Chapter 14: Flying Lesson

At 3:30 p.m., Harry, Ron, Allen, and the other Gryffindor students hurried down the steps to the courtyard before the castle, ready for their first Flying lesson. It was a clear, breezy day; as they hurried down the sloping grass toward the flat meadow opposite, the blades beneath their feet rippled slightly.

The Slytherin students were already there, with twenty-one broomsticks neatly arranged on the ground. Malfoy and his two cronies glared at Allen as he approached. Allen ignored him outright.

Soon their teacher, Madam Hooch, arrived. She had short gray hair and sharp yellow eyes like an eagle, scanning the young wizards with stern intensity.

“Well, what are you all waiting for?” she barked. “Each of you stand by a broomstick. Quick, quick, make haste.”

Allen imitated the others, standing beside a broomstick, glancing down at it—it was worn and battered, with twigs sticking out haphazardly.

“Reach out your right hand over the broomstick,” Madam Hooch called from the front, “and say, ‘Up!’”

“Up!” everyone shouted.

Allen’s and Harry’s brooms leapt instantly into their hands, but only a few were so obedient. Hermione Granger’s broom rolled over on the ground, while Neville’s didn’t move at all.

Then Madam Hooch taught the students how to handle their brooms, and Malfoy was scolded for being distracted.

“When I blow my whistle, you kick off hard,” she said. “Hold the broom steady, rise a few feet, then lean forward slightly and descend straight back down. Listen for my whistle—three—two—”

But Neville, too nervous to stay on the ground, kicked off before the whistle even touched Madam Hooch’s lips, shooting upward uncontrollably.

“Come back, boy!” Madam Hooch shouted, but Neville kept rising, completely out of control. He turned pale with fear, slipped off his broom, and tumbled onto the grass, curling into a ball. His broom continued climbing higher, then drifted slowly toward the Forbidden Forest and vanished.

It all happened too fast for anyone to react.

Madam Hooch bent over Neville, her face as pale as his, and checked his body—his wrist was broken.

She turned to the rest of the class. “I’m taking this boy to the hospital wing. None of you move! Put your brooms back where they were!” Then she carried Neville away.

No sooner were they out of sight than Malfoy burst into laughter, as if releasing all his frustration for the day.

"Did you see that idiot Longbottom crying? So embarrassing!" Malfoy sneered. The other Slytherin students chuckled in agreement.

“Shut up, Malfoy!” Allen’s anger flared. Neville might be quiet in the dorm, but he was still their roommate.

“Protecting Longbottom?” said Pansy Parkinson, a plain-looking Slytherin girl. “Look after yourself, birdman!”

“Look!” Malfoy said, dashing over to snatch something from the grass. “It’s what Longbottom’s grandmother sent him.”

He held up the Remembrall; it glinted in the sunlight.

“Give it here, Malfoy,” Harry whispered. Everyone fell silent, watching.

Malfoy grinned wickedly.

“I think I’ll put it somewhere for Longbottom to fetch—say, on a tree—how’s that?”

“Give it here!” Harry shouted, but Malfoy had already leapt onto his broom and taken off. His boasts weren’t empty—he flew well—hovering level with the top of an oak tree.

He called out: “Come and get it, Potter!”

Before Allen could react, Harry snatched up his broom and shot into the air. Allen reached out—but missed.

Allen’s heart clenched, but as he watched Harry glide effortlessly through the sky, his tension eased.

Harry quickly rose higher than Malfoy, spun his broom sharply, and looked down at him from above. The girls on the ground screamed.

“Give it here,” Harry called, “or I’ll knock you off your broom.”

But Harry didn’t notice Malfoy making silent gestures to his cronies, Crabbe and Goyle, who quietly mounted their brooms and moved to ram Harry from behind—Harry’s full attention was fixed on Malfoy.

Allen sensed Malfoy’s scheme the moment Crabbe and Goyle prepared to take off. It was too late to warn Harry—though they weren’t as skilled as Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle, being from wizarding families, were clearly experienced flyers.

In an instant, Allen made his decision. Enraged by Malfoy’s treachery, he mounted his own broom, recalled everything he knew about flight, kicked off hard—and rose into the air.

He felt blood pounding in his eardrums, his body trembling with excitement—but flying felt magnificent. Wind rushed through his hair, his robes flapping wildly behind him.

He pulled his wings tight against his back, pressed himself flat onto the broom, streamlined his form, estimated the lead, and charged toward Goyle...

Perhaps it was because Hogwarts’ Flying lesson brooms all had flaws, and Allen’s happened to be faster; perhaps his streamlined posture greatly reduced drag; perhaps Goyle’s weight slowed him down. Whatever the reason, Allen overtook him and slammed into Goyle with full force.

The students on the ground witnessed a sight they’d never forget: a boy with enormous wings, folded tightly against his back, riding a broomstick into the sky.

Even in this magical world, the scene was surreal—and bizarre. The image was so strange it left the onlookers speechless, their minds only screaming: “WTF!”

Harry, alerted by the shouts below, spotted Crabbe’s charge and barely dodged the savage collision.

Allen, however, was in agony. It felt like hitting a steel wall—he saw black, bones nearly shattered. Goyle was far stronger; his frail body took long minutes to recover.

Goyle, stunned by the impact, flailed like a drowning man, grabbing wildly at Allen—ripping off several broom twigs and feathers. Allen quickly spun his broom away, struggling to regain control.

Only then did the students on the ground react, screaming in horror.

Ron on the ground could no longer hold back. “You’re attacking from behind? That’s cowardly!”

Without heeding Hermione’s protests, he took off after them.

Harry and Ron flew to Allen’s side, their eyes filled with concern.

Allen had regained some strength. He nodded to them, signaling he was fine.

Crabbe and Goyle joined Malfoy.

A 3v3 standoff had formed.

An aerial duel was about to begin.