(Updated Version: 7/15/2018)


-Sawyer-

The Hogwarts' quidditch field is once again being used for a spectating event, I'd been out here only once while exploring the grounds with Sebastian. Of course, all fields are the same size, but the seating for the students puts ours to shame. Which is fair considering Hogwarts larger student body. For now, the towers had been replaced with more typical stadium style seating, just not quite as high. Starting at ground level and reaching up to only fifty feet. It looked more like an overgrown football field than one meant for quidditch from what I had seen so far.

Lukas, Scorpius, and I had been ushered from the Great Hall at exactly 9 a.m. Escorted down to the pitch by the judges. They didn't want us to have an advantage of seeing the physical surroundings of the challenge before it began. Fine by me I would psych myself out anyways trying to figure what the task was based on the set up. Now we were all gathered inside of a voluminous tent to be briefed for what was to come. I felt like I'd been dressed for a track event. This morning I woke to find an outfit on the end of the bed, Rose said one of the house elves had brought it in. There was a slim pair of athletic pants black with two plum stripes running down the sides of the outer leg, and a coordinating sports jacket and shirt also in Essex colors.

Fidgeting with the zipper I try not to pace as we wait for the two remaining judges to arrive. My goal is to stay on the opposite side of the tent from Scorpius, most of last night is a blur but I have a distinct recollection of something awkward happening. I remember arriving at the party and feeling beyond nervous, almost going back to the dorm several times. If Isabelle hadn't been dragging me along with her, I would have. Everything was fine to begin with, chatting with Albus while enjoying a butterbeer for the first time. It's like happiness in a bottle. Then I became really mad at something, can't recall now. Taking Lysander's flask, practically draining it. And for a grand finale paraded onto the dance floor with Al in tow. That's it, next thing I know I woke up in my bed. I figure it's better to be safe than sorry and avoid Scorpius until I can interrogate Izzy and find out what happened last night. Having reached the furthest corner Milton gives me a warm smile when I catch her gaze. "Here they are." McGonagall announces. I stride back over to where the other champions are, how can they stand still?

"At last the time has come for the First Task, a moment only the three of you can understand and appreciate. Today your opponent will be against time and nature. Each of you will be presented with a volunteer who is currently comatose from a toxic poison. Your objective is to diagnose the ailment as such, obtain the necessary ingredients for an antidote, and prepare it. All of this is to be accomplished in a four hour period. You will be marked based upon the success of your potion and the order of completion." Mrs. Weasley informs us in a matter-of-fact manner, uncannily like her daughter. "If at any point during the task you are disabled, send out red flares with your wand. Any questions?"

"What if we need to use the facilities?" It slips out, of its own accord. I'm seventeen I should be able to hold it for at least four hours. Stupid word vomit. Lee Jordan begins to laugh just behind Rose's mom.

"At the top of every hour there will be an optional five-minute break for the champions. In order to relieve themselves if need be." He explains after gathering himself. Well that was considerate. Hopefully I can save myself some time by skipping the breaks. "Malfoy, you will find your area to be the furthest down at station one, Grayson in the middle at two, and Zmetsna at three."

"Yes, well without further ado. Let's begin." The tent flaps are raised, allowing us to exit. Before I can make my way towards it I'm being wrapped into a tight hug.

"I would wish you luck, but I don't want to insult your very capable abilities." Milton whispers releasing me from her grasp, scurrying away before I can thank her. Doing the polite thing I hold back letting the judges exit first. Alright Sawyer you can do this just walk outside. Go out those doors. Taking a deep breath, I force myself to leave the safety of the tent.

Now I can see why they didn't want us taking a sneak peek. Majority of the pitch has been transformed into a dense forest and you can see something peeking over the tops of the canopy. Only the first fifty feet of the field was kept the same with a raised dais in the center.

Moving closer to the platform, there are three beds from the Hospital wing. Each of them their own designated figures covered in white material preventing us from seeing them in detail. The beds are roughly ten feet apart from each other with a work table and stool for each station. Finally, at the area designated for me I notice that each table is equipped with all the necessary items for making a potion. A standard size 2 copper cauldron, brass scales, several empty glass phials, mortar and pestle, some weird looking silver instruments, and twenty or so books.

"Welcome all." From the central box in the stands I can see the judges, Mrs. Weasley with her wand at throat. "Today our champions will be tested on their ability to adapt to their situation, time management skills, and aptitude for potions. Each of the voluntary subjects has been administered a highly toxic poison an hour prior. The champions have a four hour period to diagnose the poisoning, then obtain the required ingredients and prepare it." The remaining parts of the field had been transformed into a dense forest and just over the tips I can see what appears to be a miniature mountain? "The task begins, now." With that the sheets covering the 'victims' disappear, who exactly would be okay with being poisoned?!

Oh. On the table is a girl dressed in an Essex uniform. Despite what is usually a rich tan complexion has paled considerably, I could probably recognize this person blind folded. Don't freak out, don't freak out. Your best friend has been poisoned, and you an under-aged witch have to save her in a limited time span, with limited knowledge. There's no way that can end poorly. My breaths are shorter, like I can't bring enough oxygen into my lungs. I smack myself in the face hoping to shake it off, that works in the movies, right? Deep breaths, panicking will not help.

With my mental breakdown out of the way I force myself to focus on the task at hand. Being a drama queen will by no means help anyone, especially Cecilia. I mentally collect all the bombarding questions I have, shoving them into a box for later. Pretend like she's asleep and you're pranking her with Emmy just like old times. I can do this.

Snagging a piece of parchment and quill from the desk I start with observations. She won't thank me for hesitating, so I automatically begin inspecting her for physical effects. Starting with the basics I press two fingers in the hollow space between her wind pipe and large muscle in the neck. It rapidly flutters against my fingers. Okay increased heart rate. Her skin is also extremely warm to the touch and excessively dry. Miniscule fissures webbing between her flesh, scaly texture. I gently prod her eyelid open, dilated pupils but nothing besides that. Every so often she twitches like she's having minor convulsions. No residue left over from regurgitation, luckily. Vomiting is normally a common part of digesting a poison, so that will help narrow it down. However, her mouth is also dry. Too bad there isn't a witchy version of WebMD I could just check mark what is wrong with her and find the cause. With nothing else to go on, I move over to the table and sift through the books. Some of the titles are recognizable, others not so much.

'Common Magical Ailments and Afflictions', 'A Collection of Above Three Hundred Receipts in Cookery, Physick, and Surgery', 'Asiatic Anti-Venoms'. These were a few that actually seem helpful.

I wouldn't be surprised if some of them were added in as decoy books, to throw us off and slow us down. Because I highly doubt that I'll find the answer in Potions Opsucle, that's the text book first years use. Seriously Snow White?

Alright start with what you know, Common Magical Ailments and Afflictions. Doxy Bite? No there aren't teeth marks of any sorts, that also takes out Whitetail Spider poison. Also no puncture marks so she couldn't have been stung by something. The rest of the poisons and venom described aren't severe enough and could be fixed with an Antidote to Common Poisons. Good news is I won't have to gut a goat for a bezoar. Asiatic Anti-Venoms didn't prove useful either.

Time to pull out the big guns, grabbing the dusty copy of Moste Potente Potions by Phineas Bourne, I flip through hoping to find an index. What book doesn't have an index?! However, there is a lovely depiction of a lady with a spider for a bonnet. I'm sure my brain will store that away for future nightmare materials. Half way through the tome I find a chapter dedicated solely to poisons, perfect. Alright let's see what we have here. Dragon Poison, feverish quality to the skin, check, scale like, check. There's no way I'm this lucky to find it on the first try. Green tint to the skin, okay maybe not. Weedosoros, decaying hair and fingernails. Certainly not. Bloodroot Poison, I think I would notice disgusting scabs and darkened veins. Moonseed, orange snails, fungus. No no and NO!

In my frustration, I toss it to the side knocking over the other stack of books to the ground. Gathering them up I take note of the Snow White one that fell open to a page showing archaic images, weird I don't remember this version in Disney. The image is enchanted so that it shows a short scene playing on loop. There are two young women, one with deep red hair the other black. They seem to be wandering through a forest picking wildflowers, and the redhead convinces the other to drink the fluid from one of the flowers. Like you would a honeysuckle. Upon doing so the one I assume is Snow White is coated in flames and left steaming. Finally cooling to a scaly texture, not unlike that of Cecilia. Holding the book closer, I see in better detail the flower that was her undoing. Why does that look so familiar?

The flower came from a smaller tree with large blossoms hanging upside down, pale in color and shaped almost like a horn? Not the animal kind but the musical kind. I know I've seen it somewhere, it's on the tip of my tongue. Glancing down at my watch the traitorous little hands inform me that close to an hour has passed. But at least I have an idea what I'm looking for. For the first time since we started I give myself a moment to assess the competition. To my left Lukas has surrounded himself with several books turning pages ever few seconds. With a shock, I realize I know his volunteer, its Anastasia, the Durmstrang girl in our dorm. I can't say I'm surprised to find that Albus is Scorpius's, although it is weird that he's taking off Al's shoes. I'm not behind in the game, that's good.

Focusing back onto the task at hand I plop down with the ginormous copy of Goshawk's Guide to Herbology. If I'm right on my hunch, the flower that took out Snow White will be somewhere within the 2076 pages of this monster. It's like a dictionary for any shrub, tree, flower, fungus, etc. I've never been so happy for my unhealthy obsession with plant life. While most people would laugh at me for doing so, I've actually read this thing through a few times. I even own a copy, ironically Cecilia got it for me for Christmas several years ago. One point for the herbology nerd! Flipping straight to the section designated for toxic plants. I start combing through the pages looking for the one I need.

-Scorpius-

If I'm fortunate Al will have no recollection of this little event, I know how he is about feet and he would go around the bend if he knew I had touched his. But the book specifically mentioned a discoloration of nails, both toes and hands. If it was one without the other it could be a different ailment. Poisons were not a trial and error practice, you either get it right the first time or suffer the consequences. One would think that severe escharotic and darkened veins would be a clear sign. But it's the symptom of no less than eleven different poisons. Which is how I found myself checking his toenails, they have a deep crimson hue. Brilliant that means it can only be Bloodroot poisoning or Potion No. 113, an experimental mixture of several toxic ingredients. I'm sure that will be just a walk in the park to cure.

My attention is briefly torn from the book when there is a sudden uproar from the crowd. I can't imagine that this is an ideal spectators sport, Sawyer is absent from the table next to me. Her figure is just now disappearing into the fringes of the forest. Shite, she's got a lead on me, I'm only consoled knowing Lukas is still struggling at his end. With renewed vigor, I scan over each list of symptoms for the two possible poisons, there must be something that separates the two. Aha, there it is. Potion No. 113 induces excessive sweating, something Al does not have. Yes! Now I just need to find the antidote for it, there's no way it's one of the basic antidote potions we learn in class that would be too simple.

Another ten minutes passes before I find what I'm looking for in Asiatic Anti-Venoms, scrawling it all down on a scrap of parchment. With the knapsack loaded with empty phials and Ingredients Encyclopedia I sprint towards the forest.

-Sawyer-

It's like the Amazon Jungle and Scottish Highlands had a love child and they transported it here, in the middle of a quidditch pitch. The foliage is so dense, only a few feet in and already I can't see outside of it making it seem bigger on the inside. Such an odd combination of ecosystems, I want to stop and catalog everything, but I can't. I have to handle this systematically, if I run in here like a chicken with its head cut off I'll be constantly backtracking for no reason. The antidote to Angel's Trumpet Poison only calls for five ingredients. I should be able to find a natterjack toad and moondew flowers in the same area since they both have a natural habitat for ponds. I missed the cliché high school experience of dissecting a frog, but I guess I can make up for it now; the antidote requires the brain, yum.

Hysterical laughter bubbled up when I read that I would need two tinctures of syrup from a Devil's Tooth, or as Professor Longbottom refers to them, bleeding tooth fungus. That could prove difficult, but I think I'll manage. The tricky part will be the ashwinder eggs and Pele's Hair. The book described it as volcanic glass threads that were formed when particles of molten material are thrown into the air and spun out by the wind, turning into these long golden hair-like strands. Where in the hopping hippogriffs am I supposed to get molten materials from a volcano?! And the ashwinder eggs will be no piece of cake either. Ashwinders are a serpent born from an unattended magical fire, rising from the ashes they will slither off to lay their eggs and die immediately after. Smokey the bear is going to be pretty ticked that I'm starting a fire without putting it out.

Completely still for a moment I wait to see if I can hear any wildlife, crickets would be a blessing right now because that would mean I'm close to water. Aside from the twittering of birds there's nothing. I move deeper into the woods, maybe if I get away from the nests I'll hear more. After twenty feet, I hear a sudden rustle from one of the overgrown bushes. Instinctively diving to the ground as a small dark creature waddles down a little pathway making grunting noises. Well that was embarrassing. Nogtails aren't fearsome creatures unless you're a farmer, or a mama pig. Creepy things though, look like black piglets with abnormally long legs. Insanely hard to catch, at least I didn't need some of their bristles.

Holy mother of Circe what did I land on? Once the breath has reentered my lungs I roll over to get a better look at what was poking into my back. There's an eight-inch conifer sapling snapped in half where I landed, poor thing is dead now. I'm sure to have a nasty scratch though. Wait, a conifer? Staying on my knees I start tearing through the leaf litter and brush. Where there are conifers there are bound to be fungus. Bingo! Four feet away at the base of a larger conifer tree are a few bleeding tooth fungi, if I hadn't been on the ground I would have walked straight past them. Grabbing three of the phials out of the bag. The thing about Devil's Tooth is that the cap where it secretes the red liquid is harmless, but the underside where the gills are contain toxins. One brush against my skin and it will fry my nerve endings. Gently placing the phial to the edge, I apply pressure to let the liquid flow in. If I'm not careful and contaminate the syrup with the gills, the results could be disastrous. Placing a cork into the last one I raise back up to my feet and release the breath I was holding in. The antidote only calls for two, but just in case. I can check that off the list.

Following the small trail the nogtail trotted down, I'm hoping it was headed towards water. The pathway is very narrow and I have to duck under branches several times to avoid being swiped in the face. I stumble into a small clearing where a little pond is, just seven feet in diameter it would have been easy to miss. Chirping of crickets and the croaking of frogs makes it obvious I'm in the right place.

"Accio natterjack toad." Nothing happens, I had a feeling they wouldn't let it be that easy. Hmm I think I can kill three birds with one stone. Gathering up a small bundle of twigs and dry leaves. "Incendio" I murmur the incantation igniting the little pile. With that started it should be able to create an ashwinder. Prowling closer to the pond I spot a few frogs on lily pads but no toads. You can tell the difference by the texture of their skin, frogs are moist and smooth while toads are dry and bumpy. There's one perched on a log arm's length away, I always was good at I SPY. "Immobulus." The toad freezes mid shot of capturing a fly. I transfigure the creature into a stuffed animal for the time being, that will keep it from escaping.

The fire is starting to fizzling out, a few more minutes and I might have an ashwinder. Moondew tends to grow amongst cattails, pushing those tall stalks aside I look for the glimmer of their silver petals. Its only slightly easier to find than a needle in a haystack, because the cattails are so thick. Ah there's a patch! I pick six of the flowers making sure that I have more than enough petals.

This is going much smoother than I thought it would. Three ingredients down, two to go. Speaking of which I stroll back over to where I lit the fire, all that is left over are a few tiny embers from the twigs. A thin trail of ash winds away from the pile to the base of a willow tree with a pile of rocks surrounding it. I'm not afraid of snakes but I can't say that I want to shove my hand into something blindly to get bitten. Smoothly as possible I levitate the rocks away from the pile, after ten of them I find the little nest that was made purely out of ash. The Ashwinder is already dead then, all that precaution for nothing. I scoop up the lime sized egg with the sleeve of my jacket knowing they'll be hot to the touch and deposit them into the satchel.

Pele's Hair, where for the love of all things magical am I supposed to find a volcano?

-Scorpius-

Ghastly squelching noises fill the area as I pull yet another of the leeches off of my leg. Leaving a small ring of blood on my leg, lovely. This wasn't how I planned on obtaining the leeches needed for the antidote, but effective none the less. There was a small pool at the base of the miniature volcano I stumbled upon whilst chasing the quintaped. After wrestling the furry bastard down, avoiding his sharp canines long enough to rip a handful of his coarse hair. Then chased the carnivorous beast off with an incineration spell. The Albino Stargrass can only be found underwater, meaning a little bit of swimming on my behalf. I should have taken into consideration beforehand that the water may be leech infested. But I suppose the glass is half full as they say, as is my knapsack. The only remaining ingredients to find is the asphodel leaves and willow tree sap.

-Sawyer-

I think I've seen it all now, including the world's smallest volcano, only seventy-five feet in diameter and forty feet high. From what I can tell its dormant, but I didn't linger to find out. I wandered aimlessly for a while until I encountered an odd smell that was suspiciously like rotten eggs. Following that until I found the baby volcano. Pele's Hair was more abundant than I figured it would be, clumps of it littered the ground in wispy layers of gold. Hard to miss a substance that basically looks like gold and bronze hay.

I've been checking my watch every few minutes paranoid that it would speed up without my permission. But it's just now noon, only two hours have passed. Already at the half way mark, damn. Lukas and Scorpius seemed to be struggling still when I left, hopefully they were delayed for a bit. I need to get back to start brewing this thing, but I can only go so fast down the tiny mountain. Tiptoeing around the larger boulders, phew just a few more feet now. Quidditch does not prepare you for this kind of exercise. There's a skittering noise and that's when I realize I shouldn't be worried about the big rocks, but the pebbles would be my down fall, literally. With the stones rolling under my feet I flail my arms and turn to the other side to protect the sack of ingredients, landing firmly on my hip. Second time I've found myself horizontal today. I bite down sharply on my lip to hold in the flaming pain radiating from my pelvic bone.

Wincing as I slowly get back on my feet, I raise the hem of my jacket then pull my pants away from my hip. From the bottom of my ribcage down to tops of my thigh is covered in scratches. I mutter a small healing spell to help out, it's the best I can do for now. Raising my head back up I find myself staring right at a graphorn. The size of a rhinoceros but with more purple than gray skin and sporting two golden horns, of course you can't miss the tentacle-like appendages that were in place of a mouth. It hasn't noticed me yet, still grazing through the grass. I remember Hagrid mentioning them in class a couple of weeks ago, but he couldn't get McGonagall's permission to bring a few in for more 'hands on' learning. Probably because she prefers her students alive. Known for their aggressive behavior and golden horns. He mentioned a few other things, but I can't remember them right now. Something about the skin?

What are my options here? I could stand very still and wait for it to go away. Man, I would love to have Al's cloak just about now. Or try stunning him, and as last resort send up my red flare and ball into the fetal position whimpering until someone comes and rescues me. Although tempting, not an option. Sliding my wand out of the holster strapped at my wrist, his ears twitch at the sudden noise of cloth scrapping against leather. There goes the ninja idea.

"Immobulus!" The spell ricochets off his skin stunning a nearby hummingbird. I remember what it is now, their skin is tougher than a dragon's repelling most incantations. Oops, too bad this isn't a toad, it worked on it. Enraged the hulking creature charges at me leading with its sharp horns, of course it couldn't be a unicorn. Leaping out of the way last minute, but he just alters his course still pursuing me. Alright what can I use to my advantage seeing as my wand is about as useful as a twig right now. I also have the toad, ashwinder eggs, and the other ingredients. Those are no use. Too preoccupied with my thoughts I weave around him too late, one of his horns grazing my left shoulder. A sharp sting rockets through the wound while blood soaks my uniform. The graphorn's nostrils flare at the scent of fresh blood, I need to end this morbid dance before the blood loss starts to affect me. Trees, no good, if I was closer to the pond maybe, all I have now is a large rock. Maneuvering around to where the boulder is at my back, if I time this right his horns should get stuck, if not. Well there will be a Sawyer kebob. Three, two, one. I duck just a moment before his horns make contact, they're so far in past visibility. That should hold him for a while, no way he'll be leaving anytime soon. He rattles his head furiously and they slide out an inch. I stand corrected.

"Glacius!" Thick layers of ice spread over his limbs, affixing him to the ground. Sliding out from the boulder, I scramble away before he can have a fit again. Ignoring the pain, I sprint for all I'm worth, the sack thumping against my back keeping a steady rhythm. The trees are finally getting farther apart when I can feel my energy ebbing. Feeling safe enough away from the graphorn I stop to perform a small healing spell on my shoulder. I'm afraid to see just how immense the damage is, so I ignore it resuming my pace until I can see the rest of the pitch.

"Finally some activity from the forest! Is that? Yes it is, Grayson is the first to come out! But was her trip successful?" I can make out a thread of howling through the rest of the roars, and it sends a surge of warmth. Adrenaline courses through me as I hobble-run back to my table. "She appears to be injured." Gee what gave it away, my limp that Igor would be proud of, or the abundance of bodily fluids. "and yet not shooting out the red flares. What a trooper!" Jordan exclaims, there are gasps throughout the crowd as they take in my appearance. Reaching my table, the first thing I do is to check Cecelia's status. No change sense I left. I place the torn sack on the table, all the ingredients survived except for a phial of the syrup. Thank Merlin I had the forethought to grab an extra.

Using an incantation, I set a low fire on the cauldron to get it warm. And start plucking off petals from the moondew flower, once I have thirteen of the silvery pieces I drop them into the mortar to be crushed. It's like baking except this could kill you. With that cheerful thought in mind I empty the two tinctures of syrup into the cauldron, increasing the flame. It needs to boil and then I can add the crushed moondew and four ashwinder eggs. No prep work for those, just toss them in whole. Double checking the book for the next step, I'm to let the potion brew until it has taken on a teal shade. Which at medium heat will take between thirty and forty minutes. Lowering the heat once again I quickly empty the moondew dust into the cauldron and ashwinder eggs, then stir eight and a half times counter-clockwise. The broad movement aggravates the wound on my shoulder, but I grit my teeth and deal with it.

Dripping with sweat I drop down onto the stool satisfied with my work so far. "Vulnera Sanentur" pointing my wand at the cut stretching across the front of my left shoulder. I'm not that great of a healer but it will slow the bleeding down immensely. "Teregeo.". The excess and dried blood disappearing from my body, now I don't look like a victim from a horror movie.

"Here emerges another champion, Malfoy right on the heels of Grayson!" Crap, jumping up to my feet I snatch the toad and volcanic rock. I need to have them ready for by the time the antidote has a teal color. "Will her small lead be enough to win her the highest score?" How does one get the toad brain out? My first thought is too just stab it through the head. But I'm pretty sure that would damage it.

When in doubt read a book, Ingredient Encyclopedia is my best bet. I should get an award for how many pages I've been flipping today. There we are, page 394, amphibians. Oh yeah this is going to be fun. Before anything I change it back into an actual toad. Transfiguration isn't exactly my forte and I must have done something wrong because it's no longer alive. Optimistically speaking, that's one less step for me. Setting the toad down in front of me along with the odd collection of silver instruments. I recognize a few of them like the scalpel, scissors and tweezers, but the others look like torture devices.

Placing the toad unto its back, exposing the belly I make a small cut at the base of the jaw, going only through the skin. So incredibly gross, I cut away at the tendons and muscles as the book tells me to. Words cannot describe the terrible smell it's emitting, and its slimy and chunky. I never would have thought I was a squeamish person until now. There's a small snapping noise as I cut through the area where the jaw connects to the skull, slicing through the membrane covering the brain. Almost done, can't believe I haven't screwed this up. One more incision to the spinal cord, with the tweezers I slide the brain out. It's about two centimeters long and a translucent pink color. Never again will I take for granted how we have items like this prepared nicely in a jar for us, ready to go. I would not want to do this sort of thing for every potion we make.

The potion is currently a deep sea green, just a few more minutes now and the potion will be ready. It's a little after one, I'm making pretty good time. With the brass scales, I measure out the three clumps of Pele's Hair, several drops of blood appear on the table a few inches away from the toad brain. The healing spell has faded and I'm bleeding again, dark liquid soaks the material of my jacket. I need to reapply the spell, but the potion is ready. Leaning away far enough to not contaminate the potion with my blood but close enough to see what I'm doing. I put the toad brain in and Pele's Hair. Stirring three times clockwise, the potion settles into a bronzy emerald color. Perfect. I start spooning it into a phial to give to Cecilia. Even though I see my hands carrying out this task, their numb, it's happening but I don't seem to be controlling them.

"Grayson appears to be finished with her potion! Keep in mind folks if she fails, she will suffer from low marks." Giggles erupt from my chest, teetering over to the bed, yeah no pressure or anything.

"Open up Sissy." Either her skin is changing, or my vision is just fuzzy. "A spoon full of sugar makes the medicine go down." I sing placing the phial at her lips. This is a whole lot of no, I pry her lips apart and tip the phial down. She looks like a fish, the thought has me laughing again. Now everything is fuzzy like an old TV with bad reception, all grainy with poor sound. Her white uniform blouse is now smeared with dark colors, where did the ketchup come from? There's a sudden choking sound, oh great I've killed my best friend. Heavily relying on the edge of the bed, I see movement from her for the first time all day, her hand moves to cover her mouth. So many noises and voices are assaulting my ears but there's too many to focus on and they sound watered down. The world tilts sideways, even hazier now. A figment of my imagination raises up on the bed. Her mouth is moving, I don't hear the words, not really. But they seem to be seared into my mind. That's nice, Sissy has been working on her poetry.

-Scorpius-

Using my forearm, I prop Al's head up so that he doesn't choke, slowly draining the potion into his mouth. There's a soft gurgling sound as he swallows it, my shoulders become instantly less tense as the antidote begins to take effect. Already the darkened veins are fading back to a normal color. Suddenly screams and gasps fill my ears, whipping my head around to find the cause. A few of the officials are on their feet and exiting the box. Looking down the row I see that the figure on Sawyer's bed is sitting up, does that mean she beat me? The thought is ripped from my mind when I see that she isn't next to her volunteer. There, she's slumped on the ground. Without even realizing I had done so, I find myself just a few feet away from her. Her black jacket appears heavy and damp with blood, I can smell it already.

"Mister Malfoy, I suggest you see to your own patient." McGonagall barks out as I'm reaching out towards her. Instinctively I feel inclined to stay, a growl just at the back of my throat, a growl? I'm not some wild animal. What the hell? I must have inhaled too much of asphodel leaves making me delirious. When she points over at my table I understand what she's referring too. Albus is in the process of getting up, returning over there I offer him my hand, but he doesn't seem fully conscious just yet. Despite that he begins to speak:

Now there is something we owe

An inkling of what is to be

Coming from me.

The people you hold dear

Will induce seven great fear

The closer you are to done

Seek us at the ark

You will not hear us whinny

Though our number is many

To find what we have made

One hour is the time to look

Or your winning is forsook