Hogwarts Study Panel

Chapter 58 58: Nimbus 1500
Sometimes, Sheen felt that wizards were like barbarians in robes.

The reason for this sentiment comes from the painting hanging below the stands—

“Gantt, the ‘violent man,’ is the winner.”

That depicts a scene from an ancient German column play, and it's also a very famous painting.
The image shows a group of wizards holding sharpened brooms, surrounding a wizard with a rope tied around his waist, behind which is a large, inflatable "bladder".

The wizard must use all his magic to drive away the attacking wizards and protect the "bladder" behind him from damage.
If this alone wasn't enough to make Sheen have this idea...
But to everyone's astonishment, this "bladder" belonged to a fire dragon.

This means that every time a match is held, one of the dragons will lose its... "bladder".

Sheehan suspected that this might be a complete lie fabricated by the wizards to demonstrate their power and show their dominance to the magical world.

Just like some hunters would hang animal heads in their homes.

But the wizards' preference for "bladder" is indeed quite strange.

Below the north stands,
A painting depicting Ireland's once-prosperous stilt-and-fire-barrel competitions hangs on the wall.

That is a recurring theme in many Irish wizarding folk songs.

The legendary wizard "Fearless" Fingal, depicted in the image, was reportedly a champion of stilt fire barrels.

One by one, the contestants carried "domes," or balls, and quickly passed through a series of burning barrels supported by stilts and suspended high in the air.

The player who gets Dom through all the barrels the fastest without getting on fire is the winner.

The ball is the sheep's bladder.

Let's talk about the backwards broomstick painting under the Western stands.

The athletes ride brooms backwards and use the twig end of the broom to hit their bladders back and forth between a circle of hedges; a hit scores a point.

That uses a pig's bladder.

Without a doubt, these bladders would burst after being used.

Sheehan silently rejoiced for the current audience; if this tradition had unfortunately survived, Quidditch matches today might be even more "exciting."

After all, it added an interactive segment for the audience after the explosion.

As the portraits on the stands receded into the distance, Sheen walked to the shed filled with brooms.

It seems as if a special spell has been cast here.

Sheen could see the raindrops slowly falling on the shed, but they never managed to splash into the shed.

"Madam Huo Qi".

Sheen walked up to the gray-haired lady with anticipation.

"Mr. Green, punctuality is indeed a good habit,"

With a wave of her hand, Mrs. Hotchki's broom jumped into her hands.
"We have a lot of tasks to do today. See those tall poles? That's the focus of our training today."

Sheehan raised his hand as well, and the broom jumped into his hand in the same way. He and Mrs. Hooch both looked toward the Quidditch club.
His consistent, continuous movements made him look like a smaller version of Mrs. Hooch.

Soon, the two wizards, one big and one small, flew close to the Quidditch stick.

"Now that you can hover and fly normally, why not try some quick turns?"

Lady Hooch's words were crystal clear even in the howling wind, as if some kind of magic had been used.

Under her guidance, Sheen put in a lot of effort around the pole.

Mrs. Hodge's requirements were:

"Even at the fastest flight speed, the distance of turning around the pole cannot exceed three feet, while turning at various angles at the same time."

This is undoubtedly a difficult goal.

Keep in mind, this was only Sheen's third day using a flying broom. But magic never works out of logic.

It only talks about talent.

[You have practiced flying to a proficient standard, proficiency +10]

[You have practiced flying to a proficient standard, proficiency +10]

[You practiced flying to expert standards, proficiency +50]

……

Hearing the continuous beeping of notification sounds from the control panel, his movements became increasingly nimble, guided by some kind of instinct.

He began subconsciously searching for the most effective and effortless posture.

At the same time, his connection with the broom grew stronger and stronger; he could almost sense the effect of the magic in each strand, imbued with his own will, on the broom.

That's the real secret to mastering the flying broom.

Sheen couldn't help but recall Mrs. Hodge's words:
The wizards who truly understand flight are those who wield brooms.

This kind of mastery may not only exist in flight.

Perhaps it still exists in potions...

Sheen recalled the strange magic he felt in the cauldron when he used the modified ritual.
Just like wielding a broom, perhaps a wizard needs to guide magic when brewing potions?
As he was thinking this, he realized he had hit a bottleneck in his control of the steering.
The reason is that the broom under him is too old, and some of the spells or a combination of spells are having some problems.

In addition, it contains a complex set of spells with various functions.

It easily evokes images of certain mountain-shaped codes created by programmers in a past life.

I don't know how this broom is still running...

Magic is indeed incredibly comprehensive.

"A surprising advancement!"

Mrs. Hodge naturally took Sheehan's broom and guided the floating broom to a separate storage place.

"You're planning to fly back to the Ravenclaw Tower, right?"

Sheen looked up in surprise, then realized what was happening.

I'm sure I'm not the only wizard with this idea, and Ravenclaw Tower is also known for its height.

As a result, the Ravenclaws' behavior tends to decline significantly when climbing buildings.

If you happen to be on the spiral staircase of Ravenclaw Tower at night, you'll hear many young wizards offering their friendly "greetings" to the tower.

Every year, quite a few Ravenclaw wizards practice extra at the Quidditch pitch.
But only a very small number of junior wizards can obtain a flying permit…

As Mrs. Hodge spoke, Sheehan became somewhat nervous.

Unfortunately, Mrs. Hooch only vaguely indicated the rarity of this permission—it only appeared once every few years.
However, it was not specified how it was obtained.

As they left the stadium, Mrs. Hodge, with her arms folded, handed Sheehan a piece of parchment.

Sheen silently memorized it the moment he saw it:
Flying Permits for First-Year Wizards at Hogwarts

—Master at least ten commonly used flying skills;
— Obtain permission from the Hogwarts flying instructor;
—Passed flight tests;

—After passing the test, you must have at least one broom with a quality of 1500 or higher (updated in 1990).

Sheen put the parchment into his bag and attached it to the innermost "Advanced Potion Making" book.

With this material, the goal became clearer, but what weighed heavily on Sheen's mind was...
The flight permit explicitly states that a Nimbus 1500 is required, which is undoubtedly a difficult task.

(End of this chapter)