Uncharted

Lilly lent me her Nimbus 2001 since she wanted me to make Marcus cry, and Draco lent me his because he felt guilty for taking my place. HAH. He probably just hopes this redeems him. I walked to the Great Hall, a broom in both hands, and spotted Harry at the Gryffindor table. I walked over to him, but behind a redheaded boy so that I could make eye contact with him. I waited for them to become awkwardly and suddenly silent before asking, “Are you done with your breakfast?”

Harry nodded while the brunette girl next to him smiled at me.

I smiled back at her and then asked Harry, “Did you finish it at least half an hour ago?”

He nodded again, but this time added, “We’ve been here for a long time. I was too anxious this morning—”

The redhead boy turned to look at me. “You were actually serious about helping Harry?”

I drew in a deep breath from a random pang of drowsiness. “That’s how I’m going to make Flint cry.”

Percy Weasley sighed, rolled his eyes, and then budded in with, “How very Slytherin—I mean kind of you.”

I sneered at him, “If you’d rather me let your house continue being second best, so be it. I really don’t care. I’ll figure out some other way to make Flint miserable.”

Percy rolled his eyes, “It’s just not right to betray your team like this—”

I immediately snapped at him, “They betrayed me, alright? This isn’t betrayal; this is revenge. But hey,” I shrugged, “You’re the one who continuously writes up his own brothers. You’re always making sure they’re going through some punishment just for living their lives—”

Percy glared at me and spat, “You don’t know anything about me or my—”

“Nor do you know much about me. Stay out of my business and I’ll stay out of yours.”

Percy rolled his eyes again, but this time angrily. He went back to eating his breakfast while I told Harry to get up and follow me, which he did, completely silently. In fact, he didn’t speak until we got to the middle of the Quidditch field. I handed him a broom; he looked at it, then at me, then back at it and asked, “Why am I learning on a broom that I won’t be using?”

I swallowed the excess spit in my strangely dry mouth and replied, “If you can master a Nimbus 2001 you’ll be able to ride anything.”

Harry looked at me and nodded. He started to straddle his broom, but I stopped him. He looked at me curiously, “Why?”

“There’s much more to seeker than being quick and balanced. Flying comes secondary—”

“Oliver says—”

“Oliver’s a keeper. He’s the exact opposite of our position.”

Harry went along with me.

“His job is to make sure nothing gets past him. He is responsible for all crucial blocks, besides those of the beaters. Right?”

Harry nodded and added, “Right.”

“Seekers, on the other hand, are responsible for the most crucial catches. He has to be able to fly just as naturally as a bird. Without flying, he can’t do his moves. He can’t swing around, he can’t twirl, and he can’t balance correctly while catching anything or deflecting other moves. Keepers have to fly because keepers have to see.”

Harry nodded again to show that he’s following me.

“Seekers have to be masters of balance, too. Being quick and flexible is a must, but seekers have to do more than just fly when they do this. We have to become like air.”

Harry raised a brow and asked with an inquisitive tone, “Like air?”

I laughed and straddled my broom. “Get on yours and just watch me for a bit, alright?”

“Alright.”

I hovered while Harry got comfortable with his Nimbus 2001; it holds quite a bit of power. I don’t know why Draco is going to ride one. These are brooms for experienced flyers. I looked at Harry and said, “Be careful, these are fast and powerful.”

He nodded and followed me to the usual Quidditch height. He stayed stationary and watched carefully as I flew around in tight circles, growing gradually faster. I demonstrated a few of Oliver’s signature moves as best I could and then started to show the usual seeker positions – leaned forward, tightly squeezing the broom with my thighs, and crossing my ankles to make sure that even if I get, I’ll just swing around, not fall off. Harry practiced that position while I started to fly around. At first he didn’t seem to care much, he was probably wondering why I made such a big deal of practicing together, but then he saw me transform from a bird to the air.

My crossed ankles and tightly contracted leg muscles allowed me to do just about anything I wanted with my upper body. It took me a minute to start pulling off moves since the Nimbus 2001 is so swift and powerful, but I was still able to do my thing. I stretched as far back as physically possible, sprung forward, forcing the Nimbus to have an extra jolt of momentum and allowing me to do a summersault in the air. The strength, stability, and flexibility of my legs allowed me to reach my arms out in the air around me and flip around. I used the speed of the Nimbus as if it weren’t a broom, but some sort of monkey bar. I flipped a hundred and eighty degrees, leaned back, leaned forward, played around with freestyle side moves, and then flipping back up.

I used to love flying during my First Year because I used to think it impossible before I received my letter. I’d look at birds and long to join them. I used to love flying during my Second and Third year because if offered a temporary freedom that felt infinite. Just the air and you with no responsibilities, no obligations; I feel truly in love with flying in Fourth Year. I had to try something new during a game. I had to focus on catching the snitch instead of focusing on any sort of perfection or excellence. That split second, that automatic decision to action, completely changed me. Flying was no longer about freedom or a release from reality. Flying then symbolized combinations. Combinations in my moves won games for Slytherin continuously, but the important combination was between body and soul. Flying was only about releasing your soul into the air and trusting that it would come back into you.

I had to start to focus again though, so I flew circles around Harry while swaying my hips violently enough to drastically sway the Nimbus, but not enough to hurt myself. The Nimbus, at first, looked like it was going to get out of control, but it’s erratic-ness allowed me to fling my body around and pretend to grab at invisible snitches. I eventually flew back to an amazing Harry. He babbled incoherently for thirty seconds before half shouting, half squeaking, “How did you do all that?”

I laughed and replied, “By becoming the air instead of the bird.”

Harry’s eyes were incapable of becoming any larger without them just rolling out of his head. “Can you really teach me all of that?”

“Not today,” I said and drew in a deep breath. “But with a couple of months you should be able to pull off a lot. Probably a lot of your own moves, too.”

Harry’s smile occupied the whole stretch of his not-too-pale face. His messy brown hair was somewhat combed by the soft breeze. I quickly braided my hair again so the strands near my bangs would stop flying around my forehead, distracting my eyes from the job I need them to do.

I sat up completely straight and then asked him, “Are you ready to learn how to fly?”

He looked curious again, but the euphoria caused by his excitement stayed in his eyes.

My semi-devilish smile tugged at my reddish-brown lips; the cool air tried to stiffen my smile, but I wasn’t swayed. “Harry,” I said and drew in another deep breath, “You can ride a broom, but you’re yet to fly.”

He smiled and raised a brow, “But aren’t you teaching me to be the air? Not the bird?”

I laugh and then replied, “You can’t be the air if you’re never the bird.”

He brought his hovering closer to me and said, “Then I’m ready to learn. I trust you completely.”

I flashed him a genuine smile, but then I told him, “You should be busy trusting yourself, Harry.”

He nodded feverishly. “Whatever you say, Amena. I’m ready to do whatever I need to so I can learn.”

I smiled and ruffled his hair. “You’re a good kid, Harry.”

He smiled.

Then I added, “But you’re gonna be a better flyer. Now follow me exactly,” I started to lean forward, but then I looked at him and added, “But don’t fly too close, give me a good ten feet, ok?”

Harry nodded again, “Ok.” He resituated himself to be ten feet away from me and to my left. He mimicked me exactly as I leaned forward and put my arms out in front of me in the shape of a triangle. I looked over at him and said,

“You already have great balance, and I saw you flying around to see me better, so I already know you can handle this. Don’t doubt yourself.”

He nodded.

“Leaning forward puts a lot more of your power into flying straight and as safely as possible, but adding your arms like this helps you cut through air more efficiently.”

He nodded again.

“This sort of move is really only used if you’ve spotted the snitch and want to grab it right away, or if you need to fly faster than your opponent.”

“Ok.”

I sighed angrily, “I doubt Draco can fly too fast, even with a Nimbus. He’ll probably be a clumsy fool.”

Harry laughed a little.

I rolled my eyes at myself, “But Flint is probably teaching him – brutally, might I add,”

Harry laughed again.

I calmed myself down and finished up my sentence, “He’s probably teaching Draco how to be a decent flyer.”

Harry smiled, “He’s probably teaching Draco how to ride a broom.”

I smiled at Harry, “Good distinction.”

Harry smiled.

“But can you do?”

Harry smiled competitively.

I leaned forward again, stretched my arms out and into the triangle, and took off. We were already slowly flying about, so it wasn’t too much of a shock, but Harry did have to grab onto the broom a few times to rebalance. I’m actually surprised that he didn’t do that more than the two or three times he had to. I eventually showed him how to fly while steadying the broom with just his legs; once he mastered that I taught him how to bend from the sides, and how to do it all quickly. I figured back bends, summersaults, flips and twirls should be saved for a more intermediate lesson.

Harry got really into it though. I had to actually tell him to stop messing around while he tested out his side stretching abilities. He listened to me right away, and he didn’t put up any sort of fight or argument, but I know I spoiled his fun, so I explained myself. I flew over to him so we could face each other before saying, “A lot of the moves I showed you requires quite a bit of strength. I’m going to have to get you in much better shape – not that you’re terrible, Harry, your muscles just aren’t trained yet – before you can start flipping around like you’re on playground equipment.”

He nodded, “Okay, I get it.”

I was going to continue, but the air started to feel… wrong. I looked at Harry with urgency in my eyes, “Land right away.”

“Why?”

“Just land!”

He recoiled a bit from the pitch of my voice, but he leaned forward and flew downward with his arms in the triangle I showed him. We landed somewhat roughly since we were in a hurry to just get on the ground. He looked at me and asked with worry apparent in his voice, “What’s wrong?”

I rushed out, “There’s something wrong with the air.”
Harry cocked his head to the side with confusion.

I looked back at him, “You’ll get it when I teach you how to feel like a seeker.”

He nodded, but I knew he didn’t get it.

I spotted Flint near the Slytherin tower and scowled at him. I whispered to Harry, but didn’t break my stare; “Stay close. Don’t stray away from me.”

Harry whispered back, “O—okay.”

I actually ended up pressing my hand between Harry’s shoulder blades while we walked out of the Quidditch field. We had to pass the Slytherin tower in order to do so, so I ignored Flint until he spat harshly, “I thought you’d have too much pride in your position to teach anyone your own moves.”

I glared at him; “I thought you’d have too much joy in winning to replace a star player.”

He sneered at me.

I ignored him and started to walk faster. Harry and I were completely quiet until we reached the Hogwarts Castle. I ended up walking him all the way up to the Gryffindor Tower; Flint has never given me such terrible feelings before, like the fluid in my spine has actually chilled and cracked. Harry stopped walking when he got to the Fat Lady and asked me, “What was all that about.”

I sighed and ran my hands through my wind swept hair. “Flint… he’s… A troll, and an idiot, and basically useless, but his family passed him a strong magic.”

Harry just looked at me.

I gulped and continued, “He has power, Harry, he’s just too stupid to know how to control it all properly.”

Harry raised a brow, “And you do?”

I shrugged and dug my hands deep into the front pockets of my Quidditch pants. “Dumbledore told me I had great potential back in my accident in my First Year.” I drew in a deep breath to fight back the slowly developing tears; “He took me under his wing, he still helps me out sometimes, but I don’t need as much help anymore.”

Harry nodded.

“I’m not some sort of prodigy, Harry,” I looked directly into his eyes, “I’m just better trained than most of my peers.”

Harry stayed silent.

“Probably more arrogant, too.”

Harry laughed.

I sighed and then said, “You should go back into your House. Avoid Flint, alright? He’s up to no good.”

“Okay, but when will be practice again?”

I shrugged, “I don’t know, but soon.”

“Okay.”

I took my hands out of my pockets and started to fiddle with my wand for a small sense of safety. “I’ll tell you when I know.”

Harry nodded and went inside his House. I watched him go in safely before I rushed back down to the Slytherin common area. I rushed in, tossed the brooms as Draco, and sprinted down to my dormitory. I took a long shower before coming back out and talking to Lilly.