Prepair for Flight!

Victoria has already figured that Kerry had never been on broom because he'd mentioned the Muggle-born status the other day. But I wanted to see how he'd say it today, and Victoria wasn't disappointed. Where as before he'd been embarrassed to admit his status, today it was more, "Uh, yeah, never flown before". He's better, she thought. He's got a little more confidence. That's good.

Annie's story was so . . . Victoria didn't want to say it out loud, then thought otherwise. "Honey, it's okay. You'd be surprised how many times I've heard a similar story." She put her hand on Annie's shoulder and knelt on one knee. "I did something similar after I started learning to fly. I'd only flown three times but one day I came out to the pitch pissed off over something that'd happened at breakfast, grabbed a broom and decided I was going to take out my frustrations in the air . . . I got about 30 meters and then pinwheeled right over the tip--" She slammed her free hand down on an invisible barrier. "Wham! Right into the pitch from about 7, 8 meters up." She laughed quietly. "Let me tell you, it hurt like hell."

She stood. "It happens sometimes; you wanna fly good when you are starting, or first time, and for some reason things go sideways on you. And later, when you mix strong emotions with a bad experience, it colors what you try to do later." She touched the side of Annie's helmet. "We ain't here to think about the past; you're here to start your future. Don't worry, kids; you're both gonna fly today. And I'm gonna see to it."

With the last statement Kerry's spirits picked up just a little more. He was really jacked to get on a broom, but Annie's story brought him down a bit, made him thinking that this was going to be a little more than riding a bike in the sky--

And listening to Annie, he realized something: what was it with her and strange things happening? She's alone, and she takes off and a broom, ends up in a lake and . . . what? Did Yoda pull her ass out of the drink? Or did she put her there? Who knew?

That's all the past, Kerry thought. It's time to move forward.

He quickly hugged Annie's shoulders. "We're gonna fly, Annie. Don't worry. It's gonna happen."

Keith found the set of gear with his last name printed on the jacket. The gear fit him just right. Taking extra time to make sure nothing would fall off while he was suspended an indeterminate amount of feet off the ground, he finally emerged from the locker room carrying his goggles and helmet. The clothes were bulky, but he felt a little bigger wearing them.

He walked back to where the others were waiting. It looked like the instructor was talking about something serious with the lovey-dovey duo. Keith politely remained silent and stood off to the side, figuring out how to adjust the strap on his goggles.

Seeing her students dressed and ready, Victoria motioned for everyone to take a seat. Once they were in place she began.

“Flying is more than getting on a broom and going off into the sky,” she said. “Sure, that’s what it looked like, but when you get into everything that is involved in flying, it’s far more extensive than straddling a hunk of wood and taking off.

“For example . . .” She motioned to the rain outside. “You need to know your environment. At some schools they’d make you get on the broom in your uniform and tell you to take over, ‘cause that’s the way it’s been done for the last 300 years.” She snorted. “People might think you look kinda funny dressed as you are, but you’re going to remain nice and warm and dry while we’re flying in this mess, and that’s just one little part of flying which is usually not thought of as being important.

“And that’s why every year there are dozens of wizards and witches who take off on their brooms and die because they weren’t dressed for that sudden storm that blew up, or they weren’t ready for colder winds, and it chilled them or soaked them, and they got tired and . . .” She whistled while she made a downward spinning motion with her finger, making it look like someone falling from the sky. “Down they go.”

Walking slowly to the window, Victoria continued. “Yes, we will learn the finer points of flying, and come the end of the school year you might just be good enough to be able to play quidditch next year, or—” She almost spit out the word. “Quodpot . . . and maybe a few of you will try your meddle with a little extra credit—“ She glanced around the room, then tapped on the window. ”But before we get to any of that, you’ll work on your technique out there, at different times of the day and night, in the heat and the cold and the wet and dry. We will do this together, you and I. And when we reach the end of the school year, I know, I’m going to be glad to say you made me proud.”

Victoria’s tone turned stern in an instant. “But there is something you need to understand: when we are on the pitch, you are the students and I am the instructor. And when I give you an instruction, it will be followed. I’m not out there talking because I like the sound of my voice, I’m talking because I’m trying to impart what I know about flying to you.” She fixed her gaze upon each student for a moment as she told them, “I don’t care if you came out of your mama’s womb clutching a broom in your wrinkled gray hands, no matter how much you now know—I know more. I know a hell of a lot more.

“If I think you’re not paying attention to a lesson, I’ll ground you until you are. If I think you’re trying to get away with something by stretching the envelop of the lesson because you’re bored with how slowly I’m going, I’ll knock you off your broom and see if that wakes you up.” She crossed her arms, her face growing cold. “And if you think you’re going to get me to change anything by constantly pushing my buttons until I give up and give in to your desires, I will kick your butt off my pitch and you won’t return until I’m ready for you to return.

“There are two rules to keep in mind throughout this class. One: the instructor is always right. Even when she is wrong, she is right.” Victoria smile broadly. “Particularly when she’s wrong, she’s right, ‘cause she’s not going to let you know she’s wrong. But that almost never happens . . . almost.” She stepped away from the window and returned to the front of the class. “And, two: you worry about yourself and only yourself. Don’t worry about your friends or the other classmates or . . .” She glanced at Annie and gave her a little wink, “whomever—you worry about yourself and yourself only. Worry about what you are doing on the broom, how you are flying and nothing else.” Victoria indicated herself. “I’ll worry about you. And that’s all you need when it comes to worry.”

She looked about the class. “Any questions, witches?”

Rigidly sitting up straight in his seat, Keith was still shorter than most of the other students were slouching. He paid strict attention to Professor Salomon and wondered if they were doing the same. Of course not, he thought. They've probably done this before.

When she finished and asked if the class had any questions, Keith decided to wait until she continued. Quidditch was a relatively new term to him, but Quodpot was completely new. It didn't seem very relevant at the moment, though. He glanced in either direction, waiting for someone to raise their hand.

Annie knew this part was coming. She sat quietly, listening closely to the professor, and trusted that she would be there for them. It still did not make any of this easier. She felt a twinge of guilt not admitting to the whole story of her first flight…but then again, she was not about to make the whole show about her.

She gathered up her courage, which had taken refuge in her feet—and shook her head no when Professor Salomon asked if anyone had questions.

Kerry kept his eyes on the professor's face, watching her move about the room, listening to her words. When she asked if there were questions he shook his head, and noticed everyone else staying clammed as well. He didn't know if that was a good sign, or if everyone was scared spitless by now.

Since there were no questions, Victoria continued. “For example, you look outside and some of you are probably thinking, ‘The teacher’s insane to let us fly in this crap’. And at one time flying in this sort of weather could be dangerous. Riding around on something made of wood and bits of metal, in an open field during the middle of a storm—yeah, you’re asking for trouble.

“But I worry about you, and since I do I take precautions.” She paused for effect, then said, “All the brooms in the Bastion are charmed so they won’t build up a charge while flying in a storm, so you never need worry about getting hit by lightening. Sure, it’s not 100% perfect, but—“ She grinned. “You’d have to fly right into the middle of a storm cloud in order to get hit; it’s not something that’s going to just happen. In fact, most brooms made in the last 10 years are charmed to keep lightening away. We just happened to make them a little better.”

Victoria pulled her wand from her jacket and made a broom diagram appear on the blackboard. “Also, a lot of schools like to put their 1st Years on really crappy old brooms for their first flights.” Victoria shook her head. “I don’t do that. I’ve been flying for almost 20 years and played professional quidditch for 13, and I know the importance of having good equipment.” She pointed to the board. “Today we are using Cleansweep Fives. These were first made in the early 1950’s, but they are in use a lot today: in fact, they are still used in our coven quidditch games. The ones you’ll be flying on today are used for quidditch practice, and I guaranty you they are in excellent shape. These are good sports broom that are well maintained and—“ She smiled slyly. “Not as temperamental as some 100 year old broom that’s sent a fair number of students to the hospital.”

She looked about the group again. “Any questions?”

When the professor spoke about about the enchantments on the brooms and mentioned they were not horrible school brooms patched together and reserved for the sole purpose of being the guinea pigs for the first years, Annie perked up. She knew the importance of having a good broom, and even though it would be better to have a broom that belonged only to them, this was about as good as it could get.

Once more, she shook her head no and waited for the professor to continue.

Kerry glanced over to Annie right after the professor asked for questions and saw she looked a bit more relaxed. He was guessing it was something the professor said about the brooms that made her relax, and having a relaxed Annie was . . . well, Kerry knew now that Uptight Annie wasn't a good thing to have around.

Kerry raised his hand and asked, "So are these anything like the broom you were flying the other day?" He almost worried he might come off sounding like a suck up indicating he'd already seen the instructor flying--

Almost was the operative word, though.

Annie looked at Kerry and smiled. He was excited about the whole thing. She could hardly blame him; she was just saying how crazy she had been to get on a broom before her unfortunate—accident.

She was a little upset that she did not notice it before. She knew a lot about brooms. He would have been thrilled to have seen the inside of papa’s office. Annie turned back to the professor, already knowing the answer she would give. She folded her hands across her lap and sat back, thinking…

Seeing a setup when it was presented, Victoria nodded and said, “No, Kerry. The broom I was riding the other day is a lot different from the one you’ll fly. However—“ She began walking towards the door. “Come with me, class. Time for the next part of the lesson.” She motioned for everyone to follow. They quickly followed her down the main hall to the north side of the building. When they reached the door at the end Victoria held it open to allow the class to enter the room.

Down a short flight of stairs was a large room filed with a number of cabinets. Each one was labeled with a different name: Cleansweep Three, Comet 260, Nimbus 3500, Starflight 2000. Victoria watched her student’s eyes as they looked around the equipment room, and felt a swelling of pride; she’d worked hard to get the school’s flying program to this point.

Victoria walked over to the stand where her broom sat. “This is mine,” she said, picking it up and carrying it over for the students to see. “This is a Firebolt Mk II. First manufactured in 2004, it’s the fastest production broom today. It has a top speed of 285 kilometers per hour—“ She smiled and added, “That’s 175 miles per hour for those who haven’t yet mastered that crazy metric system the whole world uses. It will go from zero to 160 kilometers—or 100 miles per hour—in 4.2 seconds.

“Your brooms on the other hand—“ She motioned with her broom to a cabinet a few feet away, “will go about 100 klicks an hour tops; it handles very well without being super responsive, and it’s forgiving—you can over react a bit and it won’t spin out and throw you. But this—“ Victoria held up her Firebolt. “Even as long as I’ve been flying, I still find myself getting out of shape on this, ‘cause this is a hyper-broom; it goes fast and turns like a stitch, but if you aren’t careful, it’ll put you into the pitch before you realize you’ve messed up.”

Victoria held her broom to her side while the rain pelted the outside of the building. “Flying is not just getting on a broom. It’s knowing your equipment; it’s knowing how to maintain it; it’s knowing how to repair it; it’s knowing what a certain kind of broom will do. And it’s knowing enough to understand if you can ride a particular broom safely. Or if you can ride it at all.”

She looked directly at Kerry and said, “That’s just a few of the things you’ll learn in this class. And there’s so much more—“

Professor Salomon sure did seem to have a vast textbook knowledge about her brooms. She had a nice collection and Annie could see they were all well maintained and cared for. She was suddenly very curious to see her on a broom.

Annie could tell a lot about a person by the way they handled themselves on a broom. She spent years watching her father practice with teammates at Pamporovo and always loved watching him perform The Wronski Feint and The Plumpton Pass. One of her favorite teams was the Tchamba Charmers, who fascinated her with the reverse pass.

She was thinking about the Charmers when their professor looked at Kerry and said that there would be more to learn. She smiled, agreeing wholeheartedly.

All wound up now, Victoria pushed onward. "Your first year--the only mandatory year--you'll learn flight operations, sure, but you're also going to learn basic maintenance and repair for specific types of brooms. It's not just so much as to fly them as it is to take care of them as well."

She was pacing in a little circle as she spoke. "Beyond that, you get into other things that are just as important, but not thought of that much: advanced flight characteristics; licensing; local laws and travel permits; navigation via maps, stars and local terrain." She broke into a broad smile. "You'll learn how to fly into a Muggle area and not be seen; you'll learn emergency field repairs; basic survival in case you ever went down and needed to live off the land." She looked straight at Annie. "And if you make it to 3rd Year, you'll do The Polar Express: 3 day trip from a spot somewhere in the country back to here, in the dead of winter, on your own with just a little gear and some maps." She nodded and almost whispered, "Once you do that, a little Sunday flight won't bother you at all.

Victoria raised her voice back to normal levels. "If you stay here through all three years of class, you'll probably ride every kind of broom in the Bastion." She took a deep breath, looking around. "Now, most school won't allow you to own a broom during your first year--but we're not most schools. If you already have your own broom, we'll make arrangements to bring it here for you to use. And if you can afford to buy one--" She smiled, flashing her eyes off each student, "you can have one to fly during class--with the stipulation, of course, that when you need to fly one of our other brooms, you will.

"But enough of that--" Victoria stopped pacing. She took her broom and placed it in front of her body. "Flying is about having fun, and it's time to start." She held the broom steady, then released it, allowing it to hover about waist high. Quickly she said upon it, side saddle, her back to the students, then brought her legs up and over, spinning upon the thin wood like it was a chair.

Now facing the students and still sitting side saddle, she gently placed her hands on either side of her body on the broom and crossed her legs. "Before I show you the basics of flight, are there any questions, witches?"

Kerry was about to freak. He was very impressed with the whole program of flying, and could see spending the next three years learning all the ins and outs of flying. So could Annie, he thought, reasoning that it would probably help her with her confidence. Then again, flying is one thing; flying high another. He understood his confidence could stand a whack or two.

He shook his head. "No, Professor," he said dryly. He was eager to watch how she handled a broom.

And was dying to get on one himself.

Annie once again looked over at Kerry, who was practically already flying. She couldn’t help but smile and she would be lying to herself if she said his eagerness wasn’t rubbing off on her. I’ll bet he’s fast on a broom, she thought as the thunder rumbled outside.

Swinging her leg over the broom Victoria took hold of the broom in both hands and relaxed. "Okay, come in close," she said. "I'm going to show you basic flight actions on my broom, and when I've showed you how they are suppose to work, I'll have each of you try the same in here, one at a time, before I take you outside to go over a few other operations before going around the course."

For the next 20 minutes she showed them the process of using their hands to direct the broom to do as they desired, how the motions were almost isometric actions, and that the more "pressure" one put forth, the quicker and harder the broom responded--but that with just the lightest of touches, one could dance about on their 'sticks with the greatest of ease.

She showed them out to hover, to move forward and back, turn left and right, come to a stop, even transition up and down and side to side without forward, reverse, or turning movements added.

As always, Victoria went smoothly, slowly, explaining everything as she did it, having the students stand close to her as she worked. She removed her jacket so they could better see her arms and shoulders working, even letting a few of them touch her so they could feel her muscles working when she performed an operation.

Finally, it was time. She slowly pulled away, turning to the left as she pulled the nose tip of her broom up and let her right foot slip into the Firebolt's stirrup. She hovered for a moment in the air, the broom standing straight up, before she stepped off to the ground and snapping the Firebolt out of the air. Bringing the broom to her side she said, "Well, witches, do you have any questions before I select our first pilot?"

Annie was impressed with how their professor handled her broom. She took her time detailing each movement, making sure each of them was comfortable before moving on. This may not be as bad as I thought.
Many of her postures were familiar, but as a rule, she spent a good amount of time watching her father fly—way above her head. This was different, more intimate.

Still, she was caught off guard when the professor finished the demonstration and asked for questions before selecting a first victim. She felt herself cringe at the idea of going first.

The demonstration finished and Kerry's heart was now starting to pound a slight bit. The professor was asking for questions, and then Kerry knew she'd pick someone to fly. He wondered if she'd call Raven, but then thought, no, if she's going to pick someone it likely going to be a newbie.

He looked to Keith, and then over toe Annie, then thought about getting on the broom first. That could be good and bad. The good would be she'd lavish attention on him. The bad . . . well, screwing the pooch right off the bat was the bad.

Professor Salomon was looking about the storage shed. She was about to pick--

Victoria looking around and thought, Lets make it easy; this one looks like they're going to burst if they don't get flying, and fast. So lets do it.

"Malibey," she said, her voice nice and even. She placed her broom back on its stand. "You've never flown before. Pick out a broom from the Cleansweep Five cabinet." She allowed herself a small grin while no one could see her face, then turned to face the group. "Annie, please give him a hand."

It's go time. Kerry turned and looked around for the cabinet and found it a few feet over. He opened it and saw 8 brooms,--4 to a side, bristles down, tips up--affixed in holders fastened to the walls.

He looked them over, then glanced over to Annie. "Pick one," he said. Smiling sweetly he added, "Please."

Annie took Kerry’s hand and closed her eyes. She breathed deeply. When she opened them again, she ran her fingertips over the handles of the four brooms closest to her. She felt them humming and grinned.

Annie lifted Kerry’s hand. “Do you feel it?” she asked. “This is the one.” She lifted the broom out of the cabinet—noting that this was the first broom she had picked up since that day, and handed it to him.

“Be safe,” she said, holding onto both his hands for a few seconds longer before turning away. She refused to let him see her suffering. It was going to be ok—HE was going to be ok…

Kerry smiled, his eyes shinning. "I'm just going over there," he said, nodding towards Professor Salomon standing next the center of the equipment room. "I'm sure she's not gonna let anything bad happen."

He turned to face the professor. "I, um, ready, Professor," he said, a slight glup slipping out.

Victoria nodded. "Come over here, Kerry," she said, motioning him. When he was standing before her she held out her hand. "Gimme you broom and take off your jacket." Once Kerry was out of the heavy jacket Victoria handed him his broom and tossed the jacket to Annie. "Right or left handed?" she asked. When Kerry indicated he was left handed, she stepped behind him, setting their backs to the group, then leaned in, putting her hands on his shoulders.

"Okay, Kerry, just relax." Victoria was feeling his shoulders for tenseness; he was just a touch, but not too bad. She spoke in a soft voice, but one that was loud enough for the others could hear. "Take the broom in your left hand and hold it out about waist high, keeping it parallel to the floor. It's gonna feel lighter; that's normal.

"Now, you want it to hover. Hold it tight and think 'Hover' as you say it. Right now it'll respond to your voice, but in time it'll hover when out place it out there, because it's charmed to know. Now hold it tight, say/think 'Hover', then take your hand away. Don't snatch it back; release it, like you would a ball. Go ahead."

Holding the broom out as Professor Salomon instructed, Kerry tightened his grip every so slightly, staring hard at it while saying in a normal, steady voice, "Hover." As he spoke the word he opened his hand and pulled it away . . ..







Kerry Malibey carried out 1 launched of one (D100.) :

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