Having grown up and lived the majority of his life in Montreal, Kyle was used to cold winters, and though that didn't necessarily mean he was immune to the cold, he at least knew that it wasn't likely to make him completely lose his senses. It crossed his mind to use a warming charm on himself, but Kyle immediately vetoed the idea. The cold was bracing, refreshing, and it kept him on his toes. Perhaps if his fingers started to turn blue, he might reconsider it.

Because he was keenly aware of the fact that he was still taking part in a dangerous competition, Kyle had his wand already drawn for the walk down the path, and though he had only been at the castle for a few months, he thought he might know roughly where he was headed. The Hogwarts competitors certainly had the advantage in that respect, but Kyle didn't truly believe that knowing the destination a few seconds before everyone else was really all that much of an advantage.

And then... there it was, that magnificent, violent, beast of a tree, the one Kyle had only ever seen from a distance. He had, of course, spared a few moments here and there to watch it with great interest, particularly when some of the more idiotic daring Hogwarts students played games that involved dodging its branches and touching its trunk.

For a while he simply stood and watched the tree, considering it carefully, and making note of how long those branches looked. He half expected it to spring into action at any moment, but it didn't move at all. Obviously, he was supposed to get closer. They were unlikely to put him on a path leading to the Whomping Willow if he was meant to stay away from it.

Kyle had to wonder how the tree had managed to form icicles, given how much it moved even when students weren't intentionally provoking it. They looked strange from here... or did they? A trick of the light, or deliberate? Were they fake, perhaps? Was he maybe supposed to collect them, or was there something else, completely unrelated to icicles, that he needed to do? And, whatever that something was, was he supposed to immobilise the tree, or withstand it?

This time, he thought that maybe the Hogwarts competitors really did have an advantage. Kyle knew of Whomping Willows, but only from what he had read. He was naturally proficient in the subject of Potions, and a side effect of that happened to be a tendency to understand plants and their properties (for brewing and the like). In that sense, theoretically, he felt confident. But he had never seen a Whomping Willow before arriving at Hogwarts, seeing as they were only known to be endemic to certain places within the UK. While he knew there was usually a sensitive patch somewhere on their bark that would immobilise the trees when touched, he had no way of knowing where exactly that might be on this particular tree. Tricky.

But then again, weren't all these challenges supposed to be difficult? Likelihood was, he was meant to use magic and Herbology know-how to deal with the tree, and it wasn't supposed to be easy.

Standing around was going to get nothing done, obviously, but Kyle wasn't going to proceed until he had at least a little more information. Squatting down on the ground, he braved the snow on his bare hands and began clumping handfuls of it together, making as many snowballs as he could while his hands got redder and redder with the cold. Before his fingers could go numb, Kyle pointed his wand at his pile of snowballs and cast the Snowball Bewitching Charm, staying focused on the intent of harassing the tree, but not deliberately pelting it just yet.

The snowballs zoomed into the air and flew with purpose towards the Whomping Willow. Kyle straightened, watched, kept his wand trained on the snowballs as he stayed focused on his spell... and maybe took half a step back, just in case.

The Whomping Willow is standing very still despite the fact that it is a chilly winter night; that only serves to make the atmosphere more unnerving.

Snow crunches under your feet as you make your way closer to the tree, and the closer you get the more the moonlight glistens off of the icicles in its branches - but are there only icicles? Or are there other things in the branches as well?

The branches start to move as you come closer, swaying a little but not coming close enough to do any harm to you. It is on its guard.

THWACK!

A snowball hits its truck. And then another. And another. It is being bombarded by snow and starts to wave its branches wildly. Objects fall to the ground and a snowball is sent flying back to you, its branches having rebounded the shot.

If you look as close as you dare, you can see that there are some vials knocked to the ground scattered along with the icicles; these are potions ingredients, and there are still more located on the tree. Looking even further, you will see a cauldron nearby, with a workstation close to it. Inside the cauldron is a note:

"Well, this isn't a hat. Get on with it! Make your way to the passage beneath the tree."

Looks like you need to brew a potion in order to get passed the tree. Better get started now, before any more vials fall out of its branches.

OOC: It is up to you which potion your character collects ingredients for and brews.

Already Kyle was glad he had decided to keep his distance. No sooner had the snowballs begun their onslaught than had he started to see first hand, up close and personal, just how violent the tree could be. He watched, eyes narrowed, waiting to see what would happen, and taking note of the icicles that fell from the branches... but were they icicles? It hardly looked like--

Suddenly, Kyle became aware of something headed straight for his face. One of his snowballs. He didn't have time to think, and therefore didn't duck, but instinctively held out a hand to catch the snowball that was headed straight for his face, and braced for impact. It exploded as it hit his palm, and showered him with snow. Cold, uncomfortable, but better than being nailed directly in the face.

Right then, the icicles. Staying vigilant, Kyle crept forwards - as close as he dared - and squinted at the fallen icicles, though the fact that it was night made things far more difficult.

Was this... were they... those looked like vials. The type the potion ingredients tended to be housed in. And there, not too far away. That was a cauldron, there was absolutely no denying it. Kyle's heart soared; if this was a Potions related challenge, then he might just get through it. He raised his wand, and moved it in arc.

"Accio Cauldron."

The spell was cast without much deliberation; Kyle thought he could see something inside the cauldron and he wanted to get a better look at it, but no way was he going to within possible range of the branches just yet. Again he held out his hand, this time to catch the cauldron, and recoiled a little with its weight. Once he had hold of it, he took the note from inside and read it. Then he read it again. And then a third time, for absolute clarity.

... Make your way to the passage beneath the tree.

Well, that made sense. A simple Immobulus was likely to stop the tree in its tracks, and allow Kyle to get closer, but the specific task was to brew a potion to aid him in doing so. Would it be cheating, or perhaps grounds for disqualification to immobilise the tree with a spell? Maybe not, but Kyle now remembered how he had apparently been followed through the entirety of the first challenge by a Ministry official. It wasn't outside of the range of possibility for there to be a similar set-up now, with someone here to cancel out his spell if he attempted to bypass the potion-brewing that way.

But what to brew?

His thoughts first went to the Mutatio Animalia potion - perhaps he could turn himself into a small animal, maybe a fly, and more easily navigate the branches - but that would take hours to brew, and Kyle only had one. Less than one by now, really. Next, he considered an Invisibility Potion; it seemed like the most logical thing... but Whomping Willows didn't have eyes. It didn't seem likely that the tree used vision to know when someone or something approached it, though Kyle knew - as he always did, though he was loath to admit it - that he could very well be wrong. The problem was, he really only had one shot at brewing a potion here, given the time limit, and he didn't want to risk an Invisibility Potion if it turned out that the tree used extrasensory methods to know when something approached, like... like the whiskers of a cat or kneazle.

If only he knew how to brew a Stealth Potion by heart. He knew of such a potion, and had read about the brewing process, but - having done so in his extra reading and having found it only recently - he was not at all confident that he knew the recipe verbatim. It was all very well brewing an impressive potion for the challenge, but it would need to be brewed correctly and with confidence, or he may lose points for an ineffectual potion or a complete disaster in a cauldron.

So, perhaps, rather than attempt to make himself less detectable... what if he brewed something that would allow him to withstand more hits from the tree? No other potions were making the cut; Kyle would instantly veto every possibility as useless or just too risky.

He narrowed his options down to a Strengthening Solution and a Girding Potion. Strength was more appealing, perhaps because it didn't smell and presumably taste like a public toilet, but Kyle couldn't find much sense in boosting his strength, unless he wanted to try and go up against the Willow in a good old-fashioned fist/branch-fight. Which he didn't want. At all. Especially as he didn't have the slightest idea as to where the right knot was.

Girding Potion it was, then. It wouldn't make him any less 'visible' to the tree, and it wouldn't make him immune to its hits, but it might give him a boost of endurance to push through to the passageway despite the onslaught, to roll with the punches, quite literally. Girding. Preparing for action. It made sense.

Never mind that he was already having doubts and wishing that he could think of a genuinely perfect solution, or that he could remember the recipe for that Stealth Potion - what had he been thinking, not focusing on learning it right now, when he was in a competition where it could have come in useful. Suffice it to say, that soaring of Kyle's spirits from earlier? Nowhere to be found now.

Right, so... now what? Where was he supposed to--?

... Oh. Oh. Now he saw. Now he realised.

The workstation. It was some distance away, closer to the tree than it was to Kyle, and almost certainly within the reach of the branches, and it did not look Summonable.

For a moment Kyle stood there, staring out at the tree, taking a second to think about how this had somehow become his life. This moment right here. He was about to willingly brew a potion under an angry Whomping Willow. Perfect. Really, so fantastic.

Looping the handle of the cauldron over one arm, Kyle stuffed the note into the pocket of his robes, before raising his wand again, and concentrating.

"Armanto!" Seconds later, he had conjured a large silver shield. He tested its weight with his non-wand hand - the same hand attached to the arm that held the cauldron - and quickly set it down again. The less time he needed to hold that above him, the better. Kyle was not the strongest Horned Serpent of the bunch.

Perhaps... he could get away with just a little more avoidance, though. Really, the more he could prepare for the potion whilst being out of harm's way, the better. Up went his wand again, and Kyle cast his mind back to the last time he studied this particular potion, and attempted to summon each of the ingredients from the fallen vials. Hopefully, they were all there.

"Accio Dragonfly Thoraxes ... Accio Toasted Dragonfly Thoraxes ... Accio Fairy Wings ... Accio Flying Seahorses ... Accio Doxy Eggs..."

He would leave the final ingredient until later, when he had decided what to pick. As for right now? He just needed to get on with it. Time was not about to wait for Kyle Baker.

_______________

OOC clarification: Though there are two SS canon recipes for the Girding Potion and one on the HP wiki, I chose to use the version Lafay chose, because of the extra ingredient advantage in the potion and because I personally feel this method could also have been taught at Ilvermorny.

The onslaught of snowballs has ceased, but the Whomping Willow continued to thrash about for some time. The threat was still nearby; it could sense this. Even though there were no new attacks coming, it was still on the ready to ward off any new opponents.

By now there is quite the collection of icicles and vials scattered around the truck of the tree, though several are still contained in its branches. Accio works perfectly when it comes to collecting the ingredients that are needed, but if course that doesn’t help with the thrashing about.

Best be careful not to get too close to the tree while getting ready to start brewing. That shield could really come in handy.

So, he'd run out of snowballs, meaning there was no longer anything going on in the way of a distraction, and Kyle didn't want to waste time on trying to orchestrate another one just yet. He needed to get this potion brewed, and brewed quickly... but brewed well.

Having caught the potions vials as they flew at him, Kyle spared the time to double check that every ingredient was present and correct, before stowing them away in his pocket, so that his wand hand was free. That done, he went ahead and cast a customary "Scourgify," on the cauldron, before applying a Supersensory Charm to himself, like he had in the first challenge. Given that he was working at night, it would help him to see what he was doing with his potion, and, if necessary, to get some kind of advance warning as to if he was about to be on the receiving end of an uppercut from a flailing branch. If he could hear it, he'd at least have a chance of ducking out of the way, or raising the shield.

After bracing himself, Kyle hoisted up his silver shield again, and brandished his wand at the Whomping Willow.

"Immobulus!"

He didn't waste time checking to see if the spell worked, and instead chose to assume that if it worked, it would not work for very long. Perhaps, though, perhaps it would grant him a few precious seconds to reach the workstation.

As soon as he cast his spell, Kyle held his shield up to protect himself, and dashed forwards to the workstation. Once he reached it, he set his cauldron down and pointed his wand inside it again.

"Aguamenti."

... Why did it feel like it was taking ten years to fill up?

The spell cast at the tree made a lucky hit. Looks like you have the chance to make it to the workstation without the threat of attack. Of course the effects won’t last long and soon it will be back to thrashing about. Time is of the essence here.

Better get that potion brewed. The clock is ticking.

There had to be some sort of scientific explanation as to why things seemed to go so slowly when you desperately needed to hurry, and vice versa. As Kyle filled his cauldron with pure, clean water from the tip of his wand, he willed the process to hurry up and the passing time to slow down. He had no idea how much he still had left to do after he was done brewing his potion.

Finally, the cauldron had an appropriate amount of water in it, and so Kyle cancelled his Aguamenti spell. The tree hadn't attacked him yet, so he could only assume that his Freezing Charm had done the job... for now.

Working quickly, but having to contend with fumbling fingers, such was his haste and the adrenaline coursing through him, Kyle switched from his wand to the vial of fairy wings and just managed to unstopper it with one hand (his other was still occupied with holding onto his shielf). He took a quick look inside the vial to make sure there was only one set of two wings, before tipping its contents into the cauldron. Switching to his wand again, he pointed it at the fire pit beneath the cauldron.

"Incendio."

With the fire lit, he now had to wait until it turned turquoise, which... meant just standing around and waiting... under an angry tree. Kyle huddled closer to the workstation, still holding onto his shield, poised and ready to fend off some branches.

The cauldron though... it suddenly seemed horribly precarious, given the situation. He paused, considered, and raised his wand again, tracing it around the base of the cauldron where it stood on its stand above the flame.

"Adhaero."

That done, he cast the spell again where the base of the stand stood on the desk. With any luck, if the cauldron happened to be knocked by a flailing branch, it would stay stuck on the desk, and Kyle of course knew the countercharm for if and when he needed to move it again. He decided not to even attempt to stick the workstation to the ground. Even if it wasn't already stuck there, it would hardly matter; a good whack from a heavy branch would turn the workstation into splinters no matter whether it was stuck down or not.

Okay, potion. Kyle made sure he had the doxy eggs ready to go for the second it turned the appropriate shade of turquoise.

Immobulus is a very handy spell, and has certainly done the trick in getting the Whomping Willow to stop thrashing, but unfortunately its effects don’t last forever. Soon enough the tree started to move slightly; the first traces of it waking up.

Within a few minutes, it is back to THWACKING all over the place. The use of fire has agitated it further. It’s a good thing that you attached the cauldron to the workstation because there is a good chance that a branch might hit it.

"Scourgify."

This time, Kyle had cast the cleaning spell at another piece of equipment from the workstation, a small scoop he planned on using to measure out the doxy eggs, given that he needed to add them a few at a time. As the potion finally reached the desired turquoise hue, he measured out three of the doxy eggs into the scoop and dropped them into the potion.

With the Supersensory Charm in effect, Kyle was able to pinpoint the very moment that the tree had started to move again, and it sounded... not happy. Could trees be unhappy, as long as they were sentient? Did the Whomping Willow have feelings? If so, where did the chemical reactions happen that were at the root all emotions, the ones that happened in the brain in most humans and some animals? Trees didn't have brains, so where did all that chemical reaction stuff happen for them?

This... was probably not the best time to start questioning that.

The tree was aggressive, that was for sure, and Kyle was getting nervous about the fact that he was stood so close to it, brewing such an important potion. While he waited for the heat to turn the contents of his potion pink, he switched to his wand again for a moment, and peeked over the top of his shield to get a quick look at the Whomping Willow.

... Perhaps another distraction?

"Avis Oppugno!"

Waving his wand over the top of the shield, Kyle sent a flock of birds right at the flailing tree, hoping that it might at least decide (again, could such a tree make decisions) to deal with its assailants before having a go at him.

Not waiting to see if the birds were serving their purpose, Kyle turned his attention back to his potion again. It had just started to turn pink, though a turquoise hint still barely remained. In the ensuing seconds, he switched again to a different vial, unstoppering the one filled with toasted dragonfly thoraxes. It was a struggle to keep track of everything, given that he didn't dare set the vials on the surface of the workstation, nor fully let go of his shield or his wand. Instead, he kept all of the vials he wasn't using tucked away into his pocket and hoped that they would stay all in one piece. Meanwhile, his hands were constantly juggling his shield, wand, potions vial, and occasionally the scoop for the doxy eggs (the latter of which he left in the vial of doxy eggs until he needed them again).

The potion had turned completely pink mere moments later, and Kyle immediately lowered the heat beneath it so that he had the time to complete his next step. Then, one at a time, using Wingardium Leviosa, he added the toasted dragonfly thoraxes to the potion, moving as quick as he dared and watching the potion carefully as the pink liquid darkened and became richer and warmer, until - after dragonfly thorax number nineteen - it had turned what certainly appeared to be a scarlet red, visible even in the moonlit night. The Supersensory eyes admittedly made the colour easier to see.

With a twiddle of his wand, Kyle raised the intensity of the flame under the potion again, and willed for the colour changing process to hurry. By now he was moving more or less on autopilot as he switched yet again to his wand, waved it off in the direction of the tree and cast another, "Immobulus!" in the hopes that he could buy himself even more time to brew undisturbed.

He had turned his flame up a little higher last time, higher than he might usually have done, perhaps a risky move but one he needed to take in order to get his potion brewed quickly. The colour, as a result, had rapidly cooled as the liquid boiled, moving from red through to violet and then indigo before reaching a perfect royal blue. At that moment, Kyle turned the heat right down again, and began repeating the process of adding one toasted dragonfly thorax at a time, with the Levitation Charm, watching and hoping and waiting for the potion to change colours again, this time to silver.

Flailing, unhappy, violent tree! The Willow would have pummeled any living thing to come near it at this time, and that was when the Horned Serpent sent an array of birds in its general direction. These birds were lucky ones today. Branches couldn’t quite hit them, but one of them did graze the tail end of one of the birds, making it emit a THWIRP sound, and sent it spiraling to the ground. It was still alive. It might be okay. Best not to worry about it, though. Keep brewing. You need all the time you can manage.

The birds kept the Willow sufficiently busy for a few minutes. Branches began to calm and return to where a tree's branches should be on any normal, non-moving tree.

You really want to test the tree's emotions right now?

The fact that Kyle had used the birds as a distraction at all kind of meant that he wasn't really too bothered about what became of them. Conjured creatures were different to real creatures - it was actually quite a fascinating topic, really, but again... one he probably shouldn't think too much about at the moment - so any guilt at sending the conjured birds towards the tree was minimised.

Though, admittedly, that pitiful noise that came from one of the birds did send a bit of a pang through him, no matter how logically he looked at the situation. He remedied it by just not looking, and by paying attention to his potion instead.

This time, it had taken all twenty - the maximum necessary for this step in brewing - of the toasted dragonfly thoraxes to be added to the potion before it turned silver, and, when it did, Kyle was relieved. Had he reached twenty and it not turned to right colour, he would have had to waste time in tweaking the potion or even starting again, as that would have meant it was incorrect up until this point. Continuing with a batch that you knew was not meeting the proper milestones could be disastrous, and - IMPS challenge or not - Kyle was not about to knowingly ingest a faulty potion.

With the potion now silver and shimmering, Kyle turned the heat back up again, using his wand. As for the vial of toasted dragonfly thoraxes, he set those aside, because they were no longer necessary. While he watched the potion start to change colours again, Kyle began to consider exactly what extra ingredient he might add, one that would help him up against the tree. Something for extra protection, maybe? Or some Demiguise hair for some sort of Disillusionment? The latter didn't make much sense as, again, the tree didn't have eyes or any sort of human or animal physiology, so Demiguise hair would be a waste of an extra ingredient opportunity.

So then, perhaps something with healing properties? If he was about to willingly run into the path of the trees branches, injuries were highly probably, so... maybe something along those lines?

After maybe half a minute of high heat, Kyle's potion had again turned red. Blood red and angry, but probably not as angry ("angry"?) as the nearby Whomping Willow. He turned the heat back down for a moment, and retrieved the vial of Doxy eggs once more. There were easily more than nine left in the vial, so, rather than tip the lot into the cauldron, Kyle carefully measured out three more scoops, each with three eggs, and added those. After that, he found his vial of untoasted dragonfly thoraxes, and again levitated the appropriate number - ten - into his cauldron.

So close. He was so close to being done. For what felt like the thousandth time, Kyle set the heat to high again, and, while waiting for the colour to change for the penultimate time, he readied a ladle and an empty vial, scourgifying the pair of them so that they were ready for use once the potion was finished.

Which would be soon. After a few moments - which, by the way, felt closer to a few hours, though that would be impossible - the contents of the cauldron had completed the same red-to-violet-to-indigo-to-blue transition again, and once again Kyle quickly turned down the heat. His vial of flying seahorses, luckily enough, contained three exactly, so he simply emptied it into the potion, before turning the heat up one last time.

While he waited for the potion to reach its final stage, Kyle turned his attention to his final ingredient. He really didn't have the luxury of being able to spare a lot of time on thinking about that for long, so... he decided to just trust his instincts; being capable as he was with potions, his instincts had never led him wrong before.

"Accio Wiggentree Bark!"

Wiggentree bark had plenty of curative properties, and was used in one particular type of restorative draught. There were plenty of other potion ingredients with healing properties, but Kyle thought that going with one that came from a tree was most fitting, and might give him the edge. It just felt... best. Suitable. He snatched the vial from the air as it reached him, but kept his eyes on the cauldron.

The potion was green. Not just green, but disgustingly khaki green, and foul-smelling, which meant that it was all done and ready to go. Almost ready to go. Without further delay, Kyle cut off the flame completely and dropped in a single scrap of Wiggentree bark.

Normally, he would let his potion cool, but he didn't have the time and it was surely cold enough outside to at least hurry the cooling process along somewhat. After allowing the bark a moment to infuse the potion with its properties, Kyle finally tucked his wand away, set down his shield, and shook out his aching arm. Then, taking the clean vial in one hand, he ladled the potion into it until it was full, and took another look at the Whomping Willow.

Right. No time to lose. Now or never.

Ignoring the heat (and attempting to ignore the smell, but... ew...) of the potion, Kyle raised the vial to his lips and downed its contents in one. He grimaced and maybe gagged just a little, threw the vial aside, and picked up his shield once more. As the seconds passed, the weariness he had not noticed until now suddenly left him, and the ache in his shield arm was soon gone too, probably thanks to the bark. Standing still was no longer an option; he was ready to go, and he knew that that feeling should last for some time.

Make your way to the passage beneath the tree.

Not bothering with his wand, as he didn't want to risk an unnecessary casualty, Kyle charged forwards, shield at the ready, aiming to reach the roots at the base of the trunk, where the entrance to the passage surely was.

The birds did the trick for a little while, but soon enough the Whomping Willow was back to doing its usual thing of being restless and swaying its beaches every which way. It's a good thing that your potion is coming along because you are definitely not welcome company in its eyes.

As the vial is summoned from one of the branches, the tree tries to THRASH it with one of its limbs, but fortunately for you it doesn't work. Your potion is done, ingested, and you are ready to go!

Just make sure not to get hit by any of those branches as you make your way towards the trunk; that could do some real damage despite the shield.

Kyle's heart was racing, and if it weren't for the fact that sound of the flailing and thrashing tree - not to mention his own laboured breathing - were drowning everything else out, he felt sure that he'd have been able to hear it pounding in his ears. Here he was, running headlong at a Whomping Willow, willingly and at full throttle. It was insane. He was insane, apparently.

As he ran at the tree, Kyle's shield immediately came in handy. Every instinct told him to protect his head above all else, and so there was a lot of ducking behind the shield, and using it to attempt to bat away the incoming branches. Most importantly, thanks to the potion, Kyle was nowhere near close to tiring out, which was quite lucky, seeing as he wasn't exactly making a lot of forward progress... there was, however, a lot of zigzagging happening, a lot of two-steps-forward-one-step-back business. Not to mention, every time the shield received a whack from one of the branches, it sent shockwaves through his arm. The healing component of his potion did the trick for a while, but as he hadn't brewed a potion solely for healing, it only got him so far.

With the aid of the Supersensory Charm, he could tell where the blows were coming from before they reached him, though of course an added downside of said charm was that he could keenly hear literally everything that was going on around him. At times he anticipated and prepared for blows that never even came.

It wasn't long before his luck started to change - ah, luck... if only he had had enough time to brew a batch of Felix Felicis, now wouldn't that have been perfect? - with regard to his shield. Anticipating a low-hanging-uppercut, Kyle had leapt to the side with a level of agility that surprised even himself. Unfortunately for him, however, his dodge had thrown him directly in the path of a heavy blow from a thicker, brutish branch. It smacked directly into the shield, but Kyle hadn't been expecting it, his arm wasn't yet braced for the blow. Instead of fending off the branch, he absorbed to the impact in its entirety, and so the top of the shield was thrust suddenly back at Kyle, hitting him directly in the face with sickening force.

Kyle staggered a few steps back, and instinctively dropped the offending silver shield like it had burnt him, and indeed it had dealt him the ultimate betrayal. For a moment, he saw nothing but stars, flashes of light invading his vision as the pain started to register, and he felt wetness dripping onto his lips. Raising a hand to his nose, he found that not only was it bleeding from a cut on the outside, but the blow had triggered a heavy nosebleed to boot.

WHAM.

In his moment of shock, Kyle had taken his focus off of the more pressing situation, and the tree had taken advantage of that. The next blow caught Kyle square in the ribs, the force of it sending him flying off his feet in an almost (... okay, definitely) comical manner. He hit the deck a few feet away, and none too lightly; the pain of all three sudden impacts causing a wave of nausea to rise up inside of him.

But the potion was still in effect, and the only thing stopping Kyle was his shock and his pain. He was not tired, he did not feel unable to go on, and almost instantly he had pushed himself up onto his hands and knees, and looked towards the trunk of the tree.

He could see it, the entrance of the passage. From here, it was in plain sight. Maybe the tree had even knocked him to where his view of the entrance was unimpeded. A blessing in disguise.

A very, very convincing disguise.

Despite the pain, despite the fact that every fibre of Kyle's being was screaming at him to run away from the Whomping Willow, despite the fact that he could taste blood and he ached everywhere and he knew it was all because of the very tree he was trying to reach, Kyle did not stop moving. He didn't need to, because despite everything, he felt just as energised and ready to go as he had done the very second he had swallowed the potion; it even felt as though the healing properties of the Wiggentree bark were starting to kick in. Kyle had known the tree would likely hit him, he had been well aware that he was unlikely to entirely avoid that eventuality, and he was letting nothing slow him down.

Deciding not to get all the way to his feet, Kyle scrambled forwards on his hands and knees over the snowy ground (oh how he welcomed the cold), getting closer and closer to the passage while the tree continued to flail furiously above him. At one point, he heard the undeniable, tell-tale whistling of another branch approaching, and hurriedly dropped onto his stomach, pressing himself as flat to the ground as possible as it passed by so closely that he felt it ruffle the hair on the back of his head. Once it passed, Kyle army-crawled the rest of the way to the entrance of the passage in the gnarled roots of the tree. Without further delay, he squirmed his way through and into the relative safety of the secret passageway.

Well done!

You have managed to make your way past the Whomping Willow. Unfortunately you have taken some damage, but feel proud because not many people would make it through a fight with such a brutal opponent.

Take a moment to rest, because there is a journey ahead of you; a passageway that leads into the darkness with no end in sight. Following this for some time leads you to a door. This is the only thing standing in your way of completing the next part of the challenge. Don’t open it just yet, however, as there is a piece of paper attached to it.

*Click Me*

Text Cut: Text Only

Remember: things are not always as they seem,
And with odd trinkets this shack does teem.
In the time remaining, you must find your way
And locate two items that have gone astray;

One is held dear to our pigletted friends.
It can’t build a home, but a house it does amend
To every boy and girl cherished at the castle,
But you won’t find it without much hassle.

You’re looking for a lever that unlocks a door,
But to find the item you might need a particular score.
Try them all, and you will see. Something is off.
Dust covers this place like an infernal cough.

Now, our next item is from across the seas.
It can attach and reattach as you please.
It doesn’t write; it surely isn’t a quill,
And it’s small in size as well as beautiful.

Twist clockwise and nothing you’ll get,
But counter that, and you might regret
The noxious gas that fills your space
If you turn it too quickly, wood it would deface.

Good luck, champions. Find them both here.
Look with your eyes, hear with your ears.
Search up and down, and then high and low,
But don’t be too hasty or too slow.

OOC: Here is a floor plan provided OOC to make it easier to RP your character exploring the shack. Feel free to be as creative as possible.


*Click Me!*


*Click Me!*

Once he was through the opening, Kyle faced a short tumble down a slope, before sliding to a halt at the bottom. The passageway he found himself in was clearly not built - or, rather, hollowed out - with maximum comfort in mind. From what he could see with his supersensory eyes, the tunnel had a low ceiling, and would necessitate progressing forwards at a crawl.

Having a keen interest in history meant that Kyle knew very well where this passageway likely ended up, so he had a vague idea of about how far he had to go. That knowledge, however, did not fill him with confidence; by now he had far less than an hour to go, and he had to crawl the distance to one particular building, all the way out to what always seemed like the far side of Hogsmeade, if he remembered correctly. By now it felt like a huge stroke of luck, the fact that he had brewed a Girding Potion to get past the tree. It would only help him now that he had to move quickly, and had no time to waste on resting.

He considered removing his Supersensory Charm and lighting his wand instead, but ended up reasoning to himself that it would be much less hassle to just continue on as he was, not having to bother with holding a wand. For now, he could see through the gloom perfectly fine, and if that did not continue to be the case, then it hardly mattered. He only needed to just follow the tunnel, after all, and he could do that without using his eyes.

Kyle did take his wand out for a moment though, and pointed it straight at his own face. The cut on the top of his nose had already closed up enough that the bleeding had stopped, and the pain from the aches and bruises had started to fade, probably thanks to the Wiggentree bark in the potion. But the actual nosebleed had not eased off in the slightest, and would need some actual magical intervention. Probably best to get it done now, in case it proved an unneeded distraction later. Passing out from blood loss would be entirely too inconvenient.

"Episkey."

Speaking hurt a little more than Kyle had expected it to, but the spell seemed to do the trick; after a painful shifting sensation in his face, his nose felt more or less back to normal again. As far as Kyle could tell, the bleeding had slowed to a halt as well. He wiped his face with his sleeve, glad to find the tenderness had been greatly reduced, and re-holstered his wand.

Then, there was nothing else for it... the gloom of the tunnel awaited him.

Kyle moved as fast as he could, and, luckily for him, the potion he had taken ensured that his pace never once faltered. Really, the worst part of the entire thing was the way that the further into the tunnel he went, the more claustrophobic he started to feel, despite not having been aware that small spaces were really much of an issue for him. Then again, when before now had he ever had to worry forcing himself into a tiny, dark, cramped space, with no room even to swing a kneazle. The thing that kept him from freaking out, and kept him moving forwards, was for Kyle to keep reminding himself that the only way out was get to the exit at the other end of the passageway.

The best way out is always through. Who was it that had written that? Kyle couldn't remember, and so, for the rest of his confined journey, he focused only on trying to remember that particular wordsmith and on literally moving forwards as he did so. It kept him occupied throughout the journey, playing that little game. Could he get to the end of the tunnel before he remembered? Or before a ministry official (somehow) arrived to tell him his time was up?

Ultimately, it turned out that the answer was yes, as after a long, long time spent crawling, the floor began to slope upwards. Kyle squinted through the dark and sped up for the last few feet, until he saw the trap door directly above him, illuminated mostly by the faintest rays of light peaking through the wooden boards, something he might have missed without the charm he had placed on himself.

Kyle reached out and placed his hand flat on the door, ready to push it open, when he made contact with a scroll attached do it. Naturally, he took it as it was likely meant for him, but he did not attempt to read it whilst still in the passageway, because he really was quite aware of how cramped the space in the tunnel was.

At last, he pushed his way up through the trap door, finding himself, as expected, in the Shrieking Shack. Here he was, in a building steeped in history, and with not nearly enough time to be able to truly appreciate it. Perhaps they would allow them to come back some time after the challenge. Maybe as a treat for the winner? That would certainly give him some extra incentive.

Kyle climbed up out of the passageway and shut the trapdoor heavily behind him. He seated himself on the floor, cross-legged, and brought out his wand again.

"Lumos."

He made sure to shut his eyes before the lip of his wand blazed into light, so that he could adjust to the light a little easier. When he could open them, he held his wand up high over his head and looked around the room he had emerged into. To his right stood a staircase that spiralled up to the next floor, and to his left a doorway opened up to a wider room, but Kyle didn't move to explore either avenue just yet. First, he turned his attention to the scroll.

Unfurling it, he read through what was written.

.........

It was a riddle.

In spite of himself, Kyle broke into a smile. He had been dreading the possibility of having to fend off something else that was determined to take his head off of his shoulders, but this? This was more his tempo.

He read through it again, this time paying closer attention to exactly what was written.

First off, and most importantly, it looked as though he needed to find two trinkets to progress through this part of the challenge. 'In the time remaining' suggested that this might actually be the last part of the task.

Okay, so... 'our pigletted friends'. On Kyle's first read-through his mind had first gone to the three little pigs, given that the next line was to do with houses. By now, however, it was fairly obvious that the line referred instead to Hogwarts and its students.

'It can’t build a home, but a house it does amend...' Perhaps something to do with the Hogwarts houses? Either that, or Kyle was overthinking things. The point was that he was looking for something held dear to those at Hogwarts. Perhaps a wand? ... But then again, wands were cherished by those at Ilvermorny too. Well... perhaps he could look around, and might realise what he was looking for when he was staring right at it. He looked down at the parchment again.

'You’re looking for a lever that unlocks a door,
But to find the item you might need a particular score.'

A lever that unlocked a door was quite obviously a key (maybe that was the trinket he was looking for? did Hogwarts students really admire keys? or was this part of the riddle simply referring to where he should be looking?) but as for the next part, Kyle would have to have a look around before he made any assumptions about that... though the beginnings of an idea were forming. He moved on to the next part of the riddle, shifting around where he sat as he was eager to get up and start exploring.

It didn't take another read-through for Kyle to come to the conclusion that he the second trinket might be a Gordian Knot, like the one used to fasten the Ilvermorny robes - or perhaps even the very brooch that that part of the uniform was based on. Kyle had a habit of fiddling with his when he was nervous, and the Knot it was quite an important part of Ilvermorny's history; even during their Sorting process they needed to stand on a Gordian Knot on the floor of their Entrance Hall. The Knots could attach and reattach - that was the whole point of them - and they didn't write, and were small and arguably beautiful. A Gordian Knot was Kyle's best guess... and then perhaps the Hogwarts item was... a school tie?

... Or... you know... not.

This time, he had no idea where he was supposed to look, though he thought maybe... a sink? In a bathroom or kitchen? Or maybe it was even something to do with an oven, if it was something to do with noxious gases. He'd have to have a look around... play it by ear... go with the flow. He didn't even entertain the idea of using a Summoning Charm for one of the items; whether it worked or not, he would likely get scored low for not conducting a proper search, or perhaps be disqualified entirely.

At last, Kyle got to his feet. The Shack gave off an air of foreboding, and he couldn't help but try to keep his footsteps as quiet as possible, though the thick dust on the floor took care of that for him. He stuck to the ground floor first, entering what could only be described as a living room, and followed the wall around to the right. Around the couch and armchairs he went, pausing briefly at the fireplace. If he was going to hide something, he would probably do so in or around a fireplace... perhaps up the chimney.

But he wasn't about to go digging around up there just yet. Instead, he continued his circuit of the room, speeding up past all the disgusting rotten food and pausing to have a good look at the kitchen and bathroom, almost convinced that the second of the trinkets would be here. But he didn't linger, preferring to go after the potential Hogwarts item first, given that he had an idea as to where might be a good place to start looking. With that thought in mind, Kyle moved towards the stairs and hurried up them, acutely aware of the creaking wood all around him.

As he approached the top of the stairs and was met with a view through a doorway, Kyle saw exactly what he had been hoping to see: a piano. He hastened up the last few stairs and strode purposely towards it, giving the rest of the room a quick once-over to reassure himself that he was quite alone.

Unfurling the parchment again, Kyle held his wand over it and double-checked the stanza he had been ruminating over.

'You’re looking for a lever that unlocks a door,
But to find the item you might need a particular score.
Try them all, and you will see. Something is off.
Dust covers this place like an infernal cough.'

A key was a lever that unlocked a door, but it was possible that it could be a double meaning. Door key... piano key... a particular score. A 'score' was musical terminology, Kyle was sure of it, and that was why his thoughts had led him... here.

Well, the riddle was telling him to 'try them all'... and the only thing Kyle could think of doing to press all of the piano keys that still actually remained on the piano. So, naturally, that was exactly what he did, walking his fingers gradually down the keys, pressing each of them down, waiting to see if anything in the room changed.

Such as... maybe the fireplace? After all... 'Dust covers this place like an infernal cough,' and that fireplace was... not clean.

It is hard to believe that such a renowned historical site can be so dirty and disgusting, yet somehow the Shrieking Shack is worse than anyone could ever imagine. Take in the peeling wallpaper, boarded up windows, and stained floors. Plus there is that awful stench that surrounds you wherever you go.

Be careful to avoid the food scattered all over the floor, as well as the rats and other creepy crawlies as you investigate further, finally making your way to the dusty piano.

The sound of each note being played echoes oddly in the empty space. From one of the keys comes an odd sound.

What was that all about?

As expected, each musical note that rang out was discordant and eerie as it echoed around the bleak, dusty old shack. Naturally, the piano was completely out of tune, which made the whole affair seem somehow stranger, creepier, and--

Kyle blinked, and looked back down at the piano. That sound... surely he hadn't imagined it? With delicate precision, he moved his fingers back across the piano keys again, pressing them lightly until he found the offending party. Kyle pressed down on it again, listening closely to the sound, before repeating the process a couple more times, in quick succession. Definitely not imagining it.

Eyes now drawn to the top of the piano, Kyle set his parchment down on the keys and took hold of the lid of the instrument, wand (still lit with Lumos) held ready in his other hand, because he fully expected something to jump out at him, or something equally as disconcerting. Bracing himself, he lifted the lid of the piano and peered inside to the area that was more or less in line with the apparently broken key he had been pressing on the outside.

Opening the lid of the piano, you stare in the area where the missing key was located. Your eye immediately lands on something that doesn’t belong: an ancient hat.

Not just any ancient hat, however; this is the famous Sorting Hat.

Well done, Ilvermornyan! You have found the first of two objects.

What the--

... Oh.

It took a second for Kyle to register what he was looking at, because at first glance he worried that it might be some kind of animal that had curled up inside the piano to die. However, it didn't really smell very pungent, and in fact looked more like some bundled up cloth. After a second, he realised it was some bundled up cloth, or rather a patched and frayed old wizard's hat. Then, finally, it clicked that he was staring at the Hogwarts Sorting Hat.

Now, that made sense. It was even like the relevance of the Gordian Knot at Ilvermorny, down to being related to the Sorting. Kyle reached inside the piano and pulled the hat out, resisting the urge to try it on and see if it felt like telling him what Hogwarts house he would belong to. No need, really; Kyle was fairly certain he already knew.

Clearly, this was the first item. It fit with those stanzas of the riddle perfectly, and there was really very little chance that he should be looking for something else. The Hat was to do with Hogwarts and its houses and was cherished by the people at the school. Right. Easy.

Onto the next object then, and this time Kyle was slightly more unsure. He had pretty much decided that he really was looking for a Gordian Knot - had been resolute before he had even found the Sorting Hat - but was stumped on where he might need to start looking. Stepping away from the piano, Kyle took up the parchment again and unrolled it, pinning the Sorting Hat to his side with one of his arms.

'Twist clockwise and nothing you’ll get,
But counter that, and you might regret
The noxious gas that fills your space
If you turn it too quickly, wood it would deface.'

So... there was something that, if he twisted it clockwise it would give him nothing, but if he turned it the other way it would give off a noxious gas? Things that might be twistable and present in this shack included... door handles, faucets, the dials on the oven... and not much else. As for what would deface wood, that was a slightly more helpful clue, but again, could be a lot of things. Water, for instance. Or fire. Or the source of a noxious gas. Or even just brute force.

Looking up from the parchment, Kyle scanned the room he was stood in, the floorboards creaking below him as he turned slowly on the spot. Nothing up here seemed to really fit the bill regarding the clues he had been given, and... well, how likely was it that the second trinket would also be hidden upstairs? With that thought in mind, Kyle made a beeline for the staircase again, his heard thudding wildly in his chest; how long did he have left? Could he finish before the time was up? All there was left to do was to try.

As he reached the bottom of the stairs, Kyle paused, took a breath, and tried to centre himself. He missed the bracing cold of the outside; so long in that tunnel and now in this filthy, musty place was making him feel slow, sluggish. He needed more oxygen to get to his brain but there was no time. Even knowing the history of the place didn't help to trigger any bright ideas.

Noxious gas... noxious gas...

Before, he had narrowed it down to two potential places to look; a bathroom sink, or a kitchen sink, or a kitchen oven. With no other brainwaves to go on, he decided to check those two avenues first.

The bathroom had, if Kyle recalled correctly (and he did, because it had been mere minutes ago), smelled absolutely foul. Did that count as a noxious gas? If you asked Kyle, it did, but it wasn't his opinion that drove this challenge. Then again, if they were counting bad smells into that category, then the table full of disgusting rotten food also needed to be considered... but what might need to be twisted over there? No, he needed to pause, slow down, and check possible hiding places one at a time. Bathroom first - it was closest, anyway.

Passing by the trapdoor again, Kyle veered to the left and faced the bathroom door. Bracing himself, he pushed it open again, and peered inside, using the Sorting Hat to hold over his nose and mouth like a makeshift mask; there was simply no time to mess about with Bubblehead Charms, every second counted now.

Was there a Gordian Knot somewhere in here? Or... more likely... would he need to do something that would point him towards it, like with the piano.

Kyle reached out for the faucets on the sink, covering his hand with his sleeve just in case. Reluctantly, and very tentatively, he turned them both clockwise........ and then slowly anti-clockwise, before moving towards the bath - and avoiding even looking at the toilet - to try the same thing there, all the while peering at his surroundings for the potential hidden item.

Somewhere? Anywhere?

"Please."

Heading downstairs has you getting warmer and warmer, but where is the second item that you seek? The bathroom seems to be as good a guess as any, but when you turn the faucets nothing comes out of them beyond dirty and disgusting water.

Definitely not what you had been hoping for. What shall you do now?

Though it probably couldn't be seen, given that he was still holding the Sorting Hat over his face like a mask, Kyle's expression quickly became one of disgust. Moving much more quickly than when he had turned the taps on, he hurriedly turned them off again.

Okay, so... probably not here then. That was... unbelievably frustrating, but Kyle tried to tell himself that it could also be a good thing, if he considered it from the perspective that he had ruled one possibility out. 'Tried' being the operative word, because more than anything else he felt annoyed that he hadn't worked out the answer as quick as he would have liked, and stressed because time was running out fast.

There was still a possibility that the probably-a-Gordian-Knot was here in the bathroom, hidden somewhere else, but Kyle decided to check elsewhere first. Still the most likely source of a noxious gas was the oven, especially now his main suspicions about the bathroom had been ruled out.

Turning left out of the bathroom, Kyle rounded the corner so that he faced the kitchen. The smell of the food nearby seemed to even permeate through the hat pressed against his face, so he figured that he might as well spare a moment to cast a Bubble-Head Charm. He took the hat away and pointed his wand at his face instead, moving it in a counter-clockwise motion

"Viseo Ebullio."

There, now if he did manage to trigger anything harmful on top of the stench of the rotten food and the Shrieking Shack in general, he'd be protected. Kyle had a lot of faith in the Bubble-Head Charm, as he used it all the time when brewing potions, especially when experimenting.

Looking down at the hat he now held in one hand, Kyle considered... everything. He was no longer thinking about putting the thing on and find out what his Hogwarts house would have been, but was instead tempted to ask it if it knew where the other clue was. But the thought crossed his mind only for a moment, because, when it came down to it, Kyle wanted to solve the riddle for himself. If the hat helped him - and, really, he didn't seriously believe that it would - then it would make his own accomplishments in this task null and void.

He needed to focus on the riddle, and not on the hat. Glancing at the oven in the kitchen, Kyle bit his lower lip uncertainly as he remembered that one line of the poem that had him completely stumped.

'... Wood it would deface.'

Was he even in the right place at all? He was starting to doubt himself, but knew he had to at least look so that he could count this location out too. Perhaps this was even some kind of joke that the challenge-makers were trying to make; getting warmer and warmer in terms of the clue... until they were literally looking inside an oven. That would be pretty amusing.

Stuffing the hat into the pocket of his robes, Kyle moved into the kitchen, bypassing the sink and crouching down in front of the oven, opening the door of it as he did so. He peered over the top of the stove, looked inside the main compartment of the oven, and eyed the dials at the top. Could it maybe be disguised as a dial, perhaps hidden behind one or in the place of one, unless it was actually hidden inside the oven. Kyle scanned the entire thing without attempting to turn any dials just yet, making sure to look at every square inch of the appliance in case the item he was looking for happened to be in clear view.

Good call in using the Bubble Head Charm, because the stench of the kitchen would be enough to make anyone want to lose their lunch. It seemed as if all the smells of bad food have accumulated in this one place, but it is here that you have deduced to be the place that contains the missing object associated with your school.

Peering at the stove, you do not see much of anything that seems to give a clue as to what you are to do next. But wait… does one of the knobs seem shinier than the others? Maybe it’s just a trick of the light…

Why was it that whenever he needed to urgently find something, his eyes would rake over the very thing he was looking for multiple times before he registered that it was right in front of him? Kyle realised, when looking all over the oven, that he was letting himself get too overwhelmed by the entire appliance, and had to consciously force himself to slow down, and look through one section at a time.

Inside the oven seemed as good a place as any to start with, and there weren't many places to hide something in there... unless you counted burying it in all the dirt and grime and general muck. Kyle, who was extremely glad that he had cast a Bubble-Head Charm on himself by this point, even cast a couple of quick cleaning charms on the inside of the oven, but found nothing.

Shutting the oven door, he looked instead at the dials, stared them all down, one at a time. Really, really looki--

Wait. No. Wait. That one. It was... it wasn't as filthy as everything else. It had been handled or... or something. Whatever it was, it clearly meant he was on the right track. Maybe.

Now there was just the problem of what to do with it. The riddle had essentially told him that turning the dial clockwise would give him nothing, and turning it the other way would... end in regret. So maybe he just needed to... pull it off? Or maybe the dial was the knot, and transfigured to look like something else, and he needed to undo it. Or maybe there was something else entirely that he needed to do that he hadn't even thought of.

Well, Kyle was nothing if not logical, and the logical thing here was to attempt the spell before he started pulling parts off of an appliance that likely ran on gas. If the spell didn't work, then nothing untoward would happen (nothing would happen at all, except that maybe if the dial was just magically concealing the item, that magic might be terminated) meaning that he could try those other avenues.

Raising his wand, Kyle pointed it at the dial.

"Finite."

The Finite was a good idea, but somehow it doesn’t seem to work. It seems that there is something that keeps the magic from affecting the knob. Hmmm. Looks like you will need to do something else in order to get to the last item.

What was it that the riddle said to do?