Chapter Six – Look, Up In The Sky…
Life quickly settled into a routine for the three new friends after the first couple of weeks had passed by. They would go to classes, have their meals, study and do their homework, with the occasional moments of free time sprinkled in to keep from overloading. At first it took Harry a bit of convincing to get Hermione to put down one of the many books she usually checked out of the library or going over her copious amount of notes she had taken in order to relax.
"You'll burn yourself out Hermione, if you keep going like that for the next seven years," Harry had said to her. "I heard one of the older students talking about how a few years ago a student did nothing but study and review all the time."
"And?" asked Hermione. "What's wrong with that? I bet they got high marks."
"They were admitted to St. Mungo's, a magical hospital," said Harry. "Apparently, they studied so much, they snapped. Even tried to curse someone for asking to borrow a book."
Hermione had stared at Harry with wide eyes for a moment before she closed the book in her lap and said that a short break sounded like a good idea.
It was on the third Saturday of September that most of the first years woke up excited. For it was today they would be taking flying lessons.
Ever since the lessons had been announced, things had been interesting around the castle as various first years from wizarding families had started boasting about all the amazing events that had happened to them while flying a broom.
Harry scoffed when he had overheard Draco brag that he had been chased by a muggle helicopter while they shot their barbaric weapons at him over London.
Though, the worst tall tale came from Ron Weasley, who said that one night he took his older brother Charlie's broom and flew to the moon and back.
"And how exactly did you breath?" Hermione asked when she had heard this.
"Um… Like I normally do," said Ron.
"That's interesting, since there is no oxygen in space," Hermione said as Ron started to turn red in embarrassment. "If you had in fact, flew a broom to the moon, you would have died the moment you left the atmosphere."
"Atmos-what?" asked a confused Ron, as Harry, Hermione, and Neville walked away, shaking their heads.
"So, looking forward to learning how to fly?" Harry asked in the common room when he saw Hermione walk out from the door leading to the girl's dorms.
"Not particularly," she said as she, Harry, and Neville left through the barrel.
"Me either," said Neville.
"Oh, come on you two," said Harry with a grin. "It's fun. It's like riding a bike… I think. I never rode a bike before. Whatever, doesn't matter. It's easy. I got the hang of it in less than a day when I started this summer."
"It may be like riding a bike," said Hermione. "But bikes don't fly high up in the air."
"Actually, I think they can," Harry said, suddenly remembering a dream he had had while still living with the Dursley's about a flying motorcycle. Looking back on that dream with the knowledge he now had of the wizarding world, he wondered if it might have been a repressed memory from when he was a baby.
"I'm not looking forward to it either," said Neville. "I heard the school brooms are older than Professor Dumbledore and the magic in them has started to go weird in the past few years."
"Weird?" asked Harry.
"It happens," said Hermione. "I read in a few different books that magically enchanted muggle objects tend to act up after a prolonged exposure to magic. Some authors even believe that they take a mind of their own. Which I think is quite fascinating, actually. I mean, magic sort of creating an artificial intelligence… Scientists have spent years trying to create one."
The three friends entered the Great Hall and took their usual seats at the Hufflepuff table with their backs towards the Gryffindor table so they could avoid seeing the red haired eating machine.
"Hi guys," Susan Bones said as she and Hannah Abbot sat across from them. "You excited about the flying lessons."
"Yes," Harry said with a grin.
"No," both Hermione and Neville answered.
"What's wrong?" asked Hannah as she buttered a slice of toast. "You two nervous?"
"Yes," said Neville.
"Not nervous," said Hermione. "I just don't like heights."
"Haven't you been in an airplane before?" asked Hannah, who's mother was a muggle, and so she knew all about the muggle world.
"Well, yes," said Hermione. "But when my parents and I go on holiday and fly, they always get seats in the middle of the plane so I don't have to look outside, then I can pretend we're inside a boat or something."
"There's no need to worry," Susan said. "No one ever gets hurt during flying lessons. From what I heard, we only hover on a broom four or five feet off the ground, and Madam Hooch places cushioning charms on the ground in case anyone accidentally slips off their broom."
Hearing that seemed to ease some of Hermione's worries about the upcoming lesson.
"Hey Potter," Draco said as he and his two lackeys walked over to them from the Slytherin table.
"What is it Malfoy?" asked Harry. "And please tell me that if you're hear to insult me, that you actually came up with something good this time. Because honestly, ever since we met before Herbology, all you've ever come up with is variations of telling me that you think I suck. And truthfully, it's already getting old."
"Actually," Draco said. "I just came to wish you luck."
"Huh?" asked Harry, confused by this sudden turn.
"Yes," said Draco. "Learning to fly a broom can be quite dangerous. You never know when you might suddenly drop out of the sky and plummet to your death."
"That wont happen," said Hannah.
"It might," said Draco. "Madam Hooch told us about it last weekend when we had our flying lessons with the Gryffindorks."
Both Crabbe and Goyle chuckled at the lame word play.
"Witches and wizards that don't know what they're doing fall off their brooms all the time," Draco continued. "She even told us that when it happens over a muggle city, they just write it off as a suicide jumper from a building. But of course, the three of us had no problems during the class since we come from a more… Noble stock."
"Shove off," Susan said.
"Or what?" asked Draco with a sneer.
"Or maybe I'll mention in my next letter home to my aunt that I overheard you bragging to your two shadows about how your father has a hidden stockpile of illegal dark artifacts at your home," said Susan.
"I never said any such thing," spat Draco.
"Oh, I know that," said Susan. "And you know that. But it really wouldn't matter, would it. Aunty never bought into your father's little 'I was imperioused' story, and would gladly jump at the chance to do a raid on your house. And while I'm sure that if he does have anything, it would be too well hidden for anyone to find, imagine how annoyed he will be when his name is mentioned in the paper in regards to a dark artifact raid. And with how close knit he is with so many people in the ministry, it would only be a matter of time before he found out that the tip came from a letter from me mentioning I heard you talking about it… I wonder what he will do when he finds out about that."
Draco silently glared at Susan for nearly ten seconds before he turned and stormed out of the Great Hall, his two 'friends' following after him.
"That… Was brilliant," Harry said with a smile, causing Susan to blush.
"He's a prat," Susan said. "He thinks that because he's a Malfoy, that the world should bow before him. People like that really annoy me."
"What did you mean by his dad claiming he was, what did you call it?" asked Hermione.
"Imperioused," said Susan. "It's dark magic. One of the three unforgivables. It allows the caster to control the mind of whoever they cast it on. Before I came to school, aunty warned me to watch out for the kids of the parents that claimed they were imperioused during the war. She never believed it and doesn't trust them. They all had something to gain from joining up with You-Know-Who."
Harry suddenly dropped his fork onto his plate, causing it to clatter.
"Malfoy's dad was with Voldemort?" Harry asked, causing Susan, Hannah, and Neville to all shiver upon hearing that name.
"Yes," Susan said a moment later, and Harry noticed a cold look in her eyes. He was about to ask her if something was wrong, but one look at Hannah, who was gesturing that he drop it, changed his mind.
"Well," Harry said after a moment of awkward silence. "How about we hurry up and eat so we can head out for flying lessons?"
The other four agreed, and after they had finished their breakfast, they left the Great Hall and wandered out onto the grounds and towards the eastern side of the castle, where there were already a few Ravenclaw first years waiting.
As they waited, and more first year Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws arrived, Harry watched a strange looking tree. What made the tree strange looking was that its branches were moving. However, they were not moving because of a strong breeze, as there was none outside, but moving as it's large braches were swinging at a couple of crows that were flying circles around it.
"It's a Whomping Willow," Hermione said when she noticed what Harry was staring at. "I read about it in 'Hogwarts, A History'. Professor Dumbledore brought it here after he spent the summer holiday in America in 1971 as a birthday present for Professor Sprout."
"Cool gift," said Neville, who was now also watching the tree and in awe of it.
It was then that Madam Hooch arrived with a bundle of school brooms floating next to her.
"Alright everyone, line up please," she said in a firm voice that got everyone's attention. All of the assembled students lined up on the grass and as soon as they were ready, Madam Hooch flicked her wand, sending a broom to land on the ground in front of each first year.
"Now, before we begin, I want to remind all of you that there will be no horsing around during this lesson," said Madam Hooch as she walked up and down in front of the students. "Flying a broom is very serious business, and any mistakes could lead to a number of accidents and injuries. If I catch any of you messing around, you will be put on a very restricted list of students who are not allowed to have or use a broom during their seven years here at Hogwarts. Does everyone understand?"
There was a chorus of students saying, "Yes, Madam Hooch."
"Good," she said. "Now, for your first lesson, I want each of you to step up to the side of the broom I placed in front of you, hold your hand out over the broom, and say 'up'."
Harry moved up to the side of his broom along with the rest of the class and held his hand out over it and said, "Up," which caused his broom to instantly jump up from the ground and into his hand.
Hermione was a little surprised by this, since in the few classes that they had had so far, she normally was able to master a spell before he was. Setting her face into determination, she tried harder and spoke more firmly to her broom, but only got it to jump up a few inches and roll around on the grass.
Neville was having even less luck with his broom, which refused to move at all.
"Remember, speak clearly and firmly," Madam Hooch said.
"UP!" Neville practically shouted at his broom, which instead of jumping up into his hand, came up handle first and hit him on the nose before returning to the ground and remaining motionless.
"Please be careful with school property, Mr. Longbottom," scolded Madam Hooch as she passed him by.
It was almost twenty minutes before everyone had finally managed to get their brooms to jump up into their hands.
"Good," Madam Hooch said as she moved to the front of the group. "Now, I want you to mount your brooms."
She watched as each of the students got onto the brooms, quietly sighing when she noticed some of them doing it wrong.
"Miss Patil, we do not sit side saddle on the broom," said Madam Hooch. "I am here to teach you how to do it properly. And before you say anything, I already know from your sister last week that your father had the two of you taught that way, so there is no need to explain."
THUD
Madam Hooch turned around and saw Neville on the ground with his broom floating above him.
"Mr. Longbottom, what did I say about playing around?"
"It wasn't me," said Neville as he slowly got to his feet. "It was the broom."
"It's true," said Harry. "As soon as Neville got on, the broom did a little flip and knocked Neville off."
A few of the other nearby students that had witnessed it nodded in agreement with Harry on what had happened.
"Very well," said Madam Hooch. "Set that broom aside and grab one of the spares from the pile I brought."
Neville quickly ran over to the pile of brooms and selected a new one, leaving his previous one where it was as Madam Hooch made sure that everyone else was sitting properly on their brooms.
"Very good," she said. "Now, I when I blow my whistle, I want each of you to gently kick off from the ground and hover a few feet off the ground. When I blow my whistle a second time, I want you to slowly lean forward and land."
Madam Hooch pulled out his whistle and after casting a cushioning charm on the ground, gave it a blow.
TWEET
"AHHHHHHHH!" shouted Neville as the broom he had previously been using flew up behind him and snagged his robes on the handle as it rocketed up into the sky.
Everyone gasped as they watched the young boy being flown around while Madam Hooch grumbled and summoned her own broom to her. She was just about to fly off to rescue him when Neville and the broom crashed into the Whomping Willow.
"Bloody hell," Madam Hooch quietly said as the living tree grabbed Neville as he fell to the ground and begun to swing him around in its hand-like branches. "None of you move," she said to the class. "I need to get Professor Sprout to deal with that tree."
Madam Hooch then turned and ran towards the castle while the assembled group watched in fear for the young wizard.
Not far away, Draco Malfoy and a group of Slytherins were pointing and laughing.
"HELP!" Neville shouted just moments before the small amount of breakfast he managed to eat came back up, spewing on the tree, which just angered it more.
The minutes ticked by and Madam Hooch had yet to return with Professor Sprout.
Harry started to get antsy as he listened to his friend cry out for help.
Finally, he couldn't stand it anymore and grabbed one of the school brooms.
"What are you doing?" Hermione asked when she noticed Harry mounting the broom.
"No idea," was all Harry said before he kicked off and flew as fast as he could towards the Whomping Willow.
Harry couldn't help but smile when he felt the wind on his face, which quickly turned into a look of determination as he approached the tree.
With the ease as if he had been flying his entire life, Harry dodged the swinging club-like tree branches. Through the rush of the wind and the whistle of the swinging branches, Harry could hear Neville's continued cry for help.
The group of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff first years watched in stunned silence as the Boy-Who-Lived was risking his life to save a fellow student.
Hermione had her hands covering her mouth and trying not to freak out about what Harry was doing.
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"A galleon says the tree clobbers him in the next thirty seconds," Draco said to his friends.
"Two galleons on him lasting a minute," said Blaise Zabini.
"Five galleons that he rescues that boy and makes it out of there," said Daphne Greengrass, which earned her a sneer from Draco. "That is unless you don't have the money?"
"You're on," spat Draco. "And don't think I will forget this."
"I hope you don't," said Daphne.
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"HARRY?!" Neville shouted in surprise when he finally noticed his friend flying around the tree.
"HEY NEVILLE!" Harry shouted back. "HOLD ON A SECOND AND I'LL GET YOU OUT OF HERE!"
Neville just nodded dumbly as he watched Harry narrowly being clobbered with particularly thick tree branch.
"Oh, I hope this works," Harry quietly said to himself. He then looped out of the way of two braches that tried to grab him before kicking the branch that was holding Neville as hard as he could. This got the desired result, as the branch let go of Neville, causing him to fall to the ground, screaming.
"GOTCHA!" Harry said as he grabbed Neville by the leg and flew away from the tree as fast as he could, and then landing a little roughly about thirty feet away from the tree.
Everyone started cheering when Harry and Neville landed on the ground.
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Daphne smiled smugly as Draco scowled and handed over five golden coins before storming off with Crabbe and Goyle following in his shadow.
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"You PRAT!" Hermione shouted when she reached Harry and Neville as they stood up and punched Harry in the arm as hard as she could, causing him to grab where she had hit him.
"What where you thinking?" asked Hermione, hitting him again, this time on the other arm.
"Ow," said Harry. "Will you please stop hitting me?"
"Fine," Hermione said, and then punched him again a few seconds later. "Now I'm done."
"You sure?" asked Harry.
"Yes," said Hermione.
"Good, because I can barely feel my arms right now," said Harry. "As for what I was thinking… I was thinking that my friend was in trouble and it was taking Madam Hooch too long to get back."
Of course, just then Madam Hooch and Professor Sprout walked over to the group. Neither of them looked happy.
"Pomona, why don't you take Mr. Longbottom to the hospital wing while I escort Mr. Potter to see the Headmaster," said Madam Hooch.
"Of course," said Professor Sprout, who then turned to Neville and started guiding him towards the castle. "Come along deary. A quick visit with Poppy and you'll be as right as rain."
"Mr. Potter, with me," said Madam Hooch, who then started to lead Harry towards the castle.
The walk towards the second floor entrance to Dumbledore's office seemed to last an eternity to Harry as images of being kicked out of school flashed through his head. He imagined how disappointed Ted and Andromeda would be with him and even started to worry that they would regret having taken him in to live with them in the first place.
Finally, they came to a stop in front of a large stone gargoyle.
"Abba-Zaba," Madam Hooch said, causing the gargoyle to step aside and a winding set of stairs to rise up through the tower.
The two of them stepped onto the stairs and rode them all the way up to a set of wooden doors, which Madam Hooch knocked on.
"Enter," came Dumbledore's voice from the other side.
Madam Hooch opened the door and lead Harry in.
"Ah, Rolanda, what a pleasant surprise," Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eye. "And Mr. Potter. A good day to you as well."
"You may not think so after you hear what he has done," said Madam Hooch.
"Oh?" asked Dumbledore as he looked over the tops of his half-moon spectacles.
"Yes," said Madam Hooch. "You see, during today's broom flying class, one of the brooms took Mr. Longbottom and flew into the Whomping Willow, which captured the young boy. I told the class to remain where they were while I went looking for Pomona, since she is best qualified for dealing with that tree."
"She does have an odd connection with that temperamental tree, doesn't she," Dumbledore said with a hint of a smile.
"However, while I was gone, Mr. Potter disregarded my instructions and took it upon himself to rescue Mr. Longbottom from the Whomping Willow's clutches, endangering both himself and Mr. Longbottom more than he already was," said Madam Hooch.
"Did he now?" asked Dumbledore, who turned his gaze on Harry. "He doesn't seem to have a scratch on him."
"I don't," Harry said. "In fact, I'm fine. The tree didn't touch me."
"How interesting," said Dumbledore. "That must have been an amazing bit of flying to avoid the Whomping Willow. In fact, since it had been planted here, I do not recall anything being within reach of it and not being grabbed and pummeled."
"The fact that it was some of the most brilliant bit of flying I have ever seen is beyond the point," said Madam Hooch. "Rules are rules, and Mr. Potter went against one that I personally gave to him and the rest of the class."
"Yes, but…" Harry started to say.
"No buts," said Madam Hooch.
"But what, Harry?" asked Dumbledore, curious as to what the young boy would say.
"It's just… Well," Harry started to say. "Madam Hooch was taking too long finding Professor Sprout, and I was worried about my friend. I couldn't just stand there and watch him get tossed around like a rag doll."
"I see," said Dumbledore. He could tell there was more to what Harry was saying, and with a quick bit of Legilimency, he peeked into the young boy's mind and saw images of Harry alone, helpless at the hands of his relatives with no one coming to help him.
"Very well," Dumbledore said after a few moments of silence. "Mr. Potter, you did violate instructions given to you by a professor. This would normally result in loss of points for your house, plus detention… However, in light of the situation of the fact that you broke said instructions to help a fellow student, I will forego punishment and instead you will not be rewarded in any way for your actions. Do you agree that this is far?"
"Yes sir," Harry said.
"Madam Hooch?" Dumbledore asked.
"Yes," said Madam Hooch. "However, I would like to add that Mr. Potter not be granted use of the school brooms, nor be allowed to borrow and use another students broom for the remainder of his time here at Hogwarts."
"That seems a tad bit extreme," said Dumbledore. "Considering Mr. Potter broke the rules to rescue a fellow student… However, I will meet you half way on your suggestion and agree to Mr. Potter's ban lasting for this school year and this school year only. Anything more than that and I'm afraid it is too harsh considering the circumstances."
Madam Hooch didn't look pleased with this, but reluctantly agreed and said, "Very well. If you will excuse me, I have to return and finish the flying lessons for the rest of the first years."
Dumbledore nodded and Madam Hooch left the office.
"You may go as well Mr. Potter," Dumbledore said. "And I hope that in the future, that you do not take such dangerous risks as you did today."
"I wont sir," Harry said before he left the Headmaster alone in his office.
Dumbledore reached over to the candy dish on his desk and selected a lemon drop from it and put it in his mouth as he smiled to himself.
"Ten points to Hufflepuff," he said before returning to the parchment he had been reading moments before the two of them had come to his office.
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A/N: I'm sure some of you aren't happy that I basically 'grounded' Harry for his first year. However, before you go getting your torches and pitchforks and start to form a mob, allow me to explain me reason. In canon, Snape has a tendency to point out that Harry thinks he's above the rules, which is understandable considering that when he broke the rule Madam Hooch said about staying on the ground while she took Neville to the hospital wing, he was rewarded with a spot on the Quidditch team and one of the best and most expensive brooms available at the time. With Harry actually having to face some form of punishment, anytime Snape makes that claim in my story will only to further prove to everyone around him that he is holding a grudge against Harry for no reason, which will then lead to... Well, I don't want to say. It will ruin the surprise. However, I will say that his past sins will be coming back to haunt him before the school year is over.
Also, I hope you liked Harry's little challenge against the Whomping Willow. I wanted to do something different from the book, plus his skills at flying gives a hint as to what position Harry will be playing when he joins the Quidditch team next year... What? Did you honestly think that I wouldn't ever let him play? Of course he is. After trying out with everyone else of course.