Whatever Comes (Demma Book 1)

New Recruits

Dateline: September 12th, 1991

Outside of the castle, a few days after their encounter with Snape in the Potions classroom, Harry and Hermione were at Broomstick Practice with their teacher, Madam Hooch. The short-haired and yellow-hawked-eyed Hooch walked down an aisle filled with Gryffindors on one side and Slytherins on the other side.

''Good afternoon, class.'' said the teacher to the new students

''Good afternoon, Madam Hooch.'' said the first years

''Welcome to your first flying lesson. Well, what are you waiting for? Everyone step up to the left side of their broomstick.'' Hooch said, ushering the students to their brooms. ''Stick your right hand over the broom and say, up!''

The students yelled, ''Up!'' with Harry and Hermione's brooms flying into their hands immediately. They looked at each other with great amusement as they were the first ones to get their brooms to their hands. Not long after, Draco picked up his broomstick after yelling, ''Up!'' and he grinned smugly. After that, almost every person was having trouble with their brooms until Hooch shouts to the students ''With feeling!'' Finally, the rest of the students picked up their brooms, and Hooch was ready to continue the lesson.

''Now, once you've got hold of your broom, I want you to mount it. And grip it tight; you don't want to be sliding off the end,'' she said, as the students got onto their brooms. ''When I blow my whistle, I want each of you to kick off from the ground, hard. Keep your brooms steady, hover for a moment, and then lean forward slightly and touch back down. On my whistle...3...2...'' she blew her whistle, and the next thing that Neville and Seamus knew was that their brooms were starting to move, causing them to be slightly above the ground.

All the other first years looked at Neville and Seamus with their brooms speeding into a wall while Madam Hooch yelled, ''Mr. Longbottom, Mr. Finnegan, come back down this instant!'' Both collided into each other before crashing into the wall and sped up until they got caught on a gargoyle just hanging by their capes. After their cloaks rip from the gargoyle, a torch catches Neville and Seamus by their cloaks. Seconds later, both slipped out from their cloaks, and they fell to the ground, which made Madam Hooch to rush over towards the two clumsy first years.

''It's a broken wrist. Tch, Tch, Tch. Come on now, up you get.'' said Hooch ushering the two boys to their feet, and she turns to the class. ''Everyone's to keep their feet firmly on the ground while I take Mr. Longbottom and Mr. Finnegan to the hospital wing. Understand? I see a single broom in the air; the one riding it will find themselves out of Hogwarts before they can say Quidditch.''

Malfoy and one of his loonies, Gregory Goyle, grab two rememberalls from the ground, and Draco spoke up, which made his Slytherin teammates laugh, ''Did you see his face? Maybe if the fat lumps have given these a squeeze, they'd remember to fall on their fat arse.''

''Give it here, Malfoy and Goyle,'' Harry said, calmly

''No.'' Malfoy snickered, turning to Goyle ''I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find.''

''And I'll leave this somewhere for Finnegan to find,'' said Goyle as he and Malfoy hopped on their brooms and began to soar into the air.

''How 'bout on the roof?'' they both said

''What's the matter, Potter and Granger? Bit beyond your reach?'' Malfoy sneered as Harry and Hermione got on their brooms and flew off into the air.

''Give it here, or We'll knock you two off your brooms!'' Hermione said, staring at Goyle

''Is that so?'' sneered Malfoy as both he and Goyle dodged the quick dashes from Harry and Hermione who are trying to get the Remembralls ''Have it your way, then!'' he said, and he and Goyle hurled the Remembralls in the air