Oct. 1st, 1994
Things are calming down a bit. There are eight competitors left in Maison Sylphide, me being one of them, and the youngest, of course. Considering that, I suppose I should be proud of myself, as only Margaux Bellefontaine's 90 points are better than my own score. Of course, the other seven are not talking to me, nor to each other, for that matter, and there are at least two dating couples among them! It scares me how a stupid competition can affect people.
The rest, however, have turned back to a more or less normal behaviour, and some, who had not been so sure about taking part at first, are now quite relieved, it seems. Some have even started to look at me with something like respect. Yves is out of the competition, and still in the infirmary. I have been able to convince Charmaine that this is quite a good thing, as there are surely to be more dangerous tests in store. First, she was disappointed, as she would have liked to date a champion, but now she's realised that a dead champion wouldn't do her any good. I must mention to her credit that she seemed a bit worried about me, but not for long. Patrice is still in, but with only 70 points, so unless he gets really lucky, there's not much of a chance for him. So much for those "old families"! Mme. Maxime has announced that we will be handed the instructions for the next test the day after tomorrow. Of course, normal lessons are just going on all the same, with homework and all the other assignments.
Oct 3rd, 1994
Like all the others, I have been handed my instructions for the second test, but it's still rather mysterious: "Tomorrow, 9 o'clock, go to the faun's statue in the park. Pick up the object you find on the plinth. Cope with the events that follow. Apart from your wand, you may take three objects of your choice with you."
I wonder whether all the candidates have got the same instructions. I don't think so: If there is only one "object" near that statue, only one person can go on with the whole thing, which wouldn't make much sense. (To say nothing of the murderous fight that would take place.) So there will be one such "object" for each candidate. "Cope with the events that follow." Doesn't sound too reassuring, it might mean just about anything; but there's nothing I can do about it. The only thing is, their safety measures are quite thorough, so nothing can go REALLY wrong. Whatever it is, I'm quite likely to survive.
"Three objects of your choice" – if there was just the tiniest hint as to those "events"! But as it is ... This reminds me of that game we heard about in Muggle studies – when playing it, Muggles pretend they are going to be sent to a lonely island and must decide what they want to take along. I remember we found it quite funny, because we couldn't imagine what good, for example, matches would be as we completely forgot that Muggles need them for making a fire. Well, which things can be done more easily without magic? Food and drink? I don't assume I'll be so long as to need any food, but something to drink may be useful. What else? What makes it most complicated for one to do things? Darkness! I don't quite see where darkness should come in in the middle of the park, at 9 in the morning, but then, this is about magic, isn't it, so you never know. And the Lumos spell keeps a wand blocked, you can't do anything else with it while the spell is active. So I'll take an Eternitas torch . I can take one more thing. What? Some kind of weapon, perhaps? But I can fight pretty much any danger using my wand, and I don't want to even imagine one that I cannot. And I'm sure I'd look perfectly ridiculous with a great big sword. The Muggles have films with characters like that, "Warrior Princess", or something, - what a laugh we had when Prof. Rochefoucault showed them to us! No, definitely no weapons for me! Wait – what do I do when I feel scared? Yes, that's it! Grisabel! She's not really an "object", of course, and would object strongly to the term, but I'm sure I can argue it out if they should try to stop me taking her along. She's sitting beside me right now, watching me with those large green eyes; sometimes I do get the impression that she can understand perfectly well what I'm saying, or even thinking.
There's still a Potions essay that I'm supposed to do, but I'll put it off till after the competition. It really would be a waste if I wrote it and then got myself killed in those "events". Good night, diary.
Oct. 4th, 1994
What a day! I'm absolutely dead, so I'll write tomorrow
Oct. 5th, 1994
Had a rather disturbed night, even though I was perfectly exhausted, and could only get some hours of sleep long after midnight. Now it's 9 o'clock, I've had some breakfast and can finally settle down to record yesterday's events. I have, with some effort, shooed Charmaine out of the dormitory (I'm quite proud of myself, I have not told her anything yet), and have put a locking charm on the door, so there won't be any disruption.
Well, at 8.45 I got my backpack, put a self-refilling bottle of an energizer potion and my Eternitas torch in, and finally made Grisabel jump in, too. Then I shouldered my bag and went on my way. When I entered the garden I saw my competitors walk in the direction of various statues. So I had been right, we would each get a different "object" to deal with. I noticed that some had chosen pretty strange things to take along, I could see lances, swords and even some chain mail. Apparently the experience with the Rokh had left a lasting impression. Some doubts suddenly crept into my mind whether I had really chosen wisely, but I told myself not to be silly, and anyway, it was too late to go back and take something else.
The mysterious object at the statue looked quite unspectacular and perfectly harmless: a small silver coin. I looked around, but could not see anything strange at all. Apparently there was nobody watching me, but I was sure they were having everything under control.
As soon as I took the coin, I knew: a portkey! The familiar sensation was unmistakable, as I felt myself hurled through space, and I automatically closed my eyes.
When I opened them again, I wondered for a second, if I had turned blind, everything was totally black, and I felt a draught of cold moist air. For a moment, I almost panicked. If there's anything I'm really absolutely terrified of, it's darkness, and this darkness couldn't possibly have been any darker. Pulling myself together with an effort, but still with shaking hands, I got my torch out of my bag and said the spell to light it, silently congratulating myself on my cleverness.
I was in a cave, or rather tunnel, with walls of dark granite rock disappearing to each side in the darkness. The tunnel was some two metres wide and about the same height.
"Great!" I said to Grisabel, who had jumped out of my bag and was sitting in front of my feet on the gravely ground, looking at me unblinking. She did not display any symptoms of fear, and I took this to be an encouraging sign. "So probably the task is to find your way out of here, - and, of course, to 'deal with the events that follow' whatever they will be. Now, which way to turn?"
As if she had understood, she got to her feet, stretched slowly, yawned, and started to walk slowly down the tunnel, her tail straight up in the air, the way she always does when she is interested in something. So I picked up my bag, and followed her.
I can't say how long I had been walking along that tunnel. It seemed to go in a more or less straight line and kept the same level. It's weird how one can lose any sense of time and direction in a place like this with only a couple of metres to see in any direction.
Abruptly, the walls of the tunnel disappeared, and the light of my torch just faded out into the distance. I had reached an enormous dome, and the ground in front of me seemed to descend . And ahead, there seemed to be the shadow of a light.
At first, I just believed this was the entrance to the cave, and vaguely wondered why the whole thing had been so easy; but then I realised this light with its reddish glow couldn't possibly be daylight. A look at Grisabel, however, reassured me; She was obviously not frightened, only interested and alert. My wand ready, I slowly approached the light.
Now a low rumbling noise began, distant at first, but getting louder and louder. At the same time, the reddish light seemed to get larger and brighter, much faster than I was moving towards it. But still my cat remained calm, her tail upright, and her fur smooth. Whatever it was, it couldn't be a danger, so I moved on.
Suddenly, the noise seemed to explode in my ears, and an enormous animal appeared in the red glow. The massive bulk of a shaggy black and brown bull with long curved horns seemed to rush directly at me with whirling hooves.
I believe I screamed, and I flattened myself to the ground, expecting to be crushed by those thundering hooves. But Grisabel, cool as ever, just looked at me and gave me an encouraging push with her soft nose, as if to tell me there was nothing to be afraid of.
And indeed, the idea suddenly occurred to me that I had seen this bull before: In Histoire de Magique we had seen the images from the caves of Lascaux that were used for magical purposes thousands of years ago, and this bull was one of those animals that we had seen there. I don't really know how to say this, it must have been the ghost of an animal, if there is such a thing.
Anyway, I felt quite reassured now, and got to my feet again. And as soon as I did, the snorting bull just faded away, and there was darkness again, only lit by my torch, which I had dropped in my first shock.
When my heartbeat had returned to normal, I moved on.
"They are trying to frighten you with illusions," I told myself. "And it only works on humans, as Grisabel is not affected by it at all. What a clever idea to take her along."
However, I was still in the middle of a cold damp cave, to say nothing of the darkness. Again, I watched Grisabel to get an idea what to do, and again, she stuck her tail into the air and started walking on; I followed without hesitation.
It didn't take too long until I heard the sound of water in front of me, and after a few steps, my torch shone on the rippling waves of a swift stream that crossed the tunnel and effectively blocked my progress. A look at Grisabel showed me that this was real water, not an illusion.
After some deliberation I conjured a tiny boat, made Grisabel get into my bag again, and soon the swift current was carrying us along. Unfortunately, only a short time later, an increasing roar told me that there was probably a cataract or waterfall in front. I started looking for a place to land and get away from the river that was running faster and faster, but I could only see sheer walls to both sides. With an effort, I finally managed to levitate the boat off the surface and to have it hover about half a metre above the now positively raging waves.
Suddenly the boat, which had been trained on the surface of the river, took a steep plunge in a spray of cold walter. Grisabel let out a terrified shriek, and I believe I screamed, too, but after a couple of seconds the boat steadied itself again above a seething whirlpool foaming white in the dim light of my torch. Looking up, I saw that we had indeed plunged down along a waterfall the top of which disappeared in the darkness.
When the current had subsided again, I lowered the boat on to the water again. Now that didn't have to keep up the hover charm any longer, I put a drying spell on my robes and on Grisabel, as the spray from the waterfall had drenched us completely. Then I leaned back and tried to relax a bit, as I was quite exhausted from keping up that hovering charm for such a long time. Grisabel curled comfortably up in my arms, purring softly, and I close my eyes...
I must have dropped off for some time, because I was suddenly woken by Grisabel pushing her nose against my face urgently. My boat had been washed ashore on a gravel bank, it was perfectly silent and it was still absolutely dark, except for my torch. Looking around I noticed that the river had widened to a lake, and there was no noticable current any longer.
"What do we do now?" I asked Grisabel, and as if she had understood, she jumped out of the boat, arched her back, looked at me and started off, away from the shore, stopping after a few steps, and looking back at me, clearly telling me to follow her.
"Well, if you say so," I muttered, grabbed my bag and followed her. I was starting to wonder how long I had already been in that stupid cave, as I had lost all my feeling of time; and I started to worry how long my torch was going to last, - it was called Eternitas, to be sure, but this didn't mean it would burn forever. With an effort, I shoved that thought into the back of my consciousness, and went on.
Presently, I thought there was some light in the distance, and indeed, within a few more steps, there was definitely a yellowish glow, which soon grew so bright that I could put out my torch.
Of course, I felt greatly relieved at first, but asI went nearer, it dawned on me that this was not the glow of daylight but obviously another obstacle on my way.
And so it was: A wall of dancing yellow and orange flames blocked my progress, and again Grisabel's behaviour showed me that this was no illusion. She seemed to know what was expected of her, and without any further ado jumped into my bag again, while I was considering what to do.
"Pluvius!" I tried the most obvious spell, but although a satisfying shower of rain developed, the flames were still there and didn't even change.
Cursing under my breath, I thought for a moment, then tried again:
"Ventosum!" the gush of wind did reduce the flames for a second or two, but then they were back again, too fast for me to run through without being fried.
This really was a tricky one. Finally, I got an idea.
"You won't like this," I apologised to Grisabel, "but I do hope this one will get us through."
I stepped up as near to the flames as I could, and shouted:
"Vestimentum Glaciale!"
Immediately, we were covered in a thick layer of ice, a shock of coldness that took my breath away. Clad in this armour, I could finally step though the barrier, and broke down at the other side, shivering, and just managing the Finite Incantatem though chattering teeth.
Cuddling Grisabel, who was looking at me indignantly, and putting a warming charm on us, I remained there sitting on the ground and slowly recovered from the exertion. And suddenly I thought I could recognise a pattern in these obstacles: There was fire and water, obviously, ...
"And that bull stands for earth," I said to myself, "So there's still air ... wonder what they can do about this one?"
There was only one way to find out, and so after sevral minutes, I went on my way again.
I didn't have to wait long. Without the slightes warning, a sudden gust of wind knocked me off my feet and propelled me along. Luckily, Grisabel was still sitting in my bag, otherwise I am sure I would have lost her. At the same time, the darkness vanished and there was broad daylight all around. And with a horrible shock I realised I was tumbling head over heels through midair, surrounded by white mist so I could not tell how high up I was.
After what felt like an endless time of paralysed shock, I managed to point my wand at myself and shout, the sound immediately torn from my lips by the storm:
"Pennae Avis!"
It was a strange feeling when my arms suddenly transformed into huge white wings, but they strectched by themselves, and slowed my fall immediately. It took me some time, of course to find out how to use them but I did figure it out after a minute or two.
In the meantime. The mist had disappeared, and I found myself flying a few hundred metres above the ground. It was apparently late afternoon, as the sun was already setting, and there, in the west, I could also recognise the spires and turrets of Chateau Beauxbatons. Beating my wings with all that still remainedof my strength, I flew towards it, and finally collapsed, totally exhausted on the top battlement.
Charmaine, who had been looking in her crystal ball and seen me land, came for me and helped me down to the dormitory, and I must say that much for her, she didn't pester me with questions when she realised just how absolutely finished I was. She just put me to bed and I fell asleep almost at once, not however, without making sure that Grisabel was there on my pillow, purring me to sleep.
**
What a long story! Well, I suppose I'll have to tell Charmaine everything, too, now. And they'll probably announce the results of this crazy competition tomorrow.
A/N: Thanks for all the reviews. I'm glad at least one of you knows Eva Ibbotson's funny little book, Ireally recommend it. However, I'm really disappointed nobody figured out the thing about the unicorns. The thing is, according to some medieval bestiaries, that unicorns are symbols of purity and innocence, and so only virgins can touch or even approach them. (Of course, this is iontended to contribute to Fleur's description.)
Well folks, I hope you haveenjoyed this chapter, and will be busily reviewing soon. See you.