Quidditch Pitch

"Okay then," Rista said as she mounted her broom. Then she flew of to Shadow's right, hovering about 4 feet from her.

Shadow followed their example, praying that she didn't make even more of a fool of herself.

"Okay, I think it's a good idea for you to first learn how to break properly," Rista began. "I don't know about other people, but I usually just lean back. If you slowly lean backward while you're moving, you'll come to a nice gradual stop." Rista moved forward slowly, then demonstrated what she meant.

"If you're flying for travel, you don't often need to brake abruptly. In quidditch, though, it sometimes seems that's the only way you brake," Rista laughed. "Why don't you try, now."

Shadow did what Rista instructed and ended up turning a back flip at the same time. She straightened herself on the broom, pushing her violet hair out of her eyes.

"That was quite impressive. I'm assuming you didn't do that on purpose, though," Rista said. "Next time, you might try not leaning back so far. Also, make sure you're not pulling up on your handle at the same time. Think of reclining in a chair rather than lying on a bed."

Shadow nodded, feeling like an idiot again.

"Don't worry about it, though. These are all normal mistakes. I've made them, and I'm sure the other two girls here have too," Rista reassured Shadow. She seemed to be a little hard on herself. "How about we just practice flying straight forward. If you feel comfortable, go ahead and speed up."

Shadow nodded, and leaned forwards slightly.

Zelda lessoned to Rista and looked at Shadow .. She did a back flip and Zelda was ready to catch her ,but she recovered. Zelda smiled at Rista and they continued.

Shadow slowed down again (managing not to turn a back flip again)

"I think you've got the hang of it. Want to try turning?" Rista said.

Shadow nodded, feeling a lot more confident in her flying.

"Thanks." Shadow replied.

Zelda watched as Shadows tried to turn.

Shadow moved forwards again, this time leaning in towards the inside of the pitch, trying to turn. She slipped, so she was hanging upside down on her broom, holding onto it tightly. Feeling herself go red, she righted her position and turned again, managing to fly back to the group.

Zelda smiled at Shadow.. " Good job!" She said.

"Thanks." Replied Shadow.

"That was quite excellent," Rista agreed. "What would you like to do now? I wonder if I could conjure some road cones, levitate them, and have you do a slolom (sp?) for agility practice...."

Shadow nodded, wanting to improve.

( Don't worry, I am a bad speller to!)

Zelda smiled and said " I think that is a great idea!"

Zelda smiled.

Shadow weaved slowly between the cones.

Shadow's head shot up as Oddie called out, and fell from her boom. "Synari Antetren Ilas!" She shouted, and hovered in the air.

Shadow looked away, falling gently to the ground. She picked up her broom and mounted it again. She kicked off from the ground and joined the others.

Zelda was puzzled and watched what shadows did.

Shadow sensed Zelda watching her and hung her head.

Shadow smiled weakly.
"As I said, where I come from, we don't fly with brooms."

Zelda smiled at Shadow.

Shadow glanced at Zelda and managed a weak smile back.

Shadow bowed her head, still feeling awkward.

Zelda looked around and said.. " I have to go." As she said this she mounted her broom and took off into the blue.

Shadow watched Zelda go.

"No idea..." Said Shadow.

"I'm not sure, but we can always try!" Shadow glanced at Oddie, a small smile playing on her lips

Shadow nodded, turning her broom to follow Zelda.

"Um, excuse me?" Natalie Patterson, a first year Gryffindor, had stepped onto the pitch, with an old school broom (a shooting star) "Is there tryouts for the Gryffindor Quidditch team, I've been practicing my flying..."

Elladora walked out onto the Quidditch Pitch with her old Nimbus 2000 over her shoulders. Sure she was on the search for something, but a bit of flying never really hurt anyone... al least, when a bludger wasn't involved.

Elladora noticed the other people flying around and walked beneath them, making sure she wasn't interrupting anything.

Emmalynn joined Elladora on the pitch, not carrying a broom. She didn't feel at all like flying today...

"You take the stands, I take the ground?" she asked her friend.

Elladora looked to Emmalynn who came out empty-handed. "I could've lent you my Firebolt," she told her.

Elladora mounted her broom and went off to search through the stands, which took awhile because they had to be able to haol all of Hogwarts's students.