The Labyrinth of Books Dormbattle 2022 Team 2 Closed

Action: Awareness check (+2 for Sixth Sense)

fabulous banner by Leonard Oaksworth

Mentioning: @Flash Holmwood | @Hanako Tone | @Opeila Winters | @Leonard Oaksworth | @Vienna Goodwin | @Draven Mirador

Piper was excited to join in on this year's dormbattles once again. Last year's had been a lot of fun, despite her minimal participation and exhaustion from studying. This time, the second year was fully awake and ready to participate. It helped that the dorm battles were completely within Slytherin this time, as Gryffindor's involvement last year had felt intrusive to Piper. Now she had a chance to win with her seemingly promising team, and to beat Kennedy. She was sure she could win, and was grateful to Opeila for granting her the opportunity to a competition.

Sizing up her teammates, Piper realized most of the faces were unfamiliar to her. She vaguely remembered seeing Flash and Leonard around, and Hanako was on the dueling team and had played Chess Combat with her. That had been a fun traumatic experience. Draven and Vienna, however, were completely new, and Piper knew Vienna wasn't in her dorm. With the exception of Hanako, who she rather liked due to his knack for antagonizing Starlee, she had a feeling she would forget everyone's names quickly. Better to just study faces.

Piper wasn't quite sure what to expect, but the library was organized much differently than she would have thought. It was a makeshift maze of books but certainly no magical labyrinth. However, Piper wasn't one to complain; the idea was creative.

Flash, who seemed to have acquired an eyepatch now, wasted no time in reading the riddle and surveying the room, looking expectantly at the rest of the group. The gears started turning and Piper thought the words over and over. The terms of the riddle seemed distantly very familiar and she couldn't place why. "Find Miranda..." The first name that popped into her head off of that word was Miranda Goshawk. It took a moment to remember what meaning that name held and where she knew it from, but after a few seconds of thinking it hit the Slytherin. Miranda Goshawk was the author of the Standard Book of Spells, which Piper had spent quite literally hours poring over. She was an impressive author too; one of her books was required for each grade at Hogwarts. The comprehensive technique advice had also helped to improve Piper's spell casting even more - though she had a natural gift for it anyway, of course.

There was no telling if that was the same Miranda, but as they were in a library it seemed like a fair guess. "Well, Miranda Goshawk is an author," Piper started cautiously, breaking the silence. "We all have to read her spellbooks. Not sure about what a Fleabert is though." Hopefully nobody would think it was stupid for whatever reason.

The other term Fleabert was infuriatingly close to the tip of Piper's tongue and she sat in awkward silence for a few seconds, tapping her foot impatiently, until suddenly she remembered where she'd seen it. In her endeavors to learn more about Talia, her semi-new Arctic owl, she had picked up a random book about owls last month by a Fleabert. Her eyes widened. Had too much more time passed by, she would have completely forgotten. "Wait, sorry, I just realized. Fleabert is another author, I just read a book on owls recently." She looked around quickly, gaze glancing over everyone but not really meeting their eyes. "Maybe the riddle has to do with authors?" The idea seemed perfectly logical to herself, but hidden threads of worry knotted around her stomach. Maybe she was missing something and it was a bad idea after all. Nevertheless, she walked to one of the piles of books and began sifting through, attempting to find a book by Miranda Goshawk. Perhaps that would provide a clue.

Action: Looking for any book by Miranda Goshawk

He would be a bad Severus Snape Kid, if he did not upload their tradition of constantly losing in the dorm battles. That was the only reason why he was here, alongside with the other students unfortunate enough to be apart of his group. Alas, unlike the previous teams, his group now consisted of kids that weren’t apart of this hell of a dorm. While that kinda defeats the main purpose of his mission today, that didn’t change any of his hopes of losing dramatically. Suck to be them, they were going to lose together. We’re all in this together afterall.

Though he thought that, he still felt sick just thinking about teaming up together. Mainly because some of his team were on not so pleasant terms with him. Exhibit A: Flash Holmwood. They didnt talk much, fortunately. But being accused publicly for something you definitely did do wasn’t a memory a usual pleasant relationship would have. Though they didnt meet much, Flash’s new look definitely didn’t escape Hanako’s attention. Instead of saying a normal greeting like, ‘good morning’ or ‘good to see you again’, Hanako was too busy biting back calling Holmwood A’ptain and saying ‘aye aye, matey’ whenever he suggests something. Boy was that hard work. @Flash Holmwood

There was another familiar snape kid. One Hanako had seen less of as the years go by. At least the memory they shared was a pleasant one. Being a spectator as Oaksworth was swung into the great lake. Sounds like the present is a perfect opportunity for a blooming relationship.

Unfortunately all flowers wilt, because before their blooming relationship had begun, the opportunity to make him into another sacrifice arisen. Who was Hanako if he did not encourage this?

Bah, well if he stil lives, perhaps Hanako could serve him a pot of tea. Theres still time for that blooming relationship! @Leonard Oaksworth

A non sev snape member that goes by the name of Draven Mirador was a memorable face as well. Fellow butler in Professor’s Orion’s hellish detention and the one that set Jack Burnett on fire. Who wouldn’t love a guy like that, right? He would be the only one receiving a friendly grin from the japanese boy. @Draven Mirador

The rest were unfortunately either new, or almost never interacted with Hanako. He was still debating whether that was good or not. Dueling roster had reminded Hanako one of them being Piper Clark. But memories only made him see her as the girl that kept being on fire during Chess Combats. Accurate enough. Not memorable enough for a friendly gesture. Something told Hanako she wouldn’t mind that at all. @Piper Clark

And another one, he assumed to be Vienna Goodwin. Not a name he’d remember unless she made him remember. Perhaps that may change with the opportunity they have right now. A relationship he -like Oakworth's- in which Hana is eager to see grow. Or wilt, realistically speaking. But hey ,he was on his best behavior today. Anything could happen.@Vienna Goodwin

Upon entering their destination, it was not hard for his teammates to pick up his uneasiness. One much like an unprepared traveler hiking through foreign territory. For those kind(?) enough to be concerned, they would understand the reason for his dilemma (kinda) very shortly after flash read out their riddle.

“ Well, ladies and gentlemen~” he called out as gently as he could without attracting the attention of the scary librarian. “ I’m sure 4 brilliant heads is more than enough to solve this riddle of ours. I’ll be here to provide you moral support. Ahem”

“You can do it~” while it sounded cheerful enough, it clearly lacked sincerity. As most of Hanako’s speeches are.

While he said he was only here for moral support, he didn’t want to be seen as totally useless (a right amount of uselessness is ideal for now). So he listened on the theories that were said by his team and attempted to at least keep an lookout for the specific books they were looking for.

Though he did his best to look nonchalant about it. The studious academic aura within the library made him shift uneasily. Reminding him of the grades he needed to improve on. What a cruel thing to be reminded of. Clearly, Winters placed him here in this area on purpose. That scheming little hamster.

Action:
Choosing to behave for now. Helping Piper search for Miranda Goshawk books

Team 2 people- and Opeila the sceaming hamster

amazing banner by leonard oaksworth

mentions: @Leonard Oaksworth, @Draven Mirador, @Opeila Winters interactions: @Flash Holmwood, @Piper Clark, @Hanako Tone

wordcount: 590 words outfit: x

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The entire year, Vienna hadn't shown much... team spirit. You'd think coming from a family like hers, with Slytherin blood flowing for generations, she'd show much more pizazz for her house. But aside from trying her hardest to actually get sorted into the house, that was pretty much it. No sports. She had obviously tried her best to earn house points, but that didn't always work out. Merlin, she barely knew anybody from her own house, and she was pretty certain the ones she did know hated her. So when she stumbled upon the sign-ups for some kind of dorm battle in the common room, only one thought ran through the girl's head.

Why not?

However, in proper Vienna fashion, she didn't exactly read the fine print before signing up. To put it quite simply, Vienna didn't really know what she was doing. And being a first year, she didn't really have any experience from previous years to assist her, either. Luckily, Vienna soon discovered they'd be working in teams. Luckily, she soon discovered the teams would be doing escape rooms. Fun. She wasn't the observant type, but she was sure she'd figure something out. After all, she hadn't flunked out of Hogwarts yet. Surely that was a good sign.

But as Vienna arrived into the common room that day, a new piece of information was added into her dorm battle knowledge. They would be working in teams. However, as she inspected her teammates, they all seemed to be unfamiliar. Except one. That one... was he a third year? Vienna didn't really remember anything besides he was really grumpy and not a very big fan of fun. Why was he here then? Eh, Vienna could worry about that later.

The rest were completely unknown to her. She knew Draven was another first year, she had certainly heard of him. As for Leonard, Hanako, and Piper, she knew absolutely nothing except the fact they were older than her. She knew Piper wasn't in her dorm, that was for sure. Oh well, she was sure she'd find out plenty about them. They were a team, after all.

Once all the eager Slytherins arrived at the common room, the mastermind in charge, a third year named Opeila, sent each team on their way. With the exception of one member of each team. For them it was Leonard. Shame. Vienna was actually pretty eager to get to know him. Perhaps they'd regroup eventually.

Sadly, Vienna was met with quite an unpleasant surprise. Are. You. Kidding me. The library? Of course her team got her least favorite place in the entire castle. She shuddered. This place was dusty and gave her unpleasant memories of studying and homework. She also hated books. They upset her. "I swear, if this challenge involves reading in any form," she muttered to herself. It was quite audible, however, to anybody who was listening.

After recovering from her short state of shock, Vienna caught up to her team. It seemed that they were already trying to piece the riddle together, specifically the Piper girl. She honestly seemed to be doing most the work. So far, she had deemed that both Miranda and Fleabert were authors.

"Well," Vienna decided to chirp up. "It does say to 'let her meet Fleabert,' so maybe we're supposed to... I don't know, like, put them together?" She shrugged. "I'd say our best bet is to find any books by them and check those out," she added as she began to aid her teammates in their search.

action: helping search, making some suggestions

@Flash Holmwood @Hanako Tone @Piper Clark @Vienna Goodwin @Draven Mirador ( @Leonard Oaksworth)
Round 1

In all the rooms the start seemed bumpy at best, but perhaps that was to be expected, considering that Opeila had sent all the teams to their rooms without providing much of an explanation. Their first clue was easy accessible, but how much would that actually help?
It was good that there were a few higher years present.

The name of the whole room was 'Labyrinth of Books', making it easy to guess what the whole riddles were going to be about. The older students around who had spent some more time in the library and with books written by authors in the wizarding world would probably have an easier time recognizing the names. And so it was. Piper, a second year who Opeila was vaguely familiar with, recognized both names rather quickly and began to search a book by Miranda Goshawk in the pile near her- successfully.

In the pile near her, there was a copy of the 'Book of Spells', stacked between various others.
Flash as well would have a look around, but he would not find anything unusual- the whole set up was made from entirely normal piles of books.
Now they could continue to search for the Fleabert book where they were- or they could try something else. There were more stacks, forming an alley to both sides. But they had to choose.

Reminder:
The rounds go the same as the battle of champions rounds, so 120 hours to post. And yes, this will be baby steps, means you make a guess, an action, whatever and it may either be wrong or right.
I have to see how I go on about hints, I'm gonna decide that spontanously and depending on the situation.
In this room, a few have posted after the deadline. You will not get a reaction to your actions this round, but I will include them in the next, unless you choose new ones with a new post!
Have fun!

"I swear, if this challenge involves reading in any form,"

Hanako had to refrain himself from smiling at Goodwin’s comment. As much as he wanted to agree with her, they were still practically strangers. Nevertheless, it was always nice to finally found someone who wasn’t a nerd. Perhaps there was no need for Hanako to annoy them for now. Non-nerds like them gotta stick up to each other, y’know?

Most likely because he was too distracted by the fact that Goodwin shared her dislike of reading, he couldn’t find anything to help the team. Which is oddly very in -haracter of him. The library’s studious aura was for sure getting to his head. Seeing so many books was starting to make him lightheaded. Overdramatic, but very true. “Found anything, anyone? Need another enthusiastic cheer or what?” He called out to his other teammates allowing a yawn to escape him.

Maybe he should look around more? It hasn’t really worked last time. Any more time he spends on looking at all these books and he’ll really get a headache. What would his team do without their moral support? Who will give empty happy cheers so they can continue on their task of finishing this escape room? At least in that sense, Hanako was somewhat a valuable asset to the team..maybe. Okay, maybe another look wouldn’t hurt too much.

Action:
Invesetigating more stacks of books

@Flash Holmwood@Piper Clark@Vienna Goodwin@Draven Mirador

Action: Looking for a book written by Fleabert down the left alley

@Flash Holmwood @Hanako Tone @Piper Clark @Vienna Goodwin @Draven Mirador ( @Leonard Oaksworth)
Round 2

Although not all members of the team were on a friendly basis or familiar with each other, they quickly seemed to develop some kind of team dynamic. With the Goshawk riddle figured out, the Slytherins were able to realize what kind of riddles Opeila had presented them with- A book hunt, it seemed.

Hanako continued searching book stacks nearby and would find all kind of different titles. They were not even sorted by genre, if the team was to drop the given tasks and do what they wanted, they would surely find all kinds of interesting literature to go through- but not a Fleabert.
Vienna was also searching but like Hanako, she wouldn't find much where she was. However, her suggestions weren't bad, maybe it was that what drove Flash to walk on, down the left alley to continue the search.

He wouldn't be disappointed. In a stack in a corner, the very last one before another alley to the right he would find a seemingly often used book reading "Animal Ghosts of Britain" on the spine and smaller, in a corner "Mopsy Fleabert". A success for sure! Only how would the discovery help them now? There was no sign of another clue on the outside of the book...

Reminder:
The rounds go the same as the battle of champions rounds, so 120 hours to post. And yes, this will be baby steps, means you make a guess, an action, whatever and it may either be wrong or right.
I have to see how I go on about hints, I'm gonna decide that spontanously and depending on the situation.
In this room, a few have posted after the deadline. You will not get a reaction to your actions this round, but I will include them in the next, unless you choose new ones with a new post!
Have fun!

Action:
Flip through the book to see if there are any loose papers or object inside the pages