The flight lessons took place at half past three at a flat lawn on the opposite sides of the grounds to the forbidden forest. The weather was lovely that day, there was a nice breeze and, although the sky was completely free from clouds, the temperature was perfect.

The Slytherins were already there when the Gryffindors arrived, standing still in an horizontal line in front of ten broomsticks. In front of them, there was another line of broomsticks, waiting for them.

"Well, what are you all waiting for?" barked a woman whose hair was short and grey from behind them, her bright yellow eyes piercing into the students'. It was Madam Hooch, the flying teacher. "Everyone, stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up!"

"Stick out your right hand over your broom," shouted Madam Hooch from the front. "And say, 'Up!'"

"UP!"

Harry's broom was the first one to be shot up into his hand, and his lips drew a beautiful smile. Hermione's broom started moving around, while Ben's began to spin on itself, almost hitting his feet.

"With feeling!" yelled Madam Hooch.

"UP," shouted Ron, so loudly that there was a high chance people from the castle heard him. And the broom did certainly go up, just not exactly where he wanted it to go. It hit him right in the nose, making him cry out in pain. His friends burst into laughter. "Shut up, Harry."

Ben, who was growing bored of not achieving this new goal, wondered if it wasn't working because the broom didn't understand him, so he tried his best to sound clear and calm. "Up."

And, to his happiness, the broom slowly floated up towards his hand. He smiled proudly, and resisted the urge to jump in joy.

"Brilliant!"

"Now, once you've got hold of your broom, I want you to mount it. Grip it tight, you don't want to be sliding off the end," the woman explained. "When I blow my whistle, I want each of you to kick off from the ground. Hard. Keep your broom steady, hover for a moment, then lean forward slightly, and touch back down."

Everyone did as she said.  "On my whistle, three, two..." She blew it.

Before anyone could kick the ground, Neville's feet started lifting up in the air. "Mr. Longbott-"

"Oh no!" he cried.

"Neville!"

"Mr. Longbottom, get back down here immediately! Mr. Longbottom!"

He shot up as he desperately yelled for help. Then the broom took him towards the castle, shaking him like a puppet. The students followed Madam Hooch as she ran after him.

"HEEELP!"

But Madam Hooch didn't have enough time to do anything to help him, because Neville hurtled onto the grass, falling with a horrible crack.

"Neville!" shouted his friends, running to see.

Madam Hooch was bending over Neville, both their faces white as a pearl. "Oh, oh, oh, oh, dear... It's a broken wrist. Come on, know, up you go."

She helped him get up, and turned to the rest of the class. "None of you is to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch.'" She turned back to Neville. "Come on, dear."

"Will he be okay?"

"Of course he will, don't worry, Mr. Walker," said Madam Hooch, putting an arm around the poor boy.

Neville, whose face was filled with tears, hobbled off with the woman.

But, of course, as soon as they got out of sight, Malfoy and his friends burst into laughter.  "Did you see his face, the great lump?"

"Shut up, Malfoy," snapped Parvati Patil.

"Ooh, sticking up for Longbottom?" said Pansy Parkinson. "Never thought you'd like fat little crybabies, Parvati."

"You're not the one to talk about people's appearances, Parkinson," grumbled Ben, blood pounding in his ears.

He turned to Malfoy, ready to snap at him, but the blond was snatching something from the grass. "Look! It's that stupid thing Longbottom's grandmother sent him."

It was a remembrall. Neville had received it that morning, because his grandmother thought it would've been helpful for him. Ben thought it was a nice idea.

"Give that here, Malfoy," said Harry coldly. Everyone went silent, eyes fixed on him, wondering what was going to happen next.

Malfoy smiled horribly. "No. I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find. Why not... up a tree?"

"Give it here!"

But Malfoy had already leapt onto his broomstick and taken off. "Come and get it, Potter!"

Harry extended his arm to get his broom.

"No!" shrieked Hermione, stepping in front of him in an attempt to stop him. "Madam Hooch told us not to move, and you'll get us all into trouble!"

But the boy barely glanced at her. He mounted his broom, face full of determination, and kicked the ground before rising into the air with a certain elegance, as though he had been doing it for years.

"What an idiot," stated Hermione, with a pause between each word.

"I knew he'd turn out to be good at this," Ron whispered to Ben .

"I hope he doesn't get hurt, though," mumbled the other boy.

Malfoy and Harry were so high in the air nobody could hear what they were saying, but Ben glimpsed a hint of fear on Malfoy's face, and that made his day about ten times better.

Harry almost knocked Malfoy off the broom, but the Slytherin got out of the way in time. Crabbe and Goyle looked worried when Harry made a sharp turn and held the broom steady, earning claps from the Gryffindors.

But then the world slowed down when Draco threw the Remembrall up into the air, and rushed back to the ground. Harry leaned forward and, a mere econd later, he was flying down so fast he was barely visible. Ron and Ben ran as fast as their legs allowed them, trying to guess where he was going to fall, in case they needed to help him somehow.

However, it wasn't necessary. Just a foot away from crashing into the ground, Harry caught the Remembrall, pulled his broom straight and stepped gently into the grass.

All the Gryffindors, and even some Slytherins, rushed towards him, cheering and clapping happily. "YOU DID IT!"

"Well done, mate!"

"That was incredible!"

"I told you, you weren't going to make a fool of yourself!"

All shouts of joy ceased immediately when they saw Professor McGonagall run towards them. "Harry Potter!"

Harry's eyes widened in panic.

"Never- In all my time in Hogwarts..." said the woman through gasps, speechless with shock. "How dare you- You could've broken your neck-"

"It wasn't his fault-"

"Be quiet, Miss Patil."

"But she's right."

"Exactly, it was Malfoy who st-"

"That's enough, Mr. Weasley," McGonagall stated coldly. "Come with me, Potter."

They all watched as Harry followed McGonagall into the castle, in what seemed like an unbreakable silence... Until Malfoy broke it, of course, by bursting into laughter.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Malfoy?" asked Ben, taking big steps towards the Slytherin. "Do you really find this funny?"

"Indeed," he sneered. His cronies laughed from behind them.

"He might get expelled because of you!"

"Well I hope he is, the castle will be a much better place without riffraff like him and-"

A loud crack was heard, followed by several gasps of surprise. Malfoy took a step back, covering his nose with both hands. Ben unfolded his fingers from the fist he had made his hand into, feeling a slight burning sensation on his knuckles, and looked up at Malfoy, expecting him to punch him back, or at least attempt to hurt him.

But he didn't. He didn't even meet Ben's eyes, but he could tell that they were slightly teary. Perhaps it sounded evil to say it, but a wave of pride washed over him.

"My father will hear about this!" spat Malfoy.

"I don't think he'll be proud to know you didn't even fight back," he said coldly. "But if it makes you happy, go ahead, and let me know what he thinks."

———————————————

Harry didn't get expelled after all. More like the opposite; he was made the Gryffindor seeker. It turned out that Professor McGonagall had watched Harry catch Neville's Remembrall and, since the Seeker position was vacant on the Gryffindor team, she had decided to suggest that he take it.

"You're joking!"

"No, I promise!"

"But first years never join the team," began Ron. "You must be the youngest house player in about..."

"A century!" finished Harry, excitedly.

"That's amazing!" smiled Ben. "Congratulations, Harry!"

"Thanks!" he smiled back.

"This day's full of crazy stuff," exclaimed Ron. "First it was Ben's punch, and now this!"

"Ben's what?" repeated Harry, furrowing his eyebrows.

"You don't know?" asked Ron. The black-haired boy shook his head. "He punched Malfoy!"

His jaw dropped. "You didn't!"

"He did!" almost shouted the redhead, and began mimicking the gesture. "It was right in the nose! It was wonderful, seeing Malfoy scared like that."

"You're brilliant, Ben!"

Ben turned a dark shade of pink, quite embarrassed. "I wonder what's going to happen now, though. I had assumed he'd go to Snape to get me in trouble, but nothing's happened yet."

"Perhaps he's afraid you'll punch him again," laughed Ron.

"Look, he's staring at me," whispered Harry, discreetly pointing at Malfoy.

"Who wouldn't? Haven't you seen me?"

The three boys chuckled, but Ben felt a shiver running down his spine when he met Malfoy's cold grey eyes. The Slytherin's nose was bandaged. Ben wondered what he had told Madam Pomfrey.

"I wouldn't laugh if I were you, Ben."

They spun around to find Hermione sitting next to them with a stern look.

"Can't a person eat in peace in this place?" groaned Ron.

"You shouldn't have punched him."

"Are you defending him?" demanded Ron, eyes narrowed.

"No, I'm just saying that it was very immature of you, Ben, I didn't expect that from you."

"What did you expect me to do after he made fun of my friend? To go and kiss him on the head?"

"Of course I didn't expect you to kiss him, that's ridiculous," she said. "I just didn't think you were like that."

"Well I'm afraid I am like that," he stated, standing up and turning to his friends. "I'm going to go check on Neville, now that the hospital wing's still open."

"We'll go with you."

Neville was lying on a gurney with a slightly yellow face when they arrived. He told them Madam Pomfrey had already fixed his broken wrist, but she wanted him to stay for the night, in case he needed anything.

"I do hope I could've gone to have dinner, though..." sighed Neville.

Ben smirked. "Then I'm glad I brought you this."

He took a napkin out of his pocket, and handed it to Neville. The boy furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, but he unfolded the napkin, and his eyes widened. "Apple pie!"

"Yeah!"

"It's my favourite!" he exclaimed blissfully. "How did you know?"

"Last week you told me your list of favourite desserts, and I remembered that you liked this one," explained Ben, sitting on the bed beside him. "So I thought you'd be happy if I brought you some."

"Thank you!"

Around half an hour later, Madam Pomfrey had to leave for a while. She said she had to attend some private Hogwarts business, and she told Harry, Ron and Ben to make sure they went back to their Common Room on time.

There was nobody else there, and they were so focused on their conversation that they lost track of time and missed the announcements. When they realised how late it was, it was already past curfew, so they rushed out of the hospital wing.

They ran up and down the hallways, desperately trying to find their way back to the Gryffindor Tower. "Did we go through this aisle?"

"I don't know," replied Harry, and turned to Ben.

"What?"

"You're the one who knows how to find classrooms."

"Yeah but that's because Cedric taught me," he said nervously. "But he didn't tell me anything about the hospital wing... I don't even know where we are now!"

"Oh damn it, we're lost!" cried Ron, running his hand through his fiery red hair.

"Calm down, Ron. It's important not to panic, or it'll be harder to find our way, and we'll be late," Ben told him, trying to sound calm.

"We're already late, Ben!"

"Well then we'll be even more-"

"Why are you three still out here?" said a fourth voice. The three boys gave a small jump out of surprise.

Hermione Granger was standing right behind them with a disappointed frown and a disapproving look.

"Why are you three still out here?" retorted Ron.

Hermione Granger ignored him. "What are you doing out here?"

"We were at the hospital wing visiting Neville, but we can't find our way back to the Common Room," explained Harry.

"Follow me."

So they did. She led them back to the beginning of the corridor Harry had said he thought they should go down. Ben chuckled. "We shouldn't have listened to you, Harry."

Harry rolled his eyes, and gave him a little playful push. "Shut up, Ben."

"You should all shut up," snapped Hermione.

Once they reached the stairs, Ben felt himself relax, and he could tell Harry and Ron did, too. They now knew where they were at, and how to get to their Common Room. However, as soon as they began walking up the staircase, it started moving.

"What's happening?"

"The staircases change, remember?"

After a couple of seconds, it stopped in front of a wooden door that looked very old. "Should we go back?"

"The other staircases won't take us to the Common Room from here," Hermione told them. "Unless they move."

"Let's go this way, then," suggested Harry. "Maybe there's a way to get us there."

He took a step towards the door and pushed it open, producing an annoying creaky noise. They walked into a dreary and dark corridor. The floor was full of dust that rose as they stepped on it. There was an eerie silence that brought shivers down Ben's spine.

"Does anyone feel like we're not supposed to be here?" asked Ron in a whisper.

"That might be because we aren't supposed to be here," announced Hermione. "This is the third floor corridor. The one that's forbidden!"

They exchanged looks for a moment, and they continued walking forward. A light brightened the dark place all of a sudden, causing them to gasp in fear.

"Oh, it was just a torch," laughed Ben.

"We should get out of here."

"Right."

They spun around, but there was an obstacle in their way. A really ugly cat with googly yellow eyes. It was Mrs. Norris, Filch's cat. If she was there, it meant Filch was around. She meowed.

"Run!" shouted Harry, and they sprinted down the corridor, until they reached a closed door.

Harry was the first to arrive, closely followed by the rest, and yanked at the handle with all of his strength. "It's not opening!"

"Maybe you have to push instead of pull," Ben suggested.

"Ugh, move over!" Hermione pushed them out of the way. She took out her wand and pointed it to the door. "Alohomora!"

It instantly opened with a click, and they ran in, making sure to close the door behind them. "Woah, that was close!"

Harry was pressing his ear against the door. Ben assumed he was trying to hear if Filch made any noise. "I think he's gone."

"He probably thinks the door is closed," commented Ron.

"Because it was closed," said Hermione.

"But he doesn't know you used a spell to open it, and I bet he doesn't even know it anyway," added Ron.

"Neither did you."

While Hermione and Ron bickered, and Ben watched, Harry shakily patted his shoulder. He frowned, confused, until the boy pointed towards something in front of them.

Ben didn't really know what he had expected to see. Maybe some kind of ghost, or perhaps a secret room or something. But a monstrosity of a dog with three heads would've never crossed his mind.

"You know, I don't wonder why this place is forbidden anymore..." he babbled.

Ron and Hermione stopped arguing, and followed their gazes towards the creature. It seemed to have heard them, because one of its six eyes opened and, when it understood what was going on, the five others opened too.

The three pairs of eyes looked down at them furiously, while the three mouths growled, showing a lot of incredibly sharp and big teeth, and the four kids froze in fear for a second.

"AHHHHHHHHH"

Luckily enough, they managed to get out, and pushed all their bodies against the door, and it finally closed. Not feeling safe yet, they sprinted until they reached the Fat Lady's portrait.

"What are you four doing out there this late? It's past curfew."

Hermione became a stuttering mess, so Ben decided to be the one to speak. "I forgot how to go back, and Hermione tried to help us, I'm so sorry, Elizabeth, it won't happen again."

Slightly shaking her head, the portrait opened, letting them go through the entrance.

"What do they think they're doing?" said Ron, still out of breath, as they walked up the stairs. "Keeping something like that in a school!"

"You don't use your eyes, do you?" asked Hermione. "Didn't you see what it was standing on?"

"The floor?" guessed Harry.

Ben snorted.

"I wasn't looking at his feet, I was a bit preoccupied by its heads. In case you haven't noticed, it had three!" said Ron angrily.

"It was standing on a trapdoor," she stated.

"Why were you looking at its feet though?" asked Ben.

"That doesn't matter, what's important is that it was there for a reason, it's obviously guarding something."

"Guarding something?" Harry repeated.

"That's right," she said sharply. "Now, if you three don't mind, I'm going to bed before either of you come up with another clever idea to get us killed- Or worse, expelled!"

She closed the door angrily behind her, but not before giving them the, at least twentieth stern look of the day.

"She needs to sort out her priorities!" Ron scoffed, shaking his head, as Harry nodded and Ben chuckled.

A/N: i love it when people spam comments omg <3 anyways i hope you enjoyed!!