The street urchin didn't care for losing, and even less so when she was the one who picked the fight. She'd had to, anyway, there was no backing down after being insulted and pushed around by some bystander to the heart of Hogsmeade. Charley could give some small thanks to give that she had picked an alleyway to hold this duel, away from the hours and prying eyes of High Street. No one had to know that some horsefaced girl had bested her here in the dark. Even if their spells had attracted some attention, there had been no peeping faces yet, and Charley was sure she could slink away with her reputation intact.

It was only Mrs. Mann who would know how much she had truly failed if she came back without her wand.

She glared at the snooty Slytherin, sniffing at the stench of arrogance that rolled off her. Usually, Charley could smell that arrogance from a block away. It was the Potts' shop, it had to be, spewing out noxious fumes when it sensed an enemy nearby. That was the only way the urchin could have failed to sniff out this trap before falling into it. She'd need more wits about her next time she was nearby.

"What're ya, a professor now or summat?" Charley asked it as soon as ol' Horseface called out an exact number of the questions she'd be asking, a notion so silly it was worth laughing at. A laugh that died in her throat while she eyed her wand instead. The disgruntled urchin didn't feel like answering any more questions, not even those she had answered already. Except that it meant her wand back this time. Charley scowled at the prospect, but she didn't have a choice.

"Fine," she said, and nearly spat again. That had riled up her opponent enough to make it worth doing again at some point. Just not yet. "Name's Charley, an' I turn fourteen this summer. That 'nuff?" Charley stared back at ol' Horseface for a few moments, who looked to be taking her question count far too seriously. "Was in Gryffindor, too, the one year I did at Hogwarts. What else?"

Oh right, the wand.

"Who bothers with what wands're made of, anyhow? That one's mine an' it never wasn't." The urchin shoved her arm toward the other girl again, an indignant motion that spelled her own impatience. "What'm I s'posed ta do, dress in robes an' prance around a bit for ya? Tell ya stories 'bout all the marks on it? Feel that little notch in the holder, yeah? Shall I go on 'bout what I had for breakfast that day or summat?"

If she didn't get that wand back soon, Charley was bound to take more drastic action. With her hands now close enough to grab at the other girl, it didn't matter what spells were thrown her way, they would both be hurting and that would be good enough.

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