Harry was furious. He had never been this angry in his entire life; it was unbearable. Yesterday, he'd lost an argument with Malfoy, but the good news he got from Ron had eased his temper a bit. Flying lessons were starting this afternoon.
The ability to fly was something humans had always dreamed of, unless, of course, you had acrophobia. Harry was determined to do well in class and show up Malfoy. He knew that Malfoy was lying when he bragged about how great he was at flying and how many different kinds of brooms he'd tried. Harry had been convinced at first, but then Malfoy started talking about a time he'd narrowly avoided a Muggle helicopter with a difficult maneuver. Malfoy claimed he'd just grazed the top of the helicopter. Harry didn't know what a difficult maneuver was, but he did know that a helicopter's top had a propeller, and if you grazed it, you'd be shredded into countless pieces. Not even magic could put a person back together from that.
"Dudley," Hermione whispered nervously as they sat reading in the library that morning. "The flying lesson today is with both our Houses."
"What am I going to do? I haven't prepared at all. No matter how many books I read, I can't figure out how to fly."
Flying, especially on a broomstick, was a skill you could only learn by doing. Thinking you could learn it from a book was a fool's errand. You had to get your hands on a broom and just go for it.
"What if I can't fly?" Hermione's face was crestfallen. She could already picture everyone soaring through the air while she stood alone on the ground. How embarrassing.
"I'll stay on the ground with you," Dudley said without a second thought.
"And what if I fall off my broom?" Hermione continued.
"I'll be there to catch you," Dudley said, patting his chest, guaranteeing he wouldn't miss.
Hermione was speechless. It sounded sweet, but something about it felt... off.
At three-thirty in the afternoon, the first-year Slytherins and Gryffindors arrived promptly on a lawn outside the castle. All the students, whether from wizarding or Muggle families, were excited about flying. Only Dudley seemed bored and yawned. Honestly, he wasn't interested in a class that was all practice and no theory. He knew he wouldn't be able to fly. Besides, he was a firm believer in flying with your own power, not with a tool. It was also a sunny day with a nice breeze, perfect for a nap.
Across the lawn, a dense forest stretched out—the Forbidden Forest. Dozens of broomsticks were laid out neatly on the grass, with excited students standing on either side. Soon, the teacher, Madam Hooch, arrived.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" she said, her voice more excited than the students'. "Everyone stand next to a broomstick and get a move on."
"Stick your right hand out over your broom and say 'up!'" she instructed. It was a simple, unadorned, and effective spell.
"Up!" Harry yelled, and his broomstick instantly leaped into his hand. He was the first student to do it.
Everyone else was yelling, but their brooms just rolled around on the ground. Harry really did have a knack for flying. Soon, the other students' brooms started responding and flying up into their hands. Of course, some brooms didn't respond at all, like Hermione's. It just rolled around a few times and then stopped moving.
As expected, Dudley's broom was even less responsive than Hermione's. For him, a flying broom was just a regular broom. So, while Madam Hooch wasn't looking, he just hooked it with his foot and picked it up.
Dudley was quite curious about flying brooms, and since he couldn't use it to fly, he figured he might as well examine it. He noticed that the broomstick looked like a simple, bare wooden stick, but there was an invisible cushion in the middle. Otherwise, flying for long periods on a wooden stick would be unbearable. It was supposedly a way to keep the traditional image of a wizard on a broomstick, so the cushion was invisible. Dudley's final verdict was that magic carpets were better.
Soon, students started flying up into the air on their brooms. Only a few were still on the ground, including Hermione and Dudley.
Hermione tried a few more times, but her broom just wiggled in place, so she gave up. Flying wasn't a major subject anyway; it wasn't even on the O.W.L.s.
Hermione looked at Dudley, who was standing next to her with his broom in his hand, studying it and not showing any interest in going up. Her cheeks flushed. "You don't have to stay here with me, you know."
Hermione had misunderstood. She thought Dudley's broom had flown into his hand and that he was staying on the ground for her.
"Huh?"
A shriek from above interrupted them. The chubby Neville had lost control of his broom and fell, but not from a great height. He had only broken his arm. Madam Hooch helped him and led him away to the hospital wing.
"What a dunderhead, that little crybaby," someone said quietly.
"Looks like Bottom got to the bottom of the field."
While Madam Hooch was busy with Neville, Harry and Malfoy started up again, picking up where they had left off yesterday. Who knows what was said, but the two of them flew into the air, challenging each other.
Dudley was tired of them. They had been arguing every time they saw each other, and he was getting annoyed. "Doesn't this mean class is over?" he thought, pinching his chin as he looked at the disorganized mess of students. Even though Madam Hooch had said she'd be right back, she wouldn't be in the mood to teach after a student had been hurt. Dudley suddenly had a wild idea, something he hadn't done since he got to Hogwarts.
"Hermione," he said, turning to her.
Hermione had been watching Dudley and didn't expect him to turn. Their eyes met, and her cheeks flushed again. She quickly looked away. "Yes?" she whispered.
"Want to go to the Forbidden Forest?" Dudley whispered, leaning closer.
Hermione was stunned by the proposal. She covered her mouth and whispered, "Now?"
"Of course. It's still early, and we can be back for dinner." They could check out the edge of the forest and see what he could find.
"But we're still in class!" Hermione said, her words a protest, but her excitement betrayed her. *Skipping... skipping class with Dudley? How exciting!*
"We've done it before," Dudley reminded her. They had skipped class before, back in primary school.