[Note: Read up to Chapter - 109 on P patron at: p-atreon.com/Knockturn_Alley]
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"I'm sorry, Madam Hooch... I reckon brooms just aren't my thing," Aris said sincerely.
"Oh?" Madam Hooch's tone softened a little. For a moment, she'd feared he was about to pull something daft in her class. Most of the staff had already heard snippets about his colourful antics over the past couple of days.
Aris's "achievements" had spread among the professors like wildfire, and she'd been rather wary about dealing with him. But looking at him now—polite, respectful—he seemed perfectly well-mannered.
Maybe he was just lacking confidence.
She'd never had a student flat-out admit that flying wasn't for them on their very first broom lesson.
"Is that Shafiq? Looks like he's not exactly bonding with his broom…"
"Even the top swot's got weak spots, eh?"
A few nearby students noticed and started whispering.
"Bit mean to say, but I'm kinda chuffed seeing Aris struggle for once," Terry muttered to Anthony, thinking Aris hadn't heard him.
Anthony gave a knowing nod. Aris's dominance in other classes had bruised their egos more than once.
After being outshone by him time and again, they couldn't help but feel a tiny bit smug watching him stumble.
But not everyone felt the same.
"That's enough!" Hermione suddenly snapped, clearly irritated. "Even Aris can't be good at everything, can he?"
She glared at the whispering boys, her tone unusually fierce.
At the same time, she glanced over at Aris, a flicker of worry in her eyes.
Meanwhile, Madam Hooch had walked over to him, eyeing the broom that hadn't budged an inch.
"Don't fret, Mr. Shafiq. It's tricky for everyone at first," she said kindly, trying to reassure him.
"But flying's a skill every wizard's got to learn. Maybe give it another go?" said Madam Hooch encouragingly.
Aris heard Hermione standing up for him and shot her a gentle smile.
Then he turned to Madam Hooch. The smile lingered, though it now carried a curious little twist.
"I think there's been a bit of a misunderstanding, Madam Hooch," he said, still polite but plainly amused.
"It's not that I can't ride a broom—I just think… well, it's not exactly my thing."
He tapped the handle of the school broom beside him and added, "To be honest, this thing's a bit of a pain—literally. The seat's uncomfortable, the stability's shoddy, and this old 050 model? Doesn't exactly scream style, does it?"
The younger students around him stared in surprise, clearly not expecting such blunt honesty.
Aris went on, eyes bright with mischief, "Surely there's a better way to fly? Something safer, more stable… and maybe with a bit of flair, yeah?"
Madam Hooch raised an eyebrow. "So you're saying, just because of that, broom flying's not worth learning?"
"I'm not saying that at all," Aris replied truthfully. "I just don't want to learn it."
He made it sound simple—as if opting out of broom lessons was as normal as skipping pudding.
Madam Hooch looked baffled.
"But flying's part of wizarding culture! There's Quidditch, for starters—it's one of the biggest sports we've got! Why on earth wouldn't you want to be part of that?"
Aris gave a shrug, eyes wandering. "That's only because no one's seen anything better."
His voice dropped to a mutter, "Just wait till they see proper flying… now that's something else."
Images of futuristic flying cars and sleek magical vehicles zipped through his mind.
Now that was flying.
Not diving around in stormy skies, chasing after a ball in the middle of a downpour with nothing but robes to keep warm.
"Aris… you probably shouldn't say stuff like that," Hermione muttered beside him, torn between concern and disbelief.
Off to the side, young Harry tugged lightly at Aris's sleeve, a faint crease forming between his brows.
It didn't need saying—Harry Potter loved broom-flying. He had a natural gift for it, and that love only deepened after learning his dad had once been a Quidditch player himself.
So now, hearing Aris slag off broomsticks in front of everyone? It didn't sit right with him.
Beside him, Ron wore a similarly puzzled look. He wasn't especially mad about brooms himself, but Harry was—and when Harry got picked as Gryffindor's Seeker, Ron had thought that was pretty brilliant.
He didn't exactly know why, but maybe it was the thrill of escaping the drudgery of classroom life—or maybe flying just felt like freedom. Either way, he'd grown to like the idea.
And now this Aris bloke was standing there, practically calling it all daft.
"So," Ron said, folding his arms, "what exactly do you reckon is cooler than flying on a broomstick?"
Aris's remark had clearly rubbed Madam Hooch the wrong way, too. Her tone sharpened as she stepped forward. "I'd very much like to hear this," she said, not bothering to hide her scepticism.
She adored Quidditch—lived for it, even—and to her, broom-flying was the height of wizarding sport. To have some cheeky first-year claim otherwise? It grated.
Without missing a beat, Aris answered, "Easy. A flying sports car, for one."
The class blinked.
He paused, realising a proper flying car wasn't something he could whip up on the spot—at least not yet.
So instead, he went with something else.
"Well, maybe not that today. But I can show you something better than Broom."
He raised his wand and pointed it at a nearby patch of grass. "Transfigurare!"
In an instant, the green blades rippled and shimmered—then twisted and reshaped, forming a Skateboard that hovered just above the ground, and it didn't have any wheels under it.
The little wizards gasped in unison.
The best part? The Hoverboard looked proper cool—ticking nearly every box in a young lad's mind when it comes to coolness…
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
Aris's voice rang out again.
With a flawless swish of his wand, the Hoverboard rose steadily into the air, gliding up with surprising grace. Then, flashing a cheeky grin, Aris leapt straight onto it.
Brooms? Coolest way to fly? You must be having a laugh. Hadn't anyone heard of Hoverboard?
Using the levitation charm to control the Hoverboard, Aris added a protective spell around himself to fend off the wind. The Hoverboard floated upwards—smooth and steady—then shot forward in a burst of speed, cutting through the sky and vanishing into the low-hanging clouds.
The wind, deflected by the charm, split around him in twin streams of white, visible to the naked eye like waves bowing to his path. It looked like something out of a futuristic movie—an energy shield rippling at the front as he carved through the air.
"Was that... Transfiguration and Levitation? No... no, that's definitely a spell variant—far more refined than a basic levitation charm," Madam Hooch murmured, eyes wide, tracking Aris as he soared above them.
Technically, the levitation spell wasn't supposed to work like that. You couldn't just lift yourself up using magic like that—magic flowing outward and back in would usually create a circuit-break effect. Like shorting a wire, the spell would fail from the feedback.
But Aris had found a workaround.
By transfiguring the patch of grass into a Hoverboard, then levitating that instead of himself, he bypassed the usual limit. He used the Hoverboard as a medium—an anchor—and just happened to ride it like a wand-wielding daredevil.
In theory, it was sound. In practice, it was bloody difficult.
What stunned Madam Hooch most wasn't just the idea—it was that he'd actually pulled it off.
What truly floored her wasn't just the flying—it was Aris's sheer command over magic and his understanding of spells.
That sort of skill? It'd put most fully qualified adult wizards to shame.
And he was only eleven. Fresh through the doors of Hogwarts.
Could someone really be born that talented?
Unlike the still-baffled Madam Hooch, the rest of the young wizards had quickly gone from stunned silence to utter excitement.
"Aris actually flew up—on a Board! Well, what kind of board is that?"
"No way—you don't know? It's a skateboard, it's just that it doesn't have any wheels… But still, it's really miles cooler than a broom!"
"He even brought his broom, didn't touch it once! Who's ever seen anything like this?"
"So this is what Aris meant when he said there were cooler ways to fly than a broom?"
The little wizards were giddy, some even darting across the pitch beneath him, chasing after the soaring figure like fans after a Quidditch star.
Their brooms? Scattered and forgotten somewhere on the grass.
"He's mad, isn't he? Always pulling something no one else would even think of…" one of them muttered, half in awe.
"How on earth did he come up with that?" Harry asked aloud, staring skyward with a mix of envy and amazement. But then his gaze dropped, and his smile faded slightly. "Even if I tried to fly using Transfiguration and Levitation, I doubt I'd manage it in the next few years…"
"But it's dead cool, right?" Ron said, eyes still following Aris.
"It is," Harry admitted, though a bit reluctantly. "But… flying on a broom's still cool too, yeah?"
"Maybe…" Ron trailed off, clearly humouring him.
Still, it was plain to see—his eyes never left the Hoverboard slicing across the clouds.
"Aris, that's enough—get down from there this instant!"
After a good while, Madam Hooch suddenly seemed to remember something, and her anxious voice rang out sharply as she waved frantically at Aris.
She knew full well that while Aris's flying method looked dead impressive, it came with serious risks.
To keep both a Levitation Charm and a protective charm running simultaneously—and steer at that kind of speed? That had to burn through a ton of magical energy.
And how much magic could an eleven-year-old really muster?
Madam Hooch had to admit—the boy's talent was nothing short of astonishing. She'd never seen anything like it in all her years at Hogwarts.
But magical reserves weren't built overnight. If Aris ran dry mid-air, there'd be only one outcome—a straight drop out of the sky.
Up above Hogwarts, Aris didn't seem to hear the calls from below—not from the other kids, nor from Madam Hooch.
He was too lost in the thrill of it all.
Hoverboard-flying—now this was flying.
The wind howled past his ears, only to be softened by the protective charm. The Hoverboard beneath his feet moved like an extension of himself, steered almost by instinct. The Levitation Charm held it aloft with surprising stability.
The only issue? Standing on the Hoverboard didn't feel quite… safe. A misstep, and he could tumble right off.
But Aris was nothing if not quick-witted.
With a slight flick of Transfiguration, he reshaped the Hoverboard beneath his feet—adding a small raised section to brace his stance and lock himself in place.
Problem sorted.
Compared to broom-flying, Hoverboard flight had one obvious drawback—it burned through magic like nobody's business.
But the best part? No broomstick digging into his crotch—and frankly, Aris thought this was miles cooler than flying around on a broom.
For short bursts, Hoverboard-flying was perfectly manageable. For longer flights, though, he had to admit a broom was more practical.
He could accept that.
Still, when compared to a flying sports car? A broom didn't stand a chance. Not even close.
"Swoosh~"
Aris soared above the castle, taking in a stunning aerial view of Hogwarts. The wind whistled past as he swept by the windows and began his descent.
And just behind one of those windows—coincidentally—Professor Levi was in the middle of teaching Ravenclaw's third-years.
"Oi, look! What on earth is that?!"
"Wicked! Someone's flying past—but they're not on a broom!"
"Hang on... they're flying on a wooden board?!"
"Is that... is that Shafiq?!"
The third-year Ravenclaws had all but forgotten about class. They bolted to the window, pressing their faces to the glass as they watched the elegant figure arc through the air, circling like a hawk before slowly descending to the ground.
The classroom broke into a frenzy.
At the front, Professor Flitwick stood baffled.
He hadn't seen what had just happened—Aris had zipped past the window directly behind him.
But as the excited murmurs grew into a clamour, Flitwick spun round and hurried to the window himself.
And when he looked out… well, his expression said it all.
"Merlin's beard! That's a flawless bit of Transfiguration and Levitation! That child—wait a tick, that's Aris!!!"
"This little rascal—can he not go a single night without stirring up trouble?!"
"How dare he pull such a dangerous stunt!"
The moment Professor Flitwick realised the student was none other than Aris, he completely lost his composure. He didn't even spare a glance at the third-years crowding the window—he simply bolted from the classroom, heart racing.
All he could think was: Please, let me get to him before his magic runs out.
Outside, a murmuring crowd of students still had their eyes glued to the sky.
"How in the world did he manage to fly on a board?!" Marietta, Cho Chang's closest friend, blurted in disbelief, her face full of awe.
Cho, quiet for a beat, finally spoke—her voice soft, almost reverent:
"Maybe it's not called flying on a wooden board…"
"But rather… flying with a wooden board."
That image—of a boy flying effortlessly through the clouds, robes flapping, had been burned into her memory.
Even ten years from now... twenty... fifty... a full century down the line...
She knew one thing for certain.
She would never forget that moment.
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Drop power Powerstonessssssssss!
[Note: Read up to Chapter - 109 on P patron at: p-atreon.com/Knockturn_Alley]