The Tri-Ferret Tournament was a huge success! We managed to pull off a different contest than we've ever tried here by giving each ferret their very own unique missions to write from.
A lot of work and thought went into creating those missions. So rather than letting them get all dusty or forgotten, we thought we'd share all the ones that weren't chosen with you.
Consider these projects up-for-grabs. If you wish to start a new TWT Ferret Wheel project, just pick one of the following and start two new threads for it; one for the story and one for discussion. Feel free to alter and fiddle with these ideas as you like. This is for fun!
Tri-Ferret Tournament - The First Task
Mission:Your main character is Filch. Describe what a great, ugly and disgusting mess those pesky foreign students are making, and how he simply hates giving them directions and being nice to them. Whom does he tell that he has seen their Professors skulking by Hagrid’s pen to find out what the first task is, and why do they not believe him (or do they)? Describe his method of preventing the planned cheating anyway, using only his usual tools; no magic! Required objects: Include somebody being tripped by a long handled (non-flying) broom. A bottle of Ogden’s Old Firewhiskey, A Venomous Tentacula.
Mission:Your main character is Professor Sprout. Her favorite student has been chosen as champion! She’s ecstatic, but worried that he just might not measure up to those amazing students from the other schools. When a chance arises in the shape of a slightly tipsy and loose-lipped Hagrid, and she finds out the first task ahead of time. How does she slip the information to her student and how does she make it seem innocent? What is the task? Describe the first task, and how Sprout has inadvertently given Cedric completely useless advice, but how he manages to use it in a way she did not intend to complete the task. Required Objects: A pair of fluffy slippers, Spilled wax, A student with a lisp.
Mission:Your main character can be Fleur, Cedric, or Viktor – your choice! As the champion enters the arena, he/she finds a huge, moving, shimmering something between him/her and the crystal box on the plinth at the other end that he/she must retrieve. What is this strange magical barrier? What can it do? How will he/she overcome it to retrieve the box? Include a detailed conversation between your champion and the teacher attempting to help them, a conversation between your champion and one or both of the others, and a visit to the library. Required Objects: At least three spells of your choice, Several bundimun clumps, A ferret.
Mission:Your main character is Neville Longbottom. He, being a stout believer in fairness and upright Gryffindor behavior, feels it his duty to report that while working in Greenhouse six he distinctly saw Professor Sprout following Hagrid to the heavily secret pen where something for the first task is being kept under wraps. To whom does he report this, and how do they react? Include a conversation between Neville and Fleur, where Fleur does not understand what Neville says due to his stammering, and Neville misunderstands her because of her accent. Does this comedy of errors help or hinder his mission of assuring fairness during the First Task? Required Objects: A Beaters’ bat, Honeydukes Chocolate, A secret panel.
Mission:Your Character is Fleur, Cedric, or Viktor. Your choice! In the center of the darkened arena sits a table with three brightly lit crystal balls. Once your champion is near enough he or she sees that as their swirling mists abate, each shows the same Rainbow Sphere sitting on a velvet pillow. Your champion knows this is the object they must retrieve. Lying on the table is a piece of parchment which says: One of these tells naught but lies. One is only for the wise, One will show you to your prize. The mists begin to swirl again and each Ball shows a different path to the Sphere. Your champion must figure out which is the true path to follow and then use its information to retrieve the Rainbow Sphere, avoiding at least three pitfalls along the way. Is the answer, “the other way,” which he/she received from his/her mentor of any value at all? Required Objects: A bird, A house scarf, The Hog’s Head.
Mission:Your main character is Ronald Weasley. He is disappointed that his brothers did not get to compete but he wants Hogwarts to triumph! What singularly cunning plan does he come up with to ensure victory for Cedric? Describe how he convinces Hermione and Harry to go along with his plan, and how they are prevented at the last moment by Cedric himself! Include a conversation between Hermione and Ron where each accuses the other of only wanting Cedric to win because they are jealous of Fleur or/and Krum. Show the first task, what the champions are up against. Required Objects: A fishing rod, Spellotape, A zigzagging path
Mission:Your main character is Draco Malfoy. What a horrid happening! A Hufflepuff for Hogwarts champion! Something must be done about the situation, and his father shall help. Incapacitating Cedric is useless because if a champion falls, the school is out of the running. But perhaps, Draco could just rig the contest and make a tidy pile of Galleons betting on it, plus ensure a Hogwarts win! Show how Draco tries every trick he knows, only to have them backfire spectacularly in ways he never expected. Required Objects: A chimney, A goblet, Tall weeds.
Mission: Your main character is Cedric, Fleur or Viktor. Your choice! As the character enters the arena he/she finds thousands of small many-colored lumps covering its floor. An owl flies in, delivering a scroll with instructions: There are ten thousand individual socks before you, ONE of which contains the key to the chest sitting on a silk-draped table to your left. The challenge is to find the key and retrieve the object inside the box. Your champion smiles - but suddenly every sock stands up and begins walking across the floor of the arena in marshaled rows.... How does your character conquer the socks, find the key, and retrieve the item in the box? Required Items: A beverage in a flask, A pencil, Shoe laces.
Mission:Your main character is Rita Skeeter. She just got the story of the century; the Tri- Wizard champion! Everything is just perfect, you have a handsome champion for Hogwarts, who is sure to have a love story or two to dig into, a rather ugly but famous Quidditch star who will just have to be cast as the misunderstood hero, and a pretty girl, who, if she does not have a good romance to exploit, might be cast as the underdog. But maybe the REAL story isn not the champions but the betting, cheating, and plotting Professors! Include a clever use of her animagus form to gain information, and refer to at least two articles she writes, as well as the reaction to them at Hogwarts. Required Objects: A sponge, A vase of flowers, A dressing gown.
Mission:Your main character is Ludo Bagman. Describe how he has got into horrible, terrible and absolutely nasty trouble betting with the Goblins on Quidditch! Everyone is after him; Goblins for gold, the Weasley twins for their winnings, and the Headmasters and Headmistress for help cheating! Describe how he chooses which champion to back, and how he decides to skew the contest to ensure their winning. Include a conversation between him and the twins, and how he avoids paying them their winnings, as well as him dodging the goblins, and the various rules and charms preventing cheating. Required objects: A nightcap. A Cheering Charm, Chicken.
Mission:Your character is McGonagall. Describe how disappointed she is that the champion is not from her house, but how determined she is as Deputy Head that everything goes smoothly and reflects positively on the school. What does she do when Neville Longbottom reports that Sprout has possibly been cheating? Describe their conversation, her course of action, and the first task. Required Objects: A humorous student essay, A parrot, Lemon-yellow pajamas.
Mission:Your main character is Peter Pettigrew. He is skulking out in abandoned houses with the Dark Lord, trying to convince him that attacking Hogwarts during the TriWizard tournament is a good idea. Everybody will be looking at the champions, right? Nobody will notice if somebody sneaks in and tries to kidnap Potter. That way they will not need the inside man in Hogwarts that the Dark Lord wants, right? Required Objects: Chicken-noodle soup, A spinning wheel, A cup up overly milky tea.
Mission:Your main character is Lord Voldemort. He is hiding out in the Riddle House and is heartily sick of listening to Wormtail. After all, the idiot has not yet managed to gather all the ingredients for that potion he wants. What stupid plan is that of his to capture Harry Potter while everybody in Hogwarts is watching some foolish Tournament? Include a conversation between Lord Voldemort and Nagini, and what Wormtail thinks they are talking about. Required Objects: A candelabrum, Venetian blinds, Fingerless gloves.
Mission:Your main character is Fleur. She has come all the way from France and her entire family and her school are counting on her to win. Madame Maxime lets slip that the first task will be to get past a thestral (can she see them?) to retrieve an oak chest. How does she proceed? Include the conversation with Madame Maxime, which somebody overhears. Does she use this inside information? Does she share it with anybody? How does she get past the thestral? Is she injured? What is in the box? Does the person who overheard their conversation do anything about it? Killing or maiming the thestral will, of course, get her disqualified. Required Objects: A phoenix wing, Yogurt, A mug of coffee.
Mission:Your main character is Severus Snape. His old “friend” Karkaroff is counting on him to give him inside information, not only on the task, but also on the strengths and weaknesses of Hogwarts’ champion, Cedric. How does Snape proceed? Show how Severus manages to convince Karkaroff that he is going to help, but actually does not. Somebody overhears their conversation, and thinks Snape is really helping Karkaroff. Who was eavesdropping, and how do they try to prevent Snape from cheating? And how does Snape react to their getting in the way and almost spoiling his foiling of Karkaroff? Required Objects: Armadillo bile, A Flagon with a Dragon, Tweezers.
Mission:Your main character is Sybill Trelawney. She saw great disaster in store for Harry Potter this year but something happened to interfere. Even though Potter is safe, for now, there are other things unfolding that could be problematic for the Tri-Wizard Tournament! Someone must be warned! Something must be done! Include Trelawney’s various methods of telling the future. Astronomy? Tarot? Tea leaves? Be creative. Include a conversation between Trelawney and a Centaur, in which each thinks the other is a little bit loopy, and a scene in the Room of Requirement. Required Objects: A candlestick, An odd number of blue shoes, A rickety chair
Mission: Your main character is Albus Dumbledore. He’s planned the Tournament and the contestants have been chosen but he notices that the other Headmaster and Headmistress aren’t being quite cricket about things. In fact, they’re cheating like there’s no tomorrow! What does he do about it? Describe how Dumbledore subverts their efforts by discreet use of portraits, house elves, the suits of armor and anything else available. How does this unusual army ensure that the contest is above board? Include a conversation between Albus and Irma Pince, through which Albus initially discovers the cheating. Required objects: Toothflossing Stringmints, A Pain-Thinning Charm, A pixie.
Mission:Your main character is Bane. Firenze has been telling him strange things about what the stars foretell about the Tournament. He sees a way to get something out of those stupid humans after all. If he knows who wins by foretelling it, he could quite possibly beat the Goblins and win every last knut from Ludo Bagman. Unfortunately, the other Centaurs do not believe in money, and even less in involvement with humans. Does he manage to get around the laws of the herd, does his bet win, and what does he do with the winnings if it does? Describe a his view of the tournament, including his thoughts, and what the task was. Required Objects: A fingernail clipping, Leech juice, A leather-bound book.
Mission: Your main character is either Cedric, Viktor, or Fleur. Your choice! As your champion enters the arena he/she finds a fifty foot tall obelisk in its center. The base is approximately four feet on each of its sides, but its top is barely two inches across. Balanced on this is an ancient wooden box that contains what your character must retrieve. If the box falls or is lowered past the shoulder of the top (less than 3 feet), your champion will be disqualified! There are defined and useable hand and footholds on one side; the other three are shiny and slick. Every few minutes the holds on an entire side will fade and flatten while simultaneously appearing on a different side, giving the tower a shivering appearance when it happens. What does your champion do to get past this? Required Objects: Rain, Hot tea, A magical stone.
Mission:Your main Character is Fleur’s mother. Her little girl is all the way over in England and has been chosen as the best of the best of Beauxbatons! What advice and help does she give when asked, with the ethical dilemma of accepting “assistance” from her Headmistress? Does Fleur follow it? What dilemmas is she faced with when she discovers what her baby will be facing? Required Objects: A hair ribbon, A copy of “Betty Beauxbatons, a Biography.” Chestnuts.
Mission:Your main character is Victor Krum. Rather than facing a dragon, he will enter the lair of a manticore, be required to pass the manticore without harming it, to retrieve a small wooden chest. From sleeping on a draughty ship he has been taken by a terrible head cold and cannot pronounce many of the spells he would normally need to complete the task. He did research on manticores based on an unorthodox tip from Karkaroff, but because of his cold, he cannot pronounce the only spells he has found! Show how he completes the task without using the letter "n" while speaking. Also, show how his inability to use these spells is taken as reluctance to cheat and praised by Hermione Granger. Required Objects: Mulled Wine, A notebook with a hidden message, A jarvey
Mission:Your main character is Viktor Krum. Igor has placed a large bet on his success; the Wizarding Syndicate has added additional assurances that he will fail. Include at least three of the extra problems or dirty tricks the Syndicate has placed in the way of the champion from Durmstrang, weave into your story what they are and how he has prevailed over these extra obstacles. He can face whatever peril you choose for the first task. Required Objects: A Sponge-Knee Curse, (successful or not) An Augury, The sun (Or sunshine.)
Mission:Your main character is Firenze. There is something about the position of certain planets that bothers him; what does he think it means in relation to the Tournament? Whom does he tell and what do they do about it? How do the other Centaurs react to his meddling in human affairs? Show a conversation with Firenze and a human of your choice, where the human does not believe in the reliability of Astronomy, and Firenze tries to convince him/her of the danger ahead. Show a Centaur-eye-view of the first task, including whether or not his perceived problem comes to pass. An astrolabe, A lost item, Four hats
Mission:Your main character is Hagrid. He has one humdinger of a great creature in store for those students in the Tournament! Include a scene describing where he got it. Was it from another shady character in the pub? Did he win it in a game? Did he capture it or breed it himself? Be creative! What is it, what can it do, and how is he going to hide it from cheating students and prying eyes prior to the Tournament? Show his reaction to the tournament itself, and how he waffles between being worried about the students and worrying about the animals. Include bits of commentary by Ludo Bagman and attempts by the champions. Required Objects: A silver fork, A green, hand-knitted potholder, An oak frame.
Mission:Your main character is Aberforth Dumbledore. After a relaxing day of charming goats and wreaking havoc, he decides to go to the pub. While there, Aberforth talks to Hagrid and finds out about the cheating at the Tournament from something Hagrid lets slip. Aberforth decides to give his brother Albus a hand. What important task does he need to do to make the Tournament run as it should? What prevents Albus from doing it himself? Include what the first task is, with a short bit about attempts by the champions and showing just how Aberforth assists so that everything remains fair. Required Objects: A hipflask, A fussbudget, Chocolate.
Mission:Your main character is Cedric Diggory. All the Hufflepuffs are placing enormous bets on him that they cannot afford to lose! Even Sprout bet 50 G! His Head of House is so anxious to win that she "accidentally" lets slip what task he is about to face; he must get past a horrific monster! Include a conversation with Cho Chang about whether the contest is about simply winning or competing honorably, and a conversation with the Headmaster that leaves him more confused than when he started. Show how he manages to complete the task without compromising his Hufflepuff honor. Required Objects: A large yellow sweater, A detention, A fanged butterfly
Have fun!
Tri-Ferret Fun, Tasty 2005 Leftovers
Jan 9 2006, 11:33 AM
The Ghost Choir sings a Celestina Warbeck cover during dinner.
Krum's Fanclub makes an untimely appearance
Ron can't answer because he's got his mouth full of candied kumquats
An eagle owl soars over Hagrid's hut
Padfoot bounds over the hedge
A wand is found lying on the ground
Gabrielle gives Harry a flower
A Firebolt and a Nimbus
Mr. Crouch gets knocked off his feet as they rush by
Transfiguration homework gives Hermione a clue
McGonagall has an accident during the third task
Spiders in the maze slow down a champion
Red sparks mean danger
A champion is cursed
Teamwork solves a problem
Bagman is bagged
Goblins have a run-in with the Twins
Karkaroff is humiliated
Maxime encounters a Giant Problem
Rita Skeeter reveals a cheater
