Chapter 7: Flying Practice

Disclaimer: 

Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K Rowling.

I own nothing but the original characters I make.

"Dialogue"

'Thoughts'

$Parseltongue$

Chapter 7: Flying Practice

"You want to fly? I thought you didn't like it that much." James said.

Harry shrugged. "I guess I changed my mind. So…can I?"

James smiled. "Sure you can. Do you remember where your broom is? You know, the one we got you two years ago."

"Yes, I'll go get it." Harry turned around and left for his room.

James looked at his daughter, who was making an angry expression.

"You still believe that he is pretending?." He asked.

"Dad…no one changes that quick. He has to be…" Lyra said while looking serious.

James observed his daughter with attention, She has always been too mature for her age.

"I'll tell you one thing. In my work, I have to deal with a lot of liars, and over the years I have developed a keen eye to discern who is telling the truth and who is lying without the need to use any magic."

Lyra looked at him.

"And?."

"As far as I have observed, Harry seems completely sincere." He saw his daughter was about to protest and raised his hand to indicate that He was not finished.

"I know is hard to believe…but, you should give him a chance. If he is sincere about wanting to change and you keep pushing him away, he may revert back to being the way he was. You don't want that, right?" James finished saying.

Lyra did not raise any complaints but she still didn't seem completely convinced. She has been attacked and deceived by her brother too many times in the past.

She had wished on many occasions for her brother to change, to become at least tolerable to be around.

But this change was just too much… too sudden and hard to believe.

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Harry came back with his broom in hand.

"Alright, let's get to flying."

"Hold down champ, let me see that broom. I need to make sure is in good condition to fly since it hasn't been used for so long." James said while taking the broom.

He observed the broom carefully. 

"Did you clean it up?." James asked. The broom looked impeccable and well cared for.

"This morning. So…can I use it?."

James handed the broom to Harry.

"Yes, it seems in good condition. But let's go slow, I don't know if you remember what happened two years ago." James told Harry and this one shook his head.

James sighed. "Well…You were very excited about flying a broom at first, but You didn't listen to my advice and decided to fly away recklessly. In the end, You crashed against a tree, broke one arm, and didn't want to touch the broom again."

"Yes, you were always saying that flying was stupid." Lyra grinned.

'So that's why he left the broom there, covered in dust…' 

Harry just smiled at her, ignoring her childish taunt. "Well, let's try again then."

Lyra was surprised by the lack of a bitter response as usual but didn't say anything else.

James got into position. "Okay, Harry, get onto the broom and start to ascend slowly. Remember?, You need to focus on the broom and deliver the order in a calm and focused manner." 

Harry did as he was told. As much as he wanted to shoot into the sky, he decided that it would be better to show a slower progression, and not give his father a heart attack in the process.

Harry started to gain altitude slowly with his father at his side.

"Very well, Harry. This is high enough, let's stop here and start to move forward." James said.

'Oh, Merlin…this is going to be so dull.' Harry thought.

Lyra seemed to agree as she started to fly away from the duo at great speed.

"Don't go too far, Lyra. Stay inside the property limits." James said in a commanding tone and Lyra responded with an annoyed 'I know, dad!'.

Harry and James started to fly around the garden very slowly and only a few feet off the ground.

'My first flying lesson in Hogwarts was more exciting than this…' Harry could not help to think, but kept his patience and continued with the exercise. At least he could get a good view of the house and its surroundings.

The house itself was not as massive as he first thought, he was more impressed with how isolated the house was. All around it was a grassy plain and in the distance, he could see a thick forest that extended in all directions.

A closer inspection was needed but a first glance, it looked like the grassy fields were indicating the limits of the wards. If that was the case, this property was around half the size of Hogwarts.

In the end, the boring lesson did not matter to him that much, instead, he cared about the fact that he was flying on a broom next to his father. This was something he had dreamed of since he found out James Potter was a great Quidditch player in school.

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After almost an hour of practice, James told Harry to stop for the day.

"You did great, Harry. You know?, I have the entire week off work. If you want, we can practice every day for a bit." James offered with a sincere smile.

"Yes, I would love that, dad." Said Harry. Even though the practice was a bit boring, He could not help but be genuinely happy at spending time with his father like that.

Lyra then descended from the sky with her Numbus 2000.

"Oh?, You two slowpokes are done?"

James gave her a warning look.

Harry chuckled.

"Yes, we are done for today. I'll see you at dinner, Lyra."

After Harry left, James approached his daughter.

"He doesn't react to anything… The Harry I knew would have gotten angry with much less." Lyra said.

James raised an eyebrow.

"Stop trying to provoke him, that's a bad idea."

"I just wanted to get a reaction. Are you sure you brought the right Harry from the hospital?" Lyra asked.