[Charms] Team 2, Stage 2!

[Girty Hubbles]

Girty listened to what the sphinx had to say and ran through the riddle in her head over and over again. A frown spread over the Hufflepuff’s face as she tried to make sense of it and failing. It was the part where it could not be touched but felt…how can you feel something if you can not touch it. Looking around at her team mates they all seemed to be deliberating the riddle and it was the youngest of the party who spoke first.

Girty looked down at Sarie and listened to what she had to say and for a moment it seemed the most logical explanation, that or snow. But it was only when tried to fit each part of the riddle to rain or snow that she hit a problem.

“You can touch rain tough because it is just water…admittedly you normal end up falling through it but you can feel it around you.”

Girty gave a small nervous laugh and looked over at the Sphinx to see if the creature gave any sort of reaction to what had been said. Its face was emotionless and the stern look still filled its face and Girty quickly diverted her gaze feeling like she was being scrutinized.

[Jac Shaw]

Jac should have remembered how proud sphinxes were and she would have kicked herself had she not been thinking about the riddle the noble creature posed. The riddle was supposedly the easy one out of the four but it seemed to be fairly difficult to begin with. Sarie and Girty talked about it. She listened to their words and thought on it.

"Besides," Jac added softly, "it does rain at the equator. That's why it's so green there. No ... it's not rain, or snow or clouds or ...." That got Jac's mind working. Clouds billow and waft like your breath on a cold morning. When it was cold Jac would always hold up her hand and breath on it to see her own steamy breath curl around her hand like the clouds did. Standing in the fire lit room, the sphinx looking down on the four students, Jac held her hand up, imitating the action, and breathed on her hand.

Jac stared at her hand, and her eyes went wide with excitement. "That's it!" she said, "I fly in the air, But I am not always there. I cannot be touched, But I can be felt or held and if you live near the equator, you may have a tough time seeing me. What am I?" Jac spoke with feverish excitement, looking at each of her friends. "Don't you see?" she said, waving her hands about, gesticulating. "Breath, it's your breath." She turned to the sphinx and said, "It's your breath, isn't it?"

[Professor Daniel Hubbles]

The sphinx watched on as the student’s disgust their answer, it was the youngest Gryffindor who spoke first but her point was quickly hushed by the Hufflepuff who saw the errors in her decision and the older Gryffindor backed her friend up. Silence fell over them and the Sphinx watched the Ravenclaw expecting him to have the intelligence but it was the elder Gryffindor who spoke once more. The smallest hint of a smile filled the Sphinx’s face and the creature slowly nodded her head as the correct answer was spoken aloud.

“That is indeed the correct answer. You can feel, hold and even see your breath but it is impossible to touch. Congratulations please step forward onto the next platform and await your next riddle.”

[Sarie Thimble]

Sarie stepped forward she was ready. She wanted to hear the next one. She loved riddles. So maybe she she couldn't answer some of them but she wanted to try. She been nothing but dead weight to the rest of her team.

[Girty Hubbles]

Girty had pre-warned everyone she was not good at riddles, it meant thinking logically and that was something she did not do very well. Her mind jumped from one thought to the other and when she tried to think back to what the previous thought had been she normally forgotten. However it was lucky for them that Jac seemed to be rather handy with the riddles and managed to throw together an answer and when the Sphinx nodded its head Girty turned to look at Jac with a wide grin on her face.

“Did I ever tell you Jac that I loved you?”

Girty could not help but laugh as the Sphinx’s voice rang out telling them to move forward to the next platform. Seeing as she was still holding his hand Girty ended up dragging Alex along with her as she followed Sarie onto the next platform to await what the next riddle was going to be.

[Professor Daniel Hubbles]

The sphinx watched with quite amusement as the team celebrated the solving of the riddle particularly when the Hufflepuff declared a love for the older of the Gryffindor while still holding hands with the Ravenclaw. This then gave the Sphinx an idea for the next riddle to be put forward so once the rest of the team had taken their position on the next platform the Sphinx spoke once more.

“A different type of riddle for you now, but you will still have to think hard before answering….

‘Romeo and Juliet are found dead on the floor in a bedroom. When they were discovered, there were pieces of glass and some water on the floor. The only furniture in the room is a shelf and a bed. The house in is a remote location, away from everything except for the nearby railway track. What caused the death of Romeo and Juliet?’

[Jac Shaw]

Jac's answer had been correct. Pride swelled within her and she beamed at everyone. Jac was your typical Gryffindor, proned to getting a big head because of her pride. This was also a dangerous time because she got overly confident and the chances of her slipping up were greater. She stepped forward knowing this very well. She would have to restrain herself and think before she spoke.

Jac tapped Girty lightly on the arm with her fist but wasn't given a chance to reply because the sphinx started speaking again. Here we go, Jac said to herself. The riddle excited Jac. She, being a pure blood, didn't know too much about Romeo and Juliette except what Grace had told her. Turning to her friends Jac said, "didn't Romeo and Juliette die in a mausoleum? And wasn't it because of their love that they died? Or am I looking at this too literally?"

[Sarie Thimble]

Sarie may have been pure blood but she enjoyed muggle stories. "Yeah Jac they did. That has to be the answer because Juliet killed herself with Romeo's knife after he drank a poison because he thought she was dead. It's rather sad really." Sarie knew if she had ever run into a problem like they did she would do the same thing. "Sorry if I but in." She muttered.

[Girty Hubbles]

“What an amazing elopement they had, they must have been having a blast in that box room and the sound of the bloody trains all day long.”

Girty mumbled to herself as the Sphinx finished the riddle. Almost straight away Jac and Sarie were discussing it the possible answers with each other, they did have a point about them dying for love but something was not sitting right with Girty. Sarie had said that they had died by other means, they killed themselves and Girty was pretty sure that unless they slit their wrists with the broken glass it would not be the answer.

“Love is too obvious, that answer is is more like one for a pub quiz question not a riddle…and the riddle has them dead in a remote room with only a bed and a shelf and what sounds like a broken fish bowl.” Girty let out a loud groan "Why can't things be simple?"

Girty let go of Alex’s hand and covered her eyes trying to shield them from the flame light hoping it would help her think. The other thing that was bothering her was the train, why say there was a train if it was not important…but then what did trains do other then carry people from one place to another. Lowering her hands Girty looked at Alex then the two Gryffindors almost hoping one of them will just say something that would place something in her mind, that missing piece of the puzzle.

[Alex Doyle]

'Romeo and Juliet are found dead on the floor in a bedroom. When they were discovered, there were pieces of glass and some water on the floor. The only furniture in the room is a shelf and a bed. The house in is a remote location, away from everything except for the nearby railway track. What caused the death of Romeo and Juliet?’

"Muggle's and their dramatic plays." Alex murmured to himself, thinking about the riddle over and over in his mind. The beauty with riddles was the fact that the answer was hidden somewhere in what was said, Alex knew this, it was just a case of finding what answer was hidden underneath the words. He was holding onto Girtys hand, subconciously his mind was probably on that little fact when the front of his mind was on the riddle itself.

"It is simple though, its probably so simple and so stupid that we are completley overlooking it because we're looking for something either stuck in our faces or stupidly complex"

Alex felt Girty let go of his hand and suddenly he went cold, giving a little shiver he began to pace slightly. This helped Alex think. "Wait a moment!" He said, pretty loudly though more to himself than anybody else. "They're dead on the floor in a bedroom, thats simple in itself." He muttered going through the riddle bit by bit in his head, "There's glass and water on the floor, this could mean the glass object could have been anything... Train track, which means trains. Shelf, glass, train." Alex furrowed his brow then started laughing, "They're fish." He said simply with a shrug.

"Let me explain before you lot think im mad. They are dead on the floor right? The only things in that room are a bed, a shelf, bits of broken glass, water and Romeo and Juliet who are dead on the floor. There is a traintrack near the house, meaning trains. Meaning, if im right in saying Romeo and Juliet are fish, then that means the broken bits of glass were the fish bowl and im guessing that they died when the train passed, the vibrations disturbing the bowl and making it fall off and smash on the floor"

[Professor Daniel Hubbles]

The Sphinx listened closely to what the group where saying, the Gryffindors seemed to be on the same wave length but yet again the Hufflepuff jumped in and slammed the door in the face of that theory. Professor Hubbles had been right about his sister she had an interesting thinking pattern and for a moment the Sphinx thought she had hit the answer to the question but she seemed to want to pass on the reasonability. It was now that the male Ravenclaw managed to put two and two together and come to the correct conclusion.

“That is the correct answer young Ravenclaw. Please step forward onto the next platform and await the next riddle.”

[Jac Shaw]

Jac was frowning intently. Her red hair was slowly becoming brighter with the concentration. Girty's voice came to her muddled thoughts and Jac thought less and listened more. Lifting her dark brown eyes to look at Girty as she spoke, Jac's mind wondered else where. Alex spoke as well and Jac looked at him. He discovered the answer and Jac's hand flew to her forehead. With riddles it was often the more obvious thing that was the answer and it was hardly ever as complicated as she thought.

Clapping her hand to Alex's shoulder, Jac squeezed it assuringly, smiling at him. "Well done mate," she said softly. Pushing him forward, onto the next platform, Jac nodded her head and smiled at the Claw. "Come on," she said, stepping forward herself.

[Girty Hubbles]

Girty continued to strain her mind in hope of finding an answer, but it seemed that Alex managed to piece the riddle together and art first she could not quite believe that he had come to an answer that Romeo and Juliet were fish…but the more she thought about it the more it made sense and clearly it was the right answer. With a small laugh Girty looked up at Alex and joined in the congratulations with Jac, although Girty’s was a playful tease more then soft words of the Gryffindor.

“Oh wow he does have a brain up there.”

She shot him a cheeky grin as Jac shoved him on the next platform and the Hufflepuff followed Jac over onto it, looking around the room and the flickering torch light as she waited for the Sphinx to offer them the next riddle.

[Professor Daniel Hubbles]

The Sphinx looked at the students as they moved forward. They seemed to be working well as a team they were aiding each other in different ways even with out meaning to, thought patterns were indeed strange things. With its keen eye the creature looked from one to the other, scrutinising them before it spoke once more, the Sphinx had fun trying to guess which one would solve the riddle first and this was one it was particularly proud of and the quick witted and fast thinking might actually get this one quickly.

‘Glittering points that downward thrust,
Sparkling spears that never rust.
What is it’?

[Jac Shaw]

Jac laughed quietly, hiding behind the oh so very tall Claw's back, at Girty's comment on Alex's brain. To question if a Ravenclaw had a brain was one thing but to actually say it to his face was the good ol' riotous Girty Hubbles everyone knew and loved. Jac stepped out from behind Alex and faced the Sphinx again, no longer laughing but certainly smiling her ears off.

The riddle came again, just as the first two had, but unlike those times the answer hit Jac like, well, lightening. Looking at Girty and Alex and Sarie, Jac wanted to confer with them before she blurted out the answer. "Guys," she said softly, "I'm pretty much one hundred per cent sure that it's lightening. I just wanted to hear what everyone else has to say before I yelled out the answer."

Jac rolled her eyes and smiled at Girty. "Yes, I know," she said softer still, "I'm restraining myself, breath!" Jac was known for being impatient and brash, callous at times too, so this show of restrain much have been something.