Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Hello, and welcome to The Life After! Feel free to have a look around and get a feel for us here at TLA. We accept everyone here be you a beginner, intermediate, or an advanced RPer, you're all welcomed here. We don't have any of those ridiculous word counts so don't feel too bad if you can't dish out a book every time you post. It's quite alright!

THE NEWEST SITE PLOT HERE AT TLA IS THE HOGWARTS HOUSE CHAMPIONSHIP PLOT!

Username:   Password:
Add Reply
Charlotte Paige Rockwell; Hufflepuff House Champion
Topic Started: Jan 8 2012, 10:18 PM (360 Views)
Charlotte Paige Rockwell
Member Avatar
7th Year, Quidditch Captain, Chaser, Prefect

As of late, life hadn’t been exactly what Charlotte could call kind. She didn’t want to recap the details of last year, but the whole ordeal still lingered in her mind. Groaning quietly as she rolled over, Charlotte let the heavy volume on her lap fall to the floor of the Hufflepuff common room while she brought a hand up to rub her eyes. She had been lying across one of the puffy yellow couches for the past hour reading up on water creatures. For the most part, they scared her half to death, but it seemed that a little after the first twenty minutes had gone by, Lottie had gotten over the minor panic attacks each time she turned a page and now she found her mind had actually processed bits and pieces of information. That was good, that was what she needed.
Ignoring the book, the brunette glanced at her watch with a small frown and pushed herself off the couch. It was almost time for that little appointment. Wonderful.
Rubbing her face over once more, trying to wake herself up properly –she always did get drowsy after reading- Charlotte pulled her wand from the pocket of her robes and flicked it casually towards the book on the ground. ”Wingardium Leviosa…” Murmuring the charm, she quickly levitated the book into her bag, pushing her wand back into her pocket before starting out the door.

Water, why did it have to be water?
Pursing her lips in annoyance, Lottie made her way through the winding dungeon corridors and up to the Entrance Hall. Julian’s task was in the forest, that was so much better. Why couldn’t she have switched tasks with him…? Apparently the school didn’t take into account the fact that she was traumatized of the black lake and until a week prior hadn’t had the foggiest on how to even swim. The moment she heard of what she was supposed to do, Charlotte had grabbed her brother –of course she’d had a bit of a mental breakdown before hand… but afterwards,- and dragged him out to the lake to show her how to at least keep herself from drowning. How long was she supposed to be in there anyway? It was freezing!
To her credit, despite her fear she had actually managed to get in the water and could maneuver herself around. She knew people had expected her to drop out the moment they heard something about a lake, but she was Charlotte bloody Rockwell and she was not going to let something as trivial and stupid as this get in her way. She had been competitive her entire life, always feeling the need to come out on top. Not that she was a sore loser, but she would have been extremely upset with herself if she hadn’t even tried.

At the top of the staircase she could see light from the first floor pour down the steps and welcomed it. Despite how cheery and nice the common room was, Charlotte didn’t like to be stuck down in the dungeons for very long. Outside had to be her favorite place to be, even now in the winter. Even now that she had to jump into water… that was below freezing and most likely grindylow infested.
Wrinkling her nose at that thought, Lottie felt a shudder work its way up her spine and she hurried her steps, the natural light from the open doors stinging her eyes for the first moment because of how it reflected off the snow. Unfortunately she wasn’t headed that way…
Turning to the staircase, she glanced behind her longingly outside with a sigh before hurrying up the steps. When she had put her name in that goblet, she hadn’t actually thought she’d be picked. Sure she was Quidditch Captain, a Prefect, helped arm the school against the Shadow Walkers had survived torture from a couple vampires and-… okay maybe she was sort of promising. But she still hadn’t thought she’d be picked out. It was really just a way to say to herself that she was back in the game, she wasn’t going to let anything hurt her anymore and she could integrate herself back into daily life at Hogwarts after a summer break. It wasn’t entirely true but it was definitely helping.

Turning a corner, she looked around for her staircase, which was… just about to leave. Damn it.
She could see the quiver of the steps that always seemed to happen just before it moved, sort of when it detached itself from the floor it was currently leading to. But she needed this staircase, it was the short cut to that classroom she’d been told to meet the Fat Friar in. ”No you don’t…” Picking up her pace, Charlotte raced to the steps, hopping on the first one and grabbing the railing just as it began to slid away from the floor opening up to a very empty space below, jostling her and forcing her to cling tight and catch her balance. It really was a miracle that they didn’t have a number of stair related deaths every year, especially form the first years, it was a pretty horrible drop if you were to fall and there were a good number of opportunities to do that.
Huffing in annoyance at the stairs, Charlotte sighed, reaching up to push a lock of hair behind her ear and out of her eyes before she readjusted the strap on her shoulder and started up the steps that were slowly readjusting themselves.

To be honest, Charlotte hadn’t ever spoken with the Friar, she had acknowledged him sure, he was the house ghost. But to be honest she hadn’t… had a conversation with him, something she was somewhat ashamed to admit. The life of a ghost had to get lonely after a while… hopefully she wouldn’t become one.
”Alright… almost there…” Mumbling to herself she touched down on the third floor quickly enough, heading down a hall and towards the classroom she’d been told to go. Lottie had been told that some champions had to get their tasks outside... thank Merlin the Hufflepuff ghost seemed to be sympathetic to temperature, she was grateful for that at least.

Slowly coming to a halt in front of a door, Charlotte's eyes fixated on it, suddenly her heart began to pound. This was it... the start of the task. The familiar thrill of competition was gradual but quick, flowing through her chest, just the edge of anxiety, enough to excite her but not scare her, rising goose bumps on her arms and reminding her of the way she felt before every Quidditch game. The feeling was so old to her that it actually calmed her down. Taking a deep breath, Charlotte pushed her way into the class room that had been deserted, all but for a rather plump man, entirely transparent, who appeared to be standing on the professor's desk, peering around the room cheerily. Letting the door slowly creak shut behind her, Charlotte's let herself take in the ghost before clearing her throat and moving a few steps forward. "Sir...?"
Surprised at how quickly the man whipped around, she couldn't help the small smile that crept onto her face, contagious of the one that he was giving her. The monk's grin spread ear to ear and a moment later it seemed he had swooped down to hover just in front of her, pride and anticipation reflected in his eyes.

"Miss Rockwell! Pleasure, very much a pleasure, I would shake your hand but I don't believe it would be very nice for you." Chuckling merrily he threw her a wink before a warm smile overtook his face. "If I were you I would be getting a piece of parchment right about now missy! I do think you will want to write this down. It's quite important you see."
Before he had even finished the sentence, Charlotte was nodding her head, digging through her bag and coming up with a piece of parchment and a quill.
"Good girl, good girl, now sit down might as well be comfortable hm?"[/i] Smiling happily he drifted over to a desk, waiting patiently while she wandered after him, caught a little off guard by the attitude. "Yeah... " Putting her things down she sat, glancing up at him curiously. "You wouldn't tell me what the actual task is right now would you..? I'm not very good with wat-.."

"No, no I'm afraid not." She hadn't even finished her sentence before he interjected with a remorseful shake of the head. "I'm strictly to tell you potion ingredients, my dear. But if it's water you're not too fond of I would head down to the dungeons and look for something to chew on to calm your nerves hm?" Offering a smile again, Lottie opened her mouth to speak, asking exactly what he meant before having to shut it again and quickly dip her quill while he started up his little speech once again.

"Alrighty now you need a little something to keep you warm, my personal favorite is fairly simple. Or it was when I was in school... now you'll be needing some crushed dragon egg shell, heat the cauldron water and toss about a handful of that in before stirring it counter clockwise for a good..." Pausing a moment, he gave it a little thought while Charlotte scribbled madly, trying to get it all down. "Ten minutes, yes that's it. Then a single mermaid scale, heat it up until it reaches a nice coppery brown colour and leave it to boil between three to four minutes until it starts to bubble. From there you add in three porcupine quills, a pinch of dried witch hazel, a dab of powdered worm wood and stir it twice clockwise, three times counter clockwise and once clockwise again, leave it to boil for twenty minutes and finally add in just a pinch of lemon juice for flavor!" Chuckling happily, he peered down at Charlotte curiously, "Did you get all of that?"

Lottie's hand was starting to ache as she finished up and nodded her head. "Got it... what did you mean about chew on-" She didn't get an answer for that one either, just another little wink before he continued on. "Go brew that, and take a vial before coming down to the black lake, I'd suggest you bring a cloak for before hand, good luck!" With a friendly wave and a grin, the man vanished leaving Charlotte sitting, slightly baffled at the desk. She hesitated, glancing around once more, looking down at her parchment before scooping that up and once again she was on the move, thinking of this as a competition and for now trying to ignore the water.

Heading back out the door, within no time she had found her way back down to the dungeons and into the potions store closet. She hadn't had time during the Friar's little speech to write down a list, but reading through the instructions, she was picking out things here and there. Brown eyes passing from the paper up to the shelves and back down to the sheet again, she sighed, rummaging around jars, thankful she had been in here not too long before with an actual class and knew where the majority of things might be. It didn't take very long, soon she was grabbing the last jar that seemed to be full of what the label said was dragon egg shell and turning to leave. She didn't make it more than a step before her toe caught on something, making her stumble. Juggling the ingredients in her arms, Lottie quickly caught balance, sighing in relief when nothing went flying.
Glancing down to see what she had tripped over, her brows furrowed a little in curiosity and she looked back up, quickly hurrying to her bench and setting the things down, not opening a single jar but turning back towards the store cupboard and kneeling down beside the rather large jar she had tripped over. Interesting...
Tipping it so the words along the side of the painted jar caught the light, she tilted her head reading something in Latin and then Gillyweed beneath.
Gillyweed... she knew that.
Her eyes widened a little and she paused, was that allowed...? She hadn't been told it wasn't...
Biting her lip slightly, Charlotte reached for the lid, untwisting it and wrinkling her nose at the smell when she revealed the contents of the jar. It basically looked like a slimy green plant of some sort... almost like tentacles.... gross.

Charlotte usually stayed away with anything having to do with water, but that book she had been reading earlier definitely outlined this as basically your gateway to underwater life... well for an hour or two depending on if it was salt or fresh water. It had seemed interesting, she'd read it because it looked more like water survival technique than anything having to do with drowning. Now here it was... flippers, gills... she wouldn't drown, she could swim so much more easily.
Her mind lit at the thought and before she could change her mind, the seventh year was grabbing a bag off the shelf, reaching into the slime and shuddering at the texture while she grabbed a handful stuffing it inside of the little sack and tying that tight before pushing it into her back and re-capping the gillyweed, standing upright once more.

Okay... potion.
The thing didn't take too long, just as the Friar had said, it was somewhat simple. Thankful that she had a decent house ghost -and pitying whoever the Slytherin champion was- Lottie boiled water, tossing in the egg shells and picked up a wooden ladle, starting to stir the potion counter clockwise, starting to count the minutes in her head, glancing to the parchment she had set out beside her. Thankfully, Charlotte was actually fairly decent at her classes when it came down to it. Transfiguration wasn't something the excelled in, but potions wasn't too bad, and this wasn't rocket science thankfully. He could have given her something horrible to do, but honestly... this was something she might have done in class.
Having counted to sixty about ten times, Charlotte glanced down, where did she put that scal- oh there it was.
Picking it up in a pair of teasers, she dropped it in the pot, watching as the whole thing swirled to a lovely green shade, the colour the scale had been before it was disintegrated into the cauldron.
Sighing softly to calm herself, Charlotte's hand moved to her wand, tapping the coals beneath her cauldron to heat it up. She better not mess this up... being given a simple potion, having gillyweed just in case... she couldn't screw this up she had it in the bag. Well... she hoped.

Tapping her fingers on the table, Charlotte couldn't take her eyes off the water. She waited until it bubbled, the colour seeming about right and she added in the quills along with the hazel and worm wood. The water seemed to get thicker, colour changing to a rather unappetizing putrid black... it made her wrinkle her nose just to glance at.
Hopefully if she stirred it again it would change to something a little more.. edible.
Stirring the pot, she watched, waited... nothing. Wonderful.
Tapping her foot on the stones beneath her, Charlotte reached up with the hand that wasn't quickly stirring her potion to rub her eyes. She was still groggy, that couldn't possibly be good. Especially that now all there was to do was to wait a good twenty minutes before anything important would happen.

Carefully extracting the stir stick, she rested it beside the cauldron and sat down on a stool to wait. Five minutes.... seven... ten... this seemed to be taking forever, and the longer she waited the more nervous she was getting. What if it didn't work? What if something was wrong and her potion wasn't going to turn out? She didn't exactly have time to make another one, it already took forty minutes for this one.
Sighing quietly, she glanced down at the floor, carefully counting out the minutes in her head, calming down slowly as the numbers slid through her mind and at the final digit she was up again, cooling the stones beneath her cauldron and scooping up a couple vials worth of whatever this... muck was. The black had taken on a brownish tint, which wasn't much better but at least it wasn't like she was taking this stuff on a daily basis or anything, it was a one time thing and she never had to taste it again.
Pushing the vials into her pockets, she started off out the door and towards the Hufflepuff common room. Nearly there she slowed to a stop, glancing behind her and froze. Lemon juice... damn it she forgot the lemon juice... it wasn't that bad right? He'd told her it was just for taste... that's what he'd said.
Biting her lower lip Charlotte waited, weighing her options and finally deciding that she was going to trust the monk and started off at a jog now to the common room, greeted suddenly with eager eyes as she made her way upstairs. Only glancing around to see if Ryder or Trent was around, she quickly realized they weren't and made it to her room, changing into a swim suit she thought she would never see herself in.

Ever since falling into that water all those years ago, she never wanted to get back in... unfortunately that didn't seem to be an option right now.
Sliding the material up her body, she wasn't sure she even liked the way it felt, hugging every curve... leaving her legs and arms entirely open and vulnerable.
"Breathe Lottie... c'mon breathe..." Shutting her eyes, Charlotte let out her air, all of it, before taking a deep, slow breath and forcing it out of her lungs again. Somehow air was starting to feel like lead. Lead wasn't very easy to breathe either.
"Take the potion... calm down... calm down it's just a lake." She continued to mumble to herself while she opened her eyes again, reaching into her bag that was laid on her bed and gathering a vial out, giving it one glance before draining the whole thing and shuddering as the liquid chased itself icily down her throat, reaching her stomach and Charlotte gasped, eyes widening as she felt the ice turn to warmth, spreading quickly throughout her entire body, making her feel as if she was still under her bed covers this morning. Somehow it made her calm down, just a little.

Breathing a little easier, she glanced at herself in the mirror, looking herself up and down before grabbing her cloak and bag, wrapping it over her shoulder. If she didn't move now... she wasn't going to come back out of her room.
Forcing herself to go, Charlotte was already out the door and in the common room, smiling a bit at the praise she got from her housemates, trying to make it look like she completely had her cool as she waved back at them, pushing her way out the door and starting up the stairs, back into the Entrance hall and this time, out into the December day.
Anyone wearing a swim suit and only a cloak and shoes over top would freeze, but right now... she felt as if she'd stepped into a furnace and it was amazing. It seemed the colder it got, the warmer she became and a small smile slid over her lips. She was getting a few strange looks, but for the most part, other students just seemed interested. The Hufflepuff champion, heading down to the lake mid-December... if she was on the other end she would have been interested too.

It didn't take long to get to the lake, the snow beneath her shoes crunching under her as she finally came to a halt, hesitating then. What.. was she supposed to do exactly?
Wrapping her cloak around her a little further, mostly out of habit, Charlotte did kick off her shoes and wandered out onto the dock, her knees feeling somewhat stiff as the sound of water sloshed beneath her, taunting her... teasing.
Swallowing to try and wet her bone dry throat, Charlotte came to another stop just at the edge of the docks, glancing down to her bag and keeping it on her person, peering around. Empty... she was supposed to be here now right?
Taking a breath, Charlotte looked around. "...Hello? I'm... ready?"
Edited by Charlotte Paige Rockwell, Jan 8 2012, 11:50 PM.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
GameMaker

Standing there at the edge of the Black Lake waiting for the task to begin you hear a loud voice echoing all around you. The source of the voice is unknown and the voice has been distorted in a way so that you can not tell if it is male or female.

"Hello and congratulations once again, Charlotte Paige Rockwell, on being chosen as a Hogwarts Hufflepuff House Champion! If you are indeed here as instructed this means you have completed the first part of this task. Let's hope your potion is brewed correctly! You will need the warmth tonight as you will be plunging into the depths of this near frozen Black Lake! All living creatures here were not removed and they were not warned of your presence. You have exactly one hour to to retrieve what was stolen only from you and return both you and said....thing to the surface. If you run into any trouble well...I hope you have plenty of spells and jinxes in your arsenal because you will surely need them to make it back safely!

If you have not done so already please open your potion vial and take your potion. After the sound of the canon you will need to use your method of choice to breath under water and take your leave.

Good Luck Charlotte Paige Rockwell, and may the best house win!"


In the interest of time you will only need to post twice. Once after this one and again after another from me. be sure to use the spells/jinxes/charms that were in the rules and information thread.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Charlotte Paige Rockwell
Member Avatar
7th Year, Quidditch Captain, Chaser, Prefect

A voice nearly had her falling in the water before the task had begun. Dark eyes widened in surprise and she peered around, trying to find the source before uneasily returning her eyes to the lake, coming to the conclusion there might not be a source… that was slightly disturbing. But not nearly as disturbing at what she heard next. It wasn’t like she hadn’t known it was going to happen. But the words being spoken to her made it all the more real, not to mention the murky depths of water merely inches beneath her feet. The way it curdled and licked at the feet of the dock made her stomach turn and she had to look up to make it stop.
Shutting her eyes, Charlotte took a deep breath, she really had to steady herself… she was Charlotte Rockwell, she didn’t just quit…
No matter how much she wanted to run back into that school and climb safely into her boyfriend’s arms.
Living creatures not removed… or warned.
Her heart seemed to skip a beat and she was having a hard time keeping herself calm. Maybe she really was going to be sick, hey, maybe it would help?

She listened, barely taking in the rest that was said other than the fact that something had been taken from her, what could have they taken? That was annoying, were they in her dorm? Getting a little annoyed, her eyes opened and she narrowed them at no one in particular. ”Were you tournament lot in my room?” Huffing, she crossed her arms, still irritated that they would touch her things without her permission. This was all quite a lot of trouble to go to for a hairbrush though. Sure there was all that glory and everything, but seriously?

Biting back some more complaints, Charlotte reached into her bag and drew out the smaller sack. She had an hour and already the sound of the canon was thundering in her ears. She didn’t pay it any mind, already digging her fingers into the bag, enclosing them around the slimy contents and wrinkling her nose in distaste as she pulled it out, liquid discharge dripping down her hand. If she didn’t know better… and to be honest she probably didn’t, Charlotte could have sworn the stuff moved, crawling its way around her fingers. Well… it was better than drowning.
Precious seconds were ticking away, without giving it any more thought, she shoved the plant into her mouth, chewing and almost gagging once again. Ugh she wasn’t going to eat for a week after this, definitely not sea food.
Forcing it down, Charlotte managed to choke it down, bending forward a little, hands on her knees to get the whole thing squeezed through her throat before realizing a moment later that she wasn’t actually done yet. Now she had to actually get in the water.
The after taste just as revolting as the initial plant, Charlotte’s anger and annoyance from earlier, even her disgust melted away as she looked into the lake. She couldn’t see anything… not a tentacle, not even a fish. While usually it might have calmed her that there was nothing in sight, now it made her nervous, scared even. Flashbacks of being grabbed and dragged down to drown by grindylows when she was a kid rushed back and made her knees buckle. It was really all she could do to stay even somewhat upright. Oh this was horrible… it definitely wasn’t worth it.
Biting her lip and deciding she didn’t actually have to go through with this, Charlotte straightened up and took a deep breath, only to choke and sputter on the air that was sucked into her lungs.
Panic flushed through her and she brought her hands to her throat only to shudder at the feel and pull them away to stare at, they looked normal save for the fact her fingers were lengthened, abnormally so and webs of skin stretched between each limb. Horrified she looked down at her feet, staring as she noticed the same was happening before her eyes and quicker now she reached up to her neck, feeling gills and it hit her. She was suffocating literally suffocating from air.

Choking again, sputtering Lottie’s lungs burnt and there was literally nothing she could do at that point. Bracing herself she dove, straight into the water and as it encased her the fire in her chest eased, gasping in water she whimpered, everything spun as she plummeted herself in, only to come to a peaceful halt. It felt strange, water sucking itself in through her mouth, pushing itself out her gills and tickling her neck in the process.
Opening one eye, then another, Charlotte took in her surroundings. She was in the lake… floating… just floating there.
Slowly peering around, panic began to lessen when more and more water was filtered through her lungs. She wasn’t going to drown… it wasn’t a possibility anymore.

With that out of the way, the girl slowly moved her feet, testing the flippers and drifted upwards, her fins catching the water more easily than her toes ever would have been able to.
Fear turned into interest as she looked down, turning her hands over before her and a small smile slid across her lips. This… this might actually turn out okay…
Okay Lottie… get a hold of yourself, c’mon lets go…”
She glanced around the lake floor, not seeing anything but a few fish here and there. Where was she supposed to look for this… ‘thing’ she’d lost?
Angling herself she started to swim down deeper, keeping away from dark caves or anything but the fact that she was actually swimming still remained. The girl who last week would have drowned and probably burst into tears if she’d been shoved anywhere near water had gills and was literally swimming like a fish. Man, if Ryder could see her…

Smirking at the thought, Charlotte glanced around, feeling a change in the current and peered over her shoulder in that direction. Eyes widening she darted into the first crevice that came into view and remained as still as possible, a fish brushing against her leg but she paid it no mind. Above her was a school of mer-people. Care of Magical Creatures wasn’t her strong point, and she hadn’t gotten to the unit on merpeople anywhere really and wasn’t quite sure if they were… hostile or not. She didn’t want to find out if they hadn’t been warned she was coming.
Praying they didn’t find her, Charlotte sunk further into the dark, waiting, watching, her dark hair floating around her, framing her face and brushing softly against her cheek. It didn’t take too long; as soon as they were gone she was out again, swimming in the opposite direction.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
GameMaker

While you venture further into the murk, you come closer to your target, but you also enter dangerous territory. The water here is different; darker, rougher.
Here, you find yourself in an underwater village, or what used to be so, something has happened here and it was obviously abandoned. The water is colder, if that is even possible and despite the potion you have brewed and taken, it still manages to creep it's way into your flesh.
The thirty minute mark sounds above your head, somewhere off in the distance and you don't have much time.

The quiet is broken by a shriek that vibrates the liquid surrounding you, another accompanies it and soon another... they seem to be getting closer. If I were you I would beware of the grindylows.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Charlotte Paige Rockwell
Member Avatar
7th Year, Quidditch Captain, Chaser, Prefect

Pushing further through the lake, she peers around, realizing that surprisingly, despite the task being… well a task, she was fairly relaxed, expecially for being in the lake. Having taken her time to try and avoid any sort of creature that wasn’t a fish that she could, Charlotte felt she was doing rather well… despite the fact she hadn’t found what she was looking for yet, whatever that might be. Once or twice she lifted a rock, glancing under doubtfully for something that might have been taken off of her person without her realizing. Charlotte’s first thought was her diary, it was something she rarely wrote in but if it was at the bottom of the lake it was going to be water damaged and she wasn’t going to be happy.
Swimming across what appeared to be almost a dirt road she slid herself easily over a hill and frowned pushing a boulder out of the way to glance beneath that. Nope… nothing.

Sighing she glanced up, vibrations from the boom that had sounded up top was signaling her thirty minutes… Damn it she wasn’t anywhere near closer to finding… whatever it was.
For a while there she was scared it was going to be her broomstick, her baby. If anyone, anyone even the school had her broom waterlogged they were going to pay dearly for it, she rarely let Trent touch that thing.
Paddling herself along, Charlotte’s eyes scanned the water. The place had a haunted feel to it… wherever she was it definitely wasn’t intended to be open water anymore. It looked like… someone had lived here. Sort of. Not people anyways.
As she swam through, Lottie slowed. It was… just abandoned, like the underwater version of a ghost town or something. The caves were charred like they’d been burnt, nothing grew here… not like the rest of the lake.

Staying outside of the ‘buildings’ she kept swimming, peering here and there to see if there was anything she could spot… nothing.
Frowning, her annoyance was short lived. A shriek met her ears, sending ice cold shivers down her back and making her whip around. Grindylows, she knew that sound. She knew it far too well.
Eyes widening the girl turned and was gone, shooting through the water as fast as she could go, grabbing onto the roof of the first house she saw and sinking behind it, pressing herself to the stony exterior while she listened to them shoot by, their little squid-like bodies pumping far too quickly for her to be comfortable with the movement. Nausea built up in her stomach and she shuddered, looking down and freezing.
Some of the buildings were cracking from age, much like the one she was pressed against. In fact, it was opened enough that she could see right through, through to the interior of the house and what she saw froze her solid.
Not directly beneath her, a little off to the side she could see some of what had to be furniture, charred like everything else. She could see the little tentacles, grindylow tentacles shooting here and there; making her skin crawl but that wasn’t what she was focusing on.

Off in the corner of the room, looking as if he was in his dorm, sleeping just as peacefully was her boyfriend. Her eyes wide she studied him, thick ropes of seaweed lashed his wrists and arms together behind him, another few coils wrapped around chest, from here they looked fairly tight, keeping his arms bound in place. His legs were pulled together and secured as well but he didn’t seem… conscious of any of it.
They hadn’t taken a thing from her they’d taken a person. Suddenly this task was making so much more sense… bloody hell she’d almost opted out.
Shaking the thought from her head, Charlotte’s mind began to race. He better be able to breathe… he didn’t look like he was breathing, but the school wasn’t stupid enough to let him die down here.

It was part of the task… the tournament was just a game. No one was going to get… too hurt… right?
Glancing down again, she weighed her options. She needed surprise… something to distract those things, she wasn’t going to just run down there. She needed something… something big-…
Pausing mid-thought, she looked down at the roof. It was going to crumble anyways. She might as well give it a head start and hope to Merlin it didn’t hurt Julian.
Another pounding sound above her, she had twenty minutes left she was running out of time.
Before jumping in the water she’d lashed her wand to her arm with a sort of brace, she hadn’t known they’d made those things but it was coming in handy now. Reaching for her wand she moved to a part of the building that wasn’t directly above her boyfriend and pressed the tip of her wand into the stone, running through her mind for spells before one just whispered itself from her lips. ”Deprimo.”

Despite the command being soft, the result itself brought the house down rather literally.
The roof caved in, accompanied by surprised shrieks of it’s inhabitants. Crumbling beneath her, Lottie pushes herself into the mess of dispersing grindylows, yelping suddenly, one having latched onto her arm, it’s sharp teeth digging in, little head moving like a dog trying to shake a dead animal.
Screaming in pain, she pointed her wand, ”Stupify! The little beast flew backwards, growling at her but turned and bolted off, leaving her with a bleeding, injured arm. She didn’t pay much attention to it now anyways, looking down she shot towards the mop of dark hair and pushed a bit of rubble out of the way, nothing had hurt him… thank Merlin.
Reaching for him she pulled his bound form upwards. She had to get out of here now, that’s all she needed to do.

Wrapping both arms around him, Charlotte winced as her wound pressed into the seaweed that held him captive. She pumped her legs, shooting upwards and only stopping when she reached a calmer piece of water. Wand having been kept in hand, Charlotte moved her hair out of the way and first things first, pointed her wand right to his face. ”Bubluo” She kept it there while a bubble began to form, encasing his head and suddenly she saw his chest rise and fall, still his eyes remained shut and she sighed in relief. She didn’t like to see him stop breathing, it just scared her. It wasn’t normal, even if it was just a spell.
Leaving him float there she swam down to his legs, tugging at the binds and pursing her lips together, tapping them one by one with her wand, slicing the ropes, pushing them away to sink to the lake’s bottom as each came undone. Moving up to his torso, she detached his arms from his chest, only his wrists left. Moving her attention to those, Charlotte felt something slam against her, sending her and Julian shooting in the other direction. Reaching for him she grabbed the man’s arm with her webbed fingers and whipped around to see the snickering face of a mer-man, his spear glinting in the depths.
Eyes narrowing she swam back, pulling Julian with her. If he was going to give her trouble, she was ready, hand gripped tight on her wand.
He smirked, darting past, not close enough to touch her, but enough to shock the girl, the water current spinning them around, making her dizzy.
Wincing, Charlotte looked up, she could see light, she had to get him up there.
Pulling her wand out, red sparks flew towards the mermaid, he darted out of the way and made for her again. ”Stupify!” A snicker sounded in her ear again, only to be cut off by a yelp and the creature went flying, her stunning spell having hit perfectly. Only slowed by the water, but the thing had been just sitting there asking for it.

Gripping Julian tighter, she lgnaced at his face… still sleeping like a baby, wrists still tied behind his back but that was going to have to wait.
Turning her attention upwards she pumped her legs, it was harder with the extra weight but she could feel her skin begin to chill, the gong sounding again, five minutes. Damn it…
Her potion was wearing off, she was going to be frozen in a minute.
Swimming as fast as she could manage, it seemed like forever before Lottie’s head broke through the surface, she didn’t gasp for air, choking on it instead but pulling Julian’s head above water just as a pain slid through her neck making her choke and sputter, water coughing up into her mouth as the gills began to retreat. Bloody good timing…
Choking up a little bit of water she make sure to keep kicking despite the fact it was getting harder to keep her head above water, her eyes moved to Julian, she could feel him starting to wake and began to pull him to shore. ”I’ll untie you in a minute, task is over. You alright?”
Edited by Charlotte Paige Rockwell, Jan 16 2012, 12:32 AM.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
« Previous Topic · Second Task: The Black Lake · Next Topic »
Add Reply