This was the absolute worst. Blaise didn't know why he continued showing up to these meetings and even more these duels but it probably had something to do with that owl he'd gotten in response to his futile pleas. Basically, he wasn't allowed to quit. Basically, they didn't care that he thought he was no good at this. Basically, he was an idiot because HOW would they know whether he actually showed up or not, hmm?

A thought for next time. Right now he was stuck facing that Rooney kid that didn't seem to like him much for one reason or another.

With the reluctance clear across the little boy's face, he gave a heavy sigh then a respectful bow before turning and counting out the predetermined number of steps in his head. His mind wasn't completely on the numbers, it was more on what spell he'd make an attempt at. Most wouldn't work, some he didn't know and the others wouldn't help him at all. Could he start running now? Being KO-ed twice in one term didn't sound all that great. Granted, this time it wouldn't be at the hands of a girl but STILL.

Alright, time to try something Bellaire. Turning sharply, he raised his wand and prayed as hard as he could. "Colloshoo!"

SPOILER!!: Points Tracker

Spells Cast:

• Colloshoo: Glue's target's shoes to the ground (aka Stickfast Hex)
  • Caster Points:
    • H: 0
    • M: -5
    • F: 0
  • Opponent Points:
    • H: 10
    • M: 0
    • F: 0
  • Additional Effects: Victim is unable to use Fatigue to avoid spells until the spell is negated.
    
  • Directionality: At Rooney

Affected by Spells: N/A

Physical Movements: N/A

Depleted -5 Magic points

Blaise's Current Points:
Health Points: 100
Magic Points: 95
Fatigue Points: 15

Since the first duel of the year had happened, Rooney had made damn sure that he was going to stand a better chance at the next one. The fact that his partner was Blaise didn't bother him much, because he'd witnessed him trying to use a wand before and it wasn't the prettiest of sights. Actually, Rooney was planning on talking to Bentley about it soon. He suspected that maybe Blaise was an imposter and a mere muggle, and therefore they were all in danger.

It all made sense to the mind of this twelve year old.

The mind that had spent WEEKS perfecting his shield charm to a point where it at least worked each time he casted, and HOURS upon HOURS draped over books, trying to find a spell he could rely on and practice when alone. He had a handful of them semi-polished and ready to use if he forgot everything he knew like he had last time. But he still wanted to face that butthead Colt again and just make his face not pretty. He had wanted to ask Miss Charlotte if she thought Colt had a nice face too, but then he would have to acknowledge that he knew she had been the writer of his Secret Santa delivery.

After bowing and taking the required steps away from Blaise, Rooney stood firm and focussed on giving this his absolute best shot and WINNING. There was no way he was taking defeat today. No way. He wanted to go to bed having accomplished something today, and at least have something to tell Miss Sophie Brown about to make her smile again. As soon as the words left Blaise's mouth, Rooney's wand moved perfectly in sync with a loud casting of "Protego!" just in time to see the first year's first spell bounce off the small shield barely big enough to hide the Ravenclaw.

Mere moments after, and he had shouted the incantation for the Conjunctivitus Curse and send it hurtling at his opponent. Had Blaise just copied Miss Charlotte's techniques in her duel against Colt today? It seemed it. Maybe he wasn't a muggle. He had got his wand to do something, but it was all still just questionable.

Muggle Bellaire.

Blaise was openly disappointed when his opponent effortlessly (it LOOKED effortless) cast a shield that made his spell a dude--if the wand had even cast at all. It was hard to tell these things you know and he might have been inclined to believe his wand had left him hanging if he didn't see the glimpse of SOMETHING bouncing off the shield.

He couldn't cast shields. It was a wonder his wand could cast anything.

With this knowledge firmly etched into his mind, there was absolutely no way on Merlin's green earth that he was going to stand there, wand raised and pray that he didn't lose his eyes in the process. Nope. Blaise took a dive at the floor, trusting more in his limbs than the finicky piece of wood in his hand. Standing there and defending himself? He'd do that when he and his wand were on better terms. Right now? Not so much.

The 11 year old tumbled along the ground, heart racing in his chest. As he came to a stop he reflexively reached for his eyes to ensure they were still there. Of course, through reading, he knew the spell would only cause eye pain and maybe even pink eye but what if Rooney wasn't all that good a caster and instead of eye pain it took his eyes out COMPLETELY??? It'd be an obvious accident but so was knocking him unconscious his first duel (he hoped) and he wasn't going to give them to chance to make ANOTHER accident happen.

Suffice to say his already small arsenal of spells was running low already. A depressing thought but there you had it. With a very heavy sigh, the boy raised his wand at the Ravenclaw. "Verdillious!"

If anything came out his wand, he'd be amazed. It was THAT serious.

SPOILER!!: Points Tracker

Spells Cast:

• Verdillious: Shoots green sparks from wand
  • Caster Points:
    • H: 0
    • M: -10
    • F: 0
  • Opponent Points:
    • H: 15
    • M: 0
    • F: 0
  • Additional Effects: N/A
    
  • Directionality: At Rooney

Affected by Spells: N/A

Physical Movements: Diving

Depleted -10 Magic, -5 Fatigue points

Blaise's Current Points:
Health Points: 100
Magic Points: 85
Fatigue Points: 10

OOC Annoucement:

Howdy!

Just as a heads up, the duel has been extended. You have until midnight (GMT-7) on Sunday November 22, to finish your duels.

If you have any questions or concerns, please ask

------------------------

IMPORTANT: Also, please indicate in an OOC note in your next post whether you would prefer your next duel to be the FINALS (with possible dueling guests) or another round with students. We only have time for one or the other

Rooney had been oh so very sure that this duel was going to go his way and had been SO excited to see how well that spell worked against Blaise or whether he would use his wand like a normal wizard and defend himself. Instead, he didn't. The Gryffindor took a dive and avoided any sort of pain in his eye - the coward's way out, if you asked him. But never fear, Blaise was only proving to Miss Charlotte that he wasn't good enough for her. Sure, she was so cool and so good at duelling and wouldn't ever need to be protected, but she had to have someone who WOULD protect her. Someone who knew good spells. Like Rooney.

Like him.

Not Blaise.

Roo stumbled in surprise at the green sparks heading his way, letting out a little squeal and then staring at his opponent. "That's it??" Was he serious? Why had he even signed up for this thing if he wasn't going to take it seriously? "Obscuro!" He cast, a threat of "try me" in his voice and actually written on his face. Rooney Bronwyn was not going down without a fight. A wand fight, not a real fight, because he wasn't actually sure how to punch properly and had heard tales of broken thumbs and didn't want THOSE. He followed his blindfold spell with a Jelly-Fingers Curse and bounced eagerly on the balls of his feet.

C'mon Blaise.

C'mon.

FRAUD.

If the boy could fall through the floor he would. Honestly. It would be better than staying here on the floor having his magical ability--or lack thereof--questioned. What did Rooney mean 'was that it?'. Of course that was it. Why would he have been expecting something more? It wasn't like he'd ever seen Blaise do anything of spectacular proportions. It was perfectly in line with everything else that related to his shoddy wand.

Given his current position, and his firm belief his wand wouldn't help him anyway, the little boy had very little defense against the sudden attack of the Ravenclaw. It was more than a little ironic that he'd dived to save his eyes and now he couldn't see at all.

Just his luck wasn't it?

Nothing quite like being a sitting duck to further break a little boy's spirit. He didn't even want to be here and didn't like that his parents thought pulling the 'you're not a quitter' talk would be motivation enough for him.

Blaise thought better of continuing to sit there in the dark, instead he rolled (just in time as it would seem). Rooney had cast again. Not being able to see where the boy was aiming, it was only luck that had his fingers still firmly gripped around his wand. The only problem now? He couldn't actually SEE anything and was still pretty much a sitting suck.

Perfect. Bloody Brilliant.

SPOILER!!: Points Tracker

Spells Cast: N/A

Affected by Spells:Obscuro

Physical Movements: Rolling

Depleted -15 Magic -10 Health -5 Fatigue points

Blaise's Current Points:
Health Points: 90
Magic Points: 70
Fatigue Points: 5

Rooney tried his absolute best not to laugh and tried to focus on the task at hand. His duel. This duel. Blaise and the ever-confusing question of whether he was pretending to be a wizard or what? Someone could have casted that spell for him earlier, Roo hadn't been paying attention to the rest of their environment. But now he was going to. STEALTH. He had it. He was it. He embodied it. Stealth was he and he was darn sure he was going to win this and then trip Colt over later for being such a ninnyhead. Today was going to be a fabulous day in the land of stealth. Speaking of... Once he was sure that Blaise wasn't actually going to cast, he took just a second to assess the floor around both himself and his opponent for anything, just in case. No wands.

Which meant that Blaise still had his.

But, it was fine. The kid was now blind and therefore wasn't going to be doing much to kick butt any time soon. To be sure, Roo pointed his wand at the other kid on the floor (seriously, rolling was the worst of his choices today) and spoke clearly. "Muffliato!" Trusting that that was successful and his opponent was now rendered blind and almost-deaf, he cast once more.

Only after bouncing on his feet eagerly and checking behind Blaise just in case there was someone waiting patiently for him.

STEALTH.

Maybe he shouldn't have had a second helping of licorice wands earlier. MAYBE. "Titillando!" He kept his arm steady, his wand perfectly manoeuvred and watched. Waiting. Watching. Waiting. Waiting...

The place went quiet, that much he could tell even if he didn't know why. The kid suspected it might have been because Rooney was no longer in a rush to cast at him so Blaise would take the time to fix this no seeing thing that was obviously gonna be a problem.

How did that spell go? Um...umm......Think Bellaire. Ummmmmmm. Oh! "Finite!" He cast at himself...albeit hesitantly as anyone with a wand like his should have when aiming at ones eyes. He didn't want to be the reason he was permanently blind and didn't fancy never getting to read another entry made by his quill ever again.

There was an audible sigh of relief when the arena appeared before him again. No eye pain. No discoloration of the scenery. He had managed not to botch up his sight. Many may not have seen it this way, but it was QUITE the accomplishmen--

What was that sound?

Blaise swatted at his ears, trying to get rid of that horrible muttering noise that had suddenly appeared. "Mate, do you hear that?" Was...was it getting LOUDER??????? "It's..it's getting a little LOUD, innit?" But whether Rooney responded or not, he couldn't tell. What he COULD see, was the boy raise his wand at him again and that was all the motivation the boy needed to RUN.

Let's face it, if he could hardly cast spells on a good day, what would make them better when he couldn't even hear himself think? Running, running had happened.

SPOILER!!: Points Tracker

Spells Cast:

• Finite: Terminates spell effects
  • Caster Points:
    • H: 0
    • M: -15
    • F: 0
  • Opponent Points:
    • H: 0
    • M: 0
    • F: 0
  • Additional Effects: N/A
    
  • Directionality: At himself

Affected by Spells: Muffliato, Finite

Physical Movements: Running

Depleted -15 Magic, -5 Health -5 Fatigue points

Blaise's Current Points:
Health Points: 75
Magic Points: 65
Fatigue Points: 0

The whole point of his castings was so that Blaise was both blind and deaf and therefore unable to do anything. But of course, the first year had to prove that he was actually of some magical blood and wasn't an idiot. Rooney was going to play along though and he was a professional so his performance wouldn't be anything short of convincing. He began to swat around above his head, twitching every so often and turning on the spot. "BEES! BEES!!!!" He hit his shoulder a few times almost as if he was being stung repeatedly.

In fact, as soon as Blaise turned on his feet, Rooney moved also. Five steps to his left and then he fired. "BOMBARDA!!!" Aimed straight in the path of his opponent. And then he may have returned to his arm waving and swatting.

Authenticity was the point of every performance.

SEE?? Even Rooney was swatting now. It must really have been something to have the boy swatting the way he was. If only he could read lips darnit! Blaise tried with everything he was worth but all he got was that whatever it was have the boy swatting like crazy.

SHOULD HE HAVE BEEN SWATTING TOO???

There was only so much he could DO while trying to defend himself and swatting while running was not one of them. It seemed like there had only been a step or two before a REALLY loud boom that knocked him right over. The impact might not have been so bad had he been trying to avoid it, but by a stunning turn of events it seemed he'd just run INTO the explosion.

The young Gryffindor hit the floor hard, wondering the whole time what it was with people and insisting on casting dangerous spells when they were dueling HIM. It was because they knew he wouldn't be able to fight back, wasn't it? Jerks the bloody lot of them.

Blaise pulled himself into a sitting position, clearly feeling the ache in his back where he'd landed. At this point, he wanted NOTHING MORE THAN TO QUIT but he couldn't. For whatever reason unknown to himself, he was trying to get up. It was a painful process to be sure and he found new aches and pains as he moved but finally the boy was standing--albeit wobbly--and finally it occurred to him that the 'buzzing' might all have been in his head. Quite literally. This would be the second of his senses he would put at risk of his shoddy wand work, but something had to give. Between the explosion and the buzzing, his head was beginning to hurt. "Finite!"

Was...was that it...? The buzzing...he was HEALED!! It was a miracle! "Say something so I know I haven't gone deaf." The buzzing was replaced by a subtle ringing that now concerned him. Owwww.

SPOILER!!: Points Tracker

Spells Cast:

• Finite: Terminates spell effects
  • Caster Points:
    • H: 0
    • M: -15
    • F: 0
  • Opponent Points:
    • H: 0
    • M: 0
    • F: 0
  • Additional Effects: N/A
    
  • Directionality: At himself

Affected by Spells: Bombarda, Finite

Physical Movements: N/A

Depleted -15 Magic, -50 Health points

Blaise's Current Points:
Health Points: 25
Magic Points: 50
Fatigue Points: 0

His swatting had worked, clearly but as soon as the buzzing seemed to disappear from Blaise's ears, Rooney also stopped his arms flailing as if it had disappeared from him too. And then the next portion of his performance came into clarity. Say something? So he knew he wasn't deaf? Oh, this was amazing. This was going to go exactly his way. Instead of making any noise, Rooney mouthed something about bees, with all authenticity of an actual conversation. He may have even looked somewhat desperate for the other boy to hear him.

Then stage 2 commenced. He started to mouth something about an apology for that last spell. (Something of which he was not at all sorry) AND THEN HE STRUCK.

With all authenticity of a surprise attack, and all the stealth of a spy.

"EVERTE STATUM!!"

Oh yeah, sorry Blaise, you're not deaf at all.

Blaise had been feeling absolutely brilliant about the finite he'd just cast to end the annoying buzzing, but any pride was quickly shot to hell when Rooney stopped swatting too. It wasn't only in his head. It was in the arena and someone else had obviously put an end to it. Coincidence was a wonderful booster of confidence....'least til you found out it was all a lie.

The Gryffindor squinted at his opponent, trying super hard to read his lips as he'd tried (and failed) to do earlier. As before, he couldn't understand a single thing being mouthed at him but there was something else. Sweet Circe he really HAD gone deaf!!!!!!!

There was no sound! Why was there still no sound???????? He'd heard himself when he asked the question...and he could still hear the murmurs coming from around the arena SO WHY COULDN'T HE HEAR ROONEY???????

"WHAT?" He yelled, ignoring the natural sound all around him. In seconds, he came to the conclusion that it was Rooney who'd gone mute. In the time the buzzing was happening Rooney must have done something to screw with his own speech. Oh Merlin! Oh Merlin, oh Merlin, oh Merlin! Did no one else see why this dueling stuff was pure evil?? Blaised raised his wand immediately, deciding that despite this being a duel he HAD to save the poor guy. "Don't worry, mate! I'll help y--"

Rooney's voice thundered out of nowhere and the only reaction on the part of the little boy came out of pure reflex with his wand already being raised. "Protego! Protego! Protego! Protego! Holy kneazle Protego!!!!!!" Wand for ONCE do something right! But just in case it hadn't worked, the boy dropped himself to the floor in a defensive sort of almost ball, knowing fully well he'd never be able to outrun it

Was he dead?

It took him a silent moment of defensive crouching to realize that by some great miracle.......he was still in one piece. The shield shattered to be sure but it took the spell with it. His wand.....she SAVED him. She DID care!! JDBSGIZUFDGISFIYS!!!

SPOILER!!: Points Tracker

Spells Cast:

• Protego: Creates a shield against MINOR spells (jinxes, hexes and curses), and sends them in rebound to the original caster (i.e. Shield Charm)
  • Caster Points:
    • H: 0
    • M: -10
    • F: 0
  • Opponent Points:
    • H: 0
    • M: 0
    • F: 0
  • Additional Effects: N/A
    
  • Directionality: At himself

Affected by Spells: Protego

Physical Movements: N/A

Depleted -10 Magic points

Blaise's Current Points:
Health Points: 25
Magic Points: 40
Fatigue Points: 0

Truth be told, he wasn't entirely sure what was going on. Halfway between disbelief, horror, face-palming and sheer amusement, Sabel just stared at the two kids with a half unhinged mouth. Where even did they learn how to duel like this?

What was more surprising than the acting and the facade, was the fact that out of everyone, it was Bellaire that was still kicking. Rooney's spell might have taken his feet out from under the other kid, but it seemed that once in a while miracles happened. While Rooney was out of magic, Bellaire was somehow still alive. Sweet Merlin.

With a slow clap, Sabel moved to the center of the room. "That...was quite the show." He wouldn't say good or bad, because he still wasn't sure.

Reaching down, he carefully pulled Bellaire up to his feet. "Winner of the tournament. Blaise Bellaire." No golden spark this time. He was pretty sure anyone in the audience was gaping just as much as he was. No need to add pretty lights to the mixture of confusion.

His eyes went between the two boys, a small smile of decision finally playing on his lips. "Well played. The both of you." And his gaze finally landed on Bellaire. "Best you take a walk to the healer and make sure nothing's broken."

----------------------
OOC: Zomg. You two cracked me up soooo much!!! Thanks so much for dueling! It was an awesome read! Duel is now officially over.

Thanks for your feedback! In consideration of feedback and time constraints, we are going to do a final round of duels between students. However if you would like to duel a Professor from the club, please VM or PM me (and I will check with the chosen professor) This will be a 'for fun' challenge duel, if you decide to do so (and should not replace the duel with the student you are paired up with, so please consider your own time constraints/options).