Flying Lesson #2 - Magical Transportation
 

A sign sits outside the unlocked gates of the Pitch and it clearly states the details of the lesson in bold, bright flashing letters:

FLYING FOR BEGINNERS

FIRST YEARS' ONLY

ALL STUDENTS MUST USE SCHOOL BROOMS - NO EXCEPTIONS.

DO NOT ANNOUNCE A LATE ARRIVAL
OR THAT YOU'RE LEAVING - POINTS WILL BE DEDUCTED.

NO CHATTING DURING THE LESSON -
FAILURE TO LISTEN COULD RESULT IN DISASTER IN THE AIR.

Flying Lesson #1 - Beginning Flying
 

Professor Vindictus spent the last thirty minutes lining the school brooms into two neat rows at the center of the Pitch. Based on the position of the sun in the sky, he knew that the lesson would start very soon.

Lucas ran all the way down to the pitch for their first flying lesson. he was really keen on starting the lessons soon. "Hi Professor," He said brightly as he made it in record time.

Mariel sprinted out to the pitch, eager for the first flying lesson. Although she loved to fly and considered herself fairly decent at it having had plenty of practice at home, there was no way she was going to pass up a lesson taught by Hogwarts' resident Quidditch idol. In fact, she was uncharacteristically bursting with excitement, awaiting the lesson to begin. It was no surprise to her that she was nearly the first to arrive. "Hello, professor!" Mariel grinned and waved when she saw Professor Vindictus waiting for his students.

Lucas saw Mariel and he waved and smiled at her. he wanted to say something but Professor Vindictus told them not to talk during the lesson and he didn't want to get into trouble.

"Hello, hello!" Vindictus called out cheerfully and motioned to the brooms lying on the green grass. "Stand next to a broom, please."

Mariel grinned and waved at Lucas when she saw that he was in her class too. Then she put on her solemn 'grown-up face' and put a finger to her lips and nodded. She liked her new Mirror Friend, but knew class was not a place for chatting and didn't want to get them in trouble. Hopefully they would get a chance to talk later, after class.

He nodded and bounced over to the broom and stood next to it. He was so excited he could hardly contain himself to stand still. He bounced from foot to foot.

Mariel walked over to a broom and looked up expectantly, waiting for the next instruction.

"Good, good. Now I want you to stand about a half foot away from the broom that is to your right," Vindictus said and hoped that the kids knew their right from left. "Place your right hand over the broom and say 'Up!' Make sure you say it in a firm voice because a broom can sense fear."

Lucas scooted over so that he was standing a little bit away from his broom. He stuck his right hand out over his broom. "Up!" He said firmly. The broom jumped up into his hand. He loved it. The feel of the wood against his little fingers. A small smile played at the corner of his lips. He loved to fly and he couldn't wait to get up into the air.

"Good day, Professor!" Nathaniel said strolling onto the practice field

Vindictus walked around and watched the students perform this basic task. "Now I want you to stradle your broom and place both hands firmly on the handle in front of you."

Mariel shifted over a little until she was the correct distance away from her broom. Holding her right hand over the nearest broom, she commanded, "Up!" The broom flew straight up into her hand. That's what was supposed to happen, right? Mariel glanced over at the professor to make sure she did it correctly.

Vindictus raised a disapproving eyebrow at the lad. "Well, it was a good day. Five points from Gryffindor for interrupting the lesson with such nonsense."

Mariel nodded. Simple enough. She straddled the broom and grasped the top of the handle with both hands. Looking once again at the professor, she waited as patiently as her excited little self could for the next step.

Lucas did as he was told. He swung his leg over his broom and put his hands on the handle. It felt as if his hands were made for a broom. He looked over that the boy he had gotten in trouble. He felt so sorry for him, but he didn't say anything least he get into trouble.

"Now, don't grip too hard," Vindictus added after staring at the deathly white knuckles of several students. "Gently push off from the ground with your feet and lean forward over your broom handle. Swerve the handle back and forth to navigate in the air. If you feel like you're going too fast, sit up a little on the broom and pull the handle towards you. Now give it a go and take a few laps around the Pitch, but no racing or fancy stunts or showing off!"

Lucas relaxed his grip a little and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath and pushed off the ground with his trainers. He leaned slightly forward and took off at a slow and low pace. The sun on his brown skin seemed to rejuvenate him, the playful breeze through his hair sounded like his mother's voice calling his name. He turned the handle and veered to the right. He had been waiting weeks for this. In the air again like a little sparrow that had been trapped indoors too long. He slowed down to fly next to a dragonfly who was catching the breeze and hanging out.

This was the best feeling in the world to Lucas. Other than hugging his mommy.

Raine gripped her broom, and lifted slowly, hesitantly into the air. Closing her eyes, Raine lifted higher into the air, faster than she had before. Strangely enough, this wasn't as hard (or scary) as she'd thought it would have been. It was the greatest feeling she had, ever, since coming to the school. This was where she always wanted to be, how she always wanted to feel. Opening her eyes, Raine gave a little cry of joy, and began flying more sure footed; or, well, not really, but she did fly confidently, as though she had been doing this all her life. Hearing another student told to loosen their grip, Raine did the same, barely toughing the handle, and gliding along smoothly, as easily as a hot knife goes through butter.

Emalyn bit her lip as she tried to let her grip go a little. She pushed off gently from the ground and tried her best to lean forward. She hovered in mid-air, serving back and forth, getting used to the force of the wind and the easy turning of the broomstick. She was halfway through her first lap when she pulled the handle of the broom towards her, a bit too abruptly, but she still slowed down. She smiled. She loved the soaring feeling and she swooped and whoosed and flooped around, though not as fast as she dared.

She knew it was probably wrong, but Mariel couldn't help but to grin at the thought of the professor deducting points from that silly Gryffindor boy. Strange... Such a short time as a Ravenclaw, yet still so much pride for her house. Mariel frowned at the thought of Ravenclaw currently being in last place.

Taking a deep breath, she looked down at her hands to see how tightly she was gripping the handle. Relax, Mariel, she thought to herself and somewhat loosened her grip. Kicking off from the ground, she and her broomstick rose into the air and Mariel began to lazily circle the pitch. It had been weeks since she had been on a broom and she couldn't be happier to be flying again and feeling the wind rush through her long, dark hair.

Doing her best to avoid the other flying first years, she looked down to the professor to see what they would do next.

Vindictus watched as the students flew cautiously around the Pitch. In the distance, faint 'ooh ooh eeh eeh' sounds were heard mixed with the cackling of birds in the trees. "Very good!" he called out.

Nathaniel got the broom up with no problem and swung his leg over. "This is going to be veeeerrry easy" he thought to himself. He pushed off and off he went. He loved flying. It was one of his favorite things. He took a few laps around the pitch and landed trying not to be anymore of a dingbat and lose his house anymore points

Vindictus pulled out his wand and several basic obstacles appeared hovering overhead - a large bouncing ball, a few large squares, and couple of spinning triangles. Each were made out of a special material that would cause anyone who collided with the items to harmlessly bounce off. But these objects weren't stationary - they were constantly moving about and trying to block the flyer's path. "I want you to practice flying around these obstacles that are floating in the sky. Steer with your broom handle. To go upwards, pull the handle up. To go down, point the handle down."



OOC: Go ahead and have fun flying. I don't expect everyone to be perfect in trying not to hit these harmless obstacles (the entire pitch has a special safety charm on it for this lesson so that there will not be any broken bones - you'll bounce off the grass if you fall; you'll bounce off the stands if you hit them). It's okay to have a few conversations with those in the class, but please do not make this a chat thread. I'm going to leave this thread open until Sunday and that evening at 9pm EST, I'll wrap up the lesson so that you can RP landing and leaving. Will points be rewarded for active participation of the lesson? Yes (at least 6 posts in which your character is actively participating in flying).

Bree relaxed slightly, still sceptical about the ability of a stick to hold her in the air. She slowly increased pressure on the balls of her feet suddenly unwilling to live the ground. She grimaced. It won't bite, you silly girl. Haven't you always wanted to fly?

Finally she pushed off trying to put her trust in the broom. She leaned forward obediently and immediately felt as though she might slip off. She jerked upright again. Slowly she forced herself back into a crouched position. See it's supporting you. She glanced at the ground hovering beneath her feet. She could feel the broom drifting slowly in the direction in which her dipped head was pointing. She focused again on the task at hand and willed the broom to trace the boundaries of the stadium. She was moving slowly but accelerating and beginning to feel a bit more confidence in the bit of wood beneath her.

She finally managed to bring the broom full circle without incident.

Emalyn gaped at the many obstacles floating in the air. She flew a few laps and came up to one, intending to dodge it and fly above it, but the large square moved and she collided with it. She bounced off but found herself still on her broom. She bit her lip nervously but was more confident now, squinting ahead to spot more of these obstacles, and avoid them.

Lucas was so busy flying next to the dragonfly he didn't see the obstacles that the professor put out in front of them. He looked up in time to fly smack into a blooming bouncing ball in midair. "Arghhhhh!" He screamed letting go of the broom handle to cover his face and thus sliding off his broom and landing on the grass. he bounced on his bottom a few times before he stopped moving. He jumped up, "That was the best crash ever!" He shouted as he looked about for his broom.

"o0o0o Professor! This is gonna be awesome!" he said with a smile. Nathaniel looked at the obstacles. This was going to be a little difficult. Nathaniel pushed off from the ground and felt the amazing sensation he always felt when he was a boom. He couldn't wait to have his own broom. He saw all other first years flying around. He headed towards a triangle and got it with ease. He took off for a square and didn't make it and fell off. Oh well he thought. Not everyone is perfect.

Miranda was used to flying, but she was open to improving her techniques. Putting her hand over her broom she said "Up!" and then hopping onto her broom she kicked off the ground.
Smiling and taking deep breaths of the sweet fresh air she took a few laps around the pitch.
As she tried to avoid the obstacles she grinned, this was so much fun!

Letting her mind wander, she noticed something fly past her...or rather falling past her. Jerking her head around to look at the comet-like thing, she noticed it was a Slytherin that bounced on the ground. Miranda winced ''You allright?" she called over to the boy as she hovered over him.

Chris got on his broom and flew low in to the air. He was a pro at this. He flew around he picture weaving and twirling and even a few flips and then landed where he took off and flashed a smile in the teacher' sdirection.

Bree heard the scream and would have jumped if that were possible while in mid-air. She almost fell off her own broom but gripped it til she was white at the knuckles and ended up turning a full circle in mid-air. She gasped, having held her breath the entire time. Then smiled, exhilerated by the adrenalin flowing through her.

For the first time she noticed the obstacles put up for them. She grinned, after rolling over what was scary about flying now?

Diana was flying for the first time properly.She overtook most of te obstacles arranged by the Professor.She was having fun.Then she became a little reckless.Looking at a spinning triangle she flew towards it.But just then,it changed it's position,and was just in front of her.She screamed,and bounced onto the grass."Phew!!!Cheers Lucas,I've landed in a same position as yours."she said and laughed.

Jenn kicked of smoothly and flew around the quidittch pitch. This was as easy as breathing air to Jenn. She swoop around the ball in front of her and did loopty loops around the area. She was loving this. It made her feel free.

Nathaniel didn't see anyone he knew.. which he thought was lame. He flew some laps around the Pitch before taking a chance with the obstacles again. He stayed still in the air watching everyone flying around. He loved flying. It was an amazing feeling. Only thing that sucked about today was that it was realllllly cold. As he watched the some owls flying around he thought about how he thought he was a good flyer... but after being missing the obstacle he had second thoughts

Jenn flew around some more. She wasn't paying attention and bumped into a boy in front of her. "Opps! Sorry about that."Jenn said.

Nathaniel looked at the girl that bumped into him with a smug look on his face. Obviously she wasn't the best flyer out there. " Have you ever flown before?" he asked her

Jenn frowned. "As a matter of fact I have! I just was thinking about something and you just happened to be in the way."Jenn said smugly.

"I was in the way?!" he almost yelled at her. "No, ma'am I wasn't. I was out of the way looking at the Pitch. It's what I do. I observe. And I was doing such when you slammed into me!" he retorted right back at the snobby girl.

Jenn, if she could of, would of stomped her foot. "I did not slam into you, I merly bumped into you."Jenn retorted loudly. This boy was quite rude.

Nathaniel was being a little rude but darn it he was out of peoples way when this kid slammed into him. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry that you slammed into me. Your parents must have NOT have taught you any manners." he spat out at her.

Jenn laughed cruley. "I was getting to that. And for the last time I did not slam into you!"Jenn said angerly. How hard was this kids head. He just couldn't seem to get in that she bumped into him. "Sheesh! And my parents did teach me manners."Jenn said, of coarse she could care less about her parents tho. Jenn sighed as she realised she was being rude. But this kid was drieving her up the wall.

"Obviously your parents and my father have different looks on manners kid. Good job being a nice young lady." he yelled at her. He had had enough of this. He took off on his broom and zoomed right past the kid. Nate was a nice guy but when he got fired up you better look out! This was the fastest he'd gone in forever. Maybe there were nicer people in Ravenclaw. Although he did think he was a little mature for his age. He do the obstacle course this time with ease. He always did things better when he was a little peeved. He figured that he'd just lap around the pitch until class was over.

Jenn was about to say something back but then the boy flew off. Jenn started to cry. She hadn't meant to be rude to him. But when Jenn got mad she was like a volcano erupting. Jenn zoomed after him dogeing kids and objects. "Wait! O.K. Just please wait."Jenn said loudly. Loud enough for him to hear at least. Jenn zoomed up next to him.

Nate had finished the obstacle course and saw that rude girl fly up next to him. Now what he thought to himself. "Can I help you?" he said to her with a snide tone.

Jenn was about to retort something rude back, but then she took a deep breath. "Look. I'm sorry about me slamming into you. I was just thinking about things and well, wasn't paying attention to where I was going."Jenn said sighing. "I really like Quidittch."Jenn said, hopeing it would make him more friendlyer.

Nathaniel looked at her. "You like it? Well, how much have you flown before and what were you thinking about. You can't just be flying on a broom aimlessly" he said to her. Had his father known he has been rude to a girl oooh would he have been in trouble.

Jenn smiled. "I don't like it. I love it. It's the best sport in the world!"Jenn said happily. "I've flown ever since I was five."Jenn said. Then she frowned. "I was thinking about my friend, and I know that. I just couldn't stop thinking about it."Jenn said quietly. Jenn dogded a square that came towards her cleanly.

Nathaniel barrel rolled to dodge the square. "I'm Nathaniel.. but I go by Nate. I've been flying since I was two years old. It's in my blood." he said with a grin. "So is being a trouble maker." he added zooming around the girl.

"Nice move."Jenn said smiling. "I'm Jennumara, call me Jenn tho. So two huh, that's cool. Is your dad a Quidittch player?"Jenn asked. Jenn smiled happily. "Me two. I love doing mischeif and that sort of stuff."Jenn said with a smile.

"Actually dad did play for the Falmouth Falcons but I've not told anybody.We are from Sidmouth. They are both on the coast. Very nice places." he said. "I'm always in trouble. Crap I got 5 points taken off earlier for being late. So are you a pureblood or what?" he as zigzagging around on his broom.

"Wow really? How cool. I love the coasts. Nice and peaceful."Jenn said smiling. Jenn giggled. "You did. How sad. Not to be rude."Jenn said laughing. "Ya I'm pureblood. I'm not super proad of it but, oh well."Jenn said looping around on her broom.

"I'm half and half. My mum is a muggle and my dad is a wizard. He's related to the Potters." Nathaniel said with a grin. He may not be pureblood but being related to Harry Potter was better than that. "I think that we should do some more of the class before the professor yells at us" he said as he zoomed off behind a tree to hide for a while.

OOC: it's 3am here. I'm going to bed.

Jenn smiled. "How cool,"then she stopped, "your really related to Harry Potter. How cool."Jenn said. Jenn shrugged. "What happened to mister trouble maker?"Jenn said teasenly. "O.K."Jenn said rolling in the air.

ooc: lol. It's 1 a.m. here. I should get to bed now too. See ya!

Kairi stood there with her broom clutched tightly in her hand, her shoulder-length red hair was tied up in a loose pony-tail and her black converses were placed firmly on the ground. She wasn't nervous about flying, she knew how to fly and according to her neighbor, she was extremely good at it, but something was holding her back. She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts, and mounted her broom, her face breaking out into a small grin. She kicked hard off the ground and hovered for a split second, then zoomed straight up, did a barrol role and a quick flip, before stopping and hovering high above the ground. It felt so good to fly, the wnd whipping her face and her feet full of anticipation for all the new vibrations, it was like...magic.

Natka noticed a girl fly up nearby, doing an expert flip on her broom. Eyes open wide with admiration, she flew closer.

"That was really great! How do you do it?" she asked, once she had flown closer. Now that she could look at the other girl carefully, she realised she looked vaguely familiar...

Perhaps they had met during the feast, or one of the previous classes, Natka mused.

Kairi did a small jokey bow when the girl came up to her, "Thanks, but I've had quite a bit of practice at home, so technically I'm cheating," she said with a grin, "Hey, you look familiar..." It took Kairi a little while to recognise the girl's vibrations, "You're Natka, right? Are you Lizzie's friend? I think we met at the start of term feast, I'm Kairi," she said with a warm smile.

Kairi gave Natka a small smile and shrugged her shoulders, "To be perfectly honest with you, I have absoulutely no idea how I do it. You need to have confidence in yourself, you have to believe you can do it, oh, and remember to hold on tight :D"

Kairi grinned, "Way to go, Natka," Kairi said, patting her on the back, "Don't mention it, it's no big," she said with a wink.

"You're on!" Kairi said with a grin, "Ready...set...go!" Kairi raced off flying as fast as she could to the other side of the field.

Miranda, seeing that the boy was indeed allright, went by the obstacles again. She dodged them withouth any major problems, but she could do with practicing some more, so she could get alot better at it.
Those quidditch practices were though.

This was wonderful!

Emalyn gaped at the Gryffindor boy's techniques in flying.
"Well, Emalyn thought stubbornly. "He's a first year. If he can do it, so can I!"
Ema flew low as she had seen the Gryffindor do, and tried to weave quickly through invisible air. When she had gotten the hang of this, she tried for a flip. This time she was not so fortunate, and ended up doing half a flip and then falling off her broom, landing on her back. Luckily the ground was still charmed and she bounced back up, landing on her broom that was waiting for her, still hovering in the air. "Must be a pureblood." Emalyn thought, sure that this boy had had practice way before this lesson.

As Mariel started to circle the pitch for the second time, she turned her head to look behind her as her attention was diverted by the hint of a strange sound. Um... monkeys? They weren't native to Britain were they? That couldn't have been what she heard.

Shaking her head slightly in disbelief, she turned back around just in time to see some sort of square-shaped object on a collision course with her face. Not enough time to duck, it smacked Mariel directly on the nose. It stung only for a moment when it collided, but then the pain almost instantly subsided. Gingerly, Mariel reached out her hand to touch her nose to find, to her relief, that it wasn't bleeding.

At least I didn't collide with a person, she thought to herself, looking over at Jenn just at the moment of her collision with a Gryffie boy. Mariel sighed and made her way over to make sure she was alright. The Professor has certainly made things interesting... an obstacle course of sorts, she thought to herself, narrowly avoiding a large ball and several triangles.

As Mariel approached her two fellow students, she could hear them arguing. Mariel rolled her eyes at the thought of points being taken and Ravenclaw certainly could not afford any deductions. Pulling up alongside the two, she hissed, "Jenn! Gryffie boy! Will you two shut up!? Class is not a place for chatting... or whatever you want to call what you're doing." Then she addressed the Gryffindor a bit haughtily, "Listen if you want to lose more points for your house, that's cool with me, but don't do it at the expense of Ravenclaw." Mariel sped away to finish another lap around the pitch.

Still, she didn't really get it. Her head said let's fly, it's gonna be fun. Kairi's even flying, and she's blind! while her feet were very clear at their point; You're gonna fall and break your neck!! She just stood there with her broom in one hand, watching Kairi do tricks in the air. Suddenly, she saw Kairi stop and talk to someone, and suddenly she realised it was Natka! "Natka!!" she called out, but they were to far away to hear her. That's it! she thought, now angry with her feet. I haven't met Natka for days, I'll fly up there, and speak to them! They're my friends, I can do it! Shaking a bit from her fear of hights, she got up on her broom and followed the teacher's instructions. She closed her eyes.

She could feel her hair following the wind, and with her head full of thoughts about how high up she could possibly be, she opened her eyes. The view almost made her fall of her broom. Her hands automaticly held on tighter to the broom, and she sat there, frozen in air, unable to move. When she shock had calmed down a bit, she forced herself to get to Kairi and Natka, who were now racing over the pitch. She managed to make the broom move forward, and slowly she approached them. She felt happy that she'd been able to move, but still she wouldn't dare looking down. She knew she'd fall if she did. She always fell when looking down from high places. "Hi g-girls!" she said, hearing her heart go faster than the sound when her brother made popcorn.

Lizzie had to told on really hard to her broom, and she felt like her head was full of clouds. She didn't wanna look down, but couldn't help it when she heard Erica come flying towards them. She swallowed and turned back to Natka. "Well" she said in a weak voice. "I think it's amazing and everything, but I don't like it being so high up.." She glanced at the others. Why was everyone so good at it? She felt like an idiot, not because she didn't know anything, but because she was scared. Scared enough to hold on to the broom until her hands were shaking. As Erica got closer, she thought of turning towards her, but abandoned all those thoughts at once. If she turned around she might fall, so she simply said "Hi Erica, nice to see you again" without turning around. She accidentally looked down again, and felt the ground approaching her, in her thoughts. She took a deep breath and looked at her friends. "You enjoy it?" she said, trying to smile. She managed to look at Natka, since she was in front of her, and said "Well I'm glad you like it, I knew you would. I'm not so sure I like it though. I mean" she hesitated"I like it and all but" she felt her broom do a little movement to the left and she gasped and took a better grip on her broom. "I've always been afraid of heights and this is very frustrating for me, I want to fly, but me feet don't." She felt completely helpless, and realised that she had no idea how to get back on the ground, except falling.

Chris turned his broom around in the air and went threw the course and made it all the way.

Jenn was about to retort something back, but decided other wise. Jenn sped up to catch up to Mariel. "O.k. Sorry 'bout that."Jenn said blushing.

Emalyn rose higher in the air, going faster in pace. But that soon stopped when she almost flew into another student. She slowed down and steadied herself, dodging a few more obstacles.

Mariel glanced out of the corner of her eye to see Jenn pull alongside her. She took a deep breath and said, "Look, I really didn't mean to yell at you. It's just that Ravenclaw is in last place and we can't afford any deductions. That boy already lost points and I didn't want to see that happen to you. Besides, as I said before, class is not a time for chatting, it's for learning. We can always talk later." Spoken like a true Ravenclaw, she thought.

Mariel leaned to her left as they curved around the end of the pitch. Dodging another flying projectile, she warned Jenn as she pointed, "Watch out for that square."

Lucas looked up to see a girl hovering over him. He hopped back on his broom, "Oh I'm fine. Thank you for asking." he told her with a bright smile.

He giggled as he saw another girl collide with the ball. It was actually a lot of fun if you thought about it. It didn't hurt at all and Lucas might to it again just for the fun of it. "Well hop back on your broom and have another go at it." he said to her.

Theo took a deep breath as his little legs kicked off the ground. He felt rather lonely without his Buzz Lightyear. He wished his daddy was here to see him on his first broom, even if it was too big for him. He even wished Nia was somewhere. He hovered a bit off the ground, his little hands shaking onto the broom handle. He was scared. He had never been so far off the ground before. His teeth chattered with fear, his legs shaking. He wanted to pass this class badly. He wanted to make his daddy proud of him.

He lifted his broom handle up to make him go higher. His broom lifted another foot. He sat there for a moment, to acclimatize to his height. He smiled, becoming a bit more happier with how he was doing. He forced his broom forward, only at a short speed. His hair fluttered from the short burst of speed. He giggled as he halted. It was exciting.

He wanted to meander, to avoid the weird ball things. But he didn't quite have the nerve yet. He just kept on with his short bursts of speed, and then giggling afterwards.

Hayden had been nervous this whole entire time. She had follow every uinstruction and even flown a few laps, badly. The obstacles now seemed like her worst fear. She hovered for a moment and began. Up, down, down, left... wait no, no, no right. She paniced a tinsty bit and hit it. Okay calm down and try again from here, she thought.

Slowly Hayden began again. She enjoyed flying and the scared sensation she had left, until she looked down at the ground. She was higher than what she expected and began to panic a slight bit. If her cousin were here she would've said, it's nothing to be affraid of, but in Haydens point of veiw it was everything to be affraid of.

Lucas flew into the ball again but he hung on to his broom and he bounced off the ball. It was fun. He turned and saw that Theodore was flying! He turned around and pointed his broom toward his best friend. "Theodore!" He shouted.

Nia smirked as she got onto her school broom. She'd been practicing with her Dad at home in the garden, and so was feeling fairly confident. Okay, she hadn't exactly been very high, or gone very fast, but she knew she was pretty steady in the air, and that would be a huge advantage.

She grinned as she kicked up into the air, and as she gained height, she glanced around for her twin brother. Ah, there he was. And he'd made it off the ground! Nia stared at him. He was meant to be a scaredy cat. And Buzz wasn't in sight. She looked puzzled, before leaning forward and heading in his direction.

Nathaniel saw the Ravenclaw get smacked in the face and had a good laugh at her. He didn't know who this Ravenclaw was telling him to stop chatting. As he recalled the Professor had told them that they could chat a little.. and that was what he was doing. "Back OFF! Last time I checked Gryffindor was in the lead anyways." he said to her as he zoomed past her with a snide look on his face.

Raine turned her broom around as she heard Mariel, Jenn, and Nataniel, a Gryffindor student who she'd met once in the Leaky Cauldron. She wondered if he would remember who she was. Near them she also saw Lizzie from Herbology class. She called out to them then flew over.

Addie glanced behind her as a Gryffindor boy told off the Ravenclaw who was trying to get people to be quiet. She rolled her eyes. Ravenclaws. Gotta love 'em. Addie saw the boy take off down the pitch away from her. He was a really good flyer. She smirked and abruptly changed direction to go towards him, zipping between the obstacles as she did.
"Hi," she said when she pulled up even next to him "I'm Addie. I'm in Gryffindor too," then she gestured to his broom, "Have you flown before? Because you're quite good."

Grace ran into her flying lesson. Whew. She picked up her broom and started practicing. "Haha!" she shouted. Flying always made her so happy. Grace flew a few circles, then thought why not show off a little? and started on some tricks Jake taught her, starting with her favorite: the upside down loop. Okay, enough goofing off. a little voice in the back of her mind said. Oh, shut up, she told it you ruin all the fun... But, as usual, she listened and started working on her lesson.

Nathaniel was very ticked off by this point. A girl flew up to him and for once someone was nice today. "Actually.. I have. It's in my blood. And thanks." he said with a smile.

Mariel sighed and rolled her eyes. Apparently Gryffie Boy did not know the meaning of the phrase 'shut up'. That was fine with her though, she thought, as she noticed him now chatting it up with a Gryffie girl. They could both lose points for all she cared, as long as they weren't getting any Ravvies in trouble. Of course, just like in half the classes she attended, the incessant chattering was annoying. Hmm. Maybe they missed the sign at the pitch entrance. Didn't they know she was here to learn from a Quidditch Idol, not to mention try to distinguish if those faint noises were really monkeys? It was nice to see some people were paying attention to the lesson though.

Last time I checked Gryffindor was in the lead anyways. Grrr. Mariel scowled at that thought. She desperately wanted to spit out, 'They won't continue to be if you keep insisting on losing points,' but she thought better of it and held her tongue. Mariel watched as Gryffie Boy sped past. Show off. But even she reluctantly admitted to herself that he was not a bad flier.

Mariel shrugged softly to herself. Avoiding the obstacles was getting easier, she thought, as she experimentally raised and lowered the handle to veer out of the way. I wonder if this is like avoiding bludgers? Her backyard Quidditch games never included bludgers and she hadn't played on a real team yet, so she wasn't sure. It would be good practice though.

Addie smiled "You're welcome." she looked back at the Ravenclaw girl, "I heard what she said. And it was kind of out of line. After all, the professor did say we could chat."
Addie's eyes lit up when she heard that he had flown before, that flying was in his blood, "Really? Did you parents fly? Mine did; though not professionally. They taught me to fly when I was really young."
Addie sighed and looked around the pitch, "I wish first years could play for the house team. I've been looking forward to playing Quidditch for Gryffindor since...well, a while."

Lizzie was still frozen in the middle of the pitch, to high up to even think about it. She looked around to see if there was someone she knew close to her, and spotted both Reine and Nate quite close to herself. Natka, Kairi and Erica seemed very busy having fun on their brooms, so she slowly managed to get closer to Nate, who was closest. "Hi Nate" she said in a weak voice, holding on to the broom as if her life depended on it. She knew she was pale, but it was only cause she was terrified. She tried to smile, but slid a bit on the broom and cried out in surprice. When she got back on track she was almost next to Nate, and she spoke again. "Hi, I can see you're a really good flyer. Have you been practising a lot at home or what?" She wish she'd been as good as him, but then again, she was deathly afraid of heights, and she couldn't do anything about that. She tried to make the broom stop next to Nate, and to her surprice it did. "So, are you gonna try out for the quidditch team?" sha asked him as she changed her grip and tried really hard not to look down.

Raine flew up to Lizzie and Nate. Lizzie looked petrified. Dodging another obstacle as it came at her, Raine said "Hey Lizzie, Nate," then specifically to Lizzie, "You ok? You look terrified." Raine kept herself a little above the twosome, not because she thought herself better, but because Lizzie looked so scared she might faint if she had to look down.

"Yea. I don't know who she thinks she is. Prolly thinks shes better than me for some reason." he said with a smile. "Hi,I'm Nathaniel but you can call me Nate.My father and sister played at Hogwarts and my father played professionally when he I was younger and such. I love flying. It's one of my favorite things. So are you half and half or what? I'm half and half." he said with a smile.





"Flying is in my blood. Are you okay up here?" he asked as he could see the girl was holding on for dear life. He giggled to himself."No, I'm not trying out... not this year."

Kairi flew up towards Lizzie, Raine and nate, "Hey Raine, long time no see," she said giving her friend a smile, "You ok Lizzie?"

"Hey Kairi," Raine said, smiling, then turned to Nate with a frown. "You know, it's not nice to laugh at someone when they aren't having as good a time as you." In hindsight, Raine could have kicked herself for snapping at him when he already looked ticked, but she didn't regret it. Lizzie was having a bad enough time without her fellow Gryffindors (with the exception of Kairi) making a fool of her.

Theo wobbled his broom around at his the name of his voice. He barely stayed on it. He grinned, "Hello Lukey. I can go fast. I did it across da sky."

Out of the corner of his eye, Theo saw something zooming towards. He first thought it was one of the balls. He wobbled at turning back round, trying to get away. He did his burst of speed, trying to get away from the incomer. He wobbled around the corner of the pitch. He began slowly dodging the balls and stuff on the pitch. He grew in confidence as he tried to escape the pursuer.

Kairi nodded in agreement with Raine, "She's got a point, Nate," Then she turned to look at Lizzie, "You wanna go back to ground, hun?"

Lizzie saw Reine come flying towards them. She smiled at her, happy to see that Reine chose to fly over them, so she didn't have to look down. She swallowed and looked at Reine. "Oh yes, I don't think I've been this scared ever before." she tried to look at everything except the ground while speaking. "I'm terrible afraid of heights, you see, and I" she stopped as her broom moved a little with the wind. It was just a few cm, but it made Lizzie gasp for air and close her eyes. As she opened them again she looked at Reine. "I keep feeling like I'm gonna fall off any second." With begging eyes, she looked around. "Do you know how to get down? I don't have a clue and my hands are really tired of holing on to the broom this hard. I think I need to land..." She was interupted by herself crying out with fear, cause she had slid a bit forwards on the broom, trying to make it go down by pointing it in that direction. She held on to the broom with hands and legs, and still managed to laugh a little weak laugh. "I'm not a really good flyer, right?" she said to Reine and the approaching Kairi, as she tried to get back to the middle of the broom.