the light had slipped through the window

[cleverness]

One of the aspects that Hermione best enjoyed about starting school at Hogwarts was all of the structure. Knowing exactly which textbooks and materials were needed to get her through the first year — at least, up until the philosopher's stone came into play — and having a schedule to get through day to day helped ground her and drew a clear road towards success.

In her goal of starting some type of magical institution in Darrow, one of the things Hermione has had the most trouble with is figuring out how to organize a curriculum that can be valuable to people with a wide range of different abilities.

But being unable to conceptualize the model doesn't mean she shouldn't try.

"Okay," she declares as she steps into The Lamplight, holding the door open for Lafayette and heading directly towards the widened back room. "I want for this session to be one where I understand what the inherent powers you have are. Consider it a stress test of a sort. All of the abilities that you've described to me are very situational, very contextual, and it becomes hard for me to assess which principles I should share with you or how you should practice."

Hermione sweeps her wand sharply across the room, drawing a curtain in front of the few cauldrons simmering at the perimeter of the room.

She glances sheepishly over her shoulder. "Does that sound okay?"

Comments

[voodooqueer]

"Long as you ain't putting my ass on a treadmill and makin' me breathe into a tube," Lafayette says as he steps into the room, hands in the pockets of his parka. It's still too chilly and windy for him to favor a lighter coat. Like half of Darrow already had. He'd even seen a few women wearing flip-flops. Fucking crazy people.

"Magic potion," he murmurs at the sight of the cauldrons. Jesus. If he felt out of his depth in Marnie's little cult circle, he definitely felt it now. He'd have never envisioned himself standing right here, right now ... about to do this. Then again, he'd never envisioned himself chained up in Eric Northman's fucking torture dungeon, so whatever, life.

"I can follow spells. In books. That all I really know. How we gonna do this?"

[cleverness]

"...you haven't actually had that done to you, have you?" Hermione asks, slightly alarmed when she looks over her shoulder. Even though she's been through worse herself, it still isn't her habit to expect others to have experienced a similar level of tribulation.

The look in Lafayette's eyes quiets her quickly.

"Erm, yes. There are a few potions brewing in the back. There are some that I have simmering on a constant basis to make sure that we have enough in stock," she says distractedly, tapping her chin briefly as she runs through the list of them in her head. They should all be fine for the duration of the lesson.

Waving her wand, Hermione summons a good half dozen cushions, lining them on the ground.

"Actually, having you take a look at my spellbooks later might be interesting. I assume it might be difficult for you to approximate the magic, but I don't actually know what your heredity might do for you. It's worth exploring," Hermione says, smiling. "But today, what I was hoping to do is see what level of shielding you're capable of casting for yourself. I know some extremely minor hexes that I can send your way. The Jelly-Legs Jinx was my thought; it will weaken your legs if it hits, but we can make sure the cushions break your fall."

[voodooqueer]

"What, had a stress test? No, but I don't go to the doctor unless I think I'm damn close to fuckin' dying," he says. "No insurance and no time to screw around with the bullshit."

He gives her an uncertain look at the sound of a hex being cast on him. He knows she doesn't mean him any wrong, same as Holly, but there's still a part of him that prickles. Still a part terrified of it all, including himself, including what he knows he can do. Worse, he knows it's half his own fear that makes the magic so unpredictable. Holly'd never hadthe same problems.

Holly liked being a witch.

"I guess that's cool. What am I s'posed to do, just try like hell to make sure it don't work on me, somehow?"

[cleverness]

Hermione pauses, still internally shuddering at the idea of having a tube shoved down one's throat. She might understand it more for medical reasons, but there's still an intrusive element that she doesn't like. Not for the first time, she feels fortunate that she's never needed that level of medical attention, magical or otherwise.

"Fortunately, the system here is better than what I remember America having in my time," Hermione remarks, before her brow furrows a moment later. It's hard to place too much stock in better performance when she knows that the money supply and resources fluctuate without warning and however needed to normalize market behavior. Healthcare is probably much of the same.

Inexplicably having all of the supplies when outbreaks occur. Being able to hire more nurses and doctors in times of need.

"Anyway, yes. The idea is to see whether or not you can manifest your abilities in a defensive manner. I don't know whether or not it might result in a tangible shield, as it would for me. I want to try a few times first without the help of any artifacts, and if that proves unsuccessful, we'll see if tools can help to focus your energy."

[voodooqueer]

Well, shit. Might as well not waste time going over the sticky details. If Hermione is ready to get to work, so is Lafayette. He's the one who told her, after all, that he wasn't interested in theory and all of that bullshit. That he wanted to use his magic in practice if he was going to use it at all.

Putting the rest of his things down on a nearby table, he crosses to the pile of pillows that seems like it's waiting for him. He can figure out what they're for without more direction. Once he's there, he finds that direction might be ... a little more necessary than he'd admittedly considered it when he'd first agreed to come meet with Hermione here for more lessons.

"Ready, I guess," he says, lifting both his arms like a boxer. He doesn't know why; it probably looks stupid as hell. But it makes him feel more confident. "Yeah. Yeah, okay. Just gotta protect myself. You go for it. Any advice?"

Other than 'don't get hexed,' really.

[cleverness]

Hermione barely manages to stifle a laugh at the look that Lafayette achieves by holding his fists up, as though about to enter a ring. She shouldn't laugh. She has no idea how his magic might manifest; it might be tied to physical movement, or the context could simply help Lafayette concentrate his energy. Still, it does look... a little ridiculous.

(She's sure that wizard duels probably look equally so.)

"I would say that, among the people I know, there are a few ways to generally approach spells. There are some people who do best by mentally going through the theory, like yours truly. Others are more visual, and might fare best while picturing a physical shield. Still more people might focus on the intent of the spell rather than trying to make it manifest in a specific way. Take a few seconds to decide what you want your first strategy to be, and focus everything on that."

Taking a couple steps back, Hermione holds her wand out, wrist relaxed and at the ready. "I'm going to count down from three, and cast the spell after one," she says. "Three, two, one, Locomotor Wibbly!"

[voodooqueer]

Lafayette's decision isn't hard. The first option -- too complicating. The second, how the fuck is he supposed to decide in a split second every time? It's the third option that Lafayette chooses, focusing on the results that he wants above all else.

And it still doesn't work.

Lafayette ends up on his ass in the pillows - thank Christ for pillows - muttering in surprise. Something, he's not sure what, had shot out of Hermione's wand and hit him, After that, his legs had gone weak, and he found himself in a pile.

"Seriously?" he asked her. He hopes she has some way to un-wibbly him. "Locomotor wibbly?"

[cleverness]

Hermione parts her lips, not quite indignant about the quip, but... upon second thought, she really doesn't have an explanation or excuse for how strange some of the spells sound to the ear. She'd thought the very same when she first started perusing her spell books — abracadabra really didn't seem far-fetched after reading other incantations. But the beauty of the magic itself had quickly overcome any strangeness about the language, and even delving into theory made it a bit easier to imagine the incantations needing to provide as much direction and careful movement as that of her wrist.

"Seriously," she says, pressing her lips together in a small smile. She waves her wand, undoing the jinx wordlessly, before leaning down slightly and offering a hand. "Well, that didn't work, did it? I hope the pillows helped keep the fall from being too harsh."

[voodooqueer]

Her little smile brings out Lafayette's better mood, and he returns it with one of his own, a complicated expression, but an earnest one. Once he feels like he can put weight on his legs again -- almost immediately, to his surprise -- he stands and shakes his head, brushing his knees off.

"Even if I ain't have the pillows, it wouldn't have been the worst lick I've taken in my life. I durable enough. Let's try that again. Let's try that again 'til I get it right, 'cause I ain't got much other choice. I need to learn to control this shit 'fore it starts to control me."

[cleverness]

"I remember you mentioning that your power's gotten a bit away from you before," Hermione says, giving Lafayette a step or two of space once he's on his feet. As suggested, he doesn't look all that shaken by what happened, determination written into his features instead. "Was there something in common between all those instances? Some common thread to when you've been able to call forth your magic?"

She steps back with an appreciative smile. It's nice to be working with someone so willing to try and try again, but Hermione herself has always had a greater appreciation for whittling down the possibilities as much as possible first. Theory above practice.

Maybe Remus might have some ideas if she asked.

"Aside from putting you in mortal danger," she adds with an apologetic look. "I don't know how successful we'd be at tricking your body into thinking that I'd do that to you."

[voodooqueer]

"Aside the threat on my life, no," Lafayette says with a snort. "'Less you count that I was also way the fuck out of my depth every time it happened."

If she can't do much to help, that's fine. If he has to figure thisshit out on his own, he can manage. He's got to. It's good enough that Hermione even bothered to give him the opportunity to work with her.

"Maybe I just need a study session on my own time. Maybe I should start with a different kind of magic, even though I was so damn gung-ho about defendin' myself with it and everything. I ain't want to become a 'wizard' or whatever, but I ain't bullheaded enough either to try to force somethin' that ain't gonna come naturally."

[cleverness]

"I've always been a fan of theory," admits Hermione with a slight nod. Even though she wants to provide Lafayette with the learning that he's most interested in, she's also most familiar with classes that outline at least a few guiding principles and theories before diving into application.

She knows where she would have Lafayette start learning, were he not set on performing the spell right away.

"We can still keep to defensive magic. I don't think that's a problem. But it might help to learn some of the foundation between what distinguishes defensive magic from other techniques, and maybe for you to at least see a few practical applications, before we set on trying to design a spell that works for you specifically. I would also love to simply see you exert some of your magic, no matter for what purpose. Seeing it might help me to understand it."