Teaching Magic (Cierra)

[Jeremy A. Laster]

Jeremy entered the Common Room at about 11:55 the day after he met Cierra on the Southern Tower. In his hand, he carried a miniturized wooden chest that he had created that morning for this lesson. That's what these were, 'lessons.' Jeremy didn't really know why he was doing this, helping someone learn magic. I guess he liked to do it.

In his 2nd year at Hogwarts, he had taught his fellow Slytherin's in Transfiguration so they could pass their Transfiguration exams. The big thing was that Jeremy enjoyed doing it. But all of them passed that one course with flying colors. (Which was quite amazing, because of one certain Slytherin he had helped was failing the course before Jeremy stepped in.) The Slytherins had excelled in that one class and in Potions, but they only got good in Potions was because the professor at the time (Snape) had favoured them.

Jeremy smiled as he put the small wooden chest on the table. He looked over his work with admiration. The wooden chest was more like a box, but it's size was extremly small. 1 cm by 2 cm by 1.5 cm. The box was magically locked and inside there was a wooden ball.

He would soon explain all of this to Cierra as he glanced at his watch he noticed it was 11:59. He stole a look at the door and saw she wasn't there yet. He wondered if her sister had convinced her not to come. That would be a real shame, Jeremy would have done all of this for nothing.

Jeremy sat down in one of the wooden chairs around the table as he glanced around the common room. The place was pretty empty as many people had already left to lunch, but the last of the people were slowly making their way out. Jeremy pulled out an empty plastic bag from his pocket and smiled as a Penut Butter sandwich appeared in the bag. He pulled out the sandwich from the plastic bag and took a bite.

[Arlene Sainz]

The door burst open at precisely 12:00 and Cierra came running in, a spiral-bound notebook clutched to her chest. A single thin pencil was stuck hurriedly down the hole in the spiral to make for less carrying, a few pages obviously torn out and stuffed back in lopsidedly. "I'm so sorry I'm late, I lost track of the time -" Cierra started breathlessly. A quick glance at a regular clock on the wall above one of the fireplaces - put there undoubtedly to assist muggleborn witches and wizards - cut her words off.

"Or maybe not." Frowning, she looked at her watch. "I could've sworn it was 12:30," she muttered to herself before placing the notebook on the same table the wooden chest was on. "So, never mind. I guess I'm just in the nick of time. My watch must be off." She sat down opposite Jeremy, pulling out the piece of parchment he had given her the night before. "So I practiced all of these this morning and I think I'm pretty good at it now. What's the wooden chest for? Oh hey, is that peanut butter?" Cierra's tone had changed instantly from polite curiosity to envy. "I miss those so much, they don't make them in the kitchens here."

[Jeremy A. Laster]

Jeremy chuckled at the fact she thought she was late. Noticing how she was blabbering on and on about just about anything, Jeremy figured that Cierra was excited. Jeremy waited for her to finish off her blabbering for a moment before he bothered to respond but instead looked over the 4 spells written on the parchement. He pulled out a pencil and added 'Engorgio' to the bottom as Cierra finished her exciting blabber.

"Are you calm now? Because I can't teach you if you are still excited. But if a penut butter sandwich is something you would like, I suppose it may calm you." Jeremy looked down at the empty baggie and thought about a penut butter sandwich. Again, it wasn't empty. He pulled it out and gave it to Cierra. "Enjoy."

[Arlene Sainz]

"Oh my god, thank you so much!" Cierra accepted the sandwich immediately without question and started gulping it down. "How'd you do that?" she asked between bites. "It just appeared in there. Is that a magic plastic bag?" Finishing off the sandwich, she managed to stop asking questions and simply sit in polite eagerness. For maybe five seconds.

"What'd you write down?" she asked, pulling the parchment back towards her so she could read it better. Frowning, she looked back up at Jeremy. "You taught me this one already. Why did you write it down? And I'm being calm, so teach me now."

[Jeremy A. Laster]

"You're calm?" The sarcastic Jeremy said. "You don't seem that calm, you seem quite excited. Quickly switching from one subject and jumping to the next thing. If you can't relax you will injure someone and there aren't many choices for who you injure in this room." He motioned around to the empty common room as the only people in it were him and Arlene. Which meant if she wouldn't relax she would end up injuring herself or Jeremy.

"One of the big things of using magic in dangerous situations is being calm and concentrated, if you're not disastrous things could happen." Jeremy had entered teaching mode, but was quick to take himself out of it. They had quite a while to cover today's lesson. "First of all, I guess this could be considered a magic food bag, but as a law of transfiguration is that food cannot be conjured from nothing. So this bag just transports food from my kitchen at home to here." Jeremy shoved the bag into his pocket and smiled.

"Now, about the list." Jeremy picked it up. "On this list I will place all the spells I teach you throughout the course of these lessons. If you choose to continue these lessons I can teach you quite a bit." 'But not all that I know' He added to himself. "So first of all I want you to calm down. Count to ten, then enlarge this wooden box till it is about 6 times bigger." Jeremy withdrew his wand so if anything went wrong Jeremy could fix it.

[Arlene Sainz]

Cierra put on a straight face, given away only by a glitter of mischief in her eyes. "Calmness. Right. Don't want to hurt anyone," she agreed, gazing around at the absence of other people in the room. She took out her wand and placed it almost reverentially on the table before her. "Magic, not being calm, bad. Got it." She filed that fact away for future reference - it might be useful with her pyrokinesis.

"Your kitchen at home?" Cierra asked, glancing quickly at the food bag before it disappeared into Jeremy's pocket. "I guess that means you have parents who are willing to actually make the food for you..." A melancholy note had sneaked its way into her tone, dispelled almost immediately by Jeremy's continuation of the lesson.

"Okay." Cierra counted to ten slowly in her head, taking deep breaths to calm herself. Stop thinking about that. You have Arlene now. She may be a pain in the neck sometimes, but she's family. Real family. And you have friends here now.

Yeah, maybe. But are they your friends, or are they just Arlene's friends? a tiny voice spoke in the back of her mind.

Cierra shook her head free of these thoughts and concentrated on the wooden box she was supposed to enlarge. Six times bigger, six times bigger... "Engorgio," she said, pointing her wand at the box. It grew larger almost immediately, unlike the night before when it had taken a few seconds. When it was the appropriate size, she pulled her wand away and looked at it with pride. "Six times bigger, professor. There you go."

[Jeremy A. Laster]

Jeremy thought it was good that she had realized she wasn't completly calm. It was a step closer to learning magic that wouldn't cause problems. But then even though she now knew it was good to remain calm, he couldn't help but notice how she didn't obtain calmness at a certain moment.

When she had replied to the fact that Jeremy's mom made him homemade food and sent it to him by magic, she got a bit angry. Maybe even a bit distressed. And Jeremy noticed. But whatever she did she lost a calm place. Magic would be dangerous if she tried to do something at that moment. Jeremy was quite pleased she didn't choose that moment to make some magic.

But thoughts swirled through Jeremy's head. 'It must suck to have muggle adoption parents that disowned you. Though she must have really liked them...' Wondering why she liked the muggles wouldn't do any good at that time. Jeremy needed to make her feel better and he knew that.

But how to make her feel better? Should he talk about the subject with her? No... That wouldn't do. She might get even more distressed and angry. Well then what could he do?

As those thoughts went through his head, he looked across the table to Cierra. She was taking deep breaths and calming herself. This pleased Jeremy. It showed that not only did she know she should be calm when performing magic, but she displayed the fact that she knew.

Then after she felt calm, she casted Engorgio on the box. Unlike last night, the box grew quickly. Much more quickly then she had done the night before. 'Quick Learner, eh?' He told himself. 'Today's lesson may go much quicker then usual...' With that thought on his mind he decided to compliment Cierra on her good spell. But then she called him 'Professor' and everything had changed. He wasn't going to get angry at her for calling him that, but he felt it may be good to correct her.

"Cierra," Jeremy said softly, "Is that what you think of me? A professor? Because..." Jeremy paused and took a deep breath, "Well, I thought we were friends. If we are, I would like you never to call me professor again as this is just a friend helping a friend."

There. Jeremy said what he needed to say since she called him 'Professor' and now, now it was time to make that comment on how well she has improved. "Secondly," Jeremy said back in his normal tone, "I would like to say how much you've improved on that spell since last night. It was a very nice spell. However, I must ask you to not practice this every moment of every day. After all, you have classes and at night well..." He paused again, "We wouldn't want you to annoy your sister at 2 AM when you are practicing a spell...."

[Arlene Sainz]

Cierra looked up, startled, as Jeremy commented on her calling him a professor. His tone was softer than before, and much more serious. Taken aback, Cierra smiled nervously. "I was joking. You just sounded so much like one, I couldn't help but say that. Of course we're friends. I'm sorry, I didn't realize you would take offense..."

She perked up a bit at Jeremy's compliment. "Why, thank you! I wasn't up at 2 AM practicing this either, I just tried it a couple more times this morning. It's a lot easier now." Cierra chuckled at the thought of waking Arlene up in the middle of the night with whispered incantations. Her sister would not like that.

Realizing something, Cierra leaned forward and studied Jeremy's face. He had paused just before the waking Arlene up comment. Had it been out of fear, dislike? Whatever the reason, his face was clear of it now. Cierra sat back in her chair, frowning. Was he actually scared of Arlene? Or did he just not like her? Because that, she could completely understand...

[Jeremy A. Laster]

Oh. She thought that he was mad at her for calling him 'Professor.' Maybe he was a little. But he wasn't really mad, just hurt inside. But then the fact that she was joking seemed to make it all better. Jeremy simply nodded at her when she said she was sorry. He felt it was enough to let her know that he was ok and it was fine. 'Sometimes,' Jeremy told himself, 'Sometime silence is the best way of communication.' And for that part, he knew it was.

Getting out of that thought and arriving on the train station to Cierra's next comments, Jeremy noticed that his compliment caused her to perk up a bit. "Well practicing does show, but now it is time to see the newer incantations. Have you practised Alohamora already?"

Jeremy pushed the trunck a bit closer to Arlene. "Whether or not, I think it is time for you to unlock the trunk." Jeremy sighed and looked at her in appreciation, she was a quick learner, he didn't know if thay was good or if that could be a problem. It would only be a problem if things easily bored her. So Jeremy watched to see if she could manage. He had magically locked this lock much more then the average lock so it could cause her some difficulty. Maybe 2 or 3 tries, but he was there to support her.

[Arlene Sainz]

"Yeah, I practiced Alohomora," Cierra answered, relieved to have something different to concentrate on besides whether Jeremy liked her sister or not. "It took me a couple times to get the pronunciation right, but I got it." She pulled the trunk closer to her and straightened it so the lock was facing her. "Then when I tried it, the lock blew up." She looked up at Jeremy, smiling mischievously to show she was joking.

Regaining her composure, Cierra pointed her wand at the lock. "Alohomora." After waiting and nothing happening for a good few seconds, she frowned and tried again. "Alohomora." Still nothing happened. "Erm - did you maybe enchant the lock? Or is it not really a lock or something?" she asked Jeremy.

[Jeremy A. Laster]

Arlene made a minor, unimportant mistake when she had practiced that morning. She used a muggle lock. In the wizarding world, they didn't lock their things with padlocks all the time as people could easily break them and unlock them. So instead, in the wizarding world, one would magically lock their locks. Jeremy hadn't taught her how to magically lock things so he thought that she used the old-fashion muggle lock.

But he was glad she got the pronounciation right. That took a while to master sometimes. He understood that the lock blowing up was a joke as if it had, it would show she wasn't that good at casting spells as crashes and bangs and booms showed inexpertise.

His thoughts on her using the old-fashion lock were confirmed after she tried to unlock the trunk a few more times. Jeremy noticed she had the posture of a powerful witch, but she the wand movement was missing something and Cierra was needing to develop her power a bit more.

"Cierra, now it is really time for me to start teaching magic. You are correct," Jeremy motioned to the lock, "This lock has been magically enforced as many things in the wizarding world are. I believe you used a muggle lock while practicing, am I correct?" Jeremy paused but quickly resumed as if to show he didn't need an answer. "Nevertheless, you do have the pronounciation down pat. Which is quite an accomplishment, but try adding a small flick of your wand. You have quite a nice posture but it is ok to add in the smallest flick and you don't need to be so tense." Jeremy smiled. "Magic is sort of a bit like freestyle whatever... sometimes you just have to add a personal touch."

Waving the wand in his hand 3 combination locks were summoned from the Jeremy's trunk in his dorm. The entered through an open window in the common room and landed on the table before Jeremy. "Ok, another thing is you need more power to unlock the bigger one. I am not calling you weak, but you could be way more powerful. Even with the smaller spells, power is everything." Jeremy sighed and started to enchant the first one. He lightly enchanted that one, then he moved on to the second one and doubled the enchantment. On the third one he charmed it a bit more then the other two, but not a lot and for sure it was not his strongest enchantments. "These three locks are weaker then the one on the trunk, they gradually have more spells on them. Start at the left and move to the right. I want you to unlock all of these locks."

Jeremy knew she needed to do it gradually, even if she was a quick learner. Otherwise, she wouldn't ever reach her full potential. Like many times before within the last few minutes, Jeremy sat in preperation for what Cierra would do.

[Arlene Sainz]

Cierra put her wand down, flustered. Of course she had used a muggle lock, it wasn't as if she could just find an enchanted lock lying about the place. Jeremy's brief pause showed that he had guessed that and didn't need an answer. Sighing, Cierra sat back with her arms folded. She didn't need to be told twice to understand that magical locks were much harder than regular ones. She beamed at his comment on her posture, but otherwise sat quietly, listening.

Personal touches. That made sense. She leaned forward again and practiced quickly with her wand, adding in a little flick and twirl, as Jeremy continued. That felt much more natural. Grinning, she spun her wand in between her fingers as Jeremy summoned three combination locks and they landed with a clatter on the table between them.

Cierra swelled with indignation at Jeremy's hint that she wasn't strong enough to unlock it, then slowly deflated at his later words. He'd just better not be calling her weak. Or they would have to call the fire brigade up to the common room.

Or fire-extinguishing charms. Whatever magical people used.

She watched silently as Jeremy enchanted each of the extra three locks, then told her to try unlocking each one before the one on the trunk. Nodding, she shifted forward on the chair and performed the charm on the first lock, adding in the little flick and twirl she'd done earlier. The lock opened without fuss. Trying not to show her excitement, she moved on to the next lock. That one took her a few more tries, but she managed to do that one as well. The third lock presented more of a challenge. Her face showing only determination, Cierra never gave up and kept trying, experimenting until she found the perfect personal touch that opened the lock. Pleased with herself, she looked up at Jeremy, awaiting his approval.

[Jeremy A. Laster]

Arlene's muteness made Jeremy suddenly feel a bit insecure, but then he resumed being secure when he could observe the fact that she had agreed with his logic for personal touches. 'As long as they aren't too extreme.' He reminded himself not only of that phrase he said, but of the fact that one particular Slytherin student he taught was WAY to extravagant with his 'personal touches' and made big giant hand gestures and jumps on one foot and so on.

Now seated in watching mode, he observed her easily open the first lock. 'Good. If she hadn't been able to open that on her first try, I would have thought of her as a useless case now.' Then when she stuggled a bit with the second lock he sat a bit worried that she might be weak. But her opening it after a few tries made him happy. Then the final lock came. That was only a little bit more tough then the second and her determination made it all work out for the best.

"Very well then... You may have a small bit of trouble with the case but if you have total determination I know you'll suceed. Oh and nice personal touch." He smiled at her to display his nice white teeth. Crossing his lightly muscular arms he waited to see her expression when she opened the trunk and saw the wooden ball inside.

[Arlene Sainz]

Cierra smiled gratefully. "Thank you. I do have a bit of a 'flare for the dramatic,' as my mom used to say." And never in a nice way, she added quietly to herself.

So. The last lock, the one on the case. Cierra faced it head on, remembering Jeremy's earlier comment not to be tense and relaxing her grip on the wand. She focused completely on the lock, blocking out every other sound and awareness. Muggle movies of success in the face of adversity in her head, Cierra waved her wand and cast the charm. This was it - in any movie she had seen, this was the part where the protagonist prevailed and succeeded on the first try. She stared unblinking at the lock, waiting for it to open.

It remained firmly closed.

Hmmm. Well, I suppose movies never mimic real life anyway.

Cierra tried again, blocking everything out and concentrating hard once more. That lock was going to open or by golly she was going to set fire to it. "Alohomora!" she said clearly, in a firm voice, waving and flicking her wand. For a few heart-stopping moments nothing happened, then the lock slowly creaked open.

Cierra's face flushed with pride. "I did it. I DID it. I did it!" She slammed the wand down and stuck her hand in the case excitedly, pulling out the little wooden ball. Staring at it, she examined it from every angle. It was... a ball. An ordinary wooden ball.

"Well, as far as rewards go, this is fairly abstract," she said, waiting for Jeremy's explanation.

[Jeremy A. Laster]

Jeremy observed Arlene relax herself and make herself calm. She seemed to be focusing. 'Good... that's good... that means she's getting used to calming herself down.' She waved the wand and Jeremy got all tense wondering what would happen... The obvious happened. The lock didn't unlock. Jeremy shrugged as he knew that Cierra would eventually open it. She was strong.

Concentrated she was, she cast the spell again. Jeremy didn't need to look at the lock to know that it was opening. She had said the incantation quite clearly and then had done a nice personal touch to her spellcasting.

She pulled out the ball and Jeremy smiled. She had cast the Enlargement charm perfectly as the ball was the same size that it was when he shrunk the whole.

"It isn't a reward." Jeremy explained. "You don't need a reward other then the prize of having learnt something, do you? This here is your next task." With a wave of Jeremy's wand, the trunk left the room and returned to his dorm. "This ball is made out of wood, so you will need to have quite alot of accuracy to cut through it in the same spot. Yes Cierra, I said cut through it. You are to use Relashio to cut this ball in half." Jeremy smiled as he looked at the baseball-sized wooden ball. It would probably take her about ten shots in the same spot for the ball to split in half. But it was supposed to be challenging.