An active, character-driven Hogwarts experience set in the early 2000s. Unique items, plots, and features. Non-canon; this isn't Harry Potter's story, it's ours.
'Third window of the vacant corridor' - Alice kept repeating to herself as she walked in the same corridor. She wasn't exactly sure what she had to find, probably some kind of mirror. No. It was a room of mirrors that she had to find.
She wasn't certain if it was a wise decision to listen to ancient parchment or to roam in this corridor alone, but she was already too far on her journey to return. She had already done a lot of things to be here, and she was not going to go back.
She counted the windows - One, Two, and Three.
Last Edit: Aug 5, 2022 21:54:55 GMT 10 by Alice Jane
It took a bit of wandering, as if the Room of Mirrors waited for Alice to step in a very specific spot of the corridor space in front of the third window. And once she did, a door-sized mirror appeared on the wall. There was no door handle or any instructions to give her a clue on how to enter, so she'd just have to try a few things until something worked.
Simply approaching it or making her reflection move wouldn't achieve anything.
There was nothing on the third window, and there was nothing in front of it either. Then how to find the room of mirrors? Alice went ahead to touch the window, but nothing happened. she went to the other side to touch the wall in front of the window, but still nothing.
She was walking between the window and the wall when she stepped on a particular spot, and something appeared out of thin air. It was a large door-size mirror.
It could be possible that this door was the correct way. The first clue was that it was a mirror door. But still, the problem was to figure out how to open it.
Alice went closer to check if her reflection in the mirror was normal and if there were any instructions on the door or nearby it.
Her reflection simply stared back at her, mirroring her moves as any ordinary mirror would. There were no instructions, no indentations, and no clues whatsoever as to how she should proceed. It seemed to be a case of trial and error.
Her reflection in the mirror was exactly like her. It made a happy face when she did, made a sad face when she did, raised its hand when she did, and jumped when she did.
Alice was confused because there must be some way to open the mirror, "Mirror, mirror on the wall," She started in poetic form, then her tone changed to the conversation, "Tell me the way... to open you." It was a muggle dialog, but that's what she could think of the situation.
If nothing else worked, then muggle ways would. She went closer and slowly touched the mirror. Maybe touch would reveal something.
If it weren't for its magical appearance and suspiciously door-shaped frame, it otherwise seemed to be any ordinary mirror.
Though the reflective glass seemed to shimmer a bit when her fingers touched the frame or glass -- with the latter creating the most effect. As soon as she broke contact, the shimmer faded.
Most of Alice's attempts didn't give any results, but something happened with a little touch. She wasn't mistaken; the mirror shimmered on the touch. There must be an answer to every puzzle, and this was the answer to this mirror.
If a little touch could shimmer the mirror, then maybe a push could break it, or open it, whatever was supposed to happen. Hoping for the mirror to open, Alice pressed her hand on the middle of the mirror.
When she placed her hand against the glass, there was some resistance from the surface then her hand could sink through it -- her wrist as well. Once Alice stepped through and into the room, the mirror would fade from the outside wall so no one else could stumble upon it.
The large room was lit by torches and otherwise empty, except for a door at the other side. Not far into the room, the floor stopped being typical Hogwarts stone and instead was made of strange yet big squares. There was a significance to them, though their meaning wasn't clear until she noticed writing at her feet that gave a brief explanation of how to proceed.
Choose your steps carefully to make your way across the room. One wrong step, and it's over. Every safe square is connected to the next, either diagonally or directly in front of it. There is only one safe square per row. The choice is yours.
X = Danger -- GAME OVER X = Caution -- is either left or right of the safe one. X = Safe.
Note:Squares are not numbered in RP -- it's just so mods know which one you've picked, so be sure to mention something like "she stepped on the 4th one".
As she had expected, Alice could press the mirror by force. With a little more pressure, her hand started to sink inside it. At first, it was scary, but she could still feel her hand which meant it should be on the other side of the mirror.
Alice had decided to move forward, and as she had expected to happen, she went inside the mirror. It was a large room, lit only by some torches. There was not much in the room except the door behind her and a way forward. After a few steps forward, there was a pattern on the floor - big square blocks.
Those square doesn't look normal, but not weird either. Alice's eyes went to the writing on the floor, which proved how strange those blocks were. One wrong step, and it's over. What does that mean? Was it actually risky? Till now, she had broken school rules and used an illegal potion.
Alice was standing in the middle of the row and chose to move forward straight.
When Alice stepped onto the square, it changed colour to signify her level of danger or safety. There was some sort of magical field keeping her on that square, making it clear that she'd only get to stand on one per row.
Now she had to make her next choice, and hope she didn't get any dangerous ones.
Alice took her first feet slowly and waited for anything to happen. A magical barrier appeared to stop her from moving sidewise. Does that mean that it was the right decision?
"Good, Good, It was right." She spoke to the empty room. "Just a few more correct steps, and done." The scary part was that there was only one chnce. One mistake, and it's over. She didn't know what exactly ver means and didn't want to know either.
She looked around the three nearby floors where she could move. There was no difference in them, anything which could give any clue for the correct square. Looks like it was only on luck. She began to take another step straight.
When Alice stepped into the next square, it became grey, which was slightly bad news. Her next step could be the end of this game and whatever it means.
It was time to apply some maths. The square Alice was standing in wasn't the correct one, but her to her - Either left or right. If the left was correct, then the next could be either straight from her, left side, or further left. If the right was correct, then the next would be either straight, right side, or further right.
Till now, she had three possible options, but now she had five. Actually, she still had three only because she couldn't jump longer than one square, but what if one of them was the correct one? Don't think. Just choose - left, right, or straight.
"Four founders. You have brought me till here. Now you have to help me pass this through." She said. 16% chances of left, further left, right, or further right, but 33% of straight being correct. So, let's go with the odds. Then she moved forward straight again.
It wasn't the worst decision, but not the best either. The floor turned into a grey color.
The right or left one was the correct one, which means, last time also, the same block was the correct one. If the left was correct this time and last time, then again, the odds of all blocks were the same, and if the right was correct both times, then also. Still, the middle one had the highest odds of being correct.
But if we could number of occurrences, then one time it was the middle one, then two times either left or right. There are fewer changes of the same block being the correct one. It means it was either the middle one or extreme left or right.
It was a hard decision between left and right, but she had to decide. "Founders, I know you wanted me to pass through this. So, help me." She said and stepped towards the left block.