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The Battle that Defines All
by Mellsuili​
The last battle who will define the winner for Year 44. A duel which will probably end up in blazes is the one you’ll read today.
Disa and Mary walk side by side as they’re lead down a long hall by Memrah, their referee. A normal hall of Hogwarts is what Memrah leads them through, and already both duellers can see a large wooden door at the end. After minutes of using their legs, they reach the door and Memrah pushes it aside revealing a sight.
The duellers step onto grass, or what seems to be a rubbery material. Surrounding the fake green area is a giant stadium, where a low wall separates the crowd from the duelling area. Built into the lower wall are a few torches, with a flames dancing inside them.
The duel starts off with a snooze, as the spells landed everywhere and did everything other than for hitting the prredicted targets.
Realizing that the crowd Disa mutters in a quiet voice to herself, “You can do this!” Invalesco is the spell Disa decides to use, and it manages to hit her opponent. It isn’t incredibly strong, but hopefully it can increase their luck.
“Obruoserpigcio!” A flame from Mary’s wand forms a snake of fire. Its orange flames curl around Disa’s opponent, and a crack is suddenly heard. Soon the flames extinguish into black pieces of ash, and the victim of that attack seems to fall down from the attack. But no worries, like a strong warrior Disa manages to pick herself back up. Her arms are shaking, but in her mind she knows it wasn’t the strongest attack ever. Now that she is on two feet, she has a plan in mind. “Odioquis!
Mary, in an animated mood, is happy to cast again. “Substringo Manus!” She cries, hoping she could get a few extra turns. Disa’s hands snap tight, with a blue magical like string binding her hands together. Once the string has completed knotting, it starts fading. Mary will only have one chance to make a major impact on Disa before she’s free.
“Validus Ingis!” Tiny raindrops of fire start falling down onto Mary’s opponent. The incantation doesn’t seem to harm her enough to get moderate burns, but it does annoy Disa with all these pricks of pain. Poof! The magical substance has now disappeared and its prisoner is now free. Disa apparently thinks skin is a little too overrated so she yells “Lecto Tergum!” Mary’s skin starts peeling off, it’s an ugly sight to watch but be glad it isn’t worse.
No more soft impacts anymore, well hopefully there’ll be no more. As Mary yells “Sectumsempra,” her opponent counters by casting “Opulutm.” Disa’s wand has casted a shield, but it can’t manage to block the spell that is blasting towards her. It still manages to hit Disa, but when it blazed through the shield it seemed to lost a bit of its power. Still, two deep but small scratches appeared under Disa’s left shoulder and near the side of her torso. Wanting Mary to feel the wrath of Winter faster, she calls upon the tornados! “Tempestam Genero!” She cries. Soon, a whirling tornado appears and seems to head towards- not Mary, but the audience! It bangs against the lower wall and heads towards the other direction. Luckily, none of the onlookers get sucked in, and both duellers jump out of the way. It continues its wrath, bounces off the other wall and rages towards the opposite wall.
“If the dice won’t be nice, then I won’t be,” is Mary’s philosophy. As she prepares herself to cast their next spell, the words “Pergladius Ingis” soon flowed from her mouth. Instead of a big frightening sword of fire, a tiny flaming dagger is what Mary’s wand can manage. Stabbing Disa in their lower leg, a few internal and external burns are all it can do before it puffs away into smoke.
Even after the attack, Disa is still able to use her noggin. And since Mary is already drenched in water, why not freeze it? “Aquilo!” Soon a jet of ice hits Mary and she stops for a second or two. She’s still able to move in the thin ice but her body doesn’t seem to be able to handle the freeze and starts to shiver. “Interfus!” Soon, a strong flash of light goes heading for Disa, or is it heading towards something else? If you guessed something else you’re correct! Mary’s aim is a little off and her spell nearly hits their competitor, but misses. Without anyone saying a word, two gashes appear on Mary. Like Disa’s cuts, the injuries are small but deep, and in the same places, mimicking Disa’s injuries.
“Obruoserpigcio!” Mary hollers, but Disa wants to protect herself from her competitor’s fire snake and screams “Creo Vallum!”
Disa’s wand refuses to work and spits out a few sparks. Mary, on the other hand, summons a snake and its flames are burning bigger than the last. It throws itself at Disa and twirls tightly around her. SNAP! Did I just hear a few bones being broken? Oh yes, I did. SNAP! And another broken bone! Burns starts appearing on the Disa’s lower half, as she is released from the serpent’s wrath. The fury caused so much discomfort that Disa is unable to stand up.
Suddenly Memrah bursts into the battlefield and yells “Duel is over!” The crowd seems disappointed, but Disa looks happy to be arriving at the Hospital Wing soon. Soon, Mary and Disa are led towards the Wing, and an intern shows the two to their beds.
Now, time to announce the winner!
The crowd leaves the stadium to vote in their favorite dueller…
Memrah goes to the Notice Board to announce to winner…
Give an applause to…
Disa!
Congratulations to Disa for winning the Duelling tournament, and I applaud Mary for getting so far!
The Quibbler crew gathered around the table looking anxiously at one another while Editor Navi nervously paced across the room. Footsteps echoed as Student Team Leader Brooklynne escorts Divination Professor Angela into the room, both looking terribly shaken.
“I have seen a most ominous vision!” declared Angela.
“The stone walls of Hogwarts turning white,
as students exclaim in fright;
Professors losing control over this castle of old.
Stairs moving at their will
changed not even by ones of most skill…”
There was confusion among the group, some trying to decode the prophecy while others doubted it in the first place. With so many in doubt, we decided to do nothing until there was evidence of the prophecy coming true. Insulted, Professor Angela trudged out of the room, shaking from shock and a bit of anger.
As weeks went by, strange things began to happen at Hogwarts. In some rooms, patches of grey stone slowly started fading to white. The enchanted staircase stopped moving, such a curse that even the Charms professors couldn’t undo it. It seemed the ominous prophecy was coming true.
Back in the Newsroom, the crew gathered once more with Angela, all brainstorming ways to save our castle.
“You know, it’s not actually that bad! Just a different colour and a few small changes, no big deal,” said one optimistic reporter.
“No, there will be a lot of magical features we will lose, not to mention the beauty of our castle. We can’t just let it happen, we need to take action,” argued Angela.
“What about using your crystal ball to see how we’ll eventually solve it?” I suggested.
“The Inner Eye does not see on command!” said Angela, whose face suddenly falls. “But I’m afraid it is already too late. Time can’t restore what we’ve already lost.”
Navi gasped. “Maybe time can restore it!” she said and started digging through her desk drawers wildly. She eventually emerged with a golden device in hand. “This is one of the rare true time-turners left in existence. Illegal, yes, but just what we need.” Turning to me, she said, “I need you to go back in time to when Angela first made the prophecy and convince me to do something.”
I accepted the time-turner and turned it back to the first emergency meeting weeks earlier. As the meeting ended, I emerged from behind a curtain and approached Navi, explaining to her what I had seen from the future. As she made her way to the Headmaster’s Office, my future self began disappearing. I had succeeded; my version of the future was now being erased.
The Hogwarts staff immediately held a staff meeting with the Quibbler crew, my past self now sitting inside the fancy chairs in the staffroom. With full belief in Angela’s prophecy, Headmaster Liam set into motion a massive project to rebuild Hogwarts.
To preserve the rich history of our castle, it was decided that we would not be demolishing the existing castle. Instead, we cleared a little bit of the Forbidden Forest and decided to rebuild there. We keep the lake, the Quidditch pitch, and even the memories inside the old castle! And in our new castle, we’ll have the same beauty and functionality we could ever want. The past and future of Hogwarts standing side by side, it will be quite a sight to behold!
Quibbler Quest: The Future of Hogwarts
by Rose Jean​
As you may have seen, there is a new activity in town! You can guess what houses current Underages will be sorted in via a google form (click image for access to google form). All participants will receive fun prizes, while the individual that has sorted the most number of Underages into their correct house, will receive a grand award - Sorting Hat Apprentice. Try your best and this prestigious award may just be yours. ;) The winner will be stated in the next release of the Quibbler!
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~ Badged Students
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