The freshmen had reached the broom as soon as their thoughts had flowed. Mrs Hooch did not wait long and then opened her mouth to give instructions.

"Raise your right hand above the broom and say 'Come up'."

"Come up," Draco uttered with bored languor, and the handle of the Comet's broom instantly fell into her hand. The broom, covered in a thick coat of varnish that tried to hide the texture of the cheap wood, made Draco frown again. Looking around the room, Daphne and Longbottom's brooms were all but still, except for the children of wizarding families who resisted flying, such as Pansy, whose broom bounced up and down erratically. The brooms of the freshmen who had experience of flying were firmly in their hands. Crabbe and Goyle and Weasley and all of them. But most surprisingly, Harry Potter's broom had also landed in his hand.

After some time, when the freshmen were well on their way to successfully summoning their broomsticks, Mrs Hooch began to instruct the students in the correct riding position. Much to Draco's displeasure, she stopped beside her.

"Malfoy, your stance needs adjusting." Mrs Hooch said aloud and Draco narrowed her eyes in displeasure. Pansy, Daphne, Goyle, and Crabbe were all a little surprised, while Potter and Weasley couldn't help but giggle. Draco preferred to sit sideways on her broomstick, her toes resting lightly on the footrest and her hands outstretched at her sides, holding the front and back of the broomstick with her sense of balance, rather than straddling it with her legs firmly between them. Of course, such a position was not suitable for Quidditch matches.

"I know what you noble children are used to."

"But the tradition of riding a broomstick for hunting has been lost, and you don't ride fancy broomsticks anymore."

"If you ride in this position without being familiar with the broom's performance, you risk falling off." Mrs Hooch spoke sternly, and the eyes of the class gradually turned to Draco. Although Draco was full of dissatisfaction, she could only obediently change her position and straddle the broom with her legs.

"Very well." As Draco obeyed, Mrs Hooch turned and continued her instructions.

"Now, when I whistle, you will jump upwards with all your might."

"Hold still and fly upwards for just a few meters. Three - two - hey!" Mrs Hooch circled in satisfaction and was about to give the next command. The whistle had barely reached her lips when she suddenly blushed and shouted.

"Come back! Boy! Come back!" The eyes of the class followed the direction of Mrs Hooch's run. Longbottom had somehow managed to fly into the air, his broom shaking violently from the imbalance of control, his right hand still clutching the Remembrall, long since flaming red. And then, with a few shrieks and screams, Longbottom fell from his broom, straight down from the air. He hit the ground with a thud, accompanied by a high-pitched wail of pain.

--

"Broken wrist. There, poor boy, it's all right."

"I'll help you to the infirmary." Mrs Hooch rushed to Longbottom's side, her stern expression suddenly tender. After helping Neville to his feet, she returned to her usual coolness, looked at the class, and opened her mouth.

"You will all remain on the ground until I return."

"If anyone dares to steal a test flight, I'll see to it that you're expelled from Hogwarts before you've even seen Quidditch!" As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she tapped her wand to immobilize Neville's injuries and helped him leave. The Remembrall landed on the grass with a thud as Longbottom walked past. The red smoke in the ball had faded to a plain white.

"There's nothing wrong with his stance, it's not like he fell."

"Again, the problem isn't the posture, it's that these aren't even meant for riding." Draco bent down and picked up the Remembrall, looking at Mrs Hooch's back in disbelief as she spoke.

"Shut up, Malfoy."

"You think only expensive things are safe?" The Weasley boy growled behind her and Draco just blinked and glared at him. Snorting a cold laugh, she watched as Weasley's face turned red. Not bothering to make more of a fuss, she looked playfully at the Remembrall instead.

"It looks like it's trying to remind Longbottom to keep his hands on the broom."

"But is this reminder meaningful?" She said, looking at Harry Potter with the intention of provoking him. Anger was already written in those turquoise eyes, obviously not really appreciating Draco's attitude towards Weasley.

"I still don't understand what's so delightful about receiving something so worthless." Frustrated, Potter stepped into step.

"Give it back, Malfoy."

The Gryffindor freshmen naturally gathered behind Potter. Except for Hermione Granger, who had her hands clenched over her chest and a worried, displeased look on her face.

Daphne and Pansy frowned, looked at each other, and walked over to Draco, and Crabbe and Goyle gathered with the rest of the Slytherin freshmen behind Draco.

Stolen novel; please report.

"For what reason, Potter?" Draco couldn't say, Longbottom and the Remembrall were just an unimportant person with an unimportant prop. But the tone of Harry Potter's reply, and the inexplicable hostility towards Draco, made Draco gag anyway.

"Just because you're in the same house, you get to take his stuff without permission?"

"I didn't..."

"Then what gives you the right to tell me to 'give it back', Potter?"

"You- Give the ball back!"

"I told you, you have no right to tell me to 'give it back'." Seeing that she was gaining the upper hand in the conversation, Draco raised her eyebrows and walked over to her broom.

"'Take it back' from me if you can, Potter." With a light stomp, and ignoring the posture that had just been corrected by Mrs Hooch, she sat sideways on the broom and floated gracefully into the air. In mid-air, she saw Daphne's confused look and Pansy's surprised look, as well as Granger's attempt to stop an exasperated Harry Potter. But it was only a momentary distraction, and in the next second Draco couldn't help but concentrate on what was happening in front of her.

In a flash, Harry Potter leaped onto his broomstick and quickly soared to Draco's level before, incredibly, coming to a smooth and steady stop after his rapid ascent.

"Give me back my ball or I'll kick you off your broom!"

The savage threat made Draco's brain freeze and suddenly anger filled Draco's white face.

"Insolent and arrogant fellow. Come on, if you can catch me!"

With that, in mid-air, Draco spun along the broomstick, agile and elegant, and was already straddling the top of the broom. On the ground, Slytherin hearts leaped for joy. Then Draco pressed the front of the broomstick and flew away from the castle.

"Come back here! Malfoy!"

Hearing Potter growl behind her, Draco glared back coldly and rhetorically.

"What gives you the right?"

The two of them swooped their broomsticks up and down in the air, sometimes accelerating in a straight line before coming to a sharp stop, sometimes swooping straight down before rising sharply. It made the already nervous freshmen on the ground look on in awe. Some of the freshmen even began to cheer loudly after each exciting action between Harry and Draco.

However, the chase only served to distract Draco more and more. The cold wind that blew into her face from the rush of energy stung Draco's delicate cheeks and, along with the underpowered broom that trembled at the slightest overexertion, reminded Draco why she had to be so angry with Harry Potter over that insignificant boy.

Adding to her annoyance was the figure hot on her heels. Twice Draco had narrowly escaped being caught in his fluttering robes by his outstretched hand when she had been slightly inattentive. Why should Harry Potter, who was nothing more than a vain, Muggle-born man, have such flying skills that Draco couldn't help but be intimidated?

Distracted only for a moment, Harry Potter was already hurtling towards Draco with the force of the wind. It was only when the dark figure landed in front of her that Draco immediately lowered her broomstick, falling a few feet as if she had lost speed, before lifting her head to stabilize herself and dodging out of the way. It was a thrilling but brilliant trick that had the Slytherins cheering again, but Draco's heart was pounding, her palms were covered in cold sweat and her broom was shaking slightly beneath her.

The Comet's all-too-ordinary performance had almost caused Draco to literally stall and fall during their bumpy ride. Looking up, she saw that Harry Potter was floating in the air instead, swinging sharply back towards Draco, causing the ground to echo with Gryffindor's cheers. Looking closely, she noticed that his broom was much smoother than hers. Obviously, he was much more skilled at maneuvering his broom.

"Not without your escorts to protect you now, Malfoy."

"I'll say it again, give me back the ball!"

Potter shouted, leaning forward again. Draco just looked at him, her pretty eyes round with hate and gritting her teeth in indignation.

"Hmph, you like grabbing it so much, try chasing it."

With that, Draco threw the ball hard in the direction of the castle. And then, without looking back, it flew back towards the crowd. She landed to the cheers of the Slytherins. Not much later, however, the Gryffindor students erupted in an even louder, more celebratory triumph of general exuberance. Harry Potter grabbed the Remembrall and leaped sharply from his broom. The two of them glared angrily at the crowd, only to be shocked by a stern female voice.

"Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy!"

"Never before, in all my years at Hogwarts, never..."

"Come here, all of you!" As one, they averted their eyes and turned as Professor McGonagall stalked angrily towards them.