One seventh year Hufflepuff that was Aditya Rehman? CHECK!


One Aditya Rehman dressed in his dueling gear? CHECK!

One Cutty Mordaunt? CHECK!

Adi found it kind of awesome that he had been paired with his favourite Slytherin of all time. When this was all over, he would be badgering his friend for some sweets. Those exotic ones had a soft spot in his Puffer heart. Hehe. Anyway…

He stood facing the familiar Slytherin, a cheery grin on his face. Hey, this may be a duel but it was a friendly one, yeah? “Ready when you are, Cutty!’’ His friend must be as eager as he was to get things started. Right! The grin was off his face now as he bowed then raised his wand. Time to get this show on the road!

‘’Locomotor Mortis!’’ Purple light shot from his Hippogriff feather core wand, towards Cutty. Non verbal spells for the world, yo!

There was Rehman. Lookin' all suave like and handsomely. There was a reason indeed why Cutty favoured the Hufflepuff and why Adi was one of the VERY few people Cutty considered a friend. He was a skillful boy. A skillful boy who had the decency to be discrete about it. Adi Rehman could keep secrets. It was almost Slytherin of him. Even down to the charming, friendly demeanour and sheer determination to win. He was glad to have been paired with him. Not only for his fondness but for the fact that Adi Rehman WOULD challenge him.

Once he was suited up, he returned Adi's smile and bowed.

Rehman took the first cast. Wordlessly.


Niiiice!

He saw the purple light but did not recognize it as a leg locker.

"Pro..!" Before Cutty could finish, however his ankles and knees were draw together as if by a very strong magnet and slowly started to numb. So it was a leg locker curse. That explained the purple. He flopped to the ground like one of the merrows from the lake and took his duelers wand, the silver spear, the aspen and hippogriff feather and aimed.

"Tarantallegra!" He fired at the tall, dark Hufflepuff as he realized he'd never really seen Adi dance. He wished there was someone here to bet against that Adi could indeed bust a move. You know, just for the sake of having another little side hustle. "Finite." He casted against his own legs and stepped around his opponent for the tilt on the floor, immediately taking the high ground as he considered the sorcerer Zhuge Liang and his 36 Stratagems.

Adi had been taken aback that his spell actually found Cutty. He had been expecting the cunning boy to expertly block it. But this was not the case. He couldn't help but help smirk at the sight of his friend's feet locking solidly together then landing in a heap on the floor. Yep! Like a boss Adi had succeeded! But no time to celebrate that victory! Here came Cutty's return spell!

HE WAS READY!

"Protego!''

Or not.

The Hufflepuff suddenly found his feet jerking in every direction. UGH! Cutty would pay for these weird, silly moves that he was doing here as he struggled to keep his balance, his hands flailing this way and that.

CUTTTTTTY, you were soooo in for revenge!

The Slytherin wanted a show it seemed, so Adi would give him one! Or at least he hoped he could. After successfully ending the Dancing Feet charm, he settled on the spell that came to him next. "CANTIS!'' Again, it was non verbal. That's how he casted all of his spells these days, anyway. Come on, Mordaunt! SING! Haha.

Laughter. That's what ensued once his dancing spell hit Aditya. "Yeaaaah, git it, Adi!" He said through laughter, moving his arms in a dancer-like manner along with the Pufferton's crazy legged motion. He couldn't wait to demonstrate for his friend just what this looked like in practice. There would be a dramatic campfire re-enactment.

By strange coincidence, because he'd been singing to his plants earlier that day, Addi casted Cantis straight at the Slytherin. He didn't freeze this time, though and he had his wand ready. But instead of deflecting he verbally casted upon himself the Feather Light charm and floated (almost swam) to safety.

The hardly-freckled-anymore kid landed slowly onto the ground and pointed his wand into his palm. "Inanimatus Conjurus." He said calmly, the tip of his wand backing out of his palm as the palm filled with a sphere of rubber. Just an ordinary toy rubber ball. What was he gonna do with that? Bounce. Catch. Bounce. Catch. And so on and so forth. Cutty smiled a hellish and baboonish grin at his Hufflepuff friend as if to say, 'Are yer ready?'

DRAT!

No revenge for that Slytherin that was Cutty. Adi watched as the other boy floated away. Call him Mr Impressed but this was NOT the time to be showing appreciation for his friend's skills. But what was Cutty's plans with conjuring THAT ball? The Hufflepuff raised an eyebrow slightly as the ball was bounced and caught? The grin did nothing to unfaze him. On contrary, he aimed to use his charms and good looks to hopefully help him out here.

"Hey, Cutty. Still got a thing for my good looks, right? I think you'd have liked me and my face even more because I definitely got more good lookin'.'' Hehehe. But uhhh, were Benny or AJ up in those stands watching this duel? They should know he was just using those flirty words as a distraction tactic while he cast this spell at Cutty... ''Levicorpus!''

Note from Ref:

Sorry these things weren't outlined clearly before....

• 1) If you are using non-verbal spells, be be advised that they cost an additional -25 magic points on TOP of the cost of using that spell. Please clarify whether a spell is non-verbal or not.
  
  
• 2) If you cast a spell, or try, and it fails for your character (as in YOU RP it not working) point loss still occurs for the attempt to cast (think of the energy a wizard/witch has to expend trying to do magic)
  
  
• 3)Also, don't worry about putting a point tracker at the top of your post. Please just (in the title of your post, put Health, Magic, and Fatigue points at the START of that post (so whatever they were ending at the last post and BEFORE any spells hit or other spells are cast)....
  
  i.e. Post A ends with 20 Health, 5 Magic and 0 Fatigue --> please title post B with the same. (Just makes for easier point tracking :3)
  
  
• 4) Fatigue points are ONLY depleted if you are doing a physical attack or maneuver to defend against an attack. Duelers can move about freely, jump on the spot and so forth, so long as they aren't actively defending against an attack or doing an offensive attack

Another Note from Ref:

Still working out the kinks. Here are two important spell updates. If you have already used these spells, don't worry about them, please still follow through as per the previous guidelines/point systems for the spells. If you haven't, and are considering them, these are the new rules for Expelliarmus and Stupefy. See the Q & A thread for more details

SPOILER!!: Expelliarmus

• Expelliarmus: Disarms the target (of whatever they are holding) and can be used to knock-back a target if cast forcefully enough
  • Caster Points:
    • H: 0
    • M: -10
    • F: 0
  • Opponent Points:
    • H: -15
    • M: -15 (ONLY if spell disarms caster of wand)
    • F: 0
  • Additional Effects: If hit by the spell, victim MUST loose their grip on whatever they are holding. If it is their wand, -15 magic points applies. If their wand is disarmed, the victim can go after it without a cost of loosing fatigue points.

After Blaise Bellaire was knocked-out with a stupefy spell, it has been banned from the club. Reason for this is that the Tournament Duels are supposed to help students practice dueling, and having a K/O isn't the best way to do this. Therefore, Stupefy will be a spell permitted only in practice sessions and Challenges, as per the new point system:

SPOILER!!: Stupefy (NO longer permitted in tournaments)

• Stupefy: Stuns and knock's-out target
  • Caster Points:
    • H: 0
    • M: -100
    • F: 0
  • Opponent Points:
    • H: -100%
    • M: -100%
    • F: -100%
  • Additional Effects: If hit, the victim will be rendered unconscious. For this reason, it is not permitted in the dueling arena. Only in practice duels and the Challenges.

Addi was doing something. It was very unhufflepuff-like and yet it was pure puff. What if that was the way Adi flirted when he got AJ's attention? Cutty imagined the scenario and was amused quite thoroughly. It wasn't bad. Not like false modesty. Adi knew he was THE Hufflepuff. He was smart, applied himself and ambitious. Claiming it wasn't a thing.

With a shrug Cutty agreed, "Yeah, maybe I do." Cause why deny it. "I mean yer still good lookin'." And then he felt the weightlessness again as the spell hit him. His ankles drug out from under him and were soon at his sides. Cutty made sure to not lose his grip on either his wand or his toy ball as he soon found himself upside down. This position, floating in the ether of the Defense Hall upside down, left him with other opportunities.

"Draconifors." He whispered directing the spell toward the ball and releasing it. It bounced on the floor and did immediately what things effected by this spell do. It grew to a very large size then slowly unraveled like a shiny red python coming out of a ball revealing it's Chinese Fireball form.
"Here, boy. Here." He said, calling the dragon to come and get him. The moment was slightly reminiscent of the jungle challenge Professor Bellaire had them complete as the serpentine creature hovered near him. "Coom 'ed now, Adi. Make a dragon too and we can fight 'em." He said with a grin.

Look at that. His little distraction worked! Cutty was now dangling by his ankle. Adi smirked. He would have to keep up this flirty thingy as best as he could. "Thanks. I know you'll always think that.'' His smirk widened somewhat before his facial expression turned into one of mild confusion at the sight of the Chinese Fireball.

"Letting dragons fight your battles now, Cutty?'' he asked as he causally dragged a hand through his hair so that it was toussled slightly. "But I'll humour you.'' Yes, he will... "Inanimatus Conjurus!'' A small rock appeared at his feet. "Draconifors!'' The transformation began but his choice of dragon? A Norwegian Ridgeback since Cutty had chosen the Liondragon.

So now he would await Cutty's move, yeah? While in his head, he worked to figure some strategies.

H'mm. Would he always think that? Probably. Adi was just Cutty's type, but it made little sense to try and draw water from a chalkboard. It was beyond his alchemical ability and he had neither desire nor will. There was only ever one thing Cutty didn't accept at face value. Aditya Rehman he could take with sugar or salt and it made him no nevermind. Thus his feelings for the Hufflepuff always remained amicable. So, he blew at kiss at Aditya Rehman for lulz.

"We 'ad ter do soomthin', mate. Yer were runnin' on low magic." And Cutty enjoyed a good long duel. He twirled his silvery wand between his thumb and his forefinger playfully whilst he eyed up the Ridgeback Adi had conjured. The most eye-catching thing about it immediately drew him in, those prominent black ridges all along it's back. Cutty looked into the creatures bright yellow eyes and noted how they were neither lizardlike, nor like any feline. There was something other worldly about them. Something a ways away from the world of the muggles and indeed even from their world. He liked it. Beverly was right.

"Attack." He said to his Liondragon. The Fireball zagged, it's peculiar motion making it a bit difficult to tell where it would end up next as if a flock of birds were flying the dragon. It got into defensive posture and a puff of fire erupted from it's snout, round and mushroom cloud-like. It lit up the room in a quickish sort of flash. Cutty backed up knowing that the Ridgeback was one of the more aggressive breeds. Best put on a shield charm. "Protego."

When he had seen the first dragon pop up, admittedly he had been impressed. Apparently the spell learned over a year ago was coming in just handy dandy. It would be interesting to see ----

Cue blank stare of disbelief. Had Mordaunt just.....?

And what was this? Adi was agreeing to it? Apparently so, as a second dragon popped up. Needless to say, his level of impress had dropped a fair cue. True, he hadn't put up any rules against this, but he hadn't expected this. He'd have to take a good hard look at some of the spells.

For now, the matter had to be dealt with. Pushing away from the wall where he had been leaning, Sabel marched to center stage, flicking his wand in the process to send a green spark across the dueling space, the signal for a halt in the duel.

"Mr. Morduant, Mr. Rehman. While your magical finesse is impressive, need I remind you that you are here to duel each other and not to have your own version of a rooster fight."

His gaze slipped between the two boys. "In your own time, if you must, and away from eyes that might find it an offensive show." There were some who might not see the difference between a transformed ball or stone dragon and a real one.

"Here and now, you are expected to match yourselves to each other." He gave each of the dragons a side eye, and then with a flick of his wand cast a quick finite on them both. "If you are to use any transformed dragons, make sure it is to assist you in dueling your opponent. If this were a duel against a dark wizard, you'd both be dead quicker than your dragons."

A bit harsh? Maybe. But the point of the duel was to learn, and by Merlin this was an opportunity.

He took a few steps back. "Given you've both used the same amount of magic, no recompense will be provided. You may resume."



OOC: Hey guys! So I know it wasn't in the rules as to what you can/can't do with transformation spells. Gotta say, this was quite the creative read!

There have been a few notes with transformation spells that I have to look in at. This is just a great opportunity to address one I didn't think of, so thank you! Sooo, end result of this is that transformations can be used, but not to pit against one another (if it so happens that it helps defend against another transformed creature, then that's fine). As Sabel's taking it ATM, is that they are being pitted against one another.

There will also be a few changes in MP's that have cropped up (particularly that to control a transfigured creature costs 25% of the magic it took to cast it, and any spells cast by the transfigured creature must be deducted as per the spell point system). Again, this is all coming from working out the kinks, and I thank you for being part of helping me with that! (However unintentionally XD)

Please don't take it personally, OOC and IC are separate as always.

Oh, Merlin, Cutty! LOL!

Determined to keep up with his flirty actions to keep the Slytherin even a tad distracted, Adi playfully caught the kiss with his right hand as he winked. ''It means nothing,'' he thought, knowing his best friend was watching from the stands. Surely Benny would know that.

Ah, but his flirting wasn't the only thing that was distracting the Slytherin. Obviously the transfigured Ridgeback was one too. Adi smirked. "You care about me so much, don't you?'' But then the first attack was about to go down! Adi raised his wand, ready to defend himself and his precious dragon.

Wait... green sparks and the duel came to a stop.

The Hufflepuff watched as Dakest come forward, chiding them about their use of the dragons and then using that spell so as to put an end to both of them. He looked sheepishly at his Professor. Gosh, the man was right. They were here to fight their own battles. "Right you are, Professor. Sorry about that.''

He looked back at Cutty, already chosen a spell. Out aloud, Adi threw the incantation for the Bat Boogey Hex at him. If this spell hit, then it would be an excellent opportunity for the Puff to finish up this duel.

Cutty felt himself becoming rather excited as the prospect of an oncoming dragon fight. He was half tempted to start a betting pool, cause why not make a bit of side cash whilst you were at it? Multitasking. Then the flash of green and their Defense teacher was addressing them.

"Awww! Sorry, Professor Dakest. I got distracted. Don't be too mad at Adi anyway. It was all my idea. He was joost tryin' ter be a good mate is all. I dursent let it happen again, though." The Slytherin explained in his thick Mersey accent. Would there be a points deduction? Adi would HATE that and probably never duel Cutty again. Come to think of it, it was truly remarkable how despite Cutty's multitude of bad ideas and Adi's good natured compliance the two boys managed to remain out of trouble for as long as they had. Cutty chocked it up to a mixture of it-would-manifest-when-they-were-adults and his own cleverness. Then he imagined them speeding through the troposphere on a stolen magic carpet that neither of them stole but somehow managed to end up with ...


...cause Slytherpuff.


Resuming, though. The thought on reminding his friend where his heart laid flittering off and becoming lost. Adi had fired a hex and it was one of Cutty's favourites. He'd used it against his sister and she always seemed to have something for it. "Avis." He spoke the incantation somewhat instinctively. The flock of black-capped chickadees bursted from the end of his wand and took the hit. A flurry of wings made loud flapping noises and turned this way and that through the air battling in mid-flight as the birds duked it out with Adi's hex. The chaos of the scene, the Slytherin found almost artistic.

Freebie. Cutty loved freebies. Even if someone were handing out travertine tacos Cutty would line up if there were any line to be queued into. If it was free, he'd take it. AND he'd use it. The Professor getting rid of their dragons was no exception here. Remembering that he took the high ground of their tilted space earlier, Cutty aimed at the rubber toy once more. "Engorgio." The increased volume of the ball combined with the tilt of the room had the thing rolling directly at his dueling partner. No time for love, Doctah Jones when something the size of a small boulder is rolling right at you.




[ooc note : This will be about 70% of what Cutty does. He thinks in a somewhat unconventional manner and often does things that even I can't really predict. I'm thinking of having him draft a series of dueling stratagems and taking them to Dakest for feedback. It could give you an ooc idea of how unconventionally he uses magic/how we all can and Dakest a look into one of his students. Good idea? Bad idea? ]

Adi shook his head. "It was just as much my fault,'' he told Cutty but all the same appreciative of the defense. That Slytherin was an awesome friend. Mhmm. And if the Hufflepuff only knew what Cutty was thinking, he would be doubled up in amusement. Such imagination, Mordaunt.

Smart. Very smart and maybe heartless? Adi was referring to Cutty using the birds to take the fall for his spell. He tried not to be distracted by the flapping and other chaos up above because at any second, his friend would retaliate. Sure enough...

OH MERLIN!

It was a bigish rubber ball rolling right at him!

Thank the Hippogriffs and Dragons Adi could keep his head on right.

He quickly rolled to the side and out of the way so that the ball harmlessly sailed past him, thudding into the wall behind him. Wasting no time, he cast another spell- the Bubble producing spell which hopefully would slow his friend down. And just look at those different coloured bubbles!

If you had asked 3rd year Cutty to explain the Bubble Spell, he would've told you everything he'd read that day on it. That is, he would've said that it produces an array of bubbles in many colours that cannot be popped. Too bad 3rd year Cutty wasn't there that day to remind his older and present self that they were more or less invincible as far as bubbles go. He stabbed his rapieresque wand at one of them as the bubbles formed what was nearly a solid wall of their clear and round bodies and found that it went clean through, but did NOT burst the bubble. He tried another and found that his wand was thrown back at him with about the same amount of thrust he'd put behind his jab. It did not burst.

That was when he recalled what the spell was, but by then the bubbles were too numerous to see his target. Cutty was agitated. They were burst-proof, but did that mean that they would block all magic? He considered options like Depulso and Descendo before pausing and realizing the advantage. If he couldn't see Adi, then Adi couldn't see him either. Yaaaassssssss....

"Geminio." He said aiming his wand at himself and making Double Cutty. One of the Cutty's stepped forward through the bubbles, thick as fog. He kept moving until he was right next to Adi and waiting until the bubbles cleared to let Adi know he was there.

The THICK wall of bubbles, yo! Adi had not expected it to be THAT thick. Woops? He squinted through his glasses, keeping a sharp eye out for Cutty. That dude sure was sneaky and Adi knew he had better keep his head in the game. Of course, he had no inkling of what was going to happen. Not until he heard the incantation that had been cast. Cutty probably didn't realise that it hadn't been exactly whispered. However, this meant something was being duplicated. But WHAT?

Gosh! He had better keep his eyes peeled. And his ears. Nose, too? And sixth sense. Mhmm. It was a lucky thing he kept his senses up. He 'felt' something moving about beside him even though he could see nothing but bubbles. The bubbles had it's advantage for him too, remember? It could slow an opponent down so without hesitation, the Puff darted behind that enlarged rubber ball. It had hit against the wall and rebounded slightly, leaving enough room for Adi to hide behind and be able to peer out from at the same time.

Awesomeee!

Now the bubbles were starting to clear and Adi decided he should work fast while they were still there. ''Carpe Retractum!'' His target? At the precise area where he had felt something lurking before he had taken off. Hopefully, the bubbles could still slow whatever it was he was aiming at.

The apologies got an acknowledging look, but no more, as Sabel took his place on the sidelines. He wouldn't hold a grudge, so long as the students learned, but that didn't mean he had to be all cheery faced right after the fact.

What could have made him laugh, however, was how quickly the tables turned on the duel. From battling dragons to massive rubber balls, bubbles and double Mordaunt's. It was like some sort of freaky magic show. Which, he supposed, could technically be the definition of most duels.

It was a pity then, when the grandfather clock struck and the shield wall went up. Just when things had been getting back on track and interesting. With a sigh, Sabel pushed himself away from the wall once again and cast finite on the room, vanishing all the bubbles and Mordaunt-double inclusive.

"Well imagined, the both of you." Though, there could only be one winner, couldn't there? "Remarkably close. Morduant, congratulations on being the winner of this duel." And yes, he got a little gold spark to go off over his head. "But only by a hair-width."

----------------------
OOC: Thanks so much for dueling! It was an awesome read! Duel is now officially over. I will have next pairs up by the end of the Second Meeting