Soaring to New Heights Closed

Wager firmly in place, the two Slytherins lined up at the appointed spot. Of course, Quinn had no real intentions of racing, fairly or otherwise, but it was good that Kyden was focused on winning. She was really interested now in seeing how he reacted to the plan. He certainly wasn't a stupid boy, he had seen her positioning her wand, but the question was, what was he going to do about it?

As soon as she said "Go!", both of them shot off like sort-of halfhearted rockets, pushing the school brooms to their limits. Being lighter and more practiced, Kyden secured an early lead, but as he pulled past her, she took her left hand off of the broom handle and drew her wand. This part would take careful timing. Trying not to fall too far behind, her eyes glued to the boy's back, Quinn extended her wand forward. Just to be helpful, as he was reaching the turn she roared "DODGE!!"

In quick succession, closing the distance as fast as she could, she twisted her wand three times and said "Luminos luminos luminos!!" Three emerald bolts streaked from her wand and shot towards the boy faster than either broom; around the same speed as a trio of bludgers, actually. This was a very simple child's spell, all it did was cause whatever it hit to glow for a few minutes, but it would serve for her test. Now she wasn't racing him, she was chasing him, firing off more luminos spells as often as she could. If he was really all that good, he might be able to finish the race without being hit, but she had a steady hand even on a broom, and he may not have practiced aerial combat at all. True, her only practice was shooting at birds as she flew past them, but still, it was more than none.

He was taken aback by the first 3 burst she had shot at him. However he quickly dodged them. He kept going for what they had designated as the finish line. He couldn't do anything but dodge what ever she fired at him. He was Wizard-Born but he didn't know to many spells and he wasn't really good at them. He was great and many other things that a wizard should be good at like flying for example but the spells not so much. He very quickly weighed his options and continued swerving to avoid getting hit by any of the spells she threw his way. He dipped down quickly pulling back so she was slightly ahead of him to throw her off just for a second before pulling up and soaring above her and once again pulling ahead of her aiming for the finish line. To avoid being hit he continued to swerve back and forth flying across the field pushing the broom to its limits and beyond. He knew he needed to slow down but he wasn't trying to get hit by any charm no matter how innocent of a charm it was. He was only about 6-7 feet from the designating finish line and he pushed the broom just a little bit harder.

Kendra watched as the two Slytherins raced each other as if their life depended on it. It was very intense and suddenly Kendra realised there were two other students watching, who then became three, and four and soon almost the whole class was now cheering excitedly although it wasn't clear who they were cheering for. Kendra noticed the professor was nowhere to be seen and from what she understood the student that was previously having trouble with their broom must have been injured and had to be carried away. The amount of times things like that happened during these classes was ridiculously high. At least now it seemed the race would be over before the professor returned and noone would get in trouble. 

She payed a little closer attention to the race and she was shocked to notice that the girl was using magic against Kyden. Luckily he was able to dodge every single one of the spells and the crowd seemed to go crazy over that. That girl was pulling tricks like anyone would expect from a Slytherin. Kendra sighed in disappointment at the realisation that some people were using Slytherin's reputation as an excuse for playing dirty. But then again, Kyden was in Slytherin as well. That thought dwelled on her mind as she continued watching the race.

Test: successful. He had some real skill, dodging and swerving around like that. When it came to flying, Quinn was really only comfortable with "go", "stop" and "turn", at least for now. In addition, her combat skills were her current primary subgoal in her plan for world domination, and they were sorely lacking. Combat by air was rather common, or so she would expect, and she needed a sparring partner for it. Step 1, find a talented flier in her year: check. Step 2: invite flier to join the CROWN: check. She had seen him RSVP earlier, she realized, connecting the dots in her head. If he wasn't at the big first meeting, she would track him down and talk to him directly...

With all of this very important thinking going on, Quinn almost forgot that she was still flying, still shooting spells at the boy, and he had just crossed their makeshift finish line. Smiling broadly, she stopped her broom, put away her wand and raised both hands over her head to clap for Kyden. "Hey, you're pretty good, flyboy! You didn't even flinch at my spells, you've got good instincts." Still smiling, only looking slightly evil, she extended a hand in his direction. "Quinn McGriffin. And you're Kyden Goodlow, right? I'm looking forward to having you in the CROWN. Your skills won't be wasted, there, I promise you."

Kyden raced threw the finish line and steered the broom to touch down, not really phased by any of what happened after all the girl was a Slytherin. Of course so was he but he had already written to the headmaster about that matter though nothing had been done yet. He was lost in thought and came in hot for the landing tweaking his ankle as he landed. He winced slightly as he stood up it really hurt but he wasn't going to make a show about it. He looked at Quinn. After all she had just put him through he wasn't sure he wanted to join CROWN but he knew he needed the help when it came to finding his parents. "Yeah I'm Kyden. Yeah CROWN. Was this really just some test for it?" He turned to Kendra and smiled at her, wincing when he moved his feet to fast. "I do believe I am owed a kiss." He looked at her and let her panic for a slight second. "I am only joking though. It was fun to just race and be care free. Sometimes being stuck in this castle is a little hard even though it is so big."

Everyone cheered as Kyden won and just then Kendra's eye caught the professor returning with an angry look on his face. The students acted as if nothing had happened and went over to continue their class. Kendra stood there for a moment listening to Quinn's and Kyden's conversation. CROWN? What was that? She believed she had heard it before somewhere. The way Quinn spoke it sounded like a club and wait a minute... Kyden was also a part of it? She blinked multiple times in confusion trying to put the pieces together. Just then she realised Kyden was looking at her with a bright smile on his face. "I do believe I am owed a kiss." he said making Kendra freeze to the spot, she couldn't help but blush and hoped noone would notice, especially not Quinn. As soon as Kyden laughed it off she sighed in relief and smiled at him thinking he was one of the kindest and most honest boys she had met so far. 

"But either way I do believe you deserve it!" she said walking up to him and giving him a light kiss on the cheek. "That was a great race, you really are excellent at this, I'm sure you will get on the Quidditch team in the blink of an eye!" she expressed her enthusiasm with a big smile on her face. 

Quinn waited for the kiss. This girl... Alderman? Something like that. Anyway, she was rather interesting, going along with the plot as easily as she had. Maybe she could be useful in the future. Right now, though, she needed to be on good terms with her future sparring partner. "I agree, the Slytherin team will be lucky to have you. And it was just a minor test, Mister Goodlow. I had no doubt that you would succeed. To be frank, I was looking for the best flier in our year, and I'm pretty sure I've just found him. And, well, in case you didn't realize at the time..." Quinn pulled her wand back out and pointed it at her own legs. "Luminos!" she said sharply, twisting the wand, and her entire body suddenly glowed with soft emerald light. 

"It's just a simple targeting spell, it wouldn't have even blown you off course. Now, if you like, I can teach you some interesting hexes I found while reading up on broomstick combat... You know, in case you need them." No longer smiling, the young Slytherin's face was back to its usual serious expression. She was talking in hushed tones, as the Flying professor had finally returned, and was looking at them all rather sharply. "We can talk about it further once we begin our CROWN meetings."

The black haired girl stared at the broom nervously. 

It's just a stick with some bristles on the end... That can fly... And can go very high up

Morgana made a gulping sound and listened to the teacher explain what to do. 

"Raise your hand above the broom and yell 'up'!" The hawk-eyed teacher shouted.

The Slytherin girl stepped towards the broom with cautious, unlike the others who were either excited or bored. Morgana shakily raised her hand and says, "U-Up."

The broom shakes, making Morgana jump back with complete terror on her face. The broom stops and stays completely still. Morgana repeats 'up' and the broom flies into her hand. She yelps and stumbles into a Gryffindor girl. The girl glared at Morgana, who just mumbles a nervous sorry.

"Alright everyone!" the professor yelled, "Get your brooms! When I blow this whistle you'll kick off the ground, hover for ten seconds, then come back down. Understand?!"

"Yes, professor." Everyone replied (Morgana more hesitantly).

Everyone mounted their brooms with Morgana praying silently to herself. She closed her eyes tightly as the teacher began the countdown.

"4... 3... 2..."

The whistle blew.

Everyone hopped and slowly took off. Morgana gave a tiny bounce. She felt herself floating in the air. 

Kendra took one last look at Quinn and Kyden before walking away. She had enjoyed herself as the lesson proved much more fun than what she had expected. She straightened her robes looking over at her classmates. She noticed the Professor was looking her way with an angry look on her face. Before she had a chance to say anything to Kendra, another student began having trouble with their broom driving her attention away again. Kendra sighed in relief and decided to head back anyways not wishing to get in trouble over anything. The class was almost over and it had been the most interesting one she had attended so far. Who would have expected flying could be so exciting? Well, everyone except Kendra. 

As she was making her way back to where the rest of the class was gathered, she noticed a girl sitting near the courtyard wall looking extremely sad. She recognised her from the common room. They hadn't exactly hit it off on their first encounter but Kendra remained neutral towards her with no particular feelings of hate or dislike. She stopped walking and stood a few meters away from her. 

"Is everything alright?" she asked her housemate. 

Morgana took a quick look at the girl. She recognized it to be Kendra, another Slytherin her age. They hadn't really spoken since their first encounter. She didn't really dislike Kendra, nor would she consider her a friend.  She had neutral feelings toward her.

She stood up and tried to put on a face with filled with false bravado.

"I-I'm fine, it's just..." Morgana looked into the air, "being so high up... On a stick... How does anyone like that?"

Morgana stood up and wiped her face with the sleeve of her robes, "Its fine, though. You do not need to worry about me and my trivial problems. I'll just... Head back to the common room." 

The pale-skinned student walked slowly away with her head down, her black hair covering her eyes. The girl was embarrassed about her fear and was trying to ignore it. Morgana was muttering spells while walking away from Kendra, in the hopes she wouldn't care.

I can't wait to drop flying so I'll never have to take this stupid class again! It's stupid that flying is a mandatory first-year course! Morgana thought to herself bitterly, biting down on her lower lip in the hopes she wouldn't break out in tears.