The Study Group
Even this far from any open doors the cold winds of October still manage to waft through the Library and into the private study room we scheduled.
Why did Dumbledore set a trap for me? What does he have planned? Why can't I get the hang of wordless magic? And what can I use as a different source of Mana? I breathe out in exacerbation as it takes longer than it should have to finish the page I'm on.
I can't believe it's already October! With classes, remedial flying lessons, learning every secret passage I can, wordless magic lessons, and the research I've had to do on ways Mana is created, time's just flown by.
"Par Acus!" Anne casts, with a whisper, on a match as it turns magnetic. A grin spreads on her face at a success, only for it to continue to morph. Eventually, it turns to dust.
"You need to put less force into the charm," Penny, what Clearwater insists I call her, comments as Anne's golden eyes shift to a dimmer hue of yellow; her brown hair does the same.
"I just don't get it! I try to keep my wand movements as slight as I can and my voice as quiet as it can be! Why are my spells so over-enthusiastic?"
"Maybe you have just too much magic? You've always said that Genine- I mean Mom, always joked that she never had to worry about you being a Squib because of how often you had magic bursts," Cedric's words dance on humor as Anne slouches into her seat at the round table, as Anne dubbed it, and Cedric rubs her arm. I set my book down to grab Anne's wand that she threw, in frustration, onto the table. Taking my wand cleaning kit, I can't help but clean the wand strained from overuse.
The study room was a generous size to even be called a study room; as most things in Hogwarts are. The round table sits in the middle, acting as a divider for the two sides. One side of the room is completely open, making it a good area for practice casting and the like. The other holds beanbags and bookshelves lined with books on study tips, encyclopedias, and anything that a student could need for cramming.
"Any idea Pom?" Penny asks Hermione using the nickname she's been teasing her with. Letting my hands follow muscle memory, I look up from the wand to Hermione. Unlike the rest of the group, Hermione suddenly got engrossed in her book and moved to sit on the ledge of a window. The dim light that got past the cloud barrier glides on her face, revealing complete oblivion to our words.
"What about you Merlin?" Penny asks me, jokingly calling me the best wizard in history, only for me to respond with a shrug as I pass Anne's wand back to her.
Wait. Could that be it? I struggle to not itch my scar as my mind races.
"I know that look, what's that big mind thinking?" With Penny's words, all eyes turn to me.
Fighting off a small panic attack, my thoughts fade the pain of my wounds, that Professor Babbling's cream didn't help, to the background. The power of a wizard's spell is determined by the Mana they put into their cast. The amount of Mana a wizard can make is assigned at birth, but they can lessen their Mana output and increase spell strength through refining that Mana. Wizards use their wands and practice to refine their Mana and it is theorized that- stop getting off track Catlyn!
Anne's problem is that she keeps on putting too much power into her spells. This keeps on happening no matter how much she tries to limit the spell's effect. So then the only reason why her spells are too strong must be because she simply has too much Mana! It all makes sense: why she has magic bursts even now, Her inability to decrease the power of her spells, even that powerful Mana I felt that one time in the Great Hall; That was her! I take a moment to snicker and let my mood dim at the irony. But that doesn't fix the problem, unless…
"What is it Catlyn?" Anne asks as I struggle to think about how to put my idea into words until I decide to simply not.
'You know how to put more power, more effort into the strength of your spell right?' My question gets a confused nod from Anne as I search my bag, 'Do that, but instead of casting a spell, focus that effort into this,' Taking out an empty Mana bead, I hand it to Anne. By now Anne's hair and eyes switch to a duller version of her normal colors.
"Are you sure about this?" Anne asks with an eyebrow. Hesitating to say yes, I grab the button in my bag and get ready to put Mana into it, and alert Madam Pomfrey. Focusing, I look at Anne again to see her Mana bursting through her body, enveloping her in gold light.
With my nod, Anne takes a deep breath, closes her eyes, and uses both hands to tightly grasp the bead. At first, we sit in silence as nothing happens. But we don't have to wait for long, for golden light quickly bursts from Anne's hands and fills the room, getting even Hermione's attention. As the light grows, so does a whooshing sound.
"Anne!" Cedric yells over the sound of magic as the golden light gets snapped out. All eyes, the ones that can see at least, are on Anne as Cedric takes off the hand that he, apparently, used to shake her out of whatever trance she was in. Opening her hands, the once grey bead is now filled with golden light to the point of glowing.
"What was that?" Hermione asks, setting her book down and walking to the round table. Focusing, I look at her again to see the Mana once bursting through her gone. Not completely, but mostly.
'Try casting now,' I tell Anne, ignoring Hermione and handing her her wand.
Slightly shaken from the weird experience, Anne takes her wand and hands me the Mana bead. Moving to the center of the room, everyone silently forms a circle around the match and wait in anticipation for what happens next, "Par Acus!"
At her command, the match shifts, turning metallic, sharpening a point, and creating a hole on the other end.
Grabbing the sewing needle from the floor, a big smile whips across Cedric's face as he holds the needle in the air. As he does, the room erupts in cheer.
"And this is why I'm friends with you!" Penny jokes as Anne runs and hugs me.
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Anne squeals, picking me up and spinning me with glee. Tapping out, I struggle slightly to regain my balance.
"Please explain what just happened," Hermione asks me. Taking a breath, I explain how Mana works and the properties of spellcraft. How Anne put her excess Mana in the bead and allowed her to cast with a reasonable amount of Mana. It's not like she magically got the spell 100%, I think looking at the sewing needle.
"That was crazy, untested, and possibly dangerous for Anne." The cheer stops as guilt creeps in, "I swear if you were anyone else I'd call you insane."
Chuckles escape everyone's lips except for Cedric and Hermione, with Penny's being slightly too loud, "For a second there I thought you were going to give them the big brother overprotective talk."
Anne hides an exaggerated gagging motion as Penny inches closer to Cedric. This little study group wasn't really planned. Anne was struggling with classes so she started hanging out with Hermione and me at the Library. When Cedric found out he joined and Penny joined because she thought it'll be interesting. We eventually booked a room and started to meet after dinner every day. Well, I say every day but the Halloween feast tonight prevents us from doing so.
"What was that little bead? Where did you get it?" Hermione asks, silencing the room. S h i t, what should I say? Should I just come clean and say I can't create enough Mana? What if they call me a squib?
"Who cares, I'm just glad my lil' sis can cast properly!" Cedric intervenes, cooling the tension as we move back to the round table.
"Yeah, you have to give me more of those!" Anne says, hyperactivity bouncing in her chair. How did I not realize this before? This means I don't need Dumbledore to fill the beads anymore! I can just have Anne fill them.
"Why have you been working so hard today anyway Anne?" Penny asks, inadvertently sliding the conversation away from my mysterious ways. Locking eyes with Cedric, we mentally have a conversation with each other.
I give him a look to thank him and he sends me a look back, saying I'm welcome and that I'll need to explain later.
"I'm failing Transfiguration," Anne's hair takes on a shade of blue.
"And this is new how?" Penny asks, knowing perfectly well that Anne's been failing most of her classes for a while now. It's not like she isn't smart. It's just that she has a hard time concentrating on the lessons and keeping the information in her mind.
'Because I made a deal with Professor McGonagall. If Anne's able to do well on the test today she won't have to go to remedial Transfiguration tonight and miss the feast,' I explain, handing Anne all of my beads.
"Which means we still need to go over some memorization," Cedric tells Anne as he picks up some flashcards.
"Ugh!" Anne yells as she closes her eyes and throws her head back like a child.