Some parts are taken from the 1st book again :D


She didn't stop running until she had reached the Great Hall, where lunch was starting up. Panting and sweating, she slid down in the nearest empty chair she could find.

"Hello," Ari said excitedly to the boy as she reached for a roll. "Did you have Snape's class yet? He's totally cuckoo, isn't he? He almost tried to attack me when I ran out of there! It was so close, I could feel his breath on my neck — but I ran out of the way just in time! It was really impressive, huh?"

"I guess," the boy said, not sounding particularly impressed. "Sorry, but do I know you?"

"I dunno," she said as she began to butter her roll. "Should I?"

"I dunno," the boy said back. "You're not in my house, are you?"

"Hm? What house?" Ari asked, and the boy pointed to something on the front of his robes. Ari had to lean in to get a better look at what he was pointing at — it was a yellow-sort of crest thingie. "I'm in Hufflepuff," the boy clarified. "And you're a Gryffindor, aren't you?"

"Oh, guess I am!" Ari exclaimed, looking down at her own crest, which was red.

"So you're not even supposed to sit here," the boy continued. "This is the Hufflepuff table. You're only supposed to sit at the Gryffindor table."

"Huh? How come we can't sit at the Hufflepuff table?"

"Because, it's the rules."

"Why?"

"Because, it just is!"

Talk about some stupid rules! There were millions of empty chairs that anyone could sit at, and Ari wanted to sit at this one, so why couldn't she? It just made no sense to control where people could or couldn't sit, when they had the right and ability to park their bottoms anywhere.

But Ari didn't have time to tell the boy off, because that was when his friend came over and kicked Ari out of her seat. And then they redirected Ari back to the Gryffindor table, where the people in her class were all sitting down for lunch.

All the seats were already taken, though, except for the one beside Hermione. She glared at Ari as she sat down, but didn't say anything. "Hello," Ari said as she continued buttering her roll. "Did you see me run out of there? When Snape tried to attack me? I was so fast, wasn't I? He thought he could get me and chain me up on his ceiling next, but he didn't!"

"He only got angry because you provoked him," scoffed Hermione.

"But I didn't provoke him!" Ari protested. "Snape was the one yelling and making fun of us first. It was horrible! I mean, I heard he would be mean, but I didn't think he'd be that mean! Why's he like that? Why do you think he hates everyone?"

"He doesn't hate us," Hermione corrected. "He's just strict, that's all."

"Nuh-uh!" Ari shook her head so vigorously she flung a chunk of butter through the air. "He hates us! And he's mean!"

Hermione gave another snot-filled sniffle. "Well, I suppose you weren't doing him any favors," she said all bossily, "talking out of turn and making him dislike us even more!"

"But he was yelling at us first," Ari reminded her again. "I was just giving the bad wolf a taste of his own medicine. Wouldn't you like it too, if we could get him to be nicer and stop yelling at us? His class is already stupid enough, no need to make it any worse. Like, what was the point of asking all those weird questions at the start of class?" And then Ari gasped when she remembered something — "oh yeah, but you raised your hand to his questions, didn't you? Did you actually know the answers to all of them? Or were you just showing off again?"

Hermione flashed her a withering look. "I wasn't showing off," she retorted. "I just knew the answers to his questions, so I volunteered to answer them."

"But how did you know?" Ari demanded. "Even when we didn't have class yet?"

"I just did some reading in our textbook this summer, that's all."

Ari rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right! Who would ever read for fun?"

"I do!" Hermione retorted, her hair springing up furiously. "And you really shouldn't make assumptions about people. Just because you never read doesn't mean that other people don't!"

Ari glared at Hermione, who smirked smugly. Talk about annoying! Why did everyone at this school have to be so annoying?! Ari would have liked nothing better than to give all those annoying suckers a taste of their own medicine. But then Ari remembered Professor McGonagall, who wasn't annoying and had reminded Ari she could talk to her if anything was bothering her. Yes, Professor McGonagall was smart and wise, so surely she would know a way on how to deal with all these annoying people!

"It's so annoying, Professor!" Ari complained to the Transfiguration professor once she had managed to track her down one afternoon. "We just had Potions class with Snape, and it was so horrible! It's the worst class ever, even worse than History of Magic! He kept yelling and screaming at us like a crazy man, and he took off points and gave me detention, even when I did nothing wrong. He's just so mean and horrible and awful and you need to fire him right now!"

She punctuated each last word with a stamp of her foot, and Professor McGonagall shook her head. "I'm sorry, but it's simply not within my right to fire anyone," she said sharply. "And even then, the dismissal of a staff member is not a matter to be taken lightly. It must require a legitimate reason. As far as I know, Professor Snape has done nothing to trespass into a fireable offense. Yes, he may be strict, but—"

"Nuh-uh!" Ari rebutted, shaking her head vehemently. "He's not just strict! He's just plain old mean! He insults us all the time and takes off points for no reason. Oh — and he was also hanging students from the ceiling and hitting them with paddles! So take that!"

Professor McGonagall's mouth dropped open. "Excuse me?" she demanded. "He did what?"

"You heard me!" Ari said emphatically. "He was hanging people by chains and whacking 'em for punishment! Fred and George told me!"

"Ah, so it was those two, wasn't it?" Professor McGonagall sighed, pushing her spectacles up her nose. "Well, Ari, I don't know how much you've heard, but I'd just like to warn you that Mr. Fred and George can be rather — well, hyperbolic in their tales—"

"Nuh-uh!" Ari said again, pouting. "They snuck to his classroom and saw it. They really did! So you've got to do something, Professor, you can't have Snape going around and hanging any more people like that!"

"Rest assured, we certainly do not condone physical violence among our students," she said tersely, her glasses flashing. "And yes, I agree that Professor Snape can be brusque with his words, but I can assure you that as long he has been teaching here, he has never inflicted actual physical harm against anyone."

"Nuh-uh!" Ari shook her head so fast her brain rattled in her skull. "He tried to throw a jar at me the other day. And then he attacked me!"

"Is that so?" Professor McGonagall said, flaring her nostrils.

"Yes! It was the end of class and I was just saying goodbye to him, but then he tried to attack me! Like this!" And then she curled up her hands into claws and mimicked Snape doing his wolf jump. "If I didn't run away in time, I'd be dead meat. You've got to stop him, Professor, before he attacks anyone else. You can't let him get away with this — I'm counting on you, Professor!" She clasped her hands together and made her best puppy dog eyes, while Professor McGonagall continued staring hawk-eyed at Ari.

"Fine, I'll talk to him," she finally said in a clipped voice. "And if there really are any problems, I'll report them to the Headmaster. In the meantime, however, I ask you to please keep a level head and refrain from spreading any unfounded rumors. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Professor!" Ari chirped, springing back to life at once. "Thank you!"

That would show Snape, she thought happily. Now he would learn he couldn't get away with being an evil villain forever and would meet his downfall sooner or later, just like the big bad wolf in the Three Little Pigs. And once the students got their own revenge against the big bad wolf and Snape got fired, then they would hire an actual teacher. Maybe then the students could actually have fun making potions and not get yelled at all the time. Ari could see it happening already, with her big cauldron and pointy witch's hat as she stirred around a magnificent, bubbling concoction in her cauldron. And even better, her new teacher would actually be able to see her talent and praise her thoroughly for it, and then award her a noble prize in potion-making.

Ari skipped back to the common room in buoyant spirits. Fred and George, who were sitting in front of the hearth, noticed accordingly. "Hey, Ari," Fred — or maybe it was George — said, looking up from the stack of cards he was poking with his wand. He smiled. "You look like you're in a good mood. Did something good happen?"

"Yep!" she exclaimed, jumping up and down on her feet. "I talked to Professor McGonagall about Snape's horrible teaching and she said she's gonna fire him!"

George's mouth dropped open — or maybe it was Fred — and he let go of the card he was holding, causing it to whiz around in the air like a mini firecracker. "No way!" he shouted, springing up to his feet. "You're joking, right? She actually said she's gonna fire him?!"

"Yep!" she said again, and now the other twin's mouth dropped open too. "Well, she had to be all complicated and said she was gonna talk to him first and dig stuff up — and then she's gonna fire him. Because she's gonna search his dungeon and find the chains and paddles he's been torturing students with, and if that's not proof that he's an evil psycho, then I don't know what is."

She placed her hands on her hips and beamed, while Fred and George exchanged looks. "Oh, you told McGonagall about that?" Fred asked, laughing nervously.

"Yeah!" Ari chirped. "She didn't believe me, but that'll all change when she looks through his dungeon and finds the proof for herself. You two were right. He really is an awful teacher. The most awfulest teacher I've ever had in my whole entire life. I barely even survived his first class. He threw a jar at me, did you know that?!"

"He threw a jar at you?" George repeated, frowning.

"That's right!" Ari declared. "But I got out of the way just in time. I was so speedy, like a professional runner. And then I ran out of the room when Snape attacked me at the end of class, too. He tried to jump me, just like this—" And then she demonstrated Snape's claw-curling wolf lunge, which caused Fred and George to howl with laughter. She grinned back at them. "He's crazy, isn't he?"

"Oh, totally!" Fred chortled. "He belongs in a mental hospital, honestly, not a school."

"It's a good thing you got out of there just in time," George sighed in relief, "so the warrior can recount her epic tale with us!"

"Oh, yes," Ari snickered. "He thought he could catch me and have me for his dinner, but I wouldn't let him. And now the big bad wolf won't have another chance to attack anyone else. 'Cause he'll finally get a taste of his own medicine and be cooked into the piglet's fire — 'cause he'll be fired! It'll be wonderful!"

Ari smiled dreamily, already able to see it playing through her mind. Professor McGonagall would run into Snape's classroom and catch him in the act as he flogged people. She'd whip out her wand and dramatically cry out, "stop right there!" Sparks would zap from her wand and she would transform Snape into a pig, just as she had done with her desk. And then the people of Hogwarts would celebrate their victory and prepare pig Snape for a nice pork chop dinner! If that wasn't the most perfect storybook ending, Ari wasn't sure what was.

She felt quite happy after that, and her happy mood was made happier after she played some cards with Fred and George. The cards were a special type of card that exploded when you tapped it with your wand, or just exploded on random when you weren't expecting it. It was way more interesting than the cards they had back home. Even though Go Fish was fun, it was way funner when you could play it with an exploding deck of cards. So much so that you forgot about the actual game because you were having too much fun trying to make the cards fly across the room.

It turned out, though, in this magical world, cards weren't the only things that could fly. People could fly, too! Not with wings, though, like a bird, but with broomsticks. And apparently, flying on broomsticks was a really big thing. They had a special class dedicated to flying on these broomsticks, and everyone was so excited for it they were chattering about it days in advance. Ari shared everyone's excitement, but she also felt a bit confused. Weren't broomsticks the same things you swept the dirty ground with? How in the world were they going to be able to fly on one of those? Unless the broomsticks were powered by magic, the same magic that powered the boats on the lake and made them move on their own? Still, she wondered just how could a broomstick function both as a cleaning device and a transportation device?

She asked Fred and George all her questions, and they had a lot to say about the topic. They told her, yes, wizards used broomsticks to fly places, but it was different from the broomstick you swept the ground with. A wizard's broomstick was a special, magic-powered broomstick where you sat down on the handle and it just flew all the way up to the sky. And you didn't just have to fly, but you could also do all sorts of amazing airborne tricks like spins and flips and whatnot.

And then the twins explained the reason for their flying expertness was because they flew on broomsticks all the time back at home. They had a big yard where they could fly to their heart's content. What was more, they had sneakily removed the safety lock on their broomsticks when they were ten years old and had been flying as high as they wanted since then. And when they got to Hogwarts, they played for Gryffindor on the school's kwitchditch team. Ari had no idea what kwitchditch was, but the twins explained it was a sport where you flew with broomsticks and hit different kinds of balls. And that was all she could really figure out, because she got lost after the first minute or so of the twins' rapid, long-winded descriptions of the game.

But now that Ari had gotten her questions cleared up about broomsticks and Flying Class, she could feel herself getting even more hyped up. Just as the Sorting Hat had prophesied, she would now be able to achieve her second lifelong dream and fly! Soar over the trees and mountains in the distance and fly as far and wide as her heart would take her. She imagined traveling to the oceans, or the deserts, the moon, to Jupiter — the places she had always longed to go to since she had heard them from her father's stories. And very soon now, she would be able to turn the story into a reality.

Thursday, the day of their first flying class, dawned bright and clear. The air was filled with a nervous, buzzing excitement that could be felt the moment they stepped into the Great Hall for breakfast. Flying was all the first-years could talk about. Hermione was at the Gryffindor table poring over a flying book, which was kind of annoying. Did she really have to read a book for everything?

Then Hermione rattled off various flying techniques and strategies for anyone and everyone who would listen. Her jabbering was even more complicated and confusing than the twins', and Ari rolled her eyes. What a show-off! Just who in the world needed techniques for flying? If it was as simple and fun as Fred and George made it sound, all you needed to do was just park your bottom on the broomstick, hold on tight, and it would take you wherever you wanted to go.

And so Ari tuned out the rest of Hermione's pointless jabbering and occupied herself with her daydreams of flying to the moon. She finally got her daydreams fulfilled at three thirty that afternoon when she and the rest of the first-years trampled out of the common room and down to the grounds. The lush lawn was springy under her feet and the sky was a crisp, pure blue. It was a beautiful day.

The good weather elevated her spirits even more, and she skipped all the way across the turf until they reached the flying spot. To her surprise, she noticed there was already another group of students there, along with a bunch of broomsticks piled in neat rows on the ground. She saw the pointy Albino boy, Malfoy, along with his two fat friends, Crap and Boil. Malfoy was saying something while his friends were laughing. Ari wanted to hear what was so funny, but she didn't have time to listen to what they were talking about before a woman with short gray hair and a booming voice ordered them all to gather around a broomstick.

Ari rushed over to an unoccupied broomstick and hopped up and down with excitement. Finally! After an entire week of waiting, they were going to get on their broomsticks and fly! She was so ready for this!

But as it quickly turned out, flying had a lot more steps than Ari had originally thought. For starters, the teacher — who introduced herself as Madam Hooch — made them stick their hands over their brooms and yell "up!" It took a few tries, but eventually Ari managed to get her broom to fly in her hand.

And now she thought they were going to sit on their brooms and fly. But instead of having them take off, Madam Hooch went around tediously showing everyone the right way to hold the broom. Talk about a pain!

"Who cares how we hold the broom?" Ari whined as Madam Hooch came to correct Ari's broom grip. "As long as we can hold it in the first place, then that's all that matters!"

But Madam Hooch shook a long, threatening finger in Ari's face. "Oh, no, no!" the teacher cried. "Didn't you hear my explanation at the beginning of class? How you hold your broom is very important, if not the most important thing when it comes to flying! Your grip determines your success in all sorts of aspects in flying — speed, direction, flexibility, and the like. An incorrect grip can also make you also more prone to injuries. You wouldn't want to get injured because you're holding the broom wrong, no?"

Before Ari could answer, there was a loud, nasally voice a few feet away. "I can't believe that idiot just said broom grip wasn't important. What a disgrace. I can't imagine what it's like to be that stupid."

Across from her, Malfoy was talking to Crap and Boil, and his pointy face was twisted up in a mean smile. At once, Madam Hooch whizzed around and barked at Malfoy. "I don't see how you're any better, boy! Your grip is all over the place. Your thumb is supposed to go on top of the broom, like this" — and then she went over to Malfoy's broom to demonstrate.

"What?!" Malfoy stopped laughing at once to gape at Madam Hooch, his mouth hanging open. "But my father taught me this grip! I've been doing it this way for six years now!"

"Guess you've been doing it wrong for six years, then!" Madam Hooch retorted.

The look of horrified pink fury on Malfoy's white face was enough to make Ari and the rest of the Gryffindors laugh. Ugh, that redhead at the feast had been right! Malfoy really was super annoying — calling her stupid and everything! Thankfully Madam Hooch had been there to put him in his place!

Madam Hooch continued going around correcting people's grips, as slow and boring as can be. Ari yawned, feeling that flying class wasn't as magnificent as she had made it out to be. She felt thoroughly bored and tired of flying by now, even though they hadn't even left the ground yet.

What was more, she had a really big itch on her nose, but she couldn't scratch it, because she didn't want to let go of the broom and forget the corrected grip Madam Hooch had shown her. But the itch was too great now, and Ari's hands were getting sweaty anyway from holding the broom for so long, so she quickly let go of one hand and scratched her nose really fast. Ahh. It felt good. Then she quickly repositioned her hand onto her broom, more or less into its original position. There!

Finally, finally, once Madam Hooch deemed everyone's grips satisfactory, she told them they were going to fly for real. At once Ari perked up again, her dreams of flying across the world rekindling at once. Her heart was racing as fast as the Hogwarts Express, and she was so excited her hands fumbled and she forgot how to hold the broom correctly again.

But when Madam Hooch placed her lips to the whistle, one of the Gryffindor boys — the same Boils Boy who had ruined his potion — kicked off too early and his broom soared into the sky. They all watched, open-mouthed and wide-eyed, as Boils Boy flew higher and higher, unable to stop, and then — CRASH! — he fell in a heaping pile on the ground. He came out teary-eyed, white-faced, and with a bent wrist. It looked quite painful, and Ari felt sorry for Boils Boy for getting into a second accident just two weeks after they started school.

Madam Hooch had to escort him to get treated back at the castle. The moment they were gone, however, derisive laughter rang out from the other side of the lawn. "Did you see his face, the great lump?"

It was Malfoy. He and his friends were laughing like they had heard the funniest joke in the world.

"Shut up, Malfoy," snapped one of the girls Ari shared a dormitory with.

"Ooh, sticking up for Longbottom?" taunted a mean-looking girl beside Malfoy. "Never thought you'd like fat little cry babies, Parvati."

"Look!" said Malfoy, darting forward and snatching something out of the grass. "It's that stupid thing Longbottom's gran sent him."

Ari strained to see what was in his hand. It was a small glass ball, which glittered in the sun as he held it up.

"Give that here, Malfoy," said Harry quietly. Everyone stopped talking to watch as he stepped out to face Malfoy.

A twisted smile crossed Malfoy's face. "I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find. How about — up a tree?"

"Give it here!" Harry yelled, suddenly lunging forward, but that was when Malfoy hopped on his broom and zipped away as fast as lightning.

Ari's mouth dropped open as she watched Malfoy soar up into the blue sky above, as fast and nimble as a bird. "Oh my bananas!" she squealed. "Look! He's flying!"

With a mixture of admiration and envy, she watched as Malfoy effortlessly zoomed to the topmost branches of an oak tree. And then a moment later, the entire class gasped as Harry mounted his broom and took off as well. Ari's jaw dropped to the grass. Harry could fly, too! He looked just as graceful and smooth as Malfoy, like they had spent their entire lives in the sky.

They continued to fly and zoom in and out of the trees like birds, so fast Ari's head got dizzy. She wasn't sure what was going on except there was a lot of groaning and shouting, both from the boys and the people on the ground. And out of the blue, Harry suddenly dropped to the ground in a toe-curling nosedive. For a moment, Ari thought that he had fallen off his broom and was falling, and she let out a terrified squeal and shielded her eyes.

But then she heard cheering and clapping, quite an unusual sound for someone falling to their death. When she dared to open her eyes again, she gasped when she saw Harry standing on the ground with his broomstick, alive and with no injuries as far as they could see.

Ari was just breathing a sigh of relief that Harry hadn't died after all when all of a sudden, Professor McGonagall came marching down the grass, screaming Harry's name. And oh boy, did she look angry! Ari was suddenly reminded of a huge hawk swooping down from the sky to snatch up unsuspecting prey. And right on cue, the professor grabbed onto Harry's arm, even when the rest of the Gryffindors tried to jump to his defense. But Professor McGonagall ignored them all and marched Harry straight back to the castle without a backwards glance.

The feelings of excitement and pride that had inflated the Gryffindors moments ago sizzled away just as quickly. Soon, they were all staring white-faced at the castle, only able to wonder what had become of Harry. On the other hand, Ari just felt awe at what she had just seen, and a bit of confusion. She didn't know why Professor McGonagall had looked so angry. If anything, she should have been really impressed watching Harry fly so well! At least, Ari had sure felt impressed! He flew as easily on his broomstick as those witches from those fairy tales! Now all he needed was a pointy witch's hat and a matching black cat, and he would be all set.

Madam Hooch came by later to resume the lesson. Ari had been so absorbed with watching Harry and Malfoy fly and Professor McGonagall coming over she had totally forgotten why they were here in the first place. But now they were ready to go flying and she got excited all over again.

It turned out, however, the flying lesson wasn't as grand as Ari had been expecting it. They weren't allowed to go into the mountains or up to space. In fact, they weren't allowed to go more than a few feet in the air — definitely not as high as Malfoy and Harry had been flying at. And what was more, all they did was just circle around the lawn a few times.

But it was still fun being airborne and feeling the air whip through her hair. And if she concentrated hard enough, she could pretend that she was a bird taking its first flight, soaring over the treetops and mountains and into the sky above.

After what felt like no time at all, they had to go back to the ground and line up their broomsticks back onto the grass. She looked up longingly at the blue sky above. Looked like they hadn't been able to go to Jupiter after all. But one day… one day, her dreams would become a reality. She would just have to wait.

TBC!