First Steps --- Champions Only

[Deleted]

Hermione still wasn't sure how she felt about the use of non-dangerous magical creatures in the Tournament, but she supposed that being a Champion had many different meanings, and one was being the protector of the innocent. If these three teenagers wanted to pass through the Second Task safely, then they would have to get their creature partner through the trials as unscathed as possible.  All of the creatures that had been chosen could have the ability to aid their Champion, as long as the Champion did their research.  She had set up three tents, identical from the outside with each tent bearing the associated schools crest, but on the inside with the help of some of her Ministry officials, there was a set up of the habitat that each individual creature came from, so that the Champions may study them in a comfortable setting.  Each tent had a set of supervisors in case anything got ugly, and a magizoologist was staying in Hogsmeade that could be called on for assistance if necessary.  So Hermione waited for the three to appear; they had gotten their letters this morning, and should be arriving at any moment to find out what they were going to be doing next.



@jill6, @annelise, @emile

ooc: as told to you in the PM, you each have been assigned a magical creature; below you'll find your creature and the link to the Wiki page that has all the information on these bests.  Luckily for you guys, all three of these creatures were featured in the film series, so you will be able to find a plethora of information on them.


Elias -- NIFFLER
Molly -- DIRICAWL
Emile -- MURTLAP


The posting for this thread will go as follows:  Each champion posts once arriving in front of the tents, then Hermione tells them about their creatures, then you'll post a second time going inside your tent and introducing yourself to your creature, and then Hermione will say that they will have between now and the Second Task to get to know their new partners, and then you all can leave  

[Deleted]

@hermionejean & @jill6 & @annelise

Émile had woken up a few days prior to a letter; indicating that there was going to be an information meeting of sorts for the second task of the tournament within the week. He figured the letter was in lieu of not having an advisor anymore. The tournament organizers seemed to think that the Beauxbatons professors would fill in that gap, but did they really know what they were doing? Despite his former advisor skipping town for a fashion show, at least she knew all about fame and glory and whatnot. His research in the Hogwarts library prior to the first task had been beneficial as well. While he hadn’t anticipated a maze, he had most certainly made the correct decision when it came to picking a potion to bring along. By the time he had needed to use it he was practically out of ideas on how to get through giant walls of fire and other seemingly impossible obstacles that were before him. Hopefully this task didn’t follow the same vein as the first.

Finally the day of arrived, and Émile made his way to the location noted in the letter. It wasn’t too far of a walk from the Beauxbatons carriage, and served as a nice wake up for this hour of the morning. From a distance he spotted three tents, which meant one for each champion. Interesting. For all he knew though, this was simply the initial setup for the second task and these would be the tents they started in. While the maze had a starting line, a tent to keep the others oblivious from what was going on would definitely be interesting. After a few more minutes of walking, he eventually made it to the front of the tents where a couple adults were standing, whom he assumed worked for the tournament or the Ministry. The other two champions, Elias and the Hogwarts girl, were nowhere in sight yet. It was starting to look like he was going to be first in everything this tournament.

[Deleted]

@hermionejean && @annelise && @emile
<3

If confusion was a good way to put it, that was how Elias was feeling. The letter he had received basically told him in too many words that in this second task they would be protecting something or someone. And to visit the Care of Magical Creatures Hut. That gave him a fairly good idea that they'd need to help or protect a creature, unless the staff of the tournament were just messing with their brains and going to stick someone they cared about in these tents. If it was a lucky guess, well, then it would most likely be Maria.

The walk for each of the champions was not long. If anything it was probably much longer for Anna. Elias assumed himself and Emile had about the same time since their home quarters aren't too far from one another. As he got closer, he already saw Emile. Of course he was there already. The dang kid had to be prim, proper and perfect for everything. Elias gave him a small smile, and expected a look of disgust or to be ignored. Taking a deep breath he turned a bit and found the tent he needed to go to, labeled Durmstrang. He joined the group of people and looked around for a flash of red hair, wondering where Anna was.

[Deleted]

Anna hated being late. Absolutely hated it, but apparently that was the way things were going to be this morning. She woke up to a letter, telling her to go to the Care of Magical Creatures Hut, where she would learn more about what was coming for the second Task. A part of her felt relieved that she'd be knowing beforehand what she would be doing, but another part of her wasn't sure if she was ready for another task yet. Oh well. Either way, it was coming and she was determined to do her best to represent Hogwarts well. 

To be fair, she left Gryffindor Tower with plenty of time to arrive, but while walking down the corridors she was repeatedly stopped. People were constantly asking her what the next task was going to be and even though she told them she was on her way to find out, they didn't let her go, instead continuing to talk. At that point, she simply apologized and left, but it happened repeatedly until she was undoubtedly going to be late. She started running through the corridors, which was a good way to stop people from talking to her. She rushed outside and made her way across the grounds, noting the three tents as she did so. As she drew close to the other two champions, Anna slowed down and took a deep breath, nodding at both of them, though she didn't know if either would respond. She was ready.

@hermionejean , @jill6 , @emile
(So late ... sorry!)

[Deleted]

Hermione waited patiently as the three Champions made their way down; unsurprisngly, Emile was first. The Beauxbatons boy seemed pretty self-confident of himself, and winning the First Task had only assisted him in thinking he was the first in everything.  The Durmstrang boy came second, then finally Anna, her niece and Hogwarts champion.  Hermione had to mentally remind herself that Anna was the Champion and she the Minister of Magic; not family matters right now.  "Welcome Champions; today is of course not the Second Task, but the first part of what you will need to accomplish during the Task itself in February."  Hermione gestured to the three tents behind her.  "Inside these three tents you will each find a magical creature.  These are not dangerous, well," Hermione couldn't help but chuckle a little.  "Not unless you give them reason to defend themselves."  She cleared her throat and continued.  "You will make it your duty to befriend and learn everything you can about your creature, as this creature will be your partner in the upcoming Task.  Believe me when I say you want to befriend over trying to make it fear you, as your partner will be most useful in assisting you with what you face."  


Before she stepped aside to let the Champions into their tents, she held the gaze of each of them in turn.  "In the tent will be one trainer and there is a magizoologist on hand.  They have been instructed to not assist unless your creature attacks, and can give you general advice.  Under no circumstance is anyone aside from yourselves allowed in the tent; if another student is found in your tent because you asked for the help you will be docked points.  As you know by now, the rules are no cheating.  I will not stop you from seeking the advice of your peers, but do not expect them to do the work for you.  This is your Task and yours alone."  With that being said, Hermione stepped aside, allowing the Champions to enter their tents.


@annelise
@jill6
@emile

[Deleted]

@hermionejean & @jill6 & @annelise

It only took the other champions, if you could even call them that, an ungodly amount of time to arrive at the tents alongside him. Greyback wasn’t too long after him, but the Hogwarts girl continued to amaze him with her complacency. She must have had external help on the first task to be that close behind him at the end. Their gap in points were only going to get larger from here on out though, and a victory in this task was more than likely going to ensure total victory for him, unless the impossible happened, like he didn’t get any points for either of the remaining tasks. But that wasn’t going to happen.

Émile didn’t feel the need to acknowledge them when they finally did show up, because he was too intent on trying to figure out what was going on inside the tents. The woman that was idling about in front of them finally stepped up to where they were all standing and started to talk, detailing how the second task was going to go. Apparently each tent had a creature inside it, and their job was to befriend it. Émile was unsure what that meant in terms of the task though. Were they supposed to utilize these creatures in defeating something else? Or was it something much simpler like protecting it? It could even go as far as using their magical properties in a way to enhance their success in the event ahead, whatever that may be. There were quite a few questions that he had still, but the woman answered his main question before he even needed to ask. Everything was inside the tent already, including magizoologists, apparently.

Not even looking at the other champions, Émile entered his tent and was met by the trainer and the magizoologist, as he had been told. The creature that he was supposed to befriend was far from satisfactory though. For some reason, he had assumed that creature meant something interesting, or cool for that matter, but the ugly, naked rat thing that was before him was far from either of his assumptions of what a magical creature should be. Supposedly the bald rodent was a murtlap, which was classified as a XXX beast. Émile had never seen one before, indicating so to the trainer, in which it was explained that they were native to Britain’s coastal regions. That was wonderful. He had a creature he knew nothing about and had never even heard of before. As far as he could tell, it looked relatively useless. Still, its beast classification said otherwise, so he supposed that was the research aspect that he was going to have to do prior to the task. Its nature also didn’t seem all too hostile towards him, and since the other goal was to get it to like him, that left Émile with no choice. Sitting down on the ground, he watched the murtlap walk around, waiting to see if it would ever have the gall to approach the Beauxbatons boy. For the time being, he’d figure things out little by little. Hopefully that would lead to figuring out how to make it his friend prior to the actual task.

[Deleted]

@hermionejean , @annelise , @emile
<3

Anna finally appeared, nodding to him and Emile and Elias gave her a small smile, nodding back. She seemed to be out of breath, and Elias assumed she had been running down to the area where the tents were. The Minister began to speak, whom Elias knew was Hermione Granger Weasley, and he turned to listen to her, eyes watching intently. As soon as she said there was a magical creature assigned to each of them, he felt a rush of relief run through him. In fact, the past few weeks he had been studying up on creatures as well as different charms to learn. He just hoped that whichever creature he was given, was somewhat easy to deal with and not dangerous.

Swallowing nervously, when directed, Elias slowly walked over to the Durmstrang tent and entered. He was bombarded by an area that had a lot of dirt, and many, many holes. Raising an eyebrow at the magizoologist and trainer, he began walking around all of the holes in the ground. Almost immediately, a black head appeared, one that looked something like a platypus. Elias smiled. A niffler. They were, to say the least, gentle creatures. Though classified as an XXX beast, they could be as nice as possible, or they could destroy anything in their path. Elias didn't move forward any more, but sat down on the ground a few feet away from the niffler. Almost immediately, his brain thought of the silver bracelet on his wrist, the one Maria had given to him their second year at Durmstrang. It was partially covered, but at that moment, he didn't expect to own it much longer.

[Deleted]

Moments after Anna arrived, Aunt Hermione started to explain the rules of what was going on now. Creatures were in the tents, one for each of them and they needed to befriend and protect these creatures throughout the duration of the next task. Okay, that seemed simple enough, though if that task was anything like the first one Anna was not excited for it. Still, she would do her best, of course. She nodded back at Elias when he gave her a small smile, but then focused on her tent. 

When Aunt Hermione stepped back, Anna walked toward her tent confidently. What she saw when she entered was a large, plump, fluffy bird. She looked at it for a moment, taking in the bird, which seemed to be a dull purple/blue color. It was pretty, and bigger than she was. She thought for a moment, smiling when she realized what this was. A Diricawl. She slowly took a few steps forward, extending her hand so the bird could see it. From what she'd read, Diricawls were gentle creatures that had a gift for disappearing when they felt like they were in danger and reappearing somewhere else. The creature approached her and she stroked its feathers lightly. This shouldn't be a problem.

@hermionejean
@jill6
@emile

[Deleted]

Hermione allowed the Champions some time with their magical creatures, and one by one they filed out of their respective tents to stand in front of her again.  "You've now met your companion for the Second Task; what that entails you will not be made aware of until you walk in and face it.  But know this; you want that creature as your friend rather than your enemy."  She paused, looking each one of them in the eye.  "We fully expect you to take some time out of your schedules to research your new companions, and come down to interact with them as much as possible.  Your professors have been alerted to this possible disruption as the best time to visit may be during class times.  If anything out of the ordinary occurs with your creature that our on site magizoologist feels is vital information, you will be summoned down here.  Otherwise you come on your own free will, alone."  She raised her eyebrows at the last word; hopefully it was sinking in for them that cheating would not be tolerated.  "Bear in mind that anyone found in a tent who is not the champion it belongs to will be severely punished for Task tampering not only with detention, but disqualification of the Champion whose school the offender attends."  She paused again, hoping they recognized the seriousness of the Task ahead and that cheating would not be tolerated.  "Now, it's getting late and I know our trainers are eager to get the creatures settled in for the night.  The task will take place on February 25th; you have between now and then to get to know your new companion."  With that, Hermione finishe speaking, signalling their cue to leave.

@emile
@jill6
@annelise


OOC: As a friendly reminder, students who are not the champions are not allowed to interact with the murtlap, niffler or diricawl Pre-Task; staff has agreed to the above punishment and will be monitoring to ensure that the 'no cheating' clause is enforced.  In real world time, the Second Task will be posted on MAY 20TH so you have plenty of time to do one-shots with your creature and have fun with how you interact with them (I'm looking at you Emile and Napoleon).  The later date of this Task is also to allow some of our Champion members (and myself)'s personal/work/school lives to die down so that nobody is feeling too overwhelmed.  To be noted, your Champions friends can help RESEARCH the creature, they just are not allowed to interact with it themselves.  

[Deleted]

@hermionejean & @jill6 & @annelise

After a while of observing the murtlap and its habits, as much as he could in the time allotted, one of the workers motioned to Émile that his time was up for then. Giving the creature one last look, he made a mental list of things to research upon finishing up here. First, he was going straight to the library to research as much as he could on murtlaps and what their general uses were. He figured that the tournament committee wouldn’t give them a useless creature to babysit for an entire task without them having some kind of usefulness.

Out the tent he went, and back to where the Ministry lady was standing, the other champions arriving around the same time. She went on about meeting their companions, in which Émile assumed meant the other two had different creatures than his, and that they wouldn’t know the exact details of the task until the day of. That wasn’t exactly new information. A few minutes later, the woman was finished explaining how they were expected to research things on their own without allowing other students or people into the tents, as well as learning to get along with their assigned beasts. That was easier said than done. He had an ugly bald thing. Hopefully his research would prove that it was actually useful. With that, they were told the date of the second task, and off they were sent. Émile had initially wanted to go right to the library, but the indication that it was getting later meant he could wait until the next morning. It wasn’t like he had anything more pressing to do right now anyways.

[Deleted]

@hermionejean , @annelise , @emile
<3

Elias leaned forward slightly, his legs still crossed, peering into the closest burrow in the dirt. He moved his head around, looking to see if he could find the niffler again. It had disappeared once he had sat down, but he had an idea. If the reason for them to have this creature was to learn more about them, he may as well start befriending it. Taking a deep breath and sighing, he ran his fingers over the bracelet from Maria. She’d forgive him, right? Elias rolled up his sleeve and held out his arm, shaking the bracelet to hear the jingle. As quick as could be, the black creature hopped up from the ground and ran over to him, ripping it off his wrist. He gasped, and just as the niffler went back into the hole, the magizoologist told him time was up.

Groaning, somewhat upset that his bracelet was now gone, and more upset that time was up, he exited the tent and made his way over to the Minister and the other two Champions. He listened intently as she spoke, taking note that he needs the niffler as his friend. She signaled for them to leave, and he did so.

[Deleted]

The Diricawl was gentle, not that that was a surprise, so Anna spent the next few minutes stroking it's feathers and talking to it gently, hoping that speaking to it would help it remember her for the next time she came. As she sat there, she started to try and decide what she would need to study in order to prepare for the next task. It seemed like some of her preparations for the Firsk Task would probably be useful, but she wanted more. Besides that, she was going to need to study more on Diricawls. That would be first on her list of things to study.

Then she was called out of the tent. Anna listened intently to everything that her aunt said, nodding occasionally. She could ask for research help, she just had to be the only one to see the creature. She could do that. Though she wasn't quite sure who she should go to for help. No one in her house was really all that interested in creatures. At least, not that she was aware of. She might need to pay a little more attention to that. When Aunt Hermione dismissed them, Anna started walking towards the castle, intent on finding Oscar so she could tell him what she just learned.

@jill6
@emile
@hermionejean