Closed Hollow Victory

[Sydney Townsend]

The fifth years' round of duelling was over, and while Sydney had retained her status as undefeated for another year, she was still livid. Michael Newton had thrown their duel, whether out pity, or cowardice, or malice, she didn't know, but she did want to kill the idiot for it. Furious, Sydney had stalked from the main chamber once the final call had been made, aware that if she stuck around that lout a second longer she would likely do something she would regret. The last thing she needed was a repeat of her first year competing in the tournament.

It was a surprise to run into Ava still here, though Sydney supposed it wasn't like the Ravenclaw had any matches she needed to be on time for. If there were anyone else in this tournament harder done by than Sydney, it was probably Ava, with not a single competitor having the stomach to face her. "I'm not sure what's worse, ending up like you where everyone's too much of a coward to face you, or ending up like me and having your opponent throw their own duel cause they can't stomach you wiping the floor with them," She huffed, taking stock of the room before leveling her wand at one of the practice dummies nearby, blasting it with a reducto spell to ease some of her anger.

 

[Ava Lancaster]

The duelling tournament was one of the few things Hogwarts offered that Ava found interesting enough to partake in, so it came almost as a disappointment to find out she would not be competing in her final year at the school. She didn't look forward to many of the school events, but she had looked forward to this, and to find out she had won by default and would only be able to spectate everyone else's duels was...irksome. Only a small handful were ever enjoyable to watch each year, if that. The students lacked creativity. Drive. Strategy. It was simply a matter of teenagers shouting the same words at each other and hoping for the best, or children using schoolyard jinxes and laughing at how silly the whole thing was. It was dull. Ava wanted a competition.

The Ravenclaw had left the main chamber before the tournament had officially come to its close. If she wasn't able to duel a real opponent, she thought she'd make do with a dummy to sharpen her skills, though as she raised her wand at one, she didn't feel it was all that worth the effort. It wasn't fighting back. She lowered her wand and folded her arms, turning on her heel as someone else entered. Townsend, looking angry. Had she lost? No, it seemed not. She shook her head, an amused smile on her lips. "Are they so different? See it as an accomplishment of your abilities. We've made names for ourselves. Our names last far longer than we do." She commented. "I am glad you've won. Not that I had any real doubts about it. If you would like a real challenge, someone who isn't afraid you'd mop the floor with them, I wouldn't say no to a duel sometime." She suggested. She unfolded her arms, crossing over to stand beside Sydney as she aggressively worked over a dummy. "You're still relying on the frog-vomiting hex, from what I could hear. If you'd like, I could teach you something new." She offered. Amphibia Eructo had been a decent spell at an earlier level, certainly, but she wasn't about to graduate without sharing a little more knowledge with the only other person she'd met so far with as healthy an appreciation for the more obscure spells and magic.​

 

[Sydney Townsend]

Sydney barely withheld a sneer at Ava's comment. She was still roiling from the sheer insult of what Michael had pulled out on the duelling platform. Her name or legacy was the least of her worries. But she could appreciate Ava's point, her ego someone soothed by the implication that the other duelists were just scared of them. And that Ava seemed to agree they had reason to be. "It's frustrating. They treat it like a joke," She said sharply, breathing hard through her nose. "And I was disappointed to have to miss you having one last chance to show off," She added, a small kernel of humor, though it was truly tragic that Ava was kept out of the tournament simply because everyone was too cowardly to face her. Not for the first time, Sydney was glad she had taken over coverage of the tournament for the HM. No one would be forgetting either of them any time soon.

"I'd like to take you up on that," Sydney said slowly when Ava offered a chance for them to duel. The closest she had come to matching up against Ava had been when she'd taught her the frog vomiting curse, and it hadn't exactly gone well for Sydney. A real, no holds barred duel against her would be amazing, and while Sydney knew objectively she almost certainly couldn't win, the thought that she could, and could really impress Ava in the process, was enticing. She did have to bristle when Ava so casually implied Sydney was relying on the same old spell, starting to object until Ava offered to teach her something new. "I don't- I mean. What did you have in mind," She said, swallowing down her objections for the time being.

 

[Ava Lancaster]

As someone who took duelling seriously, Ava could understand where Townsend was coming from. It wasn't just some schoolyard game of throwing hexes back and forth and laughing about it. This was a tournament, and those who thought it was all fun and games never should have signed up. Like Quidditch, there were some serious duellists in the wizarding world. She uncrossed her arms and changed her stance as Townsend expressed interest in a new spell. She had to think for a brief moment, filtering through the spells she knew for one that wouldn't be too difficult to pick up, while also not being completely unchallenging. "Here, watch me." She instructed, lifting her wand toward the dummy Sydney had let her anger out on. She motioned a gesture in the air, slowly enough to be followed, and repeated it a second time, much more quickly. "Graviatus." She incanted. The dummys limbs creaked, groaned, and sagged, and it collapsed under its own increased weight. Ava lowered her wand. "This spell, it causes your opponents body to become heavier. Their limbs, so I hear, feel like lead, and they're not able to hold themselves up, let alone duel." She explained. "It's not an easy hex, but it is useful. And - It's far more humiliating having your opponent prostrate themselves to you, than disarming or stunning them. You may even find it useful outside of a tournament." She turned to the other girl with a look that conveyed an unspoken suggestion. She'd heard about her rivalry with the Holland boy, or better yet, whoever she'd just faced off against. She lightly and innocently shrugged her shoulders. "Like I said - Graviatus. Think "gravity"."​