The Unseen Scribe
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Lily's Journal - Chapter 20
🕑 Added 2024-02-10 22:21:13 +0000 UTCAN: Hey guys.
This chapter we have another experiment, and this one will be quite important to a few future projects.
Hope you guys enjoy this one.
Chapter 20
"I really like the look of these things." Harry said, earning a smile from Ginny and a nod from Ron and Megan.
It was the second weekend of the school year, and Harry was standing in the quidditch pitch. They were going to test the first two prototypes that came from the project Ron, Megan and Ginny were working on.
The two objects were vastly different, but still performed the same function. One was a traditional style broom. It looked similar to Harry's old Nimbus 2000, but with a few small changes to the handle. The wood was a different type, and there were silver letters denoting the broom's identification.
While the other looked like a cross between a plane and a race car. It looked similar to a fighter jet, with a single engine on the back, the vibranium gleaming on the sun. But it was still of a similar size to an F1 car.
Harry had to spend a lot of time on the transmutations for all the vibranium used on this project, but he was happy with the results just looking at it. The single person aircraft looked beautiful, and even if he wasn't particularly involved in the project, Harry already knew the thing was fast.
"Indeed, Mr. Potter. I'm looking forward to seeing what you all have been doing during the summer. Penelope told me a bit about it, and it all seemed incredible." Professor Flitwick said in his usual excited tone.
The diminutive professor was one of the staff members they invited to see the test. It seemed like the right thing to do since they would be using the school pitch to test the broom. The aircraft would probably take a lot more space and bring them outside of the bounds of the Hogwarts wards.
The other staff members were Professor McGonagall and Madam Hooch.
The head of Gryffindor was a quidditch fanatic, and quite knowledgeable about brooms, so she could help spot something wrong with it.
And Madam Hooch was invited because she was the most experienced flier on the school. A former professional player, she would be able to give them a few suggestions that would hopefully improve the next generation of brooms. They also wanted her to inspect the brooms and clear them for use in the school games, the Gryffindor team was looking forward to having better brooms.
Speaking of the team. Angelina, Alicia and Katie were looking at both the broom and the aircraft with visible excitement. Ginny had told them what to expect from the brooms, so they were looking forward to see if it delivered on the expectations. All three of them were also either half-bloods or muggleborns, so they knew what a fighter jet was, and the similarities with the prototype was making them curious.
Obviously Ron, Megan and Ginny were also there. This was their main project, so they wanted to be the ones to show it to the others.
And finally, there was the last group, Harry, Penelope, Sue, Hannah, Neville, Daphne and Tracy. They were the only ones that were free, so they decided to see the test.
Harry blushed a little when he remembered why Hermione was busy. She was apparently on her second 'date' with Luna, to see if she would allow Luna to join them in their own date the next day.
He was still a little surprised and confused about this whole thing. But Hermione seemed to genuinely want Harry to date other girls along with her, Harry could see how just talking about it made his girlfriend happy, and it seemed that as long as she also got to be in a relationship with those other girls, Hermione would actively look for them.
It was a bit weird to have his girlfriend looking for girls for the two of them to date, but it made Hermione happy, so Harry would go along with it and not make an issue of a good thing.
Parvati and Padma both wanted to see the test, but they were allowed by Dumbledore to leave the castle during the weekend, so they decided to spend it with the Moony and the werewolves in Liverpool. They were talking about improvements to the second generation of the magical TVs, and the upcoming release of the improved recording orbs, which would hopefully finally allow magical television stations to take off.
And Susan was working with Nym and Lee Jordan on a few minor things on Harry's defence project. More specifically, they were trying to adapt the Iron Man armour from the RoR into a working weapons system.
Lee probably knew more about the armour than any of them. Harry hardly had the time to look at it since returning to the castle, and Hermione didn't even work on it even once, so Lee's theorical knowledge from the comics was still the best they could do.
Nym was free from her work again, which would thankfully be happening a lot during the year since she was posted on Hogsmeade because of the visitors for the tournament. She was there to give advice and because she knew how Harry wanted to do things based on the ideas they talked about the weekend before.
And Susan was there because, besides Harry, she was the best of their year in defence, so she would have a lot to contribute.
It was also a nice way of making her feel involved.
According to Hermione, both Susan and Sue Li were feeling a little out of place in their group. They didn't join the others most of the time, and they felt like they didn't contribute much to the many different projects the group was working on.
Harry could understand Susan feeling like that. Right from the start she was having a lot of trouble following the books they were learning from. But she improved a lot during the summer with the lectures from the scientists they hired, and now she was making a few minor contributions. Not to mention the fact that when it came to laws, she knew just as much as Daphne, maybe more, so she was still contributing a lot behind the scenes.
Sue on the other hand, was a mystery.
She was responsible for most of the work with their initial generator, their first marketable project. And she was still making improvements to it, as well as overseeing the test plant in Lancaster and the construction of the new ones. She even took over the job of implementing Hermione's lightning bolt generators, making sure they work within the current makeup of the energy division of their company, and more importantly, ensuring that they could actually use the generator to provide energy to non-magical society.
The current plan was to pass it as a fusion reactor. It was the only thing that could come close to having a similar output.
So, Harry couldn't understand why Sue was feeling out of place. Sure, she could disappear sometimes, and by that he meant 99% of the time, but her work was extremely important. It was only because of her work that they had the money to invest in the many different projects that they were working on. Sue was an integral part of their group and Harry would try to make her see it that way.
"So, exactly how good is this broom?" Harry started to pay attention again when he heard professor McGonagall asked.
"We don't know yet. This will be the first test, but we are expecting it to be slightly faster than a nimbus 2000 but with the same manoeuvrability, so it should be better than the 2001." Megan answered excitedly.
Harry could see why Megan and Ron became friends so easily. They both were obsessed with quidditch and brooms in general. It also made him feel happy that Ron had someone to spend time with, since both Harry and Hermione had stopped spending as much time with him since last year.
Harry probably spent more time with Megan than with Ron in the summer, because Megan would visit Grimmauld place with her sister, Gwenog Jones, Sirius' girlfriend. So, Harry knew how similar Megan and Ron were.
He just hoped his redheaded friend would soon see the way Megan looked at him. Harry wasn't one to talk, because according to Parvati, Hermione was giving him the same looks since the start of their second year. But Harry now knew what to look for, mainly because he wanted to know which girls Hermione liked, but still, he could see Megan was just waiting for Ron to ask her on a date.
Although, he might not be the next bloke in our dorm to get a date with a Hufflepuff. Harry thought, looking at Neville and Hannah standing pretty close to each other.
Neville had asked him just the day before about how Harry had asked Hermione on a date, so he might make a move on Hannah soon. Something that would probably make her really happy because, according to Hermione, Hannah liked Neville since second year.
"And who is going to fly it?" Madam Hooch asked, and Harry started to pay attention again, mentally berating himself for getting distracted for a second time.
"I'm going to give it a nice, relatively safe test." Ginny responded. "But then, we wanted Harry to take it and push the broom to its limits." She added, making Harry look at her.
"And why am I only learning about it now?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow and giving her a cold look, earning an embarrassed smile from Ginny, while Megan slap Ron on the back of the head.
Harry had to stop himself from smirking at the embarrassed looks on the faces of the two Weasleys. Ginny was usually pretty shy around him, but Ron didn't get embarrassed often, so Harry was quite happy that his 'Daphne look' was working.
Harry had learned the look from his Slytherin friend, the one that earned her the nickname of 'Ice Queen'. Although, Tracy said that the nickname started because people heard it wrong when she called Daphne ice-cream. Apparently, Daph was one of the best costumers of the ice-cream shop in Diagon Alley.
"C'mon mate, I told the girls there was no reason to ask. You love to fly!" Ron explained, earning a punch on the arm from his sister that didn't seem to be a joking one.
"You still had to tell me Ron. Those kinds of things have to be said." Harry said, holding the bridge of his nose. Ron could be really annoying sometimes.
"Why, mate? Are you saying you aren't going to fly?" Ron asked.
"I will!" Harry confirmed. "But what if I wasn't here?" He asked, and Ron appeared to start to understand. "What if I had other things to do this morning?"
"I'm sorry." Ron said simply, and Harry nodded towards his friend, showing his acceptance of the apology. Ron wasn't known for his eloquence, especially on the rare occasions he apologized to someone.
"Indeed, Mr. Weasley. You should never expect Mr. Potter to be available whenever you need him." Professor McGonagall said. "Nor Miss Granger, as I'm sure you realized now that she isn't spending as much time correcting your school work." She added with a pointed look, earning a laugh from most of the group and an embarrassed smile from Ron.
"I think this is a good time to stop the conversation and start the tests." Professor Flitwick said, earning nods from everyone else. "I would certainly thank you all for making it fast. I have to grade the first year's work." He added.
"Don't you mean I have to grade them, Professor?" Penny in fake annoyance.
"The perks of having an apprentice, Miss Clearwater." Professor Flitwick said in a teasing tone, making everyone laugh at Penny pouting in mock hurt.
It was with that laughter that Ginny picked up the broom and took fly.
She moved through the air at a lazy pace, keeping the broom at a relatively safe distance to the ground and never pushing it's speed to the limit. Still, Ginny's ability on a broom showed. She was moving through the air with a grace that was only seen on the chasers on their best days.
Even Angelina, who was the best flier amongst the current Gryffindor chasers, wasn't anywhere near Ginny's talent on a broom. Harry had been training with the girls since his first year, and he had never seen Angie do the manoeuvres that he saw Ginny pull off at The Burrow the few times he visited during the summer.
Ginny pushed the broom a little and Harry saw what looked to be the first problem with it. The broom was starting to push a little towards the left and Ginny was having to compensate for it by slightly changing her position on the broom to shift her centre of gravity. It wasn't that bad for a chaser or beater, but for a seeker, it would be a massive problem on the pitch.
Ginny made a turn near the goal posts and then flew towards them again, gently landing on the ground in front of the group.
"That looked really good, Ginny!" Harry congratulated her, earning a nod from a blushing Ginny.
"Relly good is an understatement, Harry." Katie added, making her fellow chasers nod in agreement.
"Do you want a place on the team?" Angelina asked. "Just tell me if you want and I'll give you one of their places." She added, pointing towards Katie and Alicia who were giving her a mocking glare.
"You girls have been playing together for three years now. You probably know everything there is to know about each other's play style, and that is way more important than just ability on a broom." Ginny answered, earning a smile from the three chasers, and loud agreement from her brother. "But, if Harry ends up in the hospital wing in the day of a game again, I could play in his place." She added.
Harry could certainly see it. Ginny was a better chaser, but she could be a good seeker as well. She would probably lose against Cedric, but Cho and Draco were nowhere near her level.
"Consider yourself the new reserve seeker then!" Angelina proclaimed, earning agreeing nods from the rest of the team, including Harry.
"Indeed, Miss Weasley, that was an inspired bit of flying. I hope to see good things from you in the Gryffindor team in the future." McGonagall said, giving Ginny a soft smile.
"And the broom seems like a good one, but I have seen some problems with it." Madam Hooch interjected. She was there to give them a professional opinion, and she seemed eager to do it.
"I saw that the broom was pushing towards the left at higher speeds." Harry added before madam Hooch could do it, and earned a smile from the flight instructor.
"I imagined you would catch that, mister Potter." She said, and Harry nodded his head, while the others looked a bit confused before madam Hooch explained. "It isn't an issue for chasers or beaters, but for seekers and keepers it is quite important. Those positions are the ones that need the broom to be stable because they usually need sudden bursts of speed during a match."
"It would be a major issue for me if my broom was unstable when I dive, or when I need to cross the pitch at top speed. Stability is more important for a seeker than pure speed, because an unstable broom can push a seeker away from the snitch." Harry added, and the looks he was receiving showed him that the others started to understand their point.
"I never realized that something so simple could interfere that much in a quidditch match." Sue said, earning nods in agreement from Daphne and Tracy.
"A good broom is important!" Ron added in a tone that made Sue back off a little. Ron was always a little too passionate when it came to the sport.
"No need to bite my head off, Weasley. I just don't know much about quidditch." Sue responded, raising her hands in a sign of surrender.
"Well, moving on-" Madam Hooch said quickly, before a fight started. "I also saw a little bit of drag when the broom is close to the ground. It isn't enough to be game changing, the cleansweeps usually have the same problem, but it should still be something you should look into solving." She added.
Harry was impressed by her knowledge. He didn't realize this issue with the broom, so he was really happy to have someone like madam Hooch lending them a hand with this issue. Like she said, it wasn't a big deal, but it was still something they could solve and make the broom just a little bit better.
"Thanks for the tip, madam Hooch." Ginny said, and Harry could almost physically feel the sincerity and happiness in her voice.
He knew how much Ginny was hoping to make this broom a success, mainly because she wanted to impress him. Harry wasn't stupid, when his girlfriend started to show interest in girls, he started to pay a lot more attention to the girls around him, so he knew Ginny liked him.
It didn't change the fact that Harry wouldn't try anything with her. Hermione was the one that wanted to add other girls to their relationship, and while Harry was willing to make an effort, he wouldn't be looking for girls on his own, he would only try something with the girls that Hermione wanted. So, if Ginny wanted something with him, she should be trying to impress Hermione, not him.
A broom isn't going to impress Hermione, but I suppose a single person aircraft would. Harry though, as he looked at the aircraft again.
The thing looked ready for tests, and Harry was looking forward to it. He already knew that Ron would be the one testing it, since Ron spent most of his summer either working on these two projects, or in the flight simulator that David introduced him to.
Harry and Hermione had even joked that they wouldn't be surprised if Ron enlists with the RAF when he turns eighteen.
"So, Harry. Are you ready to give this broom a go?" Harry heard Ginny ask, and looked at the redhead, giving her a soft smile and making Ginny blush from head to toe.
Harry heard a bit of snickering from the side where Daph and Tracy where staying. It didn't come a surprise to him that Daphne picked up on it, unlike Malfoy, she wasn't in Slytherin for nothing. Daphne was a true snake. Reading body language and gathering information was her bread and butter.
"Sure, Ginny." Harry responded happily. He was excited to try a new broom.
He walked forward and stopped to the right of the broom. Saying "UP" in a firm tone, the broom jumped into his hand. He mounted the broom and gave an impulse, the broom immediately rising at a slow pace.
Harry made a full lap around the pitch at that slow pace, familiarizing himself with the broom. He could immediately tell that it wasn't nearly as good as his Firebolt, but it seemed to be on par with his old Nimbus 2000, maybe a little better. The broom had good manoeuvrability, slightly better than the Nimbus, and it also was a little more comfortable, the charms on the seat were of a higher quality.
But the true test would be at top speed, so when Harry finished his first lap, he put the broom at a diagonal position, gaining both altitude and a little bit of speed, as he pushed the broom a little more.
It's performance was good enough in Harry's opinion. Again, not as good as the Firebolt, but still a good amount of acceleration at an upwards trajectory. Harry reached the height that the chasers usually played at and started to do a few manoeuvres. After a couple of loops, spirals and a few quick turns, Harry found another problem with the broom. It had issues dealing with quick, successive turns. Something like an S curve would mess with the balance of the broom, and in some of the most extreme turns Harry tried he was almost thrown out of it.
Still, Harry decided to give it the final test and started to go up again, towards the height that he usually played at, some fifteen metres above the chasers. And when he reached that height, he truly pushed the broom to its absolute limits. He reached speeds higher than his old Nimbus, but still slower than his Firebolt, and the quick turns and tight curves were even worse than before. He actually had to slow down a little because the broom was pushing him so much towards the left, that he almost fell from it while making a 90° turn.
And then Harry gave it a final test, diving at top speed and trying a wronski feint. And that was when the broom shined, it's speed and balance at a dive was just as good as a Firebolt. Harry could feel no difference as he ended his dive, the tip of his feet lightly grazing the grass.
Harry flew towards the group, laughing all the way there due to his enjoyment of such a precise dive. Dives had always been his favourite manoeuvres, and this broom gave him an experience that was only equalled by his Firebolt.
"Potter, I truly believe you are insane. Because only an insane person would laugh after doing what you just did." Daphne said when Harry landed near her and Tracy.
Harry looked around at his friends and professors, and saw that a few of them seemed to agree with Daphne, while others didn't. Still, everyone was looking at him in various degrees of shock.
"So I'm back to being Potter, I'm I Daph?" Harry teased. It took almost a full month for Daphne to start calling him Harry, and he wasn't going to allow her to stop doing it.
"If you're going to try and kill yourself, then yes. I might as well distance myself from you." Daphne said back in a teasing tone, but Harry could still hear the worry she was hiding.
"My mother always told me to not interact with crazy people." Tracy quipped, earning a small laugh from a few amongst the group, the others were still looking at Harry weirdly.
"I always said that your mother is a smart lady." Daphne agreed with her friend, as if she was affirming a law of the universe, the sky is blue, ice is cold, and Harry Potter is crazy. And Harry couldn't stop himself from snorting a little.
"Don't worry, girls. I knew exactly what I was doing." Harry affirmed. He was about to say more when he was interrupted by Ron.
"That was amazing, Mate!" Ron gushed in the way he usually reserved for the Cannons, and Harry knew how big of a deal that was.
"Damn, Harry. Being able to fly during the summer made a major difference for you." Angelina added in agreement with Ron.
Harry had realized that he was flying better than ever before, but he never stopped to think that being able to fly during the summer would be the reason for it, but it did make sense. The time he reserved to spend with Sirius during the summer was usually spent at a pitch or another, Sirius was almost as obsessed with quidditch as Ron, so he was quite happy to spend time flying.
"And that, ladies, is the result of one of the most naturally gifted fliers I have ever seen." Madam Hooch said, tipping her head towards Harry.
It made him really happy to receive that compliment. He was quite proud of his ability on a broom.
"So, what did you think?" Megan asked. She probably wanted to move the conversation along because she spent a good part of the summer flying with Harry. Usually in the harpies training pitch while Sirius and her sister snogged somewhere in the locker room.
"Well, I definitely think you guys should work on stability." Harry started, gathering the full attention of the group. "I almost lost control when doing those quick turns and spirals, so I imagine that most people would be thrown out of the broom if they tried those manoeuvres."
"Most people would be thrown out of any broom if they tried what you did." Daphne muttered, but Harry ignored her and kept going.
"The broom is faster than my old Nimbus, but it's speed is nowhere close to the Firebolt. It's main strength is in the dive. It was just as good as my Firebolt, maybe even better." Harry added, and the smiles he received from Ron, Megan and Ginny, showed him how happy they were that they made something that could rival the best broom on the market at something.
"Overall, I would recommend the broom for chasers, beaters, and people that just want to race in a straight line. But anyone that needs to made quick turns at high speeds would be at serious danger using this broom." Harry concluded, in a more serious tone, earning nods from Ginny, Ron and Megan. They seemed eager to work on improving their creation.
"With that in mind. I would like to fly this broom myself, before I allow any chasers or beaters to use them at school games." Madam Hooch said, drawing the attention of the group to her. "I'm not doubting the skill of mister Potter, he is a better flier now than I was at my prime. But I still have more experience than him, and I could pick up on something he missed." She added, giving Harry a look of apology, but he just gave her and understanding smile, after all, she wasn't wrong.
"I agree with you, Rolanda." Professor McGonagall said. "Girls, you will only be allowed to use this new broom after Rolanda says you can. Your safety comes first." She added, giving the three chasers a pointed look, and earning embarrassed nods from the three girls who were looking quite eager to try the broom.
"Yeah, Angie. I know you're the new captain, but you don't need to channel your inner Wood." Harry teased, making Angelina blush a little. "I still remember what he said to a poor, scared and impressionable first year boy. I think it was 'Catch the snitch or die trying', right Angie?" He added, making his teammates laugh.
"Yeah, that sounds like Oliver." Alicia said through her laughter.
"I never knew the boy was like that." Professor McGonagall said, and Harry could hear the surprise and disapproval in her tone. The twins would love hearing about this. They always thought that McGonagall was encouraging Wood.
"I hope the safety of your teammates, and not winning games, is your primary concern, miss Johnson." She added, again giving a pointed look at Angelina, and earning a nod in return.
"Of course, professor." Angelina said, in a more serious tone. And it seemed to be good enough for their head of house because McGonagall gave her a rare smile.
"Are we going to test the plane?" Neville said, surprising them because of his previous silence.
"You're right, Nev. We should move things along." Harry responded. "I guess Ron will be the one testing it?" He asked, receiving nods from Megan and Ginny, and a large smile from Ron.
"I'm really looking forward to it." Hannah said in an excited tone. "That simulator David showed us was really fun."
"I must confess that I'm also looking forward to seeing it." Professor Flitwick said, drawing the attention of the group. "I heard about the muggle flying machines from many of my students, including your mother, mister Potter. But I never seen one in action." He added.
Harry wasn't surprised to hear that. He spent quite a bit of his summer talking with the portraits of his parents, and his mum had said that she was pretty close to professor Flitwick. The diminutive professor was a mentor to a young Lily Evans, and according to his mum, her love of charms came mostly from her enjoyment of his lessons.
Harry could certainly understand that. Flitwick's way of teaching was quite fun, and his love of magic was clear to anyone who wanted to see it. It was easy to fall in love with a subject when you had fun and engaging classes, as well as a professor that was always willing to help, even when the question wasn't about the subject he taught.
"You're going to love it, professor!" Penelope affirmed.
"Well, Ron. Let's get it started already." Harry said, smiling at his friend and receiving a smile back.
Ron walked towards the aircraft and started to do his pre-flight checks. While he did it, the rest of the group talked about what they expected from it. And during that talk, Harry was asked an interesting question.
"I don't recognize the metal used in the machine." Professor McGonagall made a comment.
"Ask Harry. He was the one that made it." Ginny said in a proud tone, making everyone look at him.
"You made it, mister Potter?" The head of Gryffindor asked.
"It is a new metal, professor." Harry responded, making the three staff members look at him in surprise, and a hint of shock. "I used alchemical transmutation to replicate a fictional metal. This metal is highly versatile, so much so, that we are using it in energy generation, hull plating, strengthening of parts and we are even considering using it as a base for all systems in a spaceship." He explained, and now the shock was even more evident in the face of his professors.
"Mister Potter… I don't think you understand how astonishing that is. Alchemy is an extremely difficult subject, and the fact that you were able to learn it to this level on your own and just from books, is a massive achievement." Professor Flitwick said, with pride evident in his tone.
It honestly surprised Harry. He heard people say that alchemy was difficult, but for him, it was quite easy to learn from the books in the RoR. Sure, the potions part of alchemy was complicated, and he had no idea how to even start learning about it. But transmutation was quite easy to learn.
"That isn't even the most surprising, Filius." Professor McGonagall interjected. "I don't know if you remember it, but Albus won his title as a grand sorcerer due to his discovery of the twelve uses of dragon blood. I believe that the discovery of a new metallic alloy using alchemy, could be seen in the same way, if it was known by the larger magical community." She explained, making the entire group look at Harry with something approaching awe.
He didn't like it.
"I don't really want the recognition, professor. I just made it because it seemed like a fun challenge, and we needed a new metal for a few of our major projects." Harry said, hoping the professors would take his word on it and not make a big deal out of his discovery, but it seemed he wouldn't get his wish.
"It is not about what you want, mister Potter, it is about what you deserve!" Professor Flitwick said a little heatedly.
"I agree, Filius." Professor McGonagall said, nodding toward the charms professor. Then she looked at Harry with the stern expression she usually had in class. "I will talk with the relevant authorities to inspect your work, and then you will receive your title if they agree that your creation is good enough." She told Harry in a hard tone, and then said in a softer voice with just a hint of teasing.
"Sirius told us about what you found at Godric's hollow. So, if you make an issue with receiving your just recognition, I will use one of those lovely mirrors you and your friends created to talk to James and Lily, and ask them to talk some sense into you."
"Yes, professor." Harry responded with a fake pout, making his friends, professor Flitwick and madam Hooch laugh. Even the corners of professor McGonagall lips twitched a little, which for her, was almost like rolling on the ground in laughter.
"You should be proud of your achievements, mister Potter." Professor Flitwick added, and Harry was about to respond, but he was distracted by Ron starting the engine of his aircraft.
They could see Ron waving from inside the cockpit as the plane started to gain altitude in a vertical take-off.
"So, you guys went with the VTOL configuration." Penelope said, earning nods from Ginny and Megan.
"It made things easier." Megan stated.
They watched as the plane continued to gain altitude, the vibranium of the fuselage gleaming in the sun. Once the plane achieved what Harry imagined was a good altitude, it started to move towards the south, gaining speed quickly until they saw it break the sound barrier, the sonic boom coming quickly after it.
"How is that thing still flying? A plane of that size, and with that thin fuselage, shouldn't be able to break the sound barrier and still be in one piece." Hannah asked. She didn't work on the project, but she was the one that knew the most about the mechanics of flight amongst the group on the ground. It mostly came from her research on astrophysics, and own interest in both space travel, and in-atmosphere air travel.
"It is because of the vibranium." Ginny said simply.
"I would really like to learn more about this metal." Professor McGonagall said, looking at the sky in awe. "And you said that thing is moving faster than sound, miss Abbott?" She asked.
"Yes, professor." Hannah responded. "It isn't actually that hard, muggle fighter jets do it all the time." She added.
"It is surprising how far the muggles have gone without magic." Madam Hooch said, earning muttered agreement from the two professors who were still looking at the quickly disappearing plane on the sky.
They watched as the plane disappeared, and then Ginny took out a mirror from her pocket and received a call from Ron.
"I think a can push this thing to Mach 3!" Harry heard Ron's voice from the mirror.
"Don't do it. At the altitude of this test, you would be shattering windows all over the place." Megan said.
"You also don't know how the fuselage would hold at those speeds, and the only safety feature the plane has at the moment is that old portkey Lupin cast for us." Ginny added.
"Just loop around the school a couple of times and then land again." Megan finished, and Harry could hear his friend's annoyed tone in his short answer.
"Fine!" Ron said, and then cut the call.
They watched as Ron circled around the castle a couple of time, not really pushing the speed of the plane. And then he stopped right above where he started and prepared to land the plane.
The plane landed softly on the ground after a couple of minutes of a slow descent, and Ron got out of the cockpit with an annoyed look, walking towards them and stopping in front of his sister.
"What's the point of testing the plane if I can't push it?" Ron asked, and Harry knew him enough to see that Ron was almost at the point of completely losing his temper.
"The point, Ron, is to see if the fuselage and the engine could handle a short flight." Ginny said in a cold tone. "I rather have my brother safe and uninjured, than losing you to an accident in an untested aircraft." She added.
"I could handle it." Ron said defiantly.
"Ginny's right, Ron. And maybe you could handle it, but we don't know if the plane would. This was the first test." Megan said in a soft tone, and Ron turned to face her with a furious look on his face. Harry decided to help his friend before he made a massive mistake, and make Megan lose any interest in dating him.
"That looked amazing, mate. What was it like?" Harry asked, approaching Ron and putting an arm over his shoulder.
The professors and Penelope seemed to realize what Harry was doing, because they gave him sly smiles, and a thumbs up from professor Flitwick.
"It was brilliant, mate." Ron said in a happier tone.
"Let's take a walk, and you can tell me more about it." Harry said, earning a happy nod from Ron. He then turned towards the girls.
"You girls can hear his report later." Harry said, in a tone that showed he wouldn't accept any arguments. And the girls seemed to understand what he was doing, because they gave him happy smiles and nodded their heads in thanks.
"Sure, Harry. You two can spend some time together. We can look at sensors in the plane for now, and get a report from Ron later." Ginny said, mouthing 'thank you' right after, so she knew exactly why Harry was taking Ron away.
"Well, we're off then." Harry said, as he and Ron started to walk away, but he stopped for a moment.
"Next weekend is your project, right Sue?" He asked, earning a distracted nod from his Chinese friend, who was already distracted with a book.
"Yeah, Harry. I think I have something good to show the group." Sue said, briefly looking up from her book, and Harry gave her a smile.
"I'm looking forward to it." Harry said, and then walked away with Ron.
AN 2: Another experiment, this time conducted by the flight crew.
And next chapter we have another one to look forward to.
I will see you guys in the next one.
