"I suppose anything can be manipulated," she replied to Kyle, her tone as dry as a desert and eyes ablaze. The Wampus was hardly registering the arrival of other champions as her focus was on the crowd in the stands looking for either of the Professor Williams (yes, even the History of Magic professor would do right now) to convince her not demand her name be revoked on account of her not wishing to support some tournament that would knowingly exploit No-Maj for sport. Dummy or not, the sixteen year old was offended and if it were not for the fact that her skin was already pale then the tightened grip around her wand would have been a sure indication of such sentiment.

"To you as well," she nodded curtly to the Hogwarts blonde [Erindity] who was soon, thankfully, off speaking with one of her classmates [Shanners]. Valerie was not in the mood for chit chat.

Instead her cold stare returned to Kyle. "I attempted SpeRevelio on my..." Kneazle had her tongue and she soon swallowed it back, replacing the word with another. "I attempted SpeRevelio on it and one would have thought that it thought I was a dementor by the reaction." Despite it seeing her perform several other accounts of magic on it right before its very eyes. She was interested to know how he had fared against a dementor when her own superior patronus had failed upon its first trial. "Perhaps your Ministry official was not human."

Another dummy, perhaps?

She nodded her head politely to Louise and Irene but said nothing to the offer of this butterbeer of which the Pukwudgie spoke of for several uncomfortable moments. "Perhaps." Her eyes soon narrowed upon Louise and her calling the dummies impressive. "Or offensive," she retorted coolly.

Speaking of Pukwudgie. Lachlan was looking as though the dementor had had its way with him. So much for that black soul of his. As he was somehow her housemate she supposed she ought to extend a hand of some sort and offer reassurance if possible. "You look absolutely terrible," she observed with a flourish of her wand towards his soiled clothing to administer a cleaning charm and then following up with a drying charm of sorts.

Her eyes, still searching for her professors, then fell upon one of the other Hogwarts champions [Oesed] and could do nothing to fight the small smirk that tugged at the corner of her lips when she heard his tone upon offering advice to one of his remaining schoolmates still in the competition. A kindred essence, perhaps? She tried to hold brief eye contact with him to signal her interest.

Brenton Westwood earned a nod of the head as well before he was joined by Madelyn who had thankfully ditched her pom poms before approaching her. Her wand was a bit trigger happy and shooting an Incendio at one of those were it to come too close to her face would have been a likely scenario. "In a sense," the Wampus snorted to the cheerleader.

And was that other Hogwarts champion [Awarlesta Black] about to cry? Valerie would have extended a comforting hand her direction or at least conjured a tissue, but such urge was quickly quelled by the memory of her hospitality being snubbed and ignored at the opening feast the day of Ilvermorny's arrival.

Her agitation seemed to grow along with the gathering crowd and she was reminded of the empty plastic bottle in her hand. "What am I meant to do with this?" she asked of no one in particular.

No one went to get them.

In the end, the staff’s intervention hadn’t even been needed. Incredibly well charmed dummies passing for Muggles and Ministry officials hidden by very good Disillusionment Charms. No word on the Dementors yet, but Daisy rather thought they had seemed real enough to actually .. be real. Which was an insane thought to have, but there it was. There had been sixteen Dementors in that forest and now, that the task was over, someone was in charge of taking them back to Azkaban, where they belonged. So no, it didn’t matter that, in the end, the whole task had been nothing more than a cheap magic trick. The fear she had felt had been enough. It had, like the Muggle dummies, seemed real enough; it had gripped at her heart and kept her standing up in front of the staff. The very quiet staff, the note-taking staff, though, Daisy had nodded in acknowledgment of Professor Myers’ words and done her best to not think about what that ‘yet’ had meant.

After the task was over, Daisy would come to understand why people said hindsight was a wonderful thing. In hindsight, maybe she had overreacted, maybe she had been overly dramatic but, until that happened, no one tell her that the vision of her best friend being clutched by a Dementor wasn’t supposed to make her feel scared.

They’d probably find themselves flying off the stands.

There had been a lot of talking and spells that no one should be casting on human beings -- in hindsight, they hadn’t been human but it didn’t change the fact that apparently, messing with someone’s mind was okay, now -- and Daisy knew she should’ve been commentating but she couldn’t bring herself to. So she stood, hands gripping the railing and eyes never leaving the screen. Not until her best friend found himself with a teapot in his hand. Only then did she move, sending the staff -- Hirsch, Reed, Myers -- a slightly apologetic look. Though she was still mad, so mad she couldn’t bring herself to speak to them. Dementors. Actual Dementors in that forest, grabbing students, chasing students, sucking souls that, again, in hindsight, didn’t even exist.

What a cruel, twisted joke.

Rather dazedly, she made her way back to her seat, picking up her dropped wand on her way there, and smiled tightly at Maddox. This had been fun, in the beginning, and she did feel rather sorry for abandoning him but not enough to regret it. Agreeing to do this had been a terrible idea, after all. Wordlessly, she picked up her bag and placed a bottle of water on the empty seat next to him, sure that after all that talking he would need it. Her eyes found Levi and the other competitors on the stands as she cast the Sonorus charm for the last time that day. ”There you have it, ladies and gentlemen. The first challenge is over, congratulations to all the competitors for surviving that. Let’s hope no one is too traumatised. But hey -- scholarship, am I right?” There was not even the slightest attempt to hide the distaste in her voice but it was okay; what could they do to her? Unleash a Dementor on her dorm while she was asleep?

Hah.

Walking past a crying Dora -- guess the wish they hadn’t been traumatised wasn’t coming true, then; the girl made a mental note to check on her later --, Daisy hurriedly made a beeline for Levi, pushing people away as she went. The plan hadn’t been that; levitate the milkshake to him, leave him to his family but -- well, Levi was pretty straight forward. If he needed the space, he would let it be known. She greeted Ava and Noelle with a smile and a quick “Hey girls.” before quickly glancing at Levi but finding that the realisation that he was here and he was safe and had faced a Dementor and had survived was too much, so quickly she busied herself with rummaging through her bag until she found the bottled banana milkshake. ”Ava is right, eat some chocolate. I have chocolate frogs if you need more. And apples. Water, too.” After all, their arrangement came with certain responsabilities.

Offering him the bottle, Daisy reached forward and pressed a kiss to his cheek. ”Hi, L. Nice IV shot.”

Once Jesús arrived at the stands, he took a moment to process exactly what had happened just moments before. A ministry official had been following while he was maneuvering around the forest; that part made sense. While a large part of him felt that they would've gladly allowed the competitors to suffer immensely before stepping in, he also felt that there had to have been someone closely monitoring his progress. What didn't make sense, was the revelation that the no-maj (that he'd been desperately trying to convince and protect) was a dummy. A dummy. He'd been protecting, arguing, and coercing a dummy. His morality had been placed in jeopardy because he knew he couldn't just leave the man behind. And the fact that he actually, technically, could have, made his blood boil.

In order to focus solely on his thoughts, he tuned out the chatter around him.

Jaws clenched, he sat quietly and closed his eyes. All the relief he'd felt a few minutes ago had dissipated. Anger had taken root inside him, and he had to take several deep breaths before opening his eyes to survey the area around him. He saw people he didn't recognize alongside the other IMPS competitors. Assuming they all had the same challenge, then they too had been duped with a dummy that'd been transfigured into a no-maj.

Jesús took pride in having control over his own actions and always accepted any consequences that came from them, but this had been out of his control. He knew that if he went to confront Hawk-eyes and Moxley, it would result in him getting in trouble. Jesús sighed and became frustrated that he couldn't do anything to expunge this anger and irritation within him. He hoped, (desperately, at that) for everyone's sake, that the parties responsible for the challenge stayed as far away from him as possible.

The safety of her seat cover was proving effective, except for the fact that she had no idea when the competitors would be returning because she could no longer see the screens. Pulling her knees close to her chest, she concentrated on her breathing a moment, listening to chatter around her when she heard it...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daisy's Commentary

”There you have it, ladies and gentlemen. The first challenge is over, congratulations to all the competitors for surviving that. Let’s hope no one is too traumatised. But hey -- scholarship, am I right?”

It was over? Did that mean all the competitors had returned and she could finally leave and go hide away from this embarrassment? Peeking out from her seat, she crawled up onto her knees to look around when she saw him. She knew the answer to his question, unless it had been out of desperation and panic and a 'before i die' thing, but running after him and leaping into his arms was not going to happen. Because there he was, hugging her.

Had he slipped and said the wrong name?

Whatever the case, she didn't want to see anymore. Was this just a ploy to use her and mess with her head to win back his ex? Perhaps. She didn't care about the results, anymore. Apparently he was back with her, so why should she?

After a moment of watching them, she made the decision and moved to leave the viewing area.

She didn't stop hugging him for what probably seemed like minutes, but then she realized he had asked a girl to be his girlfriend and she shouldn't be hugging someone's boyfriend. Moving back she looked him over, "Are you hurt? Do you need a healer? Oh my goodness, you did it." So maybe she worried about him more than the others, but she couldn't help it. Her eyes did scan the area for a mad girlfriend coming at her, but when none came she looked back to him. "I don't know,
they haven't said." Though she felt he did wonderfully, she felt they all did.


Cheerfully smiling at Valerie she nodded, "I bet you did fantastically. Y'all did." They all deserved to win in her book. Give them all a trophy! Though this was the real world and only the winners got the trophy, so she knew that couldn't happen.


Hearing the announcer girl say it was over her eyes looked around, where was Jesus? "I think we are still missing people." That's when she saw him. "Jesus, you alright?"

Madelyn worried about everyone!

Waiting for the results was probably something better to do. By Newt Scamander’s suitcase! Louise always had good ideas. She gave the older girl a grin. Though Irene wouldn’t mind a butterbeer now to calm her nerves. She was feeling a little bit worried about being done and she wondered where Aurora was. She felt her lip wobble a little. And the other Hogwarts competitors. She hoped they were okay. When Louise spoke of the magic dummy, Irene nodded. “Yeah, it fooled me. I spoke to her for a long time and promised to help her..." She felt horrible that she hadn't been able to help the girl. She glanced down at her feet and sighed. "Her name was Isabel. She was little and very scared,” she began as she rambled. The girl had a whole backstory and everything. Talk about character development and all. How had they been able to program an identity into a dummy? It was incredible but also somewhat cruel. She clutched the broken doll closer to her and then glanced up when she heard a very familiar voice.

OOH HELLO Brent WESTWOOD. He still looked as charming as always. She hadn’t seen him since she had arrived at Illvermorny. Her first year crush. “Brent! You’re alive! Congrats to you too, mate!” she said with a happy grin. It was good to see him again. Before she could give him a hug, Madelyn Cunningham had appeared and was hugging him already. Classic Madelyn. She giggled. “Hi Maddy! Thanks for cheering us on.” She glanced around the group, trying to search for Aurora. Where was SHE? Irene bit her lip and began tapping her foot nervously. Oh, she hoped that she was okay.

Irene noticed a girl (Skylar) far off, watching the group of them all reunite. Huh. She tilted her head, following the girl's gaze to Brent and Madelyn. Oh no... Then the girl started to leave. OH NO! She looked back and forth between the girl and Brent for several moments rather helplessly. OH PLEASE NOTICE HER BRENT WESTWOOD FOR NEWT SCAMMANDER'S SUITCASE'S SAKE!! She huffed and decided to take action and ran over to Brent to tug on his shirt. "There's someone watching you... I think she was looking for you." And then the girl began to leave. Her mouth gaped.

When Jesus walked over, she noted his appearance. He looked.... very upset. Irene would have nodded at him to show that she felt the same way. She too was upset that the organizers of this competition had fooled them all by using a dummy. It wasn't right. Instead, she decided to let him have his space. He needed it. They all needed it really after that event.

Now where were her fellow Pukwudgies? She had spied a Maddox somewhere around here?

Vivian didn't exactly want to be here, but she decided to come despite some internal conflicts so she could watch and support her fellow Hogwartians. Everything from the viewing area perspective looked really normal, with the champions doing their thing to finish the round and then they were suddenly appearing right in front of her. Oh, so those were Portkeys! That probably marked the end of the round so the blonde was quite glad she could go back to her dorm and doze off again.

But of course, she was around to see that Brent guy ask her dorm mate out. As an ever supportive friend of Skylar, Vivian was really glad for her. A boyfriend, finally! They've been discussing boys and all inside their dorm, and this felt like a very important moment for the Slytherin fourth year girls!

That was, until Skylar just sort of... well, poofed out of sight.

Vivian searched for her dorm mate everywhere, but she seemed to have just left and vanished into thin air. Then the blonde saw her almost leaving the viewing area. But why? Vivian looked at the Brent guy, who literally just asked her dorm mate out, HUGGING some other girl. And who was this girl, exactly? Why was she hugging someone who, she heard very cleared, had asked Skylar to be his girlfriend? LOL, pls. Vivian thought it was a terribly bad move, because she knew her dorm mate was waaaaaay better. No bias, obvsly.

Her dorm mate instinct bugging her, Vivian jumped and jogged over to Skylar before the brunette could actually leave the scene. "Hey," she said, shifting her usually happy tone into a more comforting sympathetic one. "Wanna go back to the dorm? I still have loads of marshmallows we can enjoy." Marshmallows always made the blonde feel better, so she hoped it would have the same effect for Sky. Besides, it was kinda like their friendship food, especially during their first ride on the Hogwarts Express.

Brent would be a liar if he said he hadn't enjoyed that hug from Madelyn. It was something he never thought he'd experience ever again. He was almost kind of bummed when she released him from the hug. When she did so, it was like everything from the challenge started coming back to him all at once. He'd been so pumped up about succeeding in the challenge, that he actually hadn't thought about the challenge itself.

He had been attacked by a dementor.

"Madelyn, I almost died out there, didn't I?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper. He hadn't died, of course, but the sinking feeling that came over him made him realize just how close he'd come. He shook his head. "No, I'm not hurt. Thanks, though." A little shaken up, but hurt? He didn't think so. Then she was off talking to everybody else, so Brent turned to sink into a seat.

Just as he sat down, he heard his name. It was Irene, a fellow champion. He tried to get it all together and appear confident enough to talk to her. "Irene," he said, standing up, "that was intense, wasn't it? We made it, though. Congratulations to yourself." A second later, the conversation took a different turn, as Irene was tugging on his shirt. Apparently, something was very important. Someone watching him? For a moment, he thought about the dememtor, and he shivered despite the fact that he was no longer in the forest.

"Huh? Someone looking for me?" he asked, and he turned to see Skylar heading off. She didn't seem like she wanted to see him at all. His heart sank. Had the question been too much for her? He thought he was dying, for Merlin's sake! "Skylar!" he said, and he hurried her way before she could leave. "Skylar, wait up!"

She hadn't been done talking to him, not by a long shot. She was so glad he was okay and she was glad everyone was okay. She just wanted to check on the others, but she stayed close to him. "No, no, you didn't. You were amazing. No close to dying, just amazing." She couldn't help it, he was amazing and she was proud of him.

As she looked to the others she couldn't help but turn when she heard him say that girls name and head off to her. She just stood there and watched for a moment, before realizing how stupid it must look. Trying to cover it up the best she could she went to her pompoms again.



We have the team that can't be beat! We have the team that can't be beat!

Ilvermorny!


Ilvermorny!

GOOOOOOOOOO ILVERMORNY!!


Jumping up and down with her pompoms she tried not to glance to the couple.

Sam had apparently managed to sit on completely the wrong side of the stadium, and it had taken her a while to get both herself and her bulky bag round to where the champions were gathering. Many an 'excuse me' had been uttered before she finally found her friend.

"DORA!" she called out, although the grin on her face at her bestie's finishing soon faltered. First, because the Head Boy had beaten her there, complete with food. That had been her role! And second, because she seemed to be dipping away from everyone. Sam knew that body language

The Ravenclaw hurried after her friend, catching her gently by the arm. "You were awesome," she said softly. "Despite the...unusual circumstances." She'd seen the apparent Muggle in the forest, and she had a good idea how the Gryffindor was feeling. She knoew how strongly Dora felt about injustice, and how protective shoe could be. "And I have supplies...chocolate, tea, a hoodie if you're cold...tissues?"

Dora heard Sam call out, but couldn't stop just yet. She had to compose herself a bit before that happened. But that didn't come to be as Sam grabbed her arm and turned her around. Not that it was forceful or anything.

When she spun, her arms went around her friend tightly. No one could see her like this... no one.

Stepping back slightly she kept her gaze downward. "HoodiE and tea, please." Her voice was weak and defeated. Not what she wanted in the moment, but no one (other than Casper) knew her like Sam did. Knew what horrible thoughts were likely running through her head. Feelings of inadequacy swelled inside of her... her mostly unknown NEED for people to like and support her. Despite her less than rosy disposition from time to time.

AND THEN A BLOODY CHEERLEADER.

Was she for real?!

Dora pulled away, eyes blazing as she took in the idiot girl with the pompoms. Her wand was out faster than she could really think about it... pointed to the frilly things...

Which spell though?! Fire or other destruction? Her pause was only verbal and spell casty. Her face betrayed her utter DISGUST with the girl cheering for people getting their SOULS SUCKED OUT!

Valerie Gray was quite done with a lot of things and one look towards Jesus told he he was feeling about the same as she. But just as she was about to make her way towards him Madelyn happened. In the worst way possible. Suddenly that urge to cast Incendio on those insufferably pom poms of hers was overwhelming. Her wand raise almost immediately and before she could even consider counting backwards in French to hush her agitation, the Wampus had sent a silent Densaugeo at the girl.

Perhaps some rodent-esque teeth to match that pest of a personality would give herself and everyone else some peace and quiet.

Could they just get the results and leave?

Aurora landed in the stands with a small little stumble, but gracefully caught her balance, hand gripping the hair brush tightly as she made her entrance. Once she stood up, she sighed and looked up with a grin. She'd DONE it! One challenge down - bring on the next one! That was such a weight to have off of her shoulders.

She smiled around at the other competitors who had arrived. She noticed that a few of them looked...well, angry. Why? What had THEIR challenges consisted of? Were they not the same as hers? Oh, she hoped they'd get to see instant replays so she could see what her competition had done! Really, what had been so bad about that? Hers had been sort of easy, when she figured it out!

Whatever. She didn't have time to decipher people's emotions. Especially her fellow Ilvermorny champions. Just them being their usual CHEERFUL selves, she was sure. "Good job everyone!" she called out to the general area.

Aurora didn't really care how anyone else had did in their challenge, of course.

She DID care about Irene, though, running up to her and giving her friend a hug. "We did it! We made it through the first challenge!" she squealed. She paused after that and looked over at Madelyn, who was making quite a show of cheering for Ilvermorny as she watched Brent Westwood walk away. Merlin. Pathetic much?

Oh Newt! She didn't mean for him to stand up again. Now she felt bad as he didn't look so hot. Well not "hot" as in attractive because --- let's be real---Brent Westwood was always HOT. "Hot" as in.... not doing too well. Anyway... She was rambling. Irene was ready to tell him off about standing up and to rest but she couldn't because he was.... well... already standing. Ah.. She'd try harder next time. OOHHHH well Brent was sweeeeet, wasn't he? He'd always been quite sweet and kind and.... She was rambling again. But there was something more important than rambling on about a boy that she had had a crush on when she was younger. Someone important to him was running away and he needed to catch up to her.

Irene smiled as she watched Brent chase after the girl. Skylar was her name, huh? Pretty name. She'd have to remember that. She could see that something was going on between the two. Mhm that was clearly more than "friends". Irene was glad that Brent had run after her because whatever they were going to talk about seemed important and Irene could wait to catch up with a friend for sure. She turned her gaze towards Madelyn's awkward cheering. She cringed slightly but still smiled at her fellow schoolmate. She frowned a little. Poor thing. Brent Westwood seemed to bring up a lot of unrequited feelings perhaps? There was plenty of fish in the sea... Or that was how the saying went... Or something like that.

Before she could confront the girl, Aurora had appeared out of nowhere. "AURORA!" she cried, returning her friend's hug. This hug was going to last for a long time. She was so glad to see her. She was finally heeeeeeeeere. Oh thank Merlin. "You're alive! I was so worried. I can't believe we made it." The challenge had been absolutely brutal. They'd have to talk after for sure.

Madelyn felt she could support her school and her school mates no better way than cheering. It was what she knew and did. So finishing the cheer she jumped up and down waving the pompoms. It was exciting the competition and all the competitors. They were all safe and they all worked so hard. She even thought about doing a cheer for Hogwarts really. They deserved it as much as Ilvermorny, but her school was Ilvermonry and that's what her cute uniform said.

Her eyes moved just enough to see another competitor show up. "Aurora!!!" Stepping towards her in what she wouldn't have a clue was in the matter of time that her very own housemates spell fully missed her. "You did it!! Way to go!" This was exciting! She could never have been a competitor so she was grateful she was able to cheer them all on.

The British girl (Dora)'s reaction went all but completely unnoticed by Kyle, though perhaps if he were in the habit of being a Legilimens and listening in on people's thoughts, he might have made some sort of comment about how he wasn't American, despite what everyone assumed. Canadians could be rude too; this one certainly was.

Louise, Irene, Lachlan, Jesús, and Aurora had soon appeared too, as well as a number of the Hogwarts competitors. Kyle did know the names of all of them, but it was difficult to remember which name matched which face, especially when he didn't really try to do so... probably something he should make a conscious effort to change, considering the shared experience and all that. As each appeared, Kyle met them all - or, at least the ones that looked his way - with a nod, and tried to determine their thoughts on the task purely from their expressions, but he was mostly still concerned with his conversation with Valerie.

Which, by the way, wasn't helping Kyle with coming up with many satisfactory answers at all. He raised a hand to his head and ruffled the front of his hair. "It's strange." In all honestly, the strange behaviour of his Homenum Revelio spell was disturbing him more than the fact that he had just gone up against a real Dementor, but he couldn't help it. "I have a lot of questions for the competition officials. Hopefully they'll be willing to answer them." He needed answers, purely for the sake of furthering his own knowledge.

"I'm fine, yeah," he said in reply to Madelyn's question, giving very few details as he was always slightly worried that he might evoke some sort of bizarre cheer from her. It was true, in any case; he was fine, had had plenty of chocolate while still in the forest, which was probably common knowledge now, given those viewing screens. But, speaking of, was there anyone here that looked as though they were about to come square up with him for Summoning their snacks away from them? No? Good.

For the time being, Kyle went and took a nearby seat for himself. The hour, though it had passed quicker than most hours did, had been taxing in more ways than one. It wasn't until he finally took a seat that he realised just how beat he was. He rubbed at the back of his neck and stretched his legs out, noting, with a frown, the corner of his robes that was now missing. Would he have to replace his robes himself, or would the officials or Ilvermorny cover the cost for him? With his eyes averted from the main crowd, he missed Valerie's minor, silent magical outburst. Instead, he had started ruminating on the points, and just how many his own performance might have earned him.

For the first time, he was wondering exactly how the others had dealt with their own versions of the challenge, and how he might rank among them, as opposed to just whether or not he had succeeded. Would they announce the points for everyone? Or just declare who had been eliminated? Whatever they did, Kyle wondered if they might get around to it soon; the stands were busy and incredibly loud, and some alone time - perhaps with a book - would be greatly appreciated.

Mason had literally cursed when the time was up and he was to report at the viewing area. He had been able to to save the old man and fight against the dementor however he had been this close to getting them out of the forest. If only the old man hadn't been such a whiner he could have won!

Still, the points weren't in yet so there was still hope. Of course it was a very small hope but one never knew right?

The Ravenclaw ignored the sting on his still bloody elbow , also not realising that there were twigs stuck in his hair, he made his way over to the viewing area with a downcast expression. He had been proud of himself for being able to cast an incorporeal patronus but the feeling of that it had not been good enough was still in his mind.

He sat down near the other competitors, not saying a word and placed the box of chocolate frogs he had summoned during the task on his lap. He still could not believe that the spell had worked and he wondered how many people had seen the box entering the forest. He laughed a bit and then sighed loudly.

He just wanted to go to his dormitory and read to distract his mind.

Skylar was most of the way out of from the viewing area, when she heard a familiar 'hey' behind her. And asking about marshmallows. Only one person would be behind her and Skylar could tell who it was without even looking, but for the love of merlin, Vivian, couldn't you have NOT distracted her and just followed quietly behind?

"That was his ex-girlfriend," Sky said, by way of explanation. She'd met Madelyn before and well, maybe it wasn't his ex anymore? Who knew? He had told her he found her to be pretty and listed no one else. "But yes. Marshmallows and hot --" She paused, mid sentence, because of hearing her name called again. People really just didn't want her to leave, did they? Did they not get that she didn't care about the results?

Oh.

Keeping her gaze on Vivian, because she wasn't sure she would be able to take looking at Brent right now without the possibility of detention for having her lips glued to his, she sighed.

"I ... what was that? I guess you're back together with her again?" Basically, she had no words left for him and Vivian should just drag her away before she said some things she would regret.

Vivian couldn't help but feel like heart sink with what Skylar said. So, that girl Brent had hugged was his ex-girlfriend. Of course, who was Vivian to know what it would feel like? She had no boyfriend nor a boy who even liked her enough to be that in her life. But, as Sky's dorm mate of four years and counting, the blonde knew that she just had to be there for her at all costs. "I'll sneak mugs of hot chocolate and coffee in the dorm for us, and Junia and Lissy." Slytherin support group, no doubt.

Just when Vivian was about to grab Skylar's hand to lead them both back to the Slytherin dungeons, the Brent guy came along and... well, Vivian tried her best not to tell him off for doing such a thing to her friend. The blonde remained calm and gave some leeway for the two to talk things out, if that was even possible at this current situation.

But nah, the look on Skylar's face didn't seem to get any better. Vivian tugged her dorm mate's arm and then looked over at Brent. "I think... we should go." Vivian didn't know what Skylar would do, but she didn't want to know that YET. Especially not know when the entire school and Ilvermorny population were present. "Please excuse us?" she said towards the older boy.

Feeling himself start to calm down, Jesús resumed counting backwards, slowly, in his head. Once he was done, he opened his eyes and refocused on the students around him. There were quite a few students from Hogwarts near him, but he caught sight of Valerie and Kyle and flashed them a small smile. From their faces alone, he could tell that they were probably in a similar sort of mood as him. Still, it wouldn't do to look sour and down, she he reached deep within himself, and summoned the strength to fake some more positivity. "Congrats to everyone for making it out, more or less," he said loud enough for the other competitors (who were in the vicinity) to hear him.

Turning to Madelyn, he offered the girl a weary smile. "I'm alright, yeah. Just tired." She had more pep than he could ever muster, but Jesús thought the girl's intentions were in the right place, and it never bothered him that she had an incessant need to chant everything loudly. He often took advantage of the noise others made to move around undetected. It was why, when he saw Valerie pull out her wand he stared at her, hard, because he couldn't understand why she would lose her cool at this particular moment. It was unnecessary. Thankfully, whether Madelyn had some luck on her side, and seemed relatively unharmed. It still didn't sit well with him, however, as Jesús didn't feel the girl merited any sort of spell or hex being thrown at her. The sixth year stood up from his seat, and made his way closer so that he could sate whatever sort of annoyance that Valerie was projecting onto Madelyn. At the sight of one of the other competitors from Hogwarts (Dora) pulling out her wand, Jesús decided to pull his out as well and call out to her.

"For your own sake, I suggest you stop whatever it is you think you're about to do. I'm not in the mood, but I'll gladly take you on," he said, eyes narrowing at her (Dora). The sixth year then turned and looked at Madelyn. "Don't let your guard down around them," he suggested gently. Williams had suggested he stay out of trouble, but Jesús was fairly certain that she wouldn't mind him hexing a few Hogwarts students to protect one of his peers.

Even though tears she fighting to keep back were blurring her vision, Teddy could very much see a fellow competitor (Dora) scathingly pointing her wand at an Ilvermorny spectator. The tension in the air was suffocating. Chaos was on the edge of beginning.

She wiped at her eyes and went over to the girl, putting her hand on her wrist. "What are you doing? Put that away." Teddy looked over at the girl with the pom-poms. "She's just supporting her classmates." She looked her in the eyes. "We're all on edge, just take it easy."

The next time he looked up, the atmosphere in the stands had changed. Or perhaps it hadn't changed at all, and Kyle had been oblivious to it all until this very moment; that seemed more likely. Either way, wands had been drawn by both Hogwarts and Ilvermorny students - Valerie included. Without being in the very midst of everyone, it was hard to tell whether peace-keeping or further antagonisation was underway.

Perplexed, but intrigued, Kyle leaned back in his seat and watched the other competitors with curiosity. From the pocket of his robes, he pulled out a chocolate frog - the last one left over from his challenge - and began nibbling on it. It seemed wisest to not intervene, especially when he had no idea what was going on or who had taken offence to what, but there was nothing wrong with kicking back and watching the show.

... Or, okay, maybe there was something wrong with that in the eyes of the many professors gathered here today, but what else was he going to do? Pretend nothing was happening? Please. Jesús had his wand drawn... not a chance was Kyle ignoring these potential proceedings.

Chaos had overtaken the stands and Aslan Evans had been on the very brink of done before the crowd mood shifted and Dora and one of the champions pulled out their wands, brandishing then at a seemingly incredibly un-perceptive Ilvermorny girl. The one she'd been ignoring, the one that had considered cheering to be the best course of action amidst a tournament that had led many other spectators to tears.

Aslan watched from her seat, unmoving and impassive as one after another of the students appealed to the others. It seemed a case in futility, but Aslan had learned just how fickle her classmates could be. She inclined her head, tilting to better hear and see- but nothing seemed to be happening, not yet.

She felt nothing about it except a bland interest.

In all honesty, Lachlan was barely listening to everything going on around him. So, most of the congratulations and well-wishes had gone unnoticed. That was until Valerie started performing magic on him. The look of pure annoyance on his face was in full view. "I'm not in the mood," was all that was said.

Even someone as polite as he usually was had their moments. This was a moment.

But now that his attention had been properly coaxed out of hiding, what was all this, then? He'd barely caught the end of Jesús' threat, shifting his gaze across the other Ilvermorny competitors, namely Aurora who'd just cropped up. As for this very public altercation with a Hogwarts native, Lachlan was unimpressed. This was meant to resolve anything....how? Agreeing with another of the Hogwarts natives [Teddy], the one with the gorgeous skin, he nodded. "Everyone should put their wands away. This isn't the time or place." They were all tired, some in better spirits than others.

It should be left at that.

For those paying attention to the Hogwarts headmistress (which likely would have been only those sitting near her), they would have noticed her self-inking quill moving nonstop once everyone got to the point of their challenge when they had to face a dementor and save some random poor victim from it. Comments about people getting killed, them allegedly abusing No-Majs for a competition, and the like when unnoticed. Regina wasn't here to pay attention to the dramatics and hysteria of some of those sitting in the stands. It was what was on the screen that mattered to her, knowing that they all would be fine in the end for obvious reasons.

Then it was all over. Competitors started arriving by portkey to the stands one by one, and the woman took that as her signal to stop her note-taking and meet with the judges in their designated room at the stadium. It was going to be a rather interesting conversation, considering many of the competitors performed at such high levels. But, in the end, four had to be eliminated.

But first the woman had death glares for certain students that thought it was appropriate to take out their wands, on the cusp of starting a fight. They got more than just death glares the moment she approached them. "Put your wands away and sit down NOW! Either play nice or kiss your opportunity of having any part in this competition goodbye." Honestly. This was absolutely ridiculous and uncalled for.

Without another word, the woman left to go talk to her follow judges to determine which twelve would be moving on to the second challenge and which four would not. Until their return, the screen would have to keep them preoccupied as it replayed the highlights of the first challenge.


* ____ * ____ * ____* ____ *
Minutes passed by, adding up to a total of roughly twenty minutes. The conversation had been to say the least, very passionate. In the end, however, a consensus had been made, the decision final.

Walking about into the seating area of the stands, Regina walked with an expressionless look on her face. Instead of returning to her seat, she made her way toward the centre of the stands right in front of the screen. She took out her wand, holding it to her neck, and casted a silent Sonorus.

"After much deliberation, the judges and I have come to an agreement on which twelve of our sixteen competitors will be progressing onto the next challenge. Before revealing the results, I would personally like to say that all of our competitors demonstrated great skill in the forest today. We are all proud of you regardless of the outcome for today's challenge."

A was a brief moment of silence occurred while she retrieved a small piece of parchment from her inside robe pocket. Clearing her throat, the woman continued, "For the first challenge, each competitor could earn up to twenty-five points based on the skill they demonstrated. These points will carry over into the next challenge for the twelve competitors who were not eliminated. The four competitors with the lowest amount of points will, sadly, no longer be in the running for the IMPS scholarship.

"The competitors and their point earnings are as follows: Kyle Baker, Ilvermorny, 25 points. Valerie Gray, Ilvermorny, 24 points. Levi Kenning, Hogwarts, 24 points. Jesus Rodriguez, Ilvermorny, 24 points. Brent Westwood, Hogwarts, 24 points. Dora Umbridge, Hogwarts, 24 points. Louise Hamilton, Hogwarts, 23 points. Aiden Jones, Ilvermorny, 23 points. Aurora Chae, Ilvermorny, 23 points. Irene Avery, Ilvermorny, 21 points. Henreitta Kramer, Hogwarts 19 points. Tejashree Peale, Hogwarts, 19 points."

Then it was time for the eliminated: "Lachlan Wheeler, Ilvermorny, 18 points. Mason Winslow, Hogwarts, 18 points. Cassandra McNally, Hogwarts, 18 points. Carl Leonard, Hogwarts 16 points."

An applause was then had for the competitors, all of them, because they all deserved it. Regina waiting for the noise to die down before speaking her departing words.

"Congratulations to the competitors moving onward, and a sincere thank you to those eliminated for giving it your all." That's the way the cookie crumbles. "The second challenge of IMPS will be taking place in January. Before then, however, the Hogwarts Board of Governors will be hosting a social event before the holidays. More details will be posted about this social when December is here." Regina paused for a moment, making sure that she had everything covered. With nothing coming to her mind, she then concluded, "At this time, you all may now return to your designated lodgings for some much-needed relaxation after such an intense evening." No fighting, please!