Challenge 1
It was not the time to channel Machiavelli, she soon learned.
To say Ava was having mixed feelings would be an understatement. As she stood on the slippery, wet dock overlooking the glossy black surface of the Great Lake, she knew with a complete sense of finality that everything was about to change. She could see the mighty towers of the Hogwarts castle towering in the distance, calling for her to return to the warm embrace of its sheepskin couches and her ancient, four-poster bed with green silk hangings. It took all of her willpower to lift her chin up and shove her feelings aside. Now is not the time to be a baby, she thought to herself. I was chosen, I am capable, and most importantly I’m a serpent - I go for experiences that others are too afraid to go, she reminded herself.
She sized up the other Hogwarts champions, all three stationed by her side. She did not know any of them, they were barely acquainted; so she thought, Can I trust them with this and possibly, my life?
As Headmistress Mercier began to speak, she felt her heartbeat thundered in her chest. “Hello Champions, are you ready? We'll begin in 2 minutes. You can take this time to give a pep talk or discuss strategy.”
A champion named Eric Nohr; a burly, brunette boy with glowing amber eyes exclaimed, “I am ready as ever! I truly think we've got this down pat.”
Ava could barely restrain herself from snorting - she couldn’t believe that this boy was taking this so lightly. Squinting, she could almost see a small, a golden lion etched on red pin embedded on his swimming tank. She couldn’t believe her luck, Gryffindors are certainly not very dependable when it comes to magic, and they tend to favor daring boldness than focal intelligence. A Gryffindor, she thought, so can I panic now?
Headmistress Mercier continued, “Make Hogwarts proud! Here's a hint for you: expect the unexpected and be prepared in any situation!”
“Okay, this is only slightly terrifying.” A Ravenclaw girl named Emerett, possibly the same age as her, quipped. She gave a genuine reassuring smile to the group. This made Ava felt better, she definitely needed someone with a ready, sharp mind.
She gripped at the string bag that was looped around her toned arms. This was it, she thought. Everything that I - we - need to survive is right here.
“Once the sparks fire, dive into the water. Take any steps necessary to keep yourself breathing and able to talk to one another first.” Headmistress Mercier urged. Red sparks were then shot from the tip of her wand, and Ava dived head first into the lake, her nerves hardening like steel.
The coldness of the water chilled her to the bone. It felt like her skin was pierced by hundreds of silver daggers simultaneously. She quickly performed the bubble head charm, and it seemed to calm her down as she tried to cunningly assess the current situation.
She noticed that the other three Hogwarts champion had begun to swim towards the deeper end under the command of Eric.
She scoffed. Were they being serious? Who died and put the boy in charge, she thought. She was pissed, but she had no time for petty disputes. If anything, this was good..she wasn’t planning on working together with them from the start anyway. She was already used to being singled out of discussions during classes, and she was definitely more than aware of the grim looks that were sent her way in the halls of the castle, all because she is a Slytherin. She works better alone, and she wanted to be in control, for she only had room to listen to one mind in a span of such a short time and it would have to be hers. She was certainly not planning to put her life in her hands of a charming, Gryffindor with gleaming teeth and a toned back - I don’t need the distraction, now is not the time for boys, she thought.
So she swam solo, with her head held high up high, and her wand at the ready. She swam deeper into the depths of the lake, aware of what lurked beneath. She was familiar with its landscape and its creature owing to the fact that the the window of the common room looks out into the the lake, and she often saw many creatures swooshing by. It was an advantage that she did not want to gloat about.
She swam slightly behind the group, making use of the many creatures and large seaweed trees to hide behind from, before casting the Disillusionment Charm upon herself. She looked down, and her body had seemed to take on the textures and colours of the murky water. She then decided to swam to the left, while the group decided to swim toward a boulder of rocks. It wasn’t the best plan, she thought, they were swimming closer to what possibly could be the habitat of Grindylows, the weed beds. She wasn’t keen on the possibility of disturbing any creatures.
For a while, she’d just swim - but the lack of action worried her. Was it paranoia, a start of idiocy, or brain malfunction, Ava was really starting to get apprehensive. She was deeply engrossed by her sudden self-evaluation and trying to get herself out of this sudden funk of not knowing what to do next, a feeling that was so foreign to her; before hearing distant screams.
She paused briefly, and took a deep breath. She stepped out of whatever was overwhelming her and she started to swim swiftly to her team. There was a difference in being brave and knowing when to keep herself out of trouble, but she’d rather conceal her own defects and discover the others’ drawback.
She encountered a hole in the rocks, and the three Hogwarts champion looked like they were getting ready to enter it. Emerett looked hurt, Eric looked flabbergasted and Corona, the Hufflepuff champion looked so distraught she was pale as paper. The trio swam quickly into the hole in the rocks and like a stealthy chameleon, Ava quickly followed. The hole was very dark, and she heard wails and voices coming from it. They continued to swim forward, guided by the light emanated from each wand. Sometimes, the champions would glance black to make sure that no one was following them, so Ava swam stealthily, she had to make sure her strokes were as light as a feather, careful not to create any turbulence.
A small red light began to take form. Eric began to swim faster toward it, and once again Ava had to stifle herself from sneering at her teammate’s rash actions. Finally, they emerged in front of a large cave with jagged rocks like teeth.
Eric, being Eric, declared, “I can go if you guys want me to.” At this remark, Ava really felt like choking him, or herself, for their chance of survival was really getting slimmer by the minute because he was still being reckless. She wasn’t sure at this point, was he really a champion or a pig out for slaughter.
The girls both rejected his statement and began a lengthy discussion on how should they proceed from now on. The sense of dormancy came and overtook Ava once again, pressuring her to reveal herself, but she yielded. Suddenly, the cave mouth opens and closes abruptly. Only then, a fair and young mermaid appeared and tapped her on the shoulder. She offered help, along with a dazzling smile.
If Ava had a penny for every time Eric does something stupid, she’d be able to have house-elves that own house-elves. He just stood there idiotically, mouth hung wide open. As he tried to get out of his daze, Emerett answered, “..I think...i think we might have an idea...already…”
The mermaid questioned, “Oh really? What is it?”
Emerett nervously gripped her arm, and it was then that Ava realized she was bleeding. Deep, claw marks were embedded deep within her skin. “It's, well, uhhh...it's an idea. i can't...um…”
It was like a lightbulb had suddenly popped into Ava’s brain. Another mermaid had hurt her, she thought. Stupid kids, mermaids are not to be trusted! She wanted to yell at each one of the champion’s dumbfounded faces. “I'll help you out. And as for your wound, you'll have to suffer until you get back on land.” The mermaid said sweetly.
Ava couldn’t take it anymore; they were not getting closer to any their goal, and the clock was ticking. Ambition spread through her brain like the plague, and she decided to reveal herself. Among them she was probably the one who was most immune to mermaids’ honeyed words and sweet nothings. It was not the time to channel Machiavelli, she soon learned. She twirled her wand around her body, almost if she was unleashing herself from a bind. She looked down, and could see creamy crescent of skin and pale blonde hair starting to take place among the turbid water. She breathed, and spoke, “Hey guys.. I’ve been here all along. i've used the Disillusionment Charm on myself to blend in with surroundings and try to get ahead, but I’ve decided it's best to stick and work together. I’m sorry I was stealthy and wanted to get ahead, but we've got to move it now. you can kick my ass later at the castle, I promise!
The mermaid looked at her with sneery eyes, and continued as if she wasn’t there. “Anyways, I'm Aelia. I can help you guys, want it?”
Ava’s blood began to boil, it felt as if she was back in the halls of Hogwarts, having to compete for attention to be the queen bee. It was a fight Ava was surely did not want to miss, for she had won similar preceding fights easily. “Okay guys can we huddle for a bit? Aelia, can you give us a minute?” She spoke forcibly, making sure the mermaid could taste the venom in her voice. They huddle, and a dazed Eric inquired, “Why are we huddling?”
Ava whispered, “Look i know it's the worst timing ever to ask you guys to trust me, but I think we don't need the mermaid's help.”
Corona asked, “What if she suddenly turns all monster psycho like the last one?”
Ava opened her mouth to answer, but she didn’t have the chance as top dog Eric butted in, and preached about how “cool” the mermaid was, and that he didn’t want to take any chance in getting hurt by a mermaid again.
Ava gritted her teeth, “Look, they are sentient creatures. I live with them basically, down at the slytherin dungeon and let me tell you they are not to be trusted, I've observed them.”
Eric muttered, “Being in slytherin, the students are just as bad. I say we need to take the chance.”
Ava’s grey eyes blazed; this blind bat even has the audacity to speak badly of my house, she thought. But she was above violence, so she tried to explain to him again, slowly this time, as if she was reading to a two year old, “They're sentient creatures, and they can read or feelings and thoughts so clearly so that they can manipulate us...and obviously she's being so sweet because she knows we need her help. So do you guys want my brain and my experience here or not?”
“I say give her a chance. That's my vote.” Eric said sternly.
“Fine, Eric. I really don't think now is the time to be pessimistic toward your teammate.” Ava added coldly. “I’m doing it solo.” She added.
“WHAT” Eric shouted in disbelief.
“Stop being emotional, Eric!” Ava yelled.
“I'm not being emotional! You're being a crazy woman!” Eric insisted.
“Suck it up and go with me, or not win.” Ava concluded.
“Look, do you want my help or not? I'm half siren, I can enchant the occamy into a lull if you want.” Aelia continued.
The two opposites continue to bicker, both were stubborn and obstinate. Ava wanted to rip off Eric’s eyeballs’ off his face, and she was pretty sure he wanted to do the same. He was still keen on giving the mermaid a chance, and Ava was sure this was mainly because she was pretty. Maybe Eric thinks she’s pretty, and that’s okay! But he’s wrong though, I’m prettier, Ava kept on repeating in her head, although unsure why Eric’s opinion on beauty mattered to her so much even during the charged moment.
Nevertheless, was not letting her in having her way, for he kept branding her as untrustworthy and selfish.
“You just burst out of nowhere to save the day? I don't play that way, we worked to get here as a team and you're wanting all the glory for yourself. This girl is trying to help us. All of us.”
“I think...we need to be resourceful. if she's offering to help us as a resource, why not use her?” Emerett joined in.
“I don't trust that you hid from all the action and now that the glory is right in reach you want the title. Typical. I trust that we can at least use her as a resource instead of hoping for something that could hurt.” Eric’s voice was laced with disdain.
Considering how much little time they have left, Ava almost graciously decided to accept the fish’s help.
“If anything goes wrong, this is all on you.” Ava warned.
“That's fine I'll take the blame.” Eric smirked. Despite the flutter she was feeling inside of her stomach, she still wanted to punch the arrogant git in the throat. “If anything goes wrong, I’m only taking Em with me.” Ava said, in an effort to upping her game. “That's fine, Ava. I'm not too worried about myself anyhow.” Eric then accepts the mermaid’s help, and Ava got a sinking feeling in her stomach, indicating that they were entering damnation. They swam toward the cave, slowly maneuvering in between the teeth. I took all of Ava’s willpower to not accidentally push Eric in an effort to get him impaled in the chest. Inside the cave, there was an Occamy. It hissed as it sensed intruders were coming.
Ava whispered, “Please Occamy, eat Eric.” Eric, chuckled, “Please do, be rid me of her presence”
Emerett had her wand at the ready, as the Occamy rose up. It was terrifying, and much bigger up close. It roars, and Eric was ready to attack but the mermaid prevented him from doing so. She told him, he’d have to let her go first. He smirked, and told her that he was just shining a light for her to be able to see clearly, and so the mermaid starts singing. The Occamy slowed down, and the mermaid shouted, “Go!” Ava rolls her eyes at Eric’s obvious attempt at wooing the mermaid. “It’s confirmed, men think with their dicks.” She wasn’t sure why she was so bothered by Eric’s apparent attraction to the mermaid, all she knew was that she could feel envy as green as infection. She swam, deliberately shoved Eric’s along the way. Emerett followed behind, looking for the eggs as she goes. Suddenly the mermaid stopped singing, thus the Occamy wake up.
Ava whipped her head around, and screamed on top of her lungs, “I KNEW IT!” This was it, she thought, she was definitely going to send Eric straight off to his death as the mermaid sealed the entrance to the cave. Soon after, the pair were screaming their lungs at each other.
The Occamy focused on Emerett, and she tried to remain calm. Eric tried a stunning spell on the Occamy, but it ate the spell.
Ava screamed, “Langlock!” She had hoped to glue the Occamy’s tongue to its roof of its mouth in an attempt to protect the champions from being eating (except maybe Eric), but the jinx took no effect.
“Conjunctivitis!” She tried again, this time hoping the spell would disrupt the Occamy’s vision, but it was too strong. The Occamy swipes at her leg,and scratched her in the process. Pain seared through her calf, but she had to push through.
“Flipendo!” She desperately tried to disable the Occamy in any way, but she was failing. The Occamy bit his teeth near Eric, but he rushed forward and grabbed Aelia to cover her mouth. Emerett, no longer frozen, spotted a glint of silver and began to make her way to secure the eggs. “Accio, eggs!” She yelled.
Ava suggested, “Em, use the spell defodio, maybe the eggs are underground!” She exclaimed, before sending another spell to the Occamy’s way, “Incarcerous!”
The Occamy whipped his tail and hit Eric, and let out a fire fart at Ava. She wanted to cry, she had a bloody good plan; she wanted to trap the occamy in her string bag as it is a fluid creature, using its prey as bait, but Eric decided that playing top dop was more important than any of the champions’ life. But she pulled herself together, because she had to be tough; even though she was sure at this point she smelled like lizard farts, and her hair was charred with blackened bodily fluids of the Occamy.
Before she could whine about her appearance, and blame it on Eric like she’d like to, his bubble head charm pops, thus he struggled to breathe. Aelia was then freed, and started to swim.
As much as she’d like Eric to feel pain, Ava was no killer. She rushed over to the Gryffindor’s side, and shoved Gillyweed that she had gathered from her string bag to his mouth. “You better be thankful or I’ll beat your ass later.” She added.
Soon afterwards, the Gods were finally in their favor. Emerett was slowly but surely gathering the Occamy’s eggs, careful not to get injured in the process. She jumped gracefully out of the Occamy’s way as it tried to sit on her, with one egg now tucked under her arm. ”Stupefy!” she exclaimed. “You won't get out of here alive. There's a reason it's a female. The male's coming” Aelia warned as a loud roar could be hear from outside the cave.
Emerett then tried even harder to obtain the eggs. She yelled relentlessly, “Defodio! Accio egg!”
Ava’s nerves overtook her, and her brain mapped a plan. “Em, you get the eggs and I’'ll try to attack, and Eric, are you any good at defense of just bullshit? Better swallow your pride harder than that Gillyweed” Ava smirked, suddenly feeling a break in her previously pessimistic efforts. She was in charge now, and she was feeling good. She felt powerful and she was hungry for victory; at this moment she’d do anything in obtaining just that.
The female Occamy advanced on Emerett, and Eric yelled, “Tarantallegra!” but the Occamy was far too fast.
Ava noticed a nearly boulder near it, and shouted, “Expulso!” but the boulder did not budge. As the occamy chased Emerett, its teeth grazed Ava’s shoulder. The pain shot from her shoulder to her hand, and it was so excruciating it felt like her arm was ripped in two. She held her shoulder, making sure that her she’s not losing too much blood.
Eric saw that Ava was hurt, and he rushed over to her side. He grabbed her by her good arm and exclaimed, “Come on, we can't keep getting hurt!”
But then the Occamy’s tail jabbed Eric’s soft spot, and he whirled in pain. “Immobulus!” Ava tried again, hoping that the queens of heavens would turn over to their side.
Suddenly Aelia let out a huge shriek, and the cave started to rumble. Emerett yelled ear-splittingly, “accio eggs! accio eggs! ACCIO EGGS!” She finally had three in her arms, and Ava had also secured an egg in the chaos. Ava summoned a stunning spell, hoping it will work this time.
The cave started to shake violently and the cave entrance opened. The champions swam as fast as they could toward the cave entrance.
Eric announced, catching everyone off guard, “We tried trusting you, Aelia, no more. I am an idiot. I'm sorry” His jaw clenched.
“I’ll punch you in the throat later, but we really should go now!” Ava pressed. “Eric, it's fine. now is not the time for grudges or apologies. Ava! do you have the egg? I have three” Emerett narrowed her eyes.
“I have one.” Ava answered.
They continued to swim toward the surface, but Ava couldn’t keep her eyes off of Eric’s toned biceps that harden every time he stroked the water. He is not bad to look at, she concluded, but why does he have to open his mouth so often? When his words come out of him like wild animals peering out of a forest during a fire, his attractiveness are similar to goblins’, if not less, Ava thought. Just then, her shoulder pain hit her like a ton of bricks.
“My...shoulder...” She winces.
Aelia then offered her a seaweed to wrap her wound with. Ava took it just because she had no choice. She didn’t think she could swim any further. Aelia sighed, and hauled the champions onto her back as they had no time left. As she swam upwards, Eric kept on groaning and whining and the mermaid spoke, “ If I hear another peep out of you, I'm throwing you off”
“After trusting you, I don't see why you hate me the most.” Eric sneered.
Ava pinched Eric in an attempt to shut him up. They did badly, and she was not one to accept defeat, especially help from the enemy. The fact that she was riding on the back of some traitor that takes form as a humanoid fish was probably the most shameful thing she’d ever had to do. She’d look down into the depths of the lake sometimes, wondering where did she drop her diginity.
Soon, they broke surface. They had successfully retrieved the 4 eggs, with 30 seconds to spare. Eric coughed, and grabbed the ground before turning to the two girls for a hug, but Ava quickly swatted him a way as if he was a pestering fly. “Save it, jerk”
“Though I'm an ass, I'm glad you two are alright. And I'm sorry.” Eric said, his voice muffled from hugging Emerett. As he broke the hug, he smirked and winked to Ava, “Oh I will, Ava.”
Ava wanted to vomit, but she was not sure if it was because she was disgusted by the guy, or because she was enamoured with him. Either way, he’s made her sick. In a good or bad way, she couldn’t decide. “Welcome back Champions! Congratulations, you have made it back in time. You've done Hogwarts proud.” Headmistress Mecier smiled. “Present company excluded, Headmistress.” Ava glared at Eric.
“I'm going to go talk to the judges now. In the meantime, you might want to open your boxes.” As the Headmistress made her way, Emerett spoke, “Who's down for cracking some eggs?”
Eric grinned sweetly at Ava, and turned to Em. “Egg cracking anyone?”
In an effort in calming down the butterflies that were coming alive inside of her stomach, Ava replied, “I’m down to crack your skull.”
“Bring it, princess.” Eric snorted. Ava liked the way his nose scrunched up when he did that.
They each grabbed an egg, and opened them in unison. Inside Ava’s egg, a gleaming silver key was present. She then used the key to unlock a box that was given by Headmistress Mercier at the beginning of the task. She unlocked the box, and inside lay a scroll bound by a green ribbon.
In the midst of everything, she heard the most irritating voice was heard once again. Aelia spoke, “It's great you guys are all bonding and figuring out clues, but would someone mind pushing me back in? i'm kind of stuck on the dock here” “Don't mind if I do.” Eric quickly answered, but Emerett beat him to it. “And really, I am sorry. It wasn't my choice, but I had to do it for the challenge.” The mermaid apologized. Eric rolled his eyes, “To have my whole team mates hate me? Thanks.” “It was your decision to trust me.” The mermaid snapped back. “Because you were kind.” Eric interjected.
Ava snorted at Eric’s remarks. If anything she was the one being kind. She decided to stick together in the end anyway. Why was Eric ignoring whatever she was doing right? “Perhaps my fault, but it was in the best interest of you two. She seemed kind. I was wrong, my bad.” Eric sighed, before adding, “Got something to say, princess?” He glanced over at Ava.
“Sod off.” Ava plainly replied. “Perhaps I will!” Eric cried out. “This sexual tension is so obvious.” Emerett mumbled.
Ava’s heart did a little tiny somersault, but she had pretended she didn’t hear anything. She continued on fiddling with the ends of her hair, hiding her blush.
Anyways… “I’ll catch you guys around.” She looked at Ava and said, “Please make life miserable for Eric.”
“Too late! It’s already miserable!” Eric replied.
As Aelia dived back into the water, Ava mockingly exclaimed, “Come back! Take Eric with you! I'm sure you'll make beautiful sneaky babies!”
Eric winked at her, before adding, “So, you admit that I'm beautiful?”
His comment surprised her. “It’s soooo charming when you make an effort. Ava said, as she linked arms with Emerett, before leaving to see Madam Pomfrey at the hospital wing.
Emerett said quietly to Ava, “You guys are definitely going to get married.”
In order to steady her breath, Ava replied, “Em, it's not going to happen. He is so disgusting. I would never touch him.” Ava said in a matter-of-factly, though unsure whether she was convincing Emerett or herself.
Ava flipped a finger to Eric, “Keep your eyes to yourself!”
“Sorry I was trying to figure out what I was looking at!” Eric shouted back.
The challenge was a ride, Ava thought. But so was Eric. And so is love. Maybe.