Silvia flew as fast as her flying experience would allow her to while still being able to maintain control over the broom. She zigzagged around, hoping it would cause the squirrel to lose its grip. She flew higher, then lower, trying to shake it off by making her turns a bit more abrupt than she normally would otherwise. But when she turned around to look behind her again, the squirrel was still there, still holding on as if her attempts to throw him off hadn't fazed him at all. Great, she thought, these squirrels must do this for a living.

Having avoided one awful collision, Alex sped off in the other direction and tried to calm himself down. So far this lesson was turning out to be a real disaster for him. Deep breaths, he could do this--forget learning to fly well enough to be on the Quidditch team, he just wanted to SURVIVE this lesson.

He was at a nice, gliding speed now, which calmed him down a great deal, so when a squirrel came out of nowhere to his left, he was MUCH more prepared than the last time. He swerved to the right and increased his speed just slightly, and turned around to see the squirrel that he'd just avoided floating down towards other students.

MWAHAHA he'd bested it! No free rides for you! Not today, Maniac Flying Squirrel, not TODAY!

Squirrel on the left.

Dodge.

Person on the right.

Dodge.

They seemed to be everywhere right then, and Darwin hovered around, as students and squirrels alike flew above and below and around him. Flying was so much more tiring than he'd ever thought, and the 'fight' with the animal had taken a lot of energy out of him. His broom was still quivering as much as he was, and he was hungry, and he wanted to go and have dinner and never see a squirrel ever again, much less a flying one.

So he hadn't been hurt, but still.

Diving downwards as a student and then a squirrel shot above him, Darwin rolled off the broom close to the ground. He lay still for a few seconds, catching his breath back before standing up. "I... never... ever... want to see a squirrel again." he managed with a slight welp, brushing the grass from his jumper and clutching his broomstick.

Logan smirked. "Yeah, I am a superhero. But you can't tell anyone!" he whispered to her, laughing. "You are most certainly welcome!" he said, smiling. "Okay, see you!" he said, flying off.

Ella was red faced and winded. She didn't like this lesson so much anymore and she felt sure that the squirrels, though cute, were conspiring against the Hogwarts students. She was just about to make a right turn when out of nowhere, a squirrel landed on the tip of her broom, eying her. OK, no big deal. Freaking out last time did more harm than good. Thank goodness Logan was around...Ella looked at the little creature. It was adorable, there was no denying that, but she was sure that this little thing was out to get her. "OK little squirrel guy, come on, fly away..." Ella was using the baby voice that she used to talk to her dog. When the squirrel didn't react, she started to talk louder. "Come on squirrely, look at that tree over there, you know you want to hang out there. I see that other squirrel giving you the eye. You guys should hang out." Ella felt absolutely ridiculous trying to set up this squirrel, of all things, but she was out of ideas.

Kennedy had decided to keep himself in the air. He shifted his weight to the right to avoid colliding with a classmate. As he turned directions he felt something strange with his broom. It was like if he suddenly grew heavier. Hmm, he just ate a simple breakfast that morning, so it couldn't be that.

As he leaned to the right to avoid a flying squirrel --that seemed to be laughing at them-- Kennedy felt something strange. Hmm. He briefly glanced back and did a double-back when he saw what was wrong with his broom.

THERE WAS A SQUIRREL RIDING HIS BROOM!

"Get off!" he said, still having a firm hold on the broom.

He risked another glance back and noticed the squirrel was just...sitting. It was getting a free ride! Kennedy leaned to the right, then left, then right and then left again. He wanted to shake the thing off, but it seemed to be stuck like glue.

Finally, he got an idea. Making sure no one was in his way, Kennedy leaned forward picking up more speed and then, all of the sudden he pulled the broom handle toward him, causing him to make a sudden stop.

Floooosh!

The poor squirrel flew above his head and into the crowd. HA! That's what you get for trying to hitch a free ride.

Silvia descended and slowed her broom as she neared the ground, stopping to hover just a few feet above the ground. She turned to face the squirrel and said "Shoo. Go on, get off," while making a shooing motion with her hand, hoping that her stopping the broom would convince the squirrel to hop off. "I'm not going anywhere, shoo." The squirrel wasn't convinced; it remained on the tail of her broom. She stared at it. It stared back at her. This is a stubborn one, she thought.

She looked up. Several of the other squirrels were flying into the trees at the other end of the practice pitch. She had an idea.

Cardigan breathed in and out,in and out,telling herself that the squirrels would not attack her like Ducks and Chimpanzees.She did not have a way with animals.With all the rapid breathing in and out,she barely noticed the flying squrrel until it took ahold of her hair!!!!She tried to keep her scream in but managed a rather loud whimper instead.She was sooo afraid of it attacking her.Cardigan tried to shake it off lightly without falling off her broom.With a sigh of relief(from Cardigan),the squirrel deattached itself and she continued flying.What a relief!

The little squirrel was still hitching a ride on Ella's broom and showed no signs of wanting to jump off. Hmm...what would make someone want to get away from me... It was like a light bulb had gone off inside of her head. Ella was a terrible singer! Her mother and father had left the room plenty of times at home when Ella broke out into song, maybe the squirrel would leave too. Ella gave the squirrel a sweet smile and closed her eyes. She was hovering close to a tree to give the squirrel an easy escape route. OK, here goes nothing.
"Don't tell me not to live, just sit and putter
Life's candy and the sun's a ball of butter
Don't bring around a cloud to rain on my parade
Don't tell me not to fly, I simply got to
If someone takes a spill, it's me and not you
Who told you you're allowed to rain on my parade..."
Ella was singing quite loudly and she knew she was attracting attention to herself but she didn't care, she was determined to scare this squirrel off her broom.

Logan got back to flying around, dodging students and squirrels and...and...a....a...

A BEE!

Logan's eyes widened as a bee flew onto his hand. He hated bees, and...what the heck was a bee doing out at this time of year?!?!?! He swapped at it, while trying not to fall of his broom. And of course, a stupid squirrel flew into his head. For some reason, it flew away. Logan sighed with relief, but of course, the bee, who was probably quite peeved, stung him. He yelped in anger (and...yeah...PAIN) and brushed the thing off his hand. He cursed under his breath and rubbed the spot where it had stung. He then flew around a bit more, and flew to the ground. His hand had had ENOUGH for today! Crashing and a bee sting. Not too good to happen to a hand. *sigh* He sat on the grass, catching his breath.

Cardigan felt really weird.It was like she was dodging bullets on a battle field.....but the bullets were flying squirrels.It was rather annoying too.She didn`t like certain animals or bullets,which put her in a bad situation.Was it possible to die from flying squirrels?,Cardigan thought nervously as she dodged squirrel after squirrel....or at least tried to.One smacked her in the cheek.Hard enough to leave a bruise,but not hard enough to knock her off the broom.Thank goodness!But she`d need some ice soon...

When Sophie was getting closer to the tree, a squirrel hit her on the side, and she held the broom with all of her strength. "Gosh, what's up with you squirrels today??" she said when that squirrel didn't let go off her.

She tried to go faster towards the trees, then she felt another thud on her back. And another one on her other side. "AAAAAHHHHH!!!" she started going down, not because she wanted to, but because of all of the weight on the broom. And another thud! Gaahh! How was she supposed to see this way??

"Get off me, you squirrels!" she told them. That was pointless, she knew. All she could do now was to try and take all of those crazy squirrels to a tree, like she did with the staring squirrel. Another thud.

What?????? "THERE'S NO MORE ROOM FOR YOU HERE, SQUIRRELS!! GET OOOOOFF!!!"

Even though she was singing irritatingly loud at this point, the squirrel sat still looking at her, not a care in the world. Seriously?! Just jump off already! Alright, time for the big finish. Ella braced herself as she was about to belt out some more of the song at the top of her lungs.
"I gotta fly once, I gotta try once,
Only can die once, right, sir?
Ooh, life is juicy, juicy and you see,
I gotta have my bite, sir.
Get ready for me love, 'cause I'm a "comer"
I simply gotta march, my heart's a drummer
Don't bring around the cloud to rain on my parade!"
Ella was making faces and pointing and doing every obnoxious thing she could think of to startle the squirrel but nothing happened. With a sigh. Ella looked the squirrel in the eyes and saluted. "Alright, you win, you evil evil little creature." The squirrel stared back at her for a second and then, jumped off the broom. Are you kidding me! Seriously?! You little squirrels are evil. EVIL! Ella had a headache and now and sore throat. I yi yi, defeated by a squirrel, what is this world coming to?!

Minerva went into the air again when the professor blew his whistle. She was flying around keeping her eyes open. Last year gum drops came flying at her so she was ready for anything, but then she saw something that made her change her mind. What is that? she thought as the silvery white thing came flying towards her. She leaned left and dodged out of it's way. "A squirrel" she said out loud. No it wasn't a squirrel she was seeing things.

Silvia angled her broom handle upward and leaned forward. She was off to the other end of the pitch with the squirrel on her broom. She swerved to the left to avoid another squirrel, and dived a few feet to dodge another student. She did not bother to watch out for flying squirrels behind her, since she already had one on the tail of her broom. As she approached the far side of the pitch, she flew upwards and slowed down, coming to a stop at the level of the highest branches of a tree.

She turned around to look at the squirrel behind her. "Here we are Mister...or Miss, Squirrel." The squirrel sat up on the broom and sniffed the air. Then it leaped from the broom and onto a tree branch. Finally! she thought, glad to be free from this hitchhiker. She waved at the squirrel and then began to fly off. But just as she did so she had to do a double-take; did that squirrel just wave back?!

Had someone said her name..? Maybe. She hadn't really heard it over the sound of her own scared thoughts. Aurora was now in the midst of all the flying squirrels, trying her hardest to keep upright and avoid the squirrels at the same time... and it was difficult! At one point she leaned too far to the left and nearly rolled off her broom but, somehow - probably from sheer determination not to be injured by a broomstick again - she managed to get herself back onto it properly. She pointed the broom down a little more and, though she had to dodge a few squirrels, managed to move a little closer to the ground and then.

"IT'S IN MY HAIR!" she squealed as she felt a rustle in her red curly locks. A squirrel had landed on her shoulder and was making a nice nest out of her hair, and it hurt. It was pulling and pulling... was it stuck? Aurora was shaking her head manically to get rid of the thing but nothing was happening... oh Merlin what on Earth was she going to do..? Aurora gripped the handle of her broom firmly with her left hand, then released her right hand and, wobbling slightly, reached up to bat the thing out of her hair... this was hard! She had to pull strands of her own hair from a knot that the squirrel was now using as a bed... maybe if she released her hair from its ribbon... She did so and the squirrel fell out, tumbling down her back and grabbing onto her robes. "Ouch! Get off me!!"

Ella was exhausted and landed with a grunt. She noticed Logan sitting nearby and walked over. "Hey, quite the lesson so far huh?" She noticed that Logan seemed a bit off and became concerned. "Everything OK, superman?" Ella smiled, trying to cheer him up.

It'sonmybackit'sonmybackit'sonmybackgetitoffgetito ffgetitoff!!!! Aurora was thinking as she tried to rid herself of the squirrel. It wasn't that she didn't like squirrels, she just didn't like being used as a ride by them, or having their claws stuck into her back... She gave up trying to get rid of the thing and decided she just wanted to be back on the ground so she pushed downwards lightly onto her broom and it moved closer to the ground, she readied herself to jog it off when she landed but she was moving faster than she thought. She dropped the broom when her feet hit the floor and ran slightly, then she caught the broom with her foot and, for the third time this lesson, ended up on her hands and knees. The squirrel was nowhere to be seen - probably back with all his friends up there. Aurora pushed herself into a sitting position and took a deep breath. "Never ever ever again." she muttered, shaking like a leaf in a hurricane. She would never be getting on a broom again ever. The ground was perfectly fine for her thankyouverymuch.

Minerva was in shock about whether or not that was a squirrel when something went buzzing past her broom that nearly threw her off. She jerked enough that her broom went out of control a bit and she was headed towards the ground. Quickly she pulled up on her broom and started headed straight a bit to close for comfort. She breathed easy just to see a silvery white coming straight for her again. She took one hand off her broom and shielded her face when she felt something on her arm. She looked "IT IS A SQUIRREL" she looked at it in shock for a few seconds before shaking it off her arm and it went flying away.

Once the little furry creature was safely off her broom, Kurumi felt as those she had to help ALL the little guy across the pitch. The poor things must be frightened by all the screaming and flailing students as they zoomed around the pitch. All they wanted to do was nestle in the friendlier looking trees on the other side! The squirrels, not the students.

Turning her broom handle left, Kurumi made a lazy U-turn in the air and began to glide towards the other end of the pitch. She didn't really zoom, Kurumi was no longer a fan of flying really fast, but she went at a decent pace and one that made it easy to avoid any students that might zoom by. Suddenly, a squirrel appeared and latched itself over her face. It's front paws grabbed her hair on top of her head while its hind legs latched themselves to the collar of her white shirt, rendering her completely blind.

"MmmmMMMmmm MM!" Kurumi squeaked as she tried to pull the little guy off with her right hand while her left remained firmly on the handle of her broom. Kurumi was no longer flying in a straight line, but zig zagging erratically all over the air, making her a very unpredictable flyer.

Just because he'd dodged one squirrel, Alex found, that did NOT mean it was easier to dodge the rest of them. He felt like every five seconds, he was dodging left, dodging right, moving upwards, moving downwards, they were everywhere! Was Vindictus somehow cloning these squirrels without them noticing?

Suddenly, there was a small THUD and Alex felt something heavy land on the back of his broomstick. Oh Merlin. Risking another collision, he looked behind him and sure enough, there was a flying squirrel attached to the bristles of his broom.

"Shoo! Get off! You're messing up my broom!" he exclaimed. It was true...it was harder to steer with that stupid thing on the bristles. Instead it just stared at him with big, beady eyes. He tried shaking the handle, and instead nearly unseated himself by causing the broom to drop towards the ground sharply.

It was much better flying solo than with a furry pal at the end of his broom. Kennedy thought that this was easy. He leaned to the left just in time to avoid crashing into a student that was having squirrel problems, but as soon as he went into another direction he saw a squirrel flying in a zig-zag at a fast pace toward him.

Gaaah!

If he turned right, he was going to hit a student and same with the left, and since they couldn't go higher than 100 feet the only option he had was to go down. So, reacting quickly pushed the handle down and just BARELY missed getting hit by a squirrel.

That was a close one.

There were flying squirrels now? Violet zoomed straight up in the air crouching down forward on her broom gaining speed faster and faster. Dodge left. Dive down. She saw one missed her head by a few inches. What a close call. Violet had never experienced this much commotion up in the air before. After a couple of circles around the quidditch pitch, she pulled up her broom to an abrupt stop.

Now that Minerva knew what was flying with her she wanted to see them more closely. So instead of the chasing her she decided to try to get closer to one. She spotted one to her right, so she leaned right and went toward the side of the pitch where the Sliver Squirrel was flying. She thought she was going to be able to get close, but it spotted her and flew in the other directions. Minerva frowned she loved animals and wanted to just look at it.. She looked for another one to get close to.

Kurumi swerved a hard right and dove towards the pitch as she continued to try and pry the small rodent off her face. How was she supposed to be aware of her surroundings if she couldn't even see?! Kurumi pulled up on the handle suddenly, halting her decent so suddenly that she and the squirrel attached to her face lunged forward and her chest smacked against it, temporarily knocking the wind out of her. The squirrel's claws dug into her hair, gripping it tighter and pulled out a few strands in the process and still covered her face. Suffocation by flying squirrel...how...sad...

"Mmmmmmmmm!MMMMMMmmmM mmm MMMM Mmmmph!"

How was she going to get him off?! Wait...were flying squirrels...ticklish? It might be worth a try...