#chasm....it's nowhere near as bad as it used to be in My Worst Years but it's not even been 3 weeks into the semester and i don't know. i

[pendraegon]

):

[jbk405]

The worst retcons in Star Wars

While I’m riding high on the finale to Star Wars: The Clone Wars (No I am not crying....I cried it all out last night) I have decided to compile a list of the worst retcons to the Star Wars franchise.

Why?  I dunno, I’m a crotchety old nerd who likes to complain about decades-old stories.  Do I need another reason?

In no particular order:

Making Emperor Palpatine a Sith

It’s been 21 years since The Phantom Menace came out, so for an entire generation of nerds he’s always been “Darth Sidious”, but we old-timers remember that for the 22 years before that there was no connection between the Emperor and the Sith.  The term “Sith” itself was present from the earliest iterations of the first film and was used in some promotional materials and tie-ins and toys, but it was solely connected to Darth Vader as a Dark Lord of the Sith.  The Expanded Universe built a specific philosophy and history around the Sith as a concept, not just as a catch-all term for darksider, and that history explicitly didn’t include the Emperor.  There was even hate and schism between the Sith and some other Dark Side philosophies, and even those who didn’t use the Force at all.  In The Truce at Bakura, an EU novel that began the day after Return of the Jedi, an Imperial governor initially dismisses the Rebels’ claims that the Emperor is dead as propaganda until they say that Vader is the one who killed him.  That he believes, and even says how foolish it was for the Emperor to have trusted a Sith.

Even without going into what Dark Side philosophy the Emperor did follow, having Vader as a Sith and the Emperor not helped flesh out the universe by showing that even amongst the totalitarian despots there were different factions.  Just like Hitler and Mussolini each had their own brands of Fascism, they can work together while still being distinct.

Introducing the concept of the Chosen One

People often forget that Darth Vader wasn’t the main antagonist of the original Star Wars film, Grand Moff Tarkin was.  Vader filled the role described as “The Dragon”, the enforcer and primary legman, and the threat they had to bypass so that they could destroy the real threat.  He was a lackey.  A cool lackey absolutely, who grew into the primary antagonist in The Empire Strikes Back, but still a lackey.  And despite how cool and badass he is (And don’t get me wrong, he is a fantastic character and one of the best villains in history) there’s nothing “special” about him within the context of the Jedi and Force users in general.  He does not have any significant advantage over Obi-Wan Kenobi in their duel and is obviously completely unprepared for Kenobi to become One with the Force at his loss (And it is debatable if he even “won” at all given Kenobi’s deliberate self-sacrifice).  When he and Luke duel in ESB he definitely has the upper hand throughout their entire fight, but only as somebody with more experience and training, not because he is Magically Superior.  By the time of ROTJ Luke has even surpassed him despite only three years of experience.

In the Original Trilogy Vader is portrayed as a dangerous, powerful, and skilled opponent, but never as somebody POWERFUL.  Never as somebody whose strength or control over the Force is legendary, who is heralded in prophecy.  Yoda performs feats with the Force that Vader never comes close to equaling.

To go back and say that actually his affinity the Force is the greatest that the Jedi have ever seen, even greater than Yoda himself (BTW, I’m including the midi-chlorians under this header) makes no sense.  To say that he was the Emperor’s #2, helping run the entire Empire right from the moment of its founding, contradicts the original film itself where he was lower on the chain of command.

Darth Vader, and by proxy Anakin Skywalker, was a good enough character without trying to shill his background all to hell.

The impending threat of the Yuuzhan Vong

I’ll be upfront, I never liked the stories with the Yuuzhan Vong in and of themselves (When they started coming in is right about when I stopped reading new EU material).  The New Jedi Order just didn’t grab my attention.  But what really riled me up was the way the EU tried to backfill the Vong into the franchise history by saying that the entire rise of the Galactic Empire was to prepare for their arrival.  That Palpatine knew they were coming, and since the Republic would have been incapable of standing against them he took over so that the galaxy could present a strong, unified front against them.

This is something I actually see a lot of in fiction, and it pisses me off each time: The evil despot actually had noble goals because they knew of an even greater threat and they needed to take control in order to deal with it, because a dictatorship gets things done.  You even see this in real life when people try to say that for all Hitler’s faults you have to respect that he made Germany a powerhouse that was this close to conquering the world, and that Mussolini made the trains run on time.  Not only are these examples patently false (Nazi Germany never was “this” close to winning the war, and the trains never did run on time in Italy), but they come with the tacit endorsement that maybe their evilness would be worth it for the benefits.

The Galactic Empire explicitly wasn’t a Super Efficient Society.  We saw time and again how wasteful the Empire was with its resources as it squandered them on inefficient superweapon after superweapon, how it laid waste to planet after planet for the purposes of propaganda.  The Empire was so inefficient that it was able to be toppled by a ragtag band of rebels who had nowhere near the resources, population, wealth, or control it had.  If the Empire couldn’t even defeat the Rebellion, just how was it supposed to stand against the Vong?  And if the explanation is that the Emperor had been seduced by his own ambition and forgotten his original “noble” goals, why would other characters who knew the truth have gone along with his wanton oppression even after his death?

Trying to give the Empire a “reason” for existing was self-contradictory and borderline offensive.

Having the Clones fight for the Republic

I’m very much in two minds over this one, because as bad as the original retcon was other creators have managed to turn it into genius (Looking at you Clone Wars and The Clone Wars).  But I’m nothing if not petty, so...

The Clone Wars were one of the eras that had not been discussed in great detail in the EU before the Prequels came out, instead only being vaguely alluded to.  George Lucas was already talking about making more movies and they didn’t want to contradict what was to come.  But even with only those vague allusions, it was established that the Clones were the bad guys.  The Clonemasters were regarded monsters who unleashed hordes upon the Republic like a swarm of locusts or a plague.  The Clones themselves were often unstable, and regarded by the populace as soulless duplicates overwhelming the galaxy.  The clones were held in such fear by the populace that Mara Jade -- an Old Empire loyalist (Sort-of) -- decided to switch from passively assisting the New Republic because her boss told her to to actively assisting them at the thought of the Empire starting the Clone Wars again.

Even the name of the conflict implies that the Clones were the enemy: People don’t name a war after their own soldiers.  The Droid War, Separatist Secession, Clone & Droid Conflict, Jedi Aggression, etc. all would have made more sense for the war as depicted.

Getting into philosophy, the idea of cloning soldiers expressly for war is morally abhorrent.  It’s mass slavery.  And I am far from the first person to point this out, but that aspect is not even mentioned in the Prequel films.  The Jedi accepting this clone army is repugnant, and some people have used this to show that the Jedi Order was already corrupt at the time of the rise of the Empire, but this wasn’t explored at all in the films that introduced the clones as the Grand Army of the Republic.

Getting into just simple common sense...HOW FUCKING DENSE DO YOU HAVE TO BE TO JUST ACCEPT A MYSTERIOUS ARMY THAT APPEARED OUT OF NOWHERE?!?!

That makes no sense.  It never made sense.  The idea that nobody in the Republic, from the government to the military to the populace at large, questioned the very existence of the clone army....it was too much.  The exploration of just how ridiculous this is made for great fodder in The Clone Wars, but only because they had to paper over the GIANT GAPING CHASMS that the concept created.

Making the Jedi a cult

In the old EU, the Jedi of the Old Republic were described as allowed to have families, even being encouraged to do so.  They were allowed to pursue lives and interests and careers outside of the order itself, and didn’t need to forsake who they used to be.  The Jedi Council didn’t have legal authority over the lives of its members, and didn’t try to mandate personal lifestyle.

People started training in their teens when they were old enough to at least understand the concept, and if they were taken as children it was in unusual extraneous circumstances.

While there were Jedi customs, and Jedi Codes, and they had rules and regulations to follow, but they addressed how they should act as Jedi.  They didn’t care what kind of clothing you wore.

Starting with The Phantom Menace, Jedi were taken at such young ages to begin their training that they could not give any consent to their enlistment, nor were they offered any alternatives when they had grown up and may be able to decide for themselves.  They are indoctrinated into a singular Jedi philosophy, not allowed to even debate the dogma of the Council without ostracism, let alone actually defy it.  The Jedi Council unilaterally makes decisions for the entire Order galaxy-wide without any apparent method for dissent or appeal, or any devolution of authority.

Taking (Abducting) children as infants, not allowing them any contact with their families, mandating an isolated ascetic existence...the Jedi Order became a cult.

That’s a cult, plain and simple.

These changes didn’t make the Jedi “complex”, didn’t make the conflict “shades of grey”, they’re just creepy and nonsensical.

[artificialqueens]

just the two of us (hogwarts au) part fourteen - shalaska - pureCAMP

A/N - ladies and gents and others its been a hot minute but i had a little bit of time and a ton of inspiration so here it is!! bearing in mind that this year is Final Exam Year - i am trying my best to provide some treats for u!! hope u enjoy <3

Theseus landed her safely on the other side, bowing his head to allow her to slip off of his back. Exhilarated, Alaska tried to calm her racing heart with slow, steady breaths. She wished she had something to give the hippogriff, as thanks for carrying her, but all she had was her wand. Instead, she stroked along his head, feeling the smooth feathers beneath her fingers. Sharon had inadvertently saved her in befriending such a magnificent creature. It was just another thing to add to the list about her incredible girlfriend.

As soon as she walked away, not wanting to leave her majestic companion behind, he took off and soared into the distance, back the way they had came. Alaska had a feeling that her route wasn’t the only route to the trophy, however, and that it was unlikely another champion would be coming the same way. She just had to hope that her way was the fastest, and that she could reach Sharon before anyone else could get near her.

A horrible feeling told her that Phi Phi wasn’t only after the tournament winnings.

Though her legs ached, and her lungs were begging for a rest, Alaska continued to run. Time had no bearing in the nightmarish labyrinth. It could have been minutes or hours, and neither made any difference. For all she knew, the other champions could have been and gone, leaving Alaska as the fool in last.

Possibly the worst part was the silence. Alaska’s running was all that she could hear, her own footsteps pounding on the changing terrain as she swerved and dodged and turned around to try different branches of the maze; the blood pumping in her ears; her heavy breathing. Nothing else made a sound.

She had expected that maybe the sound of Pandora’s commentating, or the cheering of the crowds, would be audible from inside, but the entire system was silent. Every sound counted. Every notch in the wall was a hint Alaska didn’t have time to decipher.

Sharon needed her. Alaska would be damned if she didn’t get there.

Her wand held aloft in front of her, she began to speed up. It was frustrating to have to keep changing directions, hitting dead ends more often than actually progressing, but she tried not to let it get to her. The negative feelings started to creep in anyway.

This is useless, her mind was telling her. You’re just going round in circles. You’re wasting time, and Sharon could be dying right now. Hell, she could already be dead, just because you’re floundering around here, not knowing what you’re doing.

That only spurred her on faster. The only upside to her mental tantrum was that her frustration could be channeled out physically for once; she poured all of her energy into running, trying to ignore how hot and irritated she felt. Every misstep and wrong turn eliminated a course that wouldn’t lead her to Sharon, and she would make as many mistakes as necessary to find and rescue her. Money and glory meant nothing now. Alaska knew that this was a matter of life and death.

-

The fork confronted her just as she was beginning to get suspicious. It had been too smooth sailing for too long - she had been running around various twists and turns with no obstacles and no differing paths to take. One route, no dangers. It had to be leading to something.

In front of her, she had three choices. Alaska was sure the maze was filled with these forks, with various dangers ahead. Each of the paths was as dark as the other. There was no indication as to which one would lead her to Sharon.

Making an executive decision, she headed towards the third path. There was no time to waste in deliberation. She proceeded with little caution, running as quickly as she could into the darkness. The light of her wand helped to brighten things a little, but she could still see no more than a foot in front of her. Anything could be waiting for her to stumble upon it.

It came out of nowhere; a thunderous rumbling, as though the ground was splitting apart. Alaska skidded to a halt, throwing her wand’s light to the walls and floor around her. On the ground, a chasm had seemingly opened out of nowhere. None of her light even touched it. Alaska’s foot was teetering right on the very edge.

She drew back sharply, holding her breath. Clearly this was the wrong path. The slightest movement forwards would’ve had her tumbling into nothingness, to not only lose but potentially die surrounded by nothing. Alaska had never thought about the circumstances of her own death, but as she retraced her footsteps to the original fork, the labyrinth seemed to force her to.

Ideally, she would be old. Sharon at her side, friends, family, perhaps a couple of crazy creatures she knew Sharon would grow fond of. They would be safe, and happy, and her passing would be quick and painless. One thing she was sure of was that her passing was not going to be here, hopelessly lost in a wizard-designed puzzle to try and win fame and money.

The middle fork was much wider than the right, so Alaska kept to the centre. All manner of things could be lurking in the walls - Acromantula were her first thought, which she immediately regretted - so it was safest to touch nothing. After a few turns, it became apparent that this was the correct path.

A locked door blocked the way. Surely the puzzle wouldn’t be that easy?

“Alohamora.” Alaska whispered.

A definitive click told her the spell had succeeded. However, she held back any thoughts of celebrating. Whatever lay ahead clearly wanted to be found, if it could be revealed with such a simple spell. Logically, that meant whatever was inside was meant to be found… and that meant bad news.

Slowly, silently, Alaska opened the door.

They advanced at once, snapping and snarling and pulsing. Alaska closed her eyes for a moment and prayed to whatever was above that this was a dream. When her eyes opened, they were a foot closer than before.

It was real. Twelve blast-ended skrewts, each of them aggressive and easily six-foot-long, filled the room before her.

“Fuck.” She sighed, a mixture of terrified and exhausted all at once. This would require quick thinking and clever spellwork if she was to survive.

Looking around, she noted the room for anything she might be able to use as an advantage. The area was covered in a strange orange sand, and shaped like a bowl. That could be advantageous, depending on if Alaska could round up the creatures into the bottom of it and deal with them all at once, but it was also an opportunity for her to fall and become immersed in them. The edges of the bowl were steeply slanted, making it difficult to move quickly. She would need to be tactical about her every move, too.

Meanwhile, they were getting closer and closer.

Alaska panicked and threw out the first spell she could think of. “Depulso!”

One of the skrewts in the middle of the cluster was blown backwards, taking a few others with it. The victims started blasting flames from their tails, scorching the one that had been hit with the spell. There seemed to be no loyalty among them, but the fire didn’t affect them at all.

Maybe Alaska could play on their alliances. In the meantime, she needed to stop their advancing. They were nearly upon her.

“Immobulus!” She shouted, pointing her wand at the closest skrewt. It froze instantly, but it was a small victory. There was no way Alaska would have time to freeze each of them before they got to her.

Thinking quick, she used Depulso again to blow the frozen skrewt backwards, knocking it into the rest of them. As expected, they all began to ignite with anger and begin charging towards her again, but she had bought herself a little bit of time. They needed to climb the slope again.

Alaska took her chances and began to run, sticking to the edge of the bowl. It was steepest there, and difficult to run, but any progress was better than none. Blast-ended skrewts were nasty business, and the sooner she could get away, the sooner she could forget them. Even Sharon disliked them - she remembered how her entire Care of Magical Creatures class had been unable to entirely tame them in their youth.

“The spells just deflect right off their shells. You have to hit their flesh, and it’s like impossible.” Sharon had told her.

Perhaps… Alaska thought, sifting through her rolodex of spells in her head as quickly as she could… throwing them back could potentially flip one onto its stomach. Provided it was close enough to her, the force of the spell could flip it, giving her access to its only weak spot. If she could do that, and avoid the stings, suckers and flames, then she would escape unscathed.

It seemed unlikely, but it was all she had. So now, she had to let them get close.

An idea struck as she stood still, shaking with terror. Willam had once joked about using a spell to make the Gryffindor Quidditch team’s broomsticks slow down in mid-air. If only she could remember the exact spell she had been joking about…

“Fuck it,” Alaska hissed. If the spell wasn’t right, it didn’t matter. It was worth a shot. She aimed her wand at the skrewts near the back of the cluster and yelled “Arresto momentum!”

To her relief, they visibly slowed. She repeated it on as many skrewts as she could whilst the ones in front drew closer, desperate to buy herself a few valuable seconds. Already, one had been immobilised. That left eleven to go, six having slowed considerably.

When the front skrewt came inches from her leg, Alaska yelped and cast the spell as quickly as she could. To her dismay, the skrewt shot backwards and took two others with it, leaving two more angry ones to keep coming.

“Oh, shit.” Alaska cursed. “Fuck, fuck. Arresto momentum, arresto momentum! Slow the fuck down!”

Too little, too late. At once, one skrewt pierced her foot with the sting and the other, well… blasted.

“FUCK!” Alaska yelled again, stumbling backwards. “Immobulus! Immobulus!”

As they froze, Alaska took no chances. She clutched her wand and ran, her eyes streaming, fully aware of the rest of the beasts on her tail. She just needed to get out, slam the door, and pray they didn’t do any more damage.

Her lungs ached as she pushed herself further, climbing the edge of the bowl towards the awaiting door. Thankfully, this one was unlocked, and slightly ajar. Just as the rest of the skrewts were about to singe the rest of her, she yanked the door open, threw out a final “Bombarda maxima!” and slammed it shut behind her.

Adrenaline melting away, Alaska collapsed against the solid wood of the door, the pain hitting her in waves of white-hot stabbing. Neither her mind nor her body could focus on which sensation was worse. Chest heaving, she cradled her burnt hand, examining the damage that the skrewts had caused. All across her thumb and stretching over the back of her hand and the edge of her palm, blisters were beginning to form. Some of her skin was charred white, and attempting to flex her fingers only caused her to scream out in pain. Her entire hand was - almost literally - on fire.

At the same time, though she couldn’t look at it, the skrewt’s sting had looked to be at least ten inches long, and sharp enough that it had skewered straight through her shoe to her foot. The area around it radiated with pain, and sent shivers running up Alaska’s back when she tried to put weight on it.

In spite of her injuries, there was no time to waste. Alaska, regrettably, had never learnt any healing spells from the infirmary, so she was left to struggle alone. Each step send spasms of agony shooting through her leg, but she did her best to power through. Her pain was nothing compared to the pain she feared Sharon would be exposed to if she didn’t hurry. The sting could wait.

Alaska limped as fast as she could bear to. She seemed to be heading in the right direction, once again faced with no crossroads to force her fragmented mind to make a decision. All she could focus on was moving forwards and gritting her teeth to cope with the pain. She was so frazzled that it took her a few minutes to even remember she could use Lumos to summon some light. As she did, she saw a strange inscription along one of the walls, glowing slightly when she shone her wand towards it.

‘Some will fight and others flee,

Which one of those applies to thee?

Approach, hero, for what you desire,

Lies sleeping fast beyond the fire.

Come this way and you’ll grow near,

But first, ensure you face your fear.’

In the back of her mind, Alaska could hear Sharon rolling her eyes, declaring, “Are you kidding, poetry?” The thought made her laugh, but the rhyme still ignited a ball of anxiety in the pit of her stomach, to mingle with the rest of the fear and pain her body was wrestling with. The clue was blatantly obvious, but that didn’t make things any easier.

“A Boggart.” She murmured to herself. Alaska thanked her lucky stars that at the very least, she knew the spell needed to deter the Boggart. Her only problem, a glaringly difficult problem the more she thought about it, was that she had been absent when they had experienced hands-on practise with a Boggart in the classroom. This would be her first time dealing with one.

Then again, she thought briefly, it was my first time dealing with fucking Blast-Ended Skrewts, and I’m not dead. She immediately countered herself with yeah, just severely burnt and stung.

Nevertheless, the poem seemed clear enough. In order to get to Sharon, she would first have to face the Boggart. She turned and picked up speed again, running further into the labyrinth.

“Riddikulus… ridikkulus…” She repeated under her breath, determined not to be caught out this time. “I can do this.”

The passageway opened out into a large room, starkly white and clean. It smelt like disinfectant, and seemed more like a hospital than any room that could be found in the strange labyrinth Alaska had been running through. Bits of sand from her clothes had dropped onto the ground by her feet, marking the perfectly smooth floor.

Alaska’s eyes, however, went straight to the centre of the room, and she let out a broken sob. Her throat closed up, her eyes welling with tears.

“NO!” She screamed, falling to her knees. “Not her!”

Sharon stood in the centre of the room, cowering at some unseen terror. She was completely defenceless; her wand was lying far in the corner, and she was trembling from head to toe. A poisonous green light flashed before her and she collapsed instantly, stone dead. Her eyes - her beautiful blue eyes - were still open, but glassy and distant. They would never look lovingly at her again, or crease with laughter.

“I-It’s not real,” Alaska told herself, swallowing the lump in her throat. “Sh-She’s okay. It’s n-not real.”

For a brief moment, Sharon’s form flickered. Alaska caught a glimpse of Willam and Courtney before it transformed back to Sharon, this time with her skin lacerated and her body pouring with blood. It was jarringly red against the pure white floor, pooling around her lifeless form. Alaska’s hands were stained with it. Again, she tried to tell herself that it wasn’t real, but it was difficult to be convinced.

“R-Riddikulus…” She tried feebly, and again. “Riddikulus…”

Her bloodstained hands trembled impossibly as she aimed her wand at Sharon’s form, knowing the spell wouldn’t work. Laughter got rid of Boggarts, and Alaska felt as though she would never laugh again. The image of Sharon’s painful, untimely death was enough for her to momentarily forget her own pain, and she stamped her foot in frustration, before yelping at the sting.

“Fuck!” She cradled her aching foot, wiping the tears from her eyes in spite of the blood that was covering her. Sharon was still dead, and she had to find a way to laugh.

In her mind, she could hear Sharon urging her to think. “Come on, Lasky!” She’d be saying. “You can’t lose now! I’m fucking hilarious, think of me!”

She giggled weakly. The Boggart flickered, Sharon’s body jolting strangely. It was all the movement she needed to think of an idea.

Focus, Alaska. You can do it.

Breathing deeply, Alaska pulled herself up and stood straight, doing her best to block out the pain from her blistered hand and newly throbbing foot. She held her wand arm firm, determined to succeed.

“Riddikulus!”She incanted.

Nothing.

“Riddikulus!” She tried again.

The pool of blood spread further. Sharon’s skin was grey.

Alaska shook her head and forced herself to focus more. She flooded her mind with images to distract from the horror she knew was lying in front of her. Sharon’s laugh. Her distinctive, gap-toothed grin. That evil cackle when she deliberately wound up Raven, and that signature huff and eye-roll when she received detention for it. Sneaky kiss attacks in the hallway. Sharon’s hand slipped into her own. That warm feeling that had blossomed in her chest and pooled in her stomach when, for the first time, Sharon pressed her against the wall and kissed her like there was no tomorrow. The complete and utter dork that Alaska had the privilege to call her girlfriend.

Invigorated, Alaska steeled herself. “Riddikulus!”

There was a loud snap, but Alaska closed her eyes. She couldn’t face the horror of seeing Sharon dead again, not yet. She prayed with all of her strength that the spell had worked, and she was no longer sprawled on the floor at the scene of her gruesome murder.

Holding her breath, Alaska slowly opened her eyes and then grinned. Stood before her, alive and laughing, was Sharon, dancing to some inaudible music, swaying her hips and wriggling. She had two left feet and Alaska knew it, and she was making it abundantly clear that her choreography skills were limited to zero.

Alaska burst out laughing, and her form finally disappeared with a strangely satisfying pop.

“I’m coming, Sharon. Hang in there.”

With that, she bypassed the now-empty room and headed out the other side. Her wand lit the way and she took off running for what seemed like the thousandth time, the words of the poem swirling through her head.

Approach, hero, for what you desire,

Lies sleeping fast beyond the fire.

-

Alaska could feel the walls around her growing hotter. Sweat seemed to emanate from all of her pores, dripping down her forehead as she continued through the unending tunnels. She knew, for certain, that she was drawing closer and closer to Sharon, and possibly a win, but all she could focus on was the scorching heat.

The poem mentioned fire, she told herself. Fire is hot. I have to be getting close.

Time seemed to pass differently in the labyrinth. Alaska had no idea how long she had been backtracking and running and navigating through its dangers; it could’ve been hours or it could’ve been a day. All she knew was that she was ready to fall into Sharon’s arms and let it be over. They would finish school, get out, and live somewhere safe and faraway. That was the dream Alaska was clinging to, hoping it would pull her through to the end of the maze and into a victory. It was all she had to keep her going.

She was so desperate for a reprieve from the merciless heat that she thought nothing of throwing herself towards the path that seemed to have a light at the end of it. At this point in the maze, there seemed to be less false clues. Alaska suspected that they just wanted somebody to succeed.

The tunnel widened until Alaska was stood at the very source of the inescapable heat. Surrounding her on all three sides was a wall of vivid purple fire, producing no smoke but crackling loudly as the flames flickered. However, the fire did nothing to distort the figures who were beyond it, just out of reach.

Directly in front of Alaska stood three tables, each one marked with the competitor’s school. Each table held the three same bottles - one long and thin, one curved, and one crystal vial. Inside the crystal vial, the liquid was thick, viscous, and black. The curved glass held a swirling golden mixture. The long, thin bottle was filled with a strange, glowing blue liquid and stoppered with a cork.

Alaska picked up the card reading ‘Hogwarts’ and flipped it.

Your quest is finally almost complete,

What lies ahead is your final feat,

Choose wisely; for you must step through,

The wall of flames that barriers you,

Then, in order to leave this cave,

It is your loved one you must save,

But hark! Beware, don’t drink them all,

For one of these is deadly gall,

So pick a potion, and now begin,

This leads you to your final win.

Three potions. One to pass through the flames. One to waken Sharon, who lay sleeping just beyond the flames. One deadly poison.

The Beauxbaton table was already in disarray - the long, thin glass was empty, still rolling across the table as though it had been emptied only moments ago. The golden potion lay untouched, but the small black vial was gone. Alaska’s heart sank into the pit of her stomach. All of her efforts had been for nothing. She stepped forwards and peered through the flames, knowing that any minute, she would see Phi Phi cavorting with the Triwizard Cup, gloating about her superiority.

It was as if everything was happening in slow motion. Phi Phi was just the other side of the flames, the black vial clutched tightly between her fingers. Every step she took seemed deliberate, calculated; like a villain executing a perfectly-orchestrated scheme. Now and again, her eyes darted back and forth, as though she was checking that nobody was watching her. Her every movement seemed furtive and suspicious, and Alaska watched with bated breath.

The three loved ones for each champion to rescue were placed in the same order as the tables - Detox from Beauxbatons at the left, Sharon in the middle, and Kim’s friend Trixie, from Durmstrang, on the right. But Phi Phi… Phi Phi’s path was straight. It became all too clear that she intended to deliver her potion to Sharon, not Detox.

Alaska gasped, horrified. There was only one reason she could think of that Phi Phi would give Sharon the potion, and it filled her with icy dread. Phi Phi was holding the poison.

Heart thrashing in her chest, Alaska all but ran back to the table and drank all of the blue potion from the tall, thin glass as fast as she possibly could. There was no time to waste; she had a precious few seconds to act, or Sharon would be dead. She just had to hope that her deductions were correct, and pass through the fire safely.

With the golden potion in one hand, Alaska bolted across the flaming threshold.

Part of her expected to feel a little of the heat licking at her skin, but the sensation was ticklish at best. The potion had worked. Meanwhile, Phi Phi had noted Alaska’s arrival and picked up the pace, hurriedly trying to unstop the crystal vial so she could access the poison. Alaska needed to act fast.

“GET AWAY FROM HER!” She screamed, barrelling towards her and knocking the potion out of her hands, where it smashed against the floor. Phi Phi had been inches from pouring the poison into Sharon’s mouth, and her girlfriend was none the wiser. Alaska would’ve never forgiven herself.

“Who the fuck do you think you are?!” Alaska demanded, aiming her wand at Phi Phi. She scrambled to her feet, pulling out her own wand and pointing it at her.

“You don’t understand anything.” Phi Phi sneered. “She has to die!”

A wordless spell shot from the end of Phi Phi’s wand. Alaska had less than a second to hiss “Protego!” and defend herself.

“You might play dirty but you’ll never hurt her.” Alaska promised. “And I mean it. Stupefy!”

Phi Phi dodged. “She has to die!” She snarled, pushing back against Alaska’s magic. “I’m going to kill her!”

“NEVER!” Alaska intoned, racking her brain. “Why are you doing this?”

“Because she has to die!” Phi Phi repeated, a glint in her eye. “Confringo!”

Caught off guard, Alaska found herself thrown backwards, her body hitting the concrete with a dull thud. She wheezed, all of the breath seemingly knocked out of her body on the impact. Her wand lay a few feet away from her, dropped as she tried to steady herself. Her already-burnt hand broke out into fresh waves of agony, but she refused to let that stop her. Grabbing her wand, she struggled to her feet as fast as she could manage. Phi Phi had turned her attention - and her wand - to the sleeping Sharon.

“Ava-”

“EXPELLIARMUS!”

Time stopped. Alaska didn’t know whether her spell had worked, whether Phi Phi had finished her dreadful incantation. She didn’t see the red flash of light, or the green one. Everything was still, and silent.

Phi Phi’s wand clattered to the floor.

“Accio!” Alaska yelled, without thinking. The wand flew into her hands, leaving Phi Phi defenceless.

Without wasting a further second, Alaska raced over to Sharon, panting. It took nearly all of her sapped strength to unstop the golden potion and tip it, but as the first drop touched Sharon’s lips, her eyelids began to flutter open.

“Wh-” She began, frowning sleepily.

“No time,” Alaska gasped, tugging at her hand. “We- We gotta go!”

“Huh?”

Alaska pulled Sharon behind her as she ran, desperate to get out. The glint of the Triwizard Cup, merely fifty foot in front of her, was all she could see, and she knew neither of them would be safe until she grazed her fingers across it. Her brain refused to process anything that had just happened - all that mattered was that Sharon was awake and alive, and she had to get to the Cup before Phi Phi found a way to get her wand back.