Chp 6: Flying Class

After realising that his actions might have caused more trouble for Hermione, Brian reduced his contact with Hermione on the surface. This point was also agreed by Hermione, and she didn't want the conflict between the two houses to intensify again.

They were now more like pen pals, only exchanging letters on occasion. Then, there was the upcoming flying class.

In the Slytherin common room, Malfoy was now boasting about how he nearly crashed into a Muggle plane on his broom. He was also complaining about the fact that first years were not allowed to bring their own broomsticks, as he would have been on the Quidditch team otherwise. Brian didn't bother to expose his lie as he was busy with penning a reply letter.

His owl, Becca, had just delivered a letter from Hermione. In the letter, she wrote about how she was nervous about the upcoming flying class. She asked if he knew any tips about how to become a better flyer.

Brian expressed comfort in his letter, telling her that flying needed talent and unfortunately, not many people have it.

A few days later, Brian was standing at the castle grounds, which was a large open grass field, with the other Slytherin and Gryffindor first years. It was a sunny day with a slight breeze, good weather for flying according to his father, a Quidditch fanatic.

Brian remembered that Harry would be joining the Gryffindor Quidditch team after this class. He wanted to see if he could get a point here. If not, he could only find another way.

A moment later, Madam Hooch arrived. She then had them stand next to the broomsticks that had been laid on the ground.

Brian looked down at his broom. Seeing how old it looked, he didn't have any confidence to fly on this thing. This was an accident waiting to happen.

And sure enough, it happened. Neville Longbottom's broom went out of control and shot flying into the sky amidst the student's scream. He went through a couple of spins before finally losing his grip and plummeted to the ground.

Brian, who had been prepared for a long time, drew out his wand and cast a levitating spell on him, which slowed down his falling speed. Fortunately, he learned the Levitation Charm in advance.

Madam Hooch hurriedly went to check Neville's condition. She let out a sigh of relief when she saw that Neville had only sprained his wrist.

"It's only a sprain. It's not a big problem. Come on, let me take you to the hospital," she told the crying Neville. But before she left, she awarded ten points to Slytherin for Brian's timely save.

While the other Slytherins were gushing about how great Brian's spell was, Malfoy threw Brian a disapproving glance. He thought that Brian shouldn't have helped Neville just now.

However, he only kept it to himself. This wasn't the place to argue with Brian right now. Suddenly, he noticed the Remembrall that Neville had lost on the ground. His brain suddenly came up with a plan, and he hurried over to grab it.

"Maybe, I should throw it into the forest and let that idiot find it himself," he said with a laugh. He rode his broom and flew into the sky.

"Give that back, Malfoy!" Harry saw what Draco did and went over to give him a chase.

Brian glanced at his broom, thinking whether he should join or not because the system just told him that he could get double points if he participated in this event. However, he hesitated for a moment and pushed off the idea. He did not want to spend the night at the infirmary.

As Draco dropped the Remembrall, Harry made a beautiful dive and caught it just in time, much to the Gryffindor's joy.

Soon, Professor McGonagall came and took Harry away while Brian and the others continued their flying lessons. Malfoy gave the Gryffindors a triumphant grin as if he just won the Quidditch World Cup.

And just as Brian had hoped, he heard the prompt sound from his system.

[Witness the flying class accident, point +0 .5]

'Only half a point?' Brian thought bitterly. It seemed it was not that easy to get points.

After dinner, Draco found Brian and said, "You always get in my way, Brian. I hope you don't forget that you are a Slytherin."

"I'm not trying to get in your way, Draco," Brian said with a helpless sigh.

"Then, why did you help Longbottom just now?"

"Why? I don't think there's anything wrong. He's a pureblood, remember?" Brian told him.

"But he's a Gryffindor!" Draco said furiously.

"So? Remember this, Draco. We are going to destroy ourselves if we keep fighting against each other. Let me tell you something else, the wizarding is not truly safe. The muggles are not fools, they are aware of us. Do you believe that if I tell you right now that they can easily destroy Hogwart?" Brian asked.

Draco snorted at that. "You're joking. Muggle destroying Hogwarts? Yeah, like anyone would believe that."

"I'm not lying, Draco. They do have the power to destroy the world. Look, I'm not telling you to change your mind right now. I just hope you can be more tolerant when you treat your classmates. At the end of the day, they are still wizards. Even the Dark Lord still needs a group of loyal people, doesn't he?"

"There are many purebloods in Slytherin, I don't need to be friends with those mudbloods and traitors," Draco said. "The same is true for the Dark Lord. He only needs a group of elites like purebloods."

"But he failed in the end, did he?"

Draco stared at Brian in disbelief. "You… you dare to say that?"

He looked around to make sure that no one was near them before he continued. "My father said that the Dark Lord will return someday."

"And he will still fail," Brian repeated.

"You are hopeless, Brian, I will prove to you that you're wrong!" Draco raised his head proudly and walked away.

"Is it true, Brian?" All of a sudden, Daphne came out from behind a dark corner.

"Did you hear that?" Brian turned to the blonde.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop," Daphne said with a slight blush. "But do muggles really have the power to destroy the world?"

"Yes, they do," sighed Brian. "The Statute of Secrecy was introduced to protect us from the muggles, but it also limited our thinking. We are too immersed in our past glory."

"The muggle world has changed rapidly over the years. Sure, we can still hide in the wizarding world comfortably now, but one day, they'll find us one day. At that time, war would be inevitable."

"Rather than fighting each other, we should band together because wizards are smaller in number compared to them. Every wizard is precious," Brian finished.

"Then, what should we do?" Daphne asked, tilting her head slightly. "Do you want to eliminate muggles?"

"No. War is not definitely not the solution to the problem," Brian told her. "We just need a deterrent to prevent us from being prosecuted by them, especially the greedy politicians. I have no doubt that they will try to control if our community is exposed."