Maybe Madam Hooch was urging them too frequently, as Michael and William saw Ian wanting to run to the castle, they each grabbed Ian by the armpits and carried him back to the lawn.
"Could it be you have a fear of heights?"
Michael suspected Ian wanted to skip class.
"Nonsense, Ian must be wanting to do something amazing that we don’t know about!" William consistently continued with his flattering towards Ian, which despite being childish seemed to work effectively.
"I just wanted the chance to salvage my reputation and innocence!" Ian watched Snape disappear, frustrated at how slow he was to react.
However.
He made a silent promise to himself that if Snape dared to use his hair to brew a Polyjuice Potion and sneak into the girls’ bathroom or Professor McGonagall’s bedroom to damage his reputation, he would definitely brew his own Polyjuice Potion, transform into Snape, and perform a dance in the Great Hall.
"The inherently evil Snape!"
As Ian was carried back into the crowd, he was still a bit indignant, touching the top of his head, as a native of England, he naturally dreaded any hair loss from the crown of his head.
Indeed, Ian’s age classified him as a child, but his hair wasn’t very thick, and who knows what will happen when he grows up if he doesn’t plan ahead.
"Watch me perform later; before school started, I learned how to ride a broomstick. My dad took me flying from Austria all the way to the skies over London."
"That time we even encountered a Muggle flying iron, it threw a Bludger at us to invite us to play a game, but my dad took us back home with Apparition."
"I bet, if my dad hadn’t been in a hurry to use the bathroom, I definitely could have knocked down that big Muggle iron!" The young wizard from Slytherin was still bragging about ordering a Nimbus 2000.
Ian admired this person’s courage to attempt extreme one-for-one exchanges, and was even more impressed that many little wizards seemed to be listening intently, without finding any peculiarities in the mixed information.
William was also boasting to Michael and the surrounding friends, although not as exaggerated as the young wizard from Slytherin, he was just showing off his printed underwear of the Motola King Kong Parrot Team player.
A complete set, animated, just like Dumbledore... Ian discreetly distanced himself from William, now worried William might have custom "Ian" underwear made after the holidays.
"Whistle!"
With a whistle from Madam Hooch, everyone quietly settled down.
Rolanda Hooch was a middle-aged woman with neatly combed short hair, accented with a few strands that appeared slightly messy due to magic practice or outdoor flying.
She looked very stern, though slightly less imposing than Professor McGonagall, she could still put the timid first-year little wizards in their place.
Excluding Gryffindor.
"Learning to fly is a dangerous course; first we must learn to communicate with the broomstick. Everyone listen carefully, if anyone is distracted, I’ll make sure they’re taken out of my class."
Madam Hooch first gave everyone a stern warning, seeing everyone becoming serious and nervous, she then began to satisfactorily explain the precautions of flying on broomsticks.
After all, it’s meat riding wood.
No safety ropes.
Broomstick flying is indeed a very dangerous sport; Ian couldn’t understand why even though it’s no longer the Middle Ages, they couldn’t invent flying tools that allowed one to peacefully sip tea in the sky.
Just because of Quidditch?
"I must become Hogwarts’ Doctor Strange!" Ian looked at the simple broomstick he was assigned, his motivation for delving deeper into Alchemy intensified.
Ian spaced out a bit but wasn’t caught.
"Up!"
Madam Hooch taught everyone how to use language to evoke the magic within them and resonate with the flying broomstick, and many students were mimicking along with her.
For the little wizards who still couldn’t clearly sense their magic, they mostly relied on the instinct triggered by language to activate their magic, many little wizards’ broomsticks were just spinning on the ground.
"Up."
As expected, Ian succeeded at once. When it came to the clarity of sensing magic, the more he interacted with fellow wizards, the more he realized how clearly he could perceive it.
That rhythm.
Belongs to a vision few can access.
"One point to Ravenclaw, well done, Mr. Prince." Madam Hooch, a bit surprised, glanced at Ian and raised her thumb in praise.
Beside him, William was the second to summon the broomstick but only received an approving look, often the case for second place, but William seemed not to care.
"Look! Look! I was only a bit slower than Ian!"
He excitedly bragged to Michael.
"It’s really hard." Michael scrunched his nose, using his foot to firmly hook his broomstick upwards, his shedding broomstick fell firmly into his hand.
Though somewhat off, the guidance of magic always has some use, solutions outnumber difficulties, and Michael became the third little wizard to hold onto a broomstick.
Ian nodded; Michael truly was a clever Brother Xiao Hei. As seen from these days’ classes, despite Michael’s tendency for short-cuts, he always fulfilled the professors’ requirements. In this aspect, William, who constantly studied diligently, was evidently a bit inferior.