TW for child abuse this chapter. It's fairly minor, but this is a Krell chapter, so...
Barriss Offee wasn't a huge fan of broom flight in the first place, even if it was a staple for most magical folk. She was content waiting until sixth year to learn apparating, which she was sure would be much easier and enjoyable for her. Unfortunately, that meant the school's flight instructor hated her more than he hated most people. Which led to her continued dislike of flying. The problem compounded year after year. She hadn't even known that you could fail a class at Hogwarts until at the end of her third year she'd been told she'd be re-taking flying with the third years, while her peers moved up to fourth year, and she was still behind a year in flight as a fifth year.
At least she hadn't been held back in any other subjects.
The brooms lined the courtyard just like they had the first class they'd had. And just like that first class, they were required to stand still and pay attention while Professor Pong Krell (should she even be calling him a professor, Barriss wondered) paced back and forth lecturing.
Less of his lecture than you'd expect was about broom handling. Quite frequently it turned into Krell ranting at some student or another, or some institutional thing or another. More than once they'd gone through a full class without picking up the brooms.
To her surprise, for this class, Krell only gave ten minutes of lecture before waving them over to the brooms to practice things they'd learned over the past month before their first examination. Barriss grabbed a broom and hurried over to the opposite side of the courtyard from where their instructor was pacing. She practiced her smooth takeoffs and landings to get warmed up, and then worked on some sharp turns.
In the middle of a turn she heard a commotion from the other side of the field. One of the brooms was jerking wildly across the field, clearly not under the control of its student. As Barriss stared in morbid curiosity she noticed that it was one of the Fett boys, Fives. His twin brother, Echo was trying to help, but to no avail.
It didn't make sense. Both boys were quidditch enthusiasts. Lots of their cousins were on the Hufflepuff team. Why would Fives lose control of a broom?
With one final wild swing to the side, the kriffing flying machine slammed into the wall of the school. By that point most of the students there, almost thirty Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw fourth years, were watching, and saw as he plummeted to the ground. Echo dove after him, and several other students, including Barriss, headed in that direction as well, only to halt when a barking command rang across the field. "Leave him! Get back to your practice!"
Krell scared off all the students but Echo, so strong was his influence and fear mongering. Barriss stopped where she was in the air, to her shame.
Echo didn't even seem to hear the command as he dropped beside his brother and the splintered broom. Fives looked out like he'd been knocked out cold, and Echo was feeling his head for a bump when he was grabbed by the front of his robes and dragged to his feet. Krell's large form towered over the fourteen year old as he smacked the side of the boy's head. "I said to LEAVE HIM! Does no one ever listen?"
Echo's feet were now off the ground.
"When I was in Hufflepuff, loyalty and respect for authority actually meant something. If I heard an order I would obey, not ignore it!" He huffed in disgust and threw the boy against the wall, where he fell and crumpled next to his brother. "Disgrace."
He left the courtyard, and most of the students fled in the opposite direction. Barriss dropped to the ground from where she'd been hovering, frozen in shock. She ran over to the twins in the otherwise empty square and checked on them. Fives was just coming to and Echo was still conscious, but he looked about ready to both cry and commit murder.
Barriss quickly checked Fives' eyes to see if he had a concussion, and felt the side of his head for the large bump there. Echo hadn't hit his head, but where his ear had been boxed was bloody, like a blood vessel had popped, and she worried that his hearing had been affected. Echo said something quietly to Fives in another language and then he looked ready to kill as well. She could only assume Echo had told him what had happened with Krell.
They both looked at Barriss. She hadn't interacted with them much, as this was the only class they had together and she was a quiet person. She cast a spell that wrapped bandages around Echo's head and bleeding ear, and gave Fives a pepperup potion from her bag so he wouldn't fall asleep before someone with more experience could tell if he really had a concussion. She didn't dare use Episkey without knowing better what the injuries were. As she checked Echo's bandages she shook her head. "He's wrong."
It was the first word spoken between them, and both boys looked confused. She helped them both to their feet and gathered up the splintered broom. "Krell is wrong. His version of loyalty is twisted, wrong, especially if he couldn't see your loyalty to each other. You deserve to be Hufflepuffs more than he did. Astronomically more." A small smile and she turned to leave. "Get yourselves to the hospital wing, there's still some time before lunch."
If only she thought someone would report this. But Krell was so well behaved among the other teachers that they'd never believe a student who accused him of abuse. And all the students were too scared of him anyway.