Chapter 10 Flight Course

After class, Shaylin and Daphne were chatting and laughing all the way to the auditorium to have lunch, but he saw a few people gathered in groups on the other side of the corridor. Through the gaps in the crowd, he happened to see that the person gathered by the wall was Meredith. She was surrounded by Pansy and several other Slytherin girls.

Daphne also saw Meredith being surrounded. She seemed a little worried. She whispered, "Oh my God... She will definitely be beaten badly by Parkinson's group."

Sherin was a little puzzled, "Meredith is from the Shafik family, isn't that one of the 28 sacred pure-blood families?"

"Sherin, you are very talented in magic, but you don't know the current situation of wizard families, right? The 28 sacred pure-blood families were written by Cantankerus Nott in the 1930s. In the following 60 years, they experienced two wizard wars started by Grindelwald and the mysterious man, plus many wizard families fighting each other. Alas..." Speaking of this, Daphne's tone was also a little depressed.

"Many pure-blood families have gradually declined and are on the decline - the Shafik family is one of them. The entire Shafik family, which was once huge and had many branches, is now only left with her." Daphne whispered with some empathy, "And the fate of the Shafik family is not an isolated case..." "As far as I know, the Crouch family is similar. Since Barty Crouch Jr. was sentenced to prison, Barty's wife died of excessive grief. After Barty's death, it is estimated that the Crouch family will disappear soon; the Goyle family and the Crabbe family have also declined greatly, so now it has become "It has become a vassal family of your Malfoy family, trying to get shelter under the wings of the Malfoy family, and lingering on to continue the family bloodline and glory..."

Sherin replied: "So that's the case. As far as I know, Hannah Abbott of Hufflepuff is a half-blood wizard. Maybe the Abbott family she belongs to, as you said, was forced by reality to withdraw from the list of pure-blood families, but it has never fallen to the level of Meredith..."

Knowing Meredith's predicament, Sherin sighed and walked up. Although he didn't want to be in the limelight, he couldn't bear to see so many people bullying one person.

Daphne followed closely behind Sherin, and the two walked towards Pansy's group. Pansy's voice came, "The eldest daughter of the Shafik family? Oh my God? I can't tell!" She blocked Meredith against the damp stone wall with a shrill voice, and shouted exaggeratedly: "But look at the potion you made! You really have no talent at all! I have to be scolded by Professor Snape!" When Sherin and Daphne approached, Pansy was almost close to Meredith's face. She sneered and mocked: "Wow, look at your arrogant look, Miss Shafik! Haha, now you are the only Shafik!" Sherin could see in the crowd that Meredith's face was flushed. It was not known whether it was because of anger or humiliation. It could be seen that she was trying her best to control her emotions. Her fists were clenched tightly, and her fingertips were swollen due to congestion. But she still looked up, maintaining her unique and strange arrogance. Xielin's voice was not loud, but it was clearly heard by everyone: "Hey, Pansy, we are all Slytherins. Is it fun for so many people to bully a little girl? Instead of blaming others here, it is better to spend time learning potions, strive for points and glory for our college, and let people from other colleges know how powerful we are. Do you think I am right?"

Pansy saw that Xielin was the one who saved the situation. She didn't want to have any conflict with Xielin, who had a noble family background and amazing magical talent. She could only snort coldly and turned away with a few girls.

When Pansy and her group left, there were only three of them left in the corridor, and the atmosphere suddenly became silent.

Meredith was ready to endure the humiliation of Pansy and others, because she didn't have a friend in the college, and she knew no one would help her.

When Shafiq was the only one left, she still remembered her parents' expectations for her before they died. The honor of the entire family seemed to be on her alone. After that, although she once wanted to get into trouble and play with her peers, the heavy responsibility of maintaining the family's honor was like a shackle that bound her. Over time, she became a lonely person and slowly lost the ability to communicate with others.

When Sherin and Daphne stood in front of her, tears came so violently. Even when she received the news of her mother's death, she didn't want to cry so much, but she gritted her teeth and tried her best not to let the tears flow out. She still held her head high and maintained her proud posture. For some reason, she just didn't want these two people to see her crying.

"Uh... do you want to have dinner together?" Sherin scratched his head and asked Meredith softly. I don't know what's going on. Seeing an 11-year-old girl who looked like she was about to cry, Sherin was a little embarrassed and didn't know what to say. Daphne also looked at this former childhood playmate with some expectation, and showed a rare sincere smile.

Meredith's face was redder than before. She tilted her head and didn't look at Sherin and Daphne at all. Her hands were still clenched tightly, as if there was something precious that needed to be tightly grasped.

Her body was trembling, but she was obviously trying to control herself. She opened her mouth and spoke in a strange tone, as if she was trying to cover up her crying voice, "You, you guys... are really... nosy!"

After pausing for a long time, she suddenly couldn't help it. The last word almost jumped out with tears. After speaking, she hugged the textbook, squeezed out Xie Lin and Daphne, and rushed up the stairs.

Then life returned to the dull and repetitive school days.

For the various courses set by the school, since he had already established his future direction, Xie Lin decided to focus on the practical potions class, spells class, and transfiguration class. He decided to study harder; as for astronomy class, Professor Quirrell's Defense Against the Dark Arts class, herb class, and flying class, he was perfunctory.

The only exception was the history of magic class. Purely out of personal interest, Xie Lin decided to study this subject carefully. As for the OWL and NEWT exams and future employment? I am the one who wants to defeat the Dark Lord, so let the exams go to hell!

The advantage of being a top student is that teachers will grant some privileges, such as not having to do homework or something - this makes Draco very envious. In addition, it is important to have a good relationship with a top student because of the admiration of classmates. When doing homework, you can often see people asking Xie Ling for advice on various doubts.

Xie Ling is also willing to give some advice if he has time, but he only lends his homework to Daphne - this makes Daphne complacent, but makes Draco a little unhappy.

But Xie Ling just coaxed his brother a few words, telling him that this is to maintain the honor of the Malfoy family, and also to let his brother have more training and become stronger quickly, and Draco was deceived into being happy.

At the same time, Xie Ling will also be challenged by some people - such as a little lion with fluffy hair.

Hermione seems to have discovered that Xie Ling is the biggest obstacle to becoming the first in the grade, so Hermione is determined to surpass him, not only to answer questions more actively in class, but also to observe how he studies so well after class. So whenever Xie Ling sits in the library reading, she always secretly observes how he studies.

However, this was useless. Schelling's theoretical knowledge was already very complete. What he lacked was only practical experience and the magic power to cast more powerful spells. These two things can only be accumulated slowly over time, and there is no rush.

As for Meredith, since the last incident, Schelling has invited her to eat and do homework from time to time. Meredith seemed very surprised by this. She thought that after the last rejection, Schelling and Daphne would no longer pay attention to her.

In the end, after Meredith's answer of "You are so nagging, go quickly if you want to eat.", Schelling and Daphne's small circle became a trio with Meredith, who raised her neck and had a cold face every day.

Although Meredith had a cold face every day, the corners of her mouth would always rise unconsciously, and then she would force herself to flatten it after she found it, which made Daphne laugh at her more than once.

The flying class will start on Thursday-Slytherin students will have classes with Gryffindor students.

This can be said to be the most anticipated course for first-year wizards. Before this day came, Draco talked about flying all day long. He complained loudly that first-year freshmen were not eligible to join the school Quidditch team. He also told many long, self-boasting stories, which always ended with him narrowly avoiding a Muggle helicopter.

Xie Lin was stunned when he heard it. He wondered if Draco had seen a helicopter? Thanks to Merlin, he was not crushed by the propellers thanks to the air pressure around the helicopter. Of course, Xie Lin would not be idle to pierce his brother's arrogance. After all, you can't expect an 11-year-old boy to be so stable, right?

At breakfast on Thursday, a majestic eagle owl flew onto Xie Lin's shoulder.

"Hey, Ulysse!" Draco excitedly untied the large and small packages from its feet. Inside were cakes, snacks and candies prepared by Narcissa for his two brothers. Narcissa was always worried that the food at Hogwarts was not good and her two baby sons would not be used to it, so she always sent all kinds of high-end candies and snacks from home, and even snacks from wizards in Far Eastern countries occasionally appeared in the package, and she sent it almost every week, with few exceptions.

While tearing off the crumbs from the plate and feeding them to Ulysse, Sherin shook his head gently. He always felt that Narcissa was making a fuss. Of course, deep in his heart, he actually felt a little warm about his mother's kindness. Draco always couldn't wait to open all the packages at the dinner table, and then proudly showed off to others.

At this time, a tawny owl brought a small package to Neville. Neville excitedly opened it and showed everyone a glass ball as big as a marble, which seemed to be filled with white smoke.

"It's the Remembrall!" he explained. "Granny knows I always have a bad memory - it tells you if there's something you forgot to do. Look, you hold it tight, like this, and if it turns red - oh," he suddenly pulled a long face, because the Remembrall suddenly glowed bright red, but he forgot what he had forgotten.

Neville was trying hard to remember what he had forgotten, and at this moment, Draco passed by the Gryffindor House table and snatched the Remembrall from him.

Harry and Ron jumped up. For some reason, they more or less hoped to have a fight with Draco. However, Professor McGonagall always sensed the trouble more keenly than other teachers, and she appeared in the blink of an eye.

With Professor McGonagall there, the fight was definitely impossible. Draco could only leave with Goyle and Crabbe in disgrace.

At 3:30 in the afternoon, students from the two colleges came to the grass in front of the door to prepare for their first flying lesson.

The professor of the flying class was Ms. Hooch, who had short gray hair and two yellow eyes, like the eyes of an eagle. After everyone got their brooms, she shouted, "Okay, when I blow the whistle, you kick your legs off the ground, and push hard. Hold the broom steady, rise a few feet, then lean forward slightly and fall vertically back to the ground. Listen to my whistle, three, two..." However, Neville was too nervous. He was afraid of being left on the ground, or he was eager to prove himself - so he kicked hard and flew up without waiting for the whistle to touch Madam Hooch's lips. "Come back, kid!" Madam Hooch shouted, but Neville went straight up, like a cork spurting out of a bottle - twelve feet - twenty feet. Neville's horrified face looked at the ground below that was flying away rapidly. He opened his mouth and gasped, feeling that all the strength in his body disappeared, and he slid down the side of the broom handle... Sherin used the levitation spell in time, and Neville stopped just before landing, and then burst into tears. His flying broom was still rising higher and higher, and then began to float slowly towards the Forbidden Forest. Madam Hooch bent over Neville, her face as pale as Neville's. She turned to the rest of the class and said, "I'm taking this kid to the hospital for a checkup, and no one of you is allowed to move! Put your brooms back where they belong, or you'll be kicked out of Hogwarts before you can even say 'Quidditch.' And twenty points from Slytherin, thanks to Mr. Malfoy's spell. Let's go, dear."

After Madam Hooch and Neville left, Draco picked up Neville's Remembrall from the grass. He held it up, and it glittered in the sun.

"Give it here, Malfoy," Harry whispered. Everyone stopped talking and stared.

Draco grinned. "I'd like to leave it somewhere for Longbottom to pick up - in a tree - how about that?"

"Give it here!" Harry shouted, but Draco had already jumped on his broom and taken off. Draco was a real good flyer - he hovered at the top of an oak tree and called out, "Come and get it, Potter!"

Harry grabbed his broom.

"No!" Hermione Granger shouted, "Madame Hooch told us not to move - you'll get us all in trouble."

Harry ignored her, his eardrums thumping with blood. He mounted his broom and gave the ground a hard push, so that he was up, the air whirring through his hair, his robes whirring behind him - he had a sudden rush of ecstasy in his heart, realizing that he had discovered a skill that he could learn without a teacher - so easy, so beautiful.

Just when Harry was about to rush towards Draco, a voice called "Neville's memory ball is flying!" sounded, and the memory ball in Draco's hand somehow ended up in Sherin's hands. Sherin said calmly, "Who is Neville's roommate? Can you help me return this memory ball to him?"

Ron stood up with an angry face and said, "I am, Harry and I are both!"

Sherin threw the memory ball gently, and Ron didn't expect Sherin to return the memory ball so easily. He couldn't react for a moment, and he caught the memory ball in a panic. There was another round of laughter from the sidelines, and Ron's face turned red.

Ignoring Ron's embarrassment, Shaylin looked at the two people still flying in the air and said calmly: "Why don't you two come down? I saw Professor McGonagall walking over here..."

After Professor McGonagall came over, she saw Draco and Harry flying without permission, and deducted 10 points from each of them. But after hearing how Shaylin handled the matter, she gave Slytherin 10 points. This made all the Gryffindor wizards, especially the rule-abiding Hermione, unhappy with Harry's behavior.

Unlike in the original book, no one knew that Harry had lost the opportunity to become the youngest seeker in the history of Hogwarts.