It was her turn again to attempt to successfully weave through the poles without touching it. Alyssa had failed on her first attempt because she had lost concentration and had leaned too much to the left causing her broom to slam into the pole on her left.

Alyssa decided that she was going to be more cautious. This time she would take it slow and easy. Lining up her broom again, Alyssa leaned to the left, while at the same time turning the broom handle to the left and flew forward squeezing through the first and second pole. Then she immediately leaned to the right, angling the handle of the broom in the same direction, she weaved through the second and third pole. Keeping the same momentum and rhythm, Alyssa repeated the motions.

First she would lean to the left, making sure that her broom handle was facing the same direction and once she had weaved in between the poles, she would immediately lean to the right, while turning her broom handle in the same direction and weave between another set of poles. Concentrating on keeping her momentum steady, left and then right, Alyssa successfully made it through the course without touching any of the poles. She smiled.

''Now let's try this again but a little faster this time.' Alyssa told herself. She leaned to left, turning her broom around until she was flying back to the starting line.

They got to go again right? West was down. It wasn't even hard, since the school brooms didn't go all that fast anyway so it wasn't like you could build up the kind of speed that would make agility difficult. Or maybe he was the only natural in the class? He could roll with that idea too. It took a while to get back to the front of the line again since lots of kids were eager to try and all. It was weird to him that people weren't doing better than they were. Like, for reals, did they not spend every waking moment on a broom? Well that was the price! It was!

Too bad for them.

Oh hey, his turn again! The third year let go of all other concerns and focused only on the poles. It was easy to forget about other things when you were flying, and he sped off and through the polls, again not touching a single one. That made TWO perfect passes, was everyone watching? What this obstacle course type situation needed was a TIME TRIAL. Or.... doing it with BLUDGERS on your tail.

There was another reason, probably, that he was doing better than some people, and that was that his first year playing Quidditch, West had been stuck using a school broom thanks to the rule about first years not having their own brooms, so he was sort of used to their calibration, and their balance of speed and maneuverability. Oh hey maybe Dylan would set up something like this for their practices? That could be good too. Baaack of the line again.

YES! Flying now!

Nearly everything the Professor had just said was disregarded by the eager 12 year old. In a matter of seconds she'd be up in the air. Her eyes fell on the poles that were set up for their use. It would be much better than simply hovering like they were doing earlier and as long as all the first time fliers remembered all the basic stuff said earlier then everything would be FUN.

At the blowing of the whistle she mounted her broom and kicked off towards a LINE of people who'd gotten over to the poles before her.

How rude. Now she'd have to wait.

Lex hovered steadily, waiting her turn and nearly did a flip when she got to the front of the line.

She leaned forward on her broom and zipped through the poles, getting that rush she'd been craving. While taking one especially sharp turn she nearly flew right into a pole but managed to steer away.

Needless to say, when it was over she began wishing she had gone a bit slower...wouldn't that make the ride a bit longer...?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charely Potter

It was a great feeling for Wade as he hovered... Until something flew at his face. "Woah!" Bucking on the broom slightly while regaining his composure, whilst the hat was still on his head he held it up to look around to see who owned it.. Hmm, was that lady here before? Wade did not know.. Was she an actual student, one of those Governer candidates or.. a Professor? Hmm..

Wade gently guided the broom handle downward so he could slowly descend to the ground safely before moving with the broomstick. Approaching her Wade asked, "Hello..ma'am does this," pointing at the hat that still sat on his head like a fancy sombrero. "belong to you?"

After landing on the ground and as the rest of the students were still working on the hovering exercise Callie had decided to just leave the hat. She couldn't remember where she had gotten it in the first place and it had flown over to some kids and she didn't want to go asking for it back.

But it turned out she didn't have to because just a few moments later a boy in Hufflepuff robes came over wearing the thing. She smiled at the 'Ma'am' even though she hated being called that and lifted her hat off his head. "Thanks dear, probably should have known better than to wear that today." She took out her wand and tapped it causing it to shrink before jamming it into the pocket of her jeans.

Her disguise was gone and her blonde hair was shining in the sun. Yes, everyone, Professor Elwood doesn't know how to fly.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bubbles

Oh! Look who was here!

Peyton beamed in the direction of Professor Elwood. Oh, look! Her hat, it was flying away. It landed several inches away from Peyton, but a classmate picked it up and took it back to the professor. "Hi!" Peyton beamed at the woman. "You like flying, professor Elwood?" Because she sure did seem to be enjoying it. "That's a pretty hat you have there,by the way," she said, rocking on her heals and waiting for further instructions from the Flying instructor.

She eyed the hat, though. It was massive, but pretty.

After the Puff boy had returned her hat, Callie assumed they were about to move on to something else hopefully not too much harder just yet. The girl who was practicing in the row across from her smiled and began to ask her a question. She recognized her from the Divination Lesson she had hosted the other day. "Hello, Miss Baltazar?" She thought that was the snake's name.

"I've actually never learned properly if you can believe it." She faux-whispered with a giggle. That's why she was here in the flying lesson for beginners after all. And she liked her hat? "You do?" It was a nice hat, but like she said she couldn't remember where she had gotten it, she did know it was back when she was in the wagon and on the streets. "You can have it if you want." She pulled the shrunk thing from her pocket and tossed it across the way to her. "You might want to leave it shrank and just keep it in your pocket for the lesson, it's an awfully silly thing to wear here." She had learned that when it blew off her head just moments ago.

SPOILER!!: Grangerfn1

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grangerfn1

Minus a minor broom incident between two Hufflepuffs(who earned themselves a concerned look from the professor) and a flying hat, everyone seemed to be progressing wonderfully!

"Yes, yes, brilliant work, everyone! Taking off will generally be as simple as that, but landing can be a bit trickier when you're flying faster and parallel to the ground. You have to carefully approach your descent - you'll want to lean away from the broomstick handle to slow yourself down and tilt the broomstick gently toward the ground to have a successful, smooth landing," Professor James advised, not wanting the young ones to think touching down would be as simple as going up and back down. She didn't want any of them to panic at the last moment after they were properly airbourne.

Aaand for the fun directions - the kind that meant they were almost ready for a proper take-off. "Once you're in flight, you will find that lowering your body toward your broomstick will speed you up, then leaning away from it and nudging the handle upward slightly will slow you down. You will use your dominant hand to steer - remember, the slightest movements to the left or right will take you in the direction you want to go. To ascend, pull back on the broomstick handle - once again, gently is key - we don't want you falling off the back end. Beginners especially, do not remove both hands from your broom handle. " The present Quidditch players certainly could, but it probably wasn't wise to encourage the new flyers to do the same. And she already mentioned how to descend.

"As this is a lesson on the basics, today we will practice controlling the broom," Professor James announced brightly, removing her wand from its holster and removing the disillusionment charm from one side of the pitch to reveal white poles perpendicular to the ground, hovering ten feet above the grass in a staggered line.

Text Cut: Visual

"I've set up a couple of exercises today. On this side of the pitch," she gestured to the white poles, "is your first task - we have an area to practice making turns. Turning is a vital part of flying, of course - for example, when it comes to Quidditch, one must be able to swiftly sneak by opponents with ease! Today, your mission will be to weave in and out of the poles without touching them. You can take your time, try to go as fast as you can, time yourselves, or partner up and race a friend - but if you bump a pole, even if it's just with the twig of your broomstick tail, you'll have to go back and start at the beginning!"

A simple drill, really, but surely those who were itching to fly would find the option of competition to be alluring while those who needed to practice the basics could do so as well.

"The space here in the center of the pitch will be used for general flying purposes throughout the remainder of the lesson; if anyone wants to practice flying and getting used to your broomstick, feel free to do so before or after attempting the activity, but please steer clear of the activity areas with the joyriding," Professor James gestured to both far ends of the pitch.

"For those who wish to dive right into the activity, please kick off and fly over to that," she pointed to her designated starting area, "end of the poles, form a line for either set - they're the same, I promise - and begin!" And those who wanted to fly around the center of the pitch for a bit could do so. "If anyone has any questions," she was mostly talking to those who had never flown before, "feel free to ask!"

OOC: Even though your characters have to wait in line, go ahead and post as if they're at the front of the line and have at it! Also, at least three posts are required for full points for this part of the activity with a minimum of two good-sized paragraphs in each post; the posts can consist of general flying practice or taking part in the activity, depending on what your character is most comfortable with right now. Take creative liberty and have fun with this!

Professor Elwood turned her attention away from the young Slytherin in the row across from her and back to Ms. James. So they were going to actually fly this time?

O____O

Those poles looked scary, too tight of turns for her liking, especially after only just learning to hover. The blonde looked at the students nearby her. None of them seemed to be very scared but she wasn't going to show fear. "I think I'm just going to go practice over here for a bit before starting those." She said quietly, more to herself than anyone.

Leg still over the broom and her hands still placed left over right on the handle, Calista kicked off easily and hovered about 5 feet over the grass and slowly leveled herself out. Once that was accomplished she began to move forward. The professor sat as straight up as possible to ensure she didn't go speeding off.

And she flew around in big, slow figure-eights, five feet off the ground, at about 10 miles per hour.

BUT SHE WAS DOING IT!

TOO FAST!

Melody gasped out loud. She had leaned in too much and now she was going way too fast for someone who was just learning. She did her best not to panic. Oh dear... oh dear... oh dear She thought repeatedly. She did her best making sharp turns just to avoid people. She tried not to panic. How do you slow down again... oh right lean back. That should have been obvious. Lean forward to go fast lean back to slow down. Don't forget to tilt the handle up just slightly. Melody started to lean back tilting her broom up just so. Good. She slowed down to a nice stop. Melody took a deep breath. That was 'entertaining.'

She then decided to land. She got off then got on again. Try it again. She told herself. She kicked off and leaned forward just a small bit. Good. This was a much better pace. Now she decided to make laps around the field to practice her turning.

Sarah continued her free fly for some time. She made interesting patterns with her broom and changed heights with ease. Then she spotted a butterfly, an orange one. This is exactly what she neededd if she wanted to work on her speed a goal. She kept her eyes firmly on the butterfly who by now was on the other side of the pitch, yet still in the center area. Now all she needed to accellerate is to lean foreward. She leaned her body forward and her broom zoomed towards the butterfly. The butterfly, realizing it was being followed, ceased its lazy fluttering and began to get its 'engines moving. Sarah noticing this, leant forward more and went even faster. When the butterfly turned she turned and when the butterfly slowed down finally she accelerated. Now she was flying next to the butterfly, it being on her right hand side. Keeping her right hand firmly in place, making sure it did not make her turn, Sarah let go of the broom with her left hand and stretch over and grabbed the butterfly, hoping not to shatter its wings she did it rather gently. She could feel it fluttering against her fingers now and Sarah, being the rather caring sort let it go. It flee out again yet Sarah did not try catch it again.

Now she should do the activity – right? Sarah leaned forwards (she had leant back before to slow down a bit so she could catch the butterfly by matching its speed) and zoomed towards the poles that had a line of students hovering in the air along side it. Approaching her destination she ulled backwards which made the broom skid to a halt right at the back of the line. She hovered in the air as the line got less and she edged slowly. Soon she was in the front of the line. She had watched students and it looked rather easy but was it? When it was her turn she went forward, doing a run through first slowly. She scrunched herself up a bit in order to fit through the loop properly and she was quite relieved when she made it yet there was no time for celebrating as she had t quickly turn to go through the next loop. This going through hoops reminded her of when her cousin taught her how to dive using somthing called a hula-hoop which was held in the air and she had to dive through it to get into the pool. The next time proved less stressful and then she did the final turn which got her through the final loop. As it was done too slowly Sarah wanted to go and try again.

After waiting in the line again Sarah was faced with the hoops again. This time she looked at her watch, making note of the time. Then, with one last look at the time she set out. She made it through the first loop alright, yet at the speed she was going she was unable to turn quick enough so she missed the middle hoop yet was able to make the turn by the final loop, yet this time she touched the loop just a bit which meant she had to go back to the beginning again.

Was it finally time to fly? Was it? Yes? Yes?

YES!

Penelope mostly-though-sorta-only-half-listened to the instructions. It was easy to see the poles that were there on one side of the pitch, and it seemed pretty clear what they were for. And then there was the other side of the pitch where they could just fly and do whatever they wanted? That sounded pretty cool, but Penelope also liked the challenge of those poles. Which activity should she choose first? Because she was definitely going to try to do both before the end of class.

Finally, after the professor had finished her instructions and Penelope had kicked off into the air again, the third year decided she was gonna try the poles first and go through them a few times before going to the other side. It seemed like a good plan.

So she got in line, and once it was her turn, she urged her broom forward to zoooom through the staggered line of poles, zig-zagging this way and then that way, this way and that way, avoiding the poles by varying inches and centimeters until she reached the end where she slowed down.

Now THAT was fun.

Time for round two!

This time Sarah was determined to do it right and proper. She wanted to go fast yet do it right. As she waited in line she thought about how she should change her tactics and began to formulate a theory of when to turn in her head. Once she knew when to turn she tried it out from where she was standing, proving that she was a bit off with the timing. She adjusted the timing and it worked. Now all she had to do was wait until she could put it into practice.

Finally her turn came and she looked at her watch and then leaned forward to accelerate. She went through the one hoop, managing to pull back a bit to ease her through the next hoop which she made it safetly. She was nervous about the final hoop as it was as small as the first hoop, yet she never had the advantage of being still as she had with the first group. She ducked a bit before she made her way through. SHE DID IT! Finally she made it through to the end and made a figure of eight to celebrate.

It was then that she noticed that she had lost her pony and her hair lay all over her face. It was long and her mother would not be pleased if she saw. So Sarah lowered her height and began to scan the ground with her eyes. The pitch never seemed so big in her life. After much searching she found it and tied her hair up hastily in a bun, that would do for now

Now familiar with the course after having weaved in and out of it twice, Alyssa decided that she was going to attempt flying through the course again, only this time a lot faster. Studying the line of poles in front of her, Alyssa hovered above the ground.

'Ready...Get Set....Go!!' Alyssa thought to herself as she leaned forward and closer to the broom handle. She immediately flew towards the first pole. Quickly leaning to the left, while turning the handle of the broom at the same time, Alyssa weaved her broomstick in between the first two set of poles. With her hair trailing in the wind, she immediately leaned her body to the right, while making sure that she was turning her broom handle in the same direction. Alyssa zoomed in between the next to poles.

Maintaining her speed by keeping her body leaning forward and closer to the broom handle, Alyssa maneuvered through the next set of poles by again quickly leaning to the left, whilst pointing her broom handle in the same direction. Zooom!! and through she went in between the next two poles. This now placed her in perfection position to weave her way in between the next two poles. Leaning to right, and by changing the grip of her hand so that the broom handle pointed in the same direction that she was leaning towards, Alyssa flew in between the poles, clearing the gap without touching either pole.

Though she had only played the position of Chaser once, Alyssa could imagine herself now, dodging Milton Shaklebolt and then Dylan Montmorency, as she weaved in between the poles. She had to now dodge Richard Turner and Ariana Logan who were trying to squeeze her in, but she quickly weaved in between the two of them easily. She could see the goal hoops in front. But first she had to dodge two bludgers heading for her. She first leaned to the left, guiding her broom pass the first pole bludger and then she leaned to the right, pointing her broom handle to the right and avoided getting hit by the second bludger weaving her way successfully in between the poles...and she was through....

Alyssa mimicked throwing the Quaffle through the make-believe goal hoops before raising her hands in victory. Then she belatedly remembered where she was and quickly brought her hands down to grip hold of the broom handle again. She looked around to make sure that no one had seen her 'glorious' attempt at goal scoring before turning her broom around and flying back to the middle of the pitch.

Now came the hard part; waiting her turn to go again. It would've been a whole lot cooler if they could all fly around the pools at the same time, kinda like one big race you know? Obviously that meant the first time fliers wouldn't be able to participate but only because they probably wouldn't know how to not get knocked off their broom once they were in a crowd of other fliers. ...oh well...they'd been happier not participating than flattened from a hard fall. At least she hoped they would.

While waiting she looked over at the students who were taking the time to fly around instead of doing the exercise. If it weren't for the fact that zipping through the poles was so fun she would have opted to join them because at least they didn't have to wait their turn to fly around.

Maybe she'd sneak over in a bit to give it a try while she waited on her next turn. For now the person infront of her had flown off and it was now her turn once more.

Time to try that whole slow flying thing. Lex leaned forward just a bit but quickly found out why she'd never thought to try that go-slow method earlier. This. Couldn't. Work. Flying was never meant to be done slowly! She quickly picked up speed just as she got to the poles. This time she tried clearing them in a different order juuuuust to see if it was possible. It was! And she didn't got confused even once!

She beamed proudly as she settled back into the line. She did good. Yup.

OOC: Before the class...
Richard looked around when he heard his name voiced by someone familiar. Anf the next moment, his gray eyes found the younger Slytherin. Brightening a bit, he gave her a warm smile. ''Hello, Princess Peyton. It is nice to see you.''


There was Dylan. Yeah....how could he forget? Among the reasons he had come to join this class was his owl. He had no idea for what kind of a reason he wanted the former team mates to be in this particular class but he was okay with it anyway. He had already been planning to show up. He slightly nodded at the captain as a response to his question.

What was up? Richard grinned. Did not she see? He was being all charming and awesome, that was up. He slightly laughed at her reaction to his words and nodded to ensure that he insisted on thinking what he had said. What a girl! Surely, he caught her smile and was about to comment just when the professor started the class, so he fell silent.

Class time. Folding his arms, he listened to the professors and about half of the others speaking. He did not know if he was focused enough to the class though as half of his brain was mostly focused on what his next move on Sierra could be. Every time an idea popped in his mind, he smirked widely. But then...it was time to fly so he stepped dreaming about that. He carefully chose a school broom for himself, which was nothing like his own but could do well, and ordered it ''Up''. The handle hit his palm immediately,the next moment he jumped on it and took a light tour around the place before reluctantly landing. That was what the professor wanted.

But then...it was activity time. Cool. Holding the handle of the school broomstick he had claimed, he listened to all the instructions. Well...it neither looked nor sounded too challenging for a Quidditch player like him but he had no doubt that it was going to be fun. He twirled the broomstick a bit, then took his place in the line of students to wait for his turn. As he waited, he watched the others fly especially Sierra. Wow...it was sad that she kinda failed...but he could make her feel better later.

*grin*

When it was finally his turn, he mounted the school broom and kicked the ground for a fast take off. He needed to slow down a bit if he wanted to keep things under control though. This was his first attempt of the activity after all, he needed to warm up a bit first. So he slowed down and started to fly in a zig-zag patters, avoiding the poles. Left and right. His relaxed grip on the broomstick easily controlled his moves and with a last good move, he was done with his turn without touching the poles.

With all the fun she was having she forgot to look out for Alice to make sure she wasn't hanging onto her broom for dear life or spazzing out in midair. She had known the girl long enough to know that it was something she was capable of doing.

Glancing around she gave a little sighed and settled comfortably in the line to wait. From what she could see her Hufflepuff friend was doing pretty well and hadn't managed to get herself killed in the time they were allowed up in the air.

Once she was satisfied enough with the status of her friend she got back to waiting, well actually, the line was long, she'd find something else for a bit. Now was a good time to go flying around with the other students. Flying over, she ensured that she had enough distance between her and whoever else was trying their hand at flying before she begun. This way no one had the excuse that she was in their way and therefore no one had any reason to bump into her.

Good.

Lex started simply by flying in a circle that widen with each turn until she was circling them completely. Why? Because she was bored and waiting on the line to get shorter. The whole time she was circling she kept eyeing the kid who she had a spot behind. Once he was closer to the front she'd take her spot back but for now she'd just cruise around in this circle motion.

Right...general practicing for the rest of the lesson.

Ellura was still very much trying to get used to the idea of flying on a broom and being comfortable with it. Some of the other newbies seemed to be quite a natural at it but she surely couldn't count herself in that number. At least she hadn't failed with the actual taking off. That could have only spelled disaster for her and any number of others if they happened to be nearby. And she wasn't ready for the activity part of the lesson at least didn't feel that way herself. So the third year decided to make sure she was within the central part of the pitch meant for practicing before slowly taking off from the ground once more.

Two for two.

Once a few feet off the ground, Ellura did her best to keep herself from going any higher for now. She then leaned forward just a little over the handle of her borrowed broom and guided herself forward.

Alyssa hovered around in the middle area of the pitch for awhile as she watched the new beginners practice flying and learning to get comfortable sitting on their broom sticks.

She watched as the other students practised weaving in and out of the poles. She had to admit that it was fun doing it, but she wanted to give the others a turn to try out the course before she flew back to join the line.

She wondered whether the Professor would mind if she raced the course with somebody. The only thing now was finding someone who was willing to race with her. She didn't care which house they were from. She just wanted to have fun.

Minerva got to her turn again and started around the poles once again. Keeping her broom sharp she leaned quick and easy to go between each one. Her broom still felt so close to the poles, she got nervous she might run into them again. Slowing up she took it easy around the poles. Moving in and out of them she was concentrating so much, she hoped no one would fly into her, because she would not see them in time.

Moving down the poles Minerva started to speed up, if she was going to be good, she had to challenge herself. Trying to visualize a bludger coming towards her she kept her broom steady and tried to keep her turns sharp and quick. Getting to the last pole Minerva quickly leaned and got around it without touching it. Smiling she was thrilled she did it. Now to have some fun in the middle of the pitch she decided.

So far, so good.

At least it had appeared that way at first as she continued to fly around for a bit. The girl taking it easy to avoid mishaps and simply get her sea legs---or rather air legs if they could be called that. The Gryffindor had even elevated herself a few more feet into the air as she felt comfortable to do so.

However when Ellura absently leaned a little too far to left, the broom obeyed as if thinking it a command and started to turn in that direction...right into a course that would send her into another student nearby. "Woah...not what I wanted," she exclaimed as she tried correcting herself. The following movement only ending up turning herself to the right instead past her original line of flight and almost completely around in the opposite direction before she managed to stop herself.

Why had she let Elliot convince her to try-out because he was?

It appeared that no one had noticed Mo's slightly spaz-tastic mounting, which was a relief, but he still took his time mounting and pushing off after Professor James gave them the nod. He'd rather watch West be awesome, or get a feel for how the course could best be accomplished before diving in headfirst.

Which was strange for him, considering he usually leapt into things with both feet without any consideration for the consequences.

Mo hovered for a moment with a flicker of uncertainty on his face before pressing forward to join up with the line of students waiting to fly through the posts. Should he just zip through as fast as possible like West and see how far he could get? Or should he take it slowly and work up to the faster speed? Fast would be fun, but watching West and others complete it over and over successfully, Mo didn't want to have to start over because he'd messed up. He'd do it slowly and practice doing it right the first time or so.

Minerva turned and lean down on her broom to get it to go towards the middle of the pitch. It was nice just to be on a broom. She couldn't wait to get her own broom out to practice. She had to if she was going to be good for the upcoming tryouts. Thinking about the tryouts made her nervous.

She saw others flying around and smiled, yes this was fun. Moving around, Minerva decided to do a few zigzags and practice some of the moves she would need to play her favorite position. That meant she needed to start and stop quickly, maybe even come up at people faster then normal. Looking around she didn't want to get to close to anyone that would freak out or spoke them. Seeing who she could use she leaned down and zoomed close, pulling up on her broom just as she was close enough that it might look like she would run into him.

Laughing a bit she shook her head, "Sorry, just was practicing for the upcoming tryouts. Had to have someone to fly close to like I was going after a bludger." Minerva smiled, "How are you doing up here?"

From the corner of her eyes Lex noticed someone else who didn't join the line immediately after getting their turn. She stopped her circle flying and looked over at her curiously. Was she just waiting a bit? She continued watching her but when the girl did nothing she assumed she wasn't busy.

Good.

The second year was bored and she wanted something to do. Lex guided her broom over to her with a wide smile across her face. "Alyssa! Hi! Remember me??" It wasn't really a question, more like her way of opening up small talk. Not that that would be needed for too long. It was much to tedious to keep up with.

She paused and looked to the course before focusing on the girl again. "So listen...I was wondering if you'd race with me. I think it's be more fun than flying the track alone." And of course she was right. She usually was.

FINALLY his turn, and Mo leaned forward to speed up a bit as he entered the series of poles. Maybe once he got comfortable traversing the obstacles, he could pick up some speed. Certainly not as fast as the Quidditch pros who raced through like they didn't even see the poles, but fast enough to be respectable. Mo took the first pole a bit wide, which made swinging back around for the second onerous. Pulling harder than he should with his leading hand, Mo swept back toward the next pole, squeezing through the gap with inches to spare.

Unfortunately, he was now at completely the wrong angle to make it around the next pole without somehow managing to spin in place... which was a skill Mo hadn't mastered yet and which was technically impossible when his broom had drifted to a complete stop. So this is how it went: Marcus Orion Branxton hadn't touched a single pole, but he still had to start over, and in a way that probably was pretty humiliating. In fact, he actually felt a bit embarrassed over it as he leaned forward again and zipped out of the obstacles and headed back toward the line.

One thing was for sure. Slow did not work.

Alyssa watched as the others traversed the course, then from the corner of her eye, she saw a younger student approach. Alyssa smiled when she recognized that it was Alexa, the 2nd Year Gryffindor. Her smiled broadened even wider when she asked whether she would like to race.

Alyssa nodded with excitedly. "Hey Alexa, yes I remember you. You would? You want to race with me? Of course I would love to." Alyssa couldn't believe that someone had the same idea as her. Flying in a race would definitely be more than flying the course alone.

"Let's go wait in line and when it's our turn you can start us off. Winner gets chocolate frogs." Alyssa called out as she leaned forward and flew immediately to the line of poles and waited for Alexa to join her.

Lex beamed at the older girl. "You will? Great!!!" The girl was so excited that she actually did a flip. RACING!! This would keep her attention span for sure! Going around the course was fun but this would be even better because she'd be at it with someone!

Waiting in the line? "Nuh-uh. I already have a spot in the line right up there and I think...I'm ...next." She craned her neck so she could see pass her. The kid was two persons from the front and she wasn't about to join the line when her spot was at the front. Lex tilted her head curiously as they girl flew to the back of the line. "You should come with me. I don't think they'll mind because we'll be going at the same time." Then she flew there.

vcdkhvdhkdvc!!!

REALLY??? If it weren't for the fact that she was settled in among other students she would have done another flip. "I'll definitely win then! You might as well hand it over right now."

Stop...stop...stop.

Okay, she was finally stopped from turning around any further on her broom. Ellura couldn't help the somewhat elevated breathing that escaped her lips as she in turn recovered from the excitement. "Deep breathes, Ellura....deep breathes." Any further and she might have started spinning...if that was even possible on a broom. She certainly didn't want to personally find out if it was or wasn't.

Once she was settled in place, Ellura figured she might as well continue on with her flying seeing as there still seemed to be some time remaining for the class. At least the professor hadn't called them all back to the ground to dismiss them just yet. So the third year looked around to make sure she knew where various fellow students were as well as how far she was away from the ground to get her bearings.

Satisfied there were nothing that could be in her way, she tentatively leaned slowly forward and felt the broom respond in kind. Slow and steady she was back flying, careful to keep herself straight in her seat to avoid a similar situation as before.

Penelope directed her broom back around to the end of the line and hovered their as she waited for it to move up and be her turn again. The waiting part wasn't as fun, even though it allowed her some time to watch the others who were flying around or going through the line of poles. Watching wasn't as fun as actually doing it though. So she was thinking this might be the last time she did this activity - at least with the free flying she didn't have to wait for anything, just make sure she avoiding colliding with anyone. But she wanted one more successful attempt at flying around these poles before doing that.

Finally, she had moved up to the front of the line, and she took off instantly, zooming forward and zig-zagging once again, this way, that way, this way, that-

thwack!

Penelope let out a frustrated groan when she felt her foot just barely nudge one of the poles. Merlin's beard. She'd maneuvered just a little too sharply to the left and wasn't able to avoid the pole completely. Crud.

Grumbling, she directed her broom back to the end of the line. She was not ending this activity with a failed attempt. She was most definitely trying this again.

Whattttt? Turning? Sigh. Alex didn't really like all the twisting and turning...he was usually Keeper, that didn't require much turning, more like...lots of moving back and forth between the posts. He used his body more for the turning stuff. Still, he supposed it was a good skill to have, just in case, especially if he was going to make the team this year.

After grabbing his broom and mounting it accordingly, he kicked off and began the activity. He headed towards the left end of the first pole, and then, turning sharply, went in between the two...almost throwing himself off in the process. Alex had a deep suspicion that he was making this WAYYY harder than it needed to be. Let's try turning NOT so sharply...

This time, when he turned to the left, he had a BIT more success, but he felt his turn was really rough. Meh.