 Door 3 + Chloe & other mentions (Sorry about her! xD) Rhibear ~ Madam Solo ~ Dark Brooding Girl ~ Accio Jedi ~ Gryffinclaw ~ Just a doll
Tina stepped through the second door to find… another door, what a shock. She sighed exasperatedly. This maze was so - for lack of a better word - extra! Honestly, what was so wrong with having a normal pop quiz with quills and parchment? Surely that would teach the same lesson about ethics, minus all the uncertainty and frustration.
As she approached the door, her eyes fell to the little Gryffindor (Cordelia) on the floor. Ugh, this had gone too far! Not only was this door maze annoying and unnecessary, but now it was clearly frightening people. Tina felt sorry for the girl; she reminded her of the small children back at Chateau Croyance. See? She may be standoffish, but she wasn't heartless. She gave the girl a sympathetic look. Was there something she could do? She wasn't very good with emotions, her own or other people's, and some people had a tendency to lash out when they were upset. That and it looked like one of her housemates (Indigo) was already helping her. He had this, right? She was going to stay out of it for now, but she was here to help if things went south.
For the time being, Tina turned her attention to the question on the door. Hmm… asking while your friend is half asleep, obviously incorrect. Checking if your friend is allergic before giving them the potion… closer, but there was more to it than that. Getting your friend to say yes? That seemed like a trick answer. Permission was important, but they needed to know what they were agreeing to. None of the above seemed like an obvious trick, so that left making sure your friend fully understands what the potion is and does, including any risks, before putting in their drink.
Tina was about to tap that answer when out of the corner of her eye, she saw the boils on Chloe's hand. “What happened to your hand?” she asked before she could stop herself. “Did-?” Her eyes darted from the Head Girl to the door and back, and she gasped as understanding dawned on her. “The doors are rigged to punish you for making a mistake…” And she had a feeling the punishments were going to get worse with each subsequent door.
Tina was officially furious! What kind of person asks questions about informed consent then proceeds to punish wrong answers by giving people boils?! She seriously doubted Noble had anyone's informed consent to do that. What a filthy hypocrite! How was he head of Hufflepuff? This was Hogwarts, Tina reminded herself, the crazy backwards school that had hired a failed comedian as a headmaster and a doddering old fool as a charms teacher. By that logic, she supposed it wasn't too far-fetched to have a bully and hypocrite in charge of the house known for kindness and fair play.
Tina's rage was making it a lot harder to think straight. It looked like their best chance was to have five people each pick a different answer. Then they'd all know that the person without boils had the correct one, and everybody else could tap the right answer. The problem was she didn't know which answers had already been picked. She thought to ask Chloe which answer she picked so they could warn the others not to choose that one, but she wasn't sure it would do much good now. A lot of people had already chosen their answers.
Tina re-examined the question. The only way to outsmart a bully was to think like one! Now if I enjoyed hurting people, how would I use this question to do it? she thought. Probably by planting a seemingly correct answer in plain sight so more people would be tricked into getting boils… That meant “making sure your friend fully understands what the potion is and does, including any risks, before putting in their drink” was incorrect! Whew! She was glad she waited before picking! So if the obvious answer was a trick… that had to mean the answer that looked like a trick was the correct one, right?
Tina gingerly tapped None of the above and waited for something to happen. Hopefully that something wasn't boils!
__________________ Old voices I had thought long since dead whisper of another life I might have led
If I could take that second chance, If I could make my life anew, If only dreams came true... |