𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐃𝐎𝐖 𝐎𝐅 𝐇𝐄𝐑 || 𝐒𝐞𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰

Chapter Thirteen: The Undercroft

Chapter Thirteen 

When they had last met, Professor Fig had instructed Matty to not shun her schoolwork and since he was gone with the book, all she could do was focus on school until he returned to school. But Matty wasn't particularly opposed to this because she was getting ready to start flying class.

Now for Matty, being a Muggleborn meant she had always thought flying was pretty much something impossible and the stories of witches flying on broomsticks were a complete myth.

Well, she was in for a surprise because that was exactly how Witches and Wizards flew around.

She walked out onto the flying class lawn and seeing a few other people around her age made her feel better about the whole situation. She grabbed a broom and got into a line. She was standing in between two Ravenclaws she had never met before, perhaps this would be a good chance to make some friends. Although the one to her left was messing around with his broom.

Then, Madam Kogawa walked out of her office and down to the two lines of students, getting onto the student who was messing with his broom. "Mr. Clopton—your attention, please." She said, making the student stop messing around.

She started to walk between the two lines. "The goal of today is to remind you all of how to maneuver on a broomstick safely, as broom flight is first and foremost a means of transportation." She said, looking through the line of students. "This, I fear, some of you have forgotten." She looked directly at the student next to Matty and since he seemed to be the same age as her, Matty assumed he was still in the class for breaking the rules.

"Diving, rolling, and loop-the-loops will not be taught, in fact, not tolerated in this class—well leave that to professional Quidditch players like the Toyohashi Tengu." Madam Kogawa said and then one of the students made a booing sound. "Not a fan, I take it?" She said.

"For those of you who need a refresher, step up to your broom, say 'up' firmly and clearly then kick your leg over and rest your weight on the seat." Madam Kogawa said. She then gave a pretty clear demonstration.

It seemed easy enough to Matty. Just as Madam Kogawa had instructed, she put her hand out, "Up!" She said, in the firmest voice she could muster without being loud and then the broom came straight up to her hand. She let out a small laugh of surprise, even though she knew it would probably happen, it still surprised her sometimes.

Matty then put one leg over the broomstick and rested her weight down just like Madam Kogawa had instructed. It felt very weird to be up in the air like this and she was a bit unsteady, but she kept a good grip on the front of the broomstick.

Madam Kogawa gave her a few pointers on basic maneuvering, such as going up, down, left, right, and so forth before instructing her to fly through the three hoops they had set up in the flying class lawn.

It certainly didn't take much to get through that, but it was certainly going to take a while to get used to. After she was done with the three hoops, Madam Kogawa flew up to her. "Well done! Now that you are acclimated to your broom, let's see how well you can manage with a more advanced exercise, shall we?"

"This next set will take you around the grounds—for a bit more of a challenge." Madam Kogawa said, leading Matty to the hoops.

As Matty started to fly through the hoops, she couldn't help but admire the amazing view. "What a view." She said to herself, looking over the Black Lake as she was flying. She had always heard the Scottish Highlands were breathtaking, but she was starting to realize it more and more every day that she was here.

A few moments later, she heard the voice of the student who had been standing next to her before class. "Hello. Nice day for a flight, huh?"

He came zooming out from under her, clearly, he was much better at controlling the broomstick than Matty was. "This is rather fun!" She said to herself. Who knew flying could be so enjoyable?