VICTORY ♛ Sirius Black

Chapter 16: The First task

Part one

"Welcome, to the first task." Dumbledore started. They were on the Quidditch pitch, but it was hardly recognisable anymore. They had built what looked like a large hall on it. It did not have a roof, so the students in the stands could look down on it and see what was happening. It had however been enchanted, so the champions could not see or hear the students. 

"Behind me is a maze of some sort," Dumbledore explained. "Each time you will be faced with 6 doors. One will lead you a door closer to the end, four will lead you astray and one will eliminate you immediately."

Beth and Sirius exchanged worried glances. Dumbledore's used his wand as a microphone, his voice booming out over the stands. "Your clues will help you navigate." He added, looking each champion in the eye. 

"I heard alliances have been made." The four champions nodded. "Very well, you will enter as pairs. One pair from the south side, one from the north. Should you encounter each other you will know you have missed the correct door."

Should we encounter each other we will be hexed, Beth thought. "Red sparks in the air means you forfeit." He added, as though he could read her mind.

Sirius and Beth were sent to the north side of the pitch, while Cephas and Kaeley stayed south. "We'll be fine." Sirius kept repeating under his breath, only causing Beth to believe it less and less. 

Professor McGonagall opened the door to the hall for them and ushered them in. It was odd stepping in there. Beth could hear the cheering and booing of the students, right until she stepped through the door. It was eerily silent. 

She gripped her wand tightly in her hand. This was it, this is what she had been preparing for. She glanced over at Sirius, this was the first time ever where she had not seen him in a joking mood. He hardly looked like Sirius Black at all. He was known to be the rock star, the bad boy all the girls fancied. But right now, he looked ready to piss himself.

Purple fireworks erupted above them, and the task had officially begun.

"One wrong door and we are eliminated," Beth repeated, walking to the first door. "Which means that one of us opens the door and risks getting eliminated, while the other looks away."

"I'll go first." He offered up, reaching for the doorknob. 

"Ladies go first." She answered, hitting his hand away. Sirius instead stood in front of the sixth door, eyeing Beth as she went for the knob. 

It was like playing Russian roulette. One wrong door and she was out. Even if she found one of the doors that would lead her astray she could meet Cephas or Kaeley and be eliminated. She twisted the knob.

The first thing that hit her was the salty smell of the ocean. The second thing, was an actual wave.

Sirius rushed over to look inside as well. It was like they had opened a door to the middle of the ocean. "The first will let you sea." Beth sighed, feeling all her hope drain out of her. "Sea, not see."

Sirius kicked the door, pulled his hands through his hair and walked back to the door from which they had entered the maze. His eyes shifted between the other doors. "Well, it's not three. We don't want to encounter any nasty tricks."

Beth still stared into the open ocean. She thought she could see something, a glitter on the horizon. This just couldn't be it, she thought to herself. There had to be something more to it. 

She started to descend the stairs into the water. Sirius, once he noticed what she was doing, pulled her back. "Over there!" She pointed as she tried to struggle out his grip. He was standing a few steps above her and had his arm around her shoulders. 

Sirius peered, and saw what she meant. There was a red glitter there. "It's the sun." He said.

"When have you ever seen a green sun?" She asked. 

"It's red." He answered. "Not green."

"Red for a Gryffindor." Beth mumbled. "Green for a Slytherin." She took another step down. "We have to go Sirius. Cephas and Kaeley are probably already through to the next few doors."

Sirius remained frozen on the steps, while Beth went further into the water. She was now up to her waist in the ice cold water, with occasional waves that hit her when she was least expecting it. 

There was a stone path underneath her. She could see a black void on either side of her as she walked down it. Please let there be no creatures here, she thought to herself. She had been watching the creatures of the black lake swim by the window in their common room for three years now, she knew how horrible they could be. 

It felt like she had only crossed a few meters, but when she looked back Sirius was only a dot on the horizon, and she had only gotten closer to the light. Eventually, when she got close enough she saw a large emerald stone, with engravings in it. 

'Add the names of the founding wizards and remember: What is last must sometimes be retracted by what comes first.'

Beth repeated the sentence in her head over and over on her way back. The cold water kept her from thinking about anything else, like what it could mean. When she had to climb up the stairs her legs felt rigid and awful. 

"What was it?" Sirius asked her before he noticed she was shaking all over. He quickly used the Hot-Air charm, drying her clothes and allowing her to feel warm again.

" 'Add the names of the founding wizards and remember: What is last must sometimes be retracted by what comes first.'  " She repeated for him. 

"Add the what?" Sirius looked like he was positively freaking out, and appeared to be ready to start kicking doors down. While Beth started counting.

"Hufflepuff is ten letters, and so is Gryffindor. So that is twenty. Slytherin is nine letters and Ravenclaw is... nine too. So that is thirty-eight." She was thinking out loud. "Remember thirty-eight." she snapped at Sirius. 

"Helga has five, plus Rowena which is six. So that is eleven plus six for Godric which is seventeen. And then Salazar. He has seven letters. Which is twenty-four." Beth counted. "Thirty-eight minus twenty-four." 

"Fourteen." Sirius answered. 

"One, four." Beth laughed and moved over to the fourth door. Sirius stopped her though. 

"My turn." He said and twisted the knob.