January 4th, 1890 — Headquarters of the London Society for the Practice of Combative Magic

What in the name of Merlin's scraggly old beard had he done to warrant being allocated student duels? Not that he particularly wanted to oversee any duels, but the student duels seemed beneath his dignity. Nevertheless there he was and it probably wouldn't look good after his fresh promotion to be whining about dueling tournaments.

He eyed the two children before him intently, hoping to make them uneasy. "Miss..." He cleared his throat and discreetly slipped a scrap of parchment from his sleeve that would only be noticeable from the way he was staring curiously at his wrist. "Farley. You may begin." He'd already made sure they knew the rules so they had no excuse for silly nonsense.

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@"Jemima Farley" Thomas Montgomery
You have 72 hours to post!

  

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She had supposed, with her school reputation already in rags, she didn't have anything to lose by entering the duelling tournament.

Now she knew she was wrong. Now she knew to be in fear of losing what remained of her pride, a limb or two, or maybe even her life. It was not even the judge's stern countenance that caused it, but Thomas Montgomery standing across from her, who had already terrorised her personally, and had lost all her schoolbooks for her by turning them to mice!

Trembling at the thought of what he might transfigure next, Jemima bobbed into a shaky curtsy and tried to think of something - anything - that would save her from this. "Confundo," she squeaked out, hoping if she confused Mr. Montgomery he might just blunder off.

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Of course his opponent would end up being Jemima Farley. Ever since the transfiguration incident, he'd tried to avoid the girl at all costs, so he wouldn't lose his temper again. It seemed she was just destined to forever be a thorn in his side. Even though, some of what she had said had been true.

With his teeth clenched, Thomas bowed as politely as he could. He would just have to try and overlook who his opponent was and try his best at the competition.

"Serpensortia," he stated, firmly, his arm carefully going through the wand motion, hoping conjure a snake and scare her enough that her spell isn't as effective.

  

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By the awesome MJ <3

Charles watched with minimal interest as the two students dueled. If it could even really be called a duel. The girl's spell hit her opponent after he'd conjured the snake and the result was that the boy was discombobulated and the snake was just sitting there, being rather useless. It wasn't a badly formed snake it was just a bit redundant. Sadly that meant he had to give the point to the girl. "The first round to Miss Farley," he declared briskly, simultaneously waving his wand at the boy to return his senses to him. After getting rid of the snake things were ready to progress. He had to take a sneaky peak at his note again to make sure he had the boy's name correct before he spoke. "Mr. Montgomery, it's your turn to start."

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[Scores: Jemima 8.5, Thomas 6.5]
@"Jemima Farley" Thomas Montgomery
You have 72 hours to post!

  

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Thomas frowned when it seemed he had lost the round. What had he been thinking? He was allowing his anger to rule too much. He'd been too concentrated on hoping a snake might startle Jemima like the mice had that he'd neglected to execute a proper defensive spell. Why hadn't he tried protego, or even expelliarmus? Stupid.

Maybe he was being too mean.

Shaking his shoulders out, he turned back to the task at hand, getting ready to start the next round.

"Avis!" He cast, seeking to send the birds that were meant to shoot from his wand toward Jemima's face. It was the nicest option he could think of.

He needed to learn how to not hold a grudge.

  

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By the awesome MJ <3

Jemima could have cried when he conjured that stupid snake. And could have cried again in gratitude when the judge vanished it. (She didn't think she would have been able to vanish it herself, and she knew she would not have been able to concentrate enough with a snake just sitting there!)

She let out a shriek in spite of herself at the oncoming birds, not sure how a bird attack was going to be any more pleasant than an unwelcome snake. A shield charm, she told herself, cast a shield charm, she had won the last round, hadn't she? In visible panic, Jemima mumbled protego and - well, prayed it would work.

If they tried to peck her eyes out, she would turn on her heel and run.

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The birds looked almost impressively ferocious as they headed for Miss Farley. However, her shield charm proved adequate and to his surprise, rather than dispersing they circled back and started raining terror down upon their caster.

Well. That was that then. "Miss Farley wins the duel. Five house points!" He had no idea what house she was in so he just left it out. He waved his wand at the birds and supposed he ought to have done that a little sooner. Ah, was that blood? That was awkward. Also not his responsibility anymore.

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[Scores: Jemima 10.5, Thomas 9.5] +6 for injury! The dice are brutal tonight.
@"Jemima Farley" Thomas Montgomery

  

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