Chapter Fifteen
FLYING
They didn't have any more lessons with the Slytherins that day, and for the three that followed. The lessons were so intenses that neither James nor his friends had time to think about either Severus or Lily.
Transfiguration seemed almost impossible to all of them, and this was really bad since they had six hours of it every week. Professor McGonagall was strict and seemed to like very much giving them homework. Her subject quickly became the one they hated the most.
The most boring class was History of Magic, taught by Professor Binns. He was the oldest professor at school (even older than Dumbledore!), and was the oldest wizard most students had ever seen. His voice seemed to have only one tone: slow, lacking any kind of inflession, it had the great ability of making the Bloody War of the Eight Years as boring as a sewing course. After three lessons (and about four hundred pages of material) the only thing the class had learned was sleeping with open eyes.
Then there was Charms, taught by Professor Flitwick, a really short man who had to stand on a pile of books in order to see beyond the desk. Some students said he was a half-blood coming from a human and a house-elf. The very first spell he taught them was Wingardium Leviosa, a charm used to lift objects. The tiny wizard squeaked and clapped his hands, proclaiming it was one he used very often.
Professor Holeande taught Herbology. She was very thin and her skin was a bit green, so to make her look like some of her vegetables.
Finally, it was friday, and they were finally going to have Defense Against the Dark Arts. They had their very first Flying lesson, too. Remus was so scared that he ate next to nothing at breakfast, and when they finally were on the ground, his kneels were quivering.
"Good morning everyone!" said an old but really fit witch walking quickly toward them in the field "My name is Clarissa Rowen. I am your Flying teacher."
Clarissa? Lily's head started to work. Where had she heard that name before? She was standing, as usual, near the teacher and far from James, of course. After that little team-work at Potions, they had both been careful to stay away from each other, and Lily had managed to stay with Severus and a small group of Slytherins for as long as possible, without caring about her fellow Gryffindors' comments. After all, no one had talked to her after James's exploit during the Welcome Dinner.
"So, what are you waiting for? Stretch your hand on the broom and say 'Up!'" said the Professor, doing it herself. Her broom jumped in her hand. All the students got trying, without a great result.
"Up! UP! UUUUUPP!" shouted Lily, but her broom was only rolling on the ground. Instead, with Lily's great disappointment, James had done it almost immediately. It was clear he was used to doing so.
After a quarter of an hour of "Ups", everybody had his broom in the hand, and the lesson finally began.
"Now get on your brooms. When I give the signal, push with your feet and lift in the air. Then, tilt and get back to the ground. All clear?" Lily was staring at her, unconvinced. Was she really meaning what she had just said? To Lily's eyes the one she was holding was nothing more than a normal broom. She had thought that flying should have taken time. A lot of time. And that strange woman was telling her to do it right there?
"So, are you ready?" questioned the witch. "GO!"
All the students jumped in the air, under Lily's umbelieving look.
"Well, anything wrong, miss..." asked the Professor when everybody was back on the ground
"Eh? Oh, sorry. I mean, my name is Lily, Lily Evans. It's just that... ehm... sorry." The witch looked at her curiously. Peter laughed noisy, as did a handful of other students.
"Let's go for another one. Everyone ready? GO!" this time Lily did as the others and, with great astonishment, the broom supported her weight in the air. She was flying!!
"Alright, now everyone go back on the ground. Good... I said everyone, Miss Evans" Lily looked at Professor Rowen, really scared. It was the broom supporting her. How could she go back? She was grapping the wodden broom as tightly as possible, terrorified.
"Don't worry, miss Evans. Do as I tell you and everything will be ok. Now try to tilt the broom using your own weight. Come on... Slowly, slowly... alright! See, it's not difficult!" Lily was panting and had grown a bit pale, but she felt much better now that her feet were on the ground again. She heard some laughs coming from James's group, but she did not care.
"Well, we'll do it again now. Ready?" Lily felt anxious and looked at the professor hopefully "GO!" was the only word that came from her. Lily pushed the ground again and, once in the air, she managed to get back on the ground. She had just put her feet on the grass, when a noise came from her left. Someone had fallen.
"What's happening?" asked Professor Rowen, walking quickly toward the boy on the ground. It was Remus. After the very first times, he had grown sure of himself very quickly, helped in this by James (who had done each exercise with an annoyed expression and was now flying without keeping his hands on the broom). Remus had pushed too hard and was now lying with his face on the grass.
"Are you ok?" asked the witch, helping him getting up. James, Sirius, and Peter were laughing
"Yes, yes ma'am" answered the boy, cleaning his face with the sleeve of his robes.
"And you three should better stop smiling, if you don't want me to take more points to Gryffindor, after those you lost on Monday." The three stopped at once "Flying is not easy, if you're not used to," said Mrs Rowen, cooly, while taking her place back at the front of the group..
"Well, once again," she called some moments later.
They passed the rest of the lesson repeating the same exercise, and James managed to loose three points for doing unrequested acrobatics.
"This is all for today. Leave your brooms here and I'll see you next week. Have a nice day!"
All the students went toward the scholl main entrance.
"Don't worry, Remus. It's always difficult at the beginning," said James, giving his friend a pat on the back.
"Yeah, then why were you laughing before?" asked Remus, angrily.
"Oh, come on! You were really funny, you know. Let's make it this way: I'll give you some private lessons in order to make you forgive me. Okay?"
"And how are you supposed to do it, since we're not allowed to fly outside of lessons? We don't even have out own brooms!" replied Remus sarcastically.
"You'll see, don't worry!" said James with a mysterious smile.
Lily had remained behind the other students, thinking. Clarissa... of course! Grandma's friend! But how could it be?
She looked back at the teacher, who was speaking with a blonde girl. Lily got nearer.
"Yes, Miss Evans" asked the witch, stopping the conversation with the student.
"Ehm... I'm sorry I've interrupted you, I didn't mean to... I can wait," said Lily shyly
"Don't worry. This is my granddaughter, Clara. She's from Gryffindor, too. Have you two met yet?"
"No, it's nice to meet you, Clara." Lily smiled, extending her hand. The girl smiled back, and it was genuine.
"Nice to meet you, too!"
"So, what did you wanted to ask me?" questioned Mrs Rowen
"I... it might sound silly, but... when you were young, about ten years old, did you have a Muggle friend called May?" The witch stared at her. "No, I'm sure not. Excuse me, it was just..."
"I had one," answered the old woman. Lily looked at her, astonished, and so did Clara "I had a Muggle friend, once. I've even told her that I was a witch. I remember that I was really sorry that she could not come to Hogwarts with me. I never saw her after I left the school." In her voice there was a tone of regret. "How do you know this, anyway?"
"'Cause she's my grandma! She told me about you!" said Lily happily.
"Really?! Ah! This is great coincidence! How is she?"
"She's fine. You know, she was really happy when I received the letter, 'cause she had hoped all her life to get here, or at least that her children could do this."
"Oh. I'm sorry. I think I shouldn't have showed her my powers, that day" said the professor sadly.
"No! You did great! If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be here now! I have to thank you for that!"
"Well, I'm happy to know that a youth's error turned out in something useful. I'd like to talk more about her, but you have other lessons to attend. You'd better go."
"Bye, grandma!" said Clara giving her a quick hug
"Goodbye ma'am" said Lily.
"When we're not having class, you can call me Clarissa," said the witch, smiling.
"Oh, well, okay... goodbye Clarissa!"
FLYING
They didn't have any more lessons with the Slytherins that day, and for the three that followed. The lessons were so intenses that neither James nor his friends had time to think about either Severus or Lily.
Transfiguration seemed almost impossible to all of them, and this was really bad since they had six hours of it every week. Professor McGonagall was strict and seemed to like very much giving them homework. Her subject quickly became the one they hated the most.
The most boring class was History of Magic, taught by Professor Binns. He was the oldest professor at school (even older than Dumbledore!), and was the oldest wizard most students had ever seen. His voice seemed to have only one tone: slow, lacking any kind of inflession, it had the great ability of making the Bloody War of the Eight Years as boring as a sewing course. After three lessons (and about four hundred pages of material) the only thing the class had learned was sleeping with open eyes.
Then there was Charms, taught by Professor Flitwick, a really short man who had to stand on a pile of books in order to see beyond the desk. Some students said he was a half-blood coming from a human and a house-elf. The very first spell he taught them was Wingardium Leviosa, a charm used to lift objects. The tiny wizard squeaked and clapped his hands, proclaiming it was one he used very often.
Professor Holeande taught Herbology. She was very thin and her skin was a bit green, so to make her look like some of her vegetables.
Finally, it was friday, and they were finally going to have Defense Against the Dark Arts. They had their very first Flying lesson, too. Remus was so scared that he ate next to nothing at breakfast, and when they finally were on the ground, his kneels were quivering.
"Good morning everyone!" said an old but really fit witch walking quickly toward them in the field "My name is Clarissa Rowen. I am your Flying teacher."
Clarissa? Lily's head started to work. Where had she heard that name before? She was standing, as usual, near the teacher and far from James, of course. After that little team-work at Potions, they had both been careful to stay away from each other, and Lily had managed to stay with Severus and a small group of Slytherins for as long as possible, without caring about her fellow Gryffindors' comments. After all, no one had talked to her after James's exploit during the Welcome Dinner.
"So, what are you waiting for? Stretch your hand on the broom and say 'Up!'" said the Professor, doing it herself. Her broom jumped in her hand. All the students got trying, without a great result.
"Up! UP! UUUUUPP!" shouted Lily, but her broom was only rolling on the ground. Instead, with Lily's great disappointment, James had done it almost immediately. It was clear he was used to doing so.
After a quarter of an hour of "Ups", everybody had his broom in the hand, and the lesson finally began.
"Now get on your brooms. When I give the signal, push with your feet and lift in the air. Then, tilt and get back to the ground. All clear?" Lily was staring at her, unconvinced. Was she really meaning what she had just said? To Lily's eyes the one she was holding was nothing more than a normal broom. She had thought that flying should have taken time. A lot of time. And that strange woman was telling her to do it right there?
"So, are you ready?" questioned the witch. "GO!"
All the students jumped in the air, under Lily's umbelieving look.
"Well, anything wrong, miss..." asked the Professor when everybody was back on the ground
"Eh? Oh, sorry. I mean, my name is Lily, Lily Evans. It's just that... ehm... sorry." The witch looked at her curiously. Peter laughed noisy, as did a handful of other students.
"Let's go for another one. Everyone ready? GO!" this time Lily did as the others and, with great astonishment, the broom supported her weight in the air. She was flying!!
"Alright, now everyone go back on the ground. Good... I said everyone, Miss Evans" Lily looked at Professor Rowen, really scared. It was the broom supporting her. How could she go back? She was grapping the wodden broom as tightly as possible, terrorified.
"Don't worry, miss Evans. Do as I tell you and everything will be ok. Now try to tilt the broom using your own weight. Come on... Slowly, slowly... alright! See, it's not difficult!" Lily was panting and had grown a bit pale, but she felt much better now that her feet were on the ground again. She heard some laughs coming from James's group, but she did not care.
"Well, we'll do it again now. Ready?" Lily felt anxious and looked at the professor hopefully "GO!" was the only word that came from her. Lily pushed the ground again and, once in the air, she managed to get back on the ground. She had just put her feet on the grass, when a noise came from her left. Someone had fallen.
"What's happening?" asked Professor Rowen, walking quickly toward the boy on the ground. It was Remus. After the very first times, he had grown sure of himself very quickly, helped in this by James (who had done each exercise with an annoyed expression and was now flying without keeping his hands on the broom). Remus had pushed too hard and was now lying with his face on the grass.
"Are you ok?" asked the witch, helping him getting up. James, Sirius, and Peter were laughing
"Yes, yes ma'am" answered the boy, cleaning his face with the sleeve of his robes.
"And you three should better stop smiling, if you don't want me to take more points to Gryffindor, after those you lost on Monday." The three stopped at once "Flying is not easy, if you're not used to," said Mrs Rowen, cooly, while taking her place back at the front of the group..
"Well, once again," she called some moments later.
They passed the rest of the lesson repeating the same exercise, and James managed to loose three points for doing unrequested acrobatics.
"This is all for today. Leave your brooms here and I'll see you next week. Have a nice day!"
All the students went toward the scholl main entrance.
"Don't worry, Remus. It's always difficult at the beginning," said James, giving his friend a pat on the back.
"Yeah, then why were you laughing before?" asked Remus, angrily.
"Oh, come on! You were really funny, you know. Let's make it this way: I'll give you some private lessons in order to make you forgive me. Okay?"
"And how are you supposed to do it, since we're not allowed to fly outside of lessons? We don't even have out own brooms!" replied Remus sarcastically.
"You'll see, don't worry!" said James with a mysterious smile.
Lily had remained behind the other students, thinking. Clarissa... of course! Grandma's friend! But how could it be?
She looked back at the teacher, who was speaking with a blonde girl. Lily got nearer.
"Yes, Miss Evans" asked the witch, stopping the conversation with the student.
"Ehm... I'm sorry I've interrupted you, I didn't mean to... I can wait," said Lily shyly
"Don't worry. This is my granddaughter, Clara. She's from Gryffindor, too. Have you two met yet?"
"No, it's nice to meet you, Clara." Lily smiled, extending her hand. The girl smiled back, and it was genuine.
"Nice to meet you, too!"
"So, what did you wanted to ask me?" questioned Mrs Rowen
"I... it might sound silly, but... when you were young, about ten years old, did you have a Muggle friend called May?" The witch stared at her. "No, I'm sure not. Excuse me, it was just..."
"I had one," answered the old woman. Lily looked at her, astonished, and so did Clara "I had a Muggle friend, once. I've even told her that I was a witch. I remember that I was really sorry that she could not come to Hogwarts with me. I never saw her after I left the school." In her voice there was a tone of regret. "How do you know this, anyway?"
"'Cause she's my grandma! She told me about you!" said Lily happily.
"Really?! Ah! This is great coincidence! How is she?"
"She's fine. You know, she was really happy when I received the letter, 'cause she had hoped all her life to get here, or at least that her children could do this."
"Oh. I'm sorry. I think I shouldn't have showed her my powers, that day" said the professor sadly.
"No! You did great! If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be here now! I have to thank you for that!"
"Well, I'm happy to know that a youth's error turned out in something useful. I'd like to talk more about her, but you have other lessons to attend. You'd better go."
"Bye, grandma!" said Clara giving her a quick hug
"Goodbye ma'am" said Lily.
"When we're not having class, you can call me Clarissa," said the witch, smiling.
"Oh, well, okay... goodbye Clarissa!"