VICTORY ♛ Sirius Black

Chapter 18: Drinks

After catching their breath they were forced to continue. They were faced with the doors again but were all out of clues this time around. "There is nothing else to be done." Sirius said. He took a step forward and opened the third door. Behind it was an identical room to the one they were in right now. 

"I don't think it's that one, Sirius." Beth said as he stepped inside. "We have to solve or do something first. Then we know for sure."

"We don't have time." He argued. "Cephas is probably at the finish line already."

"If we get it wrong now we'll only go further astray." Beth said. She went to another door, her hand hovering over the handle. If she got it wrong, she could be eliminated. She would come in third, which meant that she just helped Gryffindor get higher on the list but didn't improve herself.

Her fingers touched the cold metal and before her cowardly mind could convince her otherwise she swung the wooden door open. She waited for Dumbledore to appear to tell her she failed, or for the disappointed look on her fathers face, but neither came. In front of her was a dark room, with one single light on the table.

There were potions there, eight of them to be exact. They were placed in the order of the rainbow, rounding off with one white potion and one black. Beth and Sirius entered the room, both staring silently at the table.

"For potions it is best to remember the colour of December." Beth said out loud. They were separated, with the table in the middle of them. 

"Has to be red or white." Sirius said. Beth nodded, pulling the two bottles out of the line. The glass that held the red liquid was tall and thin, while the white one was more shaped like a Christmas ball. 

"Or green." Beth added and pulled that one out of the lineup. This one was in a golden cup, making it seem even more likely. "How do we know?"

Sirius did not have an answer to this. He walked around the table three times, picked up both the bottles and the cup and sniffed the liquid. "They smell like nothing." He announced. He then started to swirl the liquid around, as though something magical would happen.

Beth's mind was racing with ideas. Perhaps it was the green one because it was in a cup rather than a bottle. Or maybe the white one, because it looked like an ornament. Instinctively, Beth's hand wrapped around her necklace. Her father had given it to her so long ago. It was a birthday present, so she could-

"It's blue." She said. "The December birthstone is blue. It has to be the blue one."

"The clue doesn't mention birthstones." Sirius didn't seem as sure as Beth was. "Besides, birthstones is just a bunch of superstitious bulls-" His eyes landed on the Zircon gemstone in between her fingers. He did not finish his sentence, but he still did not think it was right. 

Beth grabbed the bottle with the icy blue liquid in it. The bottle itself was the most plain out of all of them. Sirius eventually went for red. They stared at each other silently for a few moments.

"So, this is it then." He said, his voice almost regretful.

"It was a good alliance while it lasted." She answered. He nodded silently. "Please drink this one too. It's the correct one, I know it is."

"Sorry sweetheart." He said and popped open the cork on the bottle. "It's this one. Feel free to admit you're wrong and follow me." 

He brought the bottle to his lips and swallowed down some of the liquid. In the blink of an eye, he was suddenly gone. There were no red sparks, no teachers or anything. Beth did not know if he had been correct or not. The bottle had reappeared in the rainbow line up, as though nothing had ever happened to it.

Her heart was racing, her hands were sweaty. She needed to make the decision. Would she assume he was right and follow, or follow with her gut feeling? It had to be the blue one, it was the only one with a reason for it being the correct one. 

She opened the bottle, took one last glance at where Sirius once was, and drank the blue liquid.