Chapter 6: The First Flying Lesson

"Hi, Harry,"

Harry awoke from his musings about how he would do on a broomstick against Malfoy at the mention of his name.

"Hm? Oh, hi Hannah," he replied, patting the seat beside him.

She inclined her head at him, sitting down gingerly. "What's up?"

"To the point," he muttered under his breath. "Nothing. Just thinking."

Hannah nodded, helping herself to gooseberry jam and toast.

"Well, it didn't sound like nothing when you were mumbling incoherently," Cedric replied, making Harry jump.

"How long have you been standing there?" he asked, wearily. This was answered by a shrug.

Ten minutes later, Harry muttered a hurried 'Goodbye', and headed out to his next lesson. As he was passing the Gryffindor table, he overheard Neville speaking.

"It's a Remembrall!"

He glanced over to see Neville holding up what looked like a glass ball, about the size of a large marble, filled with a swirling, powdery white gas that seemed to react with every finger that touched its surface. Harry walked over, intrigued. He was just explaining that it would turn red if he had forgotten something, when Draco Malfoy walked over and snatched it up from his hands.

Before Harry knew what was happening, he had pulled out his wand, and was pointing it straight at his heart. He registered vaguely that Ron had done the same. Malfoy looked like he would happily stun both of them, but was interrupted by Professor McGonagall walking over, her lip thinner than Harry had ever seen before.

"What's going on?" she asked, one eyebrow raised, the other skimming her eye.

"Malfoy took Neville's Remembrall," Harry replied, through gritted teeth.

McGonagall stared at Malfoy. "Indeed?"

Malfoy half-dropped, half-threw the remembrall back to Neville, and stormed off, Crabbe and Goyle following closely behind.

…

Padma was lying back in her chair, staring up at the enchanted ceiling when Harry walked over to the Ravenclaw table.

"Nice day?" he asked, glancing upwards.

"No, not really," she replied.

He shrugged, reaching over to grab the bacon. He noticed, out of the corner of his eye, that Malfoy had stood up, and was making his way over to the Gryffindor table.

"What do you think he's doing?"

Padma straightened up. "Not sure. Something that's gonna get him in trouble."

Harry nodded, and helped himself to fried eggs.

…

Draco stretched, and got up from the table.

"Well, see you Harry," he muttered, shaking his head at the questioning look on Goyle's face.

"Still don't know how you made him stop hating you," Crabbe said.

"Good." Harry said, shortly, standing up.

…

Harry glanced at his watch.

"Three thirty. Right!" he said, getting up. "Flying."

Hannah glanced up, and groaned. "Is it mandatory?"

Harry nodded, slightly exasperated. They, and the other Hufflepuffs, hurried down the steps down to the grounds where the Ravenclaws, and Madam Hooch, were already standing. He felt a breeze against his face, and, looking up, saw that there were no clouds hiding the sun, or the baby blue of the sky. Perfect for a sport.

As they walked closer, Harry noticed a broomstick had been lined up next to each individual person, and more were laid down as he and Hannah took spots next to each other. His own broom looked rather tattered. It was plain wood, nothing fancy, and a few bristles were standing out. Looking closer, he realised that it was bent ever so slightly. Glancing around at the other school brooms however, he thought he had been rather lucky. His broom, at the very least, had no burn marks, and was much less wonky than a few of the Ravenclaw's.

Madam Hooch had short, grey hair, and her eyes were curiously yellow. Once everyone had arrived, she barked.

"Hold a hand over your broom, and say 'Up'!"

Everyone did as she instructed, some much more fiercely than others. While Harry said it in a normal speaking voice, Hannah bellowed at hers. It didn't seem to matter, as both of their brooms immediately rocketed into their hands. However, Harry saw that they were just about the only ones. There were only about two more Hufflepuffs who had achieved this, and both on their second or third attempts. There were quite a few Ravenclaws, about six, half of which got it on their first go.

Madam Hooch then proceeded to show them how to mount their brooms, without falling off sideways, and corrected them on their grips. Anthony Goldstein, a Ravenclaw boy, managed to hold the broom poorly four times, before Hannah took pity, and showed him how to do it.

"Now," she bellowed, after about two minutes of this, "When I blow my whistle, I want you all to kick off from the ground as hard as you can! Keep them steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight down! On my whistle- three, two…"

As she blew the whistle, Harry kicked off from the ground, as did the rest of the class. It was pretty exhilarating, as he felt the wind in his hair as he went higher, and higher… but eventually, he had to come down.

Madam Hooch looked happy with everyone's results, and she told everyone to go again, this time for longer. Before long, people were staying up for minutes at a time, and Harry was exceeding most of the others. He was finding it quite fun.

…

"Up!" the entire class shouted, and Harry's broom immediately flew up into the air. He tried not to notice the several loose twigs that flew off it. Padma failed miserably, but there were a good handful of other Ravenclaws who managed it. Hufflepuff only had a small handful, but the numbers quickly increased as people had more and more attempts.

"Now!" said Madam Hooch, the moment the last people had finally managed to penetrate their broom's stubbornness. "This is how you mount your broom- no, Bones, don't hold it like that. Oh, good, Potter! But your right hand is a bit further forward than it should be."

He adjusted it quickly. Eventually, Madam Hooch seemed satisfied with the way the class had performed, for she took out a whistle, and started to count down.

"Three… two… one!"

Everyone kicked off the ground, and flew up. Harry admitted to Padma that it was very fun flying high before coming back down again. They kept going up and down, like a strange elevator. Needless to say, it was the fastest half an hour of Harry's life up to that point.

…

Harry quickly scanned the amassed students, Gryffindor and Slytherin, standing awkwardly on the grounds, the forest and Hagrid's hut in the distance. He quickly walked down.

"You're late," Draco muttered to him, as he took the spot at the very end of the line beside him.

"Yeah, well, that's what needing the loo does to you," Harry muttered, as Madam Hooch strolled up in between the two houses.

"Right," she said, ten minutes later when they were all properly mounted on their brooms. Three… two…"

Before Madam Hooch had even managed to blow the whistle, Neville had kicked off the ground. He wobbled slightly, and went up… and up… and fell about six feet. He was just caught by Ron and Seamus in time, but he seemed a little bruised, and the lesson had to be put on hold as she got him up to the Hospital wing. When they did not return, the class was forced to go back to their respective common rooms, heartily disappointed.

"Shame… it would have been great to learn how to fly." Ron muttered to him.

For the first time since he had met the two, Draco and Ron seemed to have agreed on something.