Devon held up reasonably well over the next few days.

He was prone to occasional bouts of crying on Lily's shoulder and on one occasion he had used Lily as a punching bag.

But, to Lily's great relief, he acted mostly normally. Devon continued to put full effort into his schoolwork and continued to eat his normal humungous portions at meals.

On Thursday afternoon, Hugo, Devon, Samantha, Ainsley, Stephanie, and Lily had their first flying lesson.

Lily had been looking forward to learning to fly more than anything else and she was super excited when Thursday afternoon arrived.

The weather could not have been better as the sun was out, there was a slight breeze, and the temperature was a comfortable 75 degrees.

Madam Hooch, who had been quite old when Harry had been at Hogwarts, had died a few years before James Sirius Potter had started at Hogwarts and flying lessons had been taken over by Heidi Macavoy.

The school brooms had also been upgraded.

Upon taking over flying lessons, Madam Macavoy had purchased a whole set of Nimbus 2000 brooms to be used as the school brooms.

While fairly no nonsense minded herself, Madam Macavoy was friendlier with the students than Madam Hooch had been.

"Good afternoon," said Madam Macavoy in a pleasant voice, "You are here to learn how to fly. My main job is to supervise you and to correct any obvious mistakes I see in your flying skills but I'm going to allow you some freedom as well. Everyone stand by a broomstick. They are all the same so no fighting for position."

Everyone stood by the broomstick nearest to him or her and awaited further instruction.

"Stick your right hand over your broom and say "up", "said Madam Macavoy.

Lily's broom jumped into her hand on her first attempt, but it was the only one that did.

Hugo, Samantha, Stephanie, and Ainsley all got it after a few attempts.

Devon, however, struggled. In fact, it took minutes before he was able to do it.

When everyone had gotten his or her broom into his or her hand, Madam Macavoy told them "Let me see you try to fly. I am here to supervise you in case anything goes wrong. You start your flight by kicking off from the ground hard. Lean forward slightly when you wish to descend."

As the students began flying, there were obvious variations in the flying skills of the first years.

Devon was by far the worst. In fact, the best he could manage was to hover a few feet above the ground. Any attempts at any real flight by Devon resulted in his plummeting to the ground.

Considering how overweight he was, Devon's lack of flying skill was not a surprise to anyone.

Hugo and Stephanie were okay fliers. They weren't particularly graceful fliers, but they could stay on their brooms and fly alright.

Despite being raised in a wizarding home, Hugo hadn't had much exposure to broomsticks or flying because Hermione wasn't much interested in broomsticks or flying or Quidditch.

Ainsley and Samantha were good fliers. They skillfully changed speeds and heights on a broom. Their turning skills were a bit weak but overall Ainsley and Samantha were good fliers.

Samantha was quite a good flier for a muggleborn. Of course, as she had told James, Hugo, Devon, Ainsley, Stephanie, and Lily on more than one occasion, she had always been good at sports.

But the best, by far, was Lily. Lily was a TOTAL natural on a broomstick and she glided through the crisp fall air effortlessly.

She could easily make quick dramatic changes in speed, and height and even proved to be a master of making the sharpest turns.

After a while the others all landed on their feet and just started watching Lily fly.

The more they watched her fly, the more impressed they were.

At one point, Lily did a figure 8 on her broom at top height. At another she did a lap around the pitch in breakneck speed.

After a while, Hugo and Devon began happily chanting "Lily! Lily! Lily!" as loudly as they could.

Samantha, Stephanie, and Ainsley started clapping. Even Madam Macavoy joined in the cheering.

In a twist of fate, the Gryffindor Quidditch captain, a burly fifth year boy named Wesley Wood, happened to see Lily's excursions on her broom as he was passing the pitch on his way to Gryffindor Tower.

Lily made her landing as Wesley approached the pitch.

"Potter?" asked Wesley curiously, "Was that your first time on a broomstick?"

"No," said Lily simply," I've been flying in various forms since I was five. Quidditch is a big thing in my family."

"Well, Potter, you're in luck," said Wesley, "My name is Wesley Wood and I'm a Beater for Gryffindor and the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain. My team has been decimated by graduation and as of now I'm the only person on the team. I am hereby offering you the Seeker position Potter. You're a great flier and your physical build is perfect for a Seeker."

Lily looked totally stunned for a nanosecond. Then she suddenly broke out into a huge grin.

"Just like when McGonagall saw dad fly in his first year!" cried Lily happily. Like father like daughter!"

"Lily," said Devon in a voice that oozed pride, "I can't begin to tell you how proud I am of you. That was really something to see."

Devon slightly lifted Lily's shirt with his right hand and started rubbing her belly button with his right hand while messing up Lily's hair with his left hand.

Lily grinned.

"Thanks Devon," smiled Lily. "I will do my best to reward Wesley's decision."

"Didn't I tell you all on the Hogwarts Express that Lily was a great flier!" beamed Hugo.

"We're so happy for Lily!" cheered Ainsley as Stephanie and Samantha nodded.

"Calling it now," predicted Samantha excitedly, "Lily will become the greatest Seeker in Hogwarts history!"

"If any of the rest of you would be interested in playing for Gryffindor, trials for three Chasers spots, one Beater spot, and the Keeper spot will be held on Saturday, September 14th, 2019, at 9 a.m. "said Wesley clearly.

Though the others did intend to try out, right now, they were too caught up in being happy for Lily to think about that.

Hugo, Devon, Ansley, Stephanie, and Samantha all gave Lily high fives and pats on the back.

Hugo, Devon, and Ainsley walked a distance and Ainsley, who was good at Transfiguration and a master of Conjuring Spells, conjured three medium size yellow water balloons.

Hugo, Devon, and Ainsley all snuck up on Lily from her back and dropped the water balloons on her head.

SPLASH!

Lily turned and saw Hugo, Devon and Ainsley. She grinned at them and giggled.

"It feels great, "said Lily radiantly," To see my friends all so genuinely happy for me. "It means the world to me see my friends sincerely happy for my great performance and fortune without a tent of jealousy."

"Lily, you have no idea how spectacular that was to watch from the ground," said Devon matter of factly. "We were in awe of how good you are."

"Exactly!" said Hugo glowingly.

Lily went to bed that night with a certain special feeling inside of her. Her dad had been made the Gryffindor Seeker is his first year. Now Lily had become Gryffindor Seeker in her first year at Hogwarts.

Yes, things were looking up.