Closed The Worst Isn't Over

[Caleb Thorne]

Caleb held his wand tightly in his hand and shook his head to get his curly hair out of his eyes. Some of it stuck where he had started to sweat. His mother had told him to get a hair cut before school started but he had refused. He had pulled out one of the practice dummies and placed it on the platform across from him. It wasn't quite the same as dueling an actual person but it was better than nothing. If he had to be at school for the whole year he didn't want to get sloppy. After trying his hand in a few tournaments over the holiday he had almost asked his mother about dropping out. But she was still new to her position in the ministry and he didn't want to stress her out. So he'd endure, for her sake at least. Also he was fairly certain Lila and Simon would have dragged him to the train in a rare show of cooperation from his older siblings. His next spell hit the dummy with a satisfying hiss as flames erupted around it. They went out quickly and he took a moment to catch his breath and properly push his hair away from his face.

 

[Celia Vuong]

As much as Celia enjoyed dueling, she had never been a fan of the dueling chamber. The dungeons in general were suffocating, and the chamber was no exception. However, ever since she'd been named the new Student Defence Association president, she'd started to spend more time there, viewing it as "her" space. The chamber was accessible to anyone in the school, of course, but Celia still saw herself as the person in charge of it by virtue of her new position.

There was an SDA meeting scheduled for later today, so Celia headed to the chamber early to collect a couple of practice dummies ahead of the event. She frowned when she saw that it was occupied by none other than Caleb. Technically, she could just come back later or quietly collect a couple of the other dummies to use instead, but what was the point of having authority if she didn't use it? Plus, he was in her territory. So Celia made her way over to the platform. "I hate to interrupt you while you're finally winning a duel," Celia said dryly, "but I need that dummy. SDA business," she explained with a smirk.

 

[Caleb Thorne]

Caleb hadn’t heard someone enter but he could feel himself involuntarily rolling his eyes when he heard Celia speak. He was honestly surprised it had taken her this long to find some way to hold her authority over him. But lucky for him he didn’t care for any authority, least of all hers. He placed his hands on his hips and made a show of looking around the chamber. "What business?" he asked. "I don't see anyone waiting."

 

[Celia Vuong]

Celia rolled her eyes at Caleb's theatrics. She didn't understand why some people thought her dramatic when there were people like Caleb out there. "You would know if you were a member." She had always wondered why he wasn't a part of SDA, though she was thankful he had never joined. Celia didn't want to spend any more time around Caleb than strictly necessary. Even now, she doubted the extra authority over him would be worth it, not when she already had plenty of power via her head girl position. "So I'll be taking that, thank you very much," Celia said, walking dismissively past him towards the dummy. She withdraw her wand and started to levitate it off the platform.

 

[Caleb Thorne]

Caleb scoffed as Celia tried to levitate the dummy away from him. With a quick accio he brought it back and he draped his arm around it to keep it in place. "You didn't answer my question." he said with a tilt of his head. He was annoyed but was trying to make his voice playful. If she wanted to boss him around she'd have to give him reasons but he wasn't going to be walked over. "I didn't see any flyers. What time is this 'business'?" he asked sarcastically.

 

[Celia Vuong]

Celia raised her eyebrows as Caleb summoned back the dummy and then wrapped his arm around it like a toddler refusing to give up their favorite toy. She twirled her wand between her fingers, idly debating what charm or transfiguration placed on the dummy would have the most amusing effect. "Well, you see, there's this little thing called owls," she said mockingly. "Makes flyers completely unnecessary." Why would she put up flyers for a routine club meeting? "Anyway, details about the meeting are for members only. Are you looking to join?" she asked, knowing full well he was not. Part of her was kind of hoping he'd say yes, though, just so she could tell him no.