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Virtual Hogwarts > The Dueling club. > Practice time

Posted by: Sariss Ravon Oct 28 2005, 10:03 PM

Well, look at what the owl delivered... as opposed to a cat having dragged it in, that is. A letter from the Head Girl herself! And the girl, the fantabulous Caitlyn Wagers actually wanted to do some spell practice with Sariss. That was quite excellent news indeed, for otherwise Sariss would have needed to turn the school upside down for another dueller that she could team up with for some really good spell practice. Duellers so advanced were scarce, after all. So while she was waiting in the duelling club for her opponent to arrive, Sariss could not help but try to guess which spell she'd be facing a couple of times soon. Maybe it wouldn't be an attack at all. Maybe Caitlyn would be attempting a defensive spell? Hmm... Sariss really didn't know much about Caitlyn's spell knowledge. The two had never faced each other in a tournament, and in the duelling chamber... hmm... you could count the duels that they had on one hand. Judging from the fact that Caitlyn had not been part of Sariss' tournament group during the last tournament, the Slytherin could probably assume that she wasn't going to hurtle all that big spells around, right? But then again, assumptions were a dangerous thing... and it had been a quite long time since then. Much could have happened. Sariss too had improved quite thoroughly since then. And if she had managed that, so had surely Caitlyn. Only because the Ravenclaw tended to fly somewhat below the duelling radar didn't mean that she couldn't improve when she decided that she wanted to, right? So where was that gal?

Posted by: Caitlyn Wagers Nov 1 2005, 07:15 AM

(Sorry about the delay and the 321 words. Muse is being difficult, but I wanted to post before your long "weekend" ended. *snugs*) With purposeful long strides, Caitlyn entered the chamber a bustle of energy emanating from her. Glancing about the room as she progressed further into the room, Caitlyn did not immediately spy her arranged partner for the day. Odd. Sariss Ravon was infamous for her dueling prowess. And while many students at Hogwarts were able to wield a wand adequately and with the mastery she could, very few had the natural ability she seemed to ooze effortlessly. It was quite obvious, even to the untrained eye of Sariss’ competitors during their first years at Hogwarts. It wasn’t surprising that Sariss had been dubbed the Dueling Queen. Sariss’ reputation had been one of the motivating factors behind Caity’s missive requesting they pair up. Having secured permission from Miss Quinn to learn a particular dangerous spell, Caitlyn knew of only a short list of students who’d practice with her. A very short list. Of three. Sariss, Monica, and Janus to be precise. It had been quite easily to choose who to ask. Janus would have undoubtedly made her nervous. Monica would have undoubtedly made her nervous with talk of how wrong Janus was for her. Both were situations that did not bode well when one was trying to learn a spell named the Smiting Hex. Sariss had won by default. But then Caitlyn had had other reasons as well for her choice. “Sariss,” Caitlyn called out after spying her raven-haired friend not five feet from her, hidden from view by the now retreating herd of duelists filing past them. Strolling forward eagerly, Caitlyn flashed her companion a mega-wattage smile. “I’m so glad you agreed. It’s been ages since we’ve had an opportunity to duel,” Caitlyn said revealing one of the reasons she had asked Sariss to meet her. “I hope you haven’t been waiting long. The stairs were being difficult this evening between the fourth and fifth floors,” Caitlyn explained with a rueful smile.

Posted by: Sariss Ravon Nov 6 2005, 12:45 AM

QUOTE (I changed my mind about the spell I'm going to learn. Was pondering that for quite a while, and since that spell is on my list of OHEMGEEWEWANTSSSPRECIOUS!--there are spells for about 60 points on there that I absolutely MUST have before graduation XD--I figured that I might as well choose the Vine Hex for this here. That should make our RP much easier than learning two absolutely unrelated spells. I hope you don't mind...  Good golly, this room was so crowded when everyone was allowed to practise a brandnew spell under the supervision of the officiators. Sariss could barely see who was coming and going. But finally she heard a familiar voice over all the general buzz of the duelling club; and that voice was calling her name. "Over here, Cait!" the Slytherin called in response and waved even though that was entirely unnecessary, for the Ravenclaw was barely two yards away. Two yards that were plastered with obstacles (read: young students that Cait had to squeeze through). But that was soon taken care of, and there were the two girl who were about to either teach each other spells or duel with each other or... whatever. Sariss did after all not know which spell Caitlyn would be trying to learn. "Oh, I know! It's been ages since we got around to hexing each other," Sariss said with a grin. "That's what NEWT revisions will do to you," she added ruefully. But in fact it had been since the beginning of her fifth year already that she had found herself awfully bogged down with classwork and just hadn't been able to give duelling the attention that it deserved in her book. Anyone who learnt that she actually thought that about herself would probably drop dead, simply because it seemed to unbelievable. But Sariss really thought that she could be better, know more spells, cast them more efficiently... if only she had put more effort into duelling for the past two or three years. "The staircases have a mind of their own, and it never coincides with what is on yours. What is on your mind, anyway? I mean, which spell are you going to hurtle at me? Or cast at yourself?" Sariss asked. "It took me a long time to make up my mind and in the end, I picked a totally different spell from before, but I think it will serve me very well yet. The Vine Hex. It's awfully difficult though..."

Posted by: Caitlyn Wagers Nov 9 2005, 07:31 PM

(*works for me*) Caitlyn smiled slyly at the bombardment of questions. Caitlyn had quite conveniently forgotten to mention in the post which spell she hoped to practice. They were very few duelers who wouldn’t shy away from her joining her in a practice duel had they known her spell, and even a smaller number who could adequately block the spell if the need arose. However, Caitlyn was banking on a few things that would keep Sariss from running away screaming upon dropping the bombshell news. For one, pride. And it would definitely be more interesting than most of the spells her companion duelers would likely choose. Besides, and probably more importantly, Sariss was not a shrinking violet. Opening her mouth to answer, Caitlyn fell silent as Sariss announced her spell choice. “The Vine Hex…,” Caitlyn repeated after a momentary pause as her mind sifted through catalogs of spells she had memorized and filed away. If memory served… “Brilliant! I was hoping to perfect my Smiting Hex. It’s not nearly as powerful as the textbooks claim it can be,” Caitlyn explained in remorseful tones. She loved the thrill of researching new spells, but it was a lot harder than it looked in the diagrams. She had come a long way from swish and flick. If only all spell casting was that straightforward, dueling would be a breeze. “It’s been awhile since I did the research, but…I’m almost positive the Vine Hex is the most effective blocking method for the Smiting Hex….Let me get my notes out,” Caitlyn announced before shifting her Ravenclaw backpack before her. Rustling through her bag for a moment before giving up on the futility of its unorganized state. “Oh well…I’m fairly sure,” Caitlyn said in a positive upbeat manner. “Shall we get started,” Caitlyn prompted her companion by withdrawing her wand and depositing her backpack carelessly in a corner. With the disarray of parchment sticking out of it, she held out no hope that someone would steal it, giving her the great excuse that her “finished” homework had been stolen. Perhaps she could go visit the magical creatures kept on the grounds. A blast-ended skrewt incinerated my homework sounded so much more plausible than someone stealing the Head Girl’s bookbag.

Posted by: Janus Sparhawk Nov 10 2005, 01:51 AM

(thanks to both of you. ) Janus was in the middle of a mentoring session that was just starting to wind down when he noticed that Caitlyn and Sariss were about to get ready for what he assumed was their practice session. Janus and Caity had agreed that neither of them were particularly thrilled with the idea of actually managing to successfully cast the spells they'd selected to learn for their club participation at each other let alone run the risk of actually hitting the other. Janus didn't want to ever see Caitlyn paranoid at just the sight of him, and Caitlyn shared the same sentiment and didn't want to blast him to bits with the smiting spell she was working with. Though he really ought to be paying more attention to the ickles he was teaching, it was only basic spells they were using...wasn't much harm that could come from a stray spell flying off somewhere it hadn't been intended to go. Besides, as Caitlyn dropped her bookbag in the corner an idea popped into Janus' head. He had a little something he thought she'd like. What better way to manage that than to surprise her by slipping it into her bookbag for her to find later. Just the thought of it brought a smile to his face. It was going to be tricky to sneak over there and do it. Maybe he'd best wait until they actually got started. Which shouldn't be a problem since he had his mentoring duties to tend to. Reluctantly, Janus turned back to his own ickles while trying to keep an eye on what Sariss and Cait were up to. If he knew the disillusionment charm that Rayya did this would be so much easier. Hopefully they'd be so focused on their spell casting that they'd not notice him...or maybe he'd come up with a better idea later.

Posted by: Caitlyn Wagers Nov 18 2005, 06:16 PM

A curtain of silence fell between the duelists as the girls began their pre-duel ministrations. Having at least the basics of the Smiting Hex down, Caitlyn started simply by warming up her wand arm and wrist. Many students only did this as an afterthought, but she couldn’t afford to be sluggish and caught in a coil of Devil’s Snare. It would take ages to disentangle her…and the NEWT-laden students could not afford to squander their time away needlessly. Properly warmed-up, Caitlyn waited expectantly wand-in-hand for Sariss to indicate that she was ready. Knowing at least enough about Sariss to venture that she had researched her chosen spell accordingly, Caitlyn stood across from her expectantly for the first blast of deadly plant to hurtle towards her. Wand idle, Caitlyn continued to wait silently before realization dawned. “Oh! Sorry…Guess it’d work out best if I went first,” she rambled as a rosy tinge appeared suddenly on her exposed skin. “Ready….Ferire.” Flustered, Caitlyn’s first attempt came out a mere whisper of smoke. Mortified by the result, Caitlyn’s face grew molten as she funneled that energy into her next attempt. Flicking her wand more forcefully than truly attended, Caitlyn strived again to produce at least the feeble version of the Smiting Hex that only last week she had been casting with alacrity. “Ferire.” As a whisper of smoke appeared again, Caitlyn’s heart plummeted. “I don’t understand it…I was performing this spell just the other day,” Caitlyn explained helplessly as she glanced at the wand she was clutching. Loosening her grasp a smidgeon, Caitlyn silently wondered if she was forcing it too quickly. Consulting her notes, Caitlyn wandered over to her backpack once more. Assuring herself of the correct pronunciation, Caitlyn instantly realized her dilemma. Her wand motion needed to be crisper. More precise. Relieved that it was something she could work on, Caitlyn retraced her steps. Determined, Caitlyn smiled tightly at her dueling partner before endeavoring to try again. “Ferire.” With a sigh of relief, Caitlyn watched the flimsy lightening bolt shoot forward. Limp from the exertion, Caitlyn didn’t mind how faintly it appeared or how weak it was. (It's a recently learned spell...and since I already "know" it, I can't really stutter and stumble over pronuciation at least its plausible if I fumble about a bit... Hope its alright I went ahead...since your spell is the elemental block to mine and you hadn't posted yet, I figured you were waiting for me...*snugs*)

Posted by: Sariss Ravon Nov 19 2005, 10:32 PM

(*blames it all on Janus* He murdered my muse when he posted Did you know that the font you've been using for a while is... er... rather big?) "Oh, I know it's awful when that happens. It's that tiny difference in the wand movement that's always causing the trouble for me," Sariss babbled, trying to sound encouraging. She had a feeling that she'd need just as much reassurance later when she tried to get that spell to work. After all, for her, it was a completely new spell whereas Caitlyn--as she had said--already had the cruder way of going about casting that spell down. While Caitlyn was consulting her notes, Sariss went over her own spell's specifications once more. She didn't want to look stupid later after all. "Vitis Cole... That's the incantation. Vee-tis-Coh-lay... or something to that effect..." Sariss mumbled, trying to get wand movement in sync with the syllables of the incantation. It wasn't all that easy. The incantation sounded fairly harsh compared to the fancy swirly motions that she had to execute while speaking it. When Caitlyn returned, her spell was successfully cast, but as Sariss didn't trust herself quite yet, she rather threw herself out of harm's way rather than attempt deflecting it and get fried in the process. "Right... Better not tempt fate," she said sheepishly when she climbed to her feet again and dusted off her robes. "Now me... Vitis Cole!" she said very slowly, coordinating that swirly-whirly wand movement with the harsh syllables of the incantation... And... A rather funny thing happened. There was no dangerous and deadly vine jumping out of Sariss' wand, ready to strangle everything in its path... No, it was a tiny, positively minuscule, thin tendril that curled itself around the tip of the Slytherin's wand and seemed to shiver in fright, although what exactly the little magical plant was afraid of would remain a mystery forever. "Um... Heh..."

Posted by: Caitlyn Wagers Dec 1 2005, 09:17 PM

(Sorry about the delay...and as for the font, I fully support fonts that don't make me squint and rub my eyes after reading them *snugs*) Caity stared at the insignificantly small vine, if one could be so magnanimous and refer to the tendril as a vine. “Heh,” Caitlyn said after a pause as the girls stared at the vine for a moment longer. Concealing a smile at the object at Sariss’ feet, Caity did her best to be upbeat and positive. “Well…,”Caity coughed as her eyes inadvertently glanced once again at the vine. “Fair first attempt, wouldn’t you say,” Caity continued in an encouraging tone. “Not quite enough to block the Smiting Hex, but certainly better than not producing anything at all,” Caity babbled as she twirled a curly strand of hair about her finger absently. Realizing the deed almost instantaneously, Caitlyn wrenched her hand from her perfectly styled coiffure. There was no need to muss up perfection. “…,” Not really knowing what else to say at the moment, Caitlyn retreated to practicing her own inferiorly cast spell again. With short and precise wand movements, Caitlyn rehearsed the wand motions for several moments before pairing them with the incantation. “Ferire.” As her wand quivered as a jolt of electricity meandered its way from the core to the tip to finally burst forth, Caitlyn watched with veiled anticipation. Unfortunately, disappointment seemed to be the emotion of the day as yet another weak lightening (if one could call such a short weak energy jolt lightening) bolt sprang forward. At least this time, Sariss was not in its path and could struggle along with her own spell without dealing with her own inferiorly cast spell.

Posted by: Sariss Ravon Dec 3 2005, 07:32 PM

"I don't think that this little thing could block anything at all. If it wasn't just a plant, I'd say it was... scared," Sariss prodded the quivering tendril with her index finger. It curled up. "See?" Pathetic really. One might have thought that a student of Sariss' calibre could cast a new spell at practically the first attempt, but apparently, the spells in the third volume of that duelling spells compilation weren't all that easy. Sariss had had a far easier time with the special spells in the addendum section of that compilation. Or maybe it just seemed so to her in retrospect now. After all, she hadn't been watched so closely when she had practised those. Spell-casting practice tended to appear harder when with an audience. Caitlyn's attempts weren't much more successful either. At least something faintly resembling the desired result sprung forth from her wand, but... well... considering what a mighty jolt of lightning it should have been at that level of skill, it was still only slightly less pathetic than Sariss own feeble attempts. Sariss prodded the little tendril some more until it disappeared into thin air. Magic could only maintain its shape like that for a certain amount of time. After that, even the cutest badger dissolved into nothingness again. And a tiny tendril like that had an even shorter lifespan. "Alright, here goes... Vitis Cole!" Sariss called out again. Plop! Another tendril appeared near the tip of her wand. Maybe it was a little thicker than before. It wiggled and wriggled as though it was stuck and wanted to squeeze itself through a really narrow opening. Maybe if Sariss concentrated harder, she could sort of mentally push the magic from her wand faster. In her mind's eye, she imagined a gigantic devil's snare on one side of a wall... a tiny opening in that wall... that would be her wand... and she had to push that devil's snare through that tiny hole with enough force to make it burst through... That was a good comparison. She'd keep it in mind for her next attempt. "It'll get better," she said and nodded determinedly.

Posted by: Janus Sparhawk Dec 5 2005, 10:25 PM

(posts after Sariss so as to not hose her muse again hopefully. ) Janus' mentoring session had finally drawn to a close. Now he could put his plot into motion. Hopefully now that both Caitlyn and Sariss were into the spell casting part of their session, Cait wouldn't be going back to look into her bag anytime soon. That would...well it wouldn't quite ruin things. She'd still get her surprise, only she'd at first freak out about somebody stealing her bag which wasn't the way it was supposed to go down. OK...so sure, maybe technically he WAS stealing her bag. It wasn't like he wasn't going to put it right back. Janus wasn't even intending to dig curiously through it, though that thought was tempting. But no...he was just going to get the bag, slip in her gift and put it back. Quick and easy. "Accio bookbag!" he called out. Thankfully with all the din of various duels, practice sessions and mentoring sessions, there was no way she'd hear the incantation. And since the bag was going behind her, she'd not see it's loss either...or so he hoped. The question was if Sariss would see it, and then if she did, would she call him on it. Just to be safe, he'd waited until right as Caity had tried her incantation out. It hadn't worked too well for her but Sariss had needed to keep her concentration on Caitlyn...it was the best Janus could do. As the bag flew over to him, he grabbed it out of the air and placed it on his lap. It was partially unzipped still, and a few pieces of parchment were hanging out of it. Janus reached his hand down into his own book bag and came out with the box of fudge that he was going to slip in to Cait's bag. The opening in her bag wasn't quite big enough, so Janus unzipped her bag a bit more. Big mistake! Now instead of a few pieces of parchment sticking out, there was lots of it. My goodness...how on earth did she manage to find anything in this bag in the first place? It was all just randomly shoved in. Not only that, but it's disarray meant there was absolutely no way that fudge was going to fit in there. At least not and have the bag be able to zip back up which was essential to the plan. What a dilemna. Well...he had the bag open...and it wasn't looking like it'd zip back up too easily to start with...so maybe he could help her out some. With one last glance to ensure that Cait hadn't noticed the bag's absence just yet, Janus started pulling out parchment and trying to sort through things by subject. Obviously Cait didn't have much of a filing system, hopefully she didn't mind if he did this for her. Since he wasn't in the classes in question though, the best Janus could do was get them grouped by subject, not by the order in which they'd had the classes. Not for the most part at least. She did have dates on some of her notes, so Janus put things in chronologicial order where he could and just piled them together when he couldn't. It took a bit of effort to smooth out some of the scrunched up parchment, but after he was done, the papers were all in the bag nice and neat, a few classes even in the proper folders when Janus could discern which was which. And look at all the room in the bag! Sure it was still pretty full, but at least it would zip closed, even with the fudge in place. As Janus zipped the bag shut, he returned his attention to the duel to keep an eye out for a good time to return the bag to it's proper place. (check your shop Cait I'm not waiting 'til you discover it ICly...might forget by then. lol)

Posted by: Caitlyn Wagers Dec 11 2005, 05:15 AM

Caity’s lips twitched as a tinkering of laugher escaped at the sight of the plant retreating as if frightened. “We’re not that scary,” Caitlyn reprimanded the plant as it shriveled further before vanishing from sight. With an indolent shrug, Caity’s watched Sariss with mild interest as she once again attempted to produce a Devil’s Snare vine. Regrettably, her third attempt met the same fate as her earlier attempts. Although, Caity thought perhaps she could discern a slightly thicker shape to the plant before it too vanished from view. At this rate, the girls were likely to be here all night. However, fatalistic thinking would only hinder their attempts, so Caity smiled encouragingly at her fellow prefect before returning to her own endeavor. So far her lightening bolts had been shoddy spellwork at best. At its most effective state, the spell should produce spectacular display of entertainment; assuming her opponent wasn’t so dense as to not deflect the spell. Caity shuddered unconsciously as she envisioned the horror ramifications of casting the spell on a novice dueler. Fortunately, dueling officiators were on hand for those moments when one overestimates the ability of their opponent, but foregoing the use of the spell on her more youthful opponents seemed a wise course. That is, if she ever managed to produce a respectable version of the Smiting Hex. Doing her best to buoy her flagging spirit, Caitlyn engaged in a silent pep talk as she practiced the wand motions of the spell for several moments. Envisioning a large lightening bolt appearing arcing from her wand, Caitlyn focused intensely on the vibrant surge of energy she was hoping to cast. With a hopeful tone, Caitlyn’s voice wavered in intensity as she called out, “Fer-ire…Ferire.” Encouraged by the glowing tip of her wand, Caitlyn watched as a promising beam of light shot from the tip. The lightening bolt that shot forward and arced from her wand was not majestic in width or intensity; however, it was at least a valid effort. Heartened, Caitlyn began silently deliberating on things she could perfect. Her wand motions were still jerky, at best, and her pronunciation was passable. However, with sufficient focus, she felt she’d make larger strides of improvement than on developing more attention to her less weaker points. “…Well…that’s better,” Caitlyn said at last, more to herself than anyone else. Glancing over at Sariss, Caitlyn watched her for a moment before returning to her own spell development.

Posted by: Sariss Ravon Dec 11 2005, 06:24 PM

"All good things are three, I suppose," Sariss said with a shrug, trying to sound cheerful enough. She wasn't used to failing. Maybe if she had an aptitude for Herbology, it would be easier to convince the Devil's Snare to grow nicely big and strong and deadly and... er... whatever. At least Caitlyn wasn't faring much better, although her most recent attempt looked rather promising. It actually resembled the desired result somewhat. Maybe Sariss ought to be glad that she had produced a vine at all as well, even though it had been so feeble and frightened. "That was really good already!" she commented enthusiastically on Caitlyn's latest attempt. It was motivating to see that those spells were hard to learn but not impossible. "Let's see what I can do..." The Slytherin recalled the image that she had come up with earlier. A huge plant bursting through a solid wall. Alright, we're going to blast our way through now... "VITIS COLE!" Sariss swished her wand through the air so hard that you could almost hear the air hurriedly scramble out of the way. Maybe she had overdone it a little, for there was indeed a huge plant bursting forth, knocking Sariss off of her feet... but even though it was huge and all that neat and impressive stuff, it was very short-lived. For mere fractions of a second it was a solid and merrily wriggling vine before it went kind of 'poof!' and left behind a gazillion of... "Soap bubbles?!" Sariss' voice came from the floor where she was still sitting, slapping her palm against her forehead and leaving it resting there. Maybe she ought to book a trip to Diagon Alley and have Mr Ollivander examine her wand. Something was probably not quite right with it anymore... "I don't believe this..." she groaned.

Posted by: Janus Sparhawk Dec 16 2005, 09:21 PM

OK...so he'd managed to sneak the fudge into Caitlyn's backpack and even sort it out for her...somewhat. Now to get it back to her. Obviously he'd need to use the banishing charm which he thankfully knew. It'd be rather embarassing if he'd managed to summon the backpack but then found himself unable to put it back. Not only because it would show a lack of skill in the charms department, but also because it would make it much easier for him to be noticed and caught in the act. Hm...maybe he ought to put a note in there though. Would Caitlyn assume it had been him? Had she seen him over here with the ickles while he'd been running through their session? No...to be safe, a short note was probably a good idea. Janus dug around in his own bag which was now actually messier than Cait's...go figure...and came up with a small piece of parchment. Now then...what to say? He gave it some thought, then grinned as he figured he'd just do a silly little poem. QUOTE Gryffindors are Red, Ravenclaws are Blue. Please take this gift I hope you enjoy fudge too. PS  Hope you don't mind my rearranging to make room for the fudge. <3 Janus The prefect opened up the bag once more and slipped the note into the edge of the fudge wrapper so it would be found once she opened up her bag the next time and then zipped it shut. Then with careful concentration, he floated the backpack back to it's original location with the banishing charm. There...all done. Now to decide if he was going to stick around for the discovery or not. Ah...who was he kidding...of course he was.

Posted by: Sariss Ravon Dec 26 2005, 02:46 AM

Sariss sat there, probably looking rather silly, a sight that would have anyone in stitches most likely--unless they were too scared of finding themselves facing the 'wrong' end of the Slytherin's wand. But if it only produced soap bubbles, that advantage would soon be gone too, and everyone could tease her and humiliate her as much as they liked. What a horrible thought! But looking at how some of the students behaved, it was enough to make you ponder the thought of what it would be like to have 'suitable target' written on your forehead. The Slytherin glared at the popping bubbles; they seemed to be mocking her with their cheerful blinking, that cheerful plop, that cheerful floating... It was remarkable how close Sariss was to throwing a temper tantrum like a twelve-year-old. She wanted to jump up, hurl her wand at the floor and stomp her feet, screaming and screeching at it to 'bloody work'. Alas, she merely sniffed, rose to her feet with as much dignity as she could muster, and inspected her wand. Maybe she should polish it more often so as to appease it. She gave a cough and composed herself somewhat. "Let's try that again," Sariss mumbled, suppressing the furious blush that wanted to settle in her cheeks. Her last attempt hadn't been all that bad, after all. Just the soap bubble explosion had been a little unexpected. And if it hadn't happened to her, she might even find it a funny/entertaining thing. So what? "That was quite something, eh?" she tried a little laugh. Now, wand, be good and don't fail me... "Careful... Vitis Cole!" Whooooosh! A vine as gigantic as the previous one burst from the Slytherin's wand, solid for quite a few moments longer than before, long enough to protect her from a smiting hex for sure! It didn't explode quite as violently anymore either... even though, when it went poof again like many conjured objects did after a while, it was all sparkly soap bubbles again. "I never saw myself as the soap bubble type..." she commented.

Posted by: Caitlyn Wagers Dec 29 2005, 10:58 PM

(I'm so sorry for the delay! ) Caitlyn’s lips twitched as she tried to refrain from laughing. She had herself fairly composed after the first display, but the second demonstration of soap bubbles proved too great for her. Teetering, Caitlyn ducked her head as she tried not to openly guffaw in her friend’s face. It was really bad form of her, but had Sariss appeared less likely to scream, Cait would have thought nothing of some gentle ribbing. And really, she considered the idea despite the vexed expression her fellow opponent wore, only choosing not too due in part because she herself was not faring well and …well frankly, Sariss knew too many spells that she would be forced to dodge if her dander was raised into a fight. Forcing herself to cough, Cait’s face grew all red and splotchy as tears threatened to fall from her eyes as she tried to control the insane urge to laugh. Pausing to take a drink of water from the handy convenient storage bucket of bottled water located near their platform, Caitlyn managed to get herself in control after a measure of time. Returning, with her amusement carefully concealed, Caitlyn tried to offer something…helpful. “Did you clean your wand last night,” Caity inquired. She was fairly sure that Sariss was the type to take care of her possessions, but if someone else had shoddily performed the ministrations it might explain as to the existence of the soap bubbles. Unlike Sariss, Caitlyn’s own wand could use a bit of shining and care taken to it…Unfortunately, she hadn’t had the time of late, and it was one of those things that fell to the wayside. She rarely thought to clean or shine it, although she had a nifty kit stored under her bed, a forgotten Christmas gift from years past. However, as her wand caught the light of the overhead glaring beams, Caitlyn’s face fell slightly. Her wand looked…ill-kept. Embarrassed that she took treated her possessions with little care or attention, Caitlyn shuffled her feet slightly as she surreptitiously wiped her wand on her shirt hoping to produce a shiny gloss to its lackluster form. Feeling as if eyes were upon her, Caitlyn blushed as her secretive attempts were for naught as she dropped her wand. Picking it up with haste, Caitlyn muttered to herself as she wielded the wand sharply. Practicing the wand movements a few times, Caitlyn finally added the pronunciation with them to produce what she hoped would be an adequate lightening bolt. “Ferire.” Luck was a funny thing because the lightening bolt that shot forward and arced over her head was nothing to laugh about, yet a peal of girlish mirth burst from her lips at its sight. Perhaps it was because, out of all of her attempts, she felt this was the one least likely to generate a satisfactory attempt. Yet as luck would have it, and it was most definitely a feat that she’d rightfully claim for lady luck, the lightening bolt sparkled in its intensity and crackled with energy before dissipating into the white, unmarred platform. Shocked, Caitlyn staggered back a bit as she glanced with wide eyes at her companion duelist. “I didn’t just dream that…right,” Caitlyn asked with a hint of worry lacing her voice.

Posted by: Sariss Ravon Dec 30 2005, 02:34 AM

((yes, yes, shame on you and your silly exams *loffs you still* And we're almost at the end now too, thankfully. Hard earnt spell, that one.)) Holy moly, Caitlyn's spell just then was about as perfect as a spell could ever be! ("That was awesome!") And that after all those failed attempts earlier! Sariss found that incredibly motivating and inspiring. Maybe her amusement (yes, Sariss had noticed) at the soap bubble disaster had loosened her up a little... A bit of relaxation and it just seemed to flow better. Well, perhaps Sariss should try to be a little less forceful too. She noticed that she was clutching her wand much too tightly. And maybe that was what caused her wand movements to be not as graceful and smooth as they ought to be. Who cared if her vine exploded into soap bubbles after it had done its duty for as long as it had done its duty beforehand? Exactly. No one cared. So Sariss shouldn't either. Even if it might incite the one of the other chuckle from any onlooker. So what? Sometimes magic did odd things--and maybe the soap bubbles were a hint towards a wand-polishing session. There were lots of fingerprints on Sariss' wand, after all. One could see that it was almost constantly in use. Maybe it wanted some good care every now and then? Be cleaned and polished till it looked like it was coming straight from shelf in Ollivander's? It had a right to, after all. It served its wielder remarkably well every day. "Phew..." Sariss took a deep breath. "I can do this. Just relax... relax and concentrate... I can do this... It almost worked just now, didn't it? I can do this..." The Slytherin closed her eyes, took another deep breath, made sure her wrist was nicely limp and relaxed... and then she began to draw the wand movement into the air, slowly, like a painter... and about halfway through, she opened her eyes and called out the incantation-- "Vitis Cole!" --and the vine that sprung forth from her wand was just as gigantic as the previous one. Only it seemed even more solid. Stronger. A spell result that could take it up with Caitlyn's Smiting Hex and provide protection for its caster. And it remained. Like the root of a gigantic tree, the vine hovered in the air, slightly wriggling the thin tendrils that sprouted from its tips as though it wanted to say, Look at me! Look at how pretty I am! How strong! How powerful! Bring it on! Sariss beamed, grinning like a child in a candy store that had just been told that it was allowed to eat as much as it liked, for free. "Did you see that?" she almost--point being almost--squealed. And then the vine went poof again, as all conjured things did after a while... and once more soap bubbles were merrily floating about. "I guess I can live with that," the Slytherin announced and gave a half-hearted scowl at the soap bubble that had just floated at her nose... and popped.

Posted by: Caitlyn Wagers Dec 30 2005, 08:50 AM

*Loffs* “Wow…,” Caitlyn said her tone filled with awe and an edge of something more. Oh she had studied Devil’s Snare in a Herbology class long forgotten, and had even seen a few pictures of the plant in the various books she perused before her Herbology Owl. Yet none of the pictures had gave Caitlyn a full grasp of the enormity of its form or how terrifying she’d find it if one suddenly appeared heading toward her. Now, she hadn’t forgotten she had a wand in hand for protection, but somehow the weight of her wand was not as reassuring as she might have otherwise found it to be. Perhaps because the spell was new, perhaps because it was more advanced than spells she normally came in contact with, or perhaps because she was a coward, Caitlyn couldn’t truthfully ascertain. The only certainty she had was that the next spell she made a point to research would be the Devil Snare’s elemental counterspell. Reassured and slightly comforted that she wouldn’t always feel so off-kilter with her opponent’s spell of choice, Caitlyn’s shoulders relaxed as she no longer felt like making herself as small as possible to avoid said spell. “That was brilliant,” Caitlyn praised, her voice still tinged with admiration as she noticed Sariss seemed quite pleased as well. “Care to see what happens when they meet,” Caitlyn inquired easily although she felt as if she had just asked if she could step in front of a firing squad; which wasn’t really fair. She trusted Sariss, whereas a firing squad was another matter altogether. Taking Sariss’ gesture/silence/words as agreement, Caitlyn did her best to duplicate her earlier attempt. And in that regard, she chose not to stress over whether she was holding the wand just so or worrying about the peanut gallery watching nearby, but focused on the more important aspects of spell casting: pronunciation, focus, and wand movement. “Ferire!” And as a frighteningly display of electricity thundered over her head, Caitlyn’s bubbled and babbled in delight, “Oh, wow…I’m getting much better at this,” Caity admitted before muttering more that was incomprehensible and more said to herself than to her opponent.

Posted by: Sariss Ravon Dec 31 2005, 02:01 AM

"Indeed, I do!" Sariss exclaimed, all confidence again. She had no doubts that she'd be able to cast her spell just splendidly now that she had done it already. It was always so comforting and encouraging to know that you had managed to do something before already, and there was no reason why the success shouldn't be reproducable. And with an enthusiastic "Vitis Cole!" Sariss waved her wand energetically and produced a vine that just shot towards the lightning bolt. The rest wasn't quite as pretty. It sizzled and turned black and shrivelled... but it absorbed the lightning bolt. And instead of soap bubbles, it burst into ashes. "Aha! So that's how that works..." The Slytherin was exceedingly pleased at that display. "I think we've got our spells down rather well, considering the short time, don't you agree?" Sariss babbled merrily to Caitlyn. "Think we're ready to pass Quinn's test so she can give us the go to have a real duel with these spells? I sure would love to!" It had been a while since Sariss had duelled with Caitlyn, although it had not been as long ago as her duels with a lot of other older students. Was everyone slaving so much over their NEWT studies? Was Sariss forgetting something? Had she misplaced a really thick book whose content would be important for the exams? She really had no idea. Maybe they were all slaving over those Herbology book reports still... or that runes project... Sariss had both finished already. One weekend of reading (or actually skimming halfway thoroughly) all the books and another of merrily (or not) scribbling on all those tasks had sufficed for Sariss to be up to date again. She had hated every second of it, but when it had all been done, she could finally duel freely and only had your average everyday homework to complete. Life was good to this Slytherin. "Come on! Let's go tell Quinn that we're done with our spell studies!" Sariss said, already having taken a few steps backwards. "So she can note down that we've completed this year's duelling club assignments."

Posted by: Caitlyn Wagers Jan 2 2006, 06:30 AM

Despite the fact that Cait's spell was eviscerated by a measly (alright, frankly intimidating) plant, Cait was more than pleased with Sariss' suggestion to show off demonstrate their progress for Quinn. “You really think we’re ready,” Caity exclaimed as she seemed to be bit by the same babbling bug that Sariss suffered one. “It’d be great if she approved us using these in duels, for real,” Caitlyn jabbered as visions of smiting annoying rumormongers danced in her head. Caitlyn rarely studied big scary skills, but they definitely had their uses. Besides if she was ever going to improve her reputation for dueling, she was forced to play catch-up. However, until that time came where she was feared for her skill with a wand, some pretty window dressing in the form of scary spells would suffice for now. “Let’s go,” Caitlyn agreed readily as she fell into step with Sariss. She wasn’t sure she was proficient with the Smiting Hex yet, but she trusted Sariss’ judgment implicitedly. If Sariss thought she was ready, well, then…who was anyone to say otherwise?

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