Closed for once, just let go

[Hinata Edogawa]

Whether this was one of Hinata's better or worse ideas was quite debatable. She supposed she should take comfort in the fact that there weren't three of them today. Ever since she'd told Mikael that she was entertaining - not deciding, or considering, merely entertaining - the idea of quite impossibly being an Auror, her cousin had been on the warpath. Last year, when the triplets and Sayuri entered Hogwarts, she'd told herself that she wanted to be someone her younger siblings could look up to. Being an all-P student wasn't exactly worth looking up to. And so, she'd thrown herself to her studies with a vigor that had not been there before, wherein it showed that she wasn't exactly as hopeless as she'd thought herself to be. It opened doors for her to consider, and she did not expect the sudden interest in pursuing a career relating to Defense. When she'd told Mikael about it, he told her, quite harshly, to not even bother considering the career until she'd gotten her duelling up to par. And by par, he meant that she hold her ground - at the minimum - in the Duelling Tournament. He'd helped her train of course, and while she knew that her cousin wasn't who he liked to portray - he sure was mean with a wand. And then he'd brought along Horror and Terror in on the fun. Practice with them did have it's results in the form of her actually winning the tournament for her year. And because Mikael was a mean... cousin... he said that he would accept her decision after seeing her performance for this year's Duelling Tournament. Again. Mean. Which is how it led to this, her panting as she held her wand standing across Horror for their regular duelling practice. Or as she liked to call it, her regularly scheduled beatdown.​

 

[Horror Zhefarovich]

It was rare for someone like Horror Zhefarovich to take time out of his day for anyone except Astraea Vale. And here he was, in the Duelling Chamber to help Hinata Edogawa. He doubted that she would really succeed in another dueling tournament. It had to be luck, honestly. Even now, she was panting trying to duel against him while Horror just stood there, like a statue. And no, she did not petrify him or turn him to stone. He was just like that naturally. Would Hinata actually end up doing well in a career with defence? Probably not unless she had the proper guidance. Under three very hard, stern, cold, and manipulative Slytherins. Horror sighed as he asked in his normal, monotone voice, "Are you even trying, Hinata? I'm not even tired." Horror lowered his wand to his side as he wondered what else he could teach her. "You need to mean it. Try to actually hurt me."​

 

[Hinata Edogawa]

Hinata knew she'd improved greatly from when she first started training with the Slytherins - there was probably a better way to call her cousin and his friends, but since the three of them were pretty much the Slytherins she interacted with on a daily basis, she figured there was no harm in calling their trio that. They'd probably take calling them "Slytherins" better anyway than "the trio". Anyway, she knew that she'd improved because Mikael had wiped the floor with her during those first few duels. Now, well, calling it a stalemate would be a stretch, but Hinata had turned out to be very capable of defending herself even against the three of them on a good day. While she wouldn't come out unscathed in practice with the three of them, she was pretty good at dodging and blocking their spells. The main issue that they were having was her attacking. "I am trying," she insisted, muttering a few curse words in Japanese as she stood straight, rolling her shoulders as she almost glared at Horror. She knew he was right. She could throw the spells, the issue was how effective they were. The spells collapse too easily against the shields with barely an attempt to break through a shield. She always hesitates to throw a particularly nasty spell at the last moment. It's what they've been trying to remedy in the last few weeks. "But I don't actually want to hurt you," and therein lay the problem. She had no problem casting explosive and nasty spells at the dummies, but casting them on her duelling partners and friends was a whole other thing. ​

 

[Horror Zhefarovich]

Horror raised an eyebrow as she said that she was trying. Not hard enough, in his opinion. But she was not exactly as harsh as the other ones training her. She was not helpless though. That he will say. Even if it is not aloud. The other language was something that he noted, which he assumed that it was not exactly safe for school ears. Horror likely heard the English version of it. And then she said that she really did not want to hurt him. He let out a sigh, and pointed out, "When dueling is up and open, you cannot think of your opponent as your friend anymore. They are the enemy, and you must win at all costs." Horror approached the Hufflepuff, and put his wand away. He pointed to one of the dummies, and practically ordered, "Cast your most offensive, destructive spells on that. But picture another sixth year. Not me. Not Mikael. Someone random."​

 

[Hinata Edogawa]

It was probably an understatement to say that Hinata was getting frustrated. She trusted Mikael, Horror, and Terror. They were harsh with their methods but she couldn't deny they were effective. Still, getting beaten up by one of them on a good day in duelling hadn't been on Hina's bucket list when she'd entered school. Still, it seemed like all three of them had taken offense when she'd said she was considering getting into a career that involved Defense. Now that they've made her practice so much, it was going to be annoying if she went anywhere else. Because then it would feel like all those bruises and whatever injuries she'd gotten from the three of them would feel like an utter waste. And now Horror was preparing her for the upcoming Duelling Tournament again, because apparently being last year's Champion was not enough for the three and they were - to put it mildly - insisting that she sign up again this year and perform well. What they consider to be well, and what she considers to be well was definitely going to be vastly different but it wasn't like any of the three of them ever took no for an answer. @ssholes, the three of them. She probably shouldn't be this annoyed though, not at practice. Mikael would surely get on her case for it, but boohoo he wasn't exactly here now was he since she was pretty sure he was off gallivanting with Elio - poor soul. "I know that," she snapped at Horror because they had been at this for hours. Days. Weeks. But it wasn't like the two of them were in an official duel now were they? Frustration getting the best of her, she put more power into the spell than she normally would have, "CONFRINGO!" she cast, barely seconds after Horror had given the instruction. The dummy exploded, which meant she had to put a shield up quickly just for the parts that had flown off. She then glared petulantly at it before she had to cast a Reparo on it... multiple times. "Satisfied?" she glared at Horror.​