June 2nd, 1895 - Auror Training Rooms

"Your goal is simple," Mateo said to the three trainees he had assembled at the moment. It was a divide and conquer kind of day, each of his colleagues had a few of their trainees, mixed up, to work with them in smaller groups. Teo preferred it this way, he liked to be able to give more undivided attention, which was easier in the small batches.

He eyed Stokes, Thornton and Orpington critically. It was a good mix. He really wasn't sure how well they worked together, but that was half the point. They were going to have to learn to work with anyone at a moment's notice, so the practice here went just beyond testing their physical abilities; they were going to have to rely on teamwork.

"You need to work together to disarm me. However you see fit." Simple enough. On paper. In reality, it was going to be much harder than they would have thought. Even with the advantage of three-on-one, Mateo had been in enough scrapes with people who were hell bent on more than disarming him, to know what to do. He was hoping they could be creative and devise a cooperative strategy to get the job done. "I'll give you five minutes to come up with a strategy." He offered, feeling like that was fair.

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Antoinette Stokes, Conrad Thornton & Gabriel Orpington
I will sort of pseudo-roll for realism? I promise it'll be fair lol
and let's go for 2 days/2posts

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   Conrad Thornton

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Antoinette was at the ready while she listened to her instructor's instructions. Thornton wasn't one of her favorite people, but Orpington could make up for him. Hopefully.

Five minutes didn't give her a ton of time to be ready, let alone figure out a way to organize her fellow trainees, but she imagined in the field it would be a lot less.

The scenario wasn't a good time for her Metamorphmagus abilities, so Annie decided to try strategizing instead. She knew she had to get the first word in if she wanted her voice to be heard.

"A simple Disarming charm would probably be defended against," she started off, "But if we redirect his attention to two of us, perhaps the last could hit from a blind spot?"

Nobody was perfect, but if anybody was going to be able to defend against three people at once, it would be their instructor. She waited for feedback from the other two, hoping that they'd see her point of view. She didn't care who eventually disarmed him, so long as the task was accomplished. Whatever the plan was, they needed to decide, and quickly.

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   Mateo Sutherland

Conrad listened to the instructions with a grin on his face, hands on learning was always a favourite and a chance to take a cracking at Mateo was always fun, the instructor was good and the oppurtunity to check his own skills was welcomed.

"Yeah, He's quick, one on one he's got our number, I wouldn't even bother with a disarming charm. But if you two distract him from the front, I think I can get him from behind." there was a sly smirk on his face, it was a good plan, even better now that it had come from his own mouth and he had ensured his place in the spotlight. Once engaged he could apparatus behind Mateo and cast a spell or seize him physically. He began cracking his knuckles and loosening up his shoulders ready to go.

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Mateo Sutherland Antoinette Stokes

  

Gabriel didn't know why Thornton was repeating Stokes idea like it was his own. Or delegating roles like he was the boss of them which he most certainly was not. Besides, Gabe had an idea of his own to add. "How about instead two of our number go different ways to divide his attention? He will still be more focused on us than the third."

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   Conrad Thornton

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set by bee!

"You have sixty more seconds." Mateo warned. He could see a hint of discord in their expressions, but he wasn't going to interfere. This needed to be their decision and plan and he was just there to react. If they were unsure or not in agreement it was going to make things difficult for them. They would really need to work collaboratively to get an edge on him. Mateo was not so arrogant to think that they couldn't, especially working effectively, but right about now, he rather thought their chances were low.

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   Conrad Thornton

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Antoinette tried not to grit her teeth when Thornton basically repeated her idea. Well, at least now she knew for sure he would go along with the plan, even if he was going for glory. He could have it. Annie prioritized efficiency. The only concern that she had was if Thornton would be able to follow through on it. She made a note to herself to try to keep an eye out for that and be his backup.

At least Orpington had something to contribute. Anne nodded in agreement with that idea. "That's good," she said, "I'll run the opposite direction that you do, then?"

Since she was his senior, if only by a year, she thought she had more of a handle on things. Orpington could take the direction he was strongest in, and she'd adapt.

She winced at their instructor's prompting. They were low on time. As much as she wanted to expand the plan, maybe pull Orpington to the side and tell him to take a shot if he had one, as she planned to do if she had one, she also didn't want to start an argument with Thornton. That wouldn't do anything useful with their remaining time.

"We can think on our feet if things get complicated." she said.

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   Conrad Thornton

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Thank you for the set, Bee!

Conrad shrugged as his plan shifted slightly but mostly remained intact a distraction was a distraction. They could do this, he was confident enough of their combined abilities, particularly his own.

The time was quickly ticking down so they had better start. "Shall we then? I'll feint to go in with one of you then apparate behind him, should do the trick?" he pulled out his Mahogany wand and made to look like he was taking the same line of attack as Stokes. As soon as she drew her wand he would instead cast an apparate spell and appear a few metres behind the target read with his own disarm attempt.

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Antoinette Stokes Mateo Sutherland Gabriel Orpington