The Chronicles of Sasha Leone & Trials of the Curse-Breaker (Hogwarts Mystery)

Chapter Seven: Taking Flight

One day, Sasha and her roommates had went to Flying Class. At three-thirty that afternoon, Sasha, Rowan, and the other Ravenclaws hurried down the front steps onto the grounds for their first flying lesson. It was a clear, breezy day, and the grass rippled under their feet as they marched down the sloping lawns toward a smooth, flat lawn on the opposite side of the grounds to the Forbidden Forest, whose trees were swaying darkly in the distance.
The Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and Slytherins were already there, and so were forty broomsticks were lying in neat lines on the ground. Their teacher, Madam Hooch, arrived. She has short, gray hair and sharp yellow eyes like a hawk.
"Well, what are you all waiting for?" she barked. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up."
Sasha glanced down at her broom curiously. It was old and some of the twigs stuck out at odd angles. She could tell it has been used a few times in the past.
"Stick out your right hand over your broom," called Madam Hooch at the front. "And say 'Up!'"
"UP!" everyone shouted.
Sasha's broom jumped into her hand at once and making her staggered back a bit, but it was one of the few that did. Sasha couldn't help, but noticed that some of the Quidditch team members were watching them nearby.
Rowan's had simply rolled over on the ground. Perhaps brooms, like horses, could tell when you were afraid, thought Sasha; there was a slight uncertain quaver in Rowan's voice that said only too clearly that she wanted to keep her feet on the ground.
Madam Hooch then showed them how to mount their brooms without sliding off the end, and walked up and down the rows correcting their grips. Sasha and Rowan were both curious and slightly amused when she told the prideful Slytherin (her name is Merula Snyde, she has dark brown hair with a patch of orange and fierce violet eyes) she'd been doing it wrong for years.
Sasha jumped in place as soon as she heard a loud crash from Rowan. She turned around to see her best friend had fell off her broom by accident.
"Row, are you okay?" Sasha walked towards Rowan and helped her up. Rowan rubbed her head and gave Sasha a sheepish smile.
"Yeah, I'm okay." Rowan winced as she brushed her hands over a bruise. "Just a little bumped up. Though, I don't think my broom likes me too much."
"I think the brooms are a bit like horses," Sasha said thoughtfully. "If they're wild, you have to tame them."
"How do I do that?" asked Rowan curiously.
"The most important part is to not be afraid." Sasha wasn't sure where she was getting this information from, but it was her closest understanding towards a broomstick. "If the brooms know that if you're afraid, they won't follow your orders. The brooms will just give you a wild ride of your life."
"That explains some things," said Rowan with a smile.
"Mr. Copper!" The two girls turned to look at Madam Hooch. They soon heard Ben screaming and saw him flying off the ground with a wild broomstick going all crazy on him.
With quick reflexes, Sasha had managed to pull Rowan out of the out-of-control broomstick's way and screaming wizard. Sasha had also rolled out of the way from the crazy flying broomstick and the screaming wizard.
"I'm guessing that's a bad example of it," remarked Barnaby Lee from Slytherin as they all watched as Ben zigged and zagged at the top of the rooftops.
"Now that's scary," Rowan whispered nervously as they both gotten up and continued watching Madam Hooch doing a wild broom chase with Ben.
"How about I help you after Madam Hooch catches Ben?" Sasha suggested to Rowan. Rowan smiled and nodded as she inched closer to Sasha.
It wasn't long till Professor McGonagall had came outside to see most of the Flying Class was watching a show that Ben and Madam Hooch were both making on their flying broomsticks.
"What is going on here?" demanded Professor McGonagall. "I just saw Mr. Copper flying past a window on a crazy broomstick."
"Ben was trying to fly on his broomstick," Liz Tuttle explained carefully without looking away from Ben and Madam Hooch. "And... well, it didn't go too good."
"That's one way of saying it," muttered Sasha before she leaned over to Rowan. "Do you think Ben can figure out how to land?"
Rowan narrowed her eyes as they both continued watching Ben's wild ride before she whispered back to Sasha. "I don't think so. It seems that he hasn't been on a broomstick before, so his landing might be a bit harder than his takeoff."
Sasha nodded. But many of the other first-years had started flinching, sort of covered their eyes, and oohing as Ben had crashed landed rather roughly onto the ground and Madam Hooch had managed to land a bit more gracefully than Ben as she started helping the Gryffindor.
"Ooh." Sasha cringed back from the sight of Ben's rough landing. "That's gotta hurt."
"By the way he had landed, I think he might have sprained his wrist," Rowan guessed, a little uneasily.
Everyone watched as Ben began cradling his arm and Madam Hooch took Ben away from his broom and headed indoors, probably to the Hospital Wing if she was about to guess. Professor McGonagall had quickly told them not to fly off anywhere till Madam Hooch returns before she walked away from them and went back into the castle.
"Or a sprained arm," added Rowan with a flinch. "That was going to be my second guess."
One by one, everybody had placed their brooms down as they began sitting down on the grass next to their broomsticks. Many of their classmates had started chatting to each other, some where fixing up their brooms, a few were reading, or doing late assignments. Sasha and Rowan both sat down next to each other, though a little away from the others.
Everyone immediately stood up when Madam Hooch had returned from the Hospital Wing. She soon started helping the students with the broomsticks. "Now that you all have your brooms in your hands mount them and make sure you have good hold to not slide of the broom when you're in the air." They all did that and she went around, looking at their grips and positions and correcting it here and there. "Now, on my whistle I want you to kick off, hover three feet above the ground, then lean forward and come down again." She blew her whistle and the whole class rose into the air, hovering more or less precisely three feet over the ground.
Sasha felt great. This felt like she had always known how to do it. For her other skills, she had worked hard and studied hours to remember facts, practiced techniques, ran to build up her speed, or trained shooting goals. Though, she didn't need to learn, she just knew it. Then Madam Hooch let them fly around the field. Ten minutes before the lesson was up, she offered those who felt safe enough a race around the Quidditch pitch. Sasha jumped at the opportunity. Some first-years from the Four Houses also did. When Madam Hooch blew her whistle to start the race, Sasha leaned down on her broom and shot forward. She instinctively knew how to shift position on the broom to take a turn, how she could gain speed and how to break once she had passed the finish line. The students that hadn't participated in the race cheered and clapped for her. She waved down to them smiling brightly.
The Ravenclaws discovered a new, carefree side of Sasha Leone that day. As long as she was on a broom, she truly behaved like a little child. Normally, she was compassionate and gave a good impression, but here in the air she was just a normal girl who had fun. She challenged them to a game of tag, which only ended with nobody being able to catch her when Madam Hooch called them down. She was still grinning brightly after landing.
"Very good. I know that Professor Flitwick lets those that are interested try out for the house team as long as I give the go ahead," said Madam Hooch. "While I can say that most of you will be ready to do normal flights at the end of the month I would only agree to Miss Parkin, Miss Johnson, and Miss Leone trying out for the team. The others should train a bit more and if they want try out next year."
Skye and Naomi both seemed eager to try out the training exercise. But Sasha was a little doubtful.
"I'm too busy getting used to the classes at the moment," admitted Sasha. "When I have a better grip on them, maybe next year I will try my hand at Quidditch."
But watching them from a fair distance was a second-year Ravenclaw named Orion Amari. He's a skilled Chaser and he had recently became Ravenclaw Quidditch team's captain. But many of the team members were graduating from Hogwarts and/or moving away. Due to that, he has been searching for any Ravenclaws who has the skills of being in a Quidditch team. He managed to find a Keeper and two Beaters, but he has yet to find two Chasers and a Seeker. However, when Orion saw the three Ravenclaw first-year girls, he can see that Sasha and Skye both have the potential as a pair of Chasers while Naomi has the potential of a Seeker.
Maybe... just maybe.