She wanted her beautiful Wendy. Her mom was getting divorced (again) and Holly had been trained to deal with stress by riding it out on horseback. Now she had no horse. The school didn't even keep a stable. There were cats and owls about that she could probably convince someone to let her hold, but she was used to a much larger animal that held her. On her back. And ran. She ran far and fast and jumped over walls and small streams until all Holly could think about was Wendy and not her own problems.
A cat would not cut it.
She needed to ride, to jump and fly, and there was only one substitute for that here. So she went to the Quidditch Pitch where the flying lessons were held and found a broom. She'd have preferred taking it out over the paths of the Gardens, but she wasn't sure if borrowed brooms were allowed to leave the Pitch, so she just mounted up and began to ride around in the circle of the Pitch.
Maybe running the dressage routines would be as calming as the full out canter. The pitch was almost the right size and shape. Pretending the broom was a horse, though, proved more difficult than anticipated and Holly soon gave up trying to go through the precise motions, not because it was too difficult but because it was too easy without the independent personality and bulk of a full grown mare beneath her.
Deciding to go for speed after all, Holly picked up her pace and began to circle the pitch, flying only as high as she would have been if she were actually in Wendy's saddle.
1Holly GreerAccepting an inferior substitute123Holly Greer15