Damaged Raven

29

"Hurry up!" A voice shouted. It wasn't a quiet voice, it was loud, rough and angry.

Harry's limbs were aching, his breathing was heavy, but he didn't stop, he couldn't stop. He knew what happened to people who stopped.

"Aaargh!" A voice screamed right as a boy dropped past Harry, he was seconds from hitting the floor when he was caught in mid-air by a well timed spell. The one responsible for the spell, lowered him to the floor, once the boy was down he grabbed him by the ear and roughly tossed him to the floor. He grabbed the boy and slapped him twice.

"You have five minutes to rest!" He growled as he glared at the boy "After that you are going to climb that mountain again and this time you will reach the top if you want to eat tomorrow."

Harry continued to climb, the mountain wasn't the biggest mountain in the world, that didn't mean it was like a hill either. Harry estimated that it would take an adult roughly an hour to climb it. He and the others would occasionally be taken to random places, the last time they were taken to a dessert and made to walk a very long journey. The others hadn't quite mastered controlling their body heat, so they struggled with it far more than him.

His instructors were more expecting when it came to Harry, he took to his fire training like a fish to water and so they expected better from him. Which is why they always preferred to watch him, if he failed then he got punished harder, the last time he failed he was given ten lashes and minimal food.

Now, he and his fellow students were currently in a country, he wasn't sure which one, and he had to climb this mountain. If he guessed, it was a test to not only test their body heat control, but also test their physical strength and endurance.

The five year old Harry Potter continued climbing, something that was made more difficult by the fact that most of his face was bandaged and that included his left eye, plus he and everyone else had to wear their skull masks, so he had to search even harder for places his hands could hold on to. A minute later he found a comfortable pair of holes he could easily fit his hands into, he hanged on the side of the mountain. He wouldn't dare stay still for more than a minute, firstly because he'd get more tired and second of all because if the instructors thought he was stopping they'd start throwing stinging hexes and/or slaps.

He took in a deep breath and kept on climbing, he climbed and climbed. He didn't know how long it took but eventually he reached the top. He lied down, arms spread as he let out several deep breaths. He knew he should enjoy his breaks while they lasted. If he was lucky then he and everyone else would be escorted down, if not then they might have to go down on their own.

"Tired?" A voice asked. Harry looked through his only non bandaged eye to respond to the girl. She had black hair that was placed in a ponytail, and her eyes were blue. She was around Harry's age.

"What do you think?" Harry asked sarcastically.

"There's no need to be rude" The girl frowned.

"Don't be an idiot then" Harry mumbled as he sat down, he felt something nudge his shoulder, he looked up to see the girl holding a drink for him, clearly offering it to him. "Thanks" Harry said appreciatively.

"You're welcome" She smiled brightly

"You are entirely too happy"

"Yeah, well you should be more happy"

"Listen up maggots!" One of the instructors shouted "You have five minutes to rest! I said five minutes!"

"Are you sure I'm the one that needs to be happy?" Harry said to the girl as he gestured to the instructor with his head.