A Place of Magic; Belonging

Antoinette reddened at this. "Oh, oh please don't!" she stated, hastily. Though she was glad to hear him laugh, it was such a pleasent sound. "Illegitimate daughter, mind you," she added, embarassed. "But I would be delighted to teach you some magic!" she exclaimed. Antoinette beamed as Pippin changed a pebble in to a daisy. "Oh wow! I am very impressed," she beamed as she gratefully accepted the daisy.

"Making things fly, hey?" She stooped to place a hairclip - her, well, father had given it to her, she had merely tucked it in to her pocket - on the ground. "Ahem." With a swish and flick she uttered, "Wingardium leviosa!" As the clip - it had a butterfly on it - levitated, Antoinette turned slightly so that she wouldn't hit Pippin with what she would do next. "Watch out...confringo!" Suddenly, the clip exploded in to a lot of tiny pieces. "Reparo," she muttered, instantly, and it put itself back together. "Accio." Pocketing the clip, Antoinette giggled. "Sorry, felt like showing off. Hey, let me show you something I learnt a little while ago. Ahem," she cleared her throat again. "Avis!" A few small blue birds appeared at the end of her wand, flying off in to the distance before disappearing.
 
Naturally Pippin's eyes were as round as saucers the entire time. He beamed when she made her hair clip fly, gasped when it exploded and practically fell over when it was put back together again. Pippin felt like passing out when birds- real birds -came bursting out of her wand. He'd never seen anything like it before. Antoinette must be the greatest witch alive! To think that if he worked hard enough he might be able to do those sorts of things, too!

"Oh! That's amazing!" he exclaimed. "You could teach me to do those things? You could teach me to do those things,"

Suddenly turning a rock into a daisy wasn't the most amazing party trick. Well, he knew it wasn't because he'd only gotten smacked around the head for showing his mother proudly that he could be a good wizard. 'Shut up, you dirty boy." she'd said. 'I never want to see you doing such rot again!'. For the first time in his life he had felt spiteful enough to think That is only because you can't do it, mother. But Pippin was lucky to even have a wand. He'd saved long and hard with every bit of money her earned doing odd jobs around the marketplace, and finally he bought his own wand ... only to barely use it.

"Is there a charm for healing bruises?" asked Pippin excitedly.
 
Antoinette grinned, emboldened. "Of course I could!" she said, beaming. "I'd be happy to teach you anything."

Her smile faltered a little when he mentioned a charm for healing bruises. "I...you're bruised?" she asked, a little worried. Quickly shaking her head, she rushed to explain. She wasn't sure Pippin would want to talk about it. "Oh yeah, I believe there is. Or there's a potion or something for it. I know the charm to heal breaks and things, I'm not sure if it heals bruises though," she explained. "I could try but I'm not sure if it would work, and I wouldn't want to hurt you," she added.

"Have you ever performed a marking charm before?" she asked. "Signifies something as your property," she added, explaining. Pulling her book out of her bag, she swished and flicked her wand, and said clearly, "infelicio fur." A pale blue feline appeared out of her wand, and stalked around the book once before vanishing. "Would you like to try?" she asked kindly, rummaging around in her bag for a book she carried around at all times - a basic book of charms. She'd mastered every charm in the book, so there really was no need for her to keep it. "Finite incantatum," she muttered, taking the mark off the book. "I don't need this book any more. Would you like to keep it? I mean, you might have to hide it from your parents, but still. You can mark it, too!"
 
Pippin blushed once more when she faltered at his bruise spell request. He'd only knocked his knee when he fell down onto the cobblestones, but there'd be other times when he'd need it as well. He was sure she could guess when, and was glad that she didn't press the matter. "You're welcome to try any time, but don't fuss about it now," he smiled at her reassuringly. Pippin had to shake his head when Antoinette asked whether he'd performed that charm or not. He only knew what he'd observed and little tricks that the townspeople liked to show him. They enjoyed his wide-eyed, beaming reactions.

"Oh, yes please!" said Pippin as Antoinette offered him her book. To his shock, his eyes filled with tears again. Now that was a bit much for his pride. Furiously quelling the tears of joy, he held out his palms reverently as the book was dropped into his hands. "I'm ... not too sure about spells, but I could try marking it," said Pipping, eager to learn. Slowly and nervously he removed his wand from his pocket and looked down at the book. He was sure that he could remember the incantation. "I...infe..." Suddenly a voice came through the back of his mind. 'No, you must be confident and firm! Here, let's see you try this one...' Whose voice was that? Never mind that, Pip. With a deep breath, he pointed his wand at the book firmly and said "Infelicio fur". The effect was immediate. Just like hers, a cat emerged from his wand and scampered around the book, just once, before vanishing into oblivion. "Gosh!" said Pippin as he almost dropped the book in surprise. "Was that alright?"
 
"Aw, now don't you start crying, you're going to go and make me cry!" Grinning, she watched with pride as he performed the spell perfectly. "Was that alright? That was perfect!" she said, with a grin. "You're a natural! Most people have trouble getting anything to appear first time," she explained. "And now you know how to do it, you can mark anything that's special to you, so nobody will steal it. Pretty neat, huh?" she said with a grin.

Quite enthusiastic about teaching her young friend, she dug an old quill out of her bag. "How about some Transfiguration?" She gently placed the quill in his lap, before standing back with her hands on her hips. "You can turn it in to a spoon, if you want. All you have to do is focus on what you want to do, focus on changing the quill in to a spoon, then you take your wand and tap the quill three times and say 'Scriopea'." Beaming, Antoinette looked at Pippin. She was probably going to tire the poor kid out with magic soon, but she wanted to teach him what she could before she had to return to Beauxbatons for the next couple of weeks.
 
When it came to magic, things did as they were told, didn't they? To be told he was a natural, Pippin was half flabbergasted at the compliment because he usually got things first time. Perhaps if he moved on to the harder spells in the book - Oh, I can't wait! - then he'd have a challenge to work on. But he'd only try doing these in the marketplace. His parents would burn the book immediately if they found him with it. Unless there's a spell so that others can't touch it? But they'd only beat me instead. Even so, Pipping was catching on faster than some might anticipate.

"Sure!" said Pippin just as eagerly. He took the quill carefully, but moved a little bit more so that Antoinette could sit down on a nearby park bench. "Goodness, why didn't you say something? I've had you standing the whole time," he said apologetically. "Do sit down. We've plenty of time, unless you've somewhere to be?" Oh, I hope not. thought Pippin imploringly. How wonderful it would be to spend the day learning as much as possible. With his wand still in his hand, he looked down at the quill with a little more confidence. "Scriopea," said Pippin firmly. He beamed at Antoinette just like she had to her when the quill shrunk and hardened, shining in the sun. The spoon may have been a little bigger than it should have been, but otherwise it was perfect in every way. "You could be a Professor!" said Pippin to Antoinette. "You're a wonderful teacher,"
 
Antoinette gratefully sat down elegantly on the bench, crossing one leg over the other. "No, I don't have anywhere to go. I mean, I got the day off school to go see my gr- I mean, father." She winced a little at this. This new development would take a lot of getting used to.

"Aw, you really think so? I'd never thought of it before," she explained, with a grin. In the past couple of years she hadn't thought of her future too much, but she figured she'd apply for the Ministry and see what she got, moving up from there. "You really are very good at this. The first time I tried to change a quill to a spoon...well, it was a purple quill...and I ended up with a purple spoon." She blushed at this memory. Then again, she'd only been 11 or 12 at the time, and had barely any experience with magic. "Now what else can I teach you...do you know how to put up magical barriers?"
 
Pippin shook his head vigorously and without a word. Truthfully, he barely knew any spells so there was no point asking him if he did. But what did it matter, because he was learning. He was learning faster than he ever had in his entire life, and he simply had to find out more. There was a whole new world of magic out there, and today he was just experiencing a snippet of it. If there was some way ... any way to go to a school of magic, he'd take it. Even if it meant leaving his parents behind.

"Truly, you are. If one day you decide that the ministry isn't right for you, you would do very well as a Professor I think," he told her with transparent honesty. Pippin wouldn't fully believe that it was down to a talent of his own. Father told him that he was useless and, without the use of his legs like other people, he had to agree. But you didn't need to walk to wield a wand ... and Antoinette was showing him that maybe he wasn't so useless after all.

"What is a magical barrier used for? Am I able to try it?" he asked eagerly.
 
Antoinette blushed, it was rare for people to pay her a compliment based on her intelligence and ability to help other people. Usually, it was just compliments for her looks. Of course, looks were a big part of her personality, and something she played up, considering she was a Veela, but still.

"Magical barriers are used as...well, a protective barrier. We use them in duelling, when you want to defend yourself from being disarmed or stunned or something. What you do is wave your wand like this," she demonstrated, "and say Protego!" She pulled up the barrier, before ending the spell with a "finite!". "Your turn!"
 
"Dueling?" Pippin said without thinking, before retracting his statement with a wave of his hand and a blush. He hadn't thought that wizards would turns their wands against each other, but there surely must be some dark spells out there that could harm as well as do good. Pippin just didn't understand what it was to be a wizard. He viewed it as some sort of talent or profession that was forbidden from muggles, but not as a culture and a way of life. To understand that would be to understand that, like any culture, there were diversities as large as good and evil like in the muggle world.

"Stupid question..." he muttered to himself before shrugging his shoulders to loosen them and try this new spell. With a hesitant look towards Antoinette, Pippin pointed his wand out into the empty street and said firmly "Protego!". There was a burst of energy at the tip of his wand the the almost-invisible shield expanded out before them both. He stared at it in amazement for a second, before wilting and saying "Finite," sadly. "It wasn't as big as yours," said Pippin, disappointed in himself.
 
Antoinette gave a small wave of her hand and a shake of her head. "Oh, don't worry about it. First time. Would you like to try again? This time I'll try and disarm you, okay?" She smiled and leant closer to Pippin. "Don't worry. I won't hurt you." Straightening up, she gave Pippin a moment to cast the spell again, before clearing her throat and muttering "Expelliarmus!", wondering if his shield would be strong enough to withstand the spell. Although, Pippin handled himself pretty well. He was quite the talented wizard, surely he'd be fine.

((SORRY my posts are short and lame haha))
 
"Oh...okay..." replied Pippin nervously. He wasn't even entirely sure was disarming meant. "Protego," he said again, this time feeling a bit better about the blossoming spell. That was until Antoinette's spell came shooting out to his the shield directly in the middle. Once lost, his concentration was the breaking of the rest of the spell, and Antoinette's spell managed to ricochet off before his Protego shattered. Without realising it he had thrown up his hands to shield his face, and he feigned brushing his hair back in embarrassment as the light faded around them.

There was a short silence between them that a blush took to settle on his cheeks. Looking around the square, Pippin smiled at her. "That wasn't half bad."
 
Antoinette threw her hand up to her mouth, worried that she might have actually hurt Pippin. "Oh dear! Are you okay?" she asked, concerned. "I...I'm sorry, duelling spells take a bit of getting used to, not something to launch straight in to," she added, as a reprimand to herself more than anything else. "Truthfully I don't even like duelling that much," she added, with a blush. "I prefer Charms and Transfiguration." Realising she might be demeaning the boy, Antoinette looked down and saw a beetle crawling along the street. "Impedimentia," she said, freezing the beetle in it's tracks. Not wanting to pick it up, she instead cast a "wingardium leviosa," and brought it up to chest-height. "Want to try changing this in to a button?"
 
"No no," laughed Pippin good-naturedly. "I'm quite alright. That was exciting, wasn't it?". It had been quite a shock for his Protego to collapse like that, but more than anything Pippin was just embarrassed. "I can't imagine myself in a duel, but it is probably useful in case I ever got attacked. Or even if someone else did, yes?" he said merrily to make her smile again. Antoinette seemed quite worried about him sometimes, and he couldn't for the life of him fathom why. He didn't look like a little child or anything ... did he? Pippin blushed to himself.

He watched in interest as Antoinette froze a beetle. It was so entirely unmoving that it looked petrified. "Oh, but it's still alive, isn't it?" said Pippin in worry. "But we should kill it first, in case it doesn't like being a button. How do you kill something without breaking it? Is there a spell for that?". Unknowingly, he had asked about an unforgivable curse.
 
"Hah, well I suppose it was," Antoinette agreed, with a nod of her head. Still, she wasn't the biggest fan of dueling. She remembered seeing her mentor, the Charms Professor at Hogwarts, be attacked by the Potions Professor. It was horrible, the good Charms professor had turned his back only to be hit with an attack. On someone else, Antoinette might not have cared, but when she looked up to the Charms professor as much as she did, such a thing had been appalling to witness. At least the professor had been okay. Regardless, it was horrifying. She'd hated duelling ever since. Because nobody hurt the people she cared about. Nobody.

She grew quite solemn when Pippin worried about the beetle. "You know, I'd never thought of that." Lowering it to the ground, she released it and watched it scamper off. "Pippin, sweetie, there is a spell for that, but it's the worst spell known. You see, there are these three curses called the Unforgivable Curses. The worst Dark Arts there is. To perform a spell is a one-way ticket to Azkaban. There is the Imperius Curse, which puts the victim under the complete control of the caster. The Cruciatus Curse, which is torture beyond belief, and Avada Kedavra, the killing curse. The worst of all." Looking down, she added, "I am very glad that you pointed that out to me."
 
Against his will, Pipping couldn't help but become frightened. Antoinette had just been talking about the Dark Arts a minute ago, but he could never imagine a spell being so cruel and so horrible. Anyone could kill someone without using a spell to do it, but the fact that someone had used a talent so wondrous and with such potential for good for something so terrible ... why would anyone invent such a spell? His eyes were wide and glittering, the horror of it all seeping down on him like a shadow.

"I guess Azkaban must be a prison ..." said Pippin slowly, swallowing his deep fear and foreboding. He was quite naive but not stupid. Two and two had been put together, and now there were some darker questions he had to ask. "To think that I might have thought there to be a nice way to kill that beetle..." said Pippin in a tiny voice, bowing his head as he was unable to look at her. "Not ... many wizards have done these spells, have they?" he ventured tentatively. Antoinette must think him such a horrible person for being curious, but he couldn't help it. "Who looks after the people inside? Other wizards?"
 
((fffff I suck, I'm sorry))

"It is," Antoinette nodded, affirming Pippin's statement. "I don't know how many people there are in there, but the Dark Arts isn't that popular among wizards, thankfully. Most people you come across use their magic for good, or at least, not for evil. The prison is in the middle of the ocean, so it's hard to escape from, but not only that, there are these guards swarming the place. They're called Dementors, and they're really scary. They can..." She broke off, clutching her hand to the collar of her shirt. "Kid, I shouldn't be scaring you like this. You're only just beginning to learn about magic and I'm already telling you the really frightening stuff." She shook her head. "Don't worry about it, Pippin," she said, with a soft smile. "Like I said, you're just learning. Everybody's got to learn these things somehow," she added, somewhat cheerfully.
 
Pippin nodded mutely, afraid that he'd asked too much. If Antoinette did not continue describing the Dementors then they must be quite terrible beings. After what he'd heard so far, he really didn't want to know anymore. "That's alright," he reassured her kindly. "I've learned so much today already. I really have to thank you for teaching me all these things about magic. If it wasn't for you, I..." he trailed off, unsure of what to say. I never would have seen what my life could have been like, he thought. It made him terribly sad to think that he would never learn magic the way it was meant to be learned, but Antoinette's charm book would be a start. Now if Pippin was a bit more educated about the world, he would have known that the things his parents did and enforced upon him was considered abuse. But to him, that was just the way life worked.

Things wouldn't change unless something terrible happened to him, and he would be able to handle any more than he was being given. "If it wasn't for you I wouldn't have the opportunity to learn more. So, thank you." He took her hand and kissed it, the way one would do when consoling a family member or thanking someone deeply. Pippin realised that they had been talking for some time. He would have to start traveling home or he wouldn't make it in time to prepare dinner before his father came home.
 
Antoinette couldn't help it, she was touched by Pippin's naivety and honesty. The self proclaimed ice princess had been warmed considerably by the sweetness of the poor boy before her. "It's no trouble, really," Antoinette said, with a dismissive wave of her hand. Truthfully, she'd rather enjoyed herself, and she would almost have called it a nice day - except for missing Charms class and the whole revelation regarding her real father. Her afternoon had been lovely, in any case.
However, the sun was beginning to dip in the sky, and Pippin needed to get home. Antoinette supposed she ought to return to Beauxbatons, too - although the temptation to stop and have a drink at the Leaky Cauldron was quite strong. She'd deal with that when she got there. "I suppose it's getting kind of late. Your parents might be wondering where you are," she pondered. And I'll bet my boots that they'll beat the living daylights out of you if you're home late, kid, she thought, disgusted. Pippin was obviously a talented wizard, and yet his ignorant muggle parents wouldn't allow him to pursue studies of wizardry. Even if he couldn't go to school, there were other ways he should have been allowed to study. She'd have to speak to her...well, her father about this. "Good luck, sweetheart," she said as a way of a farewell, leaning over and giving the boy a chaste, friendly kiss on the cheek. Straightening up, she gave Pippin a small wave before turning on her heel and walking off in to the distance, headed back to the Leaky Cauldron and back to Beauxbatons.
 
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