Chapter 14: Flying Lesson

At half past three in the afternoon, Harry, Ron, Allen, and the other Gryffindor students hurried down the steps to the grounds in front of the castle to prepare for their first Flying lesson. It was a clear, breezy day; as they walked briskly down the sloping grass toward a flat lawn on the far side of the field, the grass rippled slightly beneath their feet.

The Slytherin students were already there, with twenty-one broomsticks laid out neatly on the ground. Malfoy and his two goons were glaring at Allen as he approached. Allen ignored him directly.

A moment later, their instructor, Madam Hooch, arrived. She had short gray hair and eyes the color of a hawk's, which she swept sternly over the young wizards.

"Well, what are you all waiting for?" she barked. "Everyone stand next to a broomstick. Quickly, quickly, make haste."

Allen, mimicking the others, stood beside a broomstick, looked down at it, and saw it was old and battered, with several twigs sticking out haphazardly.

"Stick out your right hand over the handle," Madam Hooch called from the front, "and say, 'Up!'"

"Up!" everyone shouted.

Allen's and Harry's broomsticks immediately leaped into their hands, but only a few brooms were so obedient. Hermione Granger's broom merely rolled over on the ground, while Neville's broom did not budge at all.

Then Madam Hooch began instructing the young wizards on how to use the broomsticks, and Malfoy was criticized by her for being inattentive.

"Very well, the moment I blow my whistle, you will kick off the ground with both legs, and kick hard," Madam Hooch said. "Hold the broom steady, rise a few feet, then lean forward slightly and drop straight back down. Listen for my whistle—three—two—"

However, Neville was too nervous, fearing he would be left on the ground, so before the whistle even touched Madam Hooch's lips, he kicked hard and flew upward.

"Come back, child!" Madam Hooch shouted, but Neville shot straight up, completely unable to control his broom. He flew higher and higher, then, pale with acrophobia, slid off the broom and plummeted onto the grass, curling into a ball. His broomstick continued to rise higher, then began drifting slowly toward the Forbidden Forest until it vanished.

All of this happened so fast that no one had time to react.

Madam Hooch bent over to look down at Neville. Her face was as pale as his; she checked his body and discovered his wrist was broken.

She turned to the rest of the class and said, "I am taking this boy to the hospital wing. None of you move! Put your broomsticks back where they belong!" Then she led Neville away.

As soon as they were out of sight, Malfoy burst out laughing, as if to vent the gloom of the day.

"Did you see the silly giant's silly crying face? What a disgrace!" Malfoy said smugly. The other young Slytherin wizards chimed in agreement.

"Shut up! Malfoy!" Allen felt a bit angry. Although Neville had low presence in the dormitory, they were still in the same dorm.

"Oh, protecting Longbottom?" Pansy Parkinson said. She was an ugly-looking Slytherin girl. "Worry about yourself first! Birdman!"

"Look!" Malfoy said, rushing over to grab something from the grass. "It's what that big fool Longbottom's grandmother sent him."

He held up the Remembrall, which gleamed in the sunlight.

"Give it here, Malfoy," Harry said quietly. Everyone stopped talking and watched.

Malfoy sneered wickedly.

"I think I'll put it somewhere Longbottom has to fetch it—up in a tree—what do you say?"

"Give it here!" Harry shouted, but Malfoy had already leaped onto his broom and taken off. His earlier boast was no bluff—he really did fly well. He hovered at a height parallel to the treetops of an oak tree,

shouting loudly, "Come and get it, Potter!"

Before Allen could react, Harry grabbed his broom and flew out. Allen reached out to grab him but missed.

Allen's heart rose, but seeing Harry flying as if a fish in water, his heart gradually settled.

Harry soon flew higher than Malfoy. He whipped his broom around, looking down at Malfoy from above, while the girls on the ground let out screams.

"Give it here," Harry shouted, "or I'll knock you off your broom."

But what Harry failed to notice was that Malfoy was quietly signaling to his goons Crabbe and Goyle on the ground, who were quietly mounting their broomsticks to ram into Harry. Harry's attention was entirely on Malfoy, and he noticed nothing behind him.

Allen keenly perceived Malfoy's intent and understood everything the moment Crabbe and Goyle prepared to take off. It was too late to shout a warning. Although Crabbe and Goyle, born to wizarding families, did not fly as well as Malfoy, they were quite skilled, clearly having flown often before.

Allen made a decision in an instant. Filled with boiling anger at Malfoy's baseness, he mounted the broomstick in his hand, quickly ran through the flight-related knowledge he possessed, kicked hard against the ground, and rose up.

He felt blood pounding against his eardrums with a roaring sound. His body trembled slightly from excitement, but the feeling of flight was truly wonderful. The wind whooshed through his hair, and his robes billowed behind him.

He tightened the wings behind him, clung tightly to the broom, tried to make himself as streamlined as possible, quickly estimated the lead, and rammed straight into Goyle...

Perhaps because the broomsticks used in the Hogwarts Flying lesson each had their own faults, and Allen's broom happened to be faster; perhaps because Allen's streamlined shape greatly reduced air resistance; perhaps because Goyle's weight was too heavy and slowed him down. Allen, despite acting later, arrived first and collided hard with Goyle.

The young wizards on the ground witnessed a spectacle they would never forget in their lives: a person with huge wings had folded them and ridden a broomstick into the sky.

This scene still seemed particularly magical and... bizarre in this Fantasy World! The image was too beautiful, leaving the witnesses momentarily speechless, only thinking "WTF!" repeatedly in their hearts.

Harry, alerted by the exclamations from the ground, keenly spotted Crabbe ramming toward him and narrowly avoided his savage collision.

But Allen was not doing well at this moment. He felt as if he had crashed into an iron wall; his vision went black, and his bones felt like they were falling apart. Goyle was much stronger than him, and his frail body took a long time to recover.

Goyle, who had been hit, was also panicked. At the moment of impact, he flailed at Allen like a drowning person, tearing off several broom twigs and some of Allen's feathers. Allen quickly turned his broom to separate from him and took a long while to steady the broom.

Only then did the young wizards on the ground react, letting out cries of terror.

Ron on the ground could no longer hold back and shouted, "You're even ambushing? How despicable!"

Saying this, he flew up despite Hermione's attempts to stop him.

Harry and Ron flew to Allen's side and cast concerned looks at him.

Allen had recovered a bit by then. He nodded to them, signaling that he was fine.

Meanwhile, Crabbe and Goyle flew over to Malfoy's side.

A 3-vs-3 situation had formed!

An aerial duel was about to break out!