Closed Double, Double, Dueling Trouble

[Juniper Zumwalt]

Juniper had been reveling in her victory last year, even explaining things in intense detail to her father. While he wasn't the biggest fan of magic, he appreciated her competitive sprit. Having reenacted the spells she used and dodged, it seem like their relationship had grown over the break. Her mother, on the hand, was just worried about her getting hurt even though Juniper reassured her that they would never be put in really terrible danger. Or, at least, she assumed the professors would stop things before it got really bad.

That being said, the Ravenclaw was not going to let up this year and planned to get in as much practice as possible. While she didn't intend to be a professional duelist or anything, the practice couldn't hurt, and it was the principle of the thing, really. Grabbing a dummy, she started to get setup so she could begin going over some of the fifth year spells.

@Blake Irons

 

[Blake van Houten]

Being back at Hogwarts, Blake was finding it hard to really know what to do with himself. It was a relief actually having friends for the first time in years, not to mention Lars, but even then... he knew he needed to be preparing for the future on his doorstep, but he didn't really know what shape that was going to take. He had begun making lists of the Quidditch teams he'd like to play for and when they had tryouts, listing down other skills and trying to figure out just about anything he could do with them to make money. With no family to back him, he had no choice but to be self-sufficient as soon as he graduated. It had felt like a hopeless endeavour for a while, before Blake had fit on the obvious. He had won the duelling championship a couple of times now, and that was a pretty worthwhile skill. Plus, it would be really nice to destroy Tyler at his own game again after their argument at the end of last year. So with the thought of duelling as a possible backup career, Blake headed down to get some practice in, making a mental note to make this part of his routine. He smiled in greeting when he saw a younger girl there, recognising her as another one of the winners. "Hey." He said, raising a hand in greeting as he moved to set up a practice dummy. "Hope you don't mind company."

 

[Juniper Zumwalt]

Juniper had just sent an attempted stinging hex at the dummy when she heard someone else enter the chamber. She recognized him somehow and couldn't quite place it at first, until she realized he was on the Slytherin quidditch team. Gosh, how she wished they could be dethroned. "Oh, hi, no problem. Just practicing," she said, quickly turning back towards her dummy. "Incendio," she said, throwing her favorite spell at the inanimate person as she watched the head burst into flames. Smirking, she turned back towards the older boy. "You play quidditch, right?" she asked, hoping this was in fact who she thought it was. It wasn't always easy to recognize students on the ground when you'd only seen them fly quickly in the air.

 

[Blake van Houten]

Blake nodded slightly when the girl said she didn't mind company, quiet as he set his dummy up to practice. He looked back over at her question though, snorting softly as he nodded. "I'm the captain." He confirmed, letting go of his dummy once it was ready to go and stepping back closer to her and trying to recognise the girl, though without Quidditch gear it was quite a task. "....you play too?" He asked hesitantly, giving up on the task.

 

[Juniper Zumwalt]

Juniper shot a spell to blow the fire out, watching what was left of the head begin to smoke. "Oh, right. You're the reason Slytherin won't share the cup," she laughed. When it was suggested that he didn't know who she was, Juniper felt a little hurt. Even though she'd only been on the team for a year, she thought her playing was rather good and deserved recognition. "Reducto," she shot at the dummy, watching it slam back into the wall before quickly turning back to the boy. "I'm one of the beaters," she said with a blank face, twirling her wands in her fingers. "I'm Juniper." Summoning the dummy back to her side, she picked off a few burnt pieces that were still smoking and stomped on them.

 

[Blake van Houten]

Blake drew his wand, snorting softly at the girl's comment. "It's a team effort." He said calmly, though it felt good to be recognised for his skill. He watched her spell strike the dummy, giving a low whistle of admiration. He nodded when the girl introduced herself, glancing at the remains of her dummy. "So I shouldn't get on your bad side on or off the pitch. Gotcha." He said with a small grin. "I'm Blake." He added, almost forgetting to introduce himself properly. "That spell was good."

 

[Juniper Zumwalt]

Juniper took a moment and realized she actually did recognize Blake from more than just the field. "You're with one of our captains, right?" she asked, recalling someone kissing someone last year and then hearing things from her roommates. "But yeah, definitely don't cross me," she joked, giving him a wink. "I'm Juniper. And thanks. I'm the current dueling champion and imagine I will remain so after this year," she said in all seriousness.

 

[Blake van Houten]

"Uh... yeah, I'm dating Lars..." The words still felt strange in Blake's mouth, an admission he had been too afraid to say out loud for so long. He couldn't help the grin of pride that spread across his face though, remembering that he could say it, that there was nothing to fear any longer. "And I'm, uh... I'm friends with Minnie too." He added quickly, hoping to clear the air in case the girl was remembering his explosive date with Minnie from the last Yule Ball. He chuckled softly when she introduced herself, giving a small nod of recognition. "Well, one duelling champion to another, it's nice to meet you." He said, slightly pointedly, unable to help the slight spike of competitivity. He only had one year left to hold onto his title, and beating Tyler this year would be just about the most gratifying experience he could imagine.

 

[Juniper Zumwalt]

Juniper smiled when the boy confirmed her knowings. He seemed to be hesistant to share the information about his friendships with her. She wasn't too close to the captains but knew them well enough for her liking. Minnie was a little too serious for her. Surprised to hear he was also a dueling champion, Juniper tried to rack her brains for any name recognition. "Oh my gosh, Blake, right? You would think I would recognize everyone in this place by now, but sometimes the actually name just," she said, making a whooshing noise as her hand went past her head, "goes over my head. Are you going to duel again this year?" she asked curiously, wondering if there ever might be a point they did cross year duels.

 

[Blake van Houten]

Blake laughed a little sheepishly when he realised he had forgotten to actually give Juniper his name. "That's me." He nodded, giving a small smile. It felt good to be recognised for his duelling successes, as they usually took a bit of a back seat to his Quidditch prowess. He nodded in response to her question, grinning slightly. "Gotta hold onto the throne, right? Can't let Tyler think he's got anything over me." He felt a little bad badmouthing Tyler to another member of the club, but Blake had given Tyler more than enough chances to repair their broken friendship. It was pretty clear that he had chosen a different path, and Blake wasn't part of that.