A few weeks after Harry's first Quidditch game, the group gathered again at the field to watch the Hufflepuff/Ravenclaw game, hoping to get to see Penny play. Much to their disappointment, however, Penny made no appearance on the field whatsoever, and despite somewhat enjoying the game - and cheering for Cedric when he caught the Snitch - none of them were really happy with the outcome. However, Harry was much happier when after the game Penny tackled him in a happy hug.
"Hey Harry!" she declared happily. "Enjoy the game?"
"More or less," Harry allowed as he returned the embrace, having managed to keep his feet. "Was hoping to see you out there, though."
"I am the reserve Chaser," Penny pointed out with an amused smile. "Just because I'm good on the broom is no reason to take the position away when the team has practiced together for several years. It'd take way too long for them to get used to me and vice versa for me to play in the first game." She shrugged her shoulders. "Besides, it's just a game."
"Heresy..." Ron whispered while giving Penny an affronted look that she completely ignored.
"The game I'm looking forward to isn't until late February," Penny pointed out with a grin. "That one's Gryffindor vs Hufflepuff, so we'll be able to play together! Cedric says I'll be playing that game, since Hufflepuff likes to cycle between first string and reserve players so everyone gets a chance to play!"
"Doesn't seem like a winning strategy," Neville pointed out thoughtfully. "Most teams keep their best players on the first string to come in strong."
"On the other hand, that would mean that everyone on the Hufflepuff team - both first string and reserve - are pushing themselves to be the best," Hermione pointed out excitedly. "That would also mean no one could get an idea how the team will play in any particular game when they don't know who will be in which game. A rather clever strategy."
"Not really," Ron pointed out with a shrug. "According to Fred and George, Hufflepuff hasn't won the Quidditch Cup in decades."
"Guess I'm your main competition then, huh?" Penny pointed out playfully, twitching her tail in a teasing manner.
"That's going to be fun," Harry replied warmly, genuinely looking forward to it. "Still, that leaves the rest of today. I was looking forward to seeing you in the air..."
"In that case, who wants to go climbing?" Penny asked curiously, glancing at the group.
"...wot?" Ron asked, looking rather stupefied.
"I should have seen that coming..." Hermione allowed ruefully.
"As long as you'll teach me," Harry offered warmly.
"...I-I'm in!" Neville insisted firmly despite his nervous stammer, bringing more shocked stares.
"...wot?"
Penny smiled as she turned to face the group at the foot of the castle walls, just below the window she usually climbed out of to get to Gryffindor Tower at night. "Okay, you all have your brooms, right?" she asked as her own broom - the one she used as part of Hufflepuff Quidditch team, anyway, since she couldn't bring her own broom to Hogwarts until the next year - flew to her of its accord.
"We borrowed them from Madam Hooch," Hermione stated, holding one uncertainly.
"Since we passed flying class, we're allowed to fly to relax," Ron explained with a shrug.
"But...why do we need a broom to climb?" Neville asked nervously. While he had passed his flying lessons - eventually - between having been dangled out his window by his Great-Uncle once and falling during his first lesson, he doubted he would ever be fully comfortable with brooms and heights. That was part of why he'd insisted on coming to climb. As terrified as it made him...so far, every time he stood up to fear while with Harry, Penny, Ron, and Hermione, things had gone well and improved things for him. The respect Fred and George treated him with after the discussion with Headmaster Dumbledore when he'd managed to talk them out of point loss - somehow - had bled over to the other Gryffindors, and despite his struggles with magic, it was nice not being a laughingstock.
"Safety gear," Penny explained as she rapidly scaled the wall a few feet, the broom hovering below her. "If you fall, you can call your broom to catch you."
"How?" Harry asked curiously, glancing from Penny to his Nimbus 2000.
"Part of the magic that makes brooms work to fly preserves the living spirit of the tree the broom came from," Penny explained warmly. "When you climb, just think of yourself as climbing that tree, with that branch always just below you to catch you in case you slip. As long as that's firmly in your mind to the point you expect the broom to catch you..." She raced up several more feet before deliberately releasing the wall. As she started to fall, the broom shot up and into her hand and slipped between her legs, catching her right on the cushioning charm. "That happens! So take a bit to familiarize yourself with the spirit of the broom first."
While the others tried to focus on their borrowed brooms, Harry focused in on his Nimbus. Now that he was thinking of it that way, he could feel the life in the broom, the eagerness to carry him, the yearning for the sky that resonated with his own. Letting go of the broom, he was unsurprised as it stayed in the air of its own accord before shifting to horizontal, ready to fly.
"Now the first step of climbing is finding a handhold," Penny explained as she returned to the ground. "That's really easy here, both because the stones of the wall have gaps, and because Hogwarts is a living castle that wants to keep its students safe. Just find a gap that fits your fingers comfortably and slip them in."
With a confident smile, Harry followed the instructions. It didn't take him long as the fingers of his left hand lightly gripped one of the stones of the wall, the gaps above and below easily holding his fingers and thumb.
"Second step, same as the first!" Penny called out. "But go for one somewhat higher up!" Harry and the others followed that instruction easily. "Now same leg as your lower hand, find a foot hold. That's easier barefoot - or at least in socks - since shoes take up a lot of space and get in the way of feeling the stone...but you can try with shoes if you want."
Harry shrugged before slipping his shoes off, standing on them as he slipped his foot into the gap. Only Neville followed his example, while Ron and Hermione struggled to find shoe-holds.
"Now your other foot, same thing but higher up. This is the second hardest step of the climb."
Harry quickly understood what Penny meant. When he lifted his foot off the ground, the entirety of his weight was on his hands and other foot. Thankfully, after his years of barely getting enough to eat at the Dursleys, that wasn't much...and between all the chores he did for them and Harry Hunting, his arms and legs were quite strong for his size. While it took some getting used to balancing against the vertical wall, he was able to get the grip easily. He then waited until the others managed it as well. Ron was next to manage, though his balance wasn't quite as good, and he slipped a few times while waiting. Hermione was unsteady getting the grip, but once she had it it held. Neville took the longest to get the grip, and once he did it took him a few minutes to calm himself.
Smiling down at the rest - now braced upside down against the wall to watch them climb - Penny called out, "Okay, here's the hardest step of your first climb! The hand gripping the wall lower down? Release the wall and reach up for a higher grip."
Harry could see why that was the hardest step. Now that he was fully braced on the wall, his body did not want to lose one of its only four points of contact. Still, pushing himself to do so, he was able to reach up and grab the next point.
"Now do the same with the lower down foot!" Penny called out. "It's much easier the second time!"
Harry followed the instructions. Penny was right, it was much easier the second time...
Minerva and Pomona stared up at the wall of Hogwarts, Minerva marshaling her distress while Pomona let her resignation show. Penny and her four Gryffindor friends were more than halfway up the wall, with Penny racing around the others to aid them in getting higher. As much as they wanted to complain about the activity, Penny'd already been given carte blanche to climb the walls of the castle if she so desired, and the presence of the brooms did indicate that safety equipment - of a sort - was in place.
When the pair of teachers had first noticed the students climbing, Minerva had wanted to call them all on their folly. However, at that point they were high enough up that such a distraction could have resulted in injury, and she hadn't been close enough at that point to cast Arresto Momentum. Once she and Pomona were close enough, it was plainly visible both that the students were handling themselves and that Penny had things well in hand. The fact she'd paused to wave to the two teachers without saying anything indicated that.
As such, the pair of Professors had come to a silent agreement. They would stay and watch silently, and only interfere to cast Arresto Momentum if one of the climbers fell. If that happened, they would levitate the whole group down and give a firm lecture about recklessness, safety, and proper conduct. If it didn't become necessary on the climb up, they'd stay silent unless and until one of them needed assistance on the climb down. Given the presence of the brooms - and the fact Harry's Nimbus was literally an inch below his lowest foot at all times - that seemed vanishingly unlikely.
"...Minerva?" Pomona asked quietly as Harry reached the roof, clambering onto it as his broom followed him up.
"Yes, Pomona?" Minerva responded just as quietly.
"The gaps here between the stones where it stretches beyond the mortar holding them in place..."
"...yes?"
"...aren't those same gaps on the inside walls and halls of the castle? ...and the ceilings?"
"...bugger..."