RPG LOG: Padma Patil, X. Hooch
Featuring: Padma and Xiomara
Location: Quidditch Pitch, Wednesday afternoon
Summary: Xiomara and Padma go through a lesson, and Xiomara makes a proposition
Rated: G
Xiomara did one last loop around the goal post and then blew on her whistle, signaling for the student currently trying to evade her to land near the rest of the students. "Not bad, Mr. Longbottom. You were only hit once. Very well done." The boy grinned. He was showing marked improvement, and she was never one to be stingy on praise, even if it was her own brusque variety. Still hovering on her broom a good three feet off the air, she motioned to Padma. "Miss Patil, you're up."
The lessons for today had been fairly encouraging. She got to chase the students, which was always fun, and try to throw a harmless little hex at them. Longbottom, for instance, had been hit by a hex that turned his hair blue for about two minutes. The goal, of course, was to both outmaneuver the flying coach by using Proximus, and to try and hit her with Caecus Paulisper. She gave Padma a wry grin. "Give you a head start of about thirty seconds, Miss Patil."
"Yes, Ma'am." Padma mounted her broom and took off. At first, thirty second seemed to be a fairly short amount of time, but once in the air it seemed to drag on--thirty seconds of waiting for Hooch and her hexes. Once she was in the air, Padma cast the Proximus charm. 'Better sooner than later,' she thought to herself, trying to gain some distance between herself and the class on the ground.
Hooch's golden eyes watched her intently. Then, she turned the nose of her broom up and shot upwards, coming up under Padma from below and to the right on a sharp angle. With an easy pull, she brought her wand out of its holster and had it at the ready.
Padma barely noticed Hooch's movement and only just managed an evasive maneuver, turning a slightly awkward left and heading down while clumsily trying to bring out her wand. 'Watch it, Padma! Don't try anything fancy, or you'll lose your balance,' she thought. 'In mid-air, the slightest mistake can cost you.'
Padma carefully balanced herself on the broom and watched Hooch closely, waiting for the best moment to cast new the spell.
Hooch grinned. The girl, albeit a bit clumsy, had good instincts. She decided to push her a bit. Making a quick, sharp turn around the goal post, she leaned forward, low against the broom itself, arrowing forward like a shot and aiming directly for Padma in what could be a mid-air collision if neither of them veered.
Padma, realizing that she and Hooch were on a collision course, allowed herself a bit of a grin. 'Perfect,' she thought. Hooch had given her the perfect strategy. Padma leaned low on the broom and sped forward, straight towards Hooch. 'If I get close enough, I might be able to catch her off guard. Although, years of Quidditch training have probably prepared her for anything. I've got to be careful.'
Holding her wand forward, Padma flew straight on.
Eyelids narrowed at the wind whipping at her face, Hooch nearly grinned at the girl's brass. Playing chicken with a Harpy was, logically, never a good idea. She waited until they she could see Padma's face clearly, and then pulled up in a sharp climb, twisting like a corkscrew. She glanced back over her shoulder, wondering if the girl would attempt to follow.
"Blast!" It was a good plan, but Hooch's sudden maneuver had forced Padma to rethink things. 'Only one thing to do but follow and think of something new,' she told herself. 'Time to devise Plan B. I wonder if there's time for Plan C as well?' Padma moved to follow Hooch, not daring to attempt the corkscrew acrobatics, and watched her movements closely. As Hooch flew in front of her, her mind wandered to a game of football she'd seen on TV during the holidays. 'Hmm, I wonder....' She began devising a simple strategy.
'Roller coaster' was all Hooch thought. With a wicked grin that the girl would probably pale at seeing, she went into a sharp dive, nearly perpendicular to the ground, then swerving in a sharp curve to the right, the nose of her broom leveling out.
'Ah! She can't be serious!' A moment of confusion passed over Padma, but she quickly recovered. "It's almost as though she's on a.... roller coaster? Then, what goes down must go up, and what goes right must go left!' As Hooch moved to the right, Padma moved in an arc, going left then right in an attempt to meet Hooch head-on. 'Wand out, let's get ready.'
Golden eyes lit up. 'Clever girl.' Leaned forward on her broom, she sped up, then pulled the nose of her broom up, sending her in a looping path up and over Padma. With a grin, she pointed her wand and aimed. "Risum!"
A jet of purplish light shot out of her wand on a course that would intercept Padma if she didn't move and move quickly.
'No more games. Hooch is serious about this! I've got to move now; there's no time to fool around with this.' Padma moved quickly, barely missing the hex. She pulled up on her broom, swiftly turning around in a small loop-de-loop and sped after Hooch. 'Now or never, Padma! Do it while she's distracted!' Padma leaned into her broom, wand out, and called out the hex. "Caecus Paulisper!"
Xiomara felt the hex coming. She always used Proximus, mostly to let her know where the student was in case of an emergency. The girl was good, she had to admit. However, she had forgotten one simple thing. Hooch slowed enough to let the hex and Padma come closer. Then, she did something so simple, people never expected it.
She flipped herself upside down, literally just loosening her grip so that she hung from under the broom. The hex breezed past her, hitting the grass harmlessly. From the same position, she raised her wand hand and pointed it at the oncoming girl. "Risum!"
'Blast! So close!' Padma moved to evade the hex, but was hit anyway and nearly fell off her broom in a fit of giggles. 'If she wants the unexpected, I'll give it to her.' Padma sped away in the opposite direction, hoping the spell would wear off soon. 'Bugger this hex! Why couldn't it be green hair, or elephant ears? I can't cast anything! Hopefully, it'll wear off before she catches up to me.'
Xiomara raised her eyebrow, righting herself on her broom and starting to make a curving ascent after Padma when a small chime sounded. Grinning, she put her whistle to her lips and let out a long tweet. "Enough, Miss Patil! Very well done." She spiraled down to hover above the ground, waiting for the young woman to do the same.
'Ahh, my broom for another minute! Well, better luck next time.' Padma headed back for the group and landed her broom, letting out a few last giggles as the hex began to wear off. "Thank you, Madam," she replied as she burst into another fit of giggles. Padma blushed and immediately apologized.
Hooch smiled, waving aside the apology. "Right then. That's all of you. Same thing next week, but no practicing on anyone. That includes the Slytherins, Mr. Finnegan," she said with a stern look. "I'm trusting you all to be responsible with what I'm teaching you. And if I do find out that you're using this hex, I'm going to make you clean the droppings from the hoops. Are we clear?" When the class chorused their agreement, she nodded. "Good. Now, off you get. Miss Patil, if I can see you for a moment?"
Padma nodded, a bit shocked. 'Why would Hooch want to see me? Perhaps I was too aggressive? I'm not one of the Potters, after all!'
Xiomara waited until the other students had put their brooms back in the shed and were heading towards the front door before she looked back at Padma. A smile spread across her face, one eyebrow lifting. "That was impressive flying, Miss Patil."
Padma, confused, couldn't think of anything to say. "Ahh, oh. Thank you, Madam Hooch. I try my best, but I don't fancy myself an expert by any means. But, if you don't mind me asking, what's this about? Did I do something wrong?"
"Wrong?" Xiomara laughed, a smile spreading across her features. "No, dear, nothing's wrong. I wanted to discuss something with you." She hadn't taken a student under her wing in a long time. The last time had been when a gangly, awkward and clumsy girl had needed someone to try and bang some grace into her. Granted, Tonks had improved a bit, but not much.
"How much do you enjoy flying, Miss Patil?"
"Oh, well, I do enjoy it very much. I don't consider it to be one of my strong points, but I think I'm competent enough." Padma was still confused. Was this about Quidditch? Why else would Madam Hooch pull her aside? It didn't quite make sense to her. "May I ask why?"
Xiomara raised an eyebrow. "Because I think it is one of your strong points." She smiled. "You tried to anticipate what I would do. You very nearly succeeded. You also had the brass to try and play chicken with me. Which is something that got my attention."
She shifted her weight onto one leg, giving Padma a thoughtful look. "I wanted to know if you would like extra instruction for flying. You've got the natural talent to be quite good."
'Phew! No trouble,' she thought. 'But . . .flying?' Padma was taken aback, but also a little curious. What was this all about, then? It sounded interesting, though. "I'm flattered Madam Hooch. I've never considered flying to be one of my strong points, mostly because I focus so much on my studies. I think I would like that, though."
Xiomara hawkish eyes brightened. "You've got the raw talent to be quite good. However, unlike others, you haven't had the opportunity to hone those talents. So. If you have the spare time and the inclination, I can offer you extra training. It'll deal mostly with refining your movements and timing. Your instincts are excellent."
Padma frowned suddenly, remembering all of her schoolwork and the piles of notes she had been compiling for the upcoming NEWTs. 'Spare time? HA! What's that?' To fly, or not to fly--that was the question, and Padma had a hard time answering. 'Flying would give me a break from studying, and help me clear my head,' she thought. 'And it would allow me to get fresh air more often.... but can I fit it in to all of this studying? But it might prove to be a handy skill later on.' Padma thought for a few moments before finally giving her answer. "I'll do it, Madam, as long as it doesn't interfere with my studies. I still want to maintain my marks."
"I would expect nothing less of you, Miss Patil." Xiomara nodded. "Now. I think once a week would be sufficient. For an hour, at the most. So. What day do you think would be the best for you? During the week or the weekend?"
"I think the weekend would be best, preferably in the morning." Curiosity had soon given way to excitement. Oh, for it to be the weekend already!
Xiomara nodded. "Very well then. How does Sunday morning sound? Right after breakfast, I should think." That gave her plenty of time after her own training bout to shower and eat.
Padma smiled and nodded. "That would be great, Madam Hooch. I look forward to it."
Xiomara smiled. "Very well then. Might I suggest something other than your school uniform? You're going to be getting sweaty." Her eyes glittered. "Now scoot on to your next class."
"Certainly, Madam. Thank you very much!" Padma gathered her things and headed off for her next class with an extra bounce in her step. Inside, she was positively jumping for joy; these special flying lessons would provide just the right amount of challenge and excitement to keep her from going positively nutters before her NEWTs.
Xiomara watched the girl and chuckled ruthlessly before going to lock up the broom shed. Really, training someone else was always amusing. Especially when they found out she would run them into the ground, if need be. Grinning again, she set her broom away.
It was going to be very interesting, she thought, to see Miss Patil's reaction to hanging upside down on her broom.
Location: Quidditch Pitch, Wednesday afternoon
Summary: Xiomara and Padma go through a lesson, and Xiomara makes a proposition
Rated: G
Xiomara did one last loop around the goal post and then blew on her whistle, signaling for the student currently trying to evade her to land near the rest of the students. "Not bad, Mr. Longbottom. You were only hit once. Very well done." The boy grinned. He was showing marked improvement, and she was never one to be stingy on praise, even if it was her own brusque variety. Still hovering on her broom a good three feet off the air, she motioned to Padma. "Miss Patil, you're up."
The lessons for today had been fairly encouraging. She got to chase the students, which was always fun, and try to throw a harmless little hex at them. Longbottom, for instance, had been hit by a hex that turned his hair blue for about two minutes. The goal, of course, was to both outmaneuver the flying coach by using Proximus, and to try and hit her with Caecus Paulisper. She gave Padma a wry grin. "Give you a head start of about thirty seconds, Miss Patil."
"Yes, Ma'am." Padma mounted her broom and took off. At first, thirty second seemed to be a fairly short amount of time, but once in the air it seemed to drag on--thirty seconds of waiting for Hooch and her hexes. Once she was in the air, Padma cast the Proximus charm. 'Better sooner than later,' she thought to herself, trying to gain some distance between herself and the class on the ground.
Hooch's golden eyes watched her intently. Then, she turned the nose of her broom up and shot upwards, coming up under Padma from below and to the right on a sharp angle. With an easy pull, she brought her wand out of its holster and had it at the ready.
Padma barely noticed Hooch's movement and only just managed an evasive maneuver, turning a slightly awkward left and heading down while clumsily trying to bring out her wand. 'Watch it, Padma! Don't try anything fancy, or you'll lose your balance,' she thought. 'In mid-air, the slightest mistake can cost you.'
Padma carefully balanced herself on the broom and watched Hooch closely, waiting for the best moment to cast new the spell.
Hooch grinned. The girl, albeit a bit clumsy, had good instincts. She decided to push her a bit. Making a quick, sharp turn around the goal post, she leaned forward, low against the broom itself, arrowing forward like a shot and aiming directly for Padma in what could be a mid-air collision if neither of them veered.
Padma, realizing that she and Hooch were on a collision course, allowed herself a bit of a grin. 'Perfect,' she thought. Hooch had given her the perfect strategy. Padma leaned low on the broom and sped forward, straight towards Hooch. 'If I get close enough, I might be able to catch her off guard. Although, years of Quidditch training have probably prepared her for anything. I've got to be careful.'
Holding her wand forward, Padma flew straight on.
Eyelids narrowed at the wind whipping at her face, Hooch nearly grinned at the girl's brass. Playing chicken with a Harpy was, logically, never a good idea. She waited until they she could see Padma's face clearly, and then pulled up in a sharp climb, twisting like a corkscrew. She glanced back over her shoulder, wondering if the girl would attempt to follow.
"Blast!" It was a good plan, but Hooch's sudden maneuver had forced Padma to rethink things. 'Only one thing to do but follow and think of something new,' she told herself. 'Time to devise Plan B. I wonder if there's time for Plan C as well?' Padma moved to follow Hooch, not daring to attempt the corkscrew acrobatics, and watched her movements closely. As Hooch flew in front of her, her mind wandered to a game of football she'd seen on TV during the holidays. 'Hmm, I wonder....' She began devising a simple strategy.
'Roller coaster' was all Hooch thought. With a wicked grin that the girl would probably pale at seeing, she went into a sharp dive, nearly perpendicular to the ground, then swerving in a sharp curve to the right, the nose of her broom leveling out.
'Ah! She can't be serious!' A moment of confusion passed over Padma, but she quickly recovered. "It's almost as though she's on a.... roller coaster? Then, what goes down must go up, and what goes right must go left!' As Hooch moved to the right, Padma moved in an arc, going left then right in an attempt to meet Hooch head-on. 'Wand out, let's get ready.'
Golden eyes lit up. 'Clever girl.' Leaned forward on her broom, she sped up, then pulled the nose of her broom up, sending her in a looping path up and over Padma. With a grin, she pointed her wand and aimed. "Risum!"
A jet of purplish light shot out of her wand on a course that would intercept Padma if she didn't move and move quickly.
'No more games. Hooch is serious about this! I've got to move now; there's no time to fool around with this.' Padma moved quickly, barely missing the hex. She pulled up on her broom, swiftly turning around in a small loop-de-loop and sped after Hooch. 'Now or never, Padma! Do it while she's distracted!' Padma leaned into her broom, wand out, and called out the hex. "Caecus Paulisper!"
Xiomara felt the hex coming. She always used Proximus, mostly to let her know where the student was in case of an emergency. The girl was good, she had to admit. However, she had forgotten one simple thing. Hooch slowed enough to let the hex and Padma come closer. Then, she did something so simple, people never expected it.
She flipped herself upside down, literally just loosening her grip so that she hung from under the broom. The hex breezed past her, hitting the grass harmlessly. From the same position, she raised her wand hand and pointed it at the oncoming girl. "Risum!"
'Blast! So close!' Padma moved to evade the hex, but was hit anyway and nearly fell off her broom in a fit of giggles. 'If she wants the unexpected, I'll give it to her.' Padma sped away in the opposite direction, hoping the spell would wear off soon. 'Bugger this hex! Why couldn't it be green hair, or elephant ears? I can't cast anything! Hopefully, it'll wear off before she catches up to me.'
Xiomara raised her eyebrow, righting herself on her broom and starting to make a curving ascent after Padma when a small chime sounded. Grinning, she put her whistle to her lips and let out a long tweet. "Enough, Miss Patil! Very well done." She spiraled down to hover above the ground, waiting for the young woman to do the same.
'Ahh, my broom for another minute! Well, better luck next time.' Padma headed back for the group and landed her broom, letting out a few last giggles as the hex began to wear off. "Thank you, Madam," she replied as she burst into another fit of giggles. Padma blushed and immediately apologized.
Hooch smiled, waving aside the apology. "Right then. That's all of you. Same thing next week, but no practicing on anyone. That includes the Slytherins, Mr. Finnegan," she said with a stern look. "I'm trusting you all to be responsible with what I'm teaching you. And if I do find out that you're using this hex, I'm going to make you clean the droppings from the hoops. Are we clear?" When the class chorused their agreement, she nodded. "Good. Now, off you get. Miss Patil, if I can see you for a moment?"
Padma nodded, a bit shocked. 'Why would Hooch want to see me? Perhaps I was too aggressive? I'm not one of the Potters, after all!'
Xiomara waited until the other students had put their brooms back in the shed and were heading towards the front door before she looked back at Padma. A smile spread across her face, one eyebrow lifting. "That was impressive flying, Miss Patil."
Padma, confused, couldn't think of anything to say. "Ahh, oh. Thank you, Madam Hooch. I try my best, but I don't fancy myself an expert by any means. But, if you don't mind me asking, what's this about? Did I do something wrong?"
"Wrong?" Xiomara laughed, a smile spreading across her features. "No, dear, nothing's wrong. I wanted to discuss something with you." She hadn't taken a student under her wing in a long time. The last time had been when a gangly, awkward and clumsy girl had needed someone to try and bang some grace into her. Granted, Tonks had improved a bit, but not much.
"How much do you enjoy flying, Miss Patil?"
"Oh, well, I do enjoy it very much. I don't consider it to be one of my strong points, but I think I'm competent enough." Padma was still confused. Was this about Quidditch? Why else would Madam Hooch pull her aside? It didn't quite make sense to her. "May I ask why?"
Xiomara raised an eyebrow. "Because I think it is one of your strong points." She smiled. "You tried to anticipate what I would do. You very nearly succeeded. You also had the brass to try and play chicken with me. Which is something that got my attention."
She shifted her weight onto one leg, giving Padma a thoughtful look. "I wanted to know if you would like extra instruction for flying. You've got the natural talent to be quite good."
'Phew! No trouble,' she thought. 'But . . .flying?' Padma was taken aback, but also a little curious. What was this all about, then? It sounded interesting, though. "I'm flattered Madam Hooch. I've never considered flying to be one of my strong points, mostly because I focus so much on my studies. I think I would like that, though."
Xiomara hawkish eyes brightened. "You've got the raw talent to be quite good. However, unlike others, you haven't had the opportunity to hone those talents. So. If you have the spare time and the inclination, I can offer you extra training. It'll deal mostly with refining your movements and timing. Your instincts are excellent."
Padma frowned suddenly, remembering all of her schoolwork and the piles of notes she had been compiling for the upcoming NEWTs. 'Spare time? HA! What's that?' To fly, or not to fly--that was the question, and Padma had a hard time answering. 'Flying would give me a break from studying, and help me clear my head,' she thought. 'And it would allow me to get fresh air more often.... but can I fit it in to all of this studying? But it might prove to be a handy skill later on.' Padma thought for a few moments before finally giving her answer. "I'll do it, Madam, as long as it doesn't interfere with my studies. I still want to maintain my marks."
"I would expect nothing less of you, Miss Patil." Xiomara nodded. "Now. I think once a week would be sufficient. For an hour, at the most. So. What day do you think would be the best for you? During the week or the weekend?"
"I think the weekend would be best, preferably in the morning." Curiosity had soon given way to excitement. Oh, for it to be the weekend already!
Xiomara nodded. "Very well then. How does Sunday morning sound? Right after breakfast, I should think." That gave her plenty of time after her own training bout to shower and eat.
Padma smiled and nodded. "That would be great, Madam Hooch. I look forward to it."
Xiomara smiled. "Very well then. Might I suggest something other than your school uniform? You're going to be getting sweaty." Her eyes glittered. "Now scoot on to your next class."
"Certainly, Madam. Thank you very much!" Padma gathered her things and headed off for her next class with an extra bounce in her step. Inside, she was positively jumping for joy; these special flying lessons would provide just the right amount of challenge and excitement to keep her from going positively nutters before her NEWTs.
Xiomara watched the girl and chuckled ruthlessly before going to lock up the broom shed. Really, training someone else was always amusing. Especially when they found out she would run them into the ground, if need be. Grinning again, she set her broom away.
It was going to be very interesting, she thought, to see Miss Patil's reaction to hanging upside down on her broom.