| Puffskein
Join Date: Dec 2019
Posts: 1,631
Diagon Alley Proprietor:
Camilo Aguilar
Quality Quidditch Supplies
Diagon Alley Employee:
Tabatha Krauss
Janus Galloglass |  books and cleverness | i like you a latte
Text Cut: Excellent answers again! Text Cut: Ashley Quote:
Originally Posted by astrocat  Why was everyone staring at the professor.... ohhhhhhhhh. Was the professor ATTRACTIVE???? Ash thought that was really funny. She smirked a little, and said nothing.
"You could crash into the ground. Also, if you pull up, that only affects the broom, so you could also smack your face into the broom on your way up. Objects in motion remain in motion or whatever." Physics and stuff. Diving could be dangerous. "I guess to dive safely, you shouldn't come in too steep or fast."Ash had a question and raised her hand. "How many seekers get hurt after getting tricked by a Wronski Feint?" He wasn’t surprised to hear the most obvious and important risk be mentioned first. “Yes, crashing into the ground can be fatal. But smacking your face into the broom is not as likely to happen, because the broom requires much power to overcome its own inertia as well as air resistance.” It’s not just your face that remains in motion, get it? “By the time your broom pulls up, your face would be a safe distance away from the handle. Good thinking, though. Statistics show that over sixty percent of Wronski Feints in official Quidditch matches were successful in the past two centuries.” Text Cut: Atlas Quote:
Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie So he had been right and this was Eden. He really did not have time to react otherwise, however, as class began and Atlas was taking a moment to ponder over the question about diving...until he heard his brother bring up THAT story. Was it bad that the younger twin laughed at the memory? He couldn't really help himself and then it reminded him of the time Aries had convinced him to tie a towel around his neck like a cape so the could fly. They just needed to get high enough before they jumped.
Thankfully Andromeda had found them before they followed through with the master plan.
But his little trip down memory lane cost him the opportunity to answer, though he really did not have anything particularly insightful to add that was relevant to the topic of flying. When he thought about diving, his thoughts went to whale and dolphins...maybe a few species of birds who would dive into the water to catch fish. Penguins.
But...right. Diving. Controlled falling, was basically the definition Atlas was going to stick with. He was also feeling particularly pleased with himself for coming to the correct conclusion for today's training - though it was a bit of a bummer that the technique did not have an alliteration for a name like the other two. The inconsistency with names was a bit annoying. And, well, there was the obvious answer in that you did not pull up in time and went crashing into the ground, breaking both broom handle and bone in the process. Which is where he assumed the swimming pool came into play.
"Newton's first law of motion," he muttered under his breath at the Ravenclaw's ~whatever~. This was the wrong Gryffindor to ask about performing the maneuver safely and without injury...because his initial thought was simple: don't do it. Aguilar did not catch what Atlas said under his breath. He waited to see if the boy would tell the class what he was thinking, but it seemed that he was not yet willing to contribute. Nevertheless, he was clearly listening to his classmates and thinking about the topic, which earned him an encouraging nod from the flying instructor. Text Cut: Dahlia Quote:
Originally Posted by Kolyander Dahlia's blue eyes were trained on the blackboard as Aguilar spoke. She was watching the different colors arrows perform the stunts that were currently being described to them. They looked like fun! Heart stopping, stomach in your throat, 'I might go SPLAT!'.. kind of fun. Even so, Lia knew better then to attempt something she wasn't ready for. Which unfortunately were those.
At this current point in time, given her current flying abilities, she would be more than happy to pull off a successful Dive and Pull Up. Back to the questions at hand though. Lia raised her hand. "It might also help to trust yourself and your broom. If you're working with a much older broom or a brand new broom that you're not used to it might react differently than you'd expect it to." Which could cause potential issues for those involved. This was a nice, sweet answer! “Building rapport with your broom is always important. Take good care of it, respect it and yes, trust it,” he said. Of course, trust alone will not save you from crashing into the ground, which is why practice is required to develop the technical skills. Text Cut: Avalon Quote:
Originally Posted by Fireheart
Ah, suddenly the diving boards made sense. Avalon had never attempted an actual dive into a pool, but she figured she'd be up for it if she was on her broomstick. She raised her hand to answer the first question. "In Quidditch, chasers can use a dive to quickly get away from the opposing team. Or to get an opponent off their tail." One of Avalon's personal favorites was a fake dive, where she made the motions as if she were going to plunge, but then pulled up on her broom at the last minute. It was a great tactic for confusing the opponent.
But she had her fair share of failed dives, too. Plenty that ended in bruised bones and whoozy heads. "Whiplash, Professor. Any sudden jerks or changes in direction can be really disorienting," she answered to the second question. And it was quite difficult to fly properly if you were dizzy. Heh, it sounded like she had some experience with unsuccessful diving attempts. “They can indeed. Stretching your neck regularly strengthens the muscles and prevents serious whiplash. Can’t do much to stop feeling dizzy, but you should take a rest if you feel very unwell after a dive.” These risks probably made the idea of diving even more frightening for some students … Text Cut: Quinn Quote:
Originally Posted by NiallNIP Quinn was not happy about this lesson. When given what the lesson would be about, he figured out why there was a pool full of ping pong balls, and he let out a defeated sigh. Quinn knew he would be getting wet this lesson. While he now did know the first thing about flying, he was not prepared to dive—he was finding it hard enough as is to get in the air without falling off his broom. Quinn wouldn't be surprised if he managed to crash into the ground instead of even in the pool, so he didn't think he could properly answer the Professor's question. The sigh did not go unnoticed. While Aguilar knew that not all students would be eager to learn diving, seeing them so unenthusiastic made him a tiny bit disappointed. Perhaps he shouldn’t have planned this lesson so early in the term! A concerned expression crossed his face briefly, before he moved on to the next student. Text Cut: Devin Quote:
Originally Posted by griffin Devin was more than ready to throw off his outer layers of robes and cannonball into the pool whenever the professor said it was time to use the pool. That’s what it was there for, right? Surely there wouldn’t be a pool here if they weren’t going to be allowed to swim in it. Unless the pool was acting as a sort of a safety net so people didn’t run their brooms straight into the ground. Either way, Dev was ready to get to the fun stuff. Enough of sitting around and talking about diving, he was ready to get practical experience!
Admittedly Devin understood more about the mechanics of flying of dragons than how the principles of flight applied to broomsticks, but the risk of hitting the ground in a dive was an obvious one here. ”To safely perform the dive and pull up, it’s important to understand how fast your broom is going, how close to the ground you are, and how quickly your broom can respond to changes in direction so you can pull up before hitting the ground.” Wouldn’t want to wait too long to pull up on some janky old broom that took forever to respond. “I couldn’t have said it better myself. It is crucial that you understand your broom, your surroundings and yourself,” he smiled at Devin. Knowledge and good judgement are key to a safe dive & pull up. And a safe life in general, to be honest. Text Cut: Valencia Quote:
Originally Posted by LilFox06 Valencia nodded as some of the other students spoke up. Well, all except Aboli. That was... dark. Thanks new management.
"There's also a possibility of falling off the broom or flipping over it." Because gravity and going down quickly. Then kersplat. That didn't seem fun. “Good.” Or rather, bad, VERY bad. Many people think that crashing into the ground is the worst thing that can happen from diving. They forget that one has to be ON the broom to even get to the crashing part. “You must maintain a firm grip on your broom with your hands and legs so that you do not slide off in a steep dive.” Text Cut: Claudine Quote:
Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19 The Wronski Feint sounded very scary to her. Claudine suddenly had an image of her trying the move but ended up splattering all over the ground. Poor Heath would be heartbroken… yeah, she wouldn’t ever attempt that Feint. Nor would she ever be attempting jumping off brooms or somersaulting. This Slytherin valued her life, thanks.
The fascinating multi coloured arrows captured her attention. They provided an excellent demonstration of the mentioned tactics. Up went a hand for the second question. “Being aware of your surroundings, or rather, the ground. One should try as best as they could to keep an eye on the distance between themselves and the rapidly closing in ground. It can help to know when to pull out of the dive.” “Yes, that is why remaining focused is very important,” he commented. Pretty birds nearby? Interesting shaped clouds? NEVER get distracted by them. Text Cut: Bernadette Quote:
Originally Posted by BanaBatGirl !!!!!!!  !!!!!!! !!!!!!!
He liked her stupid answer!!!!!!!!!!! Even though it was wrong!!!!!!!!! He even did the finger-noise-thingy too!!!! Bernie let out a girlish giggle, like an actual, "Hehehe," and then threw her hand over her own mouth.
Who was this possessing her and what had they done with the REAL Bernie OG?!
She tried to concentrate on the professor and his chalkboard of squiggly lines, but honestly, she was mostly just seeing little red hearts on the board. Maybe someone had put a love potion in her cereal this morning. UH. HEHE. What was the orzo dive and dionsaur dive? SOMERSAULTS? Could she see a demo of those, please? Huh???????
What was the question now?
Oh, right. How to dive safely.
"Well until you're good and comfortable with it, maybe you should only attempt it really, REALLY slowly," Bernie offered, offhandedly, blinking a few times to bring herself back to the ground. She was having SUCH a tough time focusing, gosh. But she would, for sure, be attempting any broom maneuvers today at a literal snail's pace. “Certainly. You should work at a speed and gradient that you feel comfortable with.” Is it possible to dive really, REALLY slowly though? No, they would still find themselves falling pretty fast. Text Cut: Emmerson Quote:
Originally Posted by DaniDiNardo Merlin take her now.
Why did they even have to learn diving? It wasn't going to help them takover the muggle world or whatever else the alliance wanted. Of all the classes for Rosier to dip his hands into, he chose to leave flying as it was. If there was a suggestion box outside his office, it would be stuffed with nothing but requests from her.
"You could dive and not come back up so the only really safe way to go about it is to not dive at all." Standard Arithmancy. 2 + 2 = 4
Diving could lead to death. Remove the diving and there was no death.
Gawd, that hat could've made her a Ravenclaw. Aguilar raised his eyebrows. Again, she was perfectly correct, but … “By your logic, the only really safe way to live is to not do anything at all.” Honestly Emmerson, you are attending a school run by a bunch of Muggle-hating, child-torturing, Jarvey-murdering loonies. Is it that difficult to dive into a kid’s swimming pool? Text Cut: Margaret Quote:
Originally Posted by Waddles Diving and pulling back up...sounded like a roller coaster. Her brother always got sick on roller coasters, especially if they had just had lunch. She had never got sick on a roller coaster. Her hand went up.
"If you get motion sickness, diving and pulling up could make you throw up!" she informed the group. "Make sure you don't eat too much beforehand."
Mamie figured that was probably the only advice that was similar between flying and swimming. “Correct, and that is a fair piece of advice,” he nodded, before he realised … she was correct. The kids could throw up, all over themselves and in the pool. He was used to cleaning up vomit after Flying lessons, but it might be more difficult to decontaminate water. Yikes. Text Cut: Camryn Quote:
Originally Posted by Daydreamer11 Once class started, Camryn was so excited about flying that she was a little bit distracted. She almost missed the first question. They were going to practice diving today? That was cool. As for when you would need to dive, well all Cam could think of was someone diving to catch the snitch in quidditch. Of course someone had already given that answer, so she kept quiet for now.
When the second question came along, Camryn was determined to give an answer. What bad things could happen with the dive and pull up? She had an idea and raised her hand right away. “If you’re doing the dive and pull up, you have to make sure that there is nothing in your way. If you are diving, you don’t want to hit anything on the way down or the way up. You could really hurt yourself if you are not careful.” “Excellent. Be aware of all your surroundings, not only the ground. Make sure to avoid Bludgers, birds, other flyers …” and everything else they mentioned as answers to the previous question. Seriously, they came up with a LOT of things - he did not expect them to mention Muggle communication wires. Text Cut: Kinsay Quote:
Originally Posted by ArianaBlack Kinsay was, yet again, disappointed. While she was excited to get on her broom and start flying, she wished they'd be doing the summersault move instead. Gymnastics AND flying? Talk about the BEST combination!
She did try to pay attention as everyone else offered answers, hoping that no one stole hers this time. "That's Newton's Law." She chimed in after Ashley because it wasn't just ~whatever~. It was real science. And Kinsay felt smart for knowing.
Other things that made her feel smart? Answering questions in class. Lots of people had already answered about the risks though, so Kizzy ignored that one and skipped to the second question about safety instead. "Practice makes perfect, so you should practice diving above something soft. Like... a giant mattress! Or..... A swimming pool! That way if you fall you won't get hurt." Is THAT why Professor Aguilar brought a pool to class today? He nodded when Kinsay added to Ashley’s answer, though the mention of the Muggle scientist made him feel nervous. Rosier’s Law was more relevant here in Hogwarts, hah. “That is definitely a good way to improve and gain confidence,” he smiled. Swimming pools should ideally also have cushioning charms placed at the bottom, because some kids just can’t pull up AT ALL and would dive straight down, through the water, and hit the hard tiles. The pool he had was well-prepared for first time divers. Text Cut: Delilah Quote:
Originally Posted by Anna Banana Delilah had yet to join in on the discussion about diving. For one, she was too hung up on the fact that first years weren't allowed to bring their own brooms. Why? Did the school think that being just one year younger than the second years would cause the first years to do something stupid? ... Probably so. Even still, never in a million years did she think she would a broom that she'd be flying on anyway. A broom...yes. A broom to fly on? Nope.
Hearing the next question, the Gryffindor decided to finally speak up. She raised her hand. "I'd say the biggest danger would be if you didn't remember to pull up in time," she offered. She winced just thinking about the painful face plant that would follow. As far as trying to avoid that happening? "Maybe we need to take it slow at first and get a feel for it before giving it a real go." Delilah also agreed with the people saying they shouldn't try it at all. Just being in the air and flying around had taken about all the bravery she had in her. Then to dive along with it? “Yes, you should always work at your own pace,” he nodded. There is no need to copy the more experienced classmates to look cool, as some of the younger students often needed reminding. Text Cut: Violet Quote:
Originally Posted by MadAlice Violet felt that anything involving this manoeuvre was dangerous and there was no way to do it safely, especially if she were the one doing it. "Be sure to pull up in time?" she ventured?
Or don't do it at all... “Yep, you’d rather pull up earlier and not catch the Snitch than crash into the ground.” Gaining 150 points for your team and winning the Quidditch Cup would be awesome and everything, but your life is way more precious. Text Cut: Aries Quote:
Originally Posted by Samia Hah. This was an easy one. Aries' hand again shot up, and when his turn finally came, he admitted VERY proudly, "I can say with EXPERIENCE, you call the bird's bluff and pull up because the bird won't stop and you will crash and break your nose"
In short, - just pull up in time. … What?
Oh! The bird incident that he mentioned earlier. Aguilar was completely confused and thought his English was suddenly not good enough to understand an 11-year-old. Teaching in a foreign country could do that to you. “So … pull up in time, and you will not crash and break your nose,” he summarised after thinking over what Aries said. Text Cut: Cecelia Quote:
Originally Posted by TakemetotheBurrow ”I’m with Kinsay, Professor.” The fifth year offered her younger pseudo-sister a grin. ”The only way to really master a dive is to keep practicing it until you really know what you’re doing.” In Cece’s case, she’d had a few NOT so fun interactions with the ground, but it was tooootally fine and she was okay and still loved flying. Practice was the answer. “Practice makes perfect,” he agreed. It was not surprising that a good flyer like Cecelia reiterated the importance of practice. “Now, I will show you the dive & pull up. Watch me carefully,” he spoke to the class and, finally, soared into the air on his Nimbus 4000.
“First, mount your broom and kick off from the ground. You should rise to a height you feel comfortable diving from - I recommend at least 15 feet above ground. When you are ready, grip your broom firmly with your hands and legs and lean forward. Beginners, you may want to point your broom handle down at a small angle as this will slow your descent. If you want to challenge yourself, you can gather speed in a steep dive. Remember to stay focused.” He demonstrated a medium-speed 45° dive. He was falling … and falling … (not so fast, you see) … and pulled up at the last second to hover before the students. “As soon as you achieve your purpose, whether it’s to catch something you dropped, feint, whatever, pull out of the dive by pulling the broom handle straight. Keep in mind that a steep dive requires much more strength to pull up than a slow one.”
“Now it’s your turn to practise … over the pool!” As many of them correctly guessed from the set up. EXCITING, right??
“Take turns to climb up to a diving board of your choosing,” 10 feet, 15 feet or 25 feet above water, “kick off from the board and practise the dive & pull up. Your goal is to catch a ping pong ball from the water surface without getting wet. You can try as many times as you want and vary your height and gradient each time, as long as you queue up. You can work together with a partner or in a group and give each other feedback if you wish to do so.”
Oh right, he promised Apollo that he would warm up the water. When the students were getting ready, Aguilar quickly sent a heating spell into the giant pool. He had a feeling that quite a few of the kids would fall into the water, hehe. OOC: Diving time~ We will move on to the main activity in 72 hours.
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Last edited by Sunflower; 01-14-2021 at 02:19 PM.
Reason: minor minor edits :3
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