Locked doors PV Lilith Westlocke Closed

While Dinah had felt for sure that hearing Lilith already knew the answer would make her feel nothing short of stupid, she was pleasantly surprised. She was just glad that one of them knew the answer so that they could keep going on in their adventure. 

Lilith was looking at Dinah like she expected some kind of big reaction. Well, Dinah wasn't one to disappoint. "Wow, that's amazing! You're so smart I can't believe I'm in the presence of a total genius." There was obvious sarcasm running through the whole statement and she had  waved her hands about in mock awe. 

Grinning broadly, Dinah moved past Lilith and through the now open door into the next room. As her eyes lay on what sat in front of them her grin only strengthened. Riddles she didn't particularly care for but something like this? A proper puzzle? This was her strength. 

"Oh stop complaining. This will be easy! We just need to find at least two pieces that fit and we can work out from there. Look, these two clearly go together." Dinah pulled two of the thin pieces of whatever it was they had been given and slotted them together carefully. The moment the edges touched, the two pieces had fused together to make just one piece. 

Dinah was in her element. Without much thought as to what Lilith was doing, she jumped across the room grabbing different pieces and fitting them together till after 10 minutes or so they had all joined together to form one giant piece. 

"See, we're done! Oh...wait..." Dinah grabbed one of the edges that still seemed to have an odd shape to it. The edge around the material was frayed slightly and it seemed that there was still a piece to be found. "Hmm, I think there's another piece somewhere but I can't see it. Can you see it anywhere?" 

The girl looked around the ground of the dome shaped room feverishly, determined to find the last piece and solve the puzzle and get the treasure. 

Lilith ignored the other girl's sarcasm. A compliment was a compliment She watched the other girl work with a raised eyebrow. She did not move from her arm-crossed position in the room, not wanting to damage the girl's concentration or mess up the puzzle that was being set out before her. In ten minutes time, it was almost complete. Lilith snorted. She herself would be at hour three before being at the state of success that Dinah was. Stupid puzzles, Lilith shook her head.

When Dinah asked her to look for one of the missing puzzle pieces, Lilith thought how awful it would be if they were short one. Then this whole mission would be a waste of time. Still not moving from her place, Lilith's blue orbs scanned the floor and the walls carefully.

She clicked her tongue a few times to draw Dinah's attention to her and pointed with her index finger up towards the ceiling. The puzzle piece seemed to be embedded in the ceiling, barely peeking out from the stone. Not to mention the sheer height it was above them.

"You might want to cover yourself for this."

Lilith let out a breath as she pulled her aspen wand from its place in her robes and pointed it at one of the old stones that laid on the ground from the unstable tunnel. She moved her wand in the shape of a sideways seven, or an odd snake and said, "Wingardium Leviosa." Careful, to pronounce every word in her accent.

The small stone was lifted. It was certainly heavier than a feather, but as Lilith had been practicing on quills and books, it only gave a certain strain on her mind. Her focused herself on the stone, careful not to look at the tip of her wand directly, and directed the stone into the air slowly.

Mentally preparing herself, Lilith lurched her arm and let go of the spell, causing the stone to fly through the air and hit the puzzle piece. Dirt fell from the ceiling around them and both the boulder and the puzzle piece fell to the ground.

Lilith stuffed her wand back into her pocket. "Good thing this place is so unstable that the ceiling wasn't very rough. Go on now, finish the bloody puzzle."

OOC: Dear Moderators: I have completed the homework for the levitation charm and have gotten it returned. I have sent an owl to one of the prefects to put it in my Trunk a few days ago, so I'm hoping this doesn't count as a spell infraction . If you need proof, you can owl me and I'll show you the screenshots.

Of course the last piece was stuck in the ceiling. Where else would it be? Dinah thought to herself, again unable to control the sarcasm. At Liliths words, Dinah covered her head with both her arms  just in case of any falling debris. No way was she going to miss out on the result of this adventure just because she had been knocked unconscious by a chunk of ceiling. 

Once Lilith had let go of the spell, the boulder and the puzzle piece had fallen to the floor. Dinah stretched her hand out and grabbed the final piece, eagerly running over to where the final edge of the puzzle sat. She slipped the final piece into place, laughing triumphantly when the edges meshed together. 

“Okay there we go...so...what is it?” 

With her hands on her hips, Dinah gazed down at her finished work and set about trying to figure out what the puzzle was depicting before them. 

It seemed to be a rather badly drawn but very elaborate picture of a key. Off every edge of the key spiralled black lines that curled round into circles, almost disguising the key entirely. The key itself appeared to be blue rather than black, although only a few shades was between them. While the image was pretty, it looked as if it had been drawn by a particularly enthusiastic toddler and Dinah couldn’t help but wonder why on Earth something like this would be part of an elaborate and seemingly clever puzzle like this one? 

“What good is a picture of a key? We need an actual key!” Dinah threw her hands up in annoyance. “So what do you think we should do now?”

She turned to face Lilith and placed her hands on her hips, an eyebrow raised. 

Lilith observed the finished puzzle, moving her finger in a circular motion on her wrist. She tilted her head and hummed. The key wasn't particularly detailed. Every black space it was on took up a whole square, creating a block-like key. Lilith then scanned the room again and narrowed her eyes.

Without words to explain her genius, Lilith went off to the side of the puzzle before hopping onto the end of the key, where the round "handle" part was. The puzzle piece sunk into the ground. Lilith grinned victoriously.

"A pressure plate," she explained. She stepped to the next one, which also smashed itself into the ground. Lilith moved along the small circle before taking the first few steps on the length along the key that would be inserted into the door.

With every gaining step, the room shook slightly behind them and the pieces let out a faint glow. Lilith stepped on one of the key's indents, then the next. Finally, there was one section missing at the never end. The head of the key.

Lilith glanced up to meet Dinah's eyes, has always been one for theatrics, and stepped on the last piece.

The puzzles started to shake. Lilith, alarmed, leaped from the puzzle pieces and landing next to Dinah. One of the far walls, opposite from the door then entered through, also began to shake. It screamed as if there were mechanics behind there. The wall slowly moved to the side, revealing a small room that gave off a golden glow. The rest of the room stopped its mini-earthquake.

Lilith's eyes widened considerably as an awed grin touched her face. Subconsciously, she moved closer to the little hollow in the wall. Two pedestals were risen out of the ground. On one, a dark blue key with a round handles like the one in the picture. The other held a large chest, which was opened just a smidge to help see the thousands of galleons underneath.

"Holy mother of Merlin-!" Lilith exclaimed. That kind of money could keep Lilith going the rest of her life! Lilith's eyes glanced to Dinah. Then again, the key can get them through the door. They must have been the firsts ones ever to go through the door as both objects were still here. Or the others didn't complete the puzzle, Lilith thought darkly. That could have only meant death. Good things there weren't any skeletons in here.

Lilith examined the pedestals closer. "Pressure plates," she observed. "We can only take one item."

Dinah watched silently as Lilith hopped from one piece to the other,each sinking into the ground. The whole pressure plate thing reminded Dinah of some old movie she had seen at one of her foster homes. Some Indiana Jones wannabe had been down a tunnel in search of gold and had accidentally stood on some pressure plate. Poinsoned darts had flown through the room narrowly missing the guy and he’d fallen down into a pit of scorpions. Dinah sincerely hoped that  both she and Lilith were significantly smarter than that guy and would get through this adventure pretty much unscathed. 

The dramatics of the situation was heighten instantly by the reveal of the two pedestals, one holding a key and the other a rather impressive number of galleons. Assuming the key was to the other door, Dinah thought it seemed the obvious choice but she couldn’t deny the gleaming pile of gold looked very appealing. 

“I’ve never seen that much gold before...” There was longing in Dinahs voice but it was a little strained. Was her want for the money stronger than her desire for adventure? Definitely not. “But I think we should take the key. That’s what we came in here for, right?”

She looked over at Lilith to try and gauge her reaction. Dinah was unsure what her thoughts would be. Would she agree or would she want the galleons? 

Almost instinctively Dinahs hand had reached towards the pedestal holding the key. Her fingers reached out, hovering in the yellowish light that surrounded the key, waiting for the green light from Lilith. 

Lilith's eyes flickered back and forth between the key and the galleons. Dinah wanted the key. Was she really willing to give up so much money for a key? A key that could lead to their deaths? Especially when so much money was sitting just feet away? Lilith assumed that Dinah didn't have the same greed that she did. Probably much more money than herself.

She let out a growl before crossing her arms stubbornly. Her jaw clenched. "What are you waiting for? Just pick up the forsaken key."

That was Lilith's green light. Whatever was behind that door better have been worth it to make up for the money that could have let Lilith flow through life as easily as a Muggle surfer on a wave.

"Whatever nightmares behind that door better scare those galleons out of my mind or I'll be sure to perish before this trip is over," Lilith said, rolling her eyes. She turned swiftly, trusting Dinah to pick that key and not pocket all the money for herself and moved back to the section of wall that they entered through. It shook and moved aside, revealing their original passage back out to the three doors.

Without looking to see if Dinah was following, Lilith followed the tunnel out to the three doors and glared at the middle doorway. It is extremely odd for them to had to use one door to get to the other, but not the last one. It wasn't like Lilith was very keen on fighting the beast anyways. Her hand hovered over the door knob, lost in thought.

Her hand clenched around the cold metal of the key and she pulled it from the plinth and shoved it into the pocket of her robes. Lilith had turned away like she couldn’t bare to watch the galleons go to waste. Admittedly, for a moment Dinah considered ditching the key altogether and grabbing as many galleons as she could and throwing them in her pockets. With money like that she could buy any number of objects but with the key... The temptation of adventure was too much. 

As she removed the key from the plinth the stone around it began to shake. It took Dinah a moment before she realised the entire room was beginning to shake. Not wanting to waste any time in what was seemingly a collapsing room, she hurried after Liliths retreating back, not looking behind her. The pair quickly made their way back through the rooms till they reached their original entrance where the three doors faced them. 

“Well, that was interesting.” Dinah commented cheerily, getting out the key and examining it. “Extremely glad we didn’t die in there.” 

Looking at Lilith she noticed her looking at the middle door. It did seem very strange that it was there if it wasn’t needed. Very curious indeed...

“Hey Westlocke, fancy taking a trip through that other door? Just got curiosities sake?” 

At first Dinah hadn’t been too keen to fight any magical beast considering the lack of training she’d had. But she hadn’t really wanted to solve the puzzle either and they had managed that relatively easily. How much harder could this one be?

"Pfft, that'll be stupid. We're first years for Merlin's sake. Whatever beast no matter how tameable we have little to no chance of defeating," Lilith said but there wasn't any passion behind her words. The thought kept coming back. Why would you need one door but not the other? "On the other hand, it would only be smart to check this door in case there is something we need from it while facing the challenges on the other side of the glass door, wouldn't you agree?"

Without waiting for a response, Lilith slowly turned the doorknob, taking her wand out of her robes at the same time. Instead of another tunnel, there was a large dome room similar to that of a Roman Colosseum. "Woah," Lilith said in awe, taking a step into the room. "This should be the next Gryffindor Common Room! It's beautiful!"

Indeed it was. It was a white limestone with vines etched in the material. Little alcoves for spectators sat along the walls with stairs leading up to them. "Whatever this big test must be, it was for entertainment. Too mad it obviously was never put to use."

And in the middle of the Colosseum, was a pile of large bones. Lilith crouched down next to it, picking one up before dropping it back down in disgust. The bones were slightly yellow. "They've been here for a long time," Lilith observed. There were large bones. Obviously a fierce creature. What confused Lilith was that there were different bones for different animals. A large skull that Lilith could recognize as a huge lion, but then there were hoves laying off to the side. What type of lion has hooves? Why would a lion be a beast to be fought by wizards and witches in the first place. Then it hit her.

"Remember that Chimaera I was talking to you about?" Lilith looked up from her crouching position on the ground. Welp, looks like we found one. This place must not have been made for a long period of use. This poor fella probably died down here with no one around. The shame for such a beautiful creature and curses for the idiots who made such a place."

A shiny object caught Lilith's eye. She yanked it off some bones. It was a small necklace with a golden vial connected to it. "This must be the glory they spoke of. Maybe it will help us through the other door perhaps?" Lilith got up from the ground, dusting off invisible dirt. "Lead the way to that door! It is time to end this little adventure."

Admittedly, Dinah was a little disappointed with what lay in the Colosseum-like room. She thought that, although dangerous, it would have been pretty cool to see the magical creature that lay inside. A Chimaera Lilith had said. In her head, Dinah made a mental note to look it up in the library when they were done with this adventure. It seemed rather unfair that the poor thing had been left down here to die and it made Dinah question the ethics of Hogwarts for just a moment. 

She was distracted from her thoughts when Lilith took a small golden vial that had been hidden within the bones. It seemed this was the prize you received for defeating the beast. "I wonder what it does...guess we'll find out when we go through the  other door." 

This said, Dinah headed back out the large circular room and to the three doors once again. This was it, they were finally about to find out what was behind the mysterious third door. They were going to find out what exactly that mysterious mist was. By now she had definitely missed her lesson but she felt that the adventure they had been  on was a pretty good reason to skip class. That being said, she wondered whether whatever was behind the door would keep them busy for long. She wasn't sure her Head of House would be very happy to hear that she had missed more than one lesson. 

She stood opposite the final door, holding the key in her hands and looking sideways at Lilith who held onto the small vial. "Here we go then...end of the road. Let's just hope this isn't the door that kills us. That would be unfortunate." 

Dinah slipped the key into the hole and turned it slowly to the right. It was stiff and for a moment she wasn't sure it was going to move at all but it eventually spun round and with a click and she felt the door loosen. It fell ajar, small tendrils of the mist or smoke leaking eerily into the corridor.

Lilith snorted. End of the road? Please, we have one more adventure to get through first because whatever is behind that door will test any Gryffindor courage we may have. Facing our nightmares remember?" Lilith impatiently pushed the rest of the door open, revealing a pitch-black tunnel. "Hope you don't fear the dark."

Lilith began to walk down the tunnel. The air was cold. She took out her wand and tried, "Lumos." Nothing happened. "Looks like this tunnel wouldn't allow any magic. The shame." Lilith stuffed her wand back into the pocket of her robes.

The tunnel came to a thing they were very familiar with, a door. Written on it was: Take your glory if you have it. Lilith held up the golden vial. "This must be what bottled glory is. Hopefully, it doesn't kill us." Lilith popped open the lid and drank half the liquid. She coughed, having the rest of the vial to Dinah. "Do you think drinking half each will give us the glory for half the time or the full time with half the glory, hmm? It tastes awful." Lilith coughed again. "Like cobwebs and cat food."

Lilith opened this door easily, no puzzle involved. The room before them was just like the door, full of mirrors. Every angle was covered with them, giving it the appearance of a Muggle funhouse. As Lilith stepped in, multiple of her look-alikes appeared on the glass around her, never making eye contact as she looked around. Her clones followed whatever she did.

"You know, I heard this horror story once from a Muggle boy. As it went, if you were staring into a mirror for long enough, you'd begin to see a man behind you. If you turned around, he wouldn't be there. You'd look back into the mirror and see him again, this time, closer. You'd turn around and still, nothing would be there. The third time you look back into the mirror, he would be right over your shoulder. You could feel his breath on your neck. When you turned around, he'd kill you." Lilith glanced at Dinah, throwing her an uneasy smile. "I hope that doesn't happen."