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

Cassian was thrilled. His first ever duel at Hogwarts! He’d been waiting almost two years for this opportunity, but he was trying to downplay his excitement. Not only had he been assigned his first duel, but his team partners were Bea and Zach! Zach had been Cassian’s best friend since day one when they had met in their Ravenclaw dormitory. As for Bea, she was an older student who Cassian really looked up to and admired. She was brilliant and a great duelist, not to mention one of the Ravenclaw dueling captains. Overall, Cassian was feeling amazing. He felt comforted by Zach’s reassuring smile and Bea’s presence. They had both taught him so much and he wanted to show them he wasn’t just the newbie; a weak link.
The teams prepared themselves and the moderator, a fifth year Gryffindor named Marchonne, announced the beginning of the duel. Cassian took a deep breath, prepared himself . . .
And was suddenly taken aback by the . . . firecrackers? He hadn't expected that of all things. The dazzling lights had taken him off guard as they whizzed toward the Hufflepuff team, sounds of explosions and smoke filled the air. No sooner had Cassian realized that Bea was the one to cast the Cracker Jinx when Zach launched his own attack in the form of a Ventus. The wind flew across the piste once again smashing into the opposing team.
Suddenly, Cassian realized he had been too stunned to do anything! He had just stood there in shock and awe of how well his teammates had been doing. Amazing really, watching a duel from this close. But Cassian had to remind himself: he wasn’t here to watch the duel; he was part of it! And standing here with an open mouth and wide eyes wouldn’t do anything for his team.
Cassian went to apologize to his teammates but all that came out of his mouth was, “uhhhhhh” and “ehhhhh,” but he hoped his facial expression showed his own disappointment in himself.
Reinvigorated by Bea and Zach’s first attacks, inspiration struck Cassian and he knew how to proceed. Readying his wand once again, Cassian was determined to not fail his fellow Eagles.

Action: as strategized
Abilities: Prodigal DADA Learner
Stats: Stamina: 6 | Evasion: 8 | Strength: 3 | Wisdom: 4 | Arcane Power: 10 | Accuracy: 9

@Beatrice Langstreth,@Zach Zaphiere & @Pierre Marchonne

This cool banner was made by Pericles Dralt

Zach's eyes widened once he saw Bea cast the Cracker Jinx towards the Badgers. As the spell exploded, Zach also exploded with excitement when seeing it. It was his first time to see such a cool spell. Not long after that, he heard the spells coming from the recent Badger hot couple. "WAAAAA" Zach evaded the attack with a scream. Luckily, he could evade the spell from the lass. And from the lad? The spell backfired on him. His heart beat faster. Backfired spell was a nightmare for any wizard.

Zach cleared his throat and cast another jinx. "Ventus!" It was a perfectly cast Wind Jinx. He finally could cast one! The wind was also split. He was completely not expecting that but he was indeed pleased. Then he looked at Cassian. Oh no... But it was understandable. The tense of the duelling piste and the stuff that was happening there, no one can resist it.

Action: as strategized
Trunk

Bea watched as her spell flickered through the air. It looked to hit but BAM. Nothing! Not a single spark would land upon it's intended target. Fortunately for her, the sparks would spill overr, rainung down upon Axyens allies. Alyssea would miss (it was the shoes for sure) but thankfully the evasive little troublemaker known as Clark Baird would be hit. Haha! Success!! It seemed she was off to a much better start this stage than in November!

Round 2

Reset. Recalibrate. This was what the more vulnerable team had to do when placed into a situation such as this. Contain, compartmentalize, and control. Manipulation of the powerful parties was the most important thing to do, identifying the targets that would be most beneficial to put out of commission.

Axyen was first to deliver, hurling a well-aimed Bodybind Curse towards the Ravenclaw that had cursed them with the powerfully driving winds. While Alyssea managed to take the edge off of his injuries created by magical debris--"Looks like a few of these Badgers have been reading ahead in class!"--she was promptly struck by a flipendo from Cassian, who had thankfully recovered his wits and was now able to act in tandem with the rest of the Ravenclaw team. The bodybind curse flew true, and hit Zach just as he had executed a Flipendo jinx, causing the spell to fly waywardly from his initial target of Alyssea towards the now Irish stepdancing Clark, who danced a merry jig out of the way with such fluidity he probably should start considering joining a Hogwarts dance team or something.

Zach would hit the ground frozen stiff just as a building of fiery magic in the wand of Beatrice suddenly popped and then promptly fizzled out with only a small burst of warm air proving that a powerful Incendio Duo spell had been attempted but then failed due to the zealous nature of the splitting cast. It had still been an impressive attempt; it was a shame to see it fail. Piérre would have really liked to have seen a splitting spell from such a young student despite having his rear handed to him the previous stage by the same feat of magic performed by a seventh year.

"Forget about European Badgers, these Hufflepuffs have the teeth of American badgers!" Green eyes glimmered. "That's an impressive bodybind curse. I don't think Zach'll be standing up anytime soon without some serious assistance! And that Flipendo! I wouldn't want to be hit with that anytime soon!"

Figaro stretched languidly on the boy's shoulders with a creaking meow. "Who do you think is gonna win, Figgy?!" Piérre presented his yew wand to the cat as if it were a microphone, only to have the little bengal purr loudly into it and rub his nose and face on the tip to scratch his whiskers.

Piérre put the wand back to his 'lips', continuing the microphone gag. "I couldn't agree more! Let's see more spellmanship of only the highest and greatest degree!"

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!

Cassian saw his opportunity and took it. The Hufflepuff girl, Cassian couldn’t remember her name in the heat of the duel, began healing her teammate, the Dragon kid or something. He had time to notice the precision of the healing spell and was slightly surprised and quite impressed. Cassian knew her to be a second year, which meant that somebody had been studying ahead. Good for her, Cassian thought as he admired her skill. He almost felt bad; well if anything, he just felt bad he was attacking a girl he didn’t know, right? Cassian was almost certain it wasn't because she seemed so nice. Yeah, it was just that he didn't know her name, that's all. But his instincts took over as he noticed her distraction.
“Flipendo!” shouted Cassian followed by a loud bang. The spell hit the girl directly and Cassian winced. He promised himself to learn her name after the duel, and not just because she seemed like a nice person.
Turning to Zach to share in his success, Cassian noticed his fellow Ravenclaw petrified on the ground beside him. Nicely executed Full Body-Bind. Cassian had been meaning to learn that spell for a while now and it seemed like the Dragon Kid had also been studying ahead. Well, these Hufflepuffs were certainly some advanced students, and excellent duelists at that. Cassian would have to be more careful.
He heard the moderator say something about American badgers, which struck Cassian as funny. As far as he knew, he was the only American here, but he figured it was a joke although he was far too busy to properly understand it.
Sharing a concerned look with Bea, Cassian glanced down at his petrified friend, his eyes filled with worry.

Action: as strategized
Abilities: Prodigal DADA Learner
Stats: Stamina: 6 | Evasion: 8 | Strength: 3 | Wisdom: 4 | Arcane Power: 10 | Accuracy: 9

Mentioning:@Beatrice Langstreth,@ Zach Zaphiere, @Pierre Marchonne, @Alyssea Brown, & @Axyen Dragonclaw

banner by the amazing lucia fox

Passive stance. Passive stance. She always had to take one of those during matches. Alyssea waved her wand around and watched as the purple light washed over Axyen. He looked much better, and maybe it was the reason he managed to pull of that Full-Body Bind on Zach. Alyssea sighed. Things were getting slightly better.

Then another sudden shock hit her side as she stumbled. The sharp pain shot up from her leg again. Right, there was also that. If she kept biting her lip, she might start bleeding there, too.

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

Thanks to Lucia Fox!

Axyen had to try again, not everything was lost on his watch. He took out his wand and aimed it, doing the required wand movement. Axyen focused up, he remembered all of that practicing he did. He worked hard so that he didn't mess up with his spells as often and now was a good time to see if he improved. He remembered that time he studied and learned Petrificus Totalus, he was able to use it last time and hit someone... so he needed to hit someone else this time as well. "Petrificus Totalus!" Axyen said, as he managed to hit one of the Ravenclaws with the spell, stunning them for a bit. He felt better as his teammate Alyssea healed him with some spell he was yet to hear of, but he was glad as he no longer hurt as much.

His teammate Clark happened to still be dancing, but seemed to still be doing well as he didn't get this hit this turn. "Thank you." Axyen said to Alyssea in a quiet tone, whether she heard him or not was unknown since this was dueling. Now it was time to think of something else to win this battle. Axyen prepared himself, he really needed to focus if he wanted any chance of being useful to his teammates. Axyen reminded himself yet again to avoid any and all contact with the crowd if he could help it, it would distract him. Maybe reminding himself helped, either way there was no time to waste and his next action could make a big difference, even if it was pretty early in the match.

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 gulped, still dancing the night away it would seem, going from the horrendous griddy that seemed to be in trend with the children who were Gen Z and transitioning into the Irish Jig. This was really insufferable and those who thought dancing was a great idea can just go zap themselves with the teeth-growing hex. Purely evil folks they were.

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

It wasn't exactly what she was hoping for. Another failed spell spread. Was her skill really becoming that rusty? It was worse than a withered garden, and Bea was sure than her luck, in both the last duel and this one, was some kind of curse placed upon her. Would she have to scarifice her first born to split some spells in this duel? Only time would tell, but Beatrice hoped to any god, kings and imps listening that wouldn't be the case.

The bad luck would remain as Zach hit the ground, still as a statue. Damn full body bind. He was out. She hoped it wouldn't be too bad going forward, but it meant they were down a duellist. Glancing over, she could see Cassian glance her way himself and she tried to smile confidently. They still had an upper hand. They'd win for sure.

This cool banner was made by Pericles Dralt

That badger boy, not the one rumored to be Alyssea's boyfriend, cast a spell that Zach hadn't heard before. Petri what? But in a second, he stumbled and found that he couldn't use his extremities. His eyes widened completely, and he could only see the people in front of him.

It must be an upper year spell. Or perhaps he missed a class that taught students about it. He felt so helpless there. Oh God. Please let it be over quickly, he prayed.

Action: as strategized
Trunk