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The weather is brisk and clear as students make their way to the Training Area for today's Flying lesson, due to begin at 11am sharp. Professor Kazmi - or Mr Kazmi, he doesn't mind which, just keep it respectful - waits at the edge of the Training Area for the class to arrive, along with a small selection of school brooms for those who manage to forget their own despite the reminder. Fifty feet or so along from the perimeter from where the class is gathering, several small platforms are visible, set up at intervals of a few feet.
While waiting for the class to arrive, Mr Kazmi finishes marking off a large square on the ground with small orange cones, inside which is enough room for the students to gather; he greets everyone as they arrive. "Feel free to stretch and warm up a bit, if you're feeling the cold. Run on the spot, do some jumping ja-... star jumps, if you like, just be careful not to smack anyone around the head." Standing in place is also fine, just no complaining about the cold if so. Thanks.
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OOC: Welcome to the first RPed Flying lesson of the term. There would have been Flying lessons all term up to this point, and your character should know Kamran by now. Be sure to read the rules before posting. I'll be kicking things off in 24 hours, at the earliest.
Slytherindor ♛ The Crazytastic Besties ♛ Shan Watson ♛
And Atlas SMILED back at her! Wow. He actually had a nice smile. It was in that moment that she hadn’t seen him smiling that frequently so seeing him smile was nice. And he really did have a nice smile.
Ahem. Focus littlest Nam.
Now high up in the sky, she watched as other students practiced their landing and flew past her. Yeahhhh. She was planning to just stay up here for as long as she could but then she saw the Professor look over in her direction and she sighed. Right, Lisa figured that she ought to give it ago. Biting her lip, she narrowed her eyes and looked at the ground. Emmerson, Kamzi, and company looked all so tiny below her. Sure, she wasn’t up too high but they did look smaller than what they were.
Okay, what had Prof Kamzi instructed them to focus on? Angles and speed. But location first. She found a nice grassy spot to land that she figured if it was soft enough than she wouldn’t hurt herself too, too badly. Next, she had to figure out the angle of her descent. Lisa took a deep breath. She needed to angle the broom for descent… But what angle? She opted for pointing her broom towards the ground at a thirty degree angle at first and she found herself and said broom moving towards the ground. Subconsciously, she pushed her broom down at a sharper angle and the broom sped up.
Oh no no no no no!! This wasn’t looking good!! Lisa closed her eyes which was a bad idea because then she couldn’t see.
She reopened them and saw the ground even closer. Her legs, arms, hands, and feet all shook nervously. She bit her lip to stop herself from yelling. Nam was on a course to crash into the ground.
As the ground became closer, she found herself sharply yanking her broom up in a ninety degree angle and she shot back up and nearly lost her balance. OH NO! She needed to stabilize herself. She pushed the angle of her broom down more gradually and then this time evened it out until she was simply hovering above the ground and then she touched the ground.
Lisa took a LARGE inhale in when her feet met the grass.
~ Mrs. Steve Harrington ~ It be like that sometimes.
Once looping over the Training Area, Claudine focused her mind on her landing. The first thing she did was to scan the area for other students. She was taking her own advice because hey, who wanted to cause an unnecessary injury? Anyway. With the selected area for her landing free of others, the sixth year put what she knew and what Kazmi had explained to them earlier to good use for landing in that smaller area.
Claudine closed in on the area, the ridiculously old broom pointed toward the ground.Her descent wasn’t planned to be a steep one, and that was exactly how she executed it. As the ground neared, all of her concentration and focus was thrown into not crashing. Memories of practicing landing during Aguilar’s lessons came rushing back, memories where her landings had been atrocious until they gradually started to improve.
With some pulling to level off the broom, the Snakette started to slow down. One thing though, she wasn’t sure how to evenly distribute her weight between her feet. So here’s to winging it! Bent knees? Check.
doesn't proofread tweets | #wrongaboutcereal | #siriusly? | emo to the extremo
Kinsay returned Emm's wave as she moved to mount her broom. It was too bad that Emm couldn't join in the air - that was always the best part of class. It's not that she minded listening and answering questions, but when she knew it was a precursor to actually FLYING, she got a little impatient. It was different in other classes, like divinations, where activities weren't ever quite as exciting. They could answer questions all day and she'd be fine with it. But FLYING? Wouldn't it be way more fun if they could just fly the whooooooole time? She'd be sure to bring that up to Mr. Kazmi. Maybe after the lesson (because she definitely wasn't planning to visit any professor's office any time soon) (no offense).
With her broom mounted, Kinz quickly took off and started on her lap around the training area. Even though Mr. Kazmi said to do one, Kiz decided she'd do THREE. Not because she lost count, but because she was really enjoying herself. And the platforms were getting kind of crowded anyway - she knew she wanted to practice her stops with one of those. Kinsay James wasn't the best flier, but she was probably somewhere in the middle - it was in her blood, so she knew how to do basics real well. The fancy stuff just took longer and she preferred having her hands grounded when her feet were in the air.
She was just slowing down from her third lap when she flew over to one of the podiums, starting with the lower one first. Mr. Kazmi had noooothing to worry about, Kinsay could be plenty of sensible especially when she was kept away from Emmerson. Sensible and flying up hiiiiigh again so that she could make a proper descent towards the podium. Settling on a speed inbetween SUUUPER FAST and WAY LESS FAST, Kiz began zoooooooming down. She didn't want a super steep descent either, so she made sure to angle her broom accordingly. See? She had a handle on this heh.
And juuuuuuuuuuuuust before she reached the landing pad, she careeeefully pulled back on the handle of her broom to slow it down. With her knees bent just a bit, she aimed for the podium.
AND SHE STUCK THE LANDING !!!!!!!!!
And of course, she was looking to see if Emm saw that! It was probably the smoothest landing she had ever managed in the history of EVER. Man, if only her dad was here to see. He would've been so proud! ...................... But um. Kinsay wasn't going to think about that.
...... Um. Anyway.
Was there still more time? Could she practice another?
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Days of Potter 2023:___________________________ Which Bertie Botts Flavour Are You?
"Hm, not quite," was all Kamran said in response to Cambridge at first, though it was clear he needed to go over exactly what constituted constructive criticism. The question was, did he make it an extra lesson just for Cambridge, or did he cover it for everyone? Maybe just Cambridge for now. Though a few others likely didn't get it, the kid did not need anyone to cotton onto the fact that she'd given him the idea for 'dull' lesson that most didn't need. He could just identify any other individuals who needed to learn. "Your arm does not prevent you from paying attention to my lesson. You can still listen to the theory, and apply it to what you're seeing." ... "Warming up for something, Miss Cambridge?" Better not be.
Gaeltheos was making good progress, and Kamran was pleased to see she was heeding his instructions and flying a little higher. "Good, Miss Gaeltheos," he called over, once she landed. Soon they'd have to start looking at broom control a little more, aka, addressing the momentary panic that tempted some students to employ the 'sudden movements' tactic. "Try working on making those movements a little smoother. Otherwise, very good progress."
And then there was Flamsteed, who was, shocker of shocks, still trying to derail with questions (before they'd moved on, Kamran had responded with a simple 'So treat that as your advance warning,' plus an invitation to come and ask his other questions when he wasn't trying to teach a lesson, and when he could spare the time necessary for him).
Kamran looked at him up in the air. "No, Mr Flamsteed. Some broom models are made with specific features in mind, like weight, speed, or ultra-sensitive controls, which aren't always good learning brooms. A broom that's more difficult to control at first may be perfect for someone once they've mastered the basics." Depending on what they used if for, of course, and that was not taking into account the apparent belligerence of older brooms, but that was more a matter of enchantment, and it was also not a good idea to get onto that subject now. Because Kamran thought he could anticipate a follow-up; "If you have another question, one pertaining to the lesson, I'll answer it once you've followed my instructions." Unless it was about the activity, in which case he would not be impressed that the first thing Flamsteed asked him was aside from the topic at hand. "Off you go."
As for Burke, Kamran took a quick look at the broom she handed over to him, now that he had it up close. Yes, a talk would be a good idea. When he looked back, he saw her kick off from the ground and... up... and up... and up. Ah. "Push the handle down, Miss Burke," Kamran called up after her, not too concerned just yet, and certainly not panicking, but raising his voice lest she ascend out of the range of hearing. "Push down steadily until you level out."
Kamran was glad that Fox was getting stuck into the activity, and coming along leaps and bounds in the process. Good, that was good. He couldn't say for sure, not being privy to her thoughts, but it would make sense if, by getting so caught up in the physical activity - one which required a lot of focus - she got a brief reprieve from whatever it was she was dealing with. Maybe it would help her deal with it, moving forward. In fact, the same went for many of these kids.
After Fox, Kamran flicked his eyes back up to... yes, that was Blaze. He tracked her all the way to the ground, noting with approval the smooth landing. Unsurprising; Blaze wasn't a beginner, and did seem to benefit from clear instructions, which she was good at following. Clear instructions were beneficial for everyone, of course, but it was the 'good at following' part that many other students seemed to trip up at.
With so many people up in the air, Kamran hadn't noticed James doing a couple more laps than he had asked for. He couldn't watch everyone all the time, and as long as he saw each of them try to land at least once - and he was keeping a mental tally - he was content. Little to worry about with James in any case, at least regarding flying. Case in point, that landing was near-textbook. When the Gryffindor looked back, despite the fact Kamran was under no disillusion that she was searching for anyone other than her friend, he gave her a thumbs up.
He had wanted to fly down to those others, give some feedback to the more experienced flyers landing on the platforms, maybe tweak said platforms a bit, but decided against it for now. They'd get their feedback when he called them all in for part two.
In the meantime, he had his eyes on Miss Nam, who was hopefully not about to illustrate why Kamran was reluctant to stray too far from this area. This was not what he would call a smooth approach... nor a steady one. And - squint - were her eyes closed? Merlin. Kamran did not often interfere when the kids were trying to fly (how would they learn for themselves?) but this was on the list of things for which he might have stepped in. Flying full pelt at the ground; even if the ground had some give, the broom could still take and cause some damage.
But he held his ground a little longer, and was glad he did. Nam had herself a bit of a rollercoaster landing, but she'd managed it. "Getting there, Miss Nam. Definitely getting there. Good job correcting that descent. Best to keep your eyes open when landing, though." Was Cambridge listening? That was constructive criticism.
Blackthorne was flying better than he'd ever seen from her before, and Kamran made a quick mental note of this... and of the moment things started getting a little wobbly.
Breaking his composure for a hot second, Kamran made a brief 'yikes' face as Blackthorne missed the podium and carried on towards the ground. She seemed to be expecting bad things, if reaching for her wand was anything to go by. Nevertheless, Kamran did not step in, confident the ground would cushion her fall if she couldn't regain control quickly enough to stick a regular landing.
OOC: Still at least 8 hours before we move along ^_^
__________________
Days of Potter 2023:___________________________ Which Bertie Botts Flavour Are You?
Rhibear ~ Madam Solo ~ Dark Brooding Girl ~ Accio Jedi ~ Gryffinclaw ~ Just a doll
Heath wasn’t sure if his answer would be along the lines of what Professor Kazmi was looking for. He couldn’t help but feel a little pleased with himself when he heard the man agreed with him, but there wasn’t time to dwell on it. Not one to repeat his brother’s reckless mistake, he listened carefully to every word the professor said. Oh, the platforms were for landing, not diving. What a relief! There was no way in Hoth he was diving off a platform again, not after what happened last term! Landing on one, on the other hand, sounded more doable.
At the sound of Kazmi’s whistle, Heath mounted his school broom and kicked off. He hovered at a modest height for a few seconds - a little higher than what he was used to but still not high enough to cause significant injury if he fell off his broom - then began his loop around the training area. Like the muggle fable, this was a time when slow and steady won the race. He flew at a careful. deliberate pace, his dark eyes constantly scanning the area for other students nearby so as not to crash into anyone. The thought of offering constructive criticism never entered his mind. He was too focused on his own landing attempt to critique anyone else’s, and besides, he was hardly qualified to offer feedback.
As he went, he internally debated whether to try for landing in the coned square or on one of the platforms. He was initially inclined to take his own advice and keep it simple by landing in the square. Then again, he was one of the oldest students in the class. It might look silly for him to do the same exercise as the younger, less experienced flyers, and he was reasonably confident in his landing ability.
He decided to challenge himself with the platforms instead. Nearing the area, he slowed down until he was hovering over the platform nearest to the ground. He was trying to challenge himself, not wind up in the hospital wing! Angling the broom downward, he began a steady descent toward the platform. Closer and closer it came into view until… Heath pulled back on the handle with a gentle yet deliberate hand. His descent gradually slowed and leveled off, and he bent his knees a bit just before his feet touched the ground. Success!
Was there time for another go-around? He decided to go for it and began the climb down from the platform.
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Old voices I had thought long since dead whisper of another life I might have led
If I could take that second chance, If I could make my life anew, If only dreams came true...
Ash wanted to try again, at least one more time. She went a little higher up and came in to land a little bit faster, but she made sure to come in by a less steep angle. three, two, one... and... land. YES! She landed as well as she normally would, even though she had flown faster and from higher up. This was so exciting! She was getting better... and she wasn't just talking about flying. Ash was just so, so happy that she forgot in the moment that she had a secret room in her mind where she hid scary things. She forgot that the universe was out to get her. The only thing on her mind was FLYING SUPER FAST and LANDING SUPER WELL. She didn't even care that her face was red and that she was forgetting to not show emotion. She was so happy she wanted to cry. But she didn't cry. Obviously not. That was more emotion than she cared to show. So instead she just smiled really big- the kind of smile that said 'Dad look! Mom look! Did you see what I did? Did you see? Look look look!' She didn't know that the smile said that, because her father wouldn't have cared, her mom was dead, and she was hardly ever in the mood to be proud like this. But the smile did say that, unconsciously. Look! She was proud. And her friends and professor Kazmi WOULD care that she got better at landing. Probably. So she had somewhere to express her excitement, instead of just waiting until it faded. Who knew that flying was this fun? Ash had... surprised herself with how happy she got. It made her happy to know that she was happy, and she would probably be happy for the rest of the day. The WHOLE ENTIRE DAY.
NOW TO SOME FUN STUFF. Victoria didn't want to pay attention to ANYONE else because she wanted to put ALL of her focus on what Professor Kaz was asking them to do.
FOR ONCE, SHE REALLY CARED ABOUT DOING WELL. Flying was something she had been looking forward to SO much for this term, and she had been doing so well in all of the classes prior.
She decided she would go to the coned off zone to practice landing well enough before taking her laps. She mounted the broom and let it gently float into the air. She gave it a little nudge with her knee and let it go at a pretty decently slow pace before she landed smoooooothly. AWESOME. So she went higher, faster, and HIGHER AND FASTER each time until she felt proficient enough at landing to go OUTSIDE THE CONE ZONE.
Why was Emmerson standing by the professor? She had missed the reason why. Hmm. But as she was flying out the cone zone, she swoooooped around the area before coming to a very smooth landing. TADA. HAD ANYONE SEEN?
Had the PROFESSOR seen?????
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"You can justify anything if you do it poetically enough."
Slytherindor ♛ The Crazytastic Besties ♛ Shan Watson ♛
Lisa nodded at the Professor’s feedback. She did feel brighter that he had given her some positive reinforcement for her getting better at the landing. But he was right. She needed to keep her eyes open to be better. “Alright,” she nodded and headed back up into the air. Flying upwards was always easy. She hovered above the rest of the class before selecting an area.
Then she lowered his broom towards descent making sure to make it less of a steep angle than last time. She slowly increased the steepness of the angle and then on a deep breath. He moved the broom to be more level and then touched the ground.
It was good to see Jones attempting the platforms; Kamran couldn't have called which he would try. From what Kamran could see, he'd managed to make it look almost effortless, so clearly Jones had made the right choice for his practice. Perhaps he could do with stepping out of his comfort zone a little more in future. One step at a time.
The more he saw of Fox, the more Kamran felt sure that the lesson was doing wonders for her, or perhaps it was just a particularly good day. Either way, she'd made clear progress in this lesson alone, and her entire demeanour seemed positive in nature. Good. That was good.
The professor had seen, yes, Gellar. Kamran had been keeping an eye out, glancing back to the young Slytherin every now and then as she got her practice in before taking to the air properly. "Great work, Miss Gellar," he called across to her, after that particularly smooth landing, though it wasn't just the landing itself he complimented, but the effort put into building up to it. "I think you can start thinking about upping the difficulty, moving forward."
Nam had the right idea too, taking the criticism on board and getting right back to it. Kids were... they were a little sensitive sometimes. It was just that kind of age; criticism bounced ineffectually off some and absolutely destroyed others, and occasionally was taken on board without so much as a wibbly lip. So far Nam fell into that happy medium. "Good," Kamran said to her when she tried again, an objectively much better attempt already. "Very good, Miss Nam."
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It was time they were moving on. Kamran picked up the whistle hanging around his neck, and gave his usual courtesy warning to those in the immediate vicinity, in and around the coned off square: "Ears." He gave the whistle a long, shrill blast, loud enough to reach around the entire area. "Back to me, everyone," Kamran called out, beckoning those back who might not hear him.
As he got those from the platforms within earshot, he gave some quick group feedback, preferring not to put them under too much of a spotlight. "You lot on the platforms, good job. I saw some excellent form over there, and that's not always easy when you're having to focus on a smaller space. Even if you didn't quite manage it, I'm glad you gave it a go. In future lessons, I think we'll try throwing in some smaller spaces." Or narrower. Ledges, fake tree branches, and the like. "Overall, I'm happy with what I'm seeing."
And now for the class as a whole. Little more discussion before they had some fun. Maybe. Some might-be-fun. More for some than for others, he didn't doubt.
"Some good effort out there-" For the most part, and that was all he really asked for. "-and a lot of progress being made. I trust that those of you who were not already familiar with proper landing form now have a decent grasp of it, at least in theory." And, if they didn't, they could always come and find him for a little clarification or help. Communication. Worked wonders. "Those who were, thank you for your patience in refreshing those basics."
Kamran rubbed his hands together, and looked out at the faces of the students. "As we move on, I'd like to know what difficulties you faced when landing, or if anything went particularly well? Even if you'd rather not say, or you already have a lot of landing experience, just reflect privately on that if you've not already." He had another question at the ready too, for the students who might prefer something less personal. "Landings usually make use of braking, but in what other ways might we use the braking mechanism on a broom? Aside from landing, are there any other situations when braking is crucial? You can give me general or specific examples, get creative with potential situations, or share personal anecdotes again." No names. Same rules applied. Kamran would also have asked them not to get too morbid - someone would find a way - but didn't want to risk giving anyone ideas.
OOC: Your character can answer any of the proposed questions. Also, feel free to do some mini catch-up/finishing up/responding to the last activity before answering if you'd like. I'll be moving us on in around 24 hours.
__________________
Days of Potter 2023:___________________________ Which Bertie Botts Flavour Are You?
Raspberry Jam | #ChocolateFrogFamous | Ultimate Fangirl
Still smiling from her first achievement, Remy started to prepare herself for another go, but the class was already moving on. That was fine, she had already NAILED IT. Kinda. Professor Kazmi asked a question about what went wrong/right with their practise round, and she had an answer for both of those. “I moved my broom down a little too fast at first, and I kinda… jolted it back upright. It really scared me for a second but I decided to move on from that and tried again much slower.” And it had worked! Learning from her mistakes, see.
As for the next question, Remy wasn’t so sure. Still, she raised her hand and had a go. “Maybe to avoid obstacles.” Maybe to avoid a bird flying, or another broomstick?
“Professor Kazmi… are there speed limits when flying?” As in… were there certain areas where you had to limit yourself? The latest question sparked this idea in her head. Hopefully it didn’t come across stupid.
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who could love me, I am out of my mind___________________________
_________________throwing a line out to sea to see if I can catch a dream
astronomizzle ♧ gryffinDORK | & the rest is drag ♣ #badluckDerf
Legs dangling over either side of the broom and his toes pushing into his shoes while he coasted in a lazy circle around the professor. Quite keen to hear what the man had to say in response to it all, Atlas had given the man his complete undivided attention - which was really something special so the man ought to feel, uh, special about it. And, for the record, he wasn't really trying to derail on purpose. Ish.
Anyway, consider the Gryffindor a bit crestfallen that brooms were not sentient enough to actually pick their riders - that would have made them way more appealing than just being another enchanted object that could only do what its initial function was. But it did make him wonder about if you COULD turn them a little more sentient. "Oh...I see." Was there a frown? Perhaps a little bit of one but it was not meant to last very long. His forget-me-not blue eyes shifted over to Ollie as she spoke about herself. He opened his mouth, ready to tell her that it was obvious she didn't know what she was doing but that was to be expected from inexperienced flyers like themselves, bit the professor thankfully spared everyone involved when the man gave him a proper ultimatum to get the Gryffindor going.
"Okay!"
That sounded like a promise to him, as long as he did the thing he would get answers. Seemed fair. And with a little whistle and a firm tug of the handle of his broom upwards, Atlas went zipping (and zagging) up in the air and decided to follow Ollie since she was in his immediate line of sight as well as mind. Though his ascension was not marked by frustration. "Hey! You wanna go down together? Aim for the cones?" he offered with a grin while swinging his legs a bit more. Leveling out his flight a bit, Atlas peered over his shoulder at the ground and then glanced back at the younger Slytherin. "On three!" Though if she didn't follow him on three he wouldn't exactly be mad either. "One...two...three!" And then the second year was pushing down on the broom handle, strongly on instinct since he had been very much the aim for the ground and hope for the best variety, and sent himself basically into a nose dive. Which, well, it took him about a second to remember that this was NOT the way he was meant to go about this.
Mouth open and eyes wide, he couldn't really tell you what all he did from that moment until he had landed on the ground. And, well, by landed it was more of a leap and release off the broom with a couple of half somersaults ending in a belly flop. He didn't exactly knock the wind out of himself, but he did swallow a couple of bugs on the way down since his mouth had been hanging open the way it was.
Coughing and spitting, Atlas crawled a bit to retrieve the school broom that had skidded to a stop several yards in front of him. Not...the worse landing in the world...and hopefully not the worst in the class either. Atlas would like to fly at an underwhelming middle ground here.
...and no where near the cones at that.
As the lecture portion resumed, Atlas was not AS present as he had been a little bit ago...and was very confused as to why now they were talking about breaking and it being useful. Since he was still busy getting bugs off his tongue, the Gryffindor remained quiet for now. "Professor Kazmi? Can I have some water, please? I swallowed a couple of bugs on the way down."
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When you’re stuck in a moment and your spark has been stolen .................................................. ........... this is our time to own it, so own it..................................... baby we were born withfire and gold in our eyes
Ash was going to be in an objectively good mood for the WHOLE ENTIRE DAY. She promised herself that this good mood would continue for the rest of the day. Promise. Was this what other people felt like? No wonder they were so infuriatingly optimistic. Woah.
She couldn't help but smile as they talked about what went well and what didn't- it wasn't even something to smile over, and yet she smiled. And it was her rare smile, genuine instead of empty. "When you try to land from higher up at a faster speed, it gets a lot harder. But if you find the right angle, it's easier. So I tried to start descending from farther back so that my angle wouldn't be too steep." She was pretty sure that was how it worked. like, 80% sure.
"When you're moving fast, it's harder to avoid stuff. So if I was about to hit someone on my broom, I'd brake so that I could be going slow enough to avoid them or stop entirely. Just like a car." See? She wasn't even gonna be gruesome and talk about what happened when you didn't brake. She was in that good of a mood.
not throwing away my shot | Slytherpuff | roll for initiative | woof you ❤
As soon as Alfie heard the words 'mount your brooms' he scrambled to do so as quickly as he could. He was just really excited to get in the air. It mean that he was so focused on mounting his broom that he missed a portion of the instructions, but he thought he had it down. Fly around, then land. Got it.
He flew up, up, up. He was fairly comfortable with going pretty high. He hadn't fallen off his broom in a while now so he wasn't concerned about that. Besides, if he fell off he had full confidence in Professor Kazmi to save him. He flew around for a bit, and then headed to the landing patch. He didn't think he was quite advanced enough for the challenge of a smaller landing area. Alfie tilted the handle of his broom down, pointing at the ground. It was a bit steep, causing him to speed toward the ground. But at the last minute he pulled back, just barely remembering something about bending his knees and distributing his weight on his feet. It wasn't the smoothest landing, but he was on the ground with no injuries so he was going to consider it a success.
Before he could go back up and try again they were being called back, so Alfie moved away from the circle of cones and turned his attention to Professor Kazmi. He raised his hand. "There's lots to remember. Point down and then pull back and bend your knees and distribute your weight, I have to think about all of them or I might forget." And there was another question about braking. "You might have to stop really quickly so you don't run into someone else."
Margaret definitely thought the extra practice helped. Only her first landing on the platform was a little off-balance. She didn't really see why landing in a smaller space was useful, especially in her "all Quidditch all the time" mindset, but it was still fun to be good at something. And Ashley looked like she had gotten really good too! Mamie would have to see if her friend would come fly with her and maybe help with Quidditch training sometime. Ashley could throw quaffles at to her or something.
But they were moving on, and Mamie of course knew the answer to all these questions. She definitely thought she knew more about flying than she really did. She raised her hand. "If you need to change directions really quickly, or weave in and out of something, braking gives you the, uh, force to change momentum," she said. Was that physics right?? She'd have to ask her Ma in her next letter. Or Pa, he'd probably written about something like that. "Like in Quidditch, if you're trying to fake out the other team's chasers, you might go right, and then brake and go left instead."
Yeah I broke that mirror, so what? ll NOT backward ll Official Gryfferin ll Lemon's favourite
Warming up for something?
Emm put a stop to her stretches, looking attentive once more. “Just warming up to pay attention, Sir! Gotta get my head in the game to learn all the super important things about flying and falling and breaking all your bones and dying in a freak accident involving no brakes and a ton of speed and a fast approaching ground and a flash of lights that you shouldn’t fly toward but it’s the light or the ground and you already know what one’ll be like.”
What were they talking about again? Oh, they were moving on to difficulties and brakes. So maybe her tangent hadn’t been all that off afterall.
“I had difficulty giving constructive criticism. BUT then I saw Kizzy and she was A M A Z I N G, and her form was spectacular and basically, Sir, I wouldn’t change a thing about her flying and landing because it was perfection.” And a chef’s kiss blown at her best friend to cement that.
See? She’d been paying attention. She knew how to give compliments. She knew how to give Kizzy compliments.
As to braking. You brake when you don’t want your insides being inside someone else about impact.”
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Imma say all the words inside my head____________________________________
______________________________I'm fired up and tired of the way that things are said.
Violet was glad she was better at spells than she was at flying, for her Arresto momentum had slowed her down enough to make a bumpy and ungraceful, but safe, landing. Well, if you don't count scrapes and bruises as unsafe.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Felixir
Kamran rubbed his hands together, and looked out at the faces of the students. "As we move on, I'd like to know what difficulties you faced when landing, or if anything went particularly well? Even if you'd rather not say, or you already have a lot of landing experience, just reflect privately on that if you've not already."
Difficulties? Did the ground count as a difficulty? Violet was just not ready to admit her incompetence on a broom in front of half the school, so she let the matter stand and said nothing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Felixir
He had another question at the ready too, for the students who might prefer something less personal. "Landings usually make use of braking, but in what other ways might we use the braking mechanism on a broom? Aside from landing, are there any other situations when braking is crucial? You can give me general or specific examples, get creative with potential situations, or share personal anecdotes again."
"Well, I would think that if you suddenly encountered a lot of obstacles--like, maybe trying to fly through a forest or around some mountains or high buildings, that you'd want to brake in order to slow down and have a better chance at maneuvering around them." There, at least she could think, if not fly.
~ Mrs. Steve Harrington ~ It be like that sometimes.
After that initial successful attempt to land in a specified amount of space, Claudine had continued to practice. She wasn’t often successful as she misaveraged her speed which resulted in stumbling, and once even falling. But hey, at least she could land properly for the most parts. Hearing the shrill blast of the whistle, the sixth year dismounted to make her way back to Kazmi.
The professor’s encouraging words made her feel a tad more accomplished though Claudine had Aguilar’s teaching to thank for that. Yes, she wasn’t over Aguilar leaving. So what? Anyway. Yes, she could think of an issue she faced: when angling her broom downwards, sometimes the speed at which she was heading for the ground was misjudged. Meaning, she zoomed for land too quickly. Figuring that a few of the other students had encountered the same issue, she chose to remain silent on that aspect but not the one about braking.
“If you happen to get caught in a thunderstorm and want to avoid the lightning, Professor.’’ Creative answer, yes?
Slytherindor ♛ The Crazytastic Besties ♛ Shan Watson ♛
The Professor's words of encouragement after her successful landing with the improved feedback got her smiling and feeling more comfortable. Maybe she could do this flying thing, yeah?
And that perspective all changed after she heard a few comments from her fellow students. Oh hard pass.
Hearing students discuss avoiding lightning made Lisa very, very fearful of getting back up in the air again. Yeah, she was not going to fly long distance. She did NOT want to be caught up in a storm or learn how to navigate it. She was pretty much planning on using it for this class and that was it. She had no dreams of being a Quidditch player. She much preferred having her two feet on solid ground. Thank you VERY much.
She raised her hand. "I wanted to get on the ground so quickly that I angled my broom too steeply and I went quicker. In theory, it makes sense... but when I was up there, I blanked and just wanted to get to the ground.... I hate heights.... But being slow, careful, and methodical got me to the ground safer and quicker with ... less bumps."
doesn't proofread tweets | #wrongaboutcereal | #siriusly? | emo to the extremo
Kinsay was looking for Emm, of course, but catching Mr. Kazmi give her a thumbs up was the second best thing. She could feel her face warm up as she stood on the platform, suddenly feeling suuuuper bashful. If her hair wasn't pulled up in a ponytail, she would've hidden behind it. Instead, she mounted her broom properly again to try again, this time on the higher platform.
But before she had the chance, they were called to a stop by the very LOUD whistle. O__________O Kinsay GASPED, nearly falling backwards off the platform. But UM. Thankfully, she managed to keep her balance. It was a close one though, it really was. She'd never get used to it. Never ever. Even though being a jumpy person was kind of new to her.
So it took Kiz a minute to recover, but once she did, she flew down (AND ~ LANDED ~) to join the rest of the class. Though she wanted to be reaaaaaal subtle about it, she managed to move to a spot right next to Emm again. Which maybe wasn't so subtle now that her best friend was complimenting her in front of EVERYONE. Kinz appreciated the praise (she really did), but it made her WHOLE face go red (redder than it had when Mr. Kazmi saw her landing). She expertly looked down at her feet the whole time so she wouldn't feel quite as embarrassed (and then made sure to give Emm a squish after when it was Violet's turn to share an answer). But omg Emm WHY!!!
When it came to her turn, all the good answers were already taken so Kinz had to be a liiiittle creative. Not that it'd be a problem, but she did want everyone to know that she had thought of the other stuff too! That was important. "If you're flying and you drop something, like... an earring! Oooor a shoe! You might need to brake real fast so you can proper look around before you dive to go get it!" Especially if it was something small and hard to find. Kinz wasn't speaking from her own experience, but there were thousands of wizards who lived on the planet. So. Someone had to have experienced this at some point.
But also, going back to what Claudine said. "What happens if you get struck by lighting? ..... Would your broom catch on fire?" And also. Would you die?
__________________
Days of Potter 2023:___________________________ Which Bertie Botts Flavour Are You?
You are Lemon!
Last edited by ArianaBlack; 06-01-2021 at 05:52 AM.
V was ecstatic. HE HAD SEEN HER DO A GOOD THING. SHE DID SOMETHING GOOD. Flying was so FUN though. So FREEING. And you didn't need to know anything beforehand or whatnot...no homework required necessarily. And like, you could learn to be a good flyer. It wasn't like Potions or Charms or whatever, where V had found she was already abysmal at it.
She didn't think she should contribute to the conversation at all since she was only a first year, and new to flying. So like, why would anyone want her advice? V stayed quiet, listening carefully to other answers.
She had begun to notice, too, that Lisa was very smart. It made sense she was in Ravenclaw. A part of her felt really icky thinking about how smart Lisa was. It wasn't fair, was it, that you were either born smart or not. Lisa just seemed to get things.
And V never just got things. It was why she gave up on being good at any subject that required a lot of work.
__________________
"You can justify anything if you do it poetically enough."
Still smiling from her first achievement, Remy started to prepare herself for another go, but the class was already moving on. That was fine, she had already NAILED IT. Kinda. Professor Kazmi asked a question about what went wrong/right with their practise round, and she had an answer for both of those. “I moved my broom down a little too fast at first, and I kinda… jolted it back upright. It really scared me for a second but I decided to move on from that and tried again much slower.” And it had worked! Learning from her mistakes, see.
As for the next question, Remy wasn’t so sure. Still, she raised her hand and had a go. “Maybe to avoid obstacles.” Maybe to avoid a bird flying, or another broomstick?
“Professor Kazmi… are there speed limits when flying?” As in… were there certain areas where you had to limit yourself? The latest question sparked this idea in her head. Hopefully it didn’t come across stupid.
Learning from mistakes was one of the best ways too learn, if you asked Kamran. "Good. Making abrupt movements when trying to control the broom is a common issue, especially with beginners," Kamran replied with a nod. He'd seen it plenty in this lesson alone. "It's a natural reflex to react quickly, especially if we start to feel unsafe. Eventually you'll become more and more confident that you'll remain in control of the broom, and this will become less of an issue." They usually got there.
As to her other answer. "Yes, Miss Gaeltheos. Applicable whether dodging around or stopping to avoid completely." Kamran was about to move on, but the question drew his attention back to the Gryffindor. "Not generally, but sometimes in areas of high traffic." Which were not frequently found, more the exception than the rule.
SPOILER!!: Atlas
Quote:
Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie
Legs dangling over either side of the broom and his toes pushing into his shoes while he coasted in a lazy circle around the professor. Quite keen to hear what the man had to say in response to it all, Atlas had given the man his complete undivided attention - which was really something special so the man ought to feel, uh, special about it. And, for the record, he wasn't really trying to derail on purpose. Ish.
Anyway, consider the Gryffindor a bit crestfallen that brooms were not sentient enough to actually pick their riders - that would have made them way more appealing than just being another enchanted object that could only do what its initial function was. But it did make him wonder about if you COULD turn them a little more sentient. "Oh...I see." Was there a frown? Perhaps a little bit of one but it was not meant to last very long. His forget-me-not blue eyes shifted over to Ollie as she spoke about herself. He opened his mouth, ready to tell her that it was obvious she didn't know what she was doing but that was to be expected from inexperienced flyers like themselves, bit the professor thankfully spared everyone involved when the man gave him a proper ultimatum to get the Gryffindor going.
"Okay!"
That sounded like a promise to him, as long as he did the thing he would get answers. Seemed fair. And with a little whistle and a firm tug of the handle of his broom upwards, Atlas went zipping (and zagging) up in the air and decided to follow Ollie since she was in his immediate line of sight as well as mind. Though his ascension was not marked by frustration. "Hey! You wanna go down together? Aim for the cones?" he offered with a grin while swinging his legs a bit more. Leveling out his flight a bit, Atlas peered over his shoulder at the ground and then glanced back at the younger Slytherin. "On three!" Though if she didn't follow him on three he wouldn't exactly be mad either. "One...two...three!" And then the second year was pushing down on the broom handle, strongly on instinct since he had been very much the aim for the ground and hope for the best variety, and sent himself basically into a nose dive. Which, well, it took him about a second to remember that this was NOT the way he was meant to go about this.
Mouth open and eyes wide, he couldn't really tell you what all he did from that moment until he had landed on the ground. And, well, by landed it was more of a leap and release off the broom with a couple of half somersaults ending in a belly flop. He didn't exactly knock the wind out of himself, but he did swallow a couple of bugs on the way down since his mouth had been hanging open the way it was.
Coughing and spitting, Atlas crawled a bit to retrieve the school broom that had skidded to a stop several yards in front of him. Not...the worse landing in the world...and hopefully not the worst in the class either. Atlas would like to fly at an underwhelming middle ground here.
...and no where near the cones at that.
As the lecture portion resumed, Atlas was not AS present as he had been a little bit ago...and was very confused as to why now they were talking about breaking and it being useful. Since he was still busy getting bugs off his tongue, the Gryffindor remained quiet for now. "Professor Kazmi? Can I have some water, please? I swallowed a couple of bugs on the way down."
Flamsteed's landing had been... something. At least he was in one piece - though he was being uncharacteristically quiet now, and Kamran had half a mind to check on him before they moved on - and also hadn't asked another question yet. Did that landing warrant another answer? Hm. Hard to say.
Kamran drew his wand and conjured up a small cup and filled it with water. He was about to levitate it towards him but thought better of it, and took the few steps to just hand it over. "Something to bear in mind next time. Bugs tend to share the sky with you." The kid wouldn't eat Healer Poppy's excellent bread, but he'd swallow bugs. Honestly.
SPOILER!!: Ash
Quote:
Originally Posted by astrocat
Ash was going to be in an objectively good mood for the WHOLE ENTIRE DAY. She promised herself that this good mood would continue for the rest of the day. Promise. Was this what other people felt like? No wonder they were so infuriatingly optimistic. Woah.
She couldn't help but smile as they talked about what went well and what didn't- it wasn't even something to smile over, and yet she smiled. And it was her rare smile, genuine instead of empty. "When you try to land from higher up at a faster speed, it gets a lot harder. But if you find the right angle, it's easier. So I tried to start descending from farther back so that my angle wouldn't be too steep." She was pretty sure that was how it worked. like, 80% sure.
"When you're moving fast, it's harder to avoid stuff. So if I was about to hit someone on my broom, I'd brake so that I could be going slow enough to avoid them or stop entirely. Just like a car." See? She wasn't even gonna be gruesome and talk about what happened when you didn't brake. She was in that good of a mood.
"Very true. It becomes more of a dive when the angle is steep. It can be useful to learn how to land out of a dive, but that can be a new challenge for you to work on in the future." She had the right of it, in terms of correcting the issue for a regular landing. Kamran was sure. 100% sure.
"Good. Safety-conscious. Having a decent command of braking is one way to respect those you share the sky with." Kamran... had actually seen plenty of people who missed the memo on that, way back in the day.
SPOILER!!: Alfie
Quote:
Originally Posted by littledhampir
As soon as Alfie heard the words 'mount your brooms' he scrambled to do so as quickly as he could. He was just really excited to get in the air. It mean that he was so focused on mounting his broom that he missed a portion of the instructions, but he thought he had it down. Fly around, then land. Got it.
He flew up, up, up. He was fairly comfortable with going pretty high. He hadn't fallen off his broom in a while now so he wasn't concerned about that. Besides, if he fell off he had full confidence in Professor Kazmi to save him. He flew around for a bit, and then headed to the landing patch. He didn't think he was quite advanced enough for the challenge of a smaller landing area. Alfie tilted the handle of his broom down, pointing at the ground. It was a bit steep, causing him to speed toward the ground. But at the last minute he pulled back, just barely remembering something about bending his knees and distributing his weight on his feet. It wasn't the smoothest landing, but he was on the ground with no injuries so he was going to consider it a success.
Before he could go back up and try again they were being called back, so Alfie moved away from the circle of cones and turned his attention to Professor Kazmi. He raised his hand. "There's lots to remember. Point down and then pull back and bend your knees and distribute your weight, I have to think about all of them or I might forget." And there was another question about braking. "You might have to stop really quickly so you don't run into someone else."
"You'll get there, Mr Ramsey." Kamran had caught sight of his earlier landing, and thought he'd done rather well. "It's a lot to think about at first, but after a while it becomes a habit, enough for you to focus more on other input." It was true that they should never really stop thinking about what they were doing when flying, but a happy medium was good. Kamran was plenty guilty of employing flying techniques without much conscious thought, but he had several decades on these kids. He'd earned the right to be a hypocrite from time to time.
"Exactly. As a matter of fact, stopping quickly is something we'll get back to in a moment." Please hold.
SPOILER!!: Mamie
Quote:
Originally Posted by Waddles
Margaret definitely thought the extra practice helped. Only her first landing on the platform was a little off-balance. She didn't really see why landing in a smaller space was useful, especially in her "all Quidditch all the time" mindset, but it was still fun to be good at something. And Ashley looked like she had gotten really good too! Mamie would have to see if her friend would come fly with her and maybe help with Quidditch training sometime. Ashley could throw quaffles at to her or something.
But they were moving on, and Mamie of course knew the answer to all these questions. She definitely thought she knew more about flying than she really did. She raised her hand. "If you need to change directions really quickly, or weave in and out of something, braking gives you the, uh, force to change momentum," she said. Was that physics right?? She'd have to ask her Ma in her next letter. Or Pa, he'd probably written about something like that. "Like in Quidditch, if you're trying to fake out the other team's chasers, you might go right, and then brake and go left instead."
Merlin. Physics again. Speaking of changing directions quickly, Kamran swerved around the specifics of that topic, grateful that Turov had not lingered on it.
Instead he nodded. "Certain manoeuvres can be very difficult, if not impossible, to achieve while going at a high speed, and require slowing down even if just ever so slightly to keep them effective." The things he'd seen. They didn't need to go there right now. "Sometimes, the braking can even be part of the manoeuvre itself. Thank you, Miss Turov."
SPOILER!!: Emm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DaniDiNardo
Warming up for something?
Emm put a stop to her stretches, looking attentive once more. “Just warming up to pay attention, Sir! Gotta get my head in the game to learn all the super important things about flying and falling and breaking all your bones and dying in a freak accident involving no brakes and a ton of speed and a fast approaching ground and a flash of lights that you shouldn’t fly toward but it’s the light or the ground and you already know what one’ll be like.”
What were they talking about again? Oh, they were moving on to difficulties and brakes. So maybe her tangent hadn’t been all that off afterall.
“I had difficulty giving constructive criticism. BUT then I saw Kizzy and she was A M A Z I N G, and her form was spectacular and basically, Sir, I wouldn’t change a thing about her flying and landing because it was perfection.” And a chef’s kiss blown at her best friend to cement that.
See? She’d been paying attention. She knew how to give compliments. She knew how to give Kizzy compliments.
As to braking. You brake when you don’t want your insides being inside someone else about impact.”
It really was hard to tell, sometimes, if Cambridge was trying to test him on purpose. Some of this stuff she came out with... he had to wonder. He nodded through most of it, and actually couldn't technically pull her up on that part about the constructive criticism. She had found difficulty with it. And James had landed very well. So, the next answer.
Kamran-...
...
... "You're not wrong, Miss Cambridge." There.
SPOILER!!: Violet
Quote:
Originally Posted by MadAlice
Violet was glad she was better at spells than she was at flying, for her Arresto momentum had slowed her down enough to make a bumpy and ungraceful, but safe, landing. Well, if you don't count scrapes and bruises as unsafe.
Difficulties? Did the ground count as a difficulty? Violet was just not ready to admit her incompetence on a broom in front of half the school, so she let the matter stand and said nothing.
"Well, I would think that if you suddenly encountered a lot of obstacles--like, maybe trying to fly through a forest or around some mountains or high buildings, that you'd want to brake in order to slow down and have a better chance at maneuvering around them." There, at least she could think, if not fly.
"I would agree. As well as the practical side of manoeuvring, it would give you a little more time to think, and take note of new obstacles, especially if you're the kind of person who does better when they have time to process your environment." Some weren't, Kamran could accept that. He was naturally the kind of person who liked to know what was around him before reacting to it, though back when he'd started training for racing had taught himself to react quickly and trust in his reflexes. "Thank you, Miss Blackthorne."
SPOILER!!: Claudine
Quote:
Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19
After that initial successful attempt to land in a specified amount of space, Claudine had continued to practice. She wasn’t often successful as she misaveraged her speed which resulted in stumbling, and once even falling. But hey, at least she could land properly for the most parts. Hearing the shrill blast of the whistle, the sixth year dismounted to make her way back to Kazmi.
The professor’s encouraging words made her feel a tad more accomplished though Claudine had Aguilar’s teaching to thank for that. Yes, she wasn’t over Aguilar leaving. So what? Anyway. Yes, she could think of an issue she faced: when angling her broom downwards, sometimes the speed at which she was heading for the ground was misjudged. Meaning, she zoomed for land too quickly. Figuring that a few of the other students had encountered the same issue, she chose to remain silent on that aspect but not the one about braking.
“If you happen to get caught in a thunderstorm and want to avoid the lightning, Professor.’’ Creative answer, yes?
"Certainly very helpful." Kamran... could make a joke here about lightning fast reflexes, but he wouldn't. That would not only be slightly embarrassing for all involved, but probably a little insensitive.
So he would just think it. Nothing wrong with that.
"This is a good opportunity to make it clear that, if possible, it's best to avoid flying in certain, ah... more treacherous conditions. Sometimes it's unavoidable, and even certain sports events are not postponed for something like thunderstorms, but otherwise best to keep these things in mind."
SPOILER!!: Lisa
Quote:
Originally Posted by Watson
The Professor's words of encouragement after her successful landing with the improved feedback got her smiling and feeling more comfortable. Maybe she could do this flying thing, yeah?
And that perspective all changed after she heard a few comments from her fellow students. Oh hard pass.
Hearing students discuss avoiding lightning made Lisa very, very fearful of getting back up in the air again. Yeah, she was not going to fly long distance. She did NOT want to be caught up in a storm or learn how to navigate it. She was pretty much planning on using it for this class and that was it. She had no dreams of being a Quidditch player. She much preferred having her two feet on solid ground. Thank you VERY much.
She raised her hand. "I wanted to get on the ground so quickly that I angled my broom too steeply and I went quicker. In theory, it makes sense... but when I was up there, I blanked and just wanted to get to the ground.... I hate heights.... But being slow, careful, and methodical got me to the ground safer and quicker with ... less bumps."
Learning. Always learning. Again, that tended to happen quicker after a few mistakes. Usually their own mistakes, but sometimes kids could benefit from seeing how others hit problems and overcame them.
"Sometimes fear has us acting a little drastically, even though the logic does make sense. In your case, the trade off for getting to the ground quicker was having less control in doing so." She was a smart kid, she didn't need him to help her make that conclusion. "Very good, Miss Nam. Even with a fear of heights, it's very beneficial to know how to fly, what will work, and what won't."
He wasn't going to promise her she'd stop fearing heights. Kamran couldn't do that for her, but he could at least teach her some practical skills that might make her feel safer up there in the eventuality she needed to fly.
SPOILER!!: Kinsay
Quote:
Originally Posted by ArianaBlack
Kinsay was looking for Emm, of course, but catching Mr. Kazmi give her a thumbs up was the second best thing. She could feel her face warm up as she stood on the platform, suddenly feeling suuuuper bashful. If her hair wasn't pulled up in a ponytail, she would've hidden behind it. Instead, she mounted her broom properly again to try again, this time on the higher platform.
But before she had the chance, they were called to a stop by the very LOUD whistle. O__________O Kinsay GASPED, nearly falling backwards off the platform. But UM. Thankfully, she managed to keep her balance. It was a close one though, it really was. She'd never get used to it. Never ever. Even though being a jumpy person was kind of new to her.
So it took Kiz a minute to recover, but once she did, she flew down (AND ~ LANDED ~) to join the rest of the class. Though she wanted to be reaaaaaal subtle about it, she managed to move to a spot right next to Emm again. Which maybe wasn't so subtle now that her best friend was complimenting her in front of EVERYONE. Kinz appreciated the praise (she really did), but it made her WHOLE face go red (redder than it had when Mr. Kazmi saw her landing). She expertly looked down at her feet the whole time so she wouldn't feel quite as embarrassed (and then made sure to give Emm a squish after when it was Violet's turn to share an answer). But omg Emm WHY!!!
When it came to her turn, all the good answers were already taken so Kinz had to be a liiiittle creative. Not that it'd be a problem, but she did want everyone to know that she had thought of the other stuff too! That was important. "If you're flying and you drop something, like... an earring! Oooor a shoe! You might need to brake real fast so you can proper look around before you dive to go get it!" Especially if it was something small and hard to find. Kinz wasn't speaking from her own experience, but there were thousands of wizards who lived on the planet. So. Someone had to have experienced this at some point.
But also, going back to what Claudine said. "What happens if you get struck by lighting? ..... Would your broom catch on fire?" And also. Would you die?
"I would applaud whoever could retrieve an earring in that manner," Kamran replied, and meant it. Really. He knew the hazards of getting in the way of someone who was searching for an earring. "But yes, exactly. Using Accio to retrieve what was dropped may be better, but braking would still be very useful in that scenario."
Okay, time to move on. Or... no, no it was not. He should have known.
"It depends how far from the ground you are. If you're close enough for the lightning to also hit the ground and complete the circuit, you could be in trouble." Like dying, yes. Maybe. "Way up in the air, you're nowhere close to being grounded. If lightning did somehow hit you, it's unlikely to do anything, but it wouldn't exactly be good for your health - or your broom - even if there's no immediately observable effect."
SPOILER!!: V
Quote:
Originally Posted by kayquilz
HE HAD SEEN.
V was ecstatic. HE HAD SEEN HER DO A GOOD THING. SHE DID SOMETHING GOOD. Flying was so FUN though. So FREEING. And you didn't need to know anything beforehand or whatnot...no homework required necessarily. And like, you could learn to be a good flyer. It wasn't like Potions or Charms or whatever, where V had found she was already abysmal at it.
She didn't think she should contribute to the conversation at all since she was only a first year, and new to flying. So like, why would anyone want her advice? V stayed quiet, listening carefully to other answers.
She had begun to notice, too, that Lisa was very smart. It made sense she was in Ravenclaw. A part of her felt really icky thinking about how smart Lisa was. It wasn't fair, was it, that you were either born smart or not. Lisa just seemed to get things.
And V never just got things. It was why she gave up on being good at any subject that required a lot of work.
Kamran scanned the faces of the rest of the class, mostly looking for anyone who seemed like they might want to answer but didn't want to call attention to themselves on their own steam. None that he could see right now.
His eyes did pass over Gellar though, and was content to see that, even though she didn't speak up, she was evidently still paying attention. Kamran gave her a very small nod of approval, and left it at that.
Now it was time to move on. "You should all know how to stop by now. Basic braking involves pulling the handle of the broom back towards you until you come to a stop. If you're moving backwards, the opposite: push it away from you." Different contexts required different methods of braking, but Kamran was decidedly not going into those today. They'd delve into the topic more in a future lesson.
"Today, we'll finish by focusing on straightforward emergency stops. Similar principle, but it's a more sudden, decisive action; a sharp, controlled pull - try not to smack yourself in the face with the broom - and a quick lean back. Pulling the broom off to the side at the same time can give you a quicker stop, but if the motion isn't sharp enough, or you don't yet know how to use your weight to counteract the motion, you could spin away instead." Which... was not a stop. Kamran wasn't going to tell them not to attempt it, however; this was the best time to feel out such a manoeuvre. "Now, everyone follow me." He grabbed his own broom, and strode off. To the next activity.
_____
They weren't going far, only to one end of the Training Area. As he led them there, Kamran flicked his wand at their destination, and removed the enchantment concealing a set-up of large crash mats. One giant mat stretched across the ground, and two more stood vertically up against the boundary of the area.
"You'll be practicing the emergency stop until the end of the lesson. On this side," Kamran pointed to the left. "It's all completely stationary. Starting from at least halfway down the Training Area, I want you to fly at this mat as fast as you can, and perform an emergency stop. Aim to get as close as you can to the standing mat without hitting it. You can do this alone, or pair up with someone and race, see who wins, see who can get closest and still stop in time." Speed and control, see? "I have no doubt there will be a few spills or late reactions, but these things are designed to cushion impact, and you're flying relatively low for now. You'll be fine, so will your brooms." Kamran had also made sure the space between the mats was charmed to prevent a dangerous collision with the boundary of the area, but he left out that little detail to prevent anyone getting lazy with where they were flying.
He pointed to the set-up on the right hand side now. "Same deal over here, but more moving parts, so a bit more difficult. Sections of the mats may rush out or spring up to meet you early, but there's no particular pattern. Stop before you hit them, but again, I'm looking for a last second stop, and I want the approach to be fast. You can pair up to race to this one too."
And that was it. Nothing as thrilling as some of them were probably after, but such was life. "Up to you which of the mats you chose to work on. Before you fly at either, however, please take a moment to get familiar with the sensitivity of your broom's braking mechanism. Factor this in when you attempt the activity. And don't go slamming into the mats for fun. The point is to stop. Without crashing." Kids were kids, though, and Kamran half expected it anyway. Still, he'd pull up anyone who was too obvious about it.
"Have as many attempts as you like, but I want to see everyone try at least once. Any questions, ask me now. Otherwise, get going." He blew the whistle, just because he could.
Of course, now he had to figure out what to do with Cambridge.
OOC: Final activity time. Apologies for being a little late with this; things stopped loading when I was posting last night so I paused. Additional notes on the activity:
- The crash mat set-up looks something like this. I tried. The vertical mats are a little wider than this to accommodate for two flyers at once
- It's not super high off the ground, 25-30 feet at the highest
- The students are flying as fast as they can at the vertical mats and making an emergency stop at the last possible second
- The set-up on the left is stationary, but the right has moving parts that will force an earlier stop (I won't be RPing for this; you can decide what they do within the established parameters)
- The mats are thick and have a lot of give, colliding with them shouldn't cause an injury; the mat on the ground covers a large surface; the space between the two standing mats is charmed to bounce people off if they accidentally miss the target; the biggest hazard will probably be flying into each other or smacking themselves in the face with their brooms
- Don't worry about waiting until the mats are free; just post like it's your character's turn
- You can do this activity in as many or as few posts as you like; be as successful or have as many spills as makes sense for your character
Please do ask for clarification if anything is unclear. Again I'll be posting throughout, and Kamran will be responding and answering questions and giving feedback. You'll have about 72 hours for this (I'll be wrapping up around 5pm BST on 4th June).
__________________
Days of Potter 2023:___________________________ Which Bertie Botts Flavour Are You?
'Safety-conscious'. See, that's where Professor Kazmi was wrong. Ash did not have a reputation for being safety-conscious. She had a reputation for being very unsafe and surviving anyway. There was... a big difference. Especially when you were flying. Haha.
Ash flew at the stationary mat, at a relatively high speed. She braked at the same time, narrowly avoiding smacking her face into the mat. Unfortunately, physics existed in the wizarding world too, so she was thrown forward a little. Fortunately, she avoided hitting her face. Just a little bit of a jolt, that was all. Like braking in a car. Juuust a little scary.
She figured she would try a couple more times on the stationary mat before moving to the other one. 'safety first', or whatever. Ash wasn't entirely stupid.
A path is not simply for walking, its purpose lies in moving forward and improving oneself.
After a couple of more attempts, Daniel had to admit defeat and that landing calmly was still difficult for him. Perhaps he could ask one of the older students who were good at Flying for extra tips?
He knew and understood the basics of braking by now though so when the Professor continued class the first year followed to the other end of the Training Area and glanced up at the large mats on the ground. "Woah" he whispered and got more and more excited for this activity the more the Professor spoke. The first year looked with big bright eyes at the crash mats on the right because moving mats were far more interesting than the stationary ones! But... he knew that going to the left mats was going to be difficult enough for him.
Daniel flew behind a couple of other students, wanting to see what the others were doing in case he had misunderstood the activity. He watched Ash fly toward the stationary at high speed and almost flinched when she nearly hit the mat. Wait....it was his turn now.
Now that he was in front of the line, he felt that he was getting a bit nervous now. Gathering his courage, the Hufflepuff leaned forward on his school broom and began to race towards the mat on the left.
~ Mrs. Steve Harrington ~ It be like that sometimes.
Claudine considered Kinsay’s question. “I reckon that’s a strong possibility.” She’d been going for the possibility of being struck by lightning and killed but no need to voice that morbid thought out loud. The Snakette was pleased that Kazmi decided to use her response to warn them all about flying in inclement weather. She felt certain a few of the dunderheads here needed to be reminded.
After a bit more explanation from the flying instructor, Claudine did as was instructed and followed the man. There turned out to be a simple set-up there with fancy mats. She stood there, eyeing them and listening to their instructions with a small frown on her face. The frown meant that she was trying to make the instructions stick to her brain.
Claudine decided to have a go first at the stationary mat. When her turn came, she took off from the instructed spot: somewhere around halfway down the Training Area. With great speed, she flew towards the mat, keeping her eyes on it. Merlin! Was that an adrenaline rush? Yes, it was.
Slytherindor ♛ The Crazytastic Besties ♛ Shan Watson ♛
Admitting that she was afraid of heights almost felt like a heavy backpack filled with books coming off of her shoulders. She felt lighter in that moment. More free and happy. It’s almost as if acknowledging that secret fear made her calmer and more accepting of it. Or she would have liked to have thought because Lisa knew the minute she was back up in the sky that she’d panic. On the ground, she was logical. In the air..... required work as one could say.
But yes.... Her fear of heights HAD caused her to act irrationally and illogically. Slow and steady made her get onto the ground much safer than just reacting and trying to control it as much as she could.
Unfortunately the theoretical portion of the class was ending and the Professor was instructing them on how to emergency brake and the activity ahead of them. Lisa was certainly planning on perfecting this particular move because she would need it. Merlin. This move seemed NATURAL to her which was odd cause NONE of the flying maneuvers had made much sense but this one sure did. Oh boy.
She watched the other students give it a go, closing her eyes when Ash looked like she was going to hit the crash pads. She only opened them when’ she didn’t hear the noise of someone or something hitting them. Oh phew. She turned her gaze to Daniel and then Claudine who decided to head out. Alright.
And unfortunately she was next. She took a deep breath before leaning into her broom, willing herself forward. Maybe.... maybe racing would be fun? Her eyes narrowed as she looked at the two ahead of her. Right, she needed to speed up and then pull an emergency brake right. She zipped ahead, catching up to Daniel and shot him a smile. “Race you?”
The idea of racing was distracting her from looking down bellows