Closed Eat Your Heart Out, Holyhead Harpies PV June Selwyn

June was by no means a quidditch player. She could fly well enough to not grab the attention of Professor Stube, but she was by no means excellent. Perhaps "good" was even a bit of a stretch, she was purely acceptable. Which she hated.

So it was all the more curious when Maggie Hawkins, Slytherin's first-string chaser and June Selwyn's new friend, invited her to the quidditch training pitch. Via note left on her pillow. While June was out eating breakfast. June would soon be used to Maggie's elusive, impulsive nature. But today, today all it caused was confusion. And perhaps a bit of concern.

June held the small note in her hand as she stepped outside, squinting for a moment in the bright sunshine. Just... Meet her there? June read it again. It didn't say to bring anything, right? Maybe on the other side... She flipped the paper over. Alas, no new text had appeared since the last time she checked two minutes ago. What on earth could Maggie want? Was there a message hidden in the crossed out word? Was it even from Maggie? No, it had to be, June didn't know anyone else who would use the name "Mags". Perhaps there was something for June to discover in the way the paper was folded? She wished she remembered which way it was facing when she found it on her pillow...

June stepped onto the grassy training pitch, empty for all but one person. One person kicking a rock. June waved and began to run over. "Maggie!"

Her curly-haired friend was sat down in the beating sun, her broom sitting nearby. June stood in front of her, blocking the sun from Maggie's face. "Sorry, have you been waiting long? I came as soon as I saw your note." June rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet for a moment, trying to figure out what Maggie had planned. With no luck, she finally asked "So... Um, why did you want me to come here?"

Dear @June Selwyn,

May 15, 2022

xxxxxxxxOkay, so, a few things. First off, Maggie knew she wasn't the best flyer in the world, but she didn't have to admit that. Nope. Nobody had to hear her say that she wasn't the best at something when she so clearly was at least close to the top. Second, Maggie would never put too much thought into things that she didn't deem strictly necessary. So no, there was no hidden message in the note she had left June Selwyn in the early hours of the morning. Nothing special behind the misspelled word, nothing interesting when it came to the placement of the letters or chicken-scratch handwriting.

Maggie Hawkins simply couldn't spell, and that was that.

What she could do was wait. Rather painfully, if she was being completely honest. Sitting on a big, jagged rock wasn't the most comfortable or fun thing, especially while leaning against your broomstick, which was just a straight piece of wood that jutted up into your chin. It was surprising, really, that June hadn't shown up beforehand. Maybe it was a silly little notion Maggie had in her mind, but she had simply assumed that June was one of those punctual girls. Not that Maggie had, like, left a time to show up at the pitch, but, like, come on! She seemed like she thought early was on time and on time was late. Or something.

All of that was out of Maggie in an instant the second that June did show up, though.

"Bli-mey! I was starting to think you might never show," Maggie admitted, springing up and grinning at June with a bright disposition only made better by the sunny sky up above. "'kay, so, I've been thinking. You want to make a reputation, right? Don't you?"

Maggie didn't wait for a response before she was barreling on. Characteristic. "And I just thought that maybe the best way to get a reputation is to become the best flyer Hogwarts has ever seen. Well, second best, but y'know. It's the thought that counts," she shrugged and stood up, balancing her wand in the palm of her hand and tossing it from hand to hand. "And I just figured that I'm pretty much an expert. You know, I'm on the Quidditch team and everything, so, like, I could teach you."

Then, as if it was the best idea since sliced bread, Maggie stood there expectantly.

June's cheeks flushed. "Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't see a time..." June flipped the paper over in her hands. No time was written, she was sure of it. But she checked again. Still nothing.

Reputation. June's eyes locked with Maggie's. "Well, yes, I would li-" Maggie hadn't noticed June trying to respond. June blinked. Maggie certainly was different than her. "Odd" might be the way June would describe her. "Odd but genuine."

"Me? A flyer?" The suggestion surprised June. She couldn't believe that Maggie seemed to have planned all this for her, to help her with a reputation. It was... incredibly kind of Maggie.

A flyer... June began to picture it all. The wind whipping her hair across her face, the cheers of fans below her. The faces of her classmates as she left them behind, the metres between them growing by the second. Beating out anyone who thought they could beat her. Anyone, including Maggie. June could almost hear the whispers in the halls every time she walked by...
"Is that really her? The Selwyn girl?"
"I heard she out-flew the Slytherin broom racing captain."
"Really? I've heard that she's a shoo-in for first-string seeker."
"Well, one thing is for sure. Her flying skills are matched only by her intelligence and humility"

June quite liked this daydream. Perhaps that could be what she's known for, a flash of lightning on a broom, the wonder who leads her house to victories. June realized that she had gotten lost in her daydream for a moment as she noticed her new friend looking her very intently in the eye.

"You'd be willing to tutor me? Really?" Excitement began to well up inside June. Yes. This was it! Her one-way ticket to being more than the blonde Slytherin first-year, the first step on a path to greatness. No, not greatness. Legend. June bounced on her toes with excitement, "Maggie, that's wonderful! Thank you!" Without thinking, she threw her arms around her in an embrace. She held Maggie for a moment, then, coming to her senses, drew back quickly, smoothing her collar. June cleared her throat.

"Right, I mean... That's very generous of you, Maggie. Thank you." June began to fiddle with the corner of the note, "I don't have a broom of my own, though. Should we ask Professor Stube to borrow a school broom?" June's eyes fell on Maggie’s broom. "Unless... Wait, you're not going to let me use your broom, are you? That's much faster to anything I'm used to, and it looks so nice and new!" June looked up to meet Maggie's gaze. "Are you sure you're qualified to teach?"

Dear @June Selwyn,

May 15, 2022

xxxxxxxxJune seemed rather wrapped up in her own thoughts and feelings today. The second Maggie started talking about gaining a reputation, it seemed as if June receded into herself, losing any sort of conversational energy. Which was fine, just a little boring, if you asked Maggie. "Uh, hello? Hello hello?" Maggie waved her hands and snapped her fingers, squinting at June where she was wrapped up in her own little world. "Well, yeah. But I wouldn't call it tutoring. More like... well... yeah, tutoring, I guess," though 'tutoring' did sound a little too academic, didn't it?

Still, it seemed like June was breaking out of her shell. Admittedly, it wasn't by much, but Maggie didn't mind too much. Getting comfortable was still getting comfortable, after all. Of course, June returned to her little turtle shell of politeness just as quick as she had come out of it, but Maggie figured she could probably break that seal with a little bit of TLC.

"Nah, don't mention it," Maggie shrugged and dusted off her shoulder, cleared it of invisible dust bunnies. Don't mention it. Cool. Suave. "Uh, qualified? No, I don't think you need to be 'qualified' to teach flying. It's easy. I mean, no, I don't have a degree, but I play quidditch," Maggie paused to adjust the handle of her broom in her hand, "That's good enough, I think."

June did seem a bit nervous, perhaps slightly feverish, though. It was fine.

"The best learning is exposure. Plus, she's a top-of-the-line racing broom, okay, she can handle a little bit of being banged up!" Maggie held the broom out with a firm, assured hand. "Come on! You learn best from the air."

This was, perhaps, not a good idea. But Maggie certainly was confident, and who was June to be the judge of someone's teaching abilities when she hadn't seen them? Besides, Maggie was quite a skilled flyer...

June took the broom in her hands, accepting Maggie's quidditch gloves right after. "Right," she said, pulling the second glove over the palm of her hand. She took a deep breath, before exhaling with a sense of determination. "Well, here goes!"

June mounted the broom, familiarizing herself with the new piece of equipment. It seemed to hum with life as soon as she touched it, as if it were eager to take to the skies. It certainly was much nicer than the school brooms June had been learning on. June pushed off the ground, floating (quite unsteadily) just a bit, as she tried to get a sense of the broom's control and sensitivity. She jerked upwards for a moment, then to the left as she tried to straighten right, but eventually was able to stabilize herself just a half metre off the ground.

"Shall I give you a bit of a baseline assessment?" Alright, June. Just remember what you've learned; head aimed forward, broom up, scoot backwards, and... GO! June began to zip around the training pitch, careful to keep her height at a safe altitude. Even so, flying on Maggie's broom was exhilarating. Her two plaits flew behind her, flapping in the wind. June held onto the broomstick tightly, but she couldn't stop the bright grin from spreading across her face. This was fun. June tried to do a few tricks she had seen other first-years in class doing, attempting a few zig-zags and quick direction changes. She wanted to impress Maggie, and this broom made her feel as if she could do anything. June sped back to her friend, bringing her flight to a stop with a jolt.

"So," exhaled a slightly out-of-breath June, "what's your assessment? How did I do?"

Dear @June Selwyn,

May 14, 2022

xxxxxxxxNot to toot her own horn, obviously, seeing as Maggie Hawkins was an extremely humble individual, but Maggie was a pretty strong flyer. Look no further than her Quidditch career or (relatively) good grades in flying itself! So yeah, she did consider herself perfectly capable and qualified to teach June Selwyn to fly. With luck, they'd take to the sky together and, like, have a super cool time chatting while they were up there. Flight buddies! Maggie had always wanted one of those!

"Oh, yeah, take her for a test drive!" Maggie cheered. She was quite excited for June, actually, and teaching someone just made her feel awfully important. Quite cool! As June kicked off, sailing into the sky above, Maggie felt incredibly proud. Like a parent, but not in a weird way. It was in a super cool and not weird way, actually. "Tighten your turns a little bit! If the arc's too wide you'll fly clear off the broom. Just tighten your grip higher up on the stick--uh, yeah--and steer with the tip!"

Did the advice make any sense at all? It probably didn't, actually, but Maggie figured that it was as descriptive and easy as she could possibly be.

June touched back down and Maggie was glowing. Proud parent! Ahh! "Pretty good, yeah, just make sure that when trying those direction switches and tricks you're staying tight into yourself. If you don't you could sail off or take the broom along with you," oh, ew, she didn't like that. The way she was talking sounded so official and teacher-like. Which was strange and completely foreign to her.

"Either I can show you a little example of tighter turns or you can head back up there and try it again, yeah?" Patiently, Maggie folded her hands in front of her stomach, preparing for June's answer. What a successful flying lesson!

The broom hummed with life and energy in June's hands. It really was a dream to fly. The way it responded to her gestures was so quick, so efficient, it was as if it anticipated exactly what she was going to do the moment before she did it. She traced the grain of the wooden handle with her thumb. Perhaps she would ask her parents for a broom of own for her birthday next month. Perhaps, she thought, perhaps she might even try out for the quidditch or broom racing team next year. Perhaps. This was, after all, a very short test-flight in front of one friend, where June had done the most impressive and advanced flying she'd ever done. And all she did was zig-zag. Flying for sport was an entirely different, well, sport.

June listened attentively to Maggie's assessment of her flying. She was, surprisingly, quite good at tutoring. Or perhaps she was just good at flying and was excited to talk to someone else about her passion. Probably the latter. June couldn't picture Maggie doing the same for June if she wanted a reputation in, say, transfiguration.

"Right, okay, keep tucked into myself, got it." June's face was still spread in an ecstatic grin as she tried holding onto the feeling of the wind in her face as she whipped around. It had been exhilarating. June's hands tightened around the broomstick at the prospect of giving it back to Maggie for a demonstration, but they quickly relaxed again. This was, after all, not her broom. Maggie was being very kind in letting June take turns with her in using it. June would much rather have a broom all to herself that she wouldn't have to give back to someone, or let anyone else use it. And the prospect of seeing Maggie's skills from such a close distance was quite enticing.

"Oh, sure! I'd love to see my favorite quidditch chaser fly up-close." June hopped off of Maggie's broom, handing it back to the girl. "I think seeing the tighter tuns demonstrated will really help." The broom seemed to jump into Maggie's hands, as if it knew who was really the one worthy of riding it. "It really is a quality piece of equipment. How did you come by such a broom, anyways?"

Dear @June Selwyn,

May 14, 2022

xxxxxxxxDespite June’s thoughts on Maggie, on whether or not she would care to ‘tutor’ June in something like Transfiguration class, Maggie liked to believe that she’d do anything necessary to keep a friend. After all, she loved having friends. Despite her attitude, the fact that she seemed to be so wrapped up in her own opinions and head and abilities, Maggie Hawkins loved having friends. They were her lifeblood, her reason. Since Liana’s departure, Maggie didn’t really think that she’d find someone the same.

And yeah, while June wasn’t exactly the same, while June wasn’t Liana’s spitting image, Maggie liked her quite a lot. As embarrassing as it might be to admit aloud, Maggie liked June Selwyn a great deal already. She liked her spunk, the way that she seemed to know what she wanted and go right for it. She liked that June complimented her flying (that wasn’t self-centered at all), and she especially liked that June was sweet on Benvolio.

So yeah, Maggie would spend time tutoring June in Transfiguration if she ever found that she needed help, even though Maggie was certain that June was better at the academic side of school and would do far better at tutoring an actual subject than Maggie could ever manage.

Favorite Quidditch chaser. Maggie glowed with pride and set her hands on her hips, taking the broomstick back with a newfound sense of pride. ”Favorite chaser, huh? Well, I wouldn’t say that I’m that good, but, I mean, you can,” she blinked, “Don’t stop saying it.”

Of course, the mood had a damper on it quicker than you could say ‘darn it’ the second June just had to ask about where Maggie had acquired the broomstick. ”Oh, um, a friend gave it to me. For Christmas,” Maggie couldn’t let negative memories about the past and her old friend (who she would likely never see again considering the Kerr’s aversion to muggle technology) ruin this training session! So she slung her leg over the broomstick without another word and pushed off, shooting into the air like a star across the sky. It felt exhilarating, as it always did, to be so far above the ground, so far above everyone below. Those student’s who looked like ants where she towered high above. It was a good reprieve from the monotony that she had come to expect from school, day after day. It may have been a slight bit rude of Maggie to just launch herself into the air after June had asked a question, but she didn’t mind much. Assumed that June didn’t, either.

Maggie was confident, that was for sure. Forward, assertive, assured. June took a breath to ask another question, but as she did, Maggie sped away without another word, quickly taking to the skies. Strange girl, Maggie. “Don’t stop saying it," June kept repeating it in her head as Maggie zoomed off.

June liked Maggie quite a lot. As embarrassing as it might be to admit aloud, June liked Maggie Hawkins a great deal already. She liked her determination, the way that she didn't seem to overthink every single thing she did and just followed her gut. She liked that Maggie took the time to think of something that could help June with her reputation, and she especially liked Maggie's cat, Benvolio.

As she watched her friend soar through the skies, June felt a sense of peace, of calm. June Selwyn had made a friend. Another friend. Her second friend that she had ever made on her own. No parents or outside influence needed, unless you count Benvolio (and for the sake of her pride, June wasn't counting him). June had done it, was that so hard? To have a conversation with someone, be at least the slightest bit honest about where your head is at? Usually, the answer would be "yes", it was so hard. But with Maggie... With Maggie it felt natural, felt safe.

Maggie looked so natural on her broom as she twisted and turned through the skies. She was turning a lot tighter than June was. A Christmas gift from a friend... Who? It was an incredibly kind gift from anyone, even a parent. And Maggie was clearly comfortable on it, she was flying a lot higher and a lot faster than June had. Should June go that high next time, would that help?

June whooped and clapped as Maggie flew, cheering her on. Yes, June would go that high on her next run, she'd impress her friend with how quickly she learned. Her fearlessness. Her courage. All she needed was another chance.