Hogwarts: Voldemort, don't stop me from studying!

The eagle and the badger nodded obsequiously in agreement.

"Alright! Now everyone stand next to a flying broom!"

Under Mrs. Hooch's watchful eye, everyone moved quickly and without scrambling. However, the school's flying brooms were incredibly old; each one was broken, with tangled branches and uneven oak handles that were too rough to even sweep.

But they want to sit on this thing and fly.

Wade suddenly realized that flying on a broomstick might not be good for his tailbone.

He heard Michael mutter under his breath, "Meteor—the cheapest broom..."

Wade glanced at it; Michael's broom was even more worn than his, looking like it was made entirely of weeds.

Mrs. Huo said loudly, “Stretch out your right hand, place it above the broom handle, and say—Get up!”

"Get up!" the students shouted in unison.

Wade's broom rolled twice on the ground before jumping into his hand. He reached out and grasped it, feeling that he didn't need to exert much force, as the broom would float in the air on its own.

He turned to look at the others. Some succeeded immediately, while others—like Michael—had their brooms bouncing on the ground like dehydrated fish, taking a long time to reach their hands.

After all the students had taken their brooms, Mrs. Hooch taught them how to ride them without falling off, and sternly corrected some students' incorrect posture.

Wade initially thought it would be simple, because he remembered Harry Potter in the movies always effortlessly riding away on his broomstick. But once he actually got on, he realized it wasn't so easy. After all, the broomstick handle was just a thin stick, and maintaining balance while sitting on it required some skill.

Fortunately, the pressure on some of the fragile bones wasn't as great as one might expect. The broom seemed to be enchanted, making riding on it feel like sitting in a chair. Not very comfortable, but not too bad either.

Mrs. Hooch was not satisfied with everyone's posture until she allowed the students to proceed to the next step—flying.

“When I blow the whistle, you all push off the ground,” Mrs. Hodge said. “Hold your brooms tight, but don’t lift them too high unless you want to fly into the clouds! Lift them up a little, rise slowly a few feet, glide forward slowly, and then slowly come back down to the ground.”

Mrs. Hooch said "Slowly" three times in a row before saying, "Listen to my whistle—three, two, one!"

As soon as the whistle blew, the students immediately split into groups—some flew too high, while others plummeted to the ground, and two students lost their balance and tumbled off the broom with a thud.

Lady Hodge frowned, but quickly waved her wand, thankfully no one was hurt.

Suddenly another scream was heard—a Ravenclaw girl was riding a broomstick and rushing towards the broom shed!

“Obstacles abound!” Madam Huoqi cried out.

The girl was suspended in the air for a moment, and although she still crashed into the wall, the force had lessened, but her broom was broken apart.

Instead of scolding her, Mrs. Hooch used a summoning spell to bring out another old broom, allowing the girl to continue practicing.

Wade circled on his broom at a higher altitude, then tried to gradually increase his speed. Only five or six students were able to gradually gain control of their brooms like him; most were forbidden by Madam Hooch to fly above the broom shed.

Even so, accidents continue to occur.

For example, two students' brooms were wobbling and then collided uncontrollably in the air; or a Hufflepuff boy was flying very well at low altitude, but as soon as he pulled up to less than five meters, he closed his eyes and fell off the broom—this poor student had acrophobia.

The first flying lesson was nothing short of chaotic. Madam Hooch was like an octopus, frantically putting out fires from all directions, her wand whirring as she constantly rescued students from potential neck-breaks. She herself was bumped into by a reckless student, which infuriated her, causing her to lose a full five points from Hufflepuff!

Wade finally understood why Mrs. Hodge always had a sour face and looked very angry. Any experienced driver teaching a novice driver would probably react the same way when seeing the novice making a series of basic, foolish mistakes.

Finally, flight class ended, and the students went in groups to the school clinic to see Mrs. Pomfrey for their various scrapes, sprains, and falls. Wade and Michael, on the other hand, were completely unharmed, and they went back to the auditorium together for dinner.

"Vade!"

Hermione, who was eating, saw them and immediately waved to greet them. Seeing that she was sitting alone at one end of the long table, Wade simply went over and sat down at the Gryffindor table.

Hermione looked them up and down and asked, "Didn't your flying lesson go well?"

"I'm so tired," Michael said wearily. He felt he needed to replenish his energy, so he took two pieces of bread covered in butter and put a roasted chicken leg on his plate.

Wade poured himself a glass of juice and drank it all in one gulp. Then he said, "This is the first time everyone has flown, so we're all very inexperienced. More than half of us have sustained minor injuries, and some have even passed out."

Hermione nodded. "I must say, I'm not surprised at all. Flying through the air without any protective gear, getting injured is to be expected!"

She clearly disliked riding brooms and Quidditch.

"This is a skill that requires a lot of practice to master! A skilled Quidditch player can fly more nimbly than a bird."

After a flight lesson, Michael finally regained his energy. But Wade remembered that he hovered low throughout the lesson, and whenever he flew slightly higher, the broom—or rather, Michael on the broom—would start to tremble.

He's a typical example of someone who's bad at games but loves to play.

But Michael convinced him with just one sentence.

“Think about it, Wade,” Michael said in a seductive tone, “we could fly straight to our dorms on broomsticks and never have to climb stairs again! I’ve seen Quidditch players do that!”

Chapter 22 Umbrella House and SSC

All day long, until he returned to his dormitory to sleep, Wade's mind was filled with images of flying broomsticks. That night, he dreamt of riding a broomstick, flying as freely as a bird—flying over Hogwarts Castle, over the football field, over the Forbidden Forest, and over the Black Lake—

He circled the lawn and then walked through the castle corridors, drawing gasps and stares from the crowd. Michael hung half-dead on the stairs, his eyes glazed over. But Wade stayed far away from those damned staircases—he traced a graceful arc through the air, then glided lightly through the window and landed directly on his bed.

Upon waking, the wonderful feeling of flying freely lingered in Wade's mind. He stared at the ceiling with a sense of loss, unable to fall asleep for a long time.

However, first-year students are not allowed to bring brooms to school... and a Nimbus costs at least 2000 Galleons...

Gray's father, Ferdinand, owned a toy factory whose products were sold throughout the United States, making their family relatively wealthy by ordinary standards. Wade also received a considerable allowance, allowing him to buy all sorts of snacks as he pleased. However, Wade would never ask his parents for a thousand gallons to buy something resembling a "toy."

"If only I could achieve financial freedom on my own," Wade couldn't help but think.

In the Muggle world, he could quickly accumulate wealth based on his knowledge of the future. But how does a student at a boarding school earn money?

Wade couldn't help but let his mind wander.

……

Saturday was a day off, and when Wade arrived at the practice room in the morning, he found Hermione already there.

Of the group, Hermione spent the most time in the practice room. While Wade sometimes read in the Ravenclaw common room or dormitory because he didn't want to go downstairs, Hermione spent almost all her free time in the practice room. Wade was certain that the girl had no friends in Gryffindor other than Neville, and her relationships with the girls in her dormitory didn't seem very good.

The girls always did things together—going to class together, eating together, going to the bathroom together—but Hermione was always alone.

However, Wade did not advise her to get along well with her classmates—emotional intelligence is something that is innate, and Wade himself is not the type to be good at social maneuvering, nor does he like to compromise himself to please others.

However, today, unusually, the girl wasn't studying; instead, she was making a "ping-pong" sound, nailing something to the wall.

"What is this?" Wade leaned closer to take a look.

The rectangular wooden board is decorated with simple patterns and has a line of cursive text on it.

“Umbrella room?” Wade’s expression was a little strange. He remembered Umbrella Corporation, a company that created bio-viruses and destroyed the world.

“Yes,” Hermione said, hammering in the last nail. “There are many practice rooms, but this is the only one that belongs to us. I think it should have a special name. That way, when people hear us say ‘Umbrella House,’ they won’t know where it is.”

“Okay.” Wade didn’t care much about such a small matter. He took a book from the shelf, sat down, and began to do his homework from yesterday’s herbalism class.

The practice room—or rather, the umbrella room—has changed a lot since its original state. Each of them has taken up a space against the wall, with bookshelves along the wall and the area around the table arranged according to their own preferences.

Hermione's shelf was overflowing with books, several of which were borrowed from the library and hadn't been returned yet. She also had a thick stack of brand-new parchment, two bottles of ink, and seven or eight quill pens—things she used up quickly. Since parchment was more expensive, Hermione usually kept her notes in notebooks she bought from Muggle shops. The Grangers weren't actually short of money, but the girl had a somewhat frugal nature and wouldn't waste money on unnecessary things.

Besides textbooks, Wade's shelf also held all the notes he had compiled so far. Michael and others frequently borrowed them, claiming that with Wade's notes, they could pass the final exam even without attending class. In addition, there were many transformation props, such as buttons, matches, and chess pieces—common items. After his flight lesson, a miniature model of a flying broomstick quietly appeared on his desk.

Michael's place was much more cluttered. He had perfumes, mirrors, gift boxes, chocolates, and all sorts of random things. There was a Quidditch poster on the wall, a dragon model on the table, leftover cookies from yesterday, and badges he'd collected from who-knows-where. Michael was demonstrating that not every Ravenclaw loves studying.

Theo of Hufflepuff was a favorite of Professor Sprout, and he himself was quite skilled in herbalism. His shelf held two rows of fist-sized flowerpots filled with plants Theo had cultivated himself, including common white sphagnum moss, mint, marjoram, yarrow, and so on. On the table was a pot of Mibumibo, a plant that looked like diseased internal organs, covered in boils, and that sprayed a thick, foul-smelling liquid that it would attack. To avoid accidental injury, Theo had covered it with a hemispherical glass dome.

Neville really liked Theo's arrangement and wanted to make something similar for himself, but because he didn't have much pocket money, he only had a pitiful three or four flower pots. He also prepared some fertilizer, but everyone insisted that he put it in a corner of the umbrella house so as not to affect the airflow.

Ryan was also good at herbalism, but his favorite subject was astronomy, so his desk was decorated with a set of planet models, with planets of all sizes slowly revolving around the sun in the center. Ryan also collected various quill pens and inks of different colors, neatly arranged on his bookshelf.

The others arrived at the Umbrella House one after another. They noticed the new name of the practice room and praised it highly. Michael even slapped the table to commend Hermione for her cleverness and surprising talent.

Even though she knew the guy was just habitually complimenting women, Hermione blushed with pleasure.

Theo put down his bag and said, "If you ask me, not only should the practice room have a new name, but we should also have a name to show that we are a team."

“Yes.” Ryan nodded. “If we always think of myself as Hufflepuff, him as Ravenclaw, and you as Gryffindor, there will always be a barrier. We should be a collective that transcends the differences between houses.”

"Suddenly this feels formal!" Michael said excitedly. "So what should we call him? Wade?" He looked at his friend.

Wade, who was suddenly mentioned, was taken aback. "Uh... after-school tutoring interest group?"

"—You'd better not offer any opinions." Michael turned his head expressionlessly: "Hermione?"

"This—" Hermione suddenly felt a little nervous for some reason: "The Magic Lovers Club?"

Michael sighed. "Hermione, what's the difference between this and Wade's after-school tutoring group? What about Neville?"

Neville stammered, "I—I can't think of anything right now."

"Theo?"

Theo said, "How about the Sunflower Club? — Sunflowers symbolize hope, sunshine, loyalty, steadfastness, and growth, isn't that perfect?"

"Well--"

Michael started to have a dilemma.

Indeed, it's suitable in every sense, but for some reason, it feels a bit ordinary. If he were to name it himself, he wouldn't be able to suggest a better one.

“Ryan?” Michael looked at the last person and decided that if he didn’t have a good idea either, he would call it the Sunflower Club.

Ryan fiddled with the planetary model on his desk, thought for a while, and said, "How about Starry Sky Chaser? SSC for short."

Michael clapped loudly and exclaimed, "Cool!"

Chapter 23 Jokes and Secrets

With an official name, the group, which had initially come together by chance, suddenly became more formal. They also discussed some details—such as requiring everyone's consent before adding new members, not damaging other people's property, and SSC members protecting each other when facing professors or other students.