Satsified Curiosity & Spellcasting pv Hui Ming F. closed

Fang Hui-Ming was annoyed by his recent performance in Duelling.

No, that was not quite the correct word was it. No, it would be more appropriate to say that he was vexed. Irritated, livid even, that for all his ability to predict plays, that his body simply could not perform to the standard he had held for himself.

In his first duel, against the Hufflepuffs, he had overestimated his ability to take a hit. His second duel against the eagles showed that he would not be able to perform even if he had been left alone for as long as possible.

It shamed him, as much as irritated him. Bad enough that he made a fool of himself in front of the entire school, but to have done so in front of his family as thoroughly as he had--

Anger brimmed inside him, red-hot and itching to lash out at the soonest opportunity. Yet outside he remained calm, his casting form perfected by hours upon hours of painful practice, until it came to him smoothly.

And that was when he was approached by one Hanako Tone, a Snape-dorm duelist. That in itself was enough to mark the older boy unfavorably for the Duelling co-captain, but Hui-Ming also remembered the boys’ unkind comments at the lag end of his first duel.

Hui-Ming finished his latest cast -- a Dancing Feet Spell – before turning to face his upperclassman, his expression carefully blank. The mannerisms of the older boy, from his laissez-faire attitude to his demeanour, all set him on edge.

He did not refuse the older boy, but perhaps he should have. Perhaps Tone needed to learn that he outranked the older boy here. But where Hui-Ming did not bristle at the lack of courtesy and sheer arrogance of the older boy, he did tense at the comment of his evasion – was that a dig at his looks?

“Very well, then.” He responded finally, his tone oddly flat as he took his wand from his dominant left hand to his off hand. “Perhaps I shall give you a handicap also, then.”

A small pause, just as he was about to take his dueling stance.

“We will require somebody to oversee this duel though.” In case somebody hurts themselves was left unsaid.

Round 1

Hanako

Reducio

Hanako casts Fumos
Wisdom DC: 8 + 2 Ming's Lovely Creature = 10
Wisdom Check: [d20: 8] + 9 = 17 > 10 → Success
Duration: [d6: 4] → 2 rounds
Effects:
— Ming suffers –5 ACC (–3 + 10 ARC / 5 × –1) for 2 rounds.
— Hanako is unaffected Blindvision.

Ming vs Hanako

Reducio

Ming casts Rictusempra at Hanako
Wisdom DC: 9
Wisdom Check: [d20: 10] + 8 = 18 > 9 → Success
Accuracy Check: [d20: 14] + 10 = 24
Evasion Check: [d20: 16] + 6 = 22
24 > 22 → Hit
Damage: 50 + 10 ARC × 10 = 150
Duration: [d6: 2] → 1 round
Effects:
— Hanako is hit with Rictusempra, loses 150 HP, suffers –2 ACC for 1 round and will lose 25 HP per round for 1 round.

She was just wandering around the hall to try searching for a proper practice spot, or a partner, really. But the god of duelling was not on her side that day. Everyone had their own duel partner, it seemed. And to some guys, Meenauh didn't want to come to ask. Sometimes it was better to practice alone. The whole room was filled with all the houses — she recognised faces, recognised voices in the whole cacophony of incantations. Which didn't really make any sort of music, but were just pure noise, the annoying kind of noise that she wanted to hide from in a bubble around her head.

The crowd really seemed to not diminish, and more people were just arriving to the room. Somehow the space could contain them all and there was enough air for everyone, disregarding how many people arrived. She wondered whether the room had some auto-expanding enchantments, but probably it was just Hogwarts, as usual.

She considered it done, and summoned her satchel to head off. It was probably a bad day for duelling practice, so she started to move through the lines of spellcasters, looking for the shortest path to the exit.

She noticed the two Slytherin duellists, she knew both, of course, even the younger one, yes. From the vibe alone it didn't seem like they were arguing but rather producing some rivalling sparkles. As she was passing by, she overheard the request. A bad day for duelling, but not a bad day for refereeing.

"Okay," she jumped back to stand in between them, grinning, shooting a glance from one to another, "Okay, I will oversee your duel," she kept grinning. What could be better than seeing two snakes trying to hurt each other?

After all the preparations were done, she announced the start of the duel and sat back in the nearest chair.

The spells were shot instantly. As Hanako's shorter incantations started to produce the fog, Ming instantly fired a decent Rictusempra through the yet not thick fog and the spell landed perfectly, leaving Hanako to be tickled painfully in the darkness of the fog. She recognised the fogging pattern, and it seemed not only her partners utilised the benefits of darkness.

I N F O R M A T I O N

• You have all the time in your life to post and send me your actions.
• I will moderate once I see both posts in and receive both actions.
• Don't get carried away and remember that as this is a regular RP, the WC is 200.
• When you send the spell, I will believe you that you have it in your trunk and won't check it

Reducio

@Hanako Tone, @Fang Hui-Ming

𝟷𝟷 . 𝟶𝟸 . 𝟸𝟹

The co-captains blank stare at Hanako’s proposal only made the boy’s grin widen. How he’d love to see that stoic expression crack. Unsurprisingly, the younger boy accepted - even offering to give him a handicap. Hana hadn’t really paid attention to how Ming duelled, but by the way he switched his wand to his other hand, he learned something new about the co-captain today. However, he did laugh a bit at his actions. “ I don’t really think I need it, but if it makes you feel better then~” Being looked down upon was no foreign feeling. Hanako tended to look down on people too. It certainly was laughable that the young boy thought it was a good idea, when it’ll only make it harder for him to win. Was it confidence or arrogance? He’ll learn.

“We will require somebody to oversee this duel though.” Did they really need someone? Hanako thought it was too casual to even need someone to oversee their duel. It wasn’t like Hana was planning to put him in the hospital wing. It was an incredibly easy thing to do for him if he really wanted to. Maybe the co-captain didn’t trust him. Valid point, honestly. Before he could say anything more, it seemed like they peaked the interest of the older co-captain from Gryffindor team. Were people just waiting around the room for a random duel to oversee a duel? Whatever. Hanako let out a shrug at her entrance, seemingly okay with the decision.

They got in position, and the duel started.

He of course, was limited to 1st and 2nd year spells. That didn’t mean he couldn’t turn the stage to his advantage. He wanted to have fun with the boy, but he certainly wasn’t planning on losing. Neither was Fang, apparently. Just as the fog surrounded the platform, Hanako was hit with a spell. A fit of giggles erupting from the boy. To be fair, he had found the situation quite funny. “ Oh so you can hit moving targets~!” he barked out through chuckles, completely unnerved by how genuine his laughs were. This spell was a total drag. He was not a fan of laughing so openly. Unless its for mockery purposes, course. “ Should I be honoured? To be one of the first people you can actually hit~?”

Not that it mattered much. Ming was going to have to go an extra mile to even detect Hana’s presence if he wished to hit him again. Maybe he was hiding his abilities during the official matches? Hanako was curious to see.

@Fang Hui-Ming

An imperious raised eyebrow and a changed wand grip was the only reply the Duelling captain gave to his upperclassman's unexpected choice of spell. There was no pressure here to perform, unlike the official matches where his reputation was on the line. Not that he had much of one left, after losing to a bunch of his peers.

Still, when Tone began with verbal taunting, Hui-Ming felt he had to respond. To protect his dignity, if nothing else. "Honored?" He repeated the older boy's choice of wording. "I believe the word you are seeking is embarrassed. Even my little sister could have dodged that!"

With the advent of fog around, the Chinese boy stretched, his ears straining for noise even as he idly spun his wand between his fingers, thinking about his n next move. He could hardly blow away the fog, which rather limited his options.

"But then, I suppose this would hardly be fair comparing a little kitty to a big snake that's rather much too cowardly to play out in the open."

One opening. One slip. One chance. That's all he needed. Just one moment, borne out of carelessness, and he'd settle this game before it really even got started.

Round 2

Hanako vs Ming

Reducio

Hanako casts Arresto Momentum
Wisdom DC: 10 + 2 Ming's Lovely Creature = 12
Wisdom Check: [d20: 5] + 9 = 14 > 12 → Success
Accuracy Check: [d20: 2] + 10 – 2 (Rictusempra) = 10
Evasion Check: [d20: 11] + 6 + 7 (Dodge) = 24
10 < 24 → Miss

Ming

Reducio

Ming dodges
Evasion Bonus: 5 + 6 × 25% = 5 + 2 = 7
Effects:
— Ming receives a +7 EVA bonus to the Evasion Check this round.

She tried to really not pay attention to the friendly (or unfriendly) banter between the two snakes. She shouldn't get distracted by anything, especially the talking.

The smoke was really not something that should've been used in the duelling room, full of other people, but thankfully the room and the stage were ready for it, and somehow it was contained nicely to do its job fully and without eating others' eyes. Meenauh was watching the figures moving in the smoke.

It was interesting how a 1-on-1 duel was different from when there were four people on the stage. You could for sure say who cast what, you could distinguish voices, you knew there are only two casters and two targets. Overwatching such a duel was pure pleasure just for the fact how much easier it was compared to their official duels. She didn't even pull her wand out as a precaution, compared to how drawn it was usually. Using wandless was risky at the level of concentration she had to maintain to just make sure everyone's playing it fair. Or to make sure a random lightning wouldn't hit a paralysed body. In a muggle world, it all would sound terrifying — even just the last bits — but yep, here she had a probably 15-years-old casting at somewhat 12 or 13-years-old. With magic that could truly hurt. But they were wizards, blah-blah, lots of things could be healed. Probably, except egos of those two Slytherin boys in case of respective defeat.

Their actions were fast: Hanako cast a Slowing Charm in a split-second and Ming cast nothing, but his own body at a side. A wise choice, considering the circumstances of the smoke. The cast was competent and steady, as if the smoke was just a joke to Hanako. And it didn't seem like it was going to fade away for now.

I N F O R M A T I O N

• You have all the time in your life to post and send me your actions.
• I will moderate once I see both posts in and receive both actions.
• Don't get carried away and remember that as this is a regular RP, the WC is 200.
• When you send the spell, I will believe you that you have it in your trunk and won't check it

Reducio

@Hanako Tone, @Fang Hui-Ming

It was vindicating, to see the older boy trying to do variants of the same thing over and over and over and over.

It was almost like the by had one trick and could not think outside of the box. It made him predictable. It made him easy to see. It made him weak. Just as Hui-Ming avoided the spell sent in his direction, he would have smirked at the hilarity of it, if such a display was not the height of impropriety.

Instead, he closed his eyes, trying to focus on any auditory clues he might get to the location of his opponent.

If one of the senses is compromised, reliance on the others must be increased to have anywhere near the same output. And Hui-Ming would push past his limits Something as simple as some smoke and fog would not be enough to hamper him. Not for long. Not at all.

His hand twitched, but he stamped down hard on the instinct. Blindly sending spells into the unknown would no help him; his strikes needed to be precise. Deliberate. And match-ending.

Come on then, little snake hiding in the grass-- THERE

Sensing his moment, the second year cast a Rictumsepra. And it sounded liked he probably connected.

Good. Just like that. One step at a time.