Basilisk Eyes

Chapter 104: Gernumblies

Ron had lumbered back toward Ginny and Harry at the broom shed as they were pulling out the Cleansweeps.

"Hey, that's mine!" Ron said.

"I know, doxie dung, that's why I'm getting it out. Geesh!" Ginny mumbled.

"How do you know it is mine? Did you look?" Ron asked.

"I can tell by how sticky the handle is—it's like you were eating cauldron cakes right off it. Do you ever polish it?" Ginny retorted.

"Yes, I polish it!" Ron snapped and Harry couldn't help but laugh. "Shut it, Harry. Here's yours, Ginny."

"I'll just leave mine here for now. Maybe I'll try out Harry's," Ginny said. "Are Fred and George going to fly, too?"

"Naw, maybe later. Mum had to heal their burns and now they are working on putting their room back together. She is not happy. I didn't tell her about her cake, either. I think we should stay away for a while. Let her cool down. Good thing we did our chores," Ron said. "Percy won't come and Charlie's helping mum and the twins with the repairs. They both burned off their eyebrows and their fringe! Mum's not going to help them with regrowth charms until they have everything else put back together. Are they a sight! You should see them!"

Harry laughed imagining the twins with no eyebrows and burned fringe. He was glad they were all right.

"So Harry, you can really fly?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, I can. It's different from before, but I'm getting the hang of it." He summoned his broom out of his staff.

"Ophff!"

"Oh, sorry, Ginny—didn't think you were so close," Harry said as he poked her with his broom.

"It's okay. It's just surprising, you know?"

"Yeah, I think that might be one of the hardest things to get used to—not seeing things coming before they touch you—whatever they are. I'm getting better, though, at hearing and feeling them."

"Come on, you two, let's go!" Ron zoomed off on his broom, but Harry walked with Ginny over to the orchard where they flew. He remembered how at the end of last summer the ground was littered with apples that had fallen from the trees and that distinctive smell of the sweet, rotting fruit. He was glad that it was earlier in the summer and they didn't have to worry about stepping in that gooey mess.

"So, Ginny, my staff goes in this compartment in my broom—Figora helped me make it. I make sure my staff is vibrating instructions instead of speaking because I really just need to know how fast something is coming at me and how big it is," Harry explained.

"How can you tell what things are if it just vibrating? That sounds confusing," Ginny said.

"Well, when you're flying there are fewer things—so the vibrating works. It gets more intense the bigger something is... and it has different levels—so you start to feeling everything around you—it's almost like they are beneath your fingertips. I dunno. You'll have to just try it. It is kind of hard to explain."

Harry placed the staff inside his broom.

"Hey, wait a sec. Hold onto my broom. Can you feel that? That's Ron flying toward us. I think he's trying to buzz us. Git. When I say three, crouch down—one, two, three," Harry whispered and they dropped down while Ron zoomed over their heads then came back to land by them.

"Hey, how did you know I was going to buzz you?" Ron laughed.

"We could smell you coming," Ginny said as they stood back up.

"No seriously, how'd you know?"

"Did you eat onions?" Harry laughed.

"Fine. Are you coming or not?" Ron said, his voice trailing behind him as he sped by.