Heri's regression to juvenile delinquency came suddenly. Actually, it came in two parts, but both occurred on the same day, so perhaps it still counted as 'sudden.' In any case, it happened unexpectedly.
Flying lessons were on the agenda, and every first-year was keyed up. Depending on the kid, they took out their worked up energy in different ways. Some used productive outlets like researching flying methods or bragging about the flying they did at home. Others took it out on others; bullying picked up, Malfoy and his goons being the most voracious.
Draco Malfoy was every stereotype against Slytherin Heri had ever heard of, and he seemed to revel in it. Even worse (in Heri's opinion), he was all bark, rarely any bite; he talked big but left all the actual harassment to his bodyguards. Heri was of the opinion that if you were going to be a certain way, you commit to it, you don't shove off parts of it on someone else; if Malfoy was going to be a bully, he should have at least dealt out some damage himself. The only time Malfoy put any shots in was when the other person's back was turned and there were no teachers nearby. Heri hated anything half-arsed and she had been itching to give the douche a pounding since she first saw him.
By a twist of fate, Professor Sprout was too sick to work that day and couldn't watch over the first-year Hufflepuffs during the free period before their Flying lesson. It was decided that the Hufflepuffs would join the Slytherins' and Gryffindors' Flying lesson during that time. The entire gaggle of them huddled off to the side of the rival houses — Heri situated in the middle as was usual for a Hufflepuff 'leader' — and trying to not get involved in the inter-house power-plays.
The entire lesson was a comedy in errors. Over half of those present couldn't get their brooms off the ground the first round of shouted "Up!" and even those that did manage didn't hold the broom properly. Not even Malfoy with all his bragging did it correctly, whining that he had been holding it that way all his life even as Madame Hooch told him flat out that it was wrong. Limbs were banged, children were embarrassed, and insults were thrown about. Madame Hooch had her work cut out for her. It almost came to a violent end when Neville Longbottom nearly lost control of his broom and flew off. Thankfully, he had been standing next to Heri, and she had pulled him off the busted thing just as it shot off into the atmosphere.
When Madame Hooch finally got everyone into the air in one piece, and everyone was handling themselves reasonably enough, she brought out Quidditch equipment for them to play with. Training Snitches were buzzing about, quaffles were being tossed, and bludgers were hurling through the air. All the students were spread out in groups, playing with the flying balls.
Heri was trailing after a training Snitch with Megan Jones, Wayne Hopkins, and Hannah Abbott, her three most enthusiastic cheerleaders. They were zipping through the air, laughing as they went, making grabs for the Snitch when they got in range. It was just as she was zeroing in on the winged ball that she saw something that made her blood run cold. There, not a hundred yards from where she was flying, was Justin Finch-Fletchley and some boys from Gryffindor talking, not noticing the bludger speeding in their direction.
"Justin!" Heri cried, pouring on the speed to reach them. "Look out! Get out of the way!"
The boys looked up in confusion as Heri came rushing at them, but they moved too slowly. One of them spotted the bludger and hollered his own warning as he dove off, but in the scramble to move, Justin got stuck upside down and couldn't straighten himself.
Holy Hera, he could die! In her panic, Heri screeched up in front of the boy. She pulled her fist back and —
CRACK!
The bludger went careening back the way it came.
Holding herself back from gaping, Heri noticed that her fist shimmered pale pink.
Suffice to say the uproar was immense. Hoots, hollers, screams, even tears were thrown her way. Heri's ears were ringing.
"Y-you — you just — a-a-and then it — OH, MY GOD!" Heri wasn't certain which one of her fangirls shrieked it, but that was basically what everyone had to say about her feat, Madame Hooch included.
Hufflepuff was awarded fifty points for saving another student's life and Heri was all but carried off the training ground on the shoulders of her Housemates.
The crowd of first-years that were part of the Flying lesson buzzed around for the rest of the day. Heri didn't know about them, but she was still hyped up on adrenaline. That was the first time anyone else had been in danger of death in front of her and it somehow made a bigger impression on her than when she herself was in danger. Someone almost died in front of her! Goodness, why was no one else bothered about that?
It was in this twitchy frame of mind that she came across Malfoy and his bookends harassing Longbottom. She had told her posse to meet her in the Great Hall while she popped off for a minute to visit the lavatory. Never had she wished before that she had more witnesses around to testify what she was seeing.
Neville Longbottom was a gentle soul of a retiring disposition that made Heri wonder why he was in the House of the brave. S ure, it took guts to live among the bodacious and reckless, but she felt he might have had a better time of it in Hufflepuff. At least with the 'Puffs he wouldn't be taunted for not being loud and proud.
They were in a lesser used corridor leading to the Great Hall. The doors were in throwing distance but the hallway wasn't trafficked like the others. The three yahoos were pushing Longbottom around just outside of the sight-range of the Great Hall.