Beauxbatons [Charlie Weasley]

Race

First task.

The four of them were spoken to by Florin early that Monday morning, told all about the first thing they'd have to do involving the Hungarian Horntail.

It's a race.

Both pairs start on one side of the Horntail enclosure, where there'll be two dragons present. The dragons are a mating pair, so they won't attack each other, but will instead focus on the people in their territory. The students' aim is to get from one side of the enclosure to the other, one mile across, and then back. They'll have to run through trees, climb the rocky terrain and race around small lakes, trying to get to the other side as fast as possible, all the while fending off the dragons attempting to attack them with their flames and their spiky tails.

And, of course, Florin's decided to treat it like a competition to make it 'more interesting.' So now, each pair has to race against the other. They'll have to find and collect a marker once they reach the other side of the enclosure, and then manage to somehow make it all the way back. Thankfully, they're allowed their wands. Both teams are still terrified, however, filled with nervous anticipation.

Their race is going to be on Friday, so they have about four days to train specifically for that event. For the past month, the four of them have been duelling and fighting in their pairs, as well as researching and doing any and every puzzle or brain teaser they can think of. Isabelle and Darius have worked together, quizzing each other on any spell that might be useful, as well as ones that might not be, because of course they didn't know their task until this morning.

Throughout their month of training, Isabelle introduced Darius to Cristian, Grigore and Alexandru from the village, the three Romanian boys helping them brainstorm things to train. They even went as far as throwing a series of knives at Isabelle and Darius, demanding the two of them defend themselves against the onslaught, saying it could be like protecting themselves against a Horntail's spiky tail. No one was hurt, of course, that was never the boys' intention after all, and the five of them had heaps of fun throughout that month, all of them training together for what could come.

Isabelle and Darius keep training for the next four days, going on runs down to the village and back every morning to keep their strength and stamina up, so they'll have more than enough energy to run two miles in rough terrain while fending off a Horntail. They continue to duel each other, sending fire and shards of stone at the other, forcing each other backwards and coming up with further creative solutions on how to protect themselves as well as each other.

Isabelle finds herself becoming more and more apprehensive with every day that passes, getting closer and closer to the day of the race. She finds herself hoping it won't arrive as quickly as it is, but of course it does.

Isabelle wakes up that morning, forcing herself to eat something before she says goodbye to Elena, the dark-haired girl wishing her luck. Florin told them all that when the other four get up to doing the Horntail, he'll give them different tasks than he's giving Isabelle and the three boys, so the two girls have been talking about Isabelle's upcoming race every night this week. Elena's even been throwing a few ideas in there, trying to help her new best friend out.

Isabelle and Darius slowly approach the Horntail enclosure in the early afternoon with Charlie and Christopher, all four of them nervous but strangely excited. Florin meets them all there, beaming as per usual.

"Right," he clasps his hands together, facing them all. "Each pair will have a different starting point, beginning at a different entrance to the enclosure, half a mile apart, so chances are, you won't see the other pair at all during the race. You four already know all the rules, so, let's begin!"