Had he greeted the professor when he had arrived at class or not? He couldn't even remember but not like it mattered. As class began at six sharp, Daniel placed his bottle of water on the ground while he listened to the first question.

"I like the speed" He answered after raising his hand in the air. "Cause i find it easier to control a broom when I'm going fast for some reason" He usually fell off of one when they had to do tricks.

Heath nodded at the professor’s reply. Good to know that Kazmi wasn’t expecting rain tonight! He could probably handle flying at night or flying in rain, but he wasn’t sure about his abilities to do both at the same time. He saw the way Claudine brightened when he mentioned her broomstick, and that in turn made him happier. Best broomstick ever? He beamed upon hearing those words. Good! If it wasn’t the best broomstick, he would’ve had a few choice words for his quidditch player brother who recommended it! Never mind, that conversation wasn’t necessary, and besides, class was starting.

Heath turned his attention to Professor Kazmi as he spoke. No, the lesson hadn’t thrown off any other plans. If he wasn’t here, he’d probably be somewhere studying or practicing his audition for the Christmas play over the holiday break back home, but he could do those things any time. He considered the question. In the past, he probably would’ve said he didn’t like flying or at the very least, had a hard time coming up with something he liked, but now he had a different perspective. He listened to his classmates’ answers, noting that most of them had to do with the feeling of being on a broom, but he took his own answer in a different, slightly broader direction. “I like flying because it challenges me to step outside my comfort zone,” he said after raising his hand. “And there’s the sense of accomplishment that comes with learning something new, especially something I never thought I’d do.” Merlin, that was such a Ravenclaw answer, wasn't it?

What did he like best about flying? Alfie didn't know exactly how to answer that question. He just liked it. He didn't know what about it he liked exactly. He liked all of it. "I think it's cool to be up in the air, professor. Like I'm flying!" Well, he was flying. But he meant you could almost imagine that you were flying on your own without a broom. As a muggleborn, it seemed even cooler to him simply because of the fact that it was so magical. He was sure that it wasn't as spectacular to some of the students who had grown up with magic and around brooms. But it was different for someone like him who had grown up thinking something like that was impossible.

For the record, grass was not the worst of things found in nature that one could put into your mouth. That being said, Atlas preferred to get his leafy greens from other means.

Professor Kazmi called it flying, Atlas called it falling with style. Tomato, tomato...potato, potato, you know? Which really left little to the imagination as to what was Atlas's favorite part of flying. The free falling aspect was really it and with lessons in his first year revolving around getting comfortable with falling and learning how to fall the 'right' way, well, the professor really had just opened the door nice and wide for Atlas to walk through.

Soooooooo...the rush of the wind, the adrenaline, escaping wei---- wait what? Atlas' head turned a bit too look over at Lisa who was acting...uh...not Lisa like. Sort of like her kneazle had their claws in her back and were, you know, enacting some of their plans.

His train of thought had been distracted and, for once, he had been staying entirely on topic and even agreeing with his peers about things...but now he was sort of side stepping towards the usually effervescent Lisa who now seemed like a diamond that had been dropped in the mud and its shine blocked out. Just needed a bit of polishing and attention to bring that back though, right?

So side stepping just a little closer to the Ravenclaw, he lightly tap tap tapped his foot on top of hers as an effort to provide some comfort.

"It's pretty cool to be able to defy the laws of gravity...but then even better when gravity reminds you it cannot be fully defied," he chirped in response with an entirely too gleeful looking grin on his face.

She waved back to Val as the older girl took her seat, and grinned at Serena's suggestion. "Oh absolutely. I would LOVE that. Mostly because I know I would win," she smirked and stood up all straight just to get a rise out of Serena.

"ALFIE!" she beamed at her Hufflepuff friend. Hufflepuffs just made the BEST listeners didn't they? She would never forget that about Alfie.

V ABSOLUTELY knew her favorite part of flying. She raised her hand IMMEDIATELY. "I LOVE flying because it doesn't require magic and only requires a certain level of skill. And even if you're not good at first, you can work up your skill!!!!" she said with a nod. As others began to give their answers, she noted Lisa's ODD behavior. Weird energy. Hmm.

She'd have to see about that later >.>

Now, for a perhaps slightly jarring segue. Bear with. "Freedom, adrenaline, and expression are answers I usually hear to that question. And, often in tandem with these, the more specific aspect of flips and tricks." Nobody start backing away, it was all fine - see the net? - and Kamran still kept speaking in the same steady, level, and hopefully still reassuring way of his.

"So let's talk a little about those. What might the appeal be to employing tricks? When might something like a loop-the-loop, a flip, or a roll be useful or effective or just plain fitting for the situation? There's-" Kamran paused, he'd been caught out many times over the years by the phrase he had been about to utter - there's really no wrong answer, so he quickly diverted. "-plenty of room for personal experience and anecdotes here. If you want to come at it a different way, tell me any tricks you've done, or seen or read about, and maybe wanted to try, and why."


OOC: Feel free to have your characters answer any part of the question(s) put to them. I'll be moving us on in around 24 hours.

........ Flips.

Flips and tricks.

Well no wonder Kazmi wanted them to wait on dinner, because if they weren't sick at the idea they certainly would be after a couple of flips through the air. Evan glanced up at the net again, hoping there was also a level of enchantments somewhere in there that made you fall slower. Kind of like the giant treehouse, which he had tested once or twice.

So... if he could get up there successfully, maybe the falling off of his broom thing could look like an intentional trick and... be almost successful for a lesson. Though Kazmi seemed to just appreciate effort from the students as opposed to perfection, a small relief to the Ravenclaw. Raising his hand, he waited to be called on before attempting an answer to the next question. "Loops or rolls could be useful in Quidditch to either intercept a Quaffle or," perhaps even more importantly, "be used as a dodge tactic for an incoming bludger."

Ash raised her hand. “If someone was flying straight at you and you couldn’t get out the way, you could roll over and they might miss.” Also, it was just FUN. That was a great reason to do tricks.

She still wasn’t worried about throwing up. Like she said, she forgot her lunch. What she was worried about was falling. “How many injuries a year are caused by people messing up broom tricks?”

Given the amount of times Lia had crash landed into the ground, a pool of water, collided into someone else or had some other mishap on a broom, it was a wonder she still got on one. Yet she did and she enjoyed it. She learned from her mistakes and she got better. Quitting wasn't something she liked to do, it wasn't a part of her active nature. Flying gave her something else to focus on, a chance to clear her head of everything and pay attention to only the broom and sky around her.

As for tricks well..

"You might preform tricks just for the fun of it or to show off what you can do.. maybe for a talent scout if you're trying out for a team," she answered having raised her hand. Though she probably would focus more on simply playing well and not so much showing-off.

Clearly the professor did not share the same enthusiasm that Atlas carried for Falling With Style. No accounting for taste, after all. Something that dad said sometimes and was usually directed at the third year whenever he over shared about Divination assignments and reading...so Atlas knew that it was not exactly a complimentary turn of phrase.

The thing with flips and tricks and all that were that they required a certain sort of athleticism...something which this Flamsteed was not in possession of. This summer when Aries had wanted to take up surfing and Atlas had tagged along to not feel left out and also to try and impress Aunt Minnie had resulted in wipe out after wipe out and never once had he managed to stand up or take a knee on his board. Save for the practice while they were still on land and in the hot sand. The only time any sort of aerobatic movements were employed were when it was beneficial and necessary for whatever robotics competition he was in...and even then it was mostly to look cool or tack on some additional bonus performance points.

Though something DID come to mind.

"Well...I know in robotics competitions, bot battles, using serpentine movements make it much easier to hit the target than if it was moving in a single straight line...which is basically what he already alluded to," he offered with a point at Lisa's brother Evan. He did pause to glance at Lisa again though because like...was she okay? "...plus...they can be crowd pleasers when you successfully perform a trick." Again, speaking from his robotics competition experiences.

Bella liked watching quidditch matches so the phrases that Prof Kazmi threw at them like the roll and loop-the-loop were thankfully not alien to her. She knew what the tricks could do in tight quidditch matches. They were helpful for both seekers and keepers. It was of course useful in dire real life situations to avoid collisions in the air or on the ground like if you are cycling or something. Bella felt safest with answering with the seeker line. Raising her hand she said "If you play as a seeker in a quidditch match the roll, flips, and loops I've seen are very useful when the seeker has to avoid getting hit hard by a bludger or to avoid colliding/crashing with the opposing seeker in the hunt to grab the snitch. Seeker's can be very fierce against each other so tricks can sometimes be the difference between grabbing a snitch or not."

Kami was quite welcome. Claudine bobbed her head in acknowledgement and as the man moved on, kept up with each answer provided. It was fascinating to have a bit of insight into why her fellow students liked flying. So…

Flips and tricks.

Claudine, in all honesty, hadn’t tried to much of either. Evan mentioned dodging a bludger, which was the first thing that came to mind. Almost immediately, she thought of something else. “During very bad weather, flips or a trick could help to dodge lightning.” No one wanted to get hit with one of those.

See? Flying was her subject. It would always be her favorite. It was just so PRACTICAL. No notes, usually, and just...Professor Kazmi was AMAZING did he know. Victoria did not feel dumb in flying like in other classes.

And when he mentioned flips and TRICKS she nearly did a cartwheel. BUT SHE HELD IT IN. Her hand FLEW up. "Flips and tricks are useful because they give your stomach that WHOOOOSH nice feeling you get when you do exciting things. It's the best feeling ever. It HAS to be good for your soul. And body, probably," she said with a nod.

Exhilarating. Valentina nodded thoughtfully at the professor's response. Yeah, she found it exhilarating in a way too.

Oh and then he mentioned flips and tricks. Valentina had never tried anything fun because she always worried that she'd fall off the broom somehow. It was SCARY in a way, ok. But she really didn't want to share that with the class, it was a little embarrassing. "They can be used to show off too!"

Kamran liked where all their heads were at so far. And maybe, just maybe, starting off on that positive note might have set them up ready for the activity.

"Excellent answers, thank you all for your input." Kamran took up his own broom from where it stood against the rack of spare school brooms, mounted up, and kicked off a few feet to hover in the air. "Today, we'll be trying out loop-the-loops, a vertical circle in air - good for avoiding obstacles, doubling back, expressing enthusiasm, the works. To perform this move, you pull up on the handle of the broom while flying forwards, and keep doing so. Don't pull too sharply or you'll stop, but for a tighter loop, you'll need to pull it further back." Kamran scanned their faces, looking for any signs of panic or confusion. He anticipated some would feel a little overwhelmed with information, but if so, they needn't worry. "Keep accelerating, and when you're the right way up again, level the broom back out." Difficult to judge when they weren't used to it, but again, shouldn't be too much of an issue today. "A quick visual demonstration."

Kamran flew up higher, and a short way away from the group, then doubled back to pass in front of the students again. As he did so, he did one neat loop-the-loop, in a large enough circle that they could hopefully note the mechanics of it as well as they could. Then he circled back, and hovered in front of the students once more. "This move can be complicated by overthinking, as the mechanism is similar to slowing down, and I won't deny it can be daunting to deliberately fly upside down. So..."

He drew his wand, and with one semi-complicated wave, a batch of lights - numerous glowing orbs in green and purple - were released, flying up above the net and spreading out over the available space, leaving short light trails behind them. With another wave, Kamran dimmed the lights in the Training Area just enough that the purple and green orbs stood out a little brighter. Twilight had deepened a little, but it was still far from full dark.

"For this activity, mount your brooms, and fly up and over the net. I want you to pick one of the lights - green for a basic introduction, and purple for those of you who want to be put through your paces - follow it, and keep up with it until you complete the move." The lights, the students would find, would lead them through the necessary steps to perform loop-the-loops at good speed, and Kamran was hoping that focusing on the lights rather than the fixating on technique would ease them into it, until they were used to how it felt. He was asking a lot from them, especially the less confident ones, he knew, but had every faith. "These lights shouldn't lead you to crash into each other, but do be mindful of those around you, and don't assume everyone is following theirs perfectly. Remember to keep your speed up, focus on following the lights, and remember, if you fall, that's what the net is there for." And Kamran. That was what he was there for too, should anything go wrong.

"I'd like you to all try and complete at least one loop-the-loop; remember, I ask for effort, not perfection. If you have any questions, the sooner you ask them, the better. Otherwise, up you go." Kamran raised his whistle to his lips and gave it a quick blast, to send them on their way. He'd hang around down here for anyone with concerns about the activity, before joining the others to keep an eye out.


OOC: Apologies that this is slightly earlier than billed. Something's come up and I have to get some sleep before an appointment tomorrow morning. Feel free to catch up with any missed questions as usual.

- Students have been asked to follow one of the light orbs flying around above the net, and follow it closely until it leads them to complete a full loop-the-loop
- I won't be RPing the actions of the lights, you can decide the specifics
- Green lights will lead your characters on simple, easy loop-the-loops, of average height and speed
- Purple lights will be more challenging and less predictable, anything from tighter, faster loops, multiple in a row, or loops with larger circles of a greater height, and varying speeds, tending towards being faster
- The lights will fly all over the Training Area above the net, and shouldn't lead anyone to crash into each other but that doesn't necessarily account for human error
- Feel free to have your students fall or collide with each other but please avoid serious injuries
- The lights are dimmed, and it's still twilight, so visibility should generally be okay
- You can do this activity in as many or as few posts as you like

I'll be posting throughout the activity as Kamran observes. If your character needs him, just approach or flag him down. We'll move along in around 72 hours from the time of this post (1am-ish BST on 20th September). PM or VM me with any questions. And have fun!

What did Apollo enjoy about flying? That was easy. Freedom. It was a method of magical transportation that wasn't age specific, meaning as long as proper precautions were taken, he could fly whenever and wherever. For the most part at least. It was an answer that Lisa had already given, so Apollo remained quiet, choosing instead to focus on the pitch and what trick they might be learning today. Speaking of tricks, they were definitely useful in a quidditch match as he'd seen from his older cousins and uncles using as distractions and to gain advantages on their opposing team. As far as the loop-the-loop specifically, he wasn't really sure it's benefits. Maybe to avoid a bludger? To confuse a chaser and eventually score? To confuse the other team's seeker?

Oh, it seemed they would be practicing the loop-the-loop today. The third year didn't waste any time before kicking off into the air and after the green lights. Yes, he probably could have attempted the purple ones since he was an experienced flyer, but he figured start with green. With precision, the gryffindor carefully flew in the pattern of the lights, feeling the rush on his skin as he finished off, raising his hands off the broom triumphantly. That was definitely an easy path. He decided to hold off a moment or two, however, for his classmates to make their way along the path before he would try it again on the purple path this time.

Claudine actually laughed out aloud. Not loudly but enough for those close to her to hear. “Good one, professor.” If it had been a professor she wasn’t fond of, definitely there would have been no laughter from her, just her strong unimpressed expression.

With Kazi now hovering before them, Claudine’s gaze followed him. Was she sort of excited to try the loop-the-loop? You bet. Her face would have been one registering confusion at the description of the move but the demonstration did clear it up a bit. With the appearances of the orbs, the Snakette figured that this was the reason they were having this lesson at this time of the day.

Claudine had no questions, and she was eager to take off on her broomstick. Already her mind was made up to go with a green orb for now. The girl mounted the broom and slowly rose into the air, soon after flew over the net. The first green orb that she came across was the one she decided to work with.

The orb seemed to sense her presence because the moment she focused on it, it began leading her through the necessary steps. Keeping a bit of distance between herself and the orb, Claudine was led to flying across the Arena in a regular manner for a bit before the orb began pulling up . She figured this was the part where she pulled up on the handle of her broom.

Here went nothing.

Evan was right there was Professor Kazmi until a specific maneuver was named. And then he was sitting there trying to figure out what a sloth grip would look like, and why that would be a name used for something that would have been specifically helpful in flying. Was that an upside down hold on the broom? Because that sounded terrifying since he personally would not have trusted his ability to get back on said broom.

Bringing attention back to Kazmi's current explanation, watching as the Professor made the technique they were practicing today look so effortless. He was certainly jealous, and calculating the odds of liklihood he'd be able to successfully do this move even once. The upside down part didn't really unnerve him, it was more of the fact he was sure he was about to look like a car stuck in stop and go traffic. Though perhaps he was not giving himself enough credit.

Orbs were released, instructions given and Evan took a small breath while he mounted his broom. Eyes scanned for a green orb - there was no way he'd be successful with a purple - he located one and pushed off the ground, a bit uneven in his take off and immediately tilted a bit left which made him have to put heavy focus for a moment on getting himself righted. In which time, he already lost the green orb he'd scouted.

This was promising.

Flying himself up above the net, Evan then paused to search for another orb - probably not the same as the first but who knew, and spotting one he leaned forward to gain a little speed to follow after it. Stay close, was what Kazmi said right?

That meant he'd need to figure out how to start close.

Valentina already felt somewhat nervous. So, they were going to be learning how to do a vertical circle in the air... she had to do it in her school broom too. She would have felt a lot more confident if she had one of her own. Anyway. She watched as professor kazmi demonstrated what they were going to be learning, her eyes WIDE. WOW. That was amazing!! Soon, the orbs were released and her classmates were already taking off in their brooms. She sighed before mounting hers and kicked off the ground, trying not to feel so stressed. Even if she fell, there was a net below.. all good. Hopefully.

She flew over the net, immediately noticing a green orb nearby. No way was she trying a purple one. She followed the orb, maintaining her speed, a small part of her actually having fun. Maybe she could do this.

You know when you went to the circus or really any sort of show and the person doing the thing made it look easy? Yeah. That. That was Professor Kazmi. Enough so that he almost felt confident enough to just go straight for the purple light and skip over the green entirely. Worst case was that he would fall off his broom and on to the net, right?

With no real remarkable athletic ability of his own, it truly was bold of him to mount his broom and kick off the ground at a leisurely pace towards the nearest purple light. The light hovered in place, luring the Gryffindor to it (he couldn't help it, it was so beautiful), and then suddenly took off. Stay close...right...staying close! Atlas leaned forward on his broom to pick up speed and he was somehow keeping up with it. Zipping by both Evan and his dormmate, Apollo, Atlas was entirely focused in on the orb and nothing else as it began to rise and initiate the loop part of the loop-the-loop. Atlas pulled up on his broom a little too eagerly, which translated to too sharply, and instead of finding himself upside down...the third year found himself in an awkward sidespin that was almost a barrel roll. "GAAAAAH!" he grunted while trying to correct his position, the tail of his broom clipping Claudine's broom as she kept, perhaps, too respectable a distance between herself and her orb.

On an entirely different trajectory now, Atlas' purple light completed its loop-the-loop and hovered in place for the next student to utilize its wisdom.

...meanwhile Atlas was now surrendering to gravity and just hoping his broom wouldn't thunk him in the face when they both hit the net.

Bella instantly got nervous as Professor Kazmi demonstrated how to perform a correct loop-the-loop to the class. It looked easy enough, but she knew it'd be very challenging for her when she mustered up the courage to try her hand at it.

Looking down at her broom she stared at it for several minutes before she mumbled "Up!" as she held her right hand out. The end of the broom flew up and hit her right smack on the nose before it fell down to the ground again. "That hurt!" she cried out, to nobody in particular. Rubbing her nose with her left hand she was glad that it didn't start to bleed. Taking a breath she held her arm out for a new try and commanded in her firmest tone "UP!" this time the broom flew up into her hand and she could mount it without trouble. Kicking off from the ground, feeling the nerves in her stomach flutter uneasily Bella followed the lights at a very slow pace, that a forest snail would be proud of. She managed to perform whole the loop-the-loop on a very wobbly broom. Maybe she could try again at a faster pace? She was though sticking to the green path.

Lisa had been paying attention to the lesson (as best she could when she felt like a bottle of soda that had lost all of its fizz) when she felt a light tap tap on her foot. She looked to her side to find Atlas standing beside her and she offered him a small but grateful smile. Hi friend, she waved, trying to pick up her smile and brighten it. It was a nice, comforting gesture. And she was thankful for it.

The next round of questions, she opted to listen to her peers’ answers.

Before she knew it, they were back to Kamzi talking again about their lesson and she tried her hardest to refocus and take her mind off of the things it shouldnt dwell on. Flying. But flying only reminded her of…..

Snap out of it. Purple loop. No, don’t be dumb, Lisa. Green lights first.

She opted for the easy one and didn’t hesitate as she propelled herself off of the ground and flew after the green lights. All she was thinking about was grabbing a green light, she needed to grab it. That will pushed her to go faster and faster around the track, chasing the lights, and paying little to no attention on whom she passed or whom was falling. She had a point to prove.

Indeed that distance was a little too respectable. Claudine was just starting to see that. She would have to fix that short- there was suddenly a jolt that originated from the front end of her broom which threw her concentration off course. The pull up she had been trying to complete? Well, let’s just say that went quite wrong. She was still clutching her broomstick handle and it was still pointing in an upwards direction. The only difference now was that instead of following her orb, Claudine was involuntarily spinning once, twice so far.

While spinning - trying not to pass out from dizziness already enveloping her, mind you - her brain thought that it had been one of the Flamsteed boys who had hit her. Probably? She vaguely recalled the outline of the twin's face, plus a shout or something of the sort immediately before the hit had reminded her of Aries or Atlas' voice.

Anyway.

There were much more pressing issues to worry about. The seventh year let out a shriek that failed to stay in. The broom went spinning four times in total now and if she didn’t pull herself together, no doubt she’d crash into someone. The thought panicked her.

No pressure, Blaze.

Well, moment of truth, he supposed. Kamran was reasonably confident this approach would bear more fruit than just telling them the technique and sending them on their way, but the proof of the pudding was in the eating. At the very least, he was hopeful this would be a solid first step. After waiting a moment near the ground, he flew up after the students and began circling the Training Area, trying to get an idea of every student's progress, watching each for at least a few moments.

Adara-Stark was out there making it look effortless, though Kamran wasn't too surprised by this; by now he knew the boy had plenty of flying experience. Perhaps he'd pick out one of the more advanced purple lights, and give chase to that instead.

Then there was Nam, Evan, still a little wobbly on the take-off, but powering through all the same. Every faith, every faith. Maybe he'd need to work up to the point he could follow one of the lights close and fast enough to be led on a loop at all, but that was just a matter of time.

Another student he had faith in? Well... all of them, pretty much. All the ones willing to get into the air and try. Like Nichols. Kamran thought about calling out some encouragement to the girl, but opted not to, in case he threw her or any of the others off. But she could do this. She could.

As could Connolly - speaking of, he'd made a mental note to double check the Slytherin was all good after that little broom-to-face meeting. The girl seemed to be fine enough to fly, however, as evidenced by the fact she completed the move. Slow enough that Kamran was sure he'd winced ever so slightly when she was upside down, half convinced she'd fall, but he needn't have worried.

Nam, Lisa... had Kamran just a touch concerned. Just a tad. A little more quiet and subdued than he was used to, which then translated to what he could only describe as solemn and silent determination as she flew after the lights. From a flying perspective, she was doing brilliantly, had come along in leaps and bounds, but otherwise... Kamran would trust that her friends and siblings were on that, and he himself would step in if there seemed to be a serious problem, or if it affected her flying, made her reckless.

... Speaking of. Actually, no, you know what, that wasn't fair. Or... maybe it was. Regardless, Flamsteed seemed to have bitten off a little more than he could chew. Still, it was a learning curve, and he definitely couldn't fault the the kids for pushing themselves. Really, the main problem here seemed to be a touch of overzealousness in steering. Shame that wasn't quite the kind of flip Kamran had asked for. "Fly it off, Mr Flamsteed," he called after the Gryffindor plummeting towards the net. "Keep trying." He didn't even tell him to try for the green light instead this time - and only in part because his attention was quickly pulled elsewhere.

But, see, Kamran wouldn't hover over these kids... other than in the very literal flying sense. He trusted the students to pick themselves up and dust themselves off without him fussing, unless there were signs of mortal agony or the like. Or if he was flagged down, that also.

But, that little tumble had affected another student, and Kamran was now focused on Blaze. She'd been doing reasonably well so far, starting to get there... before being clipped, and... yeesh. Kamran might have waited to see if she could get herself out of it, but then she was shrieking and there had been a lot of spinning already, so instead he accelerated her way. "Level out, Miss Blaze. Level your broom out." He raised his voice only so that he could be heard over any more shrieking, or rushing of air in her ears; no hint of panic. If that failed and she couldn't get her bearings, he'd slow the broom himself, but first, to see if she could do it. And... and hope nobody else collided with her before he could get close.


OOC: I'm really enjoying reading these posts ^_^ About 24 hours, give or take, before we move on to the main activity.

His earlier thought that he'd look like a car in traffic was indeed correct, as every time he got close to his light and tried to tug up to follow it into a flip, he'd come to an abrupt HALT, his body jerking a bit forward and then he'd have to start trying to catch up to his orb all over again. And the speed with which Flamsteed had passed him had been really rather impressive, and he could feel a gnaw of jealousy that he made it look so effortless while he was still very much currently struggling.

.... Except then... it didn't look so easy. There was suddenly not one, but TWO peers in a little bit of a tailspin. Er... well one he supposed as Atlas seemed to be not fighting gravity and heading towards the net. He certainly hoped falling into that didn't hurt, though he then remembered from his own experiences with falling - as he was certainly no stranger - it shouldn't be too bad depending on how they landed. He had his fingers crossed no bruises for the third year. It was then that it also occurred to him that he'd been pretty close behind Claudine, and his eyes averted towards her and... the back of a broom which he was getting close to. On instinct he pulled the handle UP intending to STOP.

And instead completed a flip. Because of course the broom couldn't help him do what he ACTUALLY intended. The flip was not quite a perfect one as he lost some of the altitude in which he'd been flying at, but that ended up being helpful as it got him away from danger of colliding with the Slytherin.

Though it also left him entirely confused on where his designated orb could be located. Drat.