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a few flying questions
I've been spending my weekend contemplating Draco's broomstick... Yeah, I know, what else is new, right? ;-) But seriously, I've been wondering about how much flying experience Draco really had before going to Hogwarts.
We know that he could "fly well" as demonstrated during the first flying lesson, and that his ambition was to play Quidditch in his first year, but on the other hand most of the first years didn't seem able to make their brooms fly up at their command, nevermind actually mounting them and getting off the ground. So the fact Draco successfully did those things could very well earn him the title of a good flier regardless of his actual skills in the air.
Also, we know he never had any proper flying training, otherwise Madam Hooch wouldn't have to correct the way he held his broom.
And then there's the fact that Draco's Quidditch plans included Lucius buying him a racing broom first. Which was exactly what happened during the second year. I suppose it's possible that Draco just wanted to have the very newest model available, but then again, he didn't change his Nimbus for a Firebolt in the third year, so this explanation isn't all that likely.
So, my theory is that Draco did do a lot of flying, but that he never actually had a proper broom and instead was just using those children practice brooms that we saw in GoF during the Quidditch World Cup. After all, I doubt Lucius would give his son and heir an actual racing broom without teaching him how to use it first. Or that Narcissa would allow her precious Draco take off into the air before he even had a wand with which to protect himself from injury.
What do you guys think?
And speaking of Quidditch, the snitch is always described as appearing or disappearing. Do you think it means it actually apparates all over the place or that it just flies with various speeds, from hovering in one place to going so fast it seems to vanish? I've always leaned towards the latter explanation, but now I'm thinking maybe I should just take the descriptions literally...
We know that he could "fly well" as demonstrated during the first flying lesson, and that his ambition was to play Quidditch in his first year, but on the other hand most of the first years didn't seem able to make their brooms fly up at their command, nevermind actually mounting them and getting off the ground. So the fact Draco successfully did those things could very well earn him the title of a good flier regardless of his actual skills in the air.
Also, we know he never had any proper flying training, otherwise Madam Hooch wouldn't have to correct the way he held his broom.
And then there's the fact that Draco's Quidditch plans included Lucius buying him a racing broom first. Which was exactly what happened during the second year. I suppose it's possible that Draco just wanted to have the very newest model available, but then again, he didn't change his Nimbus for a Firebolt in the third year, so this explanation isn't all that likely.
So, my theory is that Draco did do a lot of flying, but that he never actually had a proper broom and instead was just using those children practice brooms that we saw in GoF during the Quidditch World Cup. After all, I doubt Lucius would give his son and heir an actual racing broom without teaching him how to use it first. Or that Narcissa would allow her precious Draco take off into the air before he even had a wand with which to protect himself from injury.
What do you guys think?
And speaking of Quidditch, the snitch is always described as appearing or disappearing. Do you think it means it actually apparates all over the place or that it just flies with various speeds, from hovering in one place to going so fast it seems to vanish? I've always leaned towards the latter explanation, but now I'm thinking maybe I should just take the descriptions literally...