"Sounds like the truth hurt a bit more than that tumble." Sabel mused, not phased by the kid's retort. Without really asking for permission, and because he knew he wasn't liable to get a lashback for it, Sabel reached out and gently caught Zeke's free hand.

With careful ease, he turned the hand palm up and began to weave a healing spell over the flesh. "I could have killed you, very easily, but your mother is a terrifying force to be reckoned with. That aside, you did pass Browne. Exceptionally well, might I add. Don't let a few injuries discourage you. You'd be foolish to expect to get through that without a single scrape."

Once finished with the one hand, he motioned for the other in a no-argument sort of way. "And I know you're tough. That's not the point. The point is I'm not going to let you walk out bloody and bruised on my watch. I'm not heartless you know." Rumors around the castle might have stated otherwise.

He was in the right house. He knew that as he had seen the flag on top of it when he had been on the other side. But how was he going to get up the roof? First he would enter the run down house and check if he could use a staircase to the attic. He stepped over the windowsill and landed inside. Why did all these houses look the same to him? Yoongi walked around, being careful with each step he made. As he entered another room on the right side, the Gryffindor spotted a staircase leading up and he nearly did a little dance of joy but as he stepped closer he noticed that the staircase was broken. Even looking at it he heard the crumbling of the stone breaking and he sighed. He wasn’t going to risk that way.

Turning back around, Yoongi walked back where he had come from to find another route when he heard a creak and a split second later his left leg vanished in to the floor. He screamed in shock as he felt the splinters of the wood tear the underside of his pants open and he quickly pulled himself out. It were just a few scratched, there wasn’t even blood and he thanked the professor for giving them this uniform.

The shock had had his heart racing though and as he rolled away from the hole in the floor, the sixth year made sure to get to the balcony where he knew he was safer than inside the house. He limbed with each step but gritted his teeth together. He had come this far he was not giving up! As he climbed back through the windowsill, he looked around some more. Surely there was a way up there?

With no planks, ropes or any other help , the Gryffindor walked to the other side of the balcony and peered around the corner. “Are you kidding me?!” An emergency staircase that buildings usually had was right there. RIGHT THERE! Without waiting any longer, Yoongi opened the door of the staircase cage, ignored the ominous creak that it made and walked up. The stairs was in the form of a straight ladder with. He climbed slower than he usually would do because of his bad leg and not to mention that his hands were still hurting thanks to the rope earlier but the metal made his hands cool down a bit.

As he climbed up, nothing much happened and he didn’t even think about any possibilities that could. Instead , he thought of how proud he was of himself. From screaming and crying in fear at the Treehouse because it was too high, to the Astronomy lesson where he had been high up and…well still screamed but didn’t cry to practising in the obstacle course and now he was doing this challenge. If he could say so himself, he was PROUD okay?

“AAAH!” He couldn’t help it, the stair he put his foot on broke under his weight and he could just cling himself on the railing. And it was his left leg again! He looked down, his face turned white as he saw the height but he pulled himself up , his muscles burning and he calmed his breathing while he climbed further. Three more steps, two more on--- The stair broke again but this time it was the whole thing. The staircase bended forward with a loud creak and he knew he would make things even worse if he climbed faster.

Call it instinct to survive, Yoongi pushed himself off of the emergency staircase and jumped to the side. His arms outstretched as his hands grabbed the edge of the rooftop. Beside him, the staircase fell down with a loud BANG. He wasn’t safe yet though so he pushed his feet to the wall for more support and shuffled his arms further up the roof. His whole body was shaking so badly as he pulled himself up and he was breathing hard and fast through his nose but eventually he managed to climb on the roof thanks to the adrenaline he had felt. Even magical people could do amazing things when they felt adrenaline. It was a good feeling…now that he was safe.

He had almost forgotten the flag on top of this roof but when he saw it he grinned. Getting up from the rooftop floor, Yoongi limbed his was to the flag and touched it before he fell down on his behind. His hair was a sweaty mess, the special made shirt uniform was drenched against his upper body and the pants on the left side was torn up. He definitely looked like a real mess but he was laughing…

The good thing about being little was that Char didn't have to worry nearly so much about how dilapidated things were, or if they would hold her weight. Not that she was inclined to worry anyway, but even if she had been, generally she was slight enough that at worst there was a tiny wobble or two. She was currently carefully easing her way from window sill to window sill, three stories above the gaping maw below her. Her next step was to get across to the other side. Char figured that it'd be easier to do that now than try to leap from rooftop to rooftop, especially because there was a great big thick rope thing running between one wall and the other, and slanting slightly downward toward the other wall. Power lines, she thought, that's what muggles needed after all and this seemed to her like a muggle alley. She was also aware though, that given they were in Hogwarts, there wouldn't be actual electricity SO she could use it, as long as it was sturdy enough.

She had to use a few different things in her plastic bag to do this next part. Char gripped the side of the windowsill carefully and took out the old coathanger, which she stretched out as long as possible. The twine she tied on the end of the belt and looped it loosely through the buckle so that when she pulled it, ideally it would pull the belt itself through the buckle too. Char stopped to admire her handiwork and then she hooked the belt on its end and caaaaaaaaaarefully leaned up and used the hook to flop the belt over the thick cable. Once that was there, she pulled the twine caaarefully and the end of the belt came through and hung down low enough that she could grab the leather. She tugged it with one hand, experimentally. Felt strong enough. Thus satisfied, Char once again packed her things into her plastic bag, carefully pulled the bag up over her shoulder, and then with one big breath LAUNCHED HERSELF FROM THE WINDOW SILL, GRIPPING TIGHTLY TO THE END OF THE BELT.

The top of it snagged and she almost lost her grip, but then thanks to the incline of the cable, she began to slide... faster... and... faster.... like she was on a flying fox. Before it could build up too much speed she was almost across the alley. Char lifted her feet up so she could brace for the wall and not smack it with her face and the impact, while not painful, sent her spinning around and she dropped her plastic bag, including the makeshift grappling hook. She clung on as tightly as she could until the spinning stopped and then looked down at the emptiness below her.

Okay. Well.

She was ACROSS.

Char swung a bit and hooked her foot over a railing for one of the rickety fire escapes much like the one she'd come from on the other side before tackling the windowsills, and eventually managed to get herself over it, collapsing on the metal gridwork underneath. She could FEEL it and hear it shifting, but it seemed like it was happy enough to take her weight. And she was almost there now! The fire escape on this side, this top level, went right on up to the roof, though most of the ladder's rungs were missing. She was getting tired now but still got up and began monkeying up the ladder, testing each rung before putting any weight on it.

And then her fingers were on the edge of the roof and Char pulled herself up.

SUCCESS! OHWAITNO! She needed to get the flag first. Where wa... oh THERE! She snatched it up and held it up. YAS! SUCCESS! She sooo should have brought her snails along to see this!

Zeke opted to ignore that comment, it wasn't something he cared to discuss, though wasn't pleased with the alternative either. Sabel taking his hand wasn't necessary. He was sure he still had some essence of murtlap in his trunk somewhere, and if not, then he was sure someone else could heel his hands for him. Worst case scenario he could settle for ice and let his body heal naturally.

Admittedly, the healing spell was helping, so he didn't protest. He was right though, and Sabel confirmed it. He could have been killed, if the circumstances were different, more extreme, dire. But what Sabel did was put things into perspective for him. Not only would his death have been avenged if that was the case, but, he was a fourth year student... it was unreasonable for him to think he could be anything like a fully trained and grown up Auror or anything of the sort. "I know," he acknowledged eventually.

Flexing his fingers when Sabel was done with one hand, he immediately surrendered his other. The heartless comment took him off guard, and Zeke couldn't help but raise an eyebrow in surprise. "I don't think I'm the one you need to convince, Professor," he informed, actually amused now. A smirk lifted the corners of his lips. Heartless.

So, could he go now?

Perhaps it was that the environment was distracted with the young man's laughing, or simply that Sabel had been there all along. One way or another, there was no shimmer to the air or change. One moment there was blank air, the next there was a Defense Professor sitting on the edge of the roof.

Sabel looked between the young kid and over the side of the roof, to the metal that was still clattering down. "You know, it's a good thing I didn't rent this space out. The cost of repairs would be extraordinary."

Pushing himself to his feet, Sabel moved over to Hyland, pausing at his side momentarily with a confused expression. "Should I be concerned?" And no, he wasn't talking about the torn up pant-leg. Holding a hand out to offer a boost up, a small smile played at the corners of his lips. "Or would you like a minute?"



It was a moment or two before there was a shift in the air, and Sabel popped up right behind the young Gryffindor, nearly getting the flag up the nostril. Hands on his hips, he took a step back and grinned down at the little one, unable to retain the swell of pride. "Well, I believe I must extend my most pleased congratulations to you."

His eyes skipped to the alleyway and then back to the victor. "Quite inventive." And what was this? No scratches? Leaning back slightly, Sabel took a quick glance over. "Anything hurt, broken or otherwise disturbed anywhere?"

Would she thus far be the first to escape the challenge unscathed? Was it something to do with size and weight? Or just care?



Ah there. That was better. All around better.

Sabel's smile held as he finished up with the boy's second hand. The nose he would let the kid take care of on his own. Didn't need someone fawning over all his injuries, after all at that age they could be some source of pride.

Tucking his wand back into it's holster on his wrist, he gave the kid an amused grunt. Who exactly, then, did he need to convince? Perhaps, it would be process of elimination. "Make sure to get some ice on that."

Clapping Browne on the shoulder, he pointed him towards a sturdy and easy staircase hidden at the other side of the roof. One that wouldn't crumble or give out. "Exit's that way. Good work."

She was SO the best at everything ever! Charlotte was still celebrating in her head when a voice cut through and managed to penetrate. Congratulations to herrrrrrrrrrr! YES! She beamed up at the professor and then blinked a few times.

Hurt? Her? Char looked herself over too.

"Was I supposed to get hurt?" She asked in astonishment. She could PRETEND to be hurt if he wanted? If that was part of doing this thing well?

According to her observation, there were some doors, the cobblestone pathway, a few planks of wood, the ropes, and a staircase. Maybe there's a way at one of the doors. Hopefully that there would be no dangerous creature since Professor Dakest asked them to leave their wand before entering the room. So, the possibilities that there would be dangerous creature was zero.

Ava then entered the first door on her right side. Merlin, it was very dark here. She was about to cast lumos charm but then she remembered that she didn't bring her wand into here. Damn it. She observed around the room and it seemed like there's no other way besides the door that she'd entered before. So first door: zilch. She went back and decided to try the second door on her right side. But it seemed like there's nothing behind the door number two too.

How about the door on the left side?

The young lioness then went back to her starting point and then entered the first door on the left side. Okay, the room behind this door wasn't as dark as the one that she'd entered before, and before that. She looked around and... BINGO! There was a staircase. It seemed like it's the only staircase around here? Because she hadn't entered any other room but the first two doors that she entered didn't have any staircase or the other doors. Should she take this stairs? Well, maybe it would be better if she'd observed to the other doors first. If there's no other stairs there, she's gonna come back here and take this stairs. Hopefully she had time to observe the other room and get back here.

.
.
.
.

Well, why should she waste more time to enter the other doors?

After she had been thinking for a while, Ava then decided to take this stairs. She walked in veeeeeery carefully. First step, second step, third step....

KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!

She didn't realize that the staircase wasn't safe. When one of her foot stepped into the fourth stair, the fragile staircase caused it got stuck. Damn it damn it damn it! She tried to pulled it back. Come on, Burton!

He wasn't surprised to see the professor appearing out of nowhere as he had said that these will be training challenges. Of course he would observe and make sure any students couldnt get harmed.

Looking at the place where the ladder had been, Yoongi rolled his eyes. "No offence Sir, but i really don't care about that ladder" he breathed in through his nose held his breath and then out through his mouth to calm himself down.

Should he be concerned? Yoongi looked down and shook his head. "Nah im fine, just need to catch my breath..." he said as he waved his hand in a way that said that he wanted to sit down for a moment longer. He didnt trust the lack of strength in his legs yet. "oh gosh i need a shower!" he whined. "And a mirror, do you have one Professor?" his hair you see...

Now that she had gotten over that gap and with her plank of wood tucked under her arm once more Hady continued her trek up the rickety steps. Each creaked under the girls weight but she kept right on moving refusing to stop again. Finally she made it to the stop of the stairs. Or well as high as she was able to go.

Looking around she moved carefully onto the landing of crushed rubble. She could take cross the rubble and boulders over to the roof top of the next building. It wouldn't be easy and she would have to climb the fallen bricks and rock like she was a true climber. Dropping the plank she had been taking with her Hady continued forward pulling herself up onto a some of the wreckage. This was a slow going process and she'd have to stop to take in a lung full of air here and there ignoring the pain in her hands as she pulled herself onto another rock.

Getting to her feet and surveying her surrounds she could see the gap from this building she was currently stood on to the other building. It was a bit away. Jumping wasn't an option here. There was however a balcony across the way several feet down. And she still had her rope. Sitting down on the large rock her feet dangling over the edge she refused to look down. That wouldn't be a good idea.

Suddenly an idea came to her and she acted on it before she could change her mind. Looping the rope around her waist she tied it tightly in a knot that she knew would hold her weight. Hopefully. Then she knotted the other end of the rope and tossed it across the gap aiming for a broken beam that held up the balcony area. Missing she pulled the rope back and tried again. Come on! Come on!

Miss!

Groaning quietly she pulled the rope back and tossed it again. She had to get this! Yes! The rope slipped over the beam and slid down a about a foot of so. Hady yanked on her end of the rope as hard as she could making sure it would hold. So far so good. That had been the easy part. Without any more thought she gripped the rope and got to her feet leaping off the rock she had been standing on. Pushing all of her weight forward and swinging like tarzan through the air straight at the other building.

"AAAHHH!!!!"

Hady forced herself to keep her eyes open as the wall came closer to her. Just when she thought she would hit it she lifted her feet and just barely made it through the opening between the railing around the balcony and it's roof. She was now dangling a few inches from it's floor and she wiggled the robe getting tight around her waist. Fidgeting with the knot she was able to loosen it enough to slid out and drop to the floor. Kneeling down she took a deep breath before getting to her feet. Keeping moving Hady. Keep moving.

Once more on her feet she climbed onto the railing and grabbed the broken beam where her robe was tired. Leaving it there she concentrated on using the spaces there as foot holdings and pulled herself onto the balcony roof top. Once there she was able to make use of the rubble again and climb that onto the roof top. Her breathing was quick and she was covered in a light sweat, her hands and arms scarped up from the rubble but there it was. Just a head.

THE FLAG!

The lady snake headed straight for it stopping short suddenly and moving back a few paces. With a few steps at a running start Hady jumped a small area of missing roof landing on her hands and knees, her cheek making painful contact with a piece of plank or something. All she could think about though was the flag. Whatever her injuries were could wait. Everything could wait.

Her hand closed around the flag and she yanked it free. Victory was hers!

Dropping down onto the rooftop she sat there taking in deep breaths slowly in order to recover a little from the challenge. Her mind was spinning from everything she'd just accomplished and she didn't even notice the shimmering around where she was from the removal of the flag.

Ava tried to pull her foot that trapped at the fragile staircase. Oh no, it's deeper than she thought. Did it mean that she's gonna stuck here like... forever?

NOOOOOOO WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!

She HAD to finish this challenge and she would NOT give up just because of this little accident. The young lioness had to PROVE to herself, her family and everybody that she's a true Gryffindor and the sorting hat didn't put her to the wrong house. COME OOOOOON!!!!! She pulled her foot once again and... Finally! Ava was quite relieved that she could free her trapped foot from the staircase. Carefully she stepped down from the stairs and examined her foot. Thankfully it's not bleeding, just injured a little bit. But it did make her quite difficult to walk. Would she give up because of this? The answer was obviously NO! She still continued the challenge despite of her limp foot.

She left the staircase and returned to her starting point, figuring out how could she reach the other side of alleyway and get the flag at the end of the roof. Realizing that there were some balconies and verandas, maybe she should climb onto there. There was a rope hanging nearby her and it directed onto the first balcony. She decided to reach the rope and climb onto the top. Lucky that she loves to climb tree and she'd ever joined a boot camp once when she was in primary school.

She did it! Well, reached onto the first balcony. But it was something, right?

Examining the balcony, it seemed like this place was quite rickety and fragile. So she'd better to walk slowly and veeeeeeeery carefully or she's gonna trap her foot again or worse, fell down. Gosh, the sound of the rickety balcony was not nice. Her heart beat faster every time she made a step and heard the rickety sound. She finally made into the end of the first balcony and needed to move to the second one. There's a big gap from the first and second balcony and jumping was not a safe option. So she decided to swing from the first balcony to the second one by using the hanging rope.

Ready? One, two, three....

Ava jumped and grabbed the hanging rope then swung her body to the second balcony. SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! She's like a lady tarzan now. Once she's near the next balcony, she made a jump and... "OOFFF!!!" Thankfully she arrived safely. She continued walking slowly and carefully again to reach the end of the balcony, swung herself again onto a rope to reach the next one, and repeat. For now she was really thankful to her Burton gene that makes her build was smaller than any other kids on her age. Hehehe. It makes her swinging easily.

She didn't count how many times she had to swing and walk from one balcony to the others. But it's quite often since her hands hurt because of gripping the ropes. Maybe next time when there's a challenge, she should've prepared a pair of gloves or bandaged her hand. Observing around, She tried not to be excited first and focused how to reach there. All she needed to do now was reached that building, climb onto the roof and she would be finished. She caaaaaaarefully and sloooooooooowly walked to reach the end of the last balcony but....

DAMN IT!

Why her foot got trapped again at the balcony floor? Come on!!! Just a few more step to finish this challenge. She forced to pull her foot back from the floor. Finally! She could free her foot again but it seemed like the injury got worse. She ignored the pain and continued walking because she could complain about it later when she reached the flag. She grabbed the last rope and swung for the last time until she arrived at the building who had the flag on the roof.

One more claim, Ava. Just one more climb.

She noticed that there's a ladder to reach the roof and she decided to climb it. Urgh, her hands were already hurt from gripping the rope and now she needed to climb the ladder. She tried to ignore the pain and kept climbing until she reached on the top of the roof. Once she saw the flag, she grabbed it and... FINALLY!! All her pain, her sweat, her energy was paid.

Alrightey. In no time Adi had the planks laid across the threads or rungs so that he was able to hop on up to the rest of the stairs. The higher he got, the shakier the stairs became. Literally, yo. Like the thing REALLY did shake so he had to slow his pace. But he eventually did make it to the top, giving a whoop of triumph when he made it to the roof. WOOT!

Now. WHERE was that flag?

Adi pushed his glasses more snugly up the bridge of his nose as he turned in a full-fledged circle, scanning the roof. A flag shouldn’t be too hard to spo- OH HEY! THERE IT WAS! Straight ahead, was the fluttering flag. The Puffer started towards it in a jog, his eyes fixed on his prize. But wait! He halted suddenly.

WOAH!

There was a HUGE gap separating him from the flag. DRAT! Adi shouldn’t have known that things wouldn’t have been so easy. What to do now? What to do? If only he could be like Peter Parker in that first Spiderman movie, able to leap across great lengths. Unfortunately and regretfully he was not Spiderman so he would just have to make do with another alternative. Speaking about alternatives… his left hand had just absently touched the rope that was still draped around him. An idea occurred to the Puff at that moment.

His brown eyes scanned the part of the roof where the flag was. AHA! That’s what he looking for! There were a few rung like thingies protruding from the structure where the flag was situated. Adi uncoiled the lengths of rope. Thankfully the distance from where he was standing to the flag wasn’t THAT big so he wouldn’t have to knot too much pieces together for him to swing across. Actually, it only took two lengths to get the job done.

Getting the knotted rope hooked on one of the rungs was a whole different story. Even with Adi’s good aim (which stemmed from his many years as a cricket bowler), it wasn’t until his sixth try that the rope finally caught. Wheee! Time to test the rope against his weight now. With a good amount of healthy tugging, he determined that everything was safe enough to make the trip across.

[b]“Here goes nothing. I love you, mom, dad, Uncle Amir, AJ and Benny,’’[b] Adi muttered. You know, just in case things didn’t go his way and he fell down… down… down. Nah, that wouldn’t happen. Put on your usual positivity, Adster! He did just that and was oooooffffff!

What fun he had swinging over! The rope held his weight, thank the great, majestic Hippogriffs! Anyway, he dropped safely onto the other side of the roof, falling forward on his knees as he lost his balance but the next second, the energetic man child was scrambling to his feet, grabbing the flag!

SUCCESS!

After he was done celebrating with himself, he needed to realize he needed to find a way down. LOL.

Sabel really couldn't help himself, really couldn't stop the burst of laughter that left him. Laying a gentle hand on the girl's shoulder, he shook his head. "No. Not at all. You did well. More than well."

These kids. Was she supposed to get hurt? He shook his head again, still chuckling. [b]"There's a safe stairway down on the opposite side of the roof."[b] He pointed, patting her shoulder. "Job well done."



Sabel's grin solidified. "Well, I'm glad to hear that your sense of humor hasn't been damaged."

Nothing broken though? Or otherwise seriously injured? Good. He didn't really do serious injuries. At least, not if he didn't have to. And so far, the Gryffindors were doing well on not breaking themselves.

Taking a step back to give the kid a bit of space, Sabel tilted his head. "A mirror? You mean you don't carry one in your back pocket?" It would probably be sorely broken now if he did. Still, he shook his head. "Unfortunately not, though you really should consider that look Mr. Hyland. It's somewhat...suiting."



There was a shimmer indeed, only momentary but enough. Sabel appeared a moment later and moved wordlessly over to the young Slytherin's side. "That was quite a landing Miss Lynch."

Crouching down, he put a light hand on her back. "Don't really think faces make good braces, but it was effective." Tilting his head a little, he peered at her face. "May I see?"



As with all the others, there was a distinct shimmer to the air. A disturbance that lasted for only a moment, but which had quite the effect. One moment there was just air, the next there was a full fledged defense Professor. And yes, he was smiling. He was allowed to smile, okay? He was proud of his dueling club. They were made of tough stuff!

Clasping his hands behind his back, Sabel let his smile turn into a grin. "You can give that a bit of a victory wave if you want, Miss Burton. You well deserve it."

He didn't miss the look of her leg, or her off-balance, and his concern spike a little. "Nothing broken I hope?"



Truth was, Sabel was having just a bit of fun watching the kids swing over from one rooftop to the next. He was almost disappointed that Rehman didn't let out a howling monkey cry as he came across. But more than that, he was relieved that the kid didn't turn into a pastry on the side of the building. They were charmed, of course, to be somewhat cushioning. But not fully. How would anyone learn if they hit pillows all the time?

Sitting on the ledge of the rooftop, Sabel whisked away the disillusionment charm and grinned at the celebrating kid. "Well done Mr. Rehman." What was this? Was he so interested in having another go that he was going to find another way down?

Sabel chuckled, and pointed just off his left shoulder. "Stair's are that way if you want down."

------------------
OOC: Golly gosh! I forgot to tell you guys, there is NOOO rush to complete challenges. They will remain open throughout the whole semester/as long as the dueling club is open and you can complete them on your own time

"My sense of humor?" Yoongi looked completely puzzled as he cocked his head to the side. Had the Professor been sarcastic or not? Either way he didn't think he had a sense of humor. He was just himself? Wait, did that mean he was a funny person by nature? ....he could live with that.

A mirror in his back pocket? The Gryffindor shook his head. "I'm not that stupid to bring my priced possessions with me to these challenges" if he had he surely needed to buy a new one. He did narrow his eyes just slightly as he heard that this look 'suited him' "....very funny Sir" he said after a fake ha-ha laugh. Shame he didnt have a mirror though.

Rested enough, Yoongi got up from the ground and made a face when he felt the cold sweat on his skin. "I can leave now, right Professor? ....i need to shower for an hour..or two..." Unless he had something else to say?

As she rolled onto her back, Evie breathed in and out big breaths of air and tried to relax her arms. The muscles were still burning from holding herself up and climbing up that robe. She could also feel her veins pulsing in her hands. Lifting them up, she saw definite rope burn. The skin was red and raw and it stung like hell. But she had to push on. Rope burn was nothing. And really, if she was putting herself in Auror shoes and there were people coming after her, she would have been dead by now. Aurors didn't have time to catch their breath!

Hefting herself back up, Evie stood on top of the roof an analyzed what was left. She was on the last building before the final roof with the flag on it. There was a small alleyway between her and the last building and... no way to get across.

Correction: no way to get across without taking a huge risk.

She could tight-rope. Maybe she'd get extra points for skill. But honestly, Evie had terrible balance and knew she'd only get maybe two feet AND also now knew that the ropes were CRAP and couldn't even hold her for more than a minute, so tight-rope walking was out of the question.

After looking around and surveying her very limited options (besides going back down and starting over from the ground), she decided on what seemed to be the best option. Stepping up to the edge of the roof, Evie tried to guess how many feet apart the two buildings were. Ten feet, maybe. She'd need a running start and good footing, which was kind of hard to come by on such a shambled roof... but she could manage.

What would happen if she didn't make it? If she fell? Obviously the dark pit of doom wouldn't be dangerous or else Dakest would be fired the moment a student fell down there. But Evie didn't even WANT to know what was down there. She wasn't going to find out either! With deep breaths, she kicked loose pieces of roofing out of her way, clearing a running path for her. She went as far as she could so she could pick up as much speed as she could to launch herself across the gap.

And then she took off.

Her little feet pounded on the rooftop as she sprinted across, the edge getting closer and closer with each step. She focused on each step and the edge of the roof as it got closer... and closer... and then she LAUNCHED herself off the roof and SOOOOARED through the open air, her arms and legs flailing unceremoniously (and probably not very cute, either). To her surprise, her jump brought her quite far. Maybe a little TOO far.

Evie's feet hit the roof and she skidded to her knees towards the opposite side of the roof. Her momentum kept her skidding and sliding towards the other edge and AWAY from the flag she needed to obtain. She had been so focused on jumping as far as she could that she didn't realize how narrow the building she was jumping onto was! With a squawk and a squeal and with scrambling limbs scraping against the roof, Evie managed to finally stop her momentum as one of her toes slid off the edge of the roof. She let out a sigh of relief and crawled her way back up the roof to that GOD-FORSAKEN flag and plucked it off.

Merlin. Where was her trophy?

Making her way towards the room for her first challenge, Paulina wasn't sure what to expect beyond the unexpected.

Professor Dakest sure didn't disappoint.

Biting her lip, she surveyed her surroundings. Alleyways really weren't her thing though she had been her fair share of them. They just never looked as seedy as this... The alleys of Japan also tended to be void free.

Clearly she wouldn't fall to her death if she slipped into the hole, but it wouldn't bode well for completion points. Paulina needed to improve her dueling skills if she wanted to make it on the tough streets of the wizarding world, and this was a good place to start because it was literally the tough streets.

Somehow she doubted that simply walking through the door on her left and using the staircase was going to get her where she needed to go in order to complete the challenge. Scaling a building and jumping from rooftop to rooftop seemed just as unlikely; not like she was Spiderman. Paulina was going to have to work something out on her own.

That rope she had spotted lying by a few planks of wood seemed like a good place to start.

Quote:

There was a shimmer indeed, only momentary but enough. Sabel appeared a moment later and moved wordlessly over to the young Slytherin's side. "That was quite a landing Miss Lynch."

Crouching down, he put a light hand on her back. "Don't really think faces make good braces, but it was effective." Tilting his head a little, he peered at her face. "May I see?"

Blink.

Blink.

Hady tilted her head to the side blinking up at the Professor just a moment. Where had he even come from?! She was still catching her breath from the ordeal so simply brushed off the matter for a second being as he posed her no danger. "Indeed, Professor. Not exactly what I had intended but it done the trick," she replied with a slight smirk tugging at her lips. Clearly she had wanted to land on her feet or at least catch herself with her hands and NOT smack her face off of anything. And surely she hadn't expected anyone to see that.

At his question the brunette gave a nod of her head and lifted her head up to look at the older man. What exactly was he going to do? And if he was about to heal the injuries she so needed to learn how to do it herself.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tazenhani

As with all the others, there was a distinct shimmer to the air. A disturbance that lasted for only a moment, but which had quite the effect. One moment there was just air, the next there was a full fledged defense Professor. And yes, he was smiling. He was allowed to smile, okay? He was proud of his dueling club. They were made of tough stuff!

Clasping his hands behind his back, Sabel let his smile turn into a grin. "You can give that a bit of a victory wave if you want, Miss Burton. You well deserve it."

He didn't miss the look of her leg, or her off-balance, and his concern spike a little. "Nothing broken I hope?"

SHE DID IT! SHE DID IT! SHE DID IT! HOORAY!!!!!

Once she grabbed the flag, suddenly the challenge scene disappeared and she spotted the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor. Like the Professor said, she waved the flag and spoke to the Professor. "Professor Dakest! I did it!! I completed the challenge!!" Ava was so proud and relieved. Even though one of her foot was limp, but she still moved forward and finished the challenge. She gave the Professor man a hug because she was so happy and proud and already proved to herself that she's the one and only truly Gryffindor in Burton clan.

And her foot?

"Oh, it's a little bit injured. Got trapped twice at the rickety floor." But she didn't feel the pain anymore. "Thankfully it's not... broken."

With both his hands rid of cuts and splinters, Zeke massaged his palms together. Much better. "Uh... thanks," he supplied, though he would have been perfectly fine without the intervention. Mmhhmm. His nose though, was another matter, he touched it gently, pulling his hand away to see the blood it collected. It didn't seem severe, and the pain was bearable... it wasn't broken. Nevertheless, he nodded at Sabel's instruction of icing it. That would happen. "Yes, Sir," he replied.

And with that, he was done. He grinned a bit more comfortably now as he received a cap on the shoulder. "Cheers, have a good one, Professor," he replied before moving in the direction that was pointed out to him. He would be glad to have his wand back, he felt naked without it.

He'd made it up one flight of stairs, but at the corner he turned too heavily and the tiny landing gave way, almost sending Benzi catapulting to the ground. Luckily for him, he'd managed to jump forwards just before the wood disappeared beneath his shoes and continue his ascent. All thoughts of 'treading lightly' had gone out the window - speaking of, where was a window he really desperately needed a window right about now, please? - the stairs kept breaking under his feet. He briefly wondered if had put on more muscle weight over Christmas, since these stairs could honestly give the vanishing ones a run for their money. Heart in his throat, Benzi panted as he tore up and up and up, heading for what seemed to be a bigger landing of what had probably been an upper floor and was now just a small stretch of moldy wood.

He loved moldy wood, he did. Cheers Dakest. Was this place built for first years?

Aaaaaaand, the stairs didn't reach the window sill or the balcony on the opposite wall. They DID however, bring him closer to those overhead beams. Beams seemed sturdy, so they were his best bet. RIGHT. OKAY. He had this. He HAD it. Coming on the last few steps now. Concentrating hard on not tripping because tripping a great big fall and a waste of his efforts - also possibly death? - he hurriedly stepped out onto the wood just as the entire stairs formation crumpled beneath him onto the ground level below. He peered down from the edge, breathing hard, legs spread wide apart and knees bent. Well, that had been fun.

Careful not to move his feet or shift his weight in any way, and ignoring the ominous creaking of the floorboards, his gaze followed the length of the beams and saw that if he walked along one, he could swing to a balcony on the other end of the building where the wooden floor had already fallen in. Alternatively, there was a window higher up which would be an easier jump. And... was that a trap door? On the ceiling? Hmm. He'd try the balcony first, see if helped him. A window wouldn't really get him far... the trap door might, but he couldn't see how he'd get that open without using some sort of battering ram thing.

Plan.Get on the beams. Flexing his arms, Benzi judged the distance to the lowest hanging beam, from which he could swing to the middle one that would get him across. This bit should be easy. With a run up he could jump and grab hold, but this floor really wouldn't like him running and leaping off of it. Unless he ran very quickly. Did he have options? The rope was pretty useless as he had next to no idea how to loop it around the wood and make it stay in place.

. . . Running quickly it was.

Taking a deep breath, Benzi counted to three and sprinted on the creaking floorboards. They held, which was great. Finally something that could support his weight. When he was close enough, the Ravenclaw put his feet together and took off for the beams, hands landing on the wooden surface easily as his legs swung upwards then settled. Perfect.

Grinning, he breathed out and pulled himself onto the beam easily enough, his shoulders used to this exercise. Benzi allowed himself a moment to sit on the beam and examine his palms, noting that he'd somehow avoided getting a splinter in his skin, which was nice. The seventh year stood up and with careful balance and a second jump, grabbed onto the higher beam that got him closer to the window. And gave him a massive splinter, which he pulled out with more practiced ease. It also brought him within reach of that trapdoor which he wouldn't really be able to open. Perhaps he should have grabbed a plank of wood. Oh well. Time to take a talk.

For a brief moment Paulina wondered if she could use the rope to swing across the gap and make it to the other side. All that she would need to do is make a lasso on one end, toss it on to one of the ledges over the gap, and tighten it.

Only problem was that she couldn't find anything she could hook the rope on. That, and she wasn't Tarzan.

She'd just have to find another way across...

Looking around some more, Paulina was hoping that something else would present itself to her, but nope...everything looked exactly as it had a few moments ago. There was nothing else for it but to venture through the door on her left and see what she could do with that staircase. So long as it held under her weight she should be able to climb with no problems; Henric HAD said that she was light. Fingers crossed that there weren't any gaps because she didn't know if she'd be able to jump across, and even if she could the impact wouldn't be good for the rest of the staircase.

Figuring that standing where she was wouldn't do her any good, Paulina made her way to the doorway. She was feeling rather nervous and anxious, and she was not enjoying the weird sensation on her stomach. Butterflies were never fun.

Ugh.

Taking a deep breath, she stepped inside the threshold. Gingerly she placed her foot on the first step. There was creaking and the board sagged...but it DID hold her weight and that was the important thing. So long as the other boards held in this manner she might be able to ascend the stairs with no real difficulty. Somehow she felt that it wouldn't the that easy, however.

There WAS a reason that these were called CHALLENGES after all. Paulina would just have to take things in stride and hope for the best because as much as she wished she could take out her wand and create a bridge, that just wasn't going to happen. Rules were rules.

Her other foot followed, and the first board was still holding though it was now sagging under her full weight. Gingerly she tried out the second step and was pleased to see that it was also holding up. Looked like being a vegetarian was paying off in more ways than one.

Balancing on the beam proved to be rather easy since it was very sturdy and not too narrow. What wasn't easy was the not looking down part. See, what Benzi hadn't taken into account in this whole thing was that he really really didn't like heights. Not one bit. Not even a little. Between him and the floor was lots and lots of space which would make for a long fall and probably a broken leg. He was VERY high up. He couldn't look down. Not even when the rope snagged on something and he had to pull it free. Nope. Pull until it's free, not looking down.

Not looking down. Walking. Not looking down. Looking straight ahead. Walking. Yup, all good.

Hands sticking out on either side of him for balance, Benzi swiftly made his way to the other side of the beam where he carefully sat down. As he'd predicted, the window was an easy jump, the balcony a difficult one and the trap door right above him a rather hopeless cause as he couldn't jump to push it open. Should have grabbed that plank.

Window it was. Using the opportunity, Benzi tied the edge of the rope to the beam and secured it around his waist. This way, if he fell he'd have SOME sort of protection, even though he didn't much fancy the idea of this rope digging into his sides. Best not fall if he had the option. Standing back up, he bent his knees a couple of times then hopped easily enough onto the lower beam, then breathed out and jumped for the window, hands outreached as he flew through the air and grabbed a hold of the window sill. Benzi turned his face to the side to avoid bashing his nose on the wall and with a great heave of his shoulders, managed to clamber on to the ledge.

... Well, he'd been right. He had passed the great big hole in the street, but there was nothing here that could help him. The balcony that he had been wanting to try looked broken and crumbling too, so he was a bit stumped. How else would he get to the roof? Going back wasn't an option, the stairs were broken. Perhaps he could scale down with the rope? Sighing, he was about to turn back and try to figure out another way when his eyes caught sight of the wooden shutters. The tall, old wooden shutters that could definitely be pried from their hinges with enough force.

Brilliant.

Almost smiling, Benzi carefully leaned forward to grab the bottom of one shutter and began rattling it, loosening up the metal hinges. It took him longer than expected and briefly he wondered if there was a time limit to this challenge, but with a satisfying creak, it came free. It was also much lighter than he expected and he almost went flying backwards. Over excited. He was okay.

And now back to the beams. Untying the rope from around his waist, Benzi tied it instead to the shutter, carefully covering all its sides so it wouldn't simply fall to the ground and leave him with a dead end. He let it go so it could dangle idly from the rope while he easily made his jumps back, and within the minute was back on the top beam.

Breaking open the trap door was easier than he thought. Getting through it was much harder. He'd untied the rope so he'd have it with him on the roof, but it just made all of this that much less safe. A few times he almost lost his balance and fell from the beam, but the fourth time he managed to grab onto the side of the opening and slowly crawled onto the roof. Finally.

With lots of panting, Benzi righted himself and looked around, instantly noticing the lack of a flag on the roof he was in. He wondered around the roof for a bit, sticking mainly to the sides until he rounded a third corner and saw the flag two buildings down from where he was on the opposite side of the street. His heart sank at the distance between the two buildings until he realised that if he were to run down the street, the gap between the buildings got narrower. And the distance between the buildings along the street were practically not existent.

This time he did smile. Letting the rope go, Benzi bounced on the spot a few times and started his run, feeling almost euphonic now as he jumped over the buildings as if it were nothing. This he could do. This he did at home all the time. Running, jumping over gaps and dodging obstacles was a walk in the park for him. When the street did get narrower, he made the longer jump to the other side and quickly ran back up, out of breath when he finally made it to the flag and swept it up with one swift, self satisfied motion.

"Got ya, y'little bugger," he whispered under his breath and smiled. ... Now how to get down? Was Dakest around? Should he wave his arms to get attention or go back to solving some puzzles some more?

The next board held, as did the few after, but it was when she was about a quarter of the way up (to her estimation) that Paulina ran into a bit of trouble: the next step was missing.

She MIGHT have been able to make it across by jumping, but she still didn't feel comfortable exerting that much force. There had been some wooden boards back at the start; she could use them to create a makeshift ramp. Unfortunately there hadn't been any nails or a hammer, but then that would have made things TOO easy and Professor Dakest probably didn't want that.

With a shrug, Paulina made her way slowly back to the starting point while ensuring that no other boards decided to crap out on her. It took more than a few minutes and she was relieved to be back on solid ground because this kind of thing wasn't good on her nerves. Soon she would have to return to the staircase, but for now she was focusing on the pieces of wood that she needed.

Looking them over, she saw that they were in pretty good condition. So long as she was careful, the planks should hold.

A few in her arms, she made her way back through the doorway and began ascending the stairs once again. She knew that the boards were sturdy enough to hold her weight, but that didn't make her any less nervous. She would just continue along at her slow pace until she reached the missing step.

At that point, she laid two of her planks across going from the step she was on until the next solid one. Fortunately the board was long enough, but she would be in trouble if she reached any sections where a few steps were missing. Paulina didn't want to worry about that right now because she had enough on her plate to deal with, so instead she focused on slowly making her way up the makeshift ramp. It definitely wasn't easy due to wobbliness, and at one point she thought she would fall through, but miraculously it held. She had a feeling that it had to do with the fact that there wasn't a huge gap between the steps so the wood was still pretty sturdy.

Once she was on the other side, Paulina picked up the planks so that she could use them again if required.

The next few steps held okay, but the fourth one gave as she put her foot on it.

Heart hammering, Paulina was partly through the staircase. She was a little sore from the impact, but at least she wasn't severely injured. She didn't even want to think about the fact that she could have fallen through and straight towards the ground. Instead, she put all her might into extracting herself from the gap, only feeling better when she was firmly on the last stable step.

Time to make another ramp to get across... once her heart stopped feeling like it would pop out of her chest.

No magic. Well good thing Davie hadn't even bothered to bring his wand today. He shuffled into the alleyway with his hands in his pockets, determined to check the whole thing out before he started anything. He walked down to the edge of the pit, glanced up and out toward the flag he needed to grab, and then shuffled back to the start.

Hey look, a set of stairs! He was probably going to start there, with that fire escape. Davie swallowed his fears in a big gulp and started climbing.... very, very slowly.

Safely across the gap through the use of more slow maneuvering, Paulina carried on climbing the stairs.

This challenge was probably taking her a century to complete, but she really didn't care about that because it was more important that she made it across safely than achieving record speeds. Thank Merlin she hadn't seriously hurt herself back there, because she couldn't imagine how much slower things would have been if she had managed to cut herself.

Moving along gingerly was perfectly fine for her.

...That was until she reached a gap in the steps that was way TOO big to cross using planks of wood. Paulina had to laugh because she had JUST reached a landing; that meant that she HAD to be nearing the top - though she honestly wasn't sure which floor she was on at this point. But whatever. It had apparently been too much to ask for a few nails and a hammer. For a moment she found herself wishing that she could use magic, but even if she hadn't left her wand back at the start it wouldn't be a good learning experience. She needed to get through this using her (limited) street smarts.

Looking around her, Paulina noticed a window. Did she dare climb through it? Maybe if she did, she could wrap her rope around something outside and use it to scale the walls like they did in spy movies. Okay, she WASN'T a spy, but there were only so many options here.

Heart hammering, she approached the window and slid it open with some difficulty. Peeking her head out, she was slightly dismayed to see that she wasn't AS high up as she had hoped to be. That would be a good thing if she wasn't dealing with a pit of dooooom below her.

Best to ignore that.

Furrowing her brows in concentration and trying to ignore the pounding of her heart, Paulina tied the rope around her waist in a secure knot before carefully climbing onto the window sill. Okay, this would be easier if she was shorter, but at least she was light and thin because otherwise she wasn't sure how she could manage.

Looking across, Paulina noticed the beam jutting out from the building across the alleyway - the building that she needed to get to. Okay, change of plans then; if she could manage to secure the rope around the beam, she could climb up the other building, enter one of the windows and make her way up the stairs to its rooftop. Sweet Merlin THOSE stairs had better hold because Paulina only had this rope and a few planks of wood at her disposal.

Speaking of those, she quickly secured them within the rope around her waist so that she wouldn't lose them. They made things a lot more uncomfortable and difficult, but it was her only option when she didn't have a bag to put them in.

Paulina tied a secure knot into the other end of her rope so that there was a loop that she could secure to the beam. Figuring that here goes nothing, she tossed the rope across...and missed. Ugggh. Not wanting to give up, she kept trying until she FINALLY managed to secure it. Just to be safe, she gave the rope a few tugs and was glad to see that it held.

Scared out of her mind, Paulina took the plunge and let herself swing out of the window and across the abyss to the other side.

Sabel just grinned at the kid. He didn't need to answer that question, did he? No, best to keep the kid wondering a bit. Plus, there was the bonus of some added entertainment in doing so.

He did, however, let out a laugh. No mirror. A thing which was a prized possession to him. How very interesting, and suitable. "I aim to entertain." Really, just look at the course he'd given them to tackle.

Shaking his head slightly, Sabel pointed over his shoulder. [b]"Stairs are right there. I promise they won't give you any trouble." No the challenge was over, and it was well done. "Good work, Mr. Hyland."



There was a moment before the air did it's tell-tale shimmer and the Defense Professor appeared. This time, he wasn't wearing his usual grin, but a look of genuine concern. "That, Ms. Shacklebolt, was a bit of a close call."

Walking over to her, he put a hand on her shoulder to steady her. The grin, finally came too. "Good recovery."



"That's the spirit." Sabel smiled fondly at the little Slytherin. She had some spark to her, including the way she was eyeing him as if he might be yet another part of the challenge. Well now, that was an interesting idea....

For the moment, he turned his attention to the scrapes on her face, wincing slightly at the sight of them. "I could heal those up for you if you would like." He hadn't been in the habit of asking, but there was a difference in aiming one's wand at someone's hands and someone's face. A face healing, required permission.



Well, it was nice to see her take his suggestion, and he chuckled at the enthusiasm. "And did so vrey well, I might add."

He returned the hug around her shoulders, albeit it briefly, before gently dislodging her from him. His gaze dropped to her foot, before coming back up. "You'd best get yourself up to the healer, alright. Don't take any chances with that leg." He motioned over his shoulder. "There's a safe set of stairs right over there you can take down."



Tucking his wand back into his holster, Sabel nodded at Zeke. The kid was a good egg, raised right. It would be interesting to see how he did on the upcoming challenges, and the duels themselves.



The slow clap was heard before it's source became visible. After a few moments of it, the air shimmered where the flag had been, and Sabel appeared, perched rather comfortably on the edge of the roof.

Despite the speed of the clap, he wore a pleased smile as his expression. "Well done, Mr. Rider. I do believe you found the easiest route to the flag from these rooftops."

If running and jumping from roof to roof could be called easy.