Chapter 4
The Guardians were rudely awoken the next morning. They were woken by several loud explosions and bursts of light. Meanwhile Sirius stood by the door as the unfortunate teenagers tried to work out what was going on. As the last explosion died down he yelled in his best drill voice: ''You have twenty minutes! Anyone being late will be in serious trouble!' He then made a hasty exit as the teenagers began to drag themselves out of bed. By this time, the racket had also woken the girls, and they walked in just in time to see Sirius depart. On the sheet they had been given, it said they had to wear shorts and t-shirts, with trainers. They were also told that for classes with Professor Black they did not have to take wands or staffs, until further notice. Used to early starts at the Dursleys, Harry was dressed and ready within a few minutes, and decided to grab some toast for himself, Ron and Hermione. He entered the kitchen and was surprised to find that there were no signs of magic at all. He quickly grabbed three pieces of toast and jammed them in the toaster. He was slightly surprised when they toast jumped up seconds later, ready, but decided he didn't have time to worry about it, and ran out of the door after hastily buttering the toast. Once in the common room he found Ron and Hermione waiting for him, while the other had already left. 'Quick Harry, the others have gone.' Said Ron sounding exasperated 'I'm coming I'm coming. Look I've got you some toast.' Said Harry, passing each of them a piece. The three hurried into the Entrance Hall to see Sirius peering at his watch. He looked up as they ran in. 'Just in time. Follow me all of you.' He led them out into the grounds, until they reached the lake. They then went down the side into they reached the end nearest the forbidden forest. 'OK, I suppose I'd better explain what you're going to be doing with me. I'm basically going to be working to increase your fitness, stamina, and speed. In a few weeks I'll also be teaching you how to cope with certain situations. Until you actually need what I'm going to teach you, you will all think I'm being too harsh on you, and some of you will not like me because of that. But I assure you that before the end of this war, you being fitter or faster will save your life.' Sirius looked around him to gauge their reactions, thankfully most were looking resigned as opposed too angry. 'First thing we'll do is some stretching. Just copy what I do.' He then went through a series of stretches to help wake up sleepy muscles. 'Right, it's just over two miles around the lake, I want you to run round it, I don't care how fast you run, but no one stops. You can start now.' The group turned and slowly jogged away. The group quickly split up, and Sirius was pleased to note that Harry, Hermione and Ron were in the middle of the leading pack. Twenty-five minutes later the last of the runners got in, and Sirius allowed them a two-minute breather before giving them their next task. 'Right, now you've recovered it's time for circuits. Split up into three groups of eight. Good. The first group do9es sit-ups, the second push-ups and the third skips. Girls do star jumps instead of the push-ups. Clear? Good. Group one over there, Group 2 over there, and Group three over there. Start on my whistle, and don't stop until you hear it again.' Wheeeew Sirius kept them at each activity for five minutes; them moved them straight on to the next. As soon as they had done all three they were ordered to take off their trainers and swim two widths of the lake. By the time they had finished they were all gasping and dripping wet. Harry was silently praying that they had finished. But no, Sirius led them over to the edge of the forest and gave them permission to sit down. He grinned at them. 'That was good, you held up better than I expected, so I think you've earned a bit of a rest. You all know that I was on the run from the wizarding world for several months, what you won't know is that the muggle world was also searching for me, and I was in fact sighted by them several times. On two of these occasions the muggle army was sent after me, and I spent several days being chased by them. That has given me a healthy respect for them, as there is no way I would have escaped without my magical abilities. Because of that I have persuaded the Headmaster to let me include a few of their methods in your training. The first is what is known as an assault course.' Sirius was hard pressed to hold back a laugh at the disbelieving faces of the muggle-borns, and the confusion on the faces of the others. Harry was happily glaring at his Godfather until he was interrupted by Ron elbowing him in the side. 'Harry, what's an assault course?' Ron whispered 'You do not want to know!' He whispered back 'Oh, OK. I won't ask then.'
'This is designed to work on your agility and athletic ability. Some of it will even come in handy outside of training. For example, do any of you think you could climb a twelve-foot wall without being seen or heard?' No one even bother to respond. 'Didn't think so. For now, I'm just going to explain each obstacle, then give you a practice run. Normally we'd do this after your break but Mr Silar has requested that I let you go early today. So, up you get.' Sirius then led them through the course, showing them how to tackle each obstacle. There were twenty of them, ranging from cargo nets to walls. He then led them to the start, and sent them through. The last obstacle was a wall with a long drop. As they walked away, the group collapsed a few metres away. As he let them rest, Sirius was concerned to see that, while most people had dried off, the back of Harry's shirt was still saturated. He suddenly realised and cursed under his breath. He walked quickly over to Harry, and spoke so only he could hear. 'Harry your back's bleeding.' ''I'd noticed.' He replied through gritted teeth. Sirius stood up and spoke to the rest of the group. 'Well done, good effort. It's ten to seven now; you have to meet Mr Silar at half past in the Entrance Hall. You can go.' He turned back to Harry as the rest of the group walked back to the castle. 'Take your shirt off and let me have a look.' He said, the concern evident in his voice. Harry did so and turned around to allow his godfather to look at his back. He swore angrily under his breath. Harry heard gasps from behind Sirius and he quickly turned around. It was Ron and Hermione. 'Harry, who did that to you?' She sounded close to tears. 'My Uncle.' Harry's voice was grim. Sirius motioned him to turn back round. 'That bastard!' Harry could hear the rage in Ron' voice. Sirius held Harry's shirt against his back to stop the bleeding, then handed it back to Harry. 'Say something next time.' Harry shrugged. 'Show your back to Dr Kerr after your class with him. Promise?' Harry nodded. 'Alright, go on up to the castle.'
The Guardians were rudely awoken the next morning. They were woken by several loud explosions and bursts of light. Meanwhile Sirius stood by the door as the unfortunate teenagers tried to work out what was going on. As the last explosion died down he yelled in his best drill voice: ''You have twenty minutes! Anyone being late will be in serious trouble!' He then made a hasty exit as the teenagers began to drag themselves out of bed. By this time, the racket had also woken the girls, and they walked in just in time to see Sirius depart. On the sheet they had been given, it said they had to wear shorts and t-shirts, with trainers. They were also told that for classes with Professor Black they did not have to take wands or staffs, until further notice. Used to early starts at the Dursleys, Harry was dressed and ready within a few minutes, and decided to grab some toast for himself, Ron and Hermione. He entered the kitchen and was surprised to find that there were no signs of magic at all. He quickly grabbed three pieces of toast and jammed them in the toaster. He was slightly surprised when they toast jumped up seconds later, ready, but decided he didn't have time to worry about it, and ran out of the door after hastily buttering the toast. Once in the common room he found Ron and Hermione waiting for him, while the other had already left. 'Quick Harry, the others have gone.' Said Ron sounding exasperated 'I'm coming I'm coming. Look I've got you some toast.' Said Harry, passing each of them a piece. The three hurried into the Entrance Hall to see Sirius peering at his watch. He looked up as they ran in. 'Just in time. Follow me all of you.' He led them out into the grounds, until they reached the lake. They then went down the side into they reached the end nearest the forbidden forest. 'OK, I suppose I'd better explain what you're going to be doing with me. I'm basically going to be working to increase your fitness, stamina, and speed. In a few weeks I'll also be teaching you how to cope with certain situations. Until you actually need what I'm going to teach you, you will all think I'm being too harsh on you, and some of you will not like me because of that. But I assure you that before the end of this war, you being fitter or faster will save your life.' Sirius looked around him to gauge their reactions, thankfully most were looking resigned as opposed too angry. 'First thing we'll do is some stretching. Just copy what I do.' He then went through a series of stretches to help wake up sleepy muscles. 'Right, it's just over two miles around the lake, I want you to run round it, I don't care how fast you run, but no one stops. You can start now.' The group turned and slowly jogged away. The group quickly split up, and Sirius was pleased to note that Harry, Hermione and Ron were in the middle of the leading pack. Twenty-five minutes later the last of the runners got in, and Sirius allowed them a two-minute breather before giving them their next task. 'Right, now you've recovered it's time for circuits. Split up into three groups of eight. Good. The first group do9es sit-ups, the second push-ups and the third skips. Girls do star jumps instead of the push-ups. Clear? Good. Group one over there, Group 2 over there, and Group three over there. Start on my whistle, and don't stop until you hear it again.' Wheeeew Sirius kept them at each activity for five minutes; them moved them straight on to the next. As soon as they had done all three they were ordered to take off their trainers and swim two widths of the lake. By the time they had finished they were all gasping and dripping wet. Harry was silently praying that they had finished. But no, Sirius led them over to the edge of the forest and gave them permission to sit down. He grinned at them. 'That was good, you held up better than I expected, so I think you've earned a bit of a rest. You all know that I was on the run from the wizarding world for several months, what you won't know is that the muggle world was also searching for me, and I was in fact sighted by them several times. On two of these occasions the muggle army was sent after me, and I spent several days being chased by them. That has given me a healthy respect for them, as there is no way I would have escaped without my magical abilities. Because of that I have persuaded the Headmaster to let me include a few of their methods in your training. The first is what is known as an assault course.' Sirius was hard pressed to hold back a laugh at the disbelieving faces of the muggle-borns, and the confusion on the faces of the others. Harry was happily glaring at his Godfather until he was interrupted by Ron elbowing him in the side. 'Harry, what's an assault course?' Ron whispered 'You do not want to know!' He whispered back 'Oh, OK. I won't ask then.'
'This is designed to work on your agility and athletic ability. Some of it will even come in handy outside of training. For example, do any of you think you could climb a twelve-foot wall without being seen or heard?' No one even bother to respond. 'Didn't think so. For now, I'm just going to explain each obstacle, then give you a practice run. Normally we'd do this after your break but Mr Silar has requested that I let you go early today. So, up you get.' Sirius then led them through the course, showing them how to tackle each obstacle. There were twenty of them, ranging from cargo nets to walls. He then led them to the start, and sent them through. The last obstacle was a wall with a long drop. As they walked away, the group collapsed a few metres away. As he let them rest, Sirius was concerned to see that, while most people had dried off, the back of Harry's shirt was still saturated. He suddenly realised and cursed under his breath. He walked quickly over to Harry, and spoke so only he could hear. 'Harry your back's bleeding.' ''I'd noticed.' He replied through gritted teeth. Sirius stood up and spoke to the rest of the group. 'Well done, good effort. It's ten to seven now; you have to meet Mr Silar at half past in the Entrance Hall. You can go.' He turned back to Harry as the rest of the group walked back to the castle. 'Take your shirt off and let me have a look.' He said, the concern evident in his voice. Harry did so and turned around to allow his godfather to look at his back. He swore angrily under his breath. Harry heard gasps from behind Sirius and he quickly turned around. It was Ron and Hermione. 'Harry, who did that to you?' She sounded close to tears. 'My Uncle.' Harry's voice was grim. Sirius motioned him to turn back round. 'That bastard!' Harry could hear the rage in Ron' voice. Sirius held Harry's shirt against his back to stop the bleeding, then handed it back to Harry. 'Say something next time.' Harry shrugged. 'Show your back to Dr Kerr after your class with him. Promise?' Harry nodded. 'Alright, go on up to the castle.'