Why? Oh why did this have to happen to ME? –part 24
As promised part 24. I hope all of you are enjoying the tasks so far. I have been trying my best to make them as interesting as possible. The majority of my stuff is based on old ancient stories. I guess you could say I'm a fanatic of ancient stuff. Enjoy
"In this world even the strongest fall but its takes more than mere strength to pick oneself up."
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Special Extra Chapter – between chap. 8 and 10
The Marauders were spending their time as usual in the room of requirement when the door of room was thrown open. A girl by the name of Emily came running inside only to stop in front of James with a look of determination.
"I challenge you James Potter! Do you accept?" She said this while pointing a finger at James.
None of them seemed the least bit perturbed by her actions. It had become a daily occurrence. Emily would come out of nowhere to challenge James on anything and everything.
James sighs before responding, "I said I was sorry Emily. Can you please let this go?" he pleaded.
"If you're scared of losing you can just say so. I understand." She said this with the outmost seriousness that it had James blanching at her accusation.
He scoffs, "as if I accept your challenge."
And much like every time James ends up accepting her challenge. This all started with a misplaced batch of freshly baked blueberries. Her challenges varied from chess games to full out duels.
In response the other occupants of the room sigh and smile at their usual displays of childishness.
"I challenge you on a race. Meet me at the top of the west wing."
At the top of the west wing:
"You asked for it!"
"Eat my dust James!"
The Marauders watched on with amusement as they grabbed their brooms and readied themselves for the race. Blue eyes twinkled with hidden mirth as he continued to watch on.
Suddenly he felt a small tug on his sleeve. He looked down to find Emily trying to get his attention.
"Um, Remus I uh have a little tiny bit-small problem," she whispered.
A small smile spread across at his face as he gave her a knowing look. He bent down to whisper in her ear, "let me guess. You forgot about your broom."
At his words her face turned a bright pink. She shook her head saying no. Remus, in response quirked an eyebrow at her in question.
"Um…uh…gulp afraid of heights."
He could feel his smile widen as he tried to hold in his laughter. "So why did you challenge James to a flying match?"
Her face turned a darker shade of red before responding, "I…I-uh-I forgot."
"I see," he turned and placed a hand around her small wrist before tugging her in the direction of the exit. He called behind him before disappearing, "sorry Prongs but I'm going to be borrowing her for the rest of the afternoon." In response the girl in question turned a bright shade a pink while Sirius gave out a few cat calls. James yelled something about perverts.
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Story Start –
"Emily," the girl in question tilted her head in a confused manner. She opened her mouth to repeat her question when a loud bang was heard followed closely by a curse.
"You would think that they would be gracious enough not to push us through the door," mumbled a voice from behind her.
"Padfoot is that you?" came James confused voice.
"Yup buddy it's me."
"What are you two doing here?" asked Remus.
"Well you see, we uh," began Sirius.
"We have come to help you," replied another voice from behind. This time the voice came from a young woman.
Apparently it wasn't just Emily and Sirius that came through the door. They were part of the tournament. They were our partners and there was one for every single one of us.
"Hey Sirius why are they upside down?" asked Emily.
Sirius just rolled his eyes before telling her that they were the ones upside down.
Remus smiled at her reaction. He reached for her and took a gentle hold of her waist. She placed her hands on his shoulders before jumping down. He caught her effortlessly.
"My turn!" Sirius called out to James.
"Hell no!" yelled James.
"Oh come on," pouted Sirius. The rest just rolled their eyes at his childishness.
We didn't waste much time in talking to one another since we were ushered into separate doors. Every champion their own way.
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Emily and Remus had been walking around the maze for what seemed like hours. It wasn't a simple walk by any means. The labyrinth had been full of traps. Emily had the uncanny mishap off triggering every single trap that came her way. Luckily Remus was able to think quickly and prevent anything from happening to her or him. After a few near death experiences Emily made sure to watch her steps. They continued to walk in silence.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
He turned his head surprised by her choice of words. "What do you mean? You're sorry about what?" he asked with a raised eyebrow honestly confused by her apology.
"I was supposed to help you. Instead I'll I've done is made things harder for you."
He stopped, and turned towards her. He placed a hand on her chin and lifted it so that their eyes could meet.
"I'm happy that you came," he spoke softly with a smile that made her breath hitch.
"But I-the traps?"
He chuckled at her confused expression. "You didn't know about the traps. I set off a few myself. Besides don't you trust me?" he asked in lighthearted tone. He was teasing her.
"Of course I trust you but-."
He lifted an eyebrow, "if you trust me then you should know that we'll make it. Don't worry so much. I promise we'll be out of here before you know it." When she looked like she was about to argue, he swooped down a placed a chaste kiss on her lips. "Know lets go. The Minotaur might be coming any second."
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"Look Remus a door!" He turned to the direction she was pointing to. The door looked innocent enough but after spending a few hours in the labyrinth he knew better.
"Wait." Slowly he walked towards the door making sure Emily was safe behind him. He opened it to be greeted by darkness. "Stay close," slowly he stepped forward with an Acio spell. They had just stepped through the threshold when the deafening sound of stone slamming shut hit their ears. The door behind them had closed. Just when he was going to turn back around he felt the floor beneath him disappear. The first thing he did was grab a hold of Emily. They dropped on the floor with a small thump. Their fall was cushioned by a small layer of sand.
Before his eyes could adjust to the lighting he hears small coughs coming from somewhere to the left.
"Moony is that you?" said a voice that distinctly sounded like Prongs.
"Prongs?" he questions. At his words the room suddenly becomes bright with light.
"Where are we?" asks Emily.
They had fallen into a circular room from the looks of it. On one side there was nothing but a stone wall. On the opposite side there was a set of doors. A total of eight to be exact, each was entrance was blocked by a large stone statue that looked a lot like a sphinx. Then his eyes landed on the rest of the occupants of the room. They all looked like they had spent a night in the forbidden forest but other than that they seemed fine. It didn't take him long to notice that someone was missing.
"Where's Alexis?" he directed his question towards the other red head in the room.
"She helped us escape and gave us this," replied James. In his hand he held a small glass mirror.
They had gone silent after his confession. He only hoped that she was okay. Raven looked upset but not like he could blame him.
He noticed that they were all in other words stuck. They could try to destroy the statues but he had a feeling they had tried that already.
"I'm going to guess and say that we can't destroy the statues." Their looks of dismay gave him the answer he needed. Instead of saying anything else on the matter he chose to inspect the doors. There had to be a way to get out even without magic. There had to be a key or a special enchantment hidden.
"Hey! Remus can you read that up there?" called Mathew.
His eyes drifted in the direction in which he was pointing to. Above the doors laid a stone tablet with old writing.
"It's written in Celtic scripture," he said.
They were both suddenly shoved aside by an irritated blonde. "Move aside idiots. It says:
An untiring servant it is, carrying loads across the muddy earth. But one thing that cannot be forced is a return to the place of its birth. What am I?
Okay that does not help. Stupid, good for nothing statue."
"House elf?" said Mathew in an uncertain tone.
In response the statue rumbled but did not move.
"No you moron it's got to be something else. How about a Kappa?" she inquired.
The stone rumbled once more but did not move.
"You might as well say Grindylow while you are at it," came Mathew's sarcastic reply. In response the statue began to crumble. "Oh, for the love of Merlin I was right!"
The stone deteriorated leaving behind the sphinx complete with brown fur and a large mane. The disturbing sight was its face, complete with human features except for the eyes. The eyes held a yellowish glow that made them quiver in their feet. Yellow eyes instantly darted towards Nichole, to the one who read the riddle. In the next instant it pounced and latched onto its prey. The opening that had been previously been blocked by the statue was shut closed once the sphinx managed to drag its prey through. They could no longer see her; they could only hear her high pitched screams of terror as they rebounded across the stone walls.
When the sphinx had pounced, everyone else had retreated. Subconsciously both Remus and Ephraim had moved in front of Emily. The rest were too stunned to even move a muscle. James and Sirius had been the first to snap out of their stupor. They had tried to get her back but the sphinx had been too quick.
Behind them Emily stood their shaking. She had only caught a small glance but what she heard was enough to send chills down her spine.
"Challengers Welcome!" the booming voice of a woman had them all jumping in surprise. "This is the final stage of the labyrinth. I'm sure you've already guessed the consequences of getting a riddle wrong. Now, I want you all to play close attention, I'm only going to say this once. As you see the only way out is through those doors. There were eight but now there are seven. Out of these seven doors only five lead to an exit. As you can see each entrance is guarded by a stone sphinx. The only way through is by answering the riddle. The moment you read the riddle out loud it becomes your door. You get three chances and only three chances."
"Wait a minute! She only guessed once," yelled James.
"That does not matter young one. Your chances can be used up by anyone in this room. It all depends on you. Oh, I almost forgot when, and that's only if you do, get a door open only two can pass. Meaning one champion and the person that was sent to help you may go through. Good luck!"
They all stood there contemplating her words. This was going to be harder than any of them anticipated.
"Let's be more careful," cautioned Remus.
"Well here goes nothing," replied Raven before stepping forward.
"Remus why does that door have a red sign on it," Emily called out while looking at a door at the far end of the room.
Everyone in response turned towards the direction she pointed to. There at the top above the riddle was labeled something in red. Remus read the sign.
"It's a warning," called out Remus. His features turned into a frown. He didn't understand why this door had a sign while the others didn't. Before he could let his mind process this any further he heard Emily murmur something to his right.
"I think I remember you teaching me this…is that-no-oh I got it! It says:"
In the background shouts of protest fell to deaf ears.
"It's a part of Heaven, though it touches the earth. Some say it's valuable, others say no worth what is it?"
"Well now that doesn't make any sense," frowned Emily.
"Emily you…," spoke Raven
"I what?" she turned around to find everyone wearing different degrees of shock.
"You know…you just activated that door," he replied.
Her features turned from being scrunched up in confusion to a look of utter shock as her eyes widen to the size of quaffle balls.
"Moron," came Ephraim voice from across the room.
"I didn't mean to I'm so sorry Remus," she apologized.
Remus let out a sigh before plastering a reassuring smile. "Don't worry about it. We'll figure something out."
"Too bad it's not like one of those simple riddles," commented Raven.
"My guess would be a rainbow," said Emily in a matter a fact tone.
"Yeah right like the answer is going to be as lame as-," Raven couldn't finish his sarcastic remark because right before their eyes the stone crumbled revealing the living Sphinx. In an instant everyone is on guard but instead of the Sphinx talking a predatory stand its eyes shift before its lips turn into a sinister smile.
"Correct," it ours before leaping out of the way. "You may proceed," she motions towards the opening.
Before Remus could stop her Emily was already rushing through the opening yelling something along the lines that she could smell chicken. Without waiting for the rest and throwing caution to the wind he went after her.
Ephraim also made a move to follow but was stopped by the sphinx, "no, not you." The door shut with a deafening thud. Ephraim cursed under his breath before punching the stone wall.
"Relax lets just figure out a way out," replied Mathew.
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Both Remus and Emily were greeted by darkness the only sound that could be heard were their footsteps and their steady breathing. The further they went in the hotter in became. Something told Remus that there was something else in this place other than him. Before he could voice his thoughts out loud he sees a sudden shift to his right. On instinct he grabs a hold of Emily pulling her behind him. It was a good thing he did because just then a large ball of fire his the spot that she had been moments before.
"Remus is that," she whispered.
He frowned but never let his eyes leave what was standing before them. "Yes, it's a dragon," he replied.
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On the outside everyone was waiting to see which of the champions would be the first to come out. The five judges who sat at the front continued to wait. The hourglass situated on top of a stone indicated that they had a little less than three minutes before the entire maze became shut tight.
Suddenly the ground and stone began to shake a large cloud of smoke escaped from one of the openings. Multitude of gasps left the audience at the sight of silhouettes emerging from the underground maze. The first one to come into focus was none other than James being dragged along by Sirius. They were shortly followed by the Taranis and Jehanna champions. Suddenly there was another sound of stone rumbling before four more shadows emerged. Remus, Emily and Mathew, the last remaining champion of the Ice school.
Loud shouts of praise were heard from all around.
"Well done champions you have passed the third task! Came the booming voice of one of the judges.
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There was celebration going all around. It was time for the main event of the long awaited Yule Ball. As celebrations were being made the rumors of a certain reporter making an appearance were being made. All though the main events had already been broadcasted for the world to see they had agreed that none of the champions would be interviewed until the end of the third task.
On to the Interviews
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A woman with sparkling spectacles and a note book in hand continued to survey her newest victim- I mean interviewee.
"So tell me young man do you think you have what it takes to win this tournament? Hm," she prompted. "You're name is Mathew am I correct."
"Yes, my name is Mathew. I'm unsure as to what you mean," he spoke calmly not at all perturbed by her unnerving look.
"Am I correct to say that your twin sister is already out of the running," she pressed.
"Yes, only simply because she saved the rest of us," he stated.
"I see…any girlfriend you wish to mention," she continued mercilessly.
He was taken back by the question. He was starting to regret agreeing to such an interview.
He frowned, "I don't see how that has to do with the tasks."
"I see…I'll take that as a no," she said as she began to scribbles some more notes.
Begrudgingly he continued to answer her annoying questions. He could only hope that the others fared off better than him.
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"I am Raven the awesome," exclaimed Raven.
She didn't seem impressed she mumbled something like, "delusional."
"How long do you believe you'll last?" she questioned.
"I'll win of course," he said confidently.
"You're the last champion of your school right."
"Well yeah but-"
"And it is also to my understanding that Remus Lupin and James Potter saved you a few times correct,"
"Yeah but that was because I was caught off guard," he exclaimed.
"So am I to understand that those from Jehanna are careless," she prompted.
"Hey! No we are not!" he cried in indignation.
"Oh," she sounded unconvinced.
"I was-uh just unprepared!"
"Then lazy,"
"Why you!"
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"It's an honor to finally meet you James Potter. The heir to the Potter fortune," she exclaimed.
"Oh, well it's nice to meet you," he gave her a charming smile.
"Rumor has it that you're quite the playboy," she remarked
"I uh-no that's not-."
"Yes, playboy extraordinaire," she continued as though she hadn't heard him.
"Hey! That's not-."
"So how many girls do you normally see at a time?" she continued to question.
"None you've got it all wrong-." He exclaimed wanting to pull out his hair in frustration.
"None," she paused. He almost sagged in relief before he saw a twinkle in her eye, "I never would have pegged to play on the other side of the team but I'm not here to judge."
"What! No! that's not- hey-,"
"That explains quite a bit it seems," she nodded in understanding.
He groaned in frustration, "Someone please get me out of here."
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"You are the infamous Ephraim presume," she stated casually. He didn't bat an eyelash simply sat there in silence. She seemed unnerved by his silence. "The favored to win the tournament," she pointed out. "You don't talk much do you?" she questioned.
"I prefer not to waste my breath on affirming the obvious," he replied dryly.
"Well then mind telling us a little bit about your past. Perhaps an unrequited love," she commented casually. Her sudden question caused his eyes to shift for a split second but it was enough for her to catch it. "So about this unrequited love…"
He simply raised an eyebrow, "who said anything about unrequited love?"
She scoffed before pressing further, "is she here? She must be. Is that why you're trying so hard; perhaps you wish to impress her."
Her questions were starting to irritate him. "If you have no further questions that relate to the task then I shall take my leave." He didn't bother and wait for a response leaving her gawking at his retreating back.
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"Remus Lupin, I hear that you have a girlfriend who is constantly by your side cheering you on."
"Yes," he smiled.
"So what's her name?"
"Emily," he said simply.
"From what I've gathered she's quite popular with the young men," she taunted.
He raised an eyebrow, "I guess."
"Do you ever worry about you know… about her being interested in other men?"
He simply chuckled as he remembered the day's earlier event. "No, I'm not at all worried. Her interests seem to lie only in food assortments."
The interviewer looked confused by his statement, "food?"
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They were all very annoyed after the so called interviews except for Remus who found it a bit funny. He was relieved that no one asked why he decided to participate. He wasn't sure he could lie convincingly enough.
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Ps: please Review! Yule Ball next chapter.