Sydney Dadzie-Granger and the Philosopher's Stone

Chapter 16 - Wind and Fire

Sydney's POV:

After thoroughly double-checking to make sure that I didn't have any injuries, Minerva walked me back to the common room. I tapped the barrels (I hadn't been sprayed with vinegar once for the entire year!) and entered the common room.

Inside, I found Susan and Meg studying by the fireplace, while Hannah and Prudence were on the ladders tending to the plants that hovered on the ceiling. 

I waved to Hannah before going over to the couch and sitting beside Meg. 

"How are you?" I asked, smiling at her and Susan.

"I'm stressed about exams," grumbled Susan, closing her book with a sigh and rubbing her eyes. "My auntie always did really well with her exams - she has eight NEWTS, with her lowest ones being Exceeds Expectations. I don't know if I can ever exceed her expectations."

"The important thing is that you try your best," I said earnestly, reaching over and flipping Susan's book to see the cover. "What is it about Transfiguration that is challenging for you?"

"It has to be so precise," said Meg. "When you are changing a mouse into a snuffbox or whatever - there are tons of different ways that that can turn out. You need to have a really clear picture in your mind of what it's meant to be, otherwise it just turns out wrong. All of my snuffboxes have had whiskers."

"Well, it's like our teachers have said, right?" I explained. "There are three things that are needed to cast a spell: the incantation, the wand movement, and the intention. Different parts are needed for different branches of magic - in Charms, the incantation and wand movement are the most important, whereas for Transfiguration it's the intention that makes it happen."

"Yeah, but you always seem to know exactly what it is that you want to do," said Susan. "How?"

"Let's use the mouse to snuffbox spell as an example," I stated. "Before I cast the spell, I take a moment to examine the mouse and it's characteristics. Is it brown, grey, or black? What colour eyes? How large or small is the mouse? When I start to transfigure it, I picture the eyes of the mouse as the colour that the snuffbox needs to be, while the size of the mouse indicates the size of my snuffbox."

"How does the detail of the eyes matter so much?" asked Meg.

"Magic comes naturally to us - it would be unnatural for us not to perform magic," I explained, remembering what Pomona Sprout had said. "The more that we feed into the naturalness, the easier it will be to control and utilize our magic. For example, the mouse's eyes are already naturally green, so it's not as hard to use that colour for the snuffbox - it's already there. If you were to try to create a snuffbox that is orange, you would be using the magic to not only change a mouse to snuffbox but that snuffbox to also be orange. By having a very precise and base idea of the colour, it makes it easier for the mouse to mold into a snuffbox."

"You're really good at this, you know?" said Susan admiringly, opening her textbook again with a smile. "That makes a lot of sense."

"I learn from the best," I said, thinking of Minerva and Pomona as I leaned over Meg's shoulder and began to help her with her essay.

* * * * *

The work continued to pile on, and I found that I barely had any time to work on my "extra-curricular" activities, instead staying in the Hufflepuff Common Room to write essays and papers for each of my teachers. I was just grateful that I was on top of all my practical work, but often found myself helping my classmates with the areas that they struggled with. 

Professor Sprout and Flitwick informed us that there would be no more Ravenpuff Study Group meetings until after exams had finished. The upper-years, particularly Hailey and Matthew, buckled down even more as OWLs and NEWTs approached.