First flying lesson closed

Call her crazy, but Mari had never had much interest in flying. The Flying lessons were fine enough - Mari would do anything to be outside, and though she loved Herbology, she sometimes found the greenhouses a bit stifling. Anything inside, though, was much too dull for her. Mari was far too cautious to want to fly up in the air, so she was intrigued to see how the Flying lesson would actually end up for her. It could go either way: she could love it or despise it. Today was the day to find out. She could not wait to report back to her family on what the verdict was; Lucy and Isa especially had been itching for as many details as possible about life at Hogwarts, and Ewan and Grace simply wanted to hear from her. (Grace, if Mari was quite honest, really only wanted a drawing of a unicorn.)

She scurried to the Quidditch Pitch, running a bit late, all the while admonishing herself on behalf of Lucy for letting time get away from her. Lucy was meticulous regarding punctuality, and though Mari had one been quite on time herself, following schedules that Lucy devised while playing her role as Lucy's shadow, independence at Hogwarts had brought her to the realization that Mari herself was not very punctual. Flying was the third course she had been a bit late to this week.

It seemed that the class had already gathered, so Mari slipped in, praying that she was not noticed. She shuffled near a fellow Hufflepuff and her friend. Mari wondered if the girls had known each other before Hogwarts; she had been quite struggling with a sense of loneliness since arriving to school. While they chatted, Mari wondered to herself these questions, completely missing that the professor had said anything. Since the class seemed to still be in a buzz of excitement, Mari motioned to tap the fellow first year on the shoulder and murmured, hoping the professor would not hear, "Excuse me, do you mind telling me what he just said? I guess I lost my concentration for a bit."

Hazel really wanted to fly and knew that she would do her best. Hopefully the information she had learnt from the books would help her be the first one to fly. What would Grace think if she was the lucky one? While Hazel was busy wondering if she would be chosen, a girl about the same age as her said:

"Excuse me, do you mind telling me what he just said? I guess I lost my concentration for a bit." 
"Uh, well, the best student will be able to fly in today's lesson," she answered nervously, then noticed that the girl was out of breath. "Why? Weren't you listening? Or were you late?"
"I was late," she answered reluctantly, "but thanks for telling me."
"Do you reckon you'll be chosen to fly?" Hazel asked her. "I've already read many books about flying, I even know the Quidditch rules!"
"Well that won't help you much, only third years are chosen to play on the school Quidditch teams. Well, that's excepting the prodigies like Harry Potter," answered Grace, joining in to the conversation.
"Whatever, I'll probably play later. Anyway, what do you think?" Hazel asked, turning to face the other girl again. "Do you think you'll like it?

The girl answered her question kindly, so Mari had nothing to lose than to say the honest truth: "I was late, but thanks for telling me." She eyed the two friends, conversing, and didn't add much. To be quite honest, though she had heard some hubbub about Quidditch and things of that nature, Mari hadn't an interest in flying, so she'd gotten lost in her thoughts instead of paying attention to things like discussion of house teams. It seemed that the other two girls were much more interested. Not surprising, of course, just Mari didn't have much to add on the subject. The most she was hoping for was to pass the class, not to get good enough to join a team.

She jolted to attention when she realized that the dirty blonde was speaking to her once more. Though Mari knew she should be listening to the Professor - it's what her mum would want, at any rate - she was so uninterested in the lesson that she figured it would be okay to just continue chatting. A new friend was always a win in her book. "Erm," she began, cheeks reddening to the pale flush that so often crossed her face, "Well, no. I don't care much for Flying, honestly. I don't care much for leaving the ground. The boat ride at the beginning of term was enough for me. How about you?"

She did know one, minor fact that might make the girl's day; as mentioned previously, Mari didn't care much for Flying, so she hadn't really paid attention to much about Quidditch, but she had heard quite a few rumors about their Headmaster and his past, one of which related to house teams: "Actually, I've heard that the rules have changed and first and second years can join the team. It's all because of Headmaster Lear, of course. He's a very questionable person, even if he means well. But that seems like quite good news for you. Are you going to try out?"

"Erm, well, no. I don't care much for Flying, honestly. I don't care much for leaving the ground. The boat ride at the beginning of term was enough for me. How about you?" the girl asked Hazel. Then, before waiting for a reply, added: "Actually, I've heard that the rules have changed and first and second years can join the team. It's all because of Headmaster Lear, of course. He's a very questionable person, even if he means well. But that seems like quite good news for you. Are you going to try out?" she asked again.
"Oh, really?" Hazel asked, her face taking on a wide smile. "Well, that changes things. I love flying. Yes, I'm going to try out! I sure am!"
"Are you sure?" Grace asked, "you haven't even flown before. AND, how do you know you'll like flying if this is your first time?"

Grace could be annoying at some times, Hazel thought to herself. Also, she was sure she was going to like flying. She could just feel it. Suddenly she noticed that the teacher was talking.

"Shh!" Hazel told the two girls. "Listen! He's talking!" she said, gesturing towards the teacher.

They both turned to look at him. "Now that I have finished explaining the basics," Hazel heard a groan, probably from her friend Grace, "we will proceed to the most interesting part of the lesson. You will all mount your brooms in the count of three," he said.

"Hazel and you," Grace told her and the other first year, "have prevented us from hearing the basics! Thanks a lot!" she fumed.
"Don't worry it'll be fine, just follow your instincts," Hazel told her. She felt like it would be easy, she really did.
"No! It won't be fine!" Grace argued.
Hazel turned to the other girl, "do you feel like I have prevented you from being able to fly just because we missed hearing the basics?"

Mari felt a discernible sense of discomfort as she watched the two girls argue; they seemed to be friends, but Mari hadn't really had much experience with friends, other than her sisters, to know whether this was normal or not. All of her friends back home were mainly her sister's; it was thus easy to maintain a cordial relationship when you had a superficial relationship with someone. And sisters were supposed to fight. Though sometimes people said friends were like sisters, so maybe it was okay that they were fighting, too. At least, hopefully this scuffle wouldn't make them not be friends anymore.

When the Professor said that they could mount their brooms, in the "exciting" part of the lesson, Mari let out a low groan. The lesson had been fine up until this point. She could listen, learn the proper technique, write down what you were supposed to do, but when it came to actually doing it? No thank you. She would be happier with her two feet flat on the ground.

It seemed that one of the girls was upset as well, though for a very different reason than Mari. She acted as though Mari and Hazel, as she called the girl, had ruined the lesson by talking. Mari flushed with embarrassment; it probably would have been better to just not show up to the class at all. If she didn't mount the broom, which, as this rate, was unlikely, she would probably fail anyway; her time would have been better spent failing while doing some other homework.

When Hazel looked at her and asked Mari's opinion, Mari's already pink face got redder. She was already uncomfortable by the fighting; she didn't want to make anything worse. "Um," she murmured, crippled by the uncertainty as to what to do, "to be honest, I...don't want to fly, anyway?"

Deflect, Mari thought, good job, get them off their fight and then they can stay friends. She smiled meekly at the two girls as she confessed her truth, wondering if it would make the fight she didn't want to witness stop. Certainly the professor would be able to help them with the basics, either way; it didn't really matter. What did matter to Mari, though, was the fact that flying was unsafe and everyone should just want to remain on solid ground, including the Professor, because that was the sane thing to do.