Small but Steady Steps

[J.T. Hunt]

"Wingardium Leviosa." whispered the second year while pointing his wand at a piece of parchment. His sigh of defeat made the flames of the candles set on the desk to wobble forcefully. He desperately looked back in his text book on the theory of levitation charms. He still couldn't figure out what he was doing wrong the past one hour while he was practicing this trivial, first year charm. JT had to cover a lot of ground. He barely managed to pass his last year and he was really terrible with spell casting. Maybe the only spell he could cast correctly was the simple wand-lighting charm but this had to change. He didn't want to be kicked out of the school because of his poor performance at classes. JT had resolved to work hard and achieve better grades. Thus, he had been visiting the library regularly. Not only provided a quiet place to sit down and concentrate but you could also find privacy and this was important for JT. He didn't want his classmates to see that he couldn't cast yet a levitation charm. He had heard about squibs and he dreaded the possibility of being one but his ability to produce that little light from the tip of his wand kept him going and still having faith in him. "C'mon, you can do this." he murmured stubbornly. "Wingardium Leviosa." he cast with a klutzy swish of his wand. The piece of parchment remained motionless in front of him on the desk.

 

[Broderick Finch]

Broderick was falling a bit behind on his classes causing him the stress a twelve-year-old just shouldn't have. So he has been going to the library to catch up a bit. Next semester he will be having Potions, Transfiguration, Astronomy, and Herbology. He picked out the Book of Potions Foreword, A Beginners Guide to Transfiguration,-just to review from his First Year's class- One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them for some light reading breaks. Brod couldn't find any books on Astronomy, though. But he had to make do with what he had.

Taking a seat at an empty table, he began reading. It had been a few hours and he just started One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi when he heard a faint whisper. It sounded like they were trying out a spell, but Broderick ignored it. After another hour, the whisper kept on being repeated over and over. Broderick could hardly read, so instead he got up and tried to find where the whispers were coming from. The closer he got, the clearer the whispers became. He realized the whispers were saying Wingardium Leviosa. Broderick rolled his eyes. Must be a First Year who didn't listen in Charms class, he thought. When Brod found the source of the noise he was surprised to see it was a Second Year who was struggling. The Gryffindor whispered the spell again, but the parchment he was trying to levitate remained still. Broderick felt a little bad him. "Do you need some help?"

 

[J.T. Hunt]

Yet again, JT referred to his first year textbook he had barely opened last year. The incantation's pronunciation seemed to be right. It had to be something with the movement. Maybe he wasn't holding his wand steadily enough. Resolved on striving hard to succeed, he was about to cast again when a voice distracted him. His dark, brown eyes looked around him to spot another boy at the same age as him, offering help. Only then JT realized that he might wasn't as quiet as he had thought. The library's quiescence could be easily disturbed by the softest of whispers. "It seems so." he sounded defeated. He couldn't hide his abashment, especially when he thought he might was going to receive help from a first year. It was a hard pill to shallow but JT needed the boy's help. Apparently, he wasn't going to have any progress on his own.

"I'm trying the levitation charm." he accepted the assistance offered to him and gestured at the parchment he was trying to cast on. "I've read the part again and again. It says swish and flick but doesn't exactly states when I should do the movement." he explained his issue and checked again the opened pages of the textbook. JT had referred to that book so many times the past few hours. More than he had ever did with a book in his whole life. Such an irony. He pointed at the parchment, clasping his wand tighter than he should of. "Do I hold it right?" he asked. The book had also omitted the part on how the wand should be held by the caster. At least it wasn't mentioned at the levitation charm chapter and JT was too tired to start looking through the pages of the textbook from the beginning.

 

[Broderick Finch]

Broderick listened carefully as the Gryffindor explained his situation. Although, he did not understand the boy's problem with the spell. The Charm came easily to the young Ravenclaw in the class. Almost naturally in fact. Maybe what this boy needed was a demonstration of the spell. It is better to see a spell performed rather than read it from a book. Reading about and doing it are two very different things.

So, he pulled out his 10 1/2 inch, beech wood wand to show how it's done. He thought back to Professor Joussane's lesson on the spell."Well, I believe that you say the words as you perform the motion, and... I don't think that you have to hold the wand a certain way." He explained, holding out his wand towards the parchment. "Just do as I do... Wingardium Leviosa." With a swish and a flick, the parchment went up and up. "...and finite." The parchment landed lightly back on the desk. He turned to the Gryffindor with an expecting smile and secretly hoped the boy will perform the spell correctly this time, so he can get back to his books. There were pages of fantastic creatures waiting for him.

 

[J.T. Hunt]

JT listened carefully to the guy who had volunteered to help him and watched closely as he demonstrated successfully the levitation charm. He looked so natural as he caused the parchment levitate off the desk. Possibly JT could have cast the charm so effortlessly if he had spent sometime the previous years in the class. "So you do it at the same time." the boy mused and pointed his own wand at the parchment, landed back on the wooden surface. "Wingardium Leviosa!" he said a bit louder than what he had intended but it was worth it. The piece of parchment floated above the desk a few inches but his mixed excitement and surprise made him lose focus and the parchment fell back on the desk. "No kidding! I did it!" he exclaimed enthusiastically as quietly as he could. He had finally found out what he was doing wrong all this time. "

JT was rarely exhibiting any signs of his true emotions. His face was usually blank, expressionless but now, he had a genuine smile drawn on his face. "Thank you." he murmured but there was gratefulness in his voice. "I owe you. I'm JT by the way." he introduced himself and looked over his shoulder at the desk the boy was sitting before. "Are you studying for classes as well?" he wondered while thinking that this boy could teach him more. Just watching him casting could help him improve his own spell-casting.

 

[Broderick Finch]

Broderick let out a sigh of relief after the Gryffindor's performance of the spell. He was glad to know his time wasn't taken in vain. The boy turned to him and thanked Brod with a genuine smile, while also introducing himself as JT. "Broderick," He introduced back with a smile. After introductions were in order, JT seemed to notice that just behind him laid Broderick's books on a table from which Brod had been studying. JT asked if Broderick was studying for classes as well. "Oh. Yeah I-I am," He said rushing over to the books. He picked up Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, "Although, this one is just for some light reading breaks," he explained.

The classes this year were a bit more advanced, and Broderick doesn't like falling behind. His anxiety would get the best of him if he did. Brod sat back down at his table, and opened the Book of Potions Foreword. He looked back at JT and offered him a seat across from him. "You can study with me if you want. We both have Potions together right?"

 

[J.T. Hunt]

JT watched the boy rushing back to his desk and picked up the book he was reading. He read the book's title and watched the moving illustrations of several creatures on the cover. He did recognized a dragon but the rest of them were pretty foreign to him. "You've been studying about magical creatures? I thought this is an elective for next year." he mused puzzled. He couldn't see the reason why someone would read about something that wasn't part of their curriculum. They had so much homework about their current classes that for JT, light reading wasn't an option. The Gryffindor could bet that Broderick was a Ravenclaw. The Ravens were the studious ones. JT wasn't really observant but for some reason he had the impression that Broderick was overanxious. He quickly jumped from one book to another. JT recognized the new book in Broderick's hands. It was their potions' textbook. "Sure! I'm actually doing better in potions." he reassured him that he wasn't going to need much help with this one. The second year Gryffindor picked his stuff and relocated them at Broderick's desk. He also cast a levitation charm on his pack to move at the foot of his new chair. "I think I'm going to use this charm all the time." he admitted in enthusiasm for mastering the charm. He found his own potions' textbook and went through the list of ingredients of the last potion they have studied. "What other electives are you going to choose apart from magical creatures?" he asked, taking for granted that Care of Magical Creatures was going to be a Broderick's first option since he was reading a book about them.