I woke up the next morning from my deep slumber to the sound of a loud gong. It was probably an alarm to get us all up. I stretched, the memories from the previous day flooding back into my mind. I closed my eyes, allowing a choked sob, before I took a deep breath and got out of bed. On the table was a tray with breakfast, and when I checked inside the dresser, there was the outfit I was supposed to wear for the train ride. It was simple, a light blue tunic with black pants. I quickly changed out of my uniform and into the new clothes, and secured my hair in a loose ponytail. I sighed and ate my breakfast slowly, sipping the tea as I stared into the flames of the fireplace. All of this was just happening so fast. Soon I would be in an area, fighting twenty three of my classmates to the death. Only two outcomes, life or death. How would I win? It would be hard enough to have to kill them, but then dealing with the aftermath would be a tremendous weight on one's shoulders. I've heard one of the victors went crazy with guilt and now resides in St. Mungos. The thought terrifies me, knowing it could very well happen to me if I win.
I guess you never really win, because your mind would always be trapped in that arena. Little noises would be enough to set you off. Before long, my thinking is interrupted by the door swinging open. I stand up, looking at the intruder. A death eater, telling me it's time to go to the train. My body clenches with fear, but I force myself to move into the hallway. All the other Ravenclaw tributes are in a line, looking at the floor. I follow suit and we quietly leave. Soon, we're escorted onto a train compartment. I guess the other houses get their own quarters. Our area is a deep blue, like my room in the castle, with dark tables. It's quite big, a couple of couches, a giant table for eating, and another fire place. We just walk in, still sort of dazed. Our escort speaks up.
"I need your wands" He's holding a box, with six spots for us to place our wands into. He chuckles at our faces. "Don't worry, you'll get them back. If 'ya win"
I gulp, but calmly place my wand in the box. I know arguing would just be useless, and there's no point in trying to keep it for as long as I can. Like he said, we will get them back. If we win.
He nods as James Burns puts his in last, and then closes the box. "Alright. I'll be leavin' now. Don' be gettin' into any fights. Won't do 'ya any good. Oh an' uh, there'll be someone else in 'ere soon to show 'ya to your rooms." He winks and leaves, closing the door softly behind him. We all gather at the main area, three large couches by the fireplace. I sit beside Isla Lenips, and look at everyone. We're all pretty tense, not looking or talking to each other. Some are sipping their drinks, other nibbling on food. I bite my lip, staring into the fire. This is going to be a long three days. Hopefully they'll let us hide out in our rooms. I take in my opponents. Isla is my age, shoulder length brown hair and extremely pretty blue eyes. She's nervously staring at her hands which are folded neatly in her lap. She's a very quick thinker, one of the smartest in our year. She'll be a problem, unless… I enlist her as an ally. I could use someone, and we were sort of friends. Except we both know one of us has to die. So allies don't seem like a good option right now. Jill Page, the redhead, is in her second year. I don't know much about her, but she's got a very slim figure, and is the shortest person here. She'll be fast, I can tell. Dylan Kowlswell is a fourth year. He looks like he was just starting to develop muscle, and from what I know, he was sort of a rebel. Michael Sosaskow, the eldest here, a seventh year, has already developed his muscle it seems. He's tall, and I can tell he's surveying us as well. Our eyes meet for a moment, pity flashing in his, before we quickly avert our eyes. I feel nervous, all of them posing their own threat. The last is James Burns, the first year who cried. He's quite small, a bit bigger than Jill, and has pale blonde hair and green eyes. Sort of looks like Draco. My heart aches for him, because I know he won't last long. The other tributes looked pretty decent, and I know the people at the Ministry will be pretty excited with the batch of us this year. Already, the reaping will have been shown and potential sponsors will be eagerly waiting for us to arrive. The train ride is about three days, so they'll have to wait.
I get up and walk over to a table, which is filled with food. There are glass cups, with beautiful patterns on them, silver plates with blue gems embedded in them. The food itself is very fine, cooked, baked, and boiled to perfection. I sit down and fill my plate, deciding I may as well put some weight on before I go into the games. The others see what I'm doing and follow suit, Isla sitting beside me. I can't help but think she purposely has been staying near me.
We eat in silence; the only noise is our cutlery.
Michael chews slowly, and then says something.
"Food's really good…" His attempt to start a conversation falls flat. He sighs, taking a sip of his drink.
"Look guys, maybe… We could strategize together. Give us an edge over the other houses. I know that allies aren't the most common for Ravenclaws, but…" He shrugged, looking around. Jill and James quietly got up and headed back to the fire place. After what seemed to be a bit of deliberation, Dylan left as well, leaving Isla, Michael and I.
He smiled slightly at us. "Well, Pip, I have seen you looking at all of us. So you're already strategizing. Care to share anything?"
Truth be told, I haven't thought of what I'll do in the arena. For now, I've decided to eat as much as I can because starvation is a common death cause in the arena. I debate telling them this. But, I've never really been one for lying, so why start now?
"Well… I haven't thought of the arena" I say honestly. "For now, I was thinking gaining weight would help us alive an extra few days if it comes down to starvation. Not too much that I'll be slow, but enough that I've got a few pounds on me." I say this quietly, not really wanting the others to overhear us. Isla nods thoughtfully.
"I've been thinking, for training. We've got a week, so for half of it, I'll work on weapons. The other half will be survival." Michael smirks.
"Great. So… Does this make us, potential allies?" I can't help but notice the hope in his voice. I bite my lip, thinking it over. Allies have their ups and downs. For one, allies mean more food will need to be found. However, the phrase strength in numbers also is a major factor.
"Do you mind if I think about it?" I ask. "I want to be completely sure about my decision; it is a life or death situation."
Michael sits back in his seat a bit. "Sure. Take as long as you need. Just don't leave it till we're in the arena…"
Isla nods. "I'll think about it too. But I'm thinking yes, allies with you guys sounds like a plan."
I can feel something budding inside of me. Hope? Hope for what? Only one of us will be able to win. But I can't help but wish that if I couldn't win, one of them should. Not that the other tributes are any lesser than them, but… These seem to be the closest people I have to friends. Which is weird, since I'll never see them again after this. But I guess that it's now or never.
We continue to eat in silence. After I finish, I neatly arrange my cutlery, like I was taught to do in the orphanage. To my surprise, a red-headed girl comes over and takes my plate silently. I stare after her, wondering who she is and where she came from. I look at Isla and Michael, who are also curiously staring after her.
"I think that's an Avox." Isla says. "I've read about them. They're people who are muggle-borns. Instead of killing all of them, The Dark Lord kept a few. He cut their tongues out and made them serve him."
I gulp, a horrible feeling creeping up inside of me.
"They're basically human house elves." She finishes. Michael pushes his food away, too disgusted to finish his meal.
I look out the train window; it's beginning to get dark outside. Just as I'm wondering when they'll show us to our rooms, the death eater from before comes in, an Avox trailing behind him. He looks at all of us, a smirk on his face.
"He's 'gunna show 'ya your rooms. Just follow 'em" We get up and follow the Avox, the death eater watching us go. The Avox opens a door to a new hallway, three doors on each side. He motions Jill and James into the first set, Isla and Dylan into the second, and then Michael and I into the last two. Michael waves to me as he goes into his room. I enter mine, feeling worn out even though I've done basically nothing all day. The room is a copy of the one I had in the castle, the only difference is a window by my bed. I open one of the drawers, looking for pajamas. After a couple of tries, I find the pajama drawer. I slip into silky pajama bottoms and a long silk tank top. There's another door, and when I go into it it's just a bathroom. I brush my hair, fixing my pony tail and putting my bangs up out of my face. I look at myself in the mirror, and it somehow makes me even more tired. I wash my face, trying to erase the nervous feeling. I sigh, knowing it won't work and head to bed. I know I won't be able to sleep, so I begin to think about the possible alliance.
Could I do it? At the beginning, alliances are great. It makes it harder for someone to be killed. But then when the games deepen, alliances are more likely to turn. I can't imagine Isla killing me; she's really one of the sweetest people in my house. It's Michael I'm more worried about.
But what if I'm really careful around him? Or, if I team up with them for a bit, gather as much food, and possible, weapons, as I can, then I could leave and be pretty well off. I close my eyes, feeling confused. Allies. The one thing I knew I couldn't have. The games would defiantly be easier with a couple of friends. They could help get food, water, defend from enemies, and our combined knowledge would be very helpful. I take a deep breath, closing my eyes.
I'll be allies with Isla and Michael.
The thought does terrify me, knowing either of them could be my potential killers, or victims. But the pros do outweigh most of the cons, so I decide that for the beginning of the games, I'll work with them. I roll onto my side, burying my face in the soft pillow. These days to come will be long and hard, but I'm sure I'll be able to overcome most obstacles in my way. The only problem is the actual games themselves. I try to think of a strategy. I doubt there will be any wands, they had those at the first games and the tributes just used the killing curse on each other. They'll probably only be muggle weapons, ones no tribute will have ever heard of. I'm pretty good with Herbology, so I don't think plants will be a problem, but I'll spend some time in that section anyways. I can use my hands to cast a few simple spells, so starting fires also won't be a problem.
Fighting, finding shelter and food will be the biggest issues for me. If I can get my hands on a weapon, that would be great, assuming I knew how to actually use it. For the most course of training, I'll probably spend my time in the weapons area. Maybe Michael or Isla will be able to get us shelter, and then between the three of us we should be able to gather some food. Maybe we can divide our roles up, Isla works on making shelter and finding foods, she doesn't seem like much of a fighter. Michael and I will probably be the ones to focus on the fighting. I'm much smaller than him, so he'll have to take on the bigger weapons. I sigh, rolling over again. I should probably get some sleep. I know it won't come easy, with my thoughts swirling. I do eventually fall into a dreamless sleep.
