Flying Lessons [First Years Only]

[Yellow Bosque-Verde]

Yellow couldn't help but smile, she was definitely glad that she had a few friends who were just as nervous as she was. "That sounds dangerous." She followed the teacher's instructions, smiling nervously at her new friends. "I hope I can do this..."

[Doyle Blackwell]

Doyle waited for each first year to get into position, a little disappointed that they were still talking amongst themselves even though class had started. "Enough talking now," he said, "you can finish your conversations after class. Now is not the time to be distracted by chatter." He crossed his arms and stared at each in turn, waiting for them to quiet down.

"Good, now, this next part may seem a little ridiculous at first, but bear with it. Brooms, like wands, have a certain loyalty to their rider. However, unlike wands, this bond is not established immediately. The first step towards this is the initial command. Once you have connected with your broom, nonverbal commands work well," he demonstrated this by sticking his hand out over his firebolt, which immediately flew into his hand.

"But until then, you must use a verbal command. Being able to establish respect with the broom means that it will be more likely to obey you once in the air." Doyle placed his broom once more on the ground. "Now, what you need to do is place your hand in the air over your broom, and say, 'Up!'" His firebolt once more jumped into his hand. "With luck, your broom will respond and leap into your hand. If not, do not be discouraged, and keep trying. Even some of the more skilled flyers took several tries on their first lesson."

[Jim Hawkins]

Alright, let’s try this. last time I just grabbed one and mounted it… He placed his right hand over his broom and very firmly said: “Up!” The broom rocketed towards his hands and he stumbled back a little bit. “Cool!"

[Mac McCracken]

Ok, Mac, you can do this. Taking a deep breath, Mac looked down at his broom, stuck his hand out over it, and said, "Up!" Nothing happened. Trying again, Mac repeated, "Up!" A little wiggle, but that was it. Closing his eyes, Mac sighed, trying to think of a way to do this. In his mind, he was picturing all the times Bloo had gotten them into trouble and he had had to make him settle down. Gathering up that same feeling, he opened his eyes and firmly commanded, "Up!" The broom jumped up into his hand. It wasn't exactly a leap, it had been sort of gentle, so Mac didn't stumble or anything as he caught it. He smiled and lowered the eyebrow he didn't even know he had raised. He must have looked fairly ridiculous, but he brushed it aside; it had worked after all.

[Yellow Bosque-Verde]

Yellow stared dubiously down at the regular old broomstick, she really hoped this would work. "U-Up." Her command was rather weak, but the broom responded gently in return, drifting up at a promt, but gentle pace. She looked over and saw Jim get it almost instantly then saw Mac struggling with his broom.

[Doyle Blackwell]

Slightly leaning against his broom, Doyle watched the kids, trying to determine what kind of flyers they would be. Jim's broom had immediately and forcefully leapt into his hand (not unlike his own first year); he would be a more competitive flyer, probably try out for the Quidditch Team at some point, have excellent control of his broom, but he would also have a hard time getting it to stop as both would only really want to keep flying. Yellow had also gotten hers on the first try, but the broom had only floated up into her grip, most likely as a response to her more timid command; she might have a bit of a shaky start, but eventually she would be a smoother rider than the others, although for more practical reasons- it might be hard for her to get her broom to be useful on a Quidditch Field. Mac struggled with his broom the first few trys, but he had eventually gotten it, and his broom jumped into his hand without unbalancing him; it might take him a bit more practice and concentration than the other two, but he would also make a good flyer and with the response the broom gave, it was possible he would make a good Quidditch player- he'd just have to work harder at control.

"Good job, kids, good job," Doyle said, bringing their attention back to him as he stood up straight once more. "Once you are able to buy your own brooms as a second year, this first step will have to be repeated again, but it should only take doing it once to establish the bond. Now then, next step is to get you up in the air. So, get on your brooms, gripping the handle tightly with the bristled end behind you, and gently kick off from the ground." He mounted his own broom, and lifted up off the ground. "Once you are a few feet off the ground, stay there! This is important. It might look easy just watching me, but hovering takes a lot of balance, as does flying. Stay at this level and gain your balance before we move on. I'll fly around and give you tips if you need them."

[Yellow Bosque-Verde]

Yellow carefully mounted her broom, terrified of what she was going to have to do. And then kicked off, the broom shot into the air and kept rising, making her more nervous than anything else, and being a human, she had to look down and promptly fell off the broom, getting several cuts and a large scrape on her arm, but not breaking anything. "S-S-Sorry."

[Jim Hawkins]

Jim mounted his broom and lifted off, just like the instructor had told him to do so. Jim wasn’t having any trouble balancing since he already knew how to surf and skateboard, it was easy for him. The problem he was having was staying in one place. His broom swayed left to right, horizontally, vertically, diagonally, you name it; anything that involved him sitting in an upright position. Stay. Still. Broom! He silently commanded the broom, having little luck. Staying in one spot was difficult; he wanted to zoom off and fly around!

[Doyle Blackwell]

As Yellow shot up into the air, Doyle foresaw her eventual fall back to the ground. Poor kid seemed terrified of leaving the safety of solid earth, and had looked down as a reflex, making her lose her balance. He glided over to her and drifted down to the ground to kneel beside her. "Hey, no big deal, don't worry about it! It was your first experience with flying, so it's perfectly natural to fall off your broom. The important thing is to not give up and get back up there. Now, let's take a look at that arm." He gently lifted it up and examined it, taking his wand out of his right boot. "Nothing too bad; no broken bones. Episkey," he muttered, healing up all the wounds. "There you go; now, try again."

Next, he looked over to Jim, who had no trouble getting into the air or balancing. However, he was having difficulty staying still. His broom kept darting all over the place. Doyle hopped back onto his broom and flew up level with him. "Alright, now, see, you're letting your mind wander too much. I know it's tempting to just fly off- and you probably could, you look like a natural flyer- but learning to stay still and hover is just as important as learning to move where you want. Concentrate, make sure your mind and body are in sync or you'll leave your broom just as confused."

[Mac McCracken]

Mac mounted his broom and stared at the death grip he was using to hold on. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and kicked off from the ground. A whoosh of air passed his ears and ruffled his hair before he came to a stop. Before he could open his eyes, he wobbled a bit. By the time his eyes opened, he was looking at the world upside-down.

[Jim Hawkins]

“Okay, coach.” He didn’t know why he called the teacher ‘Coach’, it just seemed natural to call him that. Jim closed his eyes… he was clearing his mind… concentrating on only staying still… thinking peaceful thoughts… and eventually, his broom became just as calm as he was, and it came to a standstill in the air.

[Doyle Blackwell]

Couch, that was new, but it made Doyle feel good; he must be doing a good job at this teaching thing. When Jim steadied out, he said, "Good job, keep it up," and turned to the last student. Mac had somehow ended up upside-down in the air. Probably because he had tried flying with his eyes closed. He flew over to him. "Try it again, with your eyes open this time," he laughed, righting Mac. "But good job on staying still, even while upside-down. That takes a lot of concentration and control."

[Yellow Bosque-Verde]

Yellow slowly remounted the broom, even more scared than before. She tried to kick off, and didn't move, her legs hadn't even twitched. She was stuck on the ground, looking up at the other students and their teacher, terrified.

[Jim Hawkins]

Once Jim had finally gotten the hang of staying still, he looked down at yellow. “Come on up! it’s fun!” He extended a hand down to her, assuring her that he would be there for her if she needed him.

[Mac McCracken]

Mac stuttered his nervous thanks as the professor helped him flip back up. This time, he kept his eyes open, focusing on a point straight ahead as he willed himself to stay still and upright. After a moment or two passed, he realized he was being successful, and his death-grip on the broom handle loosened. A grin split his face. "Hey, this isn't so bad," he said, mostly to himself. Looking down, he noticed that Yellow had not left the ground since her fall. After hearing Jim's words of encouragement, he shot her his own smile and called down, "You can do it, Yellow! Come on!"