The Dragon Project

Broomstick Holdup

I rushed down the hallway, weaving in between person after person, my mouth spewing a flurry of "excuse me" 's and "i'm sorry" 's. The stone walls around me were blurred as I made a break for the closest door. Banners and signs decorated the hall around me, with things like "Eprepeth Magician of the Year 1986: Eve Smith" embroidered in that obnoxious blocky athletic font. You know the one.

The series of pennants that really caught my eye though was the "Eprepeth Dragon Jockey of the Year" ones that lined the wall next to the door. Sometimes when I would get to school early, I would sit on the bench across from them and read each poster over and over again. I knew each of the winners' names by heart, and at this point, they each seemed like old friends that I could always revisit: James Edevane, Ava Mitchell, Oliver MacQuoid, the list goes on and on. I hoped to get my name up there one day riding a dragon of my own.

I was so lost in my thoughts that I hadn't realized I had stopped to admire the banners. Sudden realization swept over my face and I bursted out of the doors. I beelined my way towards the broomstick racks. I spotted Bella's broomstick immediately, which was- you guessed it -made from pink ivory wood. I fumbled with the lock, mumbling the code under the breath. From the corner of my eye, I spotted Bella turning around the corner and walking nonchalantly towards me.

"What are you doing here?"

"You forgot something!" she said, tossing me a key.

"Thanks, I don't know what I'd do without you,"

"I don't either," Bella replied, giggling. She fluttered over to me, but bent down to the height of the broomstick and loudly whispered, "Stay safe, okay?"

"Hey! Don't you trust me?" I laughed.

"Nope!" She exclaimed, tapping me on the nose with her wand, a little sparkle flying out of the tip. "In all seriousness, fly safe, okay?" She hugged me, then held me at arms length, "and you do know what you're doing right?"

"Of course!" I said a little too confidently, hopping on the broomstick. I jammed the keys in a slot near the top of the stick and heard a promising sound from the engine. I levitated awkwardly for a second, not sure what to do. To be completely honest, I had only ridden a broomstick twice, once for P.E. and the other time- well, 'The Black Cat Incident'.

"Need a little help?" Bella asked sarcastically, raising her eyebrows at my sad attempt at flying. She walked over to where I was and pulled the broomstick down a little bit. "Okay so you just lean forward to go faster, but the engine is kind of sensitive. If you lean forward too much, then boy howdy are you in for a wild ride! And quite a hefty price tag for all the stardust you'd be using, might I add," She laughed when she looked at my horrified face. "You'll be fine!" She positioned her hand on my back and teetered me around, "Right, left, back... it's all pretty self explanatory from there," She stepped back cautiously as I nodded my head slowly in understanding.

I swear I leaned forward just the tiniest bit, but the darn broomstick nearly flew out from under me. I shot out from where the racks were and soared above Eprepeth: School of Magic.

"WHOAOAOAAOA!" I screamed, hanging onto the handle of the broom for dear life.

"SLOW DOWN!" Bella yelled after me, one of many tiny specks on the large grass field below me. I leaned every which way, desperately wanting to find a way to balance myself out again. I started to lose more and more control, the broomstick gaining a mind of it's own.

"It's not woRKING!" I squealed, plummeting towards the earth. I winced and braced for the impact.

"TILT THE HANDLE UP! UP! UP!" She yelled louder and louder as I got closer and closer to the grass. At the last moment, I was able to yank the handle up, a wave of relief washing over me. I flew upwards, but in a more... relaxing way. I could practically hear Bella let out a sigh of relief from my spot high above the school.

"BE CAREFUL! I DON'T WANT YOU BANGING HER UP!" She called after me. I leaned forward a little bit, willing the broomstick to go to a medium pace. "OH, AND DON'T USE TOO MUCH STARDUST! YOU KNOW HOW EXPENSIVE IT IS! GOOD LUCK!" I rolled my eyes at her comment and turned back to wave at her. She waved back.

Students- from satyrs to vampires and from cyclopes to ghouls- roamed around the field and the campus talking, eating... whatever angsty teens did at school anyways. Everyone seemed so small from up here. I circled around once before heading towards Greyfire Forest. I had a long day ahead of me if I actually wanted to finish The Dragon Project.