บท 6: Chapter 6 - System's Response?
Nearly a week passed since they were sorted, and today was the Flying Lesson. The other lessons they paid attention to, but Flying Lesson was one that all three of them were excited about.
Who wouldn't? Everyone dreamt of flying and Cloud riding his bike. Since he didn't have it, then flying was a great alternative.
"Good afternoon, good afternoon," The Madam with short white hair walked through the students. Each of them was standing in two files, facing each other, with their brooms towards their dominant hand.
She turned around to face them, "Come on, hurry up. What are you waiting for? Step off the left side of your broom."
"Stick your right hand over the broom and say up!"
Cloud raised his right hand, "Up."
It was a simple command, and the broom followed it, rising in the air. He felt the broomstick hit the palm of his hand, but since he was putting too much strength in his arm, the broomstick bounced back a little, and he let it drop.
He glanced towards Tifa and Aerith, holding their brooms while others tried, "Did you feel a push back?"
"Yeah, a bit," Tifa nodded, carefully putting the broomsticks down before trying again, "Up."
She closed one eye, feeling her hand rise in the air, "It becomes slightly more uncontrollable when I try to focus."
Cloud turned his eyes towards Aerith, who was effortlessly rotating her broom on the palm of her hand without even touching it. She had her chest puffed out in pride, taking in praises from everyone.
"Up," Cloud ordered the broom to rise again, and it did, but he used telekinesis and stopped it before it hit his hand, wrapping his fingers around it.
"You did it," Tifa smiled at him with an impressed look, "Congratulation."
"Not really, I forcefully made it stop before hitting the palm of my hand, and that is why I was able to do it. I need to learn to do it like Aerith."
"Awesome! We can do it too!" Fred raised the wand in his head, laughing with his brother George who raised his too.
"I can't seem to do it properly," Lee Jordan tried against and again as the broomstick shook below his hand.
"I think I am quite good at it," Angelina held the broomstick in one try.
"I was thinking I am too…until I saw her," Alicia held the broomstick, leaning on it, drawing others' gazes towards Aerith.
"Aerith is amazing!"
"Right, I never saw anyone.
"Alright, alright," Madam Rolanda Hooch walked over, looking at them, "Now, when I blow the whistle, sit on your broom, float a bit, lean forward, and come down. Understand?"
Cloud watched the broomstick and put it down before he stepped on it rather than sitting.
"Wait, Mr. Strife, can you not do that?"
"Hm," Cloud held his two fingers together, flicking them up, and his Broomstick rose in the air. These gestures were what he had trained with Tifa.
They weren't necessary, but as a beginner, they helped him control his telekinesis, much like how magic needed spells.
The broomstick horizontally rose rather than turning and rising.
"Wait, Mr. Cloud!! Come back, right now!"
Cloud leaned forward, and the broomstick shot forward at a speed that nearly pushed him back. He had to change his focus to keep his legs stuck to the broomstick, which reduced his speed.
"Amazing! That's interesting! Let me help you with that," Cloud heard the voice that was scratchy in between. He knew the words said but couldn't hear them at all.
His speed doubled; it was like someone else was controlling the magic on the broomstick, increasing the speed. He shifted the weight much as he would when he was on the bike. He was near the roof, near the window that he could see inside the tower, before using Telekinesis to sharply change the lane towards the left side, over the sloping roof.
The wind hit his face; his wizard uniform flapped with the wind, and a relieved smile appeared on his face. Losing power, he didn't know how others handled it, but it had weighed on his mind for some time.
He might still have a physically enhanced body, but his strength was nowhere near where it used to be and such a withdrawal. It made him wonder if the voices were because of that.
After all, he had heard and seen illusions of Sephiroth, but maybe it was his strength that held him at bay, and now that he had lost it, things were much worse?
He didn't know, and that irritated him; it made him want to run as fast as possible, train as hard as possible, and do anything that would consume his mind and thoughts, forget, or even feel slightly more powerful. The spells were too weak to make him feel anything like that but this speed. For some reason, even if it didn't have any power, it made him feel better.
[Your heart's desire has reached the system. A possibility is reacting. A power wishes for you to become its master. Do you accept?]
Cloud instinctively turned to the side, drifting in the air, lowering the broomstick to land on the roof.
(Yes.)
[The power wishes to use the broomstick as the foundation to come into existence in this world.]
As much as Cloud wanted to press yes, the broomstick, he didn't own it. He pushed the screen away, looking towards the broom, wondering when he heard a voice, angry.
"MR. CLOUD STRIFE, STAY RIGHT THERE!!!!"
"Right, I forgot about her," Cloud scratched his cheek, musing if he should just get on the broomstick and run away, although he decided against it.
On the ground,
Aerith giggled as hard as she could, "Aw, he didn't just do that."
"Oh, you. Don't laugh; you will only encourage this behavior if he sees you," Tifa closely watched Aerith. There was a reason why she was observing her so closely; she was sitting sideways on the broomstick, floating in the air.
"Wow, you two are not even a bit surprised! He flew away," Angelina pointed at the sky, "Wait, are you three secretly from the Noble Families? Have you had this kind of training before?"
"Well, not exactly, but as you can tell, we have used untrained magic before," Tifa didn't find it surprising since Cloud flew away and Aerith was expertly flying.
She had a feeling that ever since she became a child, Aerith was becoming more and more childish. Not that it was a bad thing since she was enjoying this too.
"Untrained magic? Awesome, why didn't you tell us before? What kind of magic?" Fred and George appeared in front of them.
For a while before, they had been shocked at seeing Cloud fly away like that, and they were already thinking about how to profit from the turn of events, but right now, hearing about untrained magic attracted their attention.
"Mm, nothing much. We often used elemental magic," Tifa pointed towards Aerith, "She could use healing magic."
"Right, I can heal any injuries," Aerith boasted.
"Perfect," Alicia looked up at the sky, holding the broomstick, "Does that mean you will heal me if I tr,y to fly and fall?"
"Of course, I will."
"Great," Alicia got on the broomstick, "I have wanted to fly ever since I saw him fly. Don't mind if I do!"
Angelina got on her broomstick, "Protect me too!"
"Hey, us too!" Fred and George rose together, liking the idea of flying in the sky.
"Happy now?" Tifa glanced towards Aerith, noticing that she was near the land even though she was floating, "Aren't you going to fly?"
"No," Aerith gently smiled, gazing at the sky, "The never-ending sky…it scares me a bit. I like being on land better. You?"
"Cloud has managed to get in trouble; if I get too, who will save him?" Tifa sighed, crossing her arms.
"That is so cute," Aerith covered her lips, watching her, and then a naughty smile appeared on her lips, "I assumed that you are scared of heights like you are scared of ghosts."
A tremble hit Tifa from head to toe, holding herself tightly, "I am not scared of heights!"
"But the ghosts…." Tifa bit her lips, "I am not good with them."
Aerith floated near Tifa, hugging her tightly, "No worries, big sis will protect you."
"Technically, we are of the same age now," Tifa gave her a troubled look.
"No, I am still older," Aerith puffed her cheek, whispering in Tifa's ear, "After all, Cloud likes older girls."
Tifa pushed her away with a slight pout as she looked away, "No, he's not…."
She looked unconfidently towards the sky, seeing Cloud return, flying on his broomstick, landing beside her.
"Madam Hooch didn't find you?"
"Oh, she did," Cloud shrugged, and the broomstick rose, falling in the palm of his hand.
"And?"
Cloud scratched his cheek, "She asked me to sit on her broomstick…and I didn't want to."
"Oh, Cloud," Tifa wanted to laugh but couldn't. Although Aerith laughed in her stead, she had to rebuke him, "This is a school, Cloud. You can't do anything you want; what if they expel you? You know how important it is that we stay at Hogwarts, right?"
"Staying at Hogwarts," Cloud looked down, whispering. When they got the time to hit the books the last week, they realized they could skip a few years easily if they wanted. But that would have meant graduating early.
Although many of the books in Hogwarts were out of their reach, there were still enough theories and knowledge in the ones that were available to the first years.
If they graduated early, the only way to access that knowledge would be to make a contract with Hogwarts. Getting a teaching contract might be easy; the hard part would be getting rid of that contract.
From what they assumed, then the system was likely to activate the real mission when they passed out.
Assuming all that, the best course of action was to stay at Hogwarts for Seven Years.
"Sorry about that," Cloud apologized, which was unlike him.
"You should be sorry! You rode the broomstick without caring about safety or listening to your teacher's orders. But when I came to talk to you, you ignored me and did it again!"
Cloud's eyes met her, and he nodded, "I know."
Fred and George, with others, had already come down from the sky, and they were impressed to hear it, but hearing the reply, they couldn't stop their laughter.
"Oh, Cloud. Stop being like that for one moment," Tifa held onto his clothes, whispering under her breath.
"You, Mr. to the Deputy Headmaster's Office! Right now."
"Ma'am, Cloud isn't exactly best at communicating. Can I please accompany him as well?"
Madam Hooch seemed troubled, but looking at Tifa's earnest look, she said, "Fine. I don't care. Come with me to the Deputy Headmaster's Office."
"Me too, me too," Aerith raised her hand.
"We are not going for a picnic! Stay here!" This time Madam Hooch refused outrightly.
And so, the two of them were taken to the office of Deputy Headmaster Minerva McGonagall, who listened to Madam Rolanda Hooch's complaints, giving the two of them a stern look.
Once Madam Hooch was out of complaints, she left, and Tifa started apologizing to Deputy Headmaster Minerva from Cloud's side.
"Professor, he won't do it again!"
"Right, he won't do it again, that is to say, he did it, right? Madam Hooch wasn't exaggerating because she was angry?" Professor McGonagall said, narrowing her eyes.
"Well, sadly, no," Tifa sighed, worriedly looking at Cloud, who looked everywhere but at her.
"You know, there are spells on Broomsticks that make them comfortable to sit on. Even then, many wizards have problems balancing them without training. Only professionals try to stand on it, and they only do it for a few moments. How did you manage to do it on the first try?"
Cloud glanced towards Tifa, even though the voices told him that he shouldn't worry about anything and tell Professor McGonagall. Still, he wanted Tifa's ok since they decided to rely on each other for important decisions.
Tifa pressed her lips into a smile and nodded, making McGonagall dart her eyes between them.
Cloud looked over to her desk at the papers, photo frame, and magical lamp of some kind, among other things.
He raised his palm, focusing, imagining what he wanted of his powers and focusing his mind on it. Right now, the more complicated the process, the more he had to think about it, and so it took a few seconds.
Once he did, the pen that she left on the papers lifted, floating, before one after the other, started floating up, circling him and landing on his left hand's palm.
"Wordless magic and talent in Telekinesis," Professor McGonagall was surprised, but more she was disappointed as she leaned back, sighing, "Sadly, that is not allowed."
"Not allowed, Professor?"
Before her questions were answered, the voices in his head started speaking, trying to figure out an answer. Before she said it herself, the answer came to his lips, "Quidditch…after all, you are Head of Gryffindor."
Professor McGonagall shot him a look, smiling, "Right if they were your Broom riding skills, you would have been great additions to the team. But wordless magic wouldn't allow it."
"I can do it without wordless magic; it isn't that hard," Cloud looked away, "But…If I help Gryffindor win, what do I get in return."
Tifa let out a chuckle, making Professor McGonagall give her a stern look, and she held back, "Sorry, sorry."
Tifa apologized, a bit relieved seeing Cloud act like his old self again.
Cloud scratched his cheek, knowing what was going in her head when Professor McGonagall leaned forward, "Now, Mr. Cloud, not only did you not listen to your teacher but also dangerously took flight on your broom, and when you were caught, you ran away, without listening to your teacher. I could decide to punish you, you know?"
"Probably, or Professor can test Cloud's capabilities, and we can promise you that we'd help Gryffindor win every Quidditch match for the next seven years," Tifa earnestly suggested.
"Tifa…"
Tifa held Cloud's palm, reassuringly smiling at him, then earnestly looking at Professor McGonagall.
Professor McGonagall ran her eyes over their hands, sighing, "Well, what is it you want so badly?"
"A personal broomstick, a good one. We don't have money now, but we'd pay you back when we have it. So, it's not even that big of a favor," Cloud said outright.
He was thinking about starting the Party Chat and telling Tifa why he wanted it, but she spoke before he could, "Please, Professor? We need one."
Professor McGonagall watched the two of them, wanting to smile, but holding back. She got on her feet, "All right, come with me. Show me what you can do, and then I'll think about it."
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