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

[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."