The Provisional Laws of Acquired Behavior or Learning
Authors Note: Gone back over my previous chapters and noted some grammatical errors, then I actually facepalmed because I'm a self-professed grammar nazi who is now feeling a bit hypocritical. If a reader spots a grammatical error and wants to point it out please do so in the reviews.
Disclaimer: I don't at this time own any published work of Sega or JK Rowling, if I did I'd gut the current Sonic fandom and only allow literate people to contribute cutting the fandom back by 90% and improving the quality by the same percentage.
Friday
Hogwarts Library 9:00am
It was 9:00am in the morning, Ronald Weasley acknowledged that his brothers would have a heart attack at the fact that their lazy little brother was up so early, he had swallowed his pride and gone to his brother first thing in the morning about his hexing last night but Percy had rapidly proven himself quite useless telling him that he was overreacting and to stop causing trouble. With the prefect option out, tarnishing his opinion of authority in the process and his roommates malice promising gazes from last night featuring prominently in his nightmares all last night Ronald Weasley had sought another way out.
Arrayed on the table next to him were several books such as Self-Defensive Spellwork, A Compendium of Common Curses and Their Counter-Actions, and Charms of Defence and Deterrence one of which would hopefully contain a few helpful spells to protect himself with. Forget pranking the school Ron would have a hard enough time staying ahead of his dorm mates.
Great Hall – 11:00am
Maurice and Susan sat at the end of the great hall nearest the doors a slow draft from the doors keeping the two cool in the face of the sunshine, two brooms finally returned after a long inspection lain out on the table as well as a box full of miscellaneous items.
Miscellaneous because Maurice had no clue what some of the oddly shaped and labelled things were for "So why clippers? I though the twigs were all enchanted so wouldn't clipping them damage the spells?"
Even as she pruned the broomstick Susan patiently explained to the baffled bluenet "Because part of the magic on flying brooms mean the bristles still grow but the new growth isn't enchanted and is leeching off the magic of the broom to grow at all."
Susan pointed out the green on the tip of one bristle to Maurice who nodded in understanding before asking another question.
"Why use wood then?"
"Because the flying enchantments used don't mix with the weightless charm and the wood used in broom crafting is lightweight already and very cheap."
Maurice just looked at the booms "Seems a whole lot of trouble"
"So why did you buy a broom then" asked Susan unscrewing a bottle of wax polish.
Maurice wrinkled his nose at the smell eyeing the bottle "Because it's the wizarding world, it's expected and it was on the list"
"A Nimbus 2000 is a top of the line racing broom" Susan pointed out idly.
Maurice shrugged eyeing the assortment of broom care items with mild disgust "It seemed like a good idea at the time but now I realized it's a bit like owning a car" picking up a small jar of boom polish Maurice pointedly examined the expiry date on the label a week after its purchase date.
"You don't have do maintenance but if you do it'll last much longer and for the price you paid for it that's is well worth it"
Maurice shrugged unconvinced "I got it at a discount actually, you can use it whenever, it's just going to get dusty in my trunk for how often I'll use it"
"Well anyway" Susan passed the freshly polished broom into bluenet's un-resisting hands "Even if you only uses it for practice and prefer running it's a good emergency escape route"
Maurice couldn't argue with that.
Madam Rolanda Hooch smiled warmly at the sight before her, arrayed on the ground in formation there were thirty Nimbus 2000s, in mint condition! Suffice to say Rolanda had thoroughly enjoyed watching Devlin Whitehorn founder of the Nimbus Racing Broom Company tear the Hogwarts Board of Governors to metaphorical shreds over the wireless blaming them wholesale for the relatively poor showings and lack of talent from Hogwarts Alumni in the last forty years, because they were being cheap!
Madam Hooch had been teaching flying at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for 20 years when the aftermath of an ill made animagus potion which boosted her eyesight to that of a hawks and forevermore barred her from playing broom based sports professionally. Unlike most of the staff that had been recruited in previous years by Albus Dumbledore, She had been recruited by a tag team of Professor McGonagall and Madam Poppy Pomfrey both of whom saw the advantage of a hawks eyesight in regards to watching over unruly children learning to fly at dangerous heights.
Fun Fact: Pomfrey once had a similar set of slides to the ones Lucretia had shown in class detailing graphically each and every Quidditch induced injury Hogwarts had ever witnessed. Naturally they were confiscated by the Board of Governors after that one year when none of the houses could field enough members for a Quidditch team between them and the British Quidditch League talent scouts complained.
This year would be the beginning of something great Madam Rolanda Hooch vowed, this year would see the rise of the next Quidditch stars and she'd be responsible for their rise. Let's see Minerva 'Transfiguration Mastery' McGonagall try to boast about her old students sending her whiskey every Christmas this time! In ten years or so she'd be the one waving tickets for the Quidditch World Cup in her face. Madam Rolanda Hooch, Teacher of Champions.
The bell rang as her students filtered into the field the second and third years watching nearby or eating their lunch outside whilst the first years began their first flying lesson.
Maurice and Susan stood with the congregation of twenty-five first years of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff denomination, only a few seemed to be actually excited about flying.
The rest of the first years comprising of Slytherin and Gryffindor sat in the stands of the Quidditch pitch watching the flying lesson.
"Who do you thinks going to fall first?" Sophie sighed hearing the usually suspects Hannah Abbott and Lavender Brown try to stir up gossip again, both had adapted poorly to being in Slytherin. Rumors of Abbott's own screaming fit in Professor Slughorn's office with her parents and Headmistress McGonagall and begging to be re-sorted had been strangled before they left the common room despite Browns best efforts. Slytherin kept a lid on its internal squabbles and bartering rumors and gossip to become popular simply didn't work there, a semi useful holdover from the prior alumni.
Roger caught Sophie's gaze in silent commiseration of their seemingly defective housemates, Abbott's dislike of Susan Bones was problematic and very stupid in the long term for Slytherin but mostly for the Abbott girl herself.
Amelia Bones ruled Wizarding Britain with a velvet covered fist, a not-quite dictator changing laws and edicts that had been in place since times immemorial, changes of which had led many who previously struggled to thrive. A good example would be the new job openings of which Sophie's own family had benefited from immensely, netting her father a well paying position as a flying instructor with the Sky Patrol Task Force training hopefuls to join the Ministry's Airborne Wizard Division. Sophie idolized Amelia Bones, Roger knew this from spending a good few hours before their first astronomy class calming the girl down enough to interact with Susan Bones without coming off like an extremely slavish fan.
Susan Bones had at first been a unknown entity but from what Roger had gathered she had a good head on her shoulders and no obvious bias, her friend Maurice got a nod as his unusual ability of running at incredible speeds which would make him a incredible asset in combat and otherwise.
In short the Abbott girl was alienating herself and Brown was in for a harsh reality check, Roger had heard that the prefects were going to set up a meeting with the girls and explain their shortcomings.
Roger wondered if this was the prelude to the dreaded teenage drama the prefects so bemoaned.
Madam Rolanda Hooch strode confidently between the line of broomsticks gesturing for the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs to line up on either side "Students! Welcome to your first flying lesson, everyone step up to the left side of your broomstick, stick your right hand over your broom and say up"
Maurice blinked as his broomstick steadily rose to his hand Susan's mirroring his, "Huh, I didn't know this was a thing" Susan responded "I usually just take right off without bothering with this stage at home, its not like I store my broomsticks horizontally on the ground"
"With feeling!" Hooch emphasized already she had spotted a few problem students hindered by their lack of confidence.
"Once you have your broom mount it and none of that silly side saddle stuff, you'll slide right off." The last comment directed to a group of giggling girls about to try just that.
"When I blow my whistle I want you to kick off from the ground hard in groups of four starting from my side"
Naturally at that moment the first of a clutter of spiders, each the approximate size of a car and larger, sprang out of the trees and tried to eat the students.
