigurer) = 22 > 14 → Success
Accuracy Check: [d20: 4] + 7 = 11
Evasion Check: [d20: 9] + 6 = 15
11 < 15 → Miss

Starlee vs Julian

Reducio

Starlee cast Ventus at Julian
Wisdom DC: 9
Wisdom Check: [d20: 11] + 10 + 1 (Comprehend Languages) = 22 > 9 → Succes
Auto-split: [d20: 17] → No Split
Accuracy Check: [d20: 15] + 8 = 23
Evasion Check: [d20: 18] + 8 = 26
23 > 26 → Miss

Ming vs Julian

Reducio

Ming cast Incendio Duo at Julian
Wisdom DC: 12
Wisdom Check: [d20: 11] + 8 = 19 > 12 → Succes
Accuracy Check: [d20: 8] + 10 = 18
Evasion Check: [d20: 5] + 8 = 13
18 > 1 3→ Hit
Duration: [d3:1] → 1 round (1d3, 1-2: 1 round, 3: 2 rounds)
Damage: 60 + AP × 10, so 160
Effects:
- The target suffers –60 HP per round (1 round)

As soon as Samantha had counted down, the spells flew across the stage. The oldest duelist in the room would spend his time casting the Fire-Making Spell II. Sadly for Hades, his spell missed his target. From Julian's wand, a blindfold appeared, also aimed at the second-year Slytherin. It seemed that Ming's dodging skills had gone to avoiding Hades' spell, as the black cloth wrapped itself around his face.

However, before his world darkened, Ming had been able to cast a spell himself. He said the same incantation of the spell that had just missed him and aimed at Julian. Less than a second later, the Hufflepuff would notice the burning sensation of fire. A small flame had appeared on his sleeve. One of Samantha's favorite spells, ventus, was cast by Starlee. Her aim wasn't true, as the jolt of wind went off course and missed Julian.

I N F O R M A T I O N

• You have 96 hours from the timestamp of this post to owl me, Samantha Salwis, your actions. If you do not send your actions or post within the allotted time, your action is void. There are no extensions.
• Word count minimum is 50 words, but feel free to write as many as you like. Do not hint at your actions in your post, as it'll let the other team strategize against you.
• Your stats, abilities, and spells have been locked. Any new spells that are added after cannot be used.
• For any questions, comments, or concerns I ask that you contact me through my owls or on discord.
• And most importantly, have fun!

Duelling Spells

Duelling System

Newest Patch

[Spectator Thread]

A small bow before the duel begins. The smallest of smiles at the words of the opposition. perhaps this one duel, he should try and relax. After all, trying to prove himself had not quite gone the way he had wanted it to.

At the signal of their moderator, Hui-Ming leapt into action, weaving out of the way of a fire spell sent his way by Hades. Then, just to be cheeky, the Slytherin boy shot the exact same spell back at the upper year.

It was a relief, frankly, that he was not meant to be the stone of stability for this team, like he had felt he had to be for the previous two stages. Not that that stopped him from frowning just slightly as a blindfold came his way and obscured his vision.

Oh my, the Hufflepuffs thought him to be the bigger threat.

Their mistake.

And so the duel began, this time with Starlee casting a newly learned spell this year, Ventus. She hadn't been able to use it quite much, but had experienced its effects and understood that it could be rather powerful, especially if it managed to split. Unfortunately, her poor aim made it so that her spell missed its target, and she was left feeling angry at the outcome.

Her younger partner, on the other had, managed to cast his incendio duo well, hitting Julian on the sleeve. That was the way duels seemed to go, one party was quickly targeted, either due to their weakness, or due to their strength. Hui-Ming seemed to look fine, almost unfazed, despite the blindfold that was now tied tightly across his eyes.

Trying not to sink into anger about her aim, she took a breath, and readied herself for the next round.

Julian hadn't had much occasion to use his blindfolding spell, so he was reasonably pleased when his wand responded easily to the muttered incantation, obscuring Hui-Ming's sight. The self-satisfaction did not last long, as he was soon hit by his least favourite spell to get hit with: Incendio Duo, and the familiar smell of singed robes had him wrinkling his nose, a harbinger of the stinging pain that followed.

Thankfully, it wasn't much of a flame, and patting his sleeve down with with his other hand (covered in his other sleeve) was enough to control the small fire.

"Sorry," he muttered at Hades. So much for setting an example now that he was a captain. At least he hadn't also missed.

This was when Hades took his turn to perform the spell, which to his unfortunate, Ming had dodged the spell. You could see in his face that he was frustrated. But he wasn’t going to let his frustration prevent him from performing spells properly. He observed that after having dodged his spell, Ming was not so lucky with the next one when his duelist companion performed the spell, making him to be blindfolded. Julian had undoubtedly been clever in using this spell. He looked at it before the Slytherins took their turns.

The third person to cast it was Ming, who had chosen to use an Incendio Duo to his duellist partner, saw how the spell had its effect. For the first release, it was executed properly. He nodded slightly as a way of approving “Not bad at all.” he remarked, thoughtfully. That made Hades smile satisfactorily, seeing that they were now equal. The last person who had to do the spell was Starlee, who, judging by the movement and pronunciation, had tried to perform the same spell he had tried to do against Ming.