Sunday and Flying Lessons

Everyone spent a leisurely, relaxing day.

On Sunday, Su Yu lay bored out of his mind on a sofa in the Slytherin common room. Kurama crouched on the table with a cup of coffee before him. Imitating Fa-jie and Ka-jie, he held the cup in his two front paws and took tiny sips. But after every sip, he went "Ptoo, ptoo, ptoo," stuck out his tongue, and scrunched up his entire face.

"What the hell is this stuff?" Kurama pushed the cup away. "It's bitter and astringent. How do you humans drink this?"

Fa-jie sighed helplessly and got up to fetch a cup of hot milk. Kurama lowered his head for a taste, his ears perked up, then he took another sip, the tip of his tail rose, and he drained the whole cup in one gulp.

"This is decent." Kurama licked his lips and pushed the empty cup toward Fa-jie. "Another one."

Daphne sat beside Su Yu reading. She liked the feeling of being by his side. There was no need to speak or do anything, just sit quietly, turn a few pages, and occasionally look up at him. Su Yu's breathing was light, his eyelashes faintly trembling. It was hard to tell whether he was truly asleep or simply resting with his eyes closed.

After quite a while, Su Yu turned over and frowned.

"What's wrong?" Daphne put down her book.

"I feel uncomfortable," Su Yu said.

He sat up and looked around the common room. The Slytherin common room was beneath the lake to begin with. Its ceiling was low, its stone walls damp all year round, and no matter how fiercely the fireplace burned, it could not chase away that cold, clammy atmosphere. Several skulls sat in the corners, unidentified bone specimens rested in wall niches, and candlelight swayed in the darkness, throwing shadows across the walls like a pack of ghosts ready to come alive at any moment.

"It's too oppressive," Su Yu said. "I'm sick of this environment."

Kurama jumped down from the table and crouched beside his feet, looking around as well. "It's not much," he said. "Barely better than the seal."

Su Yu stood up. His voice was not loud, but the entire common room could hear him. "Fa-jie, Ka-jie. Gather everyone who's in the dorms!"

Fa-jie and Ka-jie exchanged a glance. They did not know why Su Yu liked calling them that, but they immediately got up to summon the others. Before long, everyone had gathered in the main hall of the common room. Some had been dragged out of afternoon naps, their hair a mess and their robes not even fastened properly.

Su Yu stood before the fireplace and swept his gaze across the room.

"Who knows the Undetectable Extension Charm?"

Several upper-year students stepped forward. Su Yu told them his idea—expand the common room, raise the ceiling, and clear out those eyesore bone displays. After hearing him out, the upper-year students looked troubled.

"Prefect," said a sixth-year boy, "we don't know a permanent Undetectable Extension Charm. And even if we did, we'd need approval from the school and the Ministry of Magic."

"Forget it, then," Su Yu said.

He walked to the center of the common room, crouched down, and pressed both hands to the floor.

Several younger students took a few steps back. Fa-jie and Ka-jie did not move, merely folding their arms as they watched.

Su Yu closed his eyes. Chakra seeped from his palms into the stone floor, spreading downward through the foundation. He sensed the underground structure—beneath the stone was earth, beneath the earth was rock, and beneath the rock was lake water. The entire Slytherin common room was like a shell embedded in a mountainside: low, damp, and airless.

Then he would dig it deeper.

"Earth Release."

His voice was soft. The ground was not.

The entire common room shook violently. The stone floor creaked as though something beneath it had turned over. Several students lost their footing and crashed into one another. Sparks scattered from the fireplace, and the wall sconces clattered loudly.

Then the floor began to sink.

It was not collapsing—it was as though an invisible hand were pressing the entire floor downward. Cracks in the stone were filled by newly formed earth, and the bone specimens on the walls fell during the tremors and shattered to pieces. The ceiling did not move, but the floor dropped a full two meters, and the common room suddenly became far more spacious.

Su Yu rose and dusted off his hands.

"There. Now just throw out those bones and the trash. We're aristocrats, not the undead!"

He took a deep breath. The air was still damp, but it no longer felt as stifling as before. Firelight from the fireplace reflected on walls now two meters higher, and the shadows no longer felt so oppressive. The lake water overhead still shone in through the windows as before, but the view had changed—now, the fish swimming along the lakebed seemed lower down.

Everyone was stunned. Those upper-year students stood with their mouths open for a long time.

Su Yu said nothing else. He waved a hand, dismissing everyone to get back to whatever they had been doing.

Daphne sat back down and opened her book again, a smile curling at her lips. Kurama leaped onto the sofa, sprawled across Su Yu's lap, and rested his chin on Su Yu's knee.

In the blink of an eye, it was Thursday of the second week.

Early that morning, Su Yu heard everyone talking about that day's flying lesson. Malfoy stood in the middle of the common room, one hand in his pocket and the other gesturing as he recounted his legendary experience of flying a toy broom from the east tower of his manor to the west tower when he was three.

"—The wind was strong that day," Malfoy said. "At least force six. I made a sharp turn, and the tail of my broom brushed the tip of the tower, but I kept it steady. My father was watching below and said—"

"Said you were really good at bragging?" Fa-jie passed by without even turning her head.

Malfoy choked for a moment, but quickly recovered his expression. "My father said I was the Malfoy family's greatest flying prodigy in a century."

Ka-jie walked past him, glanced at him, and left without saying anything.

Still, over the past week, Malfoy had stopped looking for trouble with Harry. He felt his old self had been ridiculously childish—chasing after Potter every day, saying, "My father will hear about this," and "I'll tell my father," like some child who had not been weaned yet. But the urge to show off was something all Slytherins had. It could not be changed.

It was not just Malfoy. The Slytherins had all changed.

That haughty air of theirs made the other Houses dislike them even more. In their eyes, everyone else was trash. Whenever they opened their mouths, it was, "I'm someone you could never hope to reach. Get lost!" Whenever they shut them, it was, "Do you even deserve to enter my sight?"

The other three Houses were not without tempers, either, were they? A Ravenclaw prefect had gotten into an argument with Fa-jie in the corridor. Several Hufflepuff upper-years had once cornered Ka-jie. The Weasley twins from Gryffindor had even tried to secretly replace the Slytherin common room's sign with one reading "Toilet." But every night, Su Yu taught them how to cast spells skillfully, fight, and use Dark magic... As they continued improving themselves, they looked down on students from the other Houses even more. They all carried an attitude that said, "I feel sick just talking to you."

Su Yu's opinion on the matter was simple: as long as they did not cause him trouble, they could do whatever they wanted.

Just before class, Malfoy and Harry started arguing again.

This time, though, it was not Malfoy's fault. A group of students stood on the steps outside the castle waiting to head to the grounds when Harry said to Ron, "Thinking about the flying lesson later, sitting on a broom in front of Malfoy makes me feel kind of stupid."

Ron immediately chimed in, "I don't know whether you'll look stupid on one, but as far as I know, Malfoy has always been proud of his Quidditch, and I'd bet he's bragging about himself again right now."

By coincidence, Malfoy, walking behind him, heard every word.

Malfoy's face instantly turned red, then white, then red again. His lips moved, and his knuckles went pale.

"You—" Malfoy kept his voice low, but every word burned with anger. "Dare say that again?"

"I'll say it if I want," Ron said, lifting his chin. "Who's scared of whom?"

Harry stepped forward and stood beside Ron.

Malfoy sneered and slammed his broom onto the ground. "A duel. Tonight. The trophy room."

"Fine," Harry said.

Ron added from beside him, "Don't chicken out when the time comes."

Fortunately, Professor Hooch arrived in time. She strode over from the direction of the grounds, a whistle hanging around her neck and her brow knotted tightly.

"What are you lot doing?" Her gaze swept from Malfoy to Harry, then from Harry to Ron. "Flying class is about to start. Get back in line, all of you!"

The boys dispersed and returned to their respective places in the line. As Malfoy left, he turned back to glare at Harry. Harry glared back. Ron pulled a face behind them.

Hermione stood on the other side of the line, and she was not in a very good mood either.

At noon, Hermione told Su Yu that practical work like this was not nearly as easy as memorizing knowledge from books—and besides, she had never flown before. So, at breakfast that Thursday, Hermione had decided to teach her classmates the flying techniques she had learned from a book called Quidditch Compendium. But that decision had thoroughly annoyed everyone, and she could feel it.

Su Yu had comforted her for quite a while, sat with her in the hall for some time, and even had the kitchen elves make her a serving of macaroni and cheese. Hermione's mood clearly improved after she finished it.

Professor Hooch stood on the grounds with her whistle in her mouth, hands on her hips, and shouted, "Hey, what are you standing around there like idiots for? Each of you, get beside a broom! Come on, hurry up!"

The first-year students swarmed toward the brooms assigned to their respective classes. Su Yu strolled over to one, lowered his eyes, and took a look—it was old, with uneven twigs and paint worn away from its handle.

"Hold your right hands over your brooms," Professor Hooch said from the front of the line, then shouted, "Up!"

Professor Hooch then demonstrated mounting a broom for everyone. She swung a leg over it, kicked off with one foot, and rose steadily into the air. She circled above the grounds once before landing, her movements crisp and clean.

"Did you all see that clearly?" she said. "Once you mount, lean forward, grip the broomstick tightly with both hands, and clamp it between your legs—though not too tightly, or the broom will feel uncomfortable. Do you think brooms have no feelings?"

She had everyone practice their sitting posture once while walking back and forth through the line, correcting their mistakes. When she reached Malfoy, she paused.

"Your posture is completely wrong," Professor Hooch said loudly. "Your back is too straight, and your body is too stiff. Do you think you're riding a dragon?"

Harry and Ron were delighted. Ron covered his mouth, his shoulders shaking. Harry did not laugh aloud, but the corners of his mouth lifted high.

Malfoy's face reddened again. He adjusted his posture, but no matter how he looked, it was still wrong.

Then Professor Hooch had everyone attempt a test flight.

"Listen for my whistle," she said. "When it blows, push lightly off the ground and rise two feet into the air. When I tell you to stop, you stop. Understood?"

Everyone nodded.

Su Yu set Kurama down by Daphne's feet and mounted his broom. Kurama crouched on the ground and looked up at him.

The moment she finished speaking, the whistle sounded.

Neville shot into the air.

He launched upward as though fired from a slingshot, streaking into the sky in an instant. His face was white as paper, his eyes round with terror, and both hands clung desperately to the broom handle. His entire body was pressed against the broom like a leaf blown away by the wind.

"Ah—ah—ah—" Neville's screams drifted down from high above, growing more distant.

Su Yu's sand surged out from his sleeve and raced after him along the ground. But Neville's broom was too fast. The sand chased him for some distance, always falling just short.

Neville traced a huge arc through the sky, knocked over quite a few structures, and then began to fall.

The screaming grew louder.

The sand finally caught up to him. When Neville was less than two meters from the ground, sand spread beneath him in a thick cushion. Neville crashed into the sand pile, and the dust it kicked up filled the entire grounds.

By the time Professor Hooch ran over, her face was as white as Neville's. She bent down to check his arms and legs. Neville lay on the ground, tears and snot smeared all over his face as he sobbed miserably.

"His arm is broken." Professor Hooch stood and turned toward the remaining students. "While I take this student to the hospital wing, no one is allowed to attempt another flight without permission. Anyone who dares move will be out of here! Understood?"

No one spoke.

"Come on, little one. Let's go." Professor Hooch carefully helped Neville to his feet and led him toward the castle.

The grounds fell silent for several seconds.

Then Malfoy moved.

He mounted his broom, kicked off, and shot into the air. He did not fly high, but his posture was steady—steadier even than Professor Hooch's demonstration earlier. He spun once in the air, then stopped not far from Harry and looked down at him from above.

"Potter," Malfoy said, "we haven't settled things between us."

Harry looked up at him, already gripping his broom handle.

"You want to compete?" Harry said.

"Do you dare?"

Harry did not answer. He mounted his broom, kicked off, and flew up as well.

The two hovered in the air facing each other, more than ten meters apart. Malfoy's broom did not move at all. Harry's broom trembled slightly, then steadied itself, and the two began chasing each other through the air.

Professor McGonagall appeared by the edge of the grounds at some point. Her face was livid, her lips pressed into a thin line, and her eyes behind her glasses looked like two balls of fire.

"Potter! Malfoy!" Her voice was not loud, but it carried across the entire grounds. "Get down! Immediately! Right now!"

When the two landed, their legs were both trembling.

Professor McGonagall did not say a single word. She merely looked at Harry, then at Malfoy, before turning around and walking away.

"Harry, come with me," she said.

Harry followed her. Malfoy stood where he was, his face alternating between white and red. Crabbe and Goyle came over, only for him to shove each of them away with a slap.

During dinner that night, Hermione was still complaining to Su Yu.

"What did I do wrong?" Her eyes were red, and she had not touched the food in front of her. "Why is the whole class isolating me?"

Su Yu leaned back in his chair and listened.

Su Yu felt that she was not wrong either. She was merely a girl who cared about House points and shared her own thoughts. Though sometimes, she did make people feel as if she was simply showing off and talking endlessly. But she had never gone to tattletale, had she?

This time, Daphne had Hermione in her arms. She held Hermione close, gently patting her back with one hand while using the other to wipe away her tears. Hermione rested against Daphne's shoulder, her body trembling as she cried quietly, unable to stop.

Kurama lay on the table with both ears drooping, his tail curled into a ball. He glanced at Hermione, then at Su Yu, then back at Hermione.

"So noisy," Kurama said.

No one paid him any attention.

Kurama buried his face in his paws and muttered again, "That bunch of idiots from Gryffindor... I really want to eat every last one of them. If it weren't for them, Hermione wouldn't have come here crying so much that my head hurts."

Daphne lowered her head to look at Kurama and smiled gently, but said nothing. She continued patting Hermione's back, once after another, slow and light.

Su Yu reached out, picked up a piece of cheesecake, and placed it before Kurama.

Kurama raised one eye from his paws, looked at the cake, then looked at Su Yu.

"Don't think one piece of cake will make me stop being angry," he said.

Then he ate the cake.