Hello everyone! For the 2nd Champion Challenge me and Raven will have to duel a pair and somehow win. If you have any feedback or suggestions please post here as we work on our entry.

My thoughts so far are:

Zala is more or less always 'behind the scenes' as she works on potions/herbology and healing. So I imagine her to be pretty weak in a duel. She knows some basic spells, but she would be better suited to defense than offense..

In our post that could be shown pretty clearly. Perhaps both River and Zala try to disarm the opponents quickly. Zala definitely is unable to do so yet River takes care of one of them fairly quickly. Zala struggles and has to stay on defense relying on River to end the duel...

A scenario like that perhaps?

I thought it was gonna be a board for just the two of us.

But I'll check for grammar after we finish

I'm not even sure how to start this.

I imagine River as an offence and Zala as a defense. Correct me if I'm wrong! Maybe along the way one of you takes a hit / trips / becomes injured, and Zala uses her skills to make it manageable. Just to add some tension..? What would some of Rivers strong points be in a duel? Is she good at making quick decisions?

I feel like it would be weird if the people you were supposed to be dueling were much older than you. In terms of what a school would deem appropriate. But maybe it would be interesting if they made you duel a creepy looking old guy, just for intimidation sake. Then he turns out to be one of the cooks or something. lol stop me if I'm not helping at all X3

It seems my grammar isn't quite there yet. That woul be very much appreciated!! sorry for pinging the group... I thought they could help us create a better story with feedback.. a post here could be seen by them at any point.. ^_^"

As a starter of sorts.. it really is just from my point of view.. :)

The past few days had been happy and relaxing. Both River and Zala had made it through the first challenge with little trouble and after a good celebration everyone had settled. Last night people were starting to feel buzzed as the second task would be upon them soon. Zala yawned having woken up far earlier than usual. She felt nervous not knowing what was about to happen. The first task had played to her strengths so now she would definifely be facing trouble. None of the upcoming tasks would be as easy as the first. Shuffling along with the crowd she met up with River and the other champions outside the Northern Wall.

Soon she was shocked awake. The second task would be a duel. A duel in pairs at that. Zala gulped and faced River, terror clear in her eyes.

grammar is fine for me, I went to school for editing. I'm copying and pasting it into word so I can edit and all into one piece.

River was lazily walking to the next task as she slowly nibbled on the last piece of her toast. She wasn’t overly excited given the last task was so mellow. However when she heard it was duelling she perked up a bit. It wasn’t as dangerous as she hoped but it had action. A clear look at Zala, though, told her which role she would play. “Don’t worry, I’ll be the main attacker. You watch our backs yeah?”

I pulled some key points from the challenge, to make them easier to remember.

1. To win the duel, you must either knock out or disarm both opponents before they are able to do the same to you and your ally.

2. (the opponents) One will be using primarily aggressive spells, while the other will be using defensive spells to shield them both. If the aggressive spellcaster is knocked out /disarmed first, the defensive spellcaster will change strategies and cast both defensive and aggressive spells. (( If you knock out the aggressive caster, maybe the second one will make a mistake trying to keep up with both jobs..? ))

3. All three duels will be occurring at once. (( This sounds very distracting to me. Maybe your characters can overcome this / become susceptible to distraction. ))

4. You may either plan your strategy outside of the barriers here or enter the barriers now and plan there. The choice is yours. (( Not sure if this is helpful but it stood out to me, in terms of where to start. Perhaps investigate the area around the barriers before entering? Is the floor uneven? What about the lighting? Is it more narrow, or is the space deceiving once you step inside? ))

5. Please note that whether you win or lose the duel will not affect your score. Also the amount of time the duel takes you will not affect your score. We are looking more for creativity!

"I... I can do that... I think," Zala muttered rubbing the back of her neck with her right hand. Her eyes flitted about, glancing left and right, looking at the glowing barrier ahead and back to the students gathering. She rubbed the ends of her sleeves between her fingers and shuffled in place. The weight of her wand strapped to her left arm comforted her somewhat. She'd have to trust River and above all herself. She had made her choice when she placed her name in the cup. This tournament would proof she could do anything she'd set her mind to. Any challenge could come and she would do whatever she needed to win this cup for the Alexandrian Academy.

Zala mulled over the brief proposed strategy needing more reassurance. "What should I do?" she asked River. She figured talking through it now would be beneficial. She wanted some sort of plan so she'd have something to fall back on when she'd inevitably mess things up. Zala didn't want to let it get that far though. With a good plan she should be able to support her properly. She had no idea how proficient River was in dueling, if she could just use 'Protego'. Zala knew a number of healing charms and 'Expelliarmus', but that was about it and wouldn't be enough in a duel. She rubbed her hands up and down her arms and stepped closer to River. Better stay close and hope I don't screw things up was all she could think along with some more colourful words.

I imagine Zala's spell list to be something like this:

Expelliarmus Protego Accio Reparo Lumos/Nox

Episkey Reparifors Ferula Anapneo Tergeo

Also she can apparate as she is already 17 - almost 18 and passed the test :)

(sorry about the delay)

River thought about the task for several moments. She wasn’t bad at duels and it didn’t hurt that growing up with a curse-breaking father. She knew a lot of spells and he often left her to her own forcing her to become rather resourceful at a young age. “I think casting shield charms and disarming are a good idea. Maybe Stupefy, Impedimenta, any hexes that might slow them down to give me time for the offensive spells. Just wing it and do what feels natural. In most duels you just have to think on your feet so try not to over-think it. Planning doesn’t really help and is in some cases more of a hindrance.”

I've been slow too ^_^

"Stupify or Impedimenta," Zala repeated trying to get comfortable with the incantation. She feared she would make a mistake. Pronounce the spells wrong and they would fail and potentially hinder herself. If that were to happen River would be burdened. Zala nodded and repeated the spells again recalling how she'd need to flick her wrist for the spell to be effective. "I think I'll use those four then. I'm confident enough in my shielding," she told River. "Should we go inside the barrier then? Professor Moussa is to the left," Zala pointed out. She touched the wand in her sleeve again and felt the terror and nerves subside somewhat. Zala squared her shoulders and fixed her posture. At least she wouldn't look completely terrified out of her mind during the task. She would have time to panic after the challenge finished.

how do we want to handle the opponents? Do you want me to make up them and start and then you counter back

if you think this would be a good moment to start the duel then I guess you could create the opponents, first attack and counter.. :)

Opppnents could be something like this:

1. middle aged man, defensive play first, favors shielding charms and stopping spells from completing. Appearance?? Tall, lanky/flexible, long hair (we could set it on fire)
2. girl in late teens, offense, favors 'explosive' spells and blowing opponents off their feet, is impulsive/difficult to work with. Appearance?? Average, athletic (sprinter type with bursts of energy rather than stamina), pixie haircut. Named Maxwell and Charlie. I kind of imagine them like this. What do you think?

bawahaha yay fire XD sounds good :) lemme set the scene then XD

River nodded. “Alright let’s do this!” She readied her wand. Inside the barrier they greeted their opponents.

The first person was a middle age man who had long brown hair and was tall and lanky. In River’s opinion he looked like a contortionist, so she prepared herself for him being flexible. “I’m Maxwell,” he said bowing to the girls.

The second opponent was a girl in her late teens. There wasn’t much remarkable about her really. She was an athletic looking girl who, was average in height with her purple hair in a cute pixie cut. “Charlie,” the girl said simply.

“River,” she replied bowing in return.

The bell rang and the match officially started. River’s first offensive spell was Titillando, which caused the girl to burst out in a fit of laughter as she was tickled. Maxwell sent his counter of a tripping Jinx towards River.

Zala followed River inside the barrier. The clearing was relatively flat and covered in grass. Some of the bumps in the field looked like they could be rocks and she found a few pebbles near her feet when she looked down for a moment. The start of the duel came as their opponents came out and introduced themselves as Maxwell and Charlie. "And I'm Zala," she introduced herself with a small bow. She faced them when the bell rang and quickly slipped her wand out of her sleeve and into her right hand. Within moments River had attacked the girl and Maxwell send a jinx their way.

"Protego!" Zala yelled as she stepped in front of River. The shield appeared in an instant and sent the tripping jinx back. Maxwell side stepped it and flicked his wrist. His spell cancelled the tickling Charlie had been victim too. Charlie quickly wiped a few tears from the corner of her eyes. "Flipendo!" she yelled pointing her wand towards them. In the meantime Zala had send her own tripping jinx to Maxwell who skillfully dodged it. She was too late to block the jinx and hoped River had taken care of it.

(sorry its not much, but I know we need to work on it and I'm tired lol so hopefully I'll wake up a bit)

Unfortunately, the knockback spell from Charlie did hit River, and she was pushed back magically. When the teen recovered Charlie had sent a flock of birds at her. River sent the bat bogey hex at Charlie, but the girl dodge and it hit Maxwell instead.

Charlie returned a Bombarda to the duo, the explosion near their feet sending pebbles evereywhere. She followed up with Incendio in an attempt to set their surroundings ablaze. Zala had it bounce back with her shielding charm and the spark ignited Maxwells hair instead. "Expelliarmus," she yelled. Whilst Maxwell had been trying to save his hair he wasn't paying enough attention and had his wand fly out of his hand. He sighed and carefully patted the singed tips of his hair withdrawing with a pout.

Zala jumped happily in place as she unarmed one of their opponents. They only had to deal with one now. It wasn't until then she noticed the noise coming from the other duels. Spells were being fired back and forth and multiple clumps of dirt were flying through the air. "Everte Statum," Charlie sneakily spoke. The spell threw Zala back several feet and when she landed her ankle felt painful. It didn't look broken. However to be sure she used Ferula to create a splint and bandage to strengthen it. She wouldn't be of much use now and hoped her next spell gave River the opportunity to finish the duel. "Stupefy!" Zala yelled as she sat on the ground watching the two girls.

(there is our fire.. how are you feeling now?? Hope you had a good sunday :D)

Zala shot Stupefy at Charlie, but the girl blocked it with a shield charm of her own. River wasn’t sure that was entirely in the rules but carried on with the duel. They both were moving around the area making spells harder to hit. River tried to think of something to end the duel. Charlie would surely expect the disarming spell now. “Aqua Eructo,” she cried. The jet of water shot out from her wand and Charlie ducked and rolled to avoid it. Instead of hitting that target, River’s water managed to drench some of the spectators. She blushed heavily. Then in for some crazy reason, River called, “Accio,” at Charlie. The girl was so stunned to be summoned that as she flew towards River, she dropped her wand and thus was out of the duel. Of course, winning the duel might have felt a little better if River wasn’t suddenly knocked to the ground by a girl crashing into her. Nonetheless no one was hurt. River laughed as Charlie managed to get off her stomach and she helped her up.

River bounced and went over to Zala, “WE WON!” she cried, “WE WON! Are you okay?”

((doign okay :D How about you? What you think? River summoned the girl lol.))

Zala gaped at River. That display of magic had her stunned. One moment Zala had practically been knocked out of the duel and the next River was victorious. Thankfully the water jet had missed her. Carefully she stood up and dusted off the dirt from her jeans. "WOW!! That was awesome!!" she exclaimed and looked down at her ankle. "I think it's just sprained," she waved off her injury as she hobbled the last few meters over to River. "Better go bow to our audience hehe," she laughed. Zala nodded to Charlie as she left to group up with Maxwell and turned to the spectators. She bowed briefly and waved to the Alexandrian students cheering loudly at their win.

((I'm pretty good. Made a big carrot cake and some brownies for my brother's birthday and picked up my grandma on the way for a visit. She's going on a cruise to some Mediterranean Islands today. River is pretty strong :o Charlie could have tried an Expelliarmus instead of the shield and the 2 spells cancel each other??? but the shield works too :D we just need a nice end I think))

(( ooh that sounds yummy :D I wanna go on a cruise XD. Yeah I suppose. So we done? I'll check for Grammer one more time and then post it all if that works for you?))

River giggled. “I had no idea you could summon a person. That was cool! We’ll get a healer to fix it for you. Great job, Zala!” She beamed at her partner. They held hands and bowed and when they were cheered for it was exhilarating.

That sounds good to me. Enough time to read through it again and correct anything that might need it ^_^

awesome -high fives you- xD