Harry Potter - Fanfiction

Year 1 - The Midnight Duel

At the start of the new week a notice is put up on the notice board in the common room to say that flying lessons will begin on Thursday for Gryffindor and Slytherin. I decide the day before the lesson to go through to the Quidditch field and watch the students practice for try-outs to see what all the fuss is about regarding flying on a broom.

Seated at one of the higher seats in the stadium I watch as learners swoop by with the Quaffle's and throw them through the hoops or hitting the bludgers with their bats.

Hoping that watching them will help calm my nerves for the next day; as I hate to admit it, but I am not fond of flying on a broomstick, it sounds utterly terrifying.

"Nyx!" the twins call out as they join me on the stands.

I smile and wave at them as they walk up towards me. "Hey guys!"

"Thinking of trying out in your second year for Quidditch?" asks Fred.

"Heavens no!"

"Then how come you here? You missed us already try out for the team," says George.

"We have our first flying lesson tomorrow and I am terrified. I don't fancy flying around on a broom." My voice a little shaky.

Fred sees Lee Jordan in the distance. "I'll be right back, there's something I've got to ask Lee." He takes off to where his friend is sitting observing the students as well.

George questions, "afraid of heights?"

"No, it isn't that. I wouldn't mind flying on anything except a measly old broom."

"Yeah, the school's brooms tend to have a mind of their own sometimes."

I smack him jokingly on the arm. "You're not helping!"

He laughs responding, "sorry! You know it's not all that bad once you get used to it. Fred and I are the two beaters on the team. It's quite fun whacking the bludgers at the other House teams."

"That doesn't make me feel any better about flying lessons. At least we are only forced to do them in our first year."

George leans in closer. "How about this, maybe this weekend I take you up on my broom and we take a fly around the castle. So, you can get a better feel for it and feel a little more at ease being on a broom."

A heart-warming smile appears across my lips from the kind gesture. "Deal, but no funny moves. I'm warning you." I chuckle softly as we continue watching the other learners.

     

At three-thirty Thursday afternoon I hurry down the steps with Hermione onto the grounds for our first flying lesson.

"I'm really nervous," states Hermione.

"You and me both. I don't think I can do this," I declare.

It is a clear breezy day causing the grass to ripple under our feet. There over the sloping grasslands stand all the Gryffindor's and other Slytherin's on a flat piece of lawn opposite the Forbidden Forest, with twenty broomsticks lying in neat lines on the ground.

Our teacher, Madam Hooch, starts barking orders from the moment she arrives; she has short grey hair and yellow eyes resembling a hawk's. "Well, what are you all waiting for? Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up."

Us Slytherin's are all standing on one side and the Gryffindor's opposite us. Madam Hooch stands at the head of the two lines and calls out, "stick out your right hand over your broom and say 'Up!'"

Everyone does as she says and shouts 'Up!' simultaneously.

A few of the students brooms then flies immediately into their hands; you can tell which of those will be going on to try out for Quidditch in Year Two. Neville's didn't even move on the ground, Hermione's simply rolled over where mine lifted only about a millimeter off from the grass before falling back down.