Coach Cooper
December 04, 2004 10:50 AM
Lesson 1: Introductions by Coach Cooper
It was a warm and sunny morning; not so sunny that you couldn't see while in flight, but just sunny enough. She inspected the field's ground and smiled upon realizing it was hard and dry. Perfect for kickoff.She had arrived at the Quidditch Pitch earlier than her classes would arrive so that she would have time to practice herself.
"Hair back," she said, checking her brown curls were tied in a pony tail, "check. Goggles," she put her flying goggles on over smiling brown eyes, "check, flying gloves, check." Now that she had gone over her list, she was ready for flight.
Mounting her broom, she quickly kicked off the ground. She zoomed around the stadium, like a bird long held in captivity, that had finally been freed. She did double eight loops in the air, and went on to do some more advanced Quidditch moves.
"Sloth grip roll," she said to herself as hung upside down off the broom, gripping tightly with both hand and feet, then recovered. "Starfish and stick," she identified, and one hand and one foot curled around the handle, keeping all limbs outstretched. She had never been able to do this one for very long, and quickly sat back on her broom.
She then realized that the students were slowly coming in, and grinned. She knew just the move to finish off with. Pulling straight down into a dive, heading just a yard away from where the students stood, she did the Wronski Feint. She pulled out of the dive just in time, and then proceeded to land.
"Good day, class. I am Coach Cooper, your flying instructor. Welcome to the Quidditch Pitch."
\n\n
Subthreads: Flying! by Elizabeth Lavine with Mia, Jen
Oh dear by Sally
Lesson 1: History by Coach Cooper with Sally Porter
0
Coach Cooper
Lesson 1: Introductions
0
Coach Cooper
1
5
Stephen Baxter
December 05, 2004 1:47 AM
Dude, we get to fly? Sweet! by Stephen Baxter
If there was one thing that Stephen had in bucketloads, it was self-assurance. And with that self-assurance came the ability to just throw himself into doing anything, regardless of his skill level or chances of success. And that flying thing looked brilliant. Totally cool.Grabbing the first broom he came across, Stephen was barely keeping his excitement at an acceptable level. Which is to say he was hopping from one foot to the other, and chanting 'Up, up and away' like it was the national anthem. The broom seemed like it was prepared to respond to his enthusiasm, wobbling on the ground and making tiny little jumps in time with his chant.
And then the magic words were said.
"Today we will be mounting our brooms. First hold out your dominant hand over the broomstick, and command it by saying 'Up!.' The result will be that the broom will come to your hand. Try doing it yourselves now."
Even before the last sentance was spoken, Stephen's hand had shot out to place itself outstretched over the giddy broom. Without missing a beat, he turned his chant into the command.
"Up!" And the broom went up. In fact it went - rather like his chant - up, up and away. "Hey!" Stephen called out after it, shading his nondescript brown eyes against the sun's glare as he stared up into the sky. "Get back here! I want to fly."\r\n\r\n
39
Stephen Baxter
Dude, we get to fly? Sweet!
49
Stephen Baxter
0
5
Zack
December 05, 2004 10:12 AM
so does your broom by Zack
As Zack listened to the lady talk, he realized that this, not DADA, was Sonora's gym class. DADA was still self-defense, but this was seriously going to be like a sport thing.He looked around as his classmates. Most all of them were bigger than him. Some, like that girl he'd talked to at the opening feast, were a lot bigger. He resigned himself to another year of getting picked last for teams.
This, however, did not stop him from picking one of the brooms and standing next to a guy who appeared rather antsy and kept excitely repeating 'up, up, and away'. Zack gave him an uncertain grin and put his broom down.
The gym teacher talked a while about 'Quidditch' and 'Quadpot' like everyone should have known what they were. He was glad she didn't mention basketball, though. He really didn't like basketball.
Then they were supposed to make their brooms jump up into their hands just by saying 'up'.
He looked over at 'up up and away' kid in time to see the broom do just exactly as it had been earlier instructed to do. "Hey! Get back here! I want to fly."
Zack grinned. "So does your broom," he pointed out because someone had to. Wondering if his was just as eager, he put his own hand over his, and said "Up!" He waited expectantly for a moment but it didn't so much as twitch. "I guess I found the lazy one."\n\n
1
Zack
so does your broom
40
Zack
0
5
Stephen
December 06, 2004 2:53 AM
It'll be back... sometime by Stephen
Calling after the broom didn't seem to be working. Stephen was about to start plan 'B' (jumping up and down, waving and calling it back in an even louder voice) when the small boy beside him spoke up."Yeah," he said, his tone admiring despite the fact that the broom hadn't come back. If it could just do that while he was sitting on it... "Can you imagine what it'd be like to be on it? It'd be so cool - we could go way up there-' a huge gesture seemed to encompass the entire sky, '-and did you see how fast that thing went? We could be going that fast! Still, it'll be back." And there was no uncertainty about that. Stephen wanted to fly, so the broom would come back - it was as simple as that. It just might take a while.
Brining his attention back down from the tiny black speck in the sky that was his broom, Stephen quietened down as this other kid told his broom to go 'up', and then looked puzzled when it didn't do anything even remotely like his had. Squatting down, he poked at it a couple of times, trying to see if it would have an effect. Looking back at the the other boy, Stephen shrugged expressively.
"Maybe yours needs a kickstart," he suggested, thinking of his older brother.
\n\n
39
Stephen
It'll be back... sometime
0
Stephen
0
5
Zack
December 06, 2004 12:34 PM
kickstart by Zack
A kickstart? Yeah, that make sense. "Right. Let's try it again with a kickstart." He held his hand out over his broom like the other kid had done, and then put a toe under the wooden shaft. "UP!" he cried, as he kicked it up using his foot.The lighter front half jumped up in response to the urging of his toes, and for a second it hung there, bristles still in the dirt, the handle tilted up into the air. Then, slowly, lazily, the bristles lifted up off the ground and came even with its other end so that it was parallel with the ground.
Taking its sweet time, it rose a little higher and then a little higher still until Zack could close his hand around the wood. He looked over at the taller boy with wide eyes. "Didja see that? It came up." Then he grinned, "Guess it did just need a kickstart. Thanks!"\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
1
Zack
kickstart
40
Zack
0
5
Stephen
December 06, 2004 2:08 PM
get back here already by Stephen
"Cool," Stephen grinned as the smaller boy got hands on the hovering broom. Only that reminded him of his own broom which was most definitely not here. It was still up there. Not that Stephen blamed it - it had to be the coolest up there - but he was really getting antsy about getting up there himself."Hey!" he shouted up at his broom, waving his hands as though that would get it's attention. "Get back down here!" There had to be a magic word... like how 'up' got it to go up in the first place. "Come," he tried unsuccessfully. "Drop," he attempted even louder, hoping that the broom could hear. "Down," he yelled, the effort hurting his throat.
It wasn't working. The broom just wasn't listening.
"HEEL," Stephen bellowed in a last all out effort. Like magic, the broom plummeted from the sky. Down, down, down if fell until - and rather impressively like the teacher's demonstration of that Feint thing - it pulled itself out of the free-fall at the last possible moment and moved to hover at Stephen's side.
"I'm calling you Fido," Stephen told the broom, hoping he could keep it.\n\n
39
Stephen
get back here already
0
Stephen
0
5
Zack
December 06, 2004 2:35 PM
oh, are we supposed to name them? by Zack
Zack watched in bemused amazement (a week ago he would have been shocked, but he was getting innudated with enough magic, that he was only amazed now) as the other kid called his broom back like it was dog. He even named it Fido, a dog's name if ever Zack had heard one.Assuming the other kid knew what he was doing with the broom better than Zack did (he'd gotten his to fly much faster, and he'd been the one to suggest the kickstart, after all), Zack looked down at his own broom and told it, "Well, I guess you can be Bones." He figured that was a more intimidating and appreciative name than his first inclination, which was to call it 'Lazy'.
Looking back over at his classmate, he figured introductions were probably in order since they now knew each other's broom's names. "And I'm Zack."\n\n
1
Zack
oh, are we supposed to name them?
40
Zack
0
5
Stephen
December 07, 2004 12:41 AM
I don't see why not... by Stephen
"I'm Stephen," Stephen replied, holding Fido firmly to be sure that he - it had to be a boy - wouldn't try any more escape attempts. He patted the broom with his other hand and told it that it was a good boy for coming back. Positive reinforcement - it was supposed to work well with pets."Hey look!" he said, noticing that the teacher had been talking again and things were moving on, "we're allowed to fly now! Let's see what Fido and Bones can do!"
It took him a moment to work out how to get onto the broom, and then a moment more to work out how to get on and stay on, but then he was on. Pushing with his feet, Stephen left the ground.
"Oh yeah!" he yelled enthusiastically, pumping the air with one fist before hurriedly re-establishing his grip before he fell. "Come on Zack! This is the coolest, dude."
\n\n
39
Stephen
I don't see why not...
0
Stephen
0
5
Zack
December 07, 2004 12:53 PM
Re: I don't see why not... by Zack
Taking his cues from Stephen since he had missed most of what the gym instructor was saying, Zack put one foot over the broom, held tight, and jumped upward. A second later, gravity returned his feet to the ground. Apparently, Bones needed further encouragement."C'mon, Bones, you don't want Fido to outshine you, do ya? C'mon, let's fly this time, okay? Ready? I'm jumpiiiiiing, now!" and he jumped again.
Again he went up, and again he started to fall back toward the grass. "C'mon, Bones, fly," he urged his boom, holding it tighter and tucking his legs under him so as to give it a few more seconds to start working before he touched down.
Just as he had begun to resign himself to dirty knees, Bones stopped descending and just hovered. "Ha! Look!" he grinned up at Stephen, who was rather significantly higher than he was. "I missed the ground, so I'm flying," he told the other boy, hoping but not really expecting him to catch the reference. Most of his references tended to go entirely over people's heads.
"C'mon, Bones, higher a bit," he urged the broom, and it slowly began rising in altitude.\n\n
1
Zack
Re: I don't see why not...
40
Zack
0
5
Stephen
December 08, 2004 7:30 AM
Flying! We're really FLYING!!!! by Stephen
"That's great, Zack," Stephen said liking the sound of that. Missed the ground, so I'm flying... It would be a great line in a book. Stephen liked books - he liked books with lots of action and adventures and the magazines about motorcycles that Alan sometimes let him borrow.Being here was like being in one of those adventure books. He never knew what was going to happen next.
Grinning wildly (he would have to tell Alan about Fido... maybe write a letter, although he was a little hazy on how to send it) Stephen leaned to the side, trying to get Fido to turn. Fido was having none of it, and Stephen found himself slipping, then flipping entirely upside down. Being Stephen he didn't see this as a setback.
"COOOOL!!!"
Stephen managed to convince Fido to move forward a little while he was swinging underneath like a lazy pendulum. His hair hung down, ruffling more than it had before, and his face started to go red as the blood rushed down, making his prominent freckles less noticeable.
After a moment his head started to hurt.
"Hey Zack," he asked after a couple of attempts to swing back up. "Can you give me a hand, dude?"
\n\n
39
Stephen
Flying! We're really FLYING!!!!
0
Stephen
0
5
Zack
December 08, 2004 3:36 PM
Re: Flying! We're really FLYING!!!! by Zack
Zack had almost managed to coax Bones up to equal height with Stephen's broom when he realized that his companion's upside-down twitching was not the desired affect, but failed attempts to get back on top of the broom. "Oh, yeah, sure," he offered immediately and only after the words left his mouth did he realized he didn't have the first clue as to how to go about it."Okay, Bones, down, boy," he told his broom. Bones only continued to lazily drift upward. Zack gave a downward push to the handle, and instructed irritibly, "Down is the other way, Bones." The broom changed direction.
When he was at a height and distance where Stephen could easily grab hold of his shoulder, he pulled up on the handle (he had begun to suspect Bones was hard-of-hearing) and said clearly, "Stop." He changed directions and started going up again, though slowly enough that it would probably assist rather than hinder his efforts.
"Okay, Stephen, put your hand here," he guided Stephen's hand to his shoulder, used his own hand to grab Stephen's bicep, "I'll push up, you push down, that should twist you up."\n\n
1
Zack
Re: Flying! We're really FLYING!!!!
40
Zack
0
5