//------------------------------// // 41 - Airborne // Story: A Phoenix Beyond the Veil - The Philospher's Stone // by gerandakis //------------------------------// Chapter Forty-One Airborne Where Saturday morning had been used to explore the castle, the group had set Sunday aside to explore the grounds. After all, Hogwarts was in the Scottish Highlands and it was only a matter of time before winter came and turned the castle grounds into an unnavigable mess of snow and ice. As such, they wanted to see all they could of the school grounds while they still had the chance. The castle could wait. Between skirting the edge of the Forbidden Forest, gazing deeper inside, exploring the Quidditch Pitch and the stands surrounding it and taking an extended break at the lake, their exploration of the grounds took them all day, only interrupted for lunch. After dinner, they returned to the common room to find a notice posted there. First years of house Gryffindor will have Flying Lessons with Madam Hooch for late afternoon classes on Thursdays starting on September 12. The first years of house Slytherin will be joining them. The Lessons will take place on the practice field beside the Quidditch Pitch. Please be sure to wear appropriate clothing. "Well," Harry chuckled. "Malfoy has been bragging about his flying skills ever since we got here. We'll see what he can actually do." Sunset couldn't hide her smirk. "Well, his tales can't be true, given how often he supposedly escaped from muggles in helicopters. Even his father couldn't bail him out after breaching the Statute of Secrecy that often." "That's a good point actually," Dean chimed in, "not to mention that he clearly has no idea how helicopters actually work." "Well," Neville started, "wizards don't usually know much about how muggle technology works." "They're missing out then." Harry sat down on one of the couches throughout the room. "Mr. Weasley didn't even know how aeroplanes work until I told him. And that's not even technology that's just physics." The week passed quickly. Herbology was slowly getting more interesting as they were now getting into the more complex parts of plant care. It was staggering how many magical plants had special requirements for when and how they could be sown, trimmed or potted. In Charms, Professor Flitwick introduced them to the next of the basic charms, the mending charm 'Reparo', followed on Thursday by its opposite, the cutting charm 'Secaris'. By Thursday, he stopped being surprised by most of the Gryffindors managing the charms on the first try. Transfiguration on Tuesday, gave the students that had yet to manage transfiguring a match into a needle another chance to do so. Those that had managed it already were given small pieces of wood and the task to turn them into pin cushions as a bonus exercise. On Thursday, to up the difficulty a bit, they were once again given matches, but this time their task was to turn them into a piece of cutlery of their choice. The trick was that, while a needle was about the same size as a match, a knife, fork or spoon was much larger. Additionally, those who weren't quite confident in their abilities, could make their work easier by trying for a cake fork or teaspoon first. History of Magic was predictably boring, but in Defense Against the Dark Arts, to everyone's surprise, Professor Quirrell actually managed to teach them something. Specifically, he taught them a spell called 'Salvio Hexia', a protective spell against basic hexes. Sunset still couldn't figure out what kind of dark magic was surrounding the professor. That it seemed to be slowly growing stronger only served to exacerbate her worry and frustration. Still, she was quickly cutting down on the list of things it might potentially be and estimated that it would only take her a few more weeks at most before she had at least a basic idea of what it was. In Astronomy, Allison guided them through looking at Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, all of them relatively close to the western horizon. It was, according to Professor Sinistra, a relatively bad time to watch planets, as most of them weren't currently visible in the night sky. Mars and Jupiter were more or less on the opposite side of the sun from earth and Venus was between the Earth and the Sun and thus not visible at this time of night. They'd have a special lesson to watch it at five in the morning some time in early December. Finally, after their Thursday afternoon lesson of Herbology, the Gryffindor First years made their way to the practice field beside the Quidditch Pitch, where twenty-three brooms in two neat rows of eleven and twelve were already waiting for them along with the Slytherin First years, stood in a loose group next to the longer row. They formed their own loose group next to the shorter row and waited for their teacher to arrive. They didn't have to wait long. Madam Hooch, Sunset realized, was the woman with yellow eyes and gray hair she had seen at the head table during the feast for the start of term. "What are you all waiting for? Everyone stand next to a broom stick. Come on, hurry up." They quickly lined up so each stood next to a broomstick. They clearly weren't in the best condition, with twigs sticking out at odd angles and scratches all along them. "Stick out your right hand over the broom, and say 'Up!'." "Up!" everyone said in response. Some, mostly those inexperienced with brooms shouted the word, but Sunset, Hermione, Luna and the Weasleys simply spoke it as a calm command. It was hardly surprising that Harry, Luna, Ron and Ginny immediately had their brooms jump into their hands. Sunset and Hermione and Seamus also quickly grabbed theirs as they jumped up, though without quite so much enthusiasm. Dean's, Lavender's and Pavati's brooms only turned around on the floor or did a lazy hop, and Neville's didn't move at all. He had been telling them all week that he really didn't want to fly and that his Grandmother had never let him near a broom. Not entirely unreasonable, considering how clumsy he was at times, even with both feet safely on the ground, but Sunset knew of several pegasi that were like that on the ground, yet had unparalleled grace and elegance in the air. Madam Hooch showed them how to mount their brooms without sliding off the end and then walked up and down both rows, inspecting and correcting their grip and stance. Harry, Hermione, Luna, Sunset and the Weasleys got by without comment, but they had to struggle to stifle their laughter when she told Malfoy that he had been doing it wrong all these years. Finally, Madam Hooch returned to her position at the end of the rows. "Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard. Rise a few feet and then come straight back down by leaning slightly forward. On my whistle. Three. Two." Sunset saw Neville beside quavering slightly from nerves and placed a calming hand on his shoulder, glad to see him relax a little. "One." A shrill whistle cut through the air and twenty-three brooms flew up into the air. Sunset was dismayed to see that while Neville did push of with everyone else, he had pushed off much too hard and rushed higher up than everyone else. His hands, slippery from nervous sweat couldn't hold onto his broom and he fell to the ground with a startled scream. He impacted the ground with a loud 'WHAM' and a nasty crack. Sunset, having seen him slip and started to descend, jumped off her broom several yards up in the air, landing with a practiced roll, and raced over at the same time as Madam Hooch. Hermione watched worriedly as she absently pointed her hand at the two vacant brooms and pulled them to her so they wouldn't drift away. Sunset and Hooch reached Neville at the same time. The teacher went to examine him with a practiced eye, while Sunset drew her wand to cast a quick diagnostic charm. Both came to the same conclusion at the same time. "Broken wrist." Looking over to see who else had spoken, Madam Hooch saw Sunset. The girl tapped her wand to Neville's right forearm and his pained grimace vanished into an expression of confusion. "There. That'll mute the pain, but I'm not familiar enough with human physiology for a healing spell." "Human physiology?" After a moment the teacher's face lit up with recognition. "Right, right, Minerva mentioned that." She turned to Neville. "Come along, boy, we'll get you to the medical wing." She turned to the rest of the class. "Come down! All of you." Once they had landed, she continued. "Put the brooms on the ground and leave them there or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say Quidditch." As she turned around, they heard her quietly speak to Neville. "Come along, dear. And be careful with that arm, with the pain deadened you won't feel if you're doing worse damage to it." As Sunset turned back to the rest of the Gryffindors, standing in a group, quietly talking, she stowed her wand back in its pocket. She thought she saw something glinting in the grass, but dismissed the thought. Sitting in a pair of comfortable armchairs next to the window, Minerva McGonagall and Severus Snape watched their first-years inaugural flying lessons, as they did every year. The Head of House Gryffindor winced in sympathy as Mr. Longbottom fell from his broom and fell hard to the floor, but trusted Rolanda to address the situation. Unlike Severus, she had seen Miss Shimmer's Parkour skills before so she wasn't entirely surprised to see the girl jump of her broom in mid-air. Still, she was a bit startled, so she couldn't fully enjoy Severus' gasp of shock when she expertly rolled and broke into a run to reach Mr. Longbottom. They watched as Miss Shimmer drew her wand and did something. They couldn't identify the spell from this distance, but they could see that Mr. Longbottom was no longer curled up in pain. Seeing how Rolanda walked off with Mr. Longbottom a few moments later, they surmised that she hadn't simply healed him, or that, if she had, Rolanda thought it better to get a second opinion. They didn't hear the teacher's warning, but her gestures and expression made it easy to understand her warning to the students. While the Gryffindors huddled into a group, Mr. Malfoy sauntered innocently over to where Mr. Longbottom had fallen. He leaned down and picked something out from the lawn. Neither of the two noticed the other raising an eyebrow, so neither of them realized how well they were mirroring each other. They both knew what was going on. Seeing Mr. Malfoy taunting the Gryffindors before jumping onto his broom and flying off elicited a sigh from Severus. Seeing Mr. Potter take off after him got a matching sigh from Minerva. Looking at each other, they nodded and made their way to the nearest door to the grounds. The two students were still in the air as they approached. Suddenly, Mr. Malfoy threw the item he had picked up high up into the air and went into a dive, returning to the ground. Mr. Potter, meanwhile was following the item with his eyes and, the moment it passed him, dove after it. Moments before hitting the ground, he grabbed it and pulled out of the dive, landing gently on the ground. With a glance, she told Severus to wait and marched up to the group. Sunset watched with mild worry as Professor McGonagall led Harry away, she was pretty sure they wouldn't actually kick Harry out, but she couldn't be sure.   "Mister Malfoy!" Just like before, all students turned around to face the speaker. It was Professor Snape. Glancing to the side, Sunset could see Malfoy sweating. "Rolanda likes to speak in hyperbole, but don't think I will let a member of my house ignore a direct command from a teacher without punishment. Follow me." They watched Snape lead Malfoy back to the castle. None of the Slytherins daring to speak out in his defense. Only minutes later, Madam Hooch returned. "Well, looks like we have a few extra brooms." With a wave of her wand she returned the three vacant brooms to a shed not far from the field. "Now, let's try that again." When the group met back up with Harry in the common room, he seemed excited for some reason. "She told me to join the Quidditch team as Seeker. She introduced me to Wood." When several of them shot him skeptical glances, he rolled his eyes. "Oliver Wood. The team captain. He told me I was ideal for a seeker. He did ask some questions about my eyes though." "Did he now?" "Excuse me, Professor Flitwick, could I borrow Wood for a moment?" Oliver turned around, confused what his Head of House might want. When Professor Flitwick nodded kindly, he got up and followed the Professor along the corridor, looking at the first-year walking beside him with interest. Of course he recognized Harry Potter. Who wouldn't? The boy was famous up and down the land, and the electric blue stripes in his hair weren't exactly easy to miss. But what did he have to do with him? After a few moments of walking, he remembered something. Weren't the first-year flying lessons happening around this time. She couldn't be thinking what he thought she might be thinking, could she? "In here." McGonagall had led them to an unused classroom. Massive as the school was, it had those in obscene numbers. As such, it was all the more surprising that this very classroom wasn't entirely empty. "Out, Peeves!" Once the nuisance was dealt with, McGonagall turned to them. "Potter, this is Oliver Wood – Wood, I've found you a seeker." Turns out she could be thinking what he thought she might be thinking. "Are you serious, professor?" "Absolutely." McGonagall's face was stern, but after four years at the school, Oliver had learned to see something other than what she wanted people to see, as such he could see a glimmer of pride in her eyes. "The boy's a natural, I've never seen anything like it. Was that your first time on a broomstick, Potter?" "No. I've used them a few times while I was staying at the Weasleys', but while on holiday it was easier to just use my wings." Oliver looked at the boy in utter puzzlement. "Wings, Mister Potter?" "Yes professor, I became a pegasus when we went to Equestria." Without another word, the boy shrunk into a tiny horse with deep purple coat, mane and tail of scraggly black hair with two stripes of electric blue each, much like his hair in his human form, large, expressive emerald green eyes and, most importantly, a pair of long, sleek wings, like those of an eagle. One of the other first-years commonly carrying an eagle around on her shoulder made the comparison an easy one. "I see. I really wish Arthur and Molly would have told me about this. Animagi need to be registered, you know? I've made sure to register Miss Shimmer. After our visit I also registered Miss Granger, but I wasn't aware of any others. Who else?" "All the other Weasleys, Hermione's parents and Luna's father laid the groundwork, but I'm not sure who else has actually transformed yet. I know Ginny and Luna can do it and I'm pretty sure Fred and George got too distracted to do it yet. But assuming they don't forget about it it's only a matter of time before all of them can do it." McGonagall sighed. "I'll have to write them. Your verdict, Mister Wood?" Wood looked over the little horse before him. "Can he participate like that?" "Not for the time being, no." "In that case, could you turn back, Potter?" The boy did so. "Good stature for a seeker. Sleek, fast. We'll have to get him a decent broom, Professor. A Nimbus Two-Thousand or a Cleansweep Seven, I'd say. But if he's as skilled as you say ..." "He is." "Then I'd say we're sure to win the Quidditch Cup this year." "See to it that you do. I shall speak to Professor Dumbledore and see if we can't bend that first-year rule a little. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a few letters to write." Once the Professor was gone, Oliver turned back to the boy. "So, what's with those eyes?" "Means that I'm a raptor. A subtribe of pegasi with magically enhanced eyesight. Supposedly I can zoom with these, but I'm still trying to figure out how. That's also why I don't wear glasses anymore." Oliver was already thinking about training this boy into a Star Seeker, barely managing not to drool at the idea. "So you have magically self-correcting eyesight. Neat. Anything else?" "Well, I can see something that's two kilometers away as well as you can see something that's two meters away." "How far?" "Right, wizards still use the imperial system, I forgot. About one-and-a-half miles and about two yards." Oliver was actually drooling now.