Defying Gravity…Oh Wait
Banner credit to: Meiyu Xiang
March 14th, 2025 “English”
The field consisted mostly of grass. This was Alyss’ first thought as she surveyed the field that had been her enemy all year long, and yet now she was just supposed to… get along with it? This grass had seen her through sweat and tears, boredom and exhaustion. It had caught her when she had fallen from her broom, and yet still had not won a place in her heart. Perhaps it was the bald patches, without a single blade of grass to show for all the hard work Alyss was sure someone was putting into it’s maintenance. Perhaps it was the simple fact that this was the field that Alyss had suffered on many times before, in her attempts to do what others seemed to excel at with little to no effort: flying.
Now, the simple word flying on it’s own sounds extraordinary. After all, being able to float above the clouds, carefree, without having to worry about falling back down to earth due to the simple fact of gravity? That was a pretty amazing feat. It gets to be slightly less enticing once you make the realization that to do so, you must balance on, and put all of your trust in a literal household tool that is used to push dirt into piles. What makes it even less enjoyable? The fact that flying was really, really difficult.
The entirety of the school year, Alyss had severely struggled with Flying. Sporting an A in the class, it was very clearly not a good subject, and to be frank, Alyss was only passing because she understood the theory and mechanics of one of the broom sports very well. So well, in fact, that she had applied to be the Co-Captain of the Broom Racing team as a first year, and had gotten the position. Despite the initial thrill of having gotten exactly what she had asked for, it soon set in: what was Alyss doing as a captain of a team in a sport that literally had the word Broom in it’s name, without knowing how to properly fly on a broom?
This is what brought her to this field, the field of many miserable days. Sighing, Alyss glanced down at the broom that she had laid on the ground beside her, not knowing how else to begin apart from the very, very basics. The ones taught in the very first lesson, at the very beginning of the year. “Up!” Alyss said, with a firm edge to her voice. She wanted to take zero crap. When the broom didn’t even budge, not even an inch, Alyss straightened her back and fixed her posture, adjusting to look as put together and menacing as possible. One of the problems with that was that Alyss was 4’5 on a good day…To no one other than possibly the broom on the ground, would she look intimidating. “Up!” She called again, this time glancing down to see the object floating directly into the palm of her hand.
Alyss allowed for a grim smile to fix itself upon her jaw, only for it to be wiped away shortly after. Now, it was time to mount. This was the part in which Alyss failed, although she wasn’t quite aware of all of her wrongdoing. She sat her butt down about halfway up the broom, and slid down a few inches before anchoring herself onto the broom stick. Alyss then allowed for it to begin the lift off. Unfortunately for her, she soon found herself tilting the broom downwards, trying to get as much space from herself and the broomstick as possible to theoretically allow time and space to adjust for balance. This soon backfired, as her center of gravity was thrown off, and she found herself tilting dangerously to the left, in which she countered by leaning right. This little attempt failed, and sent Alyss tumbling off of her broom onto the ground. At this rate, Alyss was going to give up before she would actually begin to fly. She seemed to be, in her eyes, a complete and utter failure.
Reducio
Pings: @Della Barfield
Note: I’m referencing Flying homework Y1L3 on how to position yourself on a broom, and not following it in Alyss’ attempt at mounting. Have fun!
Note: I’m referencing Flying homework Y1L3 on how to position yourself on a broom, and not following it in Alyss’ attempt at mounting. Have fun!
Defying Gravity…Oh Wait
English | Parseltongue
interacting: @Alyss Gilmour
Della had a routine. It mostly consisted of eat, study, fly, draw, maybe sleep. Her goal this year—and the year before that … and the year before that—was to make more friends. Suffice it to say she was good at studying, flying, and drawing. Everything else was a work in progress.
Today, like usual, she was walking toward the flying grounds, Silver Arrow resting against one shoulder, to do what she was good at. Did the Gryffindor Broom Captain fly more often than the team practice schedule—that Della herself designed, mind you—required? Yes. Did that mean she was using her flying time to speed away from her feelings about the above works in progress? Unanswerable. Unknowable. She pleads the Fifth.
But today, not like usual, another person was using the grounds. Another broom captain. Alyss Gilmour. First-year. Slytherin. New. Abilities relatively untested and under-scrutinized. Della thought she had two options: Go to the library and leave the competition alone, or fly anyway and ignore the competition.
However, as she contemplated which options would be more satisfying—running from social anxiety toward her other negative thoughts or running toward social anxiety to fly away from her feelings—Della noticed something about Alyss.
She wasn't very good at flying.
Like she was bad. Not oh-she'll-have-some-trouble-with-racing bad. More like is-she-going-fall-off-and-break-her-skull bad.
Della sighed. Today, she was going to run straight toward social anxiety and probably not get much great air time, either. But she couldn't be a bystander to this.
"Uh, hey, Alyss? Do you want some pointers?"
sta 8 - eva 16 - str 5 - wis 11 - arc 5 - accuracy 13 |||| Parselmouth - Evasive Maneuvers - Beast Master
also Ruckus Weems | Quentin Gagné
Defying Gravity…Oh Wait
Banner credit to: Meiyu Xiang
March 14th, 2025 “English”
If anyone ever asked Alyss what her biggest roadblock in life was, she would answer flying. Likely with a groan. She would admit that it was thrilling. Just, at the moment? The wrong kind of thrilling. When most thought of something that got their adrenaline pumping, the probability of them selecting flying couldn’t be the most common. But what was probably even less? The act of falling off of your broom and impacting the ground. Hard.
There was a groan. A glare. And a sigh, as she moved to sit up from the tumble. Her hair remained pulled up and out of her face, but there were now small pieces of grass and leaves barely hanging onto the strands, light enough to go unnoticed. No, Alyss was more focused on slowly stumbling back to her feet and grabbing hold of the broom once more, lips pressed tightly together. She was thankful that she hadn’t been very far off the ground, but that really didn’t help her much— she was simply more bruised than she had been a few minutes prior, sporting both physical and egotistical bruises.
As Alyss moved to begin again, she heard a voice. Was it familiar? Possibly? She wasn’t quite sure. She turned her head, surveying her company, not that she really wanted any. It took enough willpower to be out here in the first place, an audience wasn’t going to help her embarrassment in the slightest. "Uh, hey, Alyss? Do you want some pointers?"
Ah lovely. Della, a Broom Racing Captain. Someone that certainly knew exactly what she was doing, and exactly was Alyss was doing wrong. Also someone that Alyss respected, was supposed to gain the respect of. Perhaps her tenure as Captain would be short after all, with her death by embarrassment. “Oh, Della! Hello! That would be great, thanks.” She forced out, trying to convey gratitude. She would listen of course— everything that Della said would be valuable advice and information that would be taken to heart. She just… really, really did not want the Gryffindor Captain’s first impression of her to be the absolute catastrophe of her broom skills.
“I, uh… I’m not really good, so anything would be appreciated.” Alyss offered, reaching up to scratch the back of her head as she glanced at the ground. The individual blades of grass were suddenly very interesting, you see. Perhaps she also felt compelled to look away as she admitted weakness, something that took a great deal of effort. Finally gazing up, she offered a small smile of thanks in Della’s direction, and stepping aside to allow the older student an appropriate amount of space if she so desired it. It was possible that today could be a decent day, after all. But only if Dela could somehow work a miracle.
Reducio
Pings: @Della Barfield
Note: Sorry for the lateness— shouldn’t happen again!
Note: Sorry for the lateness— shouldn’t happen again!