AN: Happy New Years Eve to those reading this the day it goes up. Hope yours is a good one and that 2022 is better than 2021! We're eating up my backlog pretty quick, I've only got one full chapter in the backlog because I've been sick and haven't felt like writing. So it's possible that updates may start slowing down a bit for me to build back up a backlog. I appreciate all of the support you guys have given me both here and on AO3. On with the chapter!
Harry is feeling incredibly nervous about class this week, or rather one class in particular, Flying. Harry, and indeed all of the Sphinx Club had been absolutely excelling in their classes for this week, managing to cast spells and answer questions far more often than even their typically more astute classmates, Lavender in particular was enjoying having higher marks than her old friend and rival: Mandy Brocklehurst, a Ravenclaw who roomed with Hermione and Padma. Flying however was something the group hadn't really been able to prepare for, and for Harry represented a great challenge. If Harry could learn to ride a broom, he could in theory then also learn how to play quidditch and join his roommates in their enjoyment of the sport. Harry however is questioning his capabilities. He'd never learned to ride a bike, as Vernon Dursely had surely never even considered teaching the freak how to do so, even as Dudley learned to. Harry's few attempts at teaching himself had proven unsuccessful, both due to lack of time away from chores, and lack of a bike that was properly sized to him, as Dudley had always been rather tall as well as large, while Harry was on the shorter side.
Freeing himself from those thoughts though, Harry reminds himself of his small acts of rebellion to the Dursely's he'd done up to now, from speaking to a station guard, making friends, even doing well in school. The large specter of Vernon Dursley still loomed large in Harry's mind, but even his massive size couldn't compare to the shining promise that Hogwarts was, the refuge it represented, and the friends it had brought to them. Images of Hermione, Padma, Hagrid, and the other members of the Sphinx Club flashed through Harry's mind as he resolves himself to give it everything he had during this flying practice.
The training ground where the flying class was held had a few tables, upon which sat forty brooms, one for each of the first years that attended this class. Unlike all other subjects here at Hogwarts, Broomstick flying was only taught to first years, and was taught to the entire year at once. Madam Hooch, who taught the class, was on the more normal side of appearances of the Hogwarts professors. She wore a somewhat stripped down version of the standard teacher's robes, with a shirt, tie, and vest under it. Her hair was wild and high, and colored a very bright silver, on her forehead sat a pair of goggles.
"Hello Hogwarts first-years. I am Madam Rolanda Hooch, Flying Instructor and official Quidditch referee for Hogwarts. Broomstick riding is one of the most important skills for a Wizard to learn, as it is the most reliable form of transportation available that isn't your own two legs. In this course, you will learn not only how to summon and ride a broom, but also proper broomstick maintenance and how to perform some minor repairs. This class however does have an exit test that you can take any time after the end of September, you simply need to be able to take a broom, perform the proper maintenance on it, then fly a small obstacle course. Once you have officially completed the exam, you are excused from any further flying classes. With that, let us begin this class properly. Flying is a lot like walking, only far more dangerous…" Madam Hooch peels off into a lecture about how to summon and mount a broom before encouraging students to attempt to summon their own brooms.
A chorus of "Up!" can be heard as students try to summon the brooms from the ground, with none succeeding in the first five tries. The fourth and the fifth tries though has the broom smack Draco Malfoy in the face though, and Harry finds joy in that. One the sixth try though Anthony Goldstein, one of Harry's roommates successfully manages to pull the broom to his hand, and shortly after that most students manage to properly summon their brooms, with only Gregory Goyle being unable to summon it within twenty tries.
A quick demonstration on mounting a broom was given, and all students practice for several minutes before Madam Hooch began to give instructions on how to kick off. Neville however, being so nervous about flying due to his fear of heights, kicks off early and flings himself and his broom quickly into the air with a scream.
"Mr. Longbottom! You were not to kick off yet!" Madam Hooch screams, boarding her broom and attempting to fly up to him.
Harry watches on in worry as he notes Neville's sporadic flight patterns, reminiscent of the mechanical bulls that Harry had caught a glimpse of on the Dursley's television. Harry notices too late however that Neville's next kick was going to slam him directly into Madam Hooch as she attempted to stabilize him. Their bodies collide in a loud WHAM that both knocks Madam Hooch unconscious and off of her broom causing her to plummet to the ground below.
Harry's legs act before his brain as he kicks off of his broom, shooting himself into the sky in an attempt to catch Madam Hooch, a quick Flippendo flips the instructor to where her head is no longer towards the ground as Harry slams into her at speed, replacing most of her downward momentum with side-ways momentum. The pair then ride the broomstick, which is incapable of handling the weight of two people, to a crash landing on the ground, and a crunch is heard as the Shooting Star broomstick Harry had been riding snapped against the ground. Harry quickly rights himself and takes stock of his person, finding only a few cuts and some 'road rash' but otherwise no damage. A quick glance towards the rest of the class sees Su Li running into the castle, hopefully on her way to get a teacher to assist. Checking back to Madam Hooch, Harry is happy to see that she seems fine, if slightly more injured than him.
Harry slowly talks Neville into calming down, saying that all he needs to do right now is stay still and a teacher will come and get him down. Professor Flitwick and Madam Pomfrey arrive at that moment with Su Li, and Pomfrey makes her way to Madam Hooch while Flitwick levitates Neville down from the broomstick. Pomfrey reports that Madam Hooch is okay, but will need to head to the Hospital Wing, and Flitwick says that flying class for today is canceled, asking Su Li and Harry to stay behind.
"I'm sorry Professor, I know I wasn't supposed to fly into her, but I thought if she hit the ground from that height she'd be seriously hurt." Harry says before Professor Flitwick can say anything.
"You aren't in trouble Mr. Potter, in fact, I should likely be commending you, if Madam Hooch was at the same height as Mr. Longbottom was she might have even perished from the fall. Clever use of the knockback jinx by the way, I would have never thought to use it to right a falling object. Take 15 points to Ravenclaw for your quick-thinking and clever use of a spell, and Ms. Li can take 5 points for knowing when to call for a teacher. Also Mr. Potter, do not worry about breaking that broom. The school has been looking for a reason to replace them anyway, this is a good reason." Professor Flitwick says with a proud smile and a twinkle in his eyes. "You keep impressing me more and more Mr. Potter. Your mother was among my top students, so I'm very excited to see that you are carrying on her legacy well."
"I didn't know you knew my mother Professor Flitwick." Harry says somewhat surprised.
"Oh yes, I was the Charms professor when both of your parents were in school. Quite the troublemaker your father was, pulling all sorts of pranks. Excellent Charms work on some of them though. I wager if he had put as much effort into his studies as he did his mischief he would have been one of the best students the school had ever seen." Flitwick says, openly reminiscing. "Oh well, now I would like your memories of this event please. Please think hard about the event and I'll copy the memories."
"You can do that?" Harry asks, surprised. Su Li however appears unphased by the information.
"Oh yes, I must show you a pensieve some time Mr. Potter, quite the fascinating apparatus that. Now think on the memory please." Flitwick says, before putting his wand to Harry's temple, pulling a silvery wisp from within Harry's head, placing it inside a small vial. He then did the same to Su Li as well. "Yes yes, that will do nicely. Now I believe you two have the rest of your days to get on with. Madam Hooch should be back to normal in no time, so expect your next Flying lesson to happen. Mr. Potter, since you seem adamant to get ahead in my class regardless, your homework is to work on the Softening charm. You've proven your mastery of the knockback jinx already."
"Sorry sir, but wasn't the next lesson the Wand-Lighting charm?" Harry asks, somewhat confused. Padma, Hermione and he had combed over Professor Flitwick's syllabus with a fine toothed comb in an attempt to prepare for their lessons as far in advance as possible.
"You would have my syllabus memorized Mr. Potter. Yes, the next lesson was to be the Wand-Lighting charm, but I believe that it may be more useful for a few of you to know this spell instead. It's only a simple swap since the Softening charm was immediately after the Wand-Lighting charm anyway." Professor Flitwick says, a smile on his face. "Feel free to tell the others if you like, more prepared students is never a bad thing!"
"Thank you sir. See you on Monday." Harry says, and he and Su begin making their way back to the Ravenclaw common room. Harry is surprised to see that Hermione and Padma were waiting for him just inside of the doors to the castle.
"That was very impressive, Harry." Hermione says, looking at him with wide eyes. "I couldn't even think before you jumped in and saved Madam Hooch."
"I didn't either to be honest. My first thought once I had one was 'Ow, the ground hurts.'" Harry says, laughing a bit while scratching the back of his head.
"Shouldn't you go see Madam Pomfrey?" Padma asks, looking at the scratches on his arms.
"Nah, I'll be fine. I used to get worse than this on the playground back home." Harry neglects to mention that it was because his cousin would be beating him up on said playground, but that's not important.
"Even so… what if they get infected?" Hermione asks.
"I'll go wash them off and you'll see they aren't that bad. Now come on, Professor Flitwick changed next week's assignment, so we need to learn a new spell." Harry says, deflecting the subject.
"Ooh! What's the new spell? It was the Wand-Lighting charm, and I think I've got that one down." Padma says, lighting the tip of her wand before extinguishing it.
"The Softening charm, so that way the next time one of us falls I don't have to break their fall with my body." Harry says, with a bit of a chuckle.
"Well, I'll get to work on that while you go take a shower and change." Padma says.
"I think I have some antibiotic cream in my trunk. You'll be putting some of that on when you get out of the shower." Hermione tells him, leaving no room to fight her on it.
"Okay Hermione." Harry says, slumping his shoulders in exaggerated defeat.
After Harry showers he applies the cream that Hermione provided and hands it back to her. "I think you're overreacting, it's just a few scratches."
"You're my friend, I'm supposed to worry about you. Now, Professor Flitwick said we're learning the softening charm next week?" Hermione says, pulling out her Charms textbook.
"Yeah, although I think we should focus on the potions lesson tomorrow first. You know he's extra critical of our potions." Harry says, pulling out his Potions text.
"You're right, I'm getting ahead of myself." Hermione says, swapping her books.
"He's really harsh on Harry. Daphne said that the essay you turned in on Tuesday was great and he only gave you an Acceptable on it." Padma says, pulling out her own book. "I know mine was probably about the same, but I got an Exceeds Expectations."
"It's not right that he treats you that way." Hermione says, puffing some air out in frustration.
"It is what it is. Daphne's been making sure that I'm doing okay in the class, so I at least don't have to worry too much about that." Harry says, thinking of an incident earlier in the week.
"It's still hard to believe that Malfoy was going to put a firecracker in your cauldron, that could have killed you!" Hermione says, referencing the event.
"Even harder to believe that he got away with it without even a points loss." Padma says.
"Malfoy's a jerk and we all know it. At least we know that not all of the Slytherins are like that. Otherwise we'd be like Weasley." Harry says. Ron Weasley had only been at Hogwarts a week and a half, and the entire school was incredibly aware of his vehement hatred for Slytherins, lesser well known was his distaste for Ravenclaws, and total lack of faith in anyone from Hufflepuff.
"Yeah, I can't imagine how Neville deals with having him for a roommate." Hermione says, furrowing her eyebrows.
"Neville just apparently barely deals with him, only interacting at bedtime. Any other time he's with Lavender, Parvati, and their friends." Harry says.
"It's a bit unfortunate that you and Neville don't really have any guy friends though, Hermione and I are spoiled in that we have each other, as well as everyone else in the Sphinx Club." Padma says.
"I'm working on trying to talk to my roommates. I don't know enough about Quidditch yet for that to work though. It's kind of all they talk about." Harry says. "This morning it was all about the Appleby Arrows Holyhead Harpie match. Michael was apparently really conflicted because he's from Appleby, but loves the Harpies."
"Why does he like the Harpies?" Hermione asks, "Everyone I know always rooted for their home team, even if they were bad."
"He said and I quote 'they're the fittest birds to ever fly'." Harry says, putting on his best impression of his roommate.
"Ooh! They're that all girl team!" Padma says. "Parvati mentioned them once, she's always been about the celebrities and things."
"Yeah, it's a bit strange to me to be honest." Harry says.
"I don't get it either, Harry. My dad was really into footie, that is, football and would go watch our local team all the time, but I never got it." Hermione says.
"My uncle and cousin were never into sports at all, so I've never really watched any football or cricket outside of school matches." Harry says.
"Neither Parvati or I were particularly into sports, although we've been to a couple Quidditch games." Padma says.
With that, the trio refocus and set their efforts to prepare for the next day's potions class, excited for the weekend after to spend with their friends.
As September fades into October, the Sphinx Club have quickly risen to be the top performing students of their year-group, which Professors Flitwick and McGonagall are very proud of. Because of the student's exceptional performance, Professor Flitwick decided that it would be beneficial to install a small dueling platform and training dummy in the Sphinx Club room, so that the students could safely practice their spells outside of the classroom.
"Alright Neville, remember that you're trying to cast Red Sparks, not green ones, so the incantation is Vermillious. Now, take aim at the dummy." Harry says, guiding Neville through the spell. Harry's proficiency with Defense Against the Dark Arts has had him to teach the more offensive focused charms over Padma, who feels that she can't properly convey their proper use.
"Alright.. Ugh… Vermillious!" Neville encants, and a few pitiful Red Sparks emerge from his wand.
"Well, everything was right there. Did you try to put some more power in it?" Harry asks, confused at Neville's performance. Neville, when properly applied, is shaping up to be quite the wizard, he had the intelligence needed to succeed. Evidenced by the fact that he was ranked 6th in this group, the highest of the Gryffindors. He still however was struggling in the execution of his spells, even when done properly they always came out as underpowered.
"I'm throwing everything I can behind them, it just feels like there's something in the way." Neville says, slumping.
"What do you mean 'something in the way'?" Tracey asks, her ears perking up.
"I don't know, I guess it's kind of like trying to blow really hard out of your mouth, but you have your lips tightened really far. So there's a lot of air behind them, but not a lot coming out." Neville says, unconfident in his answer.
"Neville, where did you get your wand?" Tracey asks, getting up and inspecting Neville's wand. "This is Rowan wood, with Dragon Heartstring, it should be killing it with this spell."
"Ugh, it's my dad's. He was an auror and could do some wicked stuff with this want. Gran said it would be a good way to carry on his memory." Neville says, looking sheepish.
"Well there's your problem! The wand chooses the wizard Neville! You need your own wand. Here, borrow mine for a second and try again, you might be really unsuited for your dad's wand." Tracey says, turning over her wand to Neville.
"Okay, if you say so. Vermillious!" Neville encants again, and the results are much different. Instead of the few pitiful sparks before, this casting had nearly a dozen sparks, each shooting out several feet.
"Woah! Way to go Neville!" Harry says, looking at the result.
"Just what I thought. My wand is particularly willing to work with others, so it's probably a bit better than just a random wand for you, but should be nothing compared to your own. You should go to Ollivanders as soon as you can to get your own wand." Tracey says, a proud smile on her face.
"How do you know so much about wands Tracey?" Harry asks, in awe at his friend's skills.
"I want to make wands when I grow up, every time I was in Diagon Alley I would beg my Mom to let me stay in Ollivander's shop to watch him work. Thankfully Mr. Ollivander was more than happy to let me. He's getting pretty up there in years, so I hope that maybe I can convince him to let me take over his shop when I'm older." Tracey says, eyes twinkling.
"Davis's doesn't sound very magical though." Daphne says, elbowing her friend lightly.
"I'd keep the name, Ollivander's has such a history I'd hate to change it. Besides, I'd probably only get to work with his Son or Grandson, rather than take it over myself, but it'd still be incredibly exciting." Tracey says, clasping her hands together. She brings her fingers to a point together and points them at Neville. "Now you! We're marching to Professor McGonagall right now to talk to your grandma about getting you your own wand. There's no need to stunt your potential when you can just as easily honor your father by becoming a great wizard."
"I guess you're right Tracey. How about you, Harry, and Hannah come with me? Some extra voices might help." Neville says, looking at his father's wand. "I wish it would work for me though, It'd be nice to have something of dad's so close."
"Your dad was an auror Nevvy, didn't he have a wand holster?" Hannah says, looking to Neville.
"Yeah, it's still attached to his auror's uniform in the closet." Neville says, looking at her.
"Why not use that? It's something he had with him all the time, and using it won't stunt your potential. The only reason you couldn't would be if your wand wouldn't fit in it." Hannah says.
"That's a good idea. I guess I'll ask Gran about that too." Neville says, resolving himself.
"Alright. Let's go see McGonagall. She's probably in her office right now." Harry says, checking the clock on the wall.
The quartet, spearheaded by Neville, walk to the Transfiguration Professor's Office, before knocking on the door.
"Yes, Who is it? Oh, Hello Mr. Longbottom, Mr. Potter, Ms. Abbot, Ms. Davis. What can I help you with?" Professor McGonagall says, as she opens the door to her office.
"Sorry to bother you Professor McGonagall, but while we were practicing the Red Sparks charm, and I had been having difficulties summoning powerful enough sparks. Tracey here figured out that it was because my wand wasn't well suited for me, since it's my dad's wand. I was hoping that you would contact my Gran for me, so we could talk about me getting my own." Neville says, explaining his situation.
"I see, well that would certainly be an issue, and would explain why you were having troubles, could you demonstrate for me so I can see for myself?" Professor McGonagall asks, wiping her glasses.
"Yes, I can ma'am. I'll just try and shoot some down the hallway. Vermillious!" Neville encants, a singular red spark shooting out of his wand, falling to the ground a couple feet in front of him. "Tracey, can I borrow your wand again?" Neville asks, and Tracey hands hers over. "Vermillious!" Neville casts again, this time summoning more sparks that go quite a bit further. "I made the power as close to the same as I could."
"Well, you've certainly convinced me. Why Augusta didn't get you your own wand in the first place is somewhat beyond me. Come, we'll try and floo call her now." Professor McGonagall says, guiding Neville inside. "You three wait out here."
A few minutes later, a smiling Neville emerges from the door. "We're going tomorrow. By this time tomorrow I'll have my own wand!" Neville says excitedly.
"That's great Nevvy!" Hannah says, crashing into the boy and giving him a hug, sending both of them to the ground.
"Ms. Abbot! I understand you are excited but that is no way to behave. Get off of the poor boy." Professor McGonagall says, trying to put on a stern face, but the smile never leaves her eyes.
The group laughs and makes their way back to the Sphinx Club room, reinvigorated to do even better. Something they knew helped a friend, who knows what else they could do?