Cool levitation experiment

Today in my physics class we had a really cool demonstration.

A superconductor was cooled to it's superconductive temperature by submersing it in liquid nitrogen. Then a strong ferromagnet was held over the superconductor.

The ferromagnet's magnetic field caused the current produced from the electron orbits of the superconductor to create a new magnetic field which cancelled out the magnetic field of the original magnet.

This also turned turned the upward side of the superconductor into a magnetic pole of the same polarity as the ferromagnet, causing a repulsive force that levitated the ferromagnet...and it could be pushed down on with a few pounds of force without making contact.

So, if it was merely the same effect as two repulsive magnets, why didn't the top magnet get knocked off instantly? Turns out that the interaction somehow creates magnetic vortexes that pierce the superconductor. These magnetic field vortexes act like solenoids providing uniform vertical force in the opposite direction of the repulsion, which lock the ferromagnet and the superconductor together.

Like invisible strings of magnetivity, the ferromagnet can be lifted into the air and the superconductor will be lifted with it...dangled around etc, it looks as if there are literally invisible strings holding it together. Yet they are repelling each other still by about an inch.

These magnetic field vortexes are like pins that hold them together, and thus if a torque is applied to spin the ferromagnet, the vortexes will produce a friction to slow down the motion. But the really amazing thing is that after the motion has stopped, the ferromagnet will start to spin again on it's own...then after about 90 degrees of rotation it will slow down stop and reverse direction...and it will continue to do this forever.

Why does it keep spinning and reversing direction? And why do the magnetic fields turn the top of the superconductor into a magnetic pole?

I know that these are quantum physics phenomena...