Coming from a Muggle family, I'd never actually ridden a broomstick before today's class. I was slightly nervous, but also very excited. Flying has always sounded exciting to me. When we first got to the Quidditch Pitch, my stomach filled with butterflies because of the height of the hoops we would be flying through. I couldn't imagine being so high up in the air without so much as a safety belt.

I stood to the left of my broom with my right arm over the it as Professor told us, and said, "Up." The broom rose half a foot in the air, but then fell back down to the ground. I tried again, yelling, "Up!" This time it rose nearly to my waist but then fell again. Once more, I bellowed "UP!" This time, the broom rushed into my right hand. After everyone had their broom, we mounted. I held on tightly at first, but realized I wouldn't be able to steer. I loosened my grip as much as my mind would allow. Professor Riley told me I was mounted correctly and holding on perfectly.

Professor then blew her whistle, and we all rose into the air. I was terrified at first. I'd risen about 7 feet off the ground, much higher than I had meant to go. The broom apparently felt my fear and began vibrating. I lost control and fell off my broom. I didn't wait long to get up though. I grabbed my broom again and rose up next to everyone else. We all flew around a bit at that short height to get the feeling of the broom. Then Professor called us down again.

This time, Professor told us, we'd be flying through the hoops. Now that I had control of the broom, I wasn't so fearful of how high they were. We all kicked off again and sped towards the hoops. I did a figure 8 through two of the hoops and raced around with some friends. We all flew around for a while more until it was lunchtime.