Chapter Six
Flying
I woke the next morning to complete darkness.
Slowly, I opened the curtains to my bed and peered out. Two girls were standing
doing their hair. One with long, blonde hair and the other with blondish brown
short hair. Amanda Rodder was the one with blonde hair and Julia Roberts had
the short brown hair.
"Oh, you're awake." Julia smiled. "Katey said
she'd meet you down in the Dining Hall. The shower's free if you're wondering.
You'd better hurry too, breakfast ends at 8:00."
I mumbled a thank you as I got up and checked
my clock. 7:00 am. Slowly, I pulled myself to my trunk and rummaged through the
bottom till I came across one of my uniforms.
I came out of the bathroom about fifteen
minutes later, fully dressed in the school robes and hair pulled back into perfect
French-braid pigtails with black ribbons at the end. I used a charm from Simple
Hair Charms for the Everyday Girl since I had no talent what-so-ever in
braiding my own hair.
"Looking good Alexia," Fern smiled, packing up
her backpack.
"I can't find my schedule!" Morgana Wright, a
small girl with blue eyes and long brown hair done up in a braid, was looking
all over on the ground for her slip of paper. "Where is it?"
"It's right there Morgana," Black haired Erica
Harp pointed to a piece of paper under the girl's bed.
"It's Morgana! As in AhhhnAhhh," Morgana said,
crouching down, and grabbing her schedule. "But you can call me Morgan if you
want."
"Nah, Morgana's a pretty name." I said,
looking at my schedule.
Monday-
1st hour-History 8:30-9:30
2nd hour-Defense Against the Dark Arts 9:45-10:45
3rd hour-Charms 11:00-12:00 Lunch 12:15-1:15
4th hour-Study Hall 1:30-2:30
5th hour-Transfiguration w/Michigan
2:45-4:45
Tuesday-
1st hour-History 8:30-9:30
2nd hour-Defense Against the Dark Arts 9:45-10:45
3rd hour-Muggle Studies w/all those taking muggle studies 11:00-12:00
Lunch 12:15-1:15
4th hour-Study Hall 1:30-2:30
5th hour-Physical Education Class:Girl 2:45-4:45
Wednesday-
1st hour-History 8:30-9:30
2nd hour-Defense Against the Dark Arts 9:45-10:45
3rd hour-Charms 11:00-12:00
Lunch 12:15-1:15
4th hour-Study Hall 1:30-2:30
5th hour-Herbology w/Erie 2:45-4:45
12:00 pm Astrology w/all first years
Thursday-
1st hour-History 8:30-9:30
2nd hour-Defense Against the Dark Arts 9:45-10:45
3rd hour-Muggle Studies w/all those taking muggle studies 11:00-12:00
Lunch 12:15-1:15
4th hour-Study Hall 1:30-2:30
5th hour-Physical Education Class:Girl 2:45-4:45
Friday-
1st hour-History 8:30-9:30
2nd hour-Defense Against the Dark Arts 9:45-10:45
3rd hour-Charms 11:00-12:00
Lunch 12:15-1:15
4th hour-Study Hall 1:30-2:30
5th hour-Potions w/Huron 2:45-4:45
Flying Lessons-DO NOT BRING YOUR OWN BROOM-5:00-6:00
I sighed. Why did I have to take Muggle
Studies? I was technically muggle born, considering that's how I grew up. Of
course! My parents were a witch and wizard! They obviously thought I had grown
up wizarding. I rummaged through my trunk, looking for my History, DADA, and
charms book. I pulled them out from the bottom of my trunk and stuffed them
into my bag.
Fern and I climbed out of the magic hole as we
heard a small voice cry "Wait up!" I turned my head. There was Morgana, running
up to us. "I didn't want to go alone. I might get lost."
Well, Morgana was right about one thing. Which
way was it again? This hall, or that? I was glad Fern was there, because
without her, I would have ended up walking strait into the boys bathroom. The
school had so many doors and halls and stairs, it was easy to forget. I know I
should have looked at the sign above the door, but you know me, I'm not that
smart before eight.
When we entered the Hall at 7:30, tons of
people were sitting at tables, eating food, chatting away, or looking at their
new schedules. I took a seat next to a messy haired redhead and a brown haired
girl, too hyper for her own good. Morgana sat opposite us while Fern took a
seat next to her older brothers. They were, I might add, the ones who were
talking last night.
"Good morning Alexia, dear. How are you? I'm
completely sane, no question about it." Katey began rambling on in an English
accent she was famous back home for.
"Oh I'm fine, but I don't think Andy is," I
said, pointing my brother, who now had his head against my shoulder.
"shimuffmeffighjefghssssssssssss," He mumbled,
falling back sleep.
"Yeah, ok." I began to serve out scrambled
eggs and bacon to my now sleeping brother. He sat up, but didn't look like he
was going to eat. I hunched down over my own plate, when a loud noise filled
the air. I looked up to see a huge swarm of owls flying through one of the
windows and landing in front of their owners, bearing letters or packages, or
just asking for affection.
Andy got up and walked over to the Erie table.
Fred got up from his seat, looking at Andy as they walked. "What are you
doing?" Fred whispered. "They're Erie! Our groups don't mix."
I could tell Andy was saying something to
John, but I couldn't tell what. John looked at his sister, obviously looking
for permission. He had never acted like this at school before, but I guess it
might have been because his sister didn't go to his school and he didn't have
to listen to her. Either that, or he lies. Finally, he screwed up his face and
looked at him, and said something the whole Superior table could hear. "You
keep out of our business Potter, I'm no friend of yours."
I turned to Katey. She looked like she had
calmed down. "Do you have Music?" Katey said, looking at her schedule.
"No," I answered as Fred took Andy's seat and
Andy took Fred's.
"What do you have instead of music?" She
asked.
"Muggle studies, sounds interesting if you ask
me." Fred said, then stuffed his mouth with food. He swallowed. "My Grandpa
loves muggles."
The week was really interesting I guess. In
History, Professor Wilson gave us each a copy of American History of Magic
by Wesley Thompson, mumbling something of the list needing to be changed.
DADA was taught by none other than my dad, or
as the students called him, Professor Potter.
"Morning class," My father began, taking out a
roll of parchment which he read from a list of students. "I'll call your name,
you reply with a simple here." He looked up at us from over the bridge of his
glasses which were slipping down his nose.
The list went on and on, while kids were
trying to get a good look at my father's scar. Finally he reached Todd Wood and
placed the paper down. "Yes, I can see your stares. Stop gawking, will you?" He
reached up and pulled his bangs away from his forehead. There it was, a thin
red scar in the shape of a lightning bolt. It didn't really look like one
actually. It was more straight then jagged, but let the people believe what
they want. "Every year I get the same thing from first years."
One student asked him about the final face off
against Voldemort which had sent the Dark Lord into his long and painful death.
Professor Potter, I thought I should refer to him as that during class, looked
very grim. "You don't need to know that, at least not yet." He did explain,
however, an encounter with Dementors, which sent shivers down my spine.
"Alexia, Andrew." Professor Potter called
after us as we were leaving. I turned back to him as did Andy. Morgana, Fred
and Katey waited outside. "I hope you realize here at school you're just
another student to me."
We nodded. "But that doesn't mean that on
weekends we can't spend time together, I could take you down to Middletown
sometime."
"I thought it was off limits to kids under
third year." Andy said.
"I'll take you next break, I have my ways of
getting around things." He smiled as we turned to leave for charms class. I was
a little confused. I knew that they wouldn't allow special favors just because
we were his kids. There had to be more to what he was saying.
In charms, we worked in partners and tried the
spell which changed hair color, the same one Andy did in the car. Everyone
could do it pretty well, except Morgana, who had accidentally set fire to
Samantha Brooks hair.
Transfiguration was boring. All we did was
read from the book. The professor wouldn't let us do anything else. By the end
of the class, we had an essay due next Monday.
"Quidditch try-outs are next Saturday!"
Morgana cried happily when we had returned to the . "Both for the house team
and the schools! I wish first years could try-out!" A few students looked at
her funny. "What? I may not be good at some magic, but I'm excellent on a
broom! You just watch me today at flying lessons." She signed her name under
Chaser.
"Looks like they've got openings for one
Chaser, one Beater, a Keeper and Seeker. They need to fill all the reserve
positions too." Patrick O'Malley said. "I'm going for Keeper, how about you?"
"I don't even think first years will have a
chance." I began. "There are older, more experienced students trying out too,
look at the list, there has to be 50 already."
"That doesn't matter, I'm signing up for
Chaser. You Alex, you're going for Seeker and I don't care what you say." Andy
said, scribbling down our names.
All week long all I could think about was
flying lessons. Muggle studies was interesting. The professor opened the class
by saying "How many muggle's does it take to screw in a lightbulb?"
My hand shot up along with Andy's. One Huron
girl rose her hand as well and the teacher called on her. "What's a lightbulb?"
Andy and I began laughing hysterically.
Morgana couldn't understand what we were laughing at, but Fred was smiling
evilly. "Is there something you would like to share with the class?" Professor
Brown looked sternly at us.
"It's just...a lightbulb...doesn't know...what
it is...!" I laughed. Andy began looking at me funny. He had stopped laughing,
but I couldn't. "Fred...he gave me candy...Laughing charm!"
I calmed down after a few minutes and the
teacher asked us if we were muggle born.
"Well sir, we were raised muggle." Andy
explained.
"I'll have you transferred as soon as
possible. In the mean time, why don't you help me explain how muggle things
work..."
By the end of the week, all any body could
think about was flying lessons. Most kids were talking about how they had been
flying. Morgana was boasting about how well she could fly.
We all rushed outside for our lessons. When we
got there, Ms. Rachel, the girl's P.E. teacher, was setting up brooms. Morgana,
Fred, Andy, Katey and I were the first ones there. We assisted in setting up
the twenty brooms, and we were done by the time everyone was there.
"One to a broom please! One to a broom!" She
yelled over the talking students. The twenty voices hushed as we filed out.
"Now, place your hand over the broom and say "up!"."
"UP!" I cried. It shot right up into my hand.
Andy's had too, as well as Morgana's. Fern's sort of rolled over and Fred's
hadn't even moved.
"Now, mount your brooms and on the count of
three, kick off." We mounted. "One...Two...Three..." Morgana was right, she was
a natural. Andy and I soared up along side her, our hair blowing in the wind.
Fred was having trouble with his, it was going zigzagy, but he grabbed hold of
it with both his hands and leaned forward. Everyone thought he had gotten it
under control until suddenly he shot off like a rocket, straight for the
ground.
"OH ----!" Fred screamed, hurtling toward the
ground uncontrollably. He tried to pull up, but the broom wouldn't let him.
Fred was about five feet from the ground when he let go and jumped, rolling
onto the ground. The broom landed with a smack on the ground and broke in two.
Fred got up and brushed himself off. "That was wild! Can I do it again?"
Ms. Rachel had walked over to the broken
broom, and began inspecting it, shouting something I couldn't make out. I did
hear "Nimbuses shouldn't do this!"
I looked at the broom handle. Off course, it
was a Nimbus Trainer 500. I had read in a book A History of Brooms that
the Nimbus Trainer 500 was a newly developed broom specifically for learning
how to fly. Every school was buying sets.
Fred sat himself on the ground, and watched
the rest of class.
"Hey Alex, could you hold onto my glasses for
me? I have to clean them up..." Instead, it slipped from Julia's fingers. By
instinct, I went into a nose dive after it. The wind blew my hair as I flew
closer to it. I could hear people gasp from above me, but I wasn't paying
attention. Finally, it was in reach. I pulled up into a horizontal position and
reached my hands out to grab them, like I would a base ball. But I think I lost
my balance because the next moment I was being caught by someone. The last
thing I remember before passing out from shock was handing someone the pair of
glasses and smiling.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~
"That was incredibly stupid!" Professor Dooles
was yelling at me when I had woken up in the Hospital Wing two hours later. "If
Frederick Taylor hadn't have caught you, you wouldn't be living and breathing
right now."
"It was a fabulous catch though," Ms. Rachel
said.
"What?" Professor Dooles asked.
"Didn't you know? That's why she dived down.
Ms. Julia Roberts dropped her glasses and she went after them."
"That doesn't mean you won't get a detention.
On stage next Monday." Professor Dooles handed over a yellow slip of paper.
Quietly, he left the room.
"Fabulous catch, you really should try out for
Seeker. Although, I think you should work on how you catch things. It looked
like you were catching a baseball." Ms. Rachel said.
"I was on a team back home." I answered,
getting up. "Outfielder."
"Well, now that explains it all." She got up
from her seat. "I expect to see you at Superior quidditch try-outs."
I ran up to our common room, where Morgana,
Andy, Katey and Fred were waiting. Fred was sitting rather impatiently, tapping
his foot, while Morgana and Katey were talking very fast about "That was so
cool!" I heard.
"Hi guys," I said, walking up to them.
Fred looked anxiously at me and got up. "Are
you ok?"
"Yeah, I'm fine Fred, don't worry." I sat down
next to Andy.
"I just wanted to make sure you know. You were
out before I even caught you. You were smiling when you handed Ms. Rachel the
glasses, but you wouldn't talk to me."
"Yeah, I'm fine. No need to get upset about
it." I looked confused for a moment. Why does he care so much Andy? I mean,
you're my brother and you didn't even ask.
I can't tell you. I think I know why, but
I'm not sure and I don't want to say.
Yeah, but why weren't you worried?
You're my sis, I know when you're ok.
"So...what happened from where you were?" I
asked Morgana and Katey.
"Well, after Julia dropped her glasses, I saw
you dive after them. It was kind of cool, nothing much. The weird thing was,
instead of reaching out for them, you pulled underneath them and grabbed them
with both hands. That caused you to fall and Fred caught you, that's all I
saw." Morgana said.
"Yeah, and Fred was blushing!" Katey said. "I
think he likes you!"
"Shut up!" He mumbled, his face blushing. "I
don't like her!"
"What was that? I can't hear you!" Andy
laughed.
"It's 8:00, I'm going to bed." A yawn escaped
Katey's lips. "You girls coming?"
"Yeah, I'm coming." Morgana answered, getting
up and stretching. I followed her upstairs.
"So what do you think of Fred?" Morgana asked
once we had gotten up to our room. "I think he likes you."
"He's cute, but not as cute as Andy," Katey
pulled over her nightgown.
"Ewww! he's like my brother!" I leaned back
onto my pillow. "But, yeah Fred's cute."
I fell asleep a few moments later.
So...How
was it? Was it good? Was it like the HP book? I was trying for it not to be!
Questions?
Comments? All are welcome!
R&R
PLEASE!
