Jesús was, without a doubt, upset. As someone who'd grown up in an area that experienced cold weather a few months out of the year, he was not prepared to handle this kind of cold. This was some sort of advanced cold that he didn't know how to process or deal with. Immediately, his mind buzzed and the possibility that this could possibly be another "fake" environment set up by the Ministry had put him in a mood. While he never felt that he was one to anger quickly, Jesús had come to find that this competition proved otherwise.

What he couldn't understand was why. Why snow? Why a mountain? The whys continued to pile up in his mind until a nagging thought superseded his previous thoughts. He needed to find some warmth. Shivering, he quickly pulled his wand out and cast the Insulation Charm on himself. It wasn't entirely ideal, but Jesús had very few options in terms of removing that stinging, bitter cold that kept him rooted in one spot. The charm helped him to move a bit better, and because the snow was so thick, he decided to lift a bit of weight off of him.

The sixth year cast the Feather-light charm on himself and took a tentative step forward. He appreciated how much lighter he felt already. His hope was that he would now be able to move better through the snow without sinking down. If he could just keep moving, he could find somewhere that didn't expose him to so much cold. Jesús paused, momentarily, to cast another spell on him; this time it was the Hot-Air charm. His idea was to melt any and all snow off of his clothes and dry himself off before moving along. He figured the less cold he felt, the easier it would be to make it through whatever it is they wanted him to do. Once he felt warm enough, Jesús tucked his wand away (no need to accidentally drop it in all of this snow) and proceeded to move forward.

He felt directionless, but he hoped that that would change soon. There was no need to mope (even though he really, really wanted to,) so he kept walking, trying to move quick enough so that he wouldn't freeze.

There is no shelter in sight as you crunch over the snow, the featherlight charm you cast, My Dear Ilvermornian is helping you from not sinking down in the snow so much, however as you take another step, a strong blast of icy wind comes at you from the west. Nearly knocking you off your feet. Let's hope you have enough weight in order not to be fully blown away by the gust.

As suddenly as the wind starts up, it ceases and the tundra is calm for a moment, you take a breath before yet another arctic gust of wind comes down at you from the north this time, chilling you to the bone. So much for the hot air charm that you cast.

Does the wind have a specific meaning you can gain from it? Or it is just the wild winds of the tundra that you are caught up in?

As he walked, Jesús thought it pertinent to keep himself distracted. There was no need to focus on the cold because that would slow him down and might possibly cost him his life. So he allowed his mind to drift and soon he began thinking about how ridiculous the competition was. First dementors, then a rabid tree, and now a vast expanse of land covered entirely in snow. He would never complain about winters in the New York ever again.

With his mouth set into a frown, thoughts of how much Valerie was probably faring better than him plagued his mind. He wouldn't let her know just how cold he felt, but she would probably see through that farce anyway. Taking another step forward, Jesús shivered, though he was determined to keep moving because there had to be something out there. Right? He hadn't considered the possibility of anything knocking him over until a rather strong, incredibly random gust of wind blew from the west.

That had certainly stopped him in his tracks.

The Thunderbird found himself being pushed over, though he firmly planted his feet into the ground and steadied himself. It took a lot of effort, but he managed to bear the force of the wind. He took a moment to catch his breath. Inhaling deeply, Jesús found that as terrible as that burst of wind was, he'd survived it and would be able to move on. And just as he was about to start walking again, another gust of wind blew, this time from the north. He instinctively put his arms up, trying to cover his face, but the cold had penetrated through.

Whatever heating charms he'd used previously were now defunct, and the sixth year found himself doubled over trying to catch his breath again. Wonderful. Eyes watering, Jesús remained still for a moment, trying to think (although even doing that was proving incredibly difficult.) Was this another daydream? He didn't want to let his guard down and think such a frivolous thought. Hawk-eyes didn't have that sort of kindness within her; that much had been apparent as the challenges grew progressively more intense. His previous theory remained true; there was something more sinister at play and while he couldn't necessarily dwell on it at the moment, he would certainly revisit it once the challenge was over.

If he survived, that was.

Taking several deep breaths, Jesús thought about the direction that the wind had come from: west and north. Choosing to preserve his life (no need for him to have an asthma attack in the middle of a challenge,) he turned around and walked in a south-easterly sort of direction. If the wind blew again, at least he'd be blown facing forward, and he could just roll his way to wherever they wanted him to go. The cold was unbearable, so he quickly stopped and dried himself off using the Hot-air charm again. Once he felt dry enough, Jesús decided to create a little more warmth for himself via the Sunlight Charm. Through chattering teeth, Jesús muttered "S-solis Lucidum" and waited briefly for the spell to take effect. He hadn't considered the charm earlier because, well, he really did not think two gusts of wind would hit him back to back.

A small wave of paranoia took hold of him. Glancing over his shoulder, he wondered if there would be more wind again and figured that he needed something (anything, really) to help him stay warm as he walked. Jesús diverted his attention to the task at hand, and conjured a simple, black beanie and pulled it over his head, making sure to cover his ears. He knew that he was pressed for time, so, after carefully tucking his wand away, he pressed forward quickly. As he made his way further, he thought about the abruptness of the wind and whether or not it was work of nature or of something else. Was the wind prompting him to go in the opposite direction,
or was it beckoning him forward? The thought of walking against the wind was laughable (though it did make him move a little faster,) as Jesús refused to put himself in that sort of situation just to test out a theory.

Was the wind gusts random? Nothing here is random, everything is calculated and designed to be interpreted and followed. Do not forget that, My Dear Competitor. Pay attention and try to figure out what the wind is telling you to do. Can you predict something from it?

The hot air charm certainly dried you off and kept you from freezing solid in this harsh environment, and the sunlight charm helped warm you up, so it'll be a little easier to breathe and move around.

The hat you conjured was a good idea to keep your head warm, and tucking your wand away was also smart, wouldn't want to lose it in the endless sea of snow around you. Especially with the wind still blowing around you.

As you press southeastward, the wind from the north howls at you, making it hard to make any eastern progress at all and forcing you to go south.

The wind clearly had a mind of its own; he was certain he had started in a south-easterly direction, but he'd been turned around by another strong gust of wind. Momentarily stunned (because he didn't account for the wind being that forceful,) Jesús rubbed his hands together and tugged his beanie down more. It was almost as if the wind knew how much he hated being cold; it was cruel and incredibly unforgiving, but Jesús pressed on, this time sticking south.

After a few minutes of walking, the sixth year pondered on the suddenness of the wind and the direction that it came from. While he would never openly admit to being superstitious (it was a part of him whether he wanted it to be or not,) Jesús knew an omen when he saw one. Divination wasn't exactly a strong-point of his (he actually thought the subject and practice was ridiculous (though he really couldn't doubt it's predictive properties at times)) but he'd found himself drawn to reading up on the subject from time to time. All for the sake of pointing out the fallacies and lack of logic within the subject. And while he didn't necessarily take divination seriously, he certainly knew that there were plenty of cultures that relied on it heavily. A nagging thought in the back of his mind reminded him that wind was oftentimes used to divine meanings or messages or to even confer with spirits.

That the wind was prompting him south could only mean that there was something waiting for him at the end of his so-called journey. What that something was, well, Jesús could only imagine. So he did. He couldn't help himself as images of various traps and dark creatures crossed his mind; he was highly suspicious of everything around him (even though it was only snow for the time being) as he continued making his way south. For whatever reason, they'd chosen a remote area, thick with snow, to freeze the competitors. And while he still felt very cold, it seemed that it wasn't as cold the further south he went. From his time spent reading up on mythology (both magical and mundane,) the sixth year found that any time a northern wind was introduced, it almost always brought with it bad tidings or even a curse. Jesús, after several more minutes, surmised that the northern wind (with all its forceful prompting and prodding) was a bad omen. The thought made him frown deeply, and he mumbled some unsavory, foul words (words that would probably make his abuela lecture him, nonstop, for about an hour or until he was done) about the distasteful sense of humor the curators of the challenge seemed to have.

A shiver crawled up his spine, and he wasn't sure if it was the cold or if it was the realization that something sinister was actually going to occur.

His mind drifted to thoughts of wild beasts living within tundra-like climates, and he briefly wondered if he would run into a yeti during the challenge. It would be appropriate, though it would've been an incredibly ridiculous sight to see. Again, Jesús thought about just how smug the judges must've been, watching the competitors struggle with their individual tasks. Was it really that entertaining to put children through such harsh conditions? Another reason why he would probably drop out of school before the term ended. No need to continue feeding into their nonsense, he would fare better outside of school anyway. He figured that no matter what he faced later on in the challenge, the bitterness of the cold weather would be the worst aspect of it all. Because would could actually be worse than freezing without any prospect of finding warmth? Nothing. Nothing could be worse than what he was feeling at that moment.

Well done,Mr Rodriguez, you have figured out what the signs in the wind have been telling you, dumb or not you can thank your study on Divination for preparing you for what lays ahead. Perhaps it's not as ridiculous as you thought?

And you are very right, something does lay ahead.

Let's hope your grandmother doesn't hear the words you just said to the wind.

The wind gets less harsh as you approach something that becomes more visible with each step. Soon a metal cage, its bars layered in ice, comes into view. The lock on the magically protected cage is a metal box with a series of random dots on it. This lock could easily be overlooked though as you look into the cage and see something that makes you still and perhaps hate school even more than you do.

For inside the cage, a lady shivers there, her limbs as icy as yours are. It is your grandmother, Beatriz Dávila.

Hmm maybe she did hear the words you said? Though she is in no condition to lecture you right now.

It seemed that all of his walking was starting to pay off. The wind didn't feel as harsh (he hoped it stayed that way, too,) and he found that he could breathe a little better. The wind had certainly made things difficult, but he wouldn't complain (for the time being, at least) because it seemed like he was finally reaching his destination. Sort of. He squinted, trying to make out the strange object that lay up ahead. Jesús wondered if this was where the challenge started to get tricky or difficult (though he would still argue that dealing with the coldness was relatively hard.)

As he moved closer, he started to make out what the object was. It seemed frozen, almost, and he briefly wondered if he had to retrieve some item from it and go through a complicated ordeal. He began to rub his hands together and blew on them for a few seconds. Just because the wind wasn't knocking him over, didn't mean the area wasn't unbearably cold. The frown that he'd sported most of his way there had returned, as he stopped walking and stared at the cage. Closing his eyes, just for a moment, Jesús counted to ten. This had to be a dream (a very cruel sort of dream) or, his eyes were playing tricks on him. That seemed more appropriate. When he reopened his eyes, however, the same sort of feeling he'd felt when he was faced with the dementor from the first challenge, began to crawl all the way down his throat and nestled itself in the pit of his stomach.

There was no way, no way, no way his abuela was there. No way.

He continued to tell himself that, even as he ran over to the cage, tripping over himself to get to the older woman. Without thinking, Jesús grabbed onto the bars and violently shook the cage, even taking a few kicks at it. He tried to remain calm, but his mind was buzzing. There were too many questions, and he knew he'd never get the answers he wanted because Hawk-Eyes Hawthorne (along with the rest of the idiots who took part in the construction of this challenge) had finally struck his last nerve. He was done playing by their "rules" and trying to do the "right thing." Jesús was tired. They were playing games, but had no idea what sort of anger they'd awoken within the sixth year.

"Abuela," he said softly, looking at the woman who cared for him his entire life. He ignored the tears that slid down his cheeks, didn't flinch when they dried quickly, and continued to grip the bars tightly. His fingers trembled, and he already felt a wave of panic take over as the irrational thoughts sloshed around his mind. Never, in his entire sixteen years of existence, had Jesús Gualtiero Rodríguez Dávila ever, ever felt this sort of unbridled rage. It was an uncomfortable, unfamiliar feeling, and the Thunderbird felt terribly out of control.

Bile crept up his throat but he took several deep breaths and continued to work on calming down. Worse than death, he feared the loss of his abuela and he could not think properly, seeing her shivering, so helpless and tiny, in that cage. He didn't know if wizards understood the sordid history with caging humans and putting them up for display (and even if they did, Jesús didn't think they'd care,) but this was unsettling to say the least. Jaws clenched, he looked at his abuela once more. "No te preocupes," he said, voice barely above a whisper, "I'm gonna get you out, and make whoever did this to you, pay." He took a step back from the cage and quickly pulled out his wand. Unable to think about himself (as he'd rather it be him in the cage, freezing to death while waiting to be rescued,) Jesús worried that he was too late, and that his abuela was dying slowly, right in front of him.

His hands shook again, and his chest tightened, weighing him down a bit. Jesús doubled over, placing on his chest, and felt the beginnings of a second panic attack. As his brain worked in overtime, giving way to his throat closing up, he'd dropped his wand in the snow, unable to think of anything but what he was physically feeling at the moment. He tried to clear his mind, but all he could see, even when he wasn't actively looking, was the cage with his abuela, helpless and alone. Jesús steeled himself and took several deep breaths before reaching down to pick up his wand. He gripped it tightly (he didn't need to drop it again) and waved his wand, reciting the incantation for the Insulation Charm. He wondered just how much magic he could get through the cage (there was no way they'd just have her standing in something that was unfortified,) if he could get any through at all. His hope was to at least provide some warmth for the elderly woman, so he could figure out what to do next.

In all his panic, he'd failed to notice the lock, and when he did he quickly made his way towards it, and looked to see what sort of mechanism it had. He wasn't a locksmith (he knew how to pick them, sure, and knew the basic workings of them) but he would find a way to break the lock open. The box had some sort of pattern on it, with dots all over. They seemed too strategically placed to be random, so they most likely had a meaning behind them. Jesús' mind went to work (he bite the inside of his cheek hard) and was too frustrated to try and figure out what the dots meant. "What does this even mean?" he asked loudly (to himself, mostly) so that whoever was trailing him for the sake of the competition (and for Hawthorne's adoring audience who was listening and watching) could hear.

Dark brows sloping downwards, Jesús frowned even more at the lockbox. "I don't have time for stupid dots and stupid boxes," he said and let go of the lock so that he could take a step back. The boy rubbed his hands down his face, sighed loudly and then kicked the lock, hard. He didn't think it would do anything, but he felt 0.05% better. He had half a mind to set the area on fire, make an attempt to blow the cage up, but then that would put his abuela in danger and he didn't need any more guilt on his conscience. "The dots are stupid but they aren't random, so think," he mused out loud, going back to the lock, hoping that he dented it a little.

Did the dots represent coordinates? No, that didn't make sense; some dots were bigger than the others. Was it a map of some sort? He looked closer. It didn't look like they formed any sort of recognizable land mass. What could they be? The hand that held his wand curled tighter so that his nails dug into his palm. Jesús ignored the pain and willed himself to think harder. His only other theory was that it was possibly a map of stars. There were billions of stars and galaxies, though the only one that he knew was the Milky Way. He looked closer at the dots and rattled the lock. What good would it do him if they did symbolize their home galaxy? Would that knowledge suddenly make the cage unlock so he could get her out? The more he stood there with the lock in his, the more anxious and angry he got.

Please, Please calm down Mr.Rodriguez, no amount of panicking or wand dropping is going to help your grandmother. No amount of tugging on the bars or even kicking the cage is going to open it. Physical force has no effect on it.

Neither does magic, the insulation charm you cast bounced right off and hit you, now you are warm, which wasn't what you were going for was it?

And no, the dots on the lock are not stupid nor are they random, they are there for a reason, so please try to refrain from kicking it again.

If you look at your grandmother, it seems like she is trying to speak to you, your name is trying to come from between lips that are shaking with cold.

You'll also notice that she is trying to move a hand up to you. But her body is so stiff with cold, that the motion is hard to do. But you can see something off white fluttering in her icy grip, can you get it from her?

His urge to kick cage grew as he stood there with the lock in his hand. He'd been staring at the dots so hard that his eyes started to lose focus. Jesús blinked several times and took another deep breath to calm his nerves. The Insulation Charm hadn't worked (and why would it? The judges had no sort of loyalty to the competitors, at all,) so panic slithered around his body, rattling any sense of rationality that he might have had. The dots continued to haunt him, almost as if they were mocking the sixth year for his inability to save his abuela right away.

Once again, Jesús had to refrain from doing something rash and nonsensical. He tried to think positively, but he was in too much shock and rage over the audacity of the challenge. Tearing his gaze away from the lock, Jesús' eyes settled on his abuela once more. Her mouth was moving, which prompted Jesús to abandon the lock and hold onto the bars of the cage once again. Ignoring any coldness he'd felt, the boy pressed his forehead against the bars, so she try to hear what she was saying. It was difficult, seeing her like that, and while he did try to keep focused, his mind was racing (giving way to a plethora of questions filled with what ifs and whys.) They buzzed around his head menacingly, but Jesús continued to watch his abuela intently, taking great care to push away all of those unnecessary questions.

When her hand moved, Jesús felt a tiny bit relieved. So she wasn't frozen (yet), which meant he still had time to act (though he would make sure to move as quickly as possible.) Jesús watched the older woman's hand and immediately noticed that she was holding onto something. Without thinking twice, Jesús slipped his arm through the bars and extended it towards his abuela. Whatever it was must have been important if she was holding onto it still (and he was fairly certain they coerced her to do it.) The sixth year stretched as far as he could, hoping to reach her hand so that he could take the thing (whatever it was) from her. Knowing just how cynical the challenges tended to be, the small object was probably essential to getting her out of the cage.

The Thunderbird fought the urge to roll his eyes at that. The prize for the competition was already absurd to begin with, but he felt that it was an even bigger joke as he stood there, with his arm stretched out, trying to save his abuela. Who, after going through this challenge, would still want to compete? And willingly, at that. If they all chose to forfeit, would the competition halt right away and result in an eight-way tie? Not that he wanted the scholarship anyway, as there was no prize the judges could give him that would ever justify the sort of emotional and mental trauma they were putting him (along with the other competitors) through. But, ultimately, Jesús really, really could not wait to expose Hawk-eyes and the others behind this insane competition for who they really were.

Such a small thing is indeed the key to getting your grandmother out of the cage Mr.Rodriguez. Your hand easily passes through the magical barrier and reaches her icy fingers. You can feel the parchment that she has in her nearly frozen grasp.

The touch of her hand gives you a chill as you feel how cold her digits are, and you need to be extra careful in extracting the off-white piece of paper that she has.

Your touch warms her hands up just enough for you to gently uncurl her fingers and slip the parchment from her grip.

After you remove your arm from within the cage and unrolling the scroll, you will see that numbers needing decoding have been written on it:

285 6995 19751

It didn't take long (though it certainly felt like it did,) but Jesús was finally able to reach his abuela's hand. While he'd already been shivering from the cold (and from the fear that he would inadvertently fail the challenge, resulting in his abuela's demise,) he felt even colder after briefly touching her fingers. In that moment, he wished he could give her some of his warmth, but knew that every second he spent agonizing over the situation was steadily chipping away at the time he had remaining.

Giving the piece of parchment a gentle tug, Jesús extracted it very carefully from her hand. He pulled his arm back and unfurled the parchment. On it was three sets of numbers that, at first glance, seemed to not correlate to anything in the challenge. Pairing the numbers with his theory on the key to solving the riddle to the lock, Jesús deduced that if the series of dots were representative of stars in the sky, then it was only logical that there was somethind hidden within the numbers. The sixth year continued to stare at the paper, and looked for any sort of pattern within the sequence of numbers.

Arithmancy, he felt, was something that went hand in hand with divination; which meant that Jesús didn't exactly see a need for it, but he did appreciate the numerical aspect to it. Solving and decoding messages came relatively easy to him, as he liked the idea of eluding others whenever possible. Using numbers to mask messages was a great way to test the mental dexterity of a person, so Jesús often employed this method in order to throw others off whenever they wanted to pry into his life. He was able to quickly decipher the first set of numbers, and concluded that 285 spelled out the word the. 6995 would've given him trouble (due to the use of the number 9 twice,) but as he sifted through the letters in the alphabet, he settled on the second word being fire. The third set gave him pause for a bit, and as he tightly gripped the paper, Jesús went over the possible letter combinations for the numbers before deciding on signs as it's meaning.

When he put the numbers together, the numbers translated to: the fire signs. He rolled the parchment up and tucked it into his pocket before picking up the lock again and looking at the dots. "If I'm right," he mused out loud, "and these are stars, then I need to look for Leo, Sagittarius, and Aires." As he said this, he traced his hands over the dots, trying to figure out how to proceed in unlocking the cage.

Well done on solving the numbers on the Parchment Mr.Rodriguez, THE FIRE SIGNS is indeed the correct solution and you have already figured out that they correspond to the dots on the metal lock.

They aren't dots at all of course, they are stars.

Touching the stars with your fingers won't open the lock though, we are wizards after all.

Can you think of something else to tap on the correct constellations with? Which will free your grandmother from her icy cage.

Jesús continued to hold the lock in his hand, eyes darting around to see if there was a trick to the lock's mechanism. He'd lost track of how much time had passed since the start of the challenge; he had more pressing matters to attend to, like getting his abuela out of the cage. And while he tried not to think about how cold her fingers had felt when he reached into the cage, the memory was still raw in his mind. As he felt around, and continued touching the dots (or, stars, rather,) Jesús worked on pushing out any negative thoughts about the challenge. Failure wasn't an option. He reminded himself that over and over again.

Sighing, because nothing seemed to be happening, Jesús dropped the lock and took another moment to think. What could he do now that he'd decoded the message on the piece of parchment? He was fairly certain that he was supposed to find the constellations on the lock, but was that all there was to it? Frowning slightly, the sixth year pulled out his wand, and mulled over the situation some more. He tapped the wand against his leg (his nerves had gotten the best of him) and picked up the lock once more. If his memory served him correctly, Leo was somewhere along the middle, north-west of Hydra and Canis Minor. Jesús looked around, until he found found it.

He decided to locate the other two constellations as well, starting with Sagittarius. The constellation was somewhere south of Aquila, so he scanned the map until he found it. Feeling just a little more confident, Jesús worked quickly to find the last fire sign. Eyes roaming over the major constellations, Jesús continued searching until he spotted a few familiar ones and worked his way from there. It didn't take long; Aires was a little south-west of Andromeda. Since his fingers didn't work when he'd touched the lock before, Jesús decided to try tapping on the constellations with his wand; he felt that it wouldn't hurt to try, and he really needed to try something out before both he and his abuela froze to death.

With that in mind, the sixth year first tapped on Aires, then Sagittarius, and then on Leo. He wondered if that was all there was to it and suddenly felt anxious over the whole ordeal. His anxiety was starting to get the best of him, as he slightly agonized over whether or not tapping them was a good idea. What if he triggered something that did more harm than good? Or, what if he tapped them in the wrong order, subsequently trapping his abuela in the cage forever? Would the judges let that happen? Jesús didn't have the sort of optimism to think otherwise, as his pessimistic and cynical outlook (which had been intensified thanks to the lovely challenges they'd put him through) colored his logical side. When it came to family, Jesús couldn't really think rationally, especially if their lives were in danger.

Still nothing is happening when you touch the lock with your fingers. Good thinking getting your wand out though.

No need to feel anxious as you tap the correct constellations, there is no specific order they needed to be tapped in. As you touch them with your wand, they light up with a white light and after Leo has been tapped, they all light up with a green light and a few seconds later..

The lock clicks and the door opens.

Congratulations Mr.Rodriguez! You have freed your grandmother. Due to how cold she is, she can't move, so get her warmed up and get her out of there.

He didn't know what to expect, really, as the challenge continually threw him for a loop. Time was moving slowly for him, which gave rise to more impertinent, obnoxious questions. They fogged his mind, making it hard to think or concentrate on the lock in front of him. It was only when the constellations started to light up, one by one, did he finally release the breath that he'd been holding. Not for the first time during the challenge, Jesús felt truly relieved. The lock clicked right away and when the door to the cage opened, Jesús ran over to his abuela's side.

Shocked and still a little paranoid, Jesús refrained from hugging her (even though he really wanted to.) She'd been in there freezing, and he had to find a way to warm her up in the safest way possible. He was also afraid of overwhelming her with unnecessary chatter, so he did his best to keep quiet for the time being. Wand in hand, Jesús quickly cast the Sunlight Charm over his abuela. As he waited for the spell to take effect, more questions loomed over him, and he began to feel the repercussions of all his worrying. He needed to move quicker and use his time more efficiently.

After feeling the warmth from the spell, he set to casting a few more spells to assist in defrosting his abuela (so to speak) before time for the challenge ran out. Waving his wand around, the Thunderbird used the Hot-Air Charm next, sending a steady stream of warm air over his abuela. He worked from the top of her head down to her legs, making sure to dry off any and all snow or ice that accumulated onto her skin and clothes. It was difficult to not get overwhelmed, emotionally anyway; he really wanted to just pull his abuela out of the cage and find a way out of the snowy area. But, he had things to do first.

When he finished, he moved on to using the Insulation Charm to warm her up some more, as it was too risky to not do so. He smiled a little, trying to reassure the older woman (read: reassure himself) and nonverbally tell her that everything would be alright. Not that he actually knew things would be fine, but he hoped and assumed they would now that he'd solved the cage's riddle. Jesús also reminded himself to take steady breaths as he worked, so that any residual anxiety he felt would just roll off of him. It worked, mostly, although it also helped that he was entirely focused on helping his abuela feel better (so he didn't actually have time to pay attention to the negative thoughts swirling around his head.)

Last on his to-do list was placing some thick winter attire over the small woman. He first conjured another black beanie, tugged it onto her head gently (making sure to cover her ears,) before working on conjuring a thick, long scarf. Jesús wrapped it around her neck, folding and tucking so that it remained in place. When he felt satisfied with his craftsmanship, the sixth year went on to conjure a pair of gloves. Tucking his wand away carefully, Jesús helped place the gloves over her hands. "Alright, that should do it," he said aloud, mustering up as much positivity as possible (even though he was slightly unsure if he'd done enough) "let's get out of here." He reached for her hand, hoping that she felt a little more energized so they could finally exit the cage.

The sunlight charm is slowly starting to take affect and your grandmother now manages a small smile at you as she starts to warm up. That combined with the hot air charm you cast Mr.Rodriquez, is starting to defrost her frozen limbs.

Your careful work ensures that she is now perfectly dry and no bits of snow or moisture are clinging to her now. Your efforts have made it possible for her mouth to open and your name comes from between her lips. “Je...sús..” Her teeth are still slightly chattering from the cold, but more color is returning to her cheeks.

The Insulation charm is keeping the heat that your conjured in, and the beanie, scarf and gloves are all helping your grandmother recover from her trying ordeal.

However as you reach for her hand, you notice that the hand that reaches out for yours is still a bit shaky, she might not be able to walk just yet.

Perhaps some assistance is in order? A strong south wind is starting to pick up again, you need to find some shelter for the both of you.

One of the few people that Jesús would always be patient for was his abuela; and while he knew that they needed to hurry up and keep moving, he couldn't help but give her some time to acclimate to her newfound warmth. Still, the boy took her gloved hand in his, and held onto it. He made sure to double check the winter wear he'd placed over her, just moments ago, before tugging her along and exiting the cage finally. He refused to let the cage become a tombstone for the both of them, and if she was still cold and needed more warmth, he'd stop and cast more heating charms over her. Anything that would help keep her awake and focused (more or less.)

Feeling yet another gust of wind blowing towards them, the corners of his lips immediately curled downwards and he frowned deeply. While he was thankful for the guidance of the wind (going south seemed to be a running theme, here,) he was also unappreciative of more cold passing over them (especially when his abuela had just warmed up.) Jesús pressed closer to the older woman, shielding her from the brunt of the wind, and waited a moment before pulling out his wand again. After waving it around, the Thunderbird conjured some Bluebell Flames and held it briefly before sending them towards his abuela. He then cast the Floating Charm on the flames so that they would hover as they walked south.

Every minute or so, Jesús looked over to his abuela to make sure she was okay. He was happy to see that color had returned to her cheeks, and that she seemed to be taking to the insulation charm very well. Giving her a quick smile, Jesús continued to walk with her at a decent pace, hoping to come across some form of shelter soon to get his abuela out of the cold. He kept his eyes peeled for anything out in the distance that might indicate that they were on the right track to finding a ways out of that place.

Your grandmother is coming along with you, but just barely. Her stiff and still cold limbs seem to make it a struggle for her to walk even a little bit, you find yourself stopping more and more to wait for her as you exit the cage and head south.

She is smiling at you, but her fingers are clinging to you desperately. Perhaps she might need some magical assistance to help her along, seeing as she keeps stumbling and nearly falling over.

And while the bluebells charms are helping, they don't fully seem to be doing the trick. The wind then changes directions, now blowing from the east and urging you to go west toward the mountains where the entrance of a cave awaits.

Blinking, Jesús stopped walking to look at his abuela. She seemed to be having a hard time walking which was strange considering how warm she'd felt before. He wondered if the cold was having much more of an effect on her than he previously realized. For what felt like the umpteenth time that day, Jesús took out his wand and cast the Hot-Air charm over his abuela, making sure to dry her face and all other areas of exposed skin again. He took the time to do this because whether or not he completed the challenge was of little concern to him. But if his abuela collapsed out there in the snow, Jesús didn't know how he'd take it as his anger would probably drive him to do something unthinkable.

Glancing around, Jesús noticed that they hadn't made much progress from the cage which was strange considering that he'd walked out of the cage in a southerly direction for what felt like fifteen minutes. The sixth year rubbed at his eyes and blinked again, wondering if he'd momentarily fallen asleep. Or, did unlocking the cage produce some sort of magical kickback and made him go back in time. The boy shook his head, and shuddered at the thought. Not only was Hawk-eyes Hawthorne clearly dabbliing in some demonic, dark arts, but Hogwarts (alongside the competition) was clearly a dangerous place. He'd have to remember to pack up his things once they'd found the exit and figure out a way back home. There was no way he was staying around for anything.

Given her small stature, he decided on carrying her the rest of the way to make things simpler. With another wave of his wand, Jesús cast the Feather-light charm over her to make the journey easier. After securing his wand again, the boy picked up his now-light abuela, making sure to hold onto her tightly. As he carried the older woman, another gust of wind blew towards him and Jesús let out a string of words that he was sure would anger his abuela if she had the energy to move. He didn't care, though, the cold was one thing that he really couldn't deal with for long periods of time. Heeding the wind, Jesús proceeded west, walking carefully and with a purpose. The only thought in his mind revolved around getting his abuela to safety and fast.

It seemed that the wind wanted him to head towards the mountains and the Thunderbird considered the possibility of the challenge having yet another component to it. The thought brought another frown to his face, but he kept walking until he came upon what looked like a cave. He hesitated for a second, but realized that walking into a strange cave was better than standing around out in the open (vulnerable to anything that could potentially attack or, worse, eat them.) Jesús walked into the cave, continuing to carry his abuela with ease. Maybe they'd find some warmth at the end of it? Or, maybe they'd run into something even more sinister than the bitterness of the cold outside. Jesús figured that taking that chance was a tad bit more rational than finding some sort of alternative form of shelter.

You make such faster progress now that you are carrying your grandmother, Mr.Rodriguez. And the distance easily slips away as you head south and then west towards the cave ahead.

You reach the mouth of the cave and yet hesitate? Surely a cave is safer than what you just went through? There is no need to hesitate now, It is just a dark cave.

As you enter and move deeper in, you notice that it gets warmer and warmer as you and your grandmother keep moving onwards, You see a light ahead and decide to make for it, light should mean fire right?

Continuing forward, the walls of the cave begin to change. They gradually shift from the stone of the mountain into a room with two people waiting for you. The large man is a Ministry employee from the Department of Environmental Regulation and Protection, who has quietly been watching over you, and The short man is a healer from St. Mungo's.

The healer approaches, looking you over first to make sure the elements hadn't done any serious damage. He gives the woman a thumbs up and after handing you some water, progresses to look over your grandmother. The Ministry Employee moves, gently placing a hand on your back.

"Mr. Simms the Healer, has a few things to check before he sends your grandmother out," He says in a gruff voice, just in case you were wondering or having any doubts about what the other man was doing. "You are free to go, and don't worry, your grandmother will be fine." He then makes a gesture with his other hand toward a door that will take you to the stands.

OOC: You may now look at the viewing area and/or other competitors' threads.

Grateful for the warmth of the cave, Jesús continued to push forward, feeling a little more relieved that they'd finally escaped all the snow. His eyes drifted down to his abuela, and he smiled at her again, wanting to reassure her silently. He would find some way to completely warm her up; she'd clearly been in the snow for too long, which, Jesús had to remind himself to calm down and not get worked up over it. Once he'd tempered his agitation, the sixth year looked forward and noticed a light up ahead.

Either, someone else was in the cave with them or there really was another component to the challenge.

Still, he continue to walk towards it and only then did he notice the cave wasn't exactly a cave. Strange. Had he been alone, Jesús would've investigated the walls even further but there wasn't time for that sort of curiosity, he had to find out where the cave was leading them to. It took him a moment to realize that he was in a room with people. Thankfully, he remembered that he was holding onto his abuela (she was so light) because he'd really lost all sorts of rational thinking at the sight of the healer and Ministry employee.

He didn't move when the healer came to look him over; he wanted to yell at them to see after his abuela first because she'd been out there longer. Jesús placed his abuela down, gently, and brushed any residual snow off of her before watching the healer carefully. He took the water but didn't drink it, and instead kept his eyes trained on his abuela. Jesús had been so out of it, that he hadn't realized the man was so close to him until he touched his back. Jesús flinched and moved away quickly; he did not trust any of the Ministry employees, especially the ones involved with the competition. Jesús knew that putting up a fight would only get him in trouble, so, after giving the older woman a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek, he made his way out of the door and walked towards the stands.