After the boring History of Magic class, at three-thirty, James, Sirius, Lupin, and the other members of Gryffindor jogged down the front steps, towards the park, to attend their first flying lesson.
It was a clear, breezy day, and the grass waved beneath their feet as they marched across the rolling terrain, heading towards a meadow, on the opposite side of the forbidden forest, whose trees waved gloomily in the distance.
"Why will it be forbidden?" asked Toby, fearfully looking up at the shadowy trees.
"They say there are very dangerous magical creatures..." replied Sirius in a scary tone, to which Toby shivered.
As they joked, they arrived at the place and they noticed that the Slytherin's were already there. There were over thirty brooms, neatly lined up on the floor. James looked at the brooms without much pleasure- He knew they were not of very good quality, but he had no choice.
Then the instructor arrived: Mrs. Hooch. She had short, gray hair, and yellow eyes like a hawk's.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" barks Hooch, "Each one of you next to a broom. Come on, hurry up," she added with little patience.
James positioned himself next to a broom that upon closer inspection he could tell had some of the twigs twisted at odd angles.
"Extend your dominant hand over the broom! And say 'up! When I say so!" shouted Instructor Hooch.
"Now!" she added.
"Up!" they all shouted. James' broom immediately jumped into their hands, but he was one of the few who made it. Sirius made it to his hands, but it took a few seconds longer than James. The same was true for Rabastan.
Lupin almost made it, but just as the broom was about to reach his hand, it came down and returned to the ground. The brooms of Lily Evans and her friends simply rolled on the ground and got very little off the grass.
Severus Snape almost didn't make it, but at the last second, he managed to grab the broom before it returned to the grass, after that, he looked worriedly at Lily. Emily Shafiq with a low profile managed it on the first try despite not being a broom fan.
Worst of all was Toby. His broom didn't move at all.
"Again, what didn't make it, now!" shouted Hooch again. Those who already made it watched. This time Lupin made it. Lily and her friends almost made it, but at the last second their brooms returned to the ground.
"Focus! Up!" shouted Hooch, and everyone shouted again. The third time was the charm for everyone, save for one person, Toby Copper. James could tell that Toby had no confidence in his voice and was shaking too much as if his voice wanted to stay grounded.
Hooch approached Toby, and many of the Slytherin, especially Rabastan and his followers laughed at the boy's lack of skill. Sirius looked at them wanting to beat them to a pulp.
"Don't tremble boy," Hooch said in a tone that made Toby tremble more. All the students looked at him which made Toby more nervous. He felt his cheeks blush. Luckily thanks to the daylight it didn't show.
"Come on, say it, up!" exclaimed Hooch, and Toby said it shaking. The broom moved a little but quickly returned to the grass.
"Come on boy. You're not a squib, concentrate!" said Hooch, "Up!" she added along with Toby, who was getting more and more nervous. The Slytherin's laughter became much louder, or so thought the boy, who was getting more and more embarrassed.
"Up!" shouted Toby loudly, and this time the broom went up at tremendous speed. The great speed made Toby unable to grab the broom with his hand, and it hit him hard in the nose, leaving him on the ground with a lot of blood on his face.
"Broken nose and loss of a tooth... Come on, boy... It's alright... Get up, Madame Poppy will make you as good as new," Hooch murmured as she helped Toby to his feet.
"None of you are to move. I will take your classmate to the infirmary. If anyone dares to ride his broom, I will deduct a large amount of house points," said Hooch, looking sternly at the whole group.
They hadn't finished leaving, and Rabastan was already in fits of laughter, "Did you see how he broke his nose? That's why I say Muggle-borns should stay away from magic."
The other members of Slytherin chorused him, except for Snape and Emily, who were standing apart from the group and had unfriendly faces.
"Shut your mouth, Rabastan!" said curtly Jasmine, Lily's friend who previously couldn't defend her, as James and Sirius instantly jumped in.
"Oh, are you in love with that chubby boy? Strange taste, Jasmine," said Umbridge, the toad-faced Slytherin girl with a very unbearable voice.
More Gryffindors jumped into the discussion, and a round of insults began between the two houses. Sirius, Lupin, and Peter looked at James in surprise at the fact that he hadn't said anything.
'Weirdly, he's so calm,' thought Sirius, wanting to read James' expression. At first, Sirius was going to jump like everyone else, but seeing that his friend was silent, he said nothing.
Other Gryffindors, including Lily Evans, Jasmine, and Mary Macdonald, among others were also looking at him sideways surprised that he hadn't acted. Even Rabastan was giving James a wary look, as he sneered because he knew Toby was James' friend and wanted to piss him off.
"What's the matter, Potter? Are you sad? Because your pet got hurt?" asked Rabastan with an evil grin.
They all stopped discussing and stood silently, watching James, who looked at Rabastan for the first time. Avery and Mulciber positioned themselves looking warily at James. They hadn't forgotten what he did to them.
"Pet?" mused Sirius and Lupin, gritting their teeth.
"Cat got your tongue?" asked Mulciber viciously, trying to make him pay for knocking him unconscious.
"Shut your mouth. If you don't want me to send you flying again," said James in a cold tone that surprised many, as he always seemed relaxed, cheerful, and joking.
"What do you say to a race, Rabastan?" asked James, stretching out a hand, and the broom on the grass immediately jumped into his hand.
Everyone looked at James in surprise, even Rabastan, who remained silent. He could watch as James lifted the broom off the ground without even speaking.
"What's the matter? Are you scared? You've been bragging all day about your flying skills. Were you lying?" asked James with a smirk that infuriated Rabastan.
"I accept, you bastard! Up!" growled Rabastan furiously, and the old broom flew into his hands.
"No! Instructor Hooch said not to move. You're going to get us deducted house points, getting all of Gryffindor in trouble!" shouted Lily. Although she didn't like Rabastan's taunts at all, the older Gryffindor took the house cup very seriously.
James paid no attention to her, though he looked like he wasn't angry. He was burning with rage. They had humiliated his friend time and time again, calling him fat, a pet, and making fun of how he broke his nose. Plus, James knew Toby failed because most of Slytherin was sneering as he tried to lift the broom.
At first, he thought about what McGonagall said, but he didn't care. He could earn house points again later. Besides, Rabastan would also be punished if they got caught.
"The first one to that tree wins," said James, pointing to a very tall, thick-trunked tree that was over 100 meters away from their spot. This strange tree was before the entrance to the forbidden forest began.
"Wait!" said Lupin, but his voice was overshadowed by Rabastan's sudden shout.
"Right... now!" said Rabastan, climbing onto his broom and taking off in a leap in the direction of the tree. James reacted quickly, mounted his broom, and kicked hard soaring higher and higher.
"That damn cheater," said Sirius.
James was going at an incredible speed despite the old broom and having taken off a few seconds before Rabastan. The air fluttered his hair messing it up even more, the air whistling behind him.
Rabastan looked back and clicked his tongue as he noticed James was already catching up to him, "Tsch this shitty broom," he cursed.
James picked up the pace and overtook Rabastan. The girls screamed from below, some covering their eyes, but leaving slits between their fingers so they could see. Peter shouted in admiration of James as he managed to pass Rabastan in no time despite his initial disadvantage.
James was getting closer and closer to the tree. Rabastan frowned and cursed at his broom trying to increase his speed, "Come here, Potter!" he shouted reaching out his hand and trying to grab James' broom to pull it out of balance.
James didn't even look back. His speed was very fast, and it was one of the things he was most proud of. He wasn't even using his top speed. He didn't want to pass Rabastan by too much and have Rabastan lose hope of beating him and tell the teacher again, so he kept hoping that he could pass him at some point.
'What the hell?' thought James, who could now see the tree more clearly. The branches of the tree were very long and numerous. They looked like limbs like multiple arms. He noticed that when a rabbit passed close to the tree, one of the numerous branches beat to a pulp the poor rabbit that only wanted to eat some grass.
James urgently slowed down. He could not under any circumstances approach such a tree. Rabastan, thinking he had overtaken him shouted with euphoria, "See you, idiot!" he shouted as he greeted James with an evil grin, thinking his victory was assured, as he was close to the tree.
That was his mistake. When he was just a few feet from the tree, numerous branches from the tree rose into the air and launched themselves in Rabastan's direction who noticing a strange whistling sound in the air looked ahead again, a horrified expression formed on his face.
PUM!
PUM!
PUM!
The branches hit him. He had no chance to escape. One hit him in the face breaking his nose as did Toby, another in the stomach, and another in his broom making mincemeat of it and the boy began to plummet.
As they were reaching the tree they had descended a little, but they were still about 10 meters from the ground, so if he fell at that height it would be very dangerous.