Yay, flying lessons! Fiyero had been waiting for this moment all year. After ro many months of waiting, he'd started to think Hogwarts had cancelled flying lessons for the year. Oh, well... better late than never, right?

He was do eager to get started that he made sure to arrive extra early for this lesson. After all, he'd need all the practice he could get in case he got the racing broom he'd asked for his birthday. Pleeeeease somebody give him a broom for his birthday! He still thought it was dumb that first years weren't allowed to have their own broomstick, but by the time his birthday rolled around he'd technically be a second year so it wouldn't matter.

"Hello, Professor Tanner!" Fiyero said as he spotted the teacher standing by the broom shed, giving her an enthusiastic wave. He looked around but didn't see anyone else here. Was he the first to arrive? Cool! So now what?Was he allowed to pick out a broom now? He assumed do, given that the shed was open. He went inside and quickly selected one of the newer models. One of the perks of being first! Broom in hand, he went back outside to await farther instructions.

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooonononon onononononono no

This couldn't be true. Flying class was mandatory for first years!?

Bec was NOT happy about this. She disliked quidditch and anything having to do with flying. Not that she had ever tried it before nor was she scared of it. She was scared of nothing HA! but having been dragged to matches with her parents had been a living nightmare.

Sure it was fast paced and exciting but she just....didn't connect with it. So with an annoyed expression on her face, the Gryffindor made her way towards the broom shed when she saw an adult standing there. Must be the Professor. Taking a deep breath because UGH, Rebecca pretended to be interested and waved at the professor.

"Hi Professor Tanner" she had remembered her name. Now she just needed to find a way to get out of this. Spotting Fi already there, the first year went to him and didn't hide her dislike this time. "Can you believe we HAVE to take this class?" she whispered. Ugh right? uuuuuugh

Skylar was beyond stoked for this class!!! She'd ridden a broomstick before but didn't actually have one that she personally owned. Not a real one, anyway. With the Hogwarts ban on quidditch, her parents didn't think it was prudent to buy one, not to mention first years not being allowed broomsticks...

But she had been out on the practice pitch once before , where she'd met Hadley, even though she didn't actually fly but merely gazed with wonder at the stands and the whole pitch really.

"Hello Professor Tanner!! Lovely flying day!" Sky said with great enthusiasm seeing their arithmancy professor greeting them at the door which held the school brooms. Picking one up that looked relatively in good working condition, the first year made her way out to wait for the rest of class to arrive. Vivian and Hattie, mostly she was waiting on.

Miranda was more than ready for this lesson. Her mother hadn't let her ride a broom at home... saying it was ALL dangerous and that she'd sooner fall off because she was darned accident prone..... But anyway she was excited beyond measure as she made her way to the shed Smiling like a giddy freak as she selected a suitable broom. As she walked out of the broom shed she saw their flight instructor... Wow... She was young... " hi..." Randa said as she passed by and stood along with the few other students who had turned up early....

Alright, the first arrival! And it was a Gryffindor student, bold and brave and ready to go. "Welcome, Mister Jones! Please select your broom," she said, pointing inside. "This ought to be fun, no need to worry," she said reassuringly as he came back outside. It was important that the first few people appeared eager and relaxed rather than scared, if only for the benefit of the later arrivals.

Arrival number two was also a Gryffindor. And this one seemed less than enthused about the prospect of getting on a broom. "Hello, Miss Meadows. Any broom will do," she explained, pointing to the shed Fiyero had just exited.

Oh good, it wasn't a Gryffindor convention, then. "Miss Diggory, a pleasure as always," Tiara responded. "And it is quite lovely weather, you are certainly correct!" That was intentional on Tiara's part. "Any broom will do."

Next up was a Hufflepuff with a smile on her face. "Good to see you, Miss Blaze," the professor said in greeting. "We will begin in a few minutes."

Oh yes, Flying class it was! Probably no one was as excited for this as Vivian was, who was skip!running her way towards the Hogwarts grounds and to the broom shed where it was to be held. Meeep, she wished her Auntie Elise were here to witness her in her first every broomsticking class! Although she maaaay have stolen small opportunities to ride a broom owned by either her dad or aunt, she was keen to start all over again, from scratch. It'd be fun! Why wouldn't flying be, anyway?

The blonde sort of panicked when she saw the Professor standing outside. Was she tardy? No, she couldn't be! The Slytherin blinked and skipped towards the woman with a small smile. "Hi Professor, I'm not late, right? May I still join?" WILL HOUSE POINTS BE DOCKED FOR TARDINESS? This wasn't even a "legit" OWL class but you knoooow, right? Vivian Fairfield would never be late for this!

Oooohhh was that Sky? The blonde went towards her dorm mate with a wide BEAM. "Hiiii!" she said, and even waves towards Zorro and Bec over there. Meeeeep! So much fun! Wasn't it exciiiiiting?

Bec let out a small sigh when the Professor pointed to the shed to grab a broom. Any broom would do? She had no clue which one would be good or which one would be bad so without thinking too much about it, the Gryffindor went in to the shed and grabbed the first broom that caught her eyes.

It was simple one, twigs stuck out at the end and she was sure the broom had been picked up and used many times before. Getting out of the shed with the broom in her hand, Bec waved her free hand at Vivian, the girl she had her first duel against and had lost. She then looked up at the sky and sighed heavily this time.

Why was the weather good NOW? She didn’t want to be here, she’d rather go explore the castle or do any other class. Stupid flying.

Here came another first year. Tiara glanced at her watch when the girl asked about being late. "Not late, no, but we are getting ready to begin soon. Fetch yourself a broom!"

Speaking of which, it was time to get going. "Okay everyone, grab your broom and gather around!"

She waited a bit for a little circle to form. "Right, good morning! Let me assure those of you that are nervous that you will be just fine as long as you follow directions. Plus a cushioning charm on the ground cannot hurt." Literally.

"Before you can begin to fly, you must earn your broom's trust and likewise learn to trust your broom. Please place your broom on the ground under your dominant hand." She reached behind her and grabbed her own Firebolt, then she placed it on the ground on her right side. "Stretch out your hand over your broom," she demonstrated herself, "and firmly ask your broom to come up to your hand. Up!" Her broom flew up into her hand right away.

"It may take you a few tries. Just be confident and your broom will eventually listen. Give it a go!"

First ever flying lesson! Harriet was so excited! She loved flying, and had done it a little before. Both of her parents, and her older siblings loved flying, so of course she had been on a broom before. But there was nothing like actually having a flying lessons! She was really excited for the lesson! She just hoped that she would be okay at it, because she really did not want to make herself look silly. She had to spend the next 7 years with these students! She couldn't make herself look silly in year one!

Beaming Hattie went a got herself a broom. It was only a school broom, but it was cool! She loved brooms. She smiled as she got into the circle near the Professor. She listened intently, tilting her head as she listened to the professor. She hoped it wouldn't take her too long to be able to get the broom up.

Smiling, she placed the broom onto the floor, so that it was resting on the ground under her left hand. She wondered if anyone else would be a left hander like she was. Looking down, she raised her hand over the broom, and said "up" And nothing happened. "Oh. She frowned, looking down at the broom again. Oh no. It didn't work.

She closed her eyes, concentrating a little more. "Up..." Nothing. "Up" Nothing. Oh. Come on. She wanted to be good at this. She screwed her eyes a little tight, and tried to be as confident as ever. "Up!" She murmured, and then beamed as she felt the broom come up into her hand. "Yaaay!" She was so excited.

And now she waited quietly for the next set of instructions.

Bec waved at Hattie as she walked towards the small group of first years but didn't say a word because the professor was starting the lesson already. The Gryffindor listened, not interested but still listened to the instructions and her gaze went to her broom in her hand. Earn trust? If this broom was like her wand then they had a lot to work on.

Moving away to get some more space in case the broom whacked her face later, Bec placed it on the ground and went to stand on the left side. Her dominant hand being right, she put her hand over the handle and shouted. "Up!" Her voice was confident and to be honest she wasn't afraid either. She just wanted this to get over with so she could get back to doing something she liked -Woooooosh- the broom flew up at the first command but the first year miss grabbed it and it fell back down on the ground. Rolling her eyes, Rebecca did the same thing and this time she caught the broom in her hand.

Oh whew! Hattie and Vivian MADE it!! She was sure they wouldn't want to miss this class for anything!! Beaming at her two friends briefly, Sky then focused her attention back on the Professor as she started. Earn the brooms trust? Her older siblings never mentioned anything about that? But maybe that was cause it was their own brooms, as opposed to school brooms?

Raising her hand before speaking, Sky just HAD to ask about that, "Professor? Do we only do this process because these brooms are public brooms? Or would this process need to be done for when we buy our own personal broom as well?" cause she usually just hopped on and didn't have too many problems encountered...

Nonetheless, she would do the exercise because it wasn't hard and she was a generally trusting person. "Up!" Sky said with great confidence, holding her right palm over her broom. Whoosh! The broom flew up into her hand, almost immediately. This flying thing? She got this.

Fiyero shrugged in response to Bec's question. Personally, he liked flying, but he supposed she did have a point. They shouldn't force anybody to take flying lessons if they really didn't want to.

He barely had enough time to return Vivian's wave before Professor Tanner started speaking. Gripping his broom a little tighter, he huddled around her, listening with rapt attention. So they had to earn the broom's trust? That sounded easy enough. Alright, let's do this!

Fiyero glanced around at his classmates and saw Bec's broom come to her fairly quickly. Wow, for somebody who didn't like flying, she was off to a great start! "Good job, Bec!" he whispered. Maybe a little encouragement would get her to warm up to flying.

Then there was a Slytherin girl who got her broom to fly into her hand on the first try. Fiyero hoped it wouldn't take him a bunch of tries to earn his broom's trust when his classmates caught on so quickly. That would be embarrassing! Determined not to get shown up, he set his broom on the ground beneath his right hand. Okay, broom, let's get this show on the road! "Up!" he said in his most authoritative voice, and the broom flew into his awaiting hand. See, no problem!

"Well done, everyone!" she called, gaining their attention once more. "I will give the next set of instructions now, but feel free to keep practicing getting your broom up if you would like." It was important not to rush new riders so they felt as comfortable as possible.

Next step, kicking off. "Next you must mount your broom." She did so herself and paused for them to mimic her. "When I give the signal, kick off hard from the ground. Hover a few feet above, then nudge the handle down and land." She demonstrated. "The broom senses your intent. As long as you do not make any sudden jerking motions, you will be fine. Go ahead and try several times to get a feel for it." Now it was time to see if that cushioning charm would be tested.

Harriet was so excited that she had managed to get her broom up to her hand. She had thought at first that she was going to struggle, since it had taken a few attempts but she had managed it in the end. It was really good. She couldn't wait till she could send a letter back to her father. She knew Seth was going to be proud of her. Of course her mother would be too, but she really wanted to impress her father with her flying. She was his first biological little girl, so she wanted to do him proud.

They got to do a bit of flying now? Yay! That was perfect. Hattie watched the Professor mount her broom, before following suit and mounting her broom. She had flown on a broom before, so she knew how to do this, but there was something about doing it at Hogwarts, and on her first flying lesson that made it even more special!

After watching the Professor show them what to do, and waiting for the signal Hattie kicked off gently. She wanted to be gentle, because she really did not want to fall off. She hovered off the floor a little bit, not too high because she didn't want to go off balance. "Oh wow..." She murmured. This was cool. She really loved flying. It was one of the best things in the world. Smiling, she nudged her broom handle forward a little, and came back down to the floor.

"That is SO cool Professor!" She was loving this lesson. It was totally one of the best ones she had been to so far.

Nice? Getting his broom to come to him on the first try was just "nice"? Fiyero was a little disappointed that he hadn't earned more praise from Professor Tanner, but he was determined to prove himself this time around.

Alright, time to get down to the actual flying part of the lesson! Now this was what he'd been waiting for... He watched intently as Professor Tanner mounted her broom and copied her movements as closely as he could. His eyes followed her as she hovered in the air for a minute then touched back down. That was awesome! He couldn't wait to try that out himself.

The blond Gryffindor boy fidgeted a little as he waited for Professor Tanner to give the signal. Come on, get on with it! Couldn't she see he wanted to do some flying? The moment he saw the signal, Fiyero kicked off from the ground, taking extra care not to do it too hard and go rocketing into the sky. He hovered about four or five feet off the ground for a minute, high enough to show he wasn't scared but not so high as to get a serious injury if he fell, before nudging his broom handle back toward the ground.

He'd barely touched down when he kicked off again, hovering in the exact same spot. Hey, Professor Tanner said they could try it more than once, right? And he was going to take full advantage of the time to do it as much as possible! He touched down and took off again two or three more times, bowing with a dramatic flourish as he landed his broom for the final time. There, I'd like to see somebody top that, he thought triumphantly.

So Vivian was pretty much really amazed because finally they were going to be doing those broomsticking stuff that her aunt was so good at, most especially in matches during Quidditch season. She made a mental note to ask Professor Tanner if she ever met her aunt Elise when she was still a student here. But you know, Auntie Elise was Quidditch captain a looooong time ago and it felt like ancient history already. But anyway, the firstie tried not to keep her hopes too high because apparently this class was more on the basics of flying, and not on playing Quidditch itself. It was sad, though, knowing that such a sport that brought masses of witches and wizards together would be banned from this school.

Vivian took a broom for herself - as the woman said - went back to her place, and looked at the Professor with a smile, intent to learn so much and make her Fairfield family proud. Yep, flying definitely ran in her blood. What with an Aunt who played professionally for Pride of Portree and two baby cousins with such a firm grasp fit for possible Beaters one day? Please, this class felt like a piece of cake for her. Hopefully.

The Slytherin raised her dominant hand over the broom, which she had placed on the ground. Here goes nothing! With nothing else in her mind but her will to have her wand in hand, Vivian took a deep breath. "Up!" And WHOOOOSH came her broom, and the eleven year old grasped her fingers around it. She had a small hint of smugness plastered on her face. See? Easy. Thanks to her aunt Elise who had taught her a couple of tricks or two before coming to Hogwarts.

And now for the actual riding of her broom, Vivian's most awaited part of the lesson! She mounted her broom and looked around to survey her fellow first years. All good, so maybe it was now the right time. She kicked off the ground with all her might and sort of floated on the air for a moment. This was no trouble, definitely. And to add a little Fairfield touch, Vivian raised her left hand and then the rock n' roll sign. "Woohoooo!" She was totally a pro at this.

A couple of moment later, she returned her left hand onto the broom and nudged the handle down, her feet reaching and stepping on the ground at last. Vivian sent a BIIIG BIIIIIIG grin towards Professor Tanner. Vivian Fairfield = Boss level 100.

The feeling of the broom in her hand was breath taking. Even though it was just a school broom, having that power was so. cool. I mean, magic is cool and stuff but being able to FLY?? THAT was the really cool stuff. When Professor Tanner gave the instruction to mount the brooms, Arielle didn't hesitate. She was so ready to fly. So. Ready. And she got on her broom and kicked off. Flying even felt cool. The sensation rushing through Arielle as she suspended in air made her feel so free and light. She didn't want to come down. But she knew the lesson couldn't continue if she didn't, so she nudged the handle forward and touched back down on the ground. All she hoped was that the next instructions would be to get back in the air again.

She was happy with them. No one had tried to go zooming off and score a goal with an imaginary Quaffle like a dunderhead. "Excellent, everyone! You may keep practicing the takeoff and landing more if you wish, or you may actually try some movement."

"To accelerate, lean down so you are less upright and more flat against the broom handle. The flatter the faster." From her place in the air several feet above their heads (because no one would appreciate their professor kicking them), she slowly flew away from the students. As she turned back toward them, she yelled, "As I turn, I just carefully urge my broom handle in the direction I wish to go. The faster you go, the more you will want to lean into the turn to stay balanced." By now she was nearing the group again. "To brake, pull up slightly on the handle and lean back a bit." Doing so, she ended up right over their heads again.

"No speedsters, please. Not everyone has good control over their brooms at this point." She didn't need any crashes or injuries. Tiara landed so there would be one less person clogging the air. "So please spread out and be alert to your surroundings. Go for it!"

They got to do some actual moving now! Aahh! That was so good! She was really excited. She had waited for his since they had gotten to Hogwarts. Sure she had flown before, but this was just really excited. Hattie beamed, kicking up off the ground again, and getting used to hovering a little. She wanted to make sure that she had that sorted before she went on to moving around. THe last thing she wanted was to fall off her broom. That would be super embarrassing, and she was trying her hardest to not embarrass herself. She wanted to be a cool girl, not the class fool. It seemed to be working so far.

And now she felt ready to do some proper flying, and move around. Carefully she leant down, so that she was lying flatter against her broom. She didn't go too flat, because she didn't want to go too fast. She might lose control then, and that would not be good! Carefully, she leant towards the right, and her broom moved towards the right. Ooh. She liked this. She tried to keep concentrating so that she was doing it good. She really liked this. It was so cool.

"Woooooooo" She murmured as she flew. She loved this. Flying was her favourite class so far for sure. Deciding to slow down a little, and watch everyone else, she pulled up on the broom handle, and leant back a little. Now to see if everyone else was having fun like she was!

This wasn't just her goofing around with her siblings and friends back home; Sky was REALLY learning to fly with directions and everything !!! Kicking off into the air, after mounting, the first year grinned at the exhilaration she felt. The adrenaline. Was this really happening? YES!

She hovered a moment in air as the professor explained more about speed and how to stop and speed up and turn. Nudging her broom forward and to the left she laughed over at Hattie, "I'm gonna catch you!" she teased. Or maybe they should just have broom races? That'd be fun ...

Well they were certainly getting it now! She heard a whoop from Hattie and a call for a race from Skylar. "Well done, everyone!" she called at random.

With a glance at her watch, she realized their time was drawing to a close. "Okay, that is all I have for you as far as instructions go. The rest of the time before the bell is a free-fly opportunity, so take advantage as much or as little as you choose. You may leave whenever you would like. Thanks for being such a great group!" And they really were. Attentive listeners, direction followers, and able fliers.

OOC: The thread will be open for another day or two for any RPing you wish to do. Tiara is around if you need her!

Arielle decided to stick around after class for free flying, because who doesn't want to practice flying? She leaned very carefully forward on her broom and started to accelerate, and a smile spread so large across her face she thought her mouth was going to split open. Laughing her head off, Arielle leaned forward farther on her broom and sped up, and then moved her hands a little to the left, and she turned. She kept her hands pulled to the left and flew in a circle, giggling even more. Flying was so fun! Her parents wouldn't let her do it at home, because they didn't feel comfortable teaching her. But now that she had this class, Arielle couldn't wait to get a broom of her own.

That rock n' roll gesture from Professor Tanner, though. That was AWESOMESAUCE! Officially part of Vivian's cool Professors list now, she was, definitely. She also received all the beams from the Slytherin.

And now for ACTUAL flying time, and not just hovering over the ground! Vivian wiggled excitedly and mounted her broom one more time and kicked off forcefully from the ground. She tried to go up a little bit higher but she had only managed around one and a half rulers away from the ground beneath her feet. She leaned forward, as Tanner said, and zoomed over to catch up at Sky. Did she ever mention that flying was awesome? Because it WAS.

Also, she had an important question for the Professor too. "Professor! I was wondering if you happen to know my aunt, Elise Fairfield?" Yes, that was a question she felt obliged to ask about. "She used to be the Quidditch captain for Ravenclaw, before the sport was banned in here. Maybe you used to be one of her mentors or something?" Vivian did chased her broom's tail around and around and around in a circle. FUN FUN FUNNNN.

Fiyero smiled at Professor Tanner's reaction to his dramatic bow. There, now that was more like it! He hovered in the air, listening carefully to her next instructions. Lean down to go faster, point the handle in the direction you want to go to turn, pull up on the handle and lean back to break... okay, that sounded simple enough. He so had this! His face fell a little when Professor Tanner said no speedsters. Darn, he wanted to show everybody how fast he could go! Oh well, there were still other things he could do on a broom...

He leaned in towards the broom handle and sped off. So what should he do first? He thought about asking to join the race those two girls were having, but decided against it. Somehow he didn't think they would appreciate him streaking past them. Then an idea occurred to him! He'd try to draw shapes in the sky with his broom. He nudged the handle up, then left, then left again, then down, then right, then another right until he'd made a sort of figure-8 in the sky. Wow, this was awesome!

Fiyero was having so much fun that he barely hear Professor Tanner saying they could leave whenever they liked. As if he'd actually want to leave early! He was going to use every minute of flying practice he had left to the fullest. So now what shape should he try? He'd already mastered the figure-8, so he decided to take it a step farther and try a loop-de-loop. He nudged his broom up, gripping the handle tighter as he turned upside-down. Wow, everything looked really funny this way!

"Hi, everybody!" he called down to his classmates and Professor tanner. He raised one had to give them a wave and nearly lost his grip on the broom handle. He managed to regain his hold just in time. Note to self: don't try to wave and steer at the same time.

After completing the loop-de-loop, he tried a few more shapes: first a triangle, then a square, then a star. The star was especially hard, since there were so many turns involved. He finished with a spiral, gently winding downward until he touched down.