Note: I do not own any of the characters and such, those are entirely JK Rowling's.
13. Time to fly
Finally it was Wednesday morning. Stephanie woke much earlier than normal, but she didn't care: today she was going to learn how to fly. In the morning she tried to read some more. She had never read that many so fast in her life. But here, there was nothing else to do. No internet meant no social media, no tiktok, nothing. For now, it even meant no music because Spotify needed the internet, which needed her phone which isn't working.
Just to be sure, she had gotten a book from the library about wizarding society. It was interesting, but it taught her nothing she didn't already know. It told her about the ministry, the wizengamot, the sacred twenty-eight, and even though she already knew it all, it was still an interesting read.
Finally, after a while which felt like hours, it was lunch time. She had put on her black skinny jeans which she had worn when she arrived here, with an army green jumper and a cloak overneath. Right after lunch she would go with Romilda to the quidditch pitch to learn how to fly on a broom.
During lunch she had sat next to her, already discussing flying techniques and listening to the many tips the flying instructor was giving her. Quirrell sat on her other side and wanted to talk to her as well. He had been the muggle studies professor two years ago and wanted to give her tips for her class.
Stephanie wanted nothing more than to avoid the man at all costs, him being possessed by Voldemort made him not very appealing. However, she realized avoiding him could raise suspicion that she knew about them, so she pretended to be interested and made an effort to talk to him every now and then.
After half an hour or so, Madam Hooch and Stephanie left the great hall and went outside. Together they walked towards the quidditch pitch. Stephanie had known it must be big, but standing there made her realise it was much bigger than she had imagined. The field was twice as lone as a soccer field, and the hoops were so high, she strained her neck looking up to them.
While she stood there, being speechless for a moment, madam Hooch had grabbed two brooms from the locker room. You could clearly see one was much better than the other. She handed Stephanie the bad looking one. Stephanie looked at the broom in her hands with slight disappointment. The twigs at the end were all uneven and damaged.
'Sorry but the school brooms are budget brooms, with all the accidents happening during flying classes, we decided it better to use cheap ones. Once you get better I'll let you fly on mine.' she said as she held up the better looking broom. It was a nimbus 2000, just like Harry Potter had gotten last week.
Madam Hooch put both brooms on the ground and they both stood left of their brooms. 'Now put your right over your broom and say UP to let it come to you.' she said and showed Stephanie how to do it. She tried as well but the broom just rolled over. With feeling! She remembered from the movies.
She imagined talking to a dog, giving it a command. She tried to push some magic to her hand, just like she had done when she put on the stove. 'UP!' She said, and the broom shot in her hand. Rolanda applauded her.
Now it was time to actually learn how to fly. She put one leg over the broom and grabbed it firmly with two hands. Madam Hooch told her to softly push up from the ground to hoover a little.
Stephanie took a deep breath. She felt excited but also a bit scared. She pushed slightly against the ground with her feet and in her head she commanded the broom to hoover. At first she thought she was doing it wrong as she hadn't felt the broom moving. She looked down to her feet to see she was wrong, she had done it! Her feet were no longer touching the ground but hoovered three feet above the ground.
She was surprised at how comfortable it was to sit on a broom. She had expected that the feeling of a hard stick between her legs would be very uncomfortable. She grinned madly at Hooch, happy that she was able to hoover. Now it was time to actually learn how to fly.
Madam Hooch explained to her how she should go up and down, left and right. After about half an hour Stephanie was able to go up to 10 feet and together they made a few laps around the field. They weren't going really fast yet but that was alright with Stephanie for now.
Stephanie quickly got used to the feeling of flying and noticed that it felt so… natural! She had never expected to be so comfortable on a broom. She didn't really have to do anything to steer but just think clearly of the direction she wanted to go and that would be enough to command her broom to do as she wanted.
Even though she couldn't fly really fast or high yet, Stephanie just loved it. The feeling of the wind blowing through her hair, the ability to just go wherever she wanted, no roads… It made her feel free. She was so happy Madam Hooch had offered to teach her how to fly.
After an hour or two they were done for today. They got off their brooms and Stephanie gave hers back to Madam Hooch. 'Thank you so much for teaching me Rolanda, I really appreciate it. You're very kind to have offered your help.' she said.
The flying instructor looked slightly embarrassed at the praise. Was she… blushing?! 'It's no problem, really.' she stammered a little. 'Everybody should be able to fly, and you're much more fun to teach than the students. They tend to fall a lot.' she added.
Stephanie laughed at the comment. 'Well, I mean it, I really do appreciate it.' Stephanie hoped Rolande would want to teach her some more later. She really wanted to be good at flying, you never know when it would come in handy. 'So uh.. Rolanda… If you ever have some free time again, maybe you want to teach me some more?' she asked quickly, feeling a bit uncomfortable to ask for it.
'Of course!' Rolande answered immediately. 'Just let me know when you have time in between classes and I'm sure we can find some moments we're both free.' Stephanie jumped up and spontaneously hugged the older witch. 'Thank you thank you!' Stephanie smiled broadly and quickly let go, a little bit shocked by her own impulsive hug.
They smiled at each other a bit awkwardly, both silently just standing there. They looked at each other but they both didn't know what to say for a few seconds. 'So eh… I think I'm going to go back inside, have a shower and change.' Stephanie said. Hooch nodded in agreement and together they went back to the castle. Once inside, Stephanie thanked her again and they both went their separate ways.
Over the last few free days before she would start teaching, Stephanie had never read so many books in her life before. She came to the library multiple times a day. More than once madam Pince had to remind her that she could only get eight books at the same time. Stephanie was convinced this rule was for students only, but she accepted it for now, because she still wasn't sure if the stern librarian liked her much.
She had bought a few books per owl order for herself, from the money she had still left after the big shopping trip in Diagon alley. She had ordered the book she would use for her muggle studies classes and one about magical society which would come in handy for social studies.
Besides those, a book on charms, transfiguration and defense would soon be delivered to her. She had wanted to order the books for the other courses as well to study them on her own, but they would have to wait for her next paycheck. She didn't want to spend all her money and get left with nothing.
During her meals in the great hall she tried to talk with all the professors. They were her colleagues now and she wanted to get to know all of them. Well, except for a few. She stayed polite to Quirrell but she wasn't really interested in him. She was wise enough to not start any small talk with Snape.
She didn't know yet how to approach him. She definitely needed to become friendly with him if she wanted to change the future. Or actually, she needed to change him, he had to change his attitude so they could prevent some awful events.
However, Stephanie had been so busy with preparing classes and learning magic herself, that she hasn't decided yet on how to approach Snape. So she just let it be for now, and was friendly towards him whenever it was needed.
During dinner on Friday night she had sat next to Dumbledore. They talked about her upcoming classes and he had asked her if she was prepared or needed anything. She had guaranteed him once again that she was ready.
The headmaster was finally reassured that she would do well as a professor for these classes. He stood up during dinner to make an announcement: 'Could I have your attention please?' he said clearly into the great hall. The students stopped chatting and looked up to him expectantly.
'We have decided that a class will be added for all first and second year students, starting this monday. Social studies will teach you all you need to know about both muggle and magical society and is taught by professor Saxton. You will find the schedules on the notice boards in your common rooms. Enjoy the rest of your dinner!'
The headmaster sat down again and conversation broke out among the students. The Hufflepuffs looked cheerful as ever, not really bothered by the addition of the class. The Ravenclaws looked intrigued, probably looking forward to learning something new. Most Slytherins looked downright disgusted with the prospect of having to learn about muggles and the reactions at the Gryffindor table were mixed. Some looked cheerful and some annoyed, as they were probably not very excited to have more homework.
Stephanie chuckled at the reactions and was very curious to see how classes were going to be. Snape, who sat on her other side, looked at her curiously. 'Do you even know enough about magical society to be able to teach the students about it?' he asked.
Stephanie was somewhat surprised he actually started a conversation with her, albeit with a derogatory remark. 'Yes Severus, I know more than enough to be able to teach them.' she just answered, trying really hard not to make a nasty comment back.
'But you're a muggleborn, how could you possibly understand how our world works?' he replied. So this was his mood again this evening? Annoyance, again? Stephanie thought about what and how she should reply for a few seconds. She was tempted to call him an asshole but she knew better. She still trusted that Snape would one day become a better man. But to achieve that, she had to stay friendly.
'Well, as you know I have read a lot about it. I probably know more than you think.' she said with a smile, albeit a fake one. Snape of course saw right through that but didn't say any more about it.
It was obvious he didn't trust her. Stephanie wondered what Dumbledore and McGonagall had done to earn Snape's trust. It had probably taken a while, maybe years even.
She would have to think about this later, and maybe talk about it with Minerva. But for now, she needed all her time to prepare for her classes. She had read up on all she needed to know, and had made a planner for the whole school year.
Over the weekend she prepared quizzes and assignments. She also had to prepare her classroom. She was assigned one on the fifth floor and it was still very empty. All that was onside were tables and chairs and a desk in the front.
Hogwarts apparently had a storage room filled with furniture, decorations and accessories the staff could use whenever they liked. Stephanie did her best to make her classroom as nice as possible. Because she had started a few weeks later in the school year, all the other teachers had already taken the nice things from the storage rooms.
Luckily, the muggle items weren't very popular. She had managed to get some posters to decorate the room with. There was one of a muggle street that pointed out all the important things to see, such as a London bus, a mailbox and a policeman.
She had asked professor Sprout if she had any plants for decoration left and was gifted with a lovely small palm kind of plant. She had absolutely no knowledge yet of plants, she just liked the look of them. They made a room feel homey.
She also managed to get a magical record player and a cabinet to store any necessities for the classes. The room was still a bit boring but it was already loads better. On Sunday afternoon she stood in her classroom, looking around and was satisfied with what she had accomplished.
She went back to her private chambers and came to the realisation that she was finally done with all the preparations. Now the real teaching could begin. She was ready to spread her wings as a professor.