Disclaimer: This information is provided as a guide so that you can further enjoy the SS School RPG. This information is subject to changes as more information about the characters is revealed in the story. Also, please remember that some of this information may not be known to your character "IC".
| House Point Totals | |
|---|---|
| Hufflepuff | 3249 |
| Slytherin | 2972 |
| Ravenclaw | 2047 |
| Gryffindor | 1807 |
While still suffering its losses from dementor attacks and stolen funds, Hogwarts was finally beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. With many of the previously repossessed items returned to the school, students and staff alike were pleased to find that the quality dinnerware and house elves had also returned. No more doing their own laundry! But that’s not all that had Hogwarts’ hearts filled with hope. With a renewed emphasis on academics, it was announced that the school would play host to the European Bureau of Wizarding Education Quiz Bowl Scholarship Competition (EBWEQBSC, for short). Often referred to as the Triwizard Tournament of wits, the students of Hogwarts were set to compete in two rounds consisting of three tasks each of academic competition against Beauxbatons Academy and the Durmstrang Institute.
The first round of competition took place in the fall near the wizarding village of Hogsmeade. While family, alumni, and student supporters filled the stands, the three wizarding schools’ representatives mentally prepared themselves for the tasks ahead.
The first task took place in the morning and was a combined challenge of Ancient Runes and Divination in which students found themselves in a large circular arena. Upon further inspection, the walls were covered in random writing among which participants would have to correctly identify four runes that would spell a word and give them their first hint to escaping. Hogwarts representatives (fifth year Slytherin West Odessa and sixth year Hufflepuff Alec Summers) made quick work of this first puzzle while the representatives from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang struggled to make much sense of the wall carvings at first. Once it was figured out that the next task was to perform Wyrd Spread, Odessa and Summers sailed through the rest of the challenge, literally, by summoning two brooms that they road out of the arena. Meanwhile, Durmstrang (Vilhelm Andersen and Regina Romanov) and Beauxbatons (Beau Gagnon and Zéline Labelle) representatives found themselves too stumped to complete the task, and were left with a parting gift in the form of a white foam bath.
After a short break for lunch, the second task of competition took place. This time, the task focused on utilizing skills from Herbology and Potions. Participants found themselves in a cave with several varieties of plants growing and a large cauldron. After a few moments, a house elf, unable to speak because the poor creature was bloated from ear to ear, stumbled towards each pairing and the task to be completed was clear: brew a Deflating Draft to stop the house elf’s suffering. Léa Maltisse and Sébastien Voclain of Beauxbatons were first to complete the task while Hogwarts representatives Alexa Cambridge and Katrina Hudson came in a close second. Durmstrang representatives Ström Svensson and Bronislava Zvonimir once again failed to complete the task and came in third.
The third task of round one of the competition took place after nightfall and was a combination of skills acquired from Astronomy and Muggle studies. Participants found themselves in the middle of a meadow with nothing more than a sextant, a muggle flashlight, and muggle money. On the ground was a rock with a number carved into it, representing the Latitude which was to be used in association with the sextant to find their next clue. As the task progressed, it was not just degrees that appeared on the stones as clues, but a seemingly random series of numbers. All became clear in the end when they ended up at a muggle phone booth. After depositing the correct amount of money and dialing the correct numbers, the phone booth was activated as a portkey and participants were transported out of the meadow to the stands. Hogwarts representatives, Alice Fischer and Kaiden Yarborough made quick work of this complicated task and finished first. After some struggling and much mistake making, the Durmstrang representatives (Mischa Moller and Karina Wozniacki) eventually figured things out and completed the task second while Beauxbatons representatives (Gaston Le Blanc and Adele Rousseau) never made it past the first clue.
The first round proved to be an easy victory for Hogwarts, earning them a total of 91 points while Beauxbatons and Durmstrang scraped by with 64 points and 68 points, respectively.
In the days following the first round, it was clear that the visiting schools had brought sore losers with them. From hexes and generally disrupting lessons to pranks about the Chamber of Secrets reopening, Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students were doing everything that they could to try to knock Hogwarts off their game in the weeks leading up to the second round of competition. One student, Sébastien Voclain, even went so far as to set one of the Herbology greenhouses on fire! While some Hogwarts students felt the urge to retaliate against these ridiculous actions, there were better ways of getting back.
Like kicking fanny in the second round of competition.
Held in mid-April, the second round of competition opened with a task based on the combined knowledge of Charms and History of Magic. Participants found themselves standing before the rear of what appeared to be the Hogwarts Express. Once they stepped inside, the train began to move forward and a clue appeared before them along with an obstacle in the form of a slithering 12 foot snake. After stunning the snake and writing the correct name on the parchment provided, Bathilda Bagshot, participants were able to move to the next compartment where they were faced with yet another riddle and a swarm of cornish pixies. The next and final compartment, the driver's compartment, revealed a view of a cliff up ahead with broken tracks. As the train continued to gain speed, participants had to figure out that they needed to stop the train’s movement using Arresto Momentum or else plummet to their dooms. Thankfully for Hogwarts, Marcus Branxton and Kendall Quinn kept their Ravenclaw wits about them and finished the task unharmed and first. Beauxbatons participants, Gaston Le Blanc and Léa Maltisse, made easy work of the first two compartments but quickly lost their cool in the driver’s compartment. After some struggling - and spouting out every charm they knew - they eventually came to the correct conclusion and finished in second. Durmstrang participants, Ström Svensson and Karina Wozniacki, were unfortunately bested by the task in the first compartment and failed to complete the task.
Taking place in the afternoon, the second task was a combination of Arithmancy and Defense Against the Dark Arts. A seemingly harmless setting in a library, participants quickly learned that things were not as simple as they seemed. Some even quite literally found themselves tongue-tied thanks to a hex on the very book needed to complete the task. Needing to levitate the required book off the shelf, participants were next required to perform Arithmos Revelio to see just what sort of curse had been placed on the book. While the task entailed much more than this, none of the schools’ participants were able to make it past this stage.
The third and final round of the entire competition was a showdown utilizing the skills acquired through the study of Transfiguration and Care of Magical Creatures. In a setting reminiscent of the Triwizard Tournament of the 1994-1995 school year, participants found themselves in a hedge maze where various creatures roamed around. First up was a hippogriff who, after being showed proper respect, allowed participants to read from the scroll tied to its neck. The scroll revealed a clue to the next task. After a ride on the hippogriff’s back, participants arrived at a stone gargoyle who, once transfigured to life, taught the spell to change living creatures into glass. Only the Hogwarts participants, Minerva Wheatborn and Wade Potter, successfully transfigured their hippogriff companion to glass while the representatives from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons just barely scraped by appeasing the hippogriff’s pride.
With both rounds of competition complete, Hogwarts was the undisputed champion with a combined score of 181 points. The victory not only proved that the academics at Hogwarts could not be met by any other wizarding school in Europe, but also secured Hogwarts’ financial future in the form of a large monetary reward. Well done students, well done!