Dark Lord

The Flying Lesson

A notice was pinned up in the Gryffindor common room that caused many to groan, but Neville was excited. It revealed that their Flying lessons would be starting on Thursday - and that Gryffindor and Slytherin would be learning together. "Yay!! Another class with Harry! Honestly, this is probably the longest we've ever been separated." Neville slightly pouted towards the end, but he was incredibly happy to be able to spend more time with his brother. Ron, Dean, and Seamus (all Neville's roommates) didn't seem to like Slytherins all that much, but they couldn't be upset with the arrangement if it made the smaller boy beam so brightly. 

At three-thirty Thursday afternoon, the Gryffindors hurried down the front steps onto the grounds for their first flying lesson, Neville in the lead with Ron close behind him. "Wait up!" "You hurry up!" It was a clear, breezy day, and the grass rippled under their feet as they marched down the sloping lawns toward a smooth, flat lawn on the opposite side of the grounds to the forbidden forest, whose trees were swaying darkly in the distance. The Slytherins were already there, and so were twenty broomsticks lying in neat lines on the ground. Harry immediately rushed over to his brother with Draco and Blaise (Harry's roommates) right behind him. The Riddle boys hugged, both smiling widely. 

Their teacher, Madam Hooch, arrived just as they were pulling apart from each other. "Well, what are you all waiting for? Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up." They all obeyed the older woman, Neville and Harry standing next to each other, their grins never fading. "Stick out your right hand over your broom and say 'Up!'" Madam Hooch instructed. "UP!!" everyone shouted. Harry and Neville's brooms jumped into their hands at once, but they were part of the few that did. The witch then showed them how to mount their brooms without sliding off the end, and walked up and down the rows correcting their grips. Of course, the Riddle brothers didn't need any correcting, for they had been shown the proper way to fly, but they did find it rather amusing when she told Draco that he'd been doing it wrong for years. "Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard," Madam Hooch said as she held up her whistle. Neville and Harry got ready to push off. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly." The brothers frowned for the first time; that didn't sound fun in the slightest. "On my whistle - three - two - one -" She blew hard. Neither boy obeyed this time, instead, they shot straight up into the air and circled high above everyone, doing tricks. Their classmates cheered and even Madam Hooch was impressed, especially when they landed with incredible ease. She had only ever seen one student fly with such grace before, so she shouldn't have been surprised that his sons were just as natural at flying as he was. 

In the shadows, there were two other teachers who watched the duo show off their skills. Professor McGonagall and Snape saw how flawlessly they flew, and both had the same thought. Later, McGonagall, Neville, and a fifth-year boy she introduced as Oliver Wood had an interesting conversation regarding the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Down in the dungeons, there was another trio having a very similar discussion. Professor Snape, Harry, and another fifth-year boy he called Marcus Flint talked about the Slytherin Quidditch team. Regardless to say, (M/N) Riddle received two letters, one from Professor Dumbledore about both his sons and another from those very boys.