Sometimes, Sean felt that wizards were like barbarians cloaked in robes.
This thought came from a painting hanging under the stands—"'Violent Hand' Gant is the Winner."
It depicted a scene from an ancient German pole-propping game and was also a famous painting.
In the image, a group of wizards brandished sharpened brooms as they surrounded a wizard whose waist was tied with a rope, and behind the rope hung a large, inflated "bladder."
The wizard had to use all his magical strength to repel the attacking wizards and protect the "bladder" behind him from being destroyed.
If this alone weren't enough to make Sean feel that wizards were barbaric, the shocking part was that the "bladder" belonged to a fire dragon.
This meant that every time a match was held, a fire dragon would lose its… "bladder."
Sean suspected it was likely an outright lie concocted by wizards to display their strength and assert dominance in the magical world.
Much like some hunters hang animal heads at home.
Yet wizards' fascination with "bladders" was undeniably strange.
Under the northern stands, hung a painting of Ireland's once-popular stilted fire barrel contest, a recurring theme in many Irish wizarding folk songs.
The legendary wizard depicted, "Fearless" Fingol, was said to have been the champion of the stilted fire barrels.
Contestants carried "Dome" objects—or balls—dashing through a series of elevated, burning wooden barrels suspended in the air.
The winner was the one who successfully passed the Dome through all barrels at the fastest speed without catching fire.
The balls were sheep bladders.
And then there was the upside-down broomstick painting under the western stands.
Athletes rode brooms backward, using the bristled end to hit bladders back and forth between a circle of hedges. Hits scored points.
Those were pig bladders.
Without a doubt, all these bladders were meant to be burst after use.
Sean silently felt grateful for the audience of today. If this tradition had survived, current Quidditch matches would have been far more "exciting."
After all, there would have been interactive explosions for the spectators.
As the paintings on the stands receded, Sean walked toward the shed filled with brooms.
It seemed to be under a special enchantment.
Sean could see raindrops slowly falling on the shed, yet they never splashed inside.
"Madam Hooch."
Sean approached the gray-haired lady with anticipation.
"Mr. Green, punctuality is indeed a good habit." With a wave of her hand, a broom leapt into her grasp. "Today we have quite a few tasks. See those tall poles? That's the focus of today's training."
Sean lifted his hand in the same way, and a broom jumped into his grip as well. He and Madam Hooch looked toward the Quidditch poles together, their synchronized movements making him look like a miniature version of her.
Soon, two wizards, one large and one small, flew toward the Quidditch poles.
"Since you can now hover and fly properly, why not try some rapid turns?"
Even amid the roaring wind, Madam Hooch's voice was crystal clear, as if enchanted.
Under her guidance, Sean made numerous attempts around the poles.
Madam Hooch's requirement was:
"When flying at maximum speed, the distance turned around the pole must not exceed three feet, and you must perform turns from every angle."
This was undoubtedly a difficult goal.
After all, this was only Sean's third day handling a flying broom.
But magic never reasoned.
It only recognized talent.
[You practiced flying with Experienced Level Skill. proficiency +10]
[You practiced flying with Experienced Level Skill. proficiency +10]
[You practiced flying with Expert Level Skill. proficiency +50]
…
Sean heard the constant chime of the panel's notifications, and his movements became increasingly precise, guided by some instinct.
He began unconsciously seeking the most efficient, least strenuous posture.
At the same time, his connection with the broom grew stronger. He could almost sense every strand of magic imbued with will acting through the broom.
That was the true secret to mastering a flying broom.
Sean couldn't help but recall Madam Hooch's words:
The wizard who truly understands flight is the one who commands the broom.
This command might not exist solely in flying.
Perhaps it existed in potions as well…
Sean thought of the strange magical sensation in the cauldron when performing the improved ritual.
Just like with the broom, maybe brewing potions also required the wizard to guide the magic?
As he pondered this, he realized he had reached a bottleneck in his turning maneuvers.
The cause was the broom beneath him—it was far too old. Some spells or compound enchantments weren't functioning perfectly, producing small but noticeable issues.
Moreover, the broom contained a complex array of enchantments with various effects,
which made Sean think of some convoluted code written by programmers in his previous life.
It was a mystery how the broom still functioned…
Magic was indeed too all-encompassing.
"Remarkable progress!"
Madam Hooch naturally took Sean's broom, guiding the hovering broom to a separate storage spot.
"You intend to fly back to Ravenclaw Tower, right?"
Sean looked up in surprise, then immediately understood.
He wasn't the only wizard with that thought, and the Ravenclaw Tower was notoriously tall.
Even the Ravenclaws' stamina dropped significantly when climbing its stairs.
If you happened to be on the spiral staircase of Ravenclaw Tower at night, you'd hear quite a few small wizards' affectionate "greetings" about the tower.
"Every year, quite a few Ravenclaw students practice extra at the Quidditch pitch, but only a very small number are granted flying permission…"
Hooch said this, and Sean felt a twinge of nervousness.
Unfortunately, she only vaguely hinted at how rare this permission was—it might appear only once every few years—but she didn't specify how it could be obtained.
When leaving the pitch, Madam Hooch crossed her arms and handed Sean a parchment.
The moment he saw it, he silently memorized its content:
"Flying Permission for First-Year Hogwarts Students"
—Master at least ten common flying techniques;
—Obtain permission from the Hogwarts Flying Professor;
—Pass the flying test;
—After passing the test, possess at least one broom of Nimbus 1500 quality or higher (updated 1990).
Sean placed the parchment in his bag, next to the innermost Advanced Potion-Making.
With this document, his goal became much clearer. Yet Sean felt a weight in his chest:
the flying permission explicitly required a Nimbus 1500 broom, which was undoubtedly a difficult task.