Forbidden Magic

Chapter Four: The Obstacle Course

"First, I will assign team captains," the drill sergeant informed them, looking over the group of students he was to 'whip into shape.' "YOU!" he shouted, pointing to Malfoy and calling him over. Many people were startled by this sudden outburst, but Malfoy just looked calmly into the face of the middle-aged man. He slowly walked over to where the man was standing. The drill sergeant then walked back to the crowd and scanned the rest of the group. After careful consideration, he walked up to Harry and Ron, who were standing side by side. "YOU!" he called out to them, pointing two fingers at the pair of them. They looked nervously at each other. They obviously had hoped to be put on the same team, but followed the man all the same. They stood in front of the crowd and waited for the drill sergeant to make his next choice. "YOU!" he said, pointing to a muscular Ravenclaw boy. He went and stood by the rest. His final selections were made as he walked up to Crabbe and Goyle. He was obviously going for the strong, well built men.

Hermione was surprised to see them there. She had thought that if they were going to come, they would only be going because of Malfoy, but they hadn't been within ten feet of him all day. This was unusual. Hermione looked up to see Harry, Ron, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle all shooting daggers at each other. The Ravenclaw boy looked very uncomfortable to be standing between them. He braced himself as if he were being attacked. "Next, I will read down the list, calling you to your team," and he began to read down the list, pointing to which team they would be in. Hermione waited anxiously for her name to be called. "Lavender Brown!" the drill sergeant called, jabbing his finger to a spot right next to Ron. Hermione wished that he would put her with either Ron or Harry. She crossed her fingers behind her back as Parvati Patil was placed on Harry's team. Three more people had been sorted and finally, Hermione's name was called. "Her-herm-hermy-own Granger?" Hermione stepped out in front of the group. "How do you pronounce your name Miss?" Hermione turned a light shade of pink and spoke up quickly and loudly.

"Herm-I-knee Granger SIR!" she half shouted. The drill sergeant's face shone with slight approval.

"Very well, Hermione. You will be in Mr. Malfoy's group." Hermione's eyes widened with horror. Not only was she NOT in Harry OR Ron's group, but she had been placed into the group of the last person she had hoped for. She slowly and somberly made her way next to a young hufflepuff boy. She chanced a glance at Malfoy and saw that he was about as happy with this arrangement as she was. He turned to face the drill sergeant and listened to what he was saying. "For the next couple of months, you are to refer to me as Sergeant Morris. You will be in bed each night by eleven o'clock pm, and you will be getting a wake up call at an uncharacteristically early hour, so I advise you to get as much sleep as possible. For today, we will start with a challenge to build the trust in your team. You will all follow me to the obstacle course." With these last words, he walked off of the large wooden stage, the rest of the students following.

They came to a halt in front of a large wooden wall with a rope leading to the top. The students all looked at it dumbfounded. Sergeant Morris saw the look of apprehension on their faces and smiled.

"Don't worry, you will not be using the wall yet. Today's task will be done using the items beyond the wall." The students looked behind the giant wall to see a series of obstacles lying in the sand. "Your team captain will be the 'leader.' The leader will be the only person on your team allowed to keep their eyes open. He will lead each member of the team through the obstacles, while they have their eyes closed. The team that gets all members of their team through the course the fastest will only have to do twenty push-ups!" The crowd looked bewildered, as if twenty push-ups were more of a punishment than an award. "The losing teams will each have to do fifty push-ups! Now, everyone stand in a straight line. The only rule is that every member of the team that is not the captain, must have their eyes shut at all times, starting NOW!" With these last words, everyone clamped their eyes shut. Hermione could hear Sergeant Morris calling above the excited murmurs. "Leaders, you may lead the first person in line, beginning.. Now!" Hermione was the last one in line. She could hear all six of the captains shouting to their team members, trying to get them to complete the course. Hermione waited nervously as she was sure Malfoy was going to drown her or something of the nature.

Finally, it was her turn. She could hear Malfoy call her name. "Come on Granger, just start walking forward." She did as she was instructed, though a little reluctantly. She heard his voice ring out shortly thereafter. "Now stop!" her feet came to an immediate halt. "There is a tire here. Step with your right foot first!" She did so. "Now your left! Now your right! Now your left! Ok, now, just walk forward again." She was surprised he hadn't tried to trip her or make her run into a wall. "Ok, now stop, and turn to your right. Good, now walk forward. Stop, and turn to your left. Great, now walk forward. Good, we're almost there. Walk forward." She walked for just a short while before she heard him command her to stop again. She did. "Ok, um. take just a small step forward." She did so. He thought for a moment about how to explain this. Getting an idea, he walked up to her. Sergeant Morris never said they couldn't touch them. "Ok, there's a small wall here. You have to get over it. Just lift your leg up." He said. She did as she was told. He held her leg high enough so that she could feel the top of the wall. She put her foot on the top, but struggled to get the rest of her body up. He grabbed onto her waist and hoisted her up. "Don't move!" she heard him call. She stood frozen to the spot, knowing that she was high up. She felt him hold her hand. "Ok, jump down now!" She hesitated, not knowing quite how high up she was. "Come on, just trust me." She snorted softly. Why she should trust him was beyond her, but he had gotten her all the way here without managing to kill her. A huge wave of nerves hit her and she froze once again. She couldn't do it. She felt a warm hand fasten to her waist. "Come on, I got you, just jump!" she was able to feel her legs again and jumped. She landed safely and felt him instantly let go of her. "Now RUN!" she ran as fast as she could straight forward and only stopped when she felt someone grab onto her arm, stopping her. She opened her eyes and was surprised to see that they were the first ones finished. Her entire group was jumping up and down and cheering gleefully. Not long after, the other groups had finished. They all looked downtrodden at the prospect of having to do fifty push-ups. Drill Sergeant Morris said a quick congratulations and he breezed by them and stood in front of the crowd.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Push-ups, now! The winners were the Malfoy team, so they only have to do twenty! Everyone else does fifty! Chop-chop!"

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Author's Note: Hola! Hope you liked this chapter. I did. Anyways, thanks to all who reviewed! I live for them! I will acknowledge you in later chapters, but my computer won't let me right now. Long story. Anyways, thanks!