2024/25, Stage 2 Slytherin v Ravenclaw, Match 1

Credit to Prat Pass

Rarely did magic feel quite like this. By now she was well-versed in casting just about any spell she could use in a duel and could do so with relative ease under the pressures and demands of a fast-moving game. But rarely were her casts anything grand. This one was, powerful and fast. It was in this moment in the fog that she found an extra few seconds to focus, not pressed by any attacks and allowing herself to not worry too much about direction through this fog. Confringo was a decently wide-reaching spell, wasn't it? And the light from Aida’s own Confringo gave her a sense of where they were.

Astrea, meanwhile, had absolutely erupted the stage in crackers—that must be overwhelming to be on the receiving end of—and Ruby wisely chose to shield, not risking the rocking of a few more good hits. They were still in the fog, but their position was looking better.

Action: Doing as strategized

So far untargeted by their Ravenclaw opponents, yet puzzlingly and involuntarily subject to a disproportionate amount of tangential information, Astrea found herself strangely thankful for the fog’s separation of priorities. A serious, ever-vigilant duellist with little care for their spectators’ enjoyment, even the inconveniences of magic could be worked to their advantage.

Ravenclaw, surprisingly, did not seem to agree. Though Slytherin’s periphery remained densely obscured, the faintly lifting gloam in front of them pointed toward an uncharacteristic bout of strategic regret from the fog-friendly trio. If not for the tell-tale, wince-worthy blasts of radial destruction and lack of retaliatory spellwork, the unbothered peals of laughter and otherwise high morale of Ravenclaw could have fooled a less experienced duellist into overestimating their vitality. Was this their greater strategy, to chip away at Slytherin’s coherence by removing their visibility and taunting them so jovially? Or had the Viper’s preemptive counterattack rendered their typical visual shields redundant? Knowing the exploratory nature of Astrea’s dear cat, Orpheus, the albino wix was likely to meet the two near the Great Lake at some point or another. Despite the Egyptian Mau’s frequent and often standoffish skittishness, it seemed that her singular companion had a greater social life than his master. The mere thought of further interaction, as unsurprising as it likely was, chafed at Astrea’s current state of stalwart vigilance.

Sharp-eyed and unconvinced of their opponents’ uninvited good will, she wiped a singed sleeve over her face, brushing away the stinging aftereffects of her own cracker jinx. Any harm she did upon herself now was simply collateral, inconsequential compared to the grand devastation of a backfired spell. The duel had just begun and already, privately spurning any stagnation, the need to defend their seized advantages hung high upon Slytherin’s priorities.

Action: Doing as strategised.

Round 3

Just as he had been wondering what had happened to his almost near-infamous nature of seeming to carry with his duels the most unexpected and unfortunate turns of luck that had likely ever been beheld by Hogwarts history, sure enough it suddenly reared its very large and flamboyant face.

Cassius had conjured an impressive barrage of crackers, but somehow they got away from him--perhaps as Astrea's own crackers smattered the stage once more and the sparks got into the eyes of everyone on stage once more--and spindled into the fog where Aida was. Almost at the same moment from that same little cloud, a thunderous explosion rang out, causing Piérre to jump with the intensity of it. "Well, we're certainly enjoying for ourselves a little healthy helping of flashes and bangs! I didn't... ah, see a spell come from Slytherin that would have resulted in that big bang, though...?" He tipped his head in curiosity before his own question was answered. Nebulus faded away from Ravenclaw's team entirely to leave an unconscious Aida behind, victim of what he figured now was most likely a self-backfire.

Damion's spell flew into Ruby's fog, finding joy even as Ruby herself tried to mend the lingering wounds in preparation of the barrage that would have been Aida's and Cassius' combined spells. Bridget herself threw a wobbling and highly unstable Confringo that seemed seconds away from exploding en route towards Cassius, who evaded at the cost of bits of wood splinter digging themselves viciously into his shins, calves, and a shoulder. "Disaster strikes, and the betting games for colossal failures is on! Okay, but hold on hold on, first! Stop for just a second here!" He waved his hands, jumping onto the stage and rushing to Aida to retrieve the duelist from the smoking crater that had been left behind by the energetic phoenix feather wand. "Sublevo brevis!" He requested of his own implement, quickly levitating the albino's body and then guiding it towards the waiting medical persons.

Piérre's lips were thin as he did so, not so thrilled with the prospect of trusting Aida to the hands of anyone other than maybe the medical interns. But he couldn't do anything about it at the moment. A visit post this little duel was certainly in order, though.

Taking up position on the ground at the dividing area between the two teams again, Piérre waved a hand. "Ready? You may continue!"

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 25 January 2025, 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!

Credit to Prat Pass

In the wake of a very successful cast, Bridget nearly ended up with her own explosion in her face. Confringo was a harder spell, and perhaps she was pushing the bounds of her concentration to string casts of it together, but this moment was also what she'd trained for. As the magic built in an uneven, buckling way, she gritted her teeth and smoothed it into something passable. Something that at least made it to the other side of the stage.

The fog made precise interpretation of the next few moments difficult, but it certainly sounded like chaos all around her, cries of loud spells that didn't seem to bridge the space between the teams. And then Pierre was calling for a halt, so one way or another it had been done: Aida was down, and in their absence, Slytherin had numbers.

Action: Doing as strategized

In but three rounds, in a feat of true skill and incredible luck considering the all-encompassing smoke obscuring their vision, Slytherin had captured their first fallen duellist. Perhaps extraordinarily rapid for underclassmen experiences, but certainly far from the slim margin of complete domination that often accompanied large year gaps in wizarding sports. Considering the complete lack of bubbly internal commentary upon the piste, it was quite easy to estimate Ravenclaw’s keenly felt loss. At the very least, Astrea would once more enjoy as much peace one could achieve considering the explosions and repeated cracker jinxes. Two pillars of peripheral combat, that combination was, and it had certainly served them well.

As on-hand medical staff presumedly removed one duellist from the piste, the environmental effects of Ravenclaw’s strategy had yet to fade. Swirling closely towards the noble heir, the conjured clouds of Nebulus had just begun to lift as time dragged on, not quite free from magical will and yet ever-inclined to disperse as easily as any weather phenomenon. Soon, they’d be on clearer terms once more. Soon, Astrea reasoned with herself, Slytherin would be able to properly meet Ravenclaw’s aggressions with equally visible force.

Action: Doing as strategised.

Middle of 2024-2025 Year

Interactions: @Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood @Damion White Mentions: n/a

What was already an unbalanced matchup became even more of one with the loss of a teammate. Aida had fallen in the recent exchange of spells between the teams and though Cassius had wished to at least glance and ensure she was okay, the myriad of sight impairing effects in play made such an attempt difficult. All he could do was hope her injuries were not too severe as the duel continued on.

Action:
As strategized.

She wasn’t entirely sure what was happening given the fog, but as with the rest of the duel, a series of bangs rang out. This time, the duel was finally paused as one of the Ravenclaws went down. They were doing decently, it seemed, but it wasn’t over yet. Still, knocking out an opponent was a major win and it put Slytherin in a good place for the rest of the duel.

Doing as strategized

Round 4

Ravenclaw appeared to be temporarily stunned by the loss of Aida, as neither Damion nor Cassius managed to conjure a spell in a reasonable amount of time before the next spells would have to be slung. Piérre raised an eyebrow but said nothing of particular sass--he knew the feeling intimately, after all, and he was willing to sympathize with the shell-shock that came with losing a teammate far too early.

Slytherin, on the other hand, decided to try to patch Ruby up, with Ruby and Bridget seeming to consider which healing spell was better before settling on a Reparifors each. As Ruby found herself healing, Astrea summoned an easy breeze of wind in an attempt to tear up Ravenclaw's ranks further.

Something, however, went wrong, and instead of the wind being sent off on a virgin voyage for the wings of the birds, it formed a gyro and spun for Ruby, rustling a few hairs on her head before it slammed into the far wall of the dueling club. "Proof that even the finest among us can sometimes terribly muff their aim!" Piérre only smiled. "That makes... three now, I think. Let's see if we can continue to up the ante! Was that 15g that I heard for a bet of 5 total incidents?!" He spun towards crowd for a second, grinning towards the squabble before returning his attentions to the game at hand.

"Both teams have had a moment of breathing room, but the fog has finally lifted!" Lo, he was indeed correct--the fog was raising. Everyone could now see everyone else. Green eyes gleamed. "Let's see how Ravenclaw does with one man down and Slytherin unimpaired!"

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 25 January 2025, 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!