NOVEL WEB Chapter 26: Chapter 26 Flying (2)
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Malfoy was laughing loudly nearby, convinced that Harry would definitely be expelled.
"Just wait and see, Potter will be on the train back to his Muggle world tonight," Malfoy sneered.
But apart from a few Slytherin cronies, no one paid him any attention.
"I think we should put the brooms back in their place as Madam Hooch said," Hermione suggested, still looking shaken as she pointed at Harry's abandoned broom.
Orli shrugged and walked over to pick up the equally shabby broom. It looked just as battered as her own, yet Harry had managed such difficult maneuvers with it. Perhaps that was what natural talent meant.
As Orli mused absently, walking toward the broom storage area, something strange happened. Just as she was about to drop the broom, it suddenly stuck to her hand as if coated with powerful magical glue. She tried shaking it off several times, but it wouldn't budge.
"Hermione! Look at this broom, it's..." Orli instinctively sensed danger and called out to her friend. But it was too late - the broom shot upward with her, and she watched helplessly as her feet left the ground. There wasn't even time to adjust her position; she could only grab the broomstick tightly with both hands.
The wind howled past her cheeks as she rapidly ascended. She vaguely heard Hermione shouting something, but soon the words were lost to the wind.
Only the whooshing of air currents surrounded her now. Her cloak billowed in the fierce wind as she dangled from the broom like a kite, in an even more pitiful state than Neville had been.
Up on the Gryffindor Tower, the Weasley twins were expertly jumping from a window onto a gargoyle, then onto a hidden roof platform, apparently planning some experiment. Suddenly, they saw Orli whoosh past them, shooting straight upward.
"Blimey, is that Orli? I thought Charlie had come back to school," George exclaimed admiringly. "She's actually daring to ride with her legs off the broom! Truly a Gryffindor warrior!"
"Wait a minute..." Fred suddenly furrowed his brow. "Something's wrong! Her broom's out of control!"
George squinted for a better look and indeed saw Orli's face had turned deathly pale, her eyes tightly shut.
"Damn it, Accio broom!" Fred shouted the Summoning Charm, and a broom zoomed out from their dormitory. He jumped on it immediately.
"We've got to save her."
"Of course, brother."
George summoned his own broom almost simultaneously, and the two of them shot toward Orli from either side, moving with the seamless coordination they showed on the Quidditch field.
"Orli! Can you hear me? Open your eyes!" Just as Orli was beginning to despair, she heard Fred's familiar voice near her ear.
She forced her eyes open, but the fierce wind immediately filled them with tears, leaving her unable to see anything. She could only recognize Fred and George's voices as they approached her.
"Orli, listen to me, you must hold on tight, then try to control the broomhead downward, you need to level out the broom!" George shouted.
Orli tried to understand his instructions, but her fingers had grown stiff from gripping so long and wouldn't respond. The powerful sticking charm had worn off long ago, and she felt she could slip off at any moment.
They'd risen too high now, and the disobedient old broom was even starting to lose twigs, gradually threatening to become nothing more than a wooden pole.
"This isn't working, she's about to lose her grip," Fred called out anxiously, seemingly closer to Orli now.
"Orli, I'll count to three, then let go, understand?"
"Are you mad?!" George shouted from the other side.
"One! Two!..."
Fred's voice grew closer to Orli. As he shouted "Three!", Orli released her grip, leaving her fate to chance, and almost instantly, she crashed hard into something solid.