Corduroy was glad that school was back in session. He got a lot of joy in teaching young children how to fly and in keeping his hand in the quidditch teams- knowing he could help hone future talents. (Especially any talents who might want to play for Puddlemere, his previous team.) He'd gathered up the school brooms- Cord had invested in new ones for this year- some of the others had been used for far too long to be reasonable. Besides, Corduroy had a lot of quidditch money laying around and not a lot to spend it on for the most part.

He had them spaced strategically on the pitch. It was cloudy and rainy, but he'd gotten some help casting a charm over the pitch to deflect the rain to the sides so the students wouldn't have to have their class in the wetness. The second, he might not be so kind. He smiled brightly as the first of the students started to enter the pitch. Stroking his beard a little Corduroy eagerly motioned them forward.

"Come along then! Time for your first flying class! Don't worry about the rain- might have been wet coming down to the pitch but it's dry enough in here. I can use a drying charm for anyone who needs it. My name is Corduroy Canterbury and I'm your flying instructor! You can all call me Mr. Canterbury. Professor is a bit too stuffy for what I do. Or you can call me Coach if you prefer. It's a bit closer to my job. Once we've managed to get all the stragglers we'll begin."

There were people named Corduroy? Feliks couldn't tell if their instructor's name was normal or not - but he was too excited about learning to fly, and didn't linger on the thought. Wrapping his papa's old Slytherin scarf around his neck, the boy wizard quickly joined his peers where the broomsticks were lined up for their first lesson. The broomsticks looked quite new.

"I've never flown on one before." Feliks confessed to the person next to him, glancing up at the cloudy sky. There were no toy broomsticks where he grew up. "I hope Canterbury will catch us if we fall."

From what he already knew about flying and quidditch, not everyone had good instincts when they were in the air. Some people panicked. Feliks caught himself staring into space and pinched his arm in an attempt to feel more awake. He was going to try his best not to panic!

"Neither have I," Cole confessed back. She stared up at the sky. It was hardly noticeable but every so often you could catch where the rain just simply stopped falling and moved off to the side. She appreciated the spell as it had been a dreary walk down to the pitch. She also supposed it would be harder to get a proper grip on the broom if it were wet.

"My brothers are good fliers though. Only Kelly has ever played Quidditch though but I think Harrison wants to try out for his house team this year." She stood next to one of the sleek looking new brooms and looked down at it, "My cousin uh Peyton? He just started playing Quidditch Professionally. My Dad says He's really proud of him. I've never met him."

Cole looked to Mr Canterbury. She decided instantly that she liked him. He reminded her a lot of her father, "Coach? Is flying a broom like flying an Aethonan or Abraxan?" Like all the Wentworth legacies before her Nicola had learned how to ride the flying horses her family bred when she was younger.

Sulwen only had one experience with a toy broom, and that experience had been ruined by her little sister during a holiday at their grandparent's house. Coira had managed to not only crash her own, but had then sneaked into Sulwen's room to steal hers, and flown it right into a tree just outside the parlor window, causing their grandmother Cullodena to go into hysterics and their mother to take both brooms away.

That in mind, she was a bit nervous. On her way to the pitch, Sulwen zipped her sleek, dark raincoat to her chin and frowned at the rowdier of her classmates, forewarning that they had better not ruin this for her.

Feliks admitted that he hadn't flown before, and she gave him a sidelong, wary glance. She chose not to admit to her own lack of experience. If she rode poorly, that much would be obvious. If she did well, they could think what they liked.

She held her hand out palm up, noticing the lack of rain on the pitch.

"I'm sure Mr. Canterbury has safety measures in place," she told Feliks, pleased that the instructor had selected nice, new brooms and even diverted the rain for them.

"Yessss!" Wesley fidgeted in line in his bulky knit sweater. "Me neither!" He grinned at Spectre and Bagnold.

The professor seemed friendly and nice, much like the Headmaster, though Wes wished he'd let the rain fall. He would have looked forward to swooping down and flinging mud at his new friends.

He also intended on staying low to the ground. Wes hadn't even looked up at the goal posts yet. He knew they were there, looming.

"Which team is your cousin flying on?" He asked Nicola, aware that just like muggle sports, people were very passionate about their Quidditch teams.

"An atho-abraxa-what?" He asked someone nearby, raising his eyebrows.

The first years were arriving rather quickly- only a few a little worse for wear for the trudge down to the pitch. He did his best to give each of the children a reassuring smile, rocking on his heels as he waited on the last few stragglers to make their way to the brooms laying out on the pitch.

Hearing one young girl ask if flying a broom was like flying a horse was a question he hadn't been asked before. "No, young miss, not at all the same as flying a horse of any kind. Horses have their own minds, intuitions, and can often save their riders if somehow the rider makes a flying judgment error. Brooms only do what you tell the to do, don't generally sit as comfortably as a horse- quite small they are, after all. Takes a totally different kind of talent to ride a broom than a horse. Though I suppose at least if you've ridden horses you wouldn't be as bothered by heights as some people initially are. Good question!"

After answering her, Corduroy took the roll so he could learn some of their names. He hoped he remembered them. A few bludgers to head in his career and his memory wasn't as good as it once was. "Right! Now the formalities are out of the way... Tell me, has anyone here ridden a broom before? Toy or otherwise? And who is a total novice? I just want to be sure nobody gets left behind and that nobody gets bored, either."

Sulwen seemed so confident that the coach would not let anything happen to them, that Feliks felt immediately comforted by her assertion. She was right. They did not want to go through to the trouble of healing anyone who fell off the brooms. It would be alright.

Nicola seemed much more comfortable on the pitch, to his envy, but Wesley quickly admitted to having never flown before so at least Feliks wasn't alone.

            "An atho-abraxa-what?"
"It's a horse with wings," he whispered back at Wesley just as Canterbury answered Nicola's question.

Papa had told him that he would be taught how to ride a Hippogriff in the summer. Feliks supposed that riding a horse is closer to that than a broom. Maybe, he thought, it would be less scary if he got used to riding a broomstick first - then he wouldn't embarrass himself in front of the other Spectres.

Feliks raised his hand when their teacher asked if anybody was a novice, after the roll call. "I've never ridden one," he clarified with a swallow. "Only used one for, um, for cleaning."

"Yeah!" Wesley chimed in immediately. "What Feliks said."

Oh wonderful. Sulwen rolled her eyes up. Rambunctious boys in the sky causing mayhem when they caused more than enough damage on the ground.

"I've not flown a broom either, Mr. Canterbury," Sulwen admitted with an unhappy twist to her mouth. Embarrassing. So many purebloods, so little flying experience.

She certainly hadn't cleaned with one. For Merlin's sake! There was a big difference between organizing her room and sweeping the floor like a common house elf.

"Tutshill Tornados." Cole responded in just over a whisper to Wesley. She supposed now she should probably pay attention to the games to see if he was any good. She knew there was other drama surrounding him but it was better to keave it alone even if the drama came from her own family. Her older twin brothers said he had been a great guy while at Hogwarts and had even been a Quidditch Captain for his house.

She felt her cheeks heat up a bit when Mr Canterbury said that broom riding was certainly not like flying horse riding. She felt a little awkward after his answer, even if he had said it was a good question. Good or not it meant that she had no previous experience to pull on. That did not make her feel good about the class.

She let a small smile touch her lips though, despite her red cheeks, when Feliks mentioned cleaning with one. She wanted to point out that a riding broom and a cleaning broom were often designed vastly differently but she didn't want to embarrass her house mate. Sulwen's scandalized expression was likely to do so all on It's own.

"I don't mind the heights, though I suppose I don't have any experience either." She offered with a small smile to her fellow classmates that also had no previous experience flying.

Flying! Oh giddy aunt! Aoide was so excited. She trailed after the others, hoping her lunch had digested enough. She had pulled her hair into some semblance of order so it didn’t get in her eyes in the wind. Monday had already been a mixed bag, curses with Professor Storm, trying futilely to transform things with Professor Singh, stories of the past with the Headmaster and now out in the fresh air. Aoide wasn’t sure if she should look after her homework after or go exploring.

Everyone was talking about whether they’d flown before. Aoide hadn’t, but she was too wrapped in listening to everyone else’s claims and feeling inferior. She hoped someone else felt like her though, so they could learn together. Someone had just asked about horses and the not-Professor said it was a good question. He called the register and Aoide squeaked in response, standing on tiptoes.

“Has anyone here ridden a broom before? Toy or otherwise?” The big booming wizard asked. Aoide bit her bottom lip worriedly as she saw hands go up. “And who is a total novice?” Aoide’s hand raised. “… nobody gets bored, either.” Aoide’s heart sank at the thought of people being bored enough to make her feel like she was a drag.

“Only used one for, um, for cleaning.” Feliks Spectre admitted. Aoide’s face broke out into a relieved smile.
“Yeah! What Feliks said.” Wesley agreed, and Aoide’s hands clenched in excitement again.
“I’ve not flown a broom either, Mr Canterbury.” Sulky Sulwen said.
“Phew,” Aoide sighed, “I thought I was going to be the only one.” She smiled at her classmates with relief.

"Sounds like most of you are totally new to it then! Nothing to be ashamed of. I'd never touched a broom until my first year of Hogwarts and I had a pretty good quidditch career. Now our first class is going to just be about the basics. I know- broom safety is probably incredibly boring but it is very important to get ourselves acquainted with our brooms before we get started."

Corduroy picked up one of the brooms and held it up for everyone to see. "Now- you're all the very first class to use these brooms. After teaching flying last year I decided some newer brooms, more recent, would be beneficial. Easier to control than the old ones that had been used for so long. So I certainly hope that everyone will do their best to take care of them for the years to follow."

"First thing is to get acquainted with your brooms. Everyone stand next to their broom and then say Up!- holding your hand out next to it. It might take a bit for it to jump up into your hand. But that's alright. After everyone has their brooms in hand we're going to talk about the different parts of the brooms and the specific features that these brooms have."

"Tortoise Tornados?" Wesley laughed a little, purposefully mistaking the name. "A storm of flying turtles. Related to Professor Storm!"

He chuckled at his own wit, then gave Cole a thumb's up sign. Brill! He'd have to check that team out.

Smiling back at Aoide, he paid some attention when the coach explained that the brooms were new, and noticed Sulwen glance at him when Canterbury asked them all to take good care of them. He took good care of things! He tried. He often failed.

Canterbury's instruction sounded like the easiest spell yet. Much easier than Defense and Charms.

Wes stood beside a broom, his palms clammy. He wiped his hands on his trousers.

He hadn't glanced up at the sky since class had started.

"Up!"

The broom wobbled on the ground as a chorus of "up's" sounded around him.

"Up!" He said more enthusiastically.

The broom handle jerked a few inches off the ground, then fell.

Wesley glanced around at his classmates. Sulwen coolly and calmly held her broom in her hand, looking as pleased as she ever did, which meant she did not look annoyed. She assessed the class, and glanced at Mr. Canterbury, awaiting further instruction.

Well, shite!

"Up!" Wes said louder, nudging his foot underneath the broom, as if it were a sports ball that could be kicked up. It jerked again, then rolled off his sneaker.

"Hey, coach? What if the broom is broken?"

He didn't do it!

Feliks thought he was in good company - he wasn't the only one who had never flown a broom! But he didn't understand the look on Sulwen's face. Had she never swept a floor before? That shouldn't surprise him. A lot of people in his house did not seem like they even made their own beds. They all had House Elves, like papa.

He didn't have time to follow this train of thought. Mr. Canterbury was trying to teach them! Feliks held out his left hand and sneaked a glance at everyone else down the line. Some of them looked as nervous as he felt. He grinned at Aoide, catching her eye.

           "Up!" Wold exclaimed, followed by the others.

Feliks hesitated. He looked up at the sky, as if though the idea of being anywhere near it was impossible, and then turned his gaze back down to the broomstick. "Up," he told it in the same way he politely urged the huskies up the stairs at home.

His broomstick did a little wiggle as it slowly lifted off the ground.... and then, as if though it had made up its mind, it suddenly jolted up into his palm - with such a force his hand smarted!

"Ouch!" Feliks muttered gingerly, but he was already grinning. What a funny broom! He noticed that Wesley hadn't managed his just yet. It couldn't be broken already! "These are new brooms," he said in his confusion. "How can they be broken?"

“… Everyone stand next to their broom and then say up - holding your hand out next to it.”

There was a scramble to find a broom, even though they were all the same. Aoide dipped down to touch her broom on the floor out of curiosity.
“Hello there, please be a nice broom,” she whispered to it, and then stood up as if nothing had happened and extended her arm out. “Up…please.”

…

“Up?”

…

In her head she heard her mother exclaim ‘for Merlin’s sake, Aoide!’ and she mustered her best impression of Auror Nadine Pinn.

“UP!”

The broom sprung up in a sudden rush, clattering against Aoide’s hand as she jumped in surprise, and the handle jerked upwards, smacking her in the face. “ARGH!” The surprise and the pain made her eyes and nose water, and Aoide bent double, clutching her face, the levitating broom caught in the crook of her arm. She could feel it pulling upwards as she wiped at her face with her sleeves.

As her initial surprise subsided, and she wiped her face she realised she wasn’t bleeding, and her nose, mouth and teeth were all still in the correct place despite the throbbing. She’d live, and she didn’t want to be seen crying in front of her classmates.
“I said please be a nice broom…” she told the school equipment.

Trying not to wince, Aoide stood up properly, the broom pulling upwards as she grasped it, and looked around at her classmates, blinking rapidly to get rid of her watery eyes.

Cole chuckled at Wesley. She was sure he had purposely mispronounced the name but she couldn't help picturing a tornado filled with turtles. She wasn't sure if it was funny, dangerous or sad. What would the tortoises do inside a tornado anyways and how did they get there? And why were they related to Professor Storm? Wesley sure was a strange little hufflepuff.

She listened to Mr Cantebury's instructions and positioned herself next to one of the new school brooms. She squared her shoulders and held out her hand but hesitated. Wesley wasn't able to get his broom to go and it took Feliks a few tries. Aoide got smacked in the face by hers causing Cole to inhale in a sharp hiss. Thankfully it looked like she was okay.

Cole turned back to her own broom and very clearly and sternly stated, "Up!" Her broom leaped into her hand. She gripped it tight, fighting against it as it bucked against her hand. She held it as still as she could but she could tell it was just as eager as she was to get flying, "So much for not being like a horse." She said under her breath as she continued to struggle with the bucking broom.