Chapter 12: Flying Class

'So I have this class with puffs. Shouldn't they be all humble and kind, listening to them bragging really ruins that image.' One of the puffs was telling whoever was willing to listen how he once met and even flew alongside a professional quidditch player. And it wasn't like ravens were behind, with the kid who woke me up earlier describing how he has been flying since he was 7 and how he was even faster than Hogwarts Express.

'Leaving that aside, these brooms don't really inspire confidence.' I think while looking at the brooms on the ground. 'Well, it is not like I can get hurt so no harm I guess.'

"Alright students, I want you to form two lines with the broom on your right side." Came the voice of Madam Hooch as she walked by us.

'Wow, she really does have weird eyes. They seem beautiful, maybe her animagus is a hawk as well.'

 Without wasting any time all the students stood attentively by the brooms.

"Now want all of you to pay attention. This class may seem fun and games but a single mistake and you would be in the infirmary for a week, so I don't want any of you trying to show off your non-existent flying skills. Is that clear?"

"Yes Madam Hooch." Tell these kids anything right now and they will agree in a heartbeat if it means that they can hop on the broom even a second sooner.

"Now stick your right hand over the broom and say UP."

I stick my right hand out and before I could even say anything, the broom shoots up to my hand. '*sighs* Sometimes my genius scares me.'

After all the other kids got their brooms Madam Hooch told us the correct way to ride one.

"Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard. Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and maintain that position. On my whistle, three – two – one *whistle*."

 At the whistle all of us rise in the air, and I got to say, it scares me. I grip the broom tightly with my hands, afraid of falling off.

"Good, now slowly lean forward and try to move forward. Remember, go slow and don't rush *whistle*."

Leaning forward slightly.... nothing happens. I wait for a few seconds then lean some more...…still nothing. "Are you actually scared? Finally, something you are scared of." Well Padma seems to be enjoying my situation while making circle around me.

"I'm not scared, I am just following the instructions and taking it slow."

"Yes, because you are the sincerest student. I forgot that quality of yours." I am this close to punching this bitch.

"Yeah, but seriously, lean forward. You don't have to be so stiff. You have got better posture now than you had in our etiquettes class. Angle yourself forward a bit." Saying this she gave me a little push.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, I'm gonna fall, I'm gonna fall. No, no stop this thing please." I request the one responsible for this.

"Hahaha, oh this is golden. I wish I had a camera right now. Parvati would've loved this." Well she seems busy laughing her guts out.

"Look just help me first and laugh later please."

"Ok, ok. Now grab my hand and we will go slow." She comes by my side and offers her hand to me.

"Slow ok, please don't go fast." Taking a leap of faith, I grab her hand.

She starts slowly accelerating while dragging me by her side, I try to match her speed while balancing myself. True to her words, she doesn't go fast at all and lets me adjust to her speed.

"Ok, this isn't so bad. It is nice actually, I think I'm getting used to this." I definitely feel more at ease now. I slowly gain more confidence as we make a couple rounds of the field.

"*whistle* alright everyone, that's it. Now come down. Tilt your broom slightly towards the ground and descend slowly." Not so soon. I was just starting to enjoy it.

"Think you can handle the landing on your own." Padma asked me from my side.

"Yup, no problem. I can do it now...…I think." I chuckle at my own words as a means to ward off the tenson.

"Alright, but remember no need to be stressed. Just relax and it will go smoothly. I'll be right behind you." You know, I take back my words. She is a very nice person.

I nod at her words and begin descending down, I feels pretty easy.

"Mr. Goldstein, slow down. Slow down you are going too fast."

I look and see the boy who woke me earlier flying down at a fast speed. "Wasn't he the one who said he was faster than the Hogwarts Express?" I wonder out loud.

As the boy approaches the ground, he suddenly straightens his broom. 'Looks like someone is attempting a stunt. Yo brain, some popcorn please...….no? okay nevermind.'

Annnnnnnd as expected, he crashes into the ground. And boy it was surely more painful than Longbottom's.

"Get aside. That's why I said not to attempt any flashy moves." Madam Hooch lectures as she came by his side. She waves her wand over is body a couple times, casting what I assume are some form of diagnostic speels as the next second she tells us that the boy has 2 fractured ribs along with a broken arm and leg.

"Now while I get Mr. Goldstein to the infirmary I want you guys to stay where you are. Nobody will attempt to land or take off before I come back." Giving her warning, she hurries to take the poor, or should I say idiotic, kid the castle.

After Madam Hooch left, all the kids obediently waited at their places as she instructed. Maybe the sight of Anthony crashing scared them a bit.

'Hmmmm, now that I think about it, WHAT AM I DOING?? I have got what may be the only opportunity to fly and I'm wasting it by being slow as a snail. What am I even afraid of? Some phantom pain. No, fork it. I AM SPEED.'

Thinking this I start ascending a bit as I came really close to the ground before Anthony crashed. Seeing me Padma follows me and grabs my arm.

"What are you doing? We are supposed to stay still."

"No way am I missing this opportunity of flying. I wanna feel that wind blowing on my face as I rush through the skies." Saying that I jerk my arm out of her grasp and lean forward on my broom.

I feel myself gaining speed but it still feels slow so I lean ahead a lot more and the broom picks up speed exponentially.

'Now this is what I'm talking about." I grin finds its way over my face as I keep increasing my speed. I have to squint my eyes because of the wind and I can hear it rushing past my ear.

After a minute now I lean even more and now am literally hugging the broom. I can hear the kids shouting something but I pay it no mind as I came completely immersed in this experience.

After completing 2 round at what I assume is the top speed of this broom, I think of doing something even more absurd. 'But that's the best part of a dream, absurd is just normal here, isn't it?'

While maintaining my speed I start to lift my body up and try to stand on the broom. Like surfboarding in the sky, Skyboarding? Yes, I attempt Skyboarding on the broom. I make my balance and stand on it while bending my knees.

'Yeah, now that's it. Just like you did surfing and snowboarding. Exactly like that.' After I feel myself stabilized, I try to increase the speed even more. I can feel it moving even faster than before as at this point I am sure my eyes are barely even open. I ride the air as if its my domain and feel free.

*whistle* the sound of the whistle takes me out of my zone as I look towards its source and see Madam Hooch.

I can hardly make out what she is saying as I am pretty high up and the sound of the wind is all I can hear but I can already guess that she is probably asking me to come down. I don't really adore the idea of stopping but I don't think my brain will just let me do as wish as following the routine till now, I'm sure it will make Hooch act and bring me down on her own.

But suddenly an idea came in my mind so with an even larger smile on my face I begin going down.

'Let me show these idiots how to attempt that earlier stunt properly.' I try to increase my speed even more as I use the gravity to my advantage. I focus on the ground rapidly approaching me and use all the maths, physics I have learnt till now to figure out the perfect timing to pull the brakes. But since that was not a topic covered in my course, I decide to just wing it.

When I almost smell the grass and my death approaching, I immediately put weight on my back leg and straighten the broom, and even slightly tilt it upwards. Out of the corner of my eye I see Madam Hooch taking out her wand but I ignore it along with my classmates cries of horror as I am pretty sure now nobody can do anything and I am completely in the hands of physics, which isn't really comforting.

I feel myself rapidly deaccelerating as the ground comes nearer and Madam Hooch fires a spell, not sure what exactly, but it misses me by a hair's breadth. Just as it seems that its not going to be enough, I try to accelerate myself in the forward direction so that it doesn't hurt much when I kiss the ground.

I close my eyes and wait for the inevitable...... 'why don't I feel the ground?' I open an eye to see that I am going parallel to the ground just a few millimetres above it as the bristles of my broom are getting dragged through the field due to the slight tilt and are starting to burn off.

'Wait, did I survive?' I feel shocked at this just a- no wait, of course I survived. 'I am just that great after all.'

I can hear the cheers of the kids at my feat. But before I can celebrate my feat, I see the face of one Rolanda Hooch, and it was not happy.

So being the reasonable person I am, I made the smart decision to abandon my broom and run off.

"Mr. Patil stop right there and come back. Mr. Patil, Mr. Patil"

'Nope, dream or not I am not going to face that woman after my small stunt. She will eat me alive, I can see it in her eyes.'