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Chapter Five
Flying Lesson
Sybil was happier the rest of the day, she felt better now she had helped Ethel and she was going to be helped with her flying. Clarice and Beatrice were happy to see Sybil was more or less back to her cheery self and for once not worrying about the performance. The rest of her lessons went well for a change and Sybil was no longer stressed.
"I am glad you are happier Sybil, I told you not to worry about the performance, we are first years, it is not like anyone else is going to be that much better tat flying" Beatrice told her friend honestly, it was true after all that the year group will not be as good as the older pupils.
"Thanks, I feel much better, hopefully Ethel will be able to teach me something" Sybil said and Clarice and Beatrice looked at each other concerned. They knew Ethel was her sister but she could be…..impossible to deal with and bossy, they were worried all she would do is upset Sybil more and make her feel like she can't fly at all.
"Sybs….are you sure it is a good idea for Ethel to give you flying lessons?" Clarice asked out of concern for her friend. Sybil sat down at the table with her two best friends and grabbed her bowl of soup before she replied.
"I know she can be mean and bossy, but she is the best flyer in the school, I need to at least give her a chance" Sybil replied, dipping bread into her soup before eating it.
"Okay, just be careful Sybil, it might do more harm than good" Beatrice replied and Sybil nodded, glad her friends cared enough to show concern.
After dinner had finished, Sybil jumped up from the table and started to head towards the courtyard, Beatrice and Clarice said goodbye and told her they would be doing homework in Clarice's bedroom so to meet them later if she had time. Sybil said she will if the lesson doesn't last to long and then walked to the broom cupboard to collect her broomstick before she walked outside, buttoning up her travelling cloak as she went. As soon as she left the castle, the cold air hit her, it was the end of September in England and it was quite cold as usual for that time of year, but at least it was dry, flying in the rain was the worse. She better get used to it though, it wasn't going to be warmer in October when she would perform anyway.
Sybil stopped and looked around, wondering if Ethel was there yet. Suddenly, the blonde in question appeared, already flying and landed next to Sybil and the younger could not help but bite her lip, thinking her sister was about to have a go at her for keeping her waiting.
"Hey sis, you ready?" Ethel said and Sybil couldn't hear annoyance in her sister's voice, but that didn't mean she wasn't annoyed, after all Ethel was good at pretending.
"Yes….sorry Ethel….I hoped you weren't waiting long" Sybil said, thinking it might make Ethel nicer if she said sorry.
"Oh I always go for a fly after dinner, I like flying, it helps clear my head and you know I don't always sleep well, I always sleep better after I have flown" Ethel explained, and Sybil realised she probably didn't mind waiting then because this was part of her routine anyway.
"Oh...that is interesting, I wish I could fly as good as you, I don't get enjoyment out of it" Sybil admitted, knowing all she got was a feeling of fear and dread.
"Don't worry, I will help you, you are a good witch Sybil, you just need to learn to be more confident, it takes practise, it took me a while to learn as well" Ethel told Sybil trying to make her feel better. Sybil smiled and mounted her broomstick, preparing to learn and listen.
"Sybil don't do that, if you look at the ground as you take of you will feel dizzy, try to look forward, here look" Ethel said, showing Sybil on her broomstick the correct way to do it. Sybil looked at the ground, saw the ground flashing before her eyes, like how it looked in a car when you drove fast and made herself feel dizzy and sick and more fearful when she started flying. Ethel thought it was probably because she was afraid she was doing it, but it made it worse.
Sybil knew some people will tell her to not listen to a word Ethel says when she tries to teach her something, she is lying and wants to make you look bad, but it didn't make sense in this case, if Sybil messed up, the school would be embarrassed in front of the Great Wizard and that would include Ethel becoming embarrassed as well.
"Don't think so much about it Sybil" Ethel said as Sybil kept squeezing her eyes shut from fear, it took her a while to even get in the air because she kept becoming to scared to take off, but once she was finally up she flew slowly, feeling sick from nerves. She was so nervous she went of course in the wrong direction and started to scream as she headed for a tree, but then she felt her broomstick stopped and saw Ethel holding onto the handle.
"Sybil be careful, you were inches away from that tree" Ethel told her, luckily she had fast reflexes and had stopped her but just in time.
"Can we stop? I don't like flying, I don't want to do it anymore" Sybil said feeling herself growing upset. Ethel looked at her and shook her head.
"No we cannot. How do you ever expect to improve if you always give up Sybil" Ethel said, raising her voice a little. Sybil wasn't shocked, in fact she had being waiting for the moment Ethel would have a go at her.
"But I can't do it" Sybil said shaking her head and letting some tears fall as she did so.
"Yes you can, you are a Hallow, and you are brave, you just don't believe in yourself Sybil" Ethel told her and Sybil sighed.
She knew Ethel was trying to help her, but she was sure it was hopeless. Ethel was such a good flyer for one reason only. Esmerelda. She was the one who had taught Ethel for hours until Ethel could fly perfectly, of course they had lessons and their gran had taught them the flying basics, but Esmerelda taught Ethel to fly once she had being at Cackles and had picked up on more tactics. The eldest had tried to teach Sybil too, but Sybil was so terrified, it never worked because Sybil got to scared and wanted to leave halfway through. Esmerelda was not the type of person to shout at her in case she got upset, maybe that was a weakness for Esmerelda, because now Sybil was more scared than ever of flying. If Esmerelda couldn't teach her, she doubted Ethel could.
"Come on" Ethel said lowering her voice "You will be okay, I won't let you fall" Ethel told her sister and Sybil gulped, wanting to go in the castle and never fly again, but she stayed, she had to try, this was something she had to learn before Halloween. The girl took some deep breaths before nodding.
"Okay….I will do what you say" Sybil said, wishing Esmerelda was here to reassure her too, she missed her eldest sister.
"Alright, just try keep calm" Ethel told her, knowing this was going to take a long time to teach her, but she had done her a favour and she didn't want her sisters to hate her like everyone else, so she would keep working with her.
"Alright, let's start easy, I am going to show you how to position properly, don't hunch your back like that, keep straight, and don't grip the broomstick so tightly, just lightly" Ethel said helping her sister to sit on the broomstick properly. The girl had got into bad habits and now she had to fix them.
"I am sorry I am so useless at flying, I do try" Sybil said upset, thinking her sister having to correct everything was annoying her, she knew Ethel had a sort temper.
"Sybil I know you don't like heights, but it is okay we can fix it, we just have to keep at it" Ethel told her flying alongside her sister so she could watch her.
"I wish I was great at everything like you" Sybil replied with a sigh.
"It is called studying non-stop Sybil, I am not naturally clever, that is Esmerelda" Ethel said and Sybil looked sad at that, feeling the absence of her sister. Talking about Esmerelda clearly knocked Ethel back too as she suddenly stopped talking and just floated in mid-air, looking down sadly.
"I think that is enough for today, we have being at it for an hour and it is getting late" Ethel said as she followed behind Sybil as they landed, so she could watch her.
"You did well Sybil, if we keep this up you will be perfect in no-time, come on we best get inside before HB checks on us for lights out" Ethel said as the two sisters walked into the school, and put their broomsticks away. Sybil was happy with how her lesson had gone, but she still wasn't sure she would ever improve. Flying was so technical, she was not sure she would ever pick it up.