The team, consisting of Étienne Miroux, Alexandra Carstairs, and Annie Enright, awakened on a small patch of soft, blue-green grass.They seem to have been laid out carefully, arms straight at their sides, lying on their backs a few feet apart from each other. Around them, outside of the circle within which they lay, stood a large circle of far-taller grass. This grass stretched up to about chest height at the most, and was such a pale green as to seem almost yellow. A few flashes of blue could be seen among it as well, bobbing up and down even at times where there is no wind.

On three sides of the clearing are tall, dark fir trees that claw against each other into a wall of wood, sap, and needles. The fourth side, to the east, showed gray sky broken by clouds. Whatever else lay in that direction could not be seen from such a distance.

A cloud of dark birds burst forth from one of the nearby firs, creating a momentary shadow before they dispersed. To the north, something rustled in the grass, but else, everything was silent, far more so than might be expected from a forest, even this one.

The compass pointed to the east.

Oh, Merlin! Merlin, Merlin, Merlin!

She'd fainted, hadn't she? In front of everyone? That had to be it! She couldn't imagine what else might have happened, or why else she'd be laying on the ground. She knew she was on the ground immediately, even before she blinked her eyes open and gazed up at the canopy of sharp looking fir trees. There was grass tickling her neck and she drew her hand up to scratch at it before slowly, slowly sitting up. She didn't remember feeling faint, though, and she definitely didn't remember actually fainting, and if she had, then why was she now laying on the...?

Oh. So this was... ah.  And that meant that...uh. And... huh? Maybe she hadn't fainted after all. What on earth had been in that potion she'd imbibed so trustingly? Somewhat groggily, and definitely overwhelmed by the dramatic change of scenery, Annie rose to her feet, checking that she still had both her wand and that magnificent compass on her person. Yes, they were still there. And her teammates were...

Not her teammates. Seriously – what was in that potion!? The girl was not Kayla, and the boy was not Damien, and... oh, Merlin. Was she...?

No. No, no, no. No, okay. It was okay. She was still Annie, and for some reason that came as a relief. Under other circumstances she may not have been upset if she'd woken up resembling an attractive foreign student, but this was not one of those circumstances. She'd never been so happy to catch a glimpse of her own bulbous nose in the shiny golden reflection of the compass. The thought of finding someone else in her reflection had been enough to speed her heart rate, however. She hadn't even taken a moment to look around properly and she was already keyed up.

Was this a mistake? She wasn't supposed to be with people from other schools. She was competing for Salem! And they were clearly competing in teams because... because there was only one compass! So... so this had to be a test! Or... or something!

“Um,” she said loudly, addressing the others, even as she gazed around the clearing and out into the gray abyss to the east. It seemed like where they were was a safe spot – the circle they were in seemed to suggest so, anyway. Just when she'd decided she felt safe for the moment, however, the birds flew up into the sky out of nowhere and scared the hell out of her. She shrieked – loud. If her new set of teammates weren't already waking up, a shrill scream like hers probably would do the trick. She was quick to cover her mouth with both hands, taking a deep breath through her nose and letting it out.

...Yay?! 

Whatever Alex had expected from the task, being woken by the sound of yelling hadn’t been it.

Her sigh as she returned to consciousness was mostly irritation, but she stood swiftly, an irritated hand brushing her hair back, more for the comfort the gesture provided than because it was necessary. They would arrange it so that the only thing the spectators saw was the champions drinking unidentified potions before collapsing, of course. While Alex didn't doubt that there was some kind of surveillance system in place in order to monitor the champion's efforts, so that the judges could score fairly, she was less certain of whether the watchers would be able to see what they were doing, and there was little way to tell until afterwards; better to focus on completing the task.

Giving her surroundings a more attentive look, the Ravenclaw was surprised to see that, rather than her fellow Hogwarts champions as she had assumed on hearing the yell, she was accompanied by a Salemite - Annie, she recalled - and the boy from Beauxbatons who had been given a compass, still lying flat. "Good evening," she greeted the other girl, her lifted eyebrows conveying her disapproval at the loss of control, no matter how temporary, "I assume that this arrangement means we're now a team." It wasn't the team she would have chosen - probably Phillip, so that she wouldn't have to worry about him accidentally maiming himself, and one of the Durmstrangers, whose diet of pine needles and stoicism had instilled competence, if nothing else.

Assuming that, since their instructions had been to capture a snidget, they were not supposed to find their fellows, it was probable that each team had been placed somewhere in the forest, an appropriate amount of distance between each. While not clueless on the subject, she knew little about them beyond how notoriously difficult they were to catch and their history of use in Quidditch. A less than ideal situation, but doing extensive research into the habits of snidgets had been low on her list of priorities when preparing for the tournament.

"Alex," she added, staring at the tall grass with suspicion. It was too open to harbour the acromantula the forest was famed for, although that just meant that it would hold other creatures, ones that she was less knowledgable on. She had done research, of course, given that creatures of various kinds had been popular obstacles for previous tasks, so she felt that she had some understanding, but she was by no means an expert. “Are you alright?” she asked, the question more considerate than her previous abrupt statement had been. No matter what her personal opinion regarding the other girl's actions was, as part of a team it was important that they kept track of each other, even if Alex didn't really want to.

"We could at least try accio," she proposed, "while we wait for our fallen colleague to revive. There is the chance that they've done something to stop it working, but there’s no harm in trying. And then we can discuss more serious plans. I assume we’re supposed to keep the snidgets alive and uninjured, since they are an endangered species, so we should consider that.”

”I assume that this arrangement means we're now a team.”

“I don't know?” Annie replied, her interrogative tone completely abolishing any trace of confidence that such a thoroughly vague answer may have possessed. She didn't even know whether or not she didn't know! The self conscious girl, who could turn the conundrum of whether or not she'd brushed her teeth long enough last Tuesday into a crisis worth panicking over today, was still adjusting to all of the new information. In all of her obsessive, terrified ruminations on the possibilities she might face during a top secret tournament task, circles of tall grass and collaboration with students from other schools hadn't ever come up. Her current reality didn't even come close to matching her terrified mental musings regarding dragons or giant insects. She'd thought that she may have needed to puke in a bush by now. Why wasn't she dead yet? This was not going the way she'd expected!

”Are you alright?”

“I... I, um, yes. I just thought I was going to die for a minute but I was... um... I was really wrong.” That was an understatement. Could she be blamed for feeling on edge and anticipating danger, though? They were in the forbidden forest, one of the most untamed expanses of magical flora and fauna known to wizardkind! Whoever planned the task had certainly crafted some obstacles, but the forest itself was a wild card. Who was to say they wouldn't all get eaten by something vicious before they came within a thousand feet of a snidget?  Snidgets weren't dangerous, though, and for that she was glad. They were just little birdies – just like the ones that had nearly scared her half to death less than sixty seconds ago.

”We could at least try accio while we wait for our fallen colleague to revive. There is the chance that they've done something to stop it working, but there’s no harm in trying. And then we can discuss more serious plans. I assume we’re supposed to keep the snidgets alive and uninjured, since they are an endangered species, so we should consider that.”

“That's um...” Annie faltered. “You mean just, just... like, 'accio snidget'?” she asked somewhat incredulously, the perplexed expression on her face reflecting skepticism from every angle. The witch glanced around in the way she was accustomed to doing, looking for an adult to provide some affirmation, but there was nobody there but their French friend. “Isn't that... isn't that... you know. Isn't that too easy or...?” She really didn't think that all of those officials would have gone through the trouble of setting up an entire elaborate task with potions and golden compasses if this were one big trick question. Such a simple solution didn't feel right... and yet.... she didn't have any better ideas at the moment, and it might be nice to see what worked and what didn't inside of their little circle of safety. “I guess you could try it?” she offered tentatively, but made no attempt to wield her own wand for that purpose.

The first thing to billow forth from the tall grass was dust. Gray and brown, streaming forth as if pursued by some darker thing behind it. Then shapes began to appear within the dust, clumps of hair, a chocolate frog card with half of Circe's face destroyed by time and weather. There was a boom, a small one that pulsed darker dust out within the cloud and shattered an old potion bottle in shards large and small, one of which was marked with a T.

These flew swiftly towards the small team, and soon other items were visible, the outlines of gardening tools, of half-empty vials, of torn parchment scribbled with the remnants of essays. All the detritus of endless generations of students barreling towards then, clanking against each other.

It was only a few seconds before enough dust had swirled out to form the start of a dragon, head, neck, the beginning spread of wings reaching back into the grass. Two very large, very real fangs floated to the front of the cloud, hovering within it just over the rictus shape of the mouth. Then it hissed, and spikes of glass and metal and bone spewed forth.

Étienne opened his eyes to see this breath above him, clasped his wand, and wisely stayed down.[1]

1.	As Maddy's on hiatus at the moment, she gave permission to godmod Étienne as needed for the task.

“Of course it’s too easy,” Alex muttered, rolling her eyes. Did Annie have to be so damp? Honestly, it wasn’t as though she was asking anything difficult of her, and while she (barely) tolerated such pathetic behaviour regularly at Hogwarts, she didn’t think that expecting a champion to be less so was anything unreasonable. Rather than say as much to Annie, which would be counterproductive, she nudged the boy from Beauxbatons with her toe hopefully.
She had only just raised her wand when the grass began to move, and she immediately took a step back, looking to the other alert champion with alarm, before turning back to the whirling air, which had taken the form of a dragon.

Brilliant.

Already halfway through the motions of a spell, she was forced to abandon it when the dragon opened its mouth, her movement to avoid the attack sending it uselessly over the grass, and her mouth tightened in irritation. Fortunately, she was uninjured, and since the attack could easily have disabled her, she considered it a success.

“We need cover!” she called, only sparing a glance for Annie before her gaze fell to the fallen champion - had the organisers messed up the potions? No matter why he was lying on the floor, something had to be done; having a body underfoot was inconvenient, so she lifted her wand again, doing the first thing she could think of to get him out of the way of the dragon for the time being, “Accio Etienne!”

As soon as the spell was cast, she began to move backwards, away from the dragon, shifting aside at the last moment so that the Beauxbatons student didn’t hit her with full force. Still staggering slightly under his weight, she half-fell over before dropping him unceremoniously. No longer concerned with his welfare - if he hadn't been wakened by that, he was probably dead anyway - she moved forward again, "Annie! Ideas?" If it were a real dragon, she would go for the eyes, but with this, that option was less certain - the best thing to do would be to dismantle it, although she wasn't sure how.

So much for the 'circle of safety' theory. Sometimes, it seemed, a circle was just a circle. The feeling of calm and security had all been an illusion intended to lull Annie into a state of comfort so that the tall, odd grass that surrounded her could unleash its fury when the only thing on her mind  was summoning charms. Ugh. She was distracted even from that thought as the dust began to fly, and instinct told her to shield her eyes so she wouldn't get blinded by dirt. She couldn't stop watching, though, as the wind and the dust and the random debris flew up and came together, not into some plain old cyclone, but into the form of a dragon. This was definitely not the unicorn she'd been hoping for.

The creature – if it could even be called that – seemed to be made of trash, but nothing innocuous like discarded tissues. There were things that could cut and maim, and they were being blown right into the champions' faces. The trees were far away, beyond the tall grass from which the junk dragon had been born, and there was no getting close enough to hide behind one for cover just yet. All there was to do was duck, and Annie did just that, following her instincts and narrowly missing getting hit in the face with a stream of glass shards moving at high velocity.

”We need cover!”

The Salem champion, who had gotten low as to avoid inhaling too much dust as she tried to figure out what to do, knew that to be an understatement, so she kept her mouth shut. She was left to ask herself a simple question: What did she know? What did she know about this situation, what did she know about how to get out of it, and what did she know that might help? She knew there was a dragon. She knew it wasn't a real dragon, just made of junk. She knew it was dusty. She also knew a whole lot of magic but, thanks to her panic and her recent conversation with Alex, all she could think of were summoning charms... and the only thing she could see were those fierce, pointy fangs marking the dragon's head, seemingly attached to nothing but the dust and debris that made up the creature's body. Only one idea was coming to mind, and although she was frightened, she knew she had to act. This was a test, just like any other exam she'd ever taken, and it was always better to try a solution than it was to turn something in blank, even if you didn't know the answer for certain. Though she didn't know what it might accomplish, she thrust her wand into the air and, using what her frantic mind was giving her to work with, the cowering girl shouted out “Accio Fangs!”

The fangs of the dust dragon came flying towards Annie, unfortunately, the rest of the dragon came with them. Its tail slipped forward out of the tall grass, scaled with scraps of parchment and covered with spikes on the tip. Spikes of broken glass, of rusted knives and trowels, still sharp enough to cut.

The dragon hissed, shook its head back and forth and then whipped its tail towards the champions, the long cloud of dust and metal stayed so low to the ground that it clipped the shorter grass and scattered the green shredded bits.

Its tail snapped towards the champions with a crack that reverberated throughout the clearing, and then the dragon loosed a deafening roar that knocked the tall grass flat around them. Inside the shape of its body, dust and junk swirled, occasionally revealing strange blue strands. These were marked with lines of silver, but disappeared so quickly among the debris that a closer look would prove difficult.

Especially given that they were part of an angry, spiky dust dragon.

Alex had thought Annie’s idea was a good one - even if it was obvious the dragon didn’t need fangs to attack them, it would at least give them time and while she didn’t want fangs flying at her, there were worse things. But as the dragon remained attached to the fangs, Alex realised that it was obvious that she shouldn’t have assumed things would be that simple, since this was the tournament (which, at present, looked likely to live up to its reputation of grievously injuring or killing its champions) and even something that didn’t seem complicated initially, like finding a snitch, was never as easy as it seemed.

Difficult? Hah! If a snitch flew in circles around her head at the moment, she would do nothing about it, because she was too busy trying to avoid losing a limb.

But one thing Alex could do was react quickly, and while being small wasn’t advantageous in daily life, it did make you less of a target, and the Ravenclaw moved away from the dragon again, too slow – the tail lashed against the arm she was holding in front of her, and she hissed in pain even as she jerked backwards, the extra distance thankfully putting her out of range.

Ashen faced, Alex continued to move away from the dragon, gripping her injured arm and trying not to focus on a plan rather than the pain. It was obvious that should the fight continue for much longer, the two of them would be defeated, and Alex refused to fail at the first hurdle – she needed to come up with a plan that didn’t involve running into the forest and hoping that the dragon would be too encumbered by its bulk to be able to follow.

The lack of screaming reassured her that Annie was probably bearing up well enough – indeed, her initial assumptions about her had been proved wrong, and Annie was doing considerably better than she was, having actually done something about the dragon, rather than merely reacting to its attacks. If only it was something she had heard of before, she would at least have some knowledge of its weaknesses, but since it was made of trash it was obviously not a magical creature – perhaps it could even have been created specifically for the purpose of the Tournament – and that left her with nothing to work on.

But if it was made of trash, there had to be something holding it together, and the flash of blue as it advanced convinced her that it had to be held together with magic. And magic meant enchantments, and while trying to directly counteract the enchantments would be difficult to the point of stupidity, there were ways of ending the effects of spells that weren’t nearly as precise.

Letting her injured arm fall, she pointed her wand at the dragon, “Finite!”

There was a popping sound as one of the blue strands went dark. Debris thudded together with a loud clang, and dust and shattered glass fell from the dragon, pulling away perhaps a third of its bulk and sending it to the ground.

But there was still enough there to turn towards Alexa, to hiss dirt and powder between its fangs that produced explosive bursts as the powder ignited.

Which wouldn’t have been nearly as much of a problem if the explosions hadn’t been surrounded by dozens of small, swirling spikes and shards.

So maybe summoning the fangs hadn't been the most brilliant idea Annie had ever had, but it was a start, and it had put things in motion – even if, in this case, 'putting things in motion' meant sending them careening in her direction at a million miles per minute. This clearly wasn't an illusion. There were knives and similarly rusty and jagged instruments of torture snaking out of the grass, forming a tail that could easily maim and, chances were, kill. That didn't make her feel any better! The junk dragon definitely had the advantage, and that advantage was its size. Annie didn't have knives, but she had a wand which – at least in theory – should have been better. The trouble was, she still wasn't sure what weaknesses a junk dragon had. Junk dragons weren't documented in the literature! If they were, it didn't matter now, because the dragon's jagged tail was coming her way, and she was forced to hit the ground with her whole body, her chin smashing into the ground as her right cheek was sliced open by something sharp.

There were both stars and thinly cut glass shards dancing before her eyes, which was more than a little bit disorienting. She gripped her wand hard as the hot blood dripped down her cheek and dribbled off her chin. The cut had been executed so quickly that the wound itself was almost surgical in appearance. Annie didn't dare touch it. She could already feel the blood, and she didn't particularly want to see it, too.

For a moment, the concussed witch was disabled, stuck on the spot while she waited for her eyes to resume their chief function and her brain to quit spinning. Her moment of stillness lasted long enough for her to really take in the scene – to take note of the faint flickering that seemed to be the dragon's source of energy, and to watch as her unlikely teammate took action. Her eyes were gushing tears of their own accord, but she could hear the 'finite' above the din, and it would have been impossible to miss the clattering and explosions, even with eyes filled to the brim with saltwater and dust. It was clear that, to an extent, Alex's 'finite' had worked. There were obviously multiple enchantments holding the thing together, and the dragon seemed angry about losing some of his bulk.

Annie pushed herself up until she was sitting and tried to rub some of the tears out of her eyes with the side of her arm, which also succeeded in smearing wet blood all over the rest of her face. She looked very much like a fierce warrior and very little like Annie Enright, who wouldn't dare leave the dorm without fixing her hair, and seemed to like her shoelaces ironed. Warrior Annie was still Annie beneath the blood, however, and therefore she was still a frantic but logical thinker and a competent witch.

The first thing to do, she knew, would be to fire a few more 'finite's' and strip the creature of its sentience. That she could do, and easily, even with her limbs shaking and her skull throbbing in time with her heartbeat. She eyed Alex out of the corner of her eye as she pushed up to stand on her quaking legs, and watched as the girl acted. She appeared to be creating a large barricade made of the very earth she stood on, doing the best she could to protect herself from the debris.  The junk dragon was fascinated by this diversion, and Annie took the opportunity to take a few halting, galloping steps toward it from behind, firing off as many loud and targeted ”FINITE”'s as she could, one after the other, as though she were firing a semi-automatic weapon instead of using a simple wooden wand.

The air was growing heavy with exploding shrapnel, so Annie continued to back up, trying to put as much distance between herself and the source of the mess as possible, throwing up a shield with a cry of ”Obex!” That had been one of the many defensive spells she'd been practicing during her drills – there were a series of shield charms that she'd practiced daily for so long that they seemed to roll off her wand with ease, and that was one of them. The air shimmered around her, keeping her more or less safe, at least from the knives and broken glass that were flying through the air and blocking out the sky.

What else could she use? She searched her brain, which was now rattled from the knock she'd taken. She'd practiced and drilled for weeks and weeks, but never for this exact scenario, and it would take some thought. She went though a long list of useful spells in her mind, evaluating her choices while she maintained the shield. The world beyond her shield was made up of windy chaos, and if only she could get it to stop, just for a moment so she couldn't think...!

And thus her desperate thoughts lead her to a logical solution. Lifting her wand, the lightheaded girl cast a sweeping freezing charm. She couldn't capture everything in the charm, of course, but it was definitely a strong, incredibly desperate attempt that left most of the junk hovering on the air, frozen. Walking through there would be murder, and there was no possible chance that she could dodge all of the jagged metal, glass shards, blunt objects, and various projectiles by ducking, dodging and weaving. She took a deep breath and, from her position of relative safety, her adrenaline fueled mind saw the solution almost instantly. It was like it came right from the pages of a Charms exam! Exams she could certainly handle! She mentally placed herself back in the charms classroom just a few weeks ago, and in the Room of Requirement with Gabriel just a few days before that. The Parting Charm hadn't been easy, but she'd been able to do it and, in her desperation, she was nearly certain she'd be able to do it now. She just had to maintain focus!

”Averte Pedeum a Tuum A Malo!” she called as she scurried through the narrow path she'd created for herself, rushing to join Alex behind the wall of earth she'd crafted.

[All references to Alex were posted with permission from Hazel]

There was no rest for the wicked, and accordingly Alex was given no time to revel in the success of her spell before she was under attack again, one that was all the more alarming for being focused on her. With no way to avoid the attack, Alex did the first thing that came to mind, the only thing she had time to do, the words a yell.

The movement of the earth was sudden, the ground beneath her shuddering forward and making her lose her balance – but for once, it was beneficial, as her fall meant that she was hidden more securely by her defence, the shrapnel that hadn’t been stopped by it passing overhead, for the most part. It wasn’t an especially dignified position, and she could tell that her barrier hadn’t been entirely effective – or quick enough, although it didn’t feel as though she had any major wounds, just many smaller ones that made her feel rather like a load of sharp metal objects had been fired at her... how odd. But with nothing serious enough to stop it, she began to lever herself upright before the pain in her arm reminded her that she’d already been injured and she fell back again.

The sound of more explosions reassured her that Annie was taking advantage of the creature’s distraction, and Alex took the opportunity to strengthen the barrier at her back, the ground beneath her shifting as she stood (this time without the aid of her injured arm), moving her head cautiously around the wall to see what was happening. Lots, it seemed, with the dragon slowly collapsing and Annie, sensible enough to cause its collapse, in considerable danger from the same. “Over here,” she yelled, hoping that it would be enough to catch Annie’s attention, before ducking behind the barrier again. She had to believe that Annie was competent enough to reach her relatively uninjured; of the two of them she appeared to have been more successful in avoiding damage, although Alex supposed that the Beauxbatons candidate had in fact been most successful. By the time she’d come to that conclusion, Annie was beside her, and Alex offered her a warm smile, leaning back against the packed earth behind them.

As the last of the explosions sent debris flying over them, Alex finally let out a sigh of relief. Although neither of them had escaped unscathed, for being attacked by an unknown creature they had done well. The thrill of being alive wasn’t one she had expected to feel, but she hadn’t anticipated a massive dragon made of trash. And here she had thought that they were trying not to kill the champions. Of course, if they’d been desperate they could have sent up a flare, but if they’d been unlucky they could well have been dead before the opportunity had arisen. But then, the same could be said of most tasks, and they weren’t dead (although Etienne appeared to be dead to the world) and Alex’s injuries, at least, were mostly minor.

“Are you alright?” she asked, slightly concerned – Annie had behaved with remarkable composure, but it was possible that without the immediate threat of death she would fall into panic. “I think the best thing to do would be to heal ourselves, send up a flare for the Beauxbatons boy, and then move on,” Alex suggested. They were still supposed to be completing a task, and the faster they did so the less likely they would be to face another attack, although she hoped that the dragon was only the first obstacle. “You were very impressive,” she added, no less sincere for it being an afterthought. Annie’s quick thinking hadn’t always had the desired effect, but she’d been remarkably brave and had followed a sensible strategy.

Lifting her injured arm before her, she frowned. The gash was too deep for a simple episkey to work, but she should be able to do something using a more powerful spell, although she would still need to have it seen to afterwards. Tugging her sleeve out of the way with a wince, she moved her wand over it and began to recite the words of the spell, watching attentively as it began to heal until only a shallow cut remained. While it wasn’t the full extent of what the spell could do when properly performed, it had worked well enough that her arm would be fine, and a couple of quick episkeys took care of the worst of her minor cuts. Having attended to herself, she turned to Annie, “Can you heal yourself, or would you rather I did it?” useful as healing was, it wasn’t nearly as widely practiced as it should be and it was entirely possible that either Annie didn’t know any healing spells, or wasn’t confident in her ability to use them. It was only because of duelling club that she was able to perform them with any confidence.

The moment Annie was safely behind Alex's barricade, the weight of everything that had just happened settled on top of her like a lead cloak. The bloody-faced witch sat hard on the ground, suddenly exhausted. Her adrenaline had served her well, but it was gone now, leaving behind a half-spent, trembling Salem junior. Fear was no longer the only thing she could feel, which meant that she was becoming aware just how much pain her injuries were causing her. The gash on her face may have been a neat cut, but it was long and deep and gushing blood like a fountain, and a knock to the chin and jaw – the hardest bone in the skull – was no joke. Her face and head were both throbbing, and she was certain that her brain had been rattled. She scooted back so that the wall of dirt was at her back and she leaned against it, resting her head in her hands as she fought to catch her breath and steady her heartbeat.

”Are you alright?”

“I, um...” Annie responded in her usual halting manner, but with an extra layer of overwhelmed exhaustion. “I'm, um... I don't know. I don't know yet,” she spat out, still trying to gather her thoughts and take stock of her injuries. She took a deep breath, and her exhale sounded shuddery and distressed. “I'm dizzy,” she admitted, swallowing hard. When she licked her lips she tasted salt and copper – sweat and blood. It was cold out in the forest, but Annie was running hot.  She shut her eyes tight. The test – the task - wasn't over, so she couldn't give up, no matter how desperately her body was telling her she was done. She wasn't sure how to proceed, so she was very thankful that, unlike her own, Alex's brain was working.

”I think the best thing to do would be to heal ourselves, send up a flare for the Beauxbatons boy, and then move on.”

That seemed reasonable, but Annie's healing strengths came from her potions knowledge, and that wasn't exactly an option right now – which left her dizzy and unsure how to stop it. She could have healed the cut, or at least stopped the bleeding, but she wasn't comfortable pointing her wand at her own face. That just seemed like an accident waiting to happen, and she was having enough problems. She sighed. Perhaps it would have been smarter to focus on healing spells in addition to the combative ones she'd been drilling lately, but there hadn't been enough time, and it hadn't seemed like the best use of the time she had. Whatever the case, it was too late now. “Thanks,” she mumbled pathetically as the other girl called her impressive. She didn't feel impressive at the moment. She felt... like she was going to be sick. That was hardly news, however.

”Can you heal yourself, or would you rather I did it?”

“Can, um, I mean... would you mind?” she asked hopefully, staring up at her teammate desperately, her lips pursed into a tight line. She could definitely use the help. “My head is, like... it's swimming,” she explained, bringing one hand to rest on her stomach. “But I think if... if we stopped the bleeding I might be able to, um...well, it would help?” she offered, though she wasn't so sure.

Alex opened her mouth to swear, but didn't speak, staring at Annie and biting her lip. Head wounds… She could stop the bleeding, but even if she was confident enough to heal a couple of scrapes and bruises, heads were tricky, complicated things, and if she did do something wrong then it would go very badly wrong. That was a compelling argument against action, but allowing the Salemite to continue when she was probably concussed wasn’t a reasonable option either. Alex presumed that they’d have more challenges to face before they reached the snidget, and since they were already down by one and she didn’t think Annie was in a fit state to deal with attack, that left her to face whatever the organisers saw fit to throw at them, and considering what they’d decided was a good idea thus far, it was a rather unappealing prospect.

The prospect of glory was tempting, but since being maimed due to her pride was considerably less glorious, Alex could hardly abandon the other girl, and that meant she had to do what little she could to help her. While she’d been prepared to make sure Phillip didn’t accidentally kill himself, indeed, had promised to prevent it, Alex didn’t want to have to look after the other champion. She didn’t want to be in a situation where such a thing was necessary.

“We can stop the bleeding,” Alex confirmed, stepping closer and lifting her wand. She wasn’t sure that it would help with the dizziness, but there was no sense in leaving Annie to bleed everywhere. Quickly using Tergeo to clean the worst of the blood off, it took Alex two tries before she deemed the wound to be sufficiently closed. The dizziness was more problematic, as although she was loathe to admit it, the Ravenclaw had no knowledge of how to heal that with the limited resources available to her.

Having done her best, she stepped away from Annie, “I’m going to send the flare for the boy. Then, if you feel capable, we should move.” It was odd to think that they hadn’t so much as left their starting place. It certainly felt like they’d achieved more than pointing out their lack of movement suggested, even taking into consideration the damage they’d sustained in the course of achievement. It took a moment to get her bearings and remember where he’d landed, and Alex was careful not to tread on anything as she walked across, a little slower than normal now that the immediate threat was gone.

Crouching next to him, she began to rifle through his pockets so that she would use his wand rather than her own for the task. A stupid gesture, perhaps, but if she was going to be using her own wand for the purpose, it would be because she was in dire need of help. It took a moment, but she retrieved the wand, sending a flare skyward before walking back to where Annie was, still behind the now purposeless barrier. “Do you still have your compass? We can follow that.”

Annie’s compass still pointed to the east, to the opening in the dark green firs. The tall yellow grass rustled as the two students moved, and while there were the sounds of wind or small creatures moving it beyond them, no new monsters appeared to trouble them.

Once they’d moved further on the grass shortened, turning more green and gray and becoming sporadically interrupted by patches of shallow dank water. A strange sound filled the air, as if some large pot had begun to boil within the small section of swamp.

Trees still surrounded it, these as close together as those of the first area. A few showed scrapes or missing branches, as if these spaces had just recently been cleared out for this use. As they moved on, a large expanse of bubbling water revealed itself, notable largely for a strange sort of raft in the center of it, which seemed to be formed, or at least the top layer of it, of broomsticks tied tightly together.

That was when a bit of the soft ground gave way beneath Annie, and one of her feet slipped ankle deep into the water. It wasn’t long until her movements grew listless and soon she simply collapsed into a knot of grass, deeply asleep.[1]

1.	Moving this along since Sunny's on hiatus, feel free to have Annie wake back up once you get back. <3