Blood Filled Chalice

Winner: Nagini!

Last Time:

Noles groaned as he quickly stumbled to his feet, (Shit! Someone is here. They must be after Tom- ...) he knew right away something was wrong, (and they have my cloak.) he thought urgently as he readied himself to fight his assailant ...

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"I'll find you!" Noles said and unleashed a strong wind spell. He had hoped to blow the flimsy cloak up or even completely off the assailant, but to his surprise there wasn't even a flutter. There was no way to escape from the original entrance so if there wasn't any evidence here what did it mean?

To his horror he realized the assailant might've already left the room and was headed for Tom. "I have a job to do and I won't let you interfere." He hissed to himself before running off into the hall. He waited there quietly for any sound that would give away the assailant's position, especially for the sound of a doorway opening.

'We'll see.' Nagini hissed quietly with a bit of the cloak in her mouth, which slightly muffled her, to secure it over her body. She had wrapped herself firmly in the cloak to keep it from falling away. It just so happened to be a useful trick to prevent the cloak from being blown off her as well and the expansion charm the Aurors like to use on these things kept her nicely covered even as she uncoiled her long body. 'Let's explore.' She hissed as she calmly slithered out of the room, passed the sensitive Auror's legs while just barely dodging a hex and into a different room.

With great care she swiftly took in the quaint sitting room. This was clearly an old gathering area for students. The books on the shelves were either story books or old creature identification picture books or books like Candy and How it's Made. In other words, more fun things rather than boring textbooks.

"This place is a hatchling hideaway.' She huffed and not pleased that the brats running around the castle knew about this place before her. She poked her head into an oddly placed cardboard box that was tucked away on a shelf and looked quite intrigued by the contents hidden inside. 'These could be useful ... now how do I get an exit?' Nagini mused as she wandered around.

It wasn't as clear as it was getting in. There actually wasn't a single wall sconce there. Everything was lit by hanging ceiling lights that had glowing fireflies golems in them or candles on the tables. She also couldn't find an etched pattern on the walls like the one that led her to these halls so she wasn't sure how to get out. At the same time she knew it must be a simple trick because otherwise students would be trapped in there constantly. It was a puzzle, but unfortunately it was a little too puzzling for she was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't realize that the cloak snagged the edge of a book as she slithered passed a low table. The second that book hit the floor she knew the wizard heard and the sounds of his racing footsteps proved it.

'Shed my scales!' She cursed as she raced to get to a protected corner before the bastard barged in and started throwing hexes everywhere. She found a corner made by a bookcase and a wall. It seemed safer than other options so she pressed herself against the corner just as the wizard ran in.

What happened next shocked both of the occupants. Nagini quickly got her answer to the exit puzzle. It seems all you have to do to get out is to lean on a bare wall and the wall next to the bookcase, the very one her coils were huddled against, was bare. A doorway opened up right next to the invisible serpent. Ano odd detail about the location the doorway opened up to made the serpent's jaw actually drop.

"You're not going anywhere!" The wizard yelled and blasted at the person he no doubt assumed went through the doorway.

Nagini was barely aware of the wizard racing out the door, but she calmly came to her senses and moved away from the wall once he was out. As expected the doorway closed and she slithered smugly away. With a deviousness in her eyes she slithered over to the cardboard box that caught her interest before and latched onto the lid. For some reason she was perfectly fine with letting the cloak go in favor of the box.