First Flying Class Battle!

First Flying Class Battle!

They were in Defense Against the Dark Arts, but there was one question Ted had never figured out: how exactly did one define Dark Magic? When it came to Dark Magic, that question had always been rather vague.

It was hard to explain.

It was like asking me what obscenity was. I couldn't define obscenity.

But show me a picture or video, and I'd know whether it was obscene. Dark Magic had several things in common:

First, Dark Magic often required harming others as the price of casting it.

Second, using Dark Magic could seriously harm others. The most typical example was breeding a Basilisk. Then there was Sectumsempra—a invisible killing blade whose wounds were difficult to heal.

Third, when using Dark Magic, one had to harbor immense malice and negative emotions. The three Unforgivable Curses were typical examples.

Fourth, why could ordinary students only make someone's nose bleed when they used Avada Kedavra? On one hand, their magical ability was insufficient. On the other, they simply were not evil enough.

It was what people always said about a wizard's will. Magic Power drove the spell's initial effect, while will determined its final effect.

And between Dark Magic and white magic lay a gray area: jinxes and hexes.

In Harry Potter, Dark Magic was divided into jinxes, hexes, and curses.

Jinxes were those lighthearted spells used as jokes, similar to pranks, such as the Tripping Curse and the Bat-Bogey Hex.

Hexes were more serious. Hermione's disfiguring curse that covered Marietta's face in boils, and Ron's Slug-Vomiting Charm, both fell into this category.

Strictly speaking, though, spells like the Severing Charm, Reducto, Incendio... all of them could kill people. So how were they supposed to be defined?

The first class on Friday morning was Flying Class, together with Hufflepuff.

There were no classes in the afternoon, so they could start their weekend right away.

Their Flying Class teacher was Madam Hooch. The school brooms were rather old, looking like bald brooms that had shed all their bristles—the kind no one would bother picking up if they were lying in the road.

Flying Class went quite smoothly. Humans had yearned for the skies since ancient times and had always been obsessed with the ability to fly.

Ted was no exception. Like Hermione, he was rather excited.

Hermione had even read several books on flight theory the night before.

Both of them were Muggle-born and had never touched one of these things before.

Ted had an easier time—his broom flew straight into his hand on the first try—but Hermione was less fortunate.

Her broom lazily rolled around on the ground, refusing to fly into her hand.

Ted was not surprised. In his understanding, Hermione was the sort of top student who excelled at theory but was not especially skilled at practical work.

And Flying Class had no theory to speak of. It was all practice.

Ted straddled his broom and hovered half a meter above the ground. He stayed beside Hermione instead of flying off, patiently guiding her.

"Hermione, you can't hesitate. Don't worry about whether the broom will respond, and don't dwell on flying, either. Your will has to be firm and unwavering, without the slightest slackness. Only then will the broom obediently listen to you."

"It isn't alive. It's just a tool that can sense your magic power. Order it to fly into your hand..."

Ted completed a task in Flying Class: Flight (White), earning 100 experience points.

After Ted and the others had had their fun, it was Harriett, Neville, and the others' turn to enjoy the flying brooms.

That was right. Gryffindor's next Flying Class was with Slytherin.

Ron naturally began boasting about his flying skills. "I've been playing with toy brooms since before I could even crawl!"

But Harriett was not interested in the slightest.

This was the biggest difference from the original story—Harriett had absolutely no interest in riding a broom through the sky. She had inherited none of her father James Potter's genes in that regard. Sirius deeply regretted it.

Not far away, Malfoy boasted even more outrageously, claiming that when he was eight or nine, he had ridden a flying broom and shaken up a Muggle helicopter! It showed that one had to be cautious when bragging—never boast about a field one did not understand.

If a flying broom got anywhere near a helicopter, it would probably turn into evenly scattered fragments in the next second.

No, it could not even get close. The wind was too strong!

Of the four Gryffindor friends, only Ron was eagerly looking forward to showing off and pulling off something impressive. The other three were not particularly excited.

Harriett was uninterested, Neville had barely touched the things growing up, and Jerry had not even known flying brooms existed before going to Diagon Alley.

Naturally, their flight went poorly.

Harriett did all right. She had great talent, and her broom obediently flew into her hand.

Jerry's and Neville's brooms could not even be bothered to twitch.

When no one was looking, Jerry picked his up. Seeing that, Neville also secretly bent down and picked up his broom. Though no one saw him, his face still turned scarlet with embarrassment.

Then another problem arose during the test flight.

Neville was too nervous. The moment he pushed off the ground, he shot into the air! Broom: I want to fly higher~ Fly higher! Soar into the sky and stand shoulder to shoulder with the sun!

When he reached a height of twenty meters, Neville let go of the broom outright.

After all, if he kept flying, he might fall to his death and leave no body behind. At least now he still had a chance! Fortunately, Madam Hooch caught Neville with a Cushioning Charm. Otherwise, even if he did not die, he would have lost half his life.

After comforting Neville for a few words, Madam Hooch hurried off to find the broom that had already "gone free." It was school property, after all. She could not just let it run away.

The moment Madam Hooch left, the class went out of control. Eleven- and twelve-year-old children were restless by nature, and in less than a minute, they began stirring.

Those who could fly took off. Those who could not, or did not want to, leaned on their brooms and chatted on the ground.

Then Malfoy, who had been mocking Neville all along, suddenly spotted a glass orb on the ground—it was Neville's Memory Orb.

"Ha! Look what I found! Longbottom's Memory Orb, from his lucky escape from death~ Woohoo~" Malfoy immediately showed it off to his classmates.

The Slytherin students immediately burst into mocking laughter.

At that moment, Harriett charged forward and snatched the Memory Orb from Malfoy's hand! "Malfoy, is your family so poor that you have to make a living picking up other people's things?" she shouted at him like an enraged lioness! Malfoy had been bullied by Harriett since childhood and was a little traumatized. Her roar left him stunned, and he did not dare make a move.

But his two unfortunate lackeys were far too eager and immediately rushed over.

Ron and the others could not just stand by. "What do you think you're doing?" The two sides immediately began shoving each other.

No one knew who threw the first punch, but with a cry of "Ow!", the shoving escalated into a brawl between Gryffindor and Slytherin.

It became known as the First Flying Class Battle!

At least five or six people ended up with bruised faces or black eyes. Nearly every boy was covered in mud, and several girls had joined the fight as well.

On Gryffindor's side, Harriett put on a spectacular display, beating up all three of Malfoy's group by herself! She was like a war goddess!

On the Slytherin side, there was Millicent Bulstrode, known throughout the school as the Ogress. She was also a heroic girl, the sort who could let horses race across her arms and people stand on her fists...

Neville was very brave in this battle. Though his fists trembled inside his sleeves after it was over, he had not held back at all during the fight, deeply moving his friends.

Ron charged in the fiercest, plunging straight into the crowd to take them all on. He took quite a beating from Slytherin, with several footprints on his backside.

Jerry, meanwhile, specialized in sneak attacks from behind, kicking legs and tripping people. Half the mud on the Slytherins was thanks to him. He was also one of the few Gryffindors who took full advantage and escaped completely unscathed. What a clever little rascal~ By dinnertime, Ted and the others had already heard about the First Flying Class Battle, Gryffindor versus Slytherin.

From far away, they could hear Ron bragging. "I went right in with a sneak attack! Smack! A right roundhouse kick, smack! A left front kick, smack! Then a five-kick combo..."

For some reason, perhaps Ron's bragging had interfered with him, Ted automatically imagined a scene.

After the fight, the friends summed things up.

Ron: "What were you doing in the back when I charged in? I got knocked down, and then you insisted on rushing in to fight!" Harriett and the others: "They knocked you down, and we were so angry that we had to avenge you!" Ron: "Then why didn't you step in while they were beating me?" Harriett and the others: "We were discussing tactics."

Ron: "So what were your tactics?"

Harriett and the others: "Sell you out!"...

Of course, they were punished as well.

Both Houses lost fifty points! At least they were not given detention. There were too many of them, after all—perhaps the law could not punish everyone~ Ted: If this keeps up, Ravenclaw might have a chance to win the House Cup! Then suddenly, "Ding~"

Thanks to reader "Dead Boss Xia" for the 1,000 reward!

Thank you~