Friendly Competition? PV Finished

@Mars T'ien
Note: Dealla will refer to Mars as she/her for now because she doesn't know them. If/when they get to talk about their pronouns, she will of course respect their wishes.

The last classes of the school year were turning out to be fun. The professors didn't teach them many new things anymore, most of their classes were dedicated to revision for the upcoming exams, but during the practical parts, they were often left alone to practice the spells they had learned over the school year.

Dealla had grabbed one of the pillows they had practiced the Knockback Jinx with, and was currently busy knocking it into the air with the Jinx and then trying to catch it by balancing it on the tip of her wand. Admittedly, it wasn't incredibly productive, but it did force her to practice her aim, right? Also, she hadn't had many difficulties with the Sparks charms - plus, they were a bit boring - she doubted there would be a volunteer for her to practice the Curse of the Bogies on, and the Smokescreen Spell was actually something they should not practice in large groups at once, so Flipendo was really all that was left.

"Flipendo!" she said emphatically, followed by the curving hook of the corresponding wand motion, and watched the pillow fly straight up and knock into the ceiling with a certain amount of self-satisfaction. As it was coming back down again, she decided to switch it up a bit, so instead of catching it, she cast another spell. "Flipendo!" she repeated.
But this time, her spell hit the pillow slightly off-center, and it flew off to one side, so she had to sprint after it to keep it from hitting another student on the back of their head.
Her attempt to catch it, however, was interrupted by a sudden explosion of green sparks in a nearby corner of the classroom which caused her to jump, her pillow falling to the ground unnoticed. All around her, the other students had stopped what they had been doing to look for the source of the light.
Eyes wide, Dee turned to see a girl with slightly messy dark hair falling into her eyes, who was apparently currently ducking from her own spell.

Well. It had been a rather impressive spell, she supposed, although from the looks on it, not on purpose.
Considering for a second, Dee looked down on her pillow-less wand, then grinned, both her curiosity as well as her ambition bubbling up inside her. After all, in dangerous situations, she should know how to do the spell with full power, right?
Her eyes glittering, she moved her wand in a slashing motion, not thinking twice about the prudence of trying this in the middle of a classroom. People used the Green Sparks Spell in duels all the time, right?
"Verdimillious!" she said, entirely focused. She wanted fireworks.

When they'd set off the haphazard spell, they'd expected everyone else to duck too. It was the Green Sparks Charm after all, and the Defense Against the Dark Arts Classroom wasn't particularly massive. If everyone else hadn't ducked, they'd assumed everyone would at least stand frozen for a moment, blinking the bright spots away from their vision. What they hadn't expected, was a returning Charm.

"Verdimillious!"

It came from the other side of the room, loud and powerful, full of confidence. Maybe too much confidence. Mars swore another time as they ducked, covering their eyes with a single robed arm. Even through the fabric, they could see the shower of green sparks, all whizzing away from their point of impact like little bottle rockets. What crazy motherf*cker had decided to let out a full-powered spell in the middle of a classroom? Probably one possessed with the same adrenaline demon as them, they thought. After all, they'd technically done the same thing, though with significantly less flourish and a hell of a lot more misintention.

They peeked out from under their sleeve. The rest of the class had decided to be smart as well, all of them rising out from behind desks, robes, or bookcases like turtles coming out of their shells. They could hear a wave of mumbling go through the crowd. One wizard shot a look at them, but they just shrugged. It wasn't their fault. Well, not the second one at least.

Speaking of which, they scanned the classroom for the wix that had cast the spell. Their eyes locked on a witch in blue robes, her brown hair falling in beachy waves down past her shoulders. Of course, it was a Ravenclaw. They laughed at themselves internally. Bit hypocritical, no Mars?

But sizing her up, the blast had definitely come from her. She was the only one not blinking like a lost puppy and wandering around the classroom, feet-planted and wand still outstretched. Emotions rose in Mars' chest wildly fast. There was annoyance, maybe, at the witch's actions, but also a growing sense of admiration. It was impressive for sure, her blast. With that though, also came the sour rise of competition. They swallowed on it, feeling it push back against their throat. Well. They hadn't felt like this in a long time.

Righting themselves, they sidestepped away from the desk they had ducked behind, raising their wand. Maybe they were a fool for rising to this, but there was some glimmer of excitement in that that pushed that thought away. They weren't about to be outdone. Standing properly, with focused concentration, they let out two controlled blasts.

As the green sparks erupted in tiny fireworks, they smirked at the girl on the other side of the room, face glowing in a thousand raining flecks.

@Mars T'ien

Her sparks had turned out nicely, Dealla decided with no small amount of self-satisfaction, and flipped her wand between her fingers loosely. Some of the other students in the class were looking at her like they were worried about her sanity, and others had decided it was safer to just stay hidden behind their desks and poke out their noses at most, but Dee was focused on the girl across the classroom - the one who had started the fireworks. A Ravenclaw like herself, Dee noted when she caught a glimpse of the eagle crest on her robes.

She had shielded herself with her robes during Dealla's spell, but was now lowering her sleeve, and met Dee's eyes. She, too, looked like she was questioning Dee's sanity - but then the expression in her eyes changed.
Dealla grinned as she saw the growing sense of ambition behind those dark eyes. She recognized that look. She knew she was wearing it herself in that exact moment.
Oh, this was going to be fun.

Dee wasn't surprised at the next burst of sparks, and only flinched slightly at the second one. The excitement in her chest grew, wild and delighted and fluttering like a bird. There was this second in which she blinked, trying to clear her eyes from the light of the sparks, and when their eyes met again, the other Ravenclaw was smirking, and Dee felt her own grin widen in response.

Deciding to forego another round of sparks - she was honestly a little surprised that their little competition had been allowed to go on even this long - Dealla skipped over to the other girl, her aquamarine-blue eyes glowing with borderline scary zeal.
"That was fun," she said, skipping right over introductions and other formalities. "But I think if we let any more fireworks loose here, we might end up in detention, and I'd rather spend my free time outside. Although, just to be clear," she raised her eyebrows, and her eyes were sparkling with amusement, "my sparks were obviously better."

@Dealla Prince
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Well, that had certainly been fun. The wave of green sparks finally glittered into nonexistence, revealing a slightly disgruntled classroom. Mars was honestly quite shocked that the professor hadn't come over here and given them detention by now.

In the second it took to blink the brightness from their eyes, they lost sight of the other witch. All of a sudden, the girl was right in front of them. She peered up at Mars with aquamarine eyes burning with passion and zeal.

The witch echoed Mars' sentiment about detention. Well, they had that in common at least. Neither of them particularly cared for it. She skipped over names and other formalities. That was fine by Mars. They'd said their name so many times throughout the year that it was starting to sound less like a word and more like a jumble of sound. However, one of the witch's words had them raising an eyebrow.

"Just to be clear, my sparks were obviously better."

Oh? This was how she wanted to play it? If Mars had been an irritable person, they might have yelled back in her face. But that was classless, tasteless, and utterly disappointing. It would be a waste to stifle such ambition. Mars couldn't help but admire her guts, even if it the statement was obviously untrue. Oh, this one was a fun one. Noting the glimmer of amusement in her eyes, they retorted,

"Oh? I hardly think blinding half the class is something to be celebrated, my dear." They couldn't help the pet name. It was a habit they had picked up long ago. Maybe it was degradation in a way, maybe a way to soften the blow. Either way, it had exited their lips.

Mars flipped their wand in their fingers, twirling the tip between soft pads. It seemed that this witch wanted competition of some sort. With Mars, it was, forever and always, ask and you shall receive.

@Mars T'ien

For a second, Dealla bristled at the condescension, imagined or not, in the other student's voice. She didn't appreciate being talked down to, never had, and was likely to talk back to (or blow up at) anyone if she felt she was being patronized - be it a fellow student, a parent, a teacher, or a complete stranger.
However, she could (sometimes) recognize when she was being goaded, so instead, she settled back into a fierce grin, the spirit of competition still flashing in her eyes. If the other Ravenclaw tried to rile her up, Dealla could certainly do the same.

"Oh?" Dee said, tapping her nose as if she was deep in thought. "Why did you do it twice, then? It certainly looked like you were trying to out-do me." She let her hand sink, putting it on her hip in a carefully casual gesture. "I don't think that worked out, but kudos to you for the effort."

It had been a while since Dee had just let her competitive spirit run completely wild. Many people didn't take it very well if someone tried to beat them at, well, literally anything just for the sake of it, but Dee flourished in competitions. If she did something properly, which meant, with any more effort than just dabbling in it, she wanted to excel. And what better way to prove her excellence than to compare herself to others?
This one, it seemed, was different. The other student didn't run, didn't get angry, and didn't back. Dealla had seen it from across the room, when their eyes had met, and she saw it now, too.

"So..." she said slowly, trailing the tip of the twirling wand with her eyes. It seemed to be a habit many students had. "Do you want to clear this up in a... less detention-inducing way?"

@Dealla Prince
───── ⋆★⋆ ─────

Mars blinked incredulously at the other Ravenclaw for a moment. Then, they broke out into a wicked grin. Oh, this girl really wanted to call them out, hmm? What was so wrong with casting twice? And she didn't think they'd outdone her? Was that so?

"Oh?" they arched an eyebrow, feeling the burn of competitiveness rise in their chest, "Didn't work out? And who are you to judge?"

But quickly, they were able to drop that. Mars couldn't help but grin at the suggestion of a little competition. God, wasn't this exciting? From the moment they'd learned about magic, they'd felt as though this, as though showing off with a little flair and pizzazz, as though dueling, was one of the main points of its existence. An all-powerful—thing that conjured explosions and changed people's heads into pumpkins? Of course, it was made for fighting!

But finding a rival, finding anyone at all they felt remotely comfortable with crushing into dust under their heel at Hogwarts had been a difficult task. So far, everyone had been a nerd, a fluffy little kitten, or someone they had no business associating with. But this one, well—they had this impression of her that no real feelings would be hurt if they were to let their fire loose. Even if someone were to be burnt, the two of them were good enough at burn paste to get over it quickly. They sniggered. Not a bad metaphor, really.

They could feel the small tendril of evil unfurl in their chest. Mars stopped the twirling wand with a snap, hand just barely missing a graze to the witch's nose.

"What did you have in mind?" the fingers of their wand hand flicked out as they listed out the possible spells, "Curse of the Bogies? Maybe a bit much. Fumos? The professor would probably kill us for that. Flipendo? That one could work."

They grinned at the girl again, all shiny white teeth.

"Or, I'm down for Charms. Wingdarium Leviosa or Tarantallegra would make for something—nice."

If Mars sounded a little devious with that last word, who could blame them? Charms were their specialty; it always felt like someone was guiding them, someone with a soft voice and a gingerbread scent. Mars wrote it off as a natural affinity. Whatever it was, they'd beat this girl.

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By SK

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There was giddy laughter bubbling up inside Dee, and she barely managed to keep it from spilling over, her delight when the other Ravenclaw rose to the challenge without a trace of hesitation still clearly visible in both her eyes and her near maniacal grin.
She shrugged in reply to the other student's words, pressing her lips together for a second to hold her giggling in. "You're absolutely welcome to disagree," she replied, shrugging. "I'm just calling it as I saw it, you know?"

This was absolutely exciting. It was rare to meet someone who took to competitions with nearly as much zeal as Dee did - back in Muggle school, her teachers had told her off for bringing other students to the verge of tears with her competitiveness, more than once. With this one, however? It felt like there was a mutual understanding here, and Dee was thriving. What was wrong with a little - more or less friendly - competition?
She blinked when the other student's wand snapped to a stop only an inch from her nose, then focused back on its owner and relaxed into a grin.

"I'm not sure Professor Pendrast would be very happy about us practising Charms in her classroom, and yes, since the goal was to avoid detention, I think the Smokescreen Spell is out. Flipendo... that sounds good to me." Her eyes were glittering with amusement. "But I'd be happy to compare our skills in other disciplines at a more appropriate location and time if you're interested." And she was. Practising spells in the classroom under supervision was all well and good, but the prospect of flexing her magical muscles without having to worry about keeping it classroom appropriate? That shot a burst of excitement through her veins that was something entirely different.

But for now - Knockback Jinx it was. Skipping back across the classroom to where she'd come from, Dee retrieved two of the pillows that were meant for practising Flipendo, and brought them back to the other student, where she dropped them unceremoniously onto the floor. Then she tapped her wand to her chin, considering. "We should aim for something," she suggested, letting her gaze drift over the options that the classroom had to offer. "Knock the pillows into a set target. Or we could just try to get them as far as possible, I suppose, but unless we're going to throw them out of the window, I'm not sure if that works in here." She turned back around towards the dark-haired Ravenclaw with a flourish. "You choose."

@Mars T'ien

@Dealla Prince
───── ⋆★⋆ ─────

Mars stopped the half-frown that almost flitted across their face, choosing to let logic override their feelings for once. They were admittedly disappointed that Charms weren't on the table, but the girl was right; Charms in the DADA classroom were probably out of place.

Those feels quickly disappeared though. They couldn't help but grin at her quick analysis—oh yes, this one was Ravenclaw through and through. When she arrived at the notion of Flipendo, Mars felt the smile spread. An attack spell. This would be fun.

"Sure. But fair warning, the last time I did the Knockback Jinx, I ripped the fabric."

They traced her movements as she went and retrieved two pillows from the back of the class. Mars' eyes locked onto the objects immediately, flashes of the last time they'd done this drill floating through their head. They shook it away, furrowing their brow lightly. Something was up with their head, something that had persisted from the first day 'til now, but they really didn't have the time or energy to address it.

Instead, Mars listened languidly as the witch outlined their options, staring at the pillows on the floor.

"Aim... I could go for that," they responded. Mars flashed her a grin, gesturing for her to step back a bit. They looked around, searching for something that might be a decent target. Humming sightly, they wandered over to the bookshelves, pulling two arbitrary titles from the multi-colored walls.

They set them down about two feet apart on a far desk, one red and one blue, spines upright and facing the witch. Then, Mars walked back, a wry smile on their face.

"Okay, Miss—" they hesitated for a moment. Oh. "It just occurred to me I don't know your name." They offered a hand, both as an introduction and as a start to this little competition.

"I'm Mars," they paused, figuring it was good to mention the whole pronoun thing. Sometimes it was just so tiring. "They/Them."

With that out of the way, they turned, wand firmly set in their grip. Planting their feet squarely on the floor, they raised their wand. Right before the spell left their lips, they winked at the girl. Then, they dropped, wand angled upward as their wrist hit the floor.

"Flipendo!"

The blue light blasted out of the tip of their cherry wand, hurtling itself at the underside of one of the fluffy pillows. Maybe it would have been better to place the object on a table, but then, where was the fun in that? Let's see how much air the Knockback Jinx would give it. The beam spiraled closer and Mars felt good, pouring a touch more power into the pulsing light. It smacked hard into the fabric, sending the pillow up, high enough to lift it off the floor to exactly desk level.

It flew over a few sets of chairs, skimming over tabletops until it hit into the spine of the right book with a bam. Red flashed as the pages went flying, landing in a heap on the floor with a pillow neatly on top of it.

Mars hopped to their feet, knees cracking, with a breathless smile on their face. They looked over to the girl, gesturing to the fallen book with their left hand.

"Beat that," they taunted.

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By SK

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@Mars T'ien

Dee's smile remained wide, bright, excited as she watched the other Ravenclaw set up their targets, she couldn't help it - she'd found a good one here, opponent or rival or whatever they were. Oh and the confidence? She liked that, shared it, really. It made her even more determined to win.
The setup the dark-haired wix had chosen would work well enough, she decided, eyeing the two books on the far side of the room critically. It looked hard enough to make it a challenge, entirely possible one of them might miss, but not so hard as to make it impossible. No, Dee was rather certain she should be able to hit her target. Now she was only curious to see whether the other student would also live up to their words.

"Oh, hi Mars!" Dee replied, a little taken aback at first. She'd been so focused on the situation, the thrill of the competition, introductions had completely slipped her mind. It wouldn't have been the first nor last time that she'd walked away from an encounter only to realise later that she hadn't gotten the other person's name, if Mars hadn't prevented it. Dealla took the hand offered, and for the first time, a hint of something warmer, friendlier slipped into her smile, a trace of her usual bright personality. "I'm Dee." She hesitated for a second, unsure of how to react to the pronoun declaration, then shrugged, setting potential questions aside for later, but responding in kind. "She/her." There were more pressing matters for now.

There was a twinkle of amusement in Dealla's eyes as she observed the wix's actions - the wink first, the drop to the floor. Not just competitive, then, but also with a flair for dramatics, for showing off. Her eyes followed the pillow across the room, hurtling over chairs and tables until it hit one of the books with perfect accuracy, and Dee had to admit she was impressed. A stunt like that could have easily resulted in a missed target, but no. It appeared Mars wasn't one to play it safe - fine, Dee wouldn't either.

"Not bad," the girl admitted a little grudgingly as she bent to pick up the second pillow. "But watch this." She eyed the remaining book again critically, adjusted her stance a little, then flashed Mars a confident, almost cocky grin before she tossed the pillow into the air. There wasn't a trace of doubt or uncertainty in her as she watched the pillow spin in the air once, twice, before coming back down. She wasn't going to fail, she wasn't going to miss.

"Flipendo!" The incantation left her tongue, and with it came a rush of surety, of golden, brilliant certainty. She could feel the magic flow through her and burst out from her wand in a flash of blue light that hit the falling pillow perfectly in its center and shot it across the room in a burst of speed.
It was less dramatic than Mars's spell, maybe - no narrowly skimming across tables, just a focused, dead straight trajectory through the air - but it did the trick just as well. The pillow hit the remaining book and knocked it to the ground next to the first one.

Dee let out a whoop of triumph, along with an excited little turn, then stopped and looked at the pillows in thought. "So... who won?" she asked a little skeptically.