It was a lot bigger than anything she'd seen in her life. No, that's not right. It was the biggest metallic thing she'd ever seen. No, that isn't right either. But it was the biggest thing she'd ever seen that was supposed to fly without magic.
Lisa gulped, staring at the plane in front of her. What have I gotten myself into? she thought. I can't- Is that supposed to fly? Without magic? She turned to her parents and voiced this concern, hoping that they'd say no, it would be fueled with magic. They simply laughed.
"Of course it is, you don't think the Muggles would allow us to do something like that? Not to mention the rest of our community?" her father said. Lisa sighed.
She wasn't ready for this, and she knew she never would be. Ever since that horrible day in her first year, she'd been afraid of flying.
"All right, miss Thompson. You're next." Eleven-year-old Lisa nodded to the instructor and called the broomstick to her hand. It was her first flying lesson. She was determined to make an impression on the instructor. Maybe she'd even get to join her house's Quiddich team in a couple of years.
Lisa took a deep breath and pushed off of the ground. For the first few airborne moments she felt as if she was going to crash at any time, but after the initial shock realized how wonderful this was.
She zipped around, twirling higher and higher. She tried a loop. The next thing she knew, she was falling… and then, darkness.
Lisa shuddered. She hated to think about that… but it didn't matter. Nothing really mattered at the moment except that she was going to be flying. Shit.
A few moments later, she was all buckled into her seat. Her mother sat beside her, by the window, and her father sat behind them. Lisa jammed on a pair of headphones and turned up whatever music was playing as loud as it would go. Then the plane took off. Lisa screamed and her mother covered her mouth.
"Shh, Lisa. It's all right. You'll be fine." But Lisa didn't calm.
Finally she had to resort to the in-flight movie to settle her nerves. It was some stupid soap-opera thing. She didn't much care for it, and she wasn't even paying attention. But at least she was calm and quiet.
The pilot called over the intercom that the plane was going to be heading into some slight turbulence and that it was nothing to worry about. Lisa, of course, didn't hear him. So when the plane began to toss and jerk around, she freaked out.
"Aiii! We're all gonna diiiiiiiie!" she shrieked, falling out of her chair and rolling around. She had obviously lost her mind. One of the flight attendants came to see what was wrong, but Lisa's mother had already grabbed the girl and buckled her into her seat.
"Everything's fine," she told the lady. "My daughter's afraid of flying, that's all." The attendant nodded and left. When no one was looking, Lisa's father forced her to drink some sleeping potion he'd brought with him. Lisa dropped off, and slept the rest of the flight without any disturbance.
"Lisa, wake up! We're here, honey." Lisa was gently shaken awake by her mother several hours later.
"Wha?" she asked, confused. "Here? I'm alive?" Her parents nodded.
"Yes, we're here. Now, let's go get our bags, okay?" Lisa grumbled something of an assent, and she picked herself out of the airplane chair.
They collected their things and walked out of the terminal. Standing there in front of the door was a triple-decker bus with The Knight Bus written along the side. A man with bad acne was standing in the doorway with a sign that read Lisa Emmons. She waved to him and turned to her parents.
"That's us, I guess," she said. Her parents looked at each other for a moment, then her father sighed.
"Sorry, Lisa. That's your ride. We have arranged out own transportation. You will be going to an inn, with our kind, and we will be going… elsewhere. Don't worry, we're absolutely positive you'll remain safe."
Lisa stared at them in shock. They were leaving? But—why? She shook herself. Stupid, she thought, they're here for a reason. You'll be fine. They'll be fine.
"Okay. Bye." She pulled her parents into a tearful embrace, then stepped onto the bus.
"I'll see you next summer," she said with uncertainty.
"Yes, Lisa," her mother said. "You most certainly will."