After the shocking headline "Break-in at Gringotts Bank!" had stirred up the school that morning, our first flying lesson began.
This class was also held jointly with Gryffindor. Come to think of it, why does Hogwarts insist on pairing these two houses, which get along so terribly, for joint lessons?
Is it the idea that putting enemies together will create opportunities for mutual understanding, or are they trying to harness rivalry and make students improve through competition? Well, the former clearly seems to have failed, so it is probably the latter.
"I seriously don't get it. Why can't first-years become house representatives on the Quidditch team?"
As the flying lesson approached, Draco Malfoy began boasting about his broom. Since he told the same story over and over, Theodore Nott, who was stuck listening to him, stared back with the eyes of a dead fish, murmuring half-hearted responses like "Yeah, yeah," "Oh," and "I see," as if muttering in his sleep.
For some reason, Draco's bragging stories always ended at the part where he narrowly avoided a Muggle helicopter. Well, his parents probably became overprotective after that and stopped letting him touch a broom.
"By the way, Elaina, you used to fly on a broom a lot too, right?"
Daphne's green eyes peer over at me. Since her home is close to London as well, Muggle helicopters and airplanes apparently flew around constantly, so she was rarely allowed to ride a broom either.
"Yes. I begged my mother many times before she taught me."
After all, my dream for the future is to be a traveler. Becoming a witch, straddling a broom, and journeying through many different countries is my goal. Learning how to handle a broom can only be a good thing.
While listening to Malfoy getting excited about Quidditch with Nott, Zabini, and the other Slytherin boys, we headed toward the grassy field near the Forbidden Forest. When we arrived at the flying field, brooms for everyone were already laid out in neat rows.
＊＊
"What are you dawdling for? Everyone, stand next to your brooms! Hurry up!"
The moment we arrived, Madam Hooch began scolding us sharply. With her short-cropped silver hair and hawk-like yellow eyes, she looked exactly like a strict, no-nonsense athletic instructor.
"Stick out your right hand over your broom! Then say, 'Up!'"
"Up!"
I had heard from older students that Hogwarts practice brooms could be hit or miss, but mine rose neatly into my hand without any trouble.
Looking around, Draco and Ron had also succeeded. Still, it seemed that not all pure-bloods managed it, as Pansy's and Nott's brooms merely rolled along the ground, giving them trouble. Neville's did not budge at all. Even Hermione, top of the year, struggled this time, managing only to make her broom roll along the ground due to the disadvantage of being Muggle-born. Harry, surprisingly, held his broom so naturally that it was hard to believe this was his first time touching one.
"Celesteria, what is that posture?"
Just as I was about to sit on my broom as usual, Madam Hooch, who had been correcting Draco's grip, fixed her gaze on me.
"I am simply sitting on the broom."
"Brooms are not something you sit on. You straddle them."
"And who decided that?"
"The Ministry of Magic's student instruction guidelines."
"…Right."
For someone with such an athletic appearance, Madam Hooch's teaching style was thoroughly bureaucratic.
Well, she is a teacher, so she is basically a civil servant anyway.
There is no point arguing with the Ministry of Magic, so I suppose I should comply quietly.
"Then… there. Is this acceptable?"
"If you can ride it according to the guidelines, you should have done so from the start."
With a displeased expression that clearly said "don't make extra work for me," Madam Hooch walked away.
After confirming that everyone had a broom in hand, the real flying lesson finally began.
"Now, when I blow my whistle, kick off hard from the ground! Hold your broom tightly, rise a few meters, then lean forward and come back down! Only when I blow the whistle, understand? All right, one, two—"
Just before Madam Hooch put the whistle to her lips, another incident occurred.
"Waaaaaah!"
Neville, overcome by nerves, jumped the gun and kicked off the ground before the whistle, shooting straight up into the air.
"Hey! Come back down at once, Longbottom!"
Despite Madam Hooch's warning, Neville seemed unable to control his broom and rose higher and higher while wobbling unsteadily. In the end, he was thrown off by the bucking broom and fell from dozens of meters in the air. As the watching students screamed, I believe Theodore Nott of Slytherin said something like this:
"Oh no, he's done for!"
Despite Nott's heartless remark, Neville was lucky enough to fall onto the tops of thick bushes, somehow escaping with his life. Madam Hooch rushed over immediately. After checking his injuries, she confirmed that aside from a severe fracture, his life was not in danger. Considering the situation he was in, it was fair to call it extremely fortunate.
"Everyone, stay right here! If anyone so much as touches a broom, you will be expelled from this school before you can even say the word 'Quidditch'!"
With that stern warning, Madam Hooch led the sobbing Neville toward the hospital wing.
＊＊
"Did you see his face? What a total idiot."
Once Madam Hooch was out of sight, Malfoy began mocking Neville loudly enough for everyone to hear. In his hand was something that looked like a shining glass marble.
"Look! It's the stupid ball Longbottom's gran sent him!"
It was called a Remembrall, I believe. It glows red to tell you that you have forgotten something, but it does not tell you what you forgot, making it a rather flawed item. Apparently, Neville dropped it when he fell from his broom.
"Draco, you remember that awfully well."
"Don't you just love Gryffindor?"
As Daphne and I nodded along, chatting casually about things like, "Honestly, it's impressive you even found it," and "It's pretty sturdy if it didn't break after falling from that height," we realized that at some point, Harry and Draco had mounted their brooms and were already flying in the air.
Honestly, boys…
"Oh honestly, Harry! At this rate we're going to lose points!"
Ignoring Hermione's shriek, the remaining Slytherin and Gryffindor students were cheering on Draco and Harry respectively. It seemed they were competing over Neville's Remembrall.
"Hey, could you tell Malfoy to stop too, Elaina? If this keeps up, both Slytherin and Gryffindor will lose points, and in the worst case, both of them could be expelled!"
"Uh, ah, yes. You're right…"
Well, if Harry and Draco get expelled, that's their own responsibility, but being dragged down with them under collective punishment would be unbearable.
"Hey, hey! Professor McGonagall is over there!"
When I told that very believable lie, everyone fell silent all at once, as if the tide had suddenly gone out.
"Just kidding."
"Like hell it's a joke!!!"
Both Gryffindor and Slytherin shouted back in unison. Why can't they show this kind of solidarity on a daily basis?
"Still, Madam Hooch told us not to touch the brooms, so at the very least we should make a show of trying to stop them. You know, if we're unlucky and someone like Professor McGonagall happens to see this, we might get punished as well under collective responsibility."
After calming down a bit, I tried to reason with them, but about half the students, including red-haired Ron Weasley, still looked unconvinced.
"Elaina, you're overthinking it. There's no way McGonagall would show up at just the right moment…"
"HARRY POTTER!"
See? I told you so.
As if she had been waiting for Ron's perfect setup, an absolutely furious Professor McGonagall came charging over at full speed.
Looking ahead, Harry had just made a clean catch of the Remembrall Draco Malfoy dropped. Like the rest of the students, he had never seen such an expression on Professor McGonagall's face before, and the pride drained from his face in an instant.
"This is unbelievable… never once has something like this happened at Hogwarts…"
Professor McGonagall's glasses flashed sharply, and her body trembled with anger. Seeing this, Hermione hurried over in a panic.
"Um, Professor McGonagall, Harry was—"
"Harry aside, you did warn the other students to stop, didn't you? Isn't that right, everyone?"
Cutting Hermione off, I stepped forward and tried to explain myself in front of Professor McGonagall to prevent any misunderstanding. When I glanced back, students from both houses read the room and nodded vigorously.
"As you can see, we all tried to stop them, but unfortunately, we were unable to do so, which is deeply regrettable…"
"Miss Celesteria, we will decide the circumstances ourselves."
There was an overwhelming force in Professor McGonagall's words that allowed no argument whatsoever. This might actually be very bad.
"Potter, come with me."
With Harry looking completely dejected, Professor McGonagall led him away.
"So that's it for Potter. He's getting expelled."
Draco laughed confidently, but honestly, wasn't he in just as much trouble? To be safe, I leaned over and whispered to him.
"Just to confirm, Draco, Professor McGonagall didn't see you, right?"
"O-of course not!"
"Really, truly?"
"...…Yeah."
"Doubt it."
The timing was cutting it pretty close. If she saw everything from the window, there was a good chance she also saw Draco riding his broom. More importantly, if Gryffindor students testified, he would be done for.
"How sad. Just when I thought we might finally get along, this happens."
"Wait! It's not decided that we're getting expelled yet—"
"I'm pretty sure there are records in the library of cases where expelled students sued, claiming the punishment was unjust. If you research hard enough, you might even be able to settle it with money."
"Listen to what I'm saying!"
And so, I mourned the impending farewell to my friends. However, to jump straight to the conclusion, neither of them received any particular punishment.
On the contrary, Harry's broom skills caught Professor McGonagall's eye, and as a special exception, despite being a first-year, he was inducted into the Gryffindor Quidditch team as a Seeker.
On top of that, he even received a Nimbus 2000, the fastest broom currently available, straight from the famously strict Professor McGonagall as a bonus. How incredibly generous of her.
Naturally, when the Slytherin house learned of this, they were left in a mild state of shock.
"I wish this were fiction…"
Theodore Nott's mutter perfectly summed up how everyone felt.
(End of chapter)
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