Y44 Duelling Match #11

Professor Gabrielle Moncrieffe

Professor Gabrielle Moncrieffe

Alleged Adult | Exists on Stress | HoM 1-4
 
Messages
444
OOC First Name
Camilla
Blood Status
Mixed Blood
Relationship Status
Single (Not Looking)
Wand
Straight 15" Ash Wand, Essence of Mermaid Scale
Age
43
@Celia Vuong v @Caleb Thorne

Gabrielle was quite excited to have the opportunity to proctor the duels this year. She so rarely got to see the students' spellwork in action and was very keen to see what they could do and what sort of tactics they would employ. She also knew this match between the seventh years would be a big one. Even though she hadn't had the opportunity to teach this year level, she had seen what they could do in prior years and knew neither Celia nor Caleb would be willing to go easy. "Alright, let's have a good, clean duel. The winner of this duel will be our seventh year champion, but do please try and leave at least part of your opponent standing so there's something left to graduate. When you're ready, bow to your opponent and you may begin."

The duel begins now. You have 24 hours from this to post your first reply, or face disqualification. Once both duelists have posted, you will have 24 hours from your opponents post to reply, or be disqualified. Ensure that you use the spell list for guidance on age-appropriate spells, and read over the dueling rules and points system. Please also remember site rules apply, including power/god modding. You can find the site rules here. Duels will run until there is a winner or until 6 IRL days have passed, in which case the winner will be chosen by RNG. If you are knocked out or otherwise disarmed/incapacitated, or if you run out of points, you will lose and the duel will end. Have fun!

As an added note: Spectators are allowed to post in this topic once per competitors post, but are forbidden from directly interfering with the duels.

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[b]Current Points:[/b] 150
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[b]Action(s) Taken:
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Current Points: 150
Celia didn't need another dueling championship, but she was looking forward to adding one more to her already substantial collection. Thanks to Alicastell, she would never be able to match Leia's record, but she could at least tie with Sydney. Five straight championships. That was a respectable enough streak. Plus, if she won this tournament, she could shut out Caleb and ensure that he graduated without a single championship title to his name.

Perhaps she should have structured the pairings so that she and Caleb met during the finals, but that would mean either giving herself only one duel the entire tournament or sending him straight to the championship round — both intolerable options. This was less dramatic, but it was for the best. Celia was also sure she could more than make up for the lack of drama with her choice of spells. She stepped onto the platform, smirking slightly at Professor Moncrieffe's plea. If she could wipe Caleb's existence from the universe, she would. Celia bowed before shooting a forceful "Deprimo!" directly at him to set the tone for the duel.
Action(s) Taken: Cast spell
Point Changes: -5
Points Remaining: 145
 
Current Points: 150
Caleb had considered not signing up for the tournament this year. With Celia on a power trip he knew she'd be out for blood. It wasn't like he needed to prove himself. He had already started to make a name for himself on the amateur dueling circut. He could only enter a few over the holidays but it had gone well and now going back to school it felt silly. But he was optimistic this would be the year Celia would finally crack.

He took to the platform with ease and gave a very dramatic bow before readying his wand. Caleb was ready when Celia shot off the first spell and he cast a shield charm and smirked. "Glad you learned a new spell this year." he chuckled. "Levicorpus!"

Action(s) Taken:spell cast x2
Point Changes: -10
Points Remaining:140
 
Current Points: 145
Celia was still morbidly curious to know what happened when a person got hit by an exploding charm. Sadly it seemed she wasn't going to find out quite yet. She rolled her eyes at Caleb's comment, having dueled him enough times to know he was just trying to annoy her. He didn't have to speak to do that. Celia blocked his spell with a quick, "Protego," before sniping back, "I'm not surprised you haven't." She'd barely finished speaking when she subtly flicked her wrist, sending a silent Severing Charm towards Caleb, which she hoped would catch him off guard.
Action(s) Taken: Cast spell x2
Point Changes: -10
Points Remaining: 135
 
Current Points: 140
Caleb had always felt comfortable on the dueling platform. Welcoming the buzz of adrenalien as spells flew back and forth. "Don't need to." he said grinning as she blocked his spell and was quick to return fire. He threw up another shield charm and kept his cool. "Obscuro!" he cast next, one that had served him well in actual tournaments.

Action(s) Taken: spell cast x2
Point Changes: -10
Points Remaining: 130
 
Current Points: 135
Caleb seemed undaunted by the nonverbal attack, but at the same time, he was still using incantations. Celia wondered if he was even capable of nonverbal magic. She wasn't going to let her guard down either way, and she quickly cast another Severing Charm to slice apart the blindfold midair. "It's okay," she said in a condescending tone. "You can admit it if the new spells are too hard for you." Celia decided to go for a spell that wasn't on their syllabus next. "Defodio!" It was remarkable the number of different spells wizards had for destroying things. She just hoped one of them would eventually hit.
Action(s) Taken: Cast spell x2
Point Changes: -10
Points Remaining: 125
 
Current Points: 130
Caleb readjusted his grip on his wand and cast a shield charm in one movement. His heart was racing now but it felt good, and like he could finally think clearly. "Thank you for being so understanding." he said coolly. "But I think I manage just fine. Expulso!" he cast, honestly surprised she hadn't pulled this one out yet. She was predictable like that.

Action(s) Taken: spell cast x2
Point Changes: -10
Points Remaining: 120
 
Current Points: 125
Celia smirked when Caleb sent an exploding charm her way, positive that he'd chosen the spell specifically because of her goading. She carefully blocked it with a Protego Totalum, not wanting the spell to touch her or the surrounding platform. "Got something to prove?" she taunted before silently sending back a rope of Gubraithian fire. It probably wasn't necessary that she cast the spell nonverbally, but maybe he would mistake the flames for normal fire.
Action(s) Taken: Cast spell x2
Point Changes: -10
Points Remaining: 115
 
.Current Points: 120
Caleb was going to miss the banter. It might be unprofessional but it was what made the tournament fun. Celia's nonverbal magic was tricky. He was practicing it on his own but he wasn't comfortable enough to use it in a duel, yet. At least he could see hers coming after her come back as he watched her expression change ever so slightly. He cast a shield charm in time but he could feel the heat and he noticed a scorch mark on the stone floor. "No but it seems like you do." he smirked, knowing his next words might very well end up with him in the hospital wing. "Can't blame you. After your father." he said dryly and quickly cast his next spell. "Langlock!"

Action(s) Taken: spell cast x 2
Point Changes: -10
Points Remaining: 110
 
Veronique knew that many of the students loved to duel, but she was not one of them. And truly, it seemed that most of the Hufflepuffs agreed. This Hufflepuff, however, still wanted to go out and support anybody she knew, and at this point, the only duel she really planned to attend was Celia's. She definitely thought that Celia might find her a tad annoying, but she didn't care. If she showed her support for Celia, then the whole school would see that she was friends with someone like the Head Girl, and that the Head Girl liked her. She knew Celia had a bit of a reputation, but she just thought the girl knew what she wanted and fought for her it. Maybe there was more to it, but Veronique didn't care. As she took her seat, she placed her elbows on her knees to lean forward. There was a lot of banter happening in between spells, which just would make Veronique anxious, but then, again, she wasn't the one dueling. She couldn't quite make out all of it, but all she knew was that she wanted to visibly show support. "Get 'em, Celia!" she cheered, clapping as she stood for a moment and then quickly went back to her seat.
 
Current Points: 115
Last year, when Celia had still been in her season of retreat, Louis had tried to reassure her that everyone would be too scared to mention her dad to her face. While she was loath to ever give him credit, she'd started to think that maybe he was right. Maybe if she leaned into her intimidating reputation, maybe if she wielded her authority like a cudgel, then no one would be brave enough to gossip about her dad in her presence. Celia had no doubt that people talked behind her back, but as long as they were out of sight, she could pretend she had some scrap of dignity left.

Whether it was out of fear, pity, or ignorance, a surprising number of people had played along with this charade so far. But not Caleb. His comment shattered the illusion, and even worse, he'd done it in front of an audience. Suddenly Celia was 16 and back in the Great Hall, holding the remnants of an angry red howler. She was 15, seeing her family name torn apart in the headlines. She was 13 and in front of her first boggart, phantom laughter echoing everywhere. But whereas her younger selves had always frozen in place, her current self was alive with incandescent rage. Fury swept across Celia's face as she sidestepped the spell, not wanting to waste any time on a shield. At the same time, she slashed viciously with her wand, casting the one spell she'd wanted to use ever since she'd received that wretched howler. "Obliviate!"

Celia knew that destroying a single person's memory would not give her back her reputation, but she didn't care. Her secrets had been ripped from her, the most painful relationship of her life turned into fodder for school gossip. She just wanted to take it all back from one person. Just this once, she wanted to be the one to break something irreparable. Physical injuries could be healed, but the mind was a much more delicate matter, and right now, nothing less than causing Caleb permanent mental damage would satisfy her.
Action(s) Taken: Dodged, cast spell
Point Changes: -15
Points Remaining: 100
 
Current Points: 110
Caleb grinned as Celia finally slipped up and had to dodge his spell. It wasn't much in the grand scheme of things but it still felt like a victory. "You're getting sloppy!" he chided. It seemed after all this back and forth he had finally struck a real nerve with her and he wasn't about to back off just yet. Her spell was strong like always but lacked her typical finesse and he blocked it with a shield charm. "Oh, what? It's not like it's a secret." he said casually before firing off a quick tongue-tying curse.

Action(s) Taken: spell cast x2
Point Changes: -10
Points Remaining: 100
 
Gabrielle knew both these students would be giving it everything they had (and totally hadn't accidentally said it was the last duel forgetting there was another seventh year participating), but the second Celia pulled out an Obliviate she raised her own wand, on the off chance that Caleb wasn't going to be able to defend himself in time - although he was clearly competent enough to block it. They were both technically adults, but this duel was vicious and as a teacher she couldn't exactly have severe memory loss on her conscience. "Careful," she warned, eyes darting between the two of them (and standing at a safe enough distance). She wasn't going to stop the duel just yet, but knew if it spiralled further she might just have to. A part of her almost admired Caleb's shameless goading as a tactic (though the part of her that had to be a reasonable authority figure would have to admonish it if he didn't dial it back).
 
Current Points: 100
Celia noticed a flicker of movement out of the corner of her eye, and when she realized that Professor Moncrieffe had raised her wand, her anger took on a dimension of disbelief. Had the professor really planned on interfering to protect Caleb? This was a duel. Nothing was off-limits except the Unforgivables. Celia hadn't experienced such unfair proctoring since Alicastell, and in fact, she'd assigned herself Moncrieffe out of the mistaken belief that she would be more unbiased than Professor Castillo. But now Celia wished she'd had her head of house proctor instead.

Her mind was awhirl as she blocked Caleb's spell with a dismissive flick of her wand, barely registering his words. Part of Celia wanted to confront Moncrieffe, but there was a good chance that the professor would just end the duel and disqualify her (in which case she would need to escalate to Professor Alcott-Ward if she wanted anything done). And she wasn't even completely sure if Moncrieffe had been planning on blocking her spell.

Celia needed more time to decide. So she temporarily shelved her plans to use fiendfyre next — that spell was even riskier than Obliviate in terms of provoking unfair intervention — and instead threw a forceful "Deprimo!" at a spot on the platform next to Caleb, on the side closer to Moncrieffe. She wanted to obliterate Caleb, yes, but she knew she had a better chance of doing that if she either destabilized him first or restricted his movements by destroying enough of the platform.
Action(s) Taken: Cast spell x2
Point Changes: -10
Points Remaining: 90
 
Current Points: 100
Caleb was starting to feel more confident as the duel went on. After seeing Celia finally start to crack he felt invigorated and smirked when she didn't bother to respond to his comment. He also knew it would mean she would be even more vicious. But he was ready for that. She aimed her next spell off the the side but he wasn't about to let anything pass and he dove to block it with a shield charm. He would finish this on sold ground. "That's more like it. Completely predictable." he scoffed before firing back just as quick. "Incarcerous!"

Action(s) Taken: spell cast x2
Point Changes: -10
Points Remaining:90
 
Current Points: 90
Celia had entered this duel knowing she would be fighting one opponent. What she could not have anticipated was that she would have another person to contend with — the proctor. So while Celia silently noted the way she'd been able to force Caleb to dive to the side, she was also debating how best to address the problem that was Professor Moncrieffe. She knew she could win this duel the usual way, but she didn't want to just send Caleb to the hospital wing with some easily treatable injuries. She wanted to win this on her own terms.

The ropes had barely shot out of Caleb's wand when Celia summoned a wall of billowing flames. They collided violently with the rope, causing it to drop to the platform a safe distance away. Using the burning heap of rope as a distraction, Celia then immediately shot back an "Obliviate!" She had aimed the spell directly at Caleb, but it was Professor Moncrieffe who received her cold stare as Celia silently dared the woman to intervene.
Action(s) Taken: Cast spell x2
Point Changes: -10
Points Remaining: 80
 
Current Points: 90
Caleb straightened quickly and was solid in his footing by the time his ropes were in flames. He wasn't surprised by that move and silently hoped the smoke rising from the smoldering ashes at her feet might disrupt Celia's line of sight. Her next spell was aimed right at him and he blocked it easier than the last. If she wanted to wipe his memory she would have to try harder than that. He decided to add to the flames with his next move. "Confrigo!" Let her burn herself out for all he cared.

Action(s) Taken: spell cast x2
Point Changes:-10
Points Remaining: 80
 
OOCOut of Character:
24 hour warning! If neither of you are expelled or disqualified by causing grievous bodily harm/using dark magic, the duel will end in approximately 24 hours and a winner will be decided by RNG.
 
Current Points: 80
Professor Moncrieffe didn't appear to do anything about the Memory Charm, and for a moment, Celia wondered if she'd just imagined the woman raising her wand. But then she remembered the verbal warning, which had been unmistakable. Regardless of Professor Moncrieffe's intentions, she'd opened a Pandora's box of fury within Celia.

For all of her rule-stretching and norm-breaking over the years, Celia generally knew which lines shouldn't be crossed and had stayed within those confines. She'd had to, if she wanted to climb up the school hierarchy. But now she was at the top, and she'd gotten the thing she wanted most — her university acceptance letter. There was nothing left for her, and she was ready to burn everything down before she graduated and left this miserable place forever.

So as Caleb sent his next spell over, Celia knew instantly what she wanted to do next. Fiendfyre was technically considered "dark," and bringing it into a duel, especially a school duel, would be a massive break from etiquette. But she was pretty sure it wouldn't be against the rules. And that — combined with the boiling rage that had been building inside her ever since the howler last year — was enough to make her want to try. With one swipe of her wand, Celia cast a nonverbal Protego Totalum. And with the next, she began to utter the incantation for fiendfyre*.
Action(s) Taken: Cast spell x2
Point Changes: -10
Points Remaining: 70

*The spell isn't going to work. It'll just create some harmless light, so it's up to you whether you even want to block it!
 
Nobody had prepared Gabrielle for students seemingly trying to actually kill each other. Or at least cause severe damage to each other. She really needed the opportunity to interact with the older students more, although even the younger students seemed to have problems. The rules were so nebulous, but she kept her wand at the ready just in case she had to stop things. She wasn't really sure at which point she should, though. It was a competition, between adults - but adults she still had a legal responsibility to protect.

"Celia, don't do something you'll regret," she ended up saying almost a little lamely. It wasn't as though she had any stakes in one student winning over the other, the way she saw it they were both talented and ferocious duelists. Caleb had really seemed to get under Celia's skin, but his skill with a wand wasn't anything to sneeze at - nor was Celia's own skill. And she knew she shouldn't have been getting involved until after any damage was done. But she knew Celia was intelligent, thoughtful, and driven, with potential to go a long way in life, and Gabrielle didn't want to see her blow it in order to win a school dueling competition.

ooc: apologies if this counts as interference i can remove it
 
Current Points: 80
Caleb knew his biggest strength when it came to dueling was his ability to keep a cool and level head. In the heat of a duel it was one of the only times his head ever felt clear. Even with all the back and forth and barbs thrown, he could keep a grin on his face and his posture relaxed. But as Celia started the incantation for fiendfyre, for the first time he felt actual anger catch inside him and he frowned. Was she really going to risk getting disqualified or worse? Did she truly hate him that much? She was pathetic. So fragile words could cut that deep. So fragile she couldn't take what she gave out. He heard Professor Moncrieffe warn her but without hesitation he fired off his next spell. "Expulso!" he cast giving it his all. "Are you going to let her get away with that?! Using dark magic in the middle of a duel?!" he shouted, sparing a cutting glare to the proctor.

Action(s) Taken: spell cast, yell
Point Changes: -5
Points Remaining: 75
 
Current Points: 70
Even though Celia had done plenty of reading on fiendfyre and its counter-charm, she'd never actually had a chance to practice it. So perhaps she shouldn't have been surprised that the light that shot from her wand was just that, the telltale flames nowhere in sight. But the failure just infuriated her, and it certainly didn't help when Professor Moncrieffe piped up again. Celia was so sick of this duel. She was sick of this school and its arbitrary rules, of the world and her circumstances in it. Why was she expected to take the high road? Why was she supposed to curb her magic to accommodate an assh*le who couldn't even do nonverbal spells?

Celia had half a mind to try the spell again, dueling etiquette be damned. But she also knew this was the one chance she had to do something about all the rumors, and she didn't want to waste it. Once she was off the platform, she couldn't touch Caleb or anyone else who brought up her dad. But here, in a duel, she could do almost anything she liked. So Celia blocked Caleb's spell with a swift Protego Totalum, scoffing at his objection, and retaliated with a spell that she knew would work if it landed and wouldn't invite further intervention from her farce of a proctor. "Defodio!"
Action(s) Taken: Cast spell x2
Point Changes: -10
Points Remaining: 60
 
ooc: i literally forgot that fiendfyre is actually dark magic apologies for my confusion about this i'm out of touch with hp lore!!! sorry i've been a bit wishy washy i was really unsure of how to approach this whole thing

Be a proctor, Gabrielle thought. It'll be fun, she thought. This was way more intense than she'd expected and nothing in the brief overview she'd had prepared her for anything like this. At least it proved her right about Miranda, she would never have been able to be a parent if it was anything like this. The dark magic didn't even work, but it was dark magic, and she looked around to meet the eyes of some of the other professors for guidance. "Enough," she said, mustering all the authority she had. "This duel is over. Celia, there's a line with the magic that is approved in this institution, and unfortunately, you crossed it. I can't in good conscience allow you to continue in this tournament. Caleb Thorne is the winner - however, I expect you to behave more appropriately in the next round. I know you're both adults, but you are still students of Hogwarts, and as seventh years, I would hope you would be setting a better example to the younger students. Competition is no excuse to behave like this." She gave Caleb a pointed look - as much as she had to admire the tactics of goading, it was still not something she wanted to see the students repeating, knowing how it was clearly hurting students. From Caleb drawing Celia's fury all the way down to Ruby getting under Rion's skin. The children had to be tough to take on something so dangerous, of course, but that was no reason for such appalling behaviour. She drew in a deep breath. This was hard, and it wasn't something she wanted to do. "That's all."
 
For a moment, Celia had thought that Professor Moncrieffe would actually do her job and allow them to proceed with the duel. But clearly she'd given the woman too much credit. Disbelief washed over Celia's face as she rounded on the professor. This was not the first time she'd been disqualified from the tournament, but at least her last elimination had resulted from her technically breaking a rule (even if Alicastell's interpretation of that particular rule had been absurd). That wasn't the case today.

Celia smoothed her features into a much more neutral expression. And then, in a tone that could technically be described as calm, she spoke up. "I want to make sure I understand, professor. You're disqualifying me for a spell that didn't do anything — a spell that is not illegal and therefore not against the rules — simply because you don't 'approve' of it?" Celia knew that nothing she said would convince Professor Moncrieffe to change her mind. She'd been naive to think that the rules even mattered. What mattered was power, and at the end of the day, Professor Moncrieffe had all of it, and she had none. It was then that Celia finally understood what Sydney had been trying to impress upon her all those years ago.

Still, while Celia couldn't do anything, she could at least make her objections known. "Did you make that decision before or after Caleb complained?" she asked in that same restrained tone. The whole duel had been stacked against her, Celia was starting to realize. First, Professor Moncrieffe had raised her wand to defend Caleb. And then she'd decided that fiendfyre was unacceptable simply because he had a problem with it. Celia had no idea what Professor Moncrieffe had against her — or what she had for Caleb — but clearly it was something.
 
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Caleb hadn't expected Celia down with his last spell, not really. But his blood was boiling now and he blocked her spell with an easy shield charm as Professor Moncrieffe finally spoke up. The relief from hearing Celia get called out tasted bitter in his mouth. He didn't want to win like this. He wanted to win fair and square. Not just because Celia couldn't control herself. "Don't act like your innocent just because you couldn't pull it off! You know why it's not allowed." he shouted, pointing his wand at her uselessly. The duel was over and he wasn't going to risk taking out his anger and doing something he'd regret. He had some self control. He needed to cool down and wasn't about to get any closer to her. "There are rules to this!" he yelled and for a moment couldn't believe he had said that. In every other facet of his life Caleb had a complete disregard for rules but dueling was important to him. There was an art to it, a specific skill to it and if Celia didn't want to admit she had to resort to low blows to win that was her problem. Entering actual tournaments had made him start to understand his quidditch obsessed friends. This was what he cared about and he wasn't going to let some girl with a hurt ego bully her way through.
 
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