Chapter 5. The Flying Accident
On Saturday morning Maura woke up to a purring Salem on her chest. She gave him a few scratches under his chin. She opened the curtain of her bed slightly and the diffused light from the lake hit her face. The dormitory was bathed in a light blue shade. The curtains of the beds of her roommates were still closed.
Maura washed and got dressed silently, trying not to wake anyone up. Salem curled around her legs excitedly while she put her Potions book and supplies in her bag and made her way towards the common room.
"You know you can go wherever you want without my permission, right?" She whispered at Salem as she walked down the spiral staircase. It was still quiet in the common room. Only a few students were sitting around in the big chairs or at a table. Maura checked the pendulum clock above the fireplace and saw it was five to 8 am.
She collapsed in a soft chair, with Salem immediately jumping on her lap and nestling himself, and waited. She noticed Salem had become a bit heavier. She didn't know if it was because he was growing or because he had gotten as many food and treats as he wanted from the house elves in the past week. Probably both. She felt a bit guilty for not being able to give as much attention to Salem as she usually would because of all her classes and homework she had to do. Since the moment she had adopted Salem from Diagon Alley over the summer, they had been inseparable before they stepped into the Hogwarts Express. Maura hoped Salem started feeling at home enough at Hogwarts to start wandering around and make friends with other cats soon.
After a few minutes of waiting, petting Salem, and looking out into the lake, Blaise came down the spiral staircase that let to the boys' dormitories. He looked perfectly put together like he always did, unlike Maura who hadn't bothered to tame her curls.
"Took you long enough! I'm starving," Maura said while she put Salem on the ground, stood up and put the strap of her bag around her shoulder. Blaise looked at the clock.
"I'm precisely on time," he replied while he made his way over to her. He crouched and petted Salem who headbutted him passionately.
"A wizard is never late. Nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to," they heard someone jokingly say from inside a big chair near the fireplace. It was a boy of about two years older than them with short black hair and a sharp chin. They both looked at him quizzically at which the boy sighed.
"It's a muggle thing... from a book," he muttered. Maura and Blaise looked at each other and shrugged.
"Never heard of it," Maura said.
"Forget it," the boy said and turned back to the book he was holding.
Maura and Blaise made their way towards the portrait.
"How can he expect people to understand muggle things in Slytherin of all Houses?" Blaise asked as the wall to the common room closed behind them.
"I don't know. One of his parents is probably a muggle," Maura replied. Blaise snorted disdainfully. "What? Have a problem with that?" Maura eyed him.
"I just don't think it's something to brag about," he answered.
When they made it to the Great Hall Maura's mouth immediately started to water as she smelled the food.
"I'm claiming the fluffiest pancake," she muttered to Blaise while she quickly walked over to the Slytherin table and took a seat. She started piling her plate with pancakes, cream, and blueberries. Then she filled a mug with some hot tea and poured a small cloud of milk into it. She warmed her hands on the mug. "The mornings are so cold here," she said.
"No, it's just the dungeons that are cold. Up here it's not too bad," Blaise replied.
"It just takes a long time for me to warm up again," Maura said, her hands still on the warm mug. "Wherever the other Houses are sleeping, I hope they know they're lucky they're above ground."
While she began to eat, Maura got out her Potions book and started reading about the Cure for Boils, the potion she was supposed to brew and write an essay about as homework.
After breakfast they found an empty classroom on the first floor to do their homework. Maura didn't want to brew the potion inside the Slytherin common room, in case it went wrong. While Blaise worked on an essay for Defence Against the Dark Arts, Maura worked on her Potions essay. She wrote down what the ingredients for the potion were, how they should be prepared, what wand movements were needed for the potion to turn out successful, why you had to stir in a different way after adding the flobberworm mucus and ginger root than after adding the porcupine quills, and finally that there will be pink smoke rising from the cauldron if the potion is made successfully.
With a hurting wrist from all the writing, Maura revised her essay and then set out her Potions supplies. With the information of her essay fresh in her mind she began making the potion.
She realised it was way easier now that she had studied the instructions carefully. After about one and a half hours, and some occasional advice from Blaise, pink smoke was curling above Maura's cauldron.
Maura let out a long, relieved, breath while she filled a vial with the potion.
"I live to fight another week in Potions class," she said at which Blaise rolled his eyes.
On Sunday a notice appeared in the Slytherin common room stating that the first Flying lesson would start next Thursday and that they would be learning together with the Gryffindors. For the next few days people didn't talk about anything else than flying and Quidditch. Especially Malfoy immensely enjoyed the attention he got when he boasted about his Quidditch skills. He also kept telling stories about how he narrowly escaped muggles in helicopters while flying the countryside. On top of that he complained loudly about the fact that first years almost never made it on the Hogwarts Quidditch teams, and after a few days Maura was incredibly tired of him.
Of course, she was incredibly excited as well. She loved flying and she didn't mind that she would get to show off her skills to people who had probably never been on a broom before, because there were quite some people in Gryffindor who weren't from magical families.
Neville had never been on a broom either, but that had nothing to do with his origins. Granny never let him even near a broomstick, because she was afraid he would hurt himself. Maura didn't disagree. Neville was someone who didn't need to be high up in the air to hurt himself badly. Maura never had that restriction put on her and she had been able to fly whenever she wanted, at least until dinner was served. Of course Neville had always been jealous of this fact. Now, granny couldn't stop Neville anymore, because it was required that all students at Hogwarts learned how to fly.
On the morning of their first Flying lesson, the mail came in. Hundreds of owls flew into the Great Hall through the open windows. They dropped letters and packages all over the four House tables. Maura didn't have an owl of her own, so she was heavily startled when a big brown barn owl dropped a package half into her cornflakes. The splashing milk drops narrowly missed her robes. She quickly fished the package out of the bowl and cleaned it with her napkin. She opened it and found a small letter from her grandmother, who wished her well. The package also contained a beautiful new quill made of eagle's feather. Maura admired it before getting a bottle of ink out of her bag and wrote a short 'thank you' note back, mentioning that she liked it at Hogwarts and that she missed her.
While leaving the Great Hall after breakfast Maura ran into Neville.
"Look what gran got me!" Neville said excitedly, "It's a Remembrall!" He showed her the large marble-sized glass ball. There was red smoke inside it. "It has been red since I got it, but I don't remember what I've forgotten."
"That's such a cool gift!" Maura looked admiringly at the rolling smoke inside the glass ball. "Gran got me a new quill made from an eagle's feather." Maura showed Neville the feather as well.
"Oo, got granny you gifts? How adorable," Malfoy said sarcastically while he walked past. His group of cronies, who were always around him, sniggered.
If looks could kill, Maura had become a murderer before the end of their first month at Hogwarts.
Malfoy snatched the Remembrall out of Neville's hand with a grin on his face, but in the blink of an eye Maura had her wand out and was sticking it against his cheek. He had the decency to tremble and look slightly uneasy.
"We will not have pathetic quarrels in my house. Longbottom get that wand away from Mr. Malfoy," Maura heard Snape's voice say from behind her. Maura scowled, but did as she was told. Snape left again without another word. Malfoy sniggered and threw the Remembrall in the air, before walking off as well. Maura quickly snatched it from the air and gave it back to Neville, who gladly accepted it and put it safely in his pocket.
Together they walked out of the Great Hall, heavily complaining about Malfoy and his stupid friends.
"Are you nervous?" Maura asked him after a minute, referring to the Flying lesson of that afternoon.
"Of course I'm nervous," he answered. "However, Hermione had some tips she read in Quidditch Through the Ages. I tried to remember all of them, but I'm scared I might forget them before the lesson starts," he added. Maura chuckled.
"I have a tip as well. Just don't fall off, then you'll be alright," she said and gave him a playful nudge. It was hard to get Neville angry, but by the look he gave her, Maura thought she could be very close.
"Honestly, you're such a pain sometimes."
"Ah come on. It was a joke." Maura gave Neville another nudge. He looked at her with a slightly irritated expression.
"Okay, I'm sorry. I won't talk about falling. It's not going to happen. We'll have a great teacher. And besides, there are probably lots of people who've never flown before!" she said quickly.
However she didn't quite make Neville appear less nervous. With a sigh and a quiet 'see ya later' he went off towards his class.
The Slytherins had three other classes before Flying, but they were hardly paying any attention during them. They wouldn't stop talking about how amazing it would be to finally fly again. First years weren't allowed their own broomsticks, so the only way they could fly was during the lesson or, if — in some magical way — you made it into the Quidditch team.
During Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor Quirrel had trouble keeping the class silent. This made his stuttering even worse and by the end of the class, he looked like he was almost in tears. Blaise said he didn't feel sorry for him and that he might have if Quirrel's teaching was actually good, but it wasn't. Maura thought this was a bit harsh, but she couldn't disagree either. She loathed the Defence Against the Dark Arts classes by now, even though it still was the subject she wanted to learn from the most, but not in the theoretical kind of way they were doing now. She had to figure out some way to get to practice spells.
Professor McGonagall quickly made short work of the noise inside her classroom. She had that strict energy around her that you didn't want to disturb.
Maura and Blaise had kept practicing their Transfiguration homework diligently, so by now they were able to transform a match into a needle completely on their own. They got the assignment of turning a fork into a paintbrush, but by the end of the class Maura and Blaise both succeeded at it and Professor McGonagall gave them both a point for Slytherin. As homework they could try turning a tree branch into a flower, which Blaise thought was a bit dull, but Maura was very excited about.
"If we're able to do this, we can decorate the whole common room!" Maura said after the class had ended.
"We're already able to do that by picking flowers," Blaise answered dryly.
"There's no challenge in that," Maura huffed.
"It's not about the challenge, it's about the result."
Maura raised her eyebrows. "Life must be boring for you."
Finally, after one long, boring hour of History of Magic, in which everyone had been looking out the window in anticipation, it was half past three. The Slytherins were waiting excitedly on a smooth, flat lawn on the opposite side of the grounds to the forbidden forest. It was a beautiful clear, breezy day. In front of them were twenty broomsticks lying in neat lines on the ground. Malfoy was complaining passionately about the horrible quality they were in and that his father would give him a Nimbus 2000 if he was allowed a broomstick at Hogwarts.
After a few minutes the Gryffindors arrived. Maura waved at Neville and to her relief he waved back. However, he was looking like he was going to be sick.
"Hey Longbottom, your brother doesn't look so good," Pansy sneered from behind Maura, who sighed in exasperation.
"I'm pretty sure you won't either in a few minutes when you find out I've jinxed your broom," Maura replied while looking around over her shoulder. Pansy's smile fell.
"You can't do that. Where would you have learned how to do that?" she demanded, and then turned to Millicent, "She can't do that right?" Maura turned back around again.
At that exact moment their teacher, Madam Hooch, arrived. Maura noticed she had yellow eyes. Her hair was short and grey.
"How did she make her eyes look like that?" Maura whispered at Blaise, who was standing next to her. Blaise shrugged.
"Well, what are you all waiting for?" Madam Hooch barked. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up." Everyone darted forward to get to a broomstick.
"Stick out your right hand over your broom," called Madam Hooch at the front, "and say 'Up!'"
"UP!" everyone shouted.
Maura's broom shot into her hand. With a proud smile she looked around her and saw she was one of the few who had managed it. Malfoy and Potter were also holding their brooms in their hands. Maura looked over at Neville and saw that his broom hadn't even moved. Pansy's broom was still one the ground as well. Maura caught her eyes and smiled at her innocently. Pansy knotted her eyebrows.
"If your broomstick is still on the ground, pick it up. Then mount it like this. If you do it right, you won't slide off the end," Madam Hooch demonstrated.
She slowly went up and down the rows of students, correcting their grips. When she stopped at Malfoy, she gave him some instructions.
"But I've been doing it like this for years!" he ranted.
"Then you've been doing it wrong for years," Madam Hooch replied calmly and went on. The Gryffindors chuckled. Maura caught Harry's eyes and smiled. She suddenly found it important to show them that she had the same opinion about Malfoy as they did. To her relief Harry returned a small smile.
"I saw that," Blaise said with a chuckle. "Figure out where your loyalty lies," he quietly impersonated Malfoy who had said the same thing on their first day. Maura rolled her eyes. They seemed to be rolling their eyes a lot at each other.
"Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard," said Madam Hooch. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle — three — two —"
But before Madam Hooch brought the whistle to her lips, Neville kicked off hard. He rapidly rose straight up, higher and higher.
"Neville!" Maura shouted with a hint of panic in her voice. He can't fly, he can't fly, he can't fly, was all she was thinking.
"Come back, boy!" Madam Hooch shouted. Maura saw Neville's scared white face look down at the ground falling away.
Maura kicked off the ground as well.
"What— No! You can fly when I say you can fly. Come back, both of you!" Madam Hooch commanded.
"Hold tight!" Maura yelled at Neville. He was still rising up and he looked like he was going to faint. She tried to fly towards him as fast as she could, but before Maura had made it halfway, he slipped sideways off the broom. She watched with horror as he passed her on his way down to the ground.
WHAM — he hit the ground with a thud and a nasty crack. Maura quickly turned her broom around towards where he was laying facedown on the grass. She got there as Madam Hooch was bending over him with a shocked expression.
"Broken wrist," she muttered. "Come on, boy — it's all right, up you get." Maura quickly threw down her broom and went to his side.
"Oh, Neville," she whispered as she saw the mess that was his wrist.
"Owowowow," Neville whimpered.
Madam Hooch turned to the rest of the class. "None of you is to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch.' Come on dear."
"I'm coming with," Maura said while she put an arm around Neville. His face was tear-streaked and he was clutching his wrist. Madam Hooch nodded and they walked off towards the castle.
At the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey came rushing towards them.
"Oh dear, what happened to you boy?" she asked Neville while looking at his wrist.
"He fell off his broomstick," Madam Hooch replied, her voice sounding concerned. Madam Pomfrey looked at her with a stern, knowing glance. This was probably not the first time someone had to go to the hospital wing after a Flying lesson, Maura thought.
Madam Pomfrey gave Neville a chair and a glass of water. Then she held his wrist steadily in her hand and tapped her hand on it once. Maura saw something in Neville's wrist shifting. He flinched. After two seconds his wrist didn't look crooked anymore.
"That'll do it," Madam Pomfrey said. Neville looked relieved, but still incredibly nauseous.
"I think I need a—" Neville began, then buckled over and threw up on the floor.
"Let's get you to a bed." Madam Pomfrey escorted Neville to one of the beds and he lay down.
"Well, I'll be on my way then. Get well soon, boy," Madam Hooch said and walked off. Maura went to sit at Neville's side while Madam Pomfrey cleaned up the floor.
"I just need ten minutes," Neville groaned.
"Take your time," Maura responded. "I'll stay for a little while." She sat with him until her stomach began to growl. Neville was fast asleep, so she left him and went downstairs to the Great Hall.
"You missed something," Blaise said when Maura arrived at dinner.
"Oh no! How could I have possibly missed something important, while I was at the hospital wing with my brother," Maura said sarcastically. She began piling her plate with potatoes.
"Wow, I'm sorry Miss Cranky. I just thought you would want to know Malfoy and Potter had a fight," Blaise reported with a smirk on his face. Maura stopped moving while she was holding a potato mid-air. That did get her attention.
"What about?" she inquired.
"Malfoy found your brother's Remembrall lying in the grass. Harry told him to give it to him, but Malfoy didn't," Blaise began. Maura turned towards Blaise with disbelief in her eyes.
"He flew off and Potter started chasing him. Then suddenly, Malfoy threw the glass ball away. Potter caught it a foot from the ground," Blaise spoke. "Oh, and Malfoy called your brother a 'great lump.'" Blaise finished, waiting for Maura's reaction.
"I'm. going. to. kill. that. pig," she whispered, while balling her fists. She looked over at where Malfoy was sitting, talking loudly and looking smug.
"Dude, you're scaring me and that is saying something." Blaise said while he stabbed a piece of beef on his fork. "Besides, you don't want to get on Snape's bad side, if you're not already there."
Maura scoffed.
"I will not let him get away with this!"
"You don't have to. Get back at him as much as you like, just don't get caught."
Maura let out a frustrated breath and smacked some broccoli and mushrooms on her plate. Then she began to eat while brooding on a way to punish Malfoy.
"You're going to help," Maura said with her mouth full. Blaise looked at her darkly.
"I'll decide that for myself."