This is Victor's listening face! It is a lot like his ordinary face.

Wood takes out a bright red ball about the size of a football.

"This ball's called the Quaffle. The Chasers throw the Quaffle to each other and try and get it through one of the hoops to score a goal. Ten points every time the Quaffle goes through one of the hoops. Follow me?"

"Yes."

"Now, there's another player on each side who's called the Keeper—I'm Keeper for Gryffindor. I have to fly around our hoops and stop the other team from scoring." He reaches into the crate to get small club, a bit like a short baseball bat. "Take this," he says, offering it to Victor.

...he looks at the club with mild suspicion, but takes it.

"I'm going to show you what the Bludgers do," Wood says. "These two are the Bludgers," he continues, showing Victor two identical balls, jet black and slightly smaller than the red Quaffle. They seem to be straining to escape the straps holding them inside the box. "Stand back," the boy warns, before freeing one of the Bludgers.

At once, the black ball rises high in the air and then pelts straight at Victor's face.

He ducks.

The ball passes over his head and curves backwards, this time shooting for Wood, who dives on top of it and manages to pin it to the ground.

"See?" Wood pants, forcing the struggling Bludger back into the crate and strapping it down safely. "The Bludgers rocket around, trying to knock players off their brooms. That's why you have two Beaters on each team—the Weasley twins are ours—it's their job to protect their side from the Bludgers and try and knock them towards the other team. So—think you've got all that?"

"Yes."

"Now, the last member of the team is the Seeker. That's you, if you get in. And you don't have to worry about the Quaffle or the Bludgers—only about the Golden Snitch." He reaches into the crate and takes out the fourth and last ball. Compared with the Quaffle and the Bludgers, it's tiny, about the size of a large walnut. It's bright gold and has little fluttering silver wings. "It's the most important ball of the lot. It's very hard to catch because it's so fast and difficult to see. It's the Seeker's job to catch it. You've got to weave in and out of the Chasers, Beaters, Bludgers, and Quaffle to get it before the other team's Seeker, because whichever Seeker catches the Snitch wins his team an extra hundred and fifty points, so they nearly always win. That's why Seekers get fouled so much. A game of Quidditch only ends when the Snitch is caught, so it can go on for ages—I think the record is three months, they had to keep bringing on substitutes so the players could get some sleep.

"Well, that's it—any questions?"

He thinks about it.

He shakes his head.

"We won't practice with the Snitch yet," says Wood, carefully shutting it back inside the crate, "it's too dark, we might lose it. Let's try you out with a few of these." He pulls a bag of ordinary golf balls out of his pocket. "I'll throw them, you'll catch them, how's that?"

"All right."

He gets on his broom.

...being on a good broom is even better than the school one.

It is! It practically responds to his thoughts, sensitive to his every movement and wish.

And Wood starts throwing balls—at first, in Victor's general direction.

He catches them. He just - wants to catch them and then he does. It's amazing.

Well then Wood can start throwing them every which way.

He catches those too.

They keep at it for half an hour, after which it's proper night and Wood calls a stop to it, utterly delighted. "That Quidditch Cup'll have our name on it this year," he says happily as they trudge back up to the castle. "I wouldn't be surprised if you turn out better than Charlie Weasley, and he could have played for England if he hadn't gone off chasing dragons."

Victor is cheerful. He's not sure he remembers ever having been cheerful before.

"I like flying."

"You're incredible at it! I heard great things about your mother but it's something else to actually see it in action."

He smiles.

The following Thursday they have flying lessons again.

"So, as you've probably all heard seventeen hundred times over since last Thursday, first-years are now allowed to try out for Quidditch—if I deem them capable of not getting themselves and others killed with a broom. So today's lesson will be a little different, and I'll give you a few instructions and evaluate how well you follow them and take to the air."

Victor waits to find out what kind of different she means.

She will give a few simple instructions—like, take off vertically, go up fifty feet, then return—and watch as the students do them, writing things as she does.

Victor can do all of those things.