At lunch, Hermione refused to eat any meat.
She only ate two pumpkin pies and drank three full glasses of lemonade before finally recovering from Quirrell’s biological attack.
But happy days would eventually arrive!
Because Prefect Percy walked over and told the first year students,
“Madam Hooch said that this afternoon is your Flying lesson. Before class, everyone should go to the broom storage room to get a broom, then head to the Quidditch pitch and wait.”
Harry and the others immediately became excited, and Fel and Hermione exchanged a glance, equally thrilled.
Flying lessons were the class every young wizard looked forward to the most, without exception!
No one could resist flying!
The weather was wonderful today, with gentle sunshine warming everyone pleasantly, neither too hot nor too cold.
Hogwarts was certainly well funded.
The flying brooms were about seventy percent new, with no missing bristles or damage, although the models were somewhat outdated.
The Cleansweep Five was a classic model in the Cleansweep series that had been around for twenty years.
Malfoy had once mocked the Weasley brothers’ Cleansweep Fives, saying they belonged in a museum.
But in truth, the Cleansweep Five offered excellent value for money.
Its safety, speed, and comfort were all exceptionally well balanced.
If ten points was a perfect score, then the Cleansweep Five would score seven in every category, making it a well rounded broom with no obvious weaknesses.
A flying broom without any shortcomings was the best choice for beginners to train with or for everyday travel.
Combined with its affordable price, its outstanding value made it one of the highest ranked brooms on recommendation lists.
The Cleansweep Five was the first choice for many families.
For example, every broom owned by the Weasley family was a Cleansweep Five.
Unfortunately, it was another one of those all too familiar combined classes, this time with Slytherin.
By the time Fel and Hermione arrived, the two groups were already standing clearly separated.
They formed two lines facing one another, with their flying brooms placed on the grass in front of them.
However, everyone’s mouths were far from quiet.
Malfoy was boasting to the others, claiming that he had once narrowly avoided crashing into a Muggle helicopter.
Ron was no less dramatic, and judging from the way he spoke, anyone would think he had been born on a flying broom.
At that moment, a woman walked over from the distance, and after the prefect greeted her with, “Good afternoon, Madam Hooch,” he left.
As Madam Hooch approached, the young wizards greeted her as well, and Fel finally had the chance to observe her.
Madam Hooch had short gray hair cut close to her head, an efficient and capable presence, and she walked with long, quick strides.
The most eye catching feature was her eyes, whose whites were yellowish green.
Fel suspected she might possess some unusual bloodline.
Madam Hooch walked between the two lines to the far end, then while putting on gloves designed to increase grip, she turned around and said, This chapter is updated first at g.com.
“Welcome to your very first Flying lesson!”
“What are you waiting for? Stand immediately to the left of your broom!”
After the students obediently did so, Madam Hooch said, “Raise your right hand above the broom, then say, ‘Up!'”
Harry was standing to Hermione’s right.
He obediently raised his right hand and called, “Up.”
The broom instantly flew into Harry’s hand as though it had been pulled by an invisible string.
Hermione turned to look at him.
She called out once herself, but her broom did not move at all.
Fel, standing on her left, also called out, and his broom rose halfway before dropping back to the ground.
So Fel called again, and this time the broom flew smoothly into his hand.
Fel was curious about the purpose of this step, then after thinking for a moment, he guessed it was something like a startup process.
Normally, a flying broom remained in a powered off state, and this was equivalent to turning it on.
This step also revealed everyone’s natural flying talent.
Harry had the greatest flying talent, something Fel had known for a long time because it was an inborn family trait.
Fel’s own talent was also above average, about the same as Malfoy’s across from him, who also got his broom on the second try.
Ron was slightly worse, only succeeding after shouting three or four times.
As for Hermione, well…
Fel joked with Hermione in the future that perhaps her Animagus form would be a chicken.
For the first time in her life, Hermione, who had excelled at everything since childhood, experienced a crushing defeat.
She really had no talent for flying.
She kept changing her tone each time she shouted “Up,” trying to find the perfect pronunciation like she was casting a spell to make the broom rise.
But at most, the broom only bounced and flipped about half a foot above the ground, as though a giant rock were pressing down on it.
Of course, Hermione eventually did manage to summon the broom, although she was among the very last students from both houses to do so.
Hermione looked rather discouraged, and Fel patted her shoulder.
“Don’t be discouraged. Flying is a matter of talent, but we can always improve through practice, can’t we?”
“Besides, it’s not as though you need to play Quidditch.”
Hermione nodded after hearing that, because while her learning talent was certainly exceptional, her greatest talent was actually hard work.
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Fel believed that hardworking geniuses were also true geniuses.
Being able to work hard consistently was itself a talent that only a small number of people truly possessed, while most people only believed they worked hard and ultimately managed to move no one except themselves.
Madam Hooch walked around inspecting everyone.
“Now mount your brooms, hold on tightly, and don’t slide off. When I blow my whistle, push hard against the ground and take off!”
As she spoke, she continued explaining the precautions and the movements after takeoff.
“After you’re in the air, don’t climb higher. First stabilize your broom, circle around slowly for a while, then lean your body forward slightly, and you’ll return to the ground…”
Finally, Madam Hooch raised her whistle.
“Listen for my whistle. Three, two…”
Before Madam Hooch could finish counting, Neville, perhaps because he was too nervous, pushed hard with his feet.
His flying broom immediately rose slowly into the air, terrifying Neville.
The young wizards instantly burst into commotion, while Ron, whose reactions were always a bit slow, thought Neville was trying to get a head start.
“Neville, come back down! It’s not our turn yet!”
“Mr. Longbottom, come down, come down at once!”
Madam Hooch had probably never encountered a situation like this before, so she reacted rather slowly and merely shouted for Neville to come down.
Neville, however, had completely forgotten all of Madam Hooch’s instructions.
Instead of leveling the broom, he pulled the front upward.
As a result, the broom climbed higher and higher before suddenly shooting away with a whoosh.
Madam Hooch became somewhat angry.
“Come down right now! Do you hear me!”
Fel could hardly bear to watch.
He even suspected Madam Hooch might be related to Ron because her reactions were just as slow.
He immediately shouted loudly, “Madam Hooch, Neville can’t come down! He’s lost control!”
Only then did Madam Hooch realize what was happening, but by then Neville was already darting wildly through the sky, even charging straight toward the crowd.
Madam Hooch drew her wand, but for a moment she could not even think of which spell to cast, and when she saw Neville rushing straight toward her, she could only dive aside to avoid him.
Fel had no time to worry about the quality of Hogwarts’ education.
The other young wizards all hurriedly scattered, while Fel kept his eyes fixed on Neville’s flight path.
When Neville flew past him, Fel threw himself forward with all his strength, trying to tackle Neville off the broom.
“Whoosh!”
The flying broom shot straight into the sky with Neville still on it.
He missed!