2023/24, Stage 2 Ravenclaw vs. Hufflepuff: Match 7

banner by the amazing lucia fox

Despite the last stage's win, Alyssea was nervous. And it wasn't just a rapidly beating heart that could be cured with some deep breaths. Her wand might as well fall out now with how sweaty her palms were. She passed her aspen wand to her left hand as she wiped her right on her robe.

While she still had Axyen, EmmaLee moved up to a higher team. Good for her, but sad for Alyssea. She quite liked the trio they made. Now they had Clark. Alyssea's feelings for him were... mixed, to say the least. Hopefully he was a good duellist or she'll throw another book at his face back at the common room.

On the other side of the piste, Alyssea recognized two of the Ravenclaw duellists. She sighed, but didn't forget a smile as she did a two-finger salute to Zach and Beatrice. "It's always got to be me against you, isn't it, Zach?" Alyssea chuckled.

action: as strategized.
sta 6 | eva 7 | str 6 | wis 8 | arc 6 | acc 8
abilities: prodigal transfiguration learner | evasive maneuvers

mentions: @Axyen Dragonclaw, @Clark Baird, @Zach Zaphiere, @Beatrice Langstreth
OOC Note: is she wearing her heels? Find out in the next post.

Thanks to Lucia Fox!

Axyen was... not ready for this duel. But he didn't exactly feel ready for the last duel either, so basically nothing changed since his last entrance. Axyen reminded himself to try his best over and over, he even remembered to avoid contact with the crowd at all times, it would be distracting and he would feel nervous and then his spell-casting would be off. Axyen tried to make a determined face with only partial success. He looked both nervous and determined, for this match he wore a long-sleeved grey shirt with three yellow stripes near the top. Of course, a Hufflepuff badge was attached to the shirt as if it wasn't already clear enough what house he was in. He wore black pants which worked just fine last time.

Axyen was zoned out, he had to think of something, and quick. Suddenly he was snapped back into reality by the mention of his last name, he stepped onto the stage, nervousness already overwhelmed him. Axyen suddenly heard the moderator for this match mention the word dragon and Axyen could already feel himself getting increasingly nervous. 'Please no....' Axyen thought to himself, of course he had nothing to verbally say. All he had right now were thoughts, how does he plan to pull this off?

Axyen at least had one familiar person on his team, Alyssea. His other teammate was someone he never met before, but hopefully they could win this duel. Axyen although nervous and didn't feel ready, took out his wand as soon as the moderator cast some spell that Axyen has never heard of, but it unleashed something into the air which was Axyen's way of knowing that the duel has officially begun. Axyen couldn't mess this up, he simply just could not. Axyen wouldn't let there be any mistakes if he could help it, he needed to try his best. This time he won't hit himself with his own spell(that was at least the idea anyways) and he even gotten better at spell-casting since his last duel, so he felt only slightly more confident than last time.

Information

• Action: Doing as planned.
• Abilities:Prodigal Defense Against the Dark Arts Learner | Beast Master
• Stats: Inside signature.
• Wand:
  • Cherry Wood
  • Phoenix feather

Sure, Clark was just about ready to prove his remarkable worth. Let's see if he thrived longer in this than he did in Quidditch. He approached Alyssea, his girlfriend who would one day give him Muglins, and a kiddo he did not really know much about except that he was in Hufflepuff. He needed to show some sort of respect for his partners but gosh he better not die. He needed to prove he was the best in Alyssea's eyes so he could finally take her on a second date.

Action: As strategized
Abilities/Race: Part Goblin Y1, Prodigal DADA
Stats: Sta 7 | Eva 10 | Str 0 | Wis 7 | Arc 6 | Acc 8
Wand: [not wandmaker] Walnut Wood | Phoenix Feather

This cool banner was made by Pericles Dralt

Zach entered the room fully prepared. The cold breeze from outside hindered his nervousness, causing his hands to feel cold. Inside the room, he looked at Beatrice, his senior and duel teammate, and gave her a smile. It was an encouraging smile, although others might perceive it as awkward. He also did the same to his bunk bed buddy, who was now his teammate as well.

He walked up to the piste and heard a voice from the other side. It was Alyssea. "Well..." But Zach couldn't continue his words and instead gave her an awkward smile. This time, it was truly awkward, accompanied by him rubbing the back of his head. He hadn't expected to go against Alyssea, one of his friends. He didn't know how to behave or what he should do in this situation. Once again, it felt awkward.

He looked at his teammates once more, giving them an encouraging look, a sign that he was now ready. I can do it. We can win this match.

Action: as strategized
Trunk
Mention: @Beatrice Langstreth; @Cassian Clarke; @Alyssea Brown

For once, Bea wasn't nervous about duelling. She'd practiced a lot since the last one, and come into this Stage stronger than ever. Coming into this match with a nice winning streak didn't hurt either. She was the oldest student, and knew what she was doing. It helped somewhat that she was with Zach once more. It seemed the fates would always pair them together.

Standing from the chair she was sitting on, she glanced at her teammates as they were called to the piste, nodding to them both. Coming up onto the piste, she eyed the stage. She didn't make a quip back to Pierre or the Badger team. Maybe later after things had fallen into place.

Things rushed through her mind as Pierre relayed the usual spiel. A new Gryffindor captain would be moderating them. Clark, she remembered was a new Hufflepuff duellist. She had a new Ravenclaw duellist on her team. All new. Except her. She couldn't be rattled this time. Everything would fall into place and be fine. She would say she survived.

Round 1

Oh the boy's eyes gleamed as the spells launched this way and that in the first bravado of the best that the opposing houses had to offer to each other. First rounds were often very decisive, they commanded the incoming ebb and flow of the battle to come... and this event of back and forth slinging was certainly not exempt to that rule of thumb.

As Figaro yawned, A full body-bind curse sailed for the eldest student on the two teams but most regrettably did not seem to find its proper mark. Instead, a barrage of wizarding crackers, complements of the cracker jinx itself, peppered the Puff stage. They didn't seem to be aimed too well, however, and they were easily sidestepped by the girl and the boy who had provoked the spell's return. Only the short kiddo, the one that Piérre knew as 'Clark' and the son of the Astronomy professor Octavius (who while Piérre had never really engaged with found to be decent enough with a star chart and astrological knowledge), seemed to be unlucky enough to be staggered by the bangs and whizzes that caused even Figaro's ears to swivel and green eyes to widen in flashback to another event with such a spell being a central focus. "Oh perfect! You've done my job for me! Who doesn't love firecrackers, eh folks?! And what a beautiful splash of color it is too... and very very potent on a field against three people! I'd expect nothing less from the house of Logic and Strategy!"

This wonderful distraction managed to be just long enough for the Zaphire boy to create a beauty of a wind jinx, a storm that would ruffle the hairs of even those in the crowd. "Hold onto your hats and toupees, everyone! This is going to be a big one..!"

And indeed it was, as it locked itself onto the Dragonclaw boy and ensorcelled him in hurricane-like winds that battered and beat about the ears, tugging on his sweater and blowing whatever loose objects on him into disarray so as to make him easier to strike! At the same moment an offshoot spiraled for the girl Brown and managed to cocoon her in the same windblown embrace just as her own feathery tickling spell whistled just past Zaphire himself. "And we are Gone. With. The. Wind! That's a Ventus jinx cast right! Write that down, underclassmen! This exact moment is going to be depicted in your textbooks!"

Meanwhile, it would seem that Cassian had... well... decidedly become shellshocked by the sudden violence. Well, it wasn't like Piérre could blame him. He'd been in this situation a few times before, just overwhelmed by the sheer everything going on. "Uh-oh! Looks like we've got shellshock on the field!" He ramped up the dramaticisms. "The notorious thousand-meter stare strikes again! Let's just hope he shakes out of it before it's too late to recover!"

No sooner had these words left the Britalian's lips that a very sharp sound of clicking and scuffling was heard from the Hufflepuff's side of the stage. Emerald greens beheld as the Clark boy started to... what in the world was that dance? A sort of slide and tap and scrape and clap with his feet and his hands, bouncy and yet contained. Not really a stepdance, but not hip-hop either. It took Piérre a moment to realize what was happening. "A Dancing Spell gone awry it seems! Keep going Clark! Hit that griddy!" Piérre shimmied in turn, dancing slightly along with the small boy as he about-face spun around himself with crossing and uncrossing legs. "After all, isn't life but a stage!? And you the performer! Haha!"

Well, it was likely that he was indeed doing something that was impressing Alyssea in... some way. Perhaps just not the way that he had intended or wanted to impress Alyssea...

"What a gunsmoke start! Let's keep the momentum going! Hufflepuff is looking rough, but they've been forged in fire. I doubt the tide'll stay this way for long if they can help it!"

Information

1. You have 96 hours from this post's timestamp to owl your moves to me (Piérre Marchonné) and to make your 50+ word post.
2. Do not hint at your move in your post, as this can give an advantage to the other team.
3. Remember to send your move and make your post before the deadline. If either of these are not completed in time, your move will be void.
4. I will try to moderate early if all actions and posts are in before the deadline. If you do not wish for me to do this, please owl me.
5. Your stats, abilities, and spells are considered locked for this duel. If any are added to your trunk since 25th January, they may not be used.
6. If you have any questions or feedback regarding this match, please feel free to owl or DM me.
7. Handy links: Duelling Rules, Duelling Spells, and the most recent patch.
8. Good luck and happy duelling!

The spectator thread for this duel can be found here.
Come cheer for your House and friends!

banner by the amazing lucia fox

From the few months of experience Alyssea had, she could conclude that duels happen very quickly. You took one second to blink and everything changed. It was definitely time to find a different opening because her spell missed. Axyen had the same luck.

The blasting spell that came Axyen's way was a killer. Axyen and Alyssea managed to avoid it but Clark was worse off. It was only when Piérre commented on the spell did Alyssea know what she was up against. This was the Cracker Jinx Cyrus and Slava were talking about back at summer camp. She could definitely see why Slava liked it for pranks now; Alyssea, herself, was not a big fan of its outcome. If she ever saw him at summer camp later this year, she'd definitely tell him.

But in the midst of avoiding the radius damage from the Cracker Jinx, Alyssea found her herself thrown off her feet. There was a sharp pain in her left ankle as it twisted in an awkward way but she bit her tongue. She was feeling a lot of emotions right now and pain was definitely one of them.

She turned to assess her teammates. Axyen fared the same as her, but Clark? Clark was dancing. Alyssea heaved a deep breath and yelled, "CLARK BAIRD! GET A GRIP, WILL YOU?"

action: as strategized.
sta 6 | eva 7 | str 6 | wis 8 | arc 6 | acc 8
abilities: prodigal transfiguration learner | evasive maneuvers

mentions: @Axyen Dragonclaw, @Clark Baird, Slava Preobrazhensky @Ruby Cazares

Thanks to Lucia Fox!

Axyen prepared himself, he focused on spell-casting since that is what messed him up last time, but apparently he needed to work on his aim instead. Axyen raised his wand and did the wand movement for the body-bind spell. "Petrificus Totalus!" Axyen would say, as the spell shot out from the tip of his wand, but unfortunately for Axyen, it missed his intended target, which wasn't good at all. Axyen needed to focus more, suddenly a spell came his way. Axyen managed to get out of the way and dodge the spell, so was Alyssea, but his other teammate wasn't so lucky and happened to still be hit. This was a terrible start, surely it couldn't get any worse than this, but it did. Axyen didn't quite expect another spell to be aimed at him, as he turned back he tried to dodge and miserably failed as a gust of wind hit him. So far things weren't looking good, Axyen's leg seemed most of the damage, and Axyen resisted every urge to cry out in pain. He wasn't the only one hit, Alyssea was also hit as well.

Luckily, one of the members on the other team.... did absolutely nothing? Well, who knows, dueling could be intense and Axyen could speak with experience and with how things are going right now, it might get really scary. His other teammate, Clark, has his spell backfire, and now he was doing some kind of dance...? Alyssea suddenly yelled at Clark, which Axyen did not expect so it did startle him a bit. 'I think there are more serious problems than dancing!' Axyen thought to himself, he needed to know what his next move would be so that he and his team could win this. 'What do I do next?!' Axyen asked himself(through thoughts), there had to be a way to win this.

Axyen thought for a moment, even if he lost this... he at least wanted to say he gave it his all. It was time to get serious(even though he was serious to begin with.)

Information

• Action: Doing as planned.
• Abilities:Prodigal Defense Against the Dark Arts Learner | Beast Master
• Stats: Inside signature.
• Wand:
  • Cherry Wood
  • Phoenix feather

The boy cast his spell, the damned dancing feet charm. Of course, knowing his bloody luck with casting spells, it backfired and essentially made him dance. He felt his legs alternate slightly as they bounded off the ground softly, his arms doing the same as his legs, alternating sides whether one arm went up to his face and the other fell to his side and it kept alternating.

To make matters worse, he was struck with the cracker jinx by the former prefect. Lovely, he knew who hated him now.

Action: As strategized
Abilities/Race: Part Goblin Y1, Prodigal DADA
Stats: Sta 7 | Eva 10 | Str 0 | Wis 7 | Arc 6 | Acc 8
Wand: [not wandmaker] Walnut Wood | Phoenix Feather