The Game
You remember your wand? Your spell? Are your pieces of equipment strapped on correctly? Where is your helmet!?" Liv was looming over Preston. Checking every part of his equipment, making sure the strap was tight.
All of the Champions of each school was currently getting ready in a yellow tent right next to the stadium where their first task will take place. Glancing at Hailey from Beauxbaton, she was tieing her glossy black hair into a tight ponytail as another student was helping her with the rest of her suit, Madame Maxime speaking in French to the girl probably encouraging Hailey while smoothing out her nervousness.
The Durmstang boy, Benedict, and his source of booster were on a completely different page as Headmaster Stefan and Benedict's assistance student was shouting so loudly that Liv wasn't even confident what language they were speaking in. But it seems to be doing the work cause Benedict seems to be pretty pumped up.
"Hey, you're nervous?" Justin's voice caught Liv's ears off guard as she turned around and saw him asking Preston.
"I'm feeling pretty confident about this. You?" Preston cockily answer. Even at this minute, Preston is still as confident as ever, regarding the dangerous challenge laying in front of him. And especially with Liv's help in his preparation, he is even more pretentious.
"To be honest, I'm kind of uneasy. I don't do well in front of a large crowd." Justin smiled nervously.
"Well, I think you both will do amazing. With all of the preparation, we poured into this moment, I bet that you two will do just fine." Liv smile.
A moment shortly later, the teachers entered the tent to explain the rules one more time then the champions were to draw a number from a light brown leather pouch that Minister Granger was holding. The headmaster and headmistress wish them luck before leaving the tent and the game has officially started as a cannon sound rang through the whole stadium.
For the first task, their job was to enter an obstacles maze, collect all the pieces of a puzzle and solve them as fast as possible for the next clue while avoiding a Minotaur that will be roaming around. Benedict went first, then Hailey but when Justin was halfway through his task something went wrong
'BOOM!!!'
An explosion went off in the maze, follow up was the Minotaur ear-wrecking roar. It was screaming in pain so loudly that the whole stadium was shaken by the sound.
"I'll be right back..." Liv said to Preston, who just nodded. He was still thrown off by the poll of black smoke coming out of the middle of the maze.
Liv left the tent to find one of the teachers but before she could do anything, she walked into the school's famous half-giant, quite literally.
'THUD!'
Liv stumbled back before landing not so smoothly on the damp muddy ground.
"Ugh...!" Liv groaned out, rubbing her nose slightly from where it was hit.
"Oh! Pardon me kiddo, my eyes were elsewhere!" The little giant said, offering the Ravenclaw girl a hand.
"It's ok Hagrid, I wasn't paying attention either..." She stands up and dusted what she could off of her clothes. Unfortunately, mud doesn't go away that easily.
"Hagrid, did you see what happened just a minute ago!? Are the teachers gonna do anything?" Her voice filled with worry.
But Hagrid didn't seem to hear that. His eyes were wandering over every part of the area, from under the bleachers to the back of tents to the maze entrance... He seems to be looking for something, something important.
"Hagrid, is everything ok?" Liv tugged on his furry sleeve to catch his attention.
"Said, Olivia, did ya happen to see a strange man in a green snakeskin coat ran through here?" Hagrid asked. His nervousness easily shines through his quaking voice.
Liv stared at him as if he grew a second head.
"Hagrid, do we have an intruder...?"
Hagrid opens his eyes in realization "I should NOT have said that!"
Liv grasps the man's wrist as he tried to run away. "No, wait! Hagrid! Do you need help!?" Liv's voice turned into an almost high squeak as she ask she worriedly said.
First, the weird thing Justin and Aki said, then the explosion in the maze, now a strange man broke into the school campus... Liv 6 sense is tingling as something bad is certainly going to happen soon. At least that was what happened to the "boy who lives" according to everything the school taught them in history.
Best to always prevent rather than having to deal with whatever comes next.
"Fine!" Hagrid breathes out. "But do keep as low of a profile as possible. Ya don't want to scare anyone or anything off!" He raised a finger at her, carefully telling Liv what to do and what not to. Where to check on where to stay away.
As the two split up, the Ravenclaw girl head back into the castle, deciding to start her search there. Liv wonders all over the castle, looking into every possible classroom, supplies closet, and even the Ravenclaw dorm... But it was all empty. The stone building has never been so quiet in daylight like this. Liv soaked in the sound of nothing as much as possible, feeling quite relaxed from the usual hustle of these halls, where students and teachers were always rushing to somewhere. The blonde girl sighed loudly as she decided to go look for Hagrid, hoping he had actual made some progress.
'CLANG!!!'
Liv flinched before freezing right outside of the second-floor girl lavatory. She turned her attention to the entrance of the room, slowly approaching. Despite it having already been 10 years since the battle that happened on Hogwarts's very campus, most if not all students still choose to avoid this part of the castle.
She hesitated for a moment, thin pale fingers lingering at the handle of the door. Liv took a deep breath, pushing aside all the worst scenarios possible inside her mind as she crack the heavy brown door open. It let out an ungodly high-pitched squeak causing Liv's heart to beat even faster and faster and faster as she keeps pushing it in...
"HEY!"
Liv jumped at the call.
In a swift motion, she turns around to meet Ocean jogging towards her, and next to her
"Hey, we have been looking everywhere for you. Preston is about to go next. I think you shouldn't miss that." Ocean said, hooking her into Liv's as she dragged her back to the stadium.
"It's already Pres's turn?" Liv asked in oblivious. Justin couldn't have completed his task. It has been only 15 minutes!
"Yes, you completely missed out on Justin's brilliant performance, everyone was so amazed!"
As Liv and Ocean headed hurriedly back to the game, everyone that they passed by was all buzzing about Justin. About how amazing he was, how skilled he is, or even how cute his dirty blonde hair was.
"LIV!" Preston called out loud.
"Where the hell were you!?" He snapped, but not cause he was mad but rather anxious and worried.
"Bathroom." She said with a straight face. But Preston was anything but that.
His expression was all twisted and turned just like his stomach. Preston feels like he is about to throw up. He is so nervous, he can hardly breathe. His fair skin is now replaced by a nausea green, his eyes all buzzing, Preston can't even stand straight anyone and Liv ran towards him, leaning his body onto her.
"I feel like I'm gonna die Liv. The Alfea idiot was so powerful, how can I possibly top that!?" He whined.
Holding Preston by the shoulders, looking into his eyes. "Alright, you need to calm down. We have run through every single spell in books, practiced on our charms until we can't even hold our wand properly. We run around the 'Great Lake' every day after school to improve on our strength. If Justin can complete his task with only a sword, you can do better!" There was a fire in her voice, and it must have worked since he seem a lot more relaxed now.
Stepping up to the maze, all Preston could do was take a deep breath and pray to Merlin that he would not freeze up in front of the monster and forget all his training. The crowd cheered loudly as the ravenette boy stepped inside. They applauded every time he found puzzle pieces or every time he successfully passed an obstacle using his brilliant and wide variety of spells and charms. Liv and Ocean were smiling from ear to ear, shouting and screaming as their friend was 'on fire '.
But all fire that burns bright will all have to be put out.
Before Preston could grab the last piece, he was knocked onto the muddy ground. Not by the Minotaur but rather a 'burned beast'. Kinda like...kinda like...the 'Firefly Goblin'.
At first, everyone thought it was just part of the game but after hearing headmistress Faragonda shouted out a command, leading her fairy and knights towards the maze to where the beast was looming over the unconscious boy, the mayhem started.
Justin went into autopilot, he was the first to dart to where Preston is. Readying his stand to strike the flaming beast. Around him, people were screaming commands or code world but either way, Liv couldn't make a single sentence out of it.
"...pull back!!!..."
"...get into formation!!!..."
"...stand v-17!!!..."
On the mirror screen, the whole fight was being on display for everyone to see. The beast easily swing his fiery wings, knocking over several Specialists but Justin easily dodged it. Swing his sword, chopping off one of its many legs. Around the courtyard was where more beasts started coming in. Surrounding the teachers and students alike.
"LIV! GET TO PRESTON!" Ocean shouted before swing her wand "STUPEFY!"
Liv quickly picked up her feet, running to where Preston lied unmoving. Inside the maze, Justin was succeeding in pushing back the creature with help of his crew.
"LIV! HELP HIM!" Justin shouted as he noticed the blonde girl came running in.
She didn't to be told twice as she was already kneeling next to the ravenette. He's still breathing, hitching, but still breathing. She quickly take out the potion bottle provided to them by Madam Pomfrey and poured it all over Preston's deep cuts on his arm and face. She chanted a protection spell as she doing so. Seeing the wound slowly closing itself back in that Liv could finally feel somewhat relief.
"HEY! WATCH OUT!!"
Before anyone else could do anything, another creature managed to wangled it way to where the Ravenclaw students were. Hagan ran towards, yelled at them to get out of the way but all she did was stared at the flaming beast, surprisingly there was no fear in her eyes.
Justin who has successfully maimed the Goblin badly turned his attention to looked around for his si...friend. Being unable to make out where Liv was, he started to feel a rising panic in his core. Justin could see Aki feeling the same cause not only Liv was was no where to be seen but so was Hagan.
All the sudden, the entire arena was rumbling from a massive wave of purple energy coming from somewhere within the maze. Justin and Aki both looked up to witness that wave of power before both came running towards it. From outside everyone saw it too and immediately the four headmaster know what this mean.
Twilight has been found.