Combat Training 2026 Official Thread

| Outfit: ❀·❀·❀| Date: 04. August 2026 | Word Count: 207 | Interacting With: @Gemini Johnson |

Lorelei’s head whipped around quickly as she felt someone’s hand tap her shoulder. She dropped the ankle she’d been holding to stretch her quad, wincing slightly as the leg stretched out fully down to the ground. Wow, she’d definitely spent way too much time on that thigh. Jesus, Lorie, the fencing practice wasn’t THAT interesting.

She shifted her weight slightly, trying to pretend she hadn’t just been caught in such an awkward position. Her face felt a little warm as she quickly straightened herself up.

Trying to disguise the wince as best she could, Lorelei focused her attention on the familiar-looking boy speaking to her. “Hi, Lorelei, right? We haven't really had much time to chat, in the cabin.”

“Oh, hey! Gemini?” The last word had a slight upwards intonation, as though she wasn’t fully sure she’d gotten the boy’s name correctly. She cleared her throat a little awkwardly and tried again, “Um, sorry, didn’t hear you walking over. I was watching the fencing.” She tipped her head towards the piste, which was currently occupied by several students practicing with their foils.

“Are you here for the fencing or the target practice? Or, I guess, something else? I’m not even really here for either of them.” She gave a small shrug, glancing back towards the piste before looking at him again.

| Department of International Magical Co-operation | The Co-op Cabin |

OOC Note: I'm so sorry it took me so long to respond!!!

Madeline listened as best she could as the older girl explained the rules. “The rules are quite simple, really. No touching, no potions used, no illegal spells, no spells out of the rulebook and no intentional friendly fire. Oh, and also it is common courtesy to pay attention to the moderator, respect those around you, and stop casting when a duellist, ally or opponent, has fallen unconscious until they are taken off the piste. But really, the last point isn’t exactly applicable.” This seemed simple enough. Madeline held her wand and waited for Eugenia to tell here where she should stand so they could have a practice duel - but then she was a little disappointed (but only a little). “… I must inform you that we can’t duel each other here. We will act as a team against the dummies. Duels between students aren’t really allowed here. Basically, let’s just say our other teammate has fallen and we are against these three opponents I’m pointing to. It is an unfair arrangement, but it happens in duels quite often. Are you fine with doing it that way?”
While Madeline was indeed a little disappointed she would not be able to duel an actual student, she was still excited to have an actual duelist help her with practice - and she had never practiced against moving dummies before. “I can start. I will take a shot at the first one there,” she said pointing at the middle of the three (figuring if she missed that one she might hit one of the other two).

Madeline took a step back, squared her stance, took her wand confidently in her right hand. Then, she took a small step with her right foot as she made the wand movement she learned and loudly (maybe a bit too loudly) called out the incantation, “Incendio!”

Madeline watched as a jet of flame burst from her wand hurtling toward her moving target. She focused on the target willing it to hit true - she had never practiced on a moving target before and was nervous that she had not taken the motion of the dummy into account enough, or that she was just going to hit the wrong target. No matter what, she was excited to be doing this with Eugenia.

@Eugenia Smyrnidi
WC 245

〚 •• ✎ •• 〛

| Location: Campgrounds at Summer Camp | Date: 04/08/26 | Word count: 537 |
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After a few minutes crossing the Hogwarts grounds, where that year’s summer camp facilities had been set up, Frederick finally came to a stop at the entrance to a large training field, accompanied by Evander Beauchamp, his faithful sidekick. He stopped with his feet apart, placed both hands on his hips, and looked ahead, his smile growing wider as he took in every detail. Beside him, Evan seemed to be complaining about something, but to Frederick it was as though his voice existed on another plane, nothing more than background noise. His mind was focused on one thing alone: the running track stretching invitingly before him.

“Did I leave something out?” Frederick asked, dropping his pose and turning his upper body slightly toward Beauchamp, finally tuning into his friend’s repeated complaints. A mischievous smile spread across his face, clearly giving away his guilt. “Come on!” The boy gave his friend a light punch on the arm. “Exercise is fun.” Fred concluded without losing his smile, but he didn’t need to elaborate on his arguments. He knew his friend’s preferences, Evan wasn’t exactly a big fan of sports, but Frederick had still managed to drag him along to combat training.

They resumed their walk, taking slow steps toward the center of the track. Frederick had already made up his mind: he would run a few laps to warm up his body before getting involved in any other activities. Evander, on the other hand, seemed unable to decide what to do first, rambling on about target shooting and fencing. “Stop being such a nerd. Vector calculations, strategy, blah, blah…” Fred began repeating some of Evan’s words, teasing him, but before he could finish getting on his friend’s nerves, Evan jabbed him in the side with his elbow, making him jump to the side and interrupting his speech with a complaint. “Ow! I’ll penetrate your ear with a slap, that’s what!” He quickly raised his open hand, as though he really intended to do what he had just threatened, but soon lowered it again, letting out a short laugh.

Buckley resumed walking, intending to catch up with his friend, who had started walking towards the exercise ground, but he didn’t need to hurry. Beauchamp stopped to begin some warm-ups, and Fred didn’t hesitate to join him. While going through a series of stretches, mostly focusing on his lower body, he kept the conversation going, something that came easily and naturally between the two of them. “First, I’d laugh at you a lot. Then I’d carry you back to the castle, but hopefully I won’t have to do that.” He answered Evan’s last remark with his usual good humor, mixed with his loyal spirit.

After one final set of calf stretches, Frederick pointed once toward the targets and then toward the designated fencing area. “Tell me where I’ll find you in a few minutes or, if you prefer, eat my dust.” He said with another playful grin before breaking into a jog toward the running track, without taking his eyes off Evander. Buckley felt energized and ready to go. He was definitely prepared to run at least two laps at a good pace and would really enjoy a little friendly competition.

| Interacting with: @Evander Harvey Beauchamp |
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| Department: Department of Magical Games and Sports | Cabin name: The loudest cabin ever |

Alfie was excited that there was a planned activity, but confused about what it was. Combat training sounded like something from an adventure story, but he couldn’t help wondering about a kid’s camp that considered combat training an activity that they might need. It made him think about what Henry had said the first night at the camp. He talked as if dueling and drowning and setting people on fire were all regular activities at Hogwarts. Then there were the exercises Strike did every day, which made it seem like his parents were running a bootcamp. All those things taken together made Alfie apprehensive about exactly how much danger Hogwarts actually anticipated their students facing.

Once he got to the meeting place his anxiety subsided. Most of this just looked like normal physical fitness activities. Easy, but not especially interesting to him. He could certainly run around the field a few times, but no one was going to be impressed and that made him value the activity less.

The first aid tent seemed to be a likelier place to show off. Alfie’s mother was a health care worker so she had prioritised his knowledge of basic first aid. Alfie prioritised his mother’s approval so he had gotten what he thought was an excessive amount of training in first aid. He thought he could excel at that station, but even the prospect of impressing someone could not make that activity sound enjoyable.

The last two activities sounded fascinating, but he knew nothing about them and was likely to look a bit foolish until he managed to pick up skill. Alfie hated looking foolish. He preferred learning things when no one was watching until he had at least the basics mastered. This made learning things pretty difficult though, so sometimes it wasn’t practical.

He thought he might like to watch the target practice so he could at least see what kinds of things the older kids could do with a wand. But he certainly wasn’t going to ask to learn his first magic spell in front of all these people.

Eventually he decided that fencing was the way to go. From eavesdropping he managed to get the sense that it was an entirely non-magical activity and also that most people present had never done it before. Trying it out as a novice would be relatively low risk. If it turned out he was terrible at it he could always go back to running.


411 WC

Department: Department of Mysteries
Cabin name: Cabin of Mysterious Badarses

Date: August 4, 2026
Location: Campgrounds
Department: Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures
Group: Custodes Bestiarum (Keeper of the Beasts)
Word Count: 481
Mention: @Ophelia Vanderbilt + open to other interactions

Zephyr had just finished stretching one leg when a familiar voice caused him to look up. “Oh, hey yourself.” He smiled in greeting as he straightened his posture and rolled his shoulders once again. “I’m not going to miss this.” This was one of the activities on the camp schedule he’s looking forward to joining. He expected combat training to involve far more wand waving when he first read the line up, but finding running tracks, fencing and other physical exercises instead had been a pleasant surprise.

His attention went back to Ophelia as she began stretching beside him. She didn’t look uncertain about what she was doing either. “You’ve done this before, haven’t you?” Not necessarily this particular training, but exercise in general, he could tell that much. Now he was curious what she normally does outside of Hogwarts, most of the conversations at school tended to revolve around magic most of the times. He finished stretching and now he was checking the different sections again until he settled on the designated running track. “Fancy a run?” He motioned toward that direction. They didn’t even have to keep track of laps unless they wanted to.

Reaching down to adjust one of his shoes, he offered a suggestion. “We can just jog if you want…” his grin suggested another idea was already forming in his head. “Or we could race...” He’s not normally the sort to turn everything into a competition, but in running, it could be a good motivator. He spent years racing friends across the fields and anywhere else they could find with open ground. Even here in school, he had friendly races with his friends. He approached the track and looked ahead, he was judging the distance as he pointed his finger to the bend farther along. “…to there?”

No magic just means there wouldn’t be much point worrying about what spells either of them knew. There would be mo broom involve either. This will all be physical work, using their own legs and however much energy they’re willing to waste proving something that ultimately doesn’t matter. He moved into position, leaning forward and prepared himself. Glancing at Ophelia, his grin appeared again. “No cheating.” The distance was not enormous, but he learned from years of running around the farm to know that throwing all his energy into the first few seconds was a good way to regret it halfway.

Better to find his pace first and push harder once he knew how much distance was remaining. He planted one foot slightly behind the other. “Ready?” He waited until Ophelia was in position beside him. “Three…Two…” deliberately pausing for effect… “One…go!” He took off down the designated track. He concentrated on finding his rhythm with his breathing controlled. Whatever happened, jogging only lasted for thirty seconds before he turned it into a race. So much for conserving his energy.

Abilities: Calming Presence | The Muggle Condition
Stats: Sta: 7 | Eva: 8 | Str: 7 | Wis: 5 | Arc: 8 | Accu: 5
Action: Jogging/Running, challenging Ophelia to a friendly race