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.
Post by Elizabeth Doren on Nov 2, 2022 9:22:12 GMT 10
Elizabeth was happy to be alone. After Charms, she had written a letter to her parents.
Dear Mother and Father,
I have heard the news about the breakout in Azkaban. The Ministry is truly incompetent. Just in my last History of Magic lesson I learned about the escape of a different Dark Wizard, Demora, years ago, and how they were unable to recapture him. I have doubts that they will be able to capture the seven escapees. I found it horrible that they would even suggest the Doren family had anything to do with it.
I received a letter today; I believe it was in connection to the Daily Prophet. It called us murderers and liars, but of course I did not believe it. I was thinking of asking my Head of House to help me find a way to restrict letters, such as only allowing them from you, Mother and Father, but I have not yet had the chance. I would not want to face such hatred again should the Prophet make another mistake.
I wanted to add that yesterday, during Breakfast, I noticed that Headmaster Rickard was absent, but others were saying that he had gone with a bunch of Ministry workers. Perhaps they were concealing the breakout from students and their families.
Your faithful daughter, Elizabeth Doren
After sending it, she had come up to the Astronomy Tower, Silver Key in hand. The Niffler had given it to her and she intended to make good use of it while she was still at Hogwarts before the summer came and she left the school for her home. She was a little out of breath from the journey up to the tower, so she paused to catch it.
Then she attempted to use the key on the silver chest and unlock it. She hoped there would be something useful in there, at least.
The cache box was tucked away in a shadowed corner, beneath some spiral stairs -- a place most wouldn't think to look, yet the silver key seemed to draw one to it.
Once the key was inserted, it became stuck in place. Magic surrounded the box, then a game etched itself onto the wooden lid.
- ------- ----- -- - ------
Writing appeared along the front:
"To unlock resources within, speak the passphrase once devised. Six errors you are allowed, if you wish to uncover what we've disguised. Be warned, however, as words hold power when drawn from what you cannot hide."
How to Play
Inspired by hangman. Each turn, your character says a letter that may be part of the phrase. They also provide an example word starting with that letter. The word isn't relevant to the phrase, but strengthens the magical connection to the key.
You're allowed 6 incorrect letters then you must attempt a phrase guess, though you're allowed to guess sooner if you're confident you know the answer.
An unlocked cache contains 4 ingredients, 2 game pieces, 1 food item, and a Bubble-Head potion.
Although playing a mini-game, this is still an RP-thread. The example words provided with each letter guess should be relevant to your character -- such as "R - for rainbow" drawn from a childhood memory of a rainbow, or a rainbow-coloured object they're fond of.
Post by Elizabeth Doren on Nov 2, 2022 23:19:49 GMT 10
Elizabeth read the words on top of the box. She didn't want to have any incorrect guesses, but it wasn't like she had anywhere to start from. She decided to start trying with a relatively common letter, and one that she knew rather well.
"E - for Elizabeth." That was her name, and the name she liked best. It was hers. She had never appreciated attempts at shortening it, nor had she understood them. It wasn't like her name was especially long anyways. People could deal with having to say it, even if it took them more time than they wanted it to.
Post by Elizabeth Doren on Nov 2, 2022 23:27:05 GMT 10
Elizabeth breathed a sigh of relief. No incorrect guesses yet, then. She looked at the letters, but there were many options for the remaining ones. She still had no idea what the phrase could be, but she needed to keep guessing anyways, otherwise there would be really no point to this whole thing.
"N - for Niffler" Elizabeth thought of the experience she had with the Niffler. It had been rather polite, now that she thought about it. Was that unusual for Nifflers? It was a testament to Elizabeth's dislike of Care of Magical Creatures that she couldn't remember. Maybe she had misjudged them simply based on their like for shiny things.
Post by Elizabeth Doren on Nov 3, 2022 3:07:37 GMT 10
Elizabeth winced. Incorrect. She only had five left now, and worse, she hadn't made any progress towards the phrase. Her mind went towards a negative space. Would this be a waste of her time if she didn't manage to figure out what the phrase was before she ran out of incorrect guesses? Not to mention she was pretty sure that there wouldn't be a second chance. Magic was like that.
"D - for dog." Elizabeth thought about the negative experience she had with the dog when she was younger, and the slightly less negative one with Fang, Hagrid's dog.
Post by Elizabeth Doren on Nov 3, 2022 14:32:24 GMT 10
Another incorrect guess. At this rate, Elizabeth would have actually wasted all her time, not to mention the money that the gem had cost her. She needed a good letter, one that would actually make sense here, she just couldn't figure out what it could be. Maybe another vowel? That would probably be the best move.
"A - for acceptable." As in, the grade Elizabeth most certainly did not want to receive on any of her OWLs, because it would be, to her, the equivalent of failing miserably on all of them. Acceptable was passing. She needed to be on her best game for the tests, and she was starting to wonder if maybe there were better ways to spend her time.
Post by Elizabeth Doren on Nov 3, 2022 14:39:30 GMT 10
Finally, a correct guess! Elizabeth looked at her very difficult to pronounce phrase, given that she was still missing a majority of the letters. It was better than nothing. Two of the words were even complete. Sure, they were one letter words, but Elizabeth would take it because it meant she was headed in the right direction.
"T - for two" Elizabeth said, as in, the number of correct guesses and the number of incorrect guesses she had. She just had to make sure that the number of correct guesses grew faster than the incorrect guesses. Hopefully it would be easier now that she had a few more letters filled in.
Post by Elizabeth Doren on Nov 3, 2022 14:45:47 GMT 10
Elizabeth looked at the words. The middle one was still confusing to her, but that was because it was the emptiest. It was probably best to start with the other ones and hope the middle one would be filled in a little by the time she got to it.
"R - for rain." She was glad it hadn't been raining recently because going outside was miserable when it did. She remembered an experience from first year when she had been walking to, or maybe from something when it had suddenly started to rain. It seemed like it had come from almost nowhere, and naturally Elizabeth had gotten soaked and then never mentioned it or even really thought about it ever again.
She glared at the chest like it had the blame for this particular line of thinking.
Post by Elizabeth Doren on Nov 3, 2022 14:51:34 GMT 10
Elizabeth looked at the last word now. There were a few options for it, none that seemed to fit particularly well with any of the others, which was dangerous because it meant she could use up some of her incorrect guesses. It was probably a risk she should at least try to take, though. It wasn't like it would solve itself.
"B - for brother." Elizabeth thought of how William must be doing today. He hadn't been the one to receive the hateful mail, thankfully, but certainly their peers must have sent him the looks and the whisperings behind their backs that Elizabeth faced. Elizabeth hated it. If they wanted to talk with her, they should talk to her face so she could masterfully disarm any arguments against their family.
Or maybe duelling was more appropriate at this point.
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February
