In the morning, Sadie woke up to the distant chattering of people. Refreshed, she felt as if she had slept for a year's worth of time. Her dorm room, with her sleeping roommates, and the campus she knew she now resided in filled Sadie with energy. She was excited beyond measure to get out and see more of the school on their day off.
Kelsey was still passed out in her bed, clutching her sheets as Gatsby slept next to her head. Sadie put on a jeans and t-shirt, but decided to wear one of her robes as well. She wanted to seem as if she knew more about magic than she did, and thought the robe would help convey that.
She proceeded out of her bedroom and made her way down the short hallway to the circular staircase that led downstairs. Sadie almost ran into a girl who was hustling up the steps with a wizard hat in hand as she ran to the upper dorms. Sadie then saw Timothy Shaw bumbling up the steps in his pajamas after the girl, clearly chasing her. He was about halfway up to the girl's underclassmen rooms when without warning, the entire staircase slipped away beneath both Timothy and Sadie, becoming a smooth chute, almost like a slide. Sadie fell backwards on her rear and began sliding uncontrollably downhill. She came to a stop at the bottom of the smoothed staircase by colliding with Timothy, who had slid down before her.
Dazed and confused, Sadie stood back and glanced toward the staircase, which quickly returned to normal with a loud grounding noise.
"Sorry! I didn't know that would happen," Timothy said.
"I'm not even sure what happened in the first place," Sadie admitted.
"Some older girl stole my hat!" he whined, loudly enough so the culprit who ran up the stairs could hear. He took another dash up the stairs, but seconds later, they smoothed out again and he came sliding back down. His hat came after him and landed in his face as someone upstairs laughed. "What was that anyway?" Timothy asked, picking himself back up as the magical staircase corrected itself.
"Don't feel bad," said a tired boy who was also in his pajamas, coming from the boys bedroom. Sadie recognized the skinny Indian boy from the Sorting Ceremony, but without his glasses, he looked quite different. "Some girl did that to me too. Apparently they do it to first years because the girls' staircase doesn't let boys up to their rooms."
"That's not right! The girl came right into ours."
The older girl returned down the staircase, "Well you don't expect the school to let gross boys into the girls' bedrooms do you? It's not polite for boys to be there."
"So how come girls get to come into ours?"
"Well girls are more trustworthy. Duh!" she laughed, walking past Sadie and the boys, taunting Timothy with a poke.
Sadie laughed as well as she followed the older girl into the common room. Only a few people were awake, reading silently on the couches. Sadie heard the older girl laugh loudly, and Timothy shout. She guessed that Timothy had his hat stolen again. Accordingly, Sadie heard the loud noise of the stairs sliding into a chute, but also the loud scream of a familiar voice. When Sadie looked back, she saw that Kelsey had tumbled down with Timothy this time. She ran away from the stairs as if they were going to attack her, and saw Sadie.
"Did you see that?! The stairs turned into a slide!"
"I know the feeling. I'll tell you about it in a minute, but let's go."
"Go where?" Kelsey asked, rubbing her eyes with a heavy yawn. Kelsey was so sleepy that she wore her robe backwards, but Sadie didn't have the heart to tell her yet.
"I want to go explore the school!" Sadie said excitedly. "We have the whole day to check it out."
"Good idea. Maybe we can get some breakfast too - I'm starving."
They made their way out of the common room, crossing the cliff painting and passing through the Puerta Gota, and into the corridor. Retracing their steps from the night before, they returned to the large stairway room. The morning's sunlight revealed a large skylight built into the roof, which shined a steady beam of light down the entire chamber, creating glares in the finely polished wooden staircase and railings.
Down to the first floor they went, returning to the foyer they had entered the building in last night. From there, they entered the Central Hall, which was steadily filling with people seeking breakfast. As soon as Sadie and Kelsey took their place at the Steda table, the morning's cooking appeared before them on plates. Sadie was happy to see that most of the people entering the Central Hall were wearing either their uniforms, their school robes, or clothes Muggle clothes.
When she asked Kelsey if most people wore Muggle clothes, Kelsey almost choked the eggs she had taken with a laugh. "Yeah. Well, Muggle-ish. They're clothes that look like Muggle clothes, made by wizards. Only kids wear them though. Adults don't like them much. But adults are always more traditional, right?"
Nearly all the students had entered the hall, and a great clattering of forks and knives could be heard echoing through the large room. Sadie was able to take her first good look around the room without all the decorations from the night before. The large windows on all sides on the room near the ceiling brought just enough light into the hall, revealing all the ancient woods the floor, tables, doors, and walls were constructed with, in all magnificent hues of brown.
Sadie had just finished eating a piece of bacon when she saw the spectacle that began to take place above the tables. Owls were entering the hall, coming from every window, and began flying and hooting madly near the ceiling. They flew around in circles until they spotted their masters, and flew down to deliver mail to them.
Kelsey's owl, Harold, which she shared with Tristan, perched himself near the pancakes and let Kelsey take a letter off its leg. It then flew across the room to a sleepy looking Tristan, who had just entered the Hall. "Who is it?" Sadie asked.
"Just mom," Kelsey said while reading, after quickly tearing open the letter. "She says hi to you, and hopes you're having a good time."
"As if that wasn't obvious!" Sadie replied as they both laughed. But quickly, they diverted their attention to the far end of the table Steda, where Professor Ellicott had stood tapping her glass of milk with a knife to gather attention.
"Good morning, students. I'm sorry to have not introduced myself to you first-years properly last night, but I was a bit busy. I am the Steda head of house, as well as your Charms professor here at Salem. Now, I realize you have a free day today, but I thought it would be prudent to give you your schedules anyways. Maybe if you're responsible, you will search out your classrooms before getting lost tomorrow. I will say right now that everyone in my class is expected on time - no exceptions."
"She would be telling that to our group. Look," Kelsey mentioned once she received one of the schedules being passed out. "Charms, first period tomorrow with Noctowl. Then Potions with Lupa, and - ew - two hours of US History of Magic."
"What's this? On Tuesday and Thursday, first period? D.A.D.A.?" Sadie asked.
"Defense Against the Dark Arts. It's totally going to be the best class! You get to learn the real interesting spells, and all the strange things out in the world, and how to protect yourself."
Sadie perused the page with increasing anticipation, "Gosh, I really can't wait!"
After breakfast, Kelsey and Sadie quickly learned that exploring the building wasn't for the faint of heart. The building was far larger than either of them anticipated it would be, and was very easy to get lost in. As if the size wasn't daunting enough, some doors led to nothing at all, while occasional hallways would round in a complete circle for no reason. Kelsey barely saved a Horribilis girl who didn't know the classroom she thought she was entering was actually a Man-Eating Door.
They found several classrooms such as the History of Magic room in the Eastern building on the third floor, and would use these landmarks to help them not get lost. But this didn't aid them as well as they would have hoped; while looking for the Astronomy Room in the west building, they got lost for two hours, convinced a hallway was playing some sort of trick on them.
After their exploration of the building, they spent the rest of the day chatting with their housemates on The Lawn, the most popular place to relax on the entire campus. Sadie was beginning to recognize the faces of her peers. Max Brooks, the know-it-all boy in Noctowl had taken to reading books in a tree on the east side of The Lawn, still in his pajamas at noon. Grace Slick carried a bold conversation about flying a broom to anyone who would listen from a bench near the fountain in the centre of The Lawn, the Quints right behind her at all times, though Tyler DeJarlais was nowhere to be seen. Melissa and Timothy were playing with a magical frisbee that flew wildly in the air, making it more difficult to catch.
Sadie also witnessed her first game of Quodpot being played. Tristan had organized a game with a few of his friends, and they played under the supervision of the referee and flying instructor, Professor Zephyra, a strong looking woman with short brown hair and broad shoulders. As Kelsey had explained, Quodpot was very exciting, and Sadie and Kelsey convinced Professor Zephyra, to tell them more while they watched.
"There's a whole history to tell about the game, though I can't tell it right now. I should focus on the players. Well, obviously the goal is take the Quod, sink it into the pot. You have eleven players on each team. The bouncers, they hang back by the pot and keep the pitchers - the ones who take the Quod to the pot - at bay. Always five pitchers, and they can only score a goal by batting the Quod to the pot with their broom. Then you have the bouncers - five of them - who try and fetch the Quod, and either pass it to a pitcher, or if they have a lot of bravado, take it to the pot themselves. And of course the sweeper there, defending the goal - though he can only use his broom to block shots."
"And they can just tackle like that?" Sadie asked, as a player recieved a full-body tackle, nearly knocking him off his broom.
"If they hold the ball for seven seconds. But that's part of the appeal. Very dangerous, but people like the daring and nerves in the people who play it."
BOOM!
The Quod suddenly exploded in one of the bouncers hands, mid throw, sending him flying to the ground, and several player near him nearly off their own brooms. Professor Zephyra brandished her wand, gave it a wave, and the boy's fall instantly slowed until he came to a graceful landing a few feet from his broom. After giving his head a shake, and checking his broom, he grabbed a spare Quod that was set out on the field, hopped back on his broom, and rejoined the game.
"Normally they're disqualified after the Quod explodes,' Professor Zephyra mentioned, inspecting her dark wand. "But I suppose I'll let him keep at it."
After a full day of exploring and enjoyment, Kelsey and Sadie returned to the Steda common room after dinner. Another house party was being held, and students stayed up late blaring loud music by bands named Why Airplanes Fly and Maggiacomo and The Whomping Willows. The first year girls returned to their dorm room early, and after talking for only a bit, went to sleep for a full night's rest.
The students awoke on Monday and knew it was time. The first day of classes were upon them. Everyone who bought a Omnicolour robe relished in their first chance to really show off their house pride to the school. As Sadie dawned her Omnicolour robe, it's almost-gray colour immediately shifted to blue and white - Steda's colours.
"This is amazing! You're right Kelsey, it is like wearing a flag," Sadie mentioned, still astonished, as they ate breakfast.
After breakfast at eight, the bell of the clock that resided in the large steeple at the top of the school chimed nine o'clock, and classes had begun. Sadie quickly learned just how complicated magic was when she attended her first class, Charms, that morning with Professor Ellicott.
"Charms are the essential skills you all must have if you want to have even a basic life as a wizard. This is why I personally believe it is the most important subject taught in this school," Professor Ellicott lectured to the class. They didn't learn any spells, but instead, learned wand movements.
"Wand movement is a language in itself," Professor Ellicot announced as kids waved their wands strangely and seemingly without reason, "And if you do not produce the proper motion correctly, your spell will not project. Now continue to practice; I would like to see you all performing the Levitating Charm by Wednesday."
Sadie was convinced she wasn't waving her wand right at all, but thankfully didn't feel alone. Melissa, Jennifer, and even Amanda weren't sure if they were correct either. Even though Sadie was a Muggle, being from a wizard family didn't put many people far ahead. Though the class was embarrassing for Steda, as two Noctowls managed to correctly cast the Levitating Charm ahead of schedule, including an Indian boy with long black bangs named Karu Mishra, and Max Brooks, who lifted Professor's Ellicott's hat off her head while he was also reading out of a large Charms book.
"Sorry, Professor! I guess I studied read too far ahead in the book. Let me put that back," he called from his seat, putting it comfortably back on Professor Ellicott's head.
It took twenty minutes for Sadie and Kelsey to find their Potions classroom on the second floor of the east building when they were separated from the rest of the Steda students. But when they finally arrived, they found their housemates along with the Lupa first years in the hall.
"Looks like Murray and Yates are setting a record for tardiness," Grace said when they arrived.
"Shut up, Grace. Why aren't you all in class?" Kelsey asked Keith Troitter, another Steda. He simply pointed to a note taped to the door.
Potions is canceled until further notice.
Busy bees have busy lives.
Please read chapters one through twelve by Friday of next week.
-Professor C-
"Who is the wacko teaching potions anyway?" Andres Quint demanded to nobody in particular. "Professor C? Who do they think they are?"
"They haven't been at school at all week," Nakin said. "They're a new teacher too. Nobody knows who it is."
"Stupid. What a waste of my time," Alex Quint barked at the classroom door. "Let's get out of here before we catch a Muggle germ from them or something. Tyler already left anyway."
Both classes dispersed, and happily had time to relax throughout mid-day before lunch began at noon. Many people gossiped about their professors, as well as rummaged through their backpacks, looking over their notes or poring through textbooks.
History of Magic was horribly boring. It was taught by Professor Fitzgerald. He was a nice teacher with a strong jawline and light brown hair, who tried to crack jokes to keep his students interested. But his lectures on US wizarding history were terribly dull. He seemed to have bored himself with his own lectures, starting to drone after 30 minutes. The Horribilis students took it worse than Steda, most falling asleep as if Professor Fitzgerald's droning was a Sleeping Charm, which Sadie could not remember the wand motion to.
Tuesday brought newfound entertainment with Defense Against the Dark Arts. Sadie had heard the same prediction of the excitement this class should offer from nearly all of the first years in Steda. The room on the second floor of the western building was packed with eager students, all sitting in their desks, situated in stadium seating. They spoke excitedly until suddenly and without warning, the doors flung open with great force as their new Professor entered the room.
He had very dark brown hair, which was of medium length, and seemed messy and out of order. He flicked his wand behind him, which magically slammed the door shut. With an air of severity, he marched to the front of the room. He looked the class over, every pupil completely silenced by his entrance. He nodded, and smiled a smile so stern and small, it was difficult to notice he had smirked at all unless you had been watching closely.
"I am Professor Wynter," he spoke in a low, gruff voice. "You may call me Mister Wynter if you choose, but only if you are so lacking in intellect that professor proves to be one too many syllables to utter. This is Defense Against the Dark Arts. This class will show you, over the years, exactly how to protect yourself from the sort of magic in the world that seeks to harm you."
Andres Quint seemed comfortable, even with the strict teacher who was lecturing away, and was waving his wand and sneering at Cole Simpson, one of Sadie's Steda housemates. "I think he's mocking the wand movement to a curse." Kelsey whispered under her breath so she wouldn't be heard by Professor Wynter.
"...that being said," the Professor continued, "I will not tolerate anyone who chooses to use any of the spells they learn in here against anyone, especially their fellow classmates. Offensive magic is a serious skill to learn, and must be respected, and until you are training in Offense With the Dark Arts, which I assure you does not exist, I do not want to see any overshot hexes or experimental jinxes cast without my explicit permission."
Andres flamboyantly waved his wand for the mock final wave when in a split second, Professor Wynter acted. Professor Wynter skillfully waved his wand so fast Sadie couldn't follow the movements, casting three spells, one after the other. "EXPELLIARMUS! DESCENDO! PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!"
In a matter of two seconds, a quick bang and a red beam of light issued from Professor Wynter's wand. Andres' wand shot out of his hand toward Professor Wynter, both of Andres' hands slammed upon his desk, and his entire body, except for his eyes, seemed to freeze in place.
"And I must confide in you," Professor Wynter began once more, "that your reputation - whether inside or outside this school - will not be a factor in my teaching to you. So don't even try to use that as an excuse. Ten points deducted from Lupa."
"You're the Lupa head of house, Professor Wynter!" Alexandre yelled, staring with horror at his brother who sat frozen next to him on the long desk. "You can't do that! I..."
"Silencio!" cried Professor Wynter with another wave of his wand, and Alexandre fell silent, mouth still moving, but no voice emitting.
"Ten more points from Lupa. Your house is of no concern to me. Well then, class, since the Quint brothers have made your first class so eventful, I expect a four foot-long essay on the spells I have used on them, their effects, and their counterspells on my desk at the beginning of class on Thursday, no exceptions." With a whisper and a wave of his wand, Professor Wynter restored the Quints to normal and continued with his lecture.
Their next class, Herbology, took place outdoors in the greenhouses, behind the school building on the north side. Professor Horne required them to learn the qualities of Mageroyal, a flower that looked almost like a rose, and where in the world it was native to, which forced the Steda and Horribilis to scribble out answer notes as fast as their quills could write.
Two hours of Transfiguration followed after lunch on Tuesdays and Thursdays with Noctowl. Professor Millan was a very old woman who was head of house for Noctowl, and had apparently been teaching at Salem for nearly 70 years. Though she taught them profoundly amazing things, she slowly puttered along with her lessons, teaching nearly half an hour longer than the two hour period.
"Now, class... I'd like you to try turning these toothpicks into... Into matches..." she said. Professor Millan didn't go into enough detail for the highly complicated Transfiguration spells, and the students flipped randomly throughout their Transfiguration textbooks looking for the proper spell techniques. Kelsey did the spell correctly, but by sheer luck and accident, her second attempt yielding a mix between a toothpick and piece of cotton. Max Brooks succeeded on his third try, earning Noctowl twenty points. It wasn't until Thursday that the first Steda, Nakin Parikh, was able to perform the Transfiguration correctly, earning a few points in his success.
Every Tuesday night from 10:30 to midnight, Professor Brendon Reynolds, who was also the head of house for Horribilis, taught them Astronomy from the roof above the Steda common room, on the eighth floor. Astronomy was the least magical of all the subjects the students were taking at Salem. Thankfully, Professor Reynolds knew this, and didn't assign them much work for the following week. He was very nice, but unfortunately his class was fairly boring.
Notices had been posted on the bulletin board in the common room since Monday detailing that flying classes for all first years would be held after lunch in the stadium field, and would begin on Friday.
"That sucks. I don't want to learn to fly a broom with everyone hanging around watching," Kelsey commented aloud while many of the first years gathered around the notice. "I can barely stand two classes with Grace and the Quints laughing at everyone, much less three."
Thursday of the first week, the first years were huddled into a group of chairs under a window that looked out toward the stadium and down the hill to the west, which glimmered orange in the setting sun. Sadie, Kelsey, Amna, and Timothy had claimed this spot collectively, mostly due to the loud volume coming from the audiophone, which was the magical record player. They also wanted to put some distance from the Quodpot team after the scare on Wednesday when they learned Tristan and his fifth year friends were playing with a live Quod in the common room.
This evening though, the rest of their classmates joined to work on an essay about briarthorns for Herbology. Nankin was the only one studying a thorny yellow flower that lay on a table while everyone else discussed flying class.
"At least we don't actually fly with Lupa," Cole Simpson, with his blond hair and many freckles said. "We're supposed to practice with Noctowl. They may be smart, but I doubt even Mallory Ring will be able to be fly well."
"What does it take to fly? I've never even tried," Sadie asked.
"Natural skill and practice," explained Kelsey, who was the only Steda with any real broom experience. "You just have to try it and get used to it."
"My dad tried teaching me when I was a kid," Amna chimed in. "It's a lot like riding a bike; you just have to keep riding until you get it right. But I was using training wings... I'm worried that I'll be bad on a real broom."
"But it's not something you can learn in a book," Timothy said, looking sternly at Nakin, who quickly feigned great interest in the briarthorn. Those Steda who were more bookish, particular Amanda, Jennifer, and Keith, had been following in the wake of Nakin, the smartest of the first year Stedas, for advice. But unlike every other subject, Nakin was at a loss. He found a book in the school library called Knowing and Loving Your Broom, but unfortunately, except for the first short chapter which offered basic advice for flying, the book mostly detailed broom maintenance. The others had begged for Nakin's continued recital of the minuscule amount of advice.
Timothy continued, "You've just got to go for it. You can't be afraid of falling either."
"If it's anything like a bike, it shouldn't be so bad for me," Sadie admitted, "I learned that pretty easily."
Sadie wasn't worried about flying like everyone else was. She had realized that since there was so much she didn't know and needed to learn in this new world she entered, the best tactic for any sort of activity she would undertake was to wing it, and hope for the best.
"Whatever, as long as that Brooks doesn't fly before I do, I'm happy." Nakin complained.
"You mean Max Brooks? In Noctowl?" Amna asked.
"Aw, still jealous that he's top of the entire class, Nakin?" Melissa laughed.
"You better believe it!" Nakin exclaimed, "He said himself he barely studies. Says he read everything already. And I believe it too; I always just see him in that tree on the lawn reading Muggle books. Yet he performs every spell we learn right, and knows every answer to any question. It's not fair!"
"At least you're best in Steda," Kelsey commented as Nakin finished his essay. "I'm horrible in D.A.D.A. because Wynter scares the crap out of me... I'm barely keeping up in Transfig... And that's without Potion classes," she added, prodding the briarthorn with her quill, as if hoping it would stand up and help her write her essay.
Friday began gloomy, with gray clouds completely overcast across the sky as worry mounted for those first years still not yet confident about flying. But by one o'clock, the sun filled the Salem grounds with its warmth as a breeze flowed past the students that made their way to the stadium.
The field of the stadium was large and oval, with raised stands all around to accommodate all the students who would watch games. Big banners were strung out under some of the stands, one for each house. Several cracked Quodpots were on the ground next to the Quidditch goals.
Professor Zephyra awaited their arrival, some 25-odd brooms laid neatly in two separate columns on the ground before her. "Welcome, everyone, to your first flying lesson. The goal of these classes are to teach you the skills to start flying normally - and properly - on your own. You are required to pass your flying test, which will begin this time next week, carrying on until Halloween. But first, we'll train you up. Steda gets this row of brooms, Noctowl to those. The rest of you please sit, watch, and pay attention."
The Stedas and Noctowls approached whichever broom they chose, Sadie choosing one next to Kelsey and a boy with short brown hair and dark eyebrows named Joey Panteleo.
Professor Zephyra continued, "Now, the most rudimentary skill to using a broom is taking and mounting them. First, you all must take your brooms. To take your broom, hold your hand above your broom and say, 'up.' Let's give it a go."
Students began saying "up" to their brooms. Nakin's and Max's brooms shot upward immediately into their hands on their first tries, followed by Kelsey on her third call. "Good, good," Professor Zyphra commented, "With feeling, Mr. Jang, try again."
After ten attempts, Sadie's broom finally flew into her hand. She found it was quite easy once she had said it with confidence, and was glad she did better than some of the others. Jennifer's broom sat still for over eight minutes before she convinced it to her hand, while several Noctowls simply made their brooms roll around on the ground uselessly as some of the Lupa students snickered from where they sat.
Once everyone finally had their brooms in their hands, Professor Zephyra continued her lesson. "Very good! Now, as you may know, brooms have a magical personality. They can feel your actions, and may sometimes respond positively or negatively depending on your actions. You must treat them well, and show them - at all times - that you are their superior. You must do so with respect. Don't kick your brooms, don't manhandle them, and treat them as you would treat your pet.
"Now everyone mount their brooms from the left. That's good. Now I want you all to try to kick off from the ground, very lightly, pull back on your broom to rise a few feet, and hover in place for a few moments. Then come back down by pushing your broom forward. Let's give it a go."
Sadie remembered briefly how she had once been a witch for Halloween. Then, she had a broom with her as well. When she prodded Jayne with her broom, she would hop away in an awkward run, pretending she was flying away in her escape. Sadie guessed she had to make for the same sort of hop.
Nervous but excited, she made a hop. She almost felt silly jumping as she did in front of her classmates. But after about two seconds, she realized her feet never touched the ground again. To her surprise, she found herself rising about two feet off the ground, all the others gawking at her.
Okay... lift up she said... Sadie thought to herself, and pulled back slightly on the broom. In only a second, she rose vertically until she was nearly eight feet in the air; she hadn't expected to get it right on her first try. In fact, Sadie was the only one that had done it properly, as others hopped feebly on the ground. Sadie beamed, so happy she almost forgot to balance, wobbling on her broom.
Kelsey began to hover, but lowered back to the ground before trying again, this time successfully. Max had risen as well, spinning clockwise in a circle why petting his broom's handle. Others, such as Nakin, Amna, and over three-fourths of the Noctowls, though Tiffany Chan, Raven Fox, and Alaa Jasim did it splendidly. Sadie almost didn't want to stop hovering, for it felt very natural to her, but slowly lowered back to the ground.
"Excellent, excellent. Five points for everyone in the air! And ten points to Ms. Murray for being the first in the air. Very good, very good Ms. Murray, Mr. Brooks, and Ms. Chan." Professor Zephyra announced happily.
Jae Jang, a Korean boy with very slanted eyes in Noctowl, had been struggling ever since they had to pick up their brooms. He had yet to do more than hop up and down with his broom between his legs, and was becoming increasingly frustrated. Many of the Horribilis and Lupas were laughing at him, and imitating his feeble hops. Not paying attention, he kicked off particularly hard while scowling at Tyler DeJarlais.
In a speedy instant, Jae Jang was sent hurtling into the air. Professor Zephyra didn't have time to react. Jae went wildly back flipping upward before falling backwards off his broom. Everyone screamed as he fell over fifteen feet, landing straight on his left shoulder with a loud, gut-wrenching crack.
Those in the air clung to their brooms in shock, trying desperately to concentrate so they didn't fall as well. Jae's arm was bent sickeningly out of shape. Professor Zephyra took control of the situation, "Everyone stand back, and please get out of the air! I need to take Mr. Jang to infirmary immediately. Everyone stay on the ground! Mobilicorpus."
With an upward wave of her wand, the groaning and crying body of Jae lifted slowly off the ground, and he now laid floating in mid-air. Professor Zephyra moved his body with hers using her wand, walking quickly in the direction of the school. The Noctowls and Stedas grimaced at each other, and the Horribilis kids looked very distraught and nervous. But as expected, the Lupas laughed, pretending to cry loudly.
"What a loser!" Tyler scoffed. "Did you see that? Dropped like a rock!"
"Shut up! Shut up!" exploded Timothy, turning red in the face with anger, "Do you punks never shut up?!"
"Better watch your mouth, Shaw!" Andres said sneering.
"Yeah, or you'll be hollering in pain out of it," Alexandre added. Both boys were reaching for their wands.
"No, he's right!" argued Kelsey, dashing her broom aside. "Ever since the first day, you jerks are always laughing at anyone and everyone you can find! You think you're so great. But I haven't seen you try flying. You might be no better than he was!"
"Who wouldn't be better than that stupid Muggle?" retorted Tyler. Timothy raced at Tyler and the Quints, but Cole and Keith grabbed him by the arms, holding him back while muttering insults at the Quints as they smiled cruelly. Even Kelsey made a rush for them, but was kept back by Amna and Jennifer.
"Better watch who you're picking fights with, Shaw," Tyler said with a sarcastic yawn.
"Yeah, you might get a curse shot your way," hissed Andres as the Lupas howled with laughter.
"But Andres," said a quiet, distracted voice, chiming in, "You don't know any curses." It was Max, who was still among his Noctowl housemates, looking curiously at the bristles of his broom.
"What did you say, you freaking nerd?!" Andres protested, very offended.
Max looked toward Andres curiously now, pushing his glasses closer to his eyes while explaining in a very matter-of-fact manner, "I saw you pretending to curse Andrew Denson from Horribilis the other day by the restrooms. I don't know what curse you were attempting to imitate, but it looked very silly."
The Noctowls scattered as Andres dashed at Max, grabbing him by the collar of his robe, and pointed a wand at Max's throat. Many Horribilis protested loudly, and tried to stop each other from physically jumping at the Lupas to start a fight. Max was not terrified at all. In fact, he looked a little curious about what was happening.
"Oh, are you going to do it again?" he asked with a smile.
"Why I oughtta..."
"You wouldn't dare!" Sadie yelled. She couldn't stand still a moment longer and watch this happen. There was nobody who wasn't already holding back to stop Sadie. She drew her wand, aiming it at Andres. She couldn't remember the two jinxes she had only begun to study in Defense Against the Dark Arts, but it didn't matter to her.
"Now let him go, or else!" she said confidently.
"Both of you shut up." Grace stepped out of the group of Lupas, strutting between Sadie and Andres. "If we all go waving around our wands around, we're going to get expelled. Don't be stupid. Quint, put four-eyes down." Andres growled in Max's face before letting him go. Both Andres and Sadie lowered their wands.
"There's got to be a better way of settling this," Grace continued, "Steda thinks us fine Lupas have committed a wrong, and we need to settle this without violence. Something just between us."
"What do you mean by that?" Kelsey demanded.
"Why - silly Yates - a game. Something with odds, where we can see who actually is the loser. And the losing house will do something really embarrassing as a mark of shame. And I know just what to do. A race."
"A race?" Timothy asked, finally freeing himself and watching Alex Quint out of the corner of his eye.
"Sure. We each pick our best flier, and race once around the pitch. But, what should the terms be..." she murmured.
"My mom has some Tonpyon Perfume!" Sarah Hansen, a Horribilis student said. "The loser will have to wear that for a day!" Several people cringed and laughed, while others shrugged. "It's a perfume made in Africa from these gross fruits. It smells terrible, but is collectible, and worth a lot of money. My mom has a huge phial full. The loser can wear some of it for a day."
"Perfect! Then it's settled. A race around the field," Grace said, now turning to Sadie. "And since Murray the Muggle was such a good flier I think she should do it. Right here, right now. You and me." Grace smirked smugly.
Whatever confidence Sadie had instantly disappeared. She had only flown in place for a moment; she didn't know the first thing about flying. She couldn't do this at all. She imagined quickly the race in her head. She saw herself crashing straight into the ground. Her body quivered with fear, and she felt like soon her teeth would be chattering.
This is when she heard herself mutter, "You're on!" She could hardly believe she said the words, and grabbed her mouth as if to take the words and shove them back down her throat.
"Then it's settled," Grace said pompously. She approached the nearest broom and said strongly, "Up!" The broom instantly rose to her hand.
"Sadie! Are you crazy?!" Kelsey hollered, attempting to do so quietly, spinning Sadie around to face her. "You've never been on a broom in your life until today! And you're challenging Grace, the girl who's been bragging about flying all week long?"
"I didn't mean to say it! What should I do?"
"Race her, Sadie!" Amna asserted, "You were the first in the air out of all of us. Even before Kelsey. If anyone could race her and stand a chance, it would be you."
"Alexandre, Andres, run up to the school," Grace directed. "Stall Professor Zephyra. Say a Quod blew up or something, just keep her away. Now!" Both Quints obeyed her command, and raced toward the school building.
"Ready, Murray?" she said, swinging her body over the right side of the broom confidently. She gripped the neck very tightly, and with a kick to the ground, twisted it upwards, and sailed over 15 feet in the air. She hovered waiting for Sadie.
Everyone stared at Sadie, waiting to see what she'd do. She could do this, and if she lost, well that's too bad. She wasn't going to let Grace get away with this laughing. If Sadie was going to lose, she wouldn't lose without leaving the ground. Sadie mounted her broom and kicked off, rising slowly until she reached Grace's height.
Below them, Tyler fetched a broom, kicked off, and rose to their height. "Alright, from this goal post all the way around the field. Ready?"
The students below began cheering, many for Sadie, while the Lupas hollered for Grace. The girls stared eye to eye before looking ahead of them. Sadie's hands felt slick with sweat, and she hoped she wouldn't slip off her broom. Grace looked like she was strangling her broom, sneering at Sadie. They both nodded, ready to launch forward. Tyler began to count, "Three... two... one..."
On one, Grace shifted her body to the left. She put her leg on Sadie's shin, and pushed off it. Grace leaned forward and launched quickly ahead. "Go!" Tyler shouted laughing as many students below protested. Sadie winced at the pain in her ankle, but quickly shook her head, shaking her hair in front of her face. In a second, she imitated Grace, leaned forward, and off she went.
Grace was well ahead of Sadie, but Sadie felt the entire broom responding to her movements. She shifted it side to side, learning that she could turn. 'This IS like a bike!' she thought. 'It just uses your mind instead of pedals. Sadie leaned a little more forward, and thought about going faster. Sure enough, her speed increased. She felt completely in control, and began pursuing Grace.
Sadie gained on Grace halfway down the stadium, flying past the purple Horribilis banner. Grace saw Sadie had caught up, and looked frightened. She slowed down, leaned over, and gave a kick to Sadie's broom. Sadie hugged the broom to keep from losing control, while Grace almost lost balance herself. They both quickly regained composure and raced forward, quickly around the bend and the far goal posts.
They had nearly cleared half of the field. Grace hollered, "You can't win, Murray! You can't!" She then swerved in on Sadie, ramming Sadie with the entire weight of her body. Sadie went into a barrel roll to the side. She lost her footing on the broom and held on with both hands, dangling below the still floating broom. Grace slowed to turn around and look at what she had done, laughing.
But suddenly, Grace's broom jerked for no readily apparent reason. It continued to jerk back and forth, then side to side, threatening to throw her off like a horse at the rodeo. Sadie thought as hard as she could, I want to get back on the broom... I want back on the broom! She felt her broom start to descend, and realized she was either lowering the broom, or it was trying to help her. As it fell downward slightly, she lifted her body, managing to wrap her right leg back around the broom. Without even straightening her broom, she shot forward.
Grace had reclaimed some control over her broom now, but it was wobbling dangerously from side to side as she tried to continue to coax it to fly forward. Sadie quickly caught up. They both descended close to the ground, moving quickly toward where the students were standing as a human finish line.
Grace once again moved in on Sadie, ramming Sadie with the full force of her tackle. But Sadie held firm, pushing forward very far on the broom. Grace did the same, pulling just ahead of Sadie as they neared the kids who had spread out, making room for the girls to pass.
But without any warning. Grace's broom came to a complete stop, jerked backwards, then instantaneously forward very violently. The broom bucked Grace completely off, sending her into a complete front flip. She landed hard on her feet, her inertia sending her face first into the ground. Sadie sailed past the crowd of students, putting her feet on the ground, coming to an awkward running stop.
The crowd of students cheered at the top of their lungs, the Stedas running to Sadie. Before she knew what was happening, she had dropped her broom, and had been hoisted above the shoulders of Timothy Shaw and Keith Troitter, everyone cheering and screaming. Grace picked herself off the ground, her red and black Omnicolour robe with a large rip down the side, a bruise across her forehead, and her hair completely out of order. She looked baffled.
Grace raced directly at the group of Stedas that surrounded Sadie. They all instantly faced Grace, putting Sadie down and keeping her safely behind them.
"We're racing again!" Grace demanded.
"No way!" Kelsey fired back, "Sadie won fair and square!"
"My broom bucked me! She must have jinxed it when I wasn't looking!"
"After you tackled me," Sadie replied, moving from the back of the group toward Grace, "I should have jinxed it. But like you said, I'm 'Murray the Muggle.' I don't know any jinxes to jinx you with! Remember?"
"Oh yeah? Well unless you can explain why my broom threw me off, then we're going again, you cheater!"
Before anyone could argue, the quiet voice that had incited this entire confrontation spoke. "It's obvious, really." Everyone toward Max Brooks.
"What in the wizarding world are you talking about, four-eyes?" Grace yelled, completely confused.
"You mounted your broom from the right. Brooms don't like that; it's disrespectful to them. And you were quite rough with it. I'm pretty sure it simply became frustrated with you. I thought it was quite obvious, but I suppose it wasn't."
Grace screamed, turned on her heels, and started marching up toward the school. Horribilis, Noctowl, and especially Steda, all cheered for Sadie's triumph, causing such a scene that, when Professor Zephyra finally returned, she was left completely bewildered and speechless as to what all this celebration was all about.
Sadie Murray and the Enigma Scroll by star_sailor
Chapter Notes: Classes have begun at The Salem Institute. Is Sadie ready to learn how to be a wizard? And what is all this nonsense about flying on brooms all about?