The second QWT task: air

[Amber Brown]

"Well, I appreciate you, Claire. I'm sure that many others appreciate you as well, like the people in the Romance Club", said Amber, trying to make Claire better. She really did appreciate and respect Claire. "You organize club meetings and parties superbly".

[Claire DeLour]

*Claire gave a weak smile. She appreciated Amber trying to cheer her up, but it seemed only large doses of chocolate and ice-cream would make her feel better. Of going back to Beauxbaonts, either one really.*

Thanks Amber, I appreciate you're tryin to cheer me up, and just for listening. I'm glad you're enjoying the Romance Club too; I think it's going well so far!

[ditzen]

Gem looked around through the stands and noticed Claire, a fellow 6th year Ravenclaw. She hoped that Claire was supporting Leki also but she doubted it. Claire was popular and so active with everything that had to do with the school. Leki was such a loner and never talk to anyone. Gem even wondered how Claire didn't make it as the Ravenclaw Champion and Leki did. Perhaps they thought Claire has done so much already that someone new needed a chance to participate? Or maybe Leki really was the better student.

Gem was also curious to why Claire looked so unhappy. The girl was usually all smiles but now she looked very depressed. Gem wanted to go talk to her but she thought against it, thinking that popular people didn't seem to like her much. So then why would Claire want Gem to speak to her?

Her thoughts went back to Leki and how worried she was for him. She turned to Cynthia and Sammy. "I'm so nervous," she told them. "I'm so scared for Leki. And of course you know him, he's so full of himself sometimes. What if it affects his performance?"

[Charlene "Charlie" Rice]

ellie said:

Ellie grinned at Solana as she explained some things. Hufflepuff should be the supportive house right now, they were supposed to be the closest people, like a family, because of their nature. And yet, three of them so far. Only three had managed the journey to come and see a task that would be completely amazing, to see one of their own go through a trial that could be eventually life changing. Just wonderful. "Well, if more Hufflepuffs dont get down here sometime, I may just have to clone myself...or summon them all down here with a summoning charm, either one works." She joked a bit, Ellie couldnt do any of that magic. She was told who Chris was and she smiled, at least their Champion had someone coming down to say Hello to them.

The Prefect introduced herself and she grinned, holding out a hand to shake. "Pleasure to meet you Ms. Solana. I am new here to Hogwarts, just came here recently. Im Ellie Marie Stewart, 3rd year and very proud to be in Hufflepuff." She said cheerfully and brightly, hoping to cheer Solana up a bit. "And you are the Seeker for the team? I hope to become a Back-Up Chaser, just in case you ever need me, I have the skill I need on a broom." She said, looking around. The Ravenclaw Champion arrived and Ellie wrinkled her nose a bit, and she had the same thoughts Melinda did. "Well, looks like Ravenclaw has yet another new Champion, why are they all just dropping out? And I dont like the look of this one."

She was joking around a bit, but there was mischief in her grin as she looked at Solana. More people arrived, and Ellie saw another girl who was blind come and sit down with her puppy in her lap. The 'Puff thought of Basil who was a golden lab, and this puppy was a black lab. "Excuse me a moment." She said to Solana before cheerfully jumping down to stand by where Charlie was. "Hello there! Im Ellie Stewart, 3rd year in Hufflepuff, would you like to come up and sit by Solana and me? We could cheer for Melinda as one big happy group." She said with a smile that she knew Charlie couldnt see, but she smiled anyways.

Ellie turned her head just in time to see Melinda embrace and then kiss Chris, and she gave a laugh. "Well, that isnt something you see everyday." She said jokingly, waiting for Charlie's response so they could go up and join Solana.

Charlie tilted her head, hearing footsteps approach. Prue barked, sniffing the air and getting excited. Charlie held the squirming puppy closer, listening as the new person introduced herself.

"Third year, huh? And a Hufflepuff?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. She extended her hand, her aim dead on thanks to the spell on the puppie's collar. "Charlie Rice. Sure, I'll sit with you." she said. Standing carefully, she made her way up to where Solana was sitting.

*crap post..muse is hating me*

[Cynthia Sharp]

Cynthia turned her attention to her friend Gem, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Gem, Leki's going to be fine. With you here, he's going to be going at 200% now." She looked around, and laughed slightly as she was the only Slytherin, except for Sammy, who was holding a banner in support for Leki.

"You and Leki have been going out for....6 years? You should know that he's built like a castle wall by now." she said, trying to reassure Gem. "So don't worry so much, enjoy that your boyfriend got chosen to represent your house in the Tournament."

[ditzen]

Gem smiled a bit. "I guess you're right Cynthia."

But Gem wasn't convinced. Last night Leki was so nervous and tense. How can having her there make him a lot better?

Gem's emerald green eyes were on Leki again. She watched him closely. She brushed some hair out of her face and adjusted her bow. She looked over at Cynthia and Sammy, they seemed happy about it, so why wasn't she? She wanted him to win, yes, but she really didn't want him to compete in the first place. Right now, she could pretend to enjoy it. Maybe if she saw how well he would do today she would be okay with it later.

[Claire DeLour]

OoC: Already had a chance to participate? All I do is post! I've been turned down for every single thing I've applied for!

BiC:

*Claire started looking at her nails, very much aware of the thoughts being made about her by Gem. She didn't want to look at anybody thinking rude thoughts about her at the moment, so she stuck with looking at her nails and at Amber, then around the stadium. She came to the decision that she would paint her nails yellow when she got back to the common room. She would pull the curtains around her bed, turn on her i pod, listen to some sort of sappy songs, then paint her nails. Maybe she'd call Gen, she wasn't sure at that point.*

[James Sullivan]

James yawned. People are beginning to file in and the task was about to start. Or was it? He didn't mind waiting, but waiting was all he does and it gets really boring to do the same thing all over again. He watched the stands get filled with people, mostly Hufflepuff. But the Ravenclaw champion had arrived, much to his relief, although he wished that Leki would now come to the judges' stand where all the other champions were.

He was pleased to see some Ravenclaws in the stands now; well, 'some' would refer to Gemini and Claire only. He noticed the annoyed look in Claire's face as she sat down, wondering what could be wrong with the usual cheerful and friendly Ravenclaw. She was conversing with a Gryffindor first year, and if not for Amber, Claire would've stayed by herself all throughout the task. That is, if she actually stayed.

Turning his eyes away from the audience, James yawned again, thinking that if he had been late, the task wouldn't probably start on time either. What seems to be the delay?

[Ellie Marie Stewart]

Ellie smiled when Charlie assesed what she said, even though she still knew the girl couldnt see it. "Yup! Third Year Hufflepuff, Ellie, at your service! You might not know me yet simply because I just recently got here, but you my friend are obviously a Hufflepuff, and I am very glad to meet you. I just transfered over from Beauxbatons." She said simply and sweetly. Then the girl was introduced to her and surprisingly, she had good aim for a blind girl, but Ellie wouldnt say as much. She just took the profered hand and shook it lightly. "Pleasure to meet you Miss Charlie! May I ask who this little fellow is?" She asked nicely, petting Prue on the head playfully like she would do with her own dog.

"I have a golden lab puppy, Basil. He isnt that old." She said when she was done petting the pup. Charlie said that she would come up and sit with her and Solana, and Ellie smiled and made sure to help the girl up the stands to go by their Prefect. It was getting more crowded, even by the Hufflepuff side, and it was harder to walk up the stands then it was to just hop down. And finally they were up by Solana and Ellie hopped back to her place, looking down on the field after smiling at both girls.

"What do you guys think of that Ravenclaw Champion? Seems a little overconfident to me. Personally I hope he gets flattened by something, would make this task a little bit more interesting." She said with a grin, looking at both of the girls. It was a joke, what Ellie really wanted to see was for Melinda to flatten Leki. Show him what overconfidence would do to him.

OOC: Its ok, mine hates me too apparently.

[Charlene "Charlie" Rice]

Charlie smiled. "This is Prue. My friend Melinda got her for me. Good thing, too. I kept breaking my seeing-eye wands tripping over stuff." Prue wagged her tail at the attention, trying to climb into the girls lap as they finally sat down.

She nodded in agreement with Ellie's comment about Leki. Thanks to the charm on the dogs collar, she could see him and the air he gave off was one of too large an ego. "I"m rooting for Hufflepuff all the way. One because its my house. Thats a given," She smiled slightly. "Two because Melinda seems to be the only one with a good head on her shoulders. Not too full of herself. Just the right, likeable amount of self esteem." Charlie shrugged, tucking her reddish hair behind her ear.

"Plus, she likes my brother and anyone that can stand him is good by me." She was very much so joking with this last comment. Her favorite pasttime was ribbing her brother every opportunity she got.

[Josi Emrald]

ooc: *re-reads last post* Sorry about that.. I was really out of sorts that day and have no clue why I bothered to post... This one shall be better. I promise .

Bic: Josi nodded as Narcissa encouraged her, sadly it didn't really help, but the intent of the professors was nice. Nothing really could settle her nerves, after all she knew that she was facing a incredibly difficult task, and people had died in this tournament. The thought disturbed her, it would be so terrible if someone died in the tournament, she couldn't imagine the feeling their family would feel, their friends, and herself. She would feel so sad, and guilty probably because she would have convinced herself that somehow she could have helped the dead champion. Or what if she were to be the dead champion? ... There wasn't going to bed someone dead. No, there couldn't be.

Josi mentally slapped herself as she realized how dumb she made herself sound to Melinda, asking if she was the Hufflepuff Champion. Oh well, nerves did these things to a person, which would probably explain why she had totally forgotten to put on her robes. She let out a short laugh at herself instead of pouting about her ignorance today. She usually wore muggle clothes, she couldn't stand uniform, but she would always wear robes on-top of her muggle clothing.

"I knew that..." she said to Melinda, grinning at how pathetic she was to have asked a stupid question like that, when it had such an apparent answer to go a long with it, "Yeah, that's me... slow ol' Josi. Thanks, I just hope we are all going to do well."

Josi was actually worried for Melinda, she had never done a task before, since she was the replacement for Colleen. She probably was way more nervous since she hadn't gone through such an experience before, and might be worried that the champions that participated in the first task would be more experienced then her; possibly resulting in the ending placements - but Josi new that wouldn't affect the placings. The true Champion would be chosen correctly in the end, and hopefully everyone would come out healthy, feeling that the experience was beneficial, and that their house would still be supportive of them whether they lost or won.

Her eyes fell upon Professor Sparewell who was walking toward her and Melinda... Sparewell. Woah, they must have been related. She smiled at the professor but before she responded he started to talk to Melinda. How he treated her it seemed that he was her father, and immediately Josi felt a certain guilt weighing her down. It must be terrible for both George and Melinda because as Head of Gryffindor Sparewell couldn't freely support his own daughter, but it seemed wrong to be supporting an almost stranger over your own daughter. It would be hard for Melinda too, not to have her father able to fully support her and have her back. Josi felt partially responsible for the lacking support between the daughter and father. Josi almost felt like apologizing to Melinda but that would obviously make her look even more odd then she had made herself seem like.

Well, that was oh so very comforting. Josi just looked at professor Sparewell as he spoke about people dying and such, that just settled her nerves completely. She'd just have to try and focus on other things, like how much support she was getting from the Gryffindors... actually she couldn't even do that, since there was yet a single Gryffindor student to even be in the stadium. It made her feel that she was doing this tournament for herself, and she wasn't, but why endanger yourself for people who could care less whether you won for them or not? Well at least her own house wasn't here booing her, that would just be lovely.

It didn't appear that Melinda was very keen on talking to her, which was understandable because it probably would be a lot more appreciated to be receiving support at times like these. So Josi looked out at the crowd that had grown a bit in the stadium, and easily noticed the blue-haired boy she recognized as Chris, Colleens boyfriend. Or, ex-boyfriend now since she had unexpectedly left Hogwarts, which had left Josi upset. It seemed that everyone was leaving the school, first Brianna, then Jacklyn and Colleen, Mai was gone too, and she hadn't seen one of her really good friends in a long time, Ian.

She smiled a nervous smile at Chris, "Hey! Yeah I know, I'm... nervous? Probably not as much as Melinda here, she shouldn't be though, I've heard that she is a really good witch, but you can't blame her. How about you, how are things going?" Josi noticed how happy Melinda appeared to be when Chris came a long, and how worried the boy seemed to be for her. She was glad that the Hufflepuff had someone that good of a friend, or more, to support her.

Although Josi didn't catch what Melinda was saying to Chris in a more hushed voice because she was too busy paying attention to the first Gryffindor who had arrived, she felt a sort of vibe off the two 'Puffs. It wasn't like they were acting all "lovey-dovey" at all, actually if there was even something between them they kept it to themselves quite well. She also wouldn't be the least bit mad at Chris if he were going-out with Melinda because it wasn't like she could expect him to sit in a corner pouting over Colleen for the rest of his life. That would just be stupid.

Soon her attention was lifted from Amber to a Ravenclaw that she assumed was their Champion. She frowned at him for he didn't look the least bit friendly, and he gave out a sort of cocky vibe. He didn't look the least bit worried, and it seemed that he thought that this task was just a piece of cake. It even bothered her that he was off a lone; she usually wasn't one to care if someone was by themselves because they were an outcast, because they couldn't help it, but that didn't seem to be the case with him. It was like he was off by himself because no one else was worthy to be in his presence, but then again you can't judge a book by it's cover. Anyway, all he was doing by giving off this scent of ego was make Josi more determined to beat the guy just to prove that he wasn't all-powerful.

Next Josi noticed Claire in the stands, and she didn't look very pleased. Josi wondered why she looked so ticked off, considering the fact that maybe she had applied to be the new Ravenclaw Champion but had been denied by that odd creation who was pacing the stands. Josi would have thought that either Claire would have been chosen as the replacement because of her dedication, or Sage because she was such a talented witch; who knew why the goblet choose as it did, but it certainly had to have its reasoning. Josi raised her hand and gave Claire and Amber a wave, smiling a bit, and making sure to remember to ask what was wrong with Claire after the task. Maybe they could go and watch a movie with boxes and boxes of chocolates, or maybe the girl just wanted to be left a lone.

"Gahh, I wish the Slytherin Champion would show up soon, so the task can be done and over with," Josi said partially to herself, partly to anyone near-by. She didn't exactly have anyone to talk to, and couldn't exactly go out into the stands and talk to people there for the Champions were supposed to be with the professors right now (although Leki was getting away with it) so she settled for talking to herself, what a loner.

There was one thing she could do while waiting, and that was get her robes. She pulled out her ever-so-handy wand, and gave it a flick, "Accio Robes," and soon enough her robes were right in front of her. She slipped them on quickly and wrapped the red and golden scarf around her neck, hoping no one took too much notice to her foolishness of forgetting her robes - although doubtful since she just went and summoned her robes infront of everyone.

[Leki Kekipi]

Leki had finally gotten over the wave of discomfort that came with entering the stadium enough to finally decide and go to the other two champions. As he approached, you could probably tell just by looking at his face, and the way that he walked, that he sported the usual traits of an outcast. Even after having come to the other champions, and giving them a nod so that they knew he acknowledged their presence, and an almost inaudible "Mornin'", he tended to shy away from the two. He didn't intend to give off an aura of cockiness, and if he had, he would hope that one of the two champions would bring it up, so he could explain. He didn't want to bring the issue up, for he believed it would make him sound rude and hostile. If they caught a glimpse of his face, signs of concern would begin to paint themselves on his face. His growing concerns along with his loner nature made him seem unfriendly on the basis that he didn't engage in formalities with others. Even seeming if he had ignored them. By his nature, he just really didn't want to speak to anyone a few moments ago, and needed that moment that he wasn't at the stand, distanced from everyone, to think. However, he remembered that not everyone read minds, some did, but not everyone, and he turned somewhat towards Josi, having to avert his eyes to the side to look at her.

"Sorry if I seemed like I was being cocky and elitist earlier...I'm trying to keep my nerves in check, and though that, I don't look worried.

As for me having taken a moment away from the Judges' stand, I wanted a moment alone." He said, his voice having a tone of apology behind it.

He noticed that Melinda probably overheard him, and he gave them both a bit of a neutral look, not looking at them like enemies, but at the same time, not looking at them like close friends either. "I wish good luck to both of you." he said, his voice starting to regain it's usual, strength filled yet compassionate demeanor.

[Cayden Alana Smith]

henna said:

Henna positioned herself among the students, as they waited for the task to start. She, however, was keen for it to take as much time as possible, because she wanted to interview the champions.

Henna wondered whether or not her sister would show up to watch the tournament. Most likely, but growing up with Cayden, Henna had realized that it was almost never wise to count on her sister for anything regular. She wouldn't do anything ordinary, being such an out of the ordinary person.

As Henna gazed around, she recognized the Hufflepuff champion, Melinda Sparewell. Originally, Colleen Hadley had been champion, but she had left the school, so Melinda had taken her place. Running over the questions she wanted to ask in her head as well as reporters' politeness rules, Henna approached Melinda, and tapped her shoulder.

Smiling cheerfully, Henna said, "Hello, I'm Henna Smith from the Quibbler. I was hoping you might answer me some questions about being a champion in the tournament? But not to be intrusive, of course. It's okay if you'd rather not."

A large peregrine flew around the stadium, one golden eye turned towards the contestants inside. It yawned slightly, let out a cry and dove towards the ground, swooping past Henna and stealing her quill.

Landing five feet away, it set the quill on the ground, shifting back into Henna's sister, Cayden. With a frown, Cayden picked up the quill and eyed it, comparing it to a large feather she pulled out of a leather bag hanging on her side.

"Hey! I thought this looked familiar. This is one of my tail feathers!" With a sigh, she handed it back. "You owe me three knuts."

This was a typical conversation between Henna and Cayden. All joking, never serious. Infact, this feather bit was an onrunning joke. With a smile, Cayden looked around the stadium counting the Champions. "We're missing one. From Slytherin. Morana Neus, right?" She looked at the Ravenclaw and, with eyebrows furrowed, pulled a notepad and quill out of her pocket. She scribbled a note and held it for Henna to see.

"Cocky lookin' git, isn't he? I hate cocky people."

[Chris Rice]

Of course Melinda wasn’t nervous- the same way that the sky wasn’t blue and there wasn’t a giant squid living in their lake. When she admitted to her nerves, Chris smiled and nodded, trying to be encouraging.
“Well, that’s normal, I suppose. Everyone must be. It’ll be fine though, and you’ll do a great job,” he told her, his voice close to a murmur. He really did believe what he said, but even that did nothing to quench his own jittery nerves. Her own low words made him laugh lightly.
“Honestly, Melinda, there’s no reason for anyone not to support you that I can see. There aren’t a lot of ‘Puffs here yet, I know, but it’s early yet and besides, we both know what state the house is in. I bet that the few we have will turn up anyway. ‘Puffs are loyal, let’s not forget!”

“Well you’re right, she shouldn’t be nervous!” he added, louder now, responding to Josi with a smile and poking Melinda lightly and subtly. “Nor should you, your last task was marvellous. I’m fine, it’s been strange lately but things are getting back to normal now I hope…” Chris was actually quite glad that he’s talked to Josi now. She had been one of the few that he’d met in his first little while at Hogwarts and even though they’d hardly spent all that much time in one another’s company, she’d been very warm and friendly. It was a pity that he hadn’t seen more of her, but maybe now that things were getting back on track Chris would have a chance to start making friendships that had been put on hold three months ago. And things were getting back on track for Chris. The last few weeks had been filled with very strange happenings and unsettling situations, but Melinda was back from France now and Charlie had recovered well from her trip to the Forbidden Forest. The upcoming events in Godric’s Hollow could not have been anticipated less.

“…Ah! You see, Melinda? I told you there’d be more ‘Puffs coming to support you!”
Chris, on turning and scanning the spectators’ stands, had been met with welcome sight. Another girl donning Hufflepuff colours was beside Solana now, and Chris could see Charlie too. Apparently Melinda had also noticed, though, for as he looked down at her face with a smile, he realised that the girl was already waving over at the ‘Puffs. Smiling, he waved too for a second. He hoped that the sight of her house members had given Melinda a bit of a boost of encouragement and confidence. Charlie was joining the other two, and he smiled, glad that she had company.

His eyes turned back to Melinda as he heard the girl sigh and wondered what was bothering her. Before he even found her eyes, her arms were around him and she was hugging him. Surprised but immensely pleased, Chris hugged her back.
“Listen girls, good luck and- do me a favour? Show Mr. Ravenclaw that he shouldn’t be quite so confident when he’s facing people like you, OK? He must be talented, I don’t know…but he’s underestimating you if he doesn’t think that you aren’t either. You were both chosen as Champions, after all!”
About to laugh, Chris’s smile was replaced with a stunned look as Melinda kissed his cheek, just as she had meant to do not so long ago in the Common Room. He had been afraid that she was confused about hat morning. Maybe she was. Still, the fact that she was prepared to show a display of affection like that in public meant something, surely.

Surprise giving way to a huge smile, Chris realised that he was being pushed away.
“Alright,” he laughed, “I know when I need to leave! It’d be hard not to, what with your ever-so-subtle hints, Melinda!” The girl was turned away from him now, but he reached forward quickly and squeezed her hand from behind, rubbing his thumb quickly over it ad then releasing it and jogging over to the stands, one last wave at Josi before he got there.

His cloak was saving a seat for him in the very front row where he intended to sit, but he wasn’t going there just yet. He had just detected a certain look on his sister’s face.
“Charlie! Are you up there ribbing at me?” he asked with a laugh in his voice, his nerves almost gone and his mood totally happy as he climbed the steps to where the three ‘Puff girls were assembled. “Because I won’t stand for it!” he joked, poking her upon arrival. His words were belied by the affection in his voice not to mention the playful tone. Facing the other two, the boy smiled. “My sister Charlie. Don’t believe a word. Chris Rice, pleased to meet you both, although I do recognise you, Solana.”

[Alexander Daniels]

Xander’s blood shot brown eyes had suddenly popped open. This morning like most others left him tired and grumpy from lack of sleep. He opened his jaw to cavernous lengths and he emitted a roar of a yawn as he threw back his light cotton bed sheets. He stretched his muscular arms over his head and he pulled himself up off his large bed. Thin beads of sweat glistened off his muscular, naked frame, which was the result of the nightmares about his family that plagued his dreams. He ran a hand through his long brown hair, which was damp and greasy from his uneasy rest, and he massaged his skull to sooth his aching head. His body was wracked with aches and pains, and he felt sapped of all his energy, in other words, Xander felt like complete and utter crapola. He wanted nothing more than to crawl back into bed and into a restful dream. But Xander knew he should make an appearance at the Quad Wizard Tournament even if he didn’t stay long, at least he’d be seen, and that’s what mattered.

Mustering up as much energy as he could, Xander walked over to his wardrobe and picked out his house robes. He looked over the black and green slytherin robes that had been sitting in his wardrobe collecting dust for months. He didn’t like wearing these robes, even though he had made some personal adjustments to them, like cutting off the sleeves and covering the back with patches of bands he liked. It just wasn’t his style to wear his house colors around the castle, he didn’t like conforming to dress codes either, but today he would wear them to support his house.

He pulled a large towel off the top shelf, wrapped it around his naked torso and he marched off to take a long hot shower. The warm water pouring down from a spout just about level with his head and which struck Xander’s aching flesh had felt better than a Swedish massage. The burning sensation in his muscles started to fade slowly to nothing, the pain in his joints lessened, and the migraine that was threatening to unleash its fury upon him all but disappeared as he let the warmth of the shower gently caress his fatigued body. He lathered soap onto his wash cloth and rubbed it across his body, thoroughly cleaning himself. He rinsed himself off and then he climbed out of the shower. He dried off his toned body with his large white cotton towel, he wrapped another towel around his waist and he walked back over to his wardrobe.

He reached in and took out a plain white cotton under shirt, and a pair of his shredded blue jeans to wear under his robes. He rubbed a little anti perspirant under his arms and then he dressed quickly. Xander pulled on a pair of white cotton socks and his brown timberland boots. He walked over to the foot his bed where he had draped his house robes and he pulled them over his head. Xander walked over to his full length mirror and he glanced at his reflection. He shook his head in disgust. “These d**n robes are just so lame.” He had stated to the empty room. He shrugged, put on a pair of black framed sunglasses, he grabbed Cain out of his cage and then he walked out of his dorm.

The wonderful smell of fresh air tickled his skin and nostrils as Xander walked out into the courtyard. The stagnant stale air of the castle wasn't for him, he preferred to be outdoors. Xander draped his fifty pound python over his shoulder and he sighed when he saw the turn out for the QWT. His dark brown eyes picked out two champs, and only a handful of students out here supporting them. Xander shrugged and said. "I dragged my carcass out of bed for this? Oh well, the competition should be interesting at least." He shook his had sadly and walked over to the benches where he sat down. Xander kicked his feet up on the empty bench in front of him and he lay back on the empty seats behind him. He placed his left hand behind his head and he began to gently pet Cain.

[Amber Brown]

Amber looked around the stadium boredly. She wondered when the Tournament would start. She remembered the last one, the fire maze and that excited her. The first year looked at her nails for a minute before turning to Claire. The sixth year seemed silent. So the first year decided to talk to her to start a conversation. "So Claire......what are you thinking about? You look like you are deep in thought".

[Solana Taylor]

OOC: This is in reply to Ellie, Charlie and Chris's posts. It would be too long to quote them all. Keen writers they are

Solana had noticed that Ellie had quietly slipped away from her side and gone over to whom Solana recognized as Charlie, they had met in the great hall once before and she'd seen her in the Common Room a few times. Solana smiled, Good on Ellie, she was full of Hufflepuff spirit. She talked to everyone of her house mates it seemed and Solana smiled at the two and waved over but then continued to keep an eye on the grounds in case the task were to start.

Then Ellie came back over with Charlie.

"Afternoon Charlie..How are you?" Solana said to the girl, glad that she was smiling and happy. "Oh and such a cute little puppy you have there" Solana said, petting the little dog that was climbing onto Charlie's lap.

The conversation then moved onto the slight arrogance coming from the Ravenclaw champion Leki. Solana hadn't noticed it until now, she had been oblivious to the other champions, she was too focused on Hufflepuff, she wanted the house to come back together just like it should be. Solana took a look at the Ravenclaw champion as he was talked about, well he did seem a bit full of himself, the way he was acting seemed a little off to Solana.

"Hmm he does seem a little strange" Solana replied to their comments about Leki. "Oh and yes Melinda is a very headstrong girl, she seems to know what she's doing but she isn't arrogant about it at all. I think she wants what I do too and that is just for Hufflepuff to be united again". Solana said when Charlie commented about Melinda being a good champion. Solana had no doubts that Melinda was a good champion, she had heard about her battles with her mother and how she had put up a brave fight.

Solana giggled at Charlie's comment about her brother. Solana had never spoken to Chris, though she did know of him and had seen him around. As if from nowhere, his voice echoed from the stands behind them as he shouted for Charlie, not in a bad way. Chris now approached the girls who were sitting together. Solana laughed at Chris's comment and how she shouldn't believe Charlie's word. Chris then told how he did recognize Solana.

"I too recognize you Chris, though it seems we have never spoken. Why don't you join us?" Solana said making space for him beside her, Ellie and Charlie. Solana remembered that Chris had been with Melinda just before he came to the stands.

"How is Melinda doing down there?" She asked politely smiling.