Chapter 11

"Uh… well, it's not completed and is still in its testing phase but isn't this the best time to get some help or advice from madam Hooch?" Alex said as he pulled out a broom from under his bed.

It looked like a straight stick with a box on one end. Aman held back his laughter to not discourage his friend.

"Yeah… I guess you are right. After all, there is no one as well versed with brooms than madam Hooch. Maybe professor McGonagall can be her equal? She seems to be knowledgeable about quidditch."

"Nah. As you said, she is very knowledgeable about quidditch, but not brooms."

"Ohhh, Alright. Let's go then? It's almost time for class. Let's get the others too."

"Nah its fine. Why do you want to waste your time on them? Let's just go. They will come if they don't want to lose house points and it's not like they even think about us when we are late or have something important. They'll tell us only if we ask so I don't want to waste my time on them."

Aman nodded silently as he followed Alex out to the grounds.

The first years of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff gathered at the grounds. There were already a few broomsticks placed neatly on the ground. Alex stood with his broom which looked more like a long wooden hammer while everyone kept glancing at him as they muttered among themselves.

He didn't really care about any of them but Aman felt very unpleasant under everyone's gazes as he stood beside the future broom maker.

A few minutes later, Madam Hooch walked towards them with a stern face, but smiled when she saw them all standing beside one broom each. The smile only lasted until her gaze fell upon Alex, who held long wooden hammer. She walked straight towards him and scrutinized him.

"What is that hammer for, boy?"

"Madam Hooch, this is a broom that I made by myself. Could you please tell me if it is of good quality? By the way, my name is Alex."

"Meet me after class. Keep this broom away and use the one provided by the school."

"But-"

"I don't want unwanted incidents, boy."

"My name is Al-"

"I said, put this broom away. At least before I seize it."

"Yes… professor."

Alex looked disappointed but recovered in mere seconds after placing his broom beside a tree.

He looked at everyone who were busy saying "UP". Some of them had got the broom up at their first few tries but the others weren't so lucky or talented.

Alex knew how brooms worked and after working on making brooms for almost a year, he could easily make even the defective brooms listen to his commands to an extent.

He simply whispered the word and the broom was already in his hands. It was a worn out cleansweep that was probably used by many wizards and witches but it had only a few faults.

'Hmm… it's a pretty solid broom. The comfort that it gives is way better than the nimbus two thousand.... Although it is inferior in speed, I'd still prefer this over the nimbus for comfortable travels.'

A few minutes passed while he waited for his classmates to catch up before madam Hooch moved on to the next step.

Alex was busy day dreaming and enjoying the scenery as he had already mounted his broom. This step took much less time compared to getting the broom up so, his enjoyment lasted for only a few extra seconds.

When it came to taking off, the two Hufflepuff girls named Hannah Abbot and Susan Bones bumped their heads as their brooms lifted off the ground.

The fault lied with Hannah as she put too much force on her right arm, unknowingly steering the broom towards her friend.

The injury wasn't too serious but, Madam Hooch seemed extremely mad at Hannah for being a "Directionless Dimwit". The girl seemed to be holding back tears but Alex simply found her expression funny.

She saw him trying his best to contain his laughter and glared at him as a tiny tear drop rolled down her cheek.

"Who are you glaring at, you directionless Dimwit?"

"Ten points from Ravenclaw." Madam Hooch's voice was crisp and stern but it only made the Ravenclaw students curse Alex while the Hufflepuffs were happily jeering at them.

Alex simply chuckled before taking off on his broom. The flight felt extremely smooth but only after a minute of flying did he notice that the broom automatically flew a tiny bit downwards like it was its default setting.

'Hmm… are the enchantments wearing off? Maybe not… but I'll look into it when I'm done with this class.'

Alex wasn't the only one flying as there were six more who were up in the skies at that moment. He looked down and saw Aman slowly but smoothly flying while Anthony was flying very close to the ground a few meters below Aman. He also saw Hannah tailing his shadow a few feet below him.

"Oy Hannah, what are you trying to do?"

The girl seemed to flinch but didn't look up as she changed direction and sped off, flying at a safe distance from the ground.

"Hmm… what's wrong with her?", he muttered to himself before sneezing loudly.

Zacharias Smith, who was flew past Alex, cringed and made sure that it was so exaggerated that it was inevitable to not be ignored.

"Oh hey… um… what's your name?"

"Zacharias Smith… shouldn't you already know all our names already? It's been more than a month."

Alex looked at him straight in the eyes before speaking, "That… what's the point of wasting my precious memory space to remember the names of insignificant people?"

"How dare you call me insignificant?"

"I know your name. Shut up."

"I just told my name! You didn't know my name before that did you?!"

Alex simply looked at him as he felt like he was talking to someone who could potentially be a thorn in his life.

'Ah… I forgot we were all 11 years old… I'm 11 too but why do they act like they're some kind of celebrity?'