Zoryn was upset. Though she still didn't know who had been responsible for the spell casted on her, it was SUCH unfair treatment!!! She hadn't done anything wrong!!! But even more than that, she didn't understand why everyone was in such a bad mood. Even Dora and Professor Marchand looked upset... Of course Zoryn didn't "get it" because this was all still a game to her. It looked like FUN. She got to watch the heroes of her school go head to head with strangers in a battle for a big grand prize!! What wasn't there to love??? The ACTION, the THRILL, the DRAMA!!! It was like all the competitors were getting to star in a REAL LIFE movie.

Of course the more she sat quiet and helpless, the sadder she felt for both herself AND the people she admired who had to see their favorite people almost die. On second thought, this wasn't fun any more!! More than anything she wanted to run back to her dorm and find Faith for snuggles, but she also wanted to stick around for the scores. While Zoryn didn't believe in showing weakness, she also couldn't help the tears that began welling up in her eyes almost threatening to run down her face.

It wasn't until Levi appeared that she remembered she wanted to get her voice back. "Thanks," she looked up at him, an appreciative smile starting to play at her lips and eyes looking at him in utmost admiration. Despite the fact that she was mildly embarrassed that THE Levi Kenning had seen her ALMOST cry, he had been one of her favorite competitors from the start and had just made her whole world. "You did awesome," she nodded, standing up and giving him a hug... Despite the height difference. She rubbed her eyes, hoping to dry them up by doing so. "Why would she silencio me?" It wasn't a question she realized she was going to ask, but now that she could speak... Her filter was gone again.

As expected, the participants would be displeased considering that their loved ones were subjected to the challenge as well. However, what he didn't understand was the fact that they had consented to the competition, meaning, activities as such didn't exactly spell out safety-- and that anyone and anything would be at stake here. A scholarship wouldn't matter much now, sure, but the fact that they accepted to become champions meant that they should be ready for anything.

Kids, teens. That's what they are. For obvious reasons, they obviously weren't ready for the real world. Brown eyes scanned the viewing area to search for his nephew. Hopefully Jace learned a thing or two about living in the moment. River knew that the younger Reed was having trouble with OWL stress-- thinking way too ahead of himself.

River kept his presence lowkey as he stood in a spot at the foot of the viewing stands. His eyes went back to the screens where the rest of the captives were being treated by Mungo's healers. Of course he'd been itching to spring into action but this was off-limits for him. His attention was needed elsewhere-- the students.

He kept his silence as he stuffed his hands into his pockets toying with phials of extra potent Calming Draughts. As much as he wanted to make his rounds to distribute the potion, he decided against it and just let the champions release their anger in a natural way. He knew better than to suppress what they truly feel.

Was she DONE? Truthfully, she had just gotten started. Five years of quips and jabs and eye rolls that Aurora had usually brushed off her shoulder were starting to bubble to the surface in a way the Horned Serpent had not imagined. Normally one to just giggle and move on, smirking in the other direction, this was not like her at all and she knew it. Perhaps it was the stress of the whole competition. Perhaps it was the stress of seeing Chad on that screen and still not having him here in the stands with her. Perhaps it was the fear that nothing she had done had been right, and she was about to be eliminated, and it would all have been for nothing. Perhaps all those emotions were what had caused the dam to finally break.

She knew she should stop. She knew that she shouldn't keep going down this road - Jesus even had the audacity to THREATEN her, and maybe she would have stopped if it weren't for that snide jab he'd worked in there. No, she probably would have kept going without that little comment. It was like her mouth and her brain were disconnected which happened a LOT to be honest, but was particularly inconvenient today, and very rarely did it ever get her in fights.

"I'm sorry!" she exclaimed, feigning surprise and putting her taloned hand to her chest. "I didn't realize it was the norm now to take out our frustrations on little kids! My mistake," she snapped at her with a sarcastic laugh. It sounded a bit maniacal, to be truthfully honest. "Maybe it's the fact that I'm just sick and tired of watching you take out your frustration on anything that breathes around you. Or maybe it's the fact that I'm sick of you acting like you're the ONLY one with problems around here and EVERYONE needs to pay for YOUR misery," she added, eyes narrowing to dangerous levels at the girl. Seriously, cry me a RIVER. Valerie Gray may have had a troubled past or whatever - she really didn't know, but she assumed SOMETHING had to be going down in the background for her to be so nasty. She didn't care, quite honestly. If Aurora was having a bad day she didn't just go out and start hexing kids in the hallway. Most sane people didn't.

"Maybe ALL THAT contributed to my LAPSE in memory, where I forgot it's OK to just pull our wands out and hex whoever is in range whenever we're angry. I'm not going to sit back and let you use the rest of us as a punching bag anymore," she practically growled at her. No matter what was going on, Aurora felt no sympathy for the girl. Not a drop. She brought on all this herself, using others to buffer her feelings instead of just working it out like everyone else. And Aurora was DONE with it.

This challenge was messing with everyone, and she wanted to scream at the pale girl to just resist every urge she had to do anything, ever, for the rest of their time here. She didn't, though. She started to feel her anger washing away. Slowly, but surely. She was still angry at Valerie - SO angry, and she wanted to just pounce on her and take out her feelings in a physical way, but she wouldn't do that. Unlike her, she had some restraint. Rationality was starting to return, and she had said her peace now. Whether or not Valerie listened she just did NOT care. So help her, though, if she hexed another kid in front of her. Aurora would not hold back. She didn't care if she got expelled or anything anymore. She was numb again. Back to feelings of being broken, empty, and exhausted.

Ok, so she DID care if she got expelled, but she sure as heck wouldn't just stay QUIET anymore in terms of Valerie.

Also why would she want a CANDY from Jesus? What a weird thing to say. Infuriating, really, because despite the fact that Aurora didn't want to admit it, she wanted something, ANYTHING, to snap in the Wampus' brain. But Valerie was weird, so it made sense. She barely registered that comment, though, as her eyes lingered on the hand holding between Valerie and Jesus. Oh. OOOOH. She couldn't help but let out a little snort of laughter at the sight of that. Really? Surely Jesus Rodriguez knew he could do better than that ice queen, right? She had been so sure a second ago that she was done with all of this - but he HAD threatened her, after all.

Before attacking, she paused to shoot an extremely nasty look at Madelyn, who insisted on being obnoxious as always. NOT TODAY, MADELYN. NOT TODAY. She'd deal with her lately if she had to. Geez. And people called HER the drama queen. She turned back to Valerie.

"Cute. You got yourself an attack dog. A fluffy poodle by the look of it," she added with a smirk to the boy. Ok, that was kind of mean and unnecessary. Truthfully she LOVED his hair. It suited him. But he'd jumped in front of the Horned Serpent - it was only natural to expect him to get bit.

Why was that so surprising? Honestly, who said that competitors were the only ones allowed to act brave? Except for the fact that Skylar Diggory was not brave and she was probably the very antonym to brave, but still. "I trust you...Brent Westwood. Besides, I think ... they wouldn't have let any of us actually freeze to death out there." They as in the Ministry officials and people running this competition.

And before she could comment any about the junk food or winning or losing, there was Zoryn asking to turn off her sonorus charm and a verbal fight going on between two of the Ilvermorny competitors and Skylar could do nothing but sit there and watch. The one who was doing most of the shouting, Aurora, well, she had a lot of steam it seemed. Pent up aggression.

Goodness and to think she was completely deprived of junk food because of acting as a sacrifice during this round. But in a sense it was kind of worth it because to see Zoryn Spinnet get silencio'd even if it was just for a few minutes before Levi ended it, was well worth it. So props to Valerie, since she was pretty sure that was how the whole disagreements got initiated, right?

Also, was it wrong if she really wanted to witness a cat fight between the two girls? Pouncing and all? By all means, Headmistress, take your time with these scores and let's just see how far this can escalate.

Kane knew he should be EXCITED about the fact that Brent had NOT selected him to be his person that got locked in a cage and needed saving for this challenge. That had looked just plain BRUTAL, man. But as usual, Brent had stumbled in and been really weird and awkward but managed to get the job done. Hehe. Finding his bro in the stands, he plopped down next to them and sighed heavily.

"Bro, gotta say - I'm a bit disappointed in you NOT picking me over your girlfriend," he said, trying to seem like he was actually insulted, but still grinning in a joking way. That was, until he saw how Brent looked. And Skylar. Yikes, they both looked - really upset. Had it really been that bad? Kane had been watching it all from up on the screen, and had thought that maybe his bro was just being dramatic. But they both actually looked really exhausted, and tired.

"You ok?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at the both of them. Hopefully they just needed a good nights sleep or something. Kane would be really upset if his older bro was actually TRAUMATIZED from all this.

Or maybe he was just overwhelmed by everything, because in addition to Madelyn screaming cheers at the top of her lungs, one of the Ilvermorny girls was going absolutely NUTS on the other competitor over there. Screaming and shouting and making a scene for who knows WHAT reason. Daaaaang girl. People were really messed up after this challenge, huh??

He was soooooo glad he wasn't in it. SO GLAD.

For how long Louise had been sitting there transfixed she did not know, but one moment she was staring at her competitor's screen, watching her sister being cared for. And the next Irene was at her side asking if she was okay, but then Irene was off again at Aurora who had just returned.

And what had she missed? Why was Aurora going off on Valerie? That seemed like an interesting table turn.

"I'm..." Her dark eyes scanned around the viewing area in search of a calming face. "I will be, Irene." She had to be because she knew the way the younger girl had looked up to her.

Just as long as she remembered to breath and remind herself that it wasn't really the end of the world if she didn't win that scholarship. Yes she was the closest to university age of those remaining competitors, and while half of her would have been amused to see Valerie and Aurora disqualified, Louise didn't really need the scholarship.

Though the number of competitors was half of what they had started with for the first challenge, making a group decision on who would move on and who would not was not any easier. In fact, this challenge was one of the hardest ones to judge. There were many different approaches that had been taken and so many emotions had been brought to the surface because of this particular challenge. Each of the judges, needless to say, had very strong opinions toward certain competitors. At the end of the day only four would move on, and it took nearly twenty minutes to figure out who those four would be.

As the Hogwarts headmistress made her reappearance at the stands (after all of the student dramatics had happened -- there were other adults present that should have been more than capable of containing angsty children), the images on the screen disintegrated and the total scores from the previous challenge were put on display:

Kyle Baker, Ilvermorny, 50 points.
Valerie Gray, Ilvermorny, 49 points.
Jesus Rodriguez, Ilvermorny, 49 points.
Dora Umbridge, Hogwarts, 49 points.
Levi Kenning, Hogwarts, 48 points.
Aurora Chae, Ilvermorny, 47 points.
Brent Westwood, Hogwarts, 47 points.
Louise Hamilton, Ilvermorny, 45 points.

Points on display and now facing the crowd, Regina wasted no time to get started. They all had been waiting long enough for them to be revealed, and, in all honesty, she was ready to head back to the castle and get away from all the angst over a controlled magical competition.

"Unlike previous challenges, this time the competitors had someone they were connected with to fight for as they faced the harsh cold elements of an arctic environment. With only the wind as a hint at where to go and, really, very little instruction of what to do, our competitors had to be quick on their feet while still thinking critically in order to successfully complete the challenge," she , her wand gently pressed on her neck. "At this time, I would like to thank the Department of Environmental Regulation and Protection for providing us with the arctic setting and for the St. Mungo's healers that came out today to make sure our competitors and their person of importance were healthy and well post-challenge. A special thank you is also given to those who gave their consent to be part of this challenge."

That was all she was going to say about that. Them being locked in a cage was sure to be a touchy subject. If people wanted to be mad, then Regina was going to let them waste their time being mad. She knew of all the precautions that had been taken and the plan of action should anything go wrong. The risk was there intentionally for the sake of the challenge and for it to be taken seriously, but that didn't mean they were going to let anyone freeze to death. And if anyone thought that they hadn't thought through everything, then they were no brighter than Dorcus Twelvetrees.

"As with the previous challenges, each competitor could earn up to twenty-five points. Their totals earned were then totaled to their already existing scores. The top four competitors with the highest amount of points will be moving on," she stated before flicker her wand at the screen, allowing it to add on points and move names around.

Kyle Baker, Ilvermorny, 73 points.
Valerie Gray, Ilvermorny, 71 points.
Levi Kenning, Hogwarts, 70 points.
Brent Westwood, Hogwarts, 70 points.
Jesus Rodriguez, Ilvermorny, 69 points.
Dora Umbridge, Hogwarts, 68 points.
Aurora Chae, Ilvermorny, 67 points.
Louise Hamilton, Ilvermorny, 64 points.

"Those competing in the final challenge are Kyle Baker, Valerie Gray, Levi Kenning, and Brent Westwood. Congratulations." The woman clapped her hands together for them. She was proud of them, whether they knew it or not.

Once the applause died out, Regina spoke once more to bring everything to a close, "The fourth and final challenge of IMPS will be taking place on the 23rd of May. There will be a pep rally the day before the challenge, following the day's classes, to encourage school spirit and support our competitors. Until then, it is back to our normal routines. Supper in the Great Hall will be served in thirty minutes."

Her wand was then removed from her neck. She was done. It was time for everyone to leave. The headmistress, in spite of wanting to depart right away, lingered. If there were students that wanted to act up, then they were going to have to deal with her now. It wouldn't be a fun time either.

Kalen had been watching the screens with interest and then his green eyes had flicked down to the kids who were angry and wanting to take it out on other people. How that Valerie Gray hadn't been disqualified yet was behind him.

Why was she competing in the first place? She seemed so angry all the time.

He was about to stand up and step in, especially to help poor Miss Spinnet when Levi stepped in to help the younger Gryffindor.

After that, the scores were announced and he sighed softly.. his eyes swinging down to rest on someone's dark head. They only rested there for a moment before he moved to his feet, and with one glance backwards, started to head out of the stands.

Kyle's eyes went wide. Brent had done everything nearly perfectly! Why wan't he at the top? Why was Kyle getting all the points? It wasn't right! He couldn't bring himself to protest out loud, but he was fairly certain something was going on. Something wasn't right. Brent would be going on to the next challenge, at least. Barely. But he wondered if Brent would even want to after what happened to Skylar. His eyes turned from the screen to the boy he had come to idolize, wondering what his reaction would be.

Brent diverted his attention away from the drama and back to his girl, who really deserved a hundred percent of his attention. Drama would come and go but hopefully his girl was here to stay for quite a while. He intertwined their hands in a loving gesture then managed a smile over what she'd said. "That's a big amount of trust to put in somebody, Skylar Diggory," he said. "I'll try my hardest to live up to those expectations." It was kind of cool that they'd developed that kind of trust in each other.

He shrugged. "Yeah, the fact that they were watching this thing closely and would have jumped in had you been in any real danger did cross my mind," he said. "But when you're in the moment, and you see the things I saw, the emotions are the same either way." He really didn't think he'd ever get her shivering body out his mind.

Just as he said that, his bro came up, and Brent felt himself oddly more comforted with a family member around. "Dude, I didn't get to pick anybody," he said. "I didn't even know anything about the challenge until I stepped into that arena." Seriously, had he had ANY idea about what he'd see when he stepped into that icy tundra, he wasn't even sure he'd have gone through with it. He might have just asked them to go and get Skylar and let them both just walk out then and there. He couldn't imagine choosing somebody to go through that.

He nodded. "Yeah, I'm alright, man," he said.

...and then the headmistress reappeared, and Brent felt himself hold his breath as he realized the results were about to be revealed. He'd built himself up to the fact that he'd be eliminated, but he still found himself nervous as he awaited his fate. Those Ilvermorny kids were proving hard to beat, and Brent was already in a tie for fourth place.

He kept believing he'd been eliminated right up until the final four names were actually spoken, and even then, he found himself second-guessing the names and mentally asking himself if he'd heard things correctly. "Wait. I'm still in?" he asked his girl and his bro. "I don't understand. How...?" He trailed off. He was in shock.

He was about to be thrown back into the arena...and back into who knew what...for the fourth and final time.

He was too shocked to actually say anything else, but when he found the words, he was going to make sure both Skylar and Kane knew NOT to volunteer for ANYTHING at all for the upcoming round.

Be less trusting next time. Sam didn't think she was particularly trusting, except for with two people. Dora, and Robin, her brother. Although, deep down, she might admit she'd let her guard slip a little, in her eagerness to support her friend. "I'll try," she mumbled into the girl's shoulder quietly.

And as the emotion tumbled out of her and into the Gryffindor's shoulder, Sam suddenly felt exhausted. Being cold burnt a lot of energy, and Sam hadn't managed much in the way of breakfast before the challenge had started. The last place she wanted to be right now was in the centre of a simmering pot of irate Champions, without a wand.

What she needed was food.

A loud growl escaped her stomach as she flopped down into the seat next to Dora. Of course, having been a part of the challenge, she hadn't got the bag of supplies she'd brought to the previous ones. No sweet tea for Dora to vomit over her again; no Jaffa cakes to nibble on. "Those burgers smell amazing..." she said, catching a hint of one wafting across the stands. She'd been about to drag Dora towards getting one, but a lack of money soon culled the idea of something from the concession stands.

Bummer. Where was an Ast or a Rooney? They'd sub her for something, right?

She scanned the stands for them, but her attention was drawn to the Headmistress' return before finding them. Points were appearing on the screen. The Ravenclaw's face fell a little as she saw the scores update, and the final four were announced. To her, Dora totally deserved to be going through.

But then, that was all that mattered really, wasn't it? Not the scholarship that Dora had already told her she didn't need. Nor the glory of being in the final. But that they had a friendship where Sam could be stranded in the middle of an Arctic Tundra, and points awarded or not, her bestie would do anything in her power to reach her.

And that was something special indeed.

"I'm proud of you," Sam whispered quietly, squeezing her friend's hand tight and gave her a reassuring smile. "So proud. Now, can we go get something to eat?"

Dora had been on the verge of throwing a tantrum at the mere volume of nonsense going on around her. But she didn't have the energy, first off, and secondly, she was still not sure what in the name of Merlin's Saggy Trousers was going on. Being distracted had that effect on people. Ahem.

What she could glean, once she plopped down and merely LISTENED, was that Valerie had done something to Aurora... or someone else... and there was shouting and that infernal cheerleader. Who DID that? Why was that a thing? Dora diverted her attention from Sam to the cheerleader long enough to yell, "Oi! Give it a rest, please!" But she was not sure that she would even be heard over the madness that was going on. And to be honest, she didn't care one way or the other.

But while she was glancing that way... her eyes fell on the Healer. WHY was he just standing there like he didn't have a job to do? Like seriously... couldn't he see that most everyone was having a meltdown? She was not going to voluntarily take a Hogwarts prepared potion herself, but likely someone else would... and needed to. Or perhaps just some support would be nice. For some adult to show that they cared about the mental state of the children under their care... that would be lovely. The fact that they all stood there and watched them made Dora feel as though not a one of them cared. Also she felt as though their actions were invalidating their feelings... and NO ONE deserved that. Alas... Hogwarts had a funny way of running.

And before she could think much more on that... the Headmistress appeared. Well she looked like a glowing ray of sunshine and warmth and caring... NOT! What was up with that?

But then the scores went up...

And Dora literally LAUGHED.

Like totally belly laughed. A guffaw if you will. It was such a relief. Or it was the exhaustion mingling with a little shock. But whatever the reason... she thought that Brent Westwood scoring higher than Valerie Gray was the funniest thing she had ever heard of. No offense to Brent, of course. But yeah. This was... alright by her. Her being eliminated. She always knew that Astronomy and Arithmancy were not her strongest points... nor was dealing with the cold. She hated the cold. Always preferred the sunshine. Not that Scotland had much in the way of that.

But her thoughts were wandering.

Her eyes flitted over to Levi and she spared him a small smile and an incline of the head. She was hoping he could pull it out and win the whole thing now. If she couldn't win, he was the only other option. And she hoped to convey with a look that she did want to speak to him. Perhaps later in the common room. But for now... it was definitely time to go.


"Well we aren't eating anything from here... or prepared from anywhere in the castle. I bet the Groundsdude will give us some food. I trust him," she said as she pushed up out of the seat and shrugged. "And you know I don't need a trophy, plaque, or scholarship to tell me how bad bottomed I am. And I surely feel better knowing that I am done with the morally reprehensible mess that is this competition. They can have it and I am going to sleep just fine at night about it."

And she needed a coat or something. Her charms had started to wear off and she was still missing one sleeve. Ugh. The things she did for her friend.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArianaBlack

Zoryn was upset. Though she still didn't know who had been responsible for the spell casted on her, it was SUCH unfair treatment!!! She hadn't done anything wrong!!! But even more than that, she didn't understand why everyone was in such a bad mood. Even Dora and Professor Marchand looked upset... Of course Zoryn didn't "get it" because this was all still a game to her. It looked like FUN. She got to watch the heroes of her school go head to head with strangers in a battle for a big grand prize!! What wasn't there to love??? The ACTION, the THRILL, the DRAMA!!! It was like all the competitors were getting to star in a REAL LIFE movie.

Of course the more she sat quiet and helpless, the sadder she felt for both herself AND the people she admired who had to see their favorite people almost die. On second thought, this wasn't fun any more!! More than anything she wanted to run back to her dorm and find Faith for snuggles, but she also wanted to stick around for the scores. While Zoryn didn't believe in showing weakness, she also couldn't help the tears that began welling up in her eyes almost threatening to run down her face.

It wasn't until Levi appeared that she remembered she wanted to get her voice back. "Thanks," she looked up at him, an appreciative smile starting to play at her lips and eyes looking at him in utmost admiration. Despite the fact that she was mildly embarrassed that THE Levi Kenning had seen her ALMOST cry, he had been one of her favorite competitors from the start and had just made her whole world. "You did awesome," she nodded, standing up and giving him a hug... Despite the height difference. She rubbed her eyes, hoping to dry them up by doing so. "Why would she silencio me?" It wasn't a question she realized she was going to ask, but now that she could speak... Her filter was gone again.

He had missed Zoryn Spinnet's near tears. A fortunate thing, really; it was possibly that if he had seen them, he might have either hesitated long enough to see them spill or gone back to his uncomfortable chair to fume and staring blankly ahead. It wasn't something he would have been proud of by any means, but Levi could not say he was particular good at dealing with tears. Despite having shed his fair share of them to the whole school since this competition started.

Fortunately, Zoryn had better ideas or rather, better ways to distract him from the potential eye leakage. Hugging was effective like that. Because Levi appreciated hugs, his arms automatically moved to hug the younger girl back though the pat he gave her on the back was a little awkward. He had been caught off guard. He made a point to add some emotion to his voice that wasn't anger, though the smile he tried was nearly nonexistent, "Thank you." Was anything else expected anyway? He couldn't say he agreed, however. His memories of the challenge were all tainted red; a blur of anger, frustration, tears and despair. And a cold so deep he thought he'd been freezing from the inside out. "We could, I suppose--" Levi continued, cutting a glance to Valerie Gray again. "Ask her ourselves. Though if you ask me--" and she had, "she was probably trying to work out her frustrations somehow. And you were an easy target." He shrugged, stiffly.

That had possibly been too blunt. Though it made it no less true and blunt was sort of his way, anyway.

Levi squeezed her shoulder, regardless. Meanwhile, the situation with Aurora, Valerie and now Jesús appeared to be escalating. Or, at least, Aurora's voice was certainly raising. Enough for Levi to catch her words, and his eyebrows rose so far up into his forehead they threatened to reach the line where his dark curls started. She'd called Jesús Valerie's attack dog. Of all the things. Did she not realize the implication of her words? The layered meaning to them?

The Gryffindor boy blinked, locking his jaw, angling his body instinctively to stand a little bit in front of Zoryn as if bracing for an explosion. A pointless thing when Hawthorne decided just then to come back and do absolutely nothing to stop the verbal spat happening underneath her own nose. Again, not surprising; the other adults weren't exactly running to do anything about it, either.

He more or less tuned her out, hand unconsciously still resting on Zoryn's shoulder and only really paid full attention when his name was mentioned as one of the final four. Levi supposed his reaction was supposed to be feeling something other than precisely nothing; he searched within him to find either happiness or relief or sorrow or nerves. But he thought of his mother's blue lips and hands and all he felt was anger intensify all over again.

Removing his hand from Zoryn's shoulder, he rubbed his eyes with the heels of his palms. When he opened them, he caught the smiled Dora sent his way and merely nodded. A smile was out of the question--he was fairly certain the only way his facial muscles would work just then was to grimace.

Kyle, Valerie and Brent.

Right.

........Whatever. "Zoryn? Are you ready to go? I'll walk us back to the common room." Well, he was going there to change before hunting down his mother's whereabouts. Zoryn could come or she could stay behind and watch Jesús Rodriguez hopefully set Aurora Chae straight for her poor choice of words.

Lachlan found himself more than a little irritated at the accusing way Aurora Chae was staring him down. The disdain was clear in her expression, and not for the first time he silently cursed his own moral foundation. He would never disrespect a lady, but she'd do well in remembering that just because he was one of the nicer of their American team....it in, no way, diminished his capability. For her misguided effort, she received an unimpressed stare in return. Forgive him, but Valerie was his housemate, and Jesús; his friend. Yes, he befriended and enjoyed everyone to varying degrees, but these two people were different. Off limits.

As for her passionate tirade... "That is enough." The words were thick rolling off his tongue, his sweet Mississippi accent never at rest. In the moment, Lachlan sounded every bit a southern gentleman. Despite this unpleasantness. "It was a Silencing Charm which is rudimentary and induces no pain." In truth, he could agree that Valerie's interpretation of what was helpful might've been vastly different from his own, but it wasn't his place to judge her. Nor was it Aurora's. "This isn't the time or place, once again." Tensions were always at a fever pitch following these challenges, but turning on one another was unacceptable. To him, who thought a united front was important when surrounded by so many strangers. Outsiders. "Save it for later."

Attention forcibly pushed back to the conversation from before, he barely got two words out before Hawthorn was standing and making the announcement about those advancing.......Wait, seriously? Blue eyes flicking down to Jesús', the Wampus felt a tremor of shock. The gaudy Hogwartian in the green robes was advancing...over Jesús?

His lips pressed into a thin, flat line, as he considered both of the remaining Hogwarts boys. Levi and Brent....the latter, who was still very much Ilvermorny in his opinion. Because of his knowledge about the former schoolmate, Lachlan ignored him entirely. Levi would be the real competition. Squeezing Valerie's shoulder, it was all he offered in way of a congratulations. Kyle, a respectful nod. They were being represented well in the final task.

"I suppose a night away would be too much to ask for." His tone was remarkably dry.

He didn't understand why things were continuing to spiral out of control around him. Jesús was under the impression that Aurora had left their vicinity and went away to do whatever it is she did best. The sixth year glanced over and frowned at the sight of her. She was still going on and on about nothing and for the life of him, Jesús really could not understand why. The Thunderbird found it particularly interesting that not only did the staff members from Hogwarts remain silent on the escalating drama around them, but Hawk-eyes did as well. How typical of her.

Turning to face Levi, Jesús could only shrug and offer the younger girl (Zoryn) an apologetic look. Valerie was a wild card; when she went off, everyone in the surrounding area was susceptible to damage. It wasn't right, but the girl was unharmed. The sixth year watched Levi Kenning for a moment longer than he meant to, and reminded himself to find him later (to exchange contact info in case he didn't get the chance before the competition ended.) Jesús didn't blame Levi for wanting to leave right away; things had certainly taken a tricky and weird sort of turn.

Lachlan, of course, was being the voice of reason. Jesús could always appreciate the diplomatic sort of approach he took, especially when dealing with situations such as these. Now, Jesús hoped that this would've been the last of Aurora's monologuing, but fate was in a joking mood, and Jesús was slapped with a rather cruel, unsuspecting joke that literally made him take a step back. Taking a deep breath, Jesús ignored the scores for the moment (Brent progressing on was a shock to him, but he ultimately was relieved that he'd been cut) because Aurora clearly wanted more attention and he was going to give her what she wanted. Like Levi, his eyebrows had gone up but then quickly shot down at Aurora's words. Did she really compare him to a dog? Really?

He really thought he left the casual racism behind in Spanish Harlem. Wriggling his hand free of Valerie's, the Thunderbird took several steps closer to Aurora. His demeanor and expression was unfriendly, and he hoped she understood that as he glared at her. "I know it's hard for you to understand things, so let me jog your memory and use small, simple words. I just told you to watch your mouth and here you are, spouting words that you can't take back because all of these people," and he motioned to everyone around them, "heard what you said." Not that he actually knew if they were paying attention or not, but it wasn't a stretch to assume the did. He didn't think he could frown any more, but his lips remained upturned as he stared at her, disgust coloring any sort of rational thought in his mind. "If you know what's good for you, you'll stay away from me. Because if you ever even sneeze in my direction, I will rearrange your face permanently," he spat, pushing past her roughly.

Glancing back at the others (namely Lachlan, Valerie, Kyle, and Levi,) Jesús gave them a meaningful look, as if to say Time to get out of here. And he did (leave, that is.) Jesús weaved around the rest of them and made his way out of the rows of seats and exited the stands. Aurora Chae had sullied whatever positivity Jesús had remaining left, and he felt that if he didn't leave, then his fist would've connected with her face and it would've been a whole thing that he didn't want to deal with.

Brent somehow pulled himself out of his state of shock and tuned in to the escalating drama going on between the Ilvermorny students. Tensions were waaaay too high after this previous challenge, and now he was going to have to play the part of big bro and boyfriend, and get his little party of three out of here. If an all-out duel erupted, the little bro would probably just think it was funny, and then he'd end up hurt in his lapse of judgment. Skylar could probably defend herself, but after seeing shivering to her death in that metal prison, Brent didn't want her back in the line of fire.

So he pushed aside all thoughts of him moving on to the finals and stood to his feet. "A walk back to the castle together?" he asked them, but toward Kane, it was more of a 'Get up and get moving now, and there's nothing you can do about it, because you're not staying here.' He held out his hand to his girlfriend then turned to hopefully lead them on their way out.

It hadn’t even crossed the second year’s mind to ask the older boy whether or not a hug was okay. It was an instinctive move to help hide the fact that she was upset, as well as one to show her appreciation. Fortunately, Levi Kenning did not have a problem with hugs as was indicated by the way he returned it. Zoryn buried her head against his chest, before pulling away to smile up at him. Though she never really had a direct interaction with him at this point, she very much knew about how legendary the boy was among all the students and admired him TONS. A fact that reigned even TRUER now.

What may not have been such a big deal to anyone else meant truly a great deal to Zoryn. One because she was incredibly melodramatic and two because no one else even looked like they cared. And while she felt anger towards the Valerie girl, Zoryn knew better than to do anything about it. She was tiny and Valerie was way more experienced with magic. She wouldn’t stand a chance. She did catch the look from Jesus, which was only a small consolation. Zoryn uncharacteristically gave no real reaction in response. “That,” she shook her head, “doesn’t sound like a good idea,” Zoryn didn’t need an actual reason for the Ilvermornian to hex her for real. Easy target? Ouch. She nodded in understanding, but it still stung a little bit. Maybe she’d go talk to Professor H and see if he could teach her some cool dueling tricks.

She appreciated his presence regardless and while Zoryn was now focused entirely on Levi Kenning, she could still hear all the shouting happening only feet away. It was kind of hard to miss… Aurora was getting louder and louder, it seemed and Jesus was finally retaliating. It was then that she noticed Hawthorne ready to announce the results. And while Levi may have been tuned out to the Headmistress’ words, Zoryn was paying utmost attention to them. Only because she wanted to make sure that Levi and Dora were still moving forward and hoping that Valerie wasn’t. Once she heard Levi’s name announced among the top competitors, she turned to look at him and see if he was feeling any better. “You did it,” she said, giving him a light nudge. SEEEEEEE, she TOLD him he did great!!! Though his face was really hard to read… And this confused her ‘cause wasn’t he supposed to be happy?

Speaking of confusing, Dora was somewhere else in the stands… Laughing? Zoryn didn’t hear the girl’s name called among those who were moving forward and when she realized this, she felt a little drop in her tummy. Dora Umbridge, however, had a VERY different reaction to the results. Did Zoryn miss a funny joke or something!!??!? Yup. Definitely confused. And this whole time she had been thinking that since she was commentating it’d be a lot easier to understand what was going on…

With her confused eyes and attention still on Dora, Levi’s voice snapped her back into the moment. “Yeah,” she nodded slowly, her voice still not near as chipper and full of energy as it usually was. “Ready,” and with that she turned her body towards the exit. Zoryn still wanted to find Faith for snuggles in the dormitory.

Her distracted thoughts though meant that time had passed relatively quickly before the Headmistress re-emerged to the scene and while as a seventh year and legal witch, Louise should have maybe done more to calm down the angst of her peers, she didn't. But neither did the adults present, so she didn't feel too badly.

Half-listening to Hawthorne speak, she sighed relief when the woman said their person of importance was doing well. Though it wasn't quite enough; Bridgette, unlike some of her other fellow competitors person, was a witch. A student. What had taken her so long to emerge was worrisome, but Louise had to trust that she was okay. She would have been notified if she wasn't, right?

Besides the scores went up....

And while Louise had spent two months basically convincing herself why it was okay not to win the competition, seeing herself out officially, was weird. She expected it though, but still.... Also, her fellow Thunderbird competitor was out too, to which Louise gave a meaningful look towards him.

Valerie, Kyle, Brent, and Levi ...Ugh, she'd almost have rather seen Jesus over Valerie. House loyalty, not to mention, overall Jesus was a far pleasanter person than Valerie.

Aurora was out too.

And the worst (or maybe for the best), Bridgette hadn't been here to witness it. Her biggest fan, perhaps. How would she tell her little sister that while she managed to save her, she failed the competition?

"Aurora..... how about a coffee?" Louise said nonchalantly, but without waiting, headed off towards the Beetle.

Watching the verbal spat that went on before was distracting in that Skylar hadn't noticed the younger Westwood brother sit down next to him until he spoke. Seriously? Someone had the twinge of jealousy, and while it maybe should have made Skylar feel bad that his person of importance wasn't family, it also made her feel good too. And thankfully, Brent knew just the right words to answer. Wait, huh, so if he didn't pick anyone, how did the officials know about who the competitors were most connected to? OR did they just automatically choose a significant other or best friend? And if the competitor didn't have a significant other, a sibling would be close.

But yes, she did have an enormous amount of trust for the older Slytherin. And apparently for the governing bodies of this competition, in that she would be okay. Huh, apparently she had more of her parent's trust within her than she liked to admit.

And then the headmistress was speaking and Skylar felt a twinge of pride at the risk she had gone through for the sake of Brent's challenge. And finally, the scores went up.... the fourth year blinked. No junk food gouging with the boyfriend it seemed, because he had done it!! While she would have been okay with the outcome, had he not made it to the final four, she was ecstatic beyond belief that he had. "Yes!!! And, you even tied Kyle Baker for most points earned this round!" In case he hadn't bothered to do the math. "This is so great!! I'm ..." She reached over and hugged him tight, to show her excitement.

There was no need to tell her twice though about heading back to the castle. Taking his hand, she followed him from the viewing area, her mind going a million miles per hour. Two months before the final competition and she was determined to find out who was on Team Brent; a team she was so obviously spearheading.

Kyle had been angry before today. He had been upset before, too, and scared. He was no stranger to emotion, and - being a teenager - he'd had his moments of losing himself to it, but he was usually incredibly level-headed. Unless, of course, family was involved. They could bring out the worst in him, as well as the best, and it was quite natural that - being young, under pressure, and having a heart - he was still reeling, still fuming from seeing his grandmother in such a situation. Whether consent was involved or not, it didn't matter, he was still upset. Kyle was human, and so were his reactions.

Something about feeling so upset and so tense was making every sound, every voice, every little thing around him so much more frustrating than it might usually have been. Kyle wasn't really the type to emote in public - more to do with an apparent inability to openly express himself than anything else, though a general preference for thought over feeling may have had something to do with it too - but that didn't mean that it was entirely impossible, especially given the circumstances.

He was only half listening to all that was going on around him - even to Valerie and Jesús and, at one point, Lachlan. He hadn't really joined them for a conversation, it was just that... even when Valerie was clearly upset, she could still be a source of comfort, perhaps like an older sibling was supposed to. Not quite the same as the woman Kyle had just left in the hands of a British Healer, of course, but even so.

It was, of course, inevitable that Kyle's thoughts returned to her again. His grandmother; was she okay? She had been in that cage for an awfully long time. Almost frozen, stiff, turning blue. There had been icicles in her hair. And No-Maj weren't like wizards; wizarding old-age wasn't the same as No-Maj old age. What passed for elderly in the No-Maj world seemed more like middle age with witches and wizards, and since he had been introduced to the wizarding world, No-Maj seemed so fragile. He just... couldn't quite process that it had happened. A large part of him had half-believed that it had all been another trick - that's what these IMPS seemed to largely revolve around - but... no. Real. It had really been her.

As much as he wanted, maybe even needed that scholarship to truly cement his future, Kyle was suddenly unsure that this was the way he wanted to go about it. Had he known that he wasn't just agreeing to them throwing him in danger, but his grand-maman, it would have taken a lot of convincing to get him to partake in the challenges. She had been awake through the whole thing, freezing cold and suffering... If he had known, he would have refused, and worked himself to death for a scholarship at a top American Wizarding University, just like he had originally planned.

So lost in his own feelings and thoughts was Kyle that he didn't immediately register all of what was going on around him, not until Aurora was right there, going off at Valerie and even... insulting Jesús?

As a rule, Kyle didn't interfere in confrontations that did not directly involve him, but this was different. Anger was still coursing through him and what Aurora had just said seemed to linger in the air, and Kyle found himself actually wanting to bite back. Ultimately, however, he stayed out of it while Jesús made his own retort, and Kyle had no desire to talk over him, literally or figuratively.

When Jesús made to leave, Kyle met the older boy's look with a nod of his own, and took a step towards the exit himself. Almost as an afterthought, though, he stopped and looked back at Aurora with distaste. "Hope you're proud of yourself."

Leaving it at that, Kyle finally looked up at the scoreboard to see the standings, raising his eyebrows ever so slightly in surprise - two from Ilvermorny, two from Hogwarts; that was interesting - before turning back to Valerie (and Lachlan, of course) his expression still hard. "Let's get out of here." He had heard Valerie mention Ryan... and Kyle doubted she would delay going to check on him any longer than absolutely necessary. And Jesús too, of course.

As for the scores, Kyle would think more about how he felt about those later, when he had time to properly re-assess exactly how he felt about this competition. Other things took precedence right now. But yes, eventually he'd think about all that; talk with Valerie, review what he knew about Brent - his old classmate - and almost certainly seek out Levi Kenning. Levi was the only competitor in the final challenge that Kyle knew next to nothing about, but he certainly deemed him worth much more than just a passing glance or the occasional nod of acknowledgement.

In the midst of the disaster that she herself had created, Aurora heard Hawthrone buzzing in her ear, rattling off scores. When the next round of competitors was announced - her name wasn't among them.

She...had lost.

True, she hadn't come in dead last, if they wanted to be TECHNICAL about it, she had come in 7th overall. But if you weren't first, you were last. And she wasn't first. Chae's didn't come in last. They were always successful. They were always on top. They were always destined for great things. It had been drilled into her brain since the moment she was born.

For the first time in her short life, Aurora Chae hadn't won.

It was...a weird realization. She should have seen it coming. She had been behind in the standings going in to this challenge, and she KNEW she had messed up royally at almost every turn. Seeing Chad there had completely crippled her. She had been a complete mess, and she hadn't been thinking straight for most of the challenge. She'd let her emotions get the better of her (something she was ALSO doing NOW) and it had cost her a scholarship.

A weird feeling was growing in her chest. Was this what a heart attack felt like? No, it felt more...like an anxiety attack. Her heart began to race, like she was waiting for something exciting to happen, but she also wanted to cry. No tears were coming, though, and she was sure it was because she had literally cried herself out of tears. Her entire body felt like it was about ready to collapse, and she likely hadn't helped matters with all the screaming she had just done.

Valerie was being oddly silent, but something she had said had pushed SOME button in Jesus' brain. Wow. She didn't expect that reaction from him. It was far more satisfying than what she HAD been expecting. Lachlan didn't even get so much as a glance from her, though. As far as she was concerned, the charming Southern boy was totally dead to her right now. She'd probably forgive him later, but in her blind rage at the moment, he was just another enemy. All her energy focused on Jesus, she listened to him rattle off a threat to her BEAUTIFUL face, and she found herself smirking. She may be small, but she had absolutely nothing to lose right now. She felt confident in her ability to go toe to toe with him.

She wouldn't, though. Angry and irrational as she was right now, she wasn't STUPID. She had made her point perfectly clear. Now...that weird sort of feeling was spreading all the way down to her toes. She just wanted to get to her bed, cry, and maybe throw some glasses at the wall while ranting to Irene and Jeremy about...everything. She knew she'd be fuming about this tomorrow, but right now, she was tired, exhausted, and most importantly....ashamed. Ashamed at her absolutely horrendous performance in this challenge. Ashamed at the fact that she had lost. Ashamed that she had lost to VALERIE of all people.

She continued to smirk at Jesus and then stepped out of the way as he decided it was time to leave. "Looking forward to it," she practically growled as he left. She simply shrugged at Kyle as he walked by - yes, she WAS proud of herself. Proud that she had finally gotten all her inner thoughts out and poured them all over Valerie in one fell swoop. It had been a long time coming and needed to be said eventually.

Suddenly, Louise was there - inviting her for coffee? That was probably the absolute LAST thing her nerves needed right now. But it was...nice? Unless the older girl was planning on lecturing her. "Thanks, but another time maybe," she said with a sigh before turning to Irene and Jeremy. "Let's go before I pass out from exhaustion," she grumbled before turning on her heel and heading towards the exit.

Eyes still not leaving Aurora (just in case the Horned Serpent foolishly attempted to escalate things further by initiating what the Wampus could only theorize was trying to be provoked), Valerie waited. Although she could not resist looking back to the screens briefly to see what those people were doing to Ryan. Nausea had settled in the pit of her stomach and all she wanted was for the scores to be announced (of which she may not even listen to) so she could be dismissed and go see her cousin. It was in these brief moments that she caught the upward lip movements of one Dora Umbridge. A gesture she could only assume was made in sympathy for what they had all been through. She lacked the ability to return the gesture (especially now that Aurora had begun tirade number two) but a curt nod of the head was given in acknowledgement.

Rubbing salt into the wound was none other than Madelyn with another one of her poorly timed cheering routines. Valerie may have unabashedly earned the title 'Snow Queen' from her Ilvermonry peers (one that had spread to Hogwarts as well) but she doubted her fellow Wampus could understand even an ounce of what she was feeling right now. What herself or any of her fellow competitors were for that matter. If she did, she would not be validating the spectacle like she was. What a blessing it must be to be so naïve. What a blessing it was that Valerie's cheery wood wand was already holstered in her combat boot.

The exchange between Levi and the younger girl [ArianaBlack] did not go unnoticed. There was an uncomfortable itch in her chest looking at the younger that cause something to stir within, but something Aurora said thankfully drew her focus away. Had Aurora really just called Jesus...

That itch in her chest was gone and replaced with an uncontrollable nag that caused the corners of her lips to twitch (not even she would stoop so low). Had he not released himself from her grip previously she would have freed him now to handle this how he saw fit and she would be lying if she said she did not enjoy the Thunderbird's silver tongue particularly in this moment. Lachlan too in his own diplomatic manner. Not that any of it seemed to have any affect on Aurora what-so-ever. Unsurprising. The only thing that was keeping her hand from flying to her wand was the image of Ryan still playing on screen with all the occasional unintentional glances he made to camera.

It was only once people began dispersing that it actually sunk in that scores had been announced. It was difficult to concentrate on those despite the strong opinions that immediately surfaced, so she would force her weary mind to isolate the fact that she was moving on and nothing else. Although she was already planning on regrouping with Kyle later to reevaluate each other and pick apart each other's strength and weaknesses to elevate the level of competition.

As for this consent briefly mentioned (and seemingly more an afterthought than anything genuine), Valerie dug her fingernails into her palm. Ryan was eight year old and his parents wary of magic for reasons she did not comprehend but could sense every time they looked at her (particularly whenever her temper began to surface) and she could not imagine under what circumstances they would have agreed to something like this. It all only made her wish to see him more dire.

Thus, nodding with all associated parties, she left.

Gaston kept his eyes fixed on the ground, lest they betrayhis emotions. He silently cursed his shy and trusting nature. He'd had misgivings about the IMPS competition all along, but he'd kept them to himself either our of fear or blind faith...maybe both. He should've said something! If he had even the slightest idea this was going to happen, he would've fought against it with everything he had... not that it probably would've made much difference. Yes, he knew there would be precautions taken, but that made absolutely no difference to him. As far as he was concerned, there was no justification for what had happened today!

Loud angry voices jerked him out of his thoughts, and he looked up. He noticed Dora glare at him, and he dropped his gaze. She was coming this way, and... then Miss Tyler appeared. Miss Diggory was there too, thank Merlin! Gaston was relieved to see the girls safe! And then Valerie Gray happened. He could barely believe what he just saw. Lashing out at an official who had a hand in this atrocity was one thing, but lashing out at an innocent girl... He drew his wand to help Miss Spinnet, but Mr. Kenning reacted first. He gave the boy a very appreciative look. Another warning look was sent at the fighting Ilvermorny students. He was about to tell them off, but they were disbanding. Were they done here? Good. Without a word to anyone, the professor turned and left.

Honestly, Kitty couldn't blame the competitors for being angry that their loved ones were being used in this tournament. That had been frankly shocking, and she couldn't imagine what her freak out would have been if they'd taken someone she loved. And yes, she knew that historically this was a thing that happened lots, but still. It was a comfort then that everyone was okay.

She would have helped Zoryn with her voice, but she was too far away and by the time she had stood up, Valerie hexed her into silence. Kitty watched the drama unfolding between Valerie and Aurora with a combination of increasing morbid interest and disapproval. If they had been Hogwarts students she certainly would have been expected to try to break up the fight - but she didn't move one inch in their direction. Both of them had just been through a lot and they were from Ilvermorny, plus they were both around her age and much more experienced. Therefore she thought her chances of helping to calm them down was next to zero.

Breathing a sigh of relief when things defused, Kitty turned to leave the stands - wondering to herself how the next and final challenge could possibly top this.

The competitors find themselves standing in a forest; however, this forest is quite different from those of the United Kingdom. While tall trees surround them and the vegetation is a pleasant green, the temperature is much warmer than they are used to. Scattered about are clues that will give their location away. A giant snail with spikes on its shell slowly makes its way past them, its mucus burning a trail in the vegetation. Look through the trees and they will see two rhinoceros-like creatures, a mother and her calf, minding their own business. A high-pitched, twittering song then sounds in the distance, and hopefully it stays that way.

But what is their purpose here? To find out, they had better start moving.

THE COMPETITORS

• Brent Westwood, Hogwarts, Slytherin
• Kyle Baker, Ilvermorny, Horned Serpent
• Levi Kenning, Hogwarts, Gryffindor
• Valerie Gray, Ilvermorny, Wampus

THE COMMENTATORS

• Dana Maxwell, Ilvermorny, Pukwudgie
• Kirk Forsfelle, Hogwarts, Ravenclaw