Flying Lessons, Raynie was scared. Being afraid of heights, turned this into her worst nightmare, but she stood, broom in hand, waiting to be told the next step. She half wished she would throw up and get it over with. Her mother was not here to give her the medicine, which she now knew was a sickness-be-gone potion, after she got up in the morning to calm her nerves.
"Mount up!" Madame Hooch said.
Felling green, the girl did as she was told, praying that she wouldn't leave the ground.
"When I blow my whistle, you will kick off the ground; fly a few feet then land." She said, "Three, two, one."
Raynie kicked off the ground as Madame Hooch blew the whistle. The girl was in the air for about half a second before she was on her back, on the ground. She had flipped upside-down before she had fallen.
As she lay there, she could see that the rest of the first years were either on the ground looking rather flustered or in the air quite shocked and pleased with themselves. Few had noticed Raynie's mishap and only the few on brooms dared laugh. Raynie blushed fiercely as she stood.
After several more attempts, Raynie progressed, from landing on her back, to being dumped on her butt. She would always hover for a bit before gravity decided it didn't want to let her go and pulled her back.
"There's always one in every group," Madam Hooch said, patting her on the back, "With time, you'll improve."
Raynie mumbled a word of thanks to be polite, but inside she was glad she was unable to go anywhere but down. If she had lost control after she had risen over ten feet like most of the other first years, she could have seriously hurt herself. Now she only suffered a few bruises, instead of broken bones.