Chapter 152: Chap.149 - Wood's Happiness

[A/N: At the request of some readers, I created some AI-generated images for Rigel and Calypso, they have been added to the paragraph comments in the auxiliary chapter titled 'Images'.]

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In the morning, the group split up. Harry was dragged away by Ron to play wizard's chess, Seamus and Dean dragged Rigel to meet the twins, they wanted to let Rigel try flying, the twins didn't mind, Rigel also dragged Neville along, flying lessons would begin the following week, it would be good to help the boy prepare and avoid a near-death experience like in the original.

Ironically, although first-year students were forbidden from carrying brooms, there were no rules that they had to wait for Flying lessons to learn, if an older student wanted to teach, there would be no punishment, although this was strongly discouraged by a certain 'cat' professor, and if someone gets hurt, it would guarantee at least a month of detention.

Rigel followed the boys to the Quidditch pitch, where a group of students were playing. They weren't players from the teams, but simply students who had gotten together to play.

Rigel watched as the students enjoyed themselves, it was truly strange to have such a broader perspective. In the films, at least, it seems that only the Quidditch teams use the field, but it's very difficult to say that throughout the entire year, no other student would want to practice Quidditch.

So when Rigel saw this, although somewhat surprised, he quickly dismissed it.

Since Rigel had played a prank on the boys, he and Neville still dressed formally for class, the Twins, on the other hand, were much more relaxed, without cloaks, although their coats remained, even during the hottest months of the year, the days were still cold.

Rigel had long since gotten used to it, apart from his strong physique, even in the icy water he would feel comfortable, but that was no reason to be lightly dressed.

"So, let's begin the lessons, Professor Fred." George said to Fred.

Fred joined in the joke, suppressing a smile and adopting a serious McGonagall-like expression, turning to Rigel, Neville, Seamus, and Dean.

"Finnigan, Thomas, you learned the basics yesterday, today we're going to start by teaching Mr. Black and Mr. Longbottom." Fred straightened his posture as he spoke, making Dean and Seamus burst into laughter.

George acted as if he were an assistant while following Fred's instructions. Rigel shook his head, but soon he was being guided by Fred while Neville was being guided by George.

"Mr. Black, first stand next to the broom and say, 'up,' with all your might, as if you were about to burst into the bathroom and desperately wanted a toilet!" Fred said pompously, making George and the others burst into laughter, even Neville seemed less nervous about the whole event.

He was actually quite nervous, he didn't even want to be there, preferring to be reading books with Rigel in the library, but seeing everyone else there, Neville forced himself to be brave. He could have refused, but he didn't want to, he wanted to 'play' with his friends.

Neville, who had spent most of his childhood alone with his grandmother, had finally discovered that having friends was very good, especially Rigel.

Neville might be silly and clumsy, and also forgetful, but he wasn't stupid, he had already realized that Rigel was looking after him.

Neville experienced the taste of friendship for the first time.

He didn't want to miss this, so he would be brave.

Beside his broom, Neville shouted loudly. "U-up!"

The broom trembled slightly, he pursed his lips, feeling his insecurities attacking again, he knew he was a failure, he was about to cry, but feeling a hand on his shoulder, he almost jumped in fright.

Rigel smiled slightly at Neville, his eyes calm. "Hey, Neville, don't give up, I believe in you."

Neville bit his lip, holding back tears. He turned to the broom so the other boys wouldn't see him crying, and finally, he stared intently at the broom.

Neville remembered the last few days with all his friends, especially Rigel's last words.

'I believe in you.'

"Up!" Neville almost yelled, the broom leaped straight into his hand, the force was so great that Neville, holding the broom, was dragged flying for several meters by it, he screamed in terror, but 'luckily' a strong current of wind made him descend, he landed quickly.

The boys ran up to him, Neville was prepared to be mocked, but they all smiled and congratulated him with smiles.

Neville froze slightly, his eyes turning red again, but he controlled himself, he wouldn't cry. A smile spread across his face.

Rigel smiled slightly, but quickly hid the smile.

He had already grabbed his broom, so after that the twins taught them how to fly.

Rigel picked it up quickly, he could even use the wind to help, but he felt that stronger wizards would probably be able to detect his use of magic, so he couldn't use it in competitions, at least not in such a direct way.

Even so, it was very useful for learning.

Fred and George initially wanted Rigel and Neville to just get up and fly a little to learn, but Rigel knew Neville might end up falling, so he handed the broom to George and let him teach Neville first, so at least Neville would have someone beside him to catch him.

Neville almost fell at first, filled with fear, but looking at his friends, he felt as if he had become brave for a moment.

Taking a deep breath, he managed to make the broom go up and down, then even managed to take a lap around the field with George, although he was white with fear, there was still a smile on his face when he landed.

Rigel shook his head, Neville never lacked talent; he just needed to change his mindset.

Then it was his turn.

Flying with the broom felt different from flying while controlling the wind.

The wind seemed to support him everywhere and yet nowhere at the same time, if it weren't for his control over the wind, he would feel like a leaf being carried away by the wind.

The broomstick, on the other hand, felt like flying in an airplane, you felt like you were just sitting there, with no feedback from the ground, if it weren't for the wind. Rigel thought that would be the sensation of piloting a jet.

Of course, there were spells to greatly reduce the wind that hit the wizard, but it didn't negate the wind, it only made it tolerable.

Flying like that was different, but also quite easy, perhaps because Rigel wasn't afraid at all, he knew that even if he fell, he could use the wind to land safely. Even without that, with his physique, except for really high altitudes, he would be fine even if he fell, besides, the Quidditch pitch had 'shock absorbers'.

Perhaps that's why the professors weren't so worried about these children learning to fly together.

In the end, when Rigel got off the broom, he seemed much more excited, because he discovered that it was much easier to do maneuvers with a broom. He tried everything he could, even walking on the broom with his feet, as if he were on a surfboard.

That was so much fun!

Fred had a look that was both amused and tired. He chased after Rigel, terrified that he would fall and break something, that McGonagall would be furious, and that they would all end up cleaning Snape's cauldrons.

After that, the twins played around with them a bit, sometimes acting as keepers, other times as beaters, preventing them from scoring. As expected, Neville gave up soon after almost falling off his broom the first time. Seamus and Dean tried, but compared to the team's players, they were terrible.

Rigel, on the other hand, shocked George and Fred, he moved unpredictably and always managed to react when bludgers were thrown at him. In the end, Rigel scored goal after goal, leaving the twins both stunned and excited.

George ran off while Fred played Rigel, returning ten minutes later, sweating and out of breath, with Oliver Wood not much better.

Oliver was getting along well with a Ravenclaw girl when George pulled him away, much to his dismay, but when he heard it was Quidditch, he ran even faster than George. He arrived just in time to see Rigel dodge a Bludger while jumping away from his broom, only to land right on top of his with both feet and score the goal right after. Seamus, Dean, and Neville were already hoarse from cheering, very excited.

Wood's eyes lit up as soon as he saw that.

Although he wasn't the seeker he needed, seeing the way Rigel moved in the air, he knew he was better than any of the chasers he had right now.

Wood, a Quidditch fanatic, was already grinning from ear to ear. This year's Quidditch Cup was already in the bag!