Open Skate-Brooming

[Lysander Summers]

Hogwarts was filled to the brim with magic and all sorts of new and amazing experiences. Lysander thought he knew the wizarding world like the back of his hand. He lived and breathed it growing up, but here he was, learning all sorts of new things every day. Even still, with all this magic in the air, he found himself missing some of the more normal and mundane novelties of the non-magical world. He missed his muggle friends, bicycling around the neighbourhood and playing RPGs on a computer, trading pokemon or going to the movies. It was a completely different world, one he didn't often get the chance to interact with as much as he would have liked, but now that he was in school, he got to enjoy the muggle things even less.

There was a boy in Lysanders year who he often saw rolling around on a skateboard. It was one of the non-magical modes of transportation that Sander had always thought was cool, but never had the opportunity to try for himself. He didn't know the boy well enough to ask to have a go at using it - he was Wendall's friend, with nicknames for each other and everything. Sander held a twinge of envy over it, but he tried not to let it bother him. While Lysander didn't have a skateboard of his own, he did have his old toy broomstick. It wasn't quite the same, but now that he was too tall to ride it as comfortably as he used to, he did wonder if he could repurpose it. The boy had rummaged through his trunks for some time to find the old stick, and once he'd dug it out from beneath piles of clothes, he brought it out to the lawn to test out.

Setting it along the grass, he placed one foot on the broom, and then the other, wobbling for a moment until he could find a spot to balance on. The small broomstick dipped under his weight, not able to hover the two-feet above the ground as it usually had when he were much younger. It stopped short of the ground however, blades of grass just barely brushing its wooden underside. Sander lifted a foot from the broom and kicked forward against the earth, propelling it forward. The broom floated a few steps, and he kicked again to gain some speed, feeling the wind start to rush his hair. It wasn't a skateboard, but it was definitely working! Close enough would have to do, he decided, and it was just as fun. Skimming over the lawn, Lysander continued to skate on the toy broom, eager to see how fast he could make it go.​

 

[Tres Bear II]

Tres had recently found out that the cousin of her Heta sister Emilia had just started her own range. Given that Tres already thought she was some kind of teen super star, the Slytherin couldn’t wait to actually get her hands on some of the items. It was just bound to get a reaction, and she knew they would have to be pretty pieces if they were made by Manning. Today she was wearing a dress, warm cardigan with a scarf around her neck, complete with tights and ankle boots as she headed out into the grounds. With the weather growing cold once again, it was just another excuse to refresh her wardrobe. Looking ahead she spotted one of the boys gliding down the grass, although Tres couldn’t tell what he was on. It didn’t look like a skateboard, and she’d seen a few of the first years try that out already. That was when she realised she recognised the face, and smiled as she recalled the day at the zoo. “Hey!” She called out, approaching the younger boy, “I’m not sure you’re meant to ride a broom like that.” She stated. She wasn’t on the team, and really she didn’t like flying at all, but she still knew you were meant to sit on a broom not stand on it. Perhaps he was just new to magic and needed a bit of guidance.​

 

[Lysander Summers]

Now that he was moving, Lysander wasn't too sure he knew how to stop. It didn't matter for now, he was happy to keep skating it until he was bored, at which point he figured he could jump off or something. He zoomed up and down the lawn until a familiar girl called out for his attention, and he waved to her. He tried to put his foot down to slow his broom, but it stuttered off of the earth and threatened to throw him off, so he resorted to doing wide circles around the girl instead. "Trez?" He asked as both a greeting and a question. She'd introduced herself at the zoo earlier in the year, albeit briefly, and her unique name was one that stuck in his mind, though he wasn't too sure he'd gotten entirely correct. "Not really, but this is way cooler! It's like one of those skateboards, or like...like I'm surfing the grass." He told her, his lazy circles gradually slowing down to a point where he could finally dig his heel into the earth. His shoes tore up a trail of grass, leaving behind a skid-mark of dirt, though it finally brought him to a stop. "If I can learn to get good at this, maybe I can try it on an even bigger broom." The boy wondered aloud. It was becoming a more appealing idea by the minute. Hitting and dodging bludgers would probably be much easier if he didn't have to have both hands on his broom. "Do you want to try?" He offered. It was a lot of fun, and she was small enough to stand on it without over-bearing the enchantment.​

 

[Tres Bear II]

The second year smiled when the boy remembered her name. She watched him zoom around her in circles, gliding along the grass. She had to admit it did look quite fun but there was no way she was going to be caught on one of those. Her coordinations wasn’t the best and she’d probably fall off anyway. “I can’t imagine it will ever pass in Quidditch,” she warned, hoping the boy wasn’t going to get his hopes up too high when it came to playing the games, not that as a first year he had to worry anyway. Maybe when he was older he’d make it on the team. For now, he should have just enjoyed himself which was exactly what he was doing, “You might end up making a new trend,” Tres stuck out her tongue, “Heck no! You’re more than welcome to keep going,” she held up her hands but by the looks of things he was already getting bored anyway. “Where’s your friend?” She asked, looking around for the other boy that she’d seen with him at the Zoo. Alex or someone. “Maybe you boys could do a race or something,” she mused. It would be more of a wizard race than using skateboards along the grass anyway.​

 

[Lysander Summers]

Lysander didn't think broom-skating would pass in actual Quidditch either, but he did pause to seriously consider if he could start a new trend, or even a new tactic. The Frosts had their own moves, and there were all sorts of cool tactics players in professional teams used. The Porksoff Ploy, the Bludger Backbeat, the Starfish and Stick. He could have his own, like the Sander Skate. Heck yeah. He shrugged his shoulders when the girl declined to have a go, and went back to balancing himself on the floating broom. "Which friend?" He responded to her with a quizzical glance. He had a couple of friends, definitely more than just one. A second later he remembered he hadn't been alone when he ran into her, and his mouth opened into an 'o' of understanding. "You mean Alexei! I dunno, he's around. It's hard to find everyone when the school is so big, and everyone's in different houses. I don't even know where I am sometimes." He chuckled to himself. He was almost always outside when classes weren't on, so he knew in most cases someone finding him wouldn't be too hard, but he couldn't take much of a stab at where anyone else was. "A race would be so cool! I only have one of these brooms though..." Maybe if he asked, one of the professors would open up the broom shed for him to try it on some larger brooms, but something told him they wouldn't for anything other than actual Quidditch practice. Finding the right balance again, the boy kicked against the grass and resumed his lazy laps around Tres. "So what are you doing out here? Anything fun?"​

 

[Tres Bear II]

Tres wondered for a moment if she had the wrong boy when he asked which friend, but when he responded with Alecis, the Slytherin grinned and nodded. She could understand it was hard to find people in the school, most of the time she couldn't find her sister either, and they were in the same house. "Did you take the tour?" she asked, recalling how one of the older boys last year had shown all the first years around the school. It had certainly helped when she didn't even know where to begin. "Maybe you should ask one of the Quidditch players if they will let you borrow one of theirs?" Tres didn't think the professors would mind too much as long as it wasn't school property that he was practising on. Another student however might not have minded, especially if Lysander could have traded something for it in return. Tres always felt a bit self conscious when she was asked what she was doing, as though her answers wouldn't quite be good enough and then others would realise why she didn't have any friends. "I actually was just trying out my new shoes." she said quietly, hoping he agreed they went with the outfit. "It's easier to walk around the school than your dormitory," she added, and besides then she'd be able to show off the look too. Tres was secretly quite excited to be able to go to work over the summer, and spend her times in Vibez with people that would appreciate it.​

 

[Lysander Summers]

The tour! That had been forever ago now. "Yeah! Me and my friends did it. It was kind of cool, but they didn't really show us any like, secrets and stuff." It was probably the lamest part of it all. He knew there were secrets in the castle. His dad had mentioned some sort of room that gave you what you needed. He wouldn't say where, just that it was totally a thing. "Maybe they would! They're pretty nice so far. Jemma Potter is on the team! But I haven't really spoken to her much." Or had the time to ask for her grandfather's autograph. He didn't know if she'd say yes, but he totally planned to trade her for Kida's autograph. His aunt wasn't quite on par in terms of being a hero of the wizarding world, though he had heard she'd escaped from dark wizards with her animagus powers once, so there was that. The boy pressed his foot briefly against the grass, slowing the pace of his circling, which he'd unconsciously picked up during their conversation. He hadn't actually noticed Tres' shoes until she pointed them out, and took the time to look at them as he passed around her. "They're very pretty." He complimented once he'd gotten the full view. He wasn't a shoe person, or much of a fashion person in general, though it sounded like the right thing to say. "Won't they get dirty out here?"​