The Badger Army Errand PV Closed

@Serena Towers @Saskia Nicholson

Jake looked down at his textbook in frustration. The fair-haired boy sat with Freddie upon his lap, trying in vain to do his homework. He had been trying and trying to read the History of Magic chapter they'd been assigned, but try as he might, he couldn't make the words make sense. He didn't understand it. He liked History of Magic. History had never been his favorite thing to learn about when his Mum would teach him. He liked Science and Reading much more. But History of Magic was different from the history he had used to learn about. Sure, there were wars and other awful things, but there were wonderful things too. Famous witches and wizards he had never heard of, who had got up to adventures he could only imagine in his wildest dreams. It was fairy tale, much more than history, and it was often fascinating.

Now, it was words.

Lots of words.

Jake furrowed his brow and stared down, starting from the beginning of the page once more. Then a familiar third year had approached him. He had met her a long time ago, back during a treacherous water balloon fight where she had saved his life.

She told him to get in sports wear because he was coming with her. She didn't ASK if he wanted to. She just said that he had to do it. It was the last thing he wanted to do, but she hadn't given him a chance to say no, and when he looked in her eyes to try to ask where they were going the words died in his throat. Those eyes meant business.

It was only when he got back to his dorm that he remembered he didn't even know what sports-wear meant! He had never played sports. What did people wear when they played sports? Striped shirts with numbers on them, he thought, or that's what he saw whenever his Dad was watching it on TV. And shorts. Well, he had shorts, but he didn't have any shirts with numbers on them so he just got a regular striped shirt. It was going to have to do.

Then the small Hufflepuff made his way (AKA, was dragged) out onto the Quidditch pitch, Freddie still held in one of his arms. The dragging was needed as soon as he realized where it was they were going. It wasn't long after the Blossom Ball. Jake did relax just a little when he saw his friend Saskia. He waved and greeted her with a hug. When he arrived, he saw that the Pitch had been transformed. It had equipment that made him think of a playground, but then he saw the scary new Divination professor and knew it had to be more sinister than that. She didn't look like somebody who appreciated playgrounds.

Jake lay his cloak down on the grass and put Freddie on top of it carefully, making sure he wouldn't get grass stained or stepped on. Then he looked up and warily considered the obstacles. "W-Well, um...what are we supposed to do?" he asked Serena. Nobody had really ever told him. Maybe they were just supposed to do all of them.

There were three obstacles in total. Hurdles, monkey bars, and a climbing net. Jake was very little, and not very good at jumping. The only way he knew how to do monkey bars was if his parents held onto his legs. And he wasn't very good at climbing (and was also afraid of heights). "I-I don't know if I can do these," he admitted to the girls.

Words so far: 601

@Jake Morris || @Serena Towers

As soon as she heard about the training course Professor Kibitzer and Professor Jensen were hosting, Saskia was thrilled. Hogwarts was not very well known for its athletic achievements, aside from Quidditch, which meant opportunities like these were rare. While the school itself had plenty of things to offer, there weren't many things that could get her blood pumping. Reading was nice, and it was good for a distraction, but it wasn't exactly something she could find herself doing in a long period of time. She needed to move. She needed to feel free for once.Sitting in one place studying while she was cooped up in a room wasn't going to cut it any time soon.

Saskia paced around, letting the wind run through her hair. She had the sense to tie her hair up this time around. The last thing she needed was the wind to push her hair over her face. The weather was alright today, which meant that she could dress comfortably enough for what she was going to do today. A t-shirt and shorts, along with some running shoes was all she needed for now. She arrived earlier than the rest of her teammates, which meant she had some time to herself. As much as she wanted to get started as soon as possible, she figured she'd let her teammates get ready. It was better to come prepared, after all.

Serena and Jake would be joining her in this errand. She already knew Serena was an excellent Quidditch player- particularly a wonderful Seeker. She had caught the Snitch twice in just the two rounds she had played, which was an incredible feat on its own. She didn't have too much worries about her. If she could survive a bludger hit and still be able to catch the Snitch, then she could take on this obstacle course.

She knew it would take some coaxing to get Jake to join them. It didn't have to take a genius to understand that Jake probably wasn't the best choice for a teammate. He was tiny and scrawny, and he'd likely curl up in a ball and cry if he tripped and fell down. But Saskia also saw this as an opportunity. A way for Jake to come out of his shell a bit and try something new for once. If he wasn't going to take any other chances to do something like this, he might as well take this one. Besides, she wasn't too concerned about him dragging the team down. They were here to train and have fun.

After some more pacing, two small figures made their ways towards her. "Hey, guys!" She waved at them, beckoning them to where she was. Once they came closer, Jake came over to greet her with a hug. She grinned, ruffling his hair as she gave him an affectionate pat on the head. "It's good to see you too."

And now came the question that would no doubt arise sooner or later. Fortunately, Saskia had stood around long enough, observing each of the obstacles that laid out in front of them. "We're all going to have to take on each of the obstacle courses here. There's the hurdle run, the monkey bars, and the rope net," she said, gesturing to different areas with her arm. "I don't really care which one I do. Is there something you guys want to do? The hurdles seem like the easiest to do out of the three, in my opinion. You just have to make sure not to fall over the hurdles." She was confident in her own skills, and she could definitely handle any of the three with ease. She would have to leave the rest of the decisions to the other two Hufflepuffs if they had something in mind.

Word Count: 642

{ Participants: @Serena Towers, @Jake Morris and @Saskia Nicholson }

Serena stared at the obstacles, wondering if they had to do them all. That would be... quite tiring, surely? Honestly, it was so much easier just to sit on a the broom and fly around. There was no running, no physical movement really. You leaned a little to the left or right or forward or back but... other than that, there was not much. If you were a seeker, you might move your arms around to catch the snitch. Occasionally, there was fancy maneuvers involved or dodging tactics but for the most part, you were pretty safely just sitting around.

She awkwardly scratched the back of her head as she observed the course. The hurdles were probably rather easy. They were a little high but you could just... run through them, right? Serena looked at the others. The monkey bars looked like they required some sort of arm strength. She probably would not have much of that. After all, there was a reason that Serena was a seeker and not a beater. Her noodle arms were not made for the beater role, whatsoever.

Hearing Saskia, she turned and grinned, "Hey hey!" She greeted in return to her friend. Jake echoed her hesitation, though he seemed to have much more doubt in his own abilities. The trio had survived much worse than a set of obstacles. They had gone through hell and back. They could handle some hurdles, monkey bars and the rope net, surely!

Serena was a little unsure, however. But luckily, her friend came to the rescue. She explained the three a little more. The rope net looked like it required a combination of arm and leg strength. She could probably do that, it was more balanced than the monkey bars might have been. The hurdles were also doable. Maybe she could just climb over them instead of jumping? That seemed easy enough. "Uhhh well, how about... Jake takes the hurdles then?" She suggested to the group. If they were the easiest, it would be fair for him to take them.

"Maybe you could take the monkey bars, Saskia? Your beater skills and those buff arms will probably be better for that...?" She offered, wondering if any of that was even true. She was just guessing by the shape of the obstacles. The monkey bars looked like it was more arm based and the rope net looked a little more balanced. "I guess that means I'll take that one," Serena acknowledged pointing out the rope based obstacle, "I just have to... climb over it right?" She asked.

Then it hit her. Were they even sure that they were meant to just do one each? Perhaps she misunderstood Saskia's words... Maybe they were meant to do... all three of them? Serena blinked, that seemed oddly intense. But they were here to train and get better. To learn how to be strong. Maybe that was best, "I guess... we could do all three if we have to..." She mumbled, not really certain if that was a good idea.

Nonetheless, she got down on one knee and quickly retied her shoelaces. It was showtime. Whatever they decided, it was showtime. Once they agreed on the plan, Serena would either follow to the first one if they intended to do all three or go straight to the one allocated to her. Either way, she was ready to go.

OOC: Feel free to godmod Serena agreeing with whatever you guys decide and go straight to RPing the obstacle part, just to help speed things up a little.

Total Words so far: Over 1000. [COMPLETED]

@Serena Towers @Saskia Nicholson

Jake looked at the hurdles doubtfully. Saskia said it was the easiest one, and Serena said that meant he should take it. Taking the easiest one was a good idea, but... well he was the littlest and he didn't think he could jump very high. But the monkey bars seemed even harder, and the climbing net maybe the hardest of all. "S-so... um... I just have to jump over 'em?" he asked, looking at them. He was pretty sure that's what hurdles were for, though he sort of wished it was like a limbo pole instead because he had a feeling he could do that easier.

"All three?" Jake repeated in dismay. He was barely sure he could even do one! This day was getting worse and worse... he hadn't even wanted to play in the first place. "Sh-should we ask her...?" he asked them, looking warily at the Divination Professor in the distance. When her head turned, the boy quickly turned away with a blush hoping the scary lady hadn't seen him watching her.

Jake watched Serena, and mimicked her, getting down to his knee and tugging a little on his shoelaces, even though they were already tied. Then he stood up and walked his way over near the hurdles. He still didn't know if they had to do all three, but either way he had to do this one. So going first made sense. He stood for a while watching the obstacles, not sure if he could do it, but with a look at his team-mates for some encouragement, he took a deep breath.

"Okay... h-here I go..." the boy mumbled, pulling up his shorts to make sure they wouldn't fall down, swallowing nervously, and then taking off on a run. The hurdle came closer, closer, he just had to jump as high as he could and sail over it - just had to jump but it looked so high, and... the boy skidded to a stop in front of the hurdle. What was he thinking?! It was huge! It came up high as his tummy and how was he supposed to jump over that? Why did nobody at this school ever make things Jake-sized? Awkwardly the boy lifted his left leg and tried to step over it instead, and blushed as the hurdle got kicked down to the ground. Jake bent over and pushed the thing back up, tugging on it to straighten it right, while shooting a glimpse at the professor to make sure he wasn't in trouble for knocking it down. Her face gave him no reassurance. He faced the hurdle once more.

He only had to get over it to the other side... nobody said it had to be a jump. The tiny badger stepped up more carefully this time, holding onto the hurdle for balance. Slowly his leg got high enough to go over, and then he hopped, clutching to the hurdle, spinning over and landing on his bottom in the grass on the other side. "Oof." He stood up again, more embarrassed than hurt as he brushed himself off.

One down, many more to go.

Total Words: 601 + 523 = 1124/1000

@Jake Morris || @Serena Towers

Saskia nodded at Serena's suggestions. "Yeah, that makes sense. So, Jake takes the hurdles, I take the monkey bars, and Serena gets the rope net." She affirmed, looking at everyone else to see their reactions. So far, everyone else seemed to be on board with the plan, which was good. The less time they had discussing, the more time they had to actually go through the obstacle course.

"Yes, Serena. You just climb over the net. No need to overthink it." Saskia replied with a small laugh. "And Jake, you're supposed to run and jump over the hurdles." She understood that the two Badgers might have been nervous, or otherwise had some doubts about what they were supposed to do, but there really was nothing to worry about. But then again, there was the pressure of the two professors watching them. From what she could see, she wouldn't be surprised if one or both of them stared at the group in disapproval just by looking their way. Especially when this group consisted of a kid who might as well have been pushed back to kindergarten. But they could prove them wrong, right? They went through hell multiple times and survived. This would have been a piece of cake by comparison.

"Well, it is an obstacle course. Maybe we're supposed to do all of them at some point?" she pondered. There weren't really any clear instructions that came with this. All she knew was that they had to complete the obstacles, but did that mean they had to rotate around the three obstacles or were they expected to complete them on their own? She shrugged to herself. Might as well figure out the fine details later, she supposed.

"Let's just try to get them all done anyway. If we're really not sure what to do, we can always ask the professors." She decided. She knew she could probably handle the other two obstacles, and she had enough confidence in Serena to believe that she might be able to keep going, but she had concerns about Jake. She knew he was going to have trouble with at least one obstacle, much less three of them all at once.

"Anyway, good luck out there. We can do this!" She gave them a small salute and headed off to the monkey bars. Taking a good look at the structure, she could already tell it was going to take a while before she reached the other side. Clearly, the professors weren't keen on just making a playground for the kids. They wanted the kids to make an effort to finish these obstacles. And Saskia was going to take that challenge head on.

Once she climbed up the mini ladder, she reached out for the first bar before letting go of the handle and reaching for the second bar, leaving her suspended in the air. Two steps down, a lot more to go. She reached towards the next bar, twisting her body as her hands alternated with each bar.

This was easy enough. She could surely make it all the way to the end in no time. Yep. She was confident in herself. That was part of the process in all of this. One look down and that was enough to send her thinking about what would happen if she fell. But she didn't have to look down. She didn't even have to think. She felt light. All she thought about was reaching the end.

Word Count: 642 + 592 = 1234/1000

Serena agreed with the team, moving her hand to scratch the back of her head awkwardly as she nodded. Saskia told her not to overthink something... Did she even know her? Overthinking and worrying was natural to Serena, especially given recent times. But she took a deep breath. This whole day was important. She needed to get stronger - they all did. If the recent events had taught them anything, it was that they needed to be strong. If Serena was stronger, perhaps she could have dragged the unconscious boy out of the dark earlier.

Agreeing to just give it a go and then asking the professors if they meant to do them all, Serena moved to the rope net as agreed. "Good luck you two!" She called back as she moved to the ropes. She eyed up the obstacle, it towered over her small frame and height. Her arms were a little noodle-y, making this a bit hard to do. However, she stepped onto the first bit, reaching high with her arm and gripping the rope.

She swallowed, looking around before shaking her head. Looking at the others would not help. She needed to focus. Up. She had to climb the net. Gripping the rope tightly in both hands, she started to step up. It was a mix of pushing up with her foot whilst also pulling herself up. Honestly, she was not sure if she was meant to use her legs or her arms more here but as long as she got over it, it did not matter right?

Her right foot stepped onto the next panel, slipping slightly. It almost fell through but luckily, she had gripped with her hands enough that she could hold on and recompose herself. Once she had managed to balance herself again, she continued to climb a little. "Come on... You can do this..." She mumbled to herself, catching herself again. It was a little bit of a struggle, trying to keep her balance whilst also climb up the net. Her arms were also getting a little tired. Perhaps she was meant to be using her legs more - rather than pulling herself up as much as she was doing? She had no idea. Honestly, she had no idea what she was meant to be doing.

Serena glanced over to the Professors, wondering if they were watching. Welp. They looked kind of scary. Perhaps she ought to try and get over this whole thing faster before either one of them screamed at her. Leaning onto the rope net, she rested for a moment to catch her breathe. She was not very far up but it was tiring. Then she quickly tried to continue, doing her best to pull herself up it. She hesitated, looking down. Welp, it was kind of far down. Oh Merlin...

@Rosalind Kibitzer was looking. Serena could see her. Oh gosh. The pressure not to mess up was felt by the young hufflepuff seeker.

Rosalind was looking. She had been for quite a while, actually. The three little Hufflepuffs had finally given out their roles to each other and the smallest of them hadn't seen her watching, so she could watch in peace without feeling like she was disturbing the poor boy. His fear was amusing, but the last thing she wanted to do was disadvantage the pair of girls any further. They had already charitably accepted this tiny little boy has part of their team. No need to give them any more trouble.

Her face pulled into a grimace as Jake skidded to a halt in front of the first hurdle. Not even the slightest hint of a jump. Maybe if the kid were taller he could have gotten away with just trying to step over it, but as it stood, he just kicked it down and set it back up. A stunning display of athletics. There was a slight pang of guilt as he looked to her and saw her stony face, masking her amusement with a stoic frown. She dragged her quill across the clipboard, making a small mark - maybe he would believe she was recording his transgression. That would be a good laugh.

"Do your legs work, son?" she said, stepping closer to observe the pitiful performance more closely. "You jump hurdles. Should've taken the rope net if you wanted to climb. But don't stop now, you got more to go, hustle."

The most difficult of all obstacles was impressing Professor Kibitzer. Saskia swung like a little monkey, her athletic experience coming in handy as she twisted and swung, carrying her momentum forward. A much more impressive technique than Jake's half-hearted hurdles. The grey-haired woman nodded in approval, making another illegible mark on her clipboard. She glanced back at the youngest Hufflepuff, staring down at him for a moment, just to drive home any potential worries he might have about what she was writing.

Of all three options, Rosalind was of the opinion that the rope climb was the most difficult of all. It baffled her that this trio would select the one with the frailest appearance for that. Hufflepuffs were good friends, she thought. Maybe Serena was just the self-sacrificing sort, and chose to take on the difficult obstacle to spare her clumsy little house brother the shame of getting caught up in the ropes.

"Pull yourself up, come on. Your friend is swinging like a monkey over there," she said, jerking a thumb back over her shoulder to indicate Saskia on the monkey bars. Her brand of colour commentary could be seen as less than encouraging - the first thing she noticed about the girl was her stature, so she chose to work from that. "It's like climbing a ladder. You've done that before, haven't you?"