Lasca had stepped up to the left side of a broom and then paused to listen to everything the professor said. Her father had said much the same thing, so she felt confident. Professor Vindictus then instructed them to call their brooms.

The young Ravenclaw placed her right hand over the broom and said, "Up." Nothing happened. So she tried again, this time with a little more feeling. "Up!" The broom did a funky little flip and then suddered a bit, but was still decidedly on the ground. Okay, lets face facts. It wasn't her broom and something in her didn't really want to ride it, but she had too. So, she pushed all thoughts of her broom out of her mind and then set firmly in her mind the broom at her feet.

"Up!" The word came out as a growl in heavily accented Transylvanian. The broom soared up off the ground as if in the ground were on fire. Her hand caught it but she was lifted off her feet for a couple seconds as the force of the broom carried her upward. She yanked down hard and was rewarded as her feet touched the ground again. Lasca wondered briefly if she had done something wrong.

"Professor, is there such a thing as being too forceful when calling your broom?" It might have been a stupid question, but she was asking anyway. Let people laugh if they will.

Jake placed his right hand over the broom and said clearly, but a tad quietly. "Up!"

He expected the broom to fly straight up, but noooooooooo it just had to be awkward. "Woah!" Jake exclaimed, jumping into the air as the broom twirled around on the floor, spinning and theatening to knock him over. As he landed it still had one revolution left in it. It thwacked him in the back of the ankles and Jake went down.

"Ouch... Up!" Jake said again, confused. This time he managed to jump backwards until it stopped. Ironically, he wished right now that he had the ability to fly.

Hearing the professor's instruction, a worried look came over the face of Keefer Marius. Say up? That's it? It can't be that easy, can it? Keefer could care less about what other people thought of him, but he still wanted to be able to get the broom to cooperate. He decided to use his own tried and true method of concentration.

He closed his eyes, inhaling deeply. He relaxed his neck, then his shoulders, and let his mind float away to his 'zone' of focus. Humming Beethoven's 5th symphony very quietly to himself, he visualized the process he was about to go through. He imagined himself standing next to the broom, looking down at it in real life as he thought about looking down at it in his head. Next, he saw himself levitating his right arm to his side. His real arm was pulled up along with his thoughts as if he were merely a marionette. His lips forming the word "up," he imagined himself calmly, yet firmly pronouncing the command. In his head, the stick rose obediently to meet his hand.

Opening his eyes once again, he firmly planted his feet to the left of the broom. When he extended his arm, he found that is was shaking slightly rather than held aloft confidently. Summoning his courage, he opened his suddenly parched mouth and uttered "UP!" with all the force he could muster. The broom gave a pitiful lurch and rolled back to its original position. Well that was a failure he thought as he gazed around to see if the others were having any more luck.

Okay, Keef, that didn't work. What now? he mused. Maybe the broom can sense my apprehension. Maybe I have to really believe I can do this! Readying himself again, he gave himself a mental pep talk. Keef, you are a wizard. You have made it through many hard classes already. This is just like tackling a super hard essay. Now show that broom who's boss!

He raised his arm and squared his shoulders. With all the confidence he had, he said "Up!" to the broomstick. To his great amazement, the broom began to rise. "Come on little fella! You can do it!" he exclaimed. The broom zoomed into his hand, where he held it at waist level.

I did it! he thought triumphantly. He was so excited he almost forgot the professor had not told them to mount the brooms yet. Catching himself, he stood impatiently, barely able to contain his excitement.

Vindictus kept a straight face as he watched each of the students. "Five points to Ravenclaw for your intelligent question, Lasca. Yes, if you are too forceful when calling your broom then the broom will react. Cam and Jake are perfect examples of a broom's reaction. But -" his voice trailed off. "Jack! Be nice to that broom! Five points from Hufflepuff for broom abuse!"

He turned back to the students. "Now that you have your broom in your hand, straddle it and keep your feet planted firmly on the ground."

Ruby sat on the broom and kept her feet firmly on the ground she didn't want to be off in the sky without knowing what to do

Eagerly, Keefer swung his leg over the broom. In his haste and intense excitement, he lifted his leg too fast, lost his balance, and fell to the ground. Laughing at himself, he got back up and carefully got his leg over the broom, taking care to keep his feet planted firmly on the ground.

Herminny mounted her broom making sure her feet were planted firmly on the ground, she did'nt want to go on an imature flying lesson.

Ruby raised her hand and asked "so Professor if we treat the broom like our pet it will be nicer to us?"

Jack squealed "What? It attacked me!" Jack jumped "Down, down, down, down" he told it "Please?" Jack breathed a sigh of relief as it stopped "Up, please" Jack waited for it to come up "Nice" he smiled as it jumped into his hand "Ok, let's do it" Jack stood with his feet, shoulder length apart, he straddled the broom and kept his feet on the ground "Oh no you don't" he warned the broom as it threatened to start hovering "Stay down" he scowled at it

Ana said up and then stayed firmly.

"Up!" he yelled out once more, not too loud and danced in his mind once the broom was firmly in his hand. Cam heard the sound of "bravo" and "excellent" from nowhere and grinned once he got the broom. He was the best, yeaaaah! He quickly sat on the broom now and squatted while putting his feet firmly on the ground. Keeping his feet in the same exact location was hard for him, he had terrible balance sometimes.

Herminny decided to ask a question too so she raised her hand and asked,"I n flying on a broom do you control it or does the broom have some control, like if I were to kick off into the air but did not want to fly would I fall or fly anyway"?

Lasca couldn't hide the small smile that she got when she listened to the conversation the Hufflepuff boy was having with his broom. What an odd country this was turning out to be! People not only talked to themselves and walls, they also talked to brooms. Her head snapped up as the Professor gave them their next set of instructions.

Keeping a firm hand on the broom the young Ravenclaw straddled it. She felt a small sudder run the length of the broom, as if it was eager to be off the ground. She tightened her grip by just a fraction and chuckled in victory as the broom fell still. Papa always said you had to have a firm hand with some brooms.

"Not really. The brooms have spells that react to certain tones your voices make," Vindictus explained. "When you're older and own your own broom, you'll notice that it will gradually become accustomed to the sound of your voice. However, since you're all First Years, you must use school brooms and they are slightly sensitive. This is why they react when yelled at."

He saw that many were now sitting on their brooms. "Hand placement on a broom handle is crucial. If you're left handed, this is the hand that should be place near the end of the handle with the right one placed about three inches behind it." He picked up a broom and demonstrated the left-handed hand placement.

"Right-handed placement is the opposite. Place your right hand near the end of the handle and the left hand is placed three inches behind it," he said and demonstrated it to the students.

"Can anyone rationalize why we have two different hand holds on a broom based on whether you're left or right handed?" he asked and waited for the hands to go up in the air prior to answers being given.

Jack raised his hand "So one hand, the dominant hand can steer it easier?"

Ana raised her hand "To control it better" she said

Normally, Keefer would put two hands in the air. But since he wanted to maintain control of his broom, he used the normal one hand. "It seems that it would be easier to steer with your dominant hand in front, Professor," he said, while placing his left hand three inches in front of his right.

Adding to his thought, he also said, "You said if we got our own broom it would become sensitive to our voices. Wouldn't that happen with our steering as well? I'm sure professional Quidditch players make very slight movements when they have to perform complex moves. If your dominant hand is steering, you are far more likely to exert optimal control over the broom."

Herminny raised her hand and said,"I think thats to keep better control of the broom because you have better control of the hand you write with".

When Jake finally had hold of his broom, he felt relieved that he could finally fly again, and that the hard part was over... though he was a bit miffed at being made a tad of an example of.

Soon enough, Jake had straddled the broom and and placed his left hand further up. Oh yes, air... I'm returning to you...

Then he raised his hand at the question. "Sir, the hand you write with, or rather the dominant hand, is stronger, and thus, better for steering?"

Ruby raised her hand "because you are stronger with one hand than you are the other so the strongest hand would steer you?"

Cam quickly put his right hand on the handle and tried to estimate what three inches were, and then put his left on it. Dooone!

Lasca raised her hand. "Whichever hand is nearest to the handle is in essence the guide hand, or the hand that will steer. While your other hand is used for support and manuvering." That was what her Papa had told her anyway. She shrugged and then focused her attention back on her broom, the thing was shuddering again. She put more strength into her grip and it calmed at once. Sensitive was an understatement.

Poor little Badgers. They're trying so hard. Then Vindictus heard one of them put the pieces together and give an acceptable answer.

"That's correct, Jake," he said and frowned slightly. "Two points for your answer because you questioned yourself." He looked over at the other students and resumed the lesson. "Remain straight over your broom and gently push off the ground with your toes. Push too hard and you're going to shoot upwards into the sky like a Muggle rocket. Keep your hands on the broom handle at all times and do not lean forward over the handle."

A rocket? What on earth is that?

Nevertheless, he took what the professor said very seriously. His back erect, yet not too stiff, he gently curled his toes and pushed off the ground. It was a strange sensation. Suddenly, he could not feel ground beneath his feet, yet he was not falling. Hovering a few feet off the ground, his eyes grew big in surprised elation.

Herminny obeyed the professors instruction and put her hands in the correct placement right hand first and gently kicked herself off the groundwith her toes firmly mounted on the broom. Herminny thought, this is so cool,I'm hovering in midair.