 Double Agent Stamps!
The champions will sit down and a few minutes later a school owl will swoop down beside them. The champions will remove the parchment from the owl leg, give him an owl treat if they have one, and tell the owl to return to the owlry. The parchment will inform the champions that they need to swim the rock and retrieve the second item they will need to complete this task. They should swim to the rock and find themselves face to face with a Sphinx. The Egyptian Sphinx has a human head on a lion’s body. For over a thousand years it has been used to by witches and wizards to guard valuables and secret hideaways. Highly intelligent, the Sphinx delights in puzzles and riddles. It is usually dangerous when what it is guarding is threatened.
Instinctively the champions will raise their wand unsure exactly what to do. The Sphinx will not be crouching as if to attack, but pacing back and forth blocking his progress. The Sphinx will then speak in a deep mellow tone. “I have the prize you seek, but it is not free. You must earn it first. Answer my riddle on your first guess, and you will have what you seek. Answer wrongly- I attack. Remain silent- I will let you swim back to shore unscathed.” Erin and Spotty will have to help me come up with a good riddle. I’m better at solving them than making them up. The champions will have to decide what they are going to do. They have to try and solve the riddle to receive the second prize. They cannot continue with the task until they have secured it. If they answer correctly on the first try, the Sphinx will move away and reveal a table with four gold goblets on it. Each champion will choose a goblet and take a rolled up parchment. It will instruct them to place the goblet in the waterproof bag, swim back to shore, and walk in the direction of the Fruity Grove.
As they walk towards it they will hear a soft rustling and clicking sound coming from the grove. The campions will once again take out their wands. They have never heard a sound such as this coming from the grove. Cautiously they walk into it. They will find another trunk sitting under one of the fruit trees. It’s different from the one before. This one has seven locks. The champions try and open the trunk, but find it is locked. They decide their next prize must be locked in this trunk. This part of the task is going to be a lot easier than the previous ones. Pointing their wands at the first lock, they say Alohomora. They try to open the trunk again, but it won’t budge. They try the charm on all seven locks with the same result. In the meantime one of the tiny birds that have been flying over head sweeps down and circles around them. The champions notice the jewel-bright birds aren’t birds at all. They are winged keys. If they remember their Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, they will realize they are going to need one of the winged keys to open the trunk. The champions will study the keys flying overhead and decide they need the one with bright green wings. This key’s design matches the designs on the locks, but how do they catch the key? The obvious way to catch the key will be to use a broom. There is just one problem. There are not brooms around. Each champion will either have to use the accio charm to retrieve his or her broom from the castle, or use the same charm to get a school broom from the broom shed. They could climb the tree and try to get the key that way, but I don’t know if they would be too successful. The champions could also use the Immobulus charm to freeze the keys; but then again they will have to be able to retrieve the key. I guess they could use the accio charm on the correct key. Once they have the correct key, they will start opening compartments. The third compartment will contain their prize, a grindylow in an unbreakable jar. They will also find another parchment. This one will direct the champions to place the jar in their bag, cut across the grounds, and head in the direction of the lake.
The champions will walk across the grounds and find themselves face to face with a deatheater. He will point his wand at the champions and yell stupify! Each of the champions will have to come up with a way to deflect the stunner spell. The two will continue to duel until there is a winner. If it is one of the champions, he will continue to the lake. If the deatheater is victorious, the champion’s participation in this task is at an end. If the champion wins, the deatheater will hand him a pitchfork and tell the champion he must take all of his prizes to where the merpeople live. Their chieftan has what they need to complete their task.
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