Basilisk Eyes

Chapter 111: Haptic happiness

Harry could hardly believe that he was up on a broom, winging through space, slowed only by the additional weight of Neville behind him.

His friends were flying in tandem with him, their bells helping him keep track of where they were.

I love flying! I wonder if I can still play Quidditch? Maybe I can!

That elating thought was quickly squashed by the memory of Professor McGonagall's voice expressly forbidding him to play and then another voice entered his memory, squeezing him further—that of Professor Snape's accusatory tone... he could hear Snape claiming that the vibrations and bells gave Harry an unfair advantage. The wind whipping through his hair helped Harry shake the voices out of his head.

"I thought that flying carpets were outlawed in Britain," Tony called out to Aminah.

"We're not in Britain!" she shot back.

Harry hooted at Tony's groan and Neville's silent laugh shook the broom a bit.

"Still, but how'd you get by the Ministry? I thought they confiscated them," Tony said.

"I got permission to use it... since other forms of transportation are so challenging. My mum went in front of a committee and pleaded our case. Don't worry—I won't be hauled off to Azkaban for using an illegal form of transportation..." Aminah chided.

"Azkaban?" Harry muttered.

"Wizard prison," Neville explained.

"Oh, yeah—I heard there was one. I just didn't know the name of it. Thanks, mate."

Harry was starting to work on acclimating Neville to tighter turns and sharper movements up and down as they zoomed across the lake. Neville was getting the hang of it—learning how to lean in with a shoulder or a hip and pull in his elbows to allow the broom to move more freely through space. He was learning to move with it, instead of fighting it as he had before.

"Harry, I've never flown like this before!" Neville confessed.

"I know! Isn't it amazing. Wait until we get you on your own broom. It's even better," Harry encouraged.

"Oh, blimey. I don't know," Neville backpedaled.

"You're doing it, mate. You'll be able to do it on your own, too. Just wait and see," Harry said.

Harry could hear a bell coming toward them at an alarming rate. Harry wondered if they were going to collide. He started to pull up, but then it sounded like they were also moving up so he leaned forward to go down toward the lake.

"Bloody hell, Peter!" Tony shouted as the form whooshed over their heads. "Are you trying to knock us off our brooms?"

"Whoo hoo!" Harry shouted, even though he knew Peter couldn't hear him. "He's having a blast! Wow! I bet this is even better for him."

"Isn't he both deaf and blind?" Neville asked.

"Yeah, he is," Harry said, agreeing as he noted the sound of Peter's bells.

"Here comes Gemma!" Aminah shouted.

She also buzzed them, but not quite as close—probably because she could see their terrified faces. Harry wondered if Peter even knew that they were there until he got close enough to sense them through vibrations of his broom.

Arig followed close behind her and did a loop-de-loop—his bells sounding like jingle bells. The wind was picking up a little and Harry felt the hairs on his arms prickling with cold. The breeze brought scents along with it—and Harry wondered how close they were to the island. He could smell pine trees.