Disclaimer: I don't own the characters you recognize, just the Salem School and other little things like that.
Chapter 8: Fight Club
Last Time:
Today was an A-Day, meaning I had all my odd-period classes. We have four classes a day, each about an hour and a half long, and a 10 minute break in between. Lunch isn't technically a class, its basically a study hall where we do all our homework and stuff. It switches every day from A to B day, (b-days we have all our even-periods) and switches off every week. So this week would go ABABA, and next week would go BABAB, so its evened out.
I sighed, I had Integrated Defense first, which is my worst class. It's basically a dueling class where all they do is teach us how to duel using wizarding and muggle techniques. I'm not a big fan of fighting muggle style.
What can I say? I'm a lover, not a fighter…
"I hate that class more than anything." I growled as I held an ice pack to my throbbing cheek. It was Wednesday, and our first week of school was half way done.
"I echo your words in sympathy my friend." Troy said wistfully as he rotated his newly healed wrist, courtesy of me.
"You guys are a bunch of prisses." Nick snickered as we made our way out to the track.
"Oh hush up, teachers pet." Troy sneered. I raised an eyebrow. Troy and Nick had been at it for a little while now, and I had no idea why.
"It's called self-preservation numb-nuts." Nick quipped. I gaped at the both of them.
"Guys, chill, it's just a class." I pressed the ice closer to my swollen cheek.
"Shut up!" They both turned to me and yelled. I raised an eyebrow.
"Alright, why don't you guys come find me when you aren't having a hissy fit?" I sneered as I stalked past them. If they wanted to be immature about Merlin knows what then fine, they could go ahead.
"First week is over!" Freck and Spitz shouted as they ran out of their anatomy class. I looked over at them with a lazy grin and we linked arms and stalked towards the mess hall.
"Not officially yet boys, sorting is tomorrow, after all." I yawned as we sat down at our regular table.
"Psh, like anything ever happens on the first Friday of school." Freck said. I nodded and pulled out my homework.
"Why are we in here?" Spitz asked after a few moments of silence. We looked around…of course, we were alone.
"I don't know…I followed you guys in here." I said standing up.
"Don't blame us!" Freck said indignantly.
"Yeah…wait, why shouldn't she?" Spitz asked. They argued with each other for a little bit.
"I'm gonna head down to my dorm, I still need to do loads of research on Darker." I sighed and walked out.
Contrary to popular belief, it is extremely difficult to find information on one of the most deadly "assassins" (as we've taken to calling him) in the world.
I have sat in front of my WizNet for the past 2 and a half hours trying to find out information on Ryan Darker.
All I had found was that he had a stuffed bear named Twinkie as a child.
How is that supposed to help me?
What am I gonna do, hold his Twinkie hostage on our next raid?
I think not.
I am so sick and tired of Ryan Darker.
I got up from my desk and stretched my back out, sighing as it cracked into place. I slipped into a pair of green basketball shorts and left my polo on before walking out of my room. I knocked on Freck and Spitz's door.
"Guys? I'm heading upstairs to hang in the courtyard, maybe skate some, do you wanna come?" I asked as I idly transfigured a piece of hair into a long board.
"Sure thing Shawn." Spitz said as he opened up the door. I saw Freck in the background pulling on his shirt, he had stopped to admire himself for a moment.
"Do you look that good Freck?" I joked.
"Hells yeah!"
"Freck, nobody likes freckles." Spitz sighed as he pulled him out of the door.
"I do!" I smiled.
"Thank you Shawn. See? The ladies like the freckles." He smiled and slung an arm around my shoulder.
"You boys are hopeless." I sighed and leaned into Freck's body.
"Let's go skate." Spitz sighed.
"There's no way that we're leaving on Friday." I yawned as I sat next to Troy and Nick in the library. It was October 27th and we were leaving for Hogwarts at the end of the week.
"I know, this year is going by so fast." Nick sighed loudly as he laid his head on the table.
"We have ropes course tomorrow." Troy blurted out excitedly.
"Damn." We did ropes course in conditioning, and every year I was on the losing team, who had to spend the rest of the school day doing laps on the track.
It's not my fault my team can't learn.
"I hope I'm with you guys this year."
The boys always ended up on the same team, along with Kevin Sparkins, the best defenseman who isn't in the accelerated program.
I mean, don't get me wrong, the two guys that I always get partnered up with are very capable aurors…they just don't have the will to win.
"I hope you and I are together Shawn." Troy said while glaring at Nick. Something has been up with those two lately. They've been fighting each other non-stop and it has been pissing me off.
"Alright, what is the deal between you guys?" I stood up glaring.
"It's his fault." Nick pointed at Troy.
"Yeah right, you started it!"
"How was I supposed to know that you--"
"Shut up asshole!"
"WOAH! Guys! Chill! Can we please try and talk this out like normal human beings?" I said standing between them as things got heated.
"Whatever, I've gotta go." Nick got up angrily and shoved his things in his bag before stalking out of the library.
"Do you wanna tell me what's up?" I looked sadly at Troy.
"Why don't you just mind your own business for once Shawn?" He rolled his eyes and stalked out as well; leaving me staring at the seat he had just left.
What was going on?
Later the next day I was sitting in the common room next to Spitz, quietly talking about Nick and Troy.
"Are you sure you don't know why they're fighting?" I asked quietly as I lied down next to him on the couch.
"I honestly don't kid; they're just at each others throats." He sighed and slipped an arm around my waist.
"I could tell you that brain-boy…And don't call me kid, I'm older than you are." I pouted.
"Put that lip back before I curse it off you." He teased. I smiled at him.
"Like you know the curse that could."
"I so do." He smirked.
"Well, first of all, it's a hex, and second of all…There is none, you would probably have to use a cutting curs--damn." I sighed as he caught me in my lie.
"Gotcha." He grinned.
"Would those students who are going to Hogwarts please meet out on the blacktop?" Madame J's voice came out of the loud speaker. I sat up on the couch and pulled Spitz's arm off of me.
"I'll be back later." I said as I slung my backpack over my shoulder. I grinned at him and made my way up to the blacktop. Looking around, I saw that I was in an empty hallway and pulled my skateboard out of my backpack. I dropped it and maneuvered my way through the different halls of the school until I got out.
"Took you long enough Shawny." Nick smirked as he turned to glare at Troy who was across from him. There were about 16 people standing around the blacktop talking. All 12 7th years were there, us three, and one other 6th year badger named Carmen.
"Where's Madame J?" I asked as I skidded to a halt next to him.
"Right here." I turned around and saw Madame J standing there with a strained smile on her face.
"What's up Madame J?" I smirked.
"Do not test me Black." She scowled.
Oooh…Someone's having a bad day.
"Welcome students," she said as we all crowded around her, "you are all here becau--well, you know why you're here. I'm just here to discuss our entrance formation with you all.
"Earlier this year, I had to come up with a routine that would entertain the host school and would show off our skills. I have decided that we will do a mix of our marching band and our frequent flyers.
"From what I understand, each of you is either on quidditch, frequent flyers, or a musical band. Is there anyone here who is not?"
I looked around; no one was raising their hand.
"Good, now there are 16 of you, so I want 8 flyers and 7 drummers, as I've already chosen our drum major."
I looked around at who I thought could be a drum major besides me. No one is really as good of a drummer as I am, so I'm pretty much a shoe-in.
"Derek Simons, I'd like you to be the drum major." I looked over in surprise at Derek.
He was a 7th year Lion defenseman who was in the accelerated program. He's a pretty talented drummer, I'd say, but he never really does anything to stand out. Yes, he does play quads in our drumline, but he's not as intense as I am. He's pretty cute, about as tall as me with black hair and brown eyes. He's got a surfers body and a skaters attitude, which I would normally find incredibly attractive, except, as far as I know, he doesn't really skate.
All in all, he's not that interesting, and not as good as I am.
"Shawn, I would like you to be the captain of the flying squad, which means you will be leading the formations and will also be flying Derek." Madame J directed all attention at me as I nodded my head.
I really wish I was drum major.
Nick turned to look at me with a sad smile. When I didn't play quidditch or hockey, I was in the school drumline, and this year I wanted to be drum major so badly.
Oh well, I guess there's always next year.
Right?
"Shawn, Mason, Troy, you guys will be going against Nick, Alex, and Kevin." I grinned excitedly at Troy, only to see him scowl in frustration. We were in conditioning and the room was set up in a giant ropes course. I looked over at Mason to see him twirling his wand idly in his hand.
What have I gotten myself into?
"You all know the rules, but I will explain them anyway, just to be fair." Coach Shand boomed as he walked us through the course. "Each of you will be stationed at a different part. One will be at the pit, another at the wire course, and one at the zip-line. You will all have a moment to decide who will be where after I do my explaining. At the beginning of each section, you will be required to answer five questions about a certain subject. At the pit, it will be based around dueling and wand-work; at the wire course it will be about muggle defense and weaponry, and at the zip-line it will be about human anatomy and basic healing. You will be required to answer all questions correctly before you can move on. After you complete your section, you will hand your baton to the next person and then you will be transported to the finish line. Once the rest of your team is at the finish line, you will then be asked the ingredients of either a defensive or offensive potion, and you will have five minutes to work as a team to sort it out. Are there any questions before I walk you through the course?"
No one uttered a word.
"Great, now let us go through the pit." We stood in front of two 20 ft long rectangles of mud. Each was filled with different types of magical creatures that were potentially deadly. Ten feet in was a sturdy rope that hung in the center, which we had to reach using only our wands. "For the first part of the pit, you may not use any type of summoning charm to reach the rope; you must find other means to get across without running around." He glared at Alex who shrunk in fear. "After you get across the pit you will roll the tire that is at the end until you reach the cliff." I looked past the pit to see a large tire and a stretch of about 20 yards before a sudden drop. "You will climb the rope across the 15 ft gorge and grab the baton from the top of the pole holding the rope on the other side. After you retrieve the baton you will hand it off to the next player. Any questions so far?"
Once again, no questions.
"Let us proceed." We latched hands and he teleported (type of apparating that can only be achieved at a certain age) us to the next section. There were two barb wire grids on the ground, probably only a foot above the ground. After about 10 ft of it, there were two lines of eight tires that were lying on the ground in front of each grid. Afterwards there was a 20 ft high rock wall with a baton levitated in the air.
"The next player will army crawl under the barb wire and step through the tires and climb the rock wall. You may only climb the rock wall after you have successfully harnessed yourself!" He spat out while glaring at Alex again. "After you have harnessed yourself and climbed the wall, you will retrieve your baton and hand it to your next player who will be at the top of the wall. Any questions?"
No.
"Great, let's finish this up then." He teleported us again and we landed at the foot of the giant rock wall.
"The last person will repel down the rock wall, and answer their questions here." He pointed to a spot on the ground with a chalk board standing next to it. Behind it there was a 15 ft high rope grid and a wooden plank at the top. Coming through the wooden plank were two 175 ft. high wooden poles with ropes lying at the foot of them. Stretching past it, there was about 200 feet of nothing until another wooden plank stood 175 ft. in the air. There was no rope attaching it. I knew that on the other side of the wooden plank was a ladder that they would have to climb down before they could answer the potions question.
"They will then climb up the rope grid and attach their harnesses at the plank. They will then loop their hands through the rope and climb up the poles. You must find a way to remove the rope before you conjure a line to attach both sides. You will then go across the wire you conjure, land on the other side, and find a safe way down to the ground where you will find the rest of your team. Any questions before we start?" He glared at Alex again before smirking.
"No questions?" We all shook our heads.
"Great…Then let the games begin." We split off into our teams with deadly glares.
"Alright, here's the plan…"
A/N: Alright, here's the next chapter. I'm kind of disappointed because I got no reviews last chapter…Please review, I write this because I enjoy writing and coming up with new ideas, but I don't have to post it, I only post because I know some readers hate unfinished stories, so please review.
Flames are totally acceptable too!
-Shawn
