Percy was rather proud of himself, especially since he was fairly certain his broomstick was outmatched. He was flying Charlie's old Nimbus 1000, which had been given to him in his second year when Charlie mysteriously acquired a Cleansweep Seven. (Charlie had flatly refused to explain to anyone where he'd gotten the money for that broom, which at the time had been the best on the market, but Bill was prone to breaking into helpless giggles whenever asked about it and Percy suspected that there had been illegal activity involved.) The decades-old broom had been good in its time, and Percy was growing quite fond of it, but Hornby had a modified Silver Arrow that Percy was positive could outpace him, if he missed his block and found himself in a race.