Feeling Yellow, Thinking Blue, Seeing Green
Original Works
Written by BaffledRabbit
Edited by Cweamish
“I don’t see Harvey anywhere...” Sebastian collapsed in defeat on the forest grounds. He’d been searching for his best friend in the dark forest for the last hour, but to no avail. “We haven’t seen him since Care of Magical Creatures class - and we’re gonna be late for Transfiguration.” A girl took a seat beside him. “I think he may just need some time alone… he seemed pretty upset after we were all caught out of bed in the library last night…”
Sebastian sighed. “I guess you’re right - I’d be pretty upset if I was blamed for the whole thing, too. You know, we got thirty house points taken from Ravens because of you two.”
“Because of us?” the other girl looked startled.
“Well, because of Natasha here, more like.”
Another girl - Natasha - standing nearby and staring out into the dark forest, suddenly whirled around to face him. “It was Harvey’s idea to go to the library after nightfall and study last minute for that test. So I rightfully accused him. And besides, Serpents and Badgers lost house points, too.”
“Only ten each,” Sebastian coughed.
“Seb, we already argued about this with Harvey, can’t we just cut it out already?” Sienna pleaded.
“Not like you did anything to help us out, Sienna,” Seb turned to her, “You Honeybadgers will do anything to avoid a conflict, even if it means abandoning your friends.”
“Well,” Natasha snapped, “you Ravens are so stuck up from your O+ grades and being the teacher’s pet that when you get caught breaking the rules you start whining like this.”
“Nat,” Sienna complained, “you’re making things worse - you’re being such a Serpent right now.”
“Shush, both of you - I’m so over this,” Natasha threw her hands in the air. “We should keep looking for Harvey. He’s gotta be around here somewhere...”
Still fuming, the others reluctantly agreed, and the trio got up to continue their search, but were stopped dead in their tracks as they heard someone call out to them.
In a strange, raspy voice, someone or something snarled at them. “So you’ve finally come.” There upon a pile of rocks sat an odd feline creature with the face of a girl and the body of a lion. Sebastian went pale and Sienna grasped his arm. “I-Is that… a-a sphinx?”
“Looking for your little friend, I shouldn’t wonder,” the sphinx continued, fluttering her lion’s tail. “Well, I have him held captive - but don’t worry, you can free him. All you have to do is answer me three questions. Come closer, now - that’s it. I don’t have all day.”
Natasha slowly approached the sphinx, Seb and Sienna following cautiously behind.
“Let’s begin our little game. Guess all the riddles correctly and your friend will be set free. Incorrectly, and, well... your friend’s lunch.”
Natasha took a deep breath, and turned to Sebastian. “Alright, as much as it pains me to say this, this is a Raven’s game. You’re up, Seb.”
“Not so fast,” the sphinx chuckled. “Let’s have our little Honeybadger here answer the riddle.”
“W-what?” Sebastian went pale. “No - that’s not fair - Sienna’s a Badger - she can’t answer a riddle for her life!”
“Go ahead, little badger... she spoke;
"Thinking like a Raven is the key, it’s true, thinking blue-
think what your Raven friend here would do.
What’s purely abstract, yet can give greatest results,
said to be stronger in children than it is in adults?”
Sienna breathed a sigh of relief. Sebastian looked confused as she grinned and announced, “That’s so easy - it’s imagination.”
The sphinx smiled. “You are correct.”
Sebastian’s jaw dropped, “...congrats, Sienna. I… didn’t think you… had it in you-”
“Next,” the sphinx interrupted,
“The Raven. Here’s a story, but to see the right choice, you’ll need to see like a Serpent. You and one other are trapped in a room, an open window is all you can see, but it’s eight feet above you. How do you escape?”
Sebastian hesitated, but then with a smirk replied, “I use the one who’s with me as a ladder, and escape alone.”
“Correct,” the sphinx approves. Natasha seemed shook, either offended by the sphinx’s portrayal of her Hogsworth house, or impressed by Sebastian figuring the riddle out.
“As for you, little Serpent - are you feeling yellow? For your challenge will require the loyalty of a Badger. In order to free your friend... you must take his place.”
Natasha went pale, but put on a brave face nevertheless. “You mean I have to… die?”
Sebastian and Sienna looked at her, sudden confusion and fear in their eyes, but to their surprise Natasha didn’t hesitate for one second. “I’ll take his place.” With that she slowly approached the sphinx. “Now let my best friend go.”
The sphinx sighed, looking disappointed. “Hmm… what a shame. I’m afraid I never had your friend.”
“W-what?”
“I’m sure you’ll find him back at the castle. I merely wanted a snack, but as I’m sure you intelligent little students know, as a sphinx I only eat those who answer my riddles incorrectly - and you’ve all made the right choices. I’ve had my fun. Farewell - until we meet again.” With a sinister glance, she disappeared into the dark of the forest, leaving the three quite confused yet very much relieved.
That very evening, Seb, Nat, and Sienna were seated in the great hall, explaining this all to a confused looking Harvey who had, in the end, never been lost at all.
“I think we’ve seen our true colors, at least,” Sienna sighed. Sebastian agreed. “Honestly, you’d make a great Raven, Sienna, guessing that riddle so quickly.”
“I guess I caught on after hanging out with you for so long… and Natasha, you’re such a Honeybadger after all - choosing your friend’s life over yours… that took a lot of loyalty.”
“Alright, shush, don’t tell anyone I did that, okay?” Natasha insisted. “And as if I’d ever be a Badger - I’m a Serpent through and through... but maybe it’s true that houses don’t really, fully define us… and we should judge each other on an individual basis. A Raven can be cunning - like Seb here, a Badger can be clever like Sienna, and,” she smirked, “even a Serpent like me can have a heart.”
). In this article, I conducted an interview with the December staff/team members of the month. Staff and team members of the month are those who did exceedingly well in their department. They are carefully chosen by their fellow team members who were able to vote for who they thought was an admirable contributor in their department for the duration of the month. Who are these members? I’ll tell you! For Game Design: Miss_Strudel. For Moderation: RiverberryRani. For Academics: Polarxo. For Build: Zis_Craft. For Media: VeryFlazeda. For Tech & Dev: DenizTM. I’ve asked them a few pressing questions, keep reading to indulge in their juicy responses!