Mischa hated having to leave his wand behind with the judges. He didn't trust any of them except Headmaster Zitnik but he could do nothing about it. Instead, he followed Karina to...where ever it was they needed to go.

Wherever turned out to be a vast meadow. A vast bare, dark meadow. Mischa blinked, allowing his eyes to adjust to the darkness. Darkness was something that bothered lots of persons but it was different for him. He liked the dark. Without a word to his partner, the Durmstrang boy took his first step into the meadow. It was a quiet night and the cracking of twigs and crunches of other things as he and Karina walked on seemed thrice as louder.

Mischa walked on, occasionally stumbling on small stones he missed. Then suddenly, out of no where appeared a huge boulder. "Karina,'' he said to get the girl's attention. He indicated to the rock as he drew closer to the boulder. "Flashlights,'' he muttered. Obviously they needed those. "A sextant, pen, post it, bag of coins.'' Mischa flashed his observant eyes around. Had they missed anything else? But it seemed as if they did! "Vhat is that?'' he asked pointing at the object?

Karina stumbled in the dark towards the vague shape of some sort of table, highly uncomfortable without her wand to guide her. She felt very exposed here in the dark, like someone was going to come up behind her and attack. Finally she reached the stone table and felt around. Light, light, need some light! she thought to herself as she tried to find something that would help her with this. Since the task was Muggle Studies and astronomy, she thought it would be some sort of flashlight, but wasn't sure. Passing over what felt like a triangle and a bag, Karina touched upon a Muggle pen. She clicked it to make certain it wasn't actually a light before setting it back down on the table carefully.

Still searching for a light, she sighed frustrated and wondered where Cha was; though she admitted to herself that she was a bit eager after dinner to get to the task. Finally gripped a cylinder in her hand with a big rubbery button on the end. Aha! Click! She grinned as the table in front of her was illuminated.

Hmmm, interesting. Karina already had some ideas about the contents of the table, but decided that it would be best to wait for Mischa's opinion too. It was both their tasks after all.

Mischa flicked on his flashlight and was better able to examine the contents of the boulder. What puzzled him the most were the coins. "Karina, haff you any idea vhat ve are supposed to do vith these?'' he asked as he shook the bag. He had very much forgotten the nature of their relationship and his first thought about working with her. They just needed to concentrated on this task.

Shining the beam of light onto the object which turned out to be their first clue, Mischa's mind raced with various thoughts. "Ve are perhaps supposed to find 57 degrees by using the sextant and Polaris as a reference?'' It was night after all, and there was no sun to use.

Karina examined the Muggle coins as well and furrowed her forehead in a slight frown. Hmmm. "I think they might have something to do with another part of the task. Either way, they look to be British I think." she said slowly, still thinking. "What do you say?" she asked her partner, noting that this was the most friendly conversation they had had in a long time. It just proved how a competition could call for entirely different attitudes in different people.

There was probably going to be more clues after they followed the first one that would lead the the currently shrouded purpose of the Muggle coins. The sextant's purpose was clear though. "I agree. The 57 degrees most likely is a clue as to where in the sky we should look." She pointed straight ahead, the same direction as the arrow. Then caught on what Mischa had said about Polaris. "I thought the horizon is a standard for one of the points of reference used in a sextant." she double checked in her memory to see if that was right, and finding that it was nodded her head once. Yes, she was quite sure it would be the horizon they would be measuring against.

Mischa nodded. They were indeed British but their purpose would fall into place later. Presently, it was the sextant that they needed to deal with. He dropped the bag of coins back onto the boulder and fixed his attention to the post it and pen. It was likely those two were for calculations. But they could use their brains too.

He looked at Karina. "It does. But von't ve need Polaris in order to bring it to the horizon so ve can measure the angle?'' That was what he remembered reading. But he was inclined to agree with his school mate that their next clue lied fifty seven degrees in the direction the arrow indicated. "Vould you like to do the honor of finding where the fifty seven degree lies, Karina?''

Mischa knew he was not being his usual self. He never really got along much with Karina but all that had changed in just a few weeks.

True, true. Mischa had remembered a point Karina herself had forgotten. She flashed a quick smile, one that would not normally have happened, and took the sextant in her hands. "Yes, I would love to." she said, already facing where the arrow pointed.

The Scandinavian looked up into the sky and found the Big Dipper, then the Little Dipper; the easiest way to find Polaris. She raised the sextant to her eye and focused one half of the image on the horizon. Then, moving one of the arms of the sextant, she focused the other half on finding the North Star. After a moment of slight panic where she couldn't find it, she found Polaris. She knew that she could just take the Sextant away from her face and read it from there, but did not want to risk accidentally bumping the reading out of line. "Can you read the degree of Polaris from there?" she asked her partner.

Mischa blinked when Karina smiled at him but other than that, he let his face remain expressionless. Clearly, this competition was slowly but surely causing their enmity to recede. But that was not what he was here for. Instead he watched intently as Karina locate the Big and Little dipper which was the easiest and faster way of locating the bright star Polaris.

For a few moments, Mischa thought Karina would be able to find the star. She looked on the verge of panicking. He was about to suggest he take over but she spoke at the same time. Excellent. She found it. They were making progress. Without a word, the Durmstrang student stepped closer to Karina and shone his flashlight on the sextant. "Forty three degrees,'' he read.

Grateful that Mischa at least appeared to be remaining calm, Karina found the post it note and scribbled 43˚-Polaris, just so they wouldn't have to retake the measurement. She then set the sextant to fifty-seven degrees and, using Polaris as a reference point, found where the clue told them to look. Hmm. "I can't tell what this is that I'm looking at, maybe you should try?" she said while still looking into the sextant eyepiece. it had occurred to her that they should do some calculations at some point, but she didn't think that this was the time, so whatever she was viewing should be the object they were to find.

As Karina scribbled on the post it, Mischa reminded her of something. "The Latitude is calculated by ninety degrees minus the sextant angle.'' He was frowning, tying to figure something out. They were given the 57 degrees, not required to figure it out, weren't they? ''If our next clue is indeed at fifty seven degrees, do ve just find the spot where Polaris reaches at horizon?'' Was it really that simple and he and Karina were just over thinking? Or was it more to that and they were not over thinking?

Mischa shook his head, still keeping an eye on the angle of the sextant using the flashlight. Karina had set it to the fifty seven degrees. "You are doing vell,'' he told her simply. It was rare for the boy to be complimenting anyone but he felt she deserved it and he did give them where they were deserved.

She felt more confident when Mischa complimented her. Sometimes she just needed an extra boost of confidence, and she was grateful that the other boy was not too centered on their rocky relationship in the past to give her one. "Thank you, you are not doing bad yourself." she said quietly back before again focusing on the task at hand.

Karina would have nodded in agreement but she was still looking through the sextant. Instead she quickly did some mental math... Let's see. Ninety minus fifty-seven was....forty minus seven.... which put it at "Thirty-Three." she said aloud. "That's the latitude if you use the fifty-seven degrees in the equation, but as the stone is pointing with an arrow, I don't think it makes sense to use it to find the latitude. Polaris latitude would be..... forty-seven." Actually even if they used Polaris, Karina couldn't find a reason for the latitude to even be needed. Hmmm. She continued to watch the sky, just in case she could see something through the sextant.

The arrow on the stone clue almost seems to glow in the moonlight encouraging you to go to a specific location. Standing in one place will not help you finish this task.

Best hurry along, there seem to be some ominous clouds on the horizon...

Karina nearly smacked her forehead with her palm at their stupidity. Of course. Follow the arrow, don't just look in that direction! She started gathering the things on the table, speaking all the while to Mischa. "We should go in that direction. Not just stand here!" She was holding her flashlight and the sextant . She nodded towards the rest of the things on the table, indicating that he should bring them. They had been wasting so much precious time... when they could have been completing the task. She turned her face into the darkness so no one could see her frustration with herself and started off into the dark.

Of course! They HAD been over thinking this. Feeling very frustrated because he had not thought of this earlier, Mischa hurriedly took the remaing objects from the boulder and quickly as he could, followed Karina. But now was not the time to dwell on their stupidity. If they remained focused they would still be able to get the task done.

"I am supposing ve have to go fifty seven degrees in the direction the arrow vas pointing towards,'' he muttered. Obviously Karina had also figured that out.

Karina walked forward a few steps, hanging the flashlight by its strap on her wrist she she could have both hands free. With the sextant still set at 57˚, she kept checking the horizon against Polaris to see when Polaris reached that point, but it was not quite there yet.

Step.... Still a bit away from the horizon.....Step, step, step..... Closer.....

She continued walking, relying on Mischa's flashlight and not her own to see any pitfalls she might come across in on the journey. She looked through the sextant once more, noting that the North Star aligned perfectly with the horizon now. "Here we are. Fifty-seven degrees, judging by Polaris," she said looking about. She clicked on her own flashlight and started to shine it about the area for another clue.

With the angle on your sextant reading 57 degrees you and your partner may believe that there is a clue nearby. However, as you look around you see nothing.

Nothing but itchy ankle high dead grass that is.

Mischa nodded as Karina announced they were at the fifty seven degrees. Would they find a clue? He pitched in and together the two Durmstrang students shone their beams of light around. He took in as much detail as he could. Anything to find this clue quickly so they could make up for their loss of time.

But Mischa could see nothing but the grass. "Karina. Do you see anything that can possibly be a clue?'' He continued looking around. "Or at this position, ve have to figure something out using these materials ve haff?''

Nothing. Nothing. As her light beam swept the area around her she found no sort of clue at all. "I can't see anything of note here," she said scratching one ankle with the other foot. "Do you think we went the wrong direction? Or did the wrong thing?"

She thought about the supplies they had at the moment. "I don't see what we could do with the objects we have though," she added slightly worried. Then she grew more confident, forcing herself to stop worrying. They would figure it out.

Mischa felt the frustration building up inside him once more. His brows were furrowed in a frown as he thought deeply. What had they done wrong? He addressed Karina.

"The arrow said this direction, did it not? Ve followed it and measured the fivty seven degrees.'' He could not think what else they needed to do. The materials they had, as Karina pointed out, might not be much help presently.

Think, Mischa! Think!

Ok. Breathe and don't get frustrated. "How about we go back to the table and lay out everything we have and go from there?" she suggested. It was worth a try and maybe while they were back at the table they could go through everything they had once more and see what was what. She heaved a great sigh and swept one last look, one last beam of light, around the area. "Cha," she said quietly. "I don't think anything is here."

Resisting the urge to stamp down on the dry grass, Mischa nodded at Karina's suggestion. It would not hurt to re-start or talk strategy or go over what they already knew. It was possible they would grasp something they had missed earlier.

Mischa followed Karina thought he was still glancing around with the hope of finding something. He had been looking forward to making his school proud but now all he felt was utter frustration and disappointment. But he was not about to give up. The words give up were not in Mischa Moller's dictionary.

"Ve haff flashlights, a sextant, some muggle coins, a post it, a pen and a clue that points in a particular direction and it is also labelled fivty seven degrees,'' Mischa said staring at each item in turn. He glared at the clue as if daring it to reveal more. "Ve vere at that fivty seven degrees direction but vound nothing. Vhy? Vhat did ve do wrong?''

Noticing that Mischa was becoming more and more frustrated, Karina placed a hand on his arm to help assure him that they were doing fine and that they would figure this out. "You know we will not fail in this." she said confidently before moving ahead back the way they came.

The redhead looked at all the items laid out before the them on the boulder back where they started and then closed her eyes to think better. They had just misinterpreted the task, that was all. They had done nothing wrong, only over thought. Was was the object of this task? "It is possible that we could just be meant to remember the number 57 degrees, walk in that direction and then use the number on the clue later in the task," she said thoughtfully, leaning up against the table. As she did so she accidentally bumped the balance so the stone clue rolled off and onto the ground. Jumping out of the way so it wouldn't hit her feet, she bent over to retrieve it, then examined it closely to see if she had missed anything on the actual clue itself. Finding nothing apparent, she continued on, "Then again, it is entirely possible that we should be using the coins to do something now."

Karina was right. They would not fail. He could not begin to imagine what failure was like. Mischa gave his school mate a rare but small smile. They needed to work quickly.

"But even if ve valk in that direction, vhen do we stop? Ve cannot possibly cover every single inch ov this meadow.'' The only thing he could think that was right was walking in the indicated direction of the arrow and pausing at the fifty seven degrees. But there had to be something else to it. They had not seen any signs of a possible clue. Just stupid, dry grass.

"Shall ve try going in the direction once more?'' What else were they supposed to do. It was a first step.

Nodding her head in agreement, Karina once again picked up her flashlight and the sextant and started walking in the direction the arrow had pointed. Sweeping her flashlight back and forth across her path to avoid any shrubbery or itchy ankle high grass, she also searched for any more clues that would tell the Durmstrangers about what they needed to do.

Flashlight beam shining carefully around, Mischa trailed a bit behind Karina. He was determined that the at least find something. Durmstrang students were not quitters. Keeping his eyes peeled he walked on. He could see Karina trying to avoid walking into itchy grass. The grass didn't bother him. His feet were covered completely.

Something occurred to him. "Should ve try using the sextant again?'' It was possible they misread the angle.