Testing

I gave the old broom a suspicious look. After all the effort it took me to get to this point, I was expecting little more of a reaction when I succeeded. Plus, this was the third broom that I had worked on. The previous two accidentally exploded when I was searching for the correct movement.

Using my wand, I reached out and flipped the old tattered broom over. When nothing happened, I let out a relieved sigh.

Once it dawned on me that I had finally done it, I wasn't able to keep the grin off my face. I danced a little jig around the old broom.

Not only had I created my first spell, but I had also developed a spell that would help stick a knife in Delvin Whithorn's business. Taking down the Nimbus company was merely the first step in our family's revenge. The Whithorns would pay dearly for everything they did.

As I turned my attention back to the old broom, I sheepishly realized that I would have no way to gauge my spell's effectiveness since I didn't test the broom beforehand. Not only that, I would need to test it out on multiple brooms to get a good idea of the spell's capabilities, and I didn't trust this ragged old broom to keep me aloft.

If I wanted to start seriously testing out the spell, I would need to get some help. It was time to let my friends in on my secret project.

The following day beneath the shade of Athena's favorite tree that overlooked the Great Lake, Alicia suspiciously questioned, "What do you mean you want to experiment on our brooms?"

I struggled not to roll my eyes at how Alicia wrapped her arms protectively around her broom as if she were afraid I was going to unspeakable things to it.

"I told you," I softly said as if I were trying to lure a wary puppy over. "I just need to test out the effects of a new spell I've been working on."

"What spell?" Cedric said with a tad of reluctance in his voice.

I tried not to be hurt by the concerned look on their faces. Why is everyone looking at me like I'm a crazy wizard? I just want to fiddle with their brooms. If anything, they should be thanking me. I'm going to make them go faster.

I took a deep breath.

"Ok, you guys know how my dad has been working on a new broom designed to compete with the nimbus."

When everyone nodded, I continued. "Well, after everything the Whithorns have done to my family, I wanted to do my part. So, I spent the last few months working on a special project. Last night, I finally succeeded, and I created a spell that is going to change everything."

I smiled when I saw Cedric and Alicia perk up. Being quidditch players, they were avid flyers and broom nuts.

Unable to stop himself, Cedric asked, "What does the spell do?"

I grinned, "The spell reduces drag to zero."

Seeing the blanks on everyone's faces took some of the wind from my sails. Of course, they don't know what drag is. I only know the term because I read that muggle book on aerodynamics.

"Ok," I explained. "The best way to wrap your mind around it is that it's sort of like a resistance that builds as you fly through the air. My spell removes all that resistance, so it should increase your speed a great deal."

Upon hearing that her broom would go faster, a gleam appeared in Alicia's eyes. "How much faster?" She demanded.

I shrugged and admitted, "I have no idea. That's why I need everyone's brooms. I need to test it out on several different models so I can figure out the general effects of my spell."

Alicia looked torn between excitement and reluctance. "Why don't you use Anna's broom?" She suggested. "If anything happens to my broom, my parents will kill me."

I waved away her concerns, "If anything happens, I'll buy you a new one."

Sensing that she needed a final push, I slyly enticed, "Anyone who helps me test out the spell will be first in line for a heavily discounted Firebolt."

Before anyone could ask, I explained. "That's what we're calling it. Oh, and just so you know, the prototype's speed is already at 240 KPH (150 MPH)."

There was a slight pause as everyone tried to comprehend the changes the Firebolt would bring to the broom racing world.

"Wait," Alicia said. "Did you say 240 KPH? But the top speed of the Nimbus is only at 160 KPH."

"And that's not even including the speed that will be gained with my spell," I added.

A sneer crept out as I imagined the look of despair on Delvin Whithorn's face when he realized that our family's broom had reached speeds the Nimbus would never be able to reach—forever regulating him to second-best at the bare minimum. Knowing how vain Delvin was, that would be sure to drive him batty.

I was brought back to the present by Alicia shoving her broom at me. She nearly brained me in the head, trying to get me to take the broom.

"Take it," she demanded with a mad grin. "Just remember, I get a Firebolt of my own when you are finished."

Seeing Alicia rub her hands together made me think of a greedy goblin drooling over gold.

Seeing that Alicia would be out of it for a few minutes as she fantasized about getting a firebolt, I turned my attention to Cedric and Anna.

"You can use my broom," Anna immediately offered. "I don't play quidditch, so it's not a big deal if something goes wrong.

"Why does everyone keep acting as something will go wrong?" I complained.

Cedric coughed under his breath twice, "Grendel." "Portkey."

I shot Cedric a betrayed look, "Those weren't my fault." I protested.

He shot me a deadpan look.

"Hmph. Fine, maybe those incidents were just a tiny bit my fault. But this is different."

Cedric didn't look convinced but handed over his broom anyway.

Alicia and Cedric both had Cleansweep brooms, but Cedric had Cleansweep 7, and Alicia had the 6. I was more familiar with Anna's broom as we both had Comet 260s. Just to be thorough in my testing, I had even dug out the old Bluebottle broom that I got for my fifth birthday.

Not wasting any time, I pulled out my wand and pointed it towards Alicia's broom. I twisted the tip of my wand in a circle, and as I completed the loop, I flicked it up and down at an angle like I was about to write an A

"Nullaresistentia."

Her broom vibrated for half a second while the charm settled. Pleased, I moved on and cast the spell over the remaining brooms.

Still amped up by the promise of a Firebolt, Alicia grabbed her broom and took off flying over the Great Lake. As I watched her zoom away, I held my breath. This was it. I was finally going to see my spell in action.

I kept my eyes on Alicia as she accelerated over the lake. Everything seemed to be going perfectly until she made a sharp turn. Then she seemed to slide right off the broom as it turned.

As she plunged thirty feet down to the lake, we could all hear her shouting expletives, most of which were directed at me.

Cedric and Anna turned towards me, with their eyes full of unspoken accusations and judgment.

For a moment, words failed me. Whatever I had been expecting, that certainly wasn't what I had in mind.

Recovering quickly, I defended my spell. "Well, that was clearly her fault."

Both Cedric and Anna seemed somewhat skeptical towards my analysis of why Alicia fell out of the sky. They seemed content to wait in silence as Alicia paddled over to her broom and climbed on top of it.

She launched herself out of the water and began slowly making her way back to us. As she approached, her blazing eyes warded off any comment on her waterlogged appearance that made her look like a drowned rat.

"What did you do to my broom?" She raged.

"Made it go faster." I offered.

Alicia narrowed her eyes, "You did way more than that. Everything was weird, and I've never fallen off my broom before."

I motioned towards the first broom I got as a child. "Perhaps the Bluebottle is more your speed." I teased with a smile. "It has a built-in anti-falling charm."

For a second, I thought she was going to curse me. But then she held out her broom with a snarky grin, "If you're so confident, then give it a go."

I immediately backpedaled, "I don't think that's necessary. Perhaps Cedric or Anna want to give it a go."

I hopefully glanced over to see if I had any volunteers. But to my chagrin, I realized that Cedric and Anna had silently moved away from me when I wasn't paying attention, and neither one of them would meet my gaze.

Traitors.

"Fine," I said with more confidence than I felt. "Let me show you how it's done."

I'll be honest. I was very tempted to grab the Bluebottle. It was probably the safest broom on the market. But I knew I would never hear the end of it if I got on what was widely called the kiddie broom. Besides, I cared more about my pride than about a quick dunk in the lake.

I grabbed my Comet 260 and slowly rose into the air.

"This isn't so bad," I called down.

Alicia shooed with her hands, "Well, go on then. Show us mere mortals how it's done."

From the schadenfreude look on her face, I knew Alicia was hoping I would take a dump in the lake as she did. A quick glance at my other friends told me Anna and Cedric also seemed a tad too eager for me to get on with it.

Hmph, I'll show them.

I gritted my teeth and grabbed hold of the broom so tightly that my knuckles turned white. I was determined that nothing short of death would remove me from this broom. There was no way I was going to give them the satisfaction of seeing me get wet.

I started relatively slow as I flew over the lake. Seeing how everything seemed familiar, I leaned forward to pick up speed.

It was then that I realized what had thrown Alicia off her game. It was my spell. It had done its job and removed all resistance through the air. But, it also had the side effect of making me feel like I was hovering in place as I flew around. I couldn't feel the touch of wind on my face or it running through my hair as I flew forward.

Below, I could see the lake moving. But, it almost felt like I wasn't moving at all. If I shut my eyes, I would assume I wasn't moving. The whole effect threw me for a loop, it was a strange sensation to have your eyes tell you that you are moving, but the rest of your senses insist that you aren't.

As I started to slow down and speed back up, trying to get a feel for the broom, I realized it wasn't as bad as I thought. Not all sensation of movement was gone. I could still sort of feel the acceleration and deceleration, but it was muted. If I wasn't concentrating on it, I could almost ignore the feeling entirely.

The reason for Alicia's fall also became apparent. Compensating for the air's effect on you as you made a turn at top speed becomes second nature as you learn to fly. I'll bet she leaned in anticipation like she always does, but since there wasn't any air to compensate for she slipped right off.

Everyone would almost have to retrain themselves slightly. It shouldn't be too difficult to pick up now that I understood what happened.

Since I wanted to get back so everyone else could start getting used to their brooms, I made a turn. Now that I didn't have to compensate for the air, I barely had to lean right before my broom started to turn.

As I got near the shore, Alicia's dark eyes narrowed. It seems she wasn't too pleased that I didn't follow her example of falling into the lake.

Before I had even landed, she snapped, "You cheated."

I decided to needle her a bit. "I don't know what you're talking about."

I held out my broom to Anna and Cedric to inspect, "As you can see, my broom held up perfectly fine. I have no idea why Alicia fell off her broom. Maybe she's losing her touch."

Alicia's eyes bulged in outrage. She pointed her finger at me. "You."

Before she could continue, my shoulders started shaking as I couldn't stop myself from laughing at her expression.

"Alright, alright. I'll tell you why you fell off."

After telling everyone my thoughts on the effects of my spell, Alicia seemed mollified. But it didn't stop her from punching me in the shoulder.

"I told you it was your spell." She grumbled.

Rubbing the pain away, I turned to my less grumpy audience. "Well, now that we got that out of the way, I think we should all spend some more time familiarizing ourselves with the effects of my spell. No sense in pushing them too fast until we get a better grip on how they operate."

Now that there had been two or should I say one successful test flight, Cedric and Anna seemed more willing to try out their brooms.

Thankfully, it didn't take too long for everyone to become accustomed to the new way of flying. The main thing was there were less exaggerated movements.

Once everyone had mostly achieved their previous skill level when flying, I motioned for everyone to follow me back to the bank where I had left my bag.

"Is that all," Anne questioned.

I shook my head. "No, I still need to find out how much faster everyone's broom has become, and I don't have any of my dad's equipment, so we're going to have to do this the old-fashioned way. We will need to find someplace that is measured so I can start calculating everyone's new top speed."

"How about the quidditch pitch," Cedric offered.

"Too many eyes," I rejected. "If we start flying around with our brooms moving faster than they should be, it will draw attention. It only takes one curious student writing a parent for questions to be raised. Part of my family's plan to take down the Delvin Whithorn and the Nimbus Company relies on absolute secrecy."

My friends fell silent at my reminder that there was a lot at stake for my family.

"Don't worry," Cedric grimly said. "We won't tell a soul."

Anna and Alici both fervently nodded in agreement.

Seeing everyone agreed, I turned my attention to my bag and unfolded a yardstick that I had brought with me since I anticipated this issue.

"This will take some doing, but we can make this work."

It took some doing, but we eventually marked out two spots with 500 yards between them.

"Who wants to go first?" I asked. "Alicia, how about you?"

She shot me a suspicious look, no doubt remembering the events of going first last time.

"It's your spell. Why don't you do it?" She challenged.

"Because every great wizard needs a good minion or two to help him with his spell work. This test has minion written all over it," I shot back.

Before she could react, Cedric stepped in, "I'll go first."

"Remember, get a good head start before you pass the first marker. I need you to be at full speed when you cross."

Turning, I paled when I saw Alicia glaring at me. She hadn't forgiven me for the minion comment. Sheesh, you would think that being in the same house as Fred and George would teach her to take a joke. But, it probably didn't help that her robes were still wet from her trip to the lake.

Pretending that I couldn't see her glare, I remarked to Anna. "I'll just head on down to the far marker. Send me a signal when he crosses down here."

I hopped on my broom and jetted away, not waiting for Alicia to react to my little joke.

Once we all got into position, Cedric took off and started building speed. When he crossed the first marker, Anna shot off some green sparks into the air.

I immediately started the watch on my wrist. My eyes widened as I realized how quickly Cedric was approaching. Once he passed my marker, I jotted down the time.

All smiles, Cedric called down. "How was it?"

Grinning back, I showed him a thumbs up and shouted back, "Do it two more times."

Cedric nodded and took off. The second he finished his two runs, Alicia got in on the action, followed quickly by Anna.

Since Anna and I had the same broom, I figured there was no need to test my comet 260 at this time. It waved my friend to join me on the far side of our test lane.

"How was it? Anna asked with a pleased look on her face.

Out of all my friends, I think she was the only one who had instantly grasped how much my spell was worth. Even with her trying to ignore her mum's business, over the years something must have rubbed in.

I held up a finger, "Hold on. I'm almost finished."

"We had to have been going as fast as the Nimbus," Alicia prattled to Cedric.

While they were excitedly guessing their top speeds, I was finishing the calculations. Once I worked everything out, I was a little stunned at the numbers.

I wanted to do my part in taking down Delvin, but this was more than I hoped for.

Once I finished, I looked up at my friends and said the first absent thing that came to mind. "You did."

Everyone stopped speaking, "Did what?" Alicia asked.

I gave them a lopsided grin. "Go as fast as a nimbus."

It took them a few seconds to process what I said, then they all started speaking at once.

"Alright, alright," I said while motioning them to be quiet. "As near as I can figure, after averaging your three attempts, each of you exceeded your top speed by at least twenty-five percent."

"Cedric had the fastest time, but since his broom has the best top speed at 136 KPH (85 MPH), that isn't a big surprise. He clocked in at 171 KPH (106 MPH), beating Nimbus 2000's top speed of 161 KPH (100 MPH)."

Looking up from my calculations, I rolled my eyes when I saw Alicia's sulking expression. "You and Anna were almost just as fast," I assured her.

"Both of your brooms started evenly matched at 128 KPH (80 MPH) but are now dead even with the Nimbus 2000."

"Merlin's sweaty socks," Anna cursed. "How fast did you say your dad's firebolt was?"

"240 KPH (150 MPH)," I answered.

We all fell silent, imagining my spell being added to the Firebolt. If the numbers held true, that would bring its top speed somewhere in the range of 300 KPH (187 MPH).

A smirk emerged on my face. The Nimbus Broom Racing Company was so going down.

On our way back to the castle, Anna raised a topic I hadn't thought about. "What are you going to name it?"

I blinked a couple of times, "I don't know, I haven't thought about it. I was more concerned with creating the spell than naming it."

"Well, it needs a proper name," she admonished.

"You could call it the Make Fly-Fly Go Zoooomies Charm," Alicia suggested.

As one, we all turned to her.

"What?" She defended. "I like it."

Anna, Cedric, and I turned to one another and had one of our wordless conversations.

Formerly, I spoke up, "I propose from henceforth Alicia should be banned from any and all spell naming. Do I have a second?"

"Heh." Alicia defended.

With zero pity in her purple eyes, Anna said, "Seconded."

Cedric, ever the gentleman, added guiltily, "Third, the motion is passed."

"Hmmph," Alicia huffed, then grumbled," I'd like to see you do any better."

Ignoring Alicia's pouting, Anna suggested, "How about Fawley's Frictionless Flight?"

My eyes sparkled," Ooh, I like it."

Something about having my name in the spell pleased my inner wizard to no end.

" I don't know?" Cedric interjected." Frictionless isn't an exact fit for what the spell does. Plus, having your name worked into the spell's name is tacky."

" Fine," Anna huffed." Why don't you give it a try?"

After giving it a few moments of thought, Cedric suggested," How about the Slipstream Charm?"

"That's pretty good," Anna admitted.

They both looked at me to see if I thought the same. I sighed. It looks like having a spell named after me will have to wait.

"It is pretty cool," I agreed. "Slipstream Charm it is."

Jumping back into the conversation, Alicia interjected, "How long will the spell last on our brooms?"

I shrugged, "Probably a couple of weeks. You can't throw a spell onto an existing framework of spells and expect it to last. A spell-like this needs to be enchanted in a specific way to make sure they last. I'm sure my dad knows what to do."

"Sure, sure," Alicia causally agreed. "I assume you would be against enchanting the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team's brooms."

I didn't even have to reply as Anna and Cedric immediately shot down that idea.

"Fine," she sulked. "But, I get the first crack at a Firebolt."

"I think you mean we get the first crack at a Firebolt." Cedric corrected.

I put an arm around each of them, then mussed Alicia's hair. "Don't worry. I take good care of my minions. There will be firebolts for everyone."

Alicia's only response was an elbow to my ribs. I shook it off, I think I might have had that one coming.

As we walked back to the castle, I mused that Harry Potter wouldn't be the only one with a firebolt in the future. He had better watch out on the quidditch field.