The First QWT Task: Fire

[Narcissa Malfoy]

"George is right you know. Nothing bad can happen. (OOC You have to get permission to get killed so...hehe)" Narcissa said trying to smile. She had sat at the judges' box and was looking toward the maze.

"I am really courious about the amount of spells the champions know." Narcissa thought.

OOC Very good idea the one of the fire maze Jill!!! I am really looking forward to this task![/size][/font]

[pearl]

Pearl joined the judges. "Yes, there's nothing to worry about." She nodded. "You have worked tirelessly to make sure no one will die. Stop worrying about it."

[Morana Neus]

((*Looks around*

We are supposed to post our outcome here... right?...

*lost, glazed look in eyes*))

Morana grabbed her wand, which was now qualified for the first task. She thanked a few more people who offered their regards (again, none Slytherins), and listened as the Headmistress announced the first task.

'A Fire Maze with a few obstacles? That's it? This should be fun...' she thought, the heavy feeling that was weighing her down lifting slightly. 'I thought it was going to be a little more extreme, like wrestling a dragon or something...'

When it came to the option of Potions, she scoffed in disgust. ‘Where’s the fun in that? A waste of time, if you ask me..’

Once the Headmistress was done and gave them the whistle blow to start the task, Morana thought for a moment before summoning her broom, thinking ‘Naw.. It wouldn't be that easy..’

Swinging a leg over the broom and kicking off, she lifted higher and higher, then inched toward the maze cautiously; at about three inches away above on of the firewalls, she thought that she was going to get away with it, until the flames roared to life and suddenly raised up to her level, the heat pushing her back and the surprise almost making her fall off her broom (which, at about 20 ft up, would’ve really sucked).

Cursing, Morana flew down and dismounted, wondering what to do next. After deciding to keep her broom, just in case, she shrinked it and placed it into her pocket, then walked through one of the maze entrances. Looking back, she watched as the entrance sealed up, leaving her to fend for herself.
She winced as she felt the heat of the flames doused her in waves, making her feel as if it were going to suffocate her, enhanced by the smoke, which was making her cough. Raising her wand, she concentrated on the Bubblehead Charm, continuously repeating the incantation until her attempt at non-verbally casting the spell worked, creating a giant bubble around her head.

Morana paused, hands on her knees as she gasped in the clean air, taking time to get used to the heat. After a quick rest, she stood up straight and put her wand in the palm of her hand, whispering “Point me.” The wand immediately spun, pointing behind her. With this new bit of information, she began to calculate: ‘If north is behind me, that means that the school is behind me. Which means that I’m facing the right direction! Way to go, Me!’

Walking ahead, Morana began to go through the many twist and turns, continuously using the ‘Point Me’ spell and encountering no resistance until about 5 minutes into the maze.
She sensed something before it attacked: whirling around Morana’s eyes widened in shock and horror as a mighty bird-beast emerge from the firewall behind her like a demon from hell.

Frozen, it wasn’t until the bird let out an unearthly cry that she spurred into action, yelling “Aguamenti!” as loud as she could, setting the creature out. All that was left was a pile of ashes and a lot of steam. Still shocked, Morana approached the pile and bent down to look at it, only for a disfigured Flame Phoenix head to rise from the ashes, attempting to grab her wand but instead latching onto her hand.
All she had time to say was “Oh sh-” before it began to scorch her hand, causing her to drop her wand and scream. Without thinking, Morana dropped on top of the head and rolled on it, smothering the fire with her body. Tears streaming down her eyes from the pain of her burned hand, she checked the rest of her body, thanking God that she was wearing a jean jacket: it had taken most of the blow from where she had rolled on the fire beast. Unfortunately, it was disfigured.

‘Wait, what am I thinking? I nearly got burned to death and the worst thing I’m thinking of is the death of my jean jacket?’

Sighing wearily and wincing in pain, Morana carefully took off her jean jacket, tossing the charred remains on top of the scattered ash pile and stepping on it to spread the ashes even more, before picking up her wand with her non-wand hand and continuing her mission: To get the Hell out of here as quickly as possible.

Alas, it would not be that easy.

After taking a wrong turn and reaching a dead end, Morana was about to turn around when she realized that she was in the shadow of something big. Very big.

Slowly turning around, she saw a grayish-purple creature, not that that was important: what she was concentrating on was the two extremely sharp-looking horns.
“A Graphorn.” She said with awe and increasing dread.
Morana looked around wildly, realizing that the only way out was to pass by the Graphorn. She was trapped.

It charged roaring ferociously as it did so, to which Morana raised her wand yelled “Sectumsempra!” aiming for it's eyes but missed, the spell simply bouncing off its magic-resistant skin harmlessly as if it was a pathetic, first-year spell. It made what sounded like a laughing noise, which in turn made Morana mad. Snarling, she was going to try the same spell when she suddenly remembered: her broom! Quickly pulling it out, she enlarged it and hopped on, flying up just in time as the creature ran right into a firewall.

That done, she then did what any other sensible person would do in her situation: hauled ass in the opposite direction, not stopping or getting off her broom until she was certain it would not follow her.

After about 15 more minutes of walking (handling a broom with one functional hand was hard), she began to get nervous, for she had yet to encounter any opposition; the only thing she did see was a what seemed to be a pile of bones. Suspicious, Morana was considering turning back, but her wand said she was heading in the right direction (south), so she carried on. Wishing that she had turned back after she saw what was waiting for her between her and the next passageway.

'A head of a lion, a body of a goat, and a tail of a dragon...'

Immediately, she recognized it for what it was: A Chimera. A very pissed off Chimera, considering that she had just interrupted it from its current meal: a half-eaten banshee, its glassy eyes still open in death and a silent scream still perched on its bloody mouth, to which she realized that its throat was ripped out. The beast’s hungry eyes gazing intently at her, it slowly got up and began to stalk her, licking its blood stained lips as it began to pick up speed, eager for a fresh kill.

Running backwards, Morana raised her wand and yelled "Incarcerous!", wrapping the creature's legs together with thick, magical ropes, causing it to trip.

In the meantime, Morana had retreated to the other side of the current passageway she was in to by her more time. Trying to devise a quick plan, her ideas were interrupted by such thoughts as 'A F**KING CHIMAERA!!!', other thoughts falling similar to that one.

Time was up, however, as the Chimera quickly tore itself out of its bindings, and continued its hunt.

Aiming carefully, Morana yelled "Stupefy!", but the beast simply batted the red light away with its dragon tail...

'd**n, I forgot... the dragon tail is nearly impossible to penetrate with just a single spell...'

Then, she got an idea.

Concentrating on something she had seen in an article she had read online and in a few stealth tactics games as hard as she could, Morana yelled "Inanimatus Conjurus!", conjuring a Flash-Bang grenade.

Quickly casting the 'Muffliato' spell on herself, she unplugged and threw the grenade to the best of her ability with her non-dominant arm, closing her eyes and hoping for the best.

After a few seconds, Morana saw white brightness behind her eyelids, to which she opened her eyes and saw the Chimera stumbling around, obviously blind and hopefully deaf as well.

Running past it, she confirmed its deafness when it ignored her wild laughter, stopping only when she had gotten into the next passageway, clutching her side and gasping for breath.

Between breaths, as a precaution, Morana cast "Flagrate!", connecting the walls so that the Chimera would have no way of getting to her (unless it could walk through fire).

Taking a short rest as she removed the 'Muffliato' spell, she wondered how close she was to the clues and how long she had been in the maze, when she finally became aware of her surroundings, thus seeing a table with four boxes... Four boxes!!!

Scrambling to the table, Morana gave a joyous laugh, and examined the boxes, grabbing the one that called out to her the most.

The joy fading, she was now left with one last question:

"How the Hell do I get out of here?"

[Narcissa Malfoy]

OOC Very good Morana! As teh Slytherin Judge, you make me proud. I will notify the headmistress that you finished already the first task. She will give you further instructions.

On the table there are four boxes with riddles in them. You are the first champion therefore can choose the easiest one. After solving the riddle, someone will get you out of the maze.[/size][/font]

[Morana Neus]

((Kukuku.... Silly me, I should've known... Thank you both!))

Moments after Morana grabbed a box, however, it shocked her and flew immediately back to the table.

"Ow!" she yelped, shaking her good hand in attempts to rid the burning/prickling feeling.

'That's right... I still need to solve a riddle...'

Looking around, she saw no scrap of paper, no writing on the box, nothing that would be a riddle. Scratching her head, she said aloud "Now where can those riddles be...", touching a box. Suddenly, in big flaming letters words began to appear:

Give me food, and I will live; give me water, and I will die. What am I?

Studying it, Morana thought 'Hmm... seems easily enough...'
Just out of curiosity, she check the others which went (in different colored flames) as follows:

I am mother and father, but never birth or nurse. I'm rarely still, but I never wander. What am I?

What can run but never walks, has a mouth but never talks, has a head but never weeps, has a bed but never sleeps?

All about, but cannot be seen,
Can be captured, cannot be held,
No throat, but can be heard.

Going back to the first one, Morana noticed that it disappeared, then looked to the others to watch them fade away as well.

'No worries. I'll just activate them again...'
"Riddle please!"
Much to her dismay, a new riddle came up:

I am always hungry,
I must always be fed,
The finger I lick
Will soon turn red.

"They change?! Aww..." Morana groaned, cursing her bad luck. And this one was longer than the previous one!

'Okay. I just need to calm down and concentrate.'

Taking a deep breath, she re-read the question, quickly memorizing every word.

'Wait a minute... there's a connection between this riddle and the previous one! They both need to be fed... but one dies in water... the other turns fingers red...'

Gazing out into on of the walls of fire, Morana nearly smacked herself when the answer struck her.

"Needs food to survive, dies in water, burns skin..." At this, Morana looked at her burned hand.

"The answer is fire!"

Immediately, the box flew into her arms, and a victorious Morana laughed triumphantly, all the while looking wearily for the way out.

~*EDIT*~
Seeing none, she sighed, but looked at the box with a growing sense of pride.

'Should I wait to open it?...' Looking around, Morana kneeled down and set the box onto the floor, lifting the top off. Inside laid a scroll of parchment and... a Kit Kat Bar?!'

"What the?-" she began, as she grabbed the candy bar (which was glued to the bottom, apparently). With a tug at her navel, Morana was instantly portkeyed to the front of the maze where the Champions began to an awaiting crowd.

'Oh yeah, the Portkey... forgot about that... Sneaky sneaky...' she thought, her mind moving to the next order of business all the while still trying to grab the candy bar.

'Man I'm hungry!'

((NOW, I'm done! ;D))

[Amber Brown]

Amber watched as the Slytherin Champion, Morana she was called entered the maze. She thought that Morana did an excellent job getting through the maze. She had a lot of courage. She gasped when Morana encountered a Graphorn, but was relieved when the seventh year through spells at the creature.

Then there was yet another creature, a chimera. The first year wondered what she was going to do now and saw that she did yet another spell and also completed the maze with flying colors and also solved that riddle that she had. " Wow.....I wonder if the other champions could get through this. Hope Josi can..... ".

[James Sullivan]

Seated inside the box among his fellow judges, James watched with great interest as the whistle blew and the task began. He had a bit of difficulty following all four of the champions movements, not wanting to miss anything since he was going to rate their performances.

So far, he was doing fine, and turned his head just in time to see Morana Neus use a Flash-Bang grenade on the Chimera. He even had the mind to laugh a bit at this clever piece of work, but restrained himself with the thought of the Headmistress worrying to death for the champions' safety and what she'll think, hearing him laugh over a dangerous event.

OOC: Great job, Morana! It was a very amusing post!

[Josi Emrald]

It was time, the headmistress started to speak again, and asked the champions to follow her. A mixture of excitement, worry, and anxiousness was whirling around Josi's body as she eagerly followed Jill. She was shaking now, she wanted to puke, but there was no way in hell that she was going to back out now - that would just be stupid, and she would regret it totally.

Before further instruction the Headmistress waved her wand and what appeared to be a gigantic mass of orange flames appeared; whistling as they waved to the winter wind that surrounded them. Josi looked at the flames wondering what she was supposed to do with flames, and then looked at Briarson waiting for her questions to be answered. They were, and she got worried as she scanned her brain for a spell that put out fire that was not Aguamenti. Obstacles - that's fine, I can deal with that... but the fire, oh my God, d**n... I'll figure something out, she thought to herself before cutting her thoughts short and returning her attention to the headmistress.

So, there was a potion that could possibly help her get to the center, and you could get to the maze just by making your way around. Potion, or no potion? Better not take the chance, what happens if I can't solve the riddle and lose - plus, I can get through the maze without putting out the flames... she thought to herself, getting a bit more confident in herself that she could make it through - the problem was beating the others because they probably could also.

Once the headmistress had finished explaining Josi took a deep breath, and took a few more steps toward the fiery maze. Taking a look at it, it reminded her of a fiery hell, she was scared to actually go into a maze of fire; her mind as usual took her into the depths that she would rathered un-explored, bringing in a picture of her getting devoured by the flames, her skin melting right off her bones as she scream uselessly, because with every word spoken more blood just left her veins, her body, into a newly created pool of crimson. She squeezed her eye-lids tight, wanting to dispose of the awful thought - it was easily done, other things were on her mind. As she closed her eyes she took some more deep breaths, hoping that she could do it, hoping that she would make someone proud. Then the whistled sounded.

What seemed out of instinct, her eyes shot open and she started toward the maze. She observed what the other champions were doing, and saw that the Slytherin had attempted to fly over the flames. I could do the same... just change into a crow... A smile curved her lips as her eyes followed the figure of the Slytherin but soon faded at the sight of the flames reaching up to tickle her, but in a less then pleasant manner. Josi was worried that she would be consumed by the deathly flames, and took out her wand ready to foolishly use the aquamenti spell on the fire to try and stop it from harming her. Obviously the girl was pretty strong and got herself out of the mess, it made Josi happy yet worried, she was facing tough competition.

Okay, so not flying over the fire, I will just have to go through the maze. Without hesitation she entered, the crowd slowly disappearing from view and the only noise that filled her ears was the loud, joyous crackling of flames. She went to take a breath of air, but found that all oxygen had been stolen from the air she was breathing and replaced with ash and smoke. Coughing heavily Josi pulled her sweater over her mouth so she could have some clean air for the time-being. She kept on walking so not to waste time as she thought of a way she could breathe with ease. Crawling... that's what the muggles do in fire, because there is more oxygen down there... but I can't crawl... Crow. Crow. Crow; it kept on going through her head, then it clicked, if she were to transform into her animangus form she'd be at lower ground, would need less oxygen, and would have time to think of a better idea.

Clearing her mind she concentrated on the transformation. Slowly she felt her body being stretched, squished; her fingers turning into soft black feathers, her arms disappearing into the coal black wings of a bird, her nose turning into the short beak of a crow, and soon she was on the ground, in full crow form. She took a deep breath of air, and it was so much cleaner, yes thicker, but a lot more easier to fill your lungs with. She started to fly at a low level, for walking in this formation would do no good for her.

Her head snapped back at the sound of footsteps, she turned around facing the being fully. She looked it up and down wondering what in earth the creature was, as its form continued to change into things unknown. Finally, it settled for one true being, one that Josi wasn't fond of, for it began clear that it was a boggart. It had turned into a man, he was lying on the floor, twitching slightly in a pool of blood. Josi approached it slowly with caution, only to find her eyes meeting with eyes nearly identical to her fathers - blank, slowly life being drained from them. More and more blood seeped from his wrists, as he lie now motionless apart from the rising of his chest. Her eyes closed at the scene, tears falling from her ice blue eyes. She quickly turned back into her human form for she could not stand the scene any longer, gulped back as she reached for her wand in her sweater pocket. Flicking her wand in one quick motion, she spoke the incarnation words clearly, "Riddikulus," a spark flew from the tip of her wand but rebounded back toward her. She dodged it quickly, disappointed that it hadn't worked because she had perfected that particular spell a while ago. Maybe it was just nerves. "Riddikulus!" she said with more force for the second time, and the boggart vanished within a second. Josi sighed as she turned around, and transformed back into a crow, and took a tiny break to catch her breath. Sure am thankful that is over and done with...

She flew for what seemed for ever, and soon was out of breath, so she landed briskly on the ground forgetting about the flames that were threatening to take her alive. Being in this form is so d**n annoying! Josi thought in frustration, trying to think of an alternative way to go through the maze breathing. Bubblehead charm! The bubblehead charm was not her best piece of work, but she thought she better try. Hoping that it would work she pointed her wand toward her head, and spoke the incarnation, soon a bubble appeared, but not all around her head, just around her mouth conveniently enough. Well, it worked better then suspected. She then took out her wand, and said, "Point me," and figured out she was going in the right direction luckily.

Starting off again she heard a loud rustling, and it didn't seem to be in the distance, but nearing - fast. Her eyes shot back and forth looking for the direction of the soon-to-be attacker but was unsuccessful. Out of no where a full-grown Blast Ended Skrewt came flying toward her at top speed knocking her to the ground rather harshly, and burning her while he was at it. Her wand fell from her hand and she fumbled to get it as she lay on the ground trying to get to her feet. Soon her hand met with her wand, and she held it in a firm grasp, as she got to her knees, then to her feet. As she turned to face the skrewt it came charging toward her once again, obviously not approving of her in the least. She jumped in the air, and could feel him brush against the side of her body before she landed on the ground again with a loud, painful thud. Her hand immediately found her ankle as it seized up with pain, she had most definitely done something to it. Forget about it, get off your ass right now! Scrambling to get up, she faced the hideous beast, and pointed her wand at him, "Impedimenta!" she yelled breathlessly, it was the only charm that had come to mind. Fortunate for her it hit him hard in the chest, but that wasn't going to be enough, "Impedimenta!!!" She scream with even more force then before, her voice was demanding a result, and it got what it asked for. The Skrewt backed up, ready to spring once more, but suddenly was robbed of speed, and was blasting-off in slow motion. Man, that was a stupid charm to use - but it's funny!Josi stood for a moment, watching with amusement as the large, usually dangerous beast came toward her slowly. Then her soars that the creature had made began to tingle with a certain stinging sensation she didn't appreciate much, but it reminded her that the Skrewt she was now laughing at was dangerous and the spell could wear-off soon - most importantly, she needed to get to the center of the maze soon. So she turned away from the now comical scene and ran through a passage to her right.

Hearing a loud cry, one that sent a chill trailing down her spine as she walked, she cautioned herself, and began to walk at a slower, and much quieter pace. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a ghostly figure hovering a few feet above the ground, surely looking for prey. Josi assumed it was a banshee, and she would rather not have the pleasure to meet her acquaintance, she actually would much prefer to avoid her in anyway possible. Since the creature was down a separate passage and hadn't realized the presence of Josi yet, Josi turned back, and slowly disappeared from view, only to turn down a separate route.

The new route she had taken was silent, too silent for comfort, it had an eery vibe about it, something bad was bound to happen. A chilly wind tossed her hair around madly, as it kissed her now rosy cheeks. All Josi could hear was the un-steady breathing of herself, and it was not something she was enjoying. Shoving her hands in her sweater pockets she stared ahead of her, alert if anything was going to prounce. Just as she was about to convince herself that she was just incredibly lucky not to be under attack and was just having a peaceful walk, a loud whoosh over head beat in her ears.

She looked up only to see a Fire Phoenix circling above her, ready to attack. She glared at the bird, but soon started to sprint with much difficulty because of her ankle; still though her legs just seemed to go and not stop, they felt like jelly, as if they could collapse at any moment, but still they were strong and felt as though they could carry her for miles. It was strange. She didn't even seem to be breathing, or need to breathe, it wasn't essential for life any longer, as long as she just kept running, she'd be okay. Unfortunately that was not the way. The great, un-beatable feeling that had suddenly took over her body came to an abrupt halt as her body came crashing down to the ground. She skidded a bit, rocks digging into her flesh and ripping the denim of her jeans, dirt spreading upon her skin, blood splattering upon her clothes, and a heavy cramping feeling in her chest arose also as she suddenly had to gasp for air.

She looked up to see the fire phoenix diving toward her, she waited, waited for it to burn her to death, snatch her wand - no she wasn't going to give up. So instead of welcoming death, she continued to wait as she gathered up energy, then at the last second rolled out of the way of the Phoenix. It not so triumphantly drove itself into the soil of the ground, it's neck cracking, making Josi feel bad for the poor thing. It didn't give up then though, it just couldn't. Pulling itself out of the dirt, it turned to Josi, its eyes thirsty for revenge, Josi wasn't going to get off so easy now. She jumped to her feet, and it flew straight at her arm that had her wand in her grip. Reflexes kicking in, Josi let go of her wand and she dodged out of the way of the viscous Phoenix. The bird fluttered its wings angrily, doing a swift turn it went for her wand, there'd be no sympathy for her today.

With the wand firmly placed in its beak made of fire the phoenix soared into the air, victory was his - or so he thought. Another Phoenix came zooming from the maze, and before it had time to get out of the way it collided with its own family member. The Phoenix that had stolen her wand came falling down so quickly it just looked like a fire ball. Josi ran to its side, and clenched her eyes closed, before shoving her hand into its beak to retrieve her wand. She felt the flames eating away at her flesh, getting a taste of her blood, and hungrily running up her arm for more. She took out her hand, holding her wand tightly, and letting out a loud gasp of pain. She looked down at her hand burned severely, the blood getting pumped out of her veins. Her eyes averted from her burning hand to the Phoenix that was moving slightly on the ground, and pointed her wand at it, "Aquamenti!!! You stupid, terrible sh**!" she said with anger, that creating a great force and extinguishing the bird completely.

"Furula!" she cried as she gulped back tears that were running down her face at the amount of pain that had erupted from her usually pale hands. Bandages appeared, and she wrapped her hand up quite carelessly because was she ever in a hurry. She stood up, and glared at the spot the bird once lay before setting off in the direction her wand told her to after saying, "Point me."

She found herself facing a huge spider web filled with thousands of black, wispy spiders. Josi smirked at the web, she was fine with spiders, and as long as she had a stick to get the web down just in case they were poisonous she'd be fine. She took out her wand carefully with her un-burned hand, "Accio, stick!" A faint buzzing sound became more decipherable, a stick was soon by her side hovering. She took the stick and took the web down with it, the spiders all scurrying to the sides of the web, and foolishly getting taken away from the world by the flames that were ready to feast.

Josi kept on walking, at a fast walk because she was afraid the other champions had all finished and she was the last to, but she was soon proven wrong. In the distance she could hear a semi-familiar voice of the Slytherin girl. She yelled fire in a happy and excited voice. Josi assumed that Morana had gotten to the center, but she couldn't find her anywhere. A sudden thought came from no where as she walked impatiently trying to reach the center of the maze Flame Freezing Charm... Flame Freezing Charm! "Flame Freezing Charm!!!" Josi yelled as she recalled reading about the flame freezing charm in a history book; it was used in medieval times, witches would use it to escape from fires when they were being burnt to the stake. It was a hard charm, one that she hadn't used before, one that she bet wouldn't work. She was going to try.

Yelling the incarnation with as much force, and as clearly as she could after clearing her mind of thoughts, she pointed her wand at the fire-walls. As she hoped for the life of her that it would work, she saw the colors of the flames fade, she wasn't too sure what that meant, so she took a deep breath, and stuck a single finger of her burnt hand into the flames No use in ruining my other hand... she figured. The flames felt cold, but they did nothing to her, until the original color returned quickly, and soon she felt her finger getting burned once more. "Aguamenti," Josi said in a pouty voice as she put the fire out on her finger. So, it doesn't stay for long, figures, it's such a hard charm I wouldn't be able to keep it going for long... She said the incarnation once again, determined to get to the center of the maze. Again, the flames were at loss for color, but this time Josi didn't waste a second, and stepped through that wall of flames. As the color returned to the flames she had just come out of, she pointed her wand at the new ones she was facing, and repeated the incarnation, stepped through, and did the same thing about five times. Her surroundings had now changed.

There was a clearing, she was in a ringlet of fire, and in the center was not four, but three boxes. She thought she saw a flash of Morana, but she was no longer there. Josi ran to the boxes, not even bothering to smile, she had to get out of this place, and right now she was just hurting like mad. "The riddle, the riddle... where is it?" she said a loud, as she picked up a box. As she attempted to open the box in hopes to find the riddle, fangs grew, and it took a bite out of her. She threw the box down onto the table, caressing her hand as she looked at the little box in disgust, "How pleasant, a biting box! How the hell am I going to get the RI-" she stopped mid-sentence as she saw another box open, and saw red, green, yellow, blue, writing appearing and disappearing. The words read as followed:

Give me food, and I will live; give me water, and I will die. What am I?

I am mother and father, but never birth or nurse. I'm rarely still, but I never wander. What am I?

What can run but never walks, has a mouth but never talks, has a head but never weeps, has a bed but never sleeps?

All about, but cannot be seen,
Can be captured, cannot be held,
No throat, but can be heard.

The words in red were crossed out by a thin line, possibly being because Morana had solved that particular riddle. Josi looked at the words, not having a clue what the answer to the riddle was, all that she could think about was the words Morana had spoken, "Fire..." Fire... a way of death, injury... The words came to mind because of the hate she had toward the certain element at the moment. Element! Is that it?! Fire is an element... Josi read the words over again, keeping all the elements in her mind, she was pretty sure she knew the answer to the words in green, but not certain, so she wasn't going to guess just yet. Once she got to the words in yellow she grinned, she knew the answer, "Air!" she exclaimed, smiling from ear to ear. It made sense, All about, but cannot be seen - air is everywhere but cannot be seen,
Can be captured, cannot be held - you can have air in a jar but you can't hold it in your hands,
No throat, but can be heard - It has no throat, obviously, but when in it's wind, you can hear it's whispers.

Then Josi had chosen to open shot up from the table, and soared toward her, stopping infront of her so she could hold on to it. Taking it in her hands, she looked at the box happily before opening it. The sound of footsteps nearing hurried her process though, so she opened the box, and found a paper clip. Odd. Josi thought as she picked up the paper clip, and took a second look at the thing.

All of a sudden she felt her feet leave the ground, and she was being swung around in circles in the air, her surroundings swirling into a colorful mixture, and soon she was torn from the maze, landing on the ground beside Morana. "Ouch," she said as she rubbed her head with her un-burnt hand. Then she realized the screams and whispers of a crowd, Oh God... I'm in the task! I just got out of there! I'm - I'm alive! Josi stood up and twirled, before letting an exciting squeal out, "Yay! I live!" she said doing her own little dance, but then realized that people were watching. Ew... why did I just do that? Ah. Ha, I must look a mess! she thought, a grin spreading across her face at the thought of what she would look like.

Turning to Morana she smiled, "Great job!" she exclaimed, considering giving the Slytherin a hug, but she barely knew her, so she didn't - it might just creep her out, "I hope Colleen and Mai come out soon," Josi said, as she spoke she realized she was the second to finish. Not the best, but still good! And I might not be docked too many points, because I wasn't too long after Morana... and don't they base it on the ways we get ourselves out of things?! she thought excitedly, as she put her paper-clip back into the box.

Turning back to face Morana the brunette looked at the Kitkat bar the Slytherin held in her hands enviously, "You lucky bum! You got a Kitkat for your portkey," she looked down a pouty expression on her face as she stared at the paper-clip, "And all I got was a stupid paper-clip, fun."

A sharp pain serged from her ankle, and the stinging from her wounds hadn't gone away, but she was still so happy - she had completed the first task. Once I get this fixed up, I'm going to go to some sort of dance and party with Sage, and.. she continued her list of friends as she planned yet another party. It was unbeleiveable that just a while ago she was worrying so much, and couldn't participate in any of the fun stuff she was used to participating, or hosting, and now she was fine and dandy, thinking up the next fun event that she and her friends could take part in. All that she was nervous was for Colleen and Mai, They better be okay...

[Morana Neus]

After a few minutes of tugging, Morana finally decided to just tear the wrapping; it worked, and as she happily broke a piece and shoved it into her mouth, a body appeared out of thin air and landed next to her.

'Another Champion!!' she thought, staring at the girl.

'What's her name again? Joanie... Geri... Josi!'

Watching bemusedly as the Josi did a dance, she heard the girl congratulate her, to which Morana replied "You as well.", followed by a "You can have a piece", handing her fellow champion a piece of her Kit Kat bar, after her comment.

'Screw house rivalries... for today, atleast...'

The only thing she said about the comment of Mai and Colleen, however, was " If they are good enough, then they will. And they must be, since the Goblet never lies, so we should be seeing them portkeying here shortly."

Looking the girl over, Morana noticed the girl's wrapped hand and grinned, wincing as she lifted her own hand, which throbbed, and showing it to Josi.

"So I see those phoenixes got to you too..."

[Narcissa Malfoy]

Narcissa had the advantage to see everything from the position at the judge table. She saw Josi enter the maze and dwell the obstacles. It was a little difficult as she had to observe Morana, Josi, Mai and Colleen all at once. When Morana was portkeyd, Narcissa let out a breath of relief. Then Josi came out of the maze as well and Narcissa was a more relieved.

"Well, two more to go!" she thought.

When Narcissa saw Josi and Morana talk to each other, she smiled at herself. Narcissa did not like open rivalities between houses.

OOC Aren't there any nurses to help the champions? I am going to pm them. Good job Josi![/size][/font]

[Lizabeth Riddle]

Lizabeth was a little late getting up so she didn't get the chance to say good luck to Morana, she watched the side of the maze bitting her bottom lip when Morana apeared she couldn't stop herself she pushed through the crowd which took her a little while because of how small she was and slid on the ground to her giving Morana a hug she was so glad she was out "thank god your still Alive I dont know what I might have done if you haddn't come out I'd be with out the greatest Person ever" she let go and looked at Josi "good job Josi you did awsome" she said smiling at her she was so happy she couldn't stop smiling her green eyes wide with exitment.

[Amber Brown]

Amber watched Josi, the Gryffindor Champion as she entered the maze. There were a lot of things going on in there with that Champion. She was scratched up pretty badly. Josi encountered Boggarts, a Flame Phoenix, a Blast-Ended Skrewt, a Banshee (well almost) and many other things inside the fire maze. When Josi finally came out Amber Cheered happily and shouted her name.

The first year wanted to go and congratulate Josi for making through the maze and she did. She rushed down from the crowd, squeezing through fifth and sixth years. When she finally arrived to
where Josi and Morana stood, the first year replied, " I'm so happy that you made it through ", then gave the sixth year a hug.

[George Adam Sparewell]

George smiled at half of the group came out, and went down there while they were waiting from the nurses. Besides, he needed to get them away from the crowd.

"Congradulations to the both of you, now, if you will come here, we can get you patched up. My you two really came out strong, and battered." he said, smiling, pushing the two with him. He also turned owards the gathering crowd.

"Alright, everyone back in the stands! The task is not over, and we want to give room to the other two Champions. Please, there will be plenty of time afterwards. Back tot eh stands." he said, leading the two champs to the Champion tent.

[Amber Brown]

The first year obeyed and started to go back to the stands. " There should be a party in the Gryffindor Common Room for Josi! Yeah, a suprise party! ", she thought.

[Colleen Marie Hadley]

After Colleen recieved her wand back, she followed the Headmistress back out on the courtyard with the other champions. By this time she was really anxious for it to start since there was already quite a bit of delay - she really just wanted to get it over with now. She caught a glimpse of the Headmistress smiling at her and it did relieve some of her nerves. I'm sure the Headmistress won't let anything bad happen to any of us - it's just a tournament anyway, right?

The Headmistress waved her wand and Colleen was a bit startled as a maze of fire appeared on the courtyard. She then concentrated on the Headmistress's every word - she didn't want to be disqualified or something for breaking a rule or anything. She watched as the Headmistress pointed to the center of the maze, which held four boxes that she said would be a clue to the next task. She also listened as she explained the obstacles they would have to overcome to get to the center - phoenixes, bogarts, banshees, billywigs, and more. Oh, wow. It's a good thing we're allowed to have our wand with us. Colleen started to make a mental list of possible spells she could use to protect herself.

The Headmistress also explained about a smaller break in the maze that contained a table of potions, one of which was the Fire Protection potion. The Fire Protection potion would allow you to walk through the flames, but you'd have to solve a riddle to figure out which one was the correct potion. Yeah, right - with my luck with potions, I'm much better off just skipping it and going for the center directly. She didn't want to take the chance of wasting time, either.

As the Headmistress finished her explanation of the task, she mentioned that if they felt stuck, they could send up red sparks with their wand to be rescued. Unfortunately, the cost of being rescued was an automatic 4th place, and Colleen made a mental note that she wouldn't use the red sparks unless it was absolutely neccessary. She didn't want to disappoint her fellow Hufflepuffs by starting the tournament off in 4th place.

The Headmistress took a seat in the judges box and shortly afterward blew the whistle, signaling the start of the task. Taking a deep breath, Colleen headed into the maze. Just think of Chris...just think of Chris...and how much he loves you! Colleen tried to fill her mind with positive thoughts, hoping that would help her be strong so she could handle the dangerous obstacles that lay ahead.

Once inside the maze, the intense heat hit of the flames around her hit her like a wave. Whoa! Guess the Headmistress wasn't kidding when she said it was a maze of fire... Breaking into a sweat, she tried to think of a way to cool off. Ew! I'm sweating like a pig! Thank goodness Chris isn't here...I look gross! I wouldn't want him to see me like this! As she continued further into the maze, she suddenly remembered something. Wait! Isn't there a Flame Freezing Charm? I think I remember that witches in Medieval times used to use it when they were burned at the stake. Who knew History of Magic Class could be this useful? She smiled as she performed the charm and instantly felt a lot cooler.

She had been in the maze a few minutes without any incident when she turned a corner and immediately a phoenix rushed at her. She screamed, but quickly regained her composure enough to shout "Protego!" The phoenix bounced off the invisible shield and Colleen silently thanked Professor Narcissa Malfoy for her Defense Against The Dark Arts lesson in which they used that charm. Except having phoenixes rush at you is a little bit different than pillows!

Colleen continued through the maze until she got to a break in which you go left or right. Which way should I go? Colleen looked both ways and couldn't decide. Eeny, Meeny, Miney, Mo... With "Mo" landing on right, she choose that route. She had only walked a few steps, however, when she suddenly had an idea. Wait! I know the Headmistress said that Aguamenti wouldn't work against the flames, but what about Reducto? Pointing her wand at one of the walls of fire, she loudly said Reducto! and hoped that it would work. The flames didn't even flicker. Well, I suppose that figures. If we could use Reducto to get through all the flames, it would be too easy - just like if Aguamenti worked. I guess the only way to talk through the flames is with the Fire-Protection potion...

Suddenly, she heard an awful screeching. Ugh! What's that noise? She glanced around a few moments until she saw the source of the screams - it was a banshee. Oh, no - the Headmistress said that if you listen to the banshee's screams too long, it could kill you! Pointing her wand at the banshee, she quickly yelled Silencio! Immediately the banshee's screams were no longer heard.

Walking further into the maze, she caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of her eye. Thinking that she better go back to make sure it wasn't just her imagination because it could be dangerous if it caught her by surprise, she was stunned to see a spider - a very large spider. An Acromantula! Oh my gosh! OK, don't panic, don't panic... As the Acromantula spotted her, it ran towards her. "Think you can escape me, little girl?" The Acromantula taunted her, running after her. Oh my gosh! I forgot Acromantulas can talk! Just as it seemed it was about to attack her, Colleen performed the Confundus Charm on it. However, she knew it would only buy her a little bit of time, so she ran as fast as she could out of its sight.

Turning yet another corner, she continued to run and tripped over a rock. Landing hard on the ground, she cried out in pain. Tears filled her eyes, but she wiped them away to see that she was bleeding. Great. I made it this far without a scratch, and now I'm bleeding because I tripped over a rock! She got out her wand and softly said "Tergeo" to clean herself up a bit. Getting up, she suddenly noticed how tired she felt. Well, I guess that's normal though - I mean, I have been in the maze for quite a while - seems like hours! I just want to get out of here!

As she persisted to walk through the maze, but felt more and more depressed. Who am I kidding? I'll never get out of here. I'm not good enough to be a champion - I bet the Goblet of Fire was somehow wrong. All the Hufflepuffs should hate me for being such a terrible champion and Chris...Chris shouldn't be dating me! He deserves so much better - why is he wasting his time with me? Unable to control her thoughts of despair, she finally fell to the ground and sobbed.

It wasn't long before she felt something tearing her clothes and apparently trying to eat her alive. What? What's going on? Quickly trying to blink the tears out of her eyes so she could see better, she reached for her wand and was ready to battle whatever it was. However, as she looked around the area, everything seemed quiet. A bit too quiet. Puzzled, Colleen briefly considered that it might have been her imagination, but then she noticed a rock beside her that she was almost sure wasn't there before. In fact, the rock was in such a place that if it had been there the whole time, Colleen was pretty sure that she would've tripped over it like she had tripped over the other rock before. Frustrated that she couldn't figure it out, she sighed as more thoughts of despair entered her head and she began to feel like crying again. She closed her eyes for just a few moments to try to regain her composure, but was startled when she again felt something tearing at her. Opening her eyes, she saw that the "rock" had grown a hairy body and was attacking her. Oh my gosh! That's not a rock - that's a Pogrebin! Jumping to her feet, she shouted Stupefy! at the creature and it fell over, unconscious.

That's probably why I was feeling so depressed too...Pogrebins like to follow people around making them feel hopeless, right? With the Pogrebin defeated, she felt more energetic and her mood improved. Now feeling more determined than ever to finish the task, she continued to walk to the end of the passageway when she saw...a table! A table with boxes on it! Oh my gosh! I made it! I made it! Colleen excitedly ran to the table and discovered that there were now only two boxes there. Using 'Eeny, Meeny, Miney, Mo' again, she picked up one of the boxes and immediately opened it. She was hoping to just use the portkey to get out of there, not even thinking about the riddle. She took out the empty tube of toothpaste she assumed was the portkey, but it flew out of her hands and back into the box with the cover re-sealing it. Two differently colored riddles then appeared, one in green writing and the other in blue. Just two? Oh, wait - maybe those are the ones that haven't been answered yet. Choosing the blue one, she read:

What can run never walks, has a mouth but never talks, has a head but never weeps, has a bed but never sleeps?

Alright, I can do this. I've gotten this far and I'm so close to getting out of here! Let's see...let's see... Suddenly, the answer popped into her head. "A river! A river has a mouth...well, I guess if we're going by elements, I mean water!" The blue words then vanished, and Colleen once again opened her box. Clutching the empty tube of toothpaste, she was whisked away from the maze.

Landing at the start of the maze in front of the judges, Colleen was so glad to be out of there. With overwhelming excitement and relief filling her body, she went over to the other two champions who had already emerged from the maze. A huge smile on her face, she gave Josi a hug. "Congratulations Josi! Oh I am so glad to be out of there!" She laughed, thankful that her friend made it out too.

She then approached Morana, who she didn't know as well as Josi, but gave her a smile as well. "Great job, Morana!" Colleen was glad that to see her out here at the end of the task - it was much better being stuck in that maze!

Looking back at the maze Colleen had just came out of, she was a bit concerned about Mai. Colleen and Mai were pretty close and she really wanted her friend to finish the task so that she would no longer have to deal with the unending perils of the maze. Oh, well...I'm sure she'll join us soon. Mai's a good champion. For now, all she could do was wait anyway.

As Colleen waited for the judges scores, her eyes sought out one more person...Chris. He was on her mind a lot during the task and right now she wanted nothing more than for him to hold her so she could feel safe and loved. The maze of fire had drained her emotionally and physically and she just wanted to put it all behind her.

[Narcissa Malfoy]

Narcissa watched the third champion face the maze. Colleen had done a very good job. "I was sure that Colleen would do a very good job!" Narcissa thought happily.

"Now where is the fourth champion?" she though looking around.

OOC Well done Collen! Where is Mai? Does any of you know? She should post soon or she will lose points.[/size][/font]

[Branna Prewett]

Branna squeezed Jacklyn's arm excitedly as the Headmistress gave the champions instructions. Seeing a Slytherin look around at herself and Jacklyn, she leaned forward. He appeared to be on his own.

"Hey," she introduced herself with a smile, "I'm Branna, and this is Jacklyn. Want to join us?" she patted the empty seats beside them, but before she could say another word, the task had begun.

There wasn't a lot that could curb Branna's continual chat or laughter, but this task did what many things couldn't. It, for want of more eloquent words, shut her up. She watched the champions enter the maze, and suddenly her eyes held not excitement but anxiety. She hoped they'd be ok...

Optimistic by nature, she soon stopped worrying so much. She knew they'd face dangers, but had faith in the Headmistresses promise that it wasn't too perilous. As the Slytherin champion exited first, Branna rose to her feet and clapped and cheered with the student body, delighted for the girl, even if she wasn't Josi.

Josi came out next, and Branna whooped for joy, so proud of her friend and delighted that, aside from a phoenix-induced injury, she seemed ok.

Well done, petal... she thought proudly, smiling fondly at her.

Colleen exited next, a mixture of relief and delight. Branna grinned, waving, although she knew her friend couldn't see her. That left Mai...

[Morana Neus]

Morana was startled when a small, raven-haired flash tackled her with a hug, talking rapidly.

Flinching visibly because of her hand and the aching in her abused joints (the adrenaline rush having past), Morana nevertheless smiled and said "It's nice to be alive (and appreciated) too. Thanks, Lizabeth."

Before they could talk more, however, A person she recognized as a judge ordered all spectators back to their seats and with his congratulations, ushered Josi and her toward the Champions Tent.

Shortly after, they were joined by scratched up (but otherwise fine) Colleen, who congratulated both of them.

"You too." Morana replied, with a smile that turned into a grimace.

'Man, where are the nurses?! My hand's really starting to burn again... I hope it's not infected...'

Looking around, she paused, feeling slightly nauseated, then said aloud to anyone who would listen "Does anyone know where the nurses are?"

((Also: Thank you Mr. Sullivan for your congrats!))

[Magyn Bellus Wandwip]

[glow=green,2,300]Magyn sat watching the task, and wondering how the judges were going to score these four competetors. Magyn was particularily proud of Marana for doing such a good job and on this day she was very proud to call herself a slytherin. Magyn saw Lizabeth returining from the tent and magyn called her over to where she was sitting, "LIZABETH!" she yelled over all the chatter.[/glow]

[Mia Jeanelle]

Mia stole out from her place in the shadows at the edge of the courtyard. "Champions in need of medical care, please make your way to me! Champions in need of medical care, come to see me!"

Mia turned, and waved her wand. A large white tent with a red cross on it appeared behind her. Mia sent up red and white sparks to show where the champions should come, and ducked inside. She prepared medicines for burns as well as cuts and scrapes, unsure of what exactly the champions would need. She poked her head out after a moment, and caught the Headmistress's eye. She winked, she had evreything under control.

[Kevin Lupin Phoenis]

(ooc: Hold on... I thought Professor Sparewell already took them to a tent...maybe it would be easier to just go in there?)

[Morana Neus]

Morana heard someone say "Champions in need of medical care, please make your way to me! Champions in need of medical care, come to see me!", to which she thanked the lord and sought out the person behind the voice.

Finally finding her, Morana muttered "I could use a little assistance", before sitting on a chair and catching her breath. She was surprised she didn't stumble or fall over throughout her search.

Looking dazedly at the nurse, she explained "The most serious of my wounds is my hand-" which she raised in the air to show the nurse, "-which was burned by a phoenix. Other than that, all I have is a few nicks and cuts, and some very worn out muscles.

"Nothing you can't fix though, thankfully....", she finished, waiting for the nurse to get to work.

[Lizabeth Riddle]

Lizabeth put head down "yes Professor Sparwell I just had too but okay" she said quickly walking back into the crowd and heard Magyn Scream her name she walked towards her and finaly reached her "yes Magyn?" she asked sitting down next to her.

[Magyn Bellus Wandwip]

"Hey whats up?" magyn asked as she sat down, "oh nothing, i've just been here alone by myself this whole time" magyn told her

[Mai Gamit]

Mai had been nervous all morning, but her friends had kept her confident and she was ready to stick out for anything. She forgot all about anything that didn’t matter and just thought about keeping her eye on the prize of being champion. She greatly appreciated the chance to be called champion of her house, let alone her school. The reported had questioned her confidence, but she not only had a strong and great boyfriend, she had great friends and housemates that supported her to the fullest. She smiled at that thought and was fine.

The Headmistress had called the champions to her attention and Mai stood looking over the vast amount of space that was to be their task. She felt no emotion about it, but was looking thin kingly over the blaze. The massive power of the heat hit her for a second, until it became a warm feeling. She knew it would become much hotter getting toward her goal, whatever it was going to be.

Listening in on the Headmistress, she came to find the other champions and herself were to get to a box in the middle of the maze and that would be their clue for the next task. She was getting to the point of mild excitement. This was going to be interesting. The thought of a riddle peaked her thoughts as well, puzzles were her thing. She loved to figure things out by thinking. This would be good fun. She decided on not using the potion as not wanting to have to just walk through, plus the possibility of being wrong was a bit nerve wracking.

Getting ready for the beginning of the task, she stood before her entrance awaiting deployment in the fiery maze. She bean to think of what she could do. It was quite obvious that Aguamenti would not work even though the Headmistress said it would not work. Mai sat thinking of any spells she may know to get her through this task.

The fire was intimidating as she stood before it. The heat radiating from the maze was amazing. She relished in the raw power before her, this was very interesting to her. Now all she had to do was find a way to tame or prevent from being injured by this massive beast. She thought of the Extinguishing Spell but was not sure if it would fully work. This was quite a large fire, maybe doing it in sections would be fine. Plus she had to worry about random creatures in the maze coming for her. The Flame Freezing Charm would be good too. She could place that on herself and she would not be bother by the effects of the hot monster that was the great fire maze.

The whistle had gone off to let the champions know it was time to go. She stood for a moment to see what the other champions would do for their task. They all seemed to have done something different then what she was thinking, so she decided she would quit staling and go on with her task and do what she hoped would work.

She used the incantation she had come across for said spell and the fire around her that were once scorching hot and beginning to burn her were like hat of a warm breeze. Amazed by this sudden change from one to another she even reached out to touch the fire. Even to her finger tips felt like warm air. It was even comforting.

She began to walk at a faster pace, keeping her eye out for anything that could stall her in her reaching the box with the next task clue. She was not going to waste anytime doing this. She hoped she would not come across any obstacles, but was wrongly mistaken. First thing she came across was a billywig. She remembered the Headmistress saying something about them, ‘billywigs whose stings cause giddiness and levitation.’ Mai gave a half frown, trying to think of what she could use to get this insect out of her way. The billywig was about half an inch long and its blue color stuck out very well in the orange blaze. Mai feared getting stung by the small bug. How could she avoid something much smaller then herself, she thought.

Quickly and she pointed her wand at the insect and recited, "Immobilise!” the insect’s movements came to a halt. She smiled at the bug floating in mid-air, but did not dare to stay too long in fear of it coming out of the spell and getting her. She jogged away from the scene, jumping right into another with a boggart.

Mai frowned much heavier now. She wasn’t really sure what her greatest fear and was slightly interested in finding out what it was. In seconds, it had taken shape to that of herself. Or at least she thought it was herself. This girl looked to be her but there was something wrong with her, she was pale and sickly looking. Te girl before her that was herself, raised something and brought it to her wrists, red liquid pouring from the incision. Mai ran over to the girl and caught the falling body. Her greatest fear was she would kill herself. She looked into the eyes of herself full of so much dismay and depression. Mai wanted to cry at the sight. She had almost completely forgotten what the real task at hand was. She dropped the body and shouted “Riddikulus!” It’s for went to that of herself dressed in the muggle comic book character Batman, attempting to fly around. She laughed it off, forgetting about the whole incident until later on.

She continued to watch out for other instances of billywigs, boggarts or anything else the Headmistress warned them of. Mai was doing just fine fir a while when she realized she had no idea where she was going or if she was going in the right direction. She was currently lost and kept coming into dead ends. She had totally forgotten to use her wand as a compass to get her to the center of the maze. She said the proper line to get her wand to point in the opposite direction of were she was going, ‘I’ve gone completely around it!’ she thought stressed a bit.

She began to walk towards the area as to where the wand was pointing. She was doing fine until she heard a loud screech and a few swoops of wings when she looked up to see two Phoenixes flying above her in a circle like they had found their pray, and Mai knew she was it. She began to run from them going in the general direction of her wands pointing. She went down one way, but found it to be inhabited by a Blast-Ended-Skrewt. The nasty crab-scorpion like thing shot sparks at her from behind as she attempted to get away from that and the Phoenixes.

Getting away from the Skrewt she was running straight towards the Phoenixes once again. The had spotted her and were flying down headstrong. Mai ducked her head and tripped, stumbling all over the ground getting covered in mud and grass. She looked around to make sure the Phoenixes had disappeared, but she knew they would be back soon. Quickly she used her wand to point her back in the right direction and she started to run.

She continued to watch behind her self, looking occasionally to make sure those Phoenixes had not found her again. Mai had run past a clearing and stopped short, nearly falling over herself. She took a few steps back and saw what must be the table of riddles to get back out of the maze. Unfortunately as she was about to walk into the opening, the Phoenixes found her once more. Their angry stare came down on her and she crouched down almost forgetting to protect her wand from being stolen. They flew upwards once more and Mai had her chance to get to the portkey.

She reached the table and saw that there was only one riddle left to solve, ‘Great I was left with the hardest one!’ she thought, ‘This is fine I am a Ravenclaw, this will be easy . . .’ she saw the other three had been solved and she read them all.

Give me food, and I will live; give me water, and I will die. What am I?

I am mother and father, but never birth or nurse. I'm rarely still, but I never wander. What am I?

What can run but never walks, has a mouth but never talks, has a head but never weeps, has a bed but never sleeps?

All about, but cannot be seen,
Can be captured, cannot be held,
No throat, but can be heard.

She read hers most strained, knowing she was last. ‘I am mother and father, but never birth or nurse. I'm rarely still, but I never wander. What am I?’ She read this and said aloud, “Well, it seems to be something of nature. Something that never wanders but is rarely still. It’s a mother and a father, but it never gives birth or nurses its young.” she smiled and gave a jump, “This is so easy! It’s a tree. Trees never give birth or nurse their young because they give seeds. They never wander because of their roots, but the wind keeps it from being still!” she smiled brightly as the box opened and her port key appeared.

She grabbed the wrench and gave a funny face, it didn’t matter that she was last anymore. She was finally getting out of that crazy maze. She felt the unfamiliar feeling of being pulled upward from behind her navel coming out where she started. She saw that everyone had been waiting for awhile.

“Hi guys.” she said looking around. She was so happy to be out of the maze. She felt very tired and just wanted to relax.

[Chris Rice]

Chris breathed a sigh of relief and whooped with delight at exactly the same time as Colleen exited from the maze. But a second later, his eyes took in her torn clothes...

She was happy, he could see, but also a little shaken maybe. Another student had already been told off for leaving the seating area, so he knew he couldn't move. However, just as he thought about doing it anyway, Mai came out of the maze. The task was over! Chris hurried over to the tent where the champions were being seen to by a nurse and paced up and down impatiently in front of it, waiting for Colleen.

[Mercy Rosenburg]

With the final champion emerging from the maze of fire, Jill stood up and left the judges box to wave her wand, and immediately the maze disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared before the task. She then approached the champions to see if they were all OK. "Champions, if you are in need of a nurse, Nurse Jeanelle has set up a medical tent to assist you. I am very proud of all of you today - you all deserve a huge congratulations!" She smiled - finally her stomach was feeling better. She couldn't have been more proud of her students.

Once again performing the Sonorus charm, she then addresed the audience. "Attention everyone! I'd like to thank you all for coming out here today to support your champions. Right now I am waiting for the other judges to put in their final scores and then I will tally them up and announce the placements of the champions. I'd like to suggest a congratulatory party for the champions in all four common rooms tonight - they deserve it! At this time, you may all leave the stands and congratulate the champions - the placements will be announced shortly!" Jill breathed a sigh of relief, glad that all the champions had made it through and that the first task was over with. Only three more to go.

(OOC: Students and Audience Members: Now that all four champions have come through the maze, you are now allowed to offer your congratulations to the champions and your reactions of the task.

Judges, now that all four champions have posted, please send me your scores as soon as possible so they can be tallied and I can announce the placements of the champions!)

[Colleen Marie Hadley]

Except for torn clothes and a few scratches, Colleen seemed to be OK. She was thankful to be done with the task and wanted to see Chris, but wondered if maybe she should go to the nurse to be checked over anyway. It's better to be safe than sorry, right? Plus, it probably won't take long...

Entering the medical tent, she saw Morana there getting her wounds mended. Morana's hand seemed to be the worst - apparently she burned it during the task. Oh wow...that looks painful... Colleen hoped that Morana would be OK.

(OOC: Should I wait for the nurse to post? I probably should...don't want to god RP.)

[Colleen Marie Hadley]

As Colleen waited for the nurse to attend to her, a girl she wasn't familiar with came over and shook her hand. Wait a minute...she looks like that Weasley girl in my Magical Government Class... "Thank you so much. I'm afraid I don't know your first name...but is your last name Weasley? You're in my Magical Government Class, right?"

Before the girl respond, another girl came over after congratulating Morana. The second girl was less enthusiastic than the first, making Colleen wonder if she even meant what she said. "Thank you..." Just then, Colleen looked from one girl to the other, confused. "Wait...there's two of you? Are you both Weasleys? Which one of you is in my Magical Government Class?" She didn't know that the girl in her Magical Government Class had a twin...but apparantly she did.

[Morana Neus]

While still waiting for the nurse to get cracking, Morana noticed Colleen enter, followed by two spectators: a Gryffindor student and a Slytherin, who she recognized as Arila, the girl she met at the Quidditch Victory Party.

Accepting their congratulations with a "Thanks." and a weak smile, her eyes widened in surprise when she heard that Arila and the Gryffindor girl, Aireona, were twins.

'So she's the one Arila was talking about...' Morana thought, as she silently continued to observe the activity in the tent.