If Celia was struggling to rein in her rage, Caleb had all but lost control of his. She gave him a look of disgust as he jabbed his wand at her, and she tightened her grip on her own, which was by her side. It was outrageous that Professor Moncrieffe was even allowing him to carry on like this. Celia had no doubt that if she had raised her wand after a duel was called, she would be disarmed in no time. Caleb then tried to bring up the rules, and it took all of Celia's self-control not to laugh derisively in his face. "Dark magic's not against the rules," she said with barely concealed contempt. "It's literally taught at some schools." The distinction was such bullsh*t. A direct hit from Expulso was arguably just as dangerous. Celia knew her attempt at "dark" magic might have broken some unspoken rules, but she didn't care about those. All notion of etiquette or civility had flown out of the window when Caleb had made this duel personal. He couldn't do that and then turn around and pitch a fit when she decided to retaliate.
Professor Moncrieffe's attempt at levity only incensed Celia further, and she dug her fingernails into her palms, fighting to maintain a neutral expression. The professor might have been joking, but her defense of Caleb only called to mind the way women were held to much higher standards than men. He was apparently just a silly teenage boy, and she — she was the one who needed to be understanding of that and restrain her magic so he didn't get too hurt. Celia grit her teeth when Professor Moncrieffe tried to argue that her spells hadn't been school-appropriate. As if they didn't learn dangerous magic all the time. They'd been taught the Hardening Charm, a spell that could literally kill a person, back in fifth year. Hell, they'd learned to brew Forgetfulness Potions when they were twelve. "I see," she said evenly. "I guess my mistake was assuming that a school would encourage its students to practice advanced forms of magic." Celia was not a conspiracy theorist, but it was striking how often Hogwarts seemed to actively discourage learning despite ostensibly being an educational institution. The way she saw it, duels were supposed to be a test of magical skill, not reflexes. What was the point of even having them if you planned on restricting the types of spells that could be used? If you were going to do that, you might as well just ask participants to trade Disarming Charms until someone slipped up — which apparently was the platonic ideal of a duel that the school was striving for. It was all ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous. Without another word, Celia pocketed her wand and stepped off the platform, careful not to betray any emotion as she made her way out of the chamber. The day when she would finally be free of this school and its absurd restrictions couldn't come soon enough.
