Closed Moving Pieces

[Flynn North-McGowan]

While Flynn didn't really like to think he was bad at any sort of magic, the truth of the matter was, Transfiguration had always been a constant thorn in his side right from his first year. And it showed in his grades as well. While he didn't actually care about bad grades, being completely used to them by now, he did care about being bad at magic. He was supposed to be a competent wizard, not someone who couldn't even master the spells they had been taught the previous semester. Which was why he was actually putting in the time to try and practice, gripping his wand tightly as he scrunched his nose up at the small inanimate chess piece on the table in front of him. He would have tried to practice some of the other spells as well, but it was hard to get his hands on a chipmunk or a teapot, so this was just going to have to do.

"Right," he breathed out, trying to calm himself before pointing his wand right at the little chess piece. "Animare." For a moment he thought nothing had happened, but that was up until the point the chess piece fell over when it tried to walk and found that its legs were still inanimate. Flynn didn't even have the words to complain anymore, simply groaning out loud before hitting his forehead against the table in annoyance, a loud groan coming out of his mouth as he did so.

@Ivy Ashworth

 

[Ivy Ashworth]

Ivy felt restricted by the magic she was learning in her second year. So far, things were going kind of slowly. She wanted to learn more, better and flashier spells. But the ones from third year books she had triedon her own hadn't gotten her any good results, to her immense frustration. She had been hoping to master a few third year spells, show her professors, and maybe be given more complicated assignments. But so far, nothing had really worked. She was definitely good at the second year spells, though, which was something.

The Gryffindor was hoping to get some studying done, some reading to prepare herself for her classes this upcoming semester. She had brought a small stack of books, carrying them to her favorite table in the student lounge. But as she headed over there, she spotted Flynn North at another table. Ivy stopped in her tracks, watching him for a moment. She saw his attempt at the Animare spell and grimaced. Then decided she could help him out. She placed her stack of books on his table instead with a thump. "You're not doing the wand movement correctly." She told him. "You have to tap the object in it's center first, then aim your wand at it." She told him, hoping he wouldn't be too frustrated with her corrections. She was just trying to help, he'd know that, right?

 

[Flynn North-McGowan]

Hearing a rather familiar voice, Flynn paused for just a moment before he lifted his head off the desk. If he actually had it in him, he probably would have scowled. The last person he wanted commenting on his magical ability was Ivy. She would probably get all big-headed about it and how she was an amazing witch and the best at magic. As apparently that was one of the only things which mattered in the world in her opinion. Which was still ridiculous and Flynn was totally not against reminding her what he thought of those stupid ideas if she brought it up.

"I did that," he huffed, narrowing his eyes at the wobbling chess piece in front of him as it rolled around on the floor unable to stand up and walk. "You clearly weren't paying attention."

 

[Ivy Ashworth]

Ivy huffed when Flynn said he had done that, shaking her head. "You pointed your wand at it. You have to touch it." She told him, frowning. "I could show you." She said with a shrug. "I'm trying to help, you know." She added, mostly because she knew that sometimes she came across as if she knew everything better. Well, mostly because she did. "And you also have to picture it clearly in your head, like with everything in Transfiguration. And focus." She told him. "It's a tricky spell, so it's not weird that it takes a few tries." She then added, realizing that might help him feel a bit better.

 

[Flynn North-McGowan]

"I did touch it with my bloody wand," he snapped back. He wasn't an idiot, he did remember the proper steps to get this spell to work, "And I never asked for your help." And if he had wanted help from someone, she was probably the last person he would ever consider asking. The first person who came to mind was probably Finn, but he probably never would actually get over his own stubbornness to actually go out of his way to ask for help from anyone. "But I know that, I have been doing that, but it never works. I've been trying for ages and it never works properly."

 

[Ivy Ashworth]

Ivy held up her hands defensively, frowning at Flynn. "Fine, then I saw it wrong." She said, though she was pretty sure she hadn't. "You didn't ask, but I'm giving it anyway." She said, tilting her chin up a bit, biting back a comment about how he clearly needed help. "Then you're not doing it correctly." She said. "It's not like the magic is just not working for you because it doesn't like you or something." She said with a huff. "That's not how it works. You just have to try harder." Ivy said. "Do you want me to show you how?"

 

[Flynn North-McGowan]

He was well aware she was giving it anyway, and that was part of the reason he found her so annoying. What gave her the idea that she could just go around telling people how to do things like she knew how to do everything perfectly? "I am doing it correctly, I'm doing it the exact same way we were taught in class, but it never works. No Transfiguration ever works properly for me. I can always get the hang of Charms and hexes and stuff, but this sort of thing-" he trailed off, huffing as he slumped back in his seat, simply waving his hand as some sort of permission for her to show him if she wanted to.

 

[Ivy Ashworth]

Ivy felt a bit bad for Flynn when he said it never worked for him, but she was also skeptical. In Ivy's opinion, you could make everything work if you tried hard enough. She knew her dad would tell her she just had to keep trying if she told him she couldn't do something, and not give up. Though she supposed Flynn was doing just that, even if he was complaining about it a lot. "Transfiguration is more complex than Charms." She told him. "I think." It was the impression she had gotten from the lessons, where Transfiguration had a lot more theory, which Ivy liked. But she could understand Flynn might not. Ivy decided to take his vague hand gesture as a go ahead, and straightened herself up. She picked a new chess piece from the box, picking the queen. She ethen tapped the center of the piece with her wand and spoke clearly. "Animare." She said, imagining what she wanted in her mind. She closed her eyes for a moment as she pictured it. The queen came to life, waving regally. Ivy frowned, noticing the moment wasn't quite as smooth and perfect as she had wanted it to be, but she hoped Flynn wouldn't notice. The queen then bowed at them, and Ivy turned to him. "You should try it again."

 

[Flynn North-McGowan]

Flynn was more than ready just to give up on this at this point. While he enjoyed Transfiguration and it was probably one of his favorite classes, what was the point in enjoying it if he couldn't even do any of the spells required to pass the class correctly? And from here on out it was only going to get more challenging, harder to master. No chance someone like him who was still having some issue with first-year spells was going to cope with that. "Sure," he just muttered, not really believing that in the slightest, but not having the evidence to believe any different. The boy was quiet as he just watched Ivy as she took over and performed the spell, and not that it was very surprising, but it seemed to go off without much of a hitch. And he didn't really think he had learned anything extra from that, it was just her proving how good at magic she was. "I have been trying for ages and getting absolutely nowhere. I don't see the point in trying again at this point. I'm getting nowhere. Might as well just give up and now and go and find something more interesting to do." He could always go and get some extra quidditch practice in - especially with the finals against Slytherin coming up.

 

[Ivy Ashworth]

It bothered Ivy that her queen wasn't completely perfect, and she was itching to try again to do it better. But she thought she knew Flynn well enough now to know he'd see that as unnecessarily showing off, which would not be what she was doing. Ivy sighed. "Giving up is the same as failing." She told him. "It's even worse, because if you fail at least you try." She then said, thinking back to things her dad told her. "If you're not good at something you just have to keep trying until you are." She told him. "Try it again, I'll watch if you do it right." She said, trying to sound encouraging.

 

[Flynn North-McGowan]

Even after everything she was saying, all Flynn could manage was a rather uncaring shrug of his shoulders. "I'm probably going to fail anyway. What's the point in putting in the effort and just wasting time to end up getting the same results." Not to mention he still had no intentions of actually doing any studying, which was not going to help his case when it came to exams. But she wanted him to try again with her watching and Flynn frowned just a little, "Why? So you can just rub in how much more you know and how great you are?" Not that she had actually been doing that, but he couldn't help but be bitter about the whole thing.

 

[Ivy Ashworth]

Ivy scowled as Flynn said he should give up, even after everything she said. She almost made a comment about what his parents would say, but then remembered what he'd told her the first time they had a discussion. She sighed, maybe not having parents would make it harder to strive to be your best. Ivy's dad was the one who always told he to push harder, do more, be better. Her mother not so much, she mostly pushed her to be prettier. And who cared about that? Ivy didn't know what else to say to encourage him, and huffed in annoyance when he accusd her of wanting to rub it in how great she was. "No, so I can help you." She said pointedly. "If I wanted to rub in how great I am I don't need to watch you do magic." She added with a roll of her eyes. "I already know I'm better than you at transfiguration. That's not the point."

 

[Flynn North-McGowan]

He knew full well that Ivy was going to completely disagree with him on the matter. That he probably shouldn't give up and if he kept trying he might get somewhere with it. But honestly, Flynn didn't care very much about what she thought about the subject. It was just easier for him to accept that he was terrible at it and give up before he ended up giving himself more disappointment. "You want to help me suddenly? Since when? Before now, all you seemed to care about was proving how great you are and how important it was that you were so amazing." She had seemed so self-centered and only seemed to care about herself. And now she suddenly wanted to help him? Though he did have to laugh at the last comment. "Nice to know the big-headedness hasn't changed for you."

 

[Ivy Ashworth]

It was frustrating that Flynn seemed unable to believe she just wanted to help him. She had been trying to be nice, but he was making it impossible. "Since now!" She argued, resisting the urge to stomp her feet. "I was trying to be nice, but I can see it is wasted on you." She snapped. "I don't need to prove to you how great I am." She added, straightening up to her full height, which wasn't really that tall. She huffed, offended. "Well! Nice to know your... your... jerk-ness hasn't changed either!" She said loudly, frustrated with herself for not thinking of a better word. She threw up her hands. "You're impossible!" She then said, before turning away and storming off angrily.