Chapter 10: Flying Maladies
Trinity sighed heavily as her head hit her pillow late that Thursday night. From the stories she heard from Mercy, Professor Rankin was not a huge improvement from Professor Binns. As she stared up at the canopy of her four-poster bed, she wondered if it were possible to skip History of Magic next week without having to skip her other classes.
She rolled over after a while of contemplating this, but getting nowhere, and gave up.
She woke, later than she had intended to the following morning. She opened her eyes to find Rose hovering over her, saying something that she couldn't quite make out due to her bleariness. She sat up, groaning.
"Hurry up, Trinity!" said Rose impatiently as she went back to her trunk to grab her robes and pull them on.
"What's the rush?" She got out of bed, and realized that they were alone.
"Today's our first Flying lesson."
"Oh yeah." Trinity had honestly forgotten that from now until the end of term, her Friday afternoons were to be taken up with Flying lessons with Professor Sette. She hurried to her trunk to grab her shirt and a pair of slacks; flying around in a pleated skirt was not her idea of fun. She felt a sickening knot in her stomach as she thought about the upcoming class. She wondered how many of her classmates who had, like her, never flown on a broomstick before. "What time is it anyway?"
"Lunch is in fifteen minutes."
"Why didn't anyone wake me for breakfast?" she asked as she tightened her tie, narrowing her eyes at Rose.
"We tried. Now hurry up. You need to eat before class."
Trinity followed after Rose, pulling on her school robes just as she entered the common room. It was deserted.
They arrived in the Great Hall without incident, taking their seats next to Mercy at the Ravenclaw table. Trinity scooped a Sheppard's pie onto her plate, eating it with alien vigor.
"Hungry much?" Mercy grinned. "Rose said that you were dead to the world this morning."
"Must've forgotten that I have class today," said Trinity through a mouthful of food.
"Good thing it's only Flying. I'm going to observe the class—see if I can find a suitable Chaser for the team—otherwise I'm stuck with Olivia Cornigan." She whispered the last part.
"Desperate this year?" Rose asked with false pleasantness.
"Frazzled," confirmed Mercy with a nod. "I had to get permission from Flitwik to skip Charms this afternoon."
"Aren't first years not allowed a broom?" asked Trinity, recalling having read that somewhere.
"They can always make exceptions!" James squeezed himself between Rose and Trinity. "They did for my dad when he was made Seeker in his first year, anyway."
"Don't you have anything better to do?" asked Mercy, feigning a cross tone.
"Nope." James grinned at her. "Just needed to tell Trinity that Professor McGonagall would like to see her after her lessons."
Trinity flushed a bright shade of red as she felt heat rise to her cheeks. She stared down at her plate, feeling her appetite ebbing away. She did not even acknowledge James leaving.
"Wonder what Professor McGonagall wants with you," said Rose in a low murmur.
"Dunno," Trinity muttered. She had only met their Headmistress once, on their first day of class after Mercy saved her from the broom closet, and as far as she knew, she hadn't done anything terribly wrong. She hadn't even gotten a detention yet. She contemplated silently the reasons that Professor McGonagall would want to see her, but her thoughts were soon interrupted when the bell rang, signaling the beginning of afternoon classes.
"Relax, Trinity." Mercy grinned at her. "Professor Sette only teaches the basics."
"Easy for you to say," groaned Trinity, looking over at her best friend. "You probably rode on a broomstick before you came to Hogwarts!" Her eyes narrowed as her eyebrows met in a hard V.
"It isn't that hard, honest." She frowned thoughtfully. "Lets see here—Muggle analogy—it's like riding a bicycle."
Trinity's frown deepened. She wasn't sure if she should mention that the orphanage did not provide bicycles to its inhabitants. In the end, she kept it to herself, especially when Scorpius Malfoy walked by, boasting how he already knows how to fly on a broom.
"Runny nosed git," grumbled Albus, coming up behind them. "He's been boasting about how his father promised to buy him a Firebolt 6 when they come out this summer."
"Oh, come off it already!" Rose groaned.
Trinity blinked, looking between the two cousins for an explanation. "Did I just miss something?"
"When our parents were in school, Draco Malfoy was sort of a git to them," explained Rose. "But that doesn't give Albus the excuse to go looking for a fight with his son."
"You didn't hear him go on about how his father thinks that Hagrid is a waste of space during yesterday's Double Potions."
"Probably because Trinity and I had a free afternoon," replied Rose.
"Family feuds can run deep in the wizarding community," Mercy whispered so only Trinity could hear.
They were silent as they made their way to the grass field just outside the courtyard. Brooms were laid out for each student in two rows facing each other. Mercy stopped at the archway into the courtyard, where she could still observe the class, but no one would be able to see her unless they were looking. Trinity took one between Rose and Albus, and noticed that she was directly across from Scorpius. Ian and Sorcha arrived a few minutes later and took their spots on the other side of Rose.
A woman of short stature strode onto the field, her head held high. She had high cheekbones, a skinny waist, and small chest. She appeared to have barely gotten out of school herself, maybe no older than twenty-four. Her blonde hair was tied back into a tight ponytail. Dark eyes observed each of the students as her dark robes billowed out from behind her. "Good afternoon, class."
"Good afternoon, Professor Sette," chorused most of the class in unison.
"Flying is relatively simple, but I will tolerate no mischievous behavior. Some of you will go on to play Quidditch in later years, while most of you will only fly as a means of transportation." Her voice was cool and crisp; reminding Trinity of what Professor McGonagall must have sounded like in her younger years. "Today we will practice taking off, hovering, and landing. If there is time, I will allow each of you a quick lap around the castle."
Trinity groaned inwardly at the thought of flying a lap around the castle. She looked around to see everyone else's reactions. Albus looked excited. Rose appeared to be unaffected. Sorcha grinned. Ian looked just as nervous as she felt. Some students looked excited, while others looked terrified. Scorpius was the only one to look smug.
"I want each of you to step up to your broom, hold your right hand over it, and say 'up'," Professor Sette went on.
Trinity released a long breath before stepping up to her very old looking broom. She held her hand over it, and said, "Up." She watched as the broom wiggled underneath her. She dared a glance up at the rest of the class. Albus, Rose, Sorcha, and Scorpius were among those who held their brooms. She grimaced when she realized that on the second try, most of the students now held broomsticks. She tried again, and this time, her broom flew up into her hand.
When everyone finally held their brooms, Professor Sette instructed them to mount their brooms, and that when she blew her whistle, that they were to each kick off, hover for a moment, and then touch back down. At the blow of her whistle, Trinity and the rest of the class kicked off. Trinity's heart raced as she hovered two feet above the ground. She tested her grip, grinning as she got a hang of her balance. At the second whistle, everyone touched back down one by one. Trinity dismounted her broom, sighing in relief.
"It seems that we do have plenty of time for each of you to take a single lap around the castle. I don't want any of you to try any maneuvers." She glanced around at the entire class sternly. "Ms. Jones, you first." She mounted her own broom, which looked considerably newer than the brooms the students were using.
Trinity remounted her broom, ignoring the jeers coming from the Slytherins that, because she was raised by muggles, she was going to die. She kicked off and hovered a few feet away from Professor Sette, a determined look on her face.
"I will fly behind you, in case something goes wrong," informed Professor Sette calmly. Trinity cringed at the 'in case something goes wrong' part, but nodded nonetheless.
She leaned forward as if on impulse and flew forward. She looked back for a second to see her classmates below her before looking forward. She angled herself upward to get some height and swerved around as she circled the castle. She found a couple pillars to fly between, pressing herself so tightly to her broom that her chin was touching the handle. What she did not expect was a wall to block her way. She ignored Professor Sette's haughty warnings and shot upwards to avoid what might have been a life threatening collision. Her broom jerked then. She grimaced as she fought for control. At the last second, she was able to pull up and double back to Professor Sette.
Her heart pounded wildly while she half-listened as Professor Sette berated her for reckless flying. She heard something about ten points being taken away from Ravenclaw.
"I want you to circle around the castle!"
"Yes, Professor," Trinity murmured half-heartedly. She waited for Professor Sette gave her the go to continue her lap. For the remainder of the flight, she did not try anything dangerous, until an idea came to her just as the class came into view.
She tightened the grip on the broom, ascended a few feet, but not enough for Professor Sette to yell at her for, and took a nosedive, gaining speed with every inch. The closer she got to the ground, the more panicked she got. She was unable to pull herself out of the dive, no matter how much she tried. She whimpered before she felt herself being lifted off her broom. Before she knew exactly what had happened, she was dropped to the ground, and she landed with a small grunt. She looked up at the rest of her classmates.
Scorpius and the rest of Slytherin were laughing, but Scorpius was laughing the hardest, rolling around in the grass, gripping his sides.
Rose, Sorcha, Ian, and Albus rushed to her side and gathered around her. "What happened?" asked Albus, alarmed.
"Are you alright?" Rose asked over her cousin.
Trinity slowly got to her feet. She staggered backwards as her vision hazed. Ian caught her and supported her weight.
"Out of the way!" barked Professor Sette. Her face faltered when she saw the state Trinity was in. "Mr. Ferguson, Mr. Potter, could you escort her to the Hospital Wing?"
The two boys nodded. Ian adjusted himself so that Trinity could lean against him while Albus walked alongside them, waiting in case he had to help.
Before they reached the courtyard, Mercy rushed toward them. "What 'appened?" she asked worriedly.
"She fell off her broom," answered Albus, frowning.
Mercy sighed heavily before kneeling down. "Put her on my back," she instructed.
"I'm fine," Trinity protested in a groan. Her head swam as Albus and Ian got her onto Mercy's back.
"Could you two go and get Professor McGonagall? I'll get her up to the Hospital Wing." Mercy grunted as she adjusted Trinity's weight so that it was easier to carry her.
"Mercy, I'm fine."
"You can hardly stand on your own—you're going to Madam Pomfrey."
The walk up to the Hospital Wing was silent, and Trinity was glad that everyone was in class at the moment because she did not feel like having students gawking at her. She closed her eyes and dozed off sometime after the second floor.
"Trinity!"
She opened her eyes slightly, glaring at Mercy for rousing her without any apparent reason.
"You need to stay awake, kiddo," she added, more gently. "We don't know if you hit your head."
"So?" Trinity drawled drowsily.
"You could have seriously hurt yourself." There was a short pause. "Did you enjoy flying?"
"Was fantastic." Trinity grinned as she sank deeper into Mercy's shoulder. She felt so very warm against the older girl, which made it that much more difficult to stay awake like Mercy wanted her to.
Mercy chuckled knowingly as she stepped into what must have been the Hospital Wing because there were beds throughout the room, all of them empty.
"What happened?" demanded an elderly woman, rushing out of her office to Mercy.
"Flying accident," informed Mercy in a crisp voice. "I don't know how bad she's hurt, but she wasn't able to stand—" Trinity's capacity to stay awake ended there. She fell into one of the deepest sleeps she had ever been in, and she sank so far into herself that she was unable to feel anything after that.
She woke sometime after that, but her eyelids were too heavy to open. She was in a warm bed, and there were people surrounding her.
"She wasn't following my directions, Minerva." It was Professor Sette, sounding earnest.
"I watched her fly from my office window," replied Professor McGonagall. "She seems to be a competent flier. I haven't seen anyone like her since Harry Potter was at Hogwarts."
"Potter was a troublemaker," scoffed Professor Sette.
"Check the broom Ms. Jones was riding, Catherine," ordered Professor McGonagall with soft authority. "Make certain that it wasn't bewitched."
Bewitched? But who would want to bewitch the broom she flew? Sure, Scorpius Malfoy was laughing when she landed, but she doubted that any of her classmates had the knowledge to bewitch a broom. She groaned slightly, finally able to force her eyes open.
It was dusk. Professor McGonagall was the only one next to her bed. She sat in a small, but cushioned chair, her eyes on Trinity, and a pensive expression on her face.
"Professor?" Trinity croaked, wincing. She felt as though the wind had been knocked out of her, and she found that it hurt too much to sit up as an undignified squeak escaped her lips when she tried.
"How're you feeling, Ms. Jones?" asked Professor McGonagall softly.
"Fine," she grunted, now staring up at the ceiling. "Where am I?"
"Hospital Wing. Ms. Messenger had to carry you up here after you fell off your broom. Don't you remember?" Professor McGonagall's eyes narrowed.
"I remember going for a slight dive—or at least that's all I wanted it to be, but I couldn't pull out of it. I just felt so free in the air." She looked at Professor McGonagall apologetically. "It happened so fast though—I don't know what happened."
"You broke a couple ribs and bumped your head pretty hard. Madam Pomfrey thinks it best that you stay in the Hospital Wing overnight."
Trinity's jaw tightened as once again, she stared up at the ceiling. Barely two weeks into school, and she had already ended up in the Hospital Wing. She sincerely hoped that the rest of her seven years at Hogwarts would not go down the same way. Just as Professor McGonagall got up to leave, she remembered something. "Professor—James said that you wanted to see me after flying." She bit her lip, already wishing that she had simply allowed Professor McGonagall to leave.
"It can wait, Ms. Jones." And with that, Professor McGonagall strode out of the Hospital Wing.