Brent had been totally pumped up and excited about being chosen as an IMPS competitor ever since the day that mysterious book called out his name. He had a lot riding on this, too. He was literally competing against his peers from both the school he had started out at and the school he was currently attending. No extra pressure or anything. Psh.

Who was he kidding? There was a lot of extra pressure, and it was eating away at his nerves right now.

He drew in a quiet breath as he looked out toward the forest. He was either going to come out of this thing a hero or a complete and total loser. He just hoped he wasn't the first one eliminated. He was pretty sure Skylar, Madelyn, and just about every other girl at this school would have his name on their black list for the rest of forever if he got kicked out first. He tried to push those thoughts from his mind, though, seeing as the competition was starting, and it was starting right now.

He took a moment to do several things before taking a step forward. First, he studied his surroundings. At the moment, there was nothing before him but the darkness of the forest and a thick fog settling around it. His eyes flickered from one area of the forest to the other, but there was nothing. With a keen sense of his surroundings still in place, Brent flicked his wand out his holster and gripped it tightly in his hand.

Duuuuuude. It was cold. Not wanting to waste another single second, he gave a quick, "Caelum Saepio," before taking a single step forward. Okay, it was dark. Really dark, and that fog wasn't helping either. He gave a soft sigh. He briefly considered casting lumos before deciding against it completely. Something told him that calling immediate attention to himself right at the beginning wouldn't be a good thing.

The spell might be keeping you warm but with a lack of a source of light, do you really feel comforted?

The lack of light heightens the sounds that the tiniest of movements make. The sway of a branch, the breaking of a twig... all of these sounds grow tenfold the further you venture into the forest. The fog doesn't seem to help you either. These low-lying clouds can be seen casting odd shapes everywhere around you, making you question whether a shape is in its physical form in front of you or if it's a trick of your surroundings.

Tell me, do you trust your senses in the darkness?

Just when a sense of paranoia is threatening to sink in, you hear it.

"AAAAAARRGGHHHH!"

The sound of a scream punctures through the air, louder and clearer than any sound you've heard in this forest. Somewhere in the distance, someone really needs help. Your help.

Dare you go further into the thick fog?

Okay, he could handle this...he thought. He was at least feeling warmer, which was a good start in his opinion. The darkness and the fog were both starting to get the best of him, though. He was quickly starting to change his mind about not lighting his wand. Finally, he just spoke a strong "Lumos!" before changing his mind altogether. Breathe, Brent. Breathe. So he had warmth, he had light, and...he had fog. It was that last one that he still had to conquer.

His heart was pounding out of chest at this point. Out of all his years of Quodpot, Quidditch, and any type of competition whatsoever, this was the most tense. He'd look back on this when he was eighty-years-old and think about what a cool experience it had been. The thing was, he wasn't eighty right now. He was fifteen, and he had no idea what was in front of him.

Then suddenly, he heard it...whatever it was. Somebody was in trouble, but he had no idea who they were or where they were. It might not even be a person either, because he knew there were many a magical things that could mimic a human being. He had to head forward...and fast! His foot crunched down on something, and he jumped just a bit before realizing it was a stick. He started to step over it, when a thought came to him. He HAD to see where he was going. He HAD to know what it was making that sound. He quickly picked up the stick and aimed his wand toward it. Now what had his textbook said?

Kenaz: Vision, revelation, knowledge, creativity, inspiration, technical ability..., etc., etc. etc.

It was the vision part he was focused on, though. "Intaglio Kenaz!" he said, remembering the incantation to carve a rune. With his hands shaking ever-so-slightly, he began to carve until he could see the Kenaz rune in the stick. Now it just needed to be activated.

"kenaz kenaz kenaz
ku ka ki ke ko
kun kan kin ken kon
ok ek ik ak uk
kaunnnnnnnnn..."

...and there it was. Soon, he was heading forward at a slightly faster pace with a stick bearing the Kenaz rune in his hand, hoping it would eliminate some of the fog, so he could see.

Invoking a rune was a clever move and you'll find that your attempts aren't fruitless. Not only does the fog around you start to dissipate, but the glowing rune on the stick start to shed some more light to your surroundings. It's almost as if the rune is guiding your way, acting as a beacon during this challenge. Whether this'll help your situation is yet to be seen.

The fog might be furling and disappearing out of your way, but that doesn't stop the general chill of the atmosphere. You find that the forest is getting colder still, much colder than it should be for a day in November. Your journey takes you deeper into the forest where you start to notice a foul stench of decay lingering in the air. Had something died in here...?

After a while, the fog clears enough to leave you on the edge of a clearing, looking down at a horrific sight. The source of the ongoing screaming was from a man who looked to be much older than yourself. A man who looked frail and weak in the presence of the hooded figure that hovered above it. The black cloak billowed out, letting you catch a glimpse of a pair of rotten, scabby hands. The figure used this to reach out to the man, drawing in deep, rattling breaths as it did so.

The temperature here was colder still and, if you're observant enough, you might start to notice a new feeling settling in. A feeling of sadness and despair...

Duuuude. The rune had worked! Brent was pleasantly surprised, because he often doubted his abilities in Ancient Runes. He doubted his ability to come up with an idea and his ability to be successful with it. He'd done it, though! The fog was starting to dissipate, and he was sensing an odd sort of guidance coming from the invoked rune. He took comfort in it and headed forward, his attention now completely focused on whatever that was that had screamed out for help moments earlier.

There was silence now, though.

It caused an uneasy feeling to settle in the pit of his stomach. He didn't slow his pace, though, because in a forest filled with magic, silence was probably just a prelude to...well, whatever this was up ahead. What direction had the scream even come from? When he'd heard it, it seemed like it had filled the entire forest all at once. As he moved on, his hands felt for the bag tied tightly at his waist. He'd packed it full of supplies he'd only assumed he would need. It was still there, still tied tightly and at the ready.

Was the insulation charm starting to fade? There was a chill in the air that he was sure hadn't been there before. Not to mention...what was that smell? Duuuuude. He felt a little sick to his stomach when the thought occurred to him that the source of the scream was now silent, because whatever it was had di--... Nope. Not going to go there. In the blink of an eye, the fog cleared considerably, and Brent stopped altogether to get a sense for where he was.

There was a clearing, and...ughhh. Dude, this is the stuff nightmares are made of! He swallowed the lump that had appeared in his throat and forced himself to look at the scene before him. There was now literally no doubt in his mind who had made that cry for help and why he had done so. He shivered, and in that instant, he was reminded of everything that had happened the summer before.

His parents had dropped the bomb on him. "Brent, we're moving across the pond.

Madelyn had dumped him like a sack of garbage. "I'm sorry. I just don't want a long distance boyfriend."

His parents had denied his constant pleading to stay at Ilvermorny despite the distance. "I'm sorry, Brent. We've already enrolled you in Hogwarts."

...and then perhaps the least of his worries, but a worry nonetheless. "Oh, we don't have Quidditch here at Hogwarts. There's no sports."

Literally every terrible memory he'd recently suffered through had come back to haunt him. He blinked hard, trying to remember where he was and why he was here. While he still had most of his right state of mind, he fumbled for the bag at his waist and unzipped it with a shaking hand. He fumbled through the items he'd carefully stuffed inside until his fingers found what he was looking for. Chocolate. Brent brought the piece of candy to his mouth and popped it inside.

He breathed a little heavier than usual as he peered ahead of him once again. He re-zipped his bag and gripped his wand a little tighter. Dementors were blind. He knew that. So if he could walk around undetected by the dementor, he stand a better chance of defeating it. This meant he had to force any overly-positive thoughts and any feelings of fear out of him. He drew in a few deep breaths and released them slowly, trying to give himself a sense of calmness despite the storm. Armed with this method and the chocolate he'd just eaten, he advanced on the dementor, slowly and carefully in case there were others.

When he got close enough, he was going to attempt that patronus he'd never quite been able to master.

Think you can hide? Think again.

You might be trying to hide your feelings but it can sense you. The new sense of energy, albeit a bit small, made the figure stop in its tracks and look up. Its sense of smell was picking up on something else; a faint sense of hope was lingering in the air. It turned its head, slowly at first, to find the direction of the smell until it stopped to face you.

Drawing in some deep rattling breaths, the figure advanced. It glided forwards, hungry for another potential meal. Its arms were outstretched as it flew in your direction and only came to a stop when it was mere inches from your person. Both scabby hands reached up to lower a hood and expose you to a horrible sight.

Its greying, decayed skin gave way to a wide, gaping mouth that it used to breath in as much of you as it could. You feel a wave of coldness crash over you as it does so, despite the chocolate. You notice the eyes, or lack thereof. Scabbed skin clung to the empty sockets of its eyes but that doesn't mean that it can't tell exactly where you are...

Before you know it, a single rotten hand finds your throats and grips it. It's as if the figure doesn't want to let you go just yet...

Brent's plan was to get closer to the dementor, all the while undetected, and then cast a Patronus Charm that would hopefully drive the dementor away for good.

Apparently...the dementor did not have the same plan.

When the creature turned its head and stared straight toward him, Brent momentarily paused in his tracks. HOLY MERLIN. It had sensed him! What was he supposed to do now?! He had literally never successfully casted a patronus, despite the fact that he'd practiced the spell numerous times. This was it, though. He HAD to cast it now. There was just no room for error and no more time to practice. This HAD to work.

He had literally just raised his wand, when the creature soared toward him and stopped a mere inch or two from his face. "Duuuude. Ever heard of a Mento?" he asked, not able to stop that ridiculous reaction. He had insulted a dementor...that was trying to kill him...in the middle of a dark forest...in front of all his friends who were seated in an arena watching this like they were at some movie theater. Get a grip on things, Brent!

Then in the next instant, the creature had lowered his hood to expose all the ugliness and creepiness it could, and despite the fact that he made a move to take two, three, or maybe four hundred steps backward, the creature had managed to get its disgusted and rotted out hand around his throat. Umm...this was just a big ole bag of NOPE. This was totally NOT how this was supposed to go down, but the thing was, it suddenly occurred to Brent that he could possibly have a way out. He could possibly still pull this one off.

...and where the heck was the older man who'd been in the clearing thirty seconds ago? Was he alert and able to cast a patronus? A little help here, man!

Okay, he HAD to drum up some happy memories. This could mean the end of the competition for him if he succumbed to this rotted out thing that was trying to take control of him. Sighing the best he could, Brent began clearing his mind of all the fear and negativity the monster was trying to bring to him. He forced all his thoughts to travel to a different place on the grounds...to the igloo where he'd met up with Skylar Diggory not too long ago.

Skylar Diggory had kissed him in that igloo, and he remembered feeling happier than he had in about a year.

...and just like that, he'd found the one. He had gotten lost in that memory for a few seconds, but back in the forest with the dementor, he was almost sure he'd smiled. His heart began pounding in a good way this time, because he was very sure of what he was about to do. He just hoped that when he did this, she hear him, and he just hoped he didn't sound like a dying frog due to the fact that a dementor still had a hand around his throat.

DUUUUUUDE. If this worked, he would be like a knight in shining armor! A battleground hero! Well...he would be once he dumped the stinking pile of drapery breathing at his side.

But anyway..."SKYLAR DIGGORY!" he yelled into the clearing, knowing there was a viewing area and knowing she might be able to hear him. "Will you be my girlfriend?"

...and there it was. If he lived through this, WHICH HE WAS, he would hopefully come out on the other side someone special's boyfriend.

So now armed with all the happy memories he could muster from that time in the igloo, he raised his wand. Come on, Brent. This can't end now. You HAVE to get this. You have to get this NOW. With a swirling motion of his wand and doing this the best he could under the current situation, he yelled out, "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

He couldn't see it at the moment, but a little silver niffler bounded out his wand. A niffler, just like Skylar had been assigned in Care of Magical Creatures class.

The hooded figure, being a rotten creature that preyed on hope and happiness, didn't know what a Mento was. What it did know was that there was more hope and happiness in the air... more for it to draw in and suck up... a starter before the main meal...

Then, quite suddenly, there was a burst of white light from your wand. A new energy filled the air, one with so much hope and happiness that the figure couldn't even think of fighting against it. The niffler burst forth from your wand and charged at the hooded figure, as if it had just spotted a pile of gold. The figure, sensing this new energy, fled into the shadows between the trees and out of sight. Your plan was a success.

But before you could celebrate your new found victory and your potentially new girlfriend, a voice reaches out towards you. A shaky voice of an older man. "Wh-what just happened? Where did that light come from? Who..." There was a small pause in which you can make out the man trying, with great difficulty, to sit himself up. "Who's Sk-Skylar?"

Having just attempted the Patronus Charm, Brent braced himself for what might happen next. Still in the dementor's grasp, he squeezed his eyes shut and waited. Through his eyelids, he could see a very bright light, and he knew immediately what it was from.

He had succeeded.

A sense of pride swelled inside of him, and he felt the dementor's grasp slowly diminish to nothing at all. He opened his eyes and turned around and around as he took in the scenario. He was just in time to see the dementor sink into the shadows, and he felt the weight of the near-death experience be lifted off his shoulders. Breathe, Brent. You can breathe now. In the silence, he could almost hear his own heart pounding, and it stayed that way until a voice reached his ears.

The older man!

Brent hurried to his side, all the while being extra careful just in case looks were deceiving. Who was this man? "Sir!" he exclaimed, opting for a more respectful term than his usual 'dude'. "Are you okay?" He placed his arms at the man's back to support his attempt to sit up. Chocolate! He'd packed extra pieces just in case. Brent fumbled in his bag and gripped a piece of the chocolate. He brought it to the man's lips in offering. "Here. Eat this. It's supposed to help." He paused to breathe a little before adding, "You're going to be okay. It's all over now. Can you walk?" They seriously needed to get out of here!

Oh, and Skylar! "She's this girl. I kind of just asked her out and all," he said with a grin. Maybe that would cheer him up! "Oh, and...mind if I ask who you are?" he added as an after thought. He also wanted to know what the man was doing here, but he decided against so many questions all at once.

The offer to help hasn't gone unnoticed and is met with a grateful look from the man. His arm wrap around your shoulders and, together, he manages to get himself sitting up properly. He looks to be shaking slightly, as if the attack had weakened him considerably. Despite this, he manages to answer you with, "I'm f-fine." Nothing more, nothing less.

A look of apprehension was shot your way the minute you offered the chocolate. You're a stranger, aren't you? It was a few seconds before the man accepted the chocolate and started to eat it. The effect was instantaneous: the shaking seemed to have stopped completely and a bit of colour was starting to return to his cheeks. The look of apprehension was replaced with a general air of someone who was still shaken but seemed to have recovered somewhat. "Thanks, it does help. You should have some too." There was even a small smile on his face as he said this. "I-I think so? I can try." His arm holds onto yours but it doesn't seem as though he needs quite as much energy as before to pull himself up into a standing position. The chocolate really has worked.

At your answer, the man stops to look around at the clearing before looking at you. "But... there's no one else here. It's just the two of us. There never has been anyone else here." The look on his face tells you that he's both confused and slightly worried about your sanity at the same time. "The name's Gerald. Who... are you?"

Brent was still kind of hesitant about this man. Here in the arena, he had no idea what was real and what was just all part of the set-up. The man was looking at him with such a grateful smile that Brent couldn't help but believe him. Even still, he had his wand in the grip of his hand in case he needed it.

Brent gave him a warm smile, because in a way, he could tell the man was hesitant about him, too. He didn't seem so sure about the chocolate either, and really, who could blame him? He finally accepted it, though, and Brent was pretty confident he was going to live now. With a nod, Brent reached into his bag and ate a piece of the life-saving chocolate.

As he chewed, he surveyed his surroundings. He was definitely not in the clear just yet, and who knew what might happen next. He helped the man into a standing position then took a few steps away. The stranger was talking, but nothing he was saying was making sense. No one here? Just the two of them? ... What was the man on about? ... Oh, right! He'd said he had just asked Skylar to be his girlfriend, which he had. Only, the man had no idea who she was or that they were in an arena with an audience watching their every move. Not wanting to confuse him even further, he just smiled and said, "Nope. Just the two of us."

He hoped.

"Well, good to meet you, Mr. Gerald. The name's Brent," he said, and he extended his hand for a shake. So, erm...what now? Was this the end of round one? "Can I help you get somewhere, or...you just out for a walk or something?"

Your words don't seem to be having a positive effect on the man. Instead, he's looking at you with a mixture of curiousness and vague disbelief. "If there's only the two of us here, then why did you ask this... this Skylar to be your girlfriend? And why did you... that light..." He looked down at the wand in your hand, the wand in plain sight, and then up at you again. "The light came when you came. And what's that?!" he asked, pointing at the wand.

"And you, Brent." A look of confusion crossed Gerald's face and he started speaking slowly with the air of someone who was trying to remember something important. "I... I don't know. I don't remember why I was here... or how I got here... and I don't want to remember. Especially..." His voice trailed off as he let out a small shiver.

Was that your sign?

Brent suddenly got the feeling that nothing he said was making any sort of positive impact on this man. As a matter of fact, the man seemed even more confused at this point. Brent even turned his eyebrows inward in confusion as he listened to the parade of questions.

...and then it hit him.

"Duuuuude!" he exclaimed. Was this man a MUGGLE?!

He had no idea what a wand was, and he called Brent's patronus "that light", which it most definitely was; but a wizard or even a squib wouldn't call it just "that light". "You don't want to remember...," Brent repeated, his voice just above a whisper. MERLIN! He was going to have to...obliviate him, wasn't he?

Duuuude, why was this competition filled with the need for spells he had either barely ever cast or never cast at all? He couldn't just obliviate this man! Didn't you have to be trained for that kind of thing? Brent had the basic schooling, but an expert on the spell? He could always cast a Confundus Charm, but...Gerald hadn't said he wanted to be confused. Gerald had said he wanted to forget. Brent paced a few steps here and there to get his courage up and going, and then he turned to face Gerald.

If Hermione Granger could do it, then so could he...

So the man had wanted to know what a wand was? "This," he said to Gerald, "is called a wand, and this is how it works." ... "Caelum Saepio!" he said, as that shiver from the older man did not go unnoticed. Then he raised his wand and moved it in the cloud-shaped movement he knew to be associated with the spell. "Obliviate!" he cried, the wand and his focus all on Gerald. He had to be PERFECT with this. There was literally no room for error. "You and I are perfect strangers, Gerald. We've unintentionally met in the clearing of a forest that you've come to in order to search for rare plants. You've just discovered there are none here, though, so you've decided to bid me farewell and head immediately back home, where you will resume life as usual."

"In addition to that, you have no memory of the dementor or its attack, the burst of light from my wand, my wand in general, the chocolate we just ate, the Insulation Charm I placed on you, or the conversation we had about Skylar," he said.

Okay, that was it. He'd done it as perfectly as he could. He was confident of the incantation and wand movement, and he was pretty sure he had all the concentration and intent down pat. Confident that he had succeeded, Brent lowered his wand and ceased to cast on the man. Within seconds, he had stowed his wand away and put the invoked rune where the man couldn't see it. No magic here. None at all.

"Oh, hello, sir," he said. "Good seeing you in this fine forest. You have a good evening now."

Clever move.

Gerald's eyes, as wide as saucers, remained on the wand. His expression was one of shock mixed with slight confusion. Shock, because of the words being thrown at him and confusion, because of the basis of the explanation itself. There was no way he was going to believe that magic existed but your Insulation Charm seemed to have sealed the deal. Not only did the shivering stop, but the complexion on Gerald's face was starting to brighten.

At the Memory Charm, Gerlad's eyes widened even further and seemed to have gained a blank look about them. All sense of shock and confusion disappeared instantly and was replaced by a blank look, instead. He might have been looking in your direction but there's every chance that he could've been looking off into the distance as well. "We are perfect strangers," he repeated. His voice was robotic and didn't have the spark it once had. "We met in the forest. Unintentionally. I came to look for a rare plant. I can't find what I'm looking for so I'm going to go."

His eyes land on you again and he blinked a few times. The blank look was gone and the confused look was back once again. "Yeah.... you too. Bye... Ben? Yeah..." And with that, the man turned around and walked into the shadows between the trees...

Do you follow or go your own way? The choice is yours.

Brent was pretty sure he held his breath from the time he ceased the casting to the time Gerald first spoke. The older man wasn't dead, so that was a good start. He was pretty sure he'd be immediately disqualified from IMPS if he killed a person. The shivering had also stopped, which reminded Brent that he had actually cast an Insulation Charm on the man before erasing the memory of the whole encounter. Good thing he didn't think of that one after he cast the Memory Charm.

Alright, so...the dude was alive. What now?

Then the man spoke, and Brent had to actually bite his bottom lip to keep from laughing. Duuuuude. Had he known the charm was actually going to work, he'd have made this A LOT more fun. Instead of telling Gerald he'd been looking for rare plants, he'd have told him something like 'you've come to the forest to secretly practice a wild chicken dance and will now head back home doing the dance the entire way'. Oh, man! That would have been so much fun to watch!

"Okay, yeah...erm, I guess this is it, man. Good luck finding that rare plant of yours," he said. As an after thought, he wondered if Gerald would spend the rest of his life looking for a rare plant he had supposedly already begun looking for. He decided not to correct the man on calling him Ben.

For a moment, Brent hesitated. There was literally no sign of the direction he should go in. He spent a half-minute or so looking around, until he remembered the Kenaz-emblazed stick in his hand and looked down at it. Raidho would know where to go... Brent collected a second stick then flicked his wand out his holster. "Intaglio Raidho!" he exclaimed. As he cast this, his thoughts focused on how Raidho might be able to help him.

Raidho: Travel, both in physical terms and those of lifestyle direction. A journey, vacation, relocation, evolution, change of place or setting. Seeing a larger perspective. Seeing the right move for you to make and deciding upon it.

"raidho raidho raidho
r r r r r r r r r
ru ra ri re ro
rudh radh ridh redh rodh
(rut rat rit ret rot)
or er ir ar ur
r r r r r r r r r"

Brent finished the chant, and then with all his belongings gathered, and the guidance of now two separate runes, he waited. "Alright, Raidho. Show me what you're made of," he said.

It seems as though the events of the clearing had dulled out any sounds that the forest had been making earlier. But now, with no hooded figure around, every sound seemed to have grown tenfold. The crack of a stick, the whistle of the breeze, the sound of a creature passing in the shadows...

The moment you finish carving the galdr into the stick, the Raidho rune starts to glow and direct your stick towards a path... a path that happens to be in the opposite direction of the way Gerald had gone...

... Is it really safe to let a Muggle venture into a forest filled with dark creatures alone?

It suddenly occurred to Brent that an eery silence had taken over the forest. His gaze moved from the stick he was holding to a stick on the ground that had cracked...the whistling of the breeze...and then--...

Duuuuude. What exactly was in this forest?! He didn't even want to know, but he had a good idea. Something had caused a stick to crack, and something had just passed in the shadows. His eyes widened as he pictured poor Gerald, a muggle, traveling through the forest with no wand or magic to protect him.

The glow of the rune he'd just invoked turned his attention back to the stick in his hand, and then his gaze followed the direction of the glow to a nearby path. That was it! That was the way! Brent started to hastily head in that direction, but then he stopped.

Gerald.

He sighed, realizing he should have probably had the man follow him instead of just sending him on his way. Not wanting to lose sight of the pathway he'd just been shown, Brent walked to the edge of said path and pointed his wand forward. "Orchideous!" he called out, and a small, yet pretty bouquet of flowers burst from his wand. He placed the flowers neatly on the ground as an indication that this is the way he should go...

...once he had Gerald back with him.

On that note, he headed in the direction he'd seen Gerald go in. "Hey, Gerald?" ... "You around here, man?" he asked. "Look, I erm...found a faster way out. Come this way, and I'll show you." He paused and pointed his wand forward once again. "Homenum Revelio!" he said, hoping to have a little luck locating his new friend.

Come on, dude. We gotta get out of here.

Luckily for you, Gerald hadn't gone far. In fact, your human revealing charm lets you sense his presence a few steps away from the spot where you've left him. Recognising his name, he stops in his tracks and calls out from the shadows, "Benjamin? Is that you?" You hear the sound of a few branches being pushed aside, a small grunt and out stumbled Gerald from the thickets of the trees back in the opposite direction. "You found the way out, Benny?"

Should you follow the path that your galdr guides you, you'll find that solace comes in the form of a change in scenery. The trees surrounding you start to thin, letting more light filter in between the branches. The creepy sounds of branches and twigs start to grow quieter, as if someone had lowered the volume of the forest, until it was down to a mute. And the air? Less chilly.

Before you know it, you're stepping out into a wide expanse of grassy area, marking yourself safely out of the forest. Next to you, Gerald seems to be changing as well. The human features on his person start to change, as if someone had cast a transfiguration spell on him. His hair starts to shoot up into his skull, leaving his head bald and shiny. His height shortens to that of an average male adult and lastly, his features become more and more plastic-like by the second. The transformation takes a few seconds but once the time passes, Gerald the human has been replaced by a dummy in Gerald's clothing.

Before you could waste time gawking at this, you spot a movement in the distance and look to see a vague, almost-invisible outline stepping out of the forest as well. The person removes the disillusionment charm and an adult stands before you, holding a peculiar object in their hands. "Congratulations on completing your first challenge," the Ministry official says, holding out a rusty can for you to take, "This is your portkey. It will transport you back to the stands where everyone is waiting for you. Be quick!"

The moment he finishes saying this, the man whips out his wand and levitates the dummy up and away from you. Meanwhile, the rusty can starts to glow a bright blue, ready to whisk you away...


OOC: You can now look at the viewing area and other competitors' threads.

With his heart beating a little faster out of fear he'd gotten Gerald killed, Brent peered deep into the forest. Finally, he sensed a human presence, and it was only in that second he wondered if the nearby human was even Gerald. Then when he heard the name Benjamin, Brent couldn't help but grin. Yup. The nearby human was indeed Gerald. "It's me...Benjamin!" he called back. The branches parted and revealed Gerald, and apparently he'd heard Brent say he'd found the way out. "That I did. Come on. It's just this way," he said, remembering the flowers he'd left at the start of the path.

Brent guided Gerald back to the conjured flowers and down the pathway. As they walked, light filled the forest, and the temperature seemed to settle into something a lot less chilly. This had to be it! It was the way out! In the blink of an eye, he'd stepped out the forest and into a grassy area, and a sense of normalcy met him. "This is it, man! We made it out!" he said, turning to face Gerald. Only--... "Gerald! You okay, man?" Duuuuude! Was the challenge NOT over after all? Brent just stood there, eyes wide open, as Gerald changed more and more. It was like there was nothing he could do to help. In another blink of an eye, Gerald the human was Gerald the dummy, and Brent breathed a sigh of relief as he realized what had happened. Shame...he actually liked Gerald and was glad to see the older man make his way to safety.

He didn't have time to think about Gerald the dummy much longer. There was suddenly a Ministry official standing before him presenting him with a...rusty can? Not exactly the prize he'd been hoping for... Oh, wait...it was a portkey! "I'm done? I completed it?" he asked, grinning at the official. "Awesome!" He reached out an accepted the portkey and gave a quick "Thank you!" just as he touched the rusty can. Within moments, he was whisked away.