At five o'clock in the afternoon, the students of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw walked together to the lawn for their flying lesson. From there, they could see Hagrid's hut and the distant Forbidden Forest, from which strange noises sometimes echoed.
Unlike the adventure-loving Gryffindor and the troublemaking Slytherin, Ravenclaw understood the principle of self-preservation, generally only testing within the rules; Hufflepuff students were obedient and would never actively break the rules. Most students from these two houses would not set foot in the Forbidden Forest even by the time they graduated in their seventh year.
About twenty flying broomsticks were neatly arranged on the ground, and Madam Hooch was already waiting there. With eyes sharp like an eagle, she watched the students alertly and sternly said, "I guess you've heard about yesterday's accident! Gryffindor's Mr. Longbottom was lucky to only have a broken wrist, but if you're reckless, it's no surprise if someone breaks their neck! You better remember that!"
The little Eagles and little Badgers nodded submissively in agreement.
"Alright! Now each of you stand by a flying broomstick!"
Under Madam Hooch's gaze, everyone moved quickly without fighting. But nobody knew how old these school broomsticks were; each was very worn, the branches extended chaotically, the oak handles were uneven, and even sweeping the ground with them would be prickly.
Yet they were supposed to sit on these things to fly.
Vid suddenly felt that flying on a broomstick might not be very friendly to the tailbone.
He heard Michael muttering under his breath, "Comet 220 — the cheapest broom..."
Vid glanced over; Michael's broom was even worse than his, looking as if it were made from straw.
Madam Hooch loudly commanded, "Extend your right hand over the broom handle, then say — Up!"
"Up!" the students shouted in unison.
Vid's broom rolled twice on the ground before jumping into his hand. He grasped it, feeling that he didn't need to use much strength since the broom would float on its own.
He turned to look at the others; some succeeded immediately, while others — like Michael — had their broom bouncing on the ground like a fish out of water, not reaching his hand for quite a while.
Once all the students held their brooms, Madam Hooch then taught everyone how to ride the broom without falling off and sternly corrected some students' incorrect sitting postures.
Vid originally thought it should be simple because he remembered in the movies Harry Potter would just hop on the broom and fly away. But only when he got on did he realize it wasn't that easy. After all, a broomstick is just a thin wooden stick, and maintaining balance while sitting on it requires some skill.
Fortunately, the pressure on some fragile bones wasn't as much as imagined. Some spell was placed on the broom, making sitting on it feel like sitting on a chair. Not very comfortable, but not too unbearable either.
Once everyone's posture satisfied Madam Hooch, she allowed the students to move on to the next step — flying.
"When I blow the whistle, kick off hard from the ground," Madam Hooch instructed, "Hold on to your brooms but don't lift too high unless you want to fly into the clouds! Lift just a bit, ascend slowly a few feet, then glide forward slowly, and finally, slowly return to the ground."
Madam Hooch said "slowly" three times in a row before stating, "Listen carefully to my whistle — three, two, one!"
The whistle sounded, and students immediately divided into layers — some flew too high, some dashed headfirst toward the ground, and two students couldn't maintain their balance and rolled off the broom with a "thud."
Madam Hooch frowned, waved her magic wand in time, and fortunately, no one got hurt.
Suddenly there was another scream — a girl from Ravenclaw was riding her broom, speeding towards the broom shed!
"Impedimenta!" Madam Hooch shouted.
The girl stalled in the air for a moment, but then still crashed into the wall, though the impact had lessened, and only her broom got smashed.
Madam Hooch didn't scold her but summoned another old broom with a Summoning Charm, allowing the girl to continue practicing.
Vid circled higher on his broom, then tried to gradually increase speed. Only five or six students, like him, could gradually control their brooms. Most were ordered by Madam Hooch to keep their flight no higher than the broom shed.
Even so, accidents continued.
For example, two students had their brooms wobble uncontrollably and collided in the air; a Hufflepuff boy flew well at low altitude but fell off as soon as he tried to rise to no more than five meters — this poor student had a fear of heights.
The first flying lesson was chaotic. Madam Hooch was like an octopus saving the day, her wand swishing as she kept pulling students out of potential neck-breaking situations. She was even bumped by a reckless student, turning her face dark with anger, and took off five points from Hufflepuff!
Vid finally understood why Madam Hooch always looked so upset, seeming angry. Any experienced driver teaching new drivers would react similarly when seeing them make some really basic, stupid mistakes.
Finally, the flying lesson was over, and the students headed in groups to the infirmary to find Madam Pomfrey for treatments for various bumps, sprains, and injuries. Vid and Michael were fortunately unscathed and walked together to the Great Hall for dinner.
"Vid!"
Hermione, who was eating, saw them and immediately waved to greet them. Vid saw her sitting alone at one end of the long table and decided to sit with her at the Gryffindor table.
Hermione glanced them up and down, asking, "Was the flying lesson rough?"
"Exhausting," Michael said wearily, feeling he needed to replenish lots of energy. After taking two buttered pieces of bread, he added a roasted chicken leg to his plate.
Vid first gulped down a glass of juice and then said, "Everyone was flying for the first time and very inexperienced. More than half of the people were slightly injured, and someone even fainted."
Hermione nodded, "I have to say, I'm not surprised at all. Flying without any protective measures, injuries are inevitable!"
She apparently didn't like broom riding or Quidditch at all.
"It's a skill that requires a lot of practice! A proficient Quidditch player can be more agile than a bird."
After one flying class, Michael eventually regained his energy. But Vid remembered that during the class, he always hovered low, and if he flew slightly higher, the broom — or Michael on the broom — began to tremble.
A typical example of being poor at it yet loving to play.
But Michael convinced him with just one sentence.
"Think about it, Vid," Michael said in a tempting tone, "We could ride broomsticks straight to the dormitory, and we'd never have to climb the stairs again! I saw the Quidditch team students doing it!"