Stupid Rats

[Lilyanna Hope]

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It was the time of year again for exams and all Lilyanna had been thinking all semester was that she wanted to get top of her class and nothing else. Anything other than that would make the girl doubt her abilities and she did not want to come home with a bad report card at the end of the year. A long night pointlessly going over and over her Transfiguration notes had put her to the realisation that studying her theory work again and again was not going to help her improve her wand skills. If she didn't do something about it then she was sure she'd fail the practical portion. Lilyanna was eager to get her grades back on track and she was willing to do whatever it took to do so.

The girl woke up early the next day and skipped breakfast so she could find the perfect rat to practice on throughout the castle. She searched every floor she could for a rat on an empty stomach. Lilyanna was definitely not an explorer and so doing such a thing became slightly tiring and she even thought a few times that she might ask her sister for some help. But not wanting to look stupid, Lilyanna just kept trying until she eventually snatched a small rat from down near the kitchens. With a sigh of relief, Lilyanna then made her way up to the courtyard and sat down on the ground, placing the rat in front of her. It tried to get away and so Lilyanna used the books she had with her to create a fort in which the small rat would not escape. She then took out her wand and said clearly. "Cuniculus." The rat did not even begin to turn into a rabbit and so she tried again and again. Her wrist began to hurt after a while, but she continued to try with no success, all the while getting frustrated with the rat as she did so. Despite this, she knew that if she kept trying she'd get it eventually.

 

[Daniel Clairoux]

Daniel was on a mission: find a rat. It had been brought to his attention that one of the first years (a lovely girl) had misplaced her pet, and whilst on his daily wander around the school, he promised that he would help her look for it. It was proving to be a difficult task, but the rat apparently looked rather unique, with well tended fur and feet. He hadn't really seen rats around the school that didn't have owners - probably from the large cat population around the school. His search led him to the Courtyard, where he managed to run into a semi-old face. The counsellor smiled slightly, doubting that the Slytherin would appreciate his presence, and so planned to carry on without disturbing her. However, his ears couldn't deny the sound of her casting - a spell he knew very well, being rather proficient at Transfiguration.

Upon closer examination, he also noticed that the rat looked suspiciously] like the one he was looking for. Brilliant! Two birds with one stone, how efficient. "Hello again," he greeted, perching himself on a bench near her. "Do you need some help?" No one looked that cross when they were succeeding at their spell casting, after all. His job was to provide assistance, so he tried to offer it at every turn and in every situation he could.​

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[Lilyanna Hope]

The rat was beginning to try to climb over the books and Lilyanna had to continuously push it back down into its fort so she could try over and over again to transfigure it. When she heard a voice, she grabbed the climbing rat forcefully with her right hand which had taken it aback. It bit her thumb and it began to bleed as the rat began wiggling about in her hand. Lilyanna ignored the bleeding as she looked up to see who was talking. She instantly recognised the person as Daniel who she had met in the library not too long ago. He wanted to talk to her again and she didn't know whether to feel happy or sad about seeing him another time.

Lilyanna listened as Daniel asked if she needed some help. Was it really that obvious that she was struggling? She didn't mean it to look that way and hesitated before answering his question, wanting to answer it correctly. Lilyanna wanted to be able to transfigure the rat into a rabbit herself without any help at all but she didn't know how possible that would be without someone telling her what she was doing wrong. She didn't like to think she was doing anything wrong but that had to be the only solution for how horrible she was doing. Lilyanna became fidgety as she tried to come up with either a yes or no, but she couldn't. "I-I don't know." she replied, not making any eye contact with Daniel. She figured that asking for help would make her seem stupid, but was unsure if saying 'I don't know' was any more stupid. However, she couldn't take it back now and was left looking helplessly around the courtyard as if hoping someone was holding up a sign telling her what to do.

 

[Daniel Clairoux]

Daniel gave her a tentative smile, watching her seemingly search for an answer to a question that was, fundamentally, simple. He nodded slowly. "That's okay." He slid to the ground in an attempt to even-out their heights. It wasn't a perfect solution, however - Daniel was rather taller than her. "What are you trying to do to the rat?" He had caught the spell, as he knew it well enough to pick it at that distance (it was, after all, one of his favourites). "I'd like to watch, if you'd be willing to oblige."
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[Lilyanna Hope]

Lilyanna was not very happy with her answer at all but was quite relieved when Daniel told her that was okay. She watched as he sat down next to her on the ground and Lilyanna shuffled over a bit in attempt to keep some space. "I'm turning the rat into a rabbit." she said simply, still not wanting to give any eye contact. His next sentence made Lilyanna worried again and she hesitated before shaking her head. "There's nothing to watch because it doesn't work." She looked down sadly at the rat as it was still trying to crawl out of its fort and then to her wand in her hand. It was then that she remembered her bleeding finger as she noticed the dried specks of blood on her wand. She wiped it on her robes, hoping it wasn't going to stain her wand too much. The last thing she needed was to buy a new one.

 

[Daniel Clairoux]

A crease formed on his brow as the young Slytherin spoke, and he gave a gentle nod. "I see. Well, I'd be happy to give you some pointers." Having spent a large amount of of school life causing trouble (more than he'd be willing to admit to anyone), Daniel came to have rather well defined Transfiguration skills. If there was one spell he could do in his sleep, it was definitely turning a rat into a rabbit. "I'm pretty good when it comes to Transfiguration," he explained, providing her with some context. She seemed like the sort of person that needed it. "And it's my role here to help out when I'm needed. If the spell's not working, it could be something as simple as you need someone to hold the rat for you to assist with aim, or maybe your movements aren't fluid enough. Could be imagination - I'm sure we could get to the bottom of it." He gave her a soft smile. "What say you?"​

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[Lilyanna Hope]

It really seemed like Daniel wanted to help Lilyanna but Lilyanna was unsure if she wanted it or not. But the fact that he seemed to know a lot about Transfiguration made her feel a little bit better. He made out that he had a lot of experience, much like someone who works higher up in the Ministry of Magic, and Lilyanna hoped that he wasn't lying. With a small nod, Lilyanna spoke again. "So maybe I'm not imagining it right?" she said, hoping it was only something as small as that. She thought she knew what a rabbit looked like based on what she had seen in books but now she was second guessing herself. What was she doing wrong? Hopefully Daniel was able to help her and she wouldn't be wasting her time.

 

[Daniel Clairoux]

"Maybe!" Daniel maintained his chipper attitude, as being negative certainly wouldn't help Lilyanna achieve anything. "I know it seems easy - picture a rabbit - but picturing a vague outline doesn't really cut it in all situations. You're taking this creature, and turning it into another - it's complicated stuff. You have to give yourself time." Watch her wand work up close would definitely help him see what it was she was doing wrong - there had to be something. Her professor would have seen it if it were that she wasn't magically talented enough. "I'll hold the little guy to make it a bit easier," he added, as a stable target always helped things along. Rats were quite nimble, after all. "Just sit there and imagine a rabbit - I can get an image if it'll help. Every little detail, even how it feels if you've held one."​

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[Lilyanna Hope]

Lilyanna had never been helped so much in her life. She watched as Daniel picked up the rat in his hands to keep it still for her and felt butterflies in her stomach. She didn't know if she'd get it first try and was a bit embarrassed that she needed to get some help. Nonetheless, she raised her wand and pointed it straight at the rat in his hands. "Cuniculus." she said, imagining a white rabbit with a small tail and big ears. The girl waited a few seconds before realising it did not work. With pink cheeks, she looked back up at Daniel helplessly, not knowing what else to do.

 

[Daniel Clairoux]

She seemed to be focusing. Her wand movements were essentially perfect, she spoke clearly and firmly, and yet he was still holding a rat in his hands. There didn't feel to be any change within the small rodent at all, and he allowed it to scamper up his thick arms to rest at his shoulder. "Hm." It was deeply puzzling, and his eyes fell to the state of her wand. It looked healthy, well treated and most importantly, magically active. There didn't seem to be anything wrong, yet it wasn't working - there had to be something missing.

"How is your casting with your other spells?" he decided to ask, attempting to shift the conversation from her current predicament. "Is this a common thing you find with your casting? It's nothing to be ashamed of."​

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[Lilyanna Hope]

Lilyanna watched as the rat crawled up Daniel's arm. She stayed quiet as Daniel thought, and Lilyanna thought too. He seemed especially concerned with the fact that she wasn't able to cast the spell and she just shrugged. Maybe she was a squib and the last couple of years of school was just a waste? "Sometimes I think it's working, but I don't know." she replied, trying her best not to cry. "Nothing ever works." The girl put her wand away and kept her eyes on the rat which seemed much happier crawling all over Daniel than it did before.

 

[Daniel Clairoux]

Daniel could see that she was beginning to become disillusioned, and it was rather hard to watch. It was never a good feeling to see someone else not succeeding in something when everyone else around them seemed to be able to do it with considerably less work. "Hey, don't say that. It's very easy to quit in the beginning when something doesn't work - but you wouldn't be here if you couldn't do it." Daniel had to pause to pull the rat away from his hair, and couldn't help but scold the small rodent for climbing into his hair unceremoniously. "We can work at it together. There will be something that makes it work, don't you worry. We just have to find it. If you keep your eyes open to the possibilities, I'll keep mine open. Okay?"​

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[Lilyanna Hope]

Lilyanna tried to listen when Daniel spoke to her, but her attention was mostly on the rat. She watched as it crawled into his hair and wondered whether it was going to bite him. Rats had really sharp teeth that were constantly growing and it would probably have no trouble eating Daniel away. But it seemed like Daniel knew that too because he took the rat off him and scolded it. As he continued to speak, Lilyanna simply nodded. She didn't know why it seemed to be worrying him so much. "Do you like rats?" she asked Daniel, her eyes still on the rat.