Flying Lesson

Sofia walked to the Quidditch Pitch, with a bunch of school brooms levitating behind her. She had checked out the weather and deemed it perfect for her first years to have their flying lesson.

She stopped in the middle of the pitch and the broom stopped and fall on the ground. She placed one of her hands on her hip and surveyed the students arriving.

Getting a list out she started to mark off the students names as they arrived to the Pitch.

Hester Alderman
Terry Berbatov
Jennifer Black
Adreis Conners
Gwen Cooper
Jasmine Delaware
Elise Hawkins
Pierre Korsten
Alyssa Lastwick
Anthony McGuire
Benjamin Tyler
Allison Walker
Louis Weasley
James Wilson


((OOC: I'll begin when most of the class have arrived. This is a one off lesson, and then you are free to practice your flying whenever you choose. Sorry for being so late. Because of being so late, once you have arrived, I'll count that has having "passed" flying even if you do not finish the lesson before graduation. Cheers.))

Hester made her way down to the Quidditch Pitch. She was so excited about learning to fly, she was practically bouncing instead of walking.

When she reached the pitch she realised that she was the first person there. She grinned at the sight of the pile of brooms next to the teacher.

She stood on her own, near the teacher, and waited impatiently for the others to arrive so that the lesson could start. She wondered who else had chosen to take flying lessons.

Jasmine walked to the Quidditch Pitch, looking up at the Gryffindor stands and had a chuckle to herself. She wondered if any of the Gryffindors had noticed the 'art' that her and Jude created the other day. She shrugged. There was no way they could trace it back to the two of them anyway.

She made it to the middle of the pitch and noticed another girl was there, along with the Professor. She laughed to herself again when she noticed the girl's uniform. A Gryffindor. How fantastic. Perhaps this lesson wouldn't be so dull and boring if she got a chance to watch a Gryffindor make a fool of herself. She didn't look overly nervous, so Jasmine assumed she had flown before, which would be a shame, because Jasmine needed a good laugh.

She stood near the brooms and waited for the rest of the class to arrive.

Andy was super excited. He wolfed down his breakfast and raced from the Great Hall, practically running to the Quidditch Pitch. He arranged to meet James there a few minutes before class actually started, but he knew that the boy like to sleep in, so he probably would be late. Andy didn't want to be though. He loved flying, and wouldn't miss a minute of this class.

He slid to a halt in front of the Professor and his eyes widened. Sofia Hunter. Chaser for Puddlemere United. Was she the Professor? Andy smile nearly split his face open.

"Are you Sofia Hunter?" he asked the Professor. "Puddlemere United Chaser from 2000 to 2009?" Andy was buzzing with excitement which has less to do with starting flying lessons and more to do with the fact that he was meeting a Puddlemere player. He had their stats memorised and knew practically everything there was to know about the team.

He glanced at the two students that were already there, giving a wave to Hester when he noticed her and then groaned when he noticed the Slytherin girl. It was the stuck up girl he met when they were playing Armour Tag. Great. That'll be enjoyable being in a class with her... not.

Andy looked back up to the castle to see if James decided to get his lazy bum out of bed. He'd be as excited to see Sofia Hunter has he was. James was a mad Puddlemere fan too.

Alli arrived at the pitch, excited for the lesson. She wasn't a fan of the professor, but she would do. She spotted Jasmine and immediately went to go stand by her as they waited for the rest of the class to arrive. "Boo!" she said from right behind her friend. "I hope you didn't think I'd leave you alone with a bunch of dunderheads," she whispered, although she didn't really care if one of the other students heard her.

James walked down to the Gryffindor Table in the Great Hall, wiping sleep from his eyes as he went. He told Andy that he would meet him for breakfast and then they could go to the Quidditch Pitch together, but James hadn't planned on sleeping in so late. As it was, he only just made breakfast. He glanced over at the Ravenclaw table, but couldn't see Andy there. He probably left already, James mused, taking a piece of toast, smothering it with Jam and leaving the Great Hall as quick as he arrived.

Eating on the way, James made it to the Quidditch Pitch and saw Andy standing near a woman, who James assumed was the Professor, with some students gathered nearby. He walked up to Andy, stuffing in the remaining part of his toast.

"Hey," James said to Andy and then looked at the Professor. He grinned and whispered to Andy, "That's Sofia Hunter, ain't it? Awesome."

Terry sprinted down to the pitch, panting slightly as she dramatically fell down in front of Anthony. She had skipped breakfast in favor of the lessons. Standing back up, she scowled at the pile of dingy brooms. Her father could do better, and he hadn't even flown before!
Turning to Anthony, she smiled brightly. "Ve meet again." she greeted. "Are vou excited?"

Jasmine turned when she heard Alli's voice.

"Thank whoever is Holy that you are here," she said, smiling. She really didn't know how she would cope if Alli or Jude weren't in this class with her. She'd have no many things to laugh about with the standard of these students, and that was no fun alone. Jasmine was thoroughly glad to have Alli with her.

"Look at those two boys fawning over the Professor. It's so gross," Jasmine said gesturing to the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. "Pathetic."

Alli shrugged. "I suppose they're just excited to meet an actual Quidditch player."

She watched as a Ravenclaw girl fell down on the ground and snickered. How utterly ridiculous. She turned her back on the spectacle to face Jasmine and muttered, "Do you think she could make her little crush on him any more obvious? I mean, who just falls like that besides toddlers learning to walk?" Being several feet away gave Alli the privilege of not having her comments to Jasmine be overheard by anyone.

Pierre passed two girls, hearing one of the girl's remark. Turning to her, he glared. "Maybe because it rained last night and all morning?" he asked icily. "And for the record, Terrance is rather clumsy at times." he walked away, offering a hand to his cousin who gratefully took it. Glancing at the Professor, he did a double take. "Ter, that's Sofia Hunter." he pointed out in awe.
She was really big with their families because of her name being the same as the capital back in Bulgaria. And yes, she was a joke in their families.

Jasmine snorted at Alli's response to the clumsy girl who fell. She really not look intelligent enough to be a Ravenclaw. Jasmine could only laugh when a boy tried to defend the Ravenclaw girl.

"And for the record, Terrance is rather clumsy at times."

"Clearly," Jasmine said dryly, "I don't see anyone else on the ground like an imbecile, so I guess she is clumsy... I wouldn't boast so positively about it; it's not a good quality to be so."

Jasmine rolled her eyes and turned back to Alli, the only person there worth a dime to talk to.

Bri was starting to feel more and more sick to her stomach as she walked outside onto the grounds and down to the Quidditch Pitch. She was absolutely terrified of heights; she didn't know what she was thinking when she had signed up for the class. She supposed it was part of being New-Bri instead of Old-Bri, but she was starting to regret that decision as a pit of horror settled in her stomach.

She stood on the outskirts of the group, not wanting to get too close to anyone just in case she was sick. She saw Andy standing by who she could only assume was the professor and gave him a halfhearted wave.

Jenn walked down to the Quidditch Pitch, overflowing with joy, this would be the first time she picked up a broom in years. She had done so once when she was smaller, but something had happened to the broom and she had never ridden since. Even then she wasn't all that great, so she assumed that she had perhaps gotten worse, but maybe not.

Before she made it to the Quidditch Pitch, while she was walking, she looked for familiar faces. She spotted one girl in Gryffindor that she knew, Hester, and thought she thought she recognized a Hufflepuff and a Ravenclaw girl that fell to the ground. She looked forward to getting started flying once again, even if she wasn't sure whether or not she would make a complete and total fool of herself.

Jenn walked over to Hester and stood by her for a second before greeting her with, "Hello."

Hester smiled at Jenn who had stood beside her.

"Hey," she said in reply. "How are you? Nervous?"

She herself was shaking by this time, the confidence with which she had started with had pretty much vanished.

"You flown before?" she asked, hoping that the girl would say yes, and that there was nothing to be scared of.

She smiled at Hester, but then she began shaking. Jenn could tell that she was nervous about flying.

"Yeah," she said, smiling comfortingly, "I've flown before, long time ago, but nothing to worry about really. The only real thing you have to worry about is not going out of control and not falling off. It's a plus if you can actually -you know- fly around, not just up and down. But don't worry, I'm not all great myself." She hoped that was reassuring to Hester, she tried the best she could not to be too serious, she never actually was, but made sure to have a sense of truth and a hint of seriousness there.

"Ok," said Hester, feeling a bit better. "Don't go out of control and don't fall off," she repeated. She hoped that she'd be able to do that, at least, never mind make the broom move. She was feeling better, however.

"Thank you," she said to Jenn.

She hoped that the lesson would start soon. It was the anticipation that was the scriest part. She was sure that when she was concentrating on not falling off, she wouldn't be half as scared. Her confidence began to come back, and she stopped shaking.

Sofia surveyed the students as they started to arrive. They seemed like a capable bunch; none looking as though they were about to pass out. That's always a good sign, she thought but her thought pattern was interrupted when she saw a blonde boy rush towards her. She blinked a few times as the boy, named Anthony according to her roster, spoke.

"Erm.. Yes.. That's correct," Sofia stammered. She was not expecting her stats from playing for Puddlemere to be used as a form of identifying her. She didn't really know what else to say to the boy so she addressed the class instead, noting that her hands were slightly shaking. She didn't expect to be so nervous.

"Good afternoon class. Welcome to flying. Please take a broom from the pile and place it on the ground next to you. This is the first part of the lesson. Your ability to command and control your broom will be put into practice. First off, let's see how well you can get your broom to obey to your command."

Sofia picked up one of the school brooms, and placed it on the ground, standing beside it. She placed her right hand over the broom.

"In a nice strong voice, say the word, 'UP'" Sofia demonstrated. The broom immediately raised up to her hand.

"Practice this a couple of times. I shall walk around and make comments if needed. You may begin."

Pierre cautiously took a broom, careful not to get any splinters. going to a free space, he placed it on the ground, regarding it warily. Taking a deep breath, he exclaimed, "UP!", his voice wavering slightly. The broom just rolled around a little, not doing anything.

"Up!" he scowled. The broom went up a bit, but not into his hand.

Why did I sign up for this class again? he wondered before glancing at his cousin who has already holding her broom happily. Oh yeah. Terry.

'Up!" he exclaimed-scowled at his broom, and it didn't do anything. Resorting to curse at it in Bulgarian (what little he did know, it was curses) he decided to try one more time.

"UP!" he shouted angrily.

Nothing happened...

Glaring at the broom, he decided to try one more time.

"UP!"

Nothing happened, and his cursing increased.

Hester looked down at the broom at her feet. She was supposed to make it move without a wand? She had expected just to be able to pick it up, get on it and fly off. She sighed.

"Up," she said, her voice wavering. She was scared. She wasn't sure she wanted to fly any more. The broom must have sensed her fear, because it didn't even twitch.

She remembered how strong the Professor's voice had sounded when she had demonstrated.

"Up!" said Hester, trying not to let her fear show. She wanted to be great at flying. She wanted to be a natural. The broom twitched, it rolled over, but it didn't rise into the air.

She glanced around at the rest of the class. Not many other people had had any success either. She groaned softly. Another class she would be bad at.

"Up," she said. "Up, up, up!"

On the final 'up', her broom shot up, smacking her in the nose.

"Ow!" she gasped, dropping the wooden broom and clutching at her face.

Well, she had gotten it to go up, at least.