The second he read the challenge, he was engaged. In fact, he was so engaged that he could not simply turn away. While it would have been in his best interest to remove himself from the room and to contemplate the challenge and how he might complete it over a slice of cake or a cup of hot chocolate, he simply could not back down. So without hesitation, Zeke crossed the threshold into the room and surrendered his wand. He seldom surrendered his wand... detention was the last exception to that rule, but if this is what had to be done, then so be it.

For a moment, Zeke observed his surroundings, first the pit and the problem it posed in getting to the other side of the alley, and secondly the walls and balconies extending upward. He would have to scale those too... somehow, to get to the roof. Though there were doors and stairs, he doubted very much that he could simply get up one, and move across through the buildings via doors and overpasses. Buildings. Faux buildings, no? Were they illusions? Or were they real structures that were built into the space? They were solid, so perhaps the latter. At any rate, it wasn't something he needed to question, he just needed to do this.

The first thing he did, was take a pace down the crumbling sidewalk to the open door. Peering inside, he considered the staircase... how far up did it go? Were there exit points up top? Or should he consider another avenue? Catching a glimpse of the rope out of the corner of his eye, Zeke bent down to claim it, hoisting it over his shoulder and around his arm, keeping it in a form that resembled a loose coil. He hoped it might come in handy.

Deciding to test the staircase first, Zeke entered through the door, and gingerly, one step at a time, attempted the climb.

When the dueling challenge had been put up on the noticeboard, the Gryffindor didn’t waste a moment and went straight to the room off the practice hall. Now, it was that he was super brave and wanted to challenge it right away but it was rather that he was curious. Really curious. His oldest sister, the one who signed the permission paper had joked that curiosity would be his death one day. But he couldn’t help it.

Before he entered the room, he placed his wand in a basket and felt like he was fifteen again when his previous one broke. It was hard departing from a trusted friend…

Reading the rules, Yoongi realized that he’d have TWO challenges today. One, the challenge itself and two….his own fear of heights. Because they weren’t allowed to touch the cobblestone pathway and he doubted it that the houses were connected to each other by doors, that meant he had to climb UP and perhaps jump over balconies…. And balconies meant heights. Were those fatigue points really worth it?

Thinking long and hard, the Gryffindor finally decided to do the challenge. What if everyone in the dueling club did the challenge and he was the only one who hadn’t? That meant he’d have a disadvantage in a duel. And he didn’t want that. Taking a deep breath, Yoongi looked around until he found a rope. He picked it up and rolled it over his right shoulder. He firmly believed that he would need a rope later.

Now it was just getting to the end of the street right? He turned right and went in to the first house. The house was in a very bad shape. It looked like it had been abandoned a long time ago or rather that it was charmed to look like that. He tested the floor with each careful step until he reached the first staircase. It...didn't really look safe. Actually , a few stairs were missing in the middle. But before he went to check on another house, he wanted to see if it was stable enough to jump over it. Or maybe he could use his rope somehow?

On more than one occasion he was sure that the step beneath his foot would give out, and in one instance... it did. His foot broke clear through the badly damaged plank.

SHHHOOOOOOOOOOOT!

Frowning to himself, Zeke pulled his foot clear, not at all comfortable with the strength of the only step he was standing on at the minute. He needed to distribute his weight better if he was going to have any chance at getting higher up. Lowering himself into a crouching position, Zeke tested the step above the one he just failed to mount with his hand. It held. Slowly, he ascended, on hands and toes. The stairs creaked less in this manner, but he didn't think he would get much further, the condition only seemed to deteriorate the higher up he he climbed and at this point he had enough splinters to last him a lifetime. OUCH.

Though he made it up, a flight? he still hadn't gained much ground, and was still out of reach of the roof. Would it be possible to jump from one roof to the next... without dying? He didn't think now was the time to try. He would wait to test that theory when he was further up the alley, and within reach of the flag. Which roof was it even on? Left side? Right side?

On what appeared to be a sad excuse of a landing, where the staircase turned, there was a small opening in the wall. A window? Maybe, if even that. Righting himself, Zeke leant against the wall so that his weight could be absorbed by something more than just the floor, and peered out of the opening from what he assumed was a glassless window. It didn't open up to anything great, just the brick wall of the next building, a narrow alley he would liken to a crawl space if anything else. But it was when he turned his head to see what was at the end of it that he got an idea. There, up ahead, where the light filtered through... was a balcony. The metal...iron?... bars of it black and distinctive against the light and the red brick of the building backdrop. Could he make it there? Crawl there?

Pulling his head back inside, Zeke glanced up at the rest of the staircase. He didn't trust it to hold him to the top, and as far as he could tell, he wouldn't be able to make it there anyway... there were too many gaps where the steps were broken or simply missing. And going down would be a waste of effort.

Out the window it would be.

Lifting a leg over the windowsill, Zeke straddled the short beam before pulling over his other leg, if he dropped now he was sure he would shatter his ankles, but he didn't need to drop. Arms out in front of him, he positioned them against the opposite wall, though there was nothing to grip onto, he would still be able to support himself with his legs. Feet arching down and planting against the wall beneath the sill on which he sat, Zeke braced himself and pushed off.

.....

.......

..........

Not working. Not working. With some effort, he managed to push himself backward enough to grab hold of the sill with one hand, before pulling himself onto it again. The bricks were hard and rough, moving along them would scrape his skin off, he was sure of it, and considering he was still at the beginning of his journey, he figured he would need the skin on his hands for something further down the track - or up it, as it seemed would be the case.

His pockets were empty of anything that would help, but he did have the rope. Perhaps... if he wrapped it around his hands, he could make it to the front of the building, skin unscathed. Uncoiling a generous section of it, he wrapped it around his left hand first, before extending its length and wrapping the other length around his right hand... the remainder of the rope was left to trail over his back. This was about as good as it was going to get.

Leaning forward once more, wrapped hands outstretched, he landed against the wall, his planted feet keeping him from falling. This was better. This was a good start. He could work with this. Carefully, not rushing the process, he started to shuffle across, back in the direction of the street - more or less where he had come from. Right foot, right hand, left foot, left hand, right foot, right hand, left foot, left hand.... and so he continued to shuffle as he neared the entrance to the crawl space.

He was able to support himself comfortably for the time being, but the challenge would come when he had to climb onto the balcony. Pausing at the edge of the building, he peered out at the street. He was higher up, yes, and so his perspective was different to what his was on the ground. This was doable. Of course it was doable. Abel wouldn't give them a challenge they couldn't accomplish... would he? And... more to the point, what happened if one couldn't accomplish it? Would they be forced to start again? Ridiculed? Excluded from the club? He knew they weren't to touch the cobblestone, but if he did, would he be returned to the start? Banished from the room? How did it all work? While his mind whirled with unanswerable questions, Zeke peered down.

Big mistake.

It wasn't that he was afraid of heights, but by looking down, he became somewhat disoriented. Up wasn't down, and down wasn't up... but down was definitely down, and he could feel a foot slipping. Arms pushing against the wall with all his might, the same with his stable foot, he worked to readjust his incorrect footing, stabilising his position.

Close call? Naaaaahhh.

When he felt confident, Zeke swung out his right arm, grasping hold of a metal rung - part of the balcony, and with determination, and a moderate leap of faith, pushed himself off the wall on an angle to grasp the metal bar with his other hand. The rope was both a blessing and a hindrance. The metal wasn't digging into his palm, but it wasn't making it much easier to grasp.

Adi wasn't exactly certain as to what to expect when he stepped into the room for the first challenge. He just knew it would be something out of the box. And it was! He came face to face with something that looked like an alleyway. Well, it was one. He surveyed his new surroundings as best as he could, noting the dilapidated balconies and such and the vanishing of the street into a pit.

The rope and wood held his attention but it was the door and that old stair that held it the longest. There was no way those stairs would hold his weight especially not without magic since his wand had been left behind at the beginning of the maze. Of course there were the doors too but no doubt if he took them, Adi would encounter more old staircases. Soooo, his best hope was those rope, wood and other random materials.

Was it too late to wish he had wall climbing abilities like Spiderman? Or mad ninja skills like Batman? Orrrrrrr an awesome suit that flew like Iron Man? Ugh! Maybe that door WAS his best option. Without hesitating anymore, the badger took off cautiously for the door with the old, battered steps.

A strange feeling took over his stomach as Kyroh entered the practice room. Actually, no, it wasn't strange. It wasn't strange at all. It was fear. He didn't really like going into something not knowing what to expect. Sure that was what survival was all about, but he liked asking his questions and getting to make sense of something before he had to do it. Or when he had to do it even. Just not....in a practice hall alone.

After tying his hair up, the sixteen year old took a deep breath and stepped inside.

Instantly his eyes widened.

The alleyway was a ruin. Literally. Demolished ground in front of him and cracked bricks and structures that looked like they would fall apart in seconds. Oh and rope and other items that really didn't seem useless when matched up to a place that looked like it was about to implode on it's self.

It...was....AWESOME!!!

THIS was like an area that a superhero had to go through before catching the bad guy! Spiderman would SO know how to get through this!! And Kyroh would have NO problem either- if he could use his wand. Because then he'd just make his shoes sticky but....alas....no. Dropping his wand in the bucket, the Ravenclaw look a deep sigh and started examining the area. Just hoow would he go about this?

Carefully walking up the narrow staircase, Yoongi kept concentrating on each step he made. So far he hadn’t encountered any difficulties but he was almost at the few missing stairs. When he stood in front of it he took a deep breath but before he could test it he felt the stair he was standing on gave way and began to crumble. Reacting fast, but not out of strategy but because he was panicking, the Gryffindor jumped over the gap before he could fall down. With his arms outstretched he managed to grab the other stair and pushed himself up. He didn’t look behind him but crawled the last few steps until he had reached the first floor.

Breathing heavily, and with a racing heart, the Gryffindor looked back now and saw that the gap in the staircase was bigger. Well, he couldn’t go back down now… But he wasn’t supposed to go back so he turned back around and walked through the room to the front window. He looked through the windowless window and checked the balcony. It looked sturdy enough so he climbed over the window sill and made sure to not look down.

As long as he didn’t look down, he would give himself the illusion that he wasn’t up high. Simple right? He hadn’t found the flag in this house so he walked over the balcony and looked at the balcony on the right side of the house. It looked too far to jump.. . and if he used the rope he would literally slam against the side wall.

Thinking and looking around, Yoongi walked back inside the house. Surely there would be something in here that he could use? And what he needed was precisely in this room! Finding a long plank standing behind the broken door, Yoongi carefully grabbed and dragged it with him through the window. Standing back on the balcony, he stooped down and shoved the plank through the space under the bars and shoved it through the next balcony.

Testing it with his hand, he thought the plank was sturdy enough to hold him. Now came the awful part. He had to cross and battle his fear. Shaking his head, the sixth year took a couple of deep breaths. He had been training his fear of heights plus he had been training in the obstacle course for a few months now. He could do this!

He made sure to not look down when he focused on climbing over the railing and instead looked at the next door balcony. His feet finding the plank, the Gryffindor stepped on it and without thinking anymore because thinking made him scared, he began to walk. With his arms outstretched to keep his balance, Yoongi walked over the plank in between the two balconies. He wondered what would happen if he fell right now. Surely the Professor wouldn’t make a course that would actually hurt them right? RIGHT?!

As he began to question, the sixth year made the mistake to look down at the cobbled road below him and the feeling in his legs was gone as he saw the height. He didn’t cry and scream like had done in Astronomy but instead his shaking legs refused to take a step and he lowered himself down on the plank. Breathing heavily and breaking out in a cold sweat , Yoongi wanted to do two things. He wanted to call for help and go on. The sorting hat hadn’t put him in the bravest house for nothing though so even though he was shaking and nearly crying, he crawled forward over the plank.

After a couple of minutes, he had managed to reach the other side on his hands and knees and climbed on the balcony of the second house. He wanted to sit down and take a break but knew he had to find a flag first.

Hanging limply wasn’t going to get him anywhere, and even though the pain in his hands was begging him to let go of the metal bar he was clinging to… he knew that would mean failure, and as he was uncertain of the repercussions of touching the cobblestone he didn’t want to risk it. Disqualification was not for him.

Inhaling a deep breath, Zeke grimaced a little as he tried pulling himself up. It was no easy feat, but he was thankful that he was able to gain some ground, crawling his way up enough to place a foot on flat ground between the bars, he then rose to a stand. He was hanging off the side of the balcony somewhat precariously, so he didn’t waste time in swinging his legs over, one by one. As sturdy as the railing had felt in his hands, he wasn’t sure it was still fixed to the building as strongly. The second he was over, Zeke unwrapped the rope from his hand, coiling it back around his shoulder. His hands stung. It wasn’t quite rope burn, but it wasn’t pleasant… he hoped he pain would subside soon… he still had a fair way to go.

With this in mind, he began assessing how he would progress from here. Preferably without the need to rely on his hands so that they might recover somewhat before the end of the challenge. From here he could see down into the pit, the end of the sidewalk disappearing from view beneath him. Taking a moment to look up, Zeke couldn’t see any viable way to climb onto the roof, even if he stood on the edge of the balcony to give him height. Leaning and hanging off the other side of the building wasn’t high on his list of things to-do, so before he even considered that as an option, Zeke turned to go inside. If he was lucky, he might find something to help him. A tool… if not a clear passage to a higher floor.

If he thought the stairs were in bad condition in the first house, the second wasn’t much better. There were bigger gaps in staircase and a strange smell lingered on the air, making his nose twitch… did something die in here?

Though he knew this was all set up, that the whole scenario was fake and that it was designed to be a safe way for them to test their skill, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he didn’t want to be there. Going up would be trickier than hanging off the side of the building, this much he was confident about, and going down would likely be a waste of time… so as far as he could tell, there was only one way to get across. Out the window again.

Returning to the balcony, Zeke climbed up to stand on the metal railing, but the gap didn’t inspire him to jump. His hands were still throbbing from earlier, and a part of him didn’t trust them to get him to the other side. Hopping down and back to the relative safety of the balcony floor, Zeke stood for a moment, hands on hips, contemplating his options. He had rope. Rope. What could he do with that? Throw it over and try to tie it to form a tightrope? Did he even want a tightrope? And if he tied it, could he get it back? In his eyes, rope was VERY valuable, he wasn’t ready to part with it.

Frowning in concentration, Zeke went back inside, and inspected the only other resource he could safely get his hands on. A step. Or more to the point, the plank which formed the step. Most were damaged, but there were still a few that seemed whole enough. So getting on hands and knees, Zeke gripped the edge of an exposed one just below him, and tried pulling it up. Ugh.

Uuuuggghhh.


UUUURRGGGHHHHH.

“Come. On!” He was pulling, and tugging, and putting his whole bodyweight into attempting to lift it. How long he spent trying, he couldn’t say for sure. But there was a chance that what had felt like many minutes to him, were mere seconds… or just fewer minutes. Ahem. Eventually the nails did pull loose, and as the last of the nail gave way to the support beams beneath, Zeke found himself flying back against the wall with a plank in hand. SUCCESS!

Too excited by his triumph, Zeke rushed back outside and held the plank over the divide. It was long enough… just… and with the nails still it in, it gave it some more support, preventing him from being able to knock it over the edge. Placing it down gently, Zeke tricked rocking it back and forth, but the nails only allowed it to slide a fraction. HUZZAH! He could walk across!

Wiping away a few beads of sweat that had formed on his brow, Zeke mounted the balcony bars again and with two swift steps, darted across to the next. He was slightly out of breath, but not from exertion, it was the adrenaline in his system. His hazel eyes were bright, he was alert, and he was ready to tackle this thing head on. He was almost there!

How EXCITING was all this? This was right up Char's alley (LOL. ALLEY) with the make believe and she was DEFINITELY going to pretend like she was a ninja spy or something like that. Too bad she wasn't with Daxton right now, this would be the perfect place to make believe that the assassins were coming and they had to get through booby traps or something!

She hadn't brought her wand along, not wanting to dump it in a bucket with everyone else's, so she'd hidden it in her room before getting dressed in practical clothing, her hair braided back and a black sweatband around her brow (and matching ones on her wrists). PREPARED! YEAH!

The sight she was greeted with just made her MORE eager for things, though privately she thought that Professor Sabel should have done the floor as lava, that was way more fun than a pit of nothingness.

It was time to get started though!

But she didn't just jump into it, instead she looked around all curiously. Oooooh. Planks. And rope. She'd need the rope for sure and maybe the planks could be useful.

Charlotte began mentally tracing possible routes, all the while imagining ASSASSINS and BAD GUYS hot on her trail. That would be cool. She should booby trap it too so nobody could follow her!

As much as Hady wanted to go straight from the Dueling Club meeting to the first Challenge when it had been posted she hadn't. She had been in her school robes and there was noway she'd ruin them without needing to. So she had gone to her dorm and returned first thing the next morning dressed in comfortable muggle clothing (her usual sweatpants, hoodie and skater shoes), her hair pulled back off her face into a tight french braid.

Stepping just inside the doorway into the alleyway her wand being left inside the bin like told even though she wasn't happy about that one bit. Her hazel eyes swept both left then right taking it all in. Each and every doorway was noted in her mind as was the rooftops and the cobblestone she knew she couldn't touch. What would happen if she did touch the cobble the girl didn't know but she wasn't going to be finding out. There was a flag to be found and a challenge to be conquired. No ands, ifs, or buts about it.

She would clearly have to find out way to the top of one of the buildings and then to each after that. How she was going to do it she wasn't sure. That problem she would tackle when she got that far. Right now she scanned the area around her for possible items to take along with her.

The first thing she made a conscious grab for was some rope which she coiled up tightly like a snake and slung it over her shoulder. Laying not to far from that was a decent sized plank of wood, it's edges broken uncleanly with a nail or two sticking out of it. That was coming along with her. Something inside said she'd need it sooner or later. Grabbing the plank of wood and tucking it under her arm as well she was ready to go.

Now which way was she going?

To be honest, he hadn’t thought he would made it this far. Especially since he just walked over a plank in the air and he was afraid of heights. He deserved an extra fatigue for this! He felt proud of himself and walked to the other side of the balcony to see if he saw the flag anywhere.

Looking around, the Gryffindor spotted a flag on the roof of the next house. So close! But the sight gave him strength so he now looked for a way to get in to the next house. Could he get on top of the roof and jump to the next one? As much as he wanted to try that, his fear stopped him.

The height at the plank had been bad enough , there was no way he was going to climb that roof! He wasn’t giving up though because maybe he found a different solution to grab the flag along the way. Taking the rope off his arm , Yoongi unrolled it and sat down to focus on making a loop in the rope. He wasn’t the best at it and he failed a couple of times but eventually he managed to make a kind of rope loop and stood up.

The railings on the balcony on the other side had spikes on them. His plan was to lasso the rope to the railing and tie the other end to the balcony he was standing on and make his way across that way. Like the monkey bars at the course! He threw the rope and missed. Another try and missed again. He wanted his wand. He could have charmed it around in a second, this was so time consuming! After a couple of minutes of trying, the Gryffindor managed to wrap the loop around the spike and did a little “woohoo~” dance.

Tying the other end at the railing at his side, Yoongi checked if it was tight enough and stepped over the railing again. This time he WASN’T going to make the mistake of looking down. With a concentrated face he lowered himself until he grabbed the rope and slipped off the building. Hanging in the air and thanking Merlin for the strength in his arms thanks to the workouts, Yoongi swung his legs to wrap them around the rope as well before started to move. With his back to the ground and face looking up at the sky, Yoongi used his body to get forward …or rather backwards along the rope. His hands hurt from the rope with each grab. One time he even slipped his leg because he didn’t have the strength to keep it up and drag himself.

His hands became red and sweaty as he was almost at the end when he felt a shift. The rope on the side he had started was getting loose! He made the mistake to climb faster and his stomach dropped as the rope swung down and he gripped his hands tightly around it. He swung in an arch and then his body banged against the wall. It HURT! Despite the special uniform he was wearing. Tears filled in his eyes and he gritted his teeth as he placed his feet on the wall and leaned back a little so that he could climb up using the rope.

Getting on the next balcony of the flag house, Yoongi shouted in frustration. His hands hurt, his knees hurt from banging in to the wall and WORSE OF ALL HE WAS DIRTY! HIS CLOTHES WERE DRENCHED IN SWEAT AND…HIS HAIR WAS A MESS AS WELL! HE SHOULDN’T HAVE AGREED TO THIS! . Just grab the flag that was the only thing he had to focus on right now.

The first thing he'd wanted to do when the challenge had been announced was barge right in and claim victory of some form. Then he'd had to go do some potions work and the time spent waiting for his potion to brew made him realise he really needed a good night's sleep and a good breakfast before this challenge. He wasn't going to do anything on 50% of his energy and possibly botch it up. So, he'd had dinner and gone to bed then woke up, went for his run, had the healthiest breakfast he'd had in months and now he was here.

After he'd dropped his wand carefully in the bucket, he flexed his fingers and rolled his neck then strode into the room... which wasn't a room but a narrow alley with a massive hole in the middle of it. Nice. Looking up, Benzi took in the deteriorating buildings and the dubious looking balconies. The rope and the planks had been placed rather charitably by his side, which meant he'd need at least one of them. He was betting on the rope. He could loop a rope around a balcony, hope it wouldn't slide over and swing over the gigantic chasm but they needed to get some sort of flag which he could not see up ahead. That meant he needed to go up and not across. Great. Dakest really had a knack for playing to his worst fears first.

Benzi stood firmly in place for around five minutes before he contemplated moving. Firstly, he'd wanted to really understand where he was. Secondly, he'd been waiting for something to jump out. As that didn't happen, he ruled out the possibility that it would happen right now and instead went over to inspect the presents Dakest had left out. Testing the sturdiness of the rope, he was glad to see that it would hold him up. The planks... they seemed old. Not too usable, unless... Looking up and ahead, Benzi wondered if the alley - or a nearby alley perhaps? - would be narrow enough for this plank to help him across. But then, he could jump a distance like that if it came to it, so Benzi decided to save his strength and excess weight and left the planks where they were. He was a tall, muscly seventeen year old. All this rotting wood was barely going to hold him as it was.

Coiling the rope, he slung it around his shoulder and peered into the building with the stairs to the side, which looked like they were about to give way. The ropes stretching from building to building outside looked worse though, so he figured the stairs were the way to go. He'd have to go as lightly and as quickly as he could which, in turn, meant that if there wasn't a landing at some point he'd fall right through. Angling his head to the side, he noticed that while he couldn't see where the stairs ended he could just make out wooden beams on some sort of ceiling or landing. That was good. Wooden beams were good, they might just be sturdy enough to support him.

Okay. He was making the climb. Tossing the rope to the ground, Benzi took one end of it and tied it through his belt loop. The rope was additional weight he could not afford to have on him and this way most of it stayed on the ground and he could slide it up when he'd find a good place to stand. He was glad he'd opted for the lightest running gear he had, even if he'd frozen his limbs off on his way here. Totally worth it. He tested out the first four stairs with his feet, then with his hands. All fours was better, and closest to the wall where the stairs had more support. Okay. Here we go. He jumped from foot to foot, getting his blood flowing, then the seventeen year took a deep breath and started his quick climb.

She needed a higher vantage point to properly see the possibilities, so Char tramped up the stairs to the left and looked down once she got up there. Okay. Oh! That door there. She noted it and some of the other open doors along the way and wondered how sturdy they were. Could be a good use for those wood planks maybe? Balance each end on the top of the doors and caaarefully cross over? She could see one spot where that would be the easiest way, unless she used rope, but Char had other plans for the rope. She'd need something to make her other plan work too though....trash can. Maybe in there! She bounded back down the stairs again and took the lid off the trash can. She eyed it, and then put that aside, when it dawned on her that could also help with one part of the plan that was forming. A bit of rummaging had her come up with a broken hand-held garden fork, which had no handle and bent prongs, a ball of twine, a relatively clean plastic bag, a coat hanger, and an old leather belt. She packed all of these things into the plastic bag (aside from the trash can lid, which she just carried, ditto with the planks of wood which took a few trips to get them up the stairs) and then went back up the stairs again and looked out over the alley.

Time to prepare her things! The broken garden fork she bent the prongs even more and then using her rope , made it into something resembling a grappling hook. Perfect ninja equipment! Char had to test it a bit though, so she hooked it over the railing and gave it a good TUG.

....

.......

well it felt okay, and she was pretty sure if she actually fell, she wouldn't die so it would be fine.

There was a door open below her, and Char carefully climbed over the broken railing and dropped her feet on it, testing how it took her weight. It felt okayyyy. The one that she was aiming for however, wasn't properly open. The hinge direction had it opening away from her so Char reached back up to the stairway platform she had come from (which was now just above her head) and grabbed the trash can lid. This she used as a frisbee after lining it up and aiming a bit downward.... and it smacked the other door just hard enough for it to swing open further.

This next bit would be hard but Charlotte put her mind to it anyways, carefully easing one of the boards dowwwwn from the platform and tried not to wobble too much. It took a bit to get steady but she leaned the plank against the wall, its base supported by the top of the door, and then slid it downnnn until it fell with a bang against the other door. Char held her breath while it bounced and then steadied, the two doors below both still. Carefully, she slid it a little further out from the wall and then tested it with her weight.

.......?

If she went slowly.....?

She scooped up her other things and began the painstaking process of easing across the plank that lay between the two doors. Hopefully the hinges would hold out.

Evie had been wondering if the dueling club this year would teach them something different than just defense and wandwork. Using physical strength would come in handy too. So, that's why she was pleased when she saw this obstacle course before her. However, she was NOT pleased when she realized that this course would take a lot of upper body strength and Evie's LEAST favorite day was ARM DAY.

Crap. She was kicking herself.

But NO, she could do this! She had to! It was training and it was a test and she was GOING to pass. She was going to do this challenge like Dakest was right behind her, watching (cause he probably was, right?). She had to impress him and prove to him that she could do this.

Leaving her wand behind, Evie stretched her arms a little and shook her hands, scanning all areas of the buildings, the lack of ground between them and the destination at the end. She already had a few ideas. She could rope her way across; it was straightforward and possibly the quickest, but she knew her arm strength and she didn't think she could get across AND all the way up to the roof to get to the flag at the end. There were stairs inside, but the probability of them going all the way to the roof AND being sturdy enough to hold her the whole way was slim.

So really, she was just going to wing it with a couple plan B's.

With another deep breath and dead-set determination, Evie went to the right and entered one of the buildings, eyes scanning around her for any potential danger and at the floor for any faults that might twist her up. She placed her hands out towards the walls as she gingerly began climbing the steps, keeping towards the sides where it was sturdier. Sometimes she took them by twos, avoiding steps that had already been destroyed by... whatever. Just as she began to be hopeful that the stairs would lead her farther than she thought they would, her foot broke through one of the planks and her leg pushed through until her whole calf was inside the staircase.

Whoops. Evie carefully pulled her leg out, careful not to get any wood splinters stuck, and looked up. The stairs from there on up were in shambles and looked impossible to climb. There was a window about a foot or two above her shoulders and since Evie couldn't exactly scale walls... the window was her best option. Being very careful of her footing and testing a few spots on the stairs with her weight, Evie found a safe spot to stand and launched herself from the floor to get good momentum as she clutched onto what was left of the window sill. With a grunt and a groan and a couple scramblings of her legs and feet (that was pretty unattractive and ungraceful), Evie managed to heft herself up into the window sill, pleased to discover that she had made it up a full story. But still... across. She had to get across.

Once the first challenge had been posted at the noticeboard, Ava then eagerly and excitedly walked to the training hall. Her heart beat very fast, dunno if she was excited or thrilled or nervous or maybe all of them. She was DETERMINED to complete this challenge because she's a Gryffindor, the ONE and ONLY Gryffindor in Burton family, remember that.

But first, they needed to leave their wand. WHAT? NO WAY! So this wasn't a magic challenge, huh? Okay, she wouldn't quit though. She read the instructions carefully. Alright, to be honest this didn't sound easy. It's a challenge and it would never been easy, right? Gathering her long brunette hair and tied them into a ponytail, the young lioness entered the room and.... WOW! This looked more complicated than the obstacle course one. Of course it did, this one was REAL! Real alley, real things. It looked dangerous and coll at the same time. Could she complete the challenge? She would be.

Observing around, Ava noticed that there were some ropes hanging around, stairs and everything else. Now, what's her plan? She took a moment or two of silence for thinking.

From this balcony, he could see that he was too far from the next one, and it was higher up than he was… there would be no hope in reaching it with the plank, or rope, or both. There was no way for him to move along his side of the street. Assessing the side opposite, he could see there was a fire escape ladder leading to the roof - a viable option if he could get to it, but there in lay another challenge. How was one to cross the alley, when they weren’t allowed to touch the ground?

….

It was times like these he wished he was a Ravenclaw. Zeke paced the balcony for a moment before giving up on trying to think of a solution, and instead, went inside.

He wasn’t sure what he was looking for, but his eyes searched every dark shadowy corner for ANYTHING that might help him. As far as he could tell, this room held little for him. He peaked his head out to assess the rest of the building, and the staircase, but just like every other building he’d been in, this one didn’t look any more promising than the last. Was Sabel insane? Setting them this challenge. Were they supposed to fail? Were they supposed to get stuck? Concede? Was there a ‘moral’ lesson to be learned? He hoped not, because if there was, he wasn’t getting it.

Returning to the room, Zeke kicked the door frame before turning his attention to scattering the few materials that were in the room. Boxes were useless, curtains, he figured were just as useless… and looking out the window, he realised that rope was perhaps his only real option. HOW though, still remained to be seen.

Lingering in the balcony doorway, Zeke scratched at the palm of his hand as he stared up and down the alley. The splinters in his palm were painful, but he was too busy trying to think of a solution to really care - never mind the pained expression he wore.

And then it hit him.

Rope was the answer. Just not HIS rope. His gaze fixed on a point across the alley, where rope hung overhead, attached to one building and as he followed it along, he discovered that the other end was fixed to the building he had just crossed from.

….

WHY had he not noticed that before?!

Not wasting any time, Zeke crossed back over the plank he had left on the balcony’s side, and moved back to the building from which he had come. All he had to do now, was reach the rope, get across it, move to building next to the one he would come to, climb to the roof and find the flag.

Jumping on the spot, Zeke failed to reach the rope. He tried again… and again… and again… and again… but without any luck. It was too high up.

Resting in a squat position, Zeke caught his breath, his mind racing to solve his problem. Being stuck here was no more desirable than failing. The weight on his own rope around his shoulder dawned on him. He had to be able to use that somehow to hoist himself up. Only… he had a better idea.

Instead of reaching the rope to climb across it horizontally, traversing across the pit, he could FLY over it instead.

Beaming, Zeke pulled the rope from his shoulder and tied a section of it firmly around his middle, tying the knot tightly. And in fact, giving it a double knot. Extra security was preferable to falling into a pit, no? With this done, Zeke hoisted the opposite end of his loose rope over the one that was hanging above him. Pulling it tight, he tied it down to the part around his middle, weaving it and tightening it as best he could without compromising the structure of it. Leaning over the balcony, Zeke assessed where he might land, and he knew for certain it would not be a clean landing on the opposite side. For starters, there was no balcony there, all there was, was a glassless window. At least he would have something to stand on.

Both hands on the metal rail, Zeke climbed up to sit on the edge of the structure, and as crazy as it seemed, attempting to flying fox across to a brick wall above a street with no promise of a soft landing… he was determined to do it. He was excited to do it. One deep breath, and a solid push off from where he sat, Zeke clung to the rope that hugged his torso and flew a length of the way across.

YIKES!

If there was ever a moment where looking down was not advised, now would be it.

He wasn’t hugging the wall, in fact, he was too far away from the wall to even attempt to reach the fire escape to the side.

Sweet mother of Merlin.

He was stuck. In midair. Above an alley with a pit in it.

Holding on tighter than before, Zeke tried swinging his legs forward, pulling them back, and thrusting them forward again. Slowly he began to inch in the right direction, he only hoped the rope was sound enough to make it. He didn’t fancy dying today.

Eventually he made it across, and he was able to plant a foot on the windowsill below. He fit in its frame, somewhat awkwardly as it was shorter than he was, but his feet were on solid not-ground, and that much was appreciated. His challenge now, was to get across to the fire escape… and as far as he could tell there was only one way to do it. Jump.

The rope was still around him, it was something of a safety harness - a painful one at that. He wasn’t sure if the rope could handle his weight if he jumped and missed, but it was worth a shot. He’d come this far, there was no turning back now, and he didn’t fancy untying himself while hanging out the side of building with only his feet to keep him balanced.

Bracing himself, Zeke mustered his will and his strength, and with eyes wide open… jumped.

….

“URGH!” he cried out as his hands made contact with metal. They latched on, despite the pain, like hundreds of tiny swords digging into his palm. Bloody splinters. Zeke didn’t spend much time hanging, using his legs he scrambled up the couple of steps to the platform where he could safely untie himself from the rope. There was no way of keeping it now, with the way he had weaved it before, by undoing it, he was forfeiting it to the alley. It had served him well.

She had to get moving. Standing there all day wasn't an option nor was failure. And what better time then the present to get going, hmm?

Hady cast a sideways glance towards a doorway up ahead just on her left. From where she was there was no seeing what was just inside it. With a quick look to the ground before her she stepped caustiously onto a plank of wood and then hopped from there onto some broken rubble that was laying around. Being smaller meant more steps to where she was heading but it also meant less weight on the wood she was standing on.

Making it to the first doorway she peered inside. Stairs! Broken crumbled stairs at that. Darn flight didn't even make it three steps up before like six or seven were missing. That wasn't about to happen. Letting out a breath she kept moving onward passed the door and to the next sticking to walking across the rubble and planks that were laying around staying well off of the cobblestone.

Completely bypassing the next two door ways Hady stopped at a crumbled building that looked about ready to cave in on itself. Probably not the safest one to pick but the bricks from the building could be climbed up onto. Lifting herself up onto the fallen rocks and brick that lay in the doorway blocking her from seeing inside she knelt down on one knee checking out the area. There was a flight of stairs that looked like it went up to a landing and more stairs. If she could make her way up those that would help her a great deal.

Adjusting the robe she was carrying over her shoulder she tossed the plank of wood onto the steps first. Inhaling a deep breath she kept in a crouch before pushing off of the rubble she was on and leapt for the stairs landing on her toes on the edge of a step, her hands hitting the step above making her wince a little as a splint dug into her palm. Pulling the splint from her hand causing a second of pain for herself she was then ready to continue. There were stairs to get up.

Sticking to one side against the wall she edged slowly up one step, two, three but not before making sure to take the broken plank with her. Each one creaking under her weight making her keep moving quickly before she could fall through. Fourth step and- Ah Geez!!

A gap of at least three steps. Three she couldn't just step over right then. Why couldn't it be two huh? Two she could manage. Hmm. Hady set her plank down on an angle from the step she was on to the one that wasn't broken three steps up. Sort of like a ramp. It should hold. Hopefully. Before she could change her mind she inched onto her make shift ramp and carefully made her way upwards. So far so good. When she got to the unbroken step she picked up her plank and get moving.

Adi stood at the foot of the stairs trying to decide, as he surveyed the thing, whether it was worth it going up them. But he wouldn't know unless he tried, yeah? Without a second more of hesitation, he cautiously took off, placing his left foot on the first stair to test it with his weight.

WHEW!

It held! But this was only the first one and there was a whole lot more of them to go. The second stair was just as good as the first and so were the third and fourth ones but the fifth one nearly had his heart jumping out of his chest. Why? Because his foot went RIGHT THROUGH the obviously rotted stair. Adi managed to cling to both rails with his hands. Gosh! What a close call! Luckily he hadn't put both feet on it as yet. When his heart had stopped thudding, he continued on. Here's to hoping he was going to get through this in one peace.

Oh, sure! He DID get through... at least for a few more stairs until... waaah! Stairs were missing! OF COURSE they were! Adi knew instantly what he had to do. He scrambled back down the stairs (maybe a little too excitedly because they entire dilapidated structure shook a bit. OOPS. Anyway, the Hufflepuff made it outside back into the alleyway. Those planks! He needed a few of those. And rope too... maybe that would come in handy. He grabbed a few planks, stacking them together so that he could take them back to 'mend' the staircase. Too bad he could see no hammer. Nor more importantly, nails. Oh well. With a few lengths of rope, he set off back for the door.

Evie sat in the window, her legs dangling outside the building above the ominous dark pit. Her curiosity got her wondering what was down there, but the rest of her brain decided it didn't matter. Wondering what would happen to her if she failed would only distract her from succeeding.

Pulling her eyes back up to the obstacle course, Evie looked around at her options and carefully stood up on the sill, her hands on the walls of the window to keep herself balanced. The window wasn't tall enough for her to stand up straight, so she was a bit hunched over, but now she was tall enough to reach a rope that was hanging above her head. Evie tugged on the rope, as it wasn't a loose rope, but it was attached from one building to another, up and across the black pit and closer to her destination roof. She put as much weight on it as she could to make sure it would hold her. If she could hand-walk herself across the alley, the rope would bring her to the edge of the last building before the roof where the flag was.

The rope seemed sturdy enough, so Evie carefully wrapped both hands around it and slowly started to put all of her weight onto it... until she was completely off the window sill and dangling freely over the black pit. Taking a deep breath, she placed one hand in front of the other again and again, swinging down the rope and making her way across the alley to the next building. Her arms started getting tired about halfway across, of course. She didn't weigh that much, but she didn't have that much arm strength. Bu still, Evie pushed on, one hand in front of the other, making her way down the rope, eyes UP and on her goal.

She was about ten feet away from reaching the other roof when she felt the rope slip and catch. Her heart thudded as she looked behind her to see the rope fraying and wearing thin. Without hesitation, Evie moved her hands faster and faster as the rope slipped... and slipped... and finally broke, sending her rocketing towards the side of the building. Somehow she kept her mind clear and put her legs out in front of her knees bent, so instead of slamming her shoulder into the brick wall, she bounced off nicely by her feet. Her heart still pounding, Evie looked up as she adjusted the hold her hands had on the rope. She was about five feet from the roof.

Whew... She could do this.

Her arms straining and burning, as well as her hands from the bit of rope burn she got, Evie used her feet against the wall and her hands on the rope to slowly crawl her way up and up towards the roof. Her sweaty hands made it harder and her arm muscles BURNED, but the alternative was failure... and that wasn't really an alternative at all.

With a mighty whine grunt, Evie made it to the top of the rope and threw an arm over the edge of the roof, and then another. And then she scrambled her legs again and pulled herself onto the roof and flopped onto her stomach. Oh, dear God. She was never skipping arm day ever again.

Now that he had reached relative safety and wasn't dangling over the pit by rope - the structural integrity of which he COULD question - he was able to move freely and casually up the fire escape, not stopping until he reached the roof. Once up, he brushed himself off, and wiped the sweat from the back of his neck, it was beginning to feel hot in his jumper.

Scanning the top of the building, Zeke looked for any signs of a flag... what kind of flag? He wasn't sure. But generally speaking, fabric that was on a stick and flapping in the wind was a good indication that he would be looking at what he needed. It took him a few moments still of scanning each side of the building he was on, and looking to the next. In fact, he had been staring at the flag for a number of seconds before it registered with him that IT WAS A FLAG. Eventually the penny dropped.

Zeke beamed, fresh adrenaline coursing through his system as his gaze locked on his target. The red flag was situated opposite him on the next roof top, the fabric hanging loosely as there wasn't a single breeze to disturb it. He was so close now, so close... he could almost reach it... with the teeny tiny exception of the void between his building and the next.

Slowly approaching the edge, Zeke peered down over the slight elevation that formed a ledge. It was easy enough to step over, if he wanted to, but he didn't much fancy a quick trip down to the alley below. Dying wasn't for him, not yet.

Peering from one side to the next, Zeke came to the only possible logical conclusion there was. He had to jump. He had no rope, he had no wood or planks, and even if he did, it wouldn't make the expanse without difficulty and nor would it be sturdy enough to warrant walk or crawling over it. So jumping is what would happen. He would need a run up for this.

Backing up to the very far side of the building he was on, Zeke inhaled a deep breath, and shook out his arms as if he were preparing for a race. It was a race, kinda. Feeling he was restricted, Zeke removed his jumper and dropped it beside him, he wouldn't be needing it, and it'd only weigh him down.

...

So...

Ready.... Set.....

....

And he was off. Racing across the rooftop to where the edge rose to meet him, but before he could make contact with it and fall to his death, he pushed off hard from the ground beneath his feet, and extended his legs in front of him, willing them to make it to the other side.

He would have screamed the whole way over, but somehow he wasn't able to produce sound right now.

Everything was moving slowly, but as he flew over the void, he recognised that he was going to make it. He would make it. HE MADE IT! .... and landed on his side, leaning forward. The impact was hard as he rolled over and over and over until he came to stop. The rough hard surface of the roof had battered his arms, and there was blood dripping from his nose, none of this mattered though until he had his flag.

Laying where he was, Zeke's eyes darted up until they fixed on the red object a short distance away, and without haste, he moved to claim it. He lunged forward onto his legs for part the way, but ended up crawling the rest, and the second his hands locked on the victory flag, he collapsed himself to the roof spread-eagle.

He did it. He won.

As soon as the boy touched the flag, the air where it had been shimmered slightly, as if there was a disturbance of air. And indeed, there was. A moment later, Sabel appeared as if out of thin air, and moved towards the prostrate boy.

A small smile held the corners of his lips as he stopped beside Zeke, looking down at him. "Congratulations Mr. Browne. And a well earned congratulations too." Leaning over slightly, Sabel extended a hand down to the Gryffindor. "As are those two extra points."

Really, two points hardly seemed worth all the trouble the kid had gone through.

-------------------------
OOC: Hint to all of you finishing up your challenges (you are all amazing btw and I have thoroughly enjoyed reading all of them!), don't run away right after you grab the flag .

He was content with just laying there, ignoring everything and catching his breath. Somehow, now that he had stopped moving, and now that his mission was complete, there was nothing to distract him from the pain he felt all over his body. His hands particularly, and his face. What did he do to his face?

The fact that he completed the challenge was in itself an accomplishment, and while he was proud of that fact, he was disappointed in another. He had failed.

He wasn't alone. Of course he wasn't alone. But somehow, he felt he should have anticipated that and not left himself so open.

Sabel was smiling. Why was he smiling?

Zeke shook his head, accepting the man's hand and rising to his feet. He wished he was stronger than this, but he wasn't able to hide his weakness and vulnerability very well, a wince escaping his lips as pressure was put on his hands. "Thanks, I guess," he croaked, suddenly realising that his throat needed clearing. The phlegm that he coughed up was thick and warm, and without thinking, he spit it to the floor.

...

Whoops? That wasn't 'disrespectful' was it?

He didn't miss the wince, or well, really any of the rather obvious and apparent injuries. "You, Mr. Browne, are quite the wreck."

Hands, face, and goodness knew what else. What would his mother say, what would any of the students mother's or father's say, if they saw what he was putting their kids through. Though, granted, he didn't personally throw them into any walls.

"Here." Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a Kleenex or two and passed them over. "And let me see your hands."

Wreck... great. He was a wreck. That was NOT what he was going for. "I get it, I got the flag, but I didn't pass. You could have killed me if you were so inclined," he stated simply because being found on your back, injured and wandless was never a good thing, or so he'd heard.

He didn't repeat his thanks, because he wasn't the type t sound like a broken record, but he did accept the flex with a faint smile, wiping at the area under his nose where blood threatened to seep into his mouth. "I'm okay, really, I'm fine," he interjected, shrugging it all off. "I'll go and get cleaned up now..." only, which was the best way down? Hhhmm? He didn't much fancy jumping or climbing again, but being wandless wasn't producing any other options.

The next step was to get up on that balcony just ahead, and Char was PRETTY SURE that she could do that just fine with her awesome grappling hook, if she threw it so that it hooked the ladder that was sticking out, and pulled said ladder down to where she could reach it.

She carefully took it out of her bag and balanced a bit by leaning against the wall. Once she was steady enough she began swinging the rope around and around and around and tossed it so that the grappling end sailed up and snagged on the second to bottom rung of the ladder. Or at least that was the idea. In reality she missed and had to reel it back in and try again. Around and around and... yes! That was how you did it! The bent prongs of the hand fork clattered on the ladder rung and held, the rope pulling tight in her hands. Charlotte pulled carefully and with a rusty screech, the ladder came down.

She tied the end of her rope to the bag she had so that she'd be able to pull that up, and then JUMPED and grabbed hold of the now in reach ladder. She swung there for a moment then pulled herself up. MONKEYMONKEY. Unhooking the grappling hook, she pulled her bag up too and then the next thing she knew, she was on a high up balcony, a whole floor higher than she had started, and two levels above the street itself.

But she couldn't rest yet, there was another level, and then the roof, and also she had to get to the OTHER SIDE to get to the flag. But she had planned her route out, so Char collected all her things up and climbed over the side of the balcony, carefully easing herself onto a nearby windowsill. This was kind of fun actually!