Ben shrugged, grimacing slightly at the broken splinters in his hand. He'd get a walloping for this, no doubt. "Well," he began with an air of resignation. "they did say the broom was cursed, so perhaps I'll escape on a lighter sentence this time, eh?" He threw a slightly reckless grin again and sighed, gathering up the pieces.

Truth be told, embarrassment hadn't entirely escaped him though he hoped he hid it well. The last thing he wanted was for people to think he was a poor flyer. The boy didn't seem too judgemental though; perhaps a little shy and uncertain, but it was around those personality types that Ben seemed to get even more hyper. Perhaps he thought that if he were more excited, they might gain a little more energy from his. Of course, not everyone's energy worked that way but it was just beyond the boy's social understanding that managed to fly completely over his head.

He'd finished gathering up the pieces of the broom and threw the other boy another grin. "Well!" he declared, tilting his arms and checking to see he had all the parts of the broom in hand. "Thanks for the help! It was nice meeting you."

As he took one definitive step forward, his ankle buckled with pain. He gave a shout of anguish and then down went the Slytherin boy as he fell flat on his face.

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