The word KNOWLEDGE is humbly carved above the tunnel entrance that plunges downwards. It gets darker and darker in the tunnel that refuses to let light shine...until the ceiling above comes into view. First a pinprick of light, then a cluster of lights, and more and more shining dots along the unreachable ceiling until the entirety of the night sky has been reproduced in extraordinary detail.

Although dirt and stone line the steps of the tunnel, the effect gives the illusion of walking under the immensity of space. The illusion is spoiled from touching the physical walls of the tunnel, the rough hewn stone with carved characters in short lines or a grouping of old empty lanterns under the opposite wall out of place to the ethereal view of the depicted cosmos.

And then the greatest arrangement of lights. In an archway at the end of the tunnel are large balls of light sitting along the threshold of the archway, preventing movement to the continuation of the tunnel beyond where the distant expanse of brighter dawn sky is seen. The lights blocking the way shift and flex to bar passage for the champions, blue lights that burn far hotter than expected...

From the entrance came a spell down the stairs cast by the Durmstrang Champion Heinrich Faust.[1] Incendium Careulagilis. The blue floating lights he created were drawn towards the far threshold, absorbed by the arrangement of lights blocking the way. The barrier shone with a fierce blinding flash and the tunnel returned to starry twilight...the spell had been negated!

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As the champions will find, the lights in the archway are their first obstacle.  Post your attempts to move forward and I shall post your results.  PM me for a hint and include KNOWLEDGE in the subject line.

1.	From the Second Task Begins thread.

"I wonder if any spell we cast in here will be negated,"  Heinrich wondered aloud.  He had a partner, so why not let him in on what he was thinking?  Perhaps he would have an idea.  "Most Pureblood wizards would get stuck here, not being able to envision a solution that doesn't involve magic.  I think we might need to catch the lights in those lanterns.  Maybe there is a clue in the writing on the wall.  First I'm going to test my theory about that archway absorbing magic."

I hope it doesn't get stronger with every spell we use....


"Avis!"

Normally his spell would conjure half a dozen yellowhammer Buntings.  If his theory was correct, however, they would either not appear or be sucked into the glowing lights.

A flock of little yellow birds came forth with Heinrich's spell. A few flew towards the barrier but they too were blocked by the lights, shifting to bar passage in a fixed arrangement.

Given the nighttime surroundings the birds began to roost inside the empty lanterns, settling in to sleep.

The spell hadn't been cancelled the way he had expected but perhaps that was because the spell conjured some real creatures rather than just a spell affect.  In either case, the lights were an obstacle that needed to be dealt with.  He could either waste time trying to find a spell that the lights would absorb or he could try to find a way around, past or through them.

"Do you think we'll have  better luck with what's written on the wall?" he asked, turning to examine the marks that he fully expected to be coded writing.  Between the two of them, given the additional training in runic alphabets  that Maras had given them both, deciphering any message was going to be child's play.

Don't go getting cocky.  Pride cometh before the fall.  There is too much on the line here to go getting overconfident.

"Does anything leap out at you?" he asked Fyetka.

The runes carved in the wall can barely be seen in the dim light but tracing them or or shining a light reveals lines of strange characters in verse format. A familiar rune script but of archaic design.

Translating the runes reveals this message:

Heinrich frowned.  "My translation can't be that far off.  Maybe it's a red herring.  I know centaurs chose to be considered beast, so that line makes sense but the only thing Vernal sheep makes me think of is spring lamb.  Scorpion might be Scorpio, which is the sign for late October and early November, which is now.  Cattle not sheep?  Maybe some of the lanterns are decorated with cows and those are the ones we'll need to use to capture the lights and get free of this room. " 

"What do you make of it, Fyetka?  I think I might be mistranslating.  In the meantime, I'm going to see if I can use these lanterns to capture some of those light globes.  It will clear the path and give us some light at the same time."

The birds his Avis spell had conjured had settled into several of the old lanterns but it wouldn't be difficult to rouse them from their resting place.  He certainly didn't want them still in their when he tried to capture one of the glowing orbs.  Despite the fact that they were conjured creatures, he didn't want to harm them.  That and the smell of scorching features was too disgusting to contemplate.

 He turned to make a quick count of the balls of light that blocked their path, then counted the lanterns.  Hopefully there were more lanterns than orbs and hopefully the old lanterns were decorated the way he'd predicted.

The lanterns have no distinguishing features, they appear to be quite ordinary old fashioned lanterns. There are more lanterns than the lights blocking the way, a surplus in fact.

Absent of the conjured birds, the lanterns sit as an open invitation. Possibly to capture a light...or perhaps to shine from another source?

The adage remains clear: a lantern will not shine until it has that spark of light. A tool useful for the champions.

Okay, so expecting there to be designs on the lanterns was over thinking things.  Keep it simple.  Simple solutions are more reliable than complicated ones.

"Ich werde versuchen und fangen eine der licht kugeln mit einer laterne. Halten sie ein auge offen,"[1]Heinrich said to his partner.  He didn't expect any serious harm but he thought it prudent to warn Fyetka.  Choosing an unoccupied lantern at random, he swung open the shutter and watched for an opportunity to snare one of the hot glowing lights.

The plan was simple.  All he had to do was slip the lantern over the orb and close it, just like catching butterflies in a net.

That one.  Here goes nothing....

1.	I'm going to try and capture one of the light orbs with a lantern.  Keep an eye open.

The light was successfuly caught in the lantern, shining a shimmering blue. When the gate on the lantern shut a hairline thread of light appeared and snapped. The image of a horned ram, made from the same nearly invisible lines, flashed briefly in the doorway and there was a violent bleating echoing from the threshold.

The arrangement had been broken. So the lights, no longer bound in their constellation, were drawn towards Faust, burning at his skin.

I didn't check to see if they were arranged in a constellation

He stepped back away from the searing lights, trying to get to the empty lanterns.  Maybe he could capture enough of the lights before they burned him too badly to continue.

"I could use a hand here!" he called out, trying to catch the lights in a flame-freezing charm.  If it worked it would buy him enough time to put down the lantern he held without it popping open, so he could scoop up another empty lantern and try to catch more of the glowing balls.  He tried to fight back a growing sense that he had just cost Durmstrang the round.  If he ended up too badly injured to continue, he'd just have to suffer while Fyetka continued without him.  He was not going to let their school fail because he'd been momentarily thoughtless.

Fyetka had been silent most of the time in the tunnel. Before they had broken off, he had watched Cecile closely, wishing that no harm would come to her or her sister. Still, they had a tournament to win, so he couldn't let himself give into the instinct to protect them.

As he and Heinrich traveled down the Knowledge tunnel, he kept his eyes trained on the dark walls. One could never tell where something would pop out of. When the other Oberteil asked for his advice he gave it quickly, still standing guard. Knowledge was his weakest point, but from the previous Riddles, it had seemed like the right path to choose. Heinrich seemed to be making sense, so he let him do his thing while he continued to watch for trouble.

Suddenly, the lights began to move towards the younger Oberteil. Fyetka did not expect that... were they harmfu-

His mental question was answered when Heinrich gave a yelp of pain. Just as the other boy cast a flame-freezing charm, Fyetka cast Protego over the two of them. If the lights were magical in nature, they should be slowed or stopped. He also cast a quick accio around the room to gather the lamps at their feet.

"Heinrich! Are you alright!" The tall Russian asked, a lamp in one hand and another extended towards the German.

He had no desire to be burned, so hopefully they were heading in the right direction.

The flame freezing charm struck the attacking lights, preventing the rest from burning. And when the lights hit Strelnikov's shield they exploded in blinding flashes.

But the way was clear! Durmstrang, hurt but not incapacitated, was able to continue onwards down the tunnel...


As the champions progress it gets noticeably brighter but the ceiling remains at twilight, showing the majesty of the cosmos. The walls of the tunnel are different, found to be a wall of trees, their leaves and branches blocking parts of the night sky.

Eventually the tunnel reaches a dead end, though with the decor and illusions present the Champions would be forgiven for mistaking the place as a forest clearing, as if the tunnel had led them outside.

The clearing is wide with plenty of space, worn dirt forming a path that terminates at a giant, gnarly tree covered in odd scratches. This sits at the far end of the room but there are plenty of other things in the clearing. Off center, where the dirt is free of vegetation, there is a small campfire with low burning but hot embers. Multicolored smoke raises from the flames in various hues, contorting into strange shapes. Off the fire a foot away sits a cauldron filled with a red colored potion that congeals like blood but is not.

Encircling this camp are various shrubs and grasses that come up to the knees of the champions. Here and there are ferns, bushes, a thick stemmed plant that bears squashed figs, dandelions, wildflowers, all healthy vegetation.

Except for two. Towards the left, a thick stump; opposite from it on the right, a patch of yellowed and dead grasses.

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As the champions will find, the giant gnarled tree is their final obstacle in the challenge. Refer to the link for visual details as well.  Post your attempts to move forward and I shall post your results.  PM me for a hint and include KNOWLEDGE in the subject line.

This looks like a case where we have to brew a potion.

"What do you think, Fyetka?  Does this look like a half done potion to you?"  Heinrich took in the cauldron and the various herbs that were scattered about, both growing and yellow.  "I think part of our time limit may have been related to how long this potion may be off the boil and still be viable.  I think we need to use the potion to either move the tree or make it easier to pass the tree."

He began running through the list of potions that he knew that would be appropriate to the situation as well as the those that could be briefly suspended at a stage where it was like thick blood.  There couldn't be many.

Inspection of the potion reveals some key contextual clues. The blood red solution smells of rat spleens and leech juice. Scattered on the ground around the cauldron are the remains of minced dried daisies and dead skin from caterpillars.

There are two steps left to complete the potion. One of which is finding the missing ingredient.

((The potion is one studied in canon and can be found in the list of potions at the bottom of this page link ))

Minced daisies, skinned caterpillars,  rat spleen,  leech juice... sounds like a shrinking potion.  But it should be green.  That means it's either not complete or it's been done wrong.  I'm going to have to go with incomplete because in the hour we've been given, we wouldn't have enough time to complete a potion and still have time to solve the other mysteries....

"We need to  skin some shrivelfigs,"  Fyetka said, obviously having come to the same conclusion.  "I'll pick  some.  We can use the stump as a table.  We'll need a knife."[1]

"We could use mine or I could transfigure a blade of grass,"  Heinrich offered.  "I'll check that patch of dead grass to see if there is anything that will serve before I pull mine out."  He moved over to the patch of dead grass to take a look, while Freyka went to pick some shrivel figs.

1.	Fyetka used with permission