How Angelina ended up at a ball was quite a story. See, she’d gotten an owl from McGonagall asking for her help with a ball—to be a chaperone to be exact. After realizing her former transfiguration teacher was completely serious, she did a lot of hard thinking on the matter. Of course, she could say no; she knew she wouldn’t be faulted for that. However, she felt obligated in a way to help out the new Headmaster of Hogwarts. After all, McGonagall had helped her out when she had been at some of her lowest points.
So, Angelina had gone shopping with her sister and picked out what she hoped was suitable for the occasion. (If it wasn’t then, whoever didn’t like it could very well mind their own damn business.) When she’d arrived at the Great Hall, nausea overtook her. Whoever thought painting it up into a fancy ballroom was going to cover the thoughts of the dead bodies that had once laid there was wrong. She could barely breath for the thought of it. Still, she soldiered through.
Thankfully, she had thought to bring along backup in case these feelings of dread did hit. Whiskey ran into the cup that was halfway filled with punch. She was just starting to get a buzz and the nausea was leaving her bit by bit. That was when she heard footsteps. Of course, she wasn’t a student, but she still didn’t want to be caught smuggling whiskey into a ball, even if it was only for herself. Quickly, she shoved the flask back into her purse. Or tried to. With a clang, it dropped to the ground. “Shit!”
A sucker for formalities, Daphne actually found herself looking forward to something about this school year. Buying new dresses, dressing to the nines, it all gave her a sense of absolute purpose. This was the high society life she was born for -- this was her element.
Not potions, not herbology, not quidditch...
Over the top, expensive, elegant balls...
With a grin and a hum, clearly in a delightful mood, she swayed lightly, imagining her feet moving about to music at the ball while she relaxed by the lake. For once, she wasn’t worried that fellow students would sneer at her for her father’s regrettable choices, or even about her lack of a date.
Hearing footsteps, she looked up at who was approaching, “A ball! Isn’t that just lovely? Perhaps Hogwarts has finally gotten it right.” A smile forms upon her lips, “Better late than never, as I always say.”
THE FIRST TASK IS SIMPLE, FOR THOSE WHO ARE SLY, ONLY THE MOST CUNNING AND PURE CAN PROVE THEIR WORTH FOR THE WISH. BENEATH WATERS, HIDDEN WITHIN A CAVE, LIES A SECRET TO HELP OBTAIN THE NEXT CLUE. THOSE WHO SEEK THE WISH MUST TRAVEL FAR, AND OUTSMART THE MONSTER THAT PEEKS IN THE DARK.
George and Angelina have just solved the first riddle! You can read about their adventure below.
Angelina
Angelina looked up at the full moon annoyed. The one time they were going to have to sneak into the lake there was going to be a full moon so they were completely visible to anyone in the castle. With a glare, she continued down to the water’s edge. “George?”
Georgie
At the sound of his voice, George perked up and looked around before he caught sight of Angie coming towards him. He had been sitting on the dock for a while, watching the water for any sign of the Giant Squid, but he hadn’t shown. “I’m over here,” He waved at her, motioning to come join him.
Angelina
She breathed a sigh of relief, all the nerves going out of her body. She climbed onto the dock without a word listening to the wood creak below her feet. It was an oddly comforting sound. “Well?” She asked. “Has your friend shown up yet?”
Georgie
“No sign of him, but maybe that’s a good thing.” He smiled, trying not to show that he was quite nervous about their little adventure. It was going to be fun, he had no doubt about that, but still nervous. “I brought my swim trunks. We should cast heating charms so we can stay down longer without freezing to death.”
Angelina
“Probably a good idea,” she muttered as she tugged her tank over her head, thankful she’d remembered to transform her old t-shirt into a swimsuit. Goosebumps were already puckering on her skin. Gritting her teeth, she slipped her pants off as well. “If we die down there, thank you again,” she said then cast her heating charm as well as a bubble-head charm.
Georgie
He couldn’t help but roll his eyes as she said some sort of ‘goodbye’ to him as if he’d let her die down there. Slipping off his shoes and socks and swiftly bringing his shirt over his head, George also cast the heating charm over his body. “Don’t be ridiculous, Ange– We’ll get through this.” With a wave of his wand, the bubble-head charm appeared around his mouth and nose, and with a little wink at Angelina, George jumped straight into the water, wand in hand.
Angelina
Angelina couldn’t help the small smile that formed on her lips at his response. Resigning herself to the fact she was about to jump into disease ridden water, she took a breath before diving into water. As she opened her eyes, she thought maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. They could definitely find the wish and get out without getting hurt. “Down?” She mouthed pointing toward the darkness beneath them.
Georgie
He gave her a thumbs up, lighting his wand tip with a quick 'lumos' that was mainly muffled by the giant bubble around his mouth. It worked anyway, and the murky water around him lightened just a tad. He motioned for her to go first, wanting Angie to take the lead as it would be her wish, but to also keep her in sight just in case anything were to happen.
Angelina
Quickly, she lit her wand, too, then started the descent. So far the only thing she’d seen was fish and they seemed more scared of her than she was of them. Hoping it stayed that way, she moved swiftly through the water looking for the bottom of the lake.
Georgie
He swam behind her, making good time, and eventually, he started to see the rippling of the weeds, which he assumed belonged to the bottom. Reaching out, George tapped Angie against the ankle to get her attention, motioning to stop. Who knew what lingered in those weeds, and how deep they could be. He thought they had swam deep now that the top of the lake was just a memory as he looked up. Motioning a circle to represent a cave, George pointed to his eyes and then the area around them, suggesting they start looking for the cave now.
Angelina
Angelina almost panicked when she feft a tap on her ankle. When she glanced back and saw no one but George, she heart slowed a little. She glanced down at the weeds before nodding to George’s suggestion. This seemed to be a good a place as any to start looking for clues. She started to gently tread through the water just out of reach of the weeds. She didn’t trust anything that lived down here.
Georgie
Waving his wand around carefully, afraid to panic anything that might be lurking in the water, George followed Angie as he searched for some sign of a cave or rocks, but was having trouble seeing through the murk. He strayed away a bit, not too far from Angie so that she was still in sight, and found a clearing away from all the weeds and plants, where the sand and dirk was exposed. Eyes trailing, he saw the formation of rocks, which could promise a cave. He swam back to Angie to let her know, motioning for her to follow.
Angelina
Checking for cave on a floor covered with weeds, proved just as hard as she expected it to be. She was about to suggest diving a little closer to the plants when George motioned her over. Following him, she saw the cave like structure on the floor. She grinned at him before slowly swimming up to enterance hoping she didn’t disturb any creature that was hanging around. Her feet touched the rocky surface of the lake’s bottom and she poked her head into the cave along with her wand, trying to make out anything that might be hiding inside.
Georgie
As she poked her head in, George swam above her in almost a hover, keeping his eyes peeled for any sudden movements around them. He was excited to find out what the second riddle was and excited to finally be up on the scoreboard with Angie. Watching her waving her wand into the cave, something slithered by George's fingers and he turned around but there was nothing behind him. Turning back to Angie, again something else touched his ankle and he retracted his leg quickly, pointing his wand everywhere, but maybe it was just his mind. He just wanted to enter the cave already.
Angelina
Once she was as sure as she could be that there was nothing in the cave, she motioned for George to follow her. With her wand lighting the way, she slowly crept forward, ignoring the goosebumps that popped up on her skin and the sinking feeling in her stomach. At sound of sliding rocks, she spun around only to see George and nothing else but dark. It was just her nerves. She gave George a slight smile before she turned around and continued on.
Georgie
George followed behind Angie, breathing heavily as his hand tightened around his wand. It was even darker in the cave than outside in the open water. Watching her, he felt that slimy sensation on his ankle again, but before he could turn down and look, something tightened around his ankle and yanked him to the ground, sliding him back out of the cave.
Angelina
Angelina had almost convinced herself that her mind was playing tricks on her when a scrapping sound asulted her ears. Spinning around, she found that George was gone and darkness took his place. Shit, she knew this was a bad idea. Quickly, with a sinking feeling in her stomach, she scrambled to the mouth of the cave and cast her light around looking for the redhead.
Georgie
George continued to slide out the cave, struggling to remove himself from the grip of whatever had his ankle. When he reached the breaching once again and was pulled out completely, he was lifted upside down and floated as the Giant Squid surveyed him, his one eye squinting as he watched George. The realisation hit the creature and he released George instantly, his other tentacle coming around to pat him on the head. " 'ey" George tried to speak but was once again muffled by the bubble around his mouth. He reached out and tickled the Squid lightly as he pat his head, smiling. This was easier than he thought.
Angelina
Angelina breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that George was ok. In fact, perfectly fine was how she would describe him. She longed to send a glare at the creature for nearly scaring her to death, but she didn’t want to anger it when George was so close to it. Angelina slowly slipped back into the cave hopping to go unseen by the squid and find whatever it was that was in this cave so they could both get out of this damn lake. Still, she felt uneasy about leaving George to deal with the squid himself even though that was what they had agreed upon. What if something went wrong?
Georgie
He continued to tickle the squid and the monster closed its eyes as if it were laughing. It finally released George and swam away, and he assumed the Squid knew what they were up to. Turning around, he made his way back into the cave and swam looking for Angelina. When he found her, he tapped her lightly on the shoulder and gave her a thumbs up, motioning to go deeper into the cave.
Angelina
Angelina smiled when she saw that George was ok, her stomach settling down again. Starting back down the cave, she wondered why the wish, or clue to the wish, to be at the bottom of the bloody lake. Why couldn’t it have been somewhere safe and dry? When it seemed like the cave would never end, she saw the walls start to widen a bit and finally thought they might be reaching the end.
Georgie
When the cave began to widen, George squinted his eyes as he saw a blue orb, looking over at Angie and smiling as the got closer and the orb glowed brighter. He stopped and reached out to take Angie's hand, afraid if she got too close. The orb formed into the eagle and looked at the both of them, glowing brightly. "Hello," it said as clear as if they were above water. "You need to remember this next clue, there will be no parchment. I will tell you the riddle and then you must go."
Angelina
The blue light hit Angelina’s eyes and she nearly brought her hand up to cover her eyes. It was stunning spellwork, she had to give the Founders that. Just when she started to get a bit closer, George grabbed her hand. She glanced back at him and nearly missed the transformation. After the bird finished speaking, she nodded for it to go on.
Georgie
The bird, eyes glowing red, opened its beak and recited the riddle, "THE SECOND TASK IS SIMPLE, FOR THOSE WHO ARE CLEVER, ONLY A READY MIND AND A YEARN FOR LEARNING CAN PROVE THEIR WORTH FOR THE WISH. AT THE TALLEST HEIGHT, WHEN MIDNIGHT IS PAST DUE, THE ORB WILL GLOW AND TRANSFER YOU TO A RESTRICTED ROOM. REMEMBER TO BRING THE LIGHTEST OF FEATHERS, FOR BEHIND THE BINDINGS OF A BOOK ENTIRELY OF SPELLS, AN INCANTATION OF LEVITATION IS NEEDED TO MATERIALIZE THE THIRD TASK FOR YOU."
Angelina
Wonderful. The next riddle was from Raveclaw, there was a feather involved, a tall tower, and a levitation charm needed. Perfect. Now they could go. She turned on her heel, her hand still locked with George’s, and made for the exit. Wild horses could not drag her back under this lake ever again. In fact, she would be the happiest person in the world when she got back on dry land.
Georgie
He let Angie drag him out of the cave, the riddle repeating over in his mind as he tried to memorise it. When they reached the opening, he pointed his wand up and shot them towards the surface, his arm grabbing her around the waist at last second. When his head broken through the water and the bubble popped, he began to laugh, smiling brightly as he looked around towards Angie. "We did it! We figured it out, Ange!"
Angelina
A scream would have left her mouth if it had been at all possible. Her arm wrapped around George’s neck as they hurled toward the surface of the water. “Warn a girl next time,” she gasped as soon as her bubble popped, glad to finally be able to breathe fresh air. She couldn’t help but laugh at George’s excited reaction. Now that they weren’t leagues under the lake, she supposed she was a bit excited too. With a grin, she smacked a kiss on George’s cheek before untangling herself and heading for the dock. “Let’s get out of nasty water.”
Georgie
His hand came up to rub his cheek as she pulled away, completely shocked from her kiss. Maybe she should've warned him next time, but he didn't say that. Instead, he followed her out of the water, nodding but still amazed at everything. Amazed they found the riddle, that the squid didn't attack them, and that they were finally in the race towards Angie's wish.
