Muggle Trouble -Theodore Nott-

5| What Kind Of Name Is Baloney?

My next class was physical education, so we all headed off to the stables. At the entrance, as always, was Coach Baloney. Although I've known her for years, I still felt a chuckle coming up as I thought of the name. 

No offense to her, obviously.

"Alright, we're going to be starting horseback riding this year! Get warmed up with two laps around the field!" Baloney yelled, blowing her whistle. I plugged my ears, praying for my eardrums silently.

 The entire class rushed off, everyone defaulting into their different friend groups as we made our way around the field. Occasionally, I would glance back and check how my transfer students were doing- but by their constant panting by the end of lap 1, not well. 

"How long is this thing?" asked Ron, sweating.

Harry wiped a drop of sweat from his eyebrow and nodded in agreement. "My cousin never told me how dreadful P.E was"

I smiled ruefully, "half a mile a lap. Now come on, Baloney is really strict about her "under 7-minutes" policy, you don't wanna be late."

~~<<~~>>~~<<

Another three and a half minutes later, we made it just in time for her whistle to blow in an earsplitting shriek once more. "CHOOSE A HORSE, EVERYONE!"

In between my gasps for air, I grinned. Horses meant no more running. 

I ended up with a chocolate brown horse named Coco and led her out to the field. Hermione, Harry, and Ron followed with Snow, Star, and Muffin respectively. 

"Hey look! Dursley doesn't have a horse!", a student snarked, pointing at Dudley. 

At the sound of Dursley, Harry looked up, alarmed. "Did he say Dursley? As in- as in my cousin?!?"

"Your cousin is Dudley?" I asked, unable to stop myself from laughing. 

However, before I could ask more pressing questions- like why he was so surprised- Coach Baloney began barking out instructions. "ON THE LEFT SIDE EVERYONE! 1 FOOT UP THE RING, COME ON!"

I tried my best to follow instructions but the mount was quite wobbly. "It could be worse though", I thought to myself, as I spotted Hermione's attempts. Before I could say anything though, Coco suddenly shifted under me and I tumbled off into the dirt. 

Sighing, I picked myself up and tried again. Unfortunately, my freefall seemed to have encouraged Baloney and by the time class ended, she assigned us an entire packet to fill out on the nitty details of horse mounting and dismounting. 

~~<<~~>>~~<<

After changing into a set of clean clothing, I joined the rest of my classmates who were packed together in front of the stables, waiting for the lunch bell. With everyone squished, I could hear all the annoying conversations around me. 

"Oh my god, already? I hate lunch, it makes me fat.", I heard someone say. 

I turned around and saw that it was Kristen- of course. She and her group of friends were always completely smitten with themselves. 

I was about to turn back around and ignore her but then I heard someone mutter, "she's pretty". 

And the speaker? Nott from math. At that moment, I hated Kristen more than I had ever before. 

I wasn't being jealous, was I?