Crossroads of Two Worlds

18-Testing For Gravity

I gripped my broom in one hand and walked up to her, briefly looking back at Rose and Kaley, both of whom shrugged, quite unhelpfully. The entire group stared at me as I walked up to the woman at the front.

Angelina put a hand on my shoulder when I got there, "What's your name, dear?"

Thank goodness she asked because I was getting tired of this whole 'dear' business, "Alana Faye, madam."

"Are you American? Are your parents wizards or muggles, Alana? I will not base your abilities on either, I promise you."

I shrugged, surprised she recognized my slight accent, but deciding to tell a version of the truth, not being embarrassed about it like she probably thought I'd be, "My mum's a muggle, but I don't really know my dad so I could be a half blood or a muggleborn."

Angelina didn't act surprised about me not knowing my dad, but went on with her 'experiment', "I noticed that you have perfect control over your broom, have you flown before?"

I couldn't tell her that I hadn't because then she would be suspicious, or she just wouldn't believe me, and technically I had flown before, just not in this way. I gave her a look that I hoped she understood, telling her that I couldn't say more.

"I practiced a bit over the holidays."

She appeared to be satisfied with my vague answer, "I'm going to throw this baseball, I want you to chase after it and see if you can catch it. Can you do that?"

I shrugged with a small smile, feeling slightly nervous, "One way to find out, right?"

I mounted my broom, and Angelina, without warning, threw the ball as hard as she could towards the castle.

I zoomed after it without even half a thought. My broom seemed to me, just an extension of my body. Everything I thought about seemed to happen effortlessly.

I crouched close to the broom to make it faster and kept my eyes trained on the ball that had obviously been charmed to stay in the air longer. I got closer and closer to the castle, and tried not to think about crashing when I snatched the ball with one hand. The thing is that I had been going so fast that my momentum caused me to somersault upon catching the ball because I tried to halt my broom. I flew back to the first years and landed jogging. A light spatter of applause sounded from the group.

Depositing the ball into Angelina's hand, I smiled, my broom at my side.

She just told me to wait after class for her. What was it with me and waiting around after classes? I just nodded and returned to my spot between Rose and Kaley.

Kaley whispered to me and allowed Rose to listen in, "You've never ridden a broom, have you?"

I shook my head and turned my attention back to the teacher, attempting to escape their gazes. I wouldn't be able to keep my secret for much longer. But I didn't want to lose my friends.

Later...

Angelina had Albus, Scorpius, Rose and I stay after the lesson. The rest of the class left after glaring at us, for whatever reason. We could be in trouble for all they knew!

The entire period after my 'experiment' was spent trying to get 'better control over our brooms'. I spent the period throwing a ball and racing to get it. After a time it got boring but eventually Rose joined me, considering the fact that her flying skills were equally as good as mine, though she'd flown before. This unfortunately meant that we left Kaley behind and I knew that she would let us know what she thought about that later. Albus and Scorpius spent the time chasing each other as fast as they could, playing a two-person game of tag.