Chapter 71: Quidditch Training
Chapter 71: Quidditch Training
"Their greatest dream is to start their own circus and travel the world with it." Mark introduced Mario, Danny, and Jack to Albert and the others, explaining why they were called the "Acrobat Trio" with a smile.
"That's a wonderful dream." Albert curiously sized up the trio and then made a throwing motion with his hand towards them.
"Easy!" Mario said, producing several small balls with streamers from somewhere and beginning to juggle as he walked. The balls weaved through the air like swimming fish, forming a captivating circle that was far more mesmerizing than any Muggle juggling act.
"Impressive!" The group stopped to watch Mario's performance, unable to hold back their applause.
"Alright, that's enough of that. Let's head to the pitch," Charlie shouted at them.
Mario gave Charlie a sheepish smile, tossed all the balls into the air, and then opened his robe pockets to catch them all.
This action earned him another round of applause.
At Charlie's urging, the group jogged into the Quidditch stadium. They first went to the changing room next to the pitch and put on the protective gear used in matches, which looked similar to what one would wear for roller skating. Charlie had arranged for Albert to work on his flying skills and get comfortable riding a broom.
After all, Albert had only recently started using a broom, and he needed to familiarize himself with flying in the sky.
Most pure-blood wizards started flying on brooms at a young age, and George and Fred were prime examples of this, as they were both skilled broom riders.
In fact, not just Albert, but all the newcomers needed to learn how to fly. They had to adapt to flying and train their reflexes while riding a broom.
Albert looked at the broom assigned to him. It was old and broken, with some of the twigs sticking out at odd angles, clearly not well-maintained.
He stepped onto the broom, ready for Charlie's command.
"Let's take off and fly around the pitch!" Charlie led the group, circling the stadium.
After taking off, Albert found that his broom handled like an old bicycle—it was slow and difficult to control.
However, Charlie maintained a steady pace, neither too fast nor too slow, so keeping up with the team wasn't an issue. The only one lagging behind was Lee Jordan. After all, he had only ridden a broom a few times and was a complete newcomer. Although his riding skills were already impressive for a newcomer, he couldn't help but be compared to Albert! There's no harm in comparing; it only highlights the gap!
This made Lee Jordan seem even more out of sync with the team's flying pace.
"You're doing well."
After completing five laps around the pitch and finishing the warm-up, the others were generous with their praise. It was impressive that Albert, a first-year student, could keep up with their pace, indicating that he had some foundation in flying.
Moreover, everyone noticed that Albert flew steadily and turned corners nimbly, which didn't seem like the skill of someone who had only ridden a broom a few times.
Through this circling flight, it was easy to understand why Charlie had high hopes for Albert.
After the circling flight, the regular players began their training, while the newcomers continued to work on their flying skills. However, this time, the difficulty was slightly increased as two Bludgers were released from a box by Charlie. The Weasley twins' task was to hold bats and guard Albert's team, flying alongside them and protecting them from the Bludgers.
Of course, this was a simple drill for Beaters, whose job was to defend their teammates with the bats in their hands.
Naturally, after releasing the Bludgers, everyone had to be on high alert to avoid being hit, which significantly increased the pressure. But as a qualified Quidditch player, enduring this pressure was a necessary part of the process.
Fortunately, the Bludgers didn't cause too much trouble, and George and Fred successfully batted away any incoming Bludgers.
"What's wrong?"
Midway through the flight, Lee Jordan suddenly descended, and Albert, who was leading the circling flight, noticed. He lowered his body and quickly landed next to Lee Jordan.
"It's nothing. I just realized I can't keep up with the pace, so I'm thinking of giving up," Lee Jordan said. He was well aware that Fred and George had been riding brooms for a long time and were better than most. Although Albert had started riding brooms around the same time as him, there was a clear reason Charlie called him a genius. In just a few attempts, Albert had already mastered flying. Angelina's flying skills weren't as good as the three of them, but she was still excellent, and she was also working hard to improve.
What about me?
Lee Jordan didn't think he was terrible, but he knew he couldn't keep up with the pace of these four. He also remembered Albert's words—it wasn't possible for everyone in the same dormitory to be Quidditch players; that would only breed resentment.
"I'm thinking of dropping out," Lee Jordan said.
"Actually," Albert patted Lee Jordan's shoulder and said, "I never expected to become a regular player myself. Do you know why I'm here?"
"Why?" Lee Jordan asked naively.
"Because games are more fun when everyone plays together," Albert smiled at the three who had landed behind him. "Think of it as me accompanying them during training. Besides, I quite enjoy the feeling of flying, regardless of whether I play Quidditch or not."
"You must like that feeling too," Albert smiled at Lee Jordan. "Alright, let's continue!"
"The feeling of flying?" Lee Jordan murmured. It was undeniable that Albert was right; he did enjoy the sensation of riding a broom through the air, and that was one of the appeals of Quidditch.
The flying practice continued, and Albert lost track of how long he had been flying. Around the fifteenth lap, he started to let loose.
He tried to fly faster and attempted some more challenging maneuvers.
Unfortunately, when this broken broom flew too fast, it started to shake as if it might fall apart at any moment.
"It seems... broken?" Albert found that even after slowing down, the old broom was still trembling. Had he broken it?
Without hesitation, he landed on the ground. Falling off a broken broom from high in the sky wouldn't be fun, and he hadn't learned any cushioning charms yet.
"What's wrong?" George asked, confused.
"My broom is trembling, and I think it might be broken," Albert said helplessly.
"It's probably because the broom is too old. My broom also shakes uncontrollably when I fly too high," Fred said helplessly, looking at George.
"Mine tends to veer slightly to the left," George added, mentioning his own broom issues.
"I'll stop flying for now," Albert said. "I want to check that out."
He pointed to the book, "A History of Quidditch," in the changing room. Charlie had specially borrowed it for them to read. In Charlie's words, how could a Quidditch enthusiast not have read this book?
(End of Chapter)
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