Chapter 24 Flying

About three weeks later, Corin was monitoring the Young Advanced group in their wandless fighting class. This was anyone in the first through fourth years who had been placed in the advanced class for their age group. He was happy to see that the four first years that had helped him on the train had all made it into the advanced class. Raven and Jackson were both training with glaives and Jemma and Brice had received daggers. All of the Wandless Fighting classes began with the first half of class devoted to just hand to hand combat which he taught to the whole group, while the second half they worked on learning how to handle each of their weapons. Each of the different weapon groups were dispersed throughout the Great Hall and each group had two elves instructing them. There were five weapons groups total: sword, glaive, daggers, staff and archery. Each group had anywhere from six to fifteen students in it, the largest groups being archery and sword.

Corin stopped by the glaive group and watched as Raven and Jackson, who had been partnered together, went through different offensive and defensive strikes and blocks. Jackson swung his blade down and across while Raven swung her weapon up and across to block. Then they would switch and do the opposite move. Their weapons rang loudly as they went through these moves over and over. He could see their arms slowing and their muscles start to tremble, but they kept at it determinedly. Just as he was about to step in and get them to rest, Anarion, one of the elves teaching glaive fighting, called for a break.

He gave a small amused smile as two of his favorite first-years sighed in relief and leaned their weapons against the wall to go get a drink of water from a nearby table. He felt slightly guilty as he watched them rub their sore arms and drink from glasses of water that trembled in tired hands. All of the weapons the students were using to train with, along with being spelled to inflict only bruises, were weighted. Ultimately this would be to their advantage, increase their arm strength and endurance as well as leave them able to use their chosen weapon with a fluid grace once they were given one of the proper weight. After all, this was the way he and every other elf in the room had learned to fight, but he had to hide a grin as he remembered his annoyance when he'd learned of the trick.

"Corintur!" Jackson waved from his and Raven's position. They were sitting about fifteen feet away against the wall, empty glasses of water on the floor next to them.

He walked over and sat down with an unconscious elegance that only an elf could accomplish, and turned to them. "You are doing very well. I was watching you for the past couple of minutes, and you've both learned surprisingly quickly." They smiled shyly, and ducked their heads, but he could tell they were proud of how quickly they were learning to master their weapon.

"Thank you, sir." Raven smiled at him and tucked some of her dark curly hair behind one ear.

He nodded, then remembered something he had been meaning to speak with them about. "Ah, I'd almost forgotten. You still want to meet my pets, correct?"

Both of their faces brightened and they nodded enthusiastically.

"Okay, grab some brooms from the broom shed and meet me down on the quidditch pitch tomorrow along with Brice and Jemma at ten o'clock and we'll play with them for a bit."

Just then, Anarion called for his group to continue with their practicing and the three of them stood.

"Thank you Corin, we'll see you tomorrow." Raven called as she and Jackson headed back to their practicing.


The next day at ten precisely, Corin walked out onto the quidditch pitch with Hedwig circling above him, Miri flitting around and around his head (as if imitating Ron's owl Pig) and Artue pacing from one of his shoulders to the other and back again.

"Artue, stop pacing or I swear I'll make you walk for the rest of the day… not that it wouldn't do you some good." He muttered. Glancing around him, he was hit with a wave of memories. Quidditch practice in the rain with Wood, catching Neville's Remembrall, the cheers of the crowd during the quidditch games. He was jerked out of his reminiscing by a yell to his left.

"Hey Professor C!" Jemma shouted as she, Jackson, Brice and Raven hurried towards him.

He smiled as they gathered around him, gazing in slight awe at his pets, two of which were extremely rare. "Meet Harmony," he held up his hand and Hedwig flew down to land gracefully on it. "Miri," He handed Hedwig to Jackson, then took Jemma's hand and held it up for Miri to perch on, which she did only after darting curiously around each of their heads. "And lastly, Artue." After saying this he raised his right arm which Artue crawled down, gripping the fabric of Corin's shirt with his baby claws.

"Now, what do you know about either knealins or snidgets?" He asked, figuring he could turn this into a learning opportunity. Merlin, I really am getting into this teacher thing…

"Well, I read in Quidditch through the ages that snidgets were what they used before the snitch was made." Brice stated

"Good, two points to Gryffindor. Anything else?"

"They're very rare, and were almost hunted to extinction before they became a protected species." Raven said quietly. "Now it's illegal to capture or harm a snidget, and there are severe penalties for those who do." She looked at him worriedly. "You won't get in trouble will you?"

He smiled softly, "No, Miri stays of her own free will. She's not so much a pet, more of a companion who can stay or go as she pleases. And that's five points to Gryffindor, very good." They all looked very relieved, and he would have gestured to Artue except the little troublemaker decided at that moment to leap from Corin's arm and collided with Brice's chest. Brice quickly moved to catch the knealin before he could slip and fall to the ground, but Artue was already clawing his way up the boy's shirt and onto his shoulder where he started chewing on the first-year's hair.

"Artue-" The knealin paused in his chewing to shoot an innocent look at Corin, then proceeded in ignoring him again. Corin rolled his eyes and sighed heavily. "Never mind, do you know anything about knealins?" The students glanced at each other, but shook their heads negatively in the end. "Knealins, as you can tell by the wings on Artue's back, can fly- when they're full grown." He said pointedly for Artue's benefit. "They are extremely fast and have telekinetic powers as adults. Artue is about eleven inches (28 cm) tall right now from the ground to the top of his back, and the biggest he'll grow is probably around nineteen inches (48.3 cm) tall with a wingspan of about five feet (151ish cm)."

Artue chirped and puffed out his chest while flapping his wings importantly, which incidentally whapped Brice in the head a couple of times before he stopped.

"Okay, enough talk. You all know how to fly?" They nodded eagerly and gripped their brooms enthusiastically. "Alright then. Miri, you feel up to a little game of tag?" He sent her a picture of them chasing her, but only touching her with a finger to win instead of grabbing her like one would a snitch. She gave a couple of excited cheeps and took off. The kids scrambled to get on their brooms, but Corin held them back.

"Hold on, we need to establish a couple of ground rules. First, no grabbing Miri under any circumstances; just the touch of a finger is enough. Two, if I say stop you stop, because that means that Miri has told me she wants to quit for whatever reason. Three, Artue, get over here. If you're going to fly with us, it's going to be with me. So you don't 'accidentally' slip and go plummeting to the ground in yet another attempt to fly." Artue gave an indignant squeak and looked mutinous for a moment before Corin said, "If you don't fly with me, you don't fly at all." At that Artue gave a pathetic whine, then looked at the ground glumly.

Corin chuckled as he lifted the small winged leopard from Brice's shoulder and settled him in his arms as he mounted his Firebolt. Flying on his Firebolt was a risk, but he figured it was unlikely anyone would recognize his broom. The Firebolt brand had been on the market for a couple of years now, so it was likely that several of the students at Hogwarts owned some as well. Not to mention all of the elves, including Laurea who couldn't resist the lure of flying and had bought a broom themselves.

The kids were already in the air and Miri was flying around ecstatically, enjoying the game. He could tell that the four of them, though they had a little flying experience, were not experts at the art. It looked like Miri sensed this too and he could tell she was flying a little slower than normal, keeping just ahead of their seeking fingers.

"Alright buddy, lets go." He pushed off the ground and shot up into the air like a bullet while Artue squealed with delight in his ears. The knealin was cradled in a secure grip against his chest and Artue had his claws firmly imbedded in the fabric of his tunic sleeve. He kept rocketing upwards until he reached what he called 'snitch-watching height'. The height where during a game, he could see just about anywhere on the pitch and be out of the way of the chasers.

"Wow, boy, I haven't flown in so long…" Artue purred as he looked out in the distance, over the lake and Forbidden Forest. "Hey," Artue looked up at him inquisitively. "Wanna try some stunts? See if we can shock them?" The knealin chirped excitedly. "You sure you're up for it? Some of these are a bit scary…" Artue gave a growl.

"'Bring it on' huh? Very well." Corin shot his familiar a mischievous look and Artue only had time to gulp before they dove. The wind streamed past them so fast that their eyes started watering and Corin felt Artue's claws tighten as the ground loomed nearer and nearer. Finally, just as it looked like they were about to hit, Corin pulled out of it with a whoop and a couple of corkscrews, before soaring back to his previous height. The kids had by then stopped what they were doing and stared in shock at their favorite professor who had just pulled off one of the best (alright, the only) Wronski Feint they had ever seen.

Corin glanced down and tried not to laugh as he saw Artue, who looked frozen in terror to his arm. Just as he was about to get worried, Artue looked up with wide eyes and gave several ecstatic yips and growls.

After hearing the knealin's response, Corin burst out laughing and answered. "Yes, I quite agree. Flying is the most awesome thing in the world. Don't worry buddy, a couple more months and you'll be flying right up here with me."


Remus was sitting by the window of his room when he happened to glance out and see a couple of students flying around the quidditch pitch. He was just about to turn away from the quite normal sight when another broom shot up into the air so fast it seemed a blur. He gasped as the flyer, after circling a couple of times over the pitch, dove so suddenly and so steeply he feared they would fall. Knowing there was no way he could get out there in time to be of any help, all he could do was watch, praying that whoever it was would pull up in time. Just as Remus was certain that the flyer would plow into the ground, they pulled up and soared back into the air.

"Merlin, that just about gave me a heart attack! What sort of insane…" He trailed off, then summoned Sirius's Omnioculars, muttering about suicidal students and taking house points. Focusing on the flier, who had by now reached their previous altitude, he zoomed in and almost dropped the Omnioculars when he recognized the rather aloof elf who shared the DADA position with Sirius and himself.

"No way…" Looking closer he watched as Corintur zoomed down again and took off after a gold blur that Remus could only guess was the elf's snidget. Slowing down the time and zooming even closer, he watched a look of joy spread across the elf's face as he chased his friend. The snidget (Mary?), no Miri, turned around in mid-air so she was still flying backwards but flew facing Corin. The werewolf watched entranced as a soft smile came over Corin's face and the elf then leaned closer to brush his lips faintly against the golden head, all this time flying at top speeds through the air.

Feeling as though he were somehow intruding, Remus began to pull his eyes from the Omnioculars. But before he lost sight of the pair, he caught a glimpse of the Firebolt logo on Corintur's broom. A sad look came to Remus' eyes, and he turned from the window. Reminders of Harry were constants in his and Sirius' lives, but this was one of the strongest he'd gotten yet. He sighed, but couldn't help looking back out the window at the distant fliers. And as he watched a far figure loop and zigzag through the air, an odd expression crossed his face, and he wondered…


Happy Early Christmas!!!!!!!!!! Yes, i know it's been forever... or as my sister put it: 'and ever and ever amen...' Anyways, i finally got down to it an just started writing. worked pretty good huh? finally finished about three this morning. But then i had to wait until later today to have her spell/grammar check it. she's basically my live-in beta reader. her job is pretty much based on catching those kinds of mistakes, so she's good. if you see any spelling problems, it's probably my fault for being impatient and uploading the chapter before she could check it.

Soooo, hope you enjoyed reading. feel free to leave awesome (or even not so awesome) reviews. just as long it's more than 'your story sucks.' but i love it when readers catch errors in my story so i can fix them... heehee but i like positive reviews even better...

I'll try to update quicker for chapter 25, but I make no guarantees... lol, but don't worry, the chances of me updating soooo incredibly slow like this time isn't very likely. k, i'm done, bye.

Arye