Closed Let's Get This Over With

[Apollo Bixby]

It was Friday and that meant that Apollo was supposed to go down to professor Holland's office for his detention. Luckily Mitchell didn't know about him landing himself in detention on his first week yet, he would've been in much more trouble if the man were to find out. He sighed and then picked up his backpack. He didn't know what he would be doing once there so thought that he would bring quill and ink with him just in case she had him writing lines. He still thought that it was unfair that he received detention just because he refused to participate. Was he really just supposed to trust that wizards and witches could fly on broomsticks? Definitely not. Apollo slowly made his way down to the first floor corridor where professor Holland's office was located, he would still be there on time but there wasn't any rush to get there. He knocked three times once he stood in front of the wooden door and waited for the professor to give him permission to enter her office.

 

[Professor Grace Holland]

This was Grace's fourth year teaching Flying class at Hogwarts, and this would be her first detention. She'd had students who didn't want to fly before, but they usually explained that they were scared and she could help them out. She'd also had a student fly off during a lesson, but never before had she had someone just refuse to participate entirely. Apollo Bixby hadn't been cooperative in the lesson at all, and Grace intended to find out why. She was hoping that she could use this detention to talk to him a bit, even if she knew he would likely be very resentful about getting detention at all. But as long as she didn't know the root of the problem, she couldn't fix it. She didn't want to give the boy detention every week. Grace looked up as there was a knock on her office door."Come in." She said, gesturing to a chair and desk she had set up for him, once Apollo entered the room. "Please take a seat there." Next to the desk was a pile of school broomsticks and a polishing kit. "For your detention you'll be polishing and trimming some of the school's broomsticks. They need the maintenance, and it'll help you get familiar with them. You'll see they're not the same brooms you're used to, but specifically made for flying." She explained to him. "I'll be here, preparing my lessons. I'll help you if you need any help." She didn't sound angry, just matter of fact. "Mr. Bixby, it would help me a lot of you could tell me why you didn't participate. Maybe if you can talk to me about it, the detention will be over a bit sooner." She added.

 

[Apollo Bixby]

Apollo did not greet the professor as he entered the room and seated himself on the chair she was gesturing toward. So this was how she dealt with students who did not feel safe or confident enough to participate in her class, she gave them detention and let them polish and trim old broomsticks. Fine, it that everything he needed to do to get out of here again. The Gryffindor picked up to polishing kit and opened it to take out a jar of handle polish as well as the piece of cloth that came along with it. Once the jar was open, and Apollo had grabbed one of the brooms, he smeared the cloth with polish and started polishing the broom. He ignored professor Holland for several minutes before he finally opened his mouth. ''I just... I don't want to embarrass myself in class.'' He knew that if he had tried to command the broom to go up it would've remained motionless on the ground and everyone would eventually laugh at him for not being able to do it.

 

[Professor Grace Holland]

Grace didn't believe in punishment without a reason, and she hoped that her task of having Apollo clean the brooms would make him more familiar with them, and if he was afraid, less scared of them. She quietly wrote on some parchment at her desk, actually writing a letter to her father instead of planning a lesson. She let him work in silence for a moment, but put her quill down the moment he started to speak. She sat up and listened to him. "I understand that." She said gently. "That's why I offered to let you try it after class, Mr. Bixby. I know it's a lot of eyes on you at once, and for many kids it's entirely new. But... you saw that the others managed it, even if it took some a while. Why do you think it wouldn't work for you too?" She asked him softly. "Thank you for telling me." She added.

 

[Apollo Bixby]

He continued to polish the broom when Professor Holland began to talk. She sounded a lot nicer to him than he thought she would be when he was on his way to her office. He had been disrespectful to her, like she told him, for not waiting to participate in class without giving her a proper reason as to why not. Once more, Apollo waited several minutes before he replied to the professor, this time because he was unsure of what she would think of say. ''I haven't performed any magic yet... I did once, when I bought my wand, but apparently, that was faulty magic because I made it happen while trying out different wands - not intended magic.'' The Gryffindor did not meet the professor's eye while he talked. ''I think I was scared that it wouldn't work because of that,'' Apollo added. The unexpected way with how she was treating him made Apollo trust Professor Holland and that she wouldn't laugh or make fun of him - perhaps not all professors at Hogwarts were bad after all.

 

[Professor Grace Holland]

Grace let the silence go on, letting Apollo take his time to answer when he felt like it. She was pleased that he was opening up, and felt better about the detention now. Maybe it would actually help the boy in the long run, rather than just being a punishment for no reason. When he spoke, she listened. "I see, then it must be scary to try for the first time in front of your classmates." She said, nodding. "I understand you were afraid, but you wouldn't be here if you didn't have magic, I promise." She sat up straight, as if she just got an idea. "What if you try it now? There happen to be plenty of broomsticks here, and nobody but me to see." She had hoped for this possibility, but she hadn't been sure if the boy would be willing. Now she could only hope he would take her up on the offer.

 

[Apollo Bixby]

Apollo was pleased to hear that Professor Holland was so understanding of his situation. It had been bothering him ever since the first years arrived at Hogwarts, and her class had been the first one where they were going to use their magic for the first time ever, at least for him it would be the first time. He hesitated for a moment when she proposed to him that he should try and do what he should've done earlier this week now. Professor Holland was indeed the only other person in the room so he would not have to worry about embarrassing himself in front of anyone, as she had most likely seen students fail to command their brooms to go up countless times. Apollo nodded and looked at the Professor. ''Okay, sure,'' he said finally.

 

[Professor Grace Holland]

Grace was glad Apollo agreed with her idea. She got up and walked around her desk to approach him. She took one of the brooms and placed it on the ground, then gestured for him to stand next to it. "Give it a go." She said gently.

 

[Apollo Bixby]

Apollo watched as Professor Holland placed one of the brooms on the ground and stood next to it as she told him to. He put his hand above it and concentrated solely on the broomstick. ''Up!'' the Gryffindor commanded, yet nothing happened. Of course, he hadn't been the only one who failed to do it on their first try, lots of other students in his class had difficulties with it. It took one of his dormmates four times, and he too was a muggle-born. Instead of giving up, Apollo put his head over the broomstick once again and commanded it to go up into his head a second time. Much to his surprise, it shot straight into the palm of his right hand. ''I did it!'' the Gryffindor exclaimed happily, turning towards Professor Holland.

 

[Professor Grace Holland]

Grace watched quietly as Apollo attempted the command. She wasn't surprised it didn't fly up on the first try. In her experience, brooms could sense reluctance and uncertainty, which Apollo had plenty of. But the broom shot up at his second attempt, and Grace let out a genuine cheer. "Yes! You did it!" She said with a grin. "I told you you could do it." She added with a wink. "Teachers can sense these things."

 

[Apollo Bixby]

Apollo smiled, both happy and relieved to see that he could indeed perform magic after all. He felt like going to his godfather's office and tell him about what he had just done. He placed the broom carefully on the ground again and looked back up at the professor. ''Do you want me to continue polishing the others, miss?'' Apollo asked, hopeful that she would dismiss now that she knew the reason why he hadn't listened to her in class. Of course, he could always visit Mitchell later if she did want him to finish up polishing the broomsticks.

 

[Professor Grace Holland]

Grace had expected the boy’s question, and gave him a slightly wry smile. “I think so, yes.” She said to Apollo as she took her seat at her desk again. “At least the one you were working on, and… two more.” She shrugged. “I do think you should learn to talk to professors during class about what is going on, instead of making them hunt down the answer in a detention.” Her voice was kind but firm. “But it won’t take you long.” It certainly was a lot shorter than Apollo would have expected, so she hoped it would still be good news.

 

[Apollo Bixby]

Apollo figured as much so without a word picked up the broomstick he had been working on before and placed it onto his lap. It honestly wasn't as bad as he thought it would be, and in a way it was actually quite satisfying to see how shiny it looked once he smeared the polish out over the handle. He looked up at the professor every now and then to ask if he was cutting off the right twigs and once he finished polishing the first broom, the Gryffindor went on to polish the remaining two. If anything, this detention was actually calming him down a lot. Twenty minutes later Apollo placed all three broomsticks on the professor's desk and said, ''I'm all finished, miss.'' before letting escape a yawn.

 

[Professor Grace Holland]

Grace felt almost a little guilty about making the boy finish the detention, but she told herself she couldn't go too easy on him. He had disrupted class, and a lot of time and effort could have been spared if he had told her during the lesson what the problem was. But he was done fairly quickly, and Grace gave him a smile. "Good job, Mr. Bixby. And good job with the rest of it too. I think you'll be faring better in lessons now, but if you run into any more problems, please tell me what the problem is next time." She got to her feet to show him to the door. "It would save us both a lot of trouble." She added in a light tone.

 

[Apollo Bixby]

He smiled when she complimented him. He had done his very best to polish them after all. Apollo nodded to indicate that he'd come and see her the next time something was wrong and turned around when she walked over toward the door. ''I'm sorry, professor,'' the Gryffindor said, looking up at the woman with an apologetic smile. ''Goodnight.'' And with that, Apollo walked out of the office and into the first floor corridor, deciding that he would not pay his godfather a visit because it was dark and quiet in the castle.