Flying Class (II)

Oliver Wood was a tall, handsome, freckled fifth-year student. He was also the Gryffindor Quidditch team's Keeper and captain.

"Okay, Madam Hooch." Wood was a little stiff, but he answered Madam Hooch earnestly and made his way to the Flying Class grounds.

Wood was supposed to have Charms class with Professor Flitwick at this time today, but Professor Flitwick had rearranged his schedule for some reason. Had he gone back to his hometown?

The Gryffindors were excited to see an older student from their House arrive, while the Slytherins were different. They glared haughtily at Wood and the Little Lions.

"I hope Madam Hooch taught you how to take off. But take it slowly, or you'll get hurt." Wood didn't have much of a House rivalry, though he was a little reserved around the Little Snakes. He earnestly told the Little Lions, "Now's not the time to glare at each other. All right, everyone, let's start flying."

With an older student watching over them, the Little Lions and Little Snakes didn't get too rowdy. But when Wood turned to teach a Gryffindor, trouble broke out on Malfoy's side.

"Give it back, Malfoy!" Harry glared at Malfoy.

Malfoy had picked up a Remembrall from the ground. It belonged to Neville. Breeze hovered in the air, swaying as he watched them argue.

"Those two can get into trouble over anything."

Hermione, who had been trying to teach Breeze how to fly, heard him and looked over. She was about to join in, making Breeze raise an eyebrow and chuckle as he watched the righteous Hermione fly down on her broom.

Ron, who had just been standing nearby, had also seen what was happening. He muttered to Breeze, "Hmph, Slytherins can't be up to any good. He's definitely going to become a Dark Wizard someday..."

As he spoke, Ron flew down too, intending to cheer Harry on.

More and more young wizards gathered around. Wood noticed something was wrong, but before he could do anything, Malfoy flew into the sky and sneered at Harry. "Guess where I'm going to put it. Come and get it, if you can!"

At that, Harry immediately took off after him on his broom.

"Come down, Slytherin and Harry! This isn't safe!" Wood shouted, but neither of them paid him any attention. Hermione looked furious. "Honestly, this is going to get everyone in trouble. He could break his neck!"

With that, Hermione climbed onto her broom and flew up after them.

Harry and Malfoy chased each other ahead, while Hermione pursued them relentlessly from behind. Seeing this, Malfoy flew even higher without hesitation. Wood had no choice but to grab a broom and take to the sky.

He thought, These kids are such a handful!

Wood had forgotten that the young wizards below were still facing off. One by one, they wanted to get on their brooms and help. The Little Snakes saw that Wood had left and stopped hiding their intentions. They mounted their brooms and began to surround the others. Now a whole crowd of young wizards were flying in the air, grabbing and shoving one another. None of them were cowards, and the grudges they'd accumulated over the past week or so erupted all at once.

Some of the Little Snakes were sensible, though. Zabini, for instance, had also taken to the air, but stayed off to the side. When he noticed Breeze looking at him, he coolly returned his gaze without the slightest fear.

"Heh, not bad, kid."

"Ah!" One of the young wizards was knocked off his broom, and the standoff finally erupted into a full-blown fight.

"Damn it, they knocked Patil off! Get them!"

Pansy was still as mean and nasty as ever. When Patil on the other side cursed Malfoy, Pansy rammed into her without hesitation and knocked her off her broom while she was still flustered.

Luckily, they weren't very high up. Otherwise, she might have been hurt.

Breeze thought he'd better fly a little higher and stay out of the amateurs' brawl.

What Breeze didn't notice was that Malfoy had already flown back behind him. When Malfoy saw Breeze, he had a devious idea. He tossed the Remembrall at Breeze first, then shouted, "Order, catch!"

"Huh?"

Breeze had just turned around when he saw Harry fly past Malfoy and charge toward him. His broom suddenly went out of control. He hurriedly tried to steady himself in the air, spinning around several times. Wood arrived just then, lowered his broom, and prepared to catch Harry. Hermione also hurried over, about to say something to Breeze, when—

Seeing Breeze catch the Remembrall, Ron immediately broke away from the group of young wizards and charged at him.

"Breeze!"

Hermione shouted. Breeze quickly sensed Ron behind him and twisted aside, dodging his collision. But the boy actually grabbed Breeze's broom.

"Let go! It can't take much more of your rough handling!"

"You filthy Dark Wizard! Give Neville's Remembrall back!"

What kind of logic was that? Annoyed, Breeze tossed the Remembrall to Ron. But his broom had already been pushed to its limit. It could barely stay level, and Breeze began to descend slowly.

"Whoosh!"

Harry's broom slipped out of his control. Wood caught him from below, but the broom flew straight toward Breeze.

"Ugh!" Breeze felt a sharp blow to his waist. A jolt of pain sent him falling off his broom. Gritting through the pain, he hurriedly drew his wand and shouted at the broom still floating in the air, "Broom, Accio!"

The broom flew back into his hand. Using it, Breeze landed quickly. Then, without hesitation, he pointed his wand at Ron, who had just descended, and cast Levicorpus on him. He also used a levitation spell to make Ron's broom smack him hard on the backside!

And Harry Potter over there, too!

"Order!" Hermione had just tried to stop him when she saw Wood and Harry both dangling upside down in the air.

"Very good, Harry Potter, and Ron Weasley!"

Seeing that Wood had been caught in the spell's range while Breeze was angry and had lost control of it, Breeze kindly let him down. Then he turned to the young wizards fighting all around.

"Levicorpus!"

A wave of magic washed over the group of young wizards. In an instant, they and their brooms were all hanging upside down in midair, just inches above the ground. They cried out in alarm, while the Little Snakes clapped their hands over their mouths when they saw Breeze clutching his waist and glaring at them, afraid to make a sound.

Once it was done, the fury and ruthlessness in Breeze's eyes quickly faded, replaced by a blank, cold expression. Not one of these kids knew how to behave. And then there was Malfoy.

He cast another spell, hoisting the one Malfoy who had escaped the others upside down into the air. Breeze felt completely at ease.

"Put me down, Breeze Order!"

Breeze shot Malfoy a look as he hung there, both guilty and defiant. Then Breeze pulled his robes open slightly, revealing a large patch of skin on his waist, soaked with blood.

"Oh, what are you doing!"

Professor McGonagall hurried over. Her first stop was Breeze. Seeing the injury to his waist, she turned livid, then stared in shock at the crowd of young wizards hanging upside down.

"Now tell me what happened, or every one of you can pack your things and get out!"

McGonagall had just arrived in time to see Breeze knocked off his broom by Harry's broom. How had things turned into this?

Just then, Snape appeared from somewhere, with Quirrell following behind him.

Snape looked at Harry hanging upside down and seemed to enjoy the sight for a moment. Then he sneered. "I hope our Savior learns to hold on to his broom. Otherwise, tomorrow's headlines will be splashed everywhere: 'The Boy Who Lived Kills a Classmate.'"

"Or perhaps a headline about a student injuring Mr. Breeze Order and getting hung upside down would do just as well."

Professor Quirrell looked at Breeze with concern, then said, "Oh, e-excuse me. F-first, we should check whether a-anyone's been hurt."

"Or, f-first, undo the spell."

Professor McGonagall's expression grew even more severe. Suppressing her anger, she turned to Wood, who had just rescued Harry. "Wood, take Mr. Order to the Hospital Wing."

But McGonagall didn't immediately let the young wizards down. Instead, she looked at the wand in Breeze's hand and said to him first, "Mr. Order, you need to be careful with magic."

Using magic on such a large scale had even made McGonagall think Breeze might have suffered a magical outburst.

"I understand, Professor. But I hope they won't act so recklessly next time. I was too angry in the moment."

"Of course. I promise." McGonagall managed a strained smile, then looked away from Breeze as she considered how to deal with the incident.

Wood said, "Professor McGonagall... I'm responsible for this too. Madam Hooch asked me to keep an eye on them, but she took an injured student to the Hospital Wing just now."

"All right, I understand. Professor Snape, Professor Quirrell, and I will find out what happened. You may go."

"Yes, Professor."

"I can carry you." Wood crouched down, and Breeze didn't protest. He was in too much pain to walk. He just wanted to lie down in Madam Pomfrey's hospital bed as soon as possible and drink some of her unbearably bitter potion.

"Oh, Mr. Order, I hope you're all right. That was... e-excellent..."

Professor McGonagall interrupted Quirrell and continued, "An excellent Summoning Charm, Mr. Order. I'm sure Professor Flitwick would award you points if he were here today. But for now, you should go get treated."

Breeze left, but the matter here was far from over.

"Miss Granger, tell us what happened. What made these two arrogant Little Lions go after our Mr. Order?" Snape asked in a cold, meaningful tone, addressing Hermione, the only one Breeze hadn't put under a spell. "And while you're at it, tell us how the Little Lions and Little Snakes ended up fighting!"

Snape glared toward the Slytherins, and the Little Snakes' faces immediately went pale.

"Malfoy, you were flying quite well up there just now. Perhaps you can explain what happened!"

Hermione bit her lip. She had no intention of covering for anyone, especially since Breeze—her good friend—was the one who'd been hurt. Ron had gone too far this time. And what had happened to Harry's broom? He was too arrogant, flying around so recklessly before he'd even learned properly!

Before Hermione could say anything, Ron spoke up first.

"It was Malfoy. He stole Neville's Remembrall, so Harry went after him. Then Malfoy threw the Remembrall to Order. They're in cahoots, so I charged at him—"

"That's enough, Weasley!" Hermione flushed and glared at Ron.