Once he was through the opening, Kyle faced a short tumble down a slope, before sliding to a halt at the bottom. The passageway he found himself in was clearly not built - or, rather, hollowed out - with maximum comfort in mind. From what he could see with his supersensory eyes, the tunnel had a low ceiling, and would necessitate progressing forwards at a crawl.

Having a keen interest in history meant that Kyle knew very well where this passageway likely ended up, so he had a vague idea of about how far he had to go. That knowledge, however, did not fill him with confidence; by now he had far less than an hour to go, and he had to crawl the distance to one particular building, all the way out to what always seemed like the far side of Hogsmeade, if he remembered correctly. By now it felt like a huge stroke of luck, the fact that he had brewed a Girding Potion to get past the tree. It would only help him now that he had to move quickly, and had no time to waste on resting.

He considered removing his Supersensory Charm and lighting his wand instead, but ended up reasoning to himself that it would be much less hassle to just continue on as he was, not having to bother with holding a wand. For now, he could see through the gloom perfectly fine, and if that did not continue to be the case, then it hardly mattered. He only needed to just follow the tunnel, after all, and he could do that without using his eyes.

Kyle did take his wand out for a moment though, and pointed it straight at his own face. The cut on the top of his nose had already closed up enough that the bleeding had stopped, and the pain from the aches and bruises had started to fade, probably thanks to the Wiggentree bark in the potion. But the actual nosebleed had not eased off in the slightest, and would need some actual magical intervention. Probably best to get it done now, in case it proved an unneeded distraction later. Passing out from blood loss would be entirely too inconvenient.

"Episkey."

Speaking hurt a little more than Kyle had expected it to, but the spell seemed to do the trick; after a painful shifting sensation in his face, his nose felt more or less back to normal again. As far as Kyle could tell, the bleeding had slowed to a halt as well. He wiped his face with his sleeve, glad to find the tenderness had been greatly reduced, and re-holstered his wand.

Then, there was nothing else for it... the gloom of the tunnel awaited him.

Kyle moved as fast as he could, and, luckily for him, the potion he had taken ensured that his pace never once faltered. Really, the worst part of the entire thing was the way that the further into the tunnel he went, the more claustrophobic he started to feel, despite not having been aware that small spaces were really much of an issue for him. Then again, when before now had he ever had to worry forcing himself into a tiny, dark, cramped space, with no room even to swing a kneazle. The thing that kept him from freaking out, and kept him moving forwards, was for Kyle to keep reminding himself that the only way out was get to the exit at the other end of the passageway.

The best way out is always through. Who was it that had written that? Kyle couldn't remember, and so, for the rest of his confined journey, he focused only on trying to remember that particular wordsmith and on literally moving forwards as he did so. It kept him occupied throughout the journey, playing that little game. Could he get to the end of the tunnel before he remembered? Or before a ministry official (somehow) arrived to tell him his time was up?

Ultimately, it turned out that the answer was yes, as after a long, long time spent crawling, the floor began to slope upwards. Kyle squinted through the dark and sped up for the last few feet, until he saw the trap door directly above him, illuminated mostly by the faintest rays of light peaking through the wooden boards, something he might have missed without the charm he had placed on himself.

Kyle reached out and placed his hand flat on the door, ready to push it open, when he made contact with a scroll attached do it. Naturally, he took it as it was likely meant for him, but he did not attempt to read it whilst still in the passageway, because he really was quite aware of how cramped the space in the tunnel was.

At last, he pushed his way up through the trap door, finding himself, as expected, in the Shrieking Shack. Here he was, in a building steeped in history, and with not nearly enough time to be able to truly appreciate it. Perhaps they would allow them to come back some time after the challenge. Maybe as a treat for the winner? That would certainly give him some extra incentive.

Kyle climbed up out of the passageway and shut the trapdoor heavily behind him. He seated himself on the floor, cross-legged, and brought out his wand again.

"Lumos."

He made sure to shut his eyes before the lip of his wand blazed into light, so that he could adjust to the light a little easier. When he could open them, he held his wand up high over his head and looked around the room he had emerged into. To his right stood a staircase that spiralled up to the next floor, and to his left a doorway opened up to a wider room, but Kyle didn't move to explore either avenue just yet. First, he turned his attention to the scroll.

Unfurling it, he read through what was written.

.........

It was a riddle.

In spite of himself, Kyle broke into a smile. He had been dreading the possibility of having to fend off something else that was determined to take his head off of his shoulders, but this? This was more his tempo.

He read through it again, this time paying closer attention to exactly what was written.

First off, and most importantly, it looked as though he needed to find two trinkets to progress through this part of the challenge. 'In the time remaining' suggested that this might actually be the last part of the task.

Okay, so... 'our pigletted friends'. On Kyle's first read-through his mind had first gone to the three little pigs, given that the next line was to do with houses. By now, however, it was fairly obvious that the line referred instead to Hogwarts and its students.

'It can’t build a home, but a house it does amend...' Perhaps something to do with the Hogwarts houses? Either that, or Kyle was overthinking things. The point was that he was looking for something held dear to those at Hogwarts. Perhaps a wand? ... But then again, wands were cherished by those at Ilvermorny too. Well... perhaps he could look around, and might realise what he was looking for when he was staring right at it. He looked down at the parchment again.

'You’re looking for a lever that unlocks a door,
But to find the item you might need a particular score.'

A lever that unlocked a door was quite obviously a key (maybe that was the trinket he was looking for? did Hogwarts students really admire keys? or was this part of the riddle simply referring to where he should be looking?) but as for the next part, Kyle would have to have a look around before he made any assumptions about that... though the beginnings of an idea were forming. He moved on to the next part of the riddle, shifting around where he sat as he was eager to get up and start exploring.

It didn't take another read-through for Kyle to come to the conclusion that he the second trinket might be a Gordian Knot, like the one used to fasten the Ilvermorny robes - or perhaps even the very brooch that that part of the uniform was based on. Kyle had a habit of fiddling with his when he was nervous, and the Knot it was quite an important part of Ilvermorny's history; even during their Sorting process they needed to stand on a Gordian Knot on the floor of their Entrance Hall. The Knots could attach and reattach - that was the whole point of them - and they didn't write, and were small and arguably beautiful. A Gordian Knot was Kyle's best guess... and then perhaps the Hogwarts item was... a school tie?

... Or... you know... not.

This time, he had no idea where he was supposed to look, though he thought maybe... a sink? In a bathroom or kitchen? Or maybe it was even something to do with an oven, if it was something to do with noxious gases. He'd have to have a look around... play it by ear... go with the flow. He didn't even entertain the idea of using a Summoning Charm for one of the items; whether it worked or not, he would likely get scored low for not conducting a proper search, or perhaps be disqualified entirely.

At last, Kyle got to his feet. The Shack gave off an air of foreboding, and he couldn't help but try to keep his footsteps as quiet as possible, though the thick dust on the floor took care of that for him. He stuck to the ground floor first, entering what could only be described as a living room, and followed the wall around to the right. Around the couch and armchairs he went, pausing briefly at the fireplace. If he was going to hide something, he would probably do so in or around a fireplace... perhaps up the chimney.

But he wasn't about to go digging around up there just yet. Instead, he continued his circuit of the room, speeding up past all the disgusting rotten food and pausing to have a good look at the kitchen and bathroom, almost convinced that the second of the trinkets would be here. But he didn't linger, preferring to go after the potential Hogwarts item first, given that he had an idea as to where might be a good place to start looking. With that thought in mind, Kyle moved towards the stairs and hurried up them, acutely aware of the creaking wood all around him.

As he approached the top of the stairs and was met with a view through a doorway, Kyle saw exactly what he had been hoping to see: a piano. He hastened up the last few stairs and strode purposely towards it, giving the rest of the room a quick once-over to reassure himself that he was quite alone.

Unfurling the parchment again, Kyle held his wand over it and double-checked the stanza he had been ruminating over.

'You’re looking for a lever that unlocks a door,
But to find the item you might need a particular score.
Try them all, and you will see. Something is off.
Dust covers this place like an infernal cough.'

A key was a lever that unlocked a door, but it was possible that it could be a double meaning. Door key... piano key... a particular score. A 'score' was musical terminology, Kyle was sure of it, and that was why his thoughts had led him... here.

Well, the riddle was telling him to 'try them all'... and the only thing Kyle could think of doing to press all of the piano keys that still actually remained on the piano. So, naturally, that was exactly what he did, walking his fingers gradually down the keys, pressing each of them down, waiting to see if anything in the room changed.

Such as... maybe the fireplace? After all... 'Dust covers this place like an infernal cough,' and that fireplace was... not clean.