The TFT First Task Winner, timeturner Options

[evlpez]

First Task winner: timeturner

Padfoot Perturbed


Sirius Black paced the length of the small cave that had been his home for the last two weeks. Deep in the countryside and hidden within a mountain, the cave was deserted, silent, and essentially perfect for a wizard who didn’t want to be found. Even better, it was close to Hogwarts and therefore close to Harry, which was exactly where Sirius felt he needed to be.

Continuing to pace, Sirius took a moment now and then to glance at the papers and letters that were strewn haphazardly around the cave. With each word that he reread, his suspicions grew. Something definitely wasn’t right.

The newspaper articles themselves didn’t reveal much and neither did Harry’s letter, but when the letter and articles were combined and coupled with the conversation that Sirius had overheard last week, it was clear that something was very wrong indeed.

Coming to a stop, Sirius picked up one of the Daily Prophets that he had nicked from a rubbish bin in Hogsmeade and read:


B.O.G. UNDER INVESTIGATION

According to a Ministry official, the group known as B.O.G. (Brotherhood of Goblins) is currently being investigated by the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Accused of participating in illegal methods of wizard intimidation, B.O.G. has denied all charges and insists that the investigation is “another example of the smear campaign devised by the Ministry in hopes of undermining the goblin race “.

When questioned, Ministry employee and Department spokesperson, Amos Diggory, adamantly protested the smear campaign accusations saying, “The B.O.G. investigation stems from an anonymous tip that we received by owl post. There is no smear campaign. If it were up to us, we would avoid dealings with the members of B.O.G. as they are typically cranky and generally unpleasant conversationalists.”

This is not the first time that B.O.G. has come under fire. Daily Prophet readers may remember...


Sirius dropped the Prophet and picked up another publication known as The Quibbler. As ludicrous as this magazine seemed upon first inspection, one of the headlines on the cover had caught his eye immediately. After reading the article within, he was convinced that at least part of the report held some truth; a small part perhaps, but a part none the less.


LUDO IS ON THE LOOSE!
ARE HOGWARTS STUDENTS IN DANGER?

A former Beater for the Wimbourne Wasps, Ludo Bagman is currently employed by the Ministry of Magic as the Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports. Bagman recently had a hand in the organization of the Tri-Wizard Tournament which is currently being held at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. When questioned about the Tournament and his motives, Bagman claimed to have an interest in the promotion of foreign wizard relations.

BUT DOES HE?

Upon further investigation, The Quibbler has discovered that Bagman has a hidden agenda. Bent on world domination, the former Quidditch star plans to take over the entire Wizarding World starting with Hogwarts. It is suspected that the goblins support his plot and intend to assist Bagman with it. On more than one occasion, Bagman has been seen discussing his dastardly plan with known goblin enforcer, Scabo the Scabbed.

It is unknown how Bagman’s boss, Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge, feels about these meetings. Though never charged, tried, or convicted, Fudge is a well-known goblin killer/pie-baker. Thus far, the Minister has refused to return our owls or comment on the situation.

In lieu of these findings, The Quibbler would like to urge its readers to protest the Tournament by whatever means possible…


Sirius dropped the magazine and resumed his pacing. The whole world domination plot was a bit of a laugh, but after what he heard in Hogsmeade there was no doubt that this Bagman character was in knee-deep with the goblins. Closing his eyes and rubbing his head, Sirius tried to recall the conversation that he had overheard last week while playing the lovable stray in Hogsmeade…

“Merlin’s beard, Bertha! I still can’t believe you’re working for Ludo Bagman. I remember when I watched him play Quidditch against the Holyhead Harpies. What a dreamboat! I tell you, Gilderoy Lockhart doesn’t have anything on him. What’s Bagman’s story? Is he single?”

Bertha Jorkins laughed at her friend’s enthusiasm. The two witches were picnicking on a patch of grass at the edge of the village, assuming they were quite alone with the exception of the stray dog that had happened upon them.

“Oh, you don’t want to get involved with Ludo,” Bertha said, feeding a piece of chicken to Sirius, who swallowed it without chewing. “Trust me, Arella. He has issues.”

“Issues?” Arella asked, her interest clearly piqued.

“Gambling,” Bertha whispered, looking around to make sure there was nobody else in the vicinity. “He owes the goblins so many Galleons that he’ll be working long past the time a wizard should. Anyways, he’s really busy with the Tournament right now. I doubt he’d have time for dating. He told me he has a personal interest in the outcome and plans to spend a great deal of time at Hogwarts monitoring the situation.”

“Figures,” Arella sighed and patted Sirius on the head for a moment before continuing. “What do the champions have to do? Do you know?”

“Not really,” Bertha said.” I do know that everyone’s especially nervous about the second task though. I’m not exactly sure what the champions have to do, but there’s some type of creature involved and there’s fear that it could get loose and wreck havoc. Harm the non-participants, you know.”

…Sirius opened his eyes and shook his head. Harry was a non-participant. Was he in danger? Sirius gritted his teeth at the thought. For the thousandth time he wished that he didn’t have to hide, wished he were truly a free man instead of a prisoner of circumstance. Harry was counting on him. James and Lily were counting on him.

Sirius stopped pacing and found the collection of letters that Harry had sent him. He saved them all. Leafing through the stack, Sirius found the most recent and read:


Dear Snuffles,

The Tri-Wizard Tournament is brilliant! I really wish I could have been a champion. I thought about having a go at Dumbledore’s age line, but after seeing the beards Fred and George grew when they tried to cross, I’m glad I didn’t. I don’t think I’m ready for a beard.

Cedric Diggory from Hufflepuff ended up being chosen as the Hogwarts champion. Seamus likes to call him Pretty Boy Diggory, but he’s not so bad. A Gryffindor champion would have been better though.

Fleur Delacour got it for Beauxbatons. Hermione doesn’t like her, but Ron sure does. And Viktor Krum was picked for Durmstrang. I saw him at the World Cup. He played Seeker for Bulgaria and did the best move. It’s called the Wronski Feint. I can’t wait to try it out on Malfoy next time we play Slytherin.

Dumbledore said the Tournament will have three tasks altogether. The first one just ended. I wish you could have seen it. First, the champions had to get past these horrible beasts called Fachan. Hagrid says they’re beautiful creatures from the Scottish Highlands, but they look more like house-elves to me. Really ugly house-elves. They’re short and they only have one leg, one arm, and one eye. They swing these little spiked clubs that shoot spells and hexes out the end. They’re a nasty lot. I think that’s why Hagrid likes them so much.

The champions had twenty minutes to finish. They had to get past a huge group of Fachan to a stand of trees. In one of the trees, there was a hidden clue that’s supposed to help them in the second task. It sounds easy enough, but there was a trick. The champions weren’t allowed to use wands against the Fachan or hurt them in any way.

Of course, right away Hermione figured out what the champions needed to do. She said they should put spells on themselves, like a Shield Charm or Imperturbable Charm. Something the Fachan couldn’t break through. It was really too bad Cedric didn’t figure that out.

He went first and managed to dodge the Fachan’s spells for a little while. Then he started getting hit with all kinds of hexes. The Fachan started to cluster around him and he must have panicked. He tried to conjure a shield, but the Fachan shot it right out of his hand. So then he tried this weird frog leap to get over the whole lot of them. He almost did it too, but he accidentally kicked one of the Fachan in the head and knocked it out cold. He got marked down for that. You weren’t supposed to hurt the Fachan. Cedric got his clue out of the tree though and finished just under the time limit.

Fleur didn’t do much better. One of the Fachan hit her with a spell that lit her hair on fire. (Hermione thought that was really funny. She laughed so hard that she shot butterbeer right out her nose. Some of it got on Ron.) After Fleur put her hair out, she stared at the Fachan for a minute and then started to sway back and forth. Then the craziest thing happened. The Fachan started doing the same thing, like they were in a trance or something! A bunch of people said that was cheating, but she didn’t hurt the Fachan or use her wand so the judges let her get away with it. She got her clue from the tree and was done in eighteen minutes.

Krum did best of all. It was like he knew exactly what to do. Ernie MacMillan from Hufflepuff told me and Ron that he overheard Karkaroff whispering hints to Krum right before the task started, so maybe that’s why he had such an easy time of it. I don’t know.

After Krum put a Shield Charm on himself, every hex the Fachan sent his way just bounced off of him. He got past them right away and grabbed his clue. He was finished in less than five minutes. Got a perfect score too. That put Fleur in second and Cedric dead last.

I wish there was some way I could find out for sure if Karkaroff is trying to cheat. If he is, maybe I could stop him or help Cedric. Even the playing field somehow.

Any ideas?

Harry

P.S. Do you know Ludo Bagman? He used to play Quidditch, but now he works at the Ministry. He helped organize the Tournament and he’s been at Hogwarts a lot. I keep noticing him staring at me and he’s been asking around about me. I don’t know what he’s getting up to.


Sirius replaced Harry’s letter in the stack. What was Ludo Bagman up to? It seemed strange that he would be paying any attention to Harry at all. After all, what did Harry have to do with the Tournament?

Feeling more than a little perturbed, Sirius went to the corner of the cave and dug through his meager pile of supplies. After pulling out a quill, a scrap of parchment, and a bit of sealing wax, he sat down and began to write.


Dear Harry,

It’s good that you are enjoying the Tournament. I wish that I could be there too.

I must admit, I’m not surprised to hear that Karkaroff and his student may be cheating. They’re probably not the only ones. I’m not old enough to have ever attended a Tournament of course, but I’ve always heard that cheating is a traditional part of it. Come to think of it, that may be why Dumbledore has Mad-Eye teaching this year. Moody’s good at keeping an eye on things if you know what I mean.

You want to even the playing field, do you? Glad to hear it. I think I might have just the thing. Luckily for you, I left it at Hogwarts. It should still be there. Even after all of these years, I doubt anyone has come across the hiding place.

To find it, go to the sixth floor. Just past the boys’ bathroom, you should see a portrait of an old wizard wearing red ear muffs. If you poke him in the eye with your wand and tell him that you solemnly swear that you are up to no good, the portrait will swing open and reveal a very small room. Inside this room is a marauder’s paradise. You’ll definitely find some things that will even the playing field and probably provide a bit of fun for you and your mates in the process. Whatever you do, don’t get caught. Take the map with you so you can make sure that nobody else is around.

As for your other question, I don’t know Bagman personally, but I’ve heard some rumors. Bagman’s gambling has gotten him in a bad situation with the goblins. I want you to steer clear of him, Harry. Desperate men do desperate things. Take care of yourself and watch your back.

Sirius

P.S. Make sure you, Ron, and Hermione find a safe spot to sit for the second task. There’s a dangerous creature involved. Not sure what it is, but it could get loose.


Hedwig returned from her hunt just as Sirius placed the seal upon his letter to Harry. Knowing immediately that it was her time to shine, she allowed Sirius to tie the letter to her leg and then with a great flap of wings, she was gone. Back to Hogwarts and back to Harry.


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Unique Mission

Your main Character is Sirius Black.

Sirius is stuck hiding out in the countryside, but he has heard scary rumors concerning the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Write a letter from Harry to Sirius about how grand the tournament will be, and a letter from Sirius to Harry in which he warns Harry about getting into trouble, but provide hints on how not to do that and get around certain blockages to fun, anyway. Include concerns about the dangers and devious situations Sirius has heard about; how they might affect non-participants and why they matter.

Required Objects:
Sealing wax,
Chicken,
Ear muffs.