Disclaimer: I do not own anything that has to do with Harry Potter. The characters are mine, however some of the character's names I found in the fourth book of Harry Potter. I own their personalities but not their names.
A/N: I am very sorry about the lack of updates! My computer died and cleaned off my entire story (thank God I have it on FanFiction.net!) I had to wait a week for my computer to come back. Thank you for being patient!
I would also like to thank everyone who reviewed my story. (Penny P, YellowPost-ItNote, Soccer-Bitch, freakyfairy, ummm Tiger Woods and jedi master Crilla Cora)I am really glad that all of you like it so much! Keep reading!
Chapter Seven: Fly Away
Lena was up on time the next morning. She was very excited and thought she was prepared for the day's lessons. She ran down the stairs from her dorm to the common room where Owen was standing, waiting for her. They both said "Good morning" and went to the portrait hole to head to their first class. Owen was leading the way. He knew the school better than Lena because of everything his sister had told him. They were near the large oak doors that lead to the Great Hall. Why are we way down here? Lena wondered as they walked towards the exit of the school.
"Owen, where are we going?" Lena turned to ask.
"We're going outside," He paused and looked at Lena. She still had no idea what class they had first. "We have Flying with Madame Hooch," She nodded and Owen laughed, "What would you do without me?"
"Apparently, I'd be lost" Lena answered smiling at herself. She would be very lost in this enormous castle without Owen. She was very glad that they had met.
Owen and Lena pushed open the doors and walked outside and both stopped. Owen looked lost for the first time. He turned back around to face the large doors leading inside the school. The door opened and Isabella came walking out with her two friends. All five of them were in the same classes. Owen smiled as he saw the three girls come walking outside chatting to each other. The three passed them and Owen walked on behind them with Lena.
Owen could not keep his eyes off of Isabella. Her blond hair was whipping in the wind and it sometimes hit Owen in the face. He didn't mind, but Lena was trying hard not to laugh. He's so silly looking! I can't wait to see what happens if she turns around!
"Hi Isabella!" Lena called from a little way behind Owen. She turned around and so did her two friends and Owen. Owen looked at Lena with an almost angry look. He didn't want Lena to know what he thought of Isabella.
"Hello, Lena! Are you excited about flying lessons today?" Isabella responded. Lena caught up with her dorm friends and Owen walked right behind them continuing to be whipped in the face by Isabella's hair.
"Of course I'm excited! Who wouldn't be?" As they came closer to the flying grounds, she became nervous. What if I really suck at flying? I don't want to be the fool again! They all walked over to a broom, which was lying, on the ground. A few more students arrived and Madame Hooch walked over to them.
"Is everyone here?" She paused and looked to see that every student had a broom near him or her. "Alright. Today we will learn the basics of Flying. You will all do as I say and there will be no fooling around." She walked up the long isle of brooms and students. "If you do not do as I say, you will be in the Headmaster's office faster than you can say 'Quidditch'." The students looked to each other. This class was not all fun and games. Lena was about to laugh. Quidditch is a funny word! She had no idea of what it was at all. She covered her mouth when Owen gave he a funny look and Madame Hooch walked closer to them.
"Everyone step to the left side of their broom. Before we go any further I want you to know that you need to grip your broom firmly." She looked around to the students. Some of them were on the wrong side of their brooms. She was sure to correct every one of them. "Now that we all know what side is 'left', I want you all to put your right hand over your broom and say 'up'."
Everyone outside was saying "Up!" loudly. Lena got her broom up on her first try. It was slightly pulling her but she was holding on tightly. A few managed to get their brooms up on the first few tries. Isabella was on Lena's left and had also grabbed her broom on her first try. They both smiled at each other then looked over to Owen on Lena's right. Owen was still yelling "Up!" to his broom. Lena and Isabella laughed. Owen's broom finally shot up to his hand with incredible speed. He wasn't expecting it to be so fast and the broom flew up fast his hand and far up into the sky.
"Mr. Quirke, is it?" Madame Hooch walked over to Owen who nodded his head and looked at the ground. "Well, it seems that you were not following my directions."
"Actually, Madame Hooch," Lena piped up, "He was, it was just that he didn't expect it to be so quick and strong. He just wasn't ready for it when it flew up." Lena was looking at Madame Hooch when she started to speak but when Madame Hooch walked in front of her she was also looking at her shoes.
"Ten points from Gryffindor!" The Slytherins on the other side of the class smiled at each other and smirked at the Gryffindors. Madame Hooch snatched Lena's broom from her hand and hopped onto it. "If I see any of you leave this spot or get on your own brooms, you will have points deducted and be sent to see Professor Dumbledore." With that said, she kicked off from the ground and flew straight up to get the other broom. She grabbed it with all of the other students watching and dragged it back down behind her. Before she could reach the ground, something shiny was thrown from the other side of the class towards Lena. She saw it out of the corner of her eye and slapped it away with her hand.
"Ouch!" Lena was rubbing her hand. Whatever it was that she hit was harder than she expected. She looked to the ground when Madame Hooch came back and continued to rub her hand. It was some sort of orb that looked like it was made of glass. Madame Hooch threw both brooms on the ground and picked up the orb. She then walked over to Lena.
"I want you to go see Professor McGonagal, Miss Rose. Tell her everything that just happened. I saw everything." Lena was afraid that she was in trouble. She grabbed all of her things and the glass orb from Madame Hooch and began to walk away. She had no idea where she was going. She entered the school and came face to face with an odd looking teacher. She was dressed in all purple and looked very young. Her hair was a blond red color and was very long.
"I thought you might need help so I stopped by." The teacher laid her hand onto Lena's shoulder. "I'm the Divination teacher, Professor Trinity. You won't have me until your third year, dear. Now, Miss Rose is it?" Lena nodded. What is Divination? "Looking for a teacher?" Lena nodded again and told her that she needed Professor McGonagal. "Oh! Of course! Well, I can take you there! I have a free class right now I know exactly why you need to see her. I saw from my window up the stairs!"
Professor Trinity led Lena up a few stairways and onto the second floor. There were many classes on this floor and Lena was led into one door where all of her fourth year friends were. Professor McGonagal was the teacher from the sorting who led the first years to the sorting hat and called out their names. Lena became very scared.
"Excuse me Professor McGonagal," Professor Trinity walked into her class. "Could I talk with you for one moment out here, please?"
"Of course, Professor Trinity." Professor McGonagal turned to her class. "Err...Just begin reading the first chapter. It will be your homework assignment as well." She came outside her class and saw Lena. "What is it Professor Trinity?"
"Well, Madame Hooch sent you Miss Rose because...err...oh I know why but I just can't think of it!" Lena looked from Professor Trinity who had her hand to her head and then looked to Professor McGonagal. She told her everything that happened at her flying lesson. When she spoke the part about the little orb (which she then handed to Professor McGonagal) she saw her smile.
"Well, well, well," Professor McGonagal said happily. "It seems that Madame Hooch sees something in you that I saw in a young first year years ago. I want you to try out for the Quidditch Keeper-or Beater-next weekend, Miss Rose. Before you go to the practices, come here and I will give you a note for permission. In the meantime," Lena was completely confused, "I would like to see you spend this weekend wisely and see Madame Hooch and learn to fly." Just smile and nod Lena kept telling herself. "Now back to class, Miss Rose." Professor McGonagal walked away and went back to her class.
"Now that is rare, Miss Rose! A first year...in Quidditch? The boy she was talking about must have been the Famous Harry Potter! He was a rare find, that boy. It was him who killed He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named!" She giggled to herself as they began to walk back to Flying Lessons. "I still cannot say his name even though he's dead!"
"What happened?" Owen asked when Lena came back to class.
"Yeah, are you going to be in detention or something?" Francis asked.
"No, Professor McGonagal told me to try out for something called Quidditch Keeper," They all gasped, "Or beater." Lena added. The other four were in shock.
"You're the only first year to play Quidditch since...Harry Potter!" Owen yelped in glee. Lena had never seen him so happy. His eyes seemed to shine as brightly as the sun. Everyone was very proud of Lena and congratulated her. Lena still had no clue what Quidditch was.
The first week of lessons seemed to fly by. Before she knew it, Lena was outside at Flying Lessons on Saturday. She was quite nervous seeing all of the other students outside. Owen came with Lena to watch her. What if I go out of control and everyone sees? Lena became nervous again. Not too far away, there was one broom lying on the ground and Madame Hooch sitting on her own broom in front of it.
"Ah, Miss Rose. Let's get started." Madame Hooch told Lena to get her broom up. Lena once again got it up on her first try. "Good, now I want you to get on the broom." Lena swung one leg over the broom and sat on top of it. Her feet were still touching the ground. Madame Hooch who was on her own broom and told Lena to kick off from the ground. She demonstrated how on her broom and came back down to watch Lena.
Lena lifted her foot and slammed it down on the ground. She soared up into the sky and pushed the nose of the broom down some to make the broom stop and level out.
"Excellent, Miss Rose!" Owen clapped loudly and stopped when Madame Hooch glared at him. "Now come back down and try not to land on your head." Lena could just barely hear Madame Hooch. She was very far up in the sky and could only hear Madame Hooch's voice but not nay of the words. She pushed the nose of the broom down much further and began to soar towards the ground at great speed. Almost before she hit the ground, she pulled her broom up and pulled up nicely in front of Madame Hooch.
"That was most excellent, Miss Rose!" Madame Hooch almost smiled but then went back to her strict manner, "Now, I want you to fly up only a few feet. Then I'll have Mr. Quirke over there, throw this at you." She held up a rust red ball. It was fairly large and Lena was more nervous than before. Owen heard his name and got up from the grass and headed over to Madame Hooch and Lena. "Then I want you to hit it with the back of your broom." Madame Hooch pointed to the bristles on the back of the broomstick.
Lena nodded and kicked off from the ground once more and flew up a few feet. She looked over to Owen who was being told to throw a ball at Lena. He looked very nervous himself. Madame Hooch told him to throw it.
"Sorry if this hits you, Lena!" Owen shouted and threw the ball as hard as he could to make the distance to where Lena was. Lena saw it coming and got ready to spin her broom and whack it. It came closer an closer until-WHAM! It got farther and farther. Lena had successfully hit the ball with her broom. She let go of the broom with one hand as the ball hit the stone wall of the school and cheered herself. Madame Hooch flew over and grabbed the ball handing it to Owen again.
"This time, I want you to hit the ball over to me so I can catch it." Madame Hooch told Owen to throw the ball again. He did with the same force as before. Lena got ready to hit the ball and WHAM hit it once again! It soared through the air and didn't quite make it anywhere near Madame Hooch. They did this three more times before Madame Hooch caught the ball in her hands.
"That was a great shot, Miss Rose." She yelled. Owen was beaming from the ground. "Now I want to see you catch it." Lena got ready for the next throw. It was a great throw; right to her! She caught it with both hands and almost fell off her broom. She dropped the ball and flung herself onto the broom and hoped she didn't fall off.
"You'll be fine! Now this time try not to get scared!" Madame Hooch flew over and grabbed the ball from the ground and tossed it to Owen who missed it and had to run and find it. When he did, he threw it at Lena again. She caught it and quickly held it under one arm like a football and gripped her broom with the other hand.
"That was perfect!" Madame Hooch was on the verge of another smile but as she flew closer, she looked strict as always. "Tomorrow, same time. We will work on your Beater skills. The other children that try out don't have this same advantage to train like this, but you are a special case." Why is she telling me this? "Just in case any of the other students that try out ask."
Lena flew back to the ground and hopped off her broom. She was still gripping it tightly when Madame Hooch took it from her and sent her on her way. Owen ran over to her and smiled, his eyes glinting in the Fall sun.
"That was amazing! I know I couldn't have done better myself!" Owen patted Lena on the back and the two of them went back to the Gryffindor common room to get their homework done.
That night, Lena was writing in her journal all about her day. She was writing frantically because she went from one exciting thing to the next and soon, everything she was writing looked like scribbles. Her dorm mates were sleeping with their curtains closed. Lena's were wide open and she was wide-awake. When she finished scribbling she closed her eyes and pictured herself hitting that red ball with her broom. She had so much fun that day and could not wait for tomorrow.
Lena and Owen made their way back to Flying Lessons the next day. Madame Hooch was once again on her broom but Nearly Headless Nick was floating beside her. The two of them exchanged confused looks and then looked back to Madame Hooch and Nicholas.
"Hello, Miss Rose" Madame Hooch looked to Owen, "Mr. Quirke. Today we will try out your beater skills and see which of the two you like best." Madame Hooch turned to Nearly Headless Nick, "This is Sir Nicholas and he was kind enough to help us out today." Nick gave a nervous smile. "Well, let's get started. Miss Rose, I want you to take this bat and take it with you on your broom. Fly up about as far as you did last time. I'm going to release this," She opened a green chest and Lena saw two brown balls struggling to escape. "Now I think it's quite obvious that you want to keep this ball away from you." Lena nodded and smiled a little. Then everything was put into action.
Lena had her bat in her right hand. She was prepared to whack the ball as hard as she could to keep it from hitting her. Madame Hooch shouted to Lena, "You are going to try and hit the bludger through Sir Nicholas! He is like an opponent on a broom, only he cannot feel the bludger going through him!" Then she let the bludger loose and it came careening towards Lena. Lena panicked and flew her broom out of the line of fire. The bludger seemed to pass her but then it came back. Lena was not about to fly away again. This time she had the bat in her right arm, which was near her left shoulder. Then when the bludger came close enough, she whacked it behind her towards Nearly Headless Nick. She spun around on her broom and watched it soar through the air. It passed through his shoulder.
"Excellent!" Madame Hooch flew over to Lena. "Do you like this or Keeper better, Miss Rose?" Lena sat on her broom for a moment.
"Well, I don't really know. Now that I've hit the ball, I kind of like this, but..."
"Yes?"
"I'm afraid of getting hurt and Keeper seems a bit easier...but I like-"
"Why don't we try this one out for today and you can decide after we're done." Madame Hooch was a bit mad. Lena had a hard time making her decision. She liked hitting this out of control ball. She was very good at it. There was much more to do with this job than with being a Keeper.
The end of the lesson came and Lena flew down to Owen.
"Which one should I choose to try out for?" Lena asked him before going over to Madame Hooch. Lena was quite positive that she would try out for the Keeper position. Owen agreed for her to try Keeper. She was much better at it and it was much less scary. The two of them headed back to their common room. Lena was extremely tired but needed to do more homework. She sat down on the large couch next to Owen and they both began to do their homework together. Lena couldn't wait for the tryouts whether she made it on the team or not.
A/N: Thank you so much for waiting! I hope the wait was worth it!
A/N: I am very sorry about the lack of updates! My computer died and cleaned off my entire story (thank God I have it on FanFiction.net!) I had to wait a week for my computer to come back. Thank you for being patient!
I would also like to thank everyone who reviewed my story. (Penny P, YellowPost-ItNote, Soccer-Bitch, freakyfairy, ummm Tiger Woods and jedi master Crilla Cora)I am really glad that all of you like it so much! Keep reading!
Chapter Seven: Fly Away
Lena was up on time the next morning. She was very excited and thought she was prepared for the day's lessons. She ran down the stairs from her dorm to the common room where Owen was standing, waiting for her. They both said "Good morning" and went to the portrait hole to head to their first class. Owen was leading the way. He knew the school better than Lena because of everything his sister had told him. They were near the large oak doors that lead to the Great Hall. Why are we way down here? Lena wondered as they walked towards the exit of the school.
"Owen, where are we going?" Lena turned to ask.
"We're going outside," He paused and looked at Lena. She still had no idea what class they had first. "We have Flying with Madame Hooch," She nodded and Owen laughed, "What would you do without me?"
"Apparently, I'd be lost" Lena answered smiling at herself. She would be very lost in this enormous castle without Owen. She was very glad that they had met.
Owen and Lena pushed open the doors and walked outside and both stopped. Owen looked lost for the first time. He turned back around to face the large doors leading inside the school. The door opened and Isabella came walking out with her two friends. All five of them were in the same classes. Owen smiled as he saw the three girls come walking outside chatting to each other. The three passed them and Owen walked on behind them with Lena.
Owen could not keep his eyes off of Isabella. Her blond hair was whipping in the wind and it sometimes hit Owen in the face. He didn't mind, but Lena was trying hard not to laugh. He's so silly looking! I can't wait to see what happens if she turns around!
"Hi Isabella!" Lena called from a little way behind Owen. She turned around and so did her two friends and Owen. Owen looked at Lena with an almost angry look. He didn't want Lena to know what he thought of Isabella.
"Hello, Lena! Are you excited about flying lessons today?" Isabella responded. Lena caught up with her dorm friends and Owen walked right behind them continuing to be whipped in the face by Isabella's hair.
"Of course I'm excited! Who wouldn't be?" As they came closer to the flying grounds, she became nervous. What if I really suck at flying? I don't want to be the fool again! They all walked over to a broom, which was lying, on the ground. A few more students arrived and Madame Hooch walked over to them.
"Is everyone here?" She paused and looked to see that every student had a broom near him or her. "Alright. Today we will learn the basics of Flying. You will all do as I say and there will be no fooling around." She walked up the long isle of brooms and students. "If you do not do as I say, you will be in the Headmaster's office faster than you can say 'Quidditch'." The students looked to each other. This class was not all fun and games. Lena was about to laugh. Quidditch is a funny word! She had no idea of what it was at all. She covered her mouth when Owen gave he a funny look and Madame Hooch walked closer to them.
"Everyone step to the left side of their broom. Before we go any further I want you to know that you need to grip your broom firmly." She looked around to the students. Some of them were on the wrong side of their brooms. She was sure to correct every one of them. "Now that we all know what side is 'left', I want you all to put your right hand over your broom and say 'up'."
Everyone outside was saying "Up!" loudly. Lena got her broom up on her first try. It was slightly pulling her but she was holding on tightly. A few managed to get their brooms up on the first few tries. Isabella was on Lena's left and had also grabbed her broom on her first try. They both smiled at each other then looked over to Owen on Lena's right. Owen was still yelling "Up!" to his broom. Lena and Isabella laughed. Owen's broom finally shot up to his hand with incredible speed. He wasn't expecting it to be so fast and the broom flew up fast his hand and far up into the sky.
"Mr. Quirke, is it?" Madame Hooch walked over to Owen who nodded his head and looked at the ground. "Well, it seems that you were not following my directions."
"Actually, Madame Hooch," Lena piped up, "He was, it was just that he didn't expect it to be so quick and strong. He just wasn't ready for it when it flew up." Lena was looking at Madame Hooch when she started to speak but when Madame Hooch walked in front of her she was also looking at her shoes.
"Ten points from Gryffindor!" The Slytherins on the other side of the class smiled at each other and smirked at the Gryffindors. Madame Hooch snatched Lena's broom from her hand and hopped onto it. "If I see any of you leave this spot or get on your own brooms, you will have points deducted and be sent to see Professor Dumbledore." With that said, she kicked off from the ground and flew straight up to get the other broom. She grabbed it with all of the other students watching and dragged it back down behind her. Before she could reach the ground, something shiny was thrown from the other side of the class towards Lena. She saw it out of the corner of her eye and slapped it away with her hand.
"Ouch!" Lena was rubbing her hand. Whatever it was that she hit was harder than she expected. She looked to the ground when Madame Hooch came back and continued to rub her hand. It was some sort of orb that looked like it was made of glass. Madame Hooch threw both brooms on the ground and picked up the orb. She then walked over to Lena.
"I want you to go see Professor McGonagal, Miss Rose. Tell her everything that just happened. I saw everything." Lena was afraid that she was in trouble. She grabbed all of her things and the glass orb from Madame Hooch and began to walk away. She had no idea where she was going. She entered the school and came face to face with an odd looking teacher. She was dressed in all purple and looked very young. Her hair was a blond red color and was very long.
"I thought you might need help so I stopped by." The teacher laid her hand onto Lena's shoulder. "I'm the Divination teacher, Professor Trinity. You won't have me until your third year, dear. Now, Miss Rose is it?" Lena nodded. What is Divination? "Looking for a teacher?" Lena nodded again and told her that she needed Professor McGonagal. "Oh! Of course! Well, I can take you there! I have a free class right now I know exactly why you need to see her. I saw from my window up the stairs!"
Professor Trinity led Lena up a few stairways and onto the second floor. There were many classes on this floor and Lena was led into one door where all of her fourth year friends were. Professor McGonagal was the teacher from the sorting who led the first years to the sorting hat and called out their names. Lena became very scared.
"Excuse me Professor McGonagal," Professor Trinity walked into her class. "Could I talk with you for one moment out here, please?"
"Of course, Professor Trinity." Professor McGonagal turned to her class. "Err...Just begin reading the first chapter. It will be your homework assignment as well." She came outside her class and saw Lena. "What is it Professor Trinity?"
"Well, Madame Hooch sent you Miss Rose because...err...oh I know why but I just can't think of it!" Lena looked from Professor Trinity who had her hand to her head and then looked to Professor McGonagal. She told her everything that happened at her flying lesson. When she spoke the part about the little orb (which she then handed to Professor McGonagal) she saw her smile.
"Well, well, well," Professor McGonagal said happily. "It seems that Madame Hooch sees something in you that I saw in a young first year years ago. I want you to try out for the Quidditch Keeper-or Beater-next weekend, Miss Rose. Before you go to the practices, come here and I will give you a note for permission. In the meantime," Lena was completely confused, "I would like to see you spend this weekend wisely and see Madame Hooch and learn to fly." Just smile and nod Lena kept telling herself. "Now back to class, Miss Rose." Professor McGonagal walked away and went back to her class.
"Now that is rare, Miss Rose! A first year...in Quidditch? The boy she was talking about must have been the Famous Harry Potter! He was a rare find, that boy. It was him who killed He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named!" She giggled to herself as they began to walk back to Flying Lessons. "I still cannot say his name even though he's dead!"
"What happened?" Owen asked when Lena came back to class.
"Yeah, are you going to be in detention or something?" Francis asked.
"No, Professor McGonagal told me to try out for something called Quidditch Keeper," They all gasped, "Or beater." Lena added. The other four were in shock.
"You're the only first year to play Quidditch since...Harry Potter!" Owen yelped in glee. Lena had never seen him so happy. His eyes seemed to shine as brightly as the sun. Everyone was very proud of Lena and congratulated her. Lena still had no clue what Quidditch was.
The first week of lessons seemed to fly by. Before she knew it, Lena was outside at Flying Lessons on Saturday. She was quite nervous seeing all of the other students outside. Owen came with Lena to watch her. What if I go out of control and everyone sees? Lena became nervous again. Not too far away, there was one broom lying on the ground and Madame Hooch sitting on her own broom in front of it.
"Ah, Miss Rose. Let's get started." Madame Hooch told Lena to get her broom up. Lena once again got it up on her first try. "Good, now I want you to get on the broom." Lena swung one leg over the broom and sat on top of it. Her feet were still touching the ground. Madame Hooch who was on her own broom and told Lena to kick off from the ground. She demonstrated how on her broom and came back down to watch Lena.
Lena lifted her foot and slammed it down on the ground. She soared up into the sky and pushed the nose of the broom down some to make the broom stop and level out.
"Excellent, Miss Rose!" Owen clapped loudly and stopped when Madame Hooch glared at him. "Now come back down and try not to land on your head." Lena could just barely hear Madame Hooch. She was very far up in the sky and could only hear Madame Hooch's voice but not nay of the words. She pushed the nose of the broom down much further and began to soar towards the ground at great speed. Almost before she hit the ground, she pulled her broom up and pulled up nicely in front of Madame Hooch.
"That was most excellent, Miss Rose!" Madame Hooch almost smiled but then went back to her strict manner, "Now, I want you to fly up only a few feet. Then I'll have Mr. Quirke over there, throw this at you." She held up a rust red ball. It was fairly large and Lena was more nervous than before. Owen heard his name and got up from the grass and headed over to Madame Hooch and Lena. "Then I want you to hit it with the back of your broom." Madame Hooch pointed to the bristles on the back of the broomstick.
Lena nodded and kicked off from the ground once more and flew up a few feet. She looked over to Owen who was being told to throw a ball at Lena. He looked very nervous himself. Madame Hooch told him to throw it.
"Sorry if this hits you, Lena!" Owen shouted and threw the ball as hard as he could to make the distance to where Lena was. Lena saw it coming and got ready to spin her broom and whack it. It came closer an closer until-WHAM! It got farther and farther. Lena had successfully hit the ball with her broom. She let go of the broom with one hand as the ball hit the stone wall of the school and cheered herself. Madame Hooch flew over and grabbed the ball handing it to Owen again.
"This time, I want you to hit the ball over to me so I can catch it." Madame Hooch told Owen to throw the ball again. He did with the same force as before. Lena got ready to hit the ball and WHAM hit it once again! It soared through the air and didn't quite make it anywhere near Madame Hooch. They did this three more times before Madame Hooch caught the ball in her hands.
"That was a great shot, Miss Rose." She yelled. Owen was beaming from the ground. "Now I want to see you catch it." Lena got ready for the next throw. It was a great throw; right to her! She caught it with both hands and almost fell off her broom. She dropped the ball and flung herself onto the broom and hoped she didn't fall off.
"You'll be fine! Now this time try not to get scared!" Madame Hooch flew over and grabbed the ball from the ground and tossed it to Owen who missed it and had to run and find it. When he did, he threw it at Lena again. She caught it and quickly held it under one arm like a football and gripped her broom with the other hand.
"That was perfect!" Madame Hooch was on the verge of another smile but as she flew closer, she looked strict as always. "Tomorrow, same time. We will work on your Beater skills. The other children that try out don't have this same advantage to train like this, but you are a special case." Why is she telling me this? "Just in case any of the other students that try out ask."
Lena flew back to the ground and hopped off her broom. She was still gripping it tightly when Madame Hooch took it from her and sent her on her way. Owen ran over to her and smiled, his eyes glinting in the Fall sun.
"That was amazing! I know I couldn't have done better myself!" Owen patted Lena on the back and the two of them went back to the Gryffindor common room to get their homework done.
That night, Lena was writing in her journal all about her day. She was writing frantically because she went from one exciting thing to the next and soon, everything she was writing looked like scribbles. Her dorm mates were sleeping with their curtains closed. Lena's were wide open and she was wide-awake. When she finished scribbling she closed her eyes and pictured herself hitting that red ball with her broom. She had so much fun that day and could not wait for tomorrow.
Lena and Owen made their way back to Flying Lessons the next day. Madame Hooch was once again on her broom but Nearly Headless Nick was floating beside her. The two of them exchanged confused looks and then looked back to Madame Hooch and Nicholas.
"Hello, Miss Rose" Madame Hooch looked to Owen, "Mr. Quirke. Today we will try out your beater skills and see which of the two you like best." Madame Hooch turned to Nearly Headless Nick, "This is Sir Nicholas and he was kind enough to help us out today." Nick gave a nervous smile. "Well, let's get started. Miss Rose, I want you to take this bat and take it with you on your broom. Fly up about as far as you did last time. I'm going to release this," She opened a green chest and Lena saw two brown balls struggling to escape. "Now I think it's quite obvious that you want to keep this ball away from you." Lena nodded and smiled a little. Then everything was put into action.
Lena had her bat in her right hand. She was prepared to whack the ball as hard as she could to keep it from hitting her. Madame Hooch shouted to Lena, "You are going to try and hit the bludger through Sir Nicholas! He is like an opponent on a broom, only he cannot feel the bludger going through him!" Then she let the bludger loose and it came careening towards Lena. Lena panicked and flew her broom out of the line of fire. The bludger seemed to pass her but then it came back. Lena was not about to fly away again. This time she had the bat in her right arm, which was near her left shoulder. Then when the bludger came close enough, she whacked it behind her towards Nearly Headless Nick. She spun around on her broom and watched it soar through the air. It passed through his shoulder.
"Excellent!" Madame Hooch flew over to Lena. "Do you like this or Keeper better, Miss Rose?" Lena sat on her broom for a moment.
"Well, I don't really know. Now that I've hit the ball, I kind of like this, but..."
"Yes?"
"I'm afraid of getting hurt and Keeper seems a bit easier...but I like-"
"Why don't we try this one out for today and you can decide after we're done." Madame Hooch was a bit mad. Lena had a hard time making her decision. She liked hitting this out of control ball. She was very good at it. There was much more to do with this job than with being a Keeper.
The end of the lesson came and Lena flew down to Owen.
"Which one should I choose to try out for?" Lena asked him before going over to Madame Hooch. Lena was quite positive that she would try out for the Keeper position. Owen agreed for her to try Keeper. She was much better at it and it was much less scary. The two of them headed back to their common room. Lena was extremely tired but needed to do more homework. She sat down on the large couch next to Owen and they both began to do their homework together. Lena couldn't wait for the tryouts whether she made it on the team or not.
A/N: Thank you so much for waiting! I hope the wait was worth it!
