The competitors find themselves standing at the edge of a dark forest with nothing but a wand to aide them. Tall, gnarled trees tower overhead, bunching close together as if to block out the sky. A thick fog covers the forest in an eerie haze that adds to the sense of overwhelming dread. Those who dare venture farther will quickly notice the temperature steadily dropping and darkness increasing with each step.. Tall, gnarled trees tower overhead, bunching close together as if to block out the sky. A thick fog covers the forest in an eerie haze that adds to the sense of overwhelming dread. Those who dare venture farther will quickly notice the temperature steadily dropping and darkness increasing with each step.

What dangers lie ahead in this place? Dare they even go inside?

THE COMPETITORS

• Aiden Jones, Ilvermorny, Pukwudgie
• Aurora Chae, Ilvermorny, Horned Serpent
• Brent Westwood, Hogwarts, Slytherin
• Carl Leonard, Hogwarts, Hufflepuff
• Cassandra McNally, Hogwarts, Ravenclaw
• Dora Umbridge, Hogwarts, Gryffindor
• Henrietta Kramer, Hogwarts, Hufflepuff
• Irene Avery, Ilvermorny, Pukwudgie
• Jesus Rodriguez, Ilvermorny, Thunderbird
• Kyle Baker, Ilvermorny, Horned Serpent
• Lachlan Wheeler, Ilvermorny, Wampus
• Levi Kenning, Hogwarts, Gryffindor
• Louise Hamilton, Ilvermorny, Thunderbird
• Mason Winslow, Hogwarts, Ravenclaw
• Tejashree Peale, Hogwarts, Slytherin
• Valerie Gray, Ilvermorny, Wampus

THE COMMENTATORS

• Daisy Carden, Hogwarts, Slytherin
• Maddox Allen, Ilvermorny, Thunderbird

The first challenge was starting and Laurel made her over to the stadium to watch the competitors and foremost how Brent and Teddy fared. She had to look out for her snakes after all. With a glass of apple juice and a candy bag of assorted sweets bought from the consessions stand the blond divination professor headed up and chose a seat with good view of the big challenge screen.

"Go Lou Lou!" Bridgette cheered on in her high pitched teen voice as she rushed up into the stadium stands to find herself a good seat in front of the part of the screen where her sister Louise of Ilvermorney, was starting her forest challenge. Bri was excited, scared and proud and a array of other emotions for her big sister. She really hoped that Lou was going to make it through the task and get to continue on to the next challenge. Selecting a salted popcorn from her popcornbox Bri eyed the screen in front of her.

After months of planning and many owls and fireplace conversations, the day had finally came for some of their efforts to finally be revealed. The headmistress, wearing her finest robes, made her way to the stadium feeling the excitement in the air. She too was excited, a genuine smile was even on her face as she casually walked with the current of the crowd.

Once she bought her herself a bottle of gillywater and a plate of chicken tacos, the woman went to find herself a seat with a good view of the screen (since she was one of the judges after all). Scanning the seats available, Regina made her way up, up, up until she was perfectly centred with the screen. She saw that the Divination professor was in the general area of where she had decided to seat, watch, and take in everything that was about to happen. The woman received a wave once she set her gillywater in the cup holder.

"Have any predictions about the outcome of today's challenge, Laurel?" Regina asked with a smile. It was a joke more than anything. She made those sometimes.

IT WAS TIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIME!

Needless to say, Benji was excited to see what the challenge had in store. He was so excited, in fact, that he had spent ALL MORNING decorating the t-shirt he was wearing and the signs he was holding. Of course his t-shirt was painted in the Ilvermorny colours (his cheeks too) and had written on it plain as day #ILVERMORNY. One of the signs he had said the same thing, whereas the others were supporting the two Pukwugies -- Irene Avery and Aiden Jones -- that were competing. The eleven year old was there to suppose his entire school, but those two got perks for being in the COOLEST of the Houses.

"GO ILVERMORNY!" he shouted loud and proud the moment he entered the stadium.

And then he was sidetracked by the concessions. FOOD. YAAAAAAAAAAS. Not even worried about finding a seat at this point, Benji just stared at everything, practically drooling. It was a shame that he didn't think to bring any money with him.

IT. WAS. TIME.

Paul was a nervous wreck. Please be careful students, PLEASE. He took a seat right next to Regina. Let the nail biting commence! "I can't watch, Regina," he whispered. "This is too nerve-wracking. Why did we agree to this?!" he was still whispering. "Reed is on call, yes?" He better be! And whoever the hell was the Ilvermorny Healer? YOU TOO.

pAUL. WAS. NOT. READY.

Teddy. Brent. Etta. Carl. Levi. Dora. Cassie. Mason. The names rolled over in his head, and he just hoped they'd all be okay. The Ilvermorny students, too!

"I need a snack. Oh, I need twenty snacks. I can't watch. Regina." Paul put his hand over his eyes and stood up once more. "What do you want to eat, milady?" he asked. Her tacos smelled good. He wanted food. GOOD LORD ARTHUR HE WANTED FOOD. His nerves.

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YES! IT WAS TIME FOR THE FIRST CHALLENGE!!

Kyle bought a cheeseburger and had a seat in the stands, bouncing a little as he did so. He thought competition was healthy for the soul. And even though he wouldn't be competing, he could still cheer on his fellow Hogwartians! And in particular...

"GO SLYTHERIN!!"

He bounced a little more in his seat... up until he almost dropped his cheeseburger. Deciding to sit and eat, he stopped bouncing and took a big bite. Oh yeah, this was good. Good food, excitement... This was everything he could have hoped for!

Genny was not used to sit at the stadiums and cheer unless it was the Quidditch world or regional cup, and even then she'd be allowed to go backstage and meet the players. However, she could still consider this a new experience. Got to feel the adrenaline rush of sitting here helplessly watching her participants ('her' because she rooted for them, she was not possessive). Dora and Levi were the two competitiors she obviously wanted to win all through, it didn't matter who won in the end Levi but she sure as heck wanted it to be a Gryffindor.

Decorated with only her Gryffindor scarf, the fifth year climbed to one of the seats and sat down... gingerly, on the edge. She didn't have any snacks (to the shock of her friends) she was a foodie, everyone knew that but not today! She had knots in her stomach, it was the worst.

He must be in luck today, considering that the Hospital Wing wasn't as busy as last term. Maybe, he'd over-prepared this time? He'd rather be prepared though because this was Hogwarts. Dressed in comfortable clothes, River joined his colleagues with a bucket of popcorn and a glass of lemonade. "Laurel, Regina...Paul?" What was the man doing? Why was he covering his eyes? River turned to face the screen, then back to the Deputy Headmaster and gave him a shrug. River sat behind the Headmistress and took a sip of lemonade, ready to watch the show.

--

"IT'S STAAARTING!" Charlie ran past a drooling Benji, carrying his cheeseburger and soda in both hands. "DUDE, let's go!" What was he waiting for?! The first challenge was about to start and he didn't want to miss the action! Seeing that Benji wasn't going to budge, Charlie gave him an eye roll and went back to the curly-haired boy. "What's wrong?" Charlie glanced towards the concession stands and gave Benji and exasperated look, "Just pick one, already. French fries?" Because that was closest to Poutine.

Charlie wasn't here just to eat and watch the competition unfold. He was here too to make friends. So after helping Benji out with his food dilemma, the first year Thunderbird student took a seat near another boy (Kyle) eating...OOOH! "CHEESEBURGER BUDDIES!" he exclaimed beaming at the British kid. "Hi. I'm Charlie! What's your name? AND do you like pickles in your cheeseburger?!" Important question, obviously.

Arms full of snacks from the concession area, Henry headed to the stadium to watch the first task of the competition.He was rather excited to see that there were tacos, but he also got some nachos, deep-fried oreos (what even were those?), chocolate frogs, and a lemonade. Sure, he was always hungry, but he supposed he could be persuaded to share too.

Making his way through the rows of seats, the prefect looked for some friends to sit with. He was dressed with plenty of Hufflepuff pride to cheer on Etta and Carl, but he also sported some splashes of red to support his friend Levi as well. He could cheer on all three, right?

Spotting Genny not far away, he headed over and slid into the seat next to her. "Hey, Gen!" he grinned as he settled in. "I didn't miss anything yet, did I?" His eyes turned to the large screen in front of them. It took him a little while to get all the food, but it appeared they had just started.

Time for the first challenge, how exciting! After purchasing a cotton candy, Maesi headed up to the stadium seating to watch the competitors. She was wearing a cute Horned Serpent hoodie, so obviously she was rooting for her housemates who had gotten chosen to compete - Kyle, that hottie who she didn't even know existed until his name got called. Was he a transfer this year, or...? And Aurora, who she secretly hated mostly because she seemed even more attention seeking than Maesi herself. But they both had her support!

The fourteen year old looked for someone to sit with, preferably someone ridiculously good-looking as there was an overabundance here, but she settled on someone familiar, at least for now - one of her dormmates. "Hi, Bridgette!" Maesi gave the girl a big smile before sitting in a seat next to her. "I bet you're so excited that your sister is competing!" Maesi wasn't sure she would be though. Even if she knew she wasn't old enough to compete, she'd probably be insanely jealous if her own sister had gotten that glory. Not that she'd let anyone know that of course.

Rooney had his arms laden with things to snack on during what he expected would be a nail-biting experience. Atop the sugared goodies was a platter of fish and chips (what better way to show his loyalty) and under each armpit was a bottle of water. No, he wasn't going to be sharing. No matter what they had to offer him. No no. He was going to sit down, eat his feelings and prepare himself for whatever could go wrong. He was ready to step in for crowd control if it was needed, because that was very clearly what he was needed for. The stupid book didn't think he was worthy enough for this competition, so he'd do the next best thing... mope about it.

He'd wanted this for himself so much that he talked himself into it being the obvious thing to happen for him this year, but now it was happening for his dorm mate and Roo was in the process of forcing himself to want this for Mason. Because Mason had always just been his dorm mate and Mason had never done anything wrong to him and Rooney actually didn't even know anything about the boy he'd lived with for years other than that he probably felt like he lived in the shadow of the current Head Boy. That was disheartening.

Either way, he was here and he was sat and he was eating his fish and chips with no other care in the world except hoping that he didn't get ketchup on his Ravenclaw jumper. See, he was supporting Mason kinda.

He wasn't a big eater when he was nervous. There was no nail biting, or foot tapping. There was; however, a strange stillness--a stiffness in his back. It was a terrible attempt at keeping in control. Declan's jaw was set as he stood, unable to take a seat. There was a thought in the middle of the anxious ones that reminded him he was probably standing in someone's view, that he should take a seat. Instead, he remained where he was, and patted the pin on the left side of his chest.

His eyes scanned the crowd and he could see some adults just a few feet over. Declan nodded at Healer Reed, appreciative for his presence. He knew he was just doing his job and watching over the students but it eased his anxiety. It also made him happy to know Levi would probably get an extra boost of confidence by seeing Reed in the stands.

Someone was talking to him! And it was an Ilvermorny student! How exciting!

He bounced a little at the kid talking to him and smiled brightly. "Hi Charlie! I'm Kyle! And I LOVE pickles on my cheeseburger! I think that's what really makes them. Besides the meat and the cheese, of course. But pickles are fantastic!" Bouncy bounce. Oops. Don't drop the cheeseburger!

Melbourne had brought a thermos with her – an empty thermos that she had promptly filled with the hot chocolate that she had purchased. Throwing her bag loosely over her shoulder Mel made her way to the stands and looked around – spotting Declan she gave him a quick nod hello. Of course she was going to be rooting for Levi…still, Mel had other people to root for. Carl was definitely HIGH (maybe the highest) on her list of people to root for and then of course she was also rooting for Dora and the rest of the Hogwartians.

”good luck everyone” she called out even though she was sure they couldn’t hear her, still, she wanted to hope that they heard her. Carl don’t die, she thought as she looked at the dark gnarled forest that they were about to head into…please don’t get hurt anybody she thought hopefully and started looking for a place to sit…maybe – maybe she could ask the commentators to wish everyone luck? She considered before glancing at the Professors….Mel gave them all small nods before solemn nods before turning her attention to the screen in front of them.

Reaching into her bag the Gryffindor pulled out her wrapped sugar quill and brushed her finger over the sugar feathers of the candy…she was nervous okay! “Don’t die anyone” she muttered to herself more than any one in particular as she sat there waiting to see what was going to happen.

Where were her friends? Mel questioned as she looked around and wanted them to be there soon really, she needed them maybe she’d ask them for hugs if anyone got hurt?

Harriet was really excited to finally get to do some cheering. Part of her was sad that she wasn't old enough to compete, but that meant that she could cheer for the Hogwarts people. That was going to be amazing! She just hoped that thy would win, because it would be awfully embarrassing if they lost. So hopefully they would not lose.

The blonde had brought a few snacks, and was cradling them close to her body as she looked for someone to sit by. She beamed, noticing Henry and Genny, and she decided to go and sit by them. "Hey guys!" She murmured, as she sat down, carefully balancing her churros on her lap. "So. Who do you think is gonna win?"

Isa was ready for screaming cheers for the Hogwarts competitors as loud as she could, especially for Etta and Carl. She was wearing all of her favorite Hufflepuff and Hogwarts themed accessories - her yellow badger buddy shirt, a hufflepuff themed skirt, a badger necklace, a Hufflepuff bracelet, Hogwarts socks, and a black and yellow hair bow with a Hogwarts crest on it. The Hufflepuff and Hogwarts spirit didn't stop there though. Her face was painted to look like a Hogwarts crest, more or less, although some of the animals on the crest had turned out a bit wonky and there were a few smudged spots where Isa had accidentally touched her face.

Carrying a stack of signs that she had painted to aid in cheering for the Hogwarts competitors, Isa climbed through sections of seats looking for where she might be able to see Etta or Carl. She didn't stop at the concession stand; she had packed her own snacks and lunch in a small yellow backpack. Most of the substantial food on offer was stuff that she couldn't eat anyway because it had meat in it. Due to the lack of vegetarian options available at events like that, Isa had gone to the kitchens earlier and packed herself a chickpea salad in a reusable container for lunch as well as some other healthy snacks. In her bag she had more small reusable containers filled with carrot sticks, apple slices, almonds and other nuts, and freshly baked oatmeal cookies. She also had her favorite stainless steel insulated water bottle with her so she could stay hydrated.

"Hello, Professor Myers!" Isa called out to her head of house. With all of the posters she was carrying she didn't really have a spare hand to wave to him, but she would have if she had a free hand. As she headed down to the front row of seats, Isa handed a few of her posters to random Hogwarts students. The posters had phrases such as "TEAM HOGWARTS" and "GO ETTA!" on them. There was a poster for each of the hogwarts competitors, painted in the color of their house. Etta and Carl's posters were a yellow background with black text because yellow letters were too hard to read from a distance. Isa sat down and picked up a poster that had a Hogwarts crest painted on it. "Woohoo! Go Hogwarts!" This was so fun!

First task! Of course Bentley was in the stand to cheer his friend and dorm mate on. The sixth year was eased his way through the gathered students, all the while trying to spot Levi from his position in the viewing area

No such luck so he kept moving. It was imperative that he found the right spot with the best view..and somewhere where his voice was sure to carry down to the competitors.

He spotted Mel and gave her a nod but continued on to take the spot next to Levi's older brother.

"Nothing excited has happened yet you know. Usually people are on their feet when something big happens." He greeted.

the t-shirt dress she wore was a dark red, it was as supportive as Aslan was going to get today, at least outwardly. This competition was interesting and (hopefully) unpredictable enough to keep her attention and Levi? after many terms and many study sessions which had proved beneficial for both was considered by the dark haired girl as a friend. Gryffindor could win or lose, it didn't much matter to her as her personal stake was a slight one.

She bought a pack of hot chips and a butterbeer from the concession stand before slipping through the growing crowd in search of a seat where she could watch the events closely. she was curious, very much so, about the sort of magic the Ilvermony students would use during their task- and Tejashree Peale, Aslan had seen the Slytherin witch perform wandless magic, an act she'd rarely seen outside of the very skilled and older set of staff and students.

Nibbling a chip, Aslan took a seat by Bentley Moore, the other Kenning was here and she shot him a cursory glance in an attempt to gauge his feelings, but he was quiet and mostly impassive. "has anything happened?" she asked, not bothering with a hello to ether boy.

Daisy Carden wasn't necessarily late, but she wouldn't pretend to be on time either. What she was, however, was nervous; as nervous as she usually felt before a Quidditch match, only in this situation she had no outlet to release that energy. Or, at least, no physical one. No pushing opposing players onto the stands today. Instead, she was in the stands commentating no less. Which she hadn't wanted to do, to be completely honest, simply because she had never done that in her life and she had to watch Levi. Only this would at least give her something to do and hopefully she wouldn't freak out too much, so she had begrudgingly said yes only to be told she'd team up with an American. Of course.

She made her way to the stands, at last, wearing her favourite sweater, which had been stolen a gift, and the t-shirt Derfael had made with Levi's face on it on top of her coat. That was the problem with supporting people and teams during the winter months -- you had to get creative or all your visual supporting would be wasted. Her scarf was green but to say that it was there to show any kind of House loyalty would be a blatant lie so she wouldn't even bother. It was cold, she wore a scarf -- it just happened to be green, really. But YAY Slytherin all the same.

Uhm. Whatever.

There were so many people there already, too! She pushed the strap of her bag (contents: 5 bottles of water, 5 apples, 5 chocolate frogs, 15 licorice wands and one banana milkshake she had asked the house-elves to make and store in a bottle, which possibly wasn't her brightest idea) further up her shoulder and cursed silently under her breath before throwing the Headmistress and the rest of the staff a smile. Healer Reed was here, too, which was good but also a reminder that things could possibly happen so she moved along quickly. Henry the Prefect and Geneva got a smile and a wave, as well as Harriet, who seemed to have brought plenty of food. "Nice colours, Whittebrook." Which was rich coming from someone who was sporting a green scarf and a red beanie hat but hey -- it was November. She was just channeling her Christmas spirit already. As she approached Declan, she got one of the water bottles out of her bag and pushed it into his hand before quickly squeezing his arm. She didn't ask if she was going to stand for however long the task lasted; honestly, she didn't even expect him to listen. And Bentley -- well, he got a tight smile because he was cheering for Levi and her dislike for the boy did not matter right now. Aslan (Team Levi was definitely the biggest, she was happy for that) definitely got a bigger smile.

And so she finally reached the middle of the stands and sat down, making sure the large screens were visible to her because that would definitely be needed, and placed her bag on the floor. For a few seconds, she simply gazed at the screen trying to find Levi before shaking her head and reaching for her wand. People were filling the stands, the competitors were ready, the American had finally arrived -- and received a glare, too. Definitely showtime. Pointing her wand at her throat, she took a deep breath and cast Sonorus.

"Hello Hogwarts!!! ... and Ilvermorny too, I guess." Her voice boomed across the stands and she tried her best not to grimace. Right. A slight adjustment of volume was needed, then. "Welcome to the first challenge of the International Magical Pupil Standoff ... a competition which has International in the name despite the fact only two schools from different countries are taking part." Which was, honestly, quite silly. But moving on. "As I'm sure you know, the prize the competitors are trying to win by surviving a series of potentially dangerous tasks is a scholarship to the university of their choosing ... " A quick reminder of what was at stake here, in case someone had forgotten. "You'd think the organisers would just try and find out who actually needed the scholarship but apparently this is easier. Adults, eh?"

OOOH. There was movement on the screens!

"Bundle up, get your snacks quickly and get ready to cheer for your favourite! And may Lev ... the best student win!!" Which meant Levi, anyway.

Totally unbiased, she was.

Chloe knew she was supposed to care about this whole culture immersion competition that Hogwarts was forcing on its students. She knew that internationa magical cooperation was the cornerstone for progress and innovation and diplomacy. And she did want to be a politician. To improve the world.

BUT ILVERMORNY MADE IT SO HARD, OKAY?

Like, they were loud and the PDA was out of hand and everywhere, literally everywhere, she went she was inundated with pop songs from 80 years ago. The wave of nostalgia across these Americans was too overwhelming to deal with 24/7.

So Chloe wasn't exactly thrilled to deal with them in a competition setting. If they were insufferable without all the noise and whistles, today was going to be ten times more exhausting.

She sat quietly with her butterbeer and waited for something of consequence to happen. Her attitude her usual breed of unpleasant.

The only thing Felicity was nervous about, looking around at the many terrified faces in the stands, was who she would end up cheering for. Would the Hogwartians hate her if she felt more loyalty to Louise and Jesus? She couldn't help but think so, even if they knew her roots lay in Thunderbird, and in America in general. Of course, she'd met Brent, however vaguely, and knew his brother, and he was a Slytherin.... Which made her feel guilty for not knowing the female competitors name.

Whatever. Dressed casually, Felicity had made sure that her jeans and jumper didn't signal in any way support for anyone in particular, and neither did her oversized parka, zipped high up to her neck in the cold. She clutched the Pumpkin Juice she'd purchased tightly in her gloved hand and settled on a seat.

Look who joined the party. Bentley flashed a dimpled grin at Aslan and gave her a nudge because he was insufferable like that.

"Well look who it is...the resident tax evader. Here, take this." He reached into his book bag and pulled out a GO LEVI flag for her, because he was the champion of choice. As a Gryffindor, it was only right.

"Or is this another civic duty that you're going to skirt as well, hmm?"

Jeez, somehow, some way Poinsettia (DAisy) always seemed to find him. She needed to admit that she really enjoyed his presence already and he'd give her a pass for all the other unpleasant qualities. Her tight smile was matched by a genuine one because he just didn't care how uptight the girl wanted to be with him. Wasn't his problem and he didn't care enough.

Excuse him. Maddox was a little bit late to where they would be commentating. He needed to get a burger and fries, a drink and there was a line and had to find the ketchup. Those were good excuses right?? Apparently not with that glare. Nice to meet you too. Not even a hello. Well he sees how this is. Anyway, he was here now and no complaints from him on his partner for this thing. As long as it wasn't Chloe. He forgot the name of it already and was just calling it IMPS. Now, where were his dudes at. Everyone should be here to cheer on everyone. All he saw so far were dudes and dudettes from Hogwash.Where was Khalil and his radio? Now was the time to hear some awesome tunes. Okay, time for him to start on what going on with his ilvermorny peeps and try not to get Professor William mad at him or Moxley.

Did not matter on the Williams.

Guess he was starting since all she did was whatever Lev meant. He could start with Louise but nah he would start with Jesus since how could you not start with him, it's Jesus. Both being Thunderbirds helped. But mostly because of his name. Even though Maddox knew he was pronouncing it wrong

Here we go he cast sonorus at about the same time as her.

"YOU GUESS????" oh right that is what it was called and she did have a good point. "WHY ASK WHEN YOU CAN GET ENTERTAINMENT LIKE THIS. ANYWAAAAAY BUNDLE UP LIKE SHE SAYS BUT ALSO BUCKLE YOUR SEAT BELTS AND STRAP IN. IS THAT THE RIGHT SAYING I FEEL LIKE IT IS. ALSO, GO GET A BURGER BECAUSE THEY ARE DELICIOUS. 10/10. OK WE ARE STARTING WITH THE CONTESTANTS FROM THE BETTER SCHOOL. WEEEEEELLLLLLLL, JESUS DID THE SMART THING AND GOT SOME LIGHT SINCE IT IS PRETTY HARD TO SEE DOWN THERE FROM THE LOOKS OF IT. BUT OTHER THAN THAT JUST SILENCE. SPOOKY SILENCE IF YOU ASK ME. LOOKS PRETTY CREEPY DOWN THERE ALL DARK AND QUIET IN A FOREST. LET'S GO JESUS. NOW ONTO AIDEN WHO IS ONLY SLIGHTLY LESS BROODY THAN KYLE" He jokes He jokes. Now give him a sec to take a sip from his iced tea. Much better. "GOOD NEWS AIDEN DOESN'T LOOK AFRAID. BAD THING IS EVERYONE IS WATCHING HIM. SO LET'S SEE HOW HE DOES. OOOOOO LOOK AT KYLE BEING SMART WITH SOME HANDY BLUEBELL FLAMES. WARMTH AND LIGHT. NIFTY SPELL TO KNOW. NOW IF ONLY HE WOULD SMILE MORE. It was true "LOOK AT VALERIE WALKING IN. OH, SHE STOPPED, DID SOMETHING HAPPEN. NOPE ALL GOOD. WAIT....A....SEC....SHE IS POINTING HER WAND AT SOMETHING NOW AND IM GLAD IT IS NOT ME." For real though. Have you seen her eyes when she is mad at you? Not fun. "YEP THAT IS LUMOS. GOOD START LOUISE, GOOD START. SEEMS LIKE IRENE HAD THE SAME IDEA AS WELL. DONT LOOK SO NERVOUS IRENE. ANYONE GOT A UKULELE...NO ALRIGHT. WHOA WHOA WHOA WHAT IS THAT NOISE. THAT DOES NOT SOUND GOOD"


Thank you, he was Captain Obvious. That noise was a little creepy and he needed a small break and a BIGGER drink from his iced tea.

Have fun, partner.

Being a Durmstrang graduate, Hirsch had no Hogwarts merchandise of his own apart from a small Hogwarts and a Ravenclaw pin. While this hadn't been a problem before, it was starting to become a problem now. Luckily for him, Max Edwards had come through and sent him a Gryffindor scarf to wear to this occasion so he had something else, at the very least.

So, with a cup of coffee in one hand and a bag of soft pretzels in the other the man headed up the steps and towards the centre of the viewing area, close to where the majority of the staff were sitting. They had the better end of the seating stick, after all. Even if, as always, he didn't have a clue as to what it was that Paul was doing.

Was he going to question it? No. This was Paul Myers, after all.

Smiles were given round to the student body that were already present on his way up - his hands were full so no waves, sorry - before he sat down on an empty seat. The sound of a loud, booming voice caught his attention immediately and he turned his head to look over in the direction of the source of the sound. Huh. Funny, wasn't it, how there was a Hogwarts and an Ilvermorny commentator working together. Still, he found himself placing his cup of coffee down to give one Daisy Carden a thumbs up for the task of commentating before turning back round again.

Let the games begin.

The smile Daisy offered Aslan was a tinge unexpected, but the Slytherin was warm. Aslan had noticed the way she had taken care of those younger than herself and the way she handled creatures like the boy beside her. A flower, one not altogether uninteresting. Aslan waved, offering the snake a small, but no less genuine smile.

The commentary began, amusing? certainly, enlightening? In a way the Gryffindor hadn't expected. She raised an eyebrow, glancing from Daisy to the Allen from Ilvermony. Loud, brash with all the subtlety of a raging dragon, he was uninteresting for the fact he flaunted his entire emotional range without a care.

There was a nudge, she didn't have to be clever to know who was the culprit. Aslan tilted her head, her expression neutral although the reference was not lost on her. She reached out, taking the flag with a glimmer of an amused smile. "You're very into this..." It wasn't a question, but a clear observation.

She raised an eyebrow, her lips tugging to one side in an ironic, but small smirk. "No, I think this is an area in which I can agree to contribute." She put down her chip pack, the flag loosely held between her calloused fingers. "I can be very agreeable when given a logical choice to agree with." the Gryffindor added. Yes, that was a jab, perhaps thinly veiled and well meant, but a jab none the less.

Sam hurried up the stairs to her seat, hoping she hadn't missed too much in the time it taken her to get from waving Dora off to the competitor's area. Her red 'GRYFFINDORA' emblazoned t-shirt displayed clearly her support for her bestie, with her own house's champions covered by the blue and bronze of her hat and scarf.

Scooting along the row of seats, she wished she'd thought to charm her bag she had slung across her shoulder. She'd come prepared, not only with drink and snacks for herself, but also stuff she thought Dora might want or need the other side of this challenge: a warm layer to wrap up in, bruise paste, a hair brush, plenty of chocolate, and a large flask of hot, sweet tea amongst others.

What could she say? It was quite possible she was more worried than her bestie, and she was starting to regret the research she'd done on tournaments previously held at the castle to help with the Gryffindor's preparation. She'd needed the distraction.

"C'mon Dora," she murmured, now taking the time to glance up at the screen and pulling out a pack of chocolate covered Hob Nobs. Proper biscuits, no cookies here. "You can do this."