Gabi Schultz is standing in the middle of a clearing, clutching her sweater closer to her body as the cold fall wind whips through the trees. The clearing spans for about 100 yards, and is surrounded by evergreen trees all around. Don't be too nervous though - should anything REALLY bad happen, you're just about a quarter mile outside the city of Surrey so you aren't TOTALLY cut off from civilization.

Gabi has three different models of brooms in front of her - the Twigger 202, Firebolt 800 and Comet 1000. There are piles of each of these brooms so multiple people can test each model. These brooms have not been released to the public yet but HAVE undergone most (key word MOST) safety tests. They just need to be tested out by a FEW more guinea pigs before being sent out to the shops!

"Hello everyone!" she calls as you apparite into the area and get a good look around. "Welcome to broom testing! Go ahead, grab a broom and do the following tests," she explained before pointing to the floating whiteboard next to her.

Quote:

BROOM TESTING TASKS

• Test the brakes by jamming to a halt three separate times (using varying speeds)
• Ride for at least 30 minutes to test the Cushioning Spell on each broom
• Test the traction spells by doing three loop-dee-loops, making sure you stay on the broom and maintain good grip
• Test the speed and acceleration/deceleration
• Run your hand over the handle to assure no splintering/uneven edges
• Fly in and out of the trees for at least 10 minutes to test the sharpness of the turns

"You only have to test ONE broom, since these tests are very in depth and should take you a while to complete. I'll be on standby incase...well, in case something BAD should happen. Don't worry, these should be in good working order. I think." she said, wrinkling her brows as she tried to remember...


OOC: HEY GUYS! Enjoy having fun and causing chaos (you're in control of how wild your brooms are!) - please don't get TOO out of control. I've got someone on standby in case things get out of hand since I will not be here to actually RP Gabi. Those who complete all the given tasks by the time I return (May 17th) will get a little special something! HAVE FUN!

So today they were going to test out BROOMS! Understandably Vickers was excited for this. They were going to be putting never before seen brooms through their paces, and this former Ravenclaw was just itching to check all of them out.

Of course the one thing thats kept him to be the all-out fly boy were his balance issues. He could try to get his hearing fixed but then he has his reasons for keeping that deaf ear the way it was.

He apparated a few feet from the edge of the clearing and spotted his Department Head as soon as she called out “Good morning Ms Schultz.” he greeted back, mists forming in the air as he spoke. He rubbed his hands together as he neared the stack of brooms then checked the paperwork that needs to be done.

His hand hovered near the Firebolt 800. On his own, he would never be able to afford it—even with two paying jobs and tossing his University dreams out the window which he wont ever do. Of course he was a Vanderbilt whose legacy was synonymous with Transportation... how easy was it for him to just ask for a Firebolt or a Nimbus for his own? Overprotective grandmother aside of course.

Well whether he would actually use the family fortunes for something as transitory as a hot-rod broomstick depends on what he discovers about it today innit? So off he goes, Firebolt 800 in hand, paperwork tucked carefully into his coat.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lissy Longbottom

Gabi Schultz is standing in the middle of a clearing, clutching her sweater closer to her body as the cold fall wind whips through the trees. The clearing spans for about 100 yards, and is surrounded by evergreen trees all around. Don't be too nervous though - should anything REALLY bad happen, you're just about a quarter mile outside the city of Surrey so you aren't TOTALLY cut off from civilization.

Gabi has three different models of brooms in front of her - the Twigger 202, Firebolt 800 and Comet 1000. There are piles of each of these brooms so multiple people can test each model. These brooms have not been released to the public yet but HAVE undergone most (key word MOST) safety tests. They just need to be tested out by a FEW more guinea pigs before being sent out to the shops!

"Hello everyone!" she calls as you apparite into the area and get a good look around. "Welcome to broom testing! Go ahead, grab a broom and do the following tests," she explained before pointing to the floating whiteboard next to her.



"You only have to test ONE broom, since these tests are very in depth and should take you a while to complete. I'll be on standby incase...well, in case something BAD should happen. Don't worry, these should be in good working order. I think." she said, wrinkling her brows as she tried to remember...


OOC: HEY GUYS! Enjoy having fun and causing chaos (you're in control of how wild your brooms are!) - please don't get TOO out of control. I've got someone on standby in case things get out of hand since I will not be here to actually RP Gabi. Those who complete all the given tasks by the time I return (May 17th) will get a little special something! HAVE FUN!

Gleefully the former Ravenclaw walked up to the brooms and gave them all a once over before picking up a Comet 1000. It was a pretty broom, with a sleek design and it looked sturdy. Kyleigh though was not fooled, looks could be deceiving.

"Good Morning Ms Schultz" she smiled over to the department head. The blond in question though was fighting a mental war on how not to hurt herself while testing these brooms.

She eyed the broom and smiled to herself. It was just so pretty. Grabbing the broom and paperwork she glanced around to the other people who had entered the room. Oh there was that Vanderbilt guy right? That was his name? She was sure that was his name.

Okay, she wasn't so sure and didn't want to embarrass herself so she just gave a nod and a smile.

Lovely day for something fun and productive to do. Stephen was more excited than the usual because for the first time ever since he started working at the ministry they are going to do something crazy and chaotic. Who doesn't want some cool, old fashion broom testing anyway? Yup, Stephen was always up for something like that. In fact that's why he is in this business in the first place too.


Upon arriving, Stephen saw his co-workers Vickers and Kyleigh and of course the every lovely head, Gabi. "Hello Miss Schultz" greeting the head of their department and smiling towards the 2 present co-workers.

Making his way to the brooms, he took a stunning Oakshaft 2010. Nimbus was known for it's wood design. The people who made it and designed it were pure geniuses of their time. Their hands were created for this sole purpose and now, Stephen will test the incredible broom.

After apparating to his destination, Rylan Seong turned on his heel and found the rest of the group behind him. He walked towards them and immediately saw a pile of broomsticks ready to be tested. He hoped it would go right. He wasn't exactly a star in riding... Hence why he was chosen as the floo network system guy.

"Hello Miss Schultz" the man greeted politely and then waved his hand to his co-workers so that they too gotten a hello.

Now, what to do first? The ex-Hufflepuff picked up one of the brooms and studied it for a moment. It was the Twigger 202. He guessed he could begin with this. Atleast it wasn't a fast broom like the firebolt, he would avoid that one for now.

Oh hey there co-workers...

Vickers turned half-way around to see the others arriving. All familiar faces, although without them at their usual desks and usual work robes its gotten tricky to make sure he was remembering the right name to the right face.

“Kyleigh right?” he smiled politely at the blond who held the Comet. “I’m Vickers.” he said introducing himself, in case she didn’t know, and besides he’s new—he always has to start the introductions. He extended his hand to his other co-workers who joined them, the guy who held a broom-- double-take...is that a Nimbus?—and the other guy with the Twigger....

Stephen is not the kind of guy to immediately try a magnificent work of art even though that it is, well uhm, a magnificent work of art. He usually just inspects the who thing. Observe the details and make note at anything he would see or spot anything wrong... if ever there is. Stephen took out his handy notebook and pen and wrote a few quick notes. So far, the physical aspects of the broom is okay. Nothing really broken or wrong with it.

Then someone approached him. Their new and quite frankly, their youngest co-worker. A very fine young lad; Ravenclaw as Stephen remembered. He doesn't know much about Hogwarts but he has heard stories about how those people are sorted in that place. Vickers introduced himself to Kyleigh Tanner and Stephen immediately gave out a small laugh as Vickers extended a hand to the rest of the crew.

Stephen placed his broom onto his side and shook Vicker's hand "Of course the handsome young man would always remember the females' names" he teased, only because he remembers her name. "I'm Stephen by the way"

This. Was. Outrageous.

Eliza flipped the end of her ponytail as soon as she arrived with a POP at the site for Broom Testing their Department was holding that day, chewing the insides of her cheeks as she went. The three broom models earned a grim look from her. DEAR MERLIN. She didn't....sign up for this! For Puddlemere's sake, she was in Apparition for a reason. She was super duper an expert good with brooms when they were stationary on the ground (she even accepted the post as Brooms Company liaison not too long ago)....ONLY. But she couldn't deal with one that was one air, let alone flying on one. Heights kicked the spirit out of her.

Simply put, she was at the moment....scared.

And that was definitely saying something. Eliza Tohsaka wasn't scared of a lot of things. This was actually one of the VERY few. Yet...she had to do it, right? It would be unfair to the others if she didn't and besides, she didn't want to get on their Department Head's bad side.

"Hi, Miss Gabriela." She greeted the woman in subject as she managed to force out a tight smile. She also sent nods to her co-workers who where there and noticed that Katrina Rayne wasn't there yet. Where could that woman be?

....Hmm.

Well, anyway. Miss Schultz said they were to start. The woman also mentioned about good and bad things, Eliza caught that. Good...because they were only going to test ONE broom. Bad....because there seemed like a ton of tasks they had to do plus the woman only thinks that the brooms are in good working order.

Great. Just great.

"This is SO amazing. I've always wanted to test out a broom this way. This is going to be a one kind of a lifetime experience." She mumbled about as she went to pick out a Comet 1000. Of course her mind was saying the exact opposite words. Duuh.

PLEASE DON'T LET ME DIE.

SPOILER!!: tasks

BROOM TESTING TASKS

Test the brakes by jamming to a halt three separate times (using varying speeds)
Ride for at least 30 minutes to test the Cushioning Spell on each broom
Test the traction spells by doing three loop-dee-loops, making sure you stay on the broom and maintain good grip
Test the speed and acceleration/deceleration
Run your hand over the handle to assure no splintering/uneven edges
Fly in and out of the trees for at least 10 minutes to test the sharpness of the turns

Kyleigh smiled over to Vickers as he introduced herself - so she was right it was the Vanderbilt guy! That made her proud about getting a name right - even if she hadn't said it aloud. "Yeah its Kyleigh" she smiled brightly and shook his hand.

He was nice and nice people were great. "Nice to meet you Vickers," she smiled brightly. Kyleigh couldn't help but flush a bit out of nerves when Stephen teased - of course she knew it was teasing. She was just one of those awkward-at-times girls. She smiled to Stephen none the less. "Pleasure to meet you Stephen" since really she did feel like she was just meeting everyone for the first time - she'd kind of went all quiet and didn't talk all that much to everyone since that pandemic.

When she heard Eliza talking about this being a once in a lifetime experience she just smiled. "I really think this is going to be amazing" she loved flying. It was why she had made the reserve team back in the day - before that time with the ship.

After introducing herself to well everyone really she continued to run her hand along the broom. Gripping it lightly at first and then tightening her grip. Sure it was smooth in some places and rough in others. There was also that awkwardly uncomfortable bit where she could feel the chisel marks from when the broom was being sculpted.

It was mostly even. Mostly perfect, she loved it - and then the splinter happened. "Oh! Merlin that's not good" she muttered at the broom before whipping out her wand and getting rid of the splinter in her hand. Looking more closely at the broom and scrupulously checking all the edges she noticed that there had only been one splinter.

Lucky it was the one she had to check.

Perks of working in the Transportation Department -- Testing brooms. Jayden looked around. This was also a dangerous thing. You had to make sure to grab a broom that looked... safe. Or relatively safe at least.

Picking up one that looked like it might actually hold up, he kicked off the ground. Time to test the stopping.

He first inched along in the air before bringing the broom to a stop. He hovered motionless for several seconds. Oh good. He'd have been just a tad bit concerned if this didn't work well.

"Hello, hello," Gabi said with a smile to everyone. Oh this was going to be so much fun! Sipping on an iced coffee while she watched her employees do all the work? EEP such a fun day! Although maybe she'd hop on a broom later just for kicks. She hadn't ridden one in such a long time.

"Come on, no dilly dallying! They're just brooms," she reminded them. Some of them looked like she was asking them to wrestle a chimera...

SPOILER!!: tasks

BROOM TESTING TASKS

Test the brakes by jamming to a halt three separate times (using varying speeds)
Ride for at least 30 minutes to test the Cushioning Spell on each broom
Test the traction spells by doing three loop-dee-loops, making sure you stay on the broom and maintain good grip
Test the speed and acceleration/deceleration
Run your hand over the handle to assure no splintering/uneven edges
Fly in and out of the trees for at least 10 minutes to test the sharpness of the turns

She had already tested the darn edges of the stupid broom. It was only stupid because she had gotten one itty bitty sliver from it. The next thing she decided to test was the sharpness of the turns. The normal less than graceful girl mounted her broom and kicked off toward the trees.

Her heart was racing when she started the first turn - the wind rippling through her hair as she zipped to the left around one tree. Banking to the right she cut a curve around the next one. it was like a slalom of trees but it was worth it. The wind was chilling her cheeks so wonderfully and she loved it.

When she finally returned to the clearing a large smile on her face the girl just couldn't stop smiling. It was like someone had just decided to be as happy as ever. And it worked. She quickly marked off the ratings and moved on to the next task.

They're JUST brooms?

Hahahahahahahahaha. No. Eliza wanted to SO MUCH to tell their Department Head that they weren't just brooms. They were brooms that could take you up high up in the air where you can watch your life go slipping by.

But she didn't....because she wanted to finish the tasks as soon as possible. She wanted out, all right?

"Up!" she BOSSED the Comet 1000 and even though her wicked little heart was pounding against her ribcage for potential fractures, she still had that air of authority in her because the broom was now in her grasp. Mounting.... and kick off!

Up, up she went...."Oh...bloody hell...." Could she curse hard? She really wanted to because as long as she stared at the ground moving further and further away from her feet, she could feel the life slipping out of her. But she had tasks to do, okay? Maybe at least she could finish up the tasks before her life force slips out. Yeah, that was cool too. Kinda like a last moment service for the benefit of the majority!

Oh, gosh. She was actually thinking that she'd die. Shut up, Eliza. You won't die. You're too mean of a person to die early. Yeaaaaaah. She had to keep repeating that to herself.

TASKS! She had tasks though. So...that voice in her head that kept telling her she would die should really shut the hell up.

She better start. First was to test the brakes and what more effective way for it to be tested than to....actually brake? She swallowed hard and swoooshed! She zoomed around, eyed a certain tree in the near distance and made it her first stop point. Go! ........and....S-s-s-top! Zing! She halted. First try, complete! She maneuvered her broom off to the left, clutching the handle HARD...and swerved around. Better try up too, right? AND....She flew...up! Not daring to look down. Increasing speed and then, "STOP!" O.o ..."I said...stop!" Phew. She was still alive but upside down. Lastly, she ought to test how the brakes worked going dooooooooown. And down she went. GULPGULPSWALLOW. She didn't want to look. She didn't want to.... Ugh. She was going to hit the ground, head first and then her skull will be propped open...bits of her brain would sprawl over the ground...."HELL! Staaaap!" .................

....

.......................

"I'm still alive." Breathing and her brain was still intact.

She needed to breathe...

Brushing the sweat off her left eyebrow -yes...she was sweating...her life was at stake, remember?! - Eliza referred to her list of tasks and found out that she had to test the cushioning next. Great way to catch her breath...so she hovered in mid air and stayed sitting down.

She'd have to wait for 30 minutes, yeah? Okay...that was enough to calm down her frantic heartbeat.

Gabi was starting to understand why some of her employees worked desk jobs. She had never been a great flyer herself, but maybe more of them would be less anxious if she jumped on a broom herself. Sigh. She hadn't finished her coffee yet but, duty called!

"Here, I'll help you guys out," she said with a smile, grabbing one of the nearby Nimbus brooms. She ran her hand over the handle to test for splinters and found, to her relief, that there weren't any. So far so good!

Kyleigh had a few more tests to do – just a few and she was trying to be thorough you know. She only had to test the speed and deceleration, the cushioning spells, do three loop-di-loops and test the brakes at three different times. And speeds. Yeah, that wasn’t much at all.

Taking her broom in hand she started to the make some slow boring circles over the clearing. Had it been half an hour yet? Nope. Clearly only five minutes. She frowned at the idea of this taking forever.

She continued the circles speeding up as she went around. Her hips were starting to feel a bit sore as well as her legs in general. This whole thing wasn’t’ all that comfy was it? She thought as she continued to ride her broom.

She glanced at her watch and realized it had been over thirty minutes. She quickly – rather too quickly aimed to the ground and decelerated quite to quickly at about ground level. Her body fell forward into the broom like a rubber band that was stretched too far.

Victoria walked into the clearing and it was the perfect place to test broomsticks, she looked round at her work colleagues. She stopped in front of the white board and started to read the instructions when she had finished she grabbed a broom.

She was still flying at this point and going slowly this time. Turning so that she could make the climb a little bit more easily she arched her broom toward the open air. She needed space from the treetops and her coworkers for this to work. So she pushed her body forward on the broom and speed up. She had to be going quickly for this to work.

She adjusted her grip on the broom as she threw herself backwards, her legs twined securely around the broom. She didn’t fall backwards as she feared, no, she had pushed backwards at just the right speed and had thrown herself into a backward loop-di-loop. It was exhilarating.

As she neared the bottom of it she slowed to a stop and smiled to herself. This was good. Letting her mind clear she pushed forward again going twice as fast as she had been before she pushed forward on the broom – mimicking the look of someone about to jump a horse she pushed even further and she and the broom fell forward into another loop. She was smiling now.

Not pulling up soon enough she climbed back upward and swooped downward into another loop. THIS was amazing, really, she had loved it. As she finished the third loop she was going what felt like the fastest she had been that night and suddenly stopped, her lip catching the edge of the broom – but hey, it was better than being bucked off.

All right. 30 minutes was up....or at least she assumed. Either way, Eliza had concluded that the Cushioning charm on the Comet 1000 she was currently flying on was working. She didn't get bum sore or anything like that.

Her head was still swirling though. She was on air and she still had a few more tasks to do before she could get out of that place. But hey, look at Miss Schultz...the woman was getting on a broom like the rest of them. For some reason, it made her feel a bit more....confident or something.

You go, Department Head!

Next is she had to work on the traction spells by doing three loop-dee-loops. BYT WHAT?! O_O ......Erm. Hell. Hell. Hell no. She won't do that. She won't............................she knew she had to. Well....she wasn't going to die early anyway, right? She was too mean to be in heaven....or hell...or whatever. She had three loop-dee-loops to do so there goes nothing... she leaned her handle on to get into mid air and then she zoomed off. Good grip on. "Whoa! Hell!" She maneuvered the broom into a circle. One..... "I'm going to fall!" Two.........and finally, a nerve-wracking three. "Bouncing bulbs! I am still alive." Her eyes were almost watering because of the pressure of the wind, the force of the broom...everything. It was wonder even to herself that she wasn't ditching this task.

But....the acceleration of the broom was SUPERB. The deceleration, however, well....it required a little bit of force. Hmmm.

So there are a couple of things for them to do. Stephen did take note on the various activities that their department head had written on the board. In his hands was the broom he picked to test. First thing's first, he ran his fingers onto the handle and made sure that hopefully, yes hopefully, he doesn't get splintered. Hey, wienie or not but a splinter is a really awful thing to happen on someone. He'd rather be blasted by an attack than get splintered.

...

Nope. Broom was perfectly smooth and even. Good. At least now, he can check one thing on the board. Next, he's going to uhmm.... hmmm... He read the rest of the details that they are going to do for today and decided that he should fly for 10 minutes onto those trees.

Sounds really --- well, like a walk in the park. It should be fun. Stephen used to test cars for a living, how can a broom be different... right? Right??? He did position himself with the broom and a kick from the ground led him to go straight up into the air. And up he went.

His hand firmly held the handle as he saw a couple of hi co-workers already testing the brooms, namely Kyleigh. Pretty girl who is managing quite alright with the broom. She looked fine from where he is at. Aaaand, he also can see Eliza testing the broom. She looks like she's having a bit of a problem but then she ends up managing it in the end as well. Stephen did smile, everyone seems to be handling the brooms just fine............. for now at least. He's just hoping they're not going to stumble upon factory defects and whatnot.

He did zoom into the trees and have this broom checked for turns. Test if it is as good as he knows it to be. "Whoah!" a smile formed on his lips the moment the broom flew into the trees and he's now making all the fun turns. This is so exciting. They should have done this a long time ago. Wooohoo!!!

A few more tasks to accomplish and she was going to be out of there. She didn't grumble so much by now because of that thinking. Besides, she had a tighter grip on the Comet now, although she was still trying to avoid looking at the ground. At least the next task she had to work on didn't require her eyes to be looking down. Instead, she had to focus on ahead amongst the trees because she had to fly in and out.

On the mark, woooosh!

Off she went into the evergreen trees, and then she took a diverse turn and went back. This better end good for her. The trees branched off in different and various angles and all so she had to dock when she zoomed in and out, taking sharp turns as she did. The broom wasn't letting her down with its performance. It was fast enough to sufficiently provide her with the curve she needed.

And then...the ten minutes almost when unnoticed just like that.

Eliza skidded off to halt back right on where she had exactly mounted the broom. But before she jumped off, her candle-like fingers rather meticulously ran along the handle. She didn't mind if she got splintered. What could dittany not do about it, anyway. So...with keen eyes and touch, she continued her inspection. No splinters but there were uneven edges at that part where it had begin to narrow down. Aside from that, she couldn't detect any more physical blemishes.

So...FINALLY....

....she lowered the broom and unmounted. DEEP BREATHS of relief.

Then she turned to watch her co-coworkers with a smirk. See, she didn't die. She had finished all of the tasks with flying colors. Now she wait for whatever their Department Head has got to say next as she fanned herself with her hand.

His 10 minutes were up, so he quickly gave the broom a turn and went back to the wider space and out of these trees. While in mid air, he took out the small notebook that he has and wrote his observations for the broom. The Nimbus was working perfectly for him and it was to his every bit of liking. That's a good sign. Putting the notebook and pencil back into his pocket, he tried to recall the other tasks that was meant for them to do...

Oh right the loop-de-loops...

Although, thinking about it already made Stephen quite nauseous but then again, the idea of doing it is totally fun and he would definitely loooove to try it out. And so he did, he tightly gripped his hand onto the broom. He needed to be as safe as possible with this task or else he'll end up on the ground with his face squished like a tomato. No one wants that.

Flying around for awhile, he made sure to get the right amount of speed so that he can do his loops without possibly injuring himself. Plus he also needed to know how fast this thing could go, which was also part of the list. Killing two birds with one stone. When he is already happy with his pace he immediately maneuvered into a circular movement. Whoah! That made him dizzy but at least he did it. He then did another one and the third one altogether. His head spun as he could no longer think that he could have balance. His grip became firm onto the broom as he stopped, trying to regain his balance. Taking his notebook out, he took note that the Nimbus was okay even though the exercise made his head spin, and not in a good way either.

Kyleigh ran through the list of tests one more time and just smiled to herself. She was almost done – thank merlin. She ran her hand through her hair and tossed it up into a tight, just very messy bun. Biting her lip she gulped and kicked off.

She sped up quickly and accelerated to the top speed – well, the top speed she was comfortable with. As she zipped from one direction to another she just felt her heart hammering. It was fun, nerve wracking but fun. Picking up a bit more speed. Until she felt the broom begin to quiver and shake below her and the trees began to look like lines of paint and not deadly trees. She pulled back somewhat and felt the broom quiver and quake as the broom slowed.

It didn’t seem to want to slow as she pushed down on the neck of the broom handle, causing it and her to start the decent. She pulled up on the handle causing the broom to quiver a bit as it slowed. Eventually she was going almost a snails pace as she reached the ground. She hopped off and walked over to the broom pile and rested the broom with them.

“There we go” she smiled. This had been amazing.

Now that he has done possibly 60% or more of the tasks given to them, Stephen read the last 2 things on the activity board which are to test the breaks of the broom and the cushioning spell. Great. He can do both while he's at it. 30 minutes of flying? Don't mind if he does it because he's not complaining for a free 30 minute ride on this broom.

And so after making a few more observations to the broom and writing them down on his notebook, Stephen was ready for this 30 minute flying. He had a tight grip onto the handle as he zooms his way into the air. It's quite fun actually, having to test brooms for work rather than get stuck on that office place all day.

Oh and he almost forgot, he's going to try the brakes of the broom as well. He zoomed in faster and immediately made a quick halt. "Whooooaaah!" he said as he almost slipped. "That was too fast" the speed that he was going. Now, he tried flying in casual mode--- wait, is that what they call it? Do people even use that term? Well, he needs to fly it not too fast and not too slow. Hence, casual. Lame. Then for awhile he also made a quick stop to test the brakes. "not bad" he muttered under his breath. That's good, right?

The last was to test the brake in a slightly faster pace than the one he just did right now. BUT a little less fast than his first one. Just to check if the nimbus will give itself some justice for its brakes. And so he zoomed into the air, then made another halt to test the brakes. Smooooooth. Stephen smiled at the broom. Yeah, it's a great broom to recommend to people.

well.... He still has around 15 more minutes to fly.

"Great job everyone!" Gabi called at the employees who were working diligently and getting into the spirit of the outing. "I'll give you guys about...10 more minutes. If you don't completely finish that's fine, try and get as many of the trials done as you can!" she yelled as they whizzed by her. She really had just wanted to get everyone out of the office and out to enjoy the lovely autumn weather.

Deciding to lead by example once more, Gabi got onto the Nimbus she was testing and starting to test the acceleration and decelleration. Everything was normal there...now to try rising and falling! She moved the broom up into the air, smiling when she saw that that feature was in good working order as well. Now to go down...

But...

She couldn't go down. She was still going up.

And up and up and up...almost 50 feet off the ground now!

"Help! It won't stop rising!" she called to the employees below. Her manicured hands grabbed the broom handle tighter and she tried to keep her composure, but heights had been one of the reasons she never played Quidditch as a girl!

Victoria got on the broom and kicked off for the ground, she knew that she was going to try the braking at 10mph first. When she got to that speed, she quickly braked and found the brakes are great at that speed. When she heard that it was 10 minutes to go she muttered under her breath "Oh damn!"