First Task

by **Darren** Mon Dec 07, 2009 5:20 am

THE FIRST TASK

One by one, the champions are chosen to enter the maze. The maze is located near the forbidden forest, with people sitting around the area to see the task.

You will first Roleplay a post about how your champion gets through the maze and then see's the Sphinx, don't go further than that. Remember, there will be obstacles in your way, but not like magical creatures and etc. These obstacles will be like the one where Harry had to step through that mist which turned the world upside down and etc. Remember, there will be various hints and puzzles throughout the maze which will indicate which direction to go to. You can also use other spells to help you go through the maze. Remember that the task is a test of logic and intelligence.

You are not allowed to summon any help, have any objects with you (besides your wand) or anything like that.

You will have to make this all up. You will be marked on your creativity, so make it interesting! Length doesn't matter.

You have 3-5 days to post your first RP.

by Selwyn Thorfinn Mon Dec 14, 2009 1:45 am

ONE - THE MAZE

The Hogwarts Tournament was one of the few times when the wizarding public could come show their support for the students of Hogwarts, so of course, Selwyn's parents had been there with everyone else. His mother had wept what Selwyn was sure were tears of triumph at her son beating every other child in Slytherin to get into this competition, while uttering cliches of concern over how dangerous it was going to be for him. His father all but ignored him. It was a typical day for the Thorfin household and that was somewhat comforting.

People had wished him luck as they parted ways down near the forest. Selwyn was led along with the other champions toward a pavilion to wait his name being called while the rest of his mates went to watch from the grandstands, and he wasn't at all sure how to describe how he felt. Not really so proud, not nearly so confident as he'd made out the past few weeks. Anxious and worried. All he'd been told was that this task would test his magical ability and he could only take his wand in with him. On the other hand, Nicholaus had assured him nobody ever died in the first task.

Finally, Selwyn was summoned, last, and got to see what he was up against.

He emerged into the sunlight and blinked, unsure for a moment of what he was looking at. High walls of hedge stretched away in either direction, so that he could no longer see the forest beyond. Directly ahead, a gate stood open, beckoning.

Selwyn tried to block out the sounds of the crowd as he entered the first task. He still wasn't completely sure what it was, but as he stepped through the gate (which clanged shut loudly behind him) and saw the other hedge in front, he became increasingly certain that it would turn out to be a maze.

The avenues of this maze were wide and long. Long enough that Selwyn couldn't see any twists or turns in either direction, although now that he thought about that, it couldn't be right. Though the school grounds were large, they weren't that big. It had to be some magic at work, messing with his perceptions. The realisation brought him back to reality, and he belatedly drew his wand.

"Point Me."

It was the obvious solution. Assuming this test was a maze, and that it was going to play havoc with his mind as well as his body no doubt, he would need some mode of navigation.

Selwyn's wand spun in his palm and ended up pointing more or less to his left. Right now, it was as good a direction as the other.

TWO - ESCHER WAS HERE

It felt like he'd been walking for hours. Whether it was magic or if he'd really been in here that long, Selwyn didn't know and had given up caring. He just walked. For all he knew, this was a test of endurance.

And then, he thought he saw something ahead. There was a shift, but Selwyn couldn't see it properly. Everything was a little fuzzy, like looking through a heat haze. He gripped his wand. Dear Merlin, what if there were gorgons in here? Perhaps he ought to summon those glasses Amelia had given him just in case. Then there was another shift, and everything was clear. The walls of hedge stopped abruptly just ahead, and beyond them was a paved yard.

Selwyn stopped before the first stone. The yard wasn't enclosed like the rest of the maze so far. It was only bordered by a low sandstone wall with an arched entrance on each side. There was a quote from The Magician's Nephew inscribed on the keystone: Come in by my gate or not at all.

The message was clear enough, but the entire thing looked far too easy. What risk was there in an empty courtyard? Would it turn into a gigantic wizard's chessboard as soon as he stepped through the arch? Selwyn wasn't good at chess, but he would never make it through the task if he didn't give it a shot and Selwyn hadn't been sorted into the house of ambition for no reason. He passed through the arch and stepped into the courtyard.

His foot hit the first stone of the yard the wrong way and Selwyn swore as his ankle collapsed painfully beneath his weight. Now that he was through the arch he could see what was so odd about this place. The pavers weren't set flat, and the dimensions curved weirdly so that the exit was almost directly overhead. Fortunately, the distortion of space seemed to have little effect on Selwyn's ability to navigate the yard. Although the sudden change of gravity made him queasy and he wasn't sure which direction the spew would travel if he did need to throw up.

As he approached opposite side, Selwyn saw that the exit gate, as he'd labelled it in his mind, was framing nothing but sky. If he tried to walk through, it could flip him back around again, but it could just as easily let him fall to his death. Maybe that was the risk in an empty courtyard. What he needed to do was get a look at what was on the other side of this challenge, at the very least.

THREE - LET DOWN YOUR HAIR

Selwyn dropped to all fours and crawled forward slowly to see what was beyond the arch. All the while, his mind kept coming up with possible reasons he couldn't see through it already. Perhaps there was a gigantic blade waiting to fall on him as soon as he stuck any part of his anatomy through, for example. He really needed to stop watching muggle films.

There was no blade, and there was no way down. He'd been hoping that when he crawled forward, the gravity problem would right itself but apparently that was too much to ask. Selwyn pulled himself up onto the edge of the last stone in the courtyard, so now he was sitting with his back to the arch he'd just crawled through.

"Just don't lean back," his murmur was as much to hear the sound of a human in this silent place as it was to remind himself of the danger.

Looking down was no help, either. Selwyn could see he'd been right with his maze assumption, but the light reflected off the next part of it too brightly for him to prepare himself for anything. Except perhaps with a nox charm. But there was no use dwelling on that if he couldn't get down. Of course, there were a couple of very obvious ways that Selwyn could get down. They weren't attractive ways. What he needed was a plan.

What he needed was really long hair like Rapunzel!

Well, that was easily done. A hair thickening charm soon had Selwyn's hair growing steadily, and he soon realised why that story sounded so much better in fairy tale form. Hair was heavy when it got this long. He didn't know how girls could stand it. It was also really hard to see, because his fringe was growing at the same rate as the rest of it. He had to keep using a severing charm to clear his view, and believe me, using a severing charm near your face isn't relaxing.

But eventually, there was enough hair that Selwyn thought he'd be able to get down off this thing. Or at least get down far enough so that if he fell the rest of the way, he wouldn't kill himself. He severed it and used a sticking charm to tie it around one of the supports of the arch. Now to abseil down his makeshift rope. It was actually rather disgusting. Selwyn made a mental note to wash his hair more regularly (because the chances of him needing to do this again were so high).

At the bottom of the wall, Selwyn dropped to the ground and turned quickly, firing a nox charm at the dazzling thing he'd seen from above to prevent it blinding him for the rest of this task.

FOUR - STILL THE PRETTIEST

The mirror shattered. That wasn't a big deal, since there was another right next to it. And another next to that, and another next to that. An entire maze of mirrors. Selwyn sighed and lay his wand flat on his palm again.

"Point Me."

This time the tip of his wand pointed slightly behind him, but he could still get back on course.

Selwyn stepped over the shards of glass and began to navigate his way through the mirrors. Whoever had set this up had really known what they were doing. The reflections and refractions made it seem like there were avenues in impossible places. He caught himself almost walking into his own reflection more than once.

"Well, what do we have here?"

Selwyn recognised the voice immediately. He spun, but she could have been anywhere.

"I think it's a fly, sister. Shall we turn it into a hop?"

No, not both of them. They were always worse when they were together, egging each-other on. From his youngest days, visiting them had been a nightmare. Nobody likes you, Selwyn. You know you're not as good as us, Selwyn. They should kick you out of the Clan, Selwyn.

"Well it's true," said Aubin.

"You aren't as good as us," Arlette continued.

"And they should banish you," Aubin finished the thought.

He could see them now, walking toward him through the maze, Arlette fairly draped across her brother, but with her indigo gaze locked on Selwyn's grey one. They stopped a few feet away and looked at him, or through him. It was hard to tell. The twins had always been spooky like that. The way they lived in their own little world, and if you happened to stumble into it, they looked right through you, because for them you just weren't real.

"We know your secret, Selwyn," Arlette finally said with glee.

"The shameful thoughts you think nobody can tell you're having?" Aubin expanded. "We can tell."

Selwyn didn't have to ask what they were talking about. He knew what they were talking about right away, and it made his blood run colder than anything these two had said or done to him in the past.

He had to get away. He knew the only way to escape the twins was to let them get through with whatever cruel fun they had planned for themselves. And yet, Selwyn couldn't bear to let his cousins just go around with this information. Who knew what they'd do with it?

Arlette cocked her head to the side, causing her ice-blonde hair to mingle with her brother's, and Aubin to reach up absently to stroke it.

"Lost for words, cousin?" she asked. "It must be a first for you."

Cousin?

Arlette and Aubin had never called Selwyn their cousin. They had always made a big deal about how they were not related to any part-human garbage. Selwyn looked down. He was standing next to a mirror. The avenue Arlette and Aubin were standing in wasn't real. He was talking to illusions.

Selwyn had heard of the mirror of desire. He supposed a mirror that showed your fears wasn't such a leap of the imagination.

FIVE - THE SPHINX

After Arlette and Aubin, the other illusions were easier to deal with, for now he knew what they were. They all took more or less the same form; people he knew telling him they were ashamed of him, or that they knew his secrets, or that he was a dirty half-breed thing that shouldn't be allowed to live. Selwyn tried to ignore them and concentrated on not getting lost instead.

The last part of the maze was back to a hedge maze, but this time it was slightly more maze like and in addition, the walls kept shifting around. Sometimes, not even waiting for Selwyn to turn away before they did so. The point me spell was turning out to be one of the most useful things he'd ever learnt.

There were other clues in this part of the maze as well, topiary in the shape of arrows; word games and magic squares that you had to solve to get the hedge in front of you to open. If it had been part of a children's birthday party, it would have been fun, but Selwyn had already been in here for several hours and the fatigue was beginning to demand recognition. He just wanted to finish this thing.

Finally, he reached an avenue with a door at the far end. It was closed, and Selwyn knew even before he began running that he'd have to solve some clue to pass through it, but that was okay. He was at the end of this bloody task.

He was brought up short by the door. It had no lock, no handle. He doubted attempting to blast his way through would work, either. He was obviously supposed to use his lateral thinking abilities to get out of this place.

Selwyn put his wand tip in his mouth (don't try this at home, kids) and thought about the door. Why put a door there if you couldn't open it? There was no clue about how to open it, even. Everything else had a clue, and this had… nothing?

"Specialis Revelio," Selwyn flicked his wand toward the door, and just as he'd thought, there was a clue there.

Dozens of runes lit up across the wood, and one, shaped like less than sign, had been carved right across the edge of the door and into the hedge as well. Selwyn didn't need to take Ancient Runes to know what that meant. It was obviously something like a latch. He traced over the shape with his own wand and the door slowly swung open. Finally, he was out of this place!

But not finished, it seemed. As Selwyn stepped into the arena beyond the maze he saw there was still more to come, and wondered vaguely whether sphinxes minded if you took the name of their species in vain.

by **Darren** Wed Dec 16, 2009 5:08 am

Good job, you have finished the first part. The second part is where you have to answer the riddle. It is not so much as a riddle as merely an interesting and confusing question. Your character may RP how there thinking about what the correct answer is. Whatever your answer is, you have to explain why you think that answer is correct, whether in RP or not. You will get points if you explain why you think that your answer is correct, even if it is not.]

The sphinx spoke: "To go ahead to the last part of the maze, you must answer my question. Now, if you are ready.." The sphinx paused, then spoke the riddle. "There was once a town with just one healer. A sickness emerged in this small town and all the people got sick, except the healer. Magical powers could heal this sickness. Some of the people in the town healed themselves, some of then went to the healer, but the healer only cures people who do not cure themselves. However, one day the healer got sick. So who cured the healer?"

[Remember, this question does not have a simple answer. Think of an answer, and look at the sentence carefully to see if that answer is right. And remember, explain your answer.]

by Selwyn Thorfinn Wed Dec 16, 2009 8:59 pm

Evidently, the sphinx had little to care about outside her job description, because she didn't immediately kill Selwyn for going around calling people sphinxes as an insult.

"He should just be left to die after infecting all those people. You don't think it's a little bit suspicious that everyone came down with the same thing except the healer?" Selwyn mused. "He was probably trying to drum up some business and it backfired."

He looked up at the sphinx. Why did magical creatures always have to be so bloody huge?

"So, I'm supposed to assume the healer did get cured. And I'm supposed to be thrown by that whole 'the healer only cures those who don't cure themselves' line, right? That's to make me think someone in the town healed him or something, yes?

But it seems to me that once you've been cured of something, you don't need to see a healer and be cured again. The reason the healer only cures those who don't cure themselves is because the people who do cure themselves don't go to see him.

Anyway, long story short, the healer cured himself. But hopefully he was ill for long enough to learn not to go around poisoning people," Selwyn summed up quickly.

He leaned to the side, to try to see around the animal, but to no avail. Perhaps he ought to summon his broom now... But surely the teachers wouldn't let a magical creature actually eat a student with all these people watching. Right?

Pleasedon'teatme!

by **Darren** Fri Dec 18, 2009 12:26 am

The sphinx stared back, thinking of the answer. Then it decided. "A reasonable answer, you may pass," it said. It then moved and cleared the way for the boy.

[Now, you can RP the last part of the maze, where you go and take an object. We will let you know what the object is later, however, it currently serves as a portkey, which will transport you back to the beginning of the maze]

by Selwyn Thorfinn Sat Dec 19, 2009 8:44 am

"Oh yeah! Oh yeah!
Who's the man?
With the Venn diagra-am?
Aristotle and Plato,
Baudrillard and Foucault
Are all dead
Couldn't kick it with this head-"

Selwyn froze in the middle of his victory rap and tried to recover what was left of his dignity.

Ahem.

"Thanks for not eating me," he gave the Sphinx a respectful nod as he eased past.

You never could tell with those sphinxes, and indeed, he could feel her eyes on him as he scrambled those last few yards to his trophy. Selwyn had no idea what would happen once he had it, but the Sphinx seemed to think it was the way on to the next part (please, Merlin, no!) or better yet, the end of this task.

As soon as he laid his hands on the thing, Selwyn felt like the inside of his stomach was being pulled backwards. It was a very familiar sensation, as aside from simply using the muggle trains or boats, portkey was the main way families travelled between France and the United Kingdom. He held on tightly, and watched for the ground to come back into view.

It was only a few moments before the portkey deposited him unceremoniously on the ground. That was the problem with portkeys, and the reason Selwyn would learn apparition as soon as possible. The landing was always so painful. It was like they went out of their way to drop you on rocks. Now, Selwyn had a bruised elbow as well as a twisted ankle. He turned to look at where he'd landed.

Please let it be the end. Please let it be the end.

High walls of hedge stretched away in either direction. Directly ahead, a gate stood open, beckoning.

"SODDING HELL!"

Selwyn drew his wand and blasted a fire charm at the hedge, just to be sure the judges understood exactly how displeased he was.

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canon list	ic news
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