HP: Those Years Sleeping with the Half-Blood Prince

"Very good! Now, on my whistle, mount your brooms, push off the ground hard, rise a few feet, then lean forward and land slowly. Remember, don't fly too high! No one is allowed to fly recklessly until I give further instructions!"

Mrs. Huoqi's gaze swept over everyone, especially those boys who looked eager to try.

The whistle blew.

The students jumped onto their brooms and kicked off with all their might.

Ian felt his feet sink into the ground as the broom smoothly lifted off the ground and hovered about four feet above the lawn. A gentle breeze brushed against his cheeks, which felt quite nice.

He turned his head to look, and saw Kevin parked steadily, with an eager expression on his face.

Aris hovered perfectly straight, as if measuring altitude.

Severus came up too, but Ian noticed that his grip on the broom was unusually stiff, his face was paler than usual, his lips were tightly pressed together, and his eyes were fixed on a fixed point in front of him, as if he would fall if he moved at the slightest movement.

"Hey, look who's that?" a drawn-out voice came from the side.

James and Sirius, riding broomsticks, wobbled closer to Slytherin.

James wore that bright, almost annoying smile, his eyes darting around Severus.

"Merlin, I thought Snape's broom had finally decided to go on strike, but it turns out it can still get up?"

Sirius said slowly, a mischievous glint in his gray eyes, "That's the pose... Are you imitating a wooden stake, Snape? Or... are you Muggle-born, missing something in your bones, naturally unsuitable for flying?"

Severus turned his head, his gaze coldly locking onto James and Sirius, who were hovering to his side, their faces full of mockery.

"It seems the Potter family's upbringing," he said in a low, calm voice, "only taught you to show off your pathetic sense of balance on a broom and to chatter like a goblin while others are focused on studying. As for Black..."

He paused, a mocking smile playing on his lips. "The courage to run away from home was probably all used up on his clown imitations of baboons."

The air seemed to freeze for a moment.

James's smile froze, then turned bright red with anger. "What did you say?" He shoved the broom handle hard, the tip of the broom sticking up dangerously.

"He said you guys are annoying and stupid," Ian's voice chimed in lazily.

He maneuvered the broom, smoothly gliding to Severus's side, a somewhat nonchalant look on his face.

"Flying lessons are for learning how to fly, not for demonstrating how to polish a broom handle with your tongue, Potter. Or do you think Mrs. Hooch's explanation wasn't clear enough, and you need to personally 'demonstrate' what noise interference is?"

Kevin rode over on his broomstick, glaring at them. "Exactly! If you're so capable, let's see who can fly more steadily later. What's the point of just talking nonsense here? Are you trying to bully us because we're afraid to fight you on our broomsticks?"

"Bullying?" Sirius scoffed, his gray eyes sweeping over Severus's pale, tense face and Ian's feigned nonchalance. "We're just concerned about our classmate; after all, some people seem like they'd be dead if they were off the ground. Oh, and of course, his 'enthusiastic' new friends."

"Potter! Black!" Lily's voice was filled with obvious disapproval and anxiety.

She rode her broom, somewhat clumsily but trying her best to control the direction, approaching from the group of girls, her emerald green eyes full of reproach.

"Don't do that! Mrs. Hooch said to concentrate on your practice! What you're doing is dangerous, and... and very rude!"

James' face turned even redder after being publicly reprimanded by Lily, especially because of "someone like Snape," this time a mixture of embarrassment and anger at being contradicted.

He glared fiercely at Severus, then abruptly turned to Ian, who was standing up for Severus, as if he had found a more suitable target to vent his anger on.

"Bock?" James spat, maneuvering his broom closer until it almost brushed against Ian's handle. "You bastards from the gutter, you've learned to stick together for warmth now? What, you think you can gain a foothold in Slytherin by hanging out with half-bloods and...freaks?"

Before the last word was even finished, James seemed to be blinded by rage, or rather, he was determined to teach Ian a lesson. He suddenly slammed the broom head down and charged straight into the gap between Ian and Severus! The movement was fast and sudden, with a reckless and brute force.

"Potter!" Lily exclaimed.

Sirius seemed taken aback, not expecting James to charge directly at him.

Ian's pupils contracted, and he narrowly avoided James's collision, almost entirely on instinct.

The moment James started moving, Severus tried to dodge to the other side, but he was already stiff and the sudden change made him stagger. The broom immediately went out of control and fell a short distance. He groaned and grabbed the broom handle tightly with both hands to keep from falling.

"Are you looking for death?!" Kevin was both shocked and furious. Without thinking, he spurred his broom to crash into James, who had regained his balance and was about to turn around.

"Come on!" James steadied his broom, his face full of provocation and triumphant excitement, and turned around, seemingly intending to collide with Kevin.

"Stop! Stop right now!" A sharp whistle and Mrs. Hooch's angry roar rang out at the same time.

The former Quidditch pro sped off at incredible speed, weaving between Kevin and James, who were about to collide. He grabbed James' broom handle firmly with one hand and unleashed a magical attack with the other, bringing Kevin's broom to a halt in mid-air.

"Potter! Walker! And you, Burke! Black! Snape!" Madam Hodge snapped, her sharp gaze sweeping over the boys. "All of you! Land now!"

Her voice was unusually authoritative.

James glared resentfully at Kevin, who was separated from him by Lady Hodge, and Ian, whose face was cold. He then glanced at Severus, who had struggled to land with his broom, before angrily slamming the broom down.

Sirius landed as well, looking somewhat embarrassed, but still holding his chin up.

Lily quickly landed and ran to Severus, whose face was still pale, asking worriedly, "Severus, are you alright?"

Severus shook his head, loosening his grip on the broom handle; the rough wooden handle had left deep red marks on his palm.

He avoided Lily's concerned gaze and looked at James, Ian, and the others, who were being ordered to stand in a row by Madam Hooch and were enduring a barrage of scolding.

"—Blatantly violating safety regulations! Performing dangerous maneuvers in mid-air! Attempting to collide with classmates! Gryffindor: deduct 20 points! Slytherin: deduct 10 points!"

Mrs. Hodge's face flushed with anger. "Porter, for initiating this provocation and dangerous behavior, you're sent after class to clean the trophy room! Burke, Walker, and Black, each of you submit a fifteen-inch paper on flight safety rules by tomorrow morning!"

"As for you, Snape," she said, turning her gaze to Severus, her tone softening slightly but still stern, "keep your broom and your temper in check."

"Now, everyone, practice hovering in place. No one is allowed to leave the ground more than five feet without my permission! If I see any more of this, you'll be watching others take your flight lessons from the ground this semester!"