Madison breathed deeply, clutching her wand. She gave her stylist a weak smile, who returned it with a wave, before concrete surrounded her. She was moving up and horizontally, and she wondered briefly what would happen if she used a spell to blow up the glass that kept her inside. It seemed ridiculous and suicidal, but she still considered it.
After what seemed like forever, light finally broke through the top of the glass, slowly rising to the surface. Madison was always at the top of her classes at Hogwarts, and she reasoned that she would be particularly well off in these Games. Although she wasn't that much of an athlete, she was pretty decent at flying, which she hoped would help her. Maybe one of her sponsors – if she even had any – could buy her one.
When the glass enclosure she stood on fully surfaced, the glass disappeared without a trace, and she found herself standing in the middle of a meadow. The grass was beautifully green, and she thought of a Muggle children's book she once read, Alice in Wonderland. The most beautiful places were said to be the most dangerous, while the ugliest places were supposed to be the safest. She could only hope that the author of the book was wrong.
A cold voice started to count down from ten, the voice seeming to come from everywhere but the source was invisible. "Ten… nine… eight…" Madison looked around desperately, trying to get her bearings. In front of her was the golden Cornucopia, and scattered around it were the other tributes. She spotted indentions in the ground, but she couldn't recognize what they were, whether they were just there to make the tributes trip or for a darker purpose.
To the east were mountains and the west held a forest. To both north and south the meadow continued, and in that split second she decided that she would be using a Summoning Charm to get a backpack near her, and then she would sprint into the forest. "Three... two… one… Let the Games begin!"
Before she could do anything, the platform she stood on slid away and she fell below with a yelp. In her shock, she dropped her wand and landed on something soft that cushioned her fall. She took in deep breaths, trying to calm her racing hearts. However, her heart started up again as something slithered beneath her. She cursed and examined what she landed on – dull green, slimy, moving… Devil's Snare.
She looked around, panicking, desperately reaching for her wand. Madison finally found it, locking her hand around it and then a vine whipped up, latching onto her wrist. She pulled back on it instinctively, and the Devil's Snare only pulled at her, tightening its grip. Then another vine wrapped around her ankle, and another around her waist.
"Lumos Solem!" Madison yelled out, her wand erupting in light. The Devil's Snare let out a screech and receded into the earthen walls, letting her drop down further. "Arresto Momento," she choked out as she fell, and right before she hit the ground, she stopped abruptly, and falling just as abruptly.
She stumbled to her feet, slashing her wand through the air just in time to defend herself from a curse that was sent her way. The room was circular, with indentions in the walls every few feet for each of the tributes. Scattered around the center of the room were staircases, some of which led up and others led down.
One of the other tributes was running down the stairs, and then a burst of green light hit them from behind, embracing their torso. The tribute stumbled down the stairs, dead. Madison looked away and set that person behind her – she couldn't get sad over everyone who died. She had to worry about herself, she had to live.
In a spark of brilliance, she placed a Disillusionment Charm on herself and ran forward towards stairs that ran upward. "Glisseo!" she heard someone yell out, and a jet of silver light flew towards the stairs that she was running up.
"Expelliarmus," she muttered, and red light flew out of her wand, deflecting the charm that would have turned the stairs into a slide. She jabbed her wand downward at no one specific, throwing out a hex. Surprisingly, once the walls surrounded her and the circular room below her disappeared, no one tried to hurt her again.
By the time she reached the top, she was huffing. She found herself where she started just a few minutes ago, at the Cornucopia. She looked around, and judging by the lack of people, no one else had reached the top yet. She walked around the Cornucopia, and another strike of brilliance hit her – she could destroy the stairs. "Bombarda," she muttered, pointing her wand at the stairs in the ground. A white light was produced from her wand, and the stairs exploded, dust and debris spraying everywhere. She repeated this process multiple times as she walked around.
Madison sighed and ran to the pack that she had spotted earlier. She grabbed it and ran to the center of the Cornucopia, opening the backpack and shoving as much as she could into it. She looked around one last time, and then shoved the pack onto her shoulder. From there, she sprinted into the forest, hoping that no one would find their way to her. Maybe everyone would kill each other and she would be left waiting, the last one to live.