Louise had to part ways with Cate, Viola and Isabella after the fight because she had charms with the Slytherins then. So, Viola, Isabella and Cate ran quickly without her to the history classroom and sat next to each other, hastily grabbing their textbooks out of their bags.
The class was seated, staring listlessly around, some of them yawning and rubbing the early morning tiredness out of their eyes. The scant, dull posters on the walls of assemblies of wizards and ancient statues did nothing to brighten the mood. Apparently Professor Binns had not thought much of the idea of some goblin rebellions or wars being on his walls.
Right on cue the Professor walked-or-uh-floated to his desk, his glasses slipping marginally down his translucent nose.
"Students, please turn to page 23 and listen to me clearly." He announced monotonously.
Cate tapped Viola's shoulder, yawning immediately after Binns had started speaking. "Wake me up after class." Isabella snickered and rested her chin on her hand as she 'listened' to Professor Binns.
However, Viola wouldn't have any of it and as Cate dozed off she hit her hard on the arm with her textbook. She soon gave up however, as Cate was repeatedly falling asleep, becoming more and more oblivious to the blows she was being dealt by Viola.
After the boring lecture, Viola grinned and pulled on Cate's arm, waking her up from her slumber. Isabella had only managed to stay awake by picturing what her parents' expressions would be if they found out she had slept in class.
They left the class and parted ways for their next lessons. Viola and Isabella, to join Louise at the greenhouses and Cate, to have her first lesson with Louise's dad. When they met again at lunch, Viola could hardly eat, facing the prospect of their first flight on a broom.
"Your dad is great Louise!" Cate told her, under the clear blue sky of the Great Hall, when they met after eating at their respective house tables, "He's the best teacher out of them all if you ask me."
"Yeah, Louise definitely got her sense of humor from him." Isabella commented.
"He's definitely great." Louise replied modestly, "But your dads must be great too!"
"Mine just wants me to get good grades." Isabella shot back.
"And mine doesn't get me at all!" Viola added, only for Cate to hit them both on the arm.
"At least you two still have dads!" she returned.
The awkward silence that followed was mercifully broken by the bell.
The girls rose and grabbed their bags, Louise and Cate on their way to two tough lessons - transfiguration and astronomy, while Viola and Isabella descended to the dungeons for their first class with the dreaded professor Augustine, followed by their transfiguration lesson.
After sitting through their last two lessons, the girls hurried off to put their bags away and headed to the flat lawns by the Quidditch pitch, where they would have their first flying lesson.
Viola jumped up and down excitedly with a huge smile.
"I'll get to ride on a broom! My dream's coming true!"
Isabella grinned regretfully, "Same here! Mother and father were too busy with their work so they never really showed me how to ride."
Cate yawned again, her baggy, loose robes slipping slightly off her right shoulder. She adjusted them lazily and said, "I've ridden one before."
Viola turned her attention to her, sparkles in her eyes. "You have?!"
Cate grinned lazily and scratched her neck. "Yeah, stole my grandma's broom and rode it a couple of times. It's resulted in a broken wrist, leg... maybe a rib or two, but-" She shrugged nonchalantly.
Isabella shuddered over the fact that Cate had broken almost all the bones in her body.
"Merlin's beard, you're a psycho!" She exclaimed.
"Aren't we all?"
A distance away, on the edge of the lawns, Louise was waiting for the girls patiently, having rushed down to the pitch in anticipation. She caught sight of them and began to approach them but found her path blocked.
Ethanuel was smirking as his jet black hair shone beneath the bright sun. He had caught sight of Louise and identified her swiftly, hurrying over from his Slytherin group and barring her way.
"Oh, I know you! You're friends with the traitor aren't you?" He mocked.
Louise narrowed her eyes and reached into her pocket to fish out her wand.
Then she realised she couldn't do any spells and sighed softly to herself. 'What? You can't even do a simple defensive spell yet?' She thought.
Thankfully, she didn't need to.
"Oi, Ethanuel!"
A high pitched voice shouted from afar. It was Isabella, followed closely by Viola and Cate, who were sprinting over to the Ethanuel, his group and Louise.
Isabella pushed his shoulder causing the rest of them to either gasp, amazed, or stare at her in amusement.
"Why don't you pick on someone your own size, Lee?"
"How dreadful, a troll is here to kill me. Prepare for my death, Rebecca." He smirked.
The girl named Rebecca snickered and shouted back, "Oh dear!"
Isabella seemed ready to punch Ethanuel square on the nose but Cate and Viola held her back.
"Isabella, he's not worth it!"
Cate snapped her head towards the said boy. "Yeah, listen to Viola, she seems like the smartest out of all of us!" Then she turned to Louise and added, "Except you Louise, you're a Ravenclaw."
Isabella forcefully made them let her go and flipped her dark brown hair over her shoulder as she walked over to the brooms which lay on the ground.
Louise looked at Cate and Viola and shrugged in response. They shrugged back and walked over to Isabella, ignoring the stares of the Slytherin bunch, who eventually followed them to where the brooms were laid out, fixing them with cold, hard stares.
It was a sunny day and the the grass rippled cheerfully under the girls' feet as they stood chatting away happily. They paid no attention whatsoever to the Slytherin bunch, who seemed to have nothing better to do than to glare at them.
As the three other girls fantasised about their first time on a broomstick, Cate's gaze shifted towards the distant gloom of the forbidden forest and a mischievous glint came into her eyes.
'I want to see the inside of that place... but how?' She mused.
Her thoughts were cut short when Madam Hooch, recognisable because of her grey hair and hawk - like yellow eyes, approached the class.
"Right, I'm Madam Hooch, and I'll be teaching you how to fly." she barked. "Now, everyone quickly choose a broomstick to stand by."
The class scrambled to get the best broomsticks. Viola looked excitedly down at hers. Although it was very old and had twigs sticking out of it at odd angles, she still felt a surge of adrenaline.
Once everyone had gotten a broomstick to themselves, albeit after much squabbling, Madam Hooch walked back to the front and delivered the line Viola had been anxiously waiting to hear.
"Stick your right hand out over your broomstick, and say 'up'!"
"UP!" everyone shouted.
All the girls' broomsticks were still on the ground, except Isabel's, which had jumped right up to her hand. Louise's broom, after bouncing briefly on the ground, zoomed into her hand as well. Cate, despite her slightly questionable experience, only managed to get her broom into her hand before (an internally screaming) Viola.
Madam Hooch then showed them how to properly grip the broom and sit on it without slipping off the end. Once she was satisfied with everyone's grip and stance, she said,
"Alright, I'll blow my whistle and when I do you need to kick hard off the ground. Rise a little, hover, then land by leaning forward. On the whistle - one - two - three - !"
Madam Hooch blew her whistle and one by one the first years rose into the air. Ethanuel was one of the first, kicking off with ease. The Slytherins were cheering for him loudly as he looked smugly back at Cate.
She growled and gripped her broom tighter, the rest of the girls doing the same. Then student after student rose, Isabella and Louise rising smoothly with the first of the class, finding their inner flyer. Cate rose pretty easily too, then Viola was left on the ground, trying with all her might to take off.
She turned a pale shade of red as she desperately tried to kick off, wanting to sink into the ground with shame, but her friends were encouraging her.
"Let's get it, Viola!" Cate yelled down to her.
"You can do this!" Louise assured.
"Please don't break your bones like Cate did!" Isabella warned, really not helping.
Viola laughed at the last part and kicked off, looking down, shocked to see that she was actually in the air! She was in the sky flying on a broomstick!!
The laughed out loud as the wind rushed past her, waking her up with a jolt and making her hair flow behind her in a way she found extremely satisfying. Viola glanced down at the ground - she was not, in any way 'hovering', but it did not matter; she was among the birds.
She looked beside her at her friends, beaming; she couldn't have done it without them.
They'd all climbed higher than Madam Hooch wanted them to, and looked back down at Ethanuel, giving him the same smug face he had given Cate before.
He retreated with his friends, wearing a deepened scowl as Madam Hooch tried to get everyone back on the ground. It was probably the best day the girls had had, but it wouldn't be for long. They were at Hogwarts.
