At 3:30 PM, Harry, Ron, Allen, and the other Gryffindor students hurried down the steps to the grounds in front of the castle, ready for their first flying lesson. It was a clear, breezy day, and the grass rippled slightly under their feet as they briskly walked down the sloping lawn towards a flat patch of grass on the opposite side of the field.
The Slytherin students were already there, with twenty-one broomsticks neatly laid out on the ground. Malfoy and his two cronies glared at Allen as he approached. Allen ignored him directly.
Soon, their teacher, Madam Hooch, arrived. She had short, gray hair and surveyed the young wizards sternly with her yellow, hawk-like eyes.
"Well, what are you all waiting for?" she snapped. "Everyone stand beside a broomstick. Quick, quick, no time to waste."
Allen, mimicking the others, stood beside a broomstick and glanced down at his own. It was old and worn, with several twigs sticking out haphazardly.
"Stick out your right hand over your broom," Madam Hooch called from the front, "and say, 'Up!'"
"Up!" everyone shouted.
Allen and Harry's brooms immediately leaped into their hands, but only a few brooms were so obedient. Hermione Granger's broom merely rolled on the ground, while Neville's broom didn't budge at all.
Madam Hooch then lectured the young wizards on how to use their broomsticks, and Malfoy was even reprimanded for being inattentive.
"Alright, on my whistle, you kick off the ground with both feet, hard," Madam Hooch said. "Hold your broom steady, rise a few feet, then lean slightly forward and drop straight back down. On my whistle—three—two—"
However, Neville was too nervous, afraid of being left on the ground, so he kicked off forcefully and flew up before the whistle even touched Madam Hooch's lips.
"Come back, boy!" Madam Hooch shouted, but Neville ascended straight up, completely unable to control his broom. He flew higher and higher, then, pale with acrophobia, he slipped off his broom and fell to the grass, curling into a ball. His broomstick continued to rise higher, then slowly drifted towards the Forbidden Forest and disappeared.
All of this happened so fast that no one had time to react.
Madam Hooch bent over Neville, her face as pale as his, and checked his body, discovering his wrist was broken.
She turned to the rest of the class and said, "I'm taking this boy to the hospital. None of you move! Put your broomsticks back in place!" Then she left with Neville.
As soon as they were out of sight, Malfoy burst into laughter, as if trying to vent his frustration from the day.
"Did you see that big oaf crying like an idiot? How embarrassing!" Malfoy said triumphantly. The other Slytherin wizards echoed him.
"Shut up, Malfoy!" Allen felt a surge of anger. His roommate's injury worried him, and he also felt a bit of self-reproach for not remembering this plot point.
"Oh, protecting Longbottom?" Pansy Parkinson, an ugly Slytherin girl, said. "Mind your own business! Birdman!"
"Look!" Malfoy said, rushing over and grabbing something from the grass. "It's from that big idiot Longbottom's grandmother."
He held up the Remembrall; it glittered in the sunlight.
"Give it here, Malfoy," Harry said in a low voice. Everyone stopped talking and watched.
Malfoy grinned hideously.
"I think I'll put it somewhere for Longbottom to pick up—on a tree—how about that?"
"Give it here!" Harry yelled, but Malfoy had already jumped onto his broom and taken off. His previous words weren't boasting—he really did fly well—he hovered at the same height as the top of an oak tree and shouted, "Come and get it, Potter!"
Before Allen could react, Harry grabbed his broom and flew out. Allen reached out to grab him but missed.
Allen's heart leaped into his throat, but seeing Harry flying effortlessly in the air, his heart gradually settled.
Harry quickly flew higher than Malfoy. He sharply turned his broom, looking down at Malfoy from above, and the girls on the ground shrieked.
"Give it here," Harry shouted, "or I'll knock you off your broom."
But what Harry didn't notice was that Malfoy was secretly gesturing to his cronies, Crabbe and Goyle, on the ground, and they were quietly riding their broomsticks to collide with Harry. Harry's attention was entirely on Malfoy, completely oblivious to what was behind him.
Allen keenly sensed Malfoy's intention. When Crabbe and Goyle were preparing to take off, he understood everything. It was too late to warn them. Although Crabbe and Goyle, from wizarding families, didn't fly as well as Malfoy, they were still very skilled, indicating they had flown a lot before.
Allen made a decision in an instant. He was boiling with rage at Malfoy's despicable actions. He mounted the broomstick in his hand, quickly reviewed the knowledge he had about flying in his mind, and kicked off the ground forcefully, and so he ascended.
He only felt his blood pounding in his eardrums, and his body trembled slightly from excitement, but the feeling of flying was truly wonderful. The wind whistled through his hair, and his robes fluttered behind him.
He tucked in the wings behind him, pressing tightly against the broom, trying to make himself as aerodynamic as possible. After a quick estimation of the lead, he crashed into Goyle...
Perhaps it was because the broomsticks in Hogwarts flying lessons all had their quirks, and Allen's broomstick happened to be faster; perhaps it was because Allen's streamlined shape greatly reduced wind resistance; or perhaps Goyle's weight was too heavy and slowed him down. Allen, despite starting later, arrived first and collided heavily with Goyle.
The young wizards on the ground witnessed a spectacle they would never forget in their lives: a person with huge wings, with their wings tucked in, flying into the sky on a broomstick.
This scene, even in this magical world, still seemed particularly magical and... bizarre! The image was too striking, leaving the witnesses speechless for a moment, only able to think "WTF!" repeatedly in their minds.
Harry, alerted by the gasps from the ground, keenly noticed Crabbe crashing towards him and narrowly avoided his wild charge.
Allen, however, was not doing well. He felt as if he had hit an iron wall, his vision went black, and his bones felt like they were about to shatter. Goyle was also much stronger than him, and Allen's scrawny body took a long time to recover.
Goyle, who was hit, was also panicked. At the moment of impact, he thrashed wildly at Allen like a drowning man, tearing off several broom twigs and Allen's feathers. Allen quickly turned his broom and separated from him, taking a while to steady his broom.
It was then that the young wizards on the ground reacted, letting out terrified screams.
Ron, on the ground, couldn't stand it anymore and shouted, "You're even ambushing us, how despicable!"
Saying that, he flew up despite Hermione's attempts to stop him.
Harry and Ron flew to Allen's side, casting concerned glances at him.
Allen had somewhat recovered by then and nodded to them, indicating that he was fine.
Crabbe and Goyle also flew to Malfoy's side.
A 3v3 situation had formed!
An aerial duel was about to erupt!