Hollynd was amused by the special guest appearance from Bronagh Gallagher. "Wonder who she's doing a favor for?" The Slytherin was rather cynical and tried to pay attention as her thoughts continued to wander. "What lipstick is she wearing?" Truthfully, her upbringing meant that she had little to no experience flying or with Quidditch. Hollynd listened distractedly as their guest explained the zigzag formation.

When it was her turn, Hollynd silently mounted one of the school's brooms. She attempted to zigzag on the first go around but ended up just flying straight in order not to drop the Quaffle. The dummies were slower than she had assumed, and it seemed like they'd been in use at Hogwarts since the beginning of time. She tried again halfheartedly.

On the second pass she managed to zigzag a little, but not as quickly as she would have liked.

The third time she just gave up practicing the Woollongong Shimmy, and enjoyed the feeling of getting used to flying.

On her fourth try, she checked out the Quidditch Pitch as she soared high overhead and got acclimated to her surroundings.

Finally Hollynd zigzagged as fast as she could and careened into the center post, Quaffle in hand, and crashed with a booming thud. She dusted herself off in a daze and headed toward the Hospital Wing with the rest of her aeronautically challenged peers. Madam Glas was about to be very busy. Flying was delightful but Quidditch definitely wasn't for her.

Hollynd Atwood, Slytherin [edit] Completed with an extension.

You need to have Mallowsweet fly to get the points okay

Please describe at least one of the attempts with the flying. For example: you said she got hit three times. How? Did it hit her shoulder and cause pain, or break the broom? Let me know if you need help. I just need a little more flying to award full credit.

Nicola was not star struck by Bronagh, more trepidation about being in front of someone the others thought was amazing and she didn't really know much about. Not the usual teacher, but a star expert... Okay, put it out of mind. Watch the technique and just concentrate. A zig-zag at speed. Man, those dummies are fast, too. Mounting her broom Nicola centers herself with the quaffle and kicks off. Left, right, zig, and zag... and crash. Ouch, that dummy got Nicola right in the sternum. Note to self: don't got straight at the dummies.
Dusting off her bottom, Nicola remounts. More speed. Faster left, right, between the defenders, whoo made it. One down. The instructor restarts the drill. Two more successes using the same tricks. Speeding ahead then ducking between while zig-zagging. Maybe, she had this down. Trial 5. Speed, left, right, oh, no too much right. Leaning too far. A dummy hits the end of Nicola's broom and she spins out into the grass. Maybe, she shouldn't have gotten cocky. Not the best way to end this.
Nicola Stromwing- Hufflepuff Outfit Not Found

I have revised it. There is more flying. I hope it is also funnier this time!

oh wow lol you revised it :* I was expecting a couple more sentences <3 thanks hun. I wanna make sure everyone gets points and all ^.^

I was short on creativity that day, but today is a much better day! Appreciated!

[SPOILER=Mallowsweet - Gryffindor. OOC] Oopsie I completely forgot about this one in the midst of real life craziness! Thank you for the reminder[/spoiler] Mallowsweet admired her temporary wings. Creamy gold and white feathers reached from her withers clear to her haunches. Slowly she stretched them out to their full length and gave a couple of awkward experimental flaps. Surprisingly light for their huge span, they lifted her forequarters off the ground with each downstroke. After cantering around the pitch twice to get a feel for the lift they generated, she leapt into the air, only to land again after only a few wingbeats. Determined, she sped up to a full gallop and sprang more strongly off the ground. This time she stayed aloft, and tucking her legs tight to her body, zigzagged down the pitch with small changes in the angle of the long leading wing feathers.
"I think I've got it!" she called "Toss me the quaffle" As soon as the quaffle was in her hands the dummies charged after her. Swift, and more nimble on their brooms,they quickly relieved her of the ball three times in rapid succession. "Faster! Faster! Zigzag Faster!" the other students shouted. On the fourth try Mallowsweet reared in midair, back-winging hard as the dummies caught up to her. As they zoomed past her she swept a huge wing out and knocked one of them from it's broom. The remaining two swiftly turned and came at her again. This time the young centaur charged them, flint hard fore hooves flailing. Another dummy fell to the ground, broomstick shattered.
Now with only one dummy on her tail Mallowsweet was able to zig and zag up the pitch confidently, with only a few well aimed kicks to the rear when she swerved, to slow her pursuer down. On the fifth and final try she nearly lost the quaffle again, when the dummy she had knocked off its broom rejoined the chase. Tucking her wings in close to her sides, she dove close to the ground and with one final swerve made it to the end of the pitch. Exhausted, but exhilarated, the centaur girl trotted back to Ms. Gallagher. Still breathing too hard to speak, her broad grin as she handed the quaffle back spoke for her.

Niamh's heart sank as she approached the Quidditch pitch. She'd already decided that brooms were not something which should be flown, and there was this professional Quidditch captain telling them to do a Woolly Shimmy thing. Half wondering if she could get out of even attempting it, her heart sank a little further when even Mallowsweet was willing to have a go.... if a Centaur was able to try, then Niamh really would look a fool if she didn't so much as attempt the course.

Mounting her broom, she hovered a few metres from the ground, strangely pleased with herself in being able to control it so far. Leaning forwards ever so slightly, the broom began to move forwards. Niamh was sure that even a Flobberworm could move faster, but higher speed meant that she would be more at risk of falling off or crashing. As the first practise dummy suddenly lunged towards her, Niamh leant forwards to avoid being clobbered and almost fell backwards off her broom as it shot forwards.

Clutching onto the broom with both hands, she realised she had no control over it whatsoever, as the dummies continued to head towards her. She screwed her eyes shut, somehow managing to shake off the first one but went crashing straight into the second dummy. Keeping her eyes tightly closed, she realised her broom was heading for the ground - as she was only a couple of metres in the air anyway, the ground came faster than she'd anticipated. Opening her eyes after the crash landing, clutching her wrist which she was sure was broken, she managed to untangle herself from the broom (which looked surprisingly unscathed) and looked at her fellow students, highly expecting them to be laughing at her pitiful attempt. "I don't think Quidditch is my thing," she said, wondering if she should just head for the hospital wing.

Niamh Doyle, Gryffindor (OOC: I know she didn't take the Quaffle - she wanted to have both hands on the broom :P)

(HA is before the events of the lesson, by the way xD)

Keet groaned at the thought of flying on a broom, she was unfortunately rather clumsy at that type of flying. She much prefered flying in her animagus form, which was a green imperial pigeon. Still, she listened carefully to Bronagh Gallagher's instructions, not wanting to embarrass herself in front of the very talented, and quite famous quidditch player. While Keet wasn't much into sports herself, she did respect the skills that it took to play, and she did enjoy watching a quidditch match or two.

When it was her turn, Keet took the quaffle and pushed off the ground, already wobbly on her broom. She held as tightly as she could and sped up as the dummies started to chase her. However, as soon as she tried the zig-zagging motion that Miss Gallagher had described, she lost her grip on the broom! Keet fell, quaffle slipping out of her hands too. Thinking quickly, Keet transformed into her animagus form, flying a graceful loop around the dummies and landing on the ground.

Keet caught her breath, which was shortened after the shock of falling off of the broom, and transformed back. To her horror, she realized that the broom lay beside her, broken in two. () "I'm so sorry, Miss Gallagher!" Keet cried in shame and disgrace. "I didn't mean to break the broom, I don't think I am cut out for this type of flying," she said, trembling and hanging her head.

Keet Arlie, Ravenclaw

Private Outfit

Drew gripped the broom in his hand tightly and gave their guest flying instructor a small smile. He had nothing against Bronagh or the Harpies it was just that, dare he even think it, let alone say it…he wasn’t that crazy about Quidditch. Even though he was slightly more comfortable on a broom than he had been his first term, that wasn’t saying much. Drew watched as the others took their turns, wincing at some of the knocks and falls. Oh yeah, he’d be taking plenty of those, he felt sure. Thankfully he’d worn all the protective gear he could find to the lesson. Maybe he would survive. Honestly though, why did they have to use dummies to beat them up? Why couldn’t they just learn a pattern and fly it? Surely zooming around, twisting and turning on a narrow piece of wood was challenging enough without bruises or worse, a broken neck when you fell. Chewing his lip, Drew didn’t voice his concerns or suggestions, knowing he’d be laughed at and teased. It wasn’t his fault he was more athletic with a horse under him inside of a broom!

He was pondering how to hold the Quaffle and the broom at the same time (since he had yet to fly one-handed on his broom), when he heard his name called. Looking over, he sighed as Bronagh motioned him over. Great, time to die, Drew thought to himself. He reluctantly moved over and picked up the Quaffle. He hadn’t even gotten settled on the broom securely, his feet dangling only inches above the ground, when the whistle blew and the dummies began moving. Nope! So much nope! Drew thought, yanking on the broom which only caused it to shoot straight up, sliding Drew off the back to land on his butt and knocking the Quaffle from his unsteady grip. Snickers filled the air and Drew blushed hotly. Such a wonderful first try…not! “I wasn’t ready,” he half muttered to Bronagh. The woman’s look told him he’d best get ready, and fast.

Clambering to his feet, Drew grabbed the broom and kicked off…and forgot the Quaffle. He leaned down to try to grab it…the whistle blew…and he was blindsided by a dummy whose hit left him dangling sideways from his broom. Hey, he didn’t fall!! No sooner did that thought register than another dummy helped him out with that little ‘problem’ and Drew found himself on the ground again. This time he lay there a minute. Maybe if he faked an injury he could stop, right. Wrong. There was no way to be seriously injured from the short height he’d been and Bronagh knew it and was impatiently waiting for him to get up and try again.

It’s like getting thrown. Get up, Wilder…you can do this, Drew mentally chided and coached himself. He got to feet, took a deep breath and then grabbed the Quaffle, jumped on his broom, and kicked off. Maybe going fast from the get-go and beating them to the punch would help. He was airborne and heading toward the dummies this time as the whistle blew and they moved toward him. Oh Merlin’s beard! Now to zigzag…fast! Drew tried but only managed to evaded one dummy. The second hit his shoulder a glancing blow that had Drew dropping the Quaffle and gripping his broom with both hands again as he instinctively tried to guide with his knees as he would have on Fleet. Dang it! Why couldn’t they do this on winged horses?? He’d ace it then! He headed down, away from the dummies to regroup for his forth try, contemplating asking to use one of the Thestrals from the forest. They would be even larger and faster than a broom! And if he could guide one of those and still evade the dummies wouldn’t that prove something?

With those thoughts in mind, Drew landed and stood for a moment. What could he do to get this lesson over with…other than fail two more times? He couldn’t guide the broom like a horse…there wasn’t that bond of communication there and nothing to grip with his knees. Then a thought came to him…reins!! Beginner riders relied heavily on the reins, not their knees! With a quick “Be right back!” to Bronagh, Drew dashed over to where he’d left his coat and scarf. Grabbing the scarf, he brought it back and tied it to the end of his brooms while those around watched him with anything from mild curiosity to confused wonder. At the moment he didn’t care. It was worth a try. He had plenty of experience riding and holding the reins in one hand…now if he could only do it on a broom too. Tucking the Quaffle under his arm and mounting the broom again, Drew took the scarf ‘reins’ in his right hand and headed skyward. He pulled to the left slightly and the broom responded. It might just work! He tried a few more moves as the whistle blew and then leaned forward as though urging the broom faster. It responded and Drew reined right and up, dodging past a dummy. A quick left tug and a dart down took him past dummy two. He could do this! He was doing this! Guiding with his makeshift reins, Drew made it past all the dummies!! With a grin, he landed again and said, “One more, right? Ready?”

Before Bronagh could answer, Drew was back in the air, his moves faster and more daring now that he felt more confidence in his broom steed. He laughed as two of the dummies actually collided with each other due to his quick upward zigzag. When he’d completed the last run, Drew swung the broom back around and zoomed back to the start, tossing the Quaffle down and giving Bronagh a smile. He might be the only flyer in the entire world of Quidditch that used reins but it had worked!