Chapter 73    

The flaming red dot got closer and closer before shattering one of the windows which repaired themselves without hurting anyone nearby.

Aman looked at the glowing piece of wood that flowed like a calm flame but emitted no heat at the same time and said, "Is that… fire?"

"Not really. I just enchanted it to glow similar to a real flame whenever I want it to, but it's not an actual flame. It's just a carved piece of wood that acts like jelly while you fly and also glows a little.

Anyways, this is the gift you will be receiving. I planned on giving you a finished product but since you're so impatient, you can have the prototype." Alex said as he poked Aman's belly with the head of the broom aggressively.

"But I already have a cleansweep seven…"

Alex turned around and began walking away, "You asked for a gift and you got one so stop complaining. I'm heading to bed and it's getting late so it'll be better if you head to bed too."

The whole group stared at Alex's back until he left the great hall before they all shifted their attention to the broom which didn't look so flashy anymore. Harry and Ron seemed extremely interested while some kids from Slytherin turned their attention to the group.

Hermione on the other hand, picked the already levitating broom and pushed it into Aman's hands, "You cannot fly inside the castle. Ignore these two and go to sleep. You can test it out tomorrow morning or when you have the free time. Also, maybe thank him too. It's not a good thing to force someone to gift you something and in your case, you were relentless."

"But… I don't need this broom. I already have the cleansweep seven which is a trusted name." he said as he frowned lightly.

Harry stood up angrily and said, "Do you know how hard it would be for him to even be able to buy the materials for making this broom? He's an orphan who doesn't even have a guardian. He lives alone and probably only gets five to ten galleons a month.

I do sometimes wish to have a life like him but you are so ungrateful. I'd be happy even if I got a pack of chocolate frogs but look at you, so unsatisfied even when you have a broom that might have costed him about sixty to eighty galleons to make.

Imagine the materials lost during trial and error too. Keeping the houses aside, I'd probably never want a friend like you. Your sister bought you a parrot with all of her savings and you just didn't want it. In the end you simply accepted it to get something else from Alex.

Come on Ron, let's not waste time here with this idiot."

Harry stormed off, his face bright red from anger as Ron followed behind him with a cautious look on his face.

Aman stood in the same spot, unable to move as he stared at Harry and Ron's back until they turned at a corner and disappeared from his sight. Only then did he turn to look at Hermione and Neville who looked at him like he was the one in the wrong.

"You guys think so too?", he asked, his heart sinking when both of them nodded silently.

"To me it looked like you just wanted attention… you really should thank him genuinely and if the stuff Harry said is true, you really should reflect on your actions. You don't want to lose your only friend, do you?"

"Yeah… it's not cool to hurt other's feelings." Neville quipped in before patting Aman's shoulder and left with Hermione in tow, leaving Aman alone with Luna as he thought about his actions a few minutes ago.

"Do you also want to say something?", he said in a low voice to which she shook her head.

"It's still seven. He left early if you think about it. I have to continue searching for my necklace so I'll see you later."

"I hope you'll find it…." he muttered before walking towards the Ravenclaw common room, which after he entered, saw a large crowd formed around the notice board. He headed towards the crowd and somehow managed to slip through the crowd to be able to see the reason for the formation of the crowd.

He saw a large parchment stuck on the board which basically stated that the quidditch tryouts will be held on Saturday that week and the person who will be forming the team will be none other than Professor Flitwick. The other contents basically said the same thing that Flitwick had talked to him about.

The fifth, sixth and seventh years who were in the team didn't look too happy as they glared at the crowd. Aman left the place silently and headed directly to his dormitory where he saw Alex carving a large piece of wood into a shape similar to a broom.

"Hey… you said you were going to sleep."

Alex stopped moving his hands and turned around, "How will I participate in the tryouts if I don't have a broom? The ones I have at home are very old and I doubt they'll help."

Aman stood in place as he glanced at the other three who were looking at him and Alex before making up his mind. He headed to his bed and pulled out his trunk before opening it and taking out his cleansweep seven.

"Take this. Use it until you make a broom that works way better than the nimbus two thousand and one."

"… you see, the broom I gave you is incomplete. You should just use the cleansweep if you want to fly safe."

Aman tossed the broom towards Aman who caught it before jumping onto his bed, "I'll use the broom until it breaks. You should make me a better one if you don't want me to die and also, would you mind not putting in the fire part? It looks too flashy and that isn't a good thing for a keeper."

"Sure…." Alex said as he placed the cleansweep beside him and continued his work.

'Dumbledore and Snape will start having doubts about me if they see me being able to buy new brooms so it's better to use the cleansweep for now.'