(dec 03) sugarplums danced about their heads (Aurora)

Christmas break was almost here and Patty couldn't wait to go home! She'd arranged with her parents for her friend Jeva to visit them for a couple of days during the break, but she would miss Aurora too. Before she left to spend the holidays with her family, she made it a point to have as much fun as possible with the young Slytherin girl. Their friendship had happened almost accidentally, but Patience was so happy to have met her. She loved all animals-muggle and magical. Where Patty was lacking in knowledge about muggle animals, Aurora was quick to fill her in on all of the facts she had. This girl was so cool! They became friends almost immediately.

Aurora had just finished telling Patty about the muggle Christmas story, The Nutcracker. Toys that came to life! Fairies! Dancing mice! It all sounded very magical, Patty wondered why she'd never heard of it before. Patty's attention span was short so she didn't listen when Aurora tried to read the story to her. She followed along and was entranced by the story after she encouraged Aurora to tell it to her from memory. Patty had had toys that were enchanted to move about growing up, but she wondered if she could make toys dance.

She'd retreated to her room and pulled out a few she had brought with her. Patty never really played with them, only because she felt a little judged by others. Jeva was really nice though and didn't tease her about them when she pulled them out. They'd become more like sentimental tokens from home she could have when she missed her family. She had a stuffed teddy bear, some small figurines that could be fairies or mice, and a doll they could pretend was the nutcracker. Eagerly she brought them and Aurora into one of the empty classrooms. Away from prying eyes and nosey Prefects. "Let's see if we can recreate the Nutcracker!" Patty chimed happily as she displayed all of her toys neatly on a desk.

@Aurora Hall

Christmas break was almost here and Aurora was planning on staying at Hogwarts that year. Even though she missed her parents she wanted to stay and read as many of the books as she could in the library. She also knew her parents would be busy with work so she figured it would be easier on everyone if she stayed. When she started Hogwarts she didn't think she would ever make friends but she ended up making a Hufflepuff second year. Patty was the first friend Aurora ever made and they got along great. Patty understood when Aurora didn't want to talk that much but Patty also got Aurora to open up more and talk about the things she liked. They talked about animals and magical creatures where Aurora filled in as many facts as she could on any animal.

Aurora loved different Christmas stories and one of her favorites was the story, The Nutcracker. She told the story to Patty the best she could when Patty brought out some toys to see if they could recreate the Nutcracker. "I think that's a great idea but I'm not sure about the spells. I've read many spells but I'm not sure if I could cast them. I'm not very good at the practical sides of magic." Aurora tried to think if she had any books or new where they were in the library.

Spells. Different spells to make them dance and fight. Patty hadn't thought of that. "We might have a problem," she sighed as she pouted out her bottom lip in thought. She looked about the room at nothing in particular as she dug through her brain for anything that could help. "Oh!" Her entire face lit up with a smile instantly. "I know one," she pulled out her wand and aimed it at her teddy bear. "Wingardium Leviosa," she waved her wand and the bear began to float a little off of the desk. "So we can make them float..... This doesn't really make them come to life though."

She picked up one of her small figurines with care. "You read a lot! You're good at it too!" Aurora truly was. Patience was not booksmart. She struggled to keep her focus on words. Reading was not her forte. Instead, she preferred to see things done or learn by doing it herself. "Do you know any books we can find in the library? Maybe if we try a harder spell, we'll get better at magic! Then we can show it off to everyone that we learned a new spell. I think Professor Flitwick would be impressed."

Aurora quickly thought of the books she read. She remember reading an advanced Transfiguration book and tried to remember if there was a spell in there. "There is Inanimatus Congjurus, which conjures inanimate objects. But that is an advance spell so I don't think we can do it. Plus it doesn't really make things come to life."

She thought a little bit trying to think back to her readings she had been doing. Then she remembered a book that could have a spell that would work. "There is a charms book in the library that should have an a spell in it. I can't remember the spell but I remember the book that I found it in. Let's go get it." Aurora smiled thinking about the book that could help them achieve the goal as well as help impress a professor.

This girl was excellent! She had such good ideas. Whenever Patty got stuck or couldn't figure out more to plans or projects, Aurora seemed to know just what to do.

"Okay, let's go find it!" Patty eagerly packed her toys away into her bag. Her teddy bear had begun to float a little higher than she'd anticipated, so she jumped onto a chair and snatched it out of the air. She was going to carry it out but then remembered that others might make fun of her for carrying it around. Patty gently kissed it's head before she slipped it into her bag. Though her toy had never come to life, and she knew that the probability was very slim, she left a small hole at the top opened so the bear could get some light and fresh air as they made their way into the library.

"I've only been in here a few times. I don't know where everything is. This isn't a forbidden spell book, is it? Where do we start looking?" She adjusted the straps of her bag as she began to mindlessly walk down the aisles of books. Patty wasn't looking for anything in particular, but her eyes trapesed over the different colors and designs of the spines of the books.

Aurora had to shake her head at Patty's actions and smiled slightly about the teddy bear. She understood what it means to Patty and Aurora knew she would be that way with any animal. "It's not a forbidden spell book. It is just a very advance charm book. It's in the charm section. I honestly don't know why I read it since I won't be able to do any of those spells for a long time."

Aurora stops in front of the advanced books looking at the spines trying to remember what book it was. She smiled and reached up to pull a purple book off the shelf. She flipped through it quickly glad the book was in alphabetical order so she could easily find the spell since she remembered what it started with.

"Here it is, Piertotum Locomotor. It animates objects. I don't think I can do it though. It is around a fifth or even seventh year spell. Sorry Patty, I know you wanted to try to recreate the Nutcracker."

Aurora found the book and skipped over eagerly to see what she had. It was a pretty shade of purple. Patience was starting to catch on that books for the younger years were not as pretty as those for the older years. Those with more skill and knowledge.

"That doesn't mean we can't try it?" She prompted the idea forward. "How cool would it be if the two of us could do a seventh-year spell? All of the other kids would be jealous of us. Even Jeva would want to learn it. Let's try it anyway!" When she had her heart set on something, she wasn't about to give up. Even though she didn't always have a flushed-out plan, Patty was a very spontaneous child who would try anything if it meant they could have some fun.

Patty looked over the spell, but the list on how to move her wand when she did the charm all blurred together. She learned best with pictures. Her eyes looked about and she found a small pencil, a muggleborn's or halfblood's for sure, and she put it on the table. "We can try it on this before we do it on my toys. Do you want to go first?"

Aurora smiled at how determined Patty was on learning this. While Aurora would love to learn this new spell especially since it was a seventh year spell she was also a little bit weary. She knew she took a while at the spells for first years, she couldn't imagine how a seventh year spell would turn out. She looked at Patty's face who looked so excited and determined to try and learn this spell. Aurora agreed that it would be better to try it on the pencil and also new that Patty learned better with pictures and this book did not have any.

"I will show you the wand movement first so that you can see it being done. I know I don't want to go first. This was your idea you can go first. The movement is really simple I think it is just the action and power that makes it hard. You just have to point your wand at the target and say the spell. That is for one object. If you want to do multiple objects you wave the wand over the objects." She pointed her wand at the pencil but choose not to say the spell. She turned to Patty and smiled. "You try it first then I will. Give me a little bit to gain my confidence to try it."

"Thank you, Aurora!" The movement her friend had just shown her was mimicked until she felt confident about it. Patty stood with her feet apart and the wand held out over the pencil. Excitement was racing through her her hand trembled a little and she found that her smile only grew. They were about to learn a very advanced spell and it was going to be perfect.

"Piertotum Locomotor," she squealed quietly. Nothing. Okay, perhaps she was a little too excited. Patty took a deep breath, centered her focus on the pencil, and exhaled the spell again with a little more control. A little spark had shown which quickly fizzled into a sad plop and vanished.

"I got something! You give it a go. If it doesn't work, we can go look at the mandrakes or see if we can find any pixies around the castle." She stepped aside to allow Aurora room to try the new incantation. "You've got this!"

Aurora looked at Patty trying to decide if she was ready. She knew the theory of spells and that it was all about intent and focus but whenever she tried to put that into action it didn't work out. She took a deep breath calming her thoughts. She wanted to try this and if she didn't get it that was okay. She knew it was a seventh year spell and that it would be a while before she was fully ready to do spells like that but it was always fun trying new spells.

She took another deep breath and held out her wand towards the pencil. "Piertotum Locomotor," she said firmly. There was a spark headed towards the pencil but fizzled out and vanished just before hitting it. She smiled. "Well at least I tried. Let's go see if we can find any pixies around the castle. I want to try something that I read about when it comes to caring for one. I mean unless you want to try again."

They were so close! Patty couldn't understand why they weren't getting this spell. Yes, it was advanced, but that was besides the point. They were doing the movements and reciting the spell correctly. Why wasn't it working?

"One more time?" She took her spot and tried it again. This time, there was a burst of light and the sharp pencil darted from it's spot on the table into a book's spine just across from them. There had been so much force in the spell, the pencil had buried itself up to it's metal cap and eraser. Her eyes went wide grateful that the pencil hadn't flown in their direction. "Um..." She glanced about ensuring no one else noticed. "Yeah. Let's go look for pixies!"

She quickly put her wand away and shuffled away from the book. Patty didn't want anyone asking her questions about it. While she felt a little guilty for getting the pencil stuck in it, she was certain other students had done worse like spill a bottle of in on the pages or one of their owls eat the paper. What she'd done was very small so there was no need to make a scene out of it.

"What's this you heard about caring for pixies?"


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Aurora smiled when she heard Patty ask for one more time. She figured Patty would want to try again knowing Patty was a very determined person. Aurora watched as Patty did the spell then flinched a little when the pencil buried itself into a books spine. Aurora quickly put the book away they were using for the spell and turned towards the exit not wanting to be near the area when someone found the pencil.

"Yeah so the pixies, umm." She started going on about what she learned as she went outside with Patty.

[[out]]