THE FLYING LESSON
"FIVE POINTS TO GRYFFINDOR",the professor said. Natasha felt happy , but then felt that something was wrong, very wrong. An eerie silence had fallen in the class. The jaws of each and every student had hit the floor. Ron had a shocked face, nearly like the one the professor had when Natasha answered the questions. Natasha could not understand why. "A professor had only awarded her a point, whats the big deal about that", Natasha thought. Snape had just continued checking the other student's potions, he did not award any other points. Not even to Hermione Granger, whose was near perfect. "He must be giving points for only perfect potions.", Natasha thought. The professor dismissed them ,after he finished checking and gave them a home work to write something about the potion they just made.
"Oh god! What have i done?". Severus Snape thought. He had just awarded points to a house other than his own, that too a Gryffindor. "A Gryffindor!", he thought. When he saw the girl, he could think of only her mother, and nobody else. She had even got the potions skills of her mother, which added further bonus to her. It was as though Lily herself was present in the classroom. But he knew the news of this will get to other teachers very fast , and if Minerva gets to know about this, she will be teasing him , for weeks to come. It will get seriously unbearable. But he knew that if he did not treat lily's child properly, Lily will come in his dreams and torture him. She had such love. "Yes ", he thought,"it is going to be a very long seven years."
When Natasha went outside , everyone looked at her even more impressed. "Hey Ron, why is everyone looking at me like this? What is the big deal about earning some points?", she asked. "You don't get any points in Snape's class unless you are a Slythetrin. That is what my brothers told me. He never gives points to other houses, especially Gryffindor. My brothers told that he hates the Gryffindor house. So everyone are shocked and impressed,",Ron replied. Natasha was shocked. "Why are people having bad impression about Professor Snape? He seems to be a nice enough guy.", Natasha thought. "Can I come and meet Hagrid with you?, Ron asked. "Yes Ron , you can.", Natasha agreed.
At five to three they left the castle and made their way across the grounds. Hagrid lived in a small wooden house on the edge of the forbidden forest. A crossbow and a pair of galoshes were outside the front door. When Natasha knocked they heard a frantic scrabbling from inside and several booming barks. Then Hagrid's voice rang out, saying, "Back, Fang – back!". Hagrid's big, hairy face appeared in the crack as he pulled the door open."Hang on," he said. "Back, Fang!" He let them in, struggling to keep a hold on the collar of an enormous black boarhound. There was only one room inside. Hams and pheasants were hanging from the ceiling, a copper kettle was boiling on the open fire, and in the corner stood a massive bed with a patchwork quilt over it. Make yerselves at home," said Hagrid, letting go of Fang, who bounded straight at Ron and started licking his ears. Like Hagrid, Fang was clearly not as fierce as he looked. "This is Ron," Natasha told Hagrid, who was pouring boiling water into a large teapot and putting rock cakes onto a plate. "Another Weasley, eh?" said Hagrid, glancing at Ron's freckles. "I spent half me life chasin' yer twin brothers away from the forest."
Natasha went on to start telling Hagrid about her life with muggles. Hagrid was shaking with anger when Natasha told him ,about how the Dursleys mistreated her. "Those ruddy muggles. I should have known", Hagrid muttered while he offered them his rock cakes. The rock cakes were shapeless lumps with raisins that almost broke their teeth, but Natasha and Ron pretended to be enjoying them as they told Hagrid all about their first -lessons. Fang rested his head on Natasha's knee and drooled all over his robes. "Yew!", Natasha thought, but she was starting to like the dog. Ron was delighted to hear Hagrid call Fitch "that old git.". But personally Natasha neither hated or liked Filch. "An' as fer that cat, Mrs. Norris, I'd like ter introduce her to Fang sometime. D'yeh know, every time I go up ter the school, she follows me everywhere? Can't get rid of her - Fitch puts her up to it. ". Natasha then went on to tell Hagrid about her potions lesson. When Hagrid heard that professor gave points to gryffindor he was shocked and he said,"Professor Snape awarded points to Gryffindor house?! The world is seriously coming to an end", hagrid said and started laughing uncontrollably. "How's yer brother Charlie?" Hagrid asked Ron. "I liked him a lot - great with animals.". While Ron told Hagrid all about Charlie's work with dragons, Natasha picked up a piece of paper that was lying on the table under the tea cozy. It was a cutting from the Daily Prophet:
GRINGOTTS BREAK-IN LATEST
Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on 31 July, widely believed to be the work of Dark wizards or witches unknown.Gringotts goblins today insisted that nothing had been taken. The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied the same day."But we're not telling you what was in there, so keep your noses out if you know what's good for you," said a Gringotts spokesgoblin this afternoon.
Natasha remembered Ron telling him on the train that someone had tried to rob Gringotts, but Ron hadn't mentioned the date. "Hagrid!" said Natasha, "that Gringotts break-in happened on my birthday! It might've been happening while we all were there!". There was no doubt about it, Hagrid definitely didn't meet Natasha's eyes this time. He grunted and offered her another rock cake. As Natasha and Ron walked back to the castle for dinner, their pockets weighed down with rock cakes they'd been too polite to refuse. Natasha had a feeling that Hagrid knew something more about the break in at Gringotts, but did not think much about it as she ate the dinner and went to sleep.
Severus Snape was having a very bad time at the dinner. "Hey Severus! I heard that you awarded points to Gryffindor today. Are you feeling alright today? or should i take you to the hospital wing?", Professor McGonagal came to him and checked his forehead. "What?", Professor Flitwick asked,"He actually gave points?". "Yes filius he did and that too to Ms Potter.", Minerva replied. Professor Dumbledore smiled and nodded at Severus. "What have i done?" ,Severus thought as he finished his dinner.
The classes started getting more and more interesting as the days went on. Her favorite subject was potions. Professor Snape was turning out to be a cruel teacher to her fellow gryffindors, but was relatively well mannered towards her, but did not award her any further points. She never minded though. She helped Neville and Ron who were both horrible in potions, but it was mostly of no use. Draco Malfoy was starting to bully people more and more much to her anger, but deep within she knew that there was a good guy inside even him. They both did not have any confrontation till there was a message in the notice board for the first years. Flying lessons would be starting on Thursday– and Gryffindor and Slytherin would be learning together. Natasha always wanted to fly, even before she knew she had powers. Malfoy talked about flying a lot. He complained loudly about first years never getting on the house Quidditch teams and told long, boastful stories that always seemed to end with him narrowly escaping Muggles in helicopters. Natasha could easily say that it was a lie. He wasn't the only one, though: the way Seamus Finnigan told it, he'd spend most of his childhood zooming around the countryside on his broomstick. Even Ron would tell anyone who'd listen about the time he'd almost hit a hang glider on Charlie's old broom.
Ron and Dean Thomas actually had a fight during at dinner in Wednesday night, regarding whether quidditch or soccer was a better game. Ron couldn't see what was exciting about a game with only one ball where no one was allowed to fly. The fight went for so long that , Natasha became bored fast and went to her dorm to study. "Boys and their petty fights ", she had thought. Neville had never been on a broomstick in his life, because his grandmother had never let him near one. Hermione Granger was almost as nervous about flying as Neville was. This was something you couldn't learn by heart out of a book. Natasha knew that flying was going to be a skill that cannot be earned through girls of her year was divided in the matter, but none of them boasted to have any previous knowledge of flying like the boys, to Natasha's relief. The girls dormitories was filled with nonsense gossips about older boys ,thanks to Lavender and Parvati. Natasha and Hermione showed very little interest in hearing about that nonsense.
At breakfast on Thursday Hermione bored them all stupid with flying tips she'd gotten out of a library book called Quidditch Through the Ages. "Neville was hanging on to her every word, desperate for anything that might help him hang on to his broomstick later, but everybody else was very pleased when Hermione's lecture was interrupted by the arrival of the mail. A barn owl brought Neville a small package from his grandmother. He opened it excitedly and showed them a glass ball, the size of a large marble, which seemed to be full of white smoke. "It's a Remembrall!" he explained. ""Gran knows I forget things –this tells you if there's something you've forgotten to do. Look, you hold it tight like this and if it turns red – oh…" His face fell, because the Remembral had suddenly glowed scarlet, "…you've forgotten something…". Neville was trying to remember what he'd forgotten when Draco Malfoy, who was passing the Gryffindor table, snatched the Remembrall out of his hand. Natasha went to Draco angrily and said," Give it back to him, Draco. It is his.". "What is it to you , Potter why are you taking on other people's business.", Draco asked. Before Natasha could reply, Professor McGonagall, who spotted trouble quicker than any teacher in the school, was there in a flash.
"What's going on?"
"Malfoy's got my Remembrall, Professor."
Scowling, Malfoy quickly dropped the Remembrall back on the table. "Just looking," he said, and he sloped away with Crabbe and Goyle behind him. Natasha was happy that the professor came ,because she did not want to be in a fight with anyone. But as she discovered , you cannot be in hogwarts and not get in trouble. At three-thirty that afternoon, Natasha, Ron, and the other Gryffindors hurried down the front steps onto the grounds for their first flying lesson. It was a clear, breezy day, and the grass rippled under their feet as they marched down the sloping lawns toward a smooth, flat lawn on the opposite side of the grounds to the forbidden forest, whose trees were swaying darkly in the distance. The Slytherins were already there, and so were twenty broomsticks in neat lines on the ground. Natasha had heard Angelina Johnson a 3rd year complain about the school brooms, saying that some of them started to vibrate if you flew too high, or always flew slightly to the left.
Their teacher, Madam Hooch, arrived. She had short, gray hair, and yellow eyes like a hawk. "Well, what are you all waiting for?" she barked. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up.". Natasha glanced down at her broom. It was old and some of the twigs stuck out at odd angles. "Seriously? can't the school provide better brooms?", she thought. "Stick out your right hand over your broom," called Madam Hooch at the front, "and say 'Up!'" . "UP!" everyone shouted. Natasha's broom jumped into her hand at once, but it was one of the few that did. She was really surprised and happy. Hermione Granger's had simply rolled over on the ground, and Neville's hadn't moved at all. Perhaps brooms, like horses, could tell when you were afraid, though there was a quaver in Neville's voice that said only too clearly that he wanted to keep his feet on the ground. Natasha felt sympathetic towards him, as he struggled. Madam Hooch then showed them how to mount their brooms without sliding off the end, and walked up and down the rows correcting their grips. Ron was delighted when she told Malfoy he'd been doing it wrong for years. But Natasha felt that as he did not have any flying lessons before, he had a proper excuse for that. "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 Neville, nervous and jumpy and frightened of being left on the ground, pushed off hard before the whistle had touched Madam Hooch's lips. Natasha was horrified when she saw Neville loosing control in the air. She always had a small soft spot for neville ,as he always got into trouble though he never wanted to.
"Come back, boy!" she shouted, but Neville was rising straight up like a cork shot out of a bottle – twelve feet – twenty feet. Natasha saw his scared white face look down at the ground falling away, saw him gasp, slip sideways off the broom and WHAM – a thud and a nasty crack and Neville lay facedown on the grass in a heap. His broomstick was still rising higher and higher, and started to drift lazily toward the forbidden forest and out of sight. Madam Hooch was bending over Neville, her face as white as his. "Broken wrist," Natasha heard her mutter. "Come on, boy – it's all right, up you get.". She 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.".Neville, his face tear-streaked, clutching his wrist, hobbled off with Madam Hooch, who had her arm around him. No sooner were they out of earshot than Draco Malfoy burst into laughter. Natasha could feel anger building up , inside her. "Did you see his face, the great lump?", Draco shouted. The other Slytherins joined in. ". Shut up, Malfoy," snapped Parvati Patil. Natasha was glad that ,even others of her house supported Neville.
"Ooh, sticking up for Longbottom?" said Pansy Parkinson, a hard-faced Slytherin girl. "Never thought you'd like fat little cry-babies, Parvati.". "Please Draco, the poor guy just got hurt, why do you want to torment him even in his absence.", Natasha asked. "Ohhh! Longbottom just got a girlfriend!", Pansy said, and the Slytherins bust into more laughter. "Look!" said Malfoy, darting forward and snatching something out of the grass. "It's that stupid thing Longbottom's Gran sent him.". "Leave that alone!", Natasha shouted as Draco took the ball. The Remembrall glittered in the sun as he held it up. "Give that here, Draco," said Natasha quietly,to try and ask nicely. Everyone stopped talking to watch. Malfoy smiled nastily,"I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find – how about, up a tree?". "Please, give it back, Draco", Natasha said, but Malfoy had leapt onto his broomstick and taken off. He hadn't been lying, he could fly well. Hovering level with the topmost branches of an oak he called, "Come and get it, whoever wants it!". Draco had ignored Natasha the whole time. Fuming with anger,Natasha grabbed her broom.
"No!" shouted Hermione Granger. "Madam Hooch told us not to move – you'll get us all into trouble.". "No Hermione i have to do this", Natasha said. She hated any form of bullying,as she was a regular victim at her muggle school. Blood was pounding in her ears. She mounted the broom and kicked hard against the ground and up, up she soared; air rushed through her hair, and her robes whipped out behind her – and in a rush of fierce joy she realized she'd found something she could do without being taught – this was easy, this was wonderful. She pulled her broomstick up a little to take it even higher, and heard screams and gasps of other girls back on the ground and an admiring whoop from Ron. The other boys were looking at her with wonder. She turned her broomstick sharply to face Malfoy in midair. Malfoy looked stunned. "I-I never expected y-you to c-come", he stammered. "Give it here," Natasha called, "and i might forgive you!". But Draco did not budge. Natasha knew, somehow, what to do. She leaned forward and grasped the broom tightly in both hands, and it shot toward Draco like a javelin. Malfoy only just got out of the way in time; Natasha made a sharp turn about to face Malfoy and held the broom steady. A few people below were clapping.
"Catch it if you can, then!" he shouted, and he threw the glass ball high into the air and streaked back to the ground. Natasha saw, as though in slow motion, the ball rise up in the air and then start to fall. She leaned forward and pointed her broom handle down – next second she was gathering speed in a steep dive, racing the ball – wind whistled in her ears, mingled with the screams of people watching – she stretched out her hand – a foot from the ground he caught it, just in time to pull her broom straight, and she toppled gently onto the grass with the Remembrall clutched safely in her fist. She had done it. She had got the ball somehow. Even Draco was staring at her in wonder.
"NATASHA POTTER!",Her heart sank faster than she'd just dived. Professor McGonagall was running toward them. She got to her feet, trembling. "Never – in all my time at Hogwarts –". Professor McGonagall was almost speechless with shock, and her glasses flashed furiously, "– how dare you – might have broken your neck –".
"It wasn't her fault, Professor –"
"Be quiet, Miss Patil –"
"But Malfoy –"
"That's enough, Mr. Weasley. Potter, follow me, now."
Natasha left with a sinking heart, she could hear Draco whispering to Crabbe,"I never wanted her to come, I expected weasley will be the one to come.". She was going to be expelled, she just knew it. She wanted to say something to defend himself, but there seemed to be something wrong with her voice. Professor McGonagall was sweeping along without even looking at her; she had to jog to keep up. Now she'd done it. She hadn't even lasted two weeks. She'd be packing her bags in ten minutes. What would the Dursleys say when he turned up on the doorstep? She was in the verge of crying, she was being expelled by the same professor who introduced her to the world. Up the front steps, up the marble staircase inside, and still Professor McGonagall didn't say a word to her. She wrenched open doors and marched along corridors with Natasha trotting miserably behind her. Professor McGonagall stopped outside a classroom. She opened the door and poked her head inside. "Excuse me, Professor Flitwick, could I borrow Wood for a moment?". "Wood? Is the professor going to beat her first and expell her?", she thought. But Wood turned out to be a person, a burly fifth-year boy who came out of Flitwick's class looking confused. "Follow me, you two," said Professor McGonagall, and they marched on up the corridor, Wood looking curiously at Natasha. "In here.",Professor McGonagall pointed them into a classroom that was empty except for Peeves, who was busy writing rude words on the blackboard.
"Out, Peeves!" she barked. Peeves threw the chalk into a bin, which clanged loudly, and swooped out cursing. Professor McGonagall slammed the door behind him and turned to face them. "Natasha, this is Oliver Wood. Wood – I've found you a Seeker.". Wood's expression changed from puzzlement to delight."Are you serious, Professor?", he asked. "Absolutely," said Professor McGonagall crisply. "The girl's a natural. I've never seen anything like it. It was her first time her in a broomstick.". Natasha knew what just happened, she was just selected for her house team. She was really excited. From the moment she had read about the sport, she wanted to play it. "She caught this thing in her hand after a fifty-foot dive," Professor McGonagall told Wood. "Didn't even scratch herself. Charlie Weasley couldn't have done it.". Wood was now looking as though all his dreams had come true at once. "Ever seen a game of Quidditch, Potter?" he asked excitedly. Natasha shook her head. "Wood's captain of the Gryffindor team," Professor McGonagall explained. "She's just the build for a Seeker, too," said Wood, now walking around Natasha and staring at her. "Light – speedy – we'll have to get hera decent broom, Professor – a Nimbus Two Thousand or a Cleansweep Seven, I'd say."
"I shall speak to Professor Dumbledore and see if we can't bend the first-year rule. Heaven knows, we need a better team than last year. Flattened in that last match by Slytherin, I couldn't look Severus Snape in the face for weeks...". Professor McGonagall peered sternly over her glasses at Natasha,"I want to hear you're training hard, Natasha, or I may change my mind about punishing you. Then she suddenly smiled. "Your father would have been proud," she said. "He was an excellent Quidditch player himself.". When she returned to the common room after the meeting ,she found that everyone went for dinner. When she found Ron at the table and told him the news, he was shocked, "You're joking.".
"Seeker?" he said. "But first years never – you must be the youngest player in about" "– century," said Natasha, shoveling pie into her mouth. She felt particularly hungry after the excitement of the afternoon. "Wood told me.". "I start training next week," said Natasha. "Only don't tell anyone, Wood wants to keep it a secret.". Fred and George weasley came to hall, being very happy that Natasha was on the team, and congratulated her. They played as beaters, in the team. Then Draco came towards the table suddenly. Natasha had noticed him trying to listen to their conversation. He placed a note on her hand secretly, and natasha accepted it. It read only one word "SORRY". Hermione Granger came to Natasha and told," You were lucky , that you were not expelled, Natasha. Please don't repeat this again.". Natasha just smiled and nodded. "Hey Ron, why don't we go and check on Neville, and give his rememberall back?", Natasha asked. "Great idea Nat!", Ron said,ready to go. "I will also come, but we need to hurry, its near curfew.", Hermione said. The three of them quickly went to the hospital wing ,and gave the Rememberall to Neville. Neville thanked Natasha profusely, and said that Madam pomfrey, the Hogwarts matron said to spent the night at the Hospital wing.
When they left the hospital , the trio realized that the curfew had already started, and they started hurrying. But when they were climbing the stairs, it suddenly shifted its position and they reached a corridor. To their dismay , they found Filches cat, wandering there. The cat saw them , and let out a loud meow. The care taker must be nearby, Natasha thought. They were in a desperate need of a hiding place. "There, " Ron said pointing them to a Door. Natasha rushed to the door, and said tapping the lock," Alohomora!". The door opened and the three of them rushed inside. They could hear filch searching for them. "They could not have gone very far Mrs . Norris." . Just then Ron started tugging on the sleeve of Natasha's robe. "What?". Natasha turned around – and saw, quite clearly, what. For a moment, he was sure he'd walked into a nightmare – this was too much, on top of everything that had happened so far. They weren't in a room, as she has supposed. They were in a corridor. The forbidden corridor on the third floor. And now they knew why it was forbidden. They were looking straight into the eyes of a monstrous dog, a dog that filled the whole space between ceiling and floor. It had three heads.
Three pairs of rolling, mad eyes; three noses, twitching and quivering in their direction; three drooling mouths, saliva hanging in slippery ropes from yellowish fangs. It was standing quite still, all six eyes staring at them, and Natasha knew that the only reason they weren't already dead was that their sudden appearance had taken it by surprise, but it was quickly getting over that, there was no mistaking what those thunderous growls meant. Natasha saw some kind of a wooden door in between its legs , and thought that it must be guarding whatever was beyond that door. Natasha groped for the doorknob – between Filch and death, she'd take Filch. They fell backward – Natasha slammed the door shut, and they ran, they almost flew, back down the corridor. Filch must have hurried off to look for them somewhere else, because they didn't see him anywhere, but they hardly cared – all they wanted to do was put as much space as possible between them and that monster. They didn't stop running until they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady on the seventh floor. "Where on earth have you all been?" she asked, looking at their bathrobes hanging off their shoulders and their flushed, sweaty faces. "Never mind that – pig snout, pig snout," panted Ron, and the portrait swung forward. They scrambled into the common room and collapsed, trembling, into armchairs. It was a while before any of them said anything. Hermione, indeed, looked as if she'd never speak again.
"What do they think they're doing, keeping a thing like that locked up in a school?" said Ron finally. "If any dog needs exercise, that one does.". "It was guarding a Trapdoor, Ron, did you not notice? It's obviously guarding something.", Both Natasha and Hermione said. "I wasn't looking at its feet, I was too busy with its heads.", Ron said. Hermione and Natasha went back to their dormitory. Natasha fell into the bed thinking. "Gringotts was broken in by someone , and the vault was emptied that day. She had read that Hogwarts was one of the safest places to keep something. Was the thing the thief had tried to steal same as the thing the dog was guarding?", Natasha thought. Her mind full of questions, Natasha fell into a restless sleep.