Shall we go on, Team One? on Library

Haunted School

February 15, 2013 8:11 AM

Part 2 by Haunted School

Upon entering the library, the groups of students would discover that the entire interior of the library had been transformed into a maze of mirrors. The library itself was completely dark with only the mirrors lit up so the students could see their reflections and see their way through the maze. Some mirrors were bent and made one look extremely tall or extremely short, fat or skinny, long or bunched up. There were other mirrors that made one’s reflection into whatever their favorite animal was. Another made a person’s reflection look like one of the undead; another dressed their reflection in finery. All of these mirrors were there to distract the students from finding the exit to progress to the next location of the Haunted School.

Within the maze, there were ghosts roaming about, whispering to each other and sometimes frightening the students by popping out and screaming at them; it was not just the staff who’d had fun co-ordinating this event. Otherwise, it was completely silent in the library, causing students’ footsteps to echo as they navigated the maze.

Once a group of students entered, the library, the doors would shut tight behind them and wouldn’t budge open again for spells or physical force. The students would have to walk through the maze and find the exit in order to move on. Instead of finding a door, however, the students would find a great hole in the floor, with a note written in a suspicious red liquid on the floor:

The exit you seek is not a traditional door,
It is instead this hole in the floor.
So take a seat and travel at speed
Down this slippery slope if you wish to proceed.

The longer the students were in the maze, the more the ghosts would haunt them, which would hopefully encourage the groups to take as little time as possible in getting through the maze and exiting through the hole in the floor.

Subthreads:

Team Eighteen continues... by Derry Four with Anthony Carey, Brianna Japos, Linus Macaulay

Team four goes forth. by David Wilkes with Thad Pierce, Henry Carey, Francesca Wolseithcrafte, Evan Brockert

And we trek on (Team 8) by Marcus Williams with Theresa Carey, Charlie B-F-R

Shall we go on, Team One? by Sara Raines with Henny B-F-R, Analea Thornton, Alex Devereux, Fae Sinclair

Let's keep together, Team Fourteen by Cepheus Princeton with Annabelle and Annette Pierce, Gareth Whitebriar , Preston Stratford, Annette Pierce

I hope mirrors aren't your Boggart. Team 15 by Regina Parker with Nora Dobson, Effie Arbon

Continuing the madness for Team Two by Carter Browning with Sully, Carter

Mirrors, Mirrors everywhere (Tag Team Nine) by Clara Abernathy with Aubrielle Thornton, Rupert Princeton

Gather 'round, team six. by James Owen with Aria Yale

Let's go, Team Three Thestrals. by Kate Bauer

Team 19 - can't trust my eyes, can't use my ears... by Michael Grosvenor

Team Five by Ryan O'Malley with Lucrezia, Jude

0 Haunted School Part 2 0 Haunted School 1 5

Derry Four

February 18, 2013 1:48 PM

Team Eighteen continues... by Derry Four

Once everyone read the note and seemed ready to leave, Derry led the way out of the classroom and up to the library. He did not go to the later often, but the occasional research project, and obviously the CATS, had at least made the most direct route between the two places known to him. It also made the difference in the library's appearance both startling and awesome.

"Cool!" he exclaimed in delight, forgetting for the moment the challenge's apparent theme and the warning in the last room's note, moving in front of the nearest funky mirror and moving around in front of it to see how it mangled his reflection, "A mirror maze! I love these things!"

He was just squatting a little, to shift the elongation of his neck down to an elongation of his face, when a ghost thrust its own face through the mirror right in front of Derry's and screamed.

Startled, Derry screamed right back and stumbled backwards a few steps, bumping lightly into one of his teammates before he managed to stop. His hand moved up to press against his chest, right over his pounding heart, while the other brushed reassuringly against his tricorner hat to make sure it hadn't gotten dislodged in his collision or initial jump. "Geez," he admonished the ghost, frowning as it melted back through the mirror's surface. "Scaring a guy. That wasn't very nice."

"Sorry," he added to the person who had steadied him out of his stumble, because backing into people wasn't nice either.

His heartbeat and breathing starting to settle again, he waved the team forward, "Let's keep going," he suggested as if he wasn't the one who had been dawdling. "The ghosts can't actually hurt us, but keep your wands out and ready in case there's more than just ghosts in here with us."

1 Derry Four Team Eighteen continues... 189 Derry Four 0 5

Anthony Carey

February 19, 2013 10:49 PM

Forward, and fear no ghost nor man! by Anthony Carey

Anthony was deeply impressed when Derry’s response to his boggart – which was apparently the extra darkness which had happened before Brianna encountered hers – after he decided it was less of a problem than Anthony’s was to turn it into a whole surprise party, complete with other sixth year Teppenpaws. That was a big change, that must have taken a lot of focus and magic. “That was - very good,” he said, even though he seriously doubted the praise of second years was really that gratifying. Anthony didn’t think being the second year who found his own brothers impressive sometimes really helped his case there, either; he thought he might just be easily impressed.

A note appeared, and Anthony didn’t like the tone of it, but obediently followed it to the library. The first thing he noticed that it was too dark, with the lights he could see not really taking shape for him for a moment. The second, once they did, was that the books seemed to be gone. He stepped forward indignantly at that, forgetting for the moment that he was one of the most junior members of the group and should probably just follow quietly and do as he was told, especially after what, as he’d thought about it on the way here, had started to look like an increasingly embarrassing attempt at heroism before.

“What have they done to it?” he demanded, looking at the glowing mirrors which seemed to have filled up his third home.

Derry provided the answer again, but seemed much more enthusiastic about it than Anthony thought was necessary, and not just because someone had desecrated a library. That was bad enough, but what about the note they had seen in the classroom challenge? He didn’t remember it exactly, but there had been something about not trusting reflections, he was sure of that, because it hadn’t made any sense. Not trusting friends hadn’t, either, since for one thing they weren’t supposed to see their friends in here and for another they were supposed to be working with their teams and not against them, which had made him wonder if they might have to split up and then face shapeshifters which looked like their teammates who’d try to lead them astray, but the reflections part especially hadn’t. So the mirrors weren’t supposed to be cool, they were supposed to be –

Derry and one of the mirrors began screaming at each other, and Anthony’s heart leapt for his throat at the sudden noise even as the team leader leapt back and collided with him –

Booby-trapped.

“’S okay,” Anthony said when he was apologized to, staring at where the ghost had been. He nodded fervently at the idea of keeping their wands out in case anything else was in the mirror maze with them. “Do Silencing Charms work on ghosts?” he wondered aloud as he took his out, holding it more tightly than usual, hoping no ghosts would jump out at him like that in there. They couldn’t hurt him, but that didn’t mean there was anything at all desirable about having one jump out and scream at him.

0 Anthony Carey Forward, and fear no ghost nor man! 0 Anthony Carey 0 5

David Wilkes

February 20, 2013 3:08 PM

Team four goes forth. by David Wilkes

David was a little nervous about going into the library for part of a challenge which had started them out with a stubborn boggart – what if the books all started flying at them on the attack? Could he really count on Evan and Fran and himself and, worst of all, Thad to risk damaging books, even in the name of saving their own skins? The idea was probably unconscionable for a lot of Aladrens, and he didn’t like it any himself. And what had the note meant about not trusting friends and reflections? What exactly was going to be in there? – but he decided to keep that to himself after they left the Defense classroom just ahead of what sounded like bloody murder and headed for the House of Eternal Knowledge. He hadn’t really believed it before, but apparently, he did have something to contribute and success in the challenges really was contingent on their ability to work together, so not sharing his doubts about all this until he even knew what he was doubting and could make a reasonable case for it seemed, with this crew, like a pretty good idea.

If it didn’t involve hurting books, of course, he thought this might be the leg his team did the best on. Henry and Ayita might need some help, he had no idea, he didn’t watch their study habits because frankly he had always had more interesting things to do than just watch people he barely or didn’t at all know, or even people he did know, come to that, but he and the other Aladrens ought to be able to cope with anything in the library. Even finding their way to the more obscure sections. They had the numbers to overwhelm opposition, which Aladrens in other teams might have to deal with since they couldn’t exactly point out that they lived in the back of the place and therefore knew it better than random people from other Houses, thanks very much, so they could probably, at the very least, navigate their way to wherever the challenge was pretty quickly, which could be significant in final run time, make up some of the time they’d no doubt lost in the boggart challenge….

…Unless, of course, someone was bright enough to take away the Aladrens’ automatic advantage by completely changing the interior of the library.

“Deep breaths,” he recommended to Thad, who, as one of the librarian’s minions, was probably not taking this well. “They’ve got to put it right again once this is over.” People had CATS and RATS and Fawcett and Skies and Olivers’ classes, how the number of especially writing-heavy classes had gone up recently, to think about this was all very fun as a diversion, but they would need a library again soon. “I guess now we know what they meant by not trusting reflections,” he added helpfully. “I’d keep an eye out for anyone you like, they might have let another team lurk in there to try picking us off, or split us up, or something,” he offered. “But the first rule of horror movies is that you all die when you split the party, so I suggest we don’t do that, okay?”

He searched for something else to say, since he didn’t really want to step into that opening in the glowing, silent network of mirrors. He knew he had to, but as anyone who’d ever run into trouble while taking a test knew, there was no art quite as high as that of the well-executed stall for saving one’s rear end from trouble, at least temporarily.

16 David Wilkes Team four goes forth. 169 David Wilkes 0 5

Thad Pierce

February 20, 2013 5:08 PM

Can we go back to the boggart? (wotw) by Thad Pierce

Thad wasn't quite sure why both of the younger team members felt it neccessary to try to explain their boggarts to him. Perhaps it was because he was the delegated Deputy who was doing most of the team coordination and they didn't w.ant to get shortchanged in their responsibilities if he thought they were scaredy-cats. Perhaps it was because David seemed less sympathetic to the perfectly reasonable fear of bad things happening to their families and wanted somebody to understand why monsters hadn't appeared for them as well. Perhaps it was because he had genuinely earned their respect and they didn't want to lose his.

Whichever was the cause, he nodded as if he believed them. In Francesca's case, he even did believe that the image that appeared for her did not invoke the monster kind of fight-or-flight instictive gut-wrenching fear that crippled the mind with adrenaline and terror.

He reserved the right, however, to believe that the idea of seeing that woman in that state of broken hopelessness was probably the one thing in the world that the first year most feared. Having parents old enough to be his grandparents, Thad understood the deep seated terror that ran through the background of every day that maybe they wouldn't live long enough to see him graduate, despite that wizardkind regularly lived well into their second century. That didn't mean anything. There were all kinds of incurable magical maladies out there that claimed the lives of thousands of witches and wizards in their seventies and eighties every year.

Was illness, whether physical or mental, a spectacular fear? No. Would it cause him to dive for cover, run for his life, or stand to fight in spite of full fledged terror? No. But that did not make it any more trivial than a fear of snakes, or any less real, valid, or horrible.

So even as he appeared to accept Francesca's claim to not have been frightened, he filed away the knowledge that she deeply feared the onset of unbearable depression, especially in one of her relatives, probably her mother. It was a noble fear, one he felt spoke well of her. Nobody would enjoy seeing their mother succumb to hopelessness.

Henry's assertion was both easier and harder to believe. Thad hadn't actually seen the boggart manifest Henry's fear, so he had no reason to believe the person depicted was a Carey except for Francesca's assumption that they were. She could easily have been mistaken, but there must have been a resemblance for her to come to that conclusion in the first place. The fact that Henry's immediate response had been to jump behind the nearest person, however, did suggest he had been feeling the monster-like I'm-going-to-die kind of fear. Not exactly the response most people got from their own family. Even for a Carey, that seemed kind of extreme.

So Thad just nodded again, seeming to accept the claim once more, though he wondered, if only breifly, whether Kirstenna Melcher had been onto something about a disowned homocidal Carey being on the loose somewhere. Derry had initially brought the theory to him in concern that the individual had stolen Amelia's identity, and that was complete nonsense, and probably the whole thing was, but, well, Henry Carey had hid behind a first year after seeing somebody who could be mistaken as his relative as his boggart. It seemed worth noting. Thaddeus just wished he'd actually seen it so he knew which potential/ex/false Carey to watch out for.

More immediate to their future, however, was the boggart, which David took a second try at using Francesca's suggestion. Thad still didn't get the humor, but at least David did this time and the boggart - and, even more mercifully, the hideous noise - was gone.

Instead, they were left with a somewhat baffling note that David read aloud. "Almost all my friends spend a lot of time in the library," he answered when questioned, finding no fault with the practice since he did as well, and believing it stranger that people might have friends who didn't. "But I wouldn't call them untrustworthy," he added, though he kind of thought that went without saying by their classification as 'friends'. Alicia's challenge conspiracy might have earned her a few Machiavellian points, but that wasn't the same thing, and even if they were he wouldn't call her anything so unkind aloud.

On the other hand, there was no direct corollary in the note saying the untrustworthy friends were library-dwellers. This made him immediately suspicious of Cepheus and Gareth. Thad liked them well enough, but conspiracy or no conspiracy, he did not trust them. They were competitive and rival Quidditch players, and if they thought tripping up Thad would help their team win, he had little reason to believe they would hesitate any more than Thad would himself.

Still, he didn't say anything about them however, because it was an awful thing to say with no proof and based solely on House rivalries. He would keep a sharp eye out for them during the next task, however.

Thoughts of the two Crotali vanished as they entered the library. If one could even still call the place the library. Thad began to hyperventilate and fought the instinct to cover his eyes and curl into a little ball. David said something to him, but his hearing had gone a little fuzzy. "This isn't another boggart, is it?" he asked, genuinely hoping it was. Boggarts could be sent away and the books would come back.

He could not imagine how this could be made funny. David would just have to face his snake again.

But the darkness and glowing mirrors remained, even when he moved within the group to make a potential boggart focus on someone else. This was terribly, horrifyingly real. The librarian had allowed this to happen. Culling out the old outdated books had been bad enough, but now they were all gone. Thad twitched. How had she allowed something so heinous, so blasphemous, so unconscionable? This was supposed to be Sonora's sacred place and Ms Diaz was supposed to protect it from such desecration. Maybe she was the one the note meant.

He drew his wand as the team readied to enter the maze. He just had to hold it together until they got through. They have to put it back, David's words finally trickled through to his brain. They have to put it back, he repeated to himself silently, like a mantra.

He kept a narrowed eye out for rampaging librarians and Crotali Quidditch players as they entered into the maze, but so far he only saw ghosts.

The distorted reflections didn't bother him too much, but every so often he thought he saw a bookshelf but when he turned to look at it, it was just another mirror. "I think I'm hallucinating," he admitted after the third time it happened. "I'm seeing phantom books that aren't there. Or else we're actually in the Muggle Studies section and I've been though here often enough putting away books that my memory is filling in the blanks."

1 Thad Pierce Can we go back to the boggart? (wotw) 213 Thad Pierce 0 5

Brianna Japos

February 20, 2013 9:50 PM

Only fear your reflection. by Brianna Japos

Brianna had quietly followed the rest of the team to the library. She knew in some way, Anthony had tried to help her by changing the boggart into something that he feared. He was only a Beginner, so there had been no way for him to know how to overcome it, which meant that he had been distracting it from her. How embarrassing that must have been. She was grateful to him, of course, seeing Harley’s face, even a fake one, had jolted her. She hadn’t seen him since that day and hopefully never would again. The trial hadn’t started yet, but since his family moved out of the condominium, he wasn’t in her life. Seeing him… hearing him… it had nearly cracked her shield. She tried so hard to not think about what happened when others were around. Put on a smile. Pretend she was okay. She tried to only think about it when she had no choice, when she tried to sleep and no one was conscious to hear her. She was ashamed that this had happened and in front of a group of boys too.

Brianna only regained any awareness of what they were doing when Derry shouted. She jumped, clearly startled by the distraction he had caused in such an eerily quiet place and then tried not to giggle because it was a bit funny that a ghost had terrified him so. “I don’t think magic really affects them too much or at all.” Brianna commented quietly, looking around at the mirrors, really noticing them for the first time.

She paused at the mirror for a moment that projected an image of her wearing clothing far beyond her parents’ budget. It was wishful thinking, but it was fun to see what she looked like in them. At another mirror, Brianna found herself staring too long at herself. Not because she was wearing pretty clothes or looking all fun and delightful, but because she looked like an Inferi. The living dead. The sight hypnotized her and she once again thought about that time when she had come so close to becoming this. A ghost whizzed past her, causing her to jump again. It had been sufficient enough to get her moving again. “I never realized how creepy this library could be.” Brianna muttered as she kept her eyes forward and away from the mirrors. “What do you think we’re supposed to be looking for?”

6 Brianna Japos Only fear your reflection. 203 Brianna Japos 0 5

Henry Carey

February 20, 2013 10:32 PM

No by Henry Carey

Henry did not care about making a mess, or about losing points because they didn’t use the correct spell to dismiss the boggart. All he cared about what was not going near it again. Even knowing she wasn’t real, he couldn’t face Grandmother on the attack again; he couldn’t risk them figuring out that she was his grandmother, much less why he was so afraid of her and why she wanted to kill him. Even if the family would not have wanted his blood for it, he didn’t think he could stand to have everyone know about the Incident. He had managed to keep a low profile through his first year so no one really noticed he sometimes…had difficulties, but Grandmother would say it, he knew she would. Everyone would know he was…that it had gone wrong, he was inadequate. And then there would be legalities; he could get the family in trouble. Mother had made that very clear to him while he was getting better, that he could never tell anyone because he would get the family into trouble. That would be disloyal. That would be the worst thing he could possibly do.

Before he had to try to think of another way to handle it, though, Wilkes got rid of the boggart and Henry breathed easier, at least for a moment. Then, as Wilkes got the note giving them directions to their next assignment, he began to feel the glow of shame in his chest and his hands curled into fists.

Inadequate? That was an understatement. He had gotten so far beyond the limits of inadequacy that he didn’t think there was a word for what he had done. He had – he had folded. He had looked at something which was past, something he should have long since moved past, and he had crumpled into a heap at Wolseithcrafte’s feet. He had lost his head; it was a wonder he hadn’t started sobbing, begging, the way he had when it really happened. He had been weak, he had been….

He had to stop. They’d told him not to think about it. It hadn’t happened. It hadn’t happened. It hadn’t happened. It….

He opened his eyes again, his hands still in fists at his sides, when the note was read out. It was all nonsense, it meant nothing. “No,” he said shortly about the prospect of untrustworthy friends in the library. He had plenty of relatives in the library, and was pretty sure he would not trust Arthur to be loyal to anyone if it came to a competition, but that had not been in the question, and the last thing he planned to do was bring the subject of his family up any further today. He wanted everyone to forget about Wolseithcrafte’s initial conclusion that the shapeshifter looked like family members.

His anxiety level rose further as they approached the library, and he shuddered again as they entered the dark, which shamed him again even though he knew that this time, no one was likely to have noticed because of the dark, lit only by the glow of the mirrors which seemed to make up some kind of maze or obstacle course.

“I don’t think so,” he said when Pierce asked if they had another boggart on their hands. This would be an impressively large boggart, he thought, but didn’t know. Boggarts were not something he had studied in depth. If he had, he might have been prepared. He might have…But he wasn’t thinking about that. “It looks real enough to me.”

Wilkes rambled, and Henry listened for anything useful sounding until they finally entered the maze. There was a trick to mazes, he knew, but he couldn’t remember what it was, so he just followed the group in silence until Pierce suddenly spoke. “Look at the floor, then,” Henry said, half under his breath, really hoping that one of the older students wasn’t starting to hallucinate while they were stuck in a glass maze with distorted reflections they had been told not to trust. Henry was watching the floor himself. If there was a spell to make them start seeing what wasn’t there…That would be very bad.

0 Henry Carey No 239 Henry Carey 0 5

Francesca Wolseithcrafte

February 21, 2013 7:39 AM

Onwards with paranoia and mistrust by Francesca Wolseithcrafte

Francesca was rather pleased when Wilkes took her suggestions on board and had success with them. It wasn't that she was desperate to please him personally but more in his abstract roles as oldest student and leader (in name if not practice). She wanted to demonstrate to him and the rest of the team that she was not merely baggage that they had to transport through the challenge. For all that she was just a first year, she could be of use to them. She had worth. She was also rather impressed by the scale of the transformation he managed to effect on the boggart. He was a fairly competent wizard in terms of wandwork then. She noted this in his currently rather short 'pros' column. He had also referred to her by her full name and thus, if that continued, he might find one of his flaws shortly being erased.

She pondered the note in her head as they approached the library. Duels were a possibility but the element of not trusting oneself.... One's reflection. The sight of row upon row of mirrors was not surprising, as what else sprung to mind when reflections were mentioned? However, she was unsure what exactly to expect once they began navigating the maze. She was unperturbed by seeing the library transformed – a little put out by the loss of familiar ground but not disturbed. This was not real life. Tomorrow would be. It was scarcely as if she could stop to pick up books whilst on a challenge even if the library was in its normal state. Wil- David's approach to the next step seemed sound, and he was certainly playing a more active part now that they were in the field of combat.

“Perhaps we should have a password too, just in case we do get split up. Trust not your friends nor your own reflection,” she quoted, “Could it be that the mirrors will try to replace us with copies? And that we must have all the original team members when we reach the end? It's quite easy to make physical copies but not copy someone's mind or memories,” ok, the boggarts could do that but they had already faced those. It was a difficult result to achieve using mirrors, “If we get split up or if someone starts acting.... distant. Or different to usual,” she added, trying not to look particularly at Evan and Ayita, who definitely seemed to exist on a slightly different plain of reality, “then we can ask them for the password.

“How about fidelity?” she suggested, this time being sure to make eye contact with Evan and Ayita to try to be sure they had listened. It made sense, she felt, given the circumstances, to use a word indicating the degree of accuracy or faithfulness with which a copy had been reproduced.

Once this had been decided upon, they set forth into the maze. Francesca aimed to stay middle of the pack although she scanned around her, frequently taking head counts of the team members, ensuring no one was being left behind, entranced by the images in the mirrors. Her own reflections rippled past her, elongating, shrinking, bending and twisting, only really catching her attention when they shifted away from merely distorting her shape. She glared at the copy of herself prancing about as a ballerina in a pink tutu. If that started following them she hoped even her team mates, who knew very little of her, would spot the decoy within seconds.

“An infe-” she gasped as they rounded a corner, her wand hand shooting to position and her other hand flying to her mouth. The inferus raised its right arm and covered its mouth too. It was also wearing rather familiar charcoal grey robes, albeit it a bedraggled and ripped copy, and its hair was a lank, greasy reproduction of a familiar blonde pony tail. “No, only me...” she stated, adding, with a paranoid eye on the image, lest it started following them, “I think...”

13 Francesca Wolseithcrafte Onwards with paranoia and mistrust 250 Francesca Wolseithcrafte 0 5

Marcus Williams

February 21, 2013 8:14 PM

And we trek on (Team 8) by Marcus Williams

Marcus wasn’t too sure of what to think of Charlie. He seemed really young to him, but Marcus figured the kid was probably pretty sheltered and so glided through life without a care in the world. But he wasn’t quite sure why he was so chipper about it. It must have been the age. Marcus didn’t recall ever being quite so peppy, but then, he was not sheltered growing up in a not so wonderful part of a small city. Not that he really minded the positive attitude, but he wasn’t sure how well the others would feel about it by then end. He’d worry about those tensions later though. For now, it was time to move on.

As he walked to the library, Marcus thought about the riddle that Charlie had read out loud. Reflections made him think mirrors or water, but since they were heading into the library, he opted to believe that they would be dealing with mirrors. So, they were to not trust the reflections of themselves or their friends… why? What exactly was it that they would see in the mirror? Would it change their perception of what was around them? Suck them in like in nightmarish movies sometimes did? He hoped it wasn’t the latter because he had no idea how to fix that.

He stopped outside of the library doors and looked at his fellow teammates. “Well, we managed the Boggart, so as long as we keep reminding ourselves that we only see tricks, we should be okay.” Marcus told them in all seriousness, but still held his usual calm smile about him. He saw no reason to see the challenges as anything but fun waste of time and a way of adjusting his abilities and react quickly. It was sort of like training and it’ll prepare him nicely for the RATS.

He opened the door and looked around for a moment. It was really dark except for a path of mirrors that were lit up. He couldn’t even see the books and had to wonder if they were even there. “It looks safe.” Marcus said moving out of the way so that everyone else could come in. “Keep together. I don’t like this set up, so who knows what will be waiting for us.” He commented, his tone light as he lead the way with his wand out. “Hah. This reminds me of a Carnival fun house.” He stated as he looked at the mirrors as he past them by.

6 Marcus Williams And we trek on (Team 8) 180 Marcus Williams 0 5

Theresa Carey

February 21, 2013 11:17 PM

Messing up. Again. by Theresa Carey

When Marcus had announced that the naga was in fact just a boggart, Theresa’s first reaction had been to turn red with embarrassment over being wrong. Her second reaction had been to look confused because she had not been aware of a reason to have a deep fear of raggedy old ladies. Some old ladies, sure, if the family had been more liberal then Grandmother might have been recruited as one of the whispered about members of the family who allegedly “solved problems,” but the chances of her grandmother ever ending up in rags seemed very slim indeed….

She was distracted completely from that, though, by Marcus’ comments to her and Charlie, which made her turn even redder than she had already been. It was all she could do not to snap back with a comment she knew would sound better in her head than it ever would once it came out of her mouth, so she said nothing at all instead, just watching in stony, red-faced silence as Charlie, apparently completely recovered from his terror of a few minutes before, read out the note and focused on the library part instead of the part where they were being told not to trust anything in there.

At least, she thought, she didn’t have to feel bad about not knowing how to apologize for yelling at him to shut up. He had most likely already completely forgotten about it, if he had even noticed. She still felt a little bad about yelling in the first place, though.

In the library, everything had changed, and Theresa wasn’t sure she liked it. Actually, she thought she might be leaning heavily toward not liking it. It was creepy, all the dark, and the weird glow the mirrors were emitting, and besides, mirror magic could be really dangerous, so going into that many of them….

Marcus, though, seemed to have no qualms about it, and after the mess up with the boggart, Theresa wasn’t going to risk embarrassing herself again by objecting. Instead, she steeled herself, then walked into the maze, expecting at every moment that something horrible was about to happen.

For a while, though, the worst thing that happened was the way she discovered there were several really awful ways her reflection could be drawn out. She tried to avoid looking at the mirrors too much, but she couldn’t help it; her eye was just drawn by them, unable to resist indefinitely the urge to see what this lighting was doing to her complexion, even though she already knew it was nothing good. She had winter coloring, so the glow in the dark didn’t suit her well at all.

“This is fun?” she couldn’t help but ask, if very quietly, when Marcus compared their situation to something called a funhouse. She looked up directly into one mirror, then away from it into – “Oh!”

The little gasp was as involuntary as her movement toward the glass her eye had landed on, one where, instead of her old blouse and skirt and repolished shoes, she was dressed in the most exquisitely beautiful ballgown she had ever seen in her life, in real life or in magazines, or had even imagined. Her hair had been put up, her makeup looked professionally done, and the jewels –

Oh, the jewels. She could stand and just stare at those forever. Or at least the parts of forever that didn’t involve a ghost sticking its face through her smiling, made-up one and shrieking at her.

Theresa shrieked, too, staggering away from the mirror, grabbing her face as though to make sure the ghost hadn’t really just come through it instead, looking for her reflection again but feeling too shaken to find it. Shaken, and frustrated. That was the second time today she had done something stupid, something foolish. She was acting like a silly, stupid girl. That was not how she had planned to handle all this. Could this year really get any worse for her, short of her CATS coming a year early and with a vengeance?

0 Theresa Carey Messing up. Again. 219 Theresa Carey 0 5

Charlie B-F-R

February 22, 2013 11:47 AM

You're doing fine. Just keep swimming, just keep swimming... by Charlie B-F-R

A mirror maze didn't seem particularly scary to Charlie. Ok, they'd done their best to make it a fairly gloomy one and maybe some people wouldn't like being lost but to him it seemed like a lot of fun. It reminded him of nice things like going to the fun fair. Marcus also didn't seem too worried about it and Marcus was a seventh year and had dealt with the boggart, so Charlie was pretty ready to accept what he said as the Gospel truth. He did hint that there might be things waiting for them in the maze and Charlie resolved to be careful and to keep his wand ready, just in case the things were easily defeated by being floated, doused in water or any other similar, basic spells. He also stuck quite close to Marcus as they went in.

He found a little hard to be serious and not get too distracted by the mirrors. They were awfully fun. It was like a house of mirrors and a mirror maze combined. He giggled at the image of him strutting his stuff as a cowboy. He could definitely get on board with fringed trousers – they were retro chic and that was totally in right now. He wasn't entirely convinced by himself in plaid though. The hat suited him but probably was never going to be acceptable as everyday wear. It was good to know he could pull it off for a fancy dress party though.

“Me too!” he grinned, when Marcus commented that it reminded him of the carnival. “Or of a fun fair. What's your favourite thing at the funfair?” he asked, “I like the big spinny one like an octopus and the cars go around and in and out and they spin too,” he said, vaguely trying to demonstrate the motion with his hands. “And the cotton candy of course! Especially when you get the colour changing kind” he grinned, having grown up around magic he accepted such quirks part of everyday life. He very nearly tempted fate by saying that the current challenge didn't seem all that scary. Thinking it must merely have been enough, as, from just behind him, came a pair of screams. He turned just in time to see a ghost pulling its face back through one of the mirrors.

“I guess we know what the not so fun part of the fun house is now...” he noted, giving Theresa a sympathetic smile, “At least it's not something that can hurt us. Only make us jump. Are you ok?” he added to her. It had made his heart start a little and he hadn't even been the one to be jumped out at.

They had progressed a couple more turns through the maze when he saw something that made him squeal with delight.

“A pygmypuff!” he grinned, “Oooh, maybe we have to rescue as many as possible from the maze! Wouldn't that be adorable?” He would have bounded towards the small creature but he couldn't quite be sure whether it was really where he thought it was, besides which he had to stay with the group. He went as briskly towards it as he felt it was safe to do, with a similar sort of gait to someone who has been instructed to run whilst blindfolded. The pygmypuff began to scurry forward too. Charlie crouched down as he reached it and held out a hand. It put up a tiny fluffy paw and they touched on the surface of the mirror. Charlie tilted his head back in surprise. So did the pygmypuff.

“Hey, it's me! I'm a pygmypuff!” he smiled. To give him his credit, he would probably have reached that conclusion somewhat sooner had his favourite animal been more hominid in form. The small round ball of fluff was a considerably different shape to him and thus its ability to mirror his movements had been somewhat limited.

He turned in a slow circle, keeping his eyes on the mirror as far as possible to watch the pygmypuff do the same. He jumped. So did it. He was just preparing to see what it would look like doing a little jig when he remembered that they were supposed to be hurrying. He waved goodbye to his pink fluffy counterpart and giggled as it tried to lift its stubby little leg out of its puffball of a body and do the same before he tore his eyes off the mirror and continued on.

13 Charlie B-F-R You're doing fine. Just keep swimming, just keep swimming... 252 Charlie B-F-R 0 5

Sara Raines

February 22, 2013 10:27 PM

Shall we go on, Team One? by Sara Raines

Sara smiled shakily at Fae when her friend joked about not telling the boys about this one. “I couldn’t agree more,” she said breathlessly, straightening up and tucking her hair behind her ears again. Preston and Arnold really did not need to know about this one. She and Fae were, she knew, extraordinarily lucky to have boys who seemed to respect them on some level, and revealing that she couldn’t handle a boggart was not the way to keep Preston thinking of her as more than a silly incompetent who would need to be looked after all the time. She didn’t want to risk not being trusted to run her own household.

Besides, the boys generally didn’t need to hear about what happened when it was just the girls. That was just a common rule.

She took a more serious view of the situation, though, when she saw the shape Henny – usually, from everything Sara had seen, a very collected person – was in after the boggart. Sara wondered what it had been for her, to get that reaction – or, really, what it had meant to her, since that was what the boggart really did, what it really meant, more than just the shape it took – but she knew she couldn’t ask, that would be very impolite, especially from someone who barely knew her. “Yes, we can take a minute,” she seconded Fae.

Henny, though, rejected the offer, so it was off to the library, which had been reworked as a glowing mirror maze. “Well…this is…different,” Sara said, looking around to where the shelves usually were, instinctively searching for familiar landmarks and not finding them. “It does make sense of the notes, though. I’d say we should go in with our wands out and sticking together, what do you say, ladies?”

0 Sara Raines Shall we go on, Team One? 179 Sara Raines 0 5

Cepheus Princeton

February 23, 2013 7:01 AM

Let's keep together, Team Fourteen by Cepheus Princeton

On the way to the library, Cepheus walked next to his room-mate and nudged him. "Afraid of heights, huh?" he said, smirking like he was teasing. "All right?" he continued, sobering a bit. "You do a good job covering up your fear during Quidditch." Cepheus and Gareth were a team in his mind, at least on the pitch. He would try to be more aware of his room-mate's fear the next time, whenever their next Quidditch match was.

The note from the DADA classroom that led them to the library was creepy. He knew that he would have to expect something bad or equally frightening in the usually calm library. Cepheus didn't like the feeling of anticipation or suspense, so he tried not to think about it too much as he made his way there with his group.

He pushed open the door to the library and found the room completely covered in mirrors. It wasn't only covered in mirrors, but was a maze. "I thought the worst part was over," he said irritably, but walked on forward. "Are we supposed to find the exit?" he asked, looking back at his team-mates. At least it wasn't completely dark in here. Predictably, the door behind them was shut tight and he didn't bother trying the handle. Instead, he turned back to the maze. "Shall we stick together or separate?" he asked, and after waiting for his team's opinion, made his way through the maze.

Cepheus had never been in a maze like this before, but he found himself looking more than once at his reflection. There was one mirror that made him look short and fat and he had moved on quickly from that one. Another dressed him in fine robes and, having fine robes himself, he didn't linger. Another made him look exactly like a dragon, then an owl. Cepheus spent five minutes there thinking of different animals to change himself into, forgetting momentarily what they were supposed to do until a ghost popped out at him when his reflection was that of a bear.

He gave a shout in surprise, leaping back, and bumped into another mirror. When he turned, he saw himself looking just like one of the undead and he shivered. "Anyone found the exit?" he asked, moving on from the creepy image. These mirrors were proving to be much more distracting than he had anticipated.

40 Cepheus Princeton Let's keep together, Team Fourteen 216 Cepheus Princeton 0 5

Henny B-F-R

February 23, 2013 11:46 AM

I like the pretence that we have a choice... by Henny B-F-R

“Thanks,” she nodded to Sara too. She wished she was able to be slightly more articulate than that, something which wasn't normally a problem for her. Although the attention triggered yet more flight response (there definitely wasn't fight when it came to her) the emerging rational part of her brain was glad that she was with people who understood and wanted to be able to express that to them. They didn't have to be nice. But they were being. Without really knowing or understanding why they had to be, and that was a lovely quality. But that was far too much to try to say. She imagined being with someone brash and competitive – although sympathy could tip you over the edge when you were already feeling emotional, it was definitely less damaging that being shouted at to pull yourself together because the clock was ticking and you needed to keep your eyes on the prize.

“Looks like we share a worst fear,” Henny noted to Sara. She didn't meet her eyes, looking up and swallowing hard as she said it. She did not want particularly to dwell on the subject and she stepped out smartly, ensuring the other girl had no real time to reply. It was a balancing act between not dwelling on the subject and feeling the need to justify herself to those around her. That didn't quite explain why she had reacted so strongly but that was not something she felt she could easily share with a group of strangers. At least it explained why she had panicked in the face of someone else's boggart; it would have been hers too.

She supposed, in a way, she should be glad that the library was different. It meant it would be easier to disassociate anything unpleasant that happened from the place – it would be unimaginably horrible if the library was ruined forever. Still, it felt actively uncomforting. She tried to draw on happy family memories of going to funfairs. Her and father pulling faces at their elongated reflections... But this didn't seem the same. And, happy as she was with her adopted parents, it got complicated when they tried to share headspace with her birth parents. Jumping from thoughts of her deceased family to how happy she was with their replacements felt disloyal if she did it too quickly.

She nodded her assent to Sara's plan, sticking safely middle of the group. She definitely wasn't feeling like a leader but nor did she want to be at the back, checking constantly over her shoulder or fearing some kind of silent attack – something grabbing her, or her own panic crippling her – meaning she got left behind. Even just the rippled reflections seemed creepy in this atmosphere and she flinched whenever anything actively unpleasant swam into her field of vision. She jumped out of her skin with a loud gasp the first time a ghost shrieked at her. Her wand automatically swung into position before she realised that was pointless. Her hand hesitated in mid-air for a moment, betraying how clearly she was shaking. She lowered it again. A ghost was not much of a threat and her heart rate should have returned to normal much faster than it did. But that was the trouble with already being tense – a little start was enough to bring her back to the verge of frightened tears. Luckily she kept it down. The worst part was she knew she was letting the challenge win – the point was students could make it harder or easier on themselves by how much they allowed things to get to them. She was failing horribly at keeping calm. And, as an Aladren, she always hated failing.

13 Henny B-F-R I like the pretence that we have a choice... 211 Henny B-F-R 0 5

Annabelle and Annette Pierce

February 23, 2013 12:56 PM

We like together. by Annabelle and Annette Pierce

Having stood back, the twins did not get the full effect of some of the boggart's forms, though, if they had to judge, they would have concluded that all of their older teammates had boring fears. Neither girl found an old guy or Sara Raines the least bit scary, even when they were clearly displeased, and Gareth's canyon only made them want to try scaling down its unstable cliffs. This was no doubt why they had been put into Pecari House.

Still, getting bored with the older guys' fears was much preferable to facing their own, so they kept back near the door, sealed their lips with synchronized locking motions at Preston's directive to keep his fear of his girlfriend a secret, and only jumped a little when the classroom door creaked open on its own shortly after Preston finished reading the note.

Proceeding on toward the library, they hurried to maintain pace with their longer legged older members and checked to make sure Jade was keeping up as well. They hadn't had occasion to spend a lot of time in the library the previous year, but they had been through for a couple bigger class assignments that required further research, so the change in the room was impressive even to the twins. "Wow," Annette remarked, "This does not look like a library anymore."

"It's better," Annabelle told her, feeling excitement stir up at the dark atmosphere and glowing mirror maze. Now this was exciting.

Annette laughed. "Thad is so going to freak," she predicted, glancing over to their team captain to see if their team's leading Aladren was handling it any better.

"I would imagine that would be the point," Annette agreed with Cepheus's assessment of their goal. Reaching the other end was sort of the standard purpose of a maze. When he then proposed two options for dealing with their navigation of it, Annette spoke up quickly. "I say we should stay as a group. More eyes and more wands that way, and then we wouldn't have to try to direct the second group through a maze over to the exit after the first group found it." It might take a little longer moving as a single team, but at least when they found the exit, they could move out right away.

"And we learned a spell for learning our way around the Labyrinth Gardens," Annabelle nodded, "so we can use that so we don't get mixed up and start going in circles." She took out her wand and cast a variation of the simple lumos spell that trailed a ribbon of light on the ground behind her as she moved forward into the maze. It looked nearly as eerie as the glowing mirrors in the dark, but that just made it more awesome.

They moved through the maze, alternately glancing at the mirrors and watching to floor to see that they didn't cross their light ribbon. "Belle," Annette said, pointing at one of the mirrors as they passed, and they exchanged grins at seeing the whole team walking past being reflected as flying on brooms in Quidditch gear in a particularly large mirror. "Mother can't punish us for that, right?" she joked.

"I don't think so," Annabelle agreed.

They moved on from there, though they slowed down at the really interesting mirrors, like the one that turned them into animals. They jumped when Cepheus shouted and turned to see him looking at an undead version of himself. The girls shuddered a little but drew in closer to see themselves. "That is really creepy," Annette remarked, waving, and watching Inferi!Annette wave back.

"Not yet," Annabelle told Cepheus when he asked about the exit, but she pointed at the floor, "We're still covering new ground, though, so we're at least not retracing our steps. What kind of exit do you think we're looking for, should we be sticking as close to the walls as we can so we can find a door, or is it going to be a portkey or floo connection in the middle of the maze or something?"

1 Annabelle and Annette Pierce We like together. 246 Annabelle and Annette Pierce 0 5

Gareth Whitebriar

February 23, 2013 9:13 PM

Together it is then by Gareth Whitebriar

Gareth cursed his pale complexion which, if the heat in his face was any indication, was doing a fine imitation of a cherry. Embracement coiled heavily around his barrel like chest, and he couldn’t bring himself to look at Cepheus or Preston as they made their way to the library. Having his greatest fear revealed to his roommate was bad enough, but to a rival Quidditch player? An Aladren at that? That was an edge Aladren’s didn’t need.

Another down side to being as large as he was, was the fact that it made fading into the background pretty much impossible. Instead, Gareth squared his shoulders, and did his best to ignore the blush still staining his cheeks as he tried to put his failure at defeating the boggart behind him. It was humiliating, but he didn’t have time to dwell on it now. There were still more challenges to face, and he couldn’t let his mind stray. If he did, there was the risk of failing again. No, I will not let down the team again.

Cepheus nudged him, and his words made the blush flare hotter still. “Yes.” The word was curt, hard with shame and unlike his normally relaxed tone. Some of the stiffness faded when his roommate didn’t tease him about the fear. Even his brother would have laughed if he’d known. “I’ve had a lot of practice.” Gareth confessed. He didn’t understand his fear, it had always been there, and even though he spent a fair amount of time flying, it never got easer. Before every flight he had to steal himself, and focus entirely on controlling the fear before he could leave the ground. And no matter how long he flew, the fear sat in his chest like a ball of ice, just waiting for him to drop his guard so it could overwhelm him.

That hadn’t happened in years, and this was the first time it had happened at Sonora. They reached the library, and found it greatly transformed. Gareth was impressed with the professors’ skills as they entered the maze. He agreed with the twins about saying together. There was a fair chance that the maze would have other things occupying it, and it wouldn’t be good to let the younger students wander around where they might get into trouble. The light spell was also rather impressive for a pair of first years. “That’s a useful spell.” He said as he offered a friendly smile.

The mirrors were rather fascinating. One showed him as even taller and scrawny, another left him short and as big around as he was tall. Another showed him as a large black horse. Cepheus’s shout jerked his attention away from the mirrors in time to see the ghost slid back though the glass.

“Not yet. I think we should continue exploring new ground. The exit could be anything.” With that he glanced up, wondering if perhaps the exit might not be in the ceiling somewhere. Anything was possible with magic after all.

0 Gareth Whitebriar Together it is then 0 Gareth Whitebriar 0 5

Linus Macaulay

February 24, 2013 2:47 AM

You have nothing to fear there by Linus Macaulay

His initial response upon learning the names of his team mates for the year had been bewilderment. Having made it is business to learn all he could about the magical socio-economic hierarchy, Linus was gracious in experiencing a dry sense of irony that he had been placed with a Pierce, a Carey, a Raines, and ... Brianna. He thought it spoke volumes about the impossibility of his own climb up the social ladder that he felt more at ease with the female offspring of immigrants than any other member of the group, but he tried to kid himself that this was due to familiarity as opposedto arrying any implications of status. Linus also recognised himself as the only Muggleborn amongst them, but as he had done little in his school career to convince others of his heritage in either direction, that fact might nt necessarily have been as immediately obvious to his comrades.

Inevitably, the oldest among them had claimed the leadership role, and although Derwent (Linus despised shortened forms of names, and while he was courteous in calling Derry so aloud, he was adamant to think of him silently as Derwent) had actually done tolerably well so far in orchestrating an official meeting prior to any challenge, Linus failed to take a disinherited Teppenpaw with ridiculous dress sense too seriously. It was evident to the fifth year that he would have to act in vice capatain capacity should Derwent's enthusiasm not serve as sufficient.

In the first task of the aptly named Haunted School challenge, Linus had hung back a little, despite his proclamation during the group's initial gathering that defensive spells were one of his strengths. He certainly would have been able to handle the boggart, had Derry not also been satisfactorily skilled in the situation. However, Linus' own attention had been temporarily distracted by Brianna's brief distress. While Linus had been helping Brianna as much as she allowed him to since their return after the summer, he knew that he didn't fully understand her pain, mental or physical, and the honest truth was that he didn't care to. If he could assist a friend without getting involved with far more personal issues then that really was for the best, and he maintained thisviewpoint most avidly. Yet watching her reaction to what he interpreted to be a reincarnation of an existing memory, Linus felt heartily repulsed by the selfishness of this approach. Hence, as they progressed to the library, Linus resolved not only to be more forward in participating with the team, but also more engaged in his friendship with the other Crotalus amongst them.

The next task, it transpired, was a mirrored maze in the library. Following Derwent's embarrassing beginning, Linus shuffled subly yet successfully past him to lead the team through the maze. He strode without paying much attention to the false reflections, pausing every so often to allow the stragglers to catch up, and speaking only when Brianna queried the object of their search. "An exit, presumably," he replied with as much authority as he could muster for one who had begun to doubt his answer even while uttering it. He tried to recall the exact wording of the note in the classroom, and decided that it hadn't indicated anything further than moving on to the maze in the library. Linuscast an unfortunately timed side glance to his right, and caught sight of a reflection of himself with a hideously bulbous nose. "Hopefully we'll arrive at one before too long; the library is large, but not limitless." Unless that, too, had been altered by magic.

0 Linus Macaulay You have nothing to fear there 205 Linus Macaulay 0 5

Cepheus Princeton

February 24, 2013 11:56 AM

This isn't scary, right? by Cepheus Princeton

Cepheus considered Gareth one of his close friends, but he was coming to realise that even best friends had secrets from each other. Gareth had, until now, kept his fear of heights from him, while Cepheus hadn't told his room-mate about his betrothal. He was certain Gareth knew about it; after all, he and Meghan were related, but Cepheus had never approached the topic. He had never wanted to think about it and complaining to Gareth about it wouldn't be very smart. He would be complaining about Gareth's relative and that would be an insult to his family, however distant they were.

Cepheus was rather impressed with the twin girls' magical capabilities, but he allowed himself to wander a bit farther ahead of the group. It was embarrassing to be caught frightened by a ghost, and he was certain his pink cheeks could be seen in the light of the mirrors. He turned his face away from his team-mates as he listened to them respond to his question. His eyes wandered up to the ceiling, wondering if the professors could somehow make an unforeseen Floo connection in the centre of the maze.

Gareth was right and Cepheus nodded in agreement. His cheeks felt cooler once more and he pressed the back of one hand to it just in case before turning back to face them. "The exit could be anything," he agreed. "Better keep on moving then." This was creepy in itself, wandering around with no direction whatsoever. Cepheus didn't like it. At least with the boggart, though they had to share their fear with everyone, he had a goal to achieve and a way to get there. Here, in the maze, he had no idea what to look for or what to expect and he hated that feeling of dreaded anticipation.

The thought of some unexpected creature coming out at them suddenly put Cepheus into a cold sweat, and he brought out his wand, his fingers tight around it. He didn't want to frighten his team-mates with his thoughts, so he continued walking forward, though slower now. At the very least it wasn't completely dark here.

When Cepheus had first heard of the theme of a haunted school, he had been intrigued. Now he knew he never wanted to go through something like this again. He wasn't one who enjoyed expecting the unexpected. He supposed, since he had everything in his life already planned out for him, he wasn't used to having to face things popping out at him or any sort of spontaneity. His patriarchy training covered how to handle tragedy, any sort of crisis and the like, but there was nothing about ghosts popping out and leading a team to their perhaps unfortunate doom. But it couldn't be that terrible, right? His family would close the school down if he died here.

The mirrors were less intriguing as before, though he did pass one that caught his eye. He was dressed up once again in fine robes, but this one made him look like a prince. He was scrawny and skinny but tall, and the robes accentuated his height as the mirror filled him out. He looked just like his father, and Cepheus stood standing there for a moment, wishing he could indeed be just like the wizard in his reflection. The ghost who was standing behind him suddenly went through him and cackled. Cepheus felt a cold chill rush through his body and he shivered, tearing his eyes away from the mirror. "Ugh," he said, wanting to rub the unpleasant feeling away.

Another ghost was behind his team-mates, looking positively gleeful and Cepheus knew they were going to be frightened once more. "Let's hurry on, shall we?" he said, trying not to sound nervous. "I have a feeling our nerves will be frayed if we stay in here for too long." If they could just find the bloody exit they would be closer to getting out of this.

40 Cepheus Princeton This isn't scary, right? 216 Cepheus Princeton 0 5

Regina Parker

February 25, 2013 8:45 PM

I hope mirrors aren't your Boggart. Team 15 by Regina Parker

Reggie had no idea what to expect when she walked into the library. Her mind played all sorts of games on her as she took the time to think about it on the walk there. There were so many possibilities that the teachers could do to them. In the Muggle world, things were so much simpler. Anything that they did would literally be completely fake, an illusion. But in the magical world, one could turn a plant into an actual human eating monster. Growing up in both worlds did not make anything easier. It just jumbled everything up. She was glad for it, though. She had no idea what she would have done if she didn’t know both of them. What a strange way of life that would have been. She was grateful for the life she had been given.

When they reached the library, Reggie turned to face them, “Good job with the first round everyone. Especially Effie and Waverly.” Reggie grinned at the two of them. “Effie for identifying the Boggart so quickly and Waverly for defeating it so easily.” She still wanted to know what exactly it was that Effie was terrified of since he was a crooked looking man with a metal stick, but that was digging in pretty personal so she kept quiet. “Although, I could have done without the giant spider scare.” She joked. “Anyway, let’s keep up this awesome momentum and get through this with ease too.”

With that, She opened the door and walked in. It was a very different atmosphere than what she was used to for the library. It was dark and dreary except for the glow of the mirrors. She really had no idea what this challenge was about until she walked by one of the mirrors and jumped out of her skin. It took her a moment to realize that she was looking at a ghost and not at her actual reflection, which she could see through the translucent image. “Geez, you all are very rude today.” She muttered to the ghost before pressing on. “Be careful, I’m not sure how much damage these mirrors can do. Keep together, I think this is a maze, I don’t want anyone getting lost.” They probably already figured this out, but it never hurt to just say it anyway. The last thing she wanted to do was waste time looking for her teammates because they all went in different directions.

6 Regina Parker I hope mirrors aren't your Boggart. Team 15 187 Regina Parker 0 5

Carter Browning

February 26, 2013 12:28 PM

Continuing the madness for Team Two by Carter Browning

Carter felt kinda proud of himself and his team as they headed towards the Library for the next challenge. Being able to banish the Boggart and help his team move on made the second year feel pretty good. He had only gotten rid of one of those once before and he still shuddered over the memory. He had hoped to be lucky enough never to have to run into one ever again. Oh well. Carter reached the door of the Library hoping his team was right behind him and slowly opened the door. Once he was certain everyone was inside he turned to ask Eliza a question, but the words died in his throat when the door of the library slammed shut behind them all. Carter pushed against the door and was a tad frustrated when it wouldn't budge. He sighed in frustration and turned away from the door to face the room.

The library certainly looked very different from when he last laid eyes on it. There were nothing, but lighted mirrors in front of them and ghosts all around. The silence in the room at that moment was almost deafening. Carter caught himself getting ready to ask the question "Now what?" when the clue from the last room floated through his mind. Maybe this is what it meant when it said not to trust what we see he told himself as he studied the mirrors. "Ahh...so thats what that piece of paper meant," he said aloud as he stepped towards the first mirror, reaching his hand out to touch the glass. As he caught sight of his reflection in the mirror he grinned slightly. "Weird..." he mused as he looked into the mirror and saw a tiger's face staring back at him. "This is way cool! You guys should check this out!" he told the rest of his team as he made his way to the next mirror. The next one was slightly bent and made it look like he bent slightly to the left as he walked.

Carter slowly moved on to the next bend in the mirrors and nearly fell on his backside when one of the ghosts popped out at him through the glass of one of the mirrors. He stumbled into one of the mirrors behind him as the ghost screamed in his face and darted away. Carter stood there wide-eyed and breathing heavily as he watched the spectre disappear from sight. He had just about gathered himself when he heard strange whispers coming from the bend in front of him. Carter swallowed hard and pushed himself away from the mirror he had been leaning on. He slowly made his way towards the strange sounds and instead of finding the whispering ghosts as he had anticipated, he instead found another row of mirrors.

He glanced around trying to find the whispering spectres, but instead found another reflection. This one made Carter's blood run cold within him and sent him running at almost break-neck speed as far away from the reflection as possible. He ran around turns and corners, barely taking the time to check any other reflections for fear that they would be worse than the one that had forced him to flee. He came around another corner in the maze of glass and almost tripped over his own feet into the strange hole in the floor. He barely managed to keep himself from falling in and after managing to step away from the edge of the hole, he croutched down to examine the note he missed seeing when he almost took his header into the hole.

"They cannot be serious!" he said aloud as he read the note and straightened up. "This is the exit?! Are they nuts?!" he asked no one in particular. He wasn't entirely sure at this point where the rest of his team was inside the maze. He had only managed to get as far as he did out of sheer fear. "Hey guys..." he called out into the darkness and the maze. "Where is everyone?....HELLO!?" Carter had no choice, but to sit tight and wait for an answer. In the meantime he did his best to try and ignore the whispering voices all aound him. He hoped it wouldn't take them long to find him.

0 Carter Browning Continuing the madness for Team Two 236 Carter Browning 0 5

Preston Stratford

February 26, 2013 1:53 PM

No, not at all by Preston Stratford

Preston was still embarrassed about the boggart thing, and he felt guilty. Boggarts were tricky creatures that weakened with happiness and laughter, but the way things had happened with his boggart made him awful. The Sara-Boggart had ended up flat on her face after tripping and that had made Preston happy. Not because he wished harm on his fiancé, but because the thing had stopped screaming awful things at him. Failure and being compared to other people – especially Victor – had always been the things that made him tick harder. Preston wanted to shine and excel at what he did, which was why he spent so much time focused on his studies and making a good impression, but on the other hand, watching someone trip like that was pretty hilarious. The redhead wished Sara would never know about this.

When the door opened for the next stage of the challenge, Preston sighed in relief. He was glad to leave that particular incident behind him. However, he had no idea what to expect from this next stage.

The Aladren quickly cracked his neck and entered the new room behind everybody else. He was taking care of his team like a good Captain should. If the younger students needed his help he was just a few steps behind. There was nothing to worry about. His green eyes were taking in how different the library looked. Halls and halls of mirrors surrounded them and each one showed him something different. Preston suppressed a yelp when he looked into a particular one and an undead version of himself greeted him. He shivered at the aftershock of the surprise, but instead kept his sight on his team mates.

The redhead was pretty surprised about the resourcefulness of the Pierce girls, and was quite glad about them being in the team. He kept on walking, keeping his eyes on the road instead of the mirrors. He didn’t want to be surprised again.

“Let’s keep going,” he instructed as his eyes wandered through the hallways full of mirrors trying to see any sign on an exit. His nerves were already on edge, and the redhead desperately wanted to get out of the eerie mirror maze. Suddenly a ghost appeared in front of him, “Damn it,” he cursed loudly as the ghost disappeared once again in a fit of mad and scary laughter.

0 Preston Stratford No, not at all 0 Preston Stratford 0 5

Analea Thornton

February 27, 2013 1:58 AM

Can I choose to go home...? Please? by Analea Thornton

Analea said nothing to anyone else, but the one thing she wanted most from the Challenges is for it to be like a quest. A quest to meet the boy of her dreams. She wanted to meet her Prince Charming. Her group being made up of all girls wasn’t going to help her in any way, but she supposed that wouldn’t matter in the long run. When she found out the theme for the first challenge she was a little bit worried. A Haunted anything could not be good unless the ghosts are good… But then, this was Sonora, and to be sure, there wasn’t any bad ghosts here… The teachers wouldn’t let there be, would they?

The night before the first Challenge, Ana barely slept. Every time she closed her eyes all she saw was wicked witches jumping out of every corner and crevice. She gave up partway through the night and decided to just read. She picked up one of her favorite princess books, a book about an old medieval princess who was hunting for her prince just as she was doing. She read the book from start to finish and closed it shut softly as the sun came out. I give up… she thought with a yawn. She picked up another book, one lent to her by her older sister Addison, called Jane Eyre and read from that, eyes widening at all the right places, until Rory and Francesca started stirring. Only then did Analea get dressed and go down the the DADA corridor to meet up with Team One.

She spotted Sara, Fae, Alex, Henny and Omara not far from the door. Ana walked up to them just in time too. Their team was called to go inside. She followed the others into the room, noticing the ghosts everywhere and hoping beyond all hopes no Wicked Witches were among them as well. There was also an arrow on the floor. Analea had no idea why, but she shrugged it off. Rather than asking she figured they’d all just find out eventually anyway, so why open her mouth?

Henny held out her wand and Ana copied her. She didn’t want anything to go wrong, but things would go wrong for her either way, especially since if she’d said anything at all with the letter ‘s’ in it, it would be ruined… Henny asked a ghost if they were supposed to get clues from them, and when the ghost drifted passed them right by Ana sighed also. Other than the ghosts, the room looked empty. What’s the Challenge? she thought, overhearing Sara say that she didn’t like this. Ana looked around at the others, now getting terrified that just because she was a first year she had absolutely no idea what was going on around them.

Ana peeked around the room nervously and her head flipped towards Sara, hearing her scream and her eyes widened. A Chimaera stood in front of them, goat’s head breathing fire. Fae stepped between Ana, Omara and the thing and a moaning began, getting louder and louder and Ana froze in her spot, eyes on the fire-spitting creature. She knew what that creature has done in the past and that scared her too. When she heard Henny’s voice screaming behind her and banging on the door, her lips and chin quivered a bit. If the older kids didn’t know what to do, how would she? How would Omara? ohmygod… she thought, desperately wishing that she was a year younger, like Airlea, and definitely not there right then.

It wasn’t till seconds later, but she finally realized that she’d stopped breathing entirely, when she coughed and loudly. She caught her breath and noticed that it looked like Henny may even be crying. Ohmygod she repeated again.

But then as suddenly as it had shown up, the chimaera was gone. In its place was a bearlike thing covered in what looked like vines and slime. Ana swallowed her saliva and once again, she was stock still and unable to move.

When Alex said that the thing was a boggart, Ana held in a screech and covered her whole face with her hands. She didn’t know what a boggart was, but it seemed to not be so nice, as it was first a Chimaera, then this bearlike thing. Alex said some weird word and suddenly the animal was dressed in a ballet outfit. Ana looked at it curiously. The moaning ended and Alex spoke again, asking where they should go from there.

Fae walked over to the desk and read the black parchment that was suddenly on top of it. Ana finally found a small voice. “The library?” she wasn’t sure if anyone heard her, in fact, she hoped nobody did. I don’t want to… she thought as she hung back, like Henny. Fae asked Henny if she was okay and she said she was. Ana didn’t want to be too far from Fae or Henny. She knew she was too fragile, too shy, to young for most of this…

She followed in Henny and Fae’s wake, not more than a step behind them (but not close enough to step on them or seem weird). The library was no longer covered in books… It was covered in mirrors. Ana nodded to the suggestion of holding the wands out and followed the others some more.

“W-wait…” She said softly. “F-fears” she said, heart pounding for two reasons. The first, having used a word that showed off her awful lisp. The second, that creature that changed was their fears? Thank goodness the Wicked Witch didn’t show up too… she thought.

They walked through the room of mirrors and a ghost popped out at them. Wands of the others seemed to have swung right into position, but Ana’s stayed at her side. She was scared.

And she didn’t like it. Not one bit…

0 Analea Thornton Can I choose to go home...? Please? 0 Analea Thornton 0 5

Sully

February 27, 2013 10:58 AM

Lost in Space by Sully

Sully had already known Jhonice was missing a few marbles from her collection, and after getting over the initial shock of a kid defeating the buggert, Sully decided the second year was similarly lacking. Eliza, on the other hand, was someone with her head screwed on right. Instead of facing off against a monster with fangs and claws, she had been right there with him at the door. He had thought she might have even been getting ready to blow a hole through it so they could escape properly when Jhon and the kid made her turn back for the mentally unstable team members who did not have the good sense to run from scary things.

She picked up the note and read it, and for a moment he was confused about where they were supposed to go. Even assuming 'everybody's favorite place' was in the school - which Sully's was not - how Eliza would know which spot was the most popular among them, and that it was the same for each of them, seemed unlikely. Well, unless it was the Cascade Hall because the school served really amazing food.

He did not recognize the statement as sarcasm until after she mentioned the library and he realized their group lacked Aladrens. It still him a minute to figure out after that, too. The library had not made his short list of favorite Sonora places and it took a little time for him to realize the two remarks were related.

Sully had a vague notion that her question was either rhetorical or possibly even an unlikely joke, but he couldn't help remarking, "I'm not sure I'm ready to trust anything about this challenge." As if to prove his point, the door creaked open on its own, and since Sully was the closest person to it and he hadn't done anything to make it do that, he startled and yelped a little.

He had strong reservations against the idea that the library was going to be any better, but he had had enough of this room. Despite his initial fright, he was glad to accept the implicit invitation of the unlocked and open door to get out of there.

Naturally, the library wasn't any better. It was dark, and full of creepy mirrors, and the unusually high ghost presence was getting unnerving. Sully did not like looking at his reflection in normal muggle mirrors that did not make unwelcome remarks about how he needed a haircut, and he suspected the enchantments on these would be much worse than the one in his dorm room. This was a haunted challenge, after all.

So he kept his wand out and his eyes on his feet until the kid screamed and ran off like a bat into hell, which was very likely exactly what he was going toward.

"Stop! Stay together!" Sully yelled after him, but he didn't seem to hear, so Sully sent a stunning charm after him, but it hit a mirror and rebounded around for a few seconds, endangering all of them. "Crap!" he cursed, dodging out of the way of his own spell as it zigged past him, then he started running after the kid to try to catch him. As the oldest guy in the group, he figured he was better equipped to wrestle down a panicked teammate than Eliza or Jhon.

After a few turns though, the kid's refection was spreading out and he found it just about impossible to track the real kid, and another couple turns and he lost the kid's reflection entirely. He started backtracking, trying to find his way back to the main group, but he soon realized he was utterly turned around and didn't know how to get back.

"Well, fudge," he swore, taking stock of his situation and concluding that he was screwed. If this was a horror movie, he would be dead within a matter of seconds, no doubt. He just wished he knew if this challenge thing was as unforgiving as horror movies were.

"Eliza!" he shouted, as loud as he could, a volume that seemed blasphemous in the near silent library-maze, but he didn't really care. Survival came first. "Carter! Can anyone hear me?"

0 Sully Lost in Space 0 Sully 0 5

Carter

February 27, 2013 12:39 PM

Sure feels that way by Carter

Carter stood there in front of the hole in the floor exit waiting for anyone from his team to reply to his calls. So far he hadn't heard much of anything except the darned ghosts whispering to eachother and screaming at people. He had thought about heading back into the madness of mirrors, but abandoned that thought when he thought back to the reflection that had made him run in the first place. It had been just awful and Carter had never been more afraid of anything in his life (other than the clown). He had almost been enjoying himself with the mirrors until the ghost popped out of the one scaring the snot out of him and he had turned to face the other one which had made him flee in the first place. Now that he thought about it, he was vaguely aware of being yelled at by someone, but he had been too afraid to really pay attention.

The reflection had been too horrible not for him to have tuned out everything else except escaping from it. It was bad enough that the ghost had decided to pop out and scare the pants off him, but turning around near the mirror he had when it happened just sent him over the edge. He could actually see pieces of his own flesh falling off his face when he looked into that mirror. His skin looked gray and ashy with deep circles around the eyes and in the hollows of his checks. He looked like he hadn't slept ot eaten in years. One of his eyes was literally hanging out of its socket and was resting on his check, still looking at him. the other eye held absolutely no life inside it as it stared back at him. He had been staring open-mouthed at the reflection before had run and so the reflection was staring back at him just as open-mouthed, only that mouth looked like there was nothing to it but a gaping hole of inky blackness. Carter had been too afraid to scream for additional fear that he may see something more horribly grotesque than what he already had.

Carter shuddered as the memory flashed through his mind. He was going to have one heck of a time trying to banish these very unhappy memories. He was about to call out again when he heard another voice float towards him from the darkness. "Eliza! Carter! Can anyone hear me?" It sounded like Sully and he sounded very close by. Carter felt the biggest rush of relief he had ever felt in his young life. He even smiled wide. "I hear you Sullivan!" he called back just as loudly, hoping that the older boy heard him through the ghostly whispers. "Boy am I glad to hear your voice!" he yelled in Sully's direction. From the sound of it Carter was willing to guess that Sully might only be a few turns away from him probably at one of the dead ends Carter hit when he ran in fear before finding the hole in the floor.

Carter took a deep breath and decided to man up and go looking for Sully. He was fairly certain he could find him at least fairly quickly. "I'm coming Sullivan," he called out heading in the direction he though Sully's voice came from. "Don't move!" Carter made a few twists and turns, avoiding to glance at any of the mirrors as he went. He was almost about to head back the way he came when he found Sully. "Wow...am I glad to see you!" he told the older boy as he approached. "You should see what I found," he continued. "I found the exit and dude....its a huge hole in the floor! What the heck is that about?" he couldn't help asking the question. He looked around the area where they were standing and frowned slightly. "Where is everyone else?" he asked.

0 Carter Sure feels that way 0 Carter 0 5

Clara Abernathy

February 28, 2013 7:38 PM

Mirrors, Mirrors everywhere (Tag Team Nine) by Clara Abernathy

Clara was pretty pleased with herself and the rest of her team for getting rid of the Boggart from the last room. As she walked towards the Library for the next challenge she couldn't help, but wonder what this one would entale. She tried to keep her excitement in check as she approached the Library doors. She rolled her neck trying to loosen up the muscles and crackled her knuckles out in front of her. Whatever lay behind those doors she was pretty sure she was ready for in some way or another. She reached for the doors of the Library and pulled them open. She entered the dark, silent room with her teammates hopefully close behind her and the doors slammed shut behind them. She jumped slightly at the sound as it echoed through the silent room and looked around.

She was a little un-nerved by the multitude of mirrors that seemed to surround them. She was also a little uneasy about the number of ghosts that appeared in this room. She wasn't really afraid of ghosts, but truth be told she had never really seen many of them before she came to Sonora. "I guess we start here," she commented as she took the first steps towards the mirrors and the opening next to them. She glanced into the first mirror and giggled as a snowy owl's head stared back a her with its small black eyes. She walked closer towards the glass and placed her hand on the reflective surface. "Wow...this is soo cool!" she mused as she stared at the reflection. She smiled at the glass as she turned away from it and continued moving forward.

She heard weird whispering sounds all around her from the ghosts and was even more creeped out given the environment they were in and the only light in the room coming from the mirrors. She rubbed her hands up and down her arms as she fought back the goosebumps that were forming. She let out a slow deep breath and continued pushing herself forward. She turned towards another mirror that showed her dressed in a gorgeous ballgown. It was a deep emerald green and was covered in rhinestones that made the dress sparkle under the lights. "Wow.." she breathed as she gazed at the image. The whole bodice of the dress was made of green satin with tank top style straps at the shoulders. The skirt attached to the bodice was made of taffita and was covered in rhinestones. The skirt was soo long it almost covered her feet. Over the top of the bodice was a small black velvet jacket.

It took all of Clara's willpower to close her eyes and leave the image behind as she finally moved away from the mirror. She continued walking down the "pathway" of mirrors, trying hard not to look within them. The last reflection had been soo big of a distraction that she really didn't want to repeat it if she could help it. She slowly made her way around and found herself having to backtrack a few times when she ran into a dead end. She thunked her hand on the glass of the last mirror as she had to backtrack yet again. She had managed thus far to avoid any of the screaming ghosts, but knew that her luck would soon run out. She made her way around another corner and about fell on her hinny when one of the ghosts popped out from around the side of one of the mirrors with the shrillest scream she had ever heard. Leaning against one of the mirrors behind her, she had her hands clapped over her eyes trying to block out the sounds.

The ghost slowly floated towards her still screaming and Clara ducked down towards the floor, her hands still over her ears. She waited until she could no longer hear the screaming ghost before she removed her hands. "This challenge sucks!" she grumbled as she slowly got up from the floor and pushed off of the mirror. She was fairly certain at this point she had lost her team and had no idea which way she was supposed to go. Worst part was she could hear the ghosts whispering around her and she was NOT happy about that. She figured at this point she had one of two options. First, she could sit back down on the floor and after calling for help wait to see if it arrived or Two, she could suck it up, keep going and hope that she was able to find the exit before the ghosts really started having fun with her.

Clara went with option two. Afterall she didn't know the meaning of the word quit. If she had she wouldn't be able to fly on a broom now or do magic as well as she did (sometimes). Clara took in a deep breath, let it out slowly and continued on. She went around a few more corners and found herself facing a strange huge hole directly in the floor before her. She walked around it just staring at the center. "What in the world?" she wondered aloud to herself. It was then that she caught sight of the red lettering on the floor. She frowned as it dawned on her that the note was indicating the hole in the floor was their exit. "No way!" she said aloud. Clara glanced around for a door and after not being able to locate one she slowly accepted that this hole might actually be their way out of the library. She turned back towards the corridor and called out as loud as she could into the inky blackness.

"Hey guys? I think I found the exit! Can any of you hear me? Arnold? Amity? Rupert? Jordan? Bri?" she yelled out. "Anyone?! Hello?!" All she could do now was wait adn hope they didn't take too long getting to her.

0 Clara Abernathy Mirrors, Mirrors everywhere (Tag Team Nine) 232 Clara Abernathy 0 5

Nora Dobson

March 01, 2013 12:19 AM

I doubt it. by Nora Dobson

Nora was a bit disappointed not to have her chance with the boggart. She was pretty sure that it would have turned into her grandfather, whom she'd never had much contact with, but was sort of a legend as far as being evil went. The thing was, she wasn't even that afraid of him. He was more like the bogeyman that children were afraid of, the monster under the bed, than something that she'd wake up with nightmares about. He'd never hurt Nora personally, just mostly her uncle and grandmother. Her mother seemed affected by him too, as she really didn't like to talk about him much.

Of course, it was entirely possible that he wouldn't be the Aladren's boggart anymore. Her fear might have by now turned to intellectual curiosity as opposed to where it had been as a small child. In fact, if it wasn't Grandfather, Nora had no idea what it was she was afraid of. She would have rather liked to find out. She wasn't afraid of things like snakes or rats or spiders-though, Waverly's boggart had been pretty scary, anyone with any sense would be afraid of an acromantula. She was pretty sure her uncle had a similar issue after being bit by a poisonous spider and nearly dying but Nora doubted it was her greatest fear, though Isabel had been pretty freaked out by it. Effie seemed freaked by hers too, and the Aladren figured it was probably some relative of the second year's. Maybe she had a horrendously evil grandfather too and more experience with hers.

Oh well, Waverly had done a great job and there was still the rest of the challenge-not to mention the other two- and the fifth year was plenty curious about that too. Apparently, next they were going to the library and it had something to do with reflections. It wasn't too much of a stretch to figure out that it would probably have to do with mirrors in some way. Though Nora wasn't too sure about the not trusting friends part. Did that mean not trust Sally because she was on a different team? She didn't think her friend cared that much about winning unless maybe for her step-brother's sake. Nor did she expect to see the other Aladren during the challenges.

This was sort of annoying her. Not the part about not seeing Sally, but the fact that Nora had not instantly figured out the whole riddle. She was perfectly fine with Waverly defeating the boggart, the Aladren didn't need to be the one to single-handedly lead the team to victory. It wasn't about personal glory, it was about working together to get through it. She simply didn't like not understanding precisely what something meant.

She was, however, satisfied when her guess about the mirrors was proven correct. They seemed to be in a dark maze of them and apparently ghosts, as one popped out at Reggie. Nora nodded, staying together seemed to be a good strategy, anyone going off by themselves was bound to be a liability. The library was a big place, one she'd spent a good deal of time in. Normally, she'd probably be the best one of them to navigate, being the one Aladren on the team, but the room had changed considerably so it was a little disorienting.

Nora paused in front of the mirror. One of these could be a false one, a portal into the next room of the challenge, but not this one. In this one, she saw nothing but herself with red glowing eyes and scaly skin. Like she was some evil monster. It still failed to arouse any fear in her given it was just a reflection. The fifth year moved on the next one where she seemed to have turned into a male version of herself. Neither of these were particularly enchanting to look at. She turned to the rest of the team and asked "Has anyone found anything interesting yet?"

11 Nora Dobson I doubt it. 197 Nora Dobson 0 5

Effie Arbon

March 01, 2013 4:20 PM

Well, you already know what mine is (WotW) by Effie Arbon

Being rescued by a Muggleborn was rather undignified. However, she supposed Waverly was more of an expert in the boggart's current form than anyone else, having undoubtedly grown up amongst such horrible violence.

“Yes, thank you,” she nodded politely when the other girl enquired whether she was feeling quite the thing. She was not, of course, but she felt that one was quite entitled to feel a little shaken in such circumstances. The question was really whether she was managing, which she was.

She stepped back, not only to let Waverly deal with the boggart but also because she felt more comfortable with some distance between herself and the Muggleborn. Waverly seemed nice, in that dim, eager puppy sort of way that a lot of her kind did – struck by the wonder, she supposed, of finding out their heart's greatest desire was real. But the culture she came from was so different. It glorified violence, celebrating the advances her kind made in killing each other. Wizarding society seemed to think that by just plucking people out of that world and putting them into this one, it would be sufficient to change their outlook on life. It was naïve and had, of course, proven so many times to be misguided – the homicide rate amongst Muggleborns was far higher than that of other sections of society, everyone knew that. At first everything was all levitation charms and sparkles but soon Muggleborns learnt about the dark and dreadful things that could be done with their powers. How could they be expected not to yield to such things when they had been raised to believe that being powerful and violent was what elevated a human being above his fellows?

She flinched a little at the sight of Waverly raising her wand, even if they were currently united against a common foe. Isabel's reassurances were far more welcome and she followed her friend when she fled in order to return the gesture.

“There there,” she comforted, placing an arm around her shoulders. The most comforting thought to her was that the spider-boggart currently posed much more of a threat to Waverly than them but she wasn't sure that was quite the thing to say, not in earshot of the others and possibly not even to Isabel who might regard it as callous. “It's... dealt with,” she replied, as the creature was still there but now somewhat less of a threat.

“And it appears we go out this way,” she added, as the door snapped open upon the note being read, meaning they would only be increasing their distance from the spider-boggart. She tried not to worry over the note. She disliked the idea of friends turning upon one another. “We mustn't let what they say get to us,” she said to Isabel, “They're only trying to frighten us in order to make it harder - I still think we can rely on each other,” she ventured, trying to convince herself as much as her friend.

The library was barely recognisable. Effie glanced into a few of the mirrors as they went past, noting they made her into all sorts of ludicrous shapes, or changed her outward appearance in some other way. For the most part, it was grossly unflattering and she did not find herself particularly entranced and drawn into any one image, although she found it hard not to curiously take a peek at what each new mirror presented.

“It might just have been a hint... The reflections themselves do not seem untrustworthy,” she whispered to Isabel, keeping her voice low because, in spite of knowing it was a little silly, she believed in not tempting fate.

“Not really,” she replied, when Nora asked if they had seen anything interesting. In terms of magic, it took a lot to surprise Effie. She had grown up in a luxurious and thoroughly magical household. She could appreciate the skill and the craftsmanship that had gone into constructing the challenge but it was not going to leave her dumbfounded. She gave a little gasp of shock as she passed one mirror, seeing herself wearing something she would not have been caught dead in. She could only assume it was Mugglewear and hope furiously that each person could only see him or herself in the reflections. Even if it was not real, she did not wish Nora or Isabel to see her in such clothing.

13 Effie Arbon Well, you already know what mine is (WotW) 238 Effie Arbon 0 5

Derry Pierce

March 02, 2013 10:06 AM

This isn't so bad, really by Derry Pierce

It was a terrible thing to think, but Derry was kind of glad he had bumped into Anthony. Linus would have been better, of course, since Linus was fifteen and not as much smaller than Derry as the twelve year old, but mostly he was relieved he'd missed Brianna. Trampling a second year was bad enough, but trampling a girl on crutches was just plain bad form.

Anthony seemed fine, though, if a bit less pleased about the change of the library's appearance than Derry was, and they moved on with wands drawn while Brianna answered the Aladren's question. Derry had grown up with a ghost fulfilling most of a normal Dad's role, but he had never tried to silence Hamlet (he would surely have been grounded for life if he tried; more for disrespecting his tutor than for breaking underage magic laws though Mom had frowned on that as well) so he honestly had no idea if spells worked on them or not and bowed to Brianna's probably superior knowledge.

Caught up in checking out his altered reflection in each mirror they passed (he laughed out loud at the one where he was dressed in a truly foppish French get-up from the Renaissance era and wondered if those shoes were any more or less comfortable than the buckled ones he wore normally), he barely noticed that Linus had taken the lead. He didn't mind at all, and the fifth-year boy kept them moving at a pace quick enough that they avoided further ghost scares, which Derry was uncertain he could have done alone. He told himself he was taking up the rear so they'd have an older student protecting their backs, but really, he was just having fun seeing all the ways the mirrors could alter their reflections (even the ones that were a little creepy were neat and he couldn't help but contemplate how they could have done their make-up differently in the zombie movie to get the same effect the inferi mirror had) and he enjoyed the excuse to dawdle a little.

In addition to checking out the mirrors, Derry was also looking down each of the passages they didn't take, making sure nothing was lurking down those paths that might come after them, but most of them were just more mirrors. It was only after they had been walking a while that he called back to the main group after taking a few steps down a side passage and using his lumos-lighted wand to check it for baddies. "Hey, guys. Come here a sec. I think I see something." He waved to make sure they saw where he was going, then moved further down the way, lighting up a hole in the floor and revealing red letters written in ketchup (or maybe red paint or ink, or maybe just a red magic inscription, but his first thought was that it was ketchup - he was getting kind of hungry). "Um, we might have a small problem."

He waited until the others were gathered around then asked practically, hoping she didn't take offense to him pointing out her physical limitations, "Brianna, do you think you can make it down this? Would it help if one of us went down first and put cushioning charms at the bottom?"

1 Derry Pierce This isn't so bad, really 189 Derry Pierce 0 5

Brianna

March 02, 2013 8:11 PM

Maybe not this round. by Brianna

Brianna made a face behind Linus’s back. She knew that the obvious search was for the exit to the maze, what she was questioning was if there was something else that they ought to be looking for. Like in the last quest they had successfully completed, they had dealt with a Boggart. Brianna thought that this sort of quest would continue and they would have to defeat another creature. Apparently, Linus was feeling a bit of a prat moment since he made her feel rather like an idiot for asking anything at all. Brianna knew her short-comings and because of the Boggart, they all knew them too. He didn’t need to make her feel any more pathetic.

Keeping her head down, Brianna focused on her foot work and tried not to think about the tense feeling in her back. She wondered if the heating charms were wearing off the pad on her back, but didn’t want to ask any of the boys to recharm it for her. She shouldn’t have taken the potions so early on when their team had been one of the last to go. It was only tense though, so the potion was still working, but if the challenge continued on like this for a longer period of time, eventually she’ll be feeling the pain. She would deal with it, of course, but she was really rather hoping that she wouldn’t have to.

Brianna felt rather lame with her whole participation in this group. She knew right off the bat, they probably weren’t expecting much from her being the only girl. They probably expected that they needed to protect her from scary things or that she would freak out over anything remotely gross. Add to that the fact that she was on crutches and she knew she must look utterly helpless to them. She had probably been the last person that anyone would have wanted on their team. Really, in retrospect, if she was fine and there were someone else in her predicament, she might not have wanted them on her team either. However, she knew that she could be useful. Maybe not physically, but she studied hard and had a good sense of the spells she had learned and read about up until this point. She hadn’t been able to defeat the Boggart, but she hadn’t expected to see Harley’s face either. She had, however, identified it and so, she felt that was something positive.

She didn’t like these challenges. They had her questioning her own skill and usefulness. She knew that wasn’t the point of the challenges, they were meant to get people out there and whatever else, but Brianna felt more like an unwanted burden than ever before.

Brianna had been walking quietly in the middle of the group, but paused when she heard Derry call out from behind them. When had he gotten behind her? She really wasn’t proving herself in any way by getting lost in her thoughts. Shifting and turning, Brianna made her way back to the passageway where Derry had disappeared into and stopped when she met up with him and an apparent hole in the ground. She jumped when he spoke out to her, having not expected it and was rather grateful that the lighting was so terrible that no one could see her face heat up in embarrassment.

Reading the note, Brianna figured they were going down some slide… into the creepy darkness. But Derry was right, there was no way of knowing how the slide ended. Was it a drop off? Or did they crash to the floor? “It’ll probably be best if someone went first. I’ll probably have trouble getting up, depending on how low the end is from the ground.” Brianna said after inspecting the hole.

0 Brianna Maybe not this round. 0 Brianna 0 5

Alex Devereux

March 02, 2013 10:58 PM

Sorry, resignations not accepted by Alex Devereux

When a ghost shrieked, Alex turned on it with her wand raised, too, and half of a startled jinx on her lips before she realized there was nothing to fight. Her heart pounding, she lowered her wand and pushed back her bangs, even though they were still securely pinned away from her face anyway. She couldn’t help but feel annoyed with herself, since she took a measure of pride in being smart enough to not need a wand to deal with every little thing. The feeling of pressure and competition was getting to her, she guessed, bringing out her mother’s side of the family in her, which was not, in her opinion, generally a good thing.

“Oh, that’s nice,” she muttered, glaring at the mirror which had produced the ghost. “I don’t suppose anyone knows a spell for detecting where those are?” she asked, looking at the sixth and seventh year in the group in particular but not against taking answers from anyone who happened to have them.

She briefly considered adding a second question about whether or not anyone knew a spell for an exorcism, but refrained. Ghosts wouldn’t like it if they heard that, even in jest, and they would no doubt make all of this even less pleasant than it was going to be by default if they did hear, and they might hear at the other end of the cursed maze for all she knew if the wrong enchantment she didn’t know was on the place. Normally, she would have dismissed her own thinking as paranoid, but the mirrors were getting to her enough on their own that, after that surprise, she was prepared to rule nothing out until she got more of a feeling for this place and what was and wasn’t in it today.

0 Alex Devereux Sorry, resignations not accepted 0 Alex Devereux 0 5

Henry Carey

March 02, 2013 11:23 PM

My family motto! by Henry Carey

The idea of the mirrors generating copies which would try to kidnap them and thus keep the team from reaching the end was not one which had occurred to Henry, and he was torn for a few seconds between running for his life and feeling a new admiration for Wolseithcrafte. It wasn’t every day that he met someone more suspicious of the world than he was. He wondered what her boggart relative had done to her when she was younger.

“That’s fine with me,” he said to the suggestion of a password. He forced a smile, then said, “if I do that again, you know it isn’t really me.”

He wasn’t entirely sure they would follow what he had said, really, since he doubted any of them paid him enough attention to know smiling was that unusual for him. He should have indicated what he was talking about, then the attempt at humor might have worked. Maybe; it seemed lamer now than it had in his head. He shouldn’t have said anything, and hoped he’d mumbled even more than he thought he had, so that he wouldn’t have to worry about it by virtue of no one having actually understood a word he said.

He turned his wand between his fingers as he walked, trying to keep his eyes away from the mirrors as much as possible, wondering if perhaps his glasses would be of any use for deflecting illusions. He was trying to remember if he knew any charms for them and, more importantly, if he thought he could cast any of them without breaking the glasses and making himself virtually helpless in the process when Wolseithcrafte began to exclaim something, making him look up and raise the wand, as useless as he knew he was likely to be with it, in the process.

“Be….” He began to mumble, then remembered what he’d decided about not saying anything and finished it in his head: - ing dead doesn’t suit you.

“I don’t think anything’s going to be real today,” he said instead, more clearly than they would have heard him speak before, as he concentrated on raising his voice to a normal volume and enunciating his words more carefully than usual. “It’s just to scare us.”

Now, he expected to be proved wrong at any moment. By something which specifically targeted him. But he hoped he was right about the first thing, not about that one.

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James Owen

March 03, 2013 10:23 AM

Gather 'round, team six. by James Owen

Despite his elevation to team captain (or so he had interpreted his name being at the top of the list), James had no intention of taking over any of the challenges. Unfortunately, as they proceed to the library, the seventh year realised that he had done just that. He had accompanied his team into the Defense classroom, and regonised immediately the figment of his imagination that was a faceless wizard explaining in no certain terms that a nameless institution would not be accepting someone with James' background. The Aladren identified the boggart, dealt with it accordingly, and then remembered that this was supposed to be a team effort.

"It looks like that was just the introduction," James said aloud, having seen the note appear, hoping it would placate the remainder of the team. He wouldn't jump to the conclusion that he could complete the entire series of challenges on his own, but thus far they had not presented him with any problems. It would, however, only be good manners to let the rest of the team think they could make a valuable contribution of some kind. Considering they had to spend some time together this year, James would rather not alienate any of them at this relatively early stage.

Arriving at the library, James was gallant enough to let the other team members proceed into the maze ahead of him. He took a couple of moments to peer at a reflection of himself dressed in expensive robes his family would never be able to afford, but tore his gaze from the view almost instantly. These mirrors would obviously prove to be a distraction, and if the aim was to get through these tasks as quickly as possible, then there was no time to be wasted. "Try to stay together," he instructed his comrades. "There's no point only half of us finding the exit." He was reasonably certain of that point, though if some of the other members of team six did decide to part ways, he would be willing to find out if they could proceed without the deserters.

0 James Owen Gather 'round, team six. 168 James Owen 0 5