Gliding right along on Quidditch Pitch

The Coach

March 19, 2021 8:05 PM

Flying Lessons by The Coach

“Good afternoon,” the coach greeted enthusiastically, as the first years assembled on the pitch. “Welcome to flying class! Before we begin, a little bit about why we fly. Whilst the main reason at school might seem to be athletics, outside of school there’s any number of situations where being able to ride a broom is valuable life-skill. Whilst magical folk have a number of ways of getting around, brooms are always useful. Not everywhere is connected to the floo, and broom travel is safer than apparition – that’s travelling by fireplace, and by disappearing and reappearing,” the coach added, for the benefit of anyone who hadn’t grown up surrounded by magical culture. “Apparition across long distances is highly difficult, and repeatedly doing it can be draining, so for short to medium distance journeys a broom can come in handy. With apparition, you also have to be very precise. In some situations, landing a few feet out won’t be a disaster, but there are some places where a slow and careful approach is better. Ditto, situations where you don’t know the terrain – how are you going to apparate to the other side of something, if you don’t know how big it is or what else might be in your way?

“Plus, on the athletics side, there’s more than rough stuff like Quidditch and Quodpot. There’s racing, or formation flying. Anyone who has interests in athletic pursuits outside of the one we offer here, please come and talk to me, and we’ll see what we can do. As well as getting the basics of flying down, we’ll be covering some of those games in class, as well as good broom care and how to find flight paths, so that whatever you need your broom for, you’ll be well-equipped.” That was probably quite enough talking, especially for a class that was mostly about doing, and where a good number of people were probably itching to take to the skies. There would be a few who weren’t so keen though, and whilst the coach knew that Quidditch wasn’t for everyone, flying was a basic life skill, and useful for so many more things than that. Like any teacher, the coach just wanted to inspire a bit of passion, or if not that, then for everyone to at least see the benefit in being here.

“Okay, for those who know the basics, mount up, and show me your grip, a lap, and landing. If you’re all good, you’ll be able to do as you please during class, so long as you aren’t endangering yourself or the new fliers.” Once anyone experienced was up, the coach checked their grip, before starting them on a lap.

“Alrighty, the rest of you folks. To start, you’re going to have to put your hand over your broom and command ‘Up!’ As you can tell, that’s not so much a magic word as a direction, so you’re welcome to use any language. The main thing is to be clear and confident, so whatever helps you do that.” It might take a few tries for some people. The coach kept an eye out for anyone who was struggling, perfectly willing to go over and help get the broom hovering for them, as well as nodding and signing off any returning experienced fliers.

“Okay, after that, you’ll want to mount up like so – looks uncomfortable, but the broom has a cushioning charm, so it’s much more like sitting on a seat. Then I want everyone to take care to point straight forward – your broom will follow the angle you tilt it so too much up or too much down isn’t a good start – and then just push along ever so gently with your toes. Keep your feet where they can reach the ground until you feel like you’re getting enough speed to keep your balance. Lean forward for more go, and lean right back or put your feet down to stop.

“Your goal should be to fly along for about five seconds without putting your feet down. Give me a shout if you’re feeling stuck or frustrated, or if you get that down and want a little bit more, but it’s alright if all of you are working through that at different paces.”

OOC: Welcome to flying class!

As this is class, you can earn house points by posting. Points are not based on how well you claim your character does, but on your writing quality. Therefore, a post of a character struggling that is long, detailed, and realistic will score more highly than a short 'I just aced all the things' post.

Normally, you are not allowed to write for other characters, but you may use the information already given here to say the coach helped (e.g. it says the coach is willing to help with getting brooms up or sign off experienced flyers, so you're allowed to say briefly that that happened and then move on with your post, e.g. 'The coach gave him a nod as he returned, so Hans went off to fly with the experienced group.' Please don't write long, interactions or give the coach dialogue - the post should still be about your character).

Happy flying, any questions ask on the OOC or in chatzy.

Subthreads:

I'm not sure I see the appeal by Iris Cobb

Gliding right along by Hansel Hexenmeister

Off to the skies! by Billy Cobb

13 The Coach Flying Lessons 0 The Coach 1 5

Iris Cobb

March 20, 2021 5:45 PM

I'm not sure I see the appeal by Iris Cobb

Iris followed her classmates out onto the Quidditch pitch, for what her brother had assured her was 'the best part of schoolin'. She wasn't convinced. Nevertheless, this was a class that she was required to take… and in all of the stories she had ever heard about witches, they had always ridden brooms. So, since she was now a witch, she would need to learn how.

The coach seemed enthusiastic enough about the subject, but she thought that should hardly be a surprise. This was their job after all. There were some good points made in the introductory speech though. Flying up and down the mountain would be easier than Pa's truck. She wasn't quite sure about the apperating bit, but she well remembered what that 'portkey' had felt like from the concert. Maybe broom flying wasn't such a bad skill to have.

Having never done this before, Iris stayed with the coach for the full lesson. This seemed simple enough. After listening to the instructions, she held her hand over the broom and looked down at it. That was simple enough, that had also been the key to getting the Jones twins to listen to her when she had babysat them. So, imagining she was giving them a command that she expected to be obeyed, she stated "Up!" in a calm, level, no-nonsense tone. The broom leapt into her hand immediately and her fingers instinctively wrapped around it.

Iris then followed the coach's example and mounted her broom, and thankfully found it was more comfortable than she had been initially imagining it might be. She very, very gingerly lifted her feet from the ground momentarily. She and the broom didn't fall! That was really sorta strange. Alright... on to the next step. Making sure her broom was as perfectly level as she could, she pushed forward with her toes and she began to drift forward. She smiled, wobbled, panicked and dropped her feet down to the ground again. That hadn't quite been the five seconds that the coach had wanted, she would have to try again.

Before doing so, Iris took a look around her to see how the rest of her classmates were doing. She spotted one not far off, "I think I'm figuring this out. How are you doing?"

2 Iris Cobb I'm not sure I see the appeal 1526 0 5

Hansel Hexenmeister

March 25, 2021 6:14 PM

Gliding right along by Hansel Hexenmeister

Hansel arrived at the Quidditch Pitch for his flying lesson wearing his school uniform. He hadn't been entirely clear on whether that was required for this class as it was for the others, so he figured he would err on the side of caution at least for the first lesson. He was carrying his own broom. It was an older model, and not one build particularly for speed or maneuverability, though it wasn't terrible at either. It was a solid, dependable broom, and it had been Hilda's when she'd played as a beater in her first year. With Hilda having outgrown and replaced it with a bigger and better model, the older broom was now Hansel's.

He already knew how to use it. The snake ranch was large and covered a lot of ground. It was just faster and less tiring to fly than walk when going around checking on all of the enclosures. He'd never flown particularly high, but he figured he had a leg up on any of the muggleborns or half-bloods who didn't have ready access to a broom and a lot of muggle-free space. So when the experienced - to use the term loosely - fliers were invited to mount up, and demonstrate they did actually know how to hold the broom, fly around the pitch on one, and land it, Hansel went for it. He mounted up and launched easily enough, let the coach check the grip Hilda had taught him, then flew a lap that would break no speed records, at an altitude of only a couple of his own body lengths above the ground.

The coach gave him a nod as he returned, so Hans went off to fly with the experienced group. He guessed the bar was not set astoundingly high to earn that right.

He approached another student who was not flying at stomach churning heights above the ground, hoping their current altitude was intentional rather than just because they were heading over to collect a Quaffle or something. "Hi, I'm Hansel," he greeted them, his words easy and fluent, if German accented. Figuring he should maybe at least try to keep the conversation related to the purpose of the class, he asked, "Have you been flying long?"

1 Hansel Hexenmeister Gliding right along 1524 0 5

Billy Cobb

March 26, 2021 8:49 PM

Off to the skies! by Billy Cobb

Optional... pfft. Yeah sure, like he was just going to sit around inside somewhere when he had a perfectly good reason to go out and fly. Billy was waiting at the pitch as soon as he was able to get there. This had been the only class that he hadn't dragged his feet to get to on time. Sure, herbology and creatures were fine and he didn't get there at the last moment, he certainly wasn't early to them either. For this he got there early. While waiting for everyone else to show up, he ran a few laps for fun, enjoying the outdoors. Then the class started and the took his place with everyone else, practically bouncing on his toes to get flying while the coach talked. Anytime now.

Yes! He got his broom, mounted up, got his grip approved. That seemed silly after he was on the quiddtich team last year, but hey whatever. He flew a lap around the pitch as requested and landed back in place. His eyes were begging for permission to get away from this and just go fly. While he waited for the coach again, he saw Iris and grinned at her. Now she'd finally see just how dope this flying stuff really was. If she got off the ground. Finally the coach got over to him and released him to the sky!

He was off like a shot, rising high into the air. Oh he had missed this. He flew around, looped a bit and just had fun while trying to avoid 'endangering himself or the new flyers'. Still he was a bit curious to see how his sister was getting along and decided to drop lower again and see if anyone was up to anything exciting.

2 Billy Cobb Off to the skies! 1519 0 5