They're gonna𝔠𝔩𝔢𝔞𝔫 𝔲𝔭your looks With all the𝔩𝔦𝔢𝔰in the books To make a𝔠𝔦𝔱𝔦𝔷𝔢𝔫out of you
┏━━━━━━━━━┓ Where? Hogsmeade, Blaze of Glory Who? Himself, for now. Thoughts?Well, school's out. Now what? ┗━━━━━━━━━┛
xxx
Jack stared at his sister for a long moment before shaking his head at her initial claims. "Belle, are you okay? I haven't received any mail or information about the goings on of anything since my very first week at Hogwarts, and it wasn't even from you or father. Darius was the only one that sent me a letter." The boy visible prickled at saying it out loud, his agitation and resentment mingling together with both concern for how Belle was acting and the fact that even through all of what he felt was neglect, he still missed her.
He watched her moving slowly, tentatively as if she were beyond exhausted. "Alright, I won't tell father. Though knowing him, he might already know." He sat down beside his owl, watching and listening. "Anthony and Jojo Tempest? I can't put faces to the names, but it's vaguely familiar." He listened as he was told they were missing, causing him to raise an eyebrow. "How does someone just go missing at Hogwarts? I mean, I know it has happened in the past but they were always found before the year ends."
But rather than finish rambling about his confusion, he walked up towards the table Belle was sitting on and hugged her. "I promise I won't wander off...without first telling someone where I'm wandering to."
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ OOC:It's all good, I've been drowning in the misery that is Dark Souls 1 for the last week. I've died so much...and I still haven't beat it.
Essy ze Ninja
Diamond Wales
Because they𝔰𝔩𝔢𝔢𝔭with a gun And keep an𝔢𝑦𝔢on you, son So they can𝔴𝔞𝔱𝔠𝔥all the things you do
Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2016 3:07 pm
All that weseeorseem,is but adreamwithin adream.
Annabelle Emery Rich Blaze of Glory: Dueling Range Owner -----------------------------------------------------------------▶ ▷ ▶ ▷ ▶
[Summer of 2033]
Annabelle Rich shook her head fiercely, eyes shut tight. ”Jack, I'm sorry.” It was all she could do; the only thing she knew how to say. Nothing would excuse her actions, she shouldn't have been so selfish. She remembered her very first year at Hogwarts, how lonely she had been until she made her very first friend: Hildy. It was only a few short years later that Hildegard was pulled out of Hogwarts and transferred to Beauxbaton at her grandmother's behest. Belle never saw or heard from her again after that, and it still hurt to think about. She wondered how differently things would have been if she had had an older sibling, someone to watch out for her for once. And she let her grief get the best of her again.
”I'm sure he does,” she muttered under her breath, none the least bit pleased by the notion. It's not like this was his fault; she had plenty to be angry with him for, but this wasn't it. Her shoulders slumped when she finally admitted the truth, then watched Jack's expression change. Somehow, she expected more. Belle shook her head and said, ”I don't know, I don't know. But the aurors have been investigating and...” her voice faded into silence as she struggled for the words. Giving up entirely, she chewed her bottom lip raw until her brother rose and moved closer. His small arms wrapped around her and she leaned in fully, tightening her arms around his neck and squeezed tight. ”I should have written you, and I'm sorry. But I didn't want you to worry—I still don't.” It was her job to worry. Not his.
”Now, enough of all this,” she said, mustering a laugh and released Jack from her grip. ”Tell me everything about your school year. Did you make any friends? How were quidditch try outs? You didn't get in too much trouble, did you?”
╔════▄▀▄▀▄▄▀▄▀▄══════════════════╗ ____✹✸✷ Blaze of Glory ____✹✸✷Green Flannel ____✹✸✷ 28 Years Old, 5’7”, 138lbs ╚══════════════════▄▀▄▀▄▄▀▄▀▄════╝
They're gonna𝔠𝔩𝔢𝔞𝔫 𝔲𝔭your looks With all the𝔩𝔦𝔢𝔰in the books To make a𝔠𝔦𝔱𝔦𝔷𝔢𝔫out of you
┏━━━━━━━━━┓ Where? Hogsmeade, Blaze of Glory Who? Himself, for now. Thoughts?Well, school's out. Now what? ┗━━━━━━━━━┛
xxx
Jack nodded, accepting her apology. It seems that much had went on while he was at Hogwarts the past year, perhaps he should take things with a grain of salt. Adults seemed to always have something important going on, he didn't look forward to the time when that would ring true for him as well.
He let her change the topic, however it wasn't exactly one he was too keen on delving into himself. "Let's see...I started a war in History of Magic on the first day and have been essentially branded a pariah as a result. I didn't make any friends, as if that comes as a surprise. I'm very good at Transfiguration and Flying, I even made the Quidditch Team as a reserve. But I think I'll be stuck as a reserve for a while, there was another reserve beater like me and only one position is opening."
He paused, thinking. His year was so enveloped with his studies and training for Quidditch that he didn't really have time to get into any trouble. Sure, there was that time he was going to fight Leon, who didn't show up. The other reserve beater, at that. He'd end up playing while Jack just watched and he felt himself heat in agitation. But it passed quickly enough as he looked up at his sister. "Honestly, I'm on the fence about how I feel when I'm at Hogwarts. Classes are fine, Quidditch is great...but the people, so few even care about being there. Like it isn't a privilege for them, just a waste of their time." He shook his head, "Maybe they'll see in a few years what I do now." And maybe, just maybe, he'd actually make a friend. It was so lonely now...
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ OOC:
Essy ze Ninja
Quote:
Because they𝔰𝔩𝔢𝔢𝔭with a gun And keep an𝔢𝑦𝔢on you, son So they can𝔴𝔞𝔱𝔠𝔥all the things you do
Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2016 3:50 pm
All that weseeorseem,is but adreamwithin adream.
Annabelle Emery Rich Blaze of Glory: Dueling Range Owner -----------------------------------------------------------------▶ ▷ ▶ ▷ ▶
”A war?” Belle curled a stray lock of hair behind her ear and offered a small smile, ”I'm sure it wasn't that bad.” She couldn't imagine what sort of argument could have broken out that would label Jack a “pariah” as he so keenly stated—especially singled out. Trouble usually comes in twos. Usually. Her history of magic class had been rather tame in comparison to every other year, then again, that was probably due to the professor. Aslan was stoic, stern; almost intimidating—his snake roamed the classroom at free will, after all. Rumor had it, he was a parseltongue, but no one ever knew for sure. There had never been any arguments in his class, but that seemed to change when Professor Powell took over. She wasn't sure what or why; if anything, Powell seemed just as 'serious' as Aslan—or maybe her classmates had just gotten bolder with age?
”That's good you made it on the team—I stayed in reserve until about, third year? You'll come to appreciate the practice.” She certainly had. Her first few rounds at trying to catch the snitch ended in pitiful failure—the one and only time she had even spotted it, she nearly ran her broom into of the towers because she was too focused on the snitch and not her surroundings. She was just lucky it was practice and not a real game, or she never would've heard the end of it. ”You know... the weird thing about making new friends is first trying to be a good friend to other people. I wish I had known that growing up—but I was lucky—I had really warm and welcoming classmates, in all four houses. The year below mind had been split down the middle of purists and mugglelovers, and the year above me had psychopaths, I bloody swear. And you won't know what group you've ended up with until it's too late.
“I know it might seem hard, and the people might seem weird. But they'll change, you all will. Or they won't, and you get used to it. But don't worry too much about what other people think, just... be you. Practice your spellwork, explore the castle, meet the ghosts and talk to the portraits—there's so much more to Hogwarts then just “making friends” and before you know it, you'll meet people with the same interests as you.” It's what she had done with dueling. After Hildy left, she didn't really know what else to do with her time—so she started up the dueling club. It didn't make her any longlasting friends, but it's where she found her passion. She was sure if Jack could just find something, his perspective on life and school would change. (Or she hoped so, anyway.)
╔════▄▀▄▀▄▄▀▄▀▄══════════════════╗ ____✹✸✷ Blaze of Glory ____✹✸✷Green Flannel ____✹✸✷ 28 Years Old, 5’7”, 138lbs ╚══════════════════▄▀▄▀▄▄▀▄▀▄════╝
They're gonna𝔠𝔩𝔢𝔞𝔫 𝔲𝔭your looks With all the𝔩𝔦𝔢𝔰in the books To make a𝔠𝔦𝔱𝔦𝔷𝔢𝔫out of you
┏━━━━━━━━━┓ Where? Hogsmeade, Blaze of Glory Who? Belle. Thoughts?Well, school's out. Now what? ┗━━━━━━━━━┛
xxx
Jack shook his head vehemently, looking at his sister. "No, it was bad. My lack of tact made me say things in a way that made me sound superior because of our blood status. I never meant it like that. I just wanted them to understand how important wizard history is, even to the muggleborns." He shrugged and sighed, the thought bringing back some of the things he'd said. He definitely wouldn't have wanted to be his friend if he heard himself say those things.
He suddenly grinned after hearing what she said about the team, nodding vigorously. "Yeah, I love the practices. I took Darius' advice to heart, I've been working out every single day before classes start. It makes holding the beater's bat easier than for some. I don't even leave practice tired anymore, unlike some of the others." He flexed his arm, the muscles were beginning to show definition even under his school robes. He then listened to her talk about people, muttering quietly, "You were lucky."
He looked up at his sister again, curiosity alight in his eyes. "Well, I wouldn't say that I'm a purist...or a mugglelover. I know that I appreciate those with ability and drive, much like myself. But I can't seem to find anyone in my year that has those qualities. So...would you say that maybe I should check the years above and below me for people like that?"
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ OOC:
Essy ze Ninja
Quote:
Because they𝔰𝔩𝔢𝔢𝔭with a gun And keep an𝔢𝑦𝔢on you, son So they can𝔴𝔞𝔱𝔠𝔥all the things you do
Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2025 8:43 pm
xx❅ Wʜᴇʀᴇ Aᴍ I?Blaze of Glory Dueling Range xxx❅ Wʜᴏ Is Wɪᴛʜ Mᴇ?Radovan xxxx❅ Wʜᴀᴛ's Gᴏɪɴɢ Oɴ?Dueling Practice xxxxx❅ Wʜᴀᴛ's Iɴsɪᴅᴇ Mʏ Hᴇᴀᴅ?What is he planning?
Between about a million hours of training for quidditch, learning to cook, and spending even a few precious moments with Linsey, Serghei had been working with his brother on strategy, history, and dueling. Arguably, Serghei thought he was doing fine, but his brother insisted. In fact, Radovan was almost determined to make the younger practice. He tried his best to keep up, but any time he asked why the insane restrictions, Radovan simply waved off his concerns. Part of him had to wonder if something was brewing in the Antonov family, but no one would share the information.
After coming back from the training pitch, Serghei simply sighed when he saw his brother at his home. "Radovan, de ce ești aici?" His voice betrayed his exhaustion. "Ah! There you are, frate mai mic. Come now, we have practice to do." The taller brunet sounded eager, even despite his brother's evident annoyance. "Of course. Let me change, then we can go over strategies." Serghei walked over toward his room, only pausing at the next words. "No, I found a dueling range in Hogsmeade. That is where we're going." Because of course.
Once checked in at the dueling range, the boys took their spots. "Încearcă să nu mă omori." Serghei raised his wand, standing in stance. "Încearcă să nu mori." Radovan sent back a sly grin, watching as the younger cast the first spell. Radovan quickly deflected and sent a new one in its place. Within a few moments of vivid color flash, Serghei was thrown back and landed with a huff. "Again." Radovan offered a hand to help his brother back to his feet before starting the match anew. This one ended similarly, with Serghei getting annoyed. "Again." Serghei wanted to decline, but his brother's tone was one of order. It wasn't a question.
{{Wearing || Serghei :: Radovan {{Serghei 1 - "Radovan, why are you here?" Serghei 2 - "Try not to kill me." Radovan 1 - "Try not to die."}}
xx✪ Wʜᴇʀᴇ Aᴍ I?Blaze of Glory Dueling Range xxx✪ Wʜᴏ Is Wɪᴛʜ Mᴇ?Serghei xxxx✪ Wʜᴀᴛ's Gᴏɪɴɢ Oɴ?Training xxxxx✪ Wʜᴀᴛ's Iɴsɪᴅᴇ Mʏ Hᴇᴀᴅ?He must get better
Radovan didn't know the exact date, no, but he knew something was coming. Father had been far more strict with the boys, especially himself, Demyan, and Matej. Matej got freedom since he worked at the dragon reserve, and Demyan for his schooling, but Radovan... Radovan had close eyes at all times. He was expected to swear his oath to the family, to get his golden stars, before war broke out, but he couldn't. He would rather die than become a mind-washed soldier for his Father's whims.
Preparing for war meant Radovan had others to prepare. Serghei, despite being a competent duelist, was far from the level he needed to be. Linsey, though she would likely be mostly focused on Ella's safety and her own, would need to be flawless at performing defensive magics. And Little Ella... unless this happened while she was tucked safely in the walls of Hogwarts, would need to be capable of defending herself as well. Her ability to hide might not keep her perfectly safe, and Radovan had sworn an oath to make sure no harm would come to her.
Today was focused on his brother, who had already been knocked down twice. "I don't understand why we have to keep doing this." Serghei said, his tone clearly full of frustration. "Until you are able to win, we will keep doing this. I am giving you the offensive. I am giving you weaker magics. I am trying my best to keep you alive. But you must get better, because they...." Rad paused, sighing softly. "-because they won't. I get it. Let's... go again."
Serghei stood again, taking a breath before flicking his wand. This time, the boys volleyed their magics for longer before the younger was thrown back. Yet again, the older offered a hand to help him back to his feet. "When you are in your duel, your undoing is your strict focus. You have to know not only what I am doing, but what my next move would be. As much as it is awful, you have to be prepared to get your hands dirty. Here. Let me teach you a new spell."
Brown eyes looked over, but Serghei nodded softly. Radovan gently set his fingertips on his brother's chest, just over his sternum. 'Trage înapoi,' he spoke softly, immediately feeling the strong pull of the magic below. Serghei grit his teeth to prevent crying out, but realized in that moment that he couldn't move. There was no way to fight back. All he could do was be at the mercy of his brother's stronger magic. After a second... a moment... hours or more, he couldn't tell, he was released.
Radovan watched his brother panting for breath for a second, before he seemed to recombobulate. "What... what was that?!" He questioned, breath coming in heavily. Rad set a hand on his brother's shoulder, keeping it there even when he flinched a bit. "It is a spell of my own creation. It pulls the magic toward the caster, it makes them physically unable to use their core. It can disable even the strongest of wizards. You must say it with the full meaning. The full desire to disable your opponent. But it is a spell now known to only two." His words were soft, making sure no one nearby might here. But Serghei looked into his eyes before nodding. He stepped back, shifting back into dueling position before starting the offensive again.
