Fly?
Just after the final lesson Kiana looked for an empty room. She found one on an upper floor. In the first week after school she came back to create her own little school. Gellert helped her to hide her secret books and some materials for potions.
Kiana traded sweets for a tinderbox with one of the Weasley twins. She wrote in big letters 'Study and practice' on the blackboard.
After dinner she went to the library to study more. She was full of a grim eager and did not talk much to other children. But nobody seem to be concerned. Lavender was off with some Huffelpuffs or older Gryffindors. Hermoine was even more eager to become the best possible grades than Kiana and the boys where on their own.
When she was almost alone she read more advanced books, Gellert told her. Soon she was confident enough to try spells of future classes. During sleep she trained with her grandfather. Each night she visited the cold tower and by time Gellert was freed from his shackle, was furniture was added to the room and the used a cell for each important school. Kiana had to repeat dates of monsters and plants, perform each spell he told her non verbal and he showed her many. They talked and discussed the different mechanisms spells work and how to manipulate them. How to attached them to objects to enchant them. How to reorder them to create a new spell.
Often Kiana felt after a night of training even more tired than the evening before. When she fell to sleep during class once Professor Flitwick became really furious. She demanded her to show the spell he just showed them to perform in front of the class. It took her two tries because she was still tired before the globe turned of its own and a small light appeared over the name London.
The professor was not entirely happy. "I will still take ten points from you."
"But...", Kiana wanted to start.
"You slept during my class and I will not allow such behaviour. It would had have been twenty if you hadn't been at least so careful to work a bit ahead. Now go back to your place.", he said and Kiana went to her chair with an angry face. Pansy looked at her and smiled before she turned to her girls and they started talking in low voices and snickering. More anger began to fill her stomach and it became not really better after class.
"You should really try to sleep more.", suggested Hermoine. "You will only get into trouble if you continue this way."
"Easier said than done.", hissed Kiana.
"Maybe you should try warm milk and a warm bath before sleeping?", suggested Lavender. "I mean you talk during sleep. Maybe you stress yourself a bit to much."
"Well the high expectations of Hogwarts are not for everybody.", said a familiar girls voice behind them. Pansy stood there with another girl Kiana could not remember the name and a boy whos name she also had forgotten. "And some are not able to follow the plans because they are simply not strong enough." Pansy walked past her. "They are always so eager and try to achieve anything but in the end they will drown because they are simply to weak."
"I was able to perform the spell.", reminded Kiana the snake girl.
"And how long did it take you? A week? I was able to use it before entering school. My parents taught me. But lets not talk about that touchy subject. It must be hard for you to know not even your own mother cared for you.", assumed Pansy and Kiana felt her blood boil. Heat spread inside her cheeks, her fist were clutched to fists. She wanted to return something, something witty and clever. But nothing came to her mind. Seeing how Pansys grin became even wider did not help at all.
"Hey, Pans? What are you waiting for?", asked Draco down the stairs and caught her full attention. "There wont be breakfast for ever."
"Coming, see you, Ki.", she said and left with her gang.
"Wow.", said Lavender dryly.
"At least was given to an orphanage and could stay there. She would had been given to an animal shelter with her dog face.", growled Kiana. "Why didn't came that earlier?"
"What had made her so angry with you?", asked Hermoine confused.
"Well I guess it is because... Ah it is stupid. See before sorting I got a long with Draco and Pansy well..."
"She has a crush on him.", stated Hermoine. "A big one. Something a blind one can see turned in the opposite direction."
"So she sees you as a threat?" Lavender was excited. "Maybe we will get this whole girls stuff anyway."
"Lav, it will cost my life. I am still wondering why I have no cement shoes and had been pushed into the lake.", Kiana explained frustrated.
"It will be so great."
"You are not listen are you?"
But some things can't be taught be books. Sometimes you need to go hands on, like riding a broom.
It was one of the last sunny days, when the whole stood on a field nearby the castle. Each one had a broom right next to them. Professor Hooch told the rule of security, but many boys were distracted. Kiana was as well. But she felt more sick. The last time she fell from tree air was stock in her lungs. She couldn't take breath for what felt like ages. So the idea of falling from an unknown height was not a pleasant one. But maybe she could not fly at all? Was that possible? That would be quiet more comfortable than explaining why she would like not to fly.
"It is rather easy.", said Professor Hootch. "Stretch out your arm and say up!"
So everybody does. Some like Draco or Harry were able to make their brooms move on the first try. While Harry was fascinated, Dracos face was smug with arrogance.
It took Kiana several but not seemingly to many tries until the cleaning utensil was in her hand. It moved slightly.
Once everybody got a flying broomstick next to them, Professor Hooch gave the next instructions and it was not how to brake. It was to to hover a single meter. What was one metre? Nothing! Right? It would be just the same as swimming without those little orange airfilled wings around the arms or riding a bike with out carrying wheels. Not the broom had such wheels or brakes or airbags. She decided to watch and hoped for a miracle.
And the miracle came!
Just as Professor Hooch noticed how earthbound Kiana had been, Neville lost control over his broom. He tumbled higher and higher, fell and broke his arm. The sound of the cracking bone was almost making Kianas stomach turn. And she felt guilty. Nevilles injury was her luck. Or was it Harrys? Draco challenged him of taking a small item from him Neville lost. It was ball of glass snugly fitting into the boys hand. Of course Harry agreed for poor Neville. Hell even Kiana herself would have done it. Except his little height thing. Well she would have discussed this agreement.
Draco flew on and Harry followed so easy like he had never been doing anything else. He was simply a natural talent. But the boys got busted. Even McGonagall saw Harry catching the frilly ball. Everyone expected the speech of doom.
But nothing like that happened. On the Contrary! Harry was going to be Gryffindors youngest Seeker in a game called Quidditch. Her classmates were happy and the Slytherins. Well they were pretty angry.
The lesson was not over. At least once everyone had to hover.
Kiana gulped when Hooch stood in front of her. Come on you are a Gryffindor, be brave, she told herself. So she pushed herself away from the ground and with every single centimetre her hands cramped more and more around the wooden broomstick. Her eyes went wider and the block of ice in her stomach grew.
She didn't even hear the first attempts of Professor Hooch to talk with her. Carefully she pushed the broom back down and Kiana relaxed.
"Ms Smith? Are you alright?", asked the teacher friendly.
"Yes why?", Kiana replied still a little bit breathless. She touched her forehead and felt wetness. It was cold sweat. Some girls in he background were again talking and pointing at her. One of them was Pansy. She glared to her and Kiana could not help but admitting she wanted to punch her right now.
"Are you scared of heights?" Kiana nodded ashamed. She got a tap on her shoulder. "Why didn't you tell? Every year there are students like you. That is not a problem we could not fix."
"Hmhm." Some were still pointing fingers at her and talking in low voices.
At the end when they brought the brooms to the shag. Two things were clear: Gryffindor had the best and the worst flyer of the year. Hermoine came to her and smiled. "Well we will find other ways to shine."
"Right now I wish I could just be invisible once.", Kiana murmured.
Her wish came true. Kianas next months looked pretty boring. For her classmates it looked like she had nothing else to do than learning. She was a boring person. Nothing more than an eager girl that did not grew up in the magical world but unlike Hermoine her grades were not through the roofs. Kiana knew about some details she could not write in essays so she would never reach the full points.
But with training with Gellert, collecting uncommon potion materials and the normal schoolwork, there was only little time for stuff like talking to other classmates or what they would do. She still did not got all the times of her classmates right or remembered them at all. Especially Ravenclaw and Huffelpuff students were never on her mind. So many of her classmates thought of her as arrogant and excluded her a bit.
Besides Gellert Kiana spoke often to the ghost girl Myrte who died in the toilet at the floor of Kianas office, as she called it. But Myrtes number of favourite topics was rather short: Death, how she died, beauty, mean girls, cute boys and the life or unlife of a ghost.
The office had been improved by her step by step with secret cabins or small metaplanar portals and an improved security spell system. She even had music. After she learned the modern engine doesn't work in a highly magical environment, she cracked her CD -player and developed some components so it would work.
One day she sat beneath a tree with Archimedes on her shoulder and read while listen to the music. Her schoolmates ignored her as planed.
She felt at peace up until a shadow fall on to the book. Puzzled she looked up into to gorillalike faces Crabbe and Goyle. But no Draco seemed to be around. Maybe ran away? They talked to her and got sightly angry because she did not answer. Kiana enjoyed how Crabbes face went red out of anger and Goyle plucked lightly on the cable. Finally he had seen it.
"Hey boys.", she said smiling. "What's up?"
"Give us your transfiguration notes!", demanded Crabbe already on the poor limitation of his patience.
"No.", she answered simple and wanted to put the headphonebuttons back into her ears. But the brute bully took her hand. "Let go off me."
"Did you not understand me, mudblood? I want your notes.", he repeated himself and Goyle look got a bit concerned. He did not seem to be sentiently happy about the situation.
"Oh I did hear you loud and clear and I understood your words perfectly well. But I won't get anything out of this deal, wouldn't I? So come back when you have a reasonable offer for me. Bye Bye.", she explained.
"Do you know who I am?", he asked angry.
"Yeah Crabbe, bully and lapdog. A bulldog! And you are off your leash.", she hissed and made a few steps back.
"I am not a lapdog.", he yelled.
"O please!", she rose to her feet. "You can't do anything right when you are on your own not even getting a girls notes. You hesitate to hit me once and I doubt that fact changed." Kiana took a deep breath and waited. This way she would not come far. She needed to do something else only without words, fists or wands. So she raised her hands. "Ok, ok. Listen guys. I am sorry for being so bitchy." The boys looked at each other as she looked for some sweets inside her pockets. "Want some?"
Goyle shrugged. "Sure."
"Sure? It could be poised!", Crabbe assumed.
"Nonsense.", his friend ate the beans. "See? I am still living." Crabbe huffed.
Goyle held his friend back. "We listen, Kiana."
Kiana smiled. "See guys I am not a big fan of you copying my notes. Yes you would most likely pass some tests but you would learn nothing. Here is my offer: I give you summary and two hours private lesson but I want you to find a spell for me. I read about it in a book but can't remember it. It is a charm and starts with the letter p."
Goyle nodded. "Anything else?"
"Yes, it makes other like you and fulfilling your wishes."
The eyes of the boys started to shine in greed. "Ok. Do we have a deadline?"
"No, not really, but I would be glad, if you would find it. It would make our whole lifes much easier."
The left and Kiana grinned on her way to the tower. Idiots! She asked herself how long it would keep them working.