Hermione *must* be able to fly well because . . .

[jodel at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 46251

Julie states;

<< Ok, so they're taking a class.  Hermione gets what, TOP MARKS at Hogwarts. 
 I don't believe she could be getting top marks without getting top marks in 
flying/Madam Hooch's class as well.
 >>

I've always suspected that she did so poorly in the one flying class we are 
shown because she had the bad luck to get one of the school's "dud" brooms. 
(Every school athletic department in the WORLD has dud equipment still in 
service. It's due for replacement, but the budget doesn't allow for that yet. 
The kids soon learn to avoid getting stuck with those items. Muggle-born 
Hermione didn't know how to recognize the trouble indicators yet. Neither did 
Harry, but he got one of the school's "good" brooms. Quite by chance.) 

She had no trouble on a broomstick by the end of the year when she ended up 
chasing flying keys, anyway.

Side note; Do you think that the reason we are shown no more flying lessons 
may be because Harry was no longer taking them? Once he was on the team, the 
team's practice sessions would have accounted for the same amount of time and 
he could have been excused, leaving the rest of the beginner's class to 
continue without him. It's hard to imagine that they could have gotten 
through the rest of the whole year without *any* more uproars from Malfoy in 
flying class. But we aren't told about any.

-JOdel