Revision and Explanation ((Sadie))

[Ivy Tunstall]

Ivy was sat in a small tutorial classroom on the fourth floor, revision in her lap. Charms, Transfiguration and Arithmancy were the three subjects she had brought with her. The advantage of using this classroom was that it, apart from being brilliantly quiet and aiding concentration, had a comfy couch which she could spread out on and leave her things all over. Warm mid-May air wafted in through the window, causing some of the papers to flutter in the breeze. Ivy put down her Transfiguration textbook and walked over to the window. This was something that she commonly did when taking a break from revision. Really, she would have liked to go somewhere else, but it was convenient to have everything where she needed it for longer periods of time and she couldn't just leave it there, so she had to stay in the room.

The whole of Hogwarts had been hit by the approaching exams, and although there was some noise from outside, little of it came from the clumps of students all around sitting outside to do their revision. Ivy was glad she wasn't having to revise for her OWLs or NEWTs this time round. But nevertheless she needed to learn all the spells they had covered. Of which there were rather a lot. She would have to practise them as well. The classroom was sufficiently secluded that her doing so didn't distract anyone. Ivy leaned back in from the window and turned around as she heard the door knob turning. She wondered who it could be. The door wasn't ajar, and it had no windows in it, so Ivy presumed that whoever was wanting to come in probably didn't know there was anyone in here. Ivy waited for them to open the door and step in, leaning back against the window and glancing at her revision papers laid out all over part of the floor and the couch.

[Sadie Rivers H6]

Sadie opened the door quietly. She had not known that Ivy was in there but she was glad to see that she was. " You are just who I was looking for." She said. Ivy was the first person that Sadie had met here at Hogwart's. She noticed that Ivy was doing revision and asked if she had planned on doing any charm work. She hoped that maybe they could practice charms together, so that she could get used to things for that class.

[Ivy Tunstall]

Ivy smiled as Sadie walked in through the door. Sadie was a first year Hufflepuff who seemed rather shy, but perfectly nice. Ivy had got to know her a little just in passing earlier on in the year while Sadie was needing some help with work, and although she hadn't spoken to her since, still remembered her name and that she had come across as someone who could make a good friend. She smiled at the youngster when she said Ivy was just who she was looking for. That was a nice thing to have said to you, and although Ivy wondered slightly why she was who was needed at this particular moment, she didn't think again about it and instead listened to what the first year was asking about revision. Sadie wanted to practise Charms. Ivy took out her wand and flicked it to move the few desks in the classroom to the side so that they could have some room to practise spells.

"I have my Charms books with me," Ivy said, happy to have someone with her to break the boredom of solitary revision. "I was doing Transfiguration just now but if you want to practise Charms that's fine with me. I like Charms." Ivy grinned. It was true - Charms was her favourite subject, and if possible, she was going to pursue a career that was something to do with it. "Are there any particular spells you need to practise? We've done Wingardium Leviosa this year, and Mobiliarbus, those were right at the beginning, so you probably need to practise those to refresh your memory." Ivy flicked to the front of her Charms notebook and ran her finger down the page until she got to the bit which told her how to cast the spells and what they did. "Right, OK, do you have something to levitate?"

((I've put a little bit in about how they met, although this is the first time they've posted together, but if you want me to change it, just say and I'll be happy to. )

[Sadie Rivers H6]

Sadie thought for a minute about Ivy's question. " Yeah," she replied, " I have a feather from my owl that I carry everywhere." Sadie realized that Ivy might think that it was weird that she carried an owl feather with her all the time, but she would explain that if Ivy asked.

Sadie had been looking for Ivy, because she was one of the few people that Sadie knew in charms class, and she needed the help with the mobiliarbus charm the most. Sadie had gotten the swish and flick of wingardium leviosa fairly quickly but she was having problems with the others.

(( The way that they met sounded fine to me))

She hoped that Ivy didn't mind the interruption. She could have waited until later, but she knew that Ivy tended to stay busy with quidditch practice and other classes. Ivy was about the only person that Sadie knew might not mind talking to her. She had been feeling so lonely lately. She had only met two other people recently, Nokomis, a second year hufflepuff; and Scott Varner, a third year ravenclaw.

[Ivy Tunstall]

Ivy stopped for a moment and looked at Sadie as she said she had a feather from her owl. That was good, if they both had an owl, maybe they could talk about that. Ivy was always at a loss of what to talk about to new acquaintances, so she smiled at Sadie as she brought her feather out. "You have an owl then?" she asked. "I have an owl too, he's a small owl called Gilbert." Gilbert was probably roosting at this time of day. Ivy didn't give him too many tasks, she just made sure to visit him every now and then so that he couldn't feel neglected. It was nice to have some contact with home, even if there wasn't much of a home left there now.

Ivy lay her quill on the floor in front of her. "Wingardium Leviosa," she said, causing the quill to rise up in front of her. She held it there for a while, eventually allowing her concentration to relax and catching the quill as it started to fall back down to the floor. "You should be able to get the hang of it fairly quickly," Ivy said to Sadie. "If you want to keep it there, you just have to keep your mind focused on the quill and nothing else. If you get distracted it'll fall." Ivy stood back, allowing Sadie some space to practise the spell. Wingardium Leviosa was one of the easier ones for Ivy - she could levitate a quill the first time, although levitating something heavier like a book took a little longer while she adjusted to the new strength she needed for the heavier weight. Ivy looked over to the younger Hufflepuff, smiling at her as she waited for her to try the charm.

[Sadie Rivers H6]

" I have a snowy owl named Colena", Sadie replied. She reached into her bag and pulled out the owl's feather. It showed all of the colors of the bird. It was white with golden brown markings, a somewhat strange color marking for a snowy owl, but Sadie loved her just the same. Sadie laid the feather on the floor, and repeated what Ivy had said, "Wingardium Leviosa".

She noticed that the feather rose a little but didn't stay there very long, maybe she just needed to concentrate harder. She did have a lot on her mind, but she had tried to ignore all of that while trying to levitate the feather.

At least it rose a little, Sadie thought to herself, that was more than what she had gotten it to do in class. She worried that she might not ever get the hang of magic. Hopefully, it didn't show on her face.

[Ivy Tunstall]

Ivy smiled at Sadie as she was talking about the owl and glanced quickly at the feather she showed her. It looked as though Colena was a very healthy owl - the feather looked strong - and also quite a good looking one, with rather lovely golden markings on his wings. Gilbert wasn't particularly good looking, and was really rather tiny, but he was Ivy's favourite creature. He was a very good tempered owl, allowing her to stay in favour just as long as she treated him gently and gave him some attention. Besides, he had remarkable endurance for an owl his size. It was quite a long way from Scotland to Somerset. Sadie was just about to try the spell, and Ivy cleared her mind of other thoughts to watch her technique.

The first year did manage to levitate the feather, perhaps not particularly strongly, but she did it nevertheless. Ivy smiled at the first year encouragingly. "That was really good," Ivy said, "I bet you'd get almost full marks for that in a practical exam and you've got the basic hang of it. Um... now that you've tried it once, try it again, and you'll be less distracted by worrying about getting it right and able to concentrate more on keeping it in the air. Make the 'gar' just a little bit longer." Ivy gave Sadie another little smile and sat on one of the desks she had pushed back to make some room. From what she had seen, Ivy thought Sadie wouldn't have many problems with this charm - if she just practised it a bit she'd be able to get it near perfect first time. Ivy was glad that Charms came naturally to her. There were other subjects that didn't, but being good at something gave her some confidence in handling herself around other people.

[Sadie Rivers H6]

Sadie hoped that Ivy didn't mind helping her with the charms. She tried to do the charm again."Wingardium leviosa."The feather raised a little higher this time, and stayed there a little longer. Sadie thought that with Ivy's help she was doing good. " Thanks for all of the help you're giving me. I'm usually pretty good at classes, it's just that these are so different from classes that muggle schools teach." she told Ivy.

[Ivy Tunstall]

Ivy watched and smiled as Sadie performed the spell very nicely. She clapped as Sadie let her concentration fall and swung off the desk, coming to stand by Sadie, smiling at the first year Hufflepuff. "That was great," she said happily. "You've really got the hang of it now, you shouldn't have much trouble with that one." She consulted her book as to how to do the next spell. Mobilarbus was what she was going to suggest they do next, but she needed to make sure she knew that she'd got the hang of it first. Sadie seemed to be grateful for Ivy's help, which was nice. Ivy didn't have any problems with helping.

Ivy looked up from the book she was checking in. "I don't mind at all, it's a welcome break from revision. I'm happy to help you any time. And I went to a Muggle school. I'm sure you'll get used to it in the end, but if you don't like practical classes, there's always ones which are less practical. Or maybe you're a Seer." Ivy smiled at the first year. "Now then, I think it's time to move on to Mobiliarbus. It lets you move an object wherever you want it to go. It says here you do a swoop to the left, a half moon shape going downwards, and then you flick. I'll try." Ivy placed the book in front of her. "Mobiliarbus," she said. She got some control over the book, but she wasn't quite ready to control where it went and it was soon out of her control. Ivy tried again. "Mobilarbus," she said, slightly more confidently. She felt herself gain control over the book and moved it to the desk she had been sitting on before, letting go of it there. Ivy turned to Sadie. "You have a go. It's a bit more tricky than Wingardium Leviosa."

[Sadie Rivers H6]

Sadie got a book out of her own bag, so that she could try the spell. " I like Charms, it's just, ummm.. i don't know, a little harder than what I expected." Sadie told Ivy. She sat the book on the table, and tried to concentrate on the task at hand."Mobiliarbus" she said with a quaky voice. The book didn't do anything. Sadie seemed a little disappionted. " Darn, I hoped that I would get it, but then you did say it was a bit more tricky." She told Ivy. Sadie was really glad that she had found someone to help her practice her charms.

[Ivy Tunstall]

Ivy watched seriously at Sadie's attempt at the spell. It wasn't too bad, although it did not produce any results. Ivy moved over to stand next to the first year, who had a look of slight disappointment in her face. Ivy smiled at her encouragingly. "No cause for worry, it's only the first time you've done it in a while. Besides, your pronounciation is great, you don't need to work on that, just keep it the same." Ivy picked up the book to see how heavy it was. It wasn't impossibly heavy - it wan't as if it was a Potions textbook, those were generally horribly weighty - but it would still be a challenge to lift. It would need a good bit of confidence in the spell to move it. Ivy placed it back down on the floor in front of Sadie and got out her wand.

"OK then, you need to work on the movement. Practise it a few times before you try the spell again. It's swoop," Ivy said, demonstrating the movements, "half moon, flick. Just a light flick." Ivy repeated the motion more quickly, a spark flying out of her wand, before looking back to Sadie with a light smile. "OK then, practise that." Ivy remained next to the first year so that she would be able to correct any faults. She wasn't much of a teacher, but she did at least have patience. She didn't need too much of it with Sadie anyway. The slight breeze from the window rustled all her papers as Ivy contemplated about how well Sadie was doing, and what she should help her with after Sadie had managed this charm.

[Sadie Rivers H6]

Sadie was happy to have someone with such patience helping her, she wouldn't have been this lucky back home. " Ok, I'll try it again." she said.

Sadie took her wand and thought clearly on moving the book. She thought over the way Ivy had showed her to move her wand, swoop, half moon, and a light flick. She moved her wand as she thought and then said the incantation, "mobiliarbus ". Had she actually done it, was it her imagination, or did the book actually move to the left a little. She wasn't sure so she decided to see if Ivy had noticed it. If she hadn't, then Sadie would know that it was just her imagination.

[Ivy Tunstall]

Ivy almost jumped up in excitement as she saw Sadie get the charm to work. She hadn't retained control of it for very long, but she had moved the book. Ivy beamed at the first year. She liked seeing people get the hang of spells. "That's it!" she proclaimed, quickly coming to stand by Sadie and placing the book directly in front of the first year again. "You definitely had some control over it there, you moved it a bit. All you need to do now is do it with a bit more confidence." Ivy smiled at Sadie. She was really doing well with these charms. She walked to a desk and sat on it, swinging her legs off the ground.

"OK then, try it again now, try and get the book to me," Ivy said. "You'll need to get a bit of height for that, but if you can manage that, you shouldn't have any problems with what they set you in the exam." Ivy wished she could be sitting first year exams again. She didn't take Divination in first year. She had come to dislike that subject. It was something about the teacher. The teacher just never... she evidently thought that Ivy was completely and utterly hopeless at her subject, but there was something else about her which meant Ivy was always uncomfortable in her lessons. It was always hard to keep a straight head in there, and that didn't help Ivy's view of the subject. She always came away from Divination with a headache. Ivy just hoped they wouldn't have to sit the OWL in that room. Hopefully she might be able to give up Divination before she had to take an OWL in it though. Ivy realised that this was not the time to be brooding on such things, and focused again at Sadie, ready to see her attempt the spell.

[Sadie Rivers H6]

Sadie thought very deeply about getting the book to move. If she could just get it to Ivy, she would feel better about it herself. Sadie concentrated very hard on making the book move, then when she had built the confidence to try the spell again, she moved her wand and said the incantation with a bit more confidence this time. " Mobiliarbus". She moved the book, and it almost reached Ivy, it had stopped about a foot short. " Almost." Sadie said with a little excitement. She was so happy to have gotten it that far.

"I really didn't think that I could do it." She told Ivy, " but I knew that the only way to find out was to give it a little better of a try." She had noticed that Ivy seemed a little excited when she had gotten the book to move a little on her first try. Maybe it almost reaching her would make Ivy as excited as it had made Sadie.

[Ivy Tunstall]

Ivy grinned at Sadie as the first year almost succeeded. In fact, that was succeeding, seeing as it was almost there and that was surely far further than they would be expected to move it for a first year exam. Ivy jumped off the desk again and almost did a little run to retrieve the book, placing it in Sadie's arms. "That was great!" she exclaimed. "You've got it now, really you have." Ivy smiled brightly at her fellow Hufflepuff and walked over to her own Charms notebook, which she flicked through quickly before catching sight of the clock on the wall. She frowned at the time and snapped her book shut, flicking her wand to bring all her books from around the room into a neat pile in front of her, stuffing them into her schoolbag which she swung over her shoulder as she stood up and walked over to Sadie.

"I'm sorry but I hadn't realised so much time had passed. I have a Quidditch practice in about -" Ivy checked her watch quickly "- less than 15 minutes and I need to go all the way back to the common room and get everything together." Ivy bit her lip and looked apologetically at Sadie. "Sorry I couldn't help for longer, I was enjoying it since you were picking everything up well. You need to have better confidence in yourself, you can be really good, and you ought to be fine in the Charms exam." Ivy smiled again at the first year, before moving her mind on to the upcoming Quidditch practice. "Gotta rush now," she said to the first year, giving her a small wave on her way to the door before turning around again. "Tell you what, how about you come to the practice and sit around? You could try out for the team next year after all." Ivy stopped, her hand on the door which she had opened out onto the corridor as she eyed Sadie hopefully. She was always keen to get new people enthused in Quidditch.

((Sorry not great, I'm running out of inspiration a bit for this post so I say we finish it off and have the one on the Express. What do you think? )

[Sadie Rivers H6]

Sadie nodded showing Ivy that she understood. She started to gather all of her stuff, making sure that she had her books and feather.

Sadie sprinted back to the common room. She wanted to pratice more, and see if she could do them without Ivy cheering her on. She knew Ivy wouldn't be there when she took her exams.

((It's okay, so am I. ))