CHAPTER SEVEN: Flying Lessons.

"Are you excited about flying lessons?" I asked Alforth as we walked, remembering my mental note from earlier.

"Excited? I don't know about you Potter but my father taught me to fly practically before I could walk. All this nonsense about us not really being allowed to fly until after we've attended lessons is stupid!" Alforth replied.

"Of course my Dad taught me to fly early." I replied. "I think he has visions of seeing me play for England like he did!"

Alforth snorted. "Good luck." He said.

I didn't reply to that; what could I have said anyway?

Martin, who had been listening to the conversation, gave me an "I told you so" look.

"I wouldn't listen to Alforth." Jenny told me loyally. "I've seen you fly and I'm sure you're going to be on the house team before we leave Hogwarts."

I smiled my thanks. Maybe, just maybe, Jenny wasn't that bad after all?

When we reached the smooth lawn where we were to have practice I noticed that the Slytherins were already lined up there. Twenty brooms were also lined up on the ground. When my parents had been students here they complained about the school brooms, but the last few years they'd been receiving some of the newer and better ones.

"Great, not again!" Martin complained. "I bet they all think they're hot stuff on brooms!"

I heard Jenny gasp, and I followed her gaze. There walking out of the castle with a female witch, was Snape. He looked like he was quite pleased with himself.

"Greetings class. My name is Professor Janson, and I usually teach flying lessons here at Hogwarts. However urgent family business means I must leave for Wales as soon as possible and it's probable I wont be back in time for your next flying lesson either. So I've asked, and he has very kindly agreed, Professor Snape to fill in for the first two classes where he will teach you some of the basics." The witch explained.

I felt Jenny stiffen, and I saw out of the corner of my eye, that she was looking at me with a worried look on her face. I couldn't blame her for being worried, as I was certainly a little concerned about the whole thing myself. The idea of having someone who hated me teaching me to fly didn't exactly appeal to me!

"Okay class, I want you to all stand by a broom." Snape said, his cloaks flapping in the wind which was blowing steadily. I watched sadly as Professor Janson disappeared back inside.

"POTTER!" Snape snapped. "Why aren't you obeying my instructions and standing by a broom. Let me guess the famous Potter family thinks that they are too good to be taught to fly by a mere Professor. Just because your father managed to fluke a spot in the English side because everyone felt sorry for poor, familyless Harry Potter and-"

"-My Dad did not fluke a spot!" I snapped. "He wasn't the youngest house seeker for a century for no reason!"

Snape's lip curled with distaste. "I am the teacher here Potter, and you are the student. I know what I am talking about-if you don't believe me why not ask the headmistress if it wasn't just Harry's flying talent which got him on the side!" He said disdainfully.

"You're lying." I said, but my voice was a little weaker against the conviction of Snape's.

"Ten points from Gryffindoor for calling a Professor a liar." Snape replied.

I opened my mouth to protest, but I felt Jenny's hand on my arm. I glanced at her and she shook her head, telling me it wasn't worth it.

"Okay, now when I say so, I want you to all stick out your hands and say clearly "UP" and the broom should then jump up into your outstretched hand. Grip it tightly when you get it." Snape explained, as we all stood by our brooms. "Okay-now!"

"UP!" Everyone shouted.

My broom jumped up into my hand at once, and I felt myself grin. Not everyone's was quite as obliging. I saw Henry's broom start to float towards his hand and then move away, so that he began to chase it. I also noticed that Jenny's broom was stubbornly lying on the floor and refusing to move. Some of the Slytherins were also having troubles with their brooms.

"This is pathetic." Snape snapped. "And I got the impression that kids these days were all around the country on their brooms."

"Stupid school brooms." Alforth muttered. His broom was in his hand, but he was eyeing it with contempt.

Snape smiled at him. "I fully agree with you Mr. Malfoy, and I am sure your father would too. I had the pleasure of teaching him when he was here."

Alforth smiled back at Snape. "Yes, Father speaks very highly of you." He said.

If possible Snape actually looked happy at hearing this. In my opinion there was no accounting for taste!

I saw Henry, sick of trying to get his broom to do what he wanted, bend down and pick it up. Unfortunately so did Snape!

"LONGBOTTOM!" He roared, making Henry jump a mile. "I saw that. Ten points from Gryffindoor for cheating! I get the feeling you're going to be as pathetic at this as your father was."

Henry's face went as red as a tomato, but to his credit he didn't answer back.

"Now," Snape asked us. "Can anyone tell me the correct way to mount their broom?"

A few hands went up, including the Slytherin girl who Jenny had argued with in Herbology that morning. Snape smiled at the girl, "Yes Patty Parkinson?"



The girl explained the correct way to mount the broom so you wouldn't slide off and Snape smiled again. "Very good. I can see you're as clever as your mother, Pansy, was."

Patty smirked with pride, and I saw Jenny frown.

"Okay, now let's see whether we can possibly get this right. And we will practice mounting and dismounting until we get it textbook perfect!" Snape said.

Out of the corner of her mouth Jenny whispered to me "I'm going to go to the library after to look up Merlin. I'd appreciate your help."



"Martin and I were going to play Wizard Chess, so we'll see." I whispered back. The idea of spending time in the library was not exactly my favorite way of passing the time, but like Jenny I was curious about Merlin, and maybe two heads were better than one?

"Potter, instead of speaking maybe you should learn to mount a broom correctly. For an English Quidditch player your Father didn't teach you very well, did he?" Snape asked smoothly.

I bristled, but didn't reply. Instead I got busy practicing mounting and dismounting my broom. For the rest of the class we all practiced it.

"Sir, aren't we going to do any flying?" asked Alex.

"Not today, no. Like most others here your technique was not perfect. If we have to start at the basics, so be it." Snape replied. "Now you've only got five minutes left, lets' see whether we can get it right?"

I noticed a few disappointed faces around me, and they weren't just the Gryffindoors.

All of a sudden I realised that Patty Parkinson had made her way through the group, so that she was standing next to Jenny. Jenny, however, was too involved in mounting the broom to realise, and I leant over to tell her, but before I could Patty had pushed her hard, and Jenny's broom began to rise in the air, with Jenny on it. I saw the look of fear on her face, as she tried to get the broom to get back down to the ground. She wasn't the best flyer but she was at least able to fly a little around the backyard when we were kids playing on our brooms. But for some reason now the broom was refusing to come back down!

"Jenny, push back to get it down." I called. She tried to do it, but the broom only flew higher. Now the look of fear on her face was replaced with one of terror as she realised the broom wasn't doing what she wanted to, and she didn't know what to do!

"MISS WEASLEY!" Snape yelled. "Come back down here this instant!"

"I'm trying!" Jenny called back unhappily.

"Well try a little harder." Snape replied. "Deliberately flouting my instructions like that-"

"It wasn't her fault Professor Snape!" Alana said. "Patty pushed her when she was mounted, and the broom took off!"

"I will not hear excuses." Snape replied angrily. "Miss Weasley has ignored what I said, and I don't want to hear everyone hear making up stupid excuses to try and get her out of trouble."

"Please! Help!" Jenny was calling, now clinging to her broom, and abandoning all attempts at trying to get the broom back to the ground.

"You have to help yourself Miss Weasley." Snape retorted. "If you don't come back down now you lose twenty points from Gryffindoor! Are you coming down, or shall we all just go inside since the class is over and leave you there?"

"I can't get this broom down!" Jenny yelled. "Please Professor, I'm not lying."

I made up my mind then to mount my own broom and go up there and get Jenny down, regardless of how mad it would make Snape, but he saw me go to mount my broom, and with a sigh, mounted his own broom, and flew up to bring Jenny down. Once back on the ground I saw Jenny was quite pale, and I saw Patty and her friends giggling behind their hands. We began to walk back towards the castle. Even though all the Gryffindoor's had seen what happened, and Snape had more than likely seen it too, he made no attempt to tell Patty off.

"I don't feel like going to the library now." Jenny told me. "I think I might just go lie down."

And before I could reply she had hurried off.

Martin looked after her a little sympathetically, and then he asked me "Feel like getting a whooping in Wizard Chess?"

I forced a grin. "I don't know about that. My Uncle Ron taught me, and he was pretty good!"

We headed up to the Gryffindoor common room.