"Let's fly a few more laps over the Black Lake," Tyler said, his voice bright with excitement.
The flying sword beneath his feet tilted smoothly, cutting a sharp curve through the damp air as it turned away from Hogwarts Castle and swept back toward the wide, dark lake. Wind rushed over the blade, tugging at Tyler's robes and ruffling both his and Harry's hair until they could barely see. Beneath them, the water rippled like black glass, and the enchanted boats below looked tiny against the vastness of the lake.
"Hey!" Hagrid roared from below, his voice booming with panic. "Harry, get down here! That's dangerous!"
The sight of Harry standing high above the lake on a transformed sword nearly scared the soul out of him. Hagrid had worried about plenty of things in his life, from dangerous creatures to angry professors, but watching James and Lily Potter's son fly over deep water on a piece of reckless first-year magic was enough to make his heart hammer against his ribs. He waved both arms frantically, as if he could somehow pull Harry back to safety by shouting loudly enough.
"Hi, Hagrid!" Harry shouted back, waving with one hand while gripping Tyler's sleeve with the other.
He should have been terrified. A sensible person probably would have been, especially with the cold wind tearing at his face and the Black Lake spinning beneath him. But Harry was grinning so hard his cheeks hurt. The fear was still there, sharp and electric, but it had been swallowed by something much stronger.
Flying felt incredible.
On the other sword, Ron was having a far less graceful experience. Jamie stood calmly with one hand behind his back, while Ron clung to his arm as if the entire world depended on it. His face had gone pale, his freckles stood out sharply, and every time the sword dipped even slightly, he made a strangled noise in the back of his throat.
"Ron," Jamie said, glancing down at him, "hold on properly. If you fall, I can't guarantee you won't drown before we pull you back up."
"I am holding on!" Ron shouted, tightening his grip until Jamie's sleeve twisted under his fingers.
He made the mistake of looking down and immediately regretted it. The Black Lake stretched beneath them, deep, cold, and impossibly dark, with no bottom in sight. Ron had heard enough stories about Hogwarts to know there were things living in that water, and if the fall did not kill him, something with too many teeth or tentacles might finish the job. His head spun, and he clamped both arms around Jamie's arm with renewed desperation.
Below them, the first-year boats drifted steadily toward the castle, but no one was paying proper attention to the traditional crossing anymore. Every student had their head tilted back, staring at the two flying swords cutting through the stormy sky. The magnificent view of Hogwarts had been temporarily defeated by the sight of four boys flying like something out of a legend.
"I'm so jealous," one boy said, nearly rising out of his boat before the girl beside him yanked him back down. "They actually get to fly over the lake."
"I want to try it too," another whispered, eyes shining with longing. "That looks amazing."
"Are they really first years like us?" a girl asked, staring at Tyler and Jamie as if trying to decide whether they were students or disguised older wizards. "They can't be. No normal first year can do that."
In Harry and Ron's boat, Hermione sat stiffly beside Neville, the only passenger left with her now that the other two had been carried into the sky. Her face was pale with outrage and worry, and she kept glancing between Hagrid and the boys above them, as though expecting someone responsible to put an end to the madness at any moment.
"It's far too dangerous," Hermione said, her voice tight. "If they fall, they could die."
Neville nodded quickly, clutching Trevor against his chest. "Y-yes. If it were me, I wouldn't dare. I'd probably faint again."
He was not exaggerating. Just watching Tyler and Jamie swoop over the lake was enough to make his stomach twist. The idea of standing up there himself, with nothing beneath him but a magically altered boat and a drop into the dark water, made his knees weak even while he was safely seated.
"Tyler and Jamie are completely lawless," Hermione muttered, folding her arms. "It's bad enough that they behave recklessly on their own, but now they've dragged Harry and Ron into it as well."
Her intentions were good, and anyone sensible would have admitted she was right to worry. The problem was her tone. Every word sounded like a lecture waiting to happen, and even Neville, who was far too nervous to argue with anyone, could understand why Ron had bristled at her earlier.
"I wouldn't be surprised if they were expelled from Hogwarts," Hermione said.
Neville's eyes widened. "Expelled? Do you really think they will be?"
He did not want that. Tyler and Jamie had been kind to him, and even if they were terrifyingly bold, Neville could not help thinking of them as friends. The thought of them being sent away before the first feast made his chest tighten.
"If the professors see them, they might," Hermione said, though uncertainty softened her voice at the end.
For all her scolding, she did not truly want them expelled either. She was angry, frightened, and deeply convinced that rules existed for good reasons, but she did not hate them. If anything, her frustration came from the fact that they seemed determined to make trouble when they were obviously clever enough to know better.
Above the lake, Tyler glanced toward the boats and saw that Hagrid's little fleet was nearing the underground landing beneath the castle. The moment had been fun, but dragging it out much longer would only make the coming scolding worse. More importantly, the storm clouds were gathering quickly, and flying with lightning building overhead was not a wise way to show off.
"That's enough," Tyler said. "Let's wait for them at the castle."
He guided the flying sword downward, and Jamie followed a moment later. The two blades swooped toward the underground dock cut into the rock beneath Hogwarts, descending in smooth arcs before coming to a steady halt above the shore. Harry jumped down first, his eyes still bright, and Ron stumbled off Jamie's sword with the stiff legs of someone who had just survived a personal war.
The instant their feet touched solid ground, the two massive swords twisted back into their original forms. The Transfiguration unwound, wood reshaping and shrinking until the broad blades became two small boats again. They dropped lightly onto the lake and drifted back into place as if nothing unusual had happened.
"Oh, thank goodness," Hagrid said, rushing over at once. "Harry, you're all right!"
He crouched and looked Harry over anxiously, checking his arms, shoulders, face, and robes as if expecting to find missing pieces. His large hands hovered uncertainly, too worried to be gentle and too gentle to grab properly. "You didn't hurt yourself, did you?"
"I'm fine, Hagrid," Harry said quickly. "Tyler just showed me what flying feels like. It was amazing."
The happiness on Harry's face stopped Hagrid's scolding in its tracks. He had been prepared to give a fierce lecture about danger, common sense, and not standing on enchanted swords over deep water, but the words tangled in his beard and refused to come out. Harry looked so alive, so delighted, that Hagrid could not bear to crush the moment completely.
"Well," Hagrid muttered, scratching the back of his head, "if you like flying that much, I reckon you'll enjoy flying lessons. First years get those soon enough."
"Flying lessons?" Harry asked at once. "Do we fly on swords too?"
"Oh, no," Hagrid said. "Broomsticks. You'll learn to fly on broomsticks."
Ron recovered much faster now that he was back on land. Within minutes, fear had transformed into glory, and he was surrounded by several first years as he described the flight with enormous enthusiasm. His hands moved wildly as he spoke, and the more impressed the others looked, the taller he seemed to stand.
"I'm telling you, flying is brilliant," Ron said, puffing up with pride. "Jamie took me around Hogwarts Castle a few times, and it's massive from above. You can see the towers, the lake, the whole grounds—everything."
"You went around the castle?" someone asked, awed.
"Yeah," Ron said, carefully leaving out the part where he had nearly strangled Jamie's arm from terror. "And I saw something moving in the Black Lake from up there too. Something big."
Draco Malfoy watched the little crowd around Ron with visible irritation. He had no patience for Weasleys at the best of times, and seeing Ron being admired was especially unbearable. After a moment, he lifted his chin and spoke loudly enough for everyone nearby to hear.
"What's so impressive about that?" Draco said. "My father took me flying on a broom when I was younger. We nearly crashed into a Muggle aeroplane once."
Several students looked over. Draco smirked, pleased to have their attention again. "You do know what an aeroplane is, don't you? One of those ugly iron birds Muggles use because they can't fly properly. Absolutely dreadful things."
Ron's ears went red, but before he could snap back, the attention had already shifted elsewhere. A cluster of first years had hurried over to Tyler and Jamie, surrounding them with bright, eager faces. The boys looked admiring, the girls looked fascinated, and all of them spoke at once.
"What magic was that?"
"Can you teach us?"
"Can you take us flying too?"
"Was that Transfiguration?"
"How did you make the sword move?"
"You looked so cool!"
Draco did not approach. Neither did Crabbe or Goyle. If it had only been Harry and Ron, Draco would have strutted over to mock them without hesitation. But after what had happened on the train, and after watching Tyler and Jamie transform boats into flying blades, he had no intention of provoking them again.
The crowd around Tyler and Jamie grew noisier by the second. Everyone wanted an answer, and no one was waiting long enough to hear one. Their voices overlapped until the questions became a buzzing wall of excitement.
"Quiet," Tyler said.
He did not shout, but the word landed with unexpected weight. A faint pressure slipped from him, not deliberate enough to be called a threat but powerful enough to make the young wizards fall silent. One by one, they closed their mouths and stared at him.
"First of all," Tyler said, looking around at them, "we've already reached Hogwarts Castle, and we're about to go inside. There's no time to take anyone flying."
A few students looked disappointed, but no one interrupted. The storm rumbled overhead, and the first drops of rain began to tap against the stone near the lake.
"Secondly," Tyler continued, "it's about to rain, and flying in weather like this is dangerous. If you meet lightning in the air, you won't look heroic. You'll be blasted into a lump of charcoal. Do you want to become like that?"
.....
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