Samuel shook his head at the people gathered around the arena but there was a definite smile on his face or as close to a smile as you can get from the man.

"Rosita stop flirting with the 'kid' and Prospero you'll get your turn in the arena another time."

It was time to get this show on the road and make some good money. These damned kids better be worth it or there was gonna be trouble.

"Ladies and gentleman we are about to start. Come place your bets." Samuel looked at the two kids in the centre of the arena. "You two. Get ready to duel."

Madiison gave Samuel a LOOK as she made her way back to the center of the arena. She did not like him anymore. No, she did not. Then, holding her wand with a firm grip, the little red head faced the boy with a determination.

Oh, she was going to beat him, Di was.

This girl was done for.

Tiberius made his way to the center of the arena, smirk plastered across his face. He felt, oddly confident in his skill and was feeling even better about how he'd responded to the random cast at him from the stands.

Limbering up as he walked, he stared the girl down. When all this was over, Tiberius would be the winner.

Oh yes. Yes he would.

Oh, this fight was a good one, and Ian Lawrence did love a good fight, after all. "Go!", he encouraged both participants, really enjoying the spectacle of the duel and the fact that there were other people watching besides him. That always made the combatants fight harder, it did.

Well these two were the youngest of the group but from the looks on their faces, they were the most determined.

Let's see how good they are.

"Alright when you two are ready. Go ahead and DUEL."

As soon as she heard 'duel', Madiison pointed her wand at the boy before her and whispered, "Garriollous!" And then she giggled. Oh, how she wished the curse would hit the boy.

Every time he tries to speak, he'll babble. TEHEHEHEE. Well, at least until the spell wears off.

And then, just to protect herself, the girl placed a shield charm in place before her and smirked.


ooc: Garrio is Latin for babble (or so the online English Latin dictionary says). There was no incantation for the babbling curse, so I made one up. xDD Hope that is okay.

Alora gave the old man an annoyed look then promptly turned in the opposite direction. There were so many things she would have liked to have said to him, but that would result in wasting the valuable, precious time she could be using to bet on the young'uns. With a little huff, she turned towards Sam, who was announcing the first of the fights.

"WoOoOoOoO hOoOoOoOo!"

Man, Alora just loved a good ol' fight! She jiggled her money bag, laughing loudly as she did so. "Ya hear that, kiddos? Get ready to duel! Do me proud, you...you...you girl!" She jiggled her money bag towards the girl this time. "My money's on herrr!"

"That's what I'm talking 'bout!" Alora yelled, fist-pumping into the air. "Babble, babble, little boy!"

"Did'ja see that?" she cackled, elbowing a spectator just to the left of her.

Tiberius ducked, narrowly avoiding the curse and narrowed his eyes as he saw was looked like the movement to cast a shield. Whatever he cast would probably bounce off. If he wanted to actually hit her with something he'd need to cast more than once.

Eyebrows knit together in concentration, Tiberius answered her babbling curse with an overly dramatic "expelliarmus!" hoping that it would draw her attention.

Crouched low, Tiberius flicked his wand again, hoping she would have let her guard down. "Langlock," he whispered. Let's see her cast with her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth.

Madiison pouted and nearly stomped her feet. He MISSED her spell. MISSED it! Urgh! And she had reacted so quickly too! Merlin, this boy was good.

But Di was better. Yes, she was.

Madiison sighed with relief when his disarming spell bounced off her shield and, JUST as she was about to drop her shield and throw a spell at him, she found another spark coming her way. Why, you sneaky, you! It was pure luck that she missed it. Pure luck, that he had sent the spell her way too fast. Or she would have been doing whatever it was that spell would have made her do.

FOCUS, Madiison. FOCUS.

Taking in a deep breath and with her shield still up, she was NOT taking any chances with this boy, the little red head let her gaze wander around the arena, looking for anything she could use to distract him enough that would distract him enough to get rid of his shield charm.

And then, pointing her wand at the stand behind the boy, the girl flicked her wand theatrically and yelled, "Bombarda!" Ignoring the KABOOM that followed, along with the bits and pieces of the empty stand the spell hit, she pointed her want back at the boy and followed her last dramatic display with "Obscuro!" This would be handy if it hit him - he wouldn't be able to see any other spell coming to him from that point on!

Well, at least until the spell wore off.

Grr. Tibi slammed his non-wand hand against the ground as he watched the second spell deflect. His own shield down, he watched as a portion of the stands exploded.

Turning his back to the falling debris, Tiberius yelled "protego!" Holding the shield above him and to the side like an umbrella, Tiberius curled behind it. He had totally missed the second spell coming his way, but his shield deflected it, sending it off into the stands.

Perhaps toward that unpleasant man who had cast at him before.

Dropping his shield, Tiberius stood slowly, staring her down. This wasn't going to be as easy as he'd hoped. "Glisseo," he whispered, pointing his wand to the ground at the girl's right, followed by a forceful cry of "Aguamenti!". A jet of water burst from his wand aimed at the left-side of the girl's body.

If she'd just take a step or two right...

Ooh no. Oh no. No. No. No. No. NO!

Madiison watched the spell hit the ground, eyes widened in horror. Suddenly, the ground beneath her became slippery and as the girl tried to concentrate on keeping her balance, her shield charm disappeared. Oooh no. WHY YOU LITTLE! The red tried, as hard as she could, to point her wand at the ground, but her flailing arms wouldn't let her do so.

And then .....

SPLASH!

... and Madiison fell on the slippery floor, bum first and soaked to the bone.

Frown. The thirteen-year-old pointed her wand at the ground and whispered, shivering slightly. "Finite Incantatem!" The floor was back to normal and the girl turned her blue-gray eyes to the LITTLE boy. How could she LOOSE to a little boy, albeit he was only her junior by one year. How COULD she?

...

Birds!

Giggling a little, the girl pointed her wand up in the air and whispered. "Avis!" A little flock of birds appeared over her head, fluttering around in circles. How would he shield himself from birds? "Oppugno!"

Shield THAT, mister.

Tibi allowed himself a smirk as his opponent fell but it quickly dropped as the birds headed his way.

BIRDS.

What in merlin's name was he supposed to do about that? He had no idea. He knew if he was going to cast at her again, he would need to do it before they reached him. Frantically searching the arena, his eyes settled on something above her. Was that a tree branch? A beam? He hadn't looked around terribly well before the match.

"Diffindo!" He could only hope it would cut through and drop. But there was no time to watch.

BIRDS.

Tiberius held his non-wand arm above his head shielding his face as he cast at the birds. "Incendio! Incendio!" The smell of burning feathers was atrocious as he kept trying to duck the flock. They were picking at his arms, and face, little drops of blood beading on his skin.

"Incendio! Incendio!"

Mmm, roasted bluebird.

Madiison GIGGLED and BEAMED as she watched the birds head towards the boy. Pointing her wand at him, the red was about to cast another spell at him while he was distracted, when she noticed a spark shoot over her head and straight to the tree behind her. It hit the tree.

Or, to be more specific, it hit a branch on the tree.

And the branch was falling. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP! "Bombarda!" The girl yelped, pointing her wand at the branch heading down and watched it blast in mid-air.

...

STARE. The branch was never going to hit her, the girl realised too late. It was going to land a few steps away from her.

She could have cast her spell on the boy.

POUT.

Miss Winloch let her gaze wander back to the boy who was busy killing her poor little birds. In fact, he was almost done. THIIIIIIINK, Madiison, THIIIIIIIIIIIINK! Frantic, the girl ran different spells through her head but ... too late! The boy was done with her birds.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! With a dramatic flick of her wand, the girl said,"Densaugeo!"

She hoped his teeth grew so big that he couldn't speak.

Tiberius turned to face the girl, blood trickling down his forehead, down his arms, stinging his eyes.

Birds. Tiberius kicked a smoldering bird, thinking of ways he could answer that attack when he saw another spark headed his way.

Tiberius put up his shield and stalked across the arena, closing the distance between them. Pushing his shield out, he bounced the spell right back at her, dropped the shield, and pointed his wand at the ground near her feet.

"Deprimo," he uttered icily. He was done messing around. And for good measure, he flicked his wand just a little higher at her shoes. "Duro."

He dragged his free hand across his forehead, wiping away a mix of sweat and blood. He knew what he'd do next and he'd like to see her avoid it if her shoes were made of stone.

Eyes wide, Madiison watched the boy put up his shield charm and walk towards her. HE WAS WALKING TOWARDS HER! Quickly, the girl put up her own shield, but not quick enough. Her own spell hit her square in the face and her teeth began to enlarge.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

"Finite!" The girl exclaimed, pointing the wand at her teeth which were now a little larger than normal. At least she could still speak clearly. And her charm managed to send the first spell the boy threw at her right back at him, although she was not quite so lucky with the second one.

...

Her shoes had turned into stone.

HER SHOES HAD TURNED INTO STONE! This was IT, little boy. This was IT. "Diminuendo!" She pointed her wand at the boy's shirt, followed by, "Expelliarmus!", and the girl finished with a, "Furnunculus!"

He was going to PAY for her shoes.

The closed space certainly made for needing quicker reaction times. Tiberius quickly raised his shield and deflected his own spell that she'd bounced back, but caught her next curse right in the chest,

He felt himself shrinking. SHRINKING!

His clothes were getting baggy. His hands were getting smaller. Pretty soon, he wouldn't be able to hold his wand! But a bonus? His shrinking changed where her spells would have hit and so the next two flew right over his now shrunken frame.

But her shoes were stone. No running!

"Expelliarmus!" His voice squeaked like he'd just inhaled helium. Ohhhh someone was going to need to put him back to his right size. First Kazi blows him up and then this girl SHRINKS HIM.

"Incarcerous!"

SQUEEAK.

Madiison watched the boy shrink. That was not payment enough for her shoes, but it would do for now. Flicking her red hair behind her shoulder in an overly dramatic fashion, the girl was going to point her wand at the boy and throw another spell at him when she was attacked by the boy.

And she was not fast enough.

Although the girl was able to dodge the 'Expelliarmus' spell by leaning away from the approaching spark, she was unable to do the same to the next flash of light coming her way. The spell hit her square on her chest and she felt the ropes tighten around her body.

This was going to BRUISE!

After sending a glare in the boy's direction, Madiison rolled her wand in her hand on such a way that it touched the rope and said, "Diffindo!" The rope tore into two pieces and the girl threw the rope away.

"Confundo!" The girl whispered softly, barely moving her lips so he would not be able to make out that she had even cast a spell at him, as she pointed her wand at the boy. Thank Merlin this one did not shoot sparks. "Stupefy!" The girl yelled, her wand still pointing at the boy.

Bwahahaa.

Tiberius practically growled as she cut the ropes. He tried to think... what wouldn't she be able to get out of?

His attention was caught by the red spark of a stupefy headed toward him and so reflexively he put up his shield. Only, it was a moment too late to block the Confundus charm. As the sparks bounced off his shield, Tibi looked around the arena dumbly.

What was going on? Someone was attacking him? His eyes rested on Madiison, feet encased in stone. And she was standing near where the spark had come from.

Someone was going to sneak up on her and hurt her!

"I'll help you!" He yelled across the... place that he was in.

"Stupefy! Stupefy! Stupefy! Petrificus Totalus!" Tibi cast wildly and without aim in the girl's direction, hoping to hit whoever their invisible attacker was.

He didn't consider that he might hit her by accident.

Wand held in mid-air, with a spell ready on her lips, Madiison found her rather big blue-gray eyes blinking at the little boy before her.

Help her? Obviously, the Confundus charm had worked, but now the girl felt a little sad for wanting to hurt him, even if it was a duel and she had to. He was trying to help her, albeit in a confused state of mind.

But then he started to shoot sparks all around the place and Madiison remembered what the boy had done in an informed state of mind. She LOOKED down at her pretty, poor little shoes. Yes, he did THAT to them. He turned them into stone.

Aww, poor babies.

"Tarantallegra!" Madiison mumbled, but JUST as she did so, she was hit by one of the stunning spells he so generously sent in every direction. The girl fell back on the ground, unconscious.

No! No no no no no no!!!

Tiberius watched in horror as his stunner -- intended for the mysterious attacker that didn't exist -- hit the girl and she fell over unconscious. Teh confusion from the confundus charm still gripped him and he took a few steps forward toward her before her last spell hit him square in the chest.

As his legs began to dance uncontrollably, his movement forward stopped as he flailed his arms, trying to regain his balance.

He failed. Falling to his bottom, Tiberius' legs still flailed in front of him as he stared across the arena at the motionless form with stone shoes. It was only then that he realized that others were around.

Were watching.

Even more confused that before, Tiberius called out into the stands. "Isn't anyone going to help us??"

Who would have thought that these two youngsters could put on such a good show?

Samuel was elated, not that it showed on his face. It had worked! His idea of students dueling had just proved to be a very lucrative one.

Stepping into the arena, he almost laughed in the kid's face. Help them? Why would he want to help them? They had done what he wanted and now he had no use for them.

Tapping his wand on the boy's shoulder, Samuel spoke in a low voice. "Go back to the castle boy." He then made his way over to the young girl, the one he had taken a liking to at the bar.

Well not anymore.

She lost.

Samuel tapped her with his wand and looked down at her, "Get yourself back to school princess."

He tucked his wand back up his sleeve and turned back to the spectators, with a broad smile. "And that is only the beginning. Be sure to come back for round two."

When Prospero saw the scene taking place in the arena below he began to laugh. He snatched his own hat off of his head, held it in his lap and reclined as he enjoyed the spectacle of his dark horse shrunken small and dancing up a storm.

It was a good fight. He made up his mind to show for the second round as he moved to check out the other fights.

Tiberius looked up at the man who tapped him, sure about his purpose and no longer confused, though his legs still danced.

"Finite," he muttered, tapping his own legs with his wand before standing. Not even bothering to look at the girl, Tiberius gave a cursory glance around the arena before heading off into the dark to sneak back into the castle and up to bed.

Madiison blinked back to consciousness. What? Where was she? Blinking harder, the girl sat up and frowned as the events of the night came back to her.

Then she blinked again and saw the bartender was standing in front of her, telling her to go back to school.

...

No. NO! The duel could not be OVER already?! He had been confused! How could he WIN?! HOW. COULD. HE?!

And then the realization came crashing down on the poor, little, red head. She had LOST. L.O.S.T. It was on very rare occasions that Madiison ever lost because the girl didn't know how to handle loosing. And what made it worse? It was HER fault that she lost. The boy was NOT stronger or more informed than her. She had been WINNING.

Stupid confundus charm.

Turning on her heels, the girl sniffed once as she disappeared into the forest once again, her tears ready to burst forth.

Madiison Winloch had LOST.

Deep in the heart of the Forbidden Forest an underground dueling arena has been set up. A few random students have been selected to participate in these duels.



ROUND 2

NANCY HUDONSON VS REESE UPSTEAD



Place your bets.