Hello again, all you fabulous SOUP readers!! I was over the moon to hear from a very disgruntled Nikita that you all seemed to enjoy my last tale of behind-the-scenes gossip and shenanigans. So, I have once again pilfered borrowed my darling roommate's wonderful Quill. And yes, as Nikita keeps yelling at me, I could more than afford to buy my own. But somehow, seeing her turn such a pretty shade of crimson and shoot smoke out of her ears is so much more entertaining.
This month, I am going to take you back to a duelling tournament in Nice that my brothers and I attended several years ago now. I believe I was around 13 or 14, but don't quote me on that. We go to so many, and I lose track. The only reason I remember at all is because it was before my dear eldest brother Benedict got married. Anyway, this particular tournament was held outside in an absolutely enormous and quite beautiful private garden on the grounds of a palace. It was around July, and I can still smell the delicious and completely enchanting smell of gardenias and orange blossoms that wafted across the duelling grounds while we were sparring.
As you can probably imagine, the surrounding flora provided a beautiful backdrop to each match, but it did provide some rather unexpected ammunition for those who did not respect the elegance of such a place. I was very saddened to learn of such destruction as I, for one, am not one to destroy beautiful things unnecessarily. There was one poor, unfortunate willow tree that will probably never be the same again after getting hit with a very powerful blast of Sectumsempra. My brother Percival, who is a little bit of a nature lover, was most upset and had to be restrained for such a blatant act. But it's not against the rules, unfortunately, and I am quite sure that the Referee for that match was reprimanded for not locking down the shields that we use during matches properly to prevent that sort of accident.
But I'm sure you are curious about the title of this article and where I could possibly bring ducks into such a thing as duelling. Well, I will tell you, as it was possibly one of the funniest things I had experienced at a tournament at that point in my life. It all began with my second oldest brother, Eric. Now, you must understand that while Eric is probably the most reserved and aloof member of the Nightshade clan, he is also the one with the most wicked sense of humour. It staggers me at times where he gets his ideas from, as they really are quite brilliant. But never mind that. On with my tale.
It was on the last day of the tournament and he had reached the semi-finals of the Men's Over 21 category. He was tasked to duel the Asian Confederation's last gold medal winner, Han Sy Chung. A very accomplished duellist that I have come to respect a lot. Needless to say it was a very intense and stressful match as they met each other blow for blow. It even ended up going to 13 rounds because the Referee was determined not to have a draw. Both of the competitors had to be reprimanded several times for their excessive use of force. It was anyone's match.
That was until Eric caught sight of my brother Jeremiah out of the corner of his eye. I have no idea why, but Jer was being his usual goofball self and turned up to watch the match in a totally hideous bright orange shirt with a giant duck on the front. I swear I almost threatened to curse him myself for such a fashion tragedy. But I didn't get a chance, though, as no sooner had my two brothers made eye contact than the most cheekily devious grin appeared on Eric's face, and a second later, his opponent was sporting webbed feet and some rather fine plumage. It was absolutely brilliant, and the crowd loved it. The roaring cheers spooked the poor Han-duck, and he ran off at top speed through the garden, leaving utter chaos in his wake.
I'm sure you can all have a good giggle at the idea of 15 referees halting their matches and running around like beheaded chickens trying to catch a duck that kept quacking at the top of its voice. It must've taken at least an hour of frantic searching and the dubious use of some fishing nets before Han was caught and returned to his rightful form. Only to turn Eric into a bunch of tulips in revenge. It was definitely a match that no one will forget for a very long time.
Also, my dear readers, I will also let you into a little secret of mine. It may sound a touch mean, but it has become a running joke of ours that we always buy Eric a bouquet of tulips on his birthday and make sure that whenever we see Han, we refer to him as Donald. We may be a pureblood family, you know, but that doesn't mean we can't tease as well as the rest of my errant friends. Well.... maybe not, Lugh... But that is another story entirely.
So, until next time, stay safe and watch out for low-flying ducks! - Tabitha