First Flying Lesson

by **Humphrey Williams** Fri Jan 20, 2012 2:47 am

As Humphrey Williams walked onto the field, he somehow knew that this was his going to be his favorite part of the entire school. He didn't know how to play quidditch, and had never even been on a broom but when he saw the three hoops at both ends of the field he knew this would be his game. He had practice from basketball

about how to get the ball through the hoop. He looked at the rest of the pitch. There were tall stands all around the field. There were towers with the different house colors on them. the three hoops were raised high into the air and the stands wre very tall as well so they could be on the same level as all the action. there was a dividing line in the center of the field with a circle at the center of the line. He presumed that would be where each game would start from.

Humphrey had been detained by his divination professor. The man was trying to bring Humphrey around to his point of view. Yet he knew that he would never believe in prophecies and the fortune telling. In his opinion it was a bunch of codswallop. He saw a gryffindor girl he had met zoom up into the air and then attempt to land. she ended up sprawled on the ground but picked herself up quickly. So there is going to be a learning curve. Ah well, can't hurt more than conditioning for basketball, right?

Wrong, he was dead wrong. A tall man with bright red hair seemed to be leading the flying lessons. Must be Professor Weasley. The man motioned with his arm to grab a broom and take to the sky while he was watching the ones in the air intently.

He looked at the school brooms that were piled and noticed that all of the twigs on the end were sticking out in every direction. They looked pretty banged up, but humphrey didn't mind. He could order a broom from diagon alley if he made the team. Looking them over, he found one that looked in fairly good shape. It had faded gold writing on the wooden handle that read Nimbus 2000. 12 years old. I wonder who else used this broom before me.

He had gotten a book on the theory of flying on a broom from the library. It told him that to mount his broom he would just put a leg on either side and grab the handle. Then he would just imagine himself taking off into the air and it would work. To accelerate, the book said to push forward on the handle and to pull back to slow down. to go higher or lower he would have to imagine the broom's angle shifting from level to facing up or down.

Quickly mounting the broom as the book told him to. He imagined himself taking off into the air. "Time to test the theory book on flying! This is the only way." His broom shot off like a rocket into the air. He barely had time to swerve out of the way of the other students which he did by yanking with his right arm. The broom responded instantly and he was soon facing the opposite direction. "Wow, this thing has got some go left in it!" he yelled. He then leveled off his broom and imagined him slowly but steadily accelerating. That is exactly what happened. Starting at a walking pace he was soon at a jog, the a fast jog, then a sprint, then an all-out run for your life. Soon he was going faster than he had ever gone in his life. save for when he was on the airplane that took him from america to edinburgh. It was nothing compared to this. In a plane you couldn't sense your speed because you were sitting in a comfortable chair doing nothing. On a broom, you can feel how fast you are going by how hard the wind is on your face and the flash of a student you are zooming by.

Humphrey decided to try and fly upwards and he slowly pulled back and thought up. The Nimbus 2000 responded to his whim and soon he was higher than the stands looking down at the rest of the students. "I wonder how fast of a dive i can get into...hmmm, let's try it." He slowly adjusted the angle of his broom by leaning forward and imagined himself shooting off like he did on first take off.

Before he knew what was happening he was at the stands, and still accelerating. Then he was even with the goal hoops. Still going faster. Finally he was even with the other students only about 75 feet from smashing into the ground. He knew this was the max speed that this old Nimbus would give him. Let the ground approach closer. only 45 feet away now. He imagined himself slowing down and pulled up hard on his broom handle. When his broom was pointing upwards he imagined another burst of speed. The downward force would help to negate his speed he knew from his physics classes. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.

His broom stopped moving down just 5 feet off the ground. He imagined it slowly lowering to the ground. A much smoother landing then the other gryffindor girl's. His feet lightly hit the ground and he let his thought of the broom flying diminish from his mind. He felt his weight return and then dismounted his broom. He walked over to the pile of brooms and placed the old nimbus along with the rest of the brooms. Apparently while he had been up in the air the students had all landed and decided to watch him. He hadn't even noticed.

Humphrey walked up to James Weasley, the man who was giving the lessons today and said, "Humphrey Williams here sir. First year Gryffindor. I have never been on a broom in my life until today. Best experience i have ever had. I don't know how to play quidditch. But, i played a muggle sport where we had to shoot a ball through a hoop so i figure that if in quidditch we are trying to get a ball through those high hoops i might be able to play. Pleasure to meet you sir." and offered his hand to give mr. weasley a firm handshake.

by **Victoria Rossmund** Tue Jan 24, 2012 3:24 pm

Victoria was completely and utterly lost. She had never been down to the quidditch pitch and only found her way when she saw Humphrey sprinting from the castle. She thought it was safe to assume he was going to the same class. As the towers came into view she was astonished to see how high the stands were, though it would make sense that the audience would want to sit higher so they wouldn't have to strain their heads to watch. She smiled when she noticed the different colors of houses in the sections. She wondered if students always sat in their respective section or if they were free to sit wherever.

As she entered the pitch she ducked and almost dove for the ground when a student passed by. They all seemed to be going quite fast and she started getting nervous. Humphrey had told her about quidditch and she was hoping it would be a little like soccer back home. She was really hoping to get on the Gryffindor team as a Catcher if she was any good at flying. It seemed like a nice similarity to the goalie position she had played.

It looked as if the students were just flying freely while the teacher watched atop his own broom. She grabbed one off the pile and saw Humphrey mount and shoot up into the air. Can't be that hard. Right? Wrong. She looked up and down the handle, searching for a button or gear shaft or SOMETHING that she could understand. Victoria wondered if she had to use her wand but noticed that no one else was doing so. Just as she was about to give up, thinking of how great it would have been to fly, she got a sinking feeling in her stomach as the broom raised off the ground. Unsteady at first, she soon got the feel and balanced quite well on it.

She did one lap around the pitch then moved over the the rings, expecting them. The span of them was wider and a soccer net, but she assumed it would be easier to defend on the broom. She started moving back and forth in front of them, as if drilling. She then tried some maneuvering without one or both of her hands. When it looked like the students were all finishing up she moved back down to the ground. This had been the most fun she had had since she got here. Finally being able to be out doors seemed to sooth her soul.

by **Humphrey Williams** Tue Jan 24, 2012 6:19 pm

"Hey Victoria, was that your first time on a broom too?" he asked her.

by **Victoria Rossmund** Wed Jan 25, 2012 7:06 am

"Yeah! I hope I did't make a fool of myself." She smiled, looking at the broom that seemed like just any old housekeeping tool. It was amazing what magic could do to something so ordinary. Victoria hoped that her time flying around the rings would help her chances in making Catcher, though any excuse to spend more time in the air would be fine by her.