"Oh no…"
Harry heard the whine of displeasure before he saw the cause as he walked into the common area of Hufflepuff, stretching his arms straight up so as to not hit Ernie or Justin on either side of him who had finished getting dressed in time with him. The trio joined Hannah who was whining at the board while a red headed girl Harry knew to be Susan Bones was patting her back, whispering soothingly. "I'm sure it won't be so bad."
"Hannah? What's wrong?" Harry asked as he came out, immediately coming up to his friend's side curiously and looking over her shoulder to see the notice board.
'Attention First Years! Flying Lessons start today! Attend in your usual class groups during fourth period!'
"Ugh, perfect." Harry groaned as he instantly sympathized with Hannah, knowing how the girl had a clumsy side with a lack of confidence. "Just what I always wanted, to make myself look like an idiot on a broom in front of Malfoy."
"At least you'll be able to probably get it into your hands. I'll probably end up hitting myself in the face with the bristle end." Hannah frowned, biting her lip and pacing. The raven haired first year snorted at his friend's declaration.
"No, I'm sure you'll be fine, I'll be the one they'll be pulling out the scrapers for." He sighed and shook his head. "Nothing for it though, not much we can do to get practice in ahead of time. Although I'll bet Hermione's trying to read herself into some comfort."
"You two are a confident pair." Susan snorted as she stood up, heading for the door and giving them both a bemused glance. "I can see why you're friends."
Both blinked before turning to each other, then finding themselves laughing after a moment in surprise, although it was still nervous. The redhead's words did at least help settle them both somewhat. Enough that they could at least bring themselves to finally head out for breakfast together talking about the potentially more enjoyable parts of the day like the potential of seeing Crabbe and Goyle fly right into each other, a mental image which only increased their giggles until their little shock at how the day started couldn't erase their general good mood as they sat down at their house table.
Harry's prediction about his sister's attempts to calm herself about the new lesson came true he could see immediately as he sat down, snorting into his cereal as he watched her flipping through pages in both "Quidditch Through The Ages" and "Flights of Fancy: Magical Aerial Transportation" at once, her bushy brown hair whipping around so much with how fast she was twisting her head to read that she kept accidentally smacking Neville and Ron in the face with it, barely realizing to apologize.
Ron was clearly getting annoyed with it yet stubbornly tried to continue just eating his toast as if this wasn't a distracting occurrence while Neville slid up in his seat towards the highly entertained looking Weasley twins, just in time for the mail to arrive.
Harry watched the birds curiously as he continued to bite into his cereal, while subtly using his telekinesis to form a kind of forcefield around his own food (he was not taking any chances with so many birds overhead), sad but unsurprised to see Hedwig wasn't among them.
However one owl did catch his attention as it swooped towards Ron and Hermione, going past the pair and dropping a package right into Neville's lap. Harry tilted his head curiously, but before he could even think for a moment over what it might be, he noticed something that set off minor alarm bells in his head.
Draco was watching Neville as well with a smirk that left Harry with a well of concern. He kept one eye firmly on Malfoy as the other watched in the periphery of his vision as Neville pulled out some kind of orb with a fog inside, a smile coming onto his face as he immediately went to show Hermione who gave him a distracted smile and comment while Ron also spoke to him.
However Neville responded to these comments though, Harry didn't see as he was instead now entirely focused on the pale prat that was Malfoy trying to rise from his seat with his eyes set on Neville's new package.
Without a second thought, Harry flicked his left pointer and middle finger outwards in a sweeping motion and the bowl of cereal the Slytherin had been eating out of moments prior suddenly slid forward and spilled down his front, making him let out a yelp and start demanding who did that. Harry made sure to look away towards Hannah and strike up a simple conversation about their coming Charms class. Since today would be a rather basic introduction to conjuring small items via making sticks appear on the table, he was quite looking forward to the class anyways.
He ignored what he thought to be Malfoy's glare prickling the side of his head, unaware that the one glaring at him actually had a rather more pug-like appearance then Malfoy.
When fourth period rolled around, Harry's good mood had finally begun to shake and crumble. Try though he might not to focus on it, he just couldn't shake the feeling he was going to mess up on his broom and really do something to deserve mockery.
Not that he'd normally care that much, they were all here to learn, but something about messing up in regards to flying specifically set off an unpleasant reaction in his gut as though it was something far more embarrassing than just accidentally turning his matchstick in class into graphite instead of metal.
Perhaps it was because of the many tales of flight and the conquering of the air that many pure and half-blood students were sharing, from Ernie Macmillan's modest tale of how he had once flown from his manor's living room up to the highest point of the manor without faltering, to Malfoy's long, boastful tales about evading muggles in helicopters as he zoomed about the countryside (a claim far more dubious yet not able to be disproven), perhaps this left Harry feeling like he'd be behind.
Perhaps it was something else entirely, he wasn't sure. One thing he did know though as he stepped onto the field was Hermione was not looking excited at all, gulping and slightly pale and Harry frowned, going to her side without hesitation and standing at the broom beside her. "You'll be fine."
"I hope they don't make us go too high up…" She said quietly as she nibbled her lower lip and twitched, clearly not at all enthralled as to what they were about to do. Without hesitation the adopted Granger put an arm around his sister and squeezed her slightly.
"I'm here. You know I'd catch you long before you fell far." He said kindly, knowing their usual ribbing back and forth wasn't what she needed right now. She gave him a shaky smile and a nod, before groaning suddenly. Harry blinked confused, until the sneering voice of Malfoy reached him and he reacted much the same.
"You'll catch her, Potter?" He asked with a chuckle. "More like you'll nosedive into the ground, I'd bet. Not that you should bother, someone of her blood would never be half as good on a broom as someone of a proper family."
"You know Malfoy, just because you're as ugly as a vulture doesn't mean you need to brag about being related to them." Harry snapped back. Malfoy narrowed his eyes with frustration, opening his mouth before spotting something behind Harry and grumbling, walking off.
Harry found out what it was a moment later when the sound of Madam Hooch's voice reached them, the flight instructor and supervisor of sports on Hogwarts grounds barking orders immediately. "Alright! Everyone to your places beside your housemates, hurry up now!"
Everyone rushed to follow her words, everyone able to tell quickly that this woman wouldn't stand for dawdling, her voice continuing to bark orders. "Get beside your broomsticks!"
Glancing down at his own, Harry winced as he saw how battered and beaten his was, with twigs sticking out at odd angles. It did nothing to help his confidence rise about not making a fool of himself, but he took a deep breath and steeled his nerves. He wasn't gonna let Malfoy walk from this class with the last laugh after that jab at his family.
"Stick out your right hand over your broom," called Madam Hooch at the front, "and say 'up!'"
"UP!" everyone shouted. Harry's broom, much to his surprise but quiet delight, jumped into his hand at once, although it seemed he was one of the few this was the case for.
x
Hermione's was barely wobbling, Daphne's had gotten caught in a half hover and Terry's had ended up doing what Hannah had expected of her own, hitting him in the face with the bristle end. Hannah's, meanwhile, had responded, though had taken its sweet time doing so at her more gentle tones instead of the harsher tones others had used.
Harry couldn't help but wonder if the brooms were not unlike horses, responding to the call of their owner, reacting differently depending on the emotions and tone taken with them that they could sense?
It would certainly explain Neville's broom staying firmly on the ground in response to his quavering voice. A lot of concern started to melt away as he saw many of those who had been bragging weren't having perfect results, and he couldn't wipe the smile off his face at seeing Madam Hooch tell Malfoy he'd been using the wrong stance for years.
He caught Hannah's eyes as he chuckled and she returned it with a small amused giggle, though she clearly still held a lot more nervous energy for what was coming. At least they both had one of their bigger worries wiped out though by seeing Malfoy being taken down a peg by a teacher not even trying to do so.
"Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard," Madam Hooch called out to them once she was done assisting everyone. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle. Three, two—"
But Neville, nervous and jumpy and frightened of being left on the ground it seemed, pushed off hard before the whistle had touched Madam Hooch's lips.
"Come back, boy!" she barked as her eyes widened slightly, but Neville was rising straight up with speed equal to a cork ripped from a champagne bottle as he rose higher and higher, lifting above the castle towers. Harry saw his scared white face look down at the ground falling away. It seemed he finally realized his situation as he let out in an inaudible gasp, slid sideways off the broom and—
Harry felt his heart tighten and threw his broom away, pure instinct coating his actions as he watched the nauseating image of his gryffindor friend twisting and tumbling through the air down to a landing that would result in permanent brain damage at best if not far worse.
Madam Hooch shouted something at him, as did Hermione but Harry didn't register either. The only thing on his mind was a voice screaming he could not let Neville hit the ground, yet he knew no spell to keep him in the air.
But since when had Harry ever needed spells to control the world around him?
He fell to his knees, sliding along the grass as he threw both hands to the sky and a powerful rush, something that rocked him to his core pulsed through him, feeling his head be attacked by a pounding sensation he ignored in favour of focusing…
And to his relief, the falling shape that was Neville slowed and slowed, before coming to a stop inches above the ground and merely floating down onto the flat terrain, shaken but unharmed.
He wasn't sure what happened for the next few moments as his vision blacked out, but he registered Madam Hooch's voice mere moments later demanding what he'd done, whether both boys were alright and whether they could stand.
"I'm fine." Neville squeaked, sounding terrified. "I didn't hit anything, j-j-just s-scared."
"I'm… fine too…" Harry breathed as he sat up, feeling the teacher place a hand on his shoulder.
"Then what on earth was… that?" Madam Hooch demanded, unsure of how to refer to it. He turned to her and got a distinctly hawk-like impression from her gaze. Before he could answer however, his sister came to save his butt.
"Professor! It was his uh-" She faltered but Harry nodded at her and she bit her lip before continuing. "His telekinesis."
…
There was a moment of silence in the courtyard as every first year in the courtyard either turned to Harry with shock or confusion.
"He was born with it, he can move things with his mind, though he's never done anything as intense as that before. He's just tired." She rambled, clearly ready to launch into a whole tale about his powers if need be. A hand held up by Madam Hooch halted her though.
"I see… and will you recover fast, Mister Potter-Granger?" She asked, making Harry nod. In truth he wasn't sure he'd be much in the way of energy for the rest of the day but he wasn't so tired from that that he couldn't at least finish the lesson. "Excellent, then stay here and rest with your classmates while I escort Longbottom to the hospital. Best to have him checked over by Pomfrey just in case, but thank you for your reflexes. I was struggling to grasp my wand. Someone really needs to change what flying instructors are required to wear to have less folds to lose one's wand in."
With that last grumbled comment, she had lifted Neville to his feet, taking his arm and tugging him along towards the hospital wing. He saw Hannah and Daphne standing side by side, both staring at him with identical open mouthed gaping expressions and wide eyes. Now he just had to wait on-
"...Potter's a telekinetic!?" Anthony Goldstein of Ravenclaw had demanded with a shocked voice, causing the dam to burst and everyone to suddenly start crowding around Harry, everyone trying to ask questions.
"How?!"
"Were you born with it!?"
"Is that another thing you got like your scar?!"
"Can you show us more-"
"BACK UP!" Hermione barked, just loud enough that even the Slytherin's did so, mostly from surprise before scowling at her, however Hermione fixed everyone with a level glare. "Give him a moment to rest!"
"But this is such a cool thing!" Ron insisted with an excited glint in his eyes. "I mean mate, imagine when you can try out for Quidditch! You'll be the best player in any position on the team!"
"I've never even heard of someone with natural powers like that before." Su Li spoke up. "There's just so many questions about what he can do!"
"Which you can ask later." Hermione said firmly, helping Harry to his feat. "He's never had to do something like that before so give him a rest before you start trying to overload him."
"Is that why you didn't mention it?" Hannah spoke up. Not accusingly, in fact she sounded quite understanding as she ducked under someone's arm and put a hand on him, checking him over in her usual fussy manner to make sure he was alright. "Didn't want everyone hounding you over it?"
Harry nodded, taking a breath and almost smiling at the way that caused many of them to look bashful and blush at realizing they'd done just that. Only the Slytherins were looking at him with a mix of annoyance, and perhaps worry?
Actually, Parkinson had a look of dawning comprehension that was honestly somewhat hilarious to witness as she seemed to piece together some of the odd incidents that had happened since term started. As for…
Wait, where was Malfoy?
"Look! The cry baby dropped something!" Came his annoying voice and Harry turned to see Malfoy picking up the same orb Neville had gotten at dinner before laughing derisively. "It's a remembrall! Guess he's even more stupid than we thought."
"Give it back, Malfoy." Harry demanded immediately as a scowl settled on his face. Was nearly falling to his death not enough? What on earth did Malfoy think was fun about poking at someone like this right after such a horrible experience?
Malfoy hesitated briefly as his eyes flickered to Harry's hands before he smirked and suddenly leaped onto his broom, taking off and making Harry curse. "You want it, Potter?! Why not try using that fancy new trick of yours! Bet it's not good enough to reach!"
Harry grunted and threw a hand out, and Malfoy went slightly bug eyed as his arm started moving around somewhat against its will. Harry definitely had the range, the problem was after tiring himself out so much on a big and heavy impromptu target like Neville, even something as small and light as this 'Rememberall' was going to be hard to grasp.
It fell out the prat's grasp briefly but Malfoy responded in time, managing to grab the ball before it could come back towards Harry, barking a laugh and soaring higher. "You'll have to come get it for him! Maybe I'll leave it for him on the roof!"
"Oh for the love of…" Harry turned his gaze to his own broom and used his Telekinesis to call it over, its closeness making it a lot easier to call before he swung his legs over.
"Harry, no!" Hannah moaned fretfully and Hermione hissed.
"You'll get yourself in trouble!" She called, yet even those not familiar with the siblings could tell she'd already given up trying to convince him not to. Clearly she knew him well enough that whatever he was about to do, she was under no delusion she'd be able to talk him out of this as he suddenly shot into the air.
Harry found, instead of fear or trepidation however, a renewed sense of energy overtook and invigorated him as the broom responded to his simple instructions and movements, flying right at Malfoy and coming to a dead stop in the air in front of Malfoy. "Give it back, before I knock you off that broom! It doesn't belong to you!"
Malfoy looked significantly more worried now, this high up in the air he had no backup and he was now well aware Harry had a completely unexpected advantage on his side even if he was a bad flier, which even Harry could plainly tell he was not despite his fears.
"Yeah, you know what, you're right." Malfoy decided after a moment, and Harry felt himself do a double take in surprise. Then dread took over as he realized Malfoy wouldn't switch tunes so easily. "It's not mine, so I won't have to replace it if it breaks. Whoops."
And with that, Malfoy threw it at the ground. Harry went wide eyed and whipped around, zooming off after the little Rememberall, the wind whipping past his face, rushing in his ears as a feeling of simple understanding overtook him. There were no thoughts, just instinct, a rush, a calm in the chaos of the sky that none but he could feel, as he pelted faster and faster to the solid and unyielding earth that would surely destroy him if he didn't pull up soon, yet he kept going…
It was nearly there, it was inches from the concrete path, it was going to shatter! A quick burst of his power and the Remembeall came back just enough in the air that Harry was able to wrap his fingers around the package before pulling up in time to glide forward to the grass where he began rolling across the ground, letting the broom beneath him go and disappear to wherever it did.
There was a roaring of amazement and suddenly he felt many hands picking him up, many cheering or demanding for how he'd done that, noise rocketing him from all sides as his own eyes found Hermione who was just shaking her head at him with an exasperated expression.
Yet before any other noise could register, before he could really even find his feet, a voice made them all jump. "HARRY POTTER! DRACO MALFOY!"
"Oh no." Harry whispered quietly as he turned to see McGonagall racing towards the first years with her lips set tight, rushing over and muttering something about 'could have died!' angrily under her breath.
"What on earth were you thinking?! MISTER MALFOY, GET DOWN HERE THIS INSTANT!"
Malfoy didn't need to be told twice, immediately coming down with a flush and a scowl on his features as he dismounted and immediately began to talk. "It was Potter, professor!"
"What?! No it wasn't, he only acted because you did Malfoy!" Ron called out.
And a cacophony of noise reached them as many tried to respond, all with their own confirmations and tales, none of which could be heard over each other. A twitch went in McGonagall's jaw before she opened her mouth to bellow "SILENCE!"
Everyone fell quiet immediately and she glared at the whole class, looking around them all before pointing at Hannah and Daphne suddenly. "Miss Abbot, Miss Greengrass. Both of you tell me what happened, one at a time please. The truth."
"It was Mafloy, professor!" Hannah said immediately, clearly nervous under the headmistresses gaze yet also not letting herself falter from protecting her friend. She even ignored the rather murderous looks of the Slytherin's to continue. "Neville Longbottom fell, and Madam Hooch took him to the hospital wing but he dropped his Remembrall. Malfoy took it and when Harry tried to tell him to give it back he got on his broom to fly away with it and throw it away. Harry tried to use his telekinesis to get it back."
McGonagall briefly faltered, blinking in surprise as she clearly hadn't expected Harry's abilities to be mentioned, yet this also seemed to have the effect of drawing all her ire solely onto Malfoy as she spoke again. "I see… Miss Greengrass, is that all Mister Potter did?"
There was a sharp moment of silence and a tension felt palpable in the air as Harry turned to Daphne, as did many others. She was quiet for a moment, as if processing the question, yet she refused to meet anyone's eye as she looked away.
Harry felt his stomach drop as she answered. "Potter got on a broom when his powers didn't work to chase after him, professor."
And suddenly the ire was back to being drawn between both boys, yet Harry couldn't find himself to care about that as much as how much it stung to have Daphne give him up just like that.
"Oh you slimy snake, no wonder no one wants to sit next to you at lunch!" Ron called out suddenly yet Harry was too busy feeling his stomach twist itself up to react to his words, not that McGonagall herself was prevented from doing so.
"MISTER WEASLEY! Five points from Gryffindor for that unnecessary attitude!" The Gryffindor head of house barked snappishly before turning to the boys. "You two, follow me."
Without another word, she turned on her heel and began marching off. Malfoy glared at the raven haired telekinetic, yet Harry couldn't bring himself to send any look back, too busy trying not to let the painful feeling in his stomach bother him as much as it did as they trudged off to their punishment.
As they walked the halls, they heard the woman muttering stuff like 'never in all my years' and 'make sure this is dealt with properly' that left a sense of foreboding in Harry when she suddenly stopped in an empty hall and turned on them. She pulled out a note and handed it to Malfoy. "Professor Snape is currently attending to a patch of Devil's Snare that has been growing for his own store of ingredients. Wait here and when he comes out, hand him this note and inform him you have to serve a week of detention. I will know if you try to sneak out of it, so don't bother trying."
With that, she continued on and Harry realized with a start he was still supposed to be following her, watching as she took him to… a trophy room? "Professor? Do I have a week's detention too?"
"That depends, Mister Potter. Was your intention really just to retrieve Longbottom's possessions?" She asked and he quickly confirmed that to be the case. "Then no. You will still be punished for breaking the rules. thirty points from Hufflepuff, and a detention for this Saturday ought to do. However I will not go beyond that, since you clearly had good intentions even if your methods were flawed. Next time, please seek out a teacher to resolve the incident and not resort to nearly killing yourself in the air."
"Understood, professor." Harry nodded immediately before pausing and looking around. "Um… Can I ask why you brought me to this room to punish me though?"
"Because, while I do not approve of what you did and do not mistake this as me doing so," she began sternly, taking out a trophy before her face softened, she turned to him, showing him the plaque engraved on the trinket in her hand. "You do fly rather well for someone with no training. It seems you've inherited a skill of your birth father's, and I thought you would like to know that."
Harry blinked, looking at the plaque and feeling a warmth spread through him at what he read, even if he didn't fully understand the context yet.
'James Potter - Highest Scoring Chaser in Hogwarts History'
Clearly, whatever a chaser was had something to do with flying, which meant his father had been amazing at it. Suddenly, a whole new affection for the idea of flight overtook him, and he muttered a quiet thank you to the Gryffindor head of house as he got to leave feeling far more happy then he would have expected when he left to follow her out the courtyard…
It was about an hour after the end of class, when Harry found himself relaxing on the couch beside Hannah who was reading through her Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them textbook, having explained to her earlier what had happened (after he'd calmed her down enough to realize he wasn't being expelled when she threw herself at him).
Now they were enjoying the silence, just passing the time. Hannah was stuck between being annoyed at him for worrying them, trying to treat him with a cold shoulder, and trying to comfort him for the rampant emotions he was feeling from the chaotic lesson by squeezing his arm or offering him the last bits of candy left over from the train ride.
She was in the middle of a cold shoulder phase and he was just about to attempt breaking it by bringing up his telekinesis when something else took his attention completely. "Harry!"
His head turned and he was surprised to see Cedric Diggory descending into the common room, pointing up at the door. "Your sister is outside, she's in hysterics. She's got a redhead and a ravenclaw with her but they're saying they need you right away."
Harry only blinked once, his eyes meeting Hannah who gave him a look of confusion, clearly not understanding either (Hermione would be made aware instantly if Harry had anything worse then detention after all) so he ran to the entrance and pulled himself out, finding himself face to face with a sobbing Hermione, furious looking Ron and highly concerned looking Terry Boot.
"'Mione?" He asked concerned as he put an arm on her. "What's wrong? I'm fine, I just got a detention—"
"It's not that!" Ron practically spat, looking livid and making Harry startle at his angry outburst. "It's her wand!"
Harry felt his blood turn icy. "What?!"
"S-S-She took my wand!" Hermione cried, sniffling hard. "Parkinson's going to s-snap it!"
