Hogwarts Story: Part 16
Jan. 9th, 2006 03:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
unforthI am so fricken bored...my class got out really early (I'm not really surprised by this, in truth) and now I'm sitting in the computer lab at SLIS waiting til about 4 so that I can go, get my textbooks, then walk to belly dancing. I'm not running tonight cause one of my players works until 10:30, and another has to wake up at 4AM to get to her job (she does this every week day, poor thing...) so I can't start that late, so it's being put off till next Monday. So there's not point in plotting, and there's not really anywhere to go, and I didn't bring a book...so I was sitting here, and I decided that I don't really need to wait for ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
buzzermccain to send me riddles to continue the Hogwarts story. Yep, I just wrote three pages, got past the evil riddles part, and am now ready set to start enforcing the "write something every night!" thing again. Take that, world. (I think I might be in a very strange mood indeed...)
Though it pains me to admit this, since I generally consider myself an intelligent individual, puzzles and riddles are simply not my forte. Thus, for the most part my involvement in the actual solving of the riddles that we discovered was minimal. Furthermore, the many years that have passed since then have blurred the details of the content of the riddles that we encountered. I should note that this implies, inaccurately, that my accounts of other events are largely verbatim. Though this is not the case, the difference of a few words or phrases in a conversation is generally last drastically altering than the change of even single word in a carefully crafted riddle. As such, I find myself unable to adequately recount the content of the riddles that we encountered, though I will do my best to relate the events that occurred despite this limitation.
We faced the chamber before us with uncertainty for several moments before anyone seemed to think that it would be worth our while to examine the archway more carefully. While before, the passageways through which we moved were of brick and mortar, now before us was a cavernous chamber, with a number of narrow and uneven caves leading in all directions. There were about 6 caves in all, and though it would be inaccurate to say that they were of unworked stone, for the floors were fairly smooth and the caves appeared at least passable, it would be fair to instead say that they lacked any sort of finished nature. I moved forward into the chamber, glancing at each cavern, wondering how we were to determine which was the one we should take to find the headmasters workshop.
Behind me, Dmitri began to read from the archway, a riddle which, as I’ve explained, I will not attempt to replicate. Almost immediately, we all realized that it was in fact a riddle, and I at least thought that the answer to it would point us to correct caveway. I wasn’t sure how it would do this, for I had seen no means of distinguishing between the caves save for their order, but still it seemed most logical to me. A few minutes passed during which it quickly became clear that Dmitri and the Lunari’s were the most skilled at riddles amongst our number, before one of them came up with what they believed was the answer, which was “doorway,” and we all paused to see what, if anything, pronouncing the answer would do.
Within moments, a door had appeared on the wall just past the archway, ancient looking, of blackened wood and bound with iron. For several moments, we all looked at it in deep consideration, wondering if it would be safe to open it. Finally, I shrugged and pushed it open myself, deciding that, while many bad things could potentially happen, the first person to open the door would probably be in the most danger, and I would rather it be myself than any of the others. (Alas, were I always as self-sacrificing as that makes me sound!)
However, rather than being confronted by any sort of unspeakable horror, the door in fact concealed a rather warm and friendly room. The room was dome shaped and glowed softly with light from an unknown source. Several arm chairs and couches were placed in a circle around a table. There was an empty fireplace along one wall, and a book lay on the table. One by one we all came in, and tried to figure out how this room might relate to our current predicament.
“Has anyone seen my cat?” asked Lycia abruptly. “He has been with us all along, but now I do not see him anywhere.”
One of the Lunari’s smirked slightly, but none of us could say that we knew where the cat had gone. “I’m sorry, Lycia,” I said. “I’m sure he’ll be alright.” Silently, I couldn’t stop myself thinking that the vile beast might be better off lost.
I sat down at the couch facing the book, and opened it, but my exploration proved short and uninteresting for the book was completely blank. I continued to examine it while the others searched other parts of the room, but I could find nothing at all interesting about it at all. Frustrated, I set it down, and looked around at my companions.
“So what do we do now?” I asked. None could answer, however, for all were as unfamiliar with such a thing as I was.
Sadly, I am much embarrassed to admit that I cannot recall the exact circumstances under which the next riddle was uncovered! Indeed, looking back I have the suspicion that I may have never known exactly where it was found, for the discovering of it was not my own. However, in short order another riddle was found in the room, one that was fairly simply but gave us a second problem, for the answer to the riddle was fire, and soon all of us were looking at the empty fire place.
“We need to start a fire,” said Celestine, summing up our situation.
Glancing around the room, I picked up a seat cushion from one of the couches. “This will burn,” I said, for there was no log in the fire place nor any wood to be seen. The others, however, seemed to feel that this was not a good solution to the problem, and each started searching the room, each with their own preferred solution in mind. While no one was minding, though, Dmitri stood before the fireplace, and when I turned back from returning the couch cushion to its original location, I saw that he had managed to start a roaring blaze.
With a pop that drew all of our attentions, an hour glass appeared on the table before the book. The sand was a pure shade of white and began to fill the bottom sphere rapidly. On the top of the hourglass was written another riddle. By this point it had become clear to me that I was ill equipped to solve these riddles myself, for I seemed to have no talent for it, but I listened with interest as the others worked over the peculiar wording. It was Dmitri who came up with the answer, though I cannot recall what it was, and in a moment the sand had turned blue. I remember wondering if the hourglass knew or cared that he was of Ravenclaw, if that was the reason for the change, but I never did find out. At the same moment that the sand changed color, another riddle appeared, this one around the middle of the hourglass, and still the sand ran rapidly. I worried vaguely what might happen if we were unable to solve the riddles before the sand ran out. The next, though, proved not too difficult, point us to a page in the book on the table. No longer blank, one of the pages now contained yet another puzzle for us to tackle, and the sand in the hourglass ceased to run, much to my relief.
Now, the puzzle directed us to a set of flagstones behind one of the couches, on which were inscribed four letters. Yet another riddle – one even I was able to solve, for it was of a type that I can easily understand, where they ask for things like “the beginning of end and the end of time,” for I know that the answer to a question like this is quite simply the letter e. Thus we examined the letters on the flagstones and, turning up the appropriate one, we discovered a map, a most helpful map, that showed our area and our vicinity.
My relief was, to say the least, great. While the others had seemed intrigued and absorbed by the solving the riddles, I feared that we would solve them but that their end would not help with our goals. For example, it had occurred to me that solving them might magically transport us to some other location, either within Hogwarts or without. We might find ourselves a continent away, with no convenient means of return at our disposal. Solving them might summon a beast, or reconfigure the passageways of the dungeon, or open up another secret room, or any number of other things, some good, some bad, but none of them helpful. My fears were not to be realized, though, for the map not only showed all the passageways hereabouts, it also had several helpful symbols on it. The room in which we were in was denoted by a special symbol, and there was an image of a snakehead where the basilisk lay fallen. Most useful of all, though, was the elegant arrow that appeared to pointing us in the direction we needed to go. It is perhaps a sign of the folly of youth that none of us thought to question how it was that the map knew where we wished to go, for we all agreed that we know knew the correct course. We spent several moments returning everything in the little room to how it had been before our arrival, and then we left to follow the course the map directed us on. The door vanished behind us as we left.
We followed many twisting and slippery caves over the next while, some rapidly descending deeper and deeper into the grounds beneath the castle, others tending more upwards. They bent in all sorts of directions and interweaved complexly. I am certain that had we attempted to find our way unaided, we all would have required rescuing, but we were spared this indignity by the always-helpful map.
After perhaps half an hour of walking, I became aware of a strange sound coming from a passageway we had just passed by. As I was not the one of us carrying the map, I had taken up the rear of the group, partly to make sure that everyone kept up and nobody got left behind, and partly because I wasn’t certain I trusted any of the others to keep any kind of useful watch. I called for the group to halt, though, and, noticing the look on Celestine’s face, I knew she had heard the sound as well. We moved closer to the entrance of the narrow cave we had just passed, and peered inside.
It was pitch black inside, and the map could offer no advice on what lay within. The sound, though, was unmistakable. It was the sound of a girl crying.
buzzermccain to send me riddles to continue the Hogwarts story. Yep, I just wrote three pages, got past the evil riddles part, and am now ready set to start enforcing the "write something every night!" thing again. Take that, world. (I think I might be in a very strange mood indeed...)Though it pains me to admit this, since I generally consider myself an intelligent individual, puzzles and riddles are simply not my forte. Thus, for the most part my involvement in the actual solving of the riddles that we discovered was minimal. Furthermore, the many years that have passed since then have blurred the details of the content of the riddles that we encountered. I should note that this implies, inaccurately, that my accounts of other events are largely verbatim. Though this is not the case, the difference of a few words or phrases in a conversation is generally last drastically altering than the change of even single word in a carefully crafted riddle. As such, I find myself unable to adequately recount the content of the riddles that we encountered, though I will do my best to relate the events that occurred despite this limitation.
We faced the chamber before us with uncertainty for several moments before anyone seemed to think that it would be worth our while to examine the archway more carefully. While before, the passageways through which we moved were of brick and mortar, now before us was a cavernous chamber, with a number of narrow and uneven caves leading in all directions. There were about 6 caves in all, and though it would be inaccurate to say that they were of unworked stone, for the floors were fairly smooth and the caves appeared at least passable, it would be fair to instead say that they lacked any sort of finished nature. I moved forward into the chamber, glancing at each cavern, wondering how we were to determine which was the one we should take to find the headmasters workshop.
Behind me, Dmitri began to read from the archway, a riddle which, as I’ve explained, I will not attempt to replicate. Almost immediately, we all realized that it was in fact a riddle, and I at least thought that the answer to it would point us to correct caveway. I wasn’t sure how it would do this, for I had seen no means of distinguishing between the caves save for their order, but still it seemed most logical to me. A few minutes passed during which it quickly became clear that Dmitri and the Lunari’s were the most skilled at riddles amongst our number, before one of them came up with what they believed was the answer, which was “doorway,” and we all paused to see what, if anything, pronouncing the answer would do.
Within moments, a door had appeared on the wall just past the archway, ancient looking, of blackened wood and bound with iron. For several moments, we all looked at it in deep consideration, wondering if it would be safe to open it. Finally, I shrugged and pushed it open myself, deciding that, while many bad things could potentially happen, the first person to open the door would probably be in the most danger, and I would rather it be myself than any of the others. (Alas, were I always as self-sacrificing as that makes me sound!)
However, rather than being confronted by any sort of unspeakable horror, the door in fact concealed a rather warm and friendly room. The room was dome shaped and glowed softly with light from an unknown source. Several arm chairs and couches were placed in a circle around a table. There was an empty fireplace along one wall, and a book lay on the table. One by one we all came in, and tried to figure out how this room might relate to our current predicament.
“Has anyone seen my cat?” asked Lycia abruptly. “He has been with us all along, but now I do not see him anywhere.”
One of the Lunari’s smirked slightly, but none of us could say that we knew where the cat had gone. “I’m sorry, Lycia,” I said. “I’m sure he’ll be alright.” Silently, I couldn’t stop myself thinking that the vile beast might be better off lost.
I sat down at the couch facing the book, and opened it, but my exploration proved short and uninteresting for the book was completely blank. I continued to examine it while the others searched other parts of the room, but I could find nothing at all interesting about it at all. Frustrated, I set it down, and looked around at my companions.
“So what do we do now?” I asked. None could answer, however, for all were as unfamiliar with such a thing as I was.
Sadly, I am much embarrassed to admit that I cannot recall the exact circumstances under which the next riddle was uncovered! Indeed, looking back I have the suspicion that I may have never known exactly where it was found, for the discovering of it was not my own. However, in short order another riddle was found in the room, one that was fairly simply but gave us a second problem, for the answer to the riddle was fire, and soon all of us were looking at the empty fire place.
“We need to start a fire,” said Celestine, summing up our situation.
Glancing around the room, I picked up a seat cushion from one of the couches. “This will burn,” I said, for there was no log in the fire place nor any wood to be seen. The others, however, seemed to feel that this was not a good solution to the problem, and each started searching the room, each with their own preferred solution in mind. While no one was minding, though, Dmitri stood before the fireplace, and when I turned back from returning the couch cushion to its original location, I saw that he had managed to start a roaring blaze.
With a pop that drew all of our attentions, an hour glass appeared on the table before the book. The sand was a pure shade of white and began to fill the bottom sphere rapidly. On the top of the hourglass was written another riddle. By this point it had become clear to me that I was ill equipped to solve these riddles myself, for I seemed to have no talent for it, but I listened with interest as the others worked over the peculiar wording. It was Dmitri who came up with the answer, though I cannot recall what it was, and in a moment the sand had turned blue. I remember wondering if the hourglass knew or cared that he was of Ravenclaw, if that was the reason for the change, but I never did find out. At the same moment that the sand changed color, another riddle appeared, this one around the middle of the hourglass, and still the sand ran rapidly. I worried vaguely what might happen if we were unable to solve the riddles before the sand ran out. The next, though, proved not too difficult, point us to a page in the book on the table. No longer blank, one of the pages now contained yet another puzzle for us to tackle, and the sand in the hourglass ceased to run, much to my relief.
Now, the puzzle directed us to a set of flagstones behind one of the couches, on which were inscribed four letters. Yet another riddle – one even I was able to solve, for it was of a type that I can easily understand, where they ask for things like “the beginning of end and the end of time,” for I know that the answer to a question like this is quite simply the letter e. Thus we examined the letters on the flagstones and, turning up the appropriate one, we discovered a map, a most helpful map, that showed our area and our vicinity.
My relief was, to say the least, great. While the others had seemed intrigued and absorbed by the solving the riddles, I feared that we would solve them but that their end would not help with our goals. For example, it had occurred to me that solving them might magically transport us to some other location, either within Hogwarts or without. We might find ourselves a continent away, with no convenient means of return at our disposal. Solving them might summon a beast, or reconfigure the passageways of the dungeon, or open up another secret room, or any number of other things, some good, some bad, but none of them helpful. My fears were not to be realized, though, for the map not only showed all the passageways hereabouts, it also had several helpful symbols on it. The room in which we were in was denoted by a special symbol, and there was an image of a snakehead where the basilisk lay fallen. Most useful of all, though, was the elegant arrow that appeared to pointing us in the direction we needed to go. It is perhaps a sign of the folly of youth that none of us thought to question how it was that the map knew where we wished to go, for we all agreed that we know knew the correct course. We spent several moments returning everything in the little room to how it had been before our arrival, and then we left to follow the course the map directed us on. The door vanished behind us as we left.
We followed many twisting and slippery caves over the next while, some rapidly descending deeper and deeper into the grounds beneath the castle, others tending more upwards. They bent in all sorts of directions and interweaved complexly. I am certain that had we attempted to find our way unaided, we all would have required rescuing, but we were spared this indignity by the always-helpful map.
After perhaps half an hour of walking, I became aware of a strange sound coming from a passageway we had just passed by. As I was not the one of us carrying the map, I had taken up the rear of the group, partly to make sure that everyone kept up and nobody got left behind, and partly because I wasn’t certain I trusted any of the others to keep any kind of useful watch. I called for the group to halt, though, and, noticing the look on Celestine’s face, I knew she had heard the sound as well. We moved closer to the entrance of the narrow cave we had just passed, and peered inside.
It was pitch black inside, and the map could offer no advice on what lay within. The sound, though, was unmistakable. It was the sound of a girl crying.
