A Quiet Place Solo

Sarah had spent days trying to perfect Reparo and the Dancing Feet Spell, but to no avail. She'd managed to slip away to her favourite spot for a chance to practise some more.

Sarah cast her eyes down to the broken keychain laying in her palm. Despite her better judgement, she’d stayed outside, sat by the Great Lake, past hours hoping the clear evening sky would give her the inspiration she so desperately needed. She’d spent the better part of three days staring at this keychain, practising, failing, and repeating the two spells she was sure weren’t supposed to be this difficult. The closest she’d come to any success was on day two when she was sure she’d seen the wiggle of a bony toe. Frankly, she was beginning to think that might have just been a figment of her imagination by now. She knew she wasn’t mispronouncing the incantation: “It’s reh-PAH-roh and ta-RON-ta-LEG-gra” she repeated to herself once again.

She’d passed embarrassment almost 12 hours ago when she’d even witnessed David Wormworth, self-elected class-clown and Hogwarts least likely to become a Charms professor, repair his keychain and illicit a short Irish-jig from it. She momentarily thought the title would now be more fitting on her own resume. Of course to even consider making a resume she’d actually have to pass the year. With a loud huff and a slump of her shoulders, she fell backwards onto the slowly dampening grass and gazed up at the sky. It was a clear evening, the stars aglow, as she stared into the inky blackness. She was about to give up. After all, if she couldn’t even master this spell, how on earth would she deal with the rest of her school-career. But, Sophie was as ever, stubborn and refused to give up. The perfectionist in her peering its head.

Just once more. I’ll try once more and then I’ll go to bed. She murmured to herself. Merlin, help me.

After a final deep breath, she stared intently at the broken keychain and spoke. “Reparo”, she said, her pronunciation perfect as she flourished her wand. She sighed as nothing happened, about to stand and slump back into the castle, before the keychain suddenly became whole again. She blinked, staring at the keychain in awe. She’s done it. No, a slight delay wasn’t exactly showing that she’d cast the spell perfectly but it would do. After three days, it would do. For now at least.

It was as if her whole body lit up, coming out of the slump she’d found herself in after hours of attempting these blasted spells. But the pride she felt for finally being able to cast one of them fuelled her. One down, one to go. She thought, a small grin turning up the corners of her lips as she took another breath.

“Tarantellegra” She said, the strange word now falling from her tongue as if she’d said it a thousand times which might well be true. She swished her wand as she spoke and this time, with her new found confidence, she managed to cast the spell perfectly without a delay. She watched as the small skeleton hopped around on the dewy grass and grinned, wanting to join in with it. Thank, Merlin.

After a couple of minutes, Sarah grabbed the keychain and stood from her spot on the grass, her knees clicking slightly after sitting crossed legged for however many hours she’d been out there. She started her walk back to the castle, starting her next challenge: getting back to her dorm room without being caught…

The slugs had personally offended Sarah by this point, and she'd had enough. Sparks fly as fire ensues.

Since the beginning of first year, Sarah had never really had a problem casting spells. The art of spellcasting had always come so easily to her. And then she’d encountered this spell. It was a few weeks after the first lesson she’d had on the Incendio Duo Spell and despite her best efforts, Sarah was still struggling. She’d even resorted to asking his friend – if you could even consider them friends – Francis for help. That hadn’t helped in the slightest and she’d ended up losing her Salazar Slytherin chocolate frog card in the process of bribing Francis to help. Still, Sarah was nothing if not persistent, which was why she was stood outside beside the Great Lake on a Sunday evening, trying desperately to get this spell right.

She glanced out across the lake, the moonlight lighting up the water as it rippled in a way eerily similar to that of something breathing. Sarah didn’t dwell on that fact too long, more than aware of the rumours about what resided in the waters, as she drew her eyes back to the small pile of slugs which sat on the floor a few feet before her. She narrowed her eyes at them, swearing she could see them looking up at her tauntingly. Cocky little bastards. She cursed under her breath as she once again drew up her wand.

She pointed it at the blighters, swishing her wrist in a motion which resembled a flame, before saying “Incendio” in a voice which held more resentment towards the damn slugs than strictly necessary.

Of course, nothing happened, and Sarah had to resist throwing her wand into the inky water beside her. her anger had gotten her into many an uncomfortable position before, but she doubted she really wanted to explain why her wand had ended up in the grasp of a selkie or the Giant Squid. She sank to the ground, fingers playing with blades of slightly damp grass as she let out a long sigh. She didn’t understand why she was struggling so much with this spell, didn’t know why her brain seemed to have some mental block on it. But as the sun began to rise and her lack of sleep began to desperately catch up on her, she knew that tonight wasn’t the night, and managed to sneak back into her dorm.

*****
It continued like this for another week, Sarah sneaking out in the night to try and vaporise slugs- slugs which had now managed to seep into her dreams and taunt her even when unconscious. She knew that she could just as easily attempt this spell on something else, another bug or something not living at all, but it was personal now and she felt as if she had to get revenge on at least one slug for being the reason why she hadn’t had a full night sleep in just short of a month.

So tonight, like every night before, she snuck out to the Great Lake and quickly located the slugs- which she was sure were the same ones from the first time she’d come out. She spent about an hour attempting and failing to cast a successful Incendio Spell and felt herself reaching the end of her patience quicker than she had in the past. The desire to throw away her wand surged back to the front of her mind with a vengeance. And the longer her inability to cast this charm lasted, the closer she was to actually throwing it.

“I’m sure you’re all finding this hilarious, aren’t you?” She all but snarled at the slimy creatures on the ground in front of her. It was a strange and startling hatred she had for the bug. She’d never before felt entirely comfortable casting on animals, even ones as admittedly ugly as slugs, but it had long since become personal and her ‘animal rights activism badge’ was most definitely up for grabs at this point. “Just you wait,” She bit out as she looked back out at the water.

It wasn’t as if she needed to be able to cast the spell to pass the class, or so her ever so unhelpful dormmate had said to her when she’d caught her sneaking out tonight. They’d moved onto another chapter in class after all, and Sarah had managed to get away without needed to demonstrate this spell so far. But that wasn’t the point. She was forever being called a perfectionist, a name she wore with a sense of honour. There had never been a spell so far that she could not master, and she’d be damned if this was the first. So, despite the lack of enthusiasm she’d received from her friend, she was determined to correctly cast this spell, even if it was the last thing she did.

After finding a comfortable position on the dewy grass with a perfect view of the slugs she now knew must have been sent here from her own personal hell, she tried to steady her breathing. Since the accident, she’d suffered greatly with anxiety which had commonly led to panic attacks. And being the only child left in a huge manor with just a father who favours work over family, she’d had to find ways to deal with them herself. Practising calming her breathing had been the first step, something she was eternally grateful for now when she knew that if she was able to fall into a more regular breathing pattern, her casting would be easier.

Eventually she felt herself relax, tension from stress and lack of sleep seeping out from her muscles as her eyes flickered opened. She took a deep breath before looking back at the slugs through narrowed eyes and raised her wand.

Come on, Sarah.

“Incendio,” She said clearly as swished her wand a once more, jumping back in surprise when a green flame shot out of her wand and incinerated the slug in front of her. It took her a few seconds to process it, the fact that she’d actually managed to do it. Eventually, a wide grin split across her face as she slumped down onto the grass and smiled up at the night sky.

It was one of those days. It was one of those days when the world became too much and Sarah's carefully constructed wall began to crumble.

It wasn't often that Sarah got sentimental. She'd had to grow up quickly and learnt how to mask her emotions from a young age. But sometimes, every once in a while, someone will say something or Sarah will see something and the damn will break.

Today was one of those days.

It's started like any other day, she'd made her way down to breakfast, joined in with the idle chatter which often drifted around the Slytherin table in the morning, completed her first few classes of the day, and returned back to the Great Hall when lunch time had rolled around. The hall was often quieter during lunch as many students chose to eat elsewhere or skipped lunch entirely - something Sarah was guilty of doing far too often. The emptier room made it far easier for students to overhear conversations they weren't involved in. This was what had happened to Sarah as she was about to bite into a particularly shiny green apple. The fruit had been halfway up to her lips when she'd heard a Ravenclaw girl start talking about a book she'd been reading. The conversation seemed benign enough until she'd mentioned that the main character was the sole survivor or a fire which had ravaged the rest of her family.

Sarah was on her feet before she'd found the ability to breath again, hand clasping tightly around the forgotten apple as she stormed out of the Great Hall in a flurry of long green hair and black robes. It would be sure to turn a few heads, create questions about why she'd so dramatically exited the hall, but Sarah couldn't think about that now - she could barely think enough to breath, let alone consider how she might be considered.

She just needed to get away.

In her haze of panic and pain and rage and sadness, she'd somehow made her way outside, swiftly walking in the direction of the Great Lake through no conscious decision. She ended up in her usual spot, just beside the bank of the lake and realised her entire body was shaking. In the next moment, she was on the floor, legs having collapsed beneath her as the damn broke and tears, which had been building for far longer than healthy, finally flooded down her cheeks.

Sarah's heart shattered, her breath catching as if she was back when she'd been told about the accident - about the death of her mother and brother. Her body shook with violent tremors as she brought her arms up to wrap around her legs, finally releasing the apple she'd subconsciously been holding onto. She stared at the fruit through blurred eyes as it rolled a few feet forward towards the water's edge before stopping just short of falling in.

She stayed sat, staring long enough for the sky to turn black and her body to restart its shaking, this time from the cold.

It wasn't often that Sarah got sentimental. But, when she did, she broke.