Winter lived in his bones.

An awfully dramatic way to describe his current predicament but certainly the only apt one, too.

His was a full body shake that made his teeth shatter, loudly, and though he was protected by several layers of clothing, it was difficult to concentrate in anything other than the cold. Levi lifted his thick scarf until it covered his nose, and cast impervious over his eyes and the rest of his exposed face to keep any potential wind from getting in the way. Pushing through a frozen hell was enough as it is; there was no need to add the inability to see properly as an additional bonus.

Insulation charms over every inch of his clothing followed next. The relief was immediate and sharp to the point of being painful, and Levi's intake of breath was loud and perhaps a little embarrassing. But it allowed his mind to sharpen and focus on something that wasn't the deep need for warmth and so, he ignored it by taking a look at what awaited him. Which was white for as long as his eyes could see. Not encouraging but at least he didn't feel like a human icicle anymore.

Progress! or more like progress? Regardless. Something had to be done about the several inches of snow that reached up to his knees. After a brief moment of consideration, the boy said, "Vacavus maxima," To the snow ahead of him, and continued to use it as he trudged forward.

It seemed like you are well prepared for this sudden onslaught of cold, and the insulation charms should keep you as warm as possible. Though as you take a step, a sudden chilling wind gust comes out of the west and blasts you with its icy breeze, not sure if your charms will hold up under its onslaught.

A moment’s respite is given as the wind calms and you are left gasping in the cold air.

Until a second later another blast of wind comes at you, this time from the north. It tugs at your scarf and at your clothes as you feel its bitterly cold bite.

Does the wind have something specific to tell you? Or is it just the disturbed wind patterns of an Icy Tundra?

Relief was too short and the wind that slapped him not once, but twice, he dropped his wand and left him feeling temporarily numb. A better alternative than feeling like ice had taken residence everywhere inside of him, sure, but it didn't exactly last long. When hit him again, Levi gasped, loudly, halfway ready to raise the metaphorical white flag and give up.

Winters in the Scottish highlands had truly not prepared him for this.

But--breathe.

He did, though it hurt, and thanked the impervious from before that had kept any of the sharp wind from hurting his eyes. Shaking, he bent down to pick up his fallen wand with his left hand and cast prehenso on his right one. It took several tries; partly because of the painful cold and partly because he seldom if ever used his left hand for any spell casting. But it worked in the end and when he grasped his wand with his right hand again, he felt the grip on it become significantly more secure. Enough that if another gust of wind decided to attack again, the wand would remain secure within the confines of his hand.

Shaking as he was, Levi willed himself to think. He tugged up his scarf again, making it cover his nose and--what? What was next? A Yeti? Not ideal but surely not as bad as a dementor. But there was none in sight, as far as he could see, not that it mattered; the frozen hell seemed to be endless.

He cast a pair of bluebell flames and kept them hovering at his sides. To expect to survive another onslaught from the wind was foolish, so he did not; but he would use them for warmth for as long as he could. Even if the wind attacked again, the few seconds of warmth he was getting just then were precious.

Levi considered his options; he supposed he could always continue to trudge forward and into the unknown, but that seemed to be a little pointless. If the wind continued to attack he'd spend the hour of the challenge fighting against it and not doing whatever it was he was supposed to be doing. And he didn't really fancy having to deal with the wind every other-- Wait.

Didn't winds in tundra commonly came from the west? And if he wasn't mistaken, the second gust had come from--a different side. Possibly from the north??? He wasn't clear, but it had definitely come from somewhere other than the west.

Oh.

It was a good thing he'd cast prehenso.

"Point Me," He muttered to his wand, holding it flat against his palm and watching it spin, once.

This challenge was going to be rather difficult to complete if one kept on dropping it in the snow because of the wind. Casting a Gripping Charm was smart thinking on your part. Had it not been cast, it was only a matter of time before the wind blew it away and it was lost forever.

Blue flames obediently hover next to you, though they did flicker a bit as the wind continued to blow against you. Though if the wind decided to suddenly change direction again, they would start to blow away with it. They may have been waterproof, but wind was a different matter. Luckily the northern wind wasn't changing course.

Focusing on the wind and its direction was smart of you. And you hunch about the direction it is coming from is spot on, as confirmed by the Four-Point Charm. Originally the wind was coming from the west, it ceased for a moment, and then it returned from the north. How peculiar.

Perhaps you can use these wind observations to make a prediction about what is to come? That would be something to ponder over as you carry on on your way.

His assumption was confirmed and that came with some confidence; but the precarious weather he was dealing with kept him from finding too much comfort in that. Teeth shattering, he cut a glance at the bluebell flames and urged them to move a little closer.

The sucking charm continued to prove an ally as he used it to get rid off the snow in his path. He considered his next step; it wasn't easy and Levi thought he would never again ever complain about the winter. He would even actually agree to build snowmen with Daisy. Because surely, after this, that wouldn't be so bad at all. With his wand and a shaking hand, Levi duplicated his scarf for additional warmth and cast a hot air charm on his clothes.

Declan had once told him--or maybe more than once, it was hard to keep up with his brother's rants on ancient magic sometimes, largely because it was all theoretical--that in Ancient China the wind's intensity, speed and direction, was used for, among a lot of things, farming. And also to predict the weather and the results of warfare. If he was remembering Declan's words correctly, gusts from the south and the east were good omens; onslaughts from the north and the west were the opposite. And it was especially bad when the wind itself started changing in intensity and went back and forth on where it was coming from, exactly.

Sounded awfully familiar to him.

Levi was unable to keep sarcasm from leaking into his voice. The good news was that, covered with the two scarves as he was, when he said "Wow, color me shocked," it was muffled and thus barely intelligible. If the IMPS had taught him anything that anything was that he was nowhere near the patient person he always assumed he was.

He trudged forward, following the last gust of wind and the answers the four point charm gave him and continued heading north.

Where was the yeti? He was getting hungry and wanted to head back to school and the food as soon as possible.

It's seems, My Dear Mr. Kenning, that you have figured out what the signs in the wind have been telling you, you might want to thank your older brother later for his ranting, for now you know are are prepared for the dire circumstance that await you ahead.

Or rather behind.

The North wind is not letting you progress further, it is pushing against you hard, forcing you to turn around and head south. The hot air charm is keeping you warm at least as the wind pushes you southward, giving you no other choice but to follow, or rather be pushed by its lead.

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 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 stop dead in your tracks..

For inside the cage, her lips turning blue, and her body shaking with chills is your beloved mother. Dairine Harcourt-Kenning.

Dire enough for you?

Though he was heading straight from where the wind was coming from and perhaps right into the heart of danger like the good Gryffindor he was, the wind had different ideas. Nearly blown away and what he assumed as the south, the boy idly wondered if the wind had hands of its own that were pushing him in a different direction. There seemed to be very little point on resisting and as he moved on forward, he continued to use the sucking charm on the snow that lay ahead.

He'd just wait for the wind to chill and make a run for the north side again.

Or not.

It took his eyes some time to acclimate what he was seeing. To understand what they were taking in. What should have been an obvious, immediate thing took him some time to identify and then his brain an entire minute to fully process. Gone was the hunger from before and quite suddenly, Levi felt like retching.

And he did. He tugged off the scarves and did so, emptying the contents of his stomach and coloring the white snow.

Cold bit and scratched at his now exposed face, but he barely felt it. Mostly, he was frozen on this spot and this time not from the cold.

"Mama."

A word he hadn't used since he was seven. And yet. It was the first one his brain supplied to name what should have been impossible but quite clearly was not. Levi had always thought of her mother as a force of nature; unstoppable, part of her own league that no one else could reach, not even his own father. But her lips--they were blue. And there was something horrifying about that; it was her mortality boldly staring at him and him staring back, in shock.

This was probably not real. There was that to consider; after all, the dummies hadn't been. And they'd placed the competitors down under for the second challenge, too. It wasn't real. There was no way his mother would agree to this, anyway. So. Fake. Either another dummy or a daydream or something else entirely.

Levi repeated that to himself, unconscious that he was actually talking out loud, hoping for the words to sink in. It might not have been real but that didn't make the sight of his mother and her blue lips any less world-shattering.

He didn't notice the cage itself until he crashed against it, sending him back, whirling and he groaned, loudly, in frustration when he landed on his backside. Levi wrapped the scarves around his face and neck again and bounded for the cage. Uselessly, he wrapped his hands around the bars and tried to shake them, as if by doing so he'd free his mother somehow.

Then he remembered he was a wizard.

The bluebell flames were sent over to his mother (or not his mother--whatever, it was difficult to remember the distinction), hoping they could slip in between the bars and get to her. He sent several hot air charms at her, too, to warm her up and zeroed in on the lock. There was a series of dots to it that oddly reminded him of the night sky and Daisy herself.

His face was a mask of fury and he pointed his wand at the lock and said, coldly, sounding like a stranger to his own ears: "Reducto."

I do sincerely apologize Mr.Kenning, but no amount of losing your breakfast is going to help your mother. Nor will any running against or tugging on the cage. Force will not open it.

Neither can magic penetrate it. Those bluebell flames are hovering helplessly outside the cage, unable to get in, and the hot air charms have rebounded and hit you, making you quite toasty but having no effect on the one inside whom you seek to help.

And that reducter curse, well that was really just a waste of energy for nothing happened to the cage. Though the spell did bounce off and hit a pile of snow reducing it to ashes. At least you know that the spell works?

As you turn frustrated eyes towards your mother, you will see that she is trying to talk to you, your name is attempting to come from between chattering, blue lips. You'll also notice that she is trying to move one of her hands, but she's so stiff with cold that it's barely moving at all.

Is that something in her hand? There is a piece of something off-white seemingly stuck in her hand.

Can you get it? It might be important.

Had the situation been any different, he'd have been able to consider from the first moment that opening the cage would not be so easy. As it was, it took for all his attempts at magic to fail for the boy to realize something more than a cage was keeping his mother locked in. Fruitlessly, he kicked at the lock.

The hot air charm at least served to keep him warmer than he had any right to be in a tundra. Levi put his wand away for a moment, and dug the heels of his palms into his eyes, trying to find some clarity where he could scarcely see any. Blindly, he walked in circles around the cage, at turns having difficulty moving through the snow but barely noticing it.

Right. No magic would free his mother. No regular magic at least; fire, explosions--nothing. Unless he thought outside the box she'd be stuck in there forever. Or for the duration of the hour the task was supposed to last, anyway. And assuming she was real--and it was better for his sanity to loudly remind his brain that she was probably a dummy or an illusion--she would not last the hour.

Levi stopped, seeing stars and blinking them away. Not looking at his mother was a monumental effort and it almost worked. But then something like the whisper or perhaps the knowledge that Dairine Harcourt-Kenning would at least fight death bare handed if she had to made him look. Her lips were moving, swollen and blue, and he wanted to puke all over again. Evidently, she was trying to say something--his name, perhaps?--and his eyes roved in desperation until they stopped on her hands. Something seemed to cling to one of them and Levi moved closer, leaning against the cage. The ice coating the cage bars mercilessly bit at his exposed forehead, but he pushed further into it; as if proximity alone was the answer to all his current frustrations.

No doubt he'd regret this, later.

It was impossible to determine what the item in question was, just as it was impossible to summon it, most likely. Hot air charms hadn't made it through and the blue bell flames still hovered just outside the cage. A magical barrier was keeping his magic from filtering in and the only way to get in was to do away with it.

He brandished his wand again, took a step back and pointed it at the cage. Behind the two scarves covering half of his face, teeth worried at his bottom lip; concentration and anger rolled into one. With his free hand, Levi parted the scarves, making room for his mouth; just enough for his words to ring with clarity. Levi had confidence in his wandwork, but this was not the sort of spell one could achieve non-verbally.

Especially since it was the first time he tried it.

"Partis Temporus."

Doing away with the barrier Mr.Kenning is not the answer to this puzzle. Your spell did indeed come out of the wand though, so now you know you can do it, however it just rebounded harmlessly off the cage.

Magic is not the solution you are looking for. Nothing happened when you pressed your forehead against the cage, other than making your face feel a bit icy, thankfully your warming charms are still doing their job.

So if your forehead can press against the bars, surely your hand would be able to reach in? The bars certainly are wide enough.

So stop your pacing, the answer is right in front of you.

And best get a move on, the icy fingers that are holding the off white object, are getting colder and starting to turn blue.

Did it...just...???

How on Merlin's name did a spell as complex as the one he'd tried work without actually working? How did it bounce back? It wasn't a hex, it wasn't a jinx--??? So??? It would have made him feel better if it hadn't worked at all. But at least he knew casting it was within the spectrum of his abilities. So, there was that to take some pride on. He guessed.

And he would just have to wonder, later, how a spell designed to temporarily break through magical barriers did not work. When his mother wasn't looking quite so blue just about everywhere he looked.

One of the most dangerous things about the tundra was how fast the human body could dehydrate. Levi didn't know if that was a known fact or not but it was recommended to always keep water on hand, if possible. Thus he knew, that in order to keep himself from passing out, he'd need to find water soon. Or conjure some, whatever. He also needed to keep himself from--crying. It didn't matter that he very much felt like crumpling down next to his mother's cage and do it for everyone to see.

He was no stranger to crying for all the school to see, anyway. Levi was a fairly regular person who had experienced a perfectly happy childhood; seeing the dementor two challenges ago had dragged tears and whimpers out of him and the boy didn't think there had been anything wrong with it. Surely that had been a natural response to such an unprecedented horror.

So, no--he wasn't embarrassed about wanting to cry, or about the tears that already ran down his cheeks, silently, pooling on his scarves. The problem was that collapsing and succumbing to a series of sobs--those building up right in the middle of his chest--would do very little. An unfortunate realization, really, when one took into account just how much energy it took to have a proper cry.

Breathing erratically, Levi leaned against the ice covered bars again. Under his scarves, his bottom lip quivered and he bit down on it. Tentatively, he slipped his arm between the bars; then wiggled his gloved fingers hoping he could reach his mother's hand and whatever it was she was holding.

Just calm down and take a breath Mr.Kenning, and be thankful that the hot air charms are still working, for otherwise you would have have icicles attached to your face instead of flowing tears.

There is no time for a breakdown right now though as you lean against the bars and move your hand into the icy metal cage and towards your mother's hand. You ever so gently grasp her hand and slowly start to pry the off white piece of parchment from her icy fingers.

You must do this slowly, but the warmth from your hands slowly help you move her fingers and get the parchment she has for you.

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 took some time but what his mother held ultimately came free of her frozen grasp and Levi gave her hand a tight squeeze before pulling away. His fingers were shaking as he unrolled the parchment, and the numbers in question were blurry. He blinked away the unstoppable tears, used one hand to wipe roughly at his eyes and turned around, giving his back to his mother. The number sequence was the nonsensical sort of thing that obviously meant there was a code behind it he was meant to decipher. And there was no way he could do that while his mother was in his direct line of vision turning bluer by the second.

Sniffing, Levi re-read the parchment over and over again, trying to find some sense where there did not appear to be any. Or perhaps there could be some sense found in Arithmancy; if he could maybe remember the letters value table he'd spent nights memorizing for his OWL last year if he stopped breathing so loudly. He removed one of his scarves and inhaled sharply, the icy air of the tundra clearing his thoughts, somewhat.

The thing was that his mother in that cage was probably not his mother. And if it happened to be his mother the chances of her dying were slim to none. Not that Levi had a lot of confidence in the staff but it was also true that this was an international competition. It wasn't just the United Kingdom that was watching.

His (Not) mother was not going to die.

Remember that.

Another deep breath.

With his wand, he drew the Arithmancy values in the air and did his best to recall them all.

SPOILER!!: Number values

1: A J S
2: B K T
3: C L U
4: D M V
5: E N W
6: F O X
7: G P Y
8: H Q Z
9: I R

Levi cast engorgio on the parchment and used wingardium leviosa on it to make it hover near the numbers.

Assuming his memory served him right--his A in the Arithmancy OWL was a matter of concern just then--deciphering the first two sequences was easy enough. It was matter of arranging and re-arranging the letters (and he did) until a word came about that made sense; two of them did. The third one proved to be a matter of more difficulty, possibly because an additional number had been thrown in to make his present situation an even bigger hell.

Arranging and re-arranging he went, the frowning becoming deeper and deeper until it appeared to be carved upon his forehead.

Arpos? Sings? Jipot?

Only one of them was an actual word (though Arpos reminded him of Greek mythology, for some reason) and to his knowledge fires did not sing. Or sings. Whatever the case may be, there was clearly something he was missing, here. A part of the puzzle that escaped him and Levi kicked at the snow in frustration, accidentally sending flying elsewhere the scarf he'd removed.

But--

No, fires did not sing. But it was possibly he was looking at this totally wrong. Maybe the last word wasn't even a verb; maybe it was just a noun.

SPOILER!!: Phrase

THE FIRE SIGNS
285 6995 19751

"Whatever that means."

Actually, that wasn't true and his sinking stomach knew it well. Now that the words were aligned in a manner that made sense the realization of what was to come next hit him in the face.

Unfortunately, it appeared that Astronomy had come back to attack him one last time before going out with a bang.

And that meant that the lock back in the cage with its series of random dots were actually, most likely, not randomly positioned at all. Which probably meant there was something to his initial thought to it; how it'd reminded him of the night sky.

Fantastic.

Deep breaths Mr.Kenning, you are going to need all your wits and bravery to defeat this challenge.

The paper enlarges as you cast a charm on it and then hovers on the air as you attempt to work the numbers out. It seems all of your Arithmancy knowledge is coming back to you.

That A you got on your Owl was well deserved.

Congratulations for finally puzzling through the riddle, for you are right. Fires do not sing.

The Fire Signs is right.

Your reasoning is correct that the dots on the metal cage are not just random spots. They are in fact, Stars. Many stars that form constellations. Constellations that could be the key to unlocking that cage.

Freedom for your mother is just a few taps away.

Let's hope you've paid attention in Astronomy.

The fire signs.

The fire signs.

Levi rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet, pushing through all the presently useless information in his brain. He walked back to the lock, pointedly not looking at his (not) mother and cupped a gloved hand under the lock. The points on its surface signified the western sky at night, no doubt. What was it, then? Connecting the constellations? Saying them out loud?

"Sagittarius... Aries and... Leo?"

He stared at the locket, hard, as if expecting the answers to fall from the sky. That seemed unlikely, however, so Levi fished out his wand and pointed it at the locket. If there was a spell in question that needed to be used for this it was possible, then, that this was as far as he was to make it in the competition. That he even remembered what the Sagittarius constellation looked like was enough.

With his wand, he traced the clear lines that formed the constellation; the clear lines coming together, and triangles that helped build the Sagittarius teapot. He did it in the center of the locket, because that's where Sagittarius shone in the milky way. It bordered... Aquila? and... definitely not Leo or Aries. Those two were elsewhere. Levi frowned, barely noticing his single-minded focus was causing the heat charms he'd cast earlier begin to dim. Thankfully, one of the bluebell flames still remained.

Pulling back when he was done, he waited for--well, if he was right surely there'd be some kind of sign. And if he was right then that meant he had to trace the path of Leo and Aries, too. And if he was wrong...well.

Well.

Unable to help himself, he peeked at his (not) Mother from under his lashes and felt his heartbeat pick up again, erratically.

Help is not coming from the sky Mr.Kenning, but you are correct that the dots on the metal lock are stars, stars formed into constellations actually.

The stars in the constellation Sagittarius light up as you trace them, but as you wait for a few moments, nothing else seems to happen. The clue did say The Fire Signs, not The Fire Sign, so maybe you need all of them to unlock the cage?

As your eyes flicker to your mother, you notice that she seems a bit bluer than before.

Perhaps you better hurry, yeah?

The wince at the sight of his (not) mother was visible and he recoiled, taking a step back. But the light on the lock, the one that seemed to follow the path he traced before for Sagittarius, caught his attention. A clear sign that he had the right idea, then.

So, Leo and Aries.

"Okay, okay."

Aries was... simpler. Less... fanciful, more straight forward. All straight lines. The ram? Up north, in the northern side--hemisphere--wedged in between Pisces and, probably, Taurus. His wand was a little shaky when he tried drawing the first line, so he took a deep breath and started again. First the long, slightly downwards one, then the slightly shorter one and then the rest. It was possibly imperfect; he was unsure the if the very last connecting line ought to be a little longer, a little more like it was about to curl into itself like a hook, somehow. But it would have to do.

Levi did not wait and see if the newly traced path lit up like Sagittarius had. Immediately, his wand shifted positions and went for Leo. Remembering Leo's shape was easy; the answer was on the name itself. Leo the lion shaped constellation that, actually, reminded Levi a little bit of a swan. Which probably had something to do with how its neck curved, somewhat. If memory served right, it sat between Cancer to the west and Virgo to the east. The weird... triangle? of Sextans was somewhere around, too, down below. Or maybe it wasn't a triangle; it was probably some other geometrical figure with a name that escaped him.

Anyway.

He started with the triangle of stars that formed Leo's haunches, taking his time and unconsciously holding his breath. This was followed by lining the straight, upwards path that led to the lion's front legs, or where the front legs would be, presumably. Levi flicked his wand to one side then, upwards, and moved to lines that compromised its neck and finished up the head.

Expectantly, he lowered his wand and dared to chance a look at the cage again.

Aries lit up as well after you retraced it the second time, it would indeed do even if the last line isn't as perfect as you wanted it to be.

Now both Sagittarius and Aries are lit up, but even with two alight, nothing is happening. Seems like you will need all three Fire Signs to unlock the cage.

As you carefully finish tracing Leo, it too lights up and after a few seconds, the constellations turn green and a click is heard as the lock unlocks and the door starts to open.

Congratulations Mr.Kenning!

You have unlocked the cage and freed your mother. However due to the extreme temperatures, she is still frozen with cold and can't move. Best start warming her up and get her out of the cage.

There was no relief when the cage opened for him because when he stepped in to get his (not) mother out she seemed largely unresponsive. Heart caught in his throat, Levi sent the remaining bluebell flame inside the cage and cast two more her way. They hovered near her frozen body, and as he felt for a pulse he wondered, wildly, how on Merlin's name she was even alive. And to be sure, she was alive, still; a miracle of modern science, no doubt.

Just because this was most likely not his mother did not actually mean he could stand the sight of letting her die.

After that, Levi moved automatically and nearly felt like he could see himself work from somewhere outside his body. If he hadn't still been upset at Healer Reed, he'd have wondered if he'd be proud. The days spent learning from him in the hospital wing were about to pay off.

Hot air charms sprouted from his wand that would hopefully dry and melt the icicles off her clothes. Insulation charms were cast, too, to make her body heat kick into gear and increase. It was fortunate that last term Professor Stewart had taught them Geminio because he was quick to employ it; by duplicating his thick, wool scarf twice and wrapping them about his (not) mother's neck and head.

The bite of the tundra's cold made him dizzy when her removed his hooded parka, and with a trembling hand, he used geminio again. The cold was making his head feel like molasses, however, and it took several tries for him to get it right. Levi shakily set it about his mother's smaller frame and put up the hood. Then he squeezed back into his own, hissing as the warmth welcomed him back. He stumbled back, for a moment, growing accustomed to his surroundings again.

Breathing loudly, he pointed his wand to a spot in the snow near the cage and barked, "Focalia." The expected pile of wood appeared out of thin air, which was quickly lit by a flick of the boy's wand and a loud, "Incendio."

Her hands needed to be warmed, too, but gloves were out of the question for as long as they were frozen. Forcing her fingers to open could damage nerves, at the very least, so Levi contented himself with casting a hot air charm at them, too. Then he rubbed them together between his own gloved hands as he considered his options.

Now there was the matter of water. If he recalled correctly, it was of utmost importance when hypothermia was at play; dehydration was a big concern, after all. But it'd be preferable, at least, if she was conscious enough to drink it herself. And Levi had a better idea, anyway.

He cast another hot air charm on himself, tucked his wand away and did what he'd been wanting to do from since the cage opened for him; he hugged her, tightly, rubbing his hands on her back, trying not to cry again. One tear did slip slip out in the end, but whatever. He was hugging his (not) mother and not for entirely selfish reasons. Body warmth from an embrace worked, too.

"Mama." He cleared his throat, realizing he sounded awful and exactly like what he'd been doing--which was crying. Maybe it wasn't his mother but cold or not he thought she smelled like his mother. Dairine Harcourt-Kenning felt very real and very fragile to him just then. "Mum. You're okay. Or will be. I took care of things." Hopefully. "You can end these people later for giving you hypothermia. I'll probably help."

The Bluebell flames you sent into the cage are starting to warm the air around your mother up, and the hot air charms successfully eradicate any traces of snow, ice or water from her body. She's now fully dry and slowly warming due to the insulation charm you cast on her.

Healer Reed would be impressed Mr.Kenning.

As would Professor Stewart as you duplicate both your parka and your scarf. Be careful though! You need to keep yourself warm as well, no use saving your mother if you freeze to death.

The fire you created is roaring happily, but are you sure you want to stay here? Even as you start to warm your mother's hands, the strong north wind start to blow, urging you to go south.

As you hug your mother, her arms slowly wrap around you to hug you back. "Levi.." she whispers as you cry.

Though a shiver moves through her as the cold northern wind continues. You need to find some shelter for you and your mother. Will you let the wind guide you once more and head south? Or go your own way?

Or maybe there wouldn't be any time to plot the potential demise of whomever had thrown his (not) mother inside the cage. There was a now familiar rumble coming from the north that had his mother shuddering and Levi's hold on her tightened as a result. Detracting his arms from around her frame took a moment. When he did it, the boy stepped back and out of the cage, and squinted against the wind, looking north.

There didn't seem to be anything but wind coming from them, but he didn't to stick around for whatever additional dire circumstances were headed his way. Though he'd thought a yeti would be at the end of this challenge, the idea of facing one just now didn't strike him as ideal. He was tired, hungry, relatively. His (not) mother wasn't dying anymore but to assume she'd be able to run or even help fight off a yeti would be foolish.

Choosing what to do next didn't require much thought.

He cast featherlight at his mother to considering lessen the burden. "Sorry, but--" he muttered, bringing an arm under knees and the other one to her back. "--you can yell later about not giving you the chance to try to walk." Levi brought her up close to his chest, shot one last look north, and began heading south again, this time with the wind.

There is no Yeti coming for you Mr.Kenning, just the frigid temperatures of artic that are at work here.

The Featherlight charm helps as you pick your mother up and wisely decide to go with the wind and head south. Your mother doesn't say much, but she does squeeze your hand to let you know she is there and okay. The charms are still in effect and her skin is gradually returning to its normal color.

As you slowly plod south, away from the frozen cage that held your mother. You'll notice that the wind starts to shift a bit, its ferocity lessening as it changes from a roaring north wind to a gentle east wind, slowly urging you to turn west, towards what looks like the foot of some mountains.

As you look west, you also see a Cave.

Dare you go and see what's inside?

The walk south was long, especially when one wasn't sure what was coming next. If anything was coming next. He had not checked and could not check just now but surely the given hour to complete the challenge was nearly up by now.

Or maybe it was that he was beginning to feel like he'd been cold for a long, long time.

He was beginning to regret having left the bluebell flames behind, but there was no point on trudging back now to get them. The intensity of the wind was considerably lessening; changing directions, too, and though he frowned, and looked over his shoulder, Levi merely moved with it, too.

"We're moving west, right?"

Probably his (not) mother was too preoccupied conserving her energy and warmth to answer, but whatever.

There were mountains and there appeared to be a light at the end of the metaphorical tunnel that was shaped by what looked like a cave. Though the Gryffindor picked up the pace, he hesitated before entering. The considered the wind, his (not) mother's weakened state and went in.

"Yes.. West." Your mother answers you as you speak, her lips have returned to nearly their normal color and she is able to somehwt speak to you again.

You reach the mouth of the cave and yet hesitate? Why Mr.Kenning? 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 Mother keep plodding 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 small woman is a Ministry employee from the Department of Environmental Regulation and Protection, who has quietly been watching over you, and even tinier female 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. She gives the woman a thumbs up and after handing you some water, progresses to look over your mother. The Ministry Employee moves, gently placing a hand on your back.

"Mrs.Bennett the Healer, has a few things to check before she sends your Mother out," she says gently, in case you were wondering or having any doubts about what the woman was doing. "You are free to go." She 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.