Chapter seven
September rushed and slowed and fell into itself, the days a jumbled blur of laughter learning, and magic. Elle and Scorpius made excellent partners. Scorpius was a natural at potions and herbology, which were Elle's weakest subjects. In turn Elle excelled at charms and transfiguration, where Scorpius often floundered. Scorpius had started joining Elle and Albus's library sessions regularly, even when Ruth was also present. Slowly, he started opening up more and more. Sam even popped in once or twice, when he needed Elle's help on charms homework. "You know" Sam had told Elle one sunny afternoon on their way to herbology, after Scorpius had lent him a spare quill (Sam swore he had holes in his pockets, with how quickly he lost things) "I thought you were mental when you asked Scorpius to be your partner. But I'm starting to think that Albus was right. Everyone's got at least one rubbish family member. He's alright." It was only Rose that never warmed up to Scorpius, and as the weeks went on, she started spending less and less time with everyone.
All of a sudden, it was the last weekend of October. The sky was bright, and the wind was cool as Elle and her friends, minus Rose (who was a few feet ahead of them trailing some Gryffindor girls) entered the Quidditch pitch together. It was time for flying lessons. The air was filled with so much nervous excitement that Elle felt electrified. Laid out on the soft grass, starting to brown now as Autumn was in full swing, were rows of evenly spaced brooms.
Elle took her place between Scorpius and Albus. As all the other students in her cohort filed in and did the same, she started to look around. "Where's our instructor then?" Called out Sam, shuffling his feet to keep warm. All the students looked around, but there wasn't an adult in sight. A quiet murmuring surfaced from the crowd until suddenly Matilda Davies, a Hufflepuff cried out "look!", pointing her finger up to the sky.
Elle craned her neck to see. Squinting, she made out a tiny speck that was quickly growing larger as it approached. A few seconds later she could make out a figure perched on a broom, long brown hair streaming in the wind. The figure came to a stop above the Quidditch pitch, where they hovered their broom about a hundred feet in the air. Suddenly, the figure, which Elle could now identify as a handsome man with shoulder length curly brown hair, wearing sparkling robes of midnight blue, did a tight barrel roll, and raced off to do a lap around the field. He soared high, doing a wide loop-de-loop, eliciting a holler of appreciation from Sam. At the peak of his second loop, he suddenly dived, racing towards the ground. Elle kept waiting for him to bail out, but he did not flinch as the ground fast approached. Gasps and screams of shock rippled through the onlookers as he got closer and closer to disaster. Finally, as what looked like the last possible second, he pulled the nose of his broom upwards, parallel with the earth.
Dismounting gracefully, the man walked amongst the center row of students, waving merrily to the claps and cheers of the children. "That was amazing." Scorpius said to Elle's right. "That was terrifying" Albus said at the same time to Elle's left, looking green. "Welcome" boomed the man's voice, magically amplified to fill the stadium "to your very first flying lesson. I am Hortensio Blanco" he introduced himself with a flourishing bow. "I am the three time winner of the World Stunt Flying competition, and former seeker of Puddlemere United. I have entered early retirement to take my very first teaching position here, as head of the brand new Kinimagic department. I hope to see all your smiling faces in two years time when you choose me as one of your electives" he finished his speech, flashing a dazzling smile.
Elle listened eagerly to the strange man before her as he went over the basics of flying. Scorpius was first to get his broom to leap from the ground to his outstretched hand, though a few others from wizarding families were soon after, including Rose. Albus was still muttering to his broom when Elle's finally reached her hand. She grinned. The wood felt warm to the touch and was vibrating softly. She was itching to get up in the air. She could hear when Sam succeeded a few moments later when he cheered enthusiastically.
Soon it was only Albus who's broom was resting on the grass. He was now muttering instructions to the broom with increased urgency, raising his voice slightly over the snickers coming from other students. "Come on Potter." Shouted Tobias "We don't have all day!" Albus flushed, speaking with even more intensity to his broom, which stayed stubbornly on the ground. Elle scowled at Tobias, who was now sharing a hearty laugh with his fellow Slytherin Esmond. Professor Blanco approached Albus and whispered a few words in his ear. Stepping back, the broom finally rose up. Elle hoped she was the only one who had noticed the nudge Blanco had given it with one shiny purple boot.
"Right" said Blanco, clapping his hands. "Let's all mount our brooms. Remember what I said about kinimagic – to fly properly the broom needs to become part of your body. You need to learn how to channel magic not from your wand, but from every muscle you have. Don't be surprised if you wake up sore tomorrow. It's harder work than it looks!"
Elle mounted her broom fairly easily. It was a motion not dissimilar to getting on a bike. She rested there, feet hovering half an inch off the ground, trying to understand what Professor Blanco had meant by channeling magic through your muscles. To her right, Scorpius was hovering a few feet off the ground, looking at ease. Feeling brave, Elle kicked her heels up a bit, coming to a rest at the same level as the blonde boy, who smiled at her, impressed. Elle realized that if someone had asked her how she'd just done that she wouldn't have been able to tell them. She'd just felt it.
From her new vantage point, Elle could observe the other students around her. Rose was hovering a foot above the ground, waiting for more instructions. Sam looked like he was riding a bucking mule, as he fought to keep his broom level and stationery, though by the hooting and hollering coming from him, he seemed to be enjoying himself. Ruth was trying to demonstrate what he was doing wrong, though she herself was only a few inches off the ground.
Albus however, hadn't even mounted yet. "Come on Al" Scorpius encouraged. "Join us!" Albus looked up to Elle and Scorpius. He looked like he was about to decline, when Tobias Travers and Esmond Warbeck zoomed by on their brooms, almost knocking him over. "Scared Potter?" one of them teased. Albus set his jaw, grabbing on to his broom to catch his balance. He mounted awkwardly, almost tipping right back off the broom, which was swaying back and forth. Ignoring the fact that he was clearly off balance, Albus firmly kicked off the ground. Shakily he started to rise upwards. The cheer Elle was about to offer died on her lips however, when Albus continued to soar higher than her and Scorpius were resting.
Elle looked desperately over to Professor Blanco, who was currently distracted by Sam, who had shot off down the pitch at surprising speed, broom still bucking underneath him. Elle looked up again as Albus, who was now about thirty feet above her, and swaying dangerously from side to side. She watched in horror as Tobias and Esmond started to fly in tight circles around Albus, putting him more and more off balance. "We have to do something" Elle said. Scorpius looked a little pale, but he nodded. "I'll distract them, you try and get Albus down."
"Oi." Scorpius shouted out to the two circling Slytherin boys "I just got a letter from my grandpa. He wanted me to let you know that your dad's still a coward. Trading names for a shorter sentence is almost as bad as switching sides, if you ask me." Elle gasped at Scorpius' words and she wasn't the only one. The scene before her had grabbed many of the student's attention, just not Blanco's, who was now on the opposite side of the pitch, chasing desperately after a screaming Sam.
Tobias had stopped circling the air abruptly. Suddenly he dived, directly towards Scorpius. Elle thought she heard a tiny sigh to her right, before Scorpius was streaking off the pitch, Tobias and Esmond following close behind. Elle took this as her cue, and quickly flew upwards towards Albus, who was still gaining altitude at an alarming rate. "Albus!" she cried, come down!"
"I. Don't Know. How. To." He said through gritted teeth. Elle realized he had his eyes closed. "You need to see where you're going Al" she said. Albus shook his head vehemently. "Afraid of heights" he said. "Why did you come to flying lessons if you're afraid of heights you lunatic" Elle said, forgetting for a moment their precarious position. Albus shrugged helplessly. "I'm a Potter. I have to learn how to fly. Both my parents were on the Quidditch team. It's in my blood." Elle reached out her arm and grabbed Albus by the shoulder. "You're being daft" she said. " If your parents had wanted you to fly so bad, wouldn't they have taught you themselves?" Albus opened his eyes to look at Elle, opening his mouth to respond.
Whatever he was about to say however, she never heard, because at that moment Albus realized how high they were. They'd passed the last row of bleachers in the pitch and were now fast approaching the lowest level of whispy clouds. No sound left him, his mouth forming a perfect 'o' in shock. Then he fainted.
Elle screamed, diving after Albus, who had fallen off his broom. She didn't see the colours of the bleachers blurring together as she sped past them. She didn't even see the ground approaching at sickening speed. All she could see was Albus's body, limp in the air. Time seemed to slow down as she reached out, grabbing the collar of his green knit jumper, pulling her broom level with the earth. He was heavier that she could hold however, and, though she'd slowed him, he quickly ripped out her grasp. She watched helplessly as he continued to barrel to the earth, still a few feet away.
Milliseconds before he hit the earth, a great roar of "Arresto momentum" reverberated through the stadium. Albus's body hovered where it was, so close to the ground he was brushing the tips of the blade of grass below him. Elle looked to where Professor Blanco was standing, holding his wand aloft and looking serious. Rose was right beside him, breathless. She had obviously been the one to get his attention.
"Class dismissed" Blanco announced, shooing the students away from Albus, who was just waking up. Elle stayed behind, unsure of what to do. Blanco leaned over Albus, speaking to him softly as he gave him a once over. "Just to be safe I think you should head over to the hospital wing, but I think you're alright" Blanco said after a moment. Elle looked up to him, hoping that he might compliment her flying, but Blanco was already stalking off towards the end of the quidditch pitch again, where Scorpius, Tobias, and Esmond were waiting. He looked frazzled.
As Albus and Elle passed by the group she caught the words 'detention' and 'reckless' coming from Blanco's mouth. Scorpius was looking at his feet, but his gaze, from Elle's point of view, was unabashed. Ruth and Sam were waiting for them just outside the Quidditch pitch, and Scorpius caught up to them with a loping jog a few minutes later. No one spoke, waiting for Albus to break the ice.
It was actually Rose who spoke first, ambushing them near the main door entrance. "Are you alright Albus" she gushed, "I only got Blanco's attention just in time, I was so worried. What happened? Was the broom faulty? No one could see you and Elle up there." Rose's words jumbled all together as she rushed to get out her thoughts. Albus just shoved his hands in to his pockets, and continued to walk towards the Slytherin common rooms, not even breaking stride. Scorpius followed after him, shooting Rose an apologetic look she didn't return.
"He's not hurt, is he?" Rose asked, voice breaking. "Not physically" Elle replied. "I think he's just embarrassed."
It wasn't long before the story of the disastrous flying lesson had made its way around the school. Albus didn't show his face until late Sunday, and only because Elle had gotten Scorpius to pass along the threat that she wouldn't help him with his charms homework if he didn't come to the library with her. He had still almost turned on his heels and re-entered the Slytherin common room when he'd found Ruth and Sam standing with Elle in the stone passageway but seemed to change his mind at the last minute. It was probably best to have as much backup as possible, Elle herself had reasoned.
Elle had really meant to work on charms that afternoon and was thinking about her previous lesson as she walked with the group, letting Scorpius take the lead. Unfortunately, she never made it to the library. Elle's thoughts were interrupted by a shrill voice, saying "leave him alone!". The group headed towards the commotion, looking worried. They'd recognized Rose's voice at once.
Around the next hallway bend Rose was standing, looking tiny, in front of two hulking Hufflepuff seventh years. In her hands was a poster she had clearly just torn from the wall. The two boys, sporting matching shaved heads, turned to face the approaching group.
"There's the man himself!" one of them said, grinning stupidly. "Potter, you don't mind our fanart, do you?" he asked, holding up an intact copy of the torn poster in Rose's hands. It showed a picture of Albus's clear likeness tumbling from a broom. Inscribed below was a short message: Potter's fall from grace. Flying sure isn't genetic. "Just a little morale boosting before the big match next week" the other bald-headed boy chimed in "hoping to throw you brother off his game. You understand don't you pal?"
"I said leave him alone!" Rose replied, drawing her wand, making the two older boys guffaw loudly. "This" choked out one of the boys between laughing fits "is what you get when you mix a mudblood with a Weasely". "I'm terrified" the other said, in mock horror. Elle never saw Albus draw his wand, and she didn't hear him cast his spell, but a second later the boy who'd said the word 'mudblood', a word that Elle didn't know, was on the ground, his body stiff as a board.
It took the other boy a second to register he was now laughing alone, but once he noticed his friend on the floor his eyes narrowed. "You're going to regret that" he said, raising his wand and aiming directly at Albus's chest. Right as the older boy cast his spell however, Scorpius jumped forward, yelling out "Protego". A faint silvery stream of light came out of his wand, forming a thin barrier that was immediately shattered as the other boy's stream of purple light hit it.
Rose seemed to have taken this distraction as the opportunity to strike, as she hit the Hufflepuff boy with an excellent jelly-legs jinx. Unfortunately, that did not stop the older student, who was now firing off spells as quickly as he could. It only made his aim unpredictable as he careened backwards and forward, trying to keep his balance on wobbling legs. Scorpius was trying desperately to cast his weak shielding spell, but something must've gone through and hit Sam, because he now appeared to have a pumpkin for a head. Top heavy and off-balance he tottered down the hall, blinded. Ruth rushed after him, trying to stop him before he reached the stairs. There was a great deal of yelling, as Rose ducked for cover behind a nearby suit of armor.
Elle was panicked, as her and Albus lunged for a nearby pillar. The moving portraits on the wall were screaming out advice, and Elle's head was swimming. She couldn't think of a single spell to help out her friends. All she could think about was the stupid charms lesson she'd been going over in preparation for the library. Peeking out from behind the pillar, she thought she had a good shot right at the Hufflepuff's wand. There wasn't any more time to think of a good hex or jinx. She blurted out the first spell that came to mind, the one they'd been reviewing in charms the week before.
"Winggardium Leviosa!' Elle cried out. Suddenly, the hall was no longer filled with flashing light. The bald-headed Hufflepuff boy was still shouting out random latin words, but they no longer had any effect, as his wand was hovering about three feet above his head. "I would've used expelliarmus myself" said a tired voice from behind Elle "but I guess that did the trick." Elle turned to face the seventh year Gryffindor girl approaching her and came face to face with a shiny 'Head Girl' badge. She gulped as she peered upwards at the tall strawberry blonde before her, who looked decidedly unimpressed.