A/N: I don't own Harry Potter.
Flying Lessons
September 13th, 1989
First Year
"Good Afternoon, class," a witch with short, spiky grey hair greeted as they spilled out onto the grassy training grounds. She had a button nose and remarkable yellow eyes. She reminded Jo of an imaginary friend she'd once had, a giant eagle with bright yellow eyes that she used to ride around the school.
"Good Afternoon, Madam Hooch," the class greeted back.
"Welcome to your first flying lesson! Now, pick a broomstick and stand on the left, come on, hurry it up. Now, extend your right hand over your brooms and say 'up!'," Madam Hooch directed.
"UP!" They called, and a few brooms leapt right into their prospective rider's hand others, not so much. Jo's broom zoomed into her hand on her second command. Leili's was a bit overzealous, it took her two tries and when her broom did leave the ground, it slapped into her palm with so much force that she had to force it back down to shoulder level.
"Bad Broom," she scolded quietly.
When students struggled Madam Hooch added, "With feeling!". That helped most students. "Now, once you've got a hold of your broom, I want you to mount it. Grip it tight, you don't want to be sliding off the end," she allowed a moment for the firsties to get settled before continuing.
She adjusted the grips that needed adjusting before taking her whistle and saying, "When I blow my whistle, I want each of you to kick off from the ground, hard. Keep your broom steady, hover for a moment, then lean forward slightly and touch back down. On my whistle: three, two, one." she blew and one by one students pushed off and touched back down. A few had trouble getting up or getting down but over all, they did pretty well. The next step was to learn how to fall so as to avoid injury.
"Ideally, you will never fall off your broom, but it does happen, so you want to be prepared. Now, kick off and hover a bit, just high enough that your feet are about a foot off the ground, no higher." Once they were in the air Madam Hooch cast a cushioning charm on the grass. "You want to land feet first, but that isn't always possible so, if falling forward, bend your knees and elbows and bring your arms in front of your face." She blew her whistle and barked, "Begin!"
Students began to roll off their brooms, some landing back first and getting the air knocked out of them, others on their sides, which forced them to flop and again get the wind knocked out of them, Leili was one of those such students. Some were able to land on their sides and roll to their fronts, keeping their elbows and knees bent. Few were able to land on their arms and knees immediately, but those who did would have the fewest sore spots later. "Good, some of you who landed on your sides were able to roll to your fronts, that's good. And I think I saw one or two of you who actually managed to land on your feet, that's very good. Now, try it again." Again and again they fell until they had all managed to fall well, if not properly. "Alright, class dismissed. Well done today." The class got to their feet and began to head back inside.
"Well, that was fun!" Jo said cheerfully, she'd somehow managed a cat-like landing.
"Ow," Leili laughed.