It's 86-86 Is Heading Up the Mountain

Watching the old broom lying rigidly on the ground, Roy copied the others and held out his hand, calling softly:

"Up."

The broken stick on the ground did not budge. If he had not seen Cedric summon his broom straight into his hand, he would have suspected this thing could not fly at all.

"Up!"

Roy shouted twice more in succession, but the broom remained motionless. As the students around him successfully got their brooms one after another, he could not help wondering whether his was broken.

"Hey, Cedric, help me see if this broom of mine is broken."

Roy kicked the broom at Cedric's feet. Cedric held his own broom in one hand and extended the other, saying softly:

"Up."

The broom that had refused to listen no matter what immediately floated up obediently and landed steadily in Cedric's hand.

Cedric tossed the broom back, and Roy caught it.

"Looks like it isn't broken. Maybe you should be more sincere?"

Faced with Cedric's unreliable advice, Roy refused to believe it and held out his hand again, shouting repeatedly.

"Up, up, get up!"

Most of the young wizards across the field had already gotten their brooms into their hands. Roy was gradually growing anxious. Why would the broom just not listen?

Noticing more and more people looking his way, Roy felt a little embarrassed. Bee Bro still needed to save face at school, after all. With things having come to this, Roy could only secretly use a spell.

"Broom, come."

Roy used an extraordinarily refined wandless, nonverbal Summoning Charm. Most fully graduated wizards might not even be able to cast a spell this difficult, but for Roy, who had mastered Ancient Magic, it was not much harder than an ordinary Summoning Charm.

Many people who had wanted to laugh at Roy saw that he, too, had gotten his broom in hand. Finding it dull, they turned away and began studying their own flying brooms.

Seeing that nearly every young wizard had their broom in hand, Madam Hooch began instructing them to mount their brooms and hover.

Everyone followed suit, straddling their brooms and giving a light push with their legs. Their feet left the ground.

The broom might not listen to Roy, but flying one was no challenge for him. Back when he had been a soldier, what had he not done in the air and on the ground? He quickly figured out the steps and principles behind controlling a flying broom.

It was obvious that many students already knew how to ride flying brooms. Some were not content with merely hovering and kept bobbing up and down through the air.

No one did anything especially outrageous in this class. Children being a little restless in PE was harmless enough. Once the last young wizard had safely taken off, Madam Hooch announced that they were free to do as they pleased for the rest of the lesson.

Naturally, Madam Hooch did not dare relax. These little ancestors could fall out of the sky at any moment. As she patrolled through the air on her broom, she kept a tense grip on her wand, ready to use the Levitation Charm to catch any falling student at the first sign of trouble.

Marcus Flint's flying skills really did seem quite good. He rode his broom like a rocket, darting back and forth through the air, and occasionally flew over to Aisling to flaunt his skills like a gorilla courting a mate.

Even seated on a flying broom, Aisling maintained an elegant posture. A group of Slytherin girls hovered around her, while Aisling remained utterly indifferent toward Marcus Flint's constant showing off.

Fred and George were also excellent flyers, as was Gryffindor's Angelina Johnson. The girl's flying skills were on par with those of the twin brothers.

Over on the Hufflepuff side, Cedric was the best flyer. He did not ride around showing off all sorts of tricks. His flying ability was reflected in his pure control and bodily coordination, with an almost deceptively simple mastery of turning and acceleration.

As for Roy? Don't make Bee Bro laugh. Would a special forces soldier who had flown fighter jets on the battlefield fail to figure out how to ride a lousy broom?

Flying on a broom was pretty interesting, but that was all. After flying around for a little while, Roy went to sit and rest in the stands.

Roy chatted with the students sitting in the stands while keeping an eye on what was happening in the air.

Sure enough, it was impossible for Slytherin and Gryffindor not to clash. Marcus Flint mocked the Weasley Twins for being unable to afford even a decent flying broom, and the brothers immediately shot back that Slytherin had not won the Quidditch Cup in years, their teams having been repeatedly defeated by Weasley's Bill and Charlie.

The atmosphere immediately became tense, and the conflict escalated. Cedric went forward to try to break it up, but Slytherin already had no goodwill toward Hufflepuff. Just as a Hogwarts aerial brawl was about to erupt, Madam Hooch stepped in and sternly stopped everyone.

With a professor intervening, there was naturally no fight to be had.

Marcus Flint, boiling with anger, directly proposed settling things with a flying contest. The losing side would have to apologize to the other house.

Gryffindor immediately refused to back down. Cedric had originally wanted to avoid this dispute, but the Weasley Twins directly dragged him into the competition.

"Fine! We'll see who can fly around all of Hogwarts's towers first! If we lose, we'll admit we're inferior to you Slytherins. If you lose, you'll honestly admit defeat!"

Though Angelina Johnson was a girl, she showed no fear whatsoever when facing the towering Marcus Flint.

"Fine! If I win, you Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs will all have to admit you're no match for us Slytherins!"

Provoked by Flint like this, even mild-tempered Cedric could not hold back any longer. There was a hint of anger in his voice:

"Then let's compete. We Hufflepuffs aren't afraid of you."

How could Roy miss such excitement? He flew into the air on his broom, a teasing smile on his face.

"A competition, huh? I'm in too!"

In the end, each of the four houses selected two contestants. The course required them to fly around every tower of Hogwarts, then return.

Gryffindor sent Fred and Angelina. Hufflepuff sent Roy and Cedric, the brotherly racing duo. Slytherin sent Flint and another student from a pure-blood family.

Before the race began, Cedric brought over a slightly newer broom and offered to exchange it with Roy.

"That Nimbus 86 in your hand is too slow. They're all using Cleansweep Sevens. You'll be at a disadvantage with that broom."

Roy waved dismissively, his tone making it clear that he did not take the others seriously at all.

"Do I need to change brooms to deal with them? Roy's blade doesn't cut down the old or the young. Just watch me drift."

The students of the various houses were extremely enthusiastic about the race. Six brooms lined up at the starting line, while thunderous cheers erupted from the stands.

Cedric was extremely excited under the effects of adrenaline, and the others were no better. No one was talking trash now; each face was more serious than the last.

People who wanted to win did not smile. Fred had his eyes closed, sitting motionlessly on his broom as though he had already been there for quite some time.

Cedric glanced at Roy beside him. No matter when, Roy always looked calm and composed. Cedric took a deep breath, his eyes taking on a deathly gleam as he waited for the starting signal.

Madam Hooch personally acted as referee and blew her whistle sharply. All six flying brooms shot forward at once.