Taking Flight

[OOC: About the uniforms - the tunics will be your house colors (one half blue, one half bronze for example). Everyone's pants and belts will be black satin.]

Professor Renoir stood at the entrance to the Quidditch Pitch, breathing in the fresh air. It was thankfully a perfect day for flying; sunny, not a cloud in the sky, and a cool breeze here and there.

"Here's the chest, Marguerite," Charles smiled, carrying the heavy broomchest. "Shall I set it down by the stands?"

"Yes, thank you," she nodded, admiring his ever-so-muscular arms. "I hope this one goes better than last year's first lesson."

"Oh, aye," he agreed, unlocking the chest. "Hopefully no one faints this time."

Renoir's hair was in a slightly messy bun, and her pants were scratchy. As far as appearances went, today's wasn't the greatest. But she wasn't as obsessed with her looks as she used to be; as long as her students feared respected her for her skills, nothing else mattered. She straightened her bronze and blue tunic and watched as the first years arrived.

Reyna changed quickly into her flying uniform. Quite frankly, she hated it. Ladies did not wear breaches. She felt practically naked.

"Elma, are you almost ready?" she called out from behind the curtain.

"I'm waiting on you," the girl replied impatiently.

Elma Nedler was a first year Ravenclaw; apparently her older sister, Elsa, was also at Hogwarts, but Reyna didn't remember the house she was in. Hufflepuff, was it? The sisters shared flaming red hair and a last name, but that was pretty much it (so Elma said, anyway). Elma was headstrong, witty, slightly snobbish, and seemed to have a thing for older boys.

"Okay, I'm ready," Rey sighed, walking out and tightening her ponytail.

"What do you think Professor Renoir is like?" Elma asked as they walked to the Pitch.

"Symon says she's a fright," Reyna giggled.

"Who's a fright?" a familiar voice chimed in. The girls turned to see a flash of scarlet and gold running towards them.

[[OOC: Enter Dimia]]

Emmanuelle was loving this uniform. The green half of the tunic really brought out her eyes. She braided her hair neatly and spun it into a low bun.

"Ah, mon dieu," she exclaimed, taking a deep breath as they entered the Pitch. "Zat Potions room was dégoûtant!"

"Degewhat?" Adam asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Ugh," she shook her head, hating having to translate. "It means, er...'ow do you say it..disgusting?"

"Sounds a lot nicer in French," Rowan winked.

Em grinned and followed the boys to where the other first years stood. She was terribly excited for this lesson. She'd been flying for years, and was ready to show it off legally. It was just a shame that she couldn't try out for the Quidditch team until next year.

"There you are," Marian plodded over to them, out of breath. "The girls dressing room is so crowded."

Smiling, Emmy nodded. Secretly, though, she was thinking they were going to have to kick Marian out of the group pretty soon.

Dimia loved the Gryffindor uniform! Gold was really her color. She tied up her hair and ran to catch up with Reyna.

"Professor Renoir," Elma told her as she came up, after yelling at them to be in the conversation. Dimia nodded and bounced on her toes. She was excited. Flying was a new adventure for her.

Even though she was a noble, with her father locking himself away, flying was often denied to her, for fear of her being hurt. Plus, no one on the staff bothered to teach her, for fear of losing their job if she did hurt herself.

"I don't thin she's that bad. Rainecourt might be worst," Dimia commented.

"You are too excited to fly. What if you fall?" Elma asked.

"If you fall, you get up and try again, assuming you haven't broken anything," Dimia replied. Elma laughed and rolled her eyes.

"Look at that poor Hufflepuff. He looks terrified," Elma pointed out. Dimia smiled, seeing Thea and another Gryffindor go up to him.

"Don't worry. Gryffindors got this," Dimia responded with a smile.

Petyr was scared. Terrified. What if I embarrass myself? What if I fall off? What if I have to go to the hospital wing? What if I break something? What if I give myself paralysis? What if I fly too high and can't come back down? What if... he thought, worrying himself into a daze.

"Hey mate. You don't look so good," Kerry said, coming up and patting Petyr's back.

"Really? I feel fine," Petyr replied.

"I'm sure you do. But, I can tell that you're worried. And, maybe you're over-worrying about this," Kerry observed. He's very observant, Petyr thought, nodding.

"Now, look, you need to breathe and calm down. Keep in mind that we're all beginners and that for a lot of us, this is our first time on a broom too. So, take a deep breath and calm down," Kerry told him with a smile. Petyr smile and nodded, feeling a little better.

"Thea, your hair looks fine. Quit playing with it," Kerry snapped at Thea.

Renoir stood with her arms crossed, tapping her foot, waiting for the kids to quiet down. Back in my day, we arrived to class and waited quietly, she reminisced. There would have been none of these 'before class catch-ups'.

"All of you, please quiet down!" she shouted above the noise.

They immediately went silent. I've still got it, she thought happily.

"I'd like everyone to come and take a broom from the chest," she told them. "Then stand behind that white line, side by side."

With a wave of her wand, a horizontal white line appeared on the grass several feet away from her. The kids all clumped together around the broomchest, pushing and shoving, and Renoir sighed. It was moments like this when she considered quitting and getting a job at a tea shop.

"Now, once you're all lined up, we'll begin.." she said, waiting. "Very good. So, lay your broom on the ground next to you. Put your hand over it, and say 'Up'."

This part was always fun; it usually took several tries to finally get the brooms to respond.

Reyna anxiously followed the crowd and grabbed a broomstick. Her brother's was much nicer than this one, not that she really knew much about them. Did it matter what it looked like? As long as it didn't fail on her.

"I'm so excited," Elma said breathlessly as they lined up.

"Mhm," she smiled quickly, itching drop everything and run back to the castle.

She positioned herself behind the line and set the broom gently down beside her, almost hoping that if she treated it kindly, it wouldn't buck her off. Reyna held her hand over it.

"Okay.." She took a deep breath. "Up."

Nothing.. Nervously, she looked around to see how the others were doing. Elma's listened to her on her very first try.

"Up," Rey tried again. "Up..Up..Up!"

Finally, the broom lifted straight up in the air and into the palm of her hand. With an accomplished nod and a smile, she closed her hand around it and awaited further instruction.

Emmy shoved her way through the crowd (quite literally) and shuffled around the chest to find the best broom she could. It was a difficult task, since the school's brooms were all third rate.

"Ah, non," she pouted, studying the broom. How was she to show off her skill with this thing?

"Yours is better than mine," Rowan grumbled.

That perked her up a bit. The pair walked over and joined Patrick and Adam behind the white line. Emmanuelle laid her broom on the ground next to her, eager to get started. She tapped her foot impatiently.

"Ugh," Adam grunted, glaring over at a group of Gryffindors. "Why don't they go sniveling back home to their mums?"

Rowan nodded in agreement, while Patrick just looked with his usual grimace. Finally, Professor Renoir gave them the okay to begin. Emmy casually put her hand out over the broom and said, "Up!" It immediately lifted straight into her grasp, and she smirked.

Dimia stood next to Thea and Reyna and put her broom on the ground in front of her. She was bouncing and dancing to herself. She was excited. Maybe too excited. The broom seemed to sense this and played with her, moving around on the ground.

"Alright now. You better listen to me," Dimia told the broom. The broom seemed to stop and Dimia laughed.

"Now, up!" Dimia told it. It flew up to her open hand and she grabbed it. She smiled. But, then, the broom started to try to pull her around.

"You got a feisty one Dimia," Elma called out to her. Dimia had to plant her feet to keep the broom from pulling her around.

"Hey. Cut it out," she told the broom. The broom seemed sad and calmed down.

"I'm sorry," Dimia apologized. Dimia sighed and started bouncing again. She was excited.

Thea was insecure about her hair today. She had a lot of hair and never knew what to do with it. It looked weird in the bun she put it in.

"Thea, you look fine," Kerry kept telling her. Thea sighed and attempted to fix her hair again. She then put her broom on the ground and took a deep breath.

"Up," she told the broom. Nothing.

"Up," she said again. Again, nothing.

"UP," she said a bit forcefully. It moved but not to her hand.

"Having problems Thea?" Kerry sneered. Thea sighed.

"Up!" she said more forcefully. The broom flew up to her hand and she smiled.

Petyr was having trouble. The broom wouldn't listen. Maybe he was scared. Maybe the broom is scared, Petyr thought. He kept saying "Up" but nothing. Nothing happened. He didn't know what he was doing wrong.

"Having issues?" Kerry asked. Petyr nodded.

"It's broken," Petyr told him. Kerry went up to his broom and looked at it.

"Up!" Kerry said and the broom flew into his hand.

"It's not broken. Just be forceful," Kerry told him, handing him the broom. Petyr sighed and put it back on the ground.

"Up," Petyr said bluntly. Nothing. He sighed.

"Up!" he commanded. The broom moved a little. He stomped his foot.

"UP!" he finally said. The broom shot to his hand and Petyr smiled.

"Good job" Kerry told him. Petyr smiled. He just had to be aggressive.

Professor Renoir watched the first years, pleased. She could already tell there were going to be more than a few candidates for Quidditch next year. If they behaved.

"Alright, once you've all got hold of your brooms, mount them," she instructed loudly. "Do not take off until I tell you to."

She stood and waited. For some of the nervous wrecks, this was even scarier than the prospect of being in the air. They always thought Will it buck me off? Will it take off without me directing it? Renoir felt the same way the first time she rode a horse, in fact.

"Both feet should be planted firmly on the ground," she continued, glaring pointedly at a couple of troublemakers who'd lifted their feet up to hover above the ground. "Now, grasp the handle, and lightly push up. Lightly!" Renoir sighed. She knew there would be kids too eager to listen.

Getting on her own broom and pushing off, she went on. "It's simple: lean forward to go forward; pull the handle in the direction you want to go - right, left, up, down. To stop, pull it up while leaning very slightly back. Alright, once you think you're comfortable enough, fly around the Pitch. But only up to 20 feet high!"

Dimia was excited! So excited! She mounted her broom and planted her feet on the ground. She was ready to push off when the broom did it for her.

"Woah! Steady! Steady!" she told the broom, willing it to settle down. The broom did and Dimia smiled. She waited for a few more people to get in the air then she started flying.

She loved the thrill! The wind whipped around her face as she did circles around the Pitch. She was smiling ear from ear.

"Go Dimia!"Elma called out to her as she passed her. Dimia was a natural. And, she loved it. She loved to go fast and she loved to fly. She never wanted to stop!

This is fantastic! This is great! I don't want to stop! I want to fly forever! Dimia thought to herself, as she continued to fly. She noticed an older group of boys watching them and one in red was grinning and watching her. Must be Quidditch captain Dimia thought. She kept smiling and flying, as happy as ever.

Thea carefully mounted the broom and took her time learning to fly. She smiled as she kicked off the ground slowly. Most the students were a bit more confident, but Thea knew these things could seriously hurt them so she took her time. She floated in the air and tested out the directions. She smiled and flew around, trying to avoid kids who were going fast.

"Loosen up," Kerry called out to Thea. Thea stared at him, not realizing that she was a bit stiff. Then, she smiled.

"Race ya!" she called out to Kerry, taking off, her mischievous side she got from Kolby coming out. They raced around the Pitch, flying close to avoid everyone.

"Fine! You win!" Thea called out to Kerry, stopping. Kerry stopped and cheered for himself. Thea smiled and continued to fly.

Reyna was so nervous she felt nauseated. Why did they even need to fly? Who on earth first picked up a broom and thought it might make for good transportation?

"Everything alright, Rey?" Elma asked beside her, already hovering.

"Hm? Oh, er...no.." she muttered, swallowing hard. "No, I can't..I can't do this..."

Elma floated gently back to the ground and hopped off her broom. She placed both hands on Reyna's shoulders.

"Look at me," she said confidently. "You can do this. You're a Fendrel. Your brother is an ace at flying, and you can be too!"

"I'm not Symon," Reyna huffed. "I wish everyone would stop comparing me to him, I'm just me. Just because my brother is good at something doesn't mean I will be!"

Elma smirked and put her hands on her hips. "I get it," she laughed. "I've been compared to my sisters my whole life, Reyna. I think I see what your problem is. You want to be different. Symon's an expert at flying, so you -"

"So I want to fail at flying?" Reyna scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Close, but not quite....I'm afraid to fail. Symon has been my hero since I was little, I don't want to disappoint him."

"You could never do that," a familiar voice said from behind.

Reyna jumped and turned around. "Symon?? What're you doing here?"

"Renoir called us in to assist with the newbies, she can't be everywhere at once," he said, gesturing to the other three team captains who were walking around the pitch. "Reyna, nothing you do could ever disappoint me...well, except for murder, dark magic, kicking harmless animals...anyway, just do your best and I'll always be proud of you."

Reyna smiled broadly, took a deep breath, and cautiously mounted her broom.

Finally, they were ready to fly. Emmanuelle was more than excited to be back on a broomstick, and to be able to show off in front of her schoolmates. She refused to let any self-doubt enter her mind; that was a sure way to failure.

"Shall we race around the pitch?" Rowan suggested.

"I'm in," Adam smiled.

"Eh, I'm not the best at flying," Pat admitted, the grimace on full blast.

"Seriously?" Rowan scoffed.

"What's the problem?" Patrick challenged, getting defensive.

"Nothing, mate," Row laughed genuinely. "We'll show you the ropes."

The lads hopped on their brooms and kicked off. That was nice, Emmy thought, watching as they flew slow enough for Patrick to keep up. Peer pressure was far too real in her little group, so she was surprised at Rowan's sincerety.

"Need some help?" a handsome Hufflepuff asked.

"Non, merci," Em shook her head, blushing slightly. "You are not my age?"

"No, I'm a fifth year," the boy laughed. "Finn Ruddock, Hufflepuff captain."

She smiled, feeling her face go even redder. Perhaps it wouldn't be such a bad thing to get help from this gentleman, after all.

"Actually, Monsieur Ruddock, you may 'elp me," she changed her mind, smiling sweetly. "I would like to test my speed. Will you time me? Zen you can give me notes?"

"Sure thing," Finnius nodded, with a shrug.

Petyr was terrified!! He stared at the broom in his hand like he was holding a snake. He felt his heart rate start to rise as he even just thought of flying. His breathing picked up and he had to sit down.

"Woah. Bud, are you okay?" a voice asked him. Petyr looked up at a Gryffindor boy standing beside him.

"Y-y-yeah. I'm fine," Petyr stuttered trying to stand up. The Gryffindor looked him over. Petyr felt a sweat start to break out on his forehead and his knees started shaking.

"Hey," the Gryffindor instructed, putting his hands on Petyr's shoulders. "Just calm down. Take a deep breath in. Take a deep breath out," Petyr did as the Gryffindor said and he felt himself calming down.

"Good. Good. Now, I'm Asher, the Gryffindor Quidditch captain. What's your name?" Asher asked him. Petyr took another deep breath.

"I'm Petyr," he introduced himself. Asher nodded.

"Now, why aren't you in the air yet?" Asher asked. Petyr could tell that he was a big brother. Maybe to multiple siblings. He just had this air about him.

"It's......I'm......scared," Petyr admitted to him. Asher smiled.

"Look, everyone is scared the first time they get on the broom. Don't get in your head too much. Just leave all your worries on the ground. Nothing bad is going to happen. You have to trust yourself," Asher told him. Petyr looked at the broom in his hand and slowly mounted it. Asher smiled and took a step back. Asher gave him a thumbs up and Petyr kicked off from the ground.

"There you go!" Asher cheered him on. Petyr smiled and slowly began to fly around. This is actually pretty fun, he thought to himself. He flew in the Pitch with the others, not as fast and not as high as the others. But, at least he was flying.

Professor Renoir looked around the pitch. She was pleased to see that most of her students were flying, or at least attempting to. She'd called in reinforcements - the Quidditch captains. Normally, Renoir would never get help in maintaining a class. Flying was a different matter, though. It was too risky for her to be the only supervisor with beginners; she'd realized that last year when a first year fell off her broom.

"About half an hour left, Marguerite," Charles called over to her from the sidelines. She smiled and nodded.

"Twenty minutes to go, class!" she announced loudly.

Renoir liked to give them time before the bell to get changed.

"Alvin, you get down, I told you only 20 feet!" she shouted, glaring at the Gryffindor.

"I never want to stop!" Dimia cheered as she flew around the Pitch, the wind in her face, feeling free as a bird. She did loop-de-loops and hung upside down, trying to avoid Renoir, who might make her stop. But, she was having so much fun!

"Go Dimia!" a Hufflepuff yelled at her, excited to see her go so fast on the broom. Dimia pumped her fist in the air and spiraled up.

"You have a death wish, don't you?" an older Ravenclaw asked her, flying up to her. Dimia just couldn't stop laughing and cheering. She was having a great time!

"Look, I know you're having fun, but you can't just be reckless. Something might happen," the Ravenclaw told her. Dimia let his words kick in and calmed down, nodding.

"But, let me say, you would make an excellent Chaser," the Ravenclaw told her, before flying away. Dimia smiled. She loved to fly!

With Symon's help, Reyna was off the ground flying around in small circles. There was no way she'd ever even consider playing Quidditch, she definitely wasn't in her natural element. How can this be anyone's natural element? she thought. Humans were simply not meant to fly; especially on a broomstick. Couldn't they at least have invented something a bit wider and more comfortable?

"Check out Dimia," Symon smiled, watching the Gryffindor go.

"How on earth is she doing that?" Reyna scoffed, barely hanging on to her own broom.

"Has she flown before?" he asked.

"I'm not sure," she replied. "Ohhhh, I'm going to fail this class!"

Symon laughed and flew up to her. "You just have to have confidence...and it helps not to think about the fact that you're balancing on a stick."

Reyna rolled her eyes, and continued to fly slowly around.

Thea watched Dimia fly around like a lunatic, her chest a little tight. She continued to fly in tight circles, trying not to get dizzy.

"You can go a bit higher!" Kerry called out to her. She wasn't far off the ground. She could probably touch the ground if she went a foot lower. She took a deep breath and went up a little bit higher.

"There you go," Kerry praised. Thea giggled to herself. Parrys were not known for their flying abilities. That's why Kolby was just the commentator. None of the Parrys would ever be caught on a broom.

"Race ya!" Elma called out, zooming past them. Kerry and Thea took off after Elma, trying to catch up to her. They kept racing around the Pitch until the whistle was blown to come back inside.

"We should this more often!" Elma proposed, trying to safely land on the ground, which several kids were now trying to do. Thea slowly lowered the broom, trying to get close to the ground to land. She safely landed and turned in her broom.

Emmy sped around the pitch a few times while Finn timed her. She was fast – this wasn’t news to her. She just loved to show off. Of course, she’d rather be showing off for Symon, but he was too busy with his sister. Em liked to think maybe he was checking her out, too, in awe of her natural talent.

“You’re pretty good,” Finnius smiled when she landed next to him. “You did a whole lap in a minute and half!”

“Oui, I ‘ave practiced all summer,” she said confidently.

“You’ll be a shoe-in for the Slytherin team next year,” he folded his arms. “Care to have a little race?”

“Challenge accepted!”

With a grin, Em hopped back on her broomstick and kicked off. Careful not to go above the 20 foot limit, she and Finn leaned forward and raced around the Pitch.

Petyr was in his own little corner, with Asher, who was keeping an eye on him. He was flying slowly, his knees shaking. He didn't go more than 5 feet and he didn't go in circles. Just straight lines.

"You're doing good, Petyr," Asher called out to him. Petyr nodded, trying not to look at the ground. He was scared. He was panicking. He felt his chest seize up and he took a deep breath.

"Petyr, do you want to take a break?" Asher asked. Petyr nodded and brought the broom closer to the ground. He gently landed and dismounted.

"Want a snack?" Asher asked, handing him a piece of bread. Petyr nodded and they sat at the bottom of the Pitch, eating their bread and relaxing.

Petyr felt a little better. He was always tense and never had a chance to relax. To just calm down.

"You know, I think I know what's the matter with you. You have anxiety issues. You should go see Marigold in the hospital wing. I'm sure she could get you something that would calm you down," Asher proposed. Petyr again nodded. He was just glad to be back on the ground.

Time flew by (no pun intended). Before Marguerite knew it, it was ten minutes till the bell and time to dismiss her students.

"Everyone bring your brooms to the chest," she announced. "You're free to go!"

She heard several moans of sadness that made her smile; the majority of the children loved the flying lessons. It was basically playtime. There were a few, she noticed, that seemed to have some trouble. The Hufflepuff, for example, reminded her of the little Gryffindor boy last year who'd fainted during the first lesson. Still, many of them had potential. She'd have to wait and see how things went during the next lesson before she started recruiting, though...

Emmy - 10 (excellent skill)

Dimia - 8 (skilled, but did unassigned/dangerous moves)

Thea - 8 (found confidence & raced)

Reyna - 6 (shaky, only flew in circles)

Petyr - 4 (shaky, barely off the ground, then sat & ate)