Philipe smiled and tried to help her steady herself, "You got it?" He looked at the younger girl, waiting for her to calm as he grabbed the rein, keeping the first year between his arms, again not going to take off until she seemed okay with it, "Now when we start flying, steering them it's important to lean the way they turn, not enough to fall obviously... Just slightly to help him." The fifth year looked at her, truly used to having to wait to take off. Now that he actually knew how to do this, his father had him help with training his youngest siblings, and for several of his sisters, they had a bit of a panic attack when it was time to actually take off.

1. Petting/Stroking
2. Mounting
3. Finding balance and positioning your legs
4. Holding the bridle/rein
5. Signaling them to take off by squeezing them with your legs
6. Pulling of the bridle/rein gently to land
7. Dismounting.

Hady can thank his parents for that. At a young age, Jace was taught not to jump into conclusions and to always keep an open mind. “Always explore what’s beneath the surface.” It was Ryden’s classic line to his sons, although Jace wasn’t sure if his brother Jakub actually understood it. Jace always had the feeling that his older brother took it way too literal. The Ravenclaw nodded his head in understanding, and glanced up at the older girl. “That’s why I try my best not to take the simplest of things for granted. They can disappear any second.” He said, raising his hand and snapped his fingers to emphasize his point. Jace was silent as he chose his next words carefully. “Has the experience made you...stronger as a person?” the third year Ravenclaw was genuinely curious. Of course, he didn’t want to go through the experience, but he’s aware that he will have to face it in the future. Later than sooner, he hoped. Jace felt his cheeks burn as soon as he realized that maaaybe he had pried further into something very personal to Hady. “Uhm...gommenasai, Hady-san.” He said bowing to her all apologetic.

It wasn’t everyday that he’d meet someone who’s interested in Japanese culture. He thinks his ancestry is the most awesome in the world, and he kind of felt bad that not everyone knows how wonderful their culture is, although yes, some of their customs are weird, but it’s all fun nonetheless. “I can do that!” he said beaming at the older girl, literally showing off his pearly whites.

On the topic of morning exercises, Jace didn’t think twice about sharing his morning routine. “After I do my hygiene stuff in the morning, I go straight to meditation until the morning sun rises...” the Ravenclaw held a pregnant pause, trying to control the excitement that was about to explode. “...and when the sun is up, I do my stretching and then practise my Kendo katas. I usually end my practise with a jog around school...and then wash up again before I don my school uniform and get breakfast.” Was he too...detailed? Jace felt the need to apologise again but was successful in holding his tongue. Hady doesn’t seem to be bothered by it, so he thought he’s all good. “I usually finish at half past seven in the morning.” Yes, that early.

Once they were both settled, Jace slowly turned his head to the Head Girl...not believing his ears. “A-are you sure?” he asked, his voice a bit higher than his usual. Well, he’s had a bit of training in flying already so...it shouldn’t be that hard, right? Besides, Hady can troubleshoot things up in the air if things go wrong...right? Jace exhaled slowly from his mouth...willing his mind and heart to calm down, and focus at the task at hand. The Abraxan shifted, and Jace had to shut his eyes to keep his cool. “Horses can smell fear...I forgot about that bit.” He said softly, as he relaxed his shoulders, legs, and general grip on the bridle. “Okay. I’ll do this, Hady-san.” He continued sparing the Head Girl a glance, “I trust you.”

Jace kept still, his back ramrod straight, and his eyes filled with determination and focus. “Okay, let’s get moving.” The Ravenclaw pulled on the bridle, making the Abraxan walk a bit...and as he squeezed his legs together, they were lifted off the ground. Jace’s hair flapped around as the gust of wind brushed past their faces. The Ravenclaw’s face was full of awe and joy. “This...is...awesome!”

Abraxans are waaay better than brooms!


1. Petting/Stroking
2. Mounting
3. Finding balance and positioning your legs
4. Holding the bridle/rein
5. Signaling them to take off by squeezing them with your legs
6. Pulling of the bridle/rein gently to land
7. Dismounting.

The big boy grinned. That's a good sign innit? And then he replied with a good natured challenge. "You bet I am!" the Curly Top answered laughing then pointed to the Abraxan he has been grooming earlier "That magnificent creature over there!" to which he still didn't know it's name but hey, maybe at the end of this maybe they can christen it something appropriate.

"Oh by the way, the name's Tenacius. Tenacius Salander. And that over there is my cousin Sammy. Do you mind if she rides with us? The Abraxan is big enough to carry all of us anyway. And then some" nod nod. Abraxans are as powerful as they are impressive.

And it's very clear that the leonine lad couldn't wait to get up in the air. Since he was done with the petting / stroking (and even grooming) from earlier, it was time for him to get on the winged horse. He saw the mounting blocks, but he's got something more full proof-- he used his own hovering cruiser to raise himself onto the winged creature, mounting it from the left side. "You guys can use this if you wanna" he called out from the tall creature, offering his cruiser to his ride partners.

Watching to make sure Azura was comfortable and Apollo was keeping calm Nat moved her eyes back and fourth from the girl to the horse. "Good boy Apollo" Her fingers lightly touched his side. This horse was brilliant and she felt he knew it. Listening to Azura repeat she smiled, "Yep that's right."

Now it was time to fly. Natalia couldn't wait to be in the air. She wasn't a fan of brooms, but winged horses were the best. Her eyes moved around where she thought she saw some grass moving, but nothing was there. Could that be a Thestral? She so wanted to pet them and as much as she wanted to see them, she didn't care to have anything bad happen to allow that. She had enough of bad for awhile.

"If you are ready, all you do is give him a squeeze with your legs and he will know he is to start to fly." She was so excited for Azura to experience this.


1. Petting/Stroking
2. Mounting
3. Finding balance and positioning your legs
4. Holding the bridle/rein
5. Signaling them to take off by squeezing them with your legs
6. Pulling of the bridle/rein gently to land
7. Dismounting.

Owen just laughed. This younger boy seemed more excited like he was and although he was younger, Owen trusted him for saying that he knew what he was doing. So the Hufflepuff 4th year followed the boy whose name was Tenacius. Ohoho. Was he as tenacious as his name? Hmm, wait. So basically had to look after two younger students? Okay, cool. [b]"Tenacius, name's Owen,[b]" he held his hand for a shake. "Nice to meet you, Sammy." He also grinned at the girl. "Professor Hernandez said two people per horse but I'm sure it will be fine with the three of us. Let's just keep it our little secret." Wink.

Then Tenacius was up and about, mounting the horse like it was no one's business. Owen was impressed. Giving the younger boy an approving nod, Owen went to stroke the abraxan's head, basically asking permission for him to mount. But first, he decided to assist Sammy up on the horse before stepping onto the cruiser and mounting himself behind Tenacius.

Success!

Finding balance was easy enough for enough, even so because there were three of them. He made sure his companions were comfortable and on stable footing then placed his feet on the foothold. Right...then left. "You guys can put your feet on the foothold now."

Henry glanced behind him, confused on why Miranda was giggling and saying it was his choice on a name. He hadn't said anything to the contrary nor did he think he acted like he didn't like her suggestion. "It really doesn't matter to me that much," he smiled. "I'm sure he probably already has a name anyway." And it wasn't really up to them.

Henry faced front again and nodded as Miranda went to nudge the horse with her heels. At the same time, he squeezed the horse with his legs, just for good measure. And he held tightly onto the reins as the Aethonan spread its wings, trotted a few paces, and took off to the sky. They began to fly higher and he looked around as the wind swept through his hair. "You okay back there, Miranda?"

It was time to fly, and Az was nervous. She had been in the air on a broom hundreds of times before, but on a horse? Her stomach was in knots as Nat spoke about how to make the horse fly.

"All right, then.. Here we go. " The third year held onto the reins and then she squeeezed the horses sides with her legs! For a moment nothing happened, but then Apollo started to walk forward and he wings cane out!

Azura's eyes went wide as he started to beat his wings and then.. with a few very powerful steps they were in the air!

"Holy Fwoopers. " She whispered softly. This was amazing. The wind rushing through her hair, the feel of the powerful beat under them, the barns getting smaller. This was incredible!

Lance nodded, only realizing a moment later Cornelius probably didn't see that. Though when he tried to do so verbally, he snapped his mouth shut. OKAY okay. They were starting! They were gunna be flyi-

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

His arms shot off the Slytherin's shoulders and grabbed his waist once the winged horse became airborne. The force of take off was not what he anticipated, but that didn't matter now. THEY WERE IN THE AIR. And it was a thousand times better than being on any broomstick eveeeer! Although his excitement was muted, since his partner probably wouldn't have appreciated him yelling his lungs out into his ear, his vocal cords got a nice stretch once they safely and gently landed by a pull of the bridle.

Adrenaline coursing through his veins, he swerved his leg over the side of the horse and hopped off, landing in a heap but jumping up just as quickly with his hands thrust into the air. "Yeeesss!" DID THEY SEE THAT!? Him!? Sir Lancelot McWitty, Gryffindor Knight of the Silver Platter IN THE AIR on his trusty steed.

Dreams have been made.

It that were at all possible to do right now Hady surely would do so. Not only was Jace a very smart and practical young boy he was also incredibly polite. Very good qualities that would get him far in whatever he chose to do. "If only more people thought that way, hmm?" she asked softly nodding her head at him. If others saw things they way they did then a lot might be easier. Had the experience made her stronger. The question caught the seventh year a tad bit off guard and at first she appeared like she might not even answer. Jace's apology was more of a surprise however and it pulled her from her thoughts. With a soft smile she laid a hand on his shoulder looking at him. "It's alright, nothing to be sorry of. It did make me stronger. At the time I didn't think so but things happen to us all for a reason whether or not we can understand it at the time." Death was a hard topic given any age or experience.

Hadleigh was interested in everything! EVERYTHING! Okay, okay. Not everything. If it didn't involve acromantula then she was interested. Languages included. "Great." She would be looking forward to. Random words and or phrases tossed her way wouldn't be to hard to handle on and off.

When asked about his morning routine Hady didn't think he would tell her all that he did. Kid was as detailed as she was and just as busy! How the boy made it through his day she didn't know, at the end of her day she was out cold and that was with the consumption of coffee. "Wow, you're really busy aren't you?" she laughed softly. "Do you think you could meet me at the barns then once you're finished, if I'm not outside I'll be inside taking care of Sammie." Like she did every morning.

All he needed to do was relax. Hady was sure of it. "You can do this. You'll be great." She smiled warmly at him keeping her hands beneath his on the reins. "If anything goes wrong, which it won't, I can take over." There was nothing to worry about however. They would be perfectly fine. Falling silent she allowed Jace to take total control of their winged beauty. First they were moving forward slowly and then lifting off the ground into the air. Hair was blowing into her face and she didn't even care, rather she laughed. "You're doing brilliant Jace, exactly like that!" she called to him over the sound of wind and their laughter.

Feeling more and more relieved that Phillipe knew what he was doing Leesha tried to trust both him and the animal. She only hoped that he really would be able to control it when they were actually going to fly and yeah, she didn’t really wanted to fly so IF it was going to happen, then she hoped that he really would be able to control the flying horse. “Got it” she spoke with a forced bright voice and she tried to think about the animal as a really strange and big broom. Flying on a broom she liked so she tried to be optimistic. “Okay, I will follow you lead” she said and she meant it, there was NO way that she would do anything what could be dangerous so yeah, she was going to follow all his instructions.

“I’m ready” she said, wishing it to be over soon so she wanted it all to start as quick as possible. She grabbed the flying horse by his saddle and she positioned her legs to not fall, just to make sure, hoping that it was the same with this flying horse as she had seen by muggle horses.

She sat still and watched as Azura got ready. It could be so nerve wracking your first time flying a winged horse. She remembered being so nervous, but once up in the air the nerves would go and the excitement would start. She couldn't wait for that part. Her own excitement made her want to just do it herself, but she wanted to help Azura get the full experience too. She was learning more and more that yes Alex was right and yes if singing failed she'd be doing this for a backup. Though she planned on having her own winged horses either way.

"Awesome... Great job Azura" Apollo was certainly trusting them, because he was soon up in the air and they were flying. She lightly put her hands on Azura hips to hold on, no need for her to slip off to her death. "You are doing great, no if you want to turn him just lightly move the reins in that direction so he feels the pull." Not a pull to land, but just a direction change. Soon her eyes were looking around the castle grounds. She could never get over how beautiful it all seemed.

After a little while Nat figured it might be time to land, though she'd much rather stay up in the sky. "Now think you can do the landing? We just pull the reins to indicate you want to land." Easy enough, right?


1. Petting/Stroking
2. Mounting
3. Finding balance and positioning your legs
4. Holding the bridle/rein
5. Signaling them to take off by squeezing them with your legs
6. Pulling of the bridle/rein gently to land
7. Dismounting.

Huh, girl had more guts than his sisters at least, they'd try to jump off and tell him there was no way they'd be going with him... but at least this was easier to handle. "Just let me know if you feel unsafe, okay?" With that he gently pressed his legs into the horse's side and smiled as they started to take off. He fought his urge to have it go as fast as he could... but he certainly didn't want to scare the young girl.

He kept the horse relatively close to the ground, maybe ten feet up, and keeping a steady pace for the horse, not wanting to overexert him either, considering typically they didn't have two people on their bags. He smiled slightly and looked at Leesha, making sure she was okay as he had the horse turn just slightly to the right. Considering he couldn't really see her face he had no way of knowing if she was alright, "You good?" He'd be asking her multiple times, so it could get annoying, but again he just didn't want to scare the girl.

Jace kept his mouth shut this time, not wanting to push his luck too far with Hady. The pause she made was already a clue, and the Ravenclaw was more than convinced that he has to stop questioning her. Looking back however, the thirteen year old was a bit surprised at how far their conversation has gone. Hady is such an accommodating older student, and Jace couldn’t help but feel all the more grateful.

The Abraxan they were riding galloped in the air, and Jace took in his surroundings slowly. Sure, he can see everything up in the Ravenclaw tower, but to be up in the air while looking at the great vista is surely one for the books. They were going farther away from the group, and Jace had to look behind them to gauge their distance. “Let’s try turning left!” the young Ravenclaw was definitely in his element as the Abraxan took a turn and galloped along. “The Abraxans are very responsive!” Jace called out to Hady as he took mental notes in his mind. The wind whipped against their faces as Jace pulled the bridle to his left again, making a full turn back to the enclosure. With a gentle but firm tug, Jace started to pull the bridle back, and as expected, the Abraxan started to slowly dive towards the ground. And as they neared the enclosure, Jace slowly pulled back with his arms and torso, and the Abraxan started galloping on the ground.

ThudThudThud...Thud Thud Thud...Thud...

With a deep sigh of relief, Jace turned to Hady and gave her an accomplished smile. “We’re back in one piece!” Yes, maybe he should start to trust himself more this time. The Ravenclaw dismounted first and held his hands up for Hady. “I can meet you here at 8.” He said enthusiastically. “Who is Sammie? Is it a winged horse too?” He would love to ride one again soon!

1. Petting/Stroking
2. Mounting
3. Finding balance and positioning your legs
4. Holding the bridle/rein
5. Signaling them to take off by squeezing them with your legs
6. Pulling of the bridle/rein gently to land
7. Dismounting.

"Okay" was all what she managed to say, not trusting her own voice now that the moment was there and that they were actually going to fly with this animal. Brooms were to be trusted because YOU were the one who was controlling it but with a animal... Well... Animal's weren't to be trusted because you never knew when they were going to misbehave themselves and she simply didn't liked horses! No muggle horses and not even magically horses. They were big and scary.

When the horse moved and spread his wings Leesha couldn't stop herself from yelping shocked. This was really different than flying on a broom and she knew now for sure that she preferred a broom. The flying horse wasn't stable and with every clasp of the wing the body from the horse moved up and down! Feeling uneasy she tensed, wishing that she didn't had eaten before class! Just when the horse made a turn Phillipe spoke and asked her how she was doing. "I think that I need to throw up when we're back on the ground" was all she said. They weren’t flying really high but it was high enough for her and the movements the horse made while flying were sickening! Her stomach fluttered and she was sure that her face had turned white or green.

"good to meetcha Owen!" the Curly Top replied and returned the boy's handshake with a hearty grip of his own heh.

"Oh yeaahhh..." he cringed slightly. Two per horse "Well the Abraxan is really big, it can ride way more than two full sized adults even. Besides, we got a shortage of older students." You know, that old chestnut. Yep wink backatcha.

Finding his balance on giant equine was like breathing to him, it's so natural it's subconscious. He wasn't even bothered by the fact that they were seeing the tops of some of the younger trees with how high off the ground they now where. "Right, footholds" he mumbled as he felt his feet slip easily onto the stirrups

"I'm not sure if the reins can reach all the way far back guys, so you can hold onto me or to each other. " he said as he took hold of it. The Abraxan felt it though, and started to trot in place " Easy there girl. Eassyyy..." he cooed and clicked his tongue, trying to get the Abraxan to relax, get used to the fact that's she's being ridden by three midgets. "Just relax guys, shes trying to get a feel of us, find her own balance...." he said to the others.

They were trotting about for a few minutes when the Abraxan finally got used to them, and started to flap her massive wings. "Whoah, ok, she's warming up guys, she itching to take off" he chuckled. Heck so was he.

"OK, let's have her know we're ready to soar, just squeeze her sides gently with the inner part of our knees." and he did so with an additional clicks of his tongue, shifting his gait to signal to the creature that he's ready for the change in momentum and orientation.

It was all the Abraxan needed really. As soon as she felt her cargo at least have a better grip of themselves on her, she took off with a gallop, a strong jump and off they go!

This was amazing!

Almost better than a broom! Almost.

Azura closed her eyes just for a moment as she let the wind flow over her face, it was such a rush, flying. No matter how you were doing it! She nodded as Nat said how to turn him and she gently turned the reins to make Apollo go a bit left.

A few minutes had passed and Az nodded as Nat told her it was time to go down. She gently pulled back on the reins and soon Apollo was heading back down towards the ground!

It seemed like it took forever but it was really only a few second later when the horses hooves hit the ground and they were back on solid ground!

Holy Fwoopers!

"That was amazing! " Az said as she turned back to look at Nat.

Text Cut: Hattie and Paige xD

Quote:

Originally Posted by RachieRu

SPOILER!!: paige and Genny

Hattie was still super bummed that she couldn't fly. It looked really cool, and she was feeling jealous. But the winged horse was really cool. She was just glad to be up close, and able to stroke and pet. It was pretty, and she wanted one. She didn't quite think that her mother would allow her to have one. Surely if she wasn't allowed a Kneazle, she really wouldn't be allowed a winged horse.

"You look really good up there!" She murmured as she looked up at Genny. She kind of wanted to sit on the horse too, but she was worried that if it might go flying. And she didn't want that to happen. So she was going to stay night and on the floor now. It was a lot safer here.

She blinked though, finding herself on the floor suddenly. "What in merlins...." She mumbled, pushing her way up into a seated position. She blinked as she watched Genny go off into the sky. Well. That was that. "Guess you're not gonna fly Paige..." Since they were both still here. "And.... she doesn't seem to have a very good posture. I hope she doesn't fall off"

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie

Knocking...flinging...it was really all one and the same, right? Just a matter of perspective really.

Paige, thankfully, missed the look of terror on the Gryffindor's face...but most certainly wore one of her own when she had a split second to register that there was a massive chestnut wing being flung at her. And then there was a flying Hufflepuff...sort of..her feet DID leave the ground for a second until her rear collided with the ground. "...owie...." she muttered, rubbing her tail bone and fidgeting with her skirt that had become a bit of a disarray from the spill.

Oh...hey look! A feather had come off the creature's wing during take off. Could she keep it? She had already picked it up...

Wait.......the winged horse was gone.........wait.....

Uh....oh.

Blue eyes darting around, Paige caught sight of Genny and GASPED. "G-Genny! Pull on the reigns to land!" Please.

Oh Merlin.

And her bum was still throbbing. Owie.

And really...Hattie...she was perfectly okay with having missed the opportunity to fly. As long as Genny got safely BACK to the ground in one piece that is.

Genny was unaware of the happenings down on earth the ground, she'd be a fool if she missed her flying opportunity by observing what was down there. Pft. The air up here was colder but much fresher! It stung her eyes and forced them to water but other than that Genny was grinning and giggling loudly, "You go, horsie!" She encouraged the beautiful creature that went on asending until reaching a certain height, then he steadied and started taking a wide turn so he would fly in big circles over the rest of the students skillfully dodging the other winged horses in the air.

Needless to say, Genny pretended not to hear Paige because like hell was she going to land now! She only JUST got up! In fact....... "Hey, hey, go down a little!" She said to the horse, expecting him to understand her but taking the reins slowly and struggling to correct her posture on it. It took some fumbling and she almost fell down one side but all was good and Genny directed the horse down towards Paige and Hattie with no intention of landing. Instead, she extended her arm towards them, "HIGHFIVE YOU GUYS!!" The small figures of the Hufflepuffs were getting bigger and bigger, the ground was getting closer and closer, QUICKLY BEFORE SHE FELL OVER AND THE HORSIE HIT THE GROUND.

Harriet was feeling VERY scared for Genny. What if she fell off and died? That would be so tragic. And it would not be make the bad start to her school year any better. So she was really hoping that Genny wasn't going to fall off. That would be horrible. So Hattie was just praying that the girl would be fine. And would be able to land.

Could she even hear them? She had no idea. She guessed not. "She's so high up...." And it looked scary. "Please don't fall off" She whispered to herself. That would not be a good way for the lesson to end.

She blinked, jumping back as she watched Genny coming towards them. "Oh my daays! She's gonna run us over" The girl squeaked, before hiding behind Paige. She did not want to be ran over! That would not end well. But it was clearly okay for Paige to get run over? Opps. Bad hufflepuff moment.

Samantha continued to pet the giant creature and grinned as the two boys happily included her into their group. Yeah, there were considerable advantages of being in classes with Ace. "Hi Owen." she said giving his hand a shake. At the older boy's statement, she side eyed the professor. "Yeah, well, He also said Abraxans can't drink water, so what does he know? But.... Yeah." she said looking back up at Owen. "Secret sounds good." If they were going to get into trouble with three of them riding together, well then, it would have been better to ride all by herself.

"Oh, wow, that thing is awesome." she said watching the cousin hover up to climb onto the horse. Sam was about to attempt to use the hover board too, when Owen helped her get up. "Um, thank you." she said, blushing a little as she settled on the horse behind. her cousin. "Whoa," she said, holding ton to Ace tighter, as Owen climbed up behind them, and the horse moved beneath them. "She's a lot bigger than Tug." she muttered to Ace.

The girl nodded at being told to put her feet where they were supposed to. "You should just hold them. I'd look really silly for all of us to hold them." Horses were meant for really only one person to ride anyways. "Plus, we can't all steer her. It would be a really good way to make her do something really bad." Like accidentally throw them off or something. As she talked, the horse continued to move, finding her balance, though to her, it was probably the equivalent of three little cats sitting on her back. Soon the horse started moving and trotting around the paddock.

"Uh. yeah." she said, as she did as the others, and put pressure on the sides of the horse. She held on even tighter as the abraxan took off and soared around. This was awesome, and also insanely awkward. More awkward than trying to ride with two people on a regular horse. The wings moving and flapping pretty strange.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tegz

Char nodded and gave Icarus another stroke then squeezed her heels against the Aethonan's sides. Icarus tossed his head and then took off and Char eased him into a lazy spiral going ever higher but not toooo high.

She couldn't help but smile because even though this wasn't new to her it was still an amazing feeling.

"You okay, Cassie? Isn't this cool?" She felt like they'd be called back wayyy too soon. That was usually what professors did.

It was a good thing she had braced herself for the ride as she kept hold, else Cassie didn’t know what would have happened when Charlotte’s actions suddenly seemed to spur Icarus on wordlessly. It wasn’t long before they were up and airborne with a wooosh. “This is great!” she remarked, unconsciously squeaking as they spiraled not expecting the maneuver. It was a rollercoaster of feelings and experiences she hadn’t felt before. She couldn’t imagine this all the time.

“I’m okay…” she assured the other girl, relaxing back into the flying. She was just getting used to it. “Uh huh…definitely cool.” The more memorable moments of the day.

So they were going to get to fly on them. Excellent.

Rula offered the other apple to her Aethonan friend and continued to stroke his neck as she looked around, watching some of the younger and older students pair up as instructed. From what she could tell, it looked like all the younger students had found older ones to partner with pretty quickly, so she supposed she was partner-less.

That was okay though. This wasn't the first time she'd ever ridden horse, so she'd be alright.

The Aethonan - who she had mentally named Sunshine since she didn't know his name and she didn't want to think of him as just "the horse" - he'd warmed up pretty quickly to her by now, after all the petting and the treats. She gave him another quick pet on his nose before she moved one of the blocks over and mounted onto his back, positioning her feet into the footholds and adjusting her balance.

So far, so good. And soon onto the best part.

Text Cut: Steps

1. Petting/Stroking
2. Mounting
3. Finding balance and positioning your legs
4. Holding the bridle/rein
5. Signaling them to take off by squeezing them with your legs
6. Pulling of the bridle/rein gently to land
7. Dismounting.

She was having so much fun in the air it seemed a shame to be going down already, but she figured the professor wouldn't be happy if they skipped the rest of the lesson and stayed up. "Maybe the professor will let us go up again sometime." She was hopeful since he was teaching them that this would be allowed more often. If not maybe she could get permission to go up. She knew she could prove that she was more then capable.

As Azura pulled the reins and Apollo started lowering and then his smooth landing Natalia couldn't help but smile, "You did amazing. I think you are a natural at flying." She looked around to see if the stool was near. "I'm going to slip off and then grab the stool for you so you don't have trouble getting down." Carefully she moved her leg and then slid down holding the saddle until she could let go to hit the ground safely on her feet.


Walking just a tad away she grabbed the stool. Turning she brought it back and set it down. "Now you are going to hold this part of the saddle and let your leg slip down. Hold the saddle and slid down until you feel the stool. I'm right here if you need any help."

1. Petting/Stroking
2. Mounting
3. Finding balance and positioning your legs
4. Holding the bridle/rein
5. Signaling them to take off by squeezing them with your legs
6. Pulling of the bridle/rein gently to land
7. Dismounting.

Now that she was positioned properly and comfortably, Rula held the reins in her hands, took a few moments to gather her thoughts and brace herself for flying...and then gently squeezed the Aethonan's sides.

He responded to the signal immediately, moving forward, faster and faster, spreading his wings, until - lift off!

Rula held on tightly, a smile spreading across her face as they rose higher.

This. Was. Incredible!

It had been quite awhile since she'd last flown on her broom, and though a winged horse was VERY different from flying a broom, it was just as thrilling. Maybe even more exciting than a broom. There was something about it being a living creature that was capable of flying, and capable of bringing her along with him, that was so much better than an inanimate object dependent upon spells.

Either way though, that freedom she always felt when she was flying in the air - that feeling was the same. Like all her problems and negativity just fell away temporarily.

It was wonderful. If only that feeling would never end.

Text Cut: Steps

1. Petting/Stroking
2. Mounting
3. Finding balance and positioning your legs
4. Holding the bridle/rein
5. Signaling them to take off by squeezing them with your legs
6. Pulling of the bridle/rein gently to land
7. Dismounting.

Matt had wayyy to much energy for her. He was bouncing around everywhere "okay now that your up there and you have a good position, get comfortable on the saddle and move up because i have to get up there with you, and id rather sit in the back" she told him while standing close to the side of the horse.

"okay im coming up" she said while she got up there and moved and got comfortable behind him.

"were set now all you have to do is hold the reins and squeeze with your legs.. then we can fly" she was actually pretty excited for that part. Lets go kid.

Azura smiled warmly at Nat as she spoke. "Thank you so much, you were an excellent teacher, it was easy to follow all of your instructions and do what you said." She said gratefully to the older girl. "Okay, that sounds good." Az said as she watched the Slytherin slide off and then move around to find a stool.

She gently reached down and gently patted Apollo, "Thank you so much for the flight, it was amazing and you are a great horse." She whispered softly as she gently stroked his neck..

She sat back up straight as Nat got the stool and then instructed her how to get down.. It seemed simple enough, but.. when you were clumsy like she was, who actually knew what would happen.

The Ravenclaw let her leg slip out of the stirrup, she held onto the saddle as her other leg slid over and she slipped down onto the stool, not exactly smoothly, but there was no falling, so it was a win in her book.

"Thank you so so much, you were such a great teacher." Az said with a happy smile as she hugged the older girl..