He was anxious to get flying class started for the first years. His excitement left him practically bouncing as he waited on the pitch for the first years to arrive. He had set up a row of school brooms on the pitch. Cord was wearing a plain quidditch uniform- trimmed in the golden hue of Hufflepuff, his former house. Teaching quidditch was something he enjoyed- he had been doing it for a quidditch summer camp for a while. The idea of doing it for Hogwarts and helping with their quidditch teams had been impossible to resist. Corduroy liked the idea of helping kids get better and even helping find positions on some professional teams for the better players.

Cord saw a small gaggle of first years finding their way to the pitch. He could remember his first flying lesson. Nothing had felt better than being on a broom- he'd been addicted to it since.

"Good afternoon, everyone!" he called out, waving them over. He was a big guy- tall, muscle bound, and was an intimidating man on the pitch when he had been playing professionally for Puddlemere. "Line up, line up. Everyone stand next to a broom. We'll wait for everyone to find their way to the pitch before we get started."

Harri lined up as straight as she could amoungst the other students as Professor Firebeard instructed. She was bouncing on the balls of her feet beyond excited for the class to start. So far this week had been one of the best she had ever had. Her favourite class by far was Defense with the Old Professor. History was boring even if it was about magical people, Transfiguration and Charms were cool 'cause they got to use their wands but she wasn't as excited about them as she was with Defense. Herbology was wicked, the Professor actually encouraged them to get dirty! Potions would have been one of her favourite classes if it hadn't been for the stuffy old man running the class who definitely was no where near as awesome as Professor Storm.

Then they told her she would be learning to fly. To fly! At first she thought it was a joke. Turned out all those old cliches about Witches riding brooms were actually true and that it was a regular mode of transportation for Wizarding folks, like riding the tube.

Harri looked at Professor Firebeard. He was huge, especially compared to her tiny, scrawny frame. She wondered how big a broom would have to be to carry a man of that size. According to one of the older students in her house he had been some big sports star. Harri couldn't believe that Wizards had their own sport and was eagerly awaiting watching the first game of the season. The first thing she had asked was if she could try out for the team but apparently first years weren't allowed, not to mention the whole thing was done on brooms and she needed to learn to fly first.

After the first years had settled in, Cord did his best to appear friendly and encouraging rather than mean and intimidating. It wasn't always easy with his size and reputation as a beater, but he wanted this to be fun and pleasant for the kids- not something to be dreaded or feared.

"It looks like most of us are here," he said. "Let me introduce myself. I'm Corduroy Canterbury- some of you might have heard of me, I played quidditch for a very long time. But I'm retired now. And I promise you've nothing to fear or worry about. I've helped and trained lots of young folks in the past, and I expect we'll have lots of fun learning to fly and maybe even learning to play some quidditch if you all do well enough. Never hurts to get a good head start on those kinds of things."

"Now then, everyone has a broom?" he looked toward a small Hufflepuff and motioned him to move closer to he broom. "First thing to remember is that you have to be confident to really control your broom well. Not everyone is a natural, and not everyone gets it on their first try. This should be fun for everyone. Don't get worried or stressed out about it, right?" He clapped his hands together and smiled warmly.

"Everyone stand close to your broom..." His own broom was laying next to him on the ground. "Hold your hand out over it, and command it UP!. Be loud, be confident, and make sure the broom knows who is boss!" Cord held his hand out over his broom. "Up!" It jumped from the ground to his hand without hesitation. "Easy as that. Might take a few tries. But I'll help whoever needs it!"

Harri watched with delight as Professor Firebeard commanded his broom. She wondered if she'd ever get used to how awesome being a wizard was. She doubted it. Everything she had come across so far had been so much better than what normal people thought magic was. It was only her first week of school and she never wanted to leave.

She hesitated though and for a few moments watched those around her try and get their brooms to jump. Confidence was definitely something she was not lacking in. She was an amazing football player, she was a great mate and she was never afraid to speak her mind. When she got her wand for the first time the shop owner had called her a natural. A Natural what, she had no idea but if she was a natural at magic than this couldn't be that hard could it?

She held out her hand, straightened her back and subconsciously tucked a matted lock of hair into her knitted cap. She had managed to get away with wearing her favourite accessory due to the lesson taking place outside. She took a deep breath and in her low scratchy voice called out, "UP!"

The broom leaped into her hand so quickly and fiercely she barely managed to grab a hold of it, "Bloody hell!"