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[ philosopher's stone ]
MAYA HEARD HARRY GROAN. She turned from where she sat on the good chairs near the fireplace to see Harry and many others staring at a notice pinned up in the Gryffindor common room that made everyone follow in suite. Flying lessons would be starting on Thursday ━━ and Gryffindor and Slytherin would be learning together.
Maya read the notice more carefully and let out a sigh.
"Typical," she said darkly. "Just what I always wanted. To make a fool of myself on a broomstick in front of Malfoy."
She had been looking forward to learning to fly more than anything else.
"You don't know that you'll make a fool of yourself," Ron said reasonably. "I mean when Harry had gotten on his broom, he knew how to fly straight away ━━ maybe you'll be the same."
"I doubt it," Maya scoffed. "I'm not exactly good at anything like that."
Ron looked slightly guilty about that, but he shook his head slightly. "Anyway, I know Malfoy's always going on about how good he is at Quidditch, but I bet that's all talk."
Malfoy certainly did talk about flying a lot. He complained loudly about first years never getting on the house Quidditch teams and told long, boastful stories that always seemed to end with him narrowly escaping Muggles in helicopters. He wasn't the only one, though: the way Seamus Finnigan told it, he'd spent most of his childhood zooming around the countryside on his broomstick.
Even Ron would tell anyone who'd listen about the time he'd almost hit a hang glider on Charlie's old broom. Everyone from wizarding families talked about Quidditch constantly.
Neville had never been on a broomstick in his life, because his grandmother had never let him near one. Privately, Maya felt she'd had good reason, because Neville managed to have an extraordinary number of accidents even with both feet on the ground.
Hermione was almost as nervous about flying as Neville was. This was something you couldn't learn by heart out of a book ━━ not that she hadn't tried.
At breakfast on Thursday she bored them all stupid with flying tips she'd gotten out of a library book called Quidditch Through the Ages. Neville was hanging on to her every word, desperate for anything that might help him hang on to his broomstick later, but everybody else was very pleased when Hermione's lecture was interrupted by the arrival of the mail.
"Any news from your parents about that small package?" Maya asked as Harry received a letter from his god-parents. He looked at her, seeming surprised which only made her tilt her head, continuing to eat her toast.
