SnitchSeeker.com - HoM Lesson 2 - The Triwizard Tournament

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- Term 56: September - December 2020 (https://www.snitchseeker.com/term-56-september-december-2020/)

- - HoM Lesson 2 - The Triwizard Tournament (https://www.snitchseeker.com/term-56-september-december-2020/hom-lesson-2-the-triwizard-tournament-115116/)

Truthfully, Gabi wasn't that surprised that most of the first years were opting out of entering. After all, she had asked if they would enter the tournament as they were now - not in a hypothetical "well if you were 17" sort of way. And their reasoning was sound! She probably wouldn't have entered at the age of 11 or 12 either. Probably.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19 (Post 12473565)

Despite Claudine’s out-of-the-box thinking not being the exact answer Reccard was looking for, she was still pleased with herself for coming up with it. She then proceeded to make her notes, thinking how interesting the Tournament had progressed to adjust from one student from each School to four each.

Even more interesting was the activity Reccard had thought up. Claudine eyed the Goblet and the flame which was now burning brighter. Obviously this was not a real tournament so she supposed there was no harm entering. Had it been a real one, and she was of age, the Snakette would have passed. There were goals that she wanted to achieve before dying and unfortunately, they couldn’t be achieved if she died an untimely death.

When her Head of House called on her, Claudine indicated that she would like to enter her name. The reason? “I trust in my capabilities in terms of my spell work and mentality. Plus, I’d like to see if this Goblet decides that I’m worthy.’’ Of course, she didn’t need a Goblet or anyone to deem her worthy of anything. Claudine was quite confident about herself and didn’t need any validation.

Claudine wrote her name on the parchment Reccard had with her then dropped it into the Goblet.

Once the parchment had been dropped into the goblet, the flame burned just a bit brighter as it accepted the first entry from the young Slytherin.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TakemetotheBurrow (Post 12473571)

"I'm for sure putting my name in, Professor." There were lots of reasons for this, some of them having to do with wanting to make her family proud, live up to their name. There was more to it than that, though. "Sometimes the best experiences are the ones you're scared to try at first. This tournament has some scary elements, but it's also exciting and you get to show what you can do, maybe even surprise yourself. 'Course I want to try." She offered a smile and put her name in, curious to see just who would be getting selected.

What a Gryffindor answer! The goblet glowed brightly as the flames ate up the parchment, accepting her entry.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassirin (Post 12473585)

"That's... what I said," Phoebe gave the professor a little sulk when she misunderstood Phoebe's response. Did she really not see that Phoebe's answer amounted to the same thing? Friendship building ra-ra-ras. Same same.

She was a little horrified that the first few students refused to put their names into the faux!goblet, but luckily Big Head Claudine and Best Fren Cece stepped up to the challenge. Granted, those first few were ickles, and Phoebe had been embarrassed by her lack of spell ability at that age. So. She'd stop being horrified and just be resigned.

When it was her turn, Phoebe approached the goblet and carefully wrote her name on a slip of parchment. "I'm going to put my name into the goblet because I'd like a chance to be a champion. I don't know if I'm the most deserving and I don't know if I could win a whole tournament, but it would be great to be able to try, right?"

Phoebe was being humble, and the Goblet appreciated that, accepting her entry without hesitation.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie (Post 12473593)

Josh really hadn't much to add to the previous discussion and his thoughts had fallen in line with those who had mentioned Voldemort. Could hardly blame the tournament for that as a Dark wizard was likely to show up anywhere and do whatever. That wasn't a Hogwarts issue or a tournament issue, just like the storm last year wasn't a Hogwarts issue. It was, well, just a wizarding world issue. So...yeah...anyway...

Remaining quiet during the whole ordeal and sort of zoning in and out of discussion while Professor Recard lectured, Josh found himself staring at the Goblet of Fire and just...picturing what pops would say should the tournament return to Hogwarts while he was still here. Sure, being a professional quidditch player and champion seeker was all the man had ever pampered him for...but there was no doubt in his mind just how much the man would have pushed and trained him up at the mere prospect of being selected as a Triwizard Champion. Ironically, Josh was just pondering over whether or not he himself had any aspirations for entering or if he would have been begrudgedly offering his name...when it was announced that that was exactly what they would be doing. Optional, of course, but it was still there. Without the pressure and without the expectation.

So...would he?

One thing he did not like about this activity was that they had to vocalize intentions...sell themselves and in front of all of their peers. Josh the Jock could do that all day...but Josh the Jock was not...Josh. More and more these days it was becoming difficult to hide this fact. So when his name was called...he felt his stomach knot and he had a split second to decide who he was going to be today. Was he going to be Josh the Jock, the almost seventeen year old hand groomed practically from the womb to be a professional quidditch player with his life and wants outlined and dictated for him by pops? Or did he want to be Joshua Alphonse Miller, the almost 17 year old who had self taught himself three musical instruments in secret and indulged in his true passion of music and the theatre when pops wasn't looking and who was, slowly, beginning to take control of his own destiny and through with playing by the rules of someone else's game.

Too late for second-guessing...too late, well, no. It wasn't quite too late for him to stop and he ought to. He'd never hit the notes that song demanded, it just was not in his range.

AnYwAy.

Before he really registered he had done it, he had a slip of paper and his name was written on it. This was entirely too much thinking for a simply activity. Entirely too much.

Did he REALLY have to speak aloud and tell her why? If the Goblet of Fire could supposedly sense intent...wasn't that enough?

"I don't...I don't really care about being a champion," says somewhat defeatedly, as though making a true soul wrenching confession. Which...he was...but not about this pseudo tournament. This went deeper than that. "I mean that...I don't care about the bling...or the titles...er...no offense to the Goblet here..." Trying to stay on track here. Obviously talking about being selected as a Champion here. Nothing else. Obviously. Yes. "What I have is resourcefulness and work ethic ... passion and drive. I'm good at spellwork...but I also don't believe that being good cuts it. Being good at something doesn't make you the best version of yourself, just being good isn't pushing yourself. Scrappy and reflex would probably describe any tactic I'd throw into the tournament...but more than a test of abilities...I see this as a test of mindset...and I know I've got that. I'm a fighter...and, well, I'm not putting my name in here so my name would be on a plaque or something in the Trophy Room here at Hogwarts for eternal glory or whatever is preached about the Goblet...I'm putting my name in...for myself." He had sort of zoned out while he was talking, thinking about pops. Thinking about how nice it would be to stick it to him and do something for himself and his own self validation for once that was recognized by others...knowing that pops hadn't touched it... "Uh...I rambled. Sorry. Uh. Here..." And then the Gryffindor quickly tossed his little piece of paper into the blue flames and, with a sheepish glance back at the woman, hurried back to his own seat.

This was fine. Cool. Cool cool cool.

Personal growth was a perfectly valid reason to join the challenge. The goblet's flame crackled slightly as Josh's parchment was eaten up by the goblet, and after a second or two it was obvious it had accepted the entry.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ginevra (Post 12473594)

Fiona thought for a moment, deliberating on if she really wanted to put her name in the faux Goblet of Fire. "I am going to put my name in. I like to have the chance to try and prove my prowess in a mental and magical/physical sense. I set my mind to tasks and I do believe I have a decent work ethic...or is that ethos? Anyway..."

Fiona wrote down her name on one of the pieces of parchment that Professor Recard had with her and dropped in the fake goblet before returning to her seat.

Ethic? Ethos? Didn't matter - the goblet glowed brightly as the parchment was dropped inside.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mellamaet (Post 12473597)

Serena hmmed thoughtfully, did she want to be a Hogwarts champion? Did she want eternal fame, riches and recognition beyond her wildest dreams? Not really? And she didn't need a flaming goblet to tell her that she was worthy - or unworthy of something.

But, she did want the chance to prove herself. To provide that she was a great witch of her own merit. She wasn't all blonde hair and apple pies. Nope, she was a very capable witch, she knew that - but she wanted the world to know that too.

"I'd definitely enter" Serena finally answered decisively. Ripping off a piece of her parchment, she wrote her name down with a flourish. She then stood up, and carefully tossed her name into the goblet. Please pick me.

Although the Slytherin hadn't given a long winded explanation, the goblet could sense she was in it for the right reasons, and immediately accepted her entry.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaniDiNardo (Post 12473602)

This had to be some kind of trick question. Would she put her name into the goblet? OF COURSE she would. She was Emmerson Cambridge, there was basically nothing she couldn't do....except pay attention for most of History of Magic class, apparently.

Emm had blanked entirely until she heard they could actually use the one there. If the professor had mentioned that when she said they could drink from it, maybe the first year would've had a better idea of what was going on in class right now. As it stood, it didn't matter. She quickly scribbled her name on paper and headed up.

"Count me in!" Emm enthused, a bounce in her step as she approached the goblet.

"I'm already a champion so I qualify by d e f a u l t~" Name right in. "I don't really care about all that new security stuff or whatever. I'd win even if they didn't make changes. I dunno if you know this Mr. Goblet--can I call you Gobbie?--I dunno if you know this, but I'm a winner no matter what I do." Not for a second did she think the cup would reject her name. No one rejected Emmerson Nicole Justine Cambridge.

There was no doubt, no hesitation. She was ready.

The Goblet's blue flame sputtered a bit as Emmerson dropped her piece of parchment in to the goblet. For a second or two, it looked like it might accept the entry...

A moment later, the folded up piece of parchment spat back out at Emmerson. Whoops. Perhaps if she re-evaluated her definition of humility, she would have a better chance...

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadMadamMalfoy (Post 12473607)

Heath listened intently, jotting down careful notes as Professor Recard talked. It was interesting to learn about the new safety measures implemented for the 2072 Triwizard Tournament! Although the emphasis on problem solving and ban of dangerous creatures eased his mind somewhat, he still didn’t think he was cut out to be a Triwizard champion. If there was one thing that he’d learned in his time at Hogwarts, it was that no safety measure was foolproof! While he may not die in a Triwizard Tournament, there was still a lot of potential for things to go wrong. He could wind up with a lost limb or eye, facial scars, or any manner of permanent damage that could cost him his acting ambitions. It wasn’t a risk he was willing to take!

As he waited for his name to be called, Heath watched his classmates go up one by one. He was certain he’d refuse to enter… until he saw Claudine put her name in. That… complicated things. If this was a real Triwizard Tournament, he would have no choice but to enter his name in hopes that he’d be chosen instead of her. Was that even possible to get the Goblet to trade a name for a name? If there were multiple champions from each school, at least there was a chance he’d be chosen alongside her… but were the champions allowed to work together? Only one way to find out! He raised his hand and said, “Professor, if there are multiple champions from each school, are they allowed to work as a team in the challenges? Say, all four of the Hogwarts champions working together…” Did that question make any sense?

An interesting question! Gabi nodded at Heath in response. "Yes, there have been instances of students working together, not only in the last tournament when there were multiple representatives per school, but other students from different schools have been known to team up as well," she added. Harry and Cedric had teamed up in the 1994 tournament as well - and unfortunately it had been Cedric's undoing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArianaBlack (Post 12473622)

Still being a little embarrassed by her slip up earlier, Kiz sat quietly for the rest of Professor Recard's explanation. Her eyes occasionally wandered over to the best friend sat beside her and then to Phoebe when she declared that she'd be entering her name.

Um. No.

Kizzy immediately knew that she wouldn't be entering her name. It wasn't because she didn't think she was smart enough (she knew she was) or because she wasn't good at spellwork yet (she was terrible and it was the worst). But.... Emm, Cece, and Fifi would make much better champions. She'd much rather be on the sidelines cheering them on. Even the thought of being champion exhausted her a little bit. So when her turn came around, she used her quiet voice to explain. "Professor Recard? Can I put someone else's name in?"

So.......... It ended up being more of a question than it was an explanation, but the idea had JUST come to her! If she could write down Emm or Phoebe's name then they'd have a higher chance of getting picked, right? It was genius. Her best idea ever. Nevermind the fact that this wasn't for a real tournament. It still felt equally important. Pheebs and Emm were so excited to enter. They deserved to get picked.

Gabi smiled at her and shook her head. "No, unfortunately you're not able to enter on someone's behalf. Remember, if they get picked they HAVE to compete, and you're taking away their right to choose if they want to compete or not by entering for them," she explained. Plus, the Goblet would imediately reject any entry made in someone else's name. The fact that it hadn't when Harry had been entered was due to the tampering from Crouch.

"Keep your answers coming, people, we have plenty of room for more entrants!" she called out to the class.

OOC: Keep it going everyone! You have about 20ish hours still to get your mini activity done if you have not done so already!

Would she put her name in the Goblet of Fire? Now that was a loaded question. On one hand, she thought it was totally dangerous and reckless. Magic was unpredictable, and no matter how many safety measures the professors used, something bad could still happen. But it was reassuring to hear that during the last tournament, they had removed the more life-threatening tasks and replaced them with riddles and clues. She was quite good at answering riddles - thanks to her common room's entry requirements. And she had improved her magical ability significantly over the past year at Hogwarts. If you had asked her to enter last year, she would have given you a firm no. But this year? Maybe.

Overall, it seemed like the staff would be much more vigilant if they held another tournament. Avalon was always up for a challenge, and this event seemed like an ultimate one. She could test her wits, strategy, and skill. Plus, this Goblet of Fire wasn't the real one. So no harm could actually come from putting her name in, right? When her name was called, she stepped up to the Goblet. "I'd like to enter," Avalon said, figuring that she didn't need to explain her intentions verbally. From what Professor Recard told them, the Goblet would know.

Oh, so teamwork was allowed? That was good to know! In fact, that was the only way Heath would even consider entering a Triwizard Tournament. He silently debated the pros and cons of entering until his name was called. It wasn’t until the moment he walked to the front of the room that he made his decision, and it wasn’t the one he thought he’d make. He could feel the many pairs of eyes on him as he stood before the Goblet, and his throat tightened. He hadn’t felt this nervous about volunteering an answer since second year! Not so much because he doubted his reasoning… it was more that he didn’t want everyone else in the room to hear it!

He was careful to keep his voice as quiet as possible, in hopes that no one besides Professor Recard would hear him as he spoke, “I don’t know if I’m cut out to be a Triwizard champion…” In fact, he was pretty sure he wasn’t! “... but I know that I could never forgive myself if a friend was chosen and I didn’t at least try to stand by them in the tournament.” Merlin, that didn’t come out right! It probably sounded like he was caving to peer pressure, but he meant it in a protective way. Did the Goblet (and Professor Recard) understand that? Just in case, he added, “Even with the safety measures in place, there’s a lot that could go wrong, and we’d be stronger together… so I enter out of solidarity and a desire to protect others.”

With that, he wrote his name on a piece of parchment in his usual flowy, dramatic handwriting and dropped it into the Goblet, half-expecting it to spit his entry back out.

Carsyn had been mostly just sitting quietly and humbly taking in the history of magic lesson so far. She'd of course read about the tournaments, the most recently of course was the IMPS one which even that one occurred a few years before she started Hogwarts. Would she want to enter a tournament and possibly risk her life for eternal recognition at Hogwarts? Absolutely! What sort of Gryffindor would she be if she didn't??

She listened thoughtfully to her peers as they stated their case for wanting to be a champion. She wanted it for herself, but she needed to prove that she was worthy of being a champion and she didn't think ego would go along with being worthy, even if you had to have some.

After a moment, she filled out the slip of paper, "Carsyn Rose, 7th Year, Gryffindor Prefect" and approached Professor Recard. "I'd like to enter because it'd be my last and only chance to do so as a Hogwarts student, and well potentially ever... As a readiness for my NEWTs and for what awaits me outside these walls." She said quietly albeit confidently and dropped the parchment into the goblet, her fingers crossed as she hoped for the best.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lissy Longbottom (Post 12473642)

Okay.

But.

"What if they want to get picked though?" She leaned further into her desk. It wasn't like she'd be doing it without their consent. Emm, Phoebe, and Cece had already said they wanted to put their names in. Kiz was just trying to increase their chances of getting picked. They deserved it the most.

Either way, Kinsay James had learned an important thing today. Tis better to beg for forgiveness than ask for permission. Because when you ask, the answer can be no.

Charlie listened as she mentioned the tri wizard tournament. A groan escaped her lips because she wasn't really a fan of the whole sign yourself up for death and dismemberment potentially. Sure not many people died, but seriously it could happen. Twisting one of her longer than normal curls she listened at all of the historical facts that everyone knew but she didn't because it was not a subject that interested her at all.

However, she did know about hte question regarding why they would let it happen again, "Well like everyone else said, it wasn't the tournament that killed Cedric Diggory, but honestly why not let it come back, all the wild things that seem to happen here at Hogwarts whats a little magical rivalry?" Okay maybe she didn't totally believe it but honestly it was true. She read up on the fog and the strange things at Beauxbatons, and then there was the ghosties last year. Seriously was it that odd to have a tournament like the tri wizard cup?

Watching everyone stepping up to the goblet and dropping their name in made her roll her eyes. She 100% did not want to put her name in the goblet. "It's a hard no for me. I don't have a death wish honestly. Sure its a very rare occurrence that something goes wrong, but I don't want to be the one that something goes wrong with." She hooped that wouldn't get her in trouble for not wanting to actively participate in the mock tournament.

Did it just....?

Had the goblet....?

Her name...rejected...it....

"Profeeeessssooooorrrrrrrr!" Emmerson wailed, turning to face the History of Magic Professor. It took literally half a second for for the little girl's green eyes to fill with tears--even less time for them to begin streaming down her cheeks. The water works were on in full force.

"It--and my name--and spit--and and and profeeeeesssooooorrrrrrrrr. Make it take my name. It's not fair. I'm a champion. Mama says so all the time. Can Kizzy put my name? She--she doesn't wanna and--and--and--"

Couldn't even talk straight. She was too distraught.

"How come it doesn't want miiiinnneeee?"

Violet started slightly as Emmerson's slip of paper popped back out of the goblet. Wow--the idea of rejection had never entered her mind. Now she was doubly glad she hadn't submitted an entry. Apparently just wanting to be chosen was not enough.

Gabi smiled, quite pleased that so many people were willing to enter - and even the ones that weren’t had great reasoning. “Last call before we move on!” She announced.

OOC: HEY GUYS just wanted to update y’all. I have been SUPER fatigued the last few days hence why we are moving so slow but I have a few days off so I’m planning on passing out and catching up on my rest. We will move on in 12ish hours. The Goblet will reply to all of you then! ;)CATCH UP FROM Q1 and Q2 is allowed since we have some extra time!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fireheart (Post 12473648)

Another Ravenclaw entry! The Goblet burned brightly as it thought for a moment over the entry, before choosing to accept it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadMadamMalfoy (Post 12473669)

The Goblet burned brightly for a few seconds after Heath dropped his entry in before accepting it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhoenixRising (Post 12473687)

For a SPLIT second the Goblet debated handing back to the entry - the "perfect" bit was unnecessary and may have given the wrong impression initially - but the reasoning the girl had deep in her heart was acceptable of any champion.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArianaBlack (Post 12473700)

"Well if they want to get picked, then they should enter themselves. Adding another entry for them would be cheating and trying to stack the odds in their favor - and would ultimately get BOTH entries tossed out," Gabi pointed out. Truthfully that had never actually happened, because of all the barriers put in place to prevent people from entering with someone else's name, but she imagined a scandal like that would result in both people getting in trouble and disqualified from the competition.

Quote:

Originally Posted by siriusblackliveson (Post 12473705)

Gabi couldn't help but chuckle and nod at Charli's answer. She had a point - more dangerous things seemed to happen on a daily basis than in the tournament. And she respected her wish not to enter the competition as well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaniDiNardo (Post 12473713)

Gabi had been hoping that the Goblet wouldn't reject any of the entries as it would put a bit of a spotlight on some students, but it was also a teaching opportunity she couldn't pass up. Of COURSE it was Emmerson - as if she didn't already feel bad about making her cry once this term, now this? The kid was going to teepee her office with toilet paper by the end of term after all of this.

"Well, Miss Cambridge, simply expecting that you're the champion may have something to do with it. You have to PROVE that you're the best through the tournament, and entering simply because you think you deserve the crown without having to do anything to get it may be why it was rejected," she explained. This was why the Goblet had so many charms put on it to really figure out who was deserving of being a champion. It was not an easy decision to make!

Gabi clapped her hands, ready to move on as it seemed like everyone who wanted to enter had dropped their names in. "Alright everyone, let's move along to the main activity. Before you all leave, I will have the Goblet select some winners from our little class drawing," she explained with a grin. She had a little something for the winners, but that could wait.

"For your main activity - I want you all to come up with your own tournament challenge to test the skills of the champions. There are many examples of previous challenges in your textbook, so you can use those as inspiration. The challenges must address the following prompts," she paused to wave her wand as the following appeared on the blackboard behind her.

Quote:

-A brief summary of the event (2-3 sentences)
-Which challenge is it? The first, second, or third challenge?
-Each challenge should incorporate the skills of at least TWO subjects taught here at Hogwarts. Which ones are used in your activity?
-How would this challenge prove that the winner is worth of being the Triwizard Tournament champion?

"The summary is, of course, the most important part. I want to know exactly what the challenge entails and what the students must overcome to complete it. Next, focus on the extra details I outlined - a good challenge should incorporate multiple magical subjects AND serve the ultimate purpose of determining a winner of the tournament," she explained.

"You may work with a partner if you wish as long as each of you turns in the required outline in your own words. If you want to work alone, however, that is also fine," she added with a smile. They had all done great work so far this lesson, they deserved a little bit of time to work and chat with friends - as a treat.

"You have the rest of the class time to work. Have at it!" she told them all before dismissing them to start their work as she took a seat behind her desk.

OOC: Yayyy time for the main activity! As Gabi said, you need to develop your own task for the Triwizard Tournament! To get full credit, simply have your character brainstorm their test and write out the answers to the questions provided above. You can do this in multiple posts if you like because you will have roughly 60 hours to complete this part of the lesson! As Gabi said partner work is allowed as long as each of you answer the questions in your own words.

Catch up from the mini activity IS still allowed! Please refer to this post for information if you haven't done so already. Let me know if you have any questions!

Kale Trent was the king of imagination. His lil' baby, drama brain was always dreaming up scenarios to be the M O S T. So this assignment was right up his alley. Like. He was thrilled. Almost as soon as they off, Kale ripped out a piece parchment and set to work.

He posed for a while, like, hmmm what to do, and then began to tWIRl out some fantastical dreaming.

Like, like, like, well, imagine there was a task that involved tap dancing! Like, all competitors had to come up with a concoction of spells that made people expert tappers. The best fake!dancer wins. But of course, Kale had to concede, that if one of the competitors was a professional dancer, they would have an unfair advantage.

Scratch that!

Next idea: all competitors had fight inferi. Yah. Dead bodies. IMAGINE THE DRAMA. The intriguE. The danger. Was it a bit intense? Huh. There was that to consider, too. Still, Kale didn't strike it out yet. In fact, he wrote a lil note in the margins that wrote killing students bad maybe?

He couldn't be sure.

entering the challenge, cheyaaaaaa

Was there even a question if Bernadette Ophelia Grantham, Gryffindor Extraordinaire, would enter the Triwizard Tournament?! She was almost TOO eager to write her name down on a piece of parchment. The problem was that she needed to think up a good reason for the goblet of fire to choose HER and not anyone else.

This took her a while to think up. Sure, she had the usual Champion qualities of bravery, courage, occasional stupidity, work ethic, and.... er..... friendliness? Finally, Bernie sighed and got up to submit her name to the goblet.

Quote:

https://i.postimg.cc/zGnqPCFf/berniesig.gif

"I think I would enter because I'm brave and I never turn down a challenge. I'm also alright at magic, so far." She held her head up defiantly as she said this, her hand and slip of parchment hovering just over the goblet. "I love Hogwarts and if I were to represent my school, I would do my best to win with honor, and dignity, and courage, and chivalry, and I would be a good sport and I would not EVER fight dirty."

Even if the Headmaster had tried to force that lesson on them in detention, Bernie had done her best to help a little first year or two get out of it. She hadn't even gone hard on the firsties this year, even if they DID think she was a big meanie. She nodded to herself, thinking maybe that answer would suffice, and dropped her parchment into the goblet. Hopefully it would accept it?! Bernie would be so embarrassed if it didn't.

!!!

Even though she KNEW this was only pretend, excitement bubbled up inside her when her name was accepted. It meant she had what it took, didn't it? And that did wonders for her confidence. She couldn't help but grin as she got a fresh piece of parchment ready for brainstorming her very own tournament challenge.

...Could she list more than one and then pick at the end?

Quote:

Obstacle course on Winged Horses-Combines care of magical creatures and flying. Requires trust between student and creature, strategy, and quick reflexes.

*Jinxed Quiz Bowl- Combines Charms and History of Magic. Contestants have to answer trivia questions from wizarding history while dealing with/putting a stop to the effects of different jinxes that have been put on them! Proves which wizards and witches can keep calm and carry on under pressure. Also proves their knowledge of counter-jinxes and history of magic. Might be a good first task.

Actually, that jinxed quiz bowl idea was pretty genius and would be really fun for spectators to watch. Hmm.

Ugh. They were supposed to be coming up with ideas for the tournament now? If it were up to Ashley, this tournament wouldn't exist. She groaned quietly, and got to work.

First task: Stop a creature (kneazle? Basically a magical cat so okay?) - a kneazle from eating some sort of magical plant. What kind of plant? no idea. Probably a harmless but magical one. Was there a kind of magical catnip? you could either move the kneazle or move the plant, I suppose. Also, know what plant and animal you are dealing with. Magical or non-magical means allowed

subjects: Care of magical creatures, herbology

It would prove that they are worthy because they have good problem solving skills that would be applicable in real life. This is also a problem that muggles have, so you have a chance to prove you can function without magic. Or that your magic has a wide range of uses. Whatever. Basically, can you do anything practically?

THERE. It was rather unexciting, but it was a good, not very dangerous task that would show that you could problem-solve. She thought that that was pretty good. "Take that, tournament," she said under her breath. No one gonna die this time. She rolled her eyes at Emmerson. It might have been Ashley's imagination, but the people she wanted to avoid seemed to be the ones who were always nearby.

Valencia, of course, decided to enter. "I'd do it for a chance to represent the school. For the chance to interact with students from other schools. And, of course, a chance to push myself." She'd always been a fan of new experiences and learning new things. A triwizard tournament would be... perfect for that.

She wrote her name down before dropping it in the goblet.

She then quickly headed back to her seat to work on her idea of a good task. Of course, the first thought she had was how to utilize History of Magic. That was something that always seemed underutilized.

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A quiz would make an excellent first task. It would test the knowledge of each champion in a wide variety of subjects. It would prove that one's skill is not based on pure brute force or happenstance or luck. Intelligence is one of the most underrated magical skills and truly a test of who is capable and knowledgeable. It is also a test of what school has the best education.

Claudine was confident that the mini Goblet would accept her name and was pleased when she was proved correct. So… what was next? She shot a look at Heath, suspecting why he was asking about the teamwork aspect. It was always chivalrous of how he was looking out for her but he knew she was always going to be okay, real tournament or not, right?

The Snakette was not surprised to see that a few names were rejected. It seemed that some Hogwartians’ egos were way too big and it reflected in their answers. Anyway. Back at her seat, she prepared for the activity by retrieving a sheet of new parchment and quill. After labelling her name, year and House, Claudine took a few minutes to scheme up her ideas.Only then did she get to work:

SPOILER!!: C’s work

Should she include a third subject?

Hmm.

Emm was having a meltdown, and Phoebe wondered if she should intervene. The professor was paid to deal with first years, but Phoebe had a special hand with her pseudo-little sister. Or she knew how to deal with her through bribery and placating. The professor seemed to have it under control, though, so Phoebe was able to turn her attention to the very interesting in-class assignment.

Design tasks, huh? Time to imagine a little mayhem!

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The Hippogriff Obstacle Course is an exciting addition to the Triwizard Tournament. Champions must approach and befriend a hippogriff and successfully convince their new best friend to provide transportation through an obstacle course that is both on the ground and in the air. The obstacles they must overcome require advanced spellwork and knowledge of Defensive magic and common ways to survive and overcome (safe) Dark creatures. The goal of the task it to complete the course fastest, although points for Flair (tm) and Good Spellcasting.

Due to the EXTREME challenge and adventure of this task, it should be kept for last. Task 3!! incorporates Care of Magical Creatures, Charms, and Defense Against the Dark Arts. This challenge is PERFECT as a Triwizard task because it provides insight into the quick wit, spellwork and knowledge, and bravery of the champions.

Claudine decided against using another subject. She was quite happy with just Charms and CoMC. Now that she had that part figured out, she proceeded to jot down more ideas as they came to her in her book. Needless to say there were a lot of jottings and strike throughs. Who knew coming up with a Triwizard Tournament task involved so much brain power? Eventually, however, the girl reasoned she had it all in order:

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As with the entire Tournament, the aim of this specific task aims to test the competitors’ skills. In addition, it will test their mental and physical capabilities. This task should not be underestimated.

This, the second task of the Tournament, will see topics from the syllabus of the following subjects: Care of Magical Creatures and Charms. An overview of the task is as follows: in a huge forest, there is a mother Hippogriff. She is confused, restless and in a great deal of pain; not physical pain but the type felt when one loses a child; the three baby griffs wandered off while she was hunting. A short time afterwards, two Muggles run the risk of discovering the mother griff. It is the Champions’ task to ensure the Muggles do not see the mother griff at any time and to get close enough to her to help her locate her babies. A time frame of one hour is allocated to this task.

This task is designed to test the Champions’ use of their logic and cool while thinking quickly under pressure. The pressure in this case is completing the task within one hour. Also, it tests their ability to recall spells and wand movements they would have learnt.

Lengthy writing? Yes, but at least all her basics were well covered

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Originally Posted by Lissy Longbottom (Post 12473844)

Violet had been thinking and thinking, and wasted three pieces of parchment with false starts, and she still didn't feel very confident about this. Her brain just could not come up with an idea today, which was unusual--this was what happened when you let emotions fog your thinking. But she had to come up with something, and so she finally wrote down her least-bad idea.

SPOILER!!: The Magic Maze

There. That was probably too complicated, but was the best Violet could come up with.

All this talk about the history of the Triwizard Tournament had Avalon pondering the history of other important magical events, and she couldn't stop thinking of the barriers Harry Potter had to get through to reach the Sorcerer's Stone. It had been a few months since she read that chapter of her history textbook, but she recalled learning about obstacles such as Devil's Snare and Wizard's Chess. Any of those challenges would be a great addition to the Triwizard Tournament.

She particularly enjoyed the idea of a potion-making twist for the final challenge. As she recalled, Harry Potter had to select the right potion to enter the room with the stone. Nothing wrong with borrowing a bit of that idea, was there? It seemed like a very climactic and fitting ending to the tournament to have to walk through fire to receive the trophy.

The Ravenclaw grabbed a quill and started writing down her ideas.

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This third and final challenge will combine Defense Against the Dark Arts and Potions. First, each champion must prove their skills in evading dark creatures. I imagine this may take place in a maze or arena of some sort. They might be tasked with facing boggarts, getting rid of grindylows, and reversing dark curses. After they defeat the dark forces, they will reach the Triwizard Cup, sitting behind a wall of fire. In front of that is a table with a plethora of potion ingredients and supplies. To get past the fire and to the trophy, the participant must concoct a Fire Protection Potion to get themselves through the flames.

Not only will this challenge test the champion's bravery, composure, and logic (important qualifications of a Triwizard Champion), but it will measure their general knowledge and skills in defensive magic and potion-making - two critical skills for witches and wizards.

**Special note: Because this challenge involves dark magic, intense faculty supervision and safety precautions would be required.

Heath wasn’t expecting the Goblet to accept his entry, as he was entering for others’ protection more than his own ambitions, but he was pleased that it did. He caught the look Claudine gave him and returned it with a knowing one of his own. Yes, he knew she was more than capable of handling herself, but there was still no way he could let her face something as dangerous as a Triwizard Tournament alone!

Heath was curious to see where the lesson was going from here. He half-expected the next activity to be some sort of dangerous Triwizard Tournament-inspired challenge - he didn’t know why! Professor Recard wasn’t cruel and sadistic, unlike some in this school. Still he couldn’t help but breathe a silent sigh of relief when he learned they would be designing their own Triwizard Tournament challenge instead of re-enacting one. This was something he could do! He already had several ideas about what his challenge could be.

He knew he wanted his challenge to test the champions morally as well as mentally… as in, they couldn't get ahead by being cruel and ruthless. They would have to work together and help each other to advance in the game. He also wanted to incorporate his favorite subjects, astronomy and transfiguration, but how was he going to combine all of these things? A few fragmented ideas came to him… a maze, pieces of a complicated star map, riddles, obstacles to be transfigured along the way… He grabbed a quill and began to jot his ideas down, hoping they would sound less disjointed once he got them on parchment

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This challenge starts with all of the Triwizard champions at the center of a maze against a night skyscape. Each champion is given a piece of a star map which when combined will provide information necessary to navigate the maze. The map must be complete to be of use, which means the champions must work together. The champions will find a riddle, the answer to which is a specific constellation. They must determine the correct one from the star map, find the corresponding constellation in the sky, and move in that direction to find the next riddle. This process continues until the champions exit the maze. Along the way, there are obstacles that must be transfigured: barriers to be vanished, objects to be transfigured into keys to unlock doors, and monsters made from stone and wood that must be reverted to their base materials.

This challenge is designed to test champions in their knowledge of astronomy and transfiguration, problem-solving skills, and above all, moral fiber. Points are awarded for the aforementioned categories and docked for cutthroat, ruthless behavior. To further underscore the message of camaraderie over competition, no champions will receive points for this task unless all champions complete the maze. The winner is determined not by who exits the maze first, but by who has the highest combined total of points in the knowledge, skill, and teamwork categories. This challenge should fall at a time after rivalry has had time to take hold but before the awarding of the Triwizard Cup, so it would work best as the second task.

Heath looked over his parchment, dissatisfied with what he had written. It read as longwinded and rambly and… would this challenge make sense at all to anyone who read it? Ugh, this was frustrating! He had a clear idea of his challenge in mind, so why couldn’t he do a better job wording it?! Maybe he could flesh it out better before time ran out...

Serena grinned as the cup accepted her slip of paper. She was worried for a second that it would spit hers out too - but thankfully, that didn't happen. She sat back down, and watched as the rest of her classmates put their own names down on the goblet. When they were all finished, and Professor Recard began explaining the next part of the lesson - the Slytherin leaned forward and listened intently.

Grabbing a roll of parchment and her quill and ink, she set about to writing, what she thought was the perfect tri wizard task.

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Originally Posted by The Amazing Race: Magic Edition

A race through the grounds of the host school, with six checkpoints that they need to "check in with" along the way, with different obstacles focusing on their six core subjects (excluding Astronomy) to ensure that all champions are on somewhat even playing ground.

Checkpoint 1 - Transfiguration: A champion is required to transfigure an object that will aid them surpassing the obstacle.
Checkpoint 2 - Charms: Similar situation as checkpoint 2, the champion need to charm their way out of their obstacle
Checkpoint 3 - Herbology: Devil's Snare, or something similar. Challenging, but not deadly.
Checkpoint 4 - History of Magic: A Sphinx will give a riddle that pertains to a significant moment in magical history, the champion that answers correctly gets to pass.
Checkpoint 5 - Flying: A flying magical obstacle course?
Checkpoint 6 - Defense Against the Dark Arts

Serena leaned back and examined her paper with pride. She could probably come up with more concrete challenges if she had more time, but for now, this should be enough.

For a moment, Carsyn wasn't sure that the mock goblet was going to accept her entry. She waited cautiously eying it until finally it didn't spit it back out. She was officially eligible to compete .... only it seemed that they weren't really having any challenges that they would compete in. Rather that they needed to create their own triwizard tournament challenge?

Carsyn flipped through the textbook in search of something for inspiration, chewing on her lower lip. What sort of event would make for a good challenge? A maze is an obvious one because it would allow so much subjects to be involved and test your skills with a wand but also creatures and deflecting hexes and jinxes and physical barriers. But surely she should be able to think of something else?

SPOILER!!: Carsyn's Challenge

Reading over her description, she wondered if it was really feasible to brew a potion in midair? Would it affect the quality? The time needed?

Gabi wasn't doing her usual rounds, peering over their shoulders as they worked, because she wanted to work on some grading and lesson plans she had to finish up. She kept listening, though, and what she was hearing WAS very promising. She couldn't wait to hear what they came up with!

"Ok everyone, class is up! Before you all leave, I want to congratulate our class "champions" with a little something," she said with a grin. She stood up and leaned over the small Goblet of Fire she had on her desk and waved her wand so that four pieces of parchment. She cleared her throat dramatically before reading out the results.

"Cecelia Summers, Heathcliff Jones, Serena Anders and Fiona Jenovick, come up and claim your prizes!" she chuckled, pulling out four small Goblet replicas, identical to the one she had used for the lesson - but without the ability to hold their own champion choosing ceremony. They DID glow blue in the dark, though! And obviously, no real flames. A fire in the dorms was the last thing anyone needed.

"Enjoy your rewards. You can use them as nightlights, pencil holders, jewelry trays...whatever you'd like," she said with a chuckle.

"Everyone else, you're dismissed - please read the chapter on the 1994 Triwizard Tournament for homework to review what we learned today," she added, assigning their reading before clapping her hands once to indicate they were free to leave.

OOC: Thanks for coming to my lesson, everyone! I hope you had fun! Just an FYI I DID use a randomizer to pick the champions - no favorites from Miss Gabi! I'll leave the thread open an additional 20ish hours or so for you to wrap up your RPs and finish up your main activity if needed. Thanks again!

This was a good class. There were prizes, nobody told her her idea was stupid, and the homework did not involve writing essays. She looked at the professor. "Really? The homework doesn't involve writing essays about how we are all naive and annoying little kids who don't know that the only way to succeed in life is by abandonment, betrayal, and sacrifice? No speeches about how we have to accept authority? Not even a short paragraph explaining how we are weak and useless? I don't need to explain to you why friendship and conversation are valuable, or justify my existence? Sweet. You're such a nice professor, did you know? Seriously, I hope you teach here forever and ever." The first part about the homework was sarcastic, but the second part was genuine. How valuable was a teacher who you could at least somewhat trust? Unlike the headmaster. She grinned at the professor as she exited the class. "See you." For once, she had actually enjoyed a class.