Between Zero and Infinity closed

Seven days.

That was the exact amount of time Cynthia had left to prepare. She still had not yet mastered the Smokescreen Spell, but she thought that her current spells would be enough. She would probably be proven wrong. Losing seemed like it was already written in stone; there was no way out of this. Cynthia still remembered the day she signed up and mentally scolded herself for doing so. Was it her thing? Or was it just pressure by her family? Indeed, on her father’s side, there had been six consecutive generations of duellists and she felt burdened to compete in the same sport.

Cynthia patted Brownie, still wedged in her pocket and strode into the duelling club area. The first person who caught her eye was a fellow Ravenclaw and duellist. Aida, was it not? Cynthia had seen her compete fiercely. She stood out in the crowd definitely, as an albino. Her hair was the purest of whites, and her skin just as pale. If Cynthia remembered correctly, there were only three albino students at school, and whenever she saw one of them, she could not help but be claimed by their beauty.

Yet, that was not what distracted Cynthia. No, it was her fluency with her wand; as if she was dancing instead of duelling almost. Cynthia watched in silence as Aida flipped her wand like a baton and spun on one foot, casting the Knockback jinx. Impressive. Thank god she wasn’t her opponent. Still, Cynthia reminded herself that her opponents, whoever they were (and hopefully not a certain other albino student she knew), would be just as skilled. From what she watched, they were all extremely talented, causing self-doubt to creep up Cynthia’s viens.

Don’t underestimate yourself.

That was something Cynthia’s mother would always tell her. Yet, was she underestimating herself, or simply being truthful about her skill?

Cynthia casted those unfortunate thoughts out of her mind. Suddenly, she heard squealing. She looked down to find Brownie on the floor. How did he drop out of her pocket? He was there a moment ago! Was she that distracted by Aida? If she was, she could not think what would happen if she was paired against a part-veela. They were so extremely distracting in an annoying way. Well, no matter. She scooped him up with one hand and placed him back into her pocket. ‘Don’t try to get out of the pocket again.’ She muttered solemnly to Brownie, even though he could not have possibly understood.

With as much confidence as Cynthia could muster, she strode over to Aida and commented, ‘Your skills are splendid,’ with a slight smile. What she said in her heart was, your skills put mine to dust (which was totally true).

@ Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood

Note: I apologise if I should use they/them pronouns instead!

For the day, Ashley's free time was fairly uninteresting. He delighted in visiting the sparring club to observe the folks utilize their wands against one another. He managed to maintain his calculative attitude until each unofficial match ended. He knew he had a good chance of correctly picking the winner, but he also believed he could do better. He set himself above everyone else, and he was definitely pompous and full of confidence.

When he arrived inside the Dueling club, he noticed two of his fellow Ravenclaw Housemates who appeared to be engaged in some sort of activity. He wanted to inquire what they were doing since he was inquisitive, but he remained focusing on the surroundings.
He ultimately made the choice to approach both of the strangers to strike up some sort of conversation.

"Greetings. " He spoke as he fixed a sharp gaze on them.

"First-year student Ashley Dinero Montez here. I was captivated by you both, so I considered joining you both. I really hope you're enjoying yourself." Ashley was kind of itching to draw his own lover, but he decided to resisted the urge.
He becomes more and more enamored with his wand every day, and if somebody were to attempt to use it against him, it might either fiercely reject them or not do them any deadly harm because of how closely linked it is to Ashley.

Ashley stared at the first girl, who seemed to have a personality that is "Out of this world," as others have put it, but to him, it was very normal. He then looked at the second girl, who appeared to be encouraging the first girl.

@Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood||@ Cynthia Beaufort

A sudden squealing turned Aida’s head: a rat had dropped to the floor, and luckily Cynthia noticed and scooped him up quite quickly. A shadow forewarned of a perfectly silent shape swooping down from above: the desert tawny owl from the room’s distant corner. Extending sand-colored wings to alight on Aida’s shoulder, the bird’s fire-tone eyes tracked the squeaks emanating from Cynthia’s pocket as the girl approached.

“Nooo, Zaza, don’t be rude. This one is attached to a human.” The ivory-haired wix ran the back of a finger down the side of the owl’s face, causing its eyes to blink slowly as if hypnotized. “Please, excuse us. My friend here, Scheherazade – she is a wildling and is used to hunting for herself. Sometimes she doesn’t see the difference between pets and free mice. Last time, she was called a nuisance and people started threatening to put her in a cage. No, no, wee yin (Scottish: “little one”), you know I’d never let them do that to you." Nodding at Cynthia, Aida's eyes glinted with unearthly tranquility. "What’s your friend’s name?” Oblivious to the faux pas of not asking Cynthia’s name in the process, Aida’s face lit up with the realization that they might become new friends and nodded in thanks to the other’s compliment.

A boy approached with greetings, then – a first-year Ravenclaw as well, introducing himself as Ashley Dinero Montez. Aida’s violet-blue eyes flicked over to him as a strange feeling welled in the beast master's gut. There was something unusual about him that made the wix feel nervous, but Aida’s animal instincts couldn’t quite place it.

“Nice to meet you, Ashley. I’m Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood. Mine is a frightfully long name, isn’t it? Just ‘Aida,’ please.” Pulling out as much eloquence as possible, Aida bowed in greeting to both Cynthia and Ashley. Nevermind the fact that Aida got more practice bowing to hippogriffs than humans; the gesture’s unusual style seemed to work decently enough with people as well... most of the time.

Wand: Chestnut, Phoenix Feather, 26,6 cm, Whippy; "Ancient, ideal for magizoology, has a will of its own, showy, prone to giving away tells"– details

Reducio

Open thread, interacting with @Cynthia Beaufort, @Ashley Dinero Montez

An owl. Common pets, yet practical and interesting. Cynthia had an owl, Avery, but since she could only bring one pet to Hogwarts, she chose Brownie over the snowy owl. Still, Avery still sent her letters sometimes, even though he was her personal owl. Occasionally, William or Mariam would use her instead if theirs were away. To be frank, Cynthia did miss Avery, because he was kind of her pet, not just a mail carrier. Still, she reasoned that she would miss Brownie even more if she had left him at home.

‘Scheherazade, terribly long name, but isn’t she the wife of the sultan in Arabian Nights?’ Cynthia had close to no knowledge of this book, but the narrator’s name was something she remembered. She tried to model her pronunciation after Aida, but it was awfully hard, and Cynthia must have pronounced it wrongly. Cynthia smiled though as the albino wix had called the owl wee yin, which (she thought), meant little one in Scottish.

Cynthia was a bit perplexed that the fellow duellist and Ravenclaw had not asked her name, but only her pet’s. Of course, perhaps she knew it. They were in the same duelling club, yes, and Cynthia did know Aida’s name, but did she? ‘Oh, this is Brownie,’ Cynthia said, holding out the rat proudly. ‘He’s a brown rat, if you can’t make that out.’ Cynthia cocked her head. Hopefully asking about Aida’s name would in return make the wix ask about her’s, ‘So, you’re Aida, correct? I’ve seen you around the club and the lockers, but we haven’t really talked before.’

Suddenly, another student, a Ravenclaw boy, but not a duellist, stepped over to face the two duellists. He said that he was captivated by Cynthia, which was weird, considering the young duellist didn’t even do anything. Seeing that Aida started to introduce herself, Cynthia went to do the same. ‘Hello Ashley! I’m Cynthia, but my friends call me Thea.’ She smiled as the wix bowed; it was rather dramatic. ‘How, I might add, am I captivating?’

@ Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood @ Ashley Dinero Montez

Ashley took a few steps toward the individuals and creatures that were present at which point he became cognizant of the wix's apparent unease.
"Hm?" He flashed the wix a stern glare, and when the young girl introduced themselves, Ashley hummed as a form of expressing how he is almost glad to meet Aida. Undoubtedly, Aida made Ashley feel a little uneasy because most individuals he had met at the school seemed to just talk incessantly and their social behavior was regarded as more usual than what he was currently experiencing. He murmured inwardly, "Weird."

He noticed the other individual and turned to stare at her in great interest.
She identified herself as Cynthia/Thea.. The boy did nothing except scowl at the duo.
He mumbled, "Nice."
"It won't be nice if I try to rephrase. Since my views are regarded as being... inhumane, I frequently make generalizations. You may be guaranteed that I won't utter what my mind believes " His voice became more serious as his demeanor darkened.

"Duelling gives me the adrenaline rush that I love. It serve as a place where I may maintain my sanity by witnessing the tragedy of others. From my perspective, I think it is just magnificent." Ashley paused to observe how they would react to whatever he had to say. He wouldn't blame them if they appeared to be apprehensive because his demeanor was dubious, his aims were blatantly sinister, and his discourse couldn't disguise his individuality.

He grinned, "Those who draw their wands reek thirst of victory for me."
"I advise you to cultivate more fascination about the tool you use with your hand if either of you wants to succeed. The last thing you need is to not comprehend your nature and your beloved's nature."

The duo will be bewildered by this comment without a doubt. Of course, he was referring to their wands. He referred to his wand as his lover a lot as he felt an immense connection with it. The girl named Aida piqued his curiosity once more just like how Thea did; to him, they had an intriguing and fantastical personality. He might be overinterpreting things, but his acute observational nature never tended to mislead him.

@Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood||@Cynthia Beaufort

“That's right! Sha-heh-rah-zahd – only four syllables, so half as long as my name. Still, kind of unusual, right? Most people just call her 'ZaZa.' The original Scheherazade learned so many stories that she could tell them for 1000 nights, and because she always remembered them, they saved her life. If you know that story maybe you also know a lot of others, maybe ones I don't know yet! My friend here is always watching, so I think she must know many stories, too – if only she could talk! Instead she exchanges the stories of others by delivering letters. We're great partners because I'm a Keeper of Memory, so I'm always learning such things.”

After learning the name of Cynthia's rat, Aida chuckled and sighed happily.

“Hello, beautiful Brownie. Pleasure to meet you. I'm sure he has fun stories about you, too, er…” Aida thought for a moment, chewing on one lip. “You're a Cynthia, I think!” Pleased with having remembered learning the girl's "species" from a duelling club roster before, Aida's eyes glittered. Still, when a boy arrived, the white wix learned further to prefer "Thea."

The newcomer who introduced himself as Ashley fixed Aida with a stern glare. In turn, the wix's head cocked to the side with curiosity. His demeanor came across to Aida as guarded, like a prickly cat that was only meeting someone for the first time. After all, the wildling wix simply had too little social sense to recognize the act as rude. It was a rare beastie that could put Aida off with such a personality, even paired with a truly terrible presence, so Ashley only piqued the wix's interest more. It wouldn't have been the first time that a defensive stance proved of little resistance to Aida's curiosity. After all, Manticore had been their best friend…

"You may be guaranteed that I won't utter what my mind believes," Ashley continued, for the first time eliciting a stink face from Aida. At least he seemed to have an appreciation for duelling.

“Then why don't you join the team?” Aida inquired, eyes flickering over the boy in curiosity about what was so special about his wand. His choice of phrasing was hardly bewildering to one who lived in a constant state of otherworldly fascination.

Wand: Chestnut, Phoenix Feather, 26,6 cm, Whippy; "Ancient, ideal for magizoology, has a will of its own, showy, prone to giving away tells"– details

Reducio

Open thread, interacting with @Cynthia Beaufort, @Ashley Dinero Montez

‘That’s interesting.’ the young witch said thoughtfully and nodded at the albino wix. Normally she just said it to please peaple, but this time she was genuinely interested. Aida would be her new friend, how lovely! Cynthia smiled up at Aida as they chuckled at the rat’s name. ‘Indeed, I am Cynthia.’ It was funny how Aida said she was a Cynthia, like that was a new species of humans or something. Homo Cynthia? Homo Thea? Whatever, she was getting distracted. But there was certainly something special about Aida. She was almost… animal like.

‘You like witnessing the tragedy of others, aye?’ Cynthia grumbled. ‘Glad we have a sadist in our midst.’ The Ravenclaw said cooly, her voice going lower than usual. Cynthia did not like this boy at all. A cold feeling ran down her spine and she tilted up an eyeborw. ‘Like Aida said, if you love it so, why not join the team? Or if you cannot yet, why not practise duel with someone, non?’ What Cynthia meant was ‘why not practise duel with me so that you would lose?’, but she definately was going to keep that thought to herself. She was going to make this Ashley boy feel his words. Unreasonable anger boiled inside the young duellist. Why was she so angry? Sure, Ashely didn’t seem nice, but Cynthia really should have more self-control. No, this boy felt wrong.

@ Ashley Dinero Montez @ Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood

Ashley kept his cool while listening to the two individuals; he was not one to make decisions hastily and reasoned that doing so would only make things worse for other people.

He added calmly, "I read more about lores of wands, and both of you need to comprehend the nature of your lovers."

Ashley saw the pair and could see Thea's annoyance, though he didn't mind being misinterpreted in the least. "If I could, I would, but not just yet. I don't leap into things right away and take my time, so I can note that my words have resonated with you. I value duellists' efforts. Well done "His final remarks were sincere.

It was obvious that everyone he just met was distraught or confused by Ashley's statements.
Although he didn't set out to make the best of friends, he realized that no man is an island and that it was beneficial to build relationships with others. At the same time, his motivations enabled him to look for people who would be excellent fits for his future. Not that he cared about what anyone thought. In actual fact, he did not care about anyone either than himself

"I pose no threat to any of you, Thea, so don't worry. Would you mind letting me watch you two combat in an unofficial match?"

@Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood|@Cynthia Beaufort

With Cynthia’s call-out, Aida squinted but smiled – Ashley a sadist? Based on a few comments so far, it certainly seemed that way, but Aida knew that posturing was a common behavior in the animal world, as well as among humans. What he was really like, the white wix couldn’t yet fathom, but immediately the courage of Cynthia’s observation warmed Aida’s heart. Even in Ravenclaw, home of curious truth seekers, it wasn’t common for people to bluntly point out their perceptions. Inadvertently leaning closer to the girl, Aida’s smile said all it needed to. Certainly the boy felt dangerous, and this was one theory for it. Was that the truth, though? That line of conversation seemed to veer away, however, albeit in a direction that sustained Aida’s interest.

“I need to comprehend my wand more?” the 4th-year asked, considering Ashley’s assertion. “Actually, yes, maybe you’re right. Can you help? What do you know that I don’t?” Holding out a battered old brown stick, Aida’s tone swept low with humility and an earnest wish to improve. There was definitely room to grow, and before the next match could be a great time for a revelation. Aida wasn’t particularly distraught or confused by Ashley’s statements, interpreting them as the wix interpreted almost everything a human said: as through the dark looking glass of translation.

The boy went on to propose watching Aida and Thea duel, but the wix only giggled.

“But that wouldn’t be fair. I’m a fourth-year and I practically live here, while Thea has only just begun. The number and power of spells I know, my years of practicing aim and evasion and execution – my experience from constant strategizing… that just wouldn’t be nice to Thea. No moderator would pair people this way because it would be cruel. Let me watch, instead. I’ll enjoy it. I also know enough that I could keep the match safe for everyone. How about it?”

Stamina 10 ✵ Evasion 12 ✵ Strength 1 ✵ Wisdom 10 ✵ Arc Power 10 ✵ Accuracy 13 (15)
Abilities: Blindvision, Sixth Sense, Beast Master, Wandmaker; Ency

Wand: Chestnut, Phoenix Feather, 26,6 cm, Whippy; "Ancient, ideal for magizoology, has a will of its own, showy, prone to giving away tells"– details

Reducio

@Ashley Dinero Montez, @Cynthia Beaufort