From Hogwarts to Sturhaven

The Ball Bird constantly appears and disappears, instantly moving from one place to another.

A proud and dignified winged creature with the head of a hippogriff and the body of a horse, and also skilled in flying.

"It's a shame we can't take the Magical Creatures Protection class until our third year..." Harry muttered to himself as he lay in bed. This was what Ron had told him. Ron, who had many brothers at Hogwarts, always knew things that Harry didn't.

“Ron…” Harry called out softly, but only snoring and mumbling answered him.

"Unicorn tail feathers... Phoenix tail feathers... Hehe... They're all Galleons..."

During the day, they talked about unicorns and phoenixes in Hagrid's cabin. Ivy said that the dusty cushion under his butt was made of unicorn tail hair, and if it were cleaned, it could fetch a high price in Diagon Alley.

Harry still remembers how wide Ron's eyes were at that moment; this friend, whose family wasn't well-off, was always sensitive about such things.

As for the phoenix, Ivy said he had once saved a phoenix and named it "Spark," and even secretly kept it at Hogwarts for a while. Even his wand, made of silver linden wood, was made from Spark's tail feathers.

Harry was naive enough to ask, "Are phoenix feathers really that expensive? Then why did his wand, made of holly and phoenix feathers, only cost seven Galleons?"

Ivy smiled and told him that the Ministry of Magic would provide a certain subsidy for a young wizard's first wand, ensuring that all young wizards could get their own wand.

If an adult wizard wants to replace their wand, they have to spend a fortune. All wands other than the first one are priced according to the rarity of the materials used.

Harry's wand, made from phoenix tail feathers, is the rarest of the three types of wand cores sold at Ollivanders Wand Shop.

In addition, the wood used to make wands is also very particular, because not just any piece of wood can be made into a wand. Sometimes, a piece of high-quality wand wood can be more expensive than the wand core, as was the case with Ivy's silver linden wand.

It is said that in the 19th century, wizards were so fond of silver linden wands that the wood was once sold at exorbitant prices. The wand that Ivy had was custom-made for 170 Galleons. Of that, 5 Galleons was for the craftsmanship, and 165 Galleons were for the wand itself.

"...Nimbus 2000..."

Ron's sleep-talking changed again. Nimbus 2000 was a flying broomstick. Ever since Ron learned that Hagrid was a hidden millionaire, he had started discussing with Harry the idea of ​​finding things like unicorn tail hair in the Forbidden Forest to sell for money.

He also said that if he ever had money, he would first go to the Quidditch boutique in Diagon Alley to buy the best flying broomstick, which he called Nimbus 2000.

Thinking of this, Harry suddenly sighed. A notice about flying lessons had been posted on the Hogwarts bulletin board; they would be taking their first flying lesson with Slytherin next Thursday.

Harry's desire to learn to fly was incredibly strong, but the thought of attending classes with Slytherin made him...

During today's Potions class, Harry had already had enough of the Slytherin students' mockery, and the thought of making a fool of himself in front of Malfoy on a broomstick made him sigh.

Sure enough, the next morning, all the first-year students eating in the Great Hall began discussing flying brooms and flying skills. If they were from wizarding families, they could be heard boasting about it.

Some people have been playing Quidditch since they were little (Harry still doesn't know what kind of sport it is), some have spent most of their childhood riding broomsticks in the wilderness, some have dodged helicopters while riding broomsticks, and some have almost crashed into a Muggle hang glider while riding a broken broomstick.

This discussion not only continued throughout the weekend, but also seemed to intensify as Thursday approached.

“We should ask Ivy,” Ron suggested, stuffing cereal into his mouth. “He was a fifth-grader over a hundred years ago; he must have played Quidditch.”

Harry thought he was right, so he and Ron went to the library, which was the most likely place to find Ivy. They often managed to copy neatly written and carefully worded homework there.

“I’ve never played Quidditch.” Ivy shrugged. “I heard there was some accident last school year, so the headmaster at the time, Professor Phineas Black, banned the Quidditch Cup that year.”

“Oh... God,” Ron cried out in disappointment.

"Tap tap tap." Mrs. Pince tapped the table with the handle of her feather duster, and all three understood that this was a warning to them.

Ivy pointed to the door, and the three of them walked out of the library together.

“But I never said I wouldn’t use a flying broom,” Ivy told them with a smile, and Harry and Ron immediately beamed with joy.

“You shouldn’t be bothering Ivy!” An uninvited guest interrupted their conversation; it was Hermione.

This studious little witch spends almost all her time in the library, except for eating, attending classes, and sleeping. She can sometimes be seen when Harry and Ron play wizard chess in the common room, but she is usually holding a book.

"Come on," Ron rolled his eyes. "We're asking about our studies!"

"Really?" Hermione's face showed disbelief. "Then you don't mind if I listen in too, do you? You know, I am..."

Hermione didn't say anything more, but the expression on her face spoke volumes—the confidence of a top student.

"Hmph." Ron curled his lip. "I don't think a wizard from a Muggle family would have any unique insights into flying brooms."

Harry blushed immediately upon seeing Hermione's face, but Ivy stopped her before she could run away.

"It's not a particularly useful technique, and I'm sure someone as smart as you can figure it out yourself, but listening to me will save you some time, won't it, Hermione?"

Hermione blushed and nodded hesitantly, standing still without saying another word.

“First, we must overcome our fear. Flying brooms are like horses; if you’re afraid, you can’t possibly fly. As for the specific flying techniques, I think Mrs. Hodge will teach us,” Ivy concluded, holding up one finger.

"That's all?" Hermione asked incredulously.

“Otherwise what? This is an essential skill for wizards.” Ivy shrugged.

Chapter 33 Malfoy's Little Plot

“Malfoy, I don’t think I’ve seen Ivy?” Cassandra glared at Malfoy, followed by her two sisters—the quiet Tracy Davis and the always noisy Daphne Greengrass.

In the open space below the clock tower, Malfoy was chatting with several other first-year Slytherin students. After Cassandra and the other two joined, only Ivy was missing from the list of first-year Slytherin students.

"What?" A hint of displeasure flashed across Malfoy's face, as if the conversation had been interrupted.

Cassandra simply rolled her eyes and didn't answer Malfoy's question, while Tracy behind her spoke up: "She said Ivy isn't here."

“Of course! We’re talking about Ivy!” Malfoy said. “He’s a Slytherin too, and we should help him, especially let him know that those Gryffindor lads are nothing but a bunch of fools, not the lions they claim to be.”

“Weasley is one thing, but,” Blaise Sabine, standing behind Malfoy, hesitated for a moment before saying, “there’s also Harry Potter.”

"Come on," Malfoy scoffed. "You saw how he did in Potions class. The famous Potter is nothing special. He only survived the Dark Lord because of luck. He's just a first-year student like us, and an orphan at that."

"Hehehe..." Several Slytherin freshmen surrounding Malfoy chuckled softly, with Pansy Parkinson laughing especially loudly, as if Malfoy had actually told a fantastic joke.

“Hmm…” Blaise Sabini hesitated for a moment, then ultimately said nothing more.

“Enough.” Cassandra casually smoothed her hair, stopping the silly grin from continuing. “Tell me your plan, Malfoy.”

“As everyone knows…” Malfoy gave a sinister smile and said in a drawn-out tone, “Potter is an orphan who grew up with his Muggle aunt and had no connection with magic until he entered Hogwarts. So I plan to make him look bad in his flying class so that Ivy will understand that he is nothing but a good-looking fool.”

“Ha.” Cassandra forced a hoarse laugh from her throat. “Is this your whole plan? A stupid prank? If you could get Harry Potter expelled, I might think more highly of you.”

Cassandra's bright emerald eyes swept across the faces of every Slytherin behind Malfoy, then she shook her head and turned away.

“Jokes and pranks won’t get you anything from Ivy, Malfoy.”

Tracy Davis nodded to Malfoy and the others, and quickly followed Cassandra.

Daphne Greengrass, with her long, curly chestnut-gold hair, leaned closer and whispered, "To be honest, I'd rather see those Gryffindors make a fool of themselves. But Ivy might not be so keen; you know, he's the one who takes those upperclassmen..."

At this point, Daphne Greengrass shivered, as if a cold wind had blown into her collar.

"Anyway, since we're all purebloods, I wish you good luck."

After saying that, Daphne Greengrass quickly caught up with her two friends.

Malfoy frowned, staring in the direction they had left.

“Ignore them, Draco,” Pansy Parkinson said in a deliberately high-pitched voice. “In my heart, you are the best!”

“Okay…” Malfoy snapped out of his reverie and gave Pansy a strange look. “Let’s continue… Anyway, I think we could give Potter a good scare in flight class, like pretending to knock him off his flying broom or something… Maybe, we could also…”

Thursday arrived quickly, a sunny and breezy day. It wasn't anything special in September, when the sun was still quite visible, but if it were winter, the residents of the British Isles would definitely shout "Hallelujah!"

Ivy walked through the castle corridors to a flat lawn, the very spot where flying lessons were held. As Hogwarts' only physical education class, flying did indeed require a large open space.

The lawn was already filled with Slytherin students, each with a strange excitement on their face. Ivy had assumed these young Slytherin wizards were used to flying on broomsticks. He nodded to his classmates and began to reflect on his actions.

Ever since he sent most of the Slytherin upperclassmen to the school hospital on the night of the opening banquet, his classmates seemed somewhat afraid of him. Apart from Cassandra, no one had ever spoken to him, and even when he asked them questions, no one dared to look him in the eye.

Moreover, they always appear in groups, as if they would be eaten by Ivy if they were alone.

Once the Gryffindor students had gradually taken their places opposite the Slytherin students, almost everyone participating in the course had arrived.

Mrs. Hodge directed twenty-two brooms to be lined up in two rows on the lawn, making final preparations before class.

That's right, twenty-two is the total number of new students in Slytherin and Gryffindor this year, but the professors have already called roll enough times, and no one will be interested in hearing it all.

Mrs. Hooch glanced at her pocket watch one last time and then called the students to their brooms: "Alright, what are you waiting for? Everyone stand next to a flying broom. Hurry, hurry, make the most of it."

The broom at Ivy's feet was hardly tidy. The brass hoops used to bind the broom branches were covered in mottled green rust, and the branches, which were stuck haphazardly everywhere, had no aesthetic appeal whatsoever. If it weren't for the "cushion spell" cast on the wooden handle, Ivy wouldn't have straddled it.

He looked at his classmates' brooms again and was not surprised to find that his own was already in good condition.

"Perhaps Hogwarts has never changed its teaching brooms since a hundred years ago."

“Oh, these brooms are definitely not as old as you think, Mr. Doom.” Madam Hooch heard Ivy’s mutterings. “In the 1920s, after the two great flying broom companies, Sweeping and Comet, started their competition, they both provided Hogwarts with a batch of samples as teaching aids, which was also a kind of indirect advertising. It was at that time that Hogwarts phased out the flying brooms that were more than a hundred years old.”

"So the oldest of these brooms is no more than sixty years old," Mrs. Fokke concluded.

"Alright! Let's begin the formal lesson!" Madam Hodge called out from the front. "Everyone! Extend your right hand, place it above the broom handle, and say: 'Stand up!'"

Chapter 34 Flight Lesson

"Get up!" everyone on the lawn shouted.

Harry's broom jumped into his hands immediately, as did Ron's, and even Hermione's broom wobbled up a few feet before she grabbed it just before it fell.

The group exchanged surprised glances, and Harry whispered, "Ivy's method worked! Determination and courage are indeed the most important things!"

Looking at the other people on the field who were still chanting "Get up," they were genuinely happy.

Then Mrs. Hodge demonstrated to them how to ride the broom instead of sliding down. She walked through the group, correcting their hand grip.

"What is this?" Harry heard Madam Hooch's exclamation and turned around. She was standing next to Ivy, staring at his broom with amazement. "The Dream of the Moon! A custom-made one! Its maker only accepted private orders for a period of time more than a hundred years ago. It's a genuine antique! But I'm sure this isn't a Hogwarts broom. What's going on, Mr. Doom?"

“It’s my own broom,” Ivy said. “The broom on the ground is obviously completely broken.”