Over the next few weeks, Sophie got down to learning the tactics of her team in their practice sessions. Fewer people came to watch, though Lydia, Freddie, Elsa and even Xander stayed loyal. During the rest of their days, most of the students were more welcoming than before. A few still muttered and gave them sidelong looks but they had become rare. In general, they no longer felt apart from the school.
In her regular meetings with Draco, Lydia explored some more of her magical capabilities.
"Your uncle," Draco said, "made an interesting observation."
"Sorry, he does do that," Lydia frowned, putting Xander down on the floor.
Draco chuckled. "Actually, it was very interesting. He has been reading a lot of school, Hogwarts, textbooks. He noticed that something seems to be missing, particularly in Charms and Transfiguration. You can use the same words and wand actions for spells and get different results. For example, a charm you would use to tidy away some plates would be the same words and actions as a charm to tidy away clothes. But the results are subtly different. You wouldn't want your plates to be folded as they are stacked. Imagine the mess!"
"So, what makes the difference?"
Draco nodded. "Exactly. We talked it over at some length - often the way with Ambrose - and came up with two things. We thought 'Intention' was one and 'Expectation' the other. You intend the plates to be stacked a certain way and in a certain place. You don't point exactly where you want them, you point in the general area, but you intend them to stack on a particular shelf. With folding away your clothes you don't think about how each shirt and pair of jeans is folded, you simply expect to see them folded in your usual way."
"That makes sense," Lydia agreed.
Draco held up a finger. "That is certainly how it works with High Magic. And he's right, it is not something we explicitly teach. We tend to let each student find their way through practice and experience. What is important here, though, is that it may help you control your magic. It seems the magic you have done so far has been based on unconscious intentions and expectations."
Lydia thought a while, then nodded. "When I lifted those bullies up in the air, I think I knew that was what I wanted to do but other times, like in America, things that needed to happen just did. I'm not sure why."
Draco peered at her. "The other part of expectation is knowledge – you have to know what to expect, sometimes."
Lydia considered this. "I suppose when I put Alorea in an egg I knew that it could be done because we'd seen Harry trapped like that. And I did that travelling in America. I knew that Tally knew where to go and, somehow, I knew how to get that knowledge."
"If you agree to it," said Draco, "I'd like to use this as the basis for your training, at least until we can tell if it helps or not. Ambrose believes your interest in Physics and Biology will help with your expectations. If you could go back to learning science you might find that useful."
"I've never really stopped," she admitted. "I still read science books in the holidays, after I've finished my homework, obviously."
Draco chuckled again. "Oh, Lydia. I should have known. You really are in the right house, you know. You're every bit as Ravenclaw as Odysseus Anderson – and I mean that as a compliment."
She smiled. "It is a compliment. We love Oddy, for all his oddness. What do we do about the intentions side of it?"
"You know things which are physically possible and you're getting to know things which are magically possible. I suggest we try to imagine situations which are increasingly difficult and work out how you would solve them."
"Cool. When do we start?"
Draco smiled. "I thought, if it's all right with you, we could start now. We could go to my house via the Floo Network. We will be safer from discovery there than here."
Lydia frowned. "Why do we need the Floo Network? I know where Malfoy Manor is. I could take us there."
"Are you sure?"
Lydia nodded. "Those little jumps I did over the summer helped. I know how to feel where I'm going so I don't land on the wrong thing or get seen by anyone. I can feel the gardens at Malfoy Manor right now. And Alorea Rakissen had no difficulty leaving Hogwarts, even with all the anti-disapparating charms."
"OK," Draco said. "I trust you. I think we should try leaving Xander here for once, to see if it makes a difference. Please, take us to Malfoy Manor."
Lydia said goodbye to Xander and took the two of them to Malfoy Manor. Lydia felt a slight 'stickiness' due to Hogwarts' protective charms, but nothing more. They went inside the manor and said hello to Astoria and Narcissa. Scorpius was in bed. Draco gathered a few things together. They went back outside to practise, away from the house. Lydia practised lighting fires and then putting them out. Then she practised assembling things and taking them apart again. To start with she did it without touching, then she did it without being able to see them. Draco tried to make it harder. He put a clock she had never seen inside a wooden chest and asked Lydia to dismantle it. She told him to open the chest. By the time he did, she had dismantled it completely. He shut the chest again. She reassembled it by the time he opened the lid again. Draco was astonished.
"Do you think," he asked, "that you could have assembled the clock if it was in pieces and you had never known what it was like whole?"
Lydia shook her head. "I don't know clocks well enough to put one together from a bag of bits. Now I've done that one I might be able to do one that was similar – as long as there weren't extra bits or bits missing."
Draco decided they had done quite enough for one evening. Lydia prepared to take them back to Hogwarts.
"Wait," she said. "There's someone in your office. I can tell we would be seen if we went now."
Draco frowned. "It wouldn't be Xander, by any chance?"
Lydia concentrated. "Oh, yes. For a moment I thought… No, you're right. It's Xander. Poor love, I didn't think about whether he'd be able to get out."
They appeared back in Draco's office. Xander had made himself comfortable in Draco's chair. He gave Lydia a look which conveyed deep disappointment. Lydia apologised.
"Well, Lydia," Draco concluded. "I think your homework should be to keep on reading about Physics and Biology and so on. You might want to think up some things you'd like to try next week. Something a bit more challenging, perhaps."
"OK. Thanks, Draco. See you next week. Well, I'll see you in lessons as well, of course. Come on, Xander. You can sit on whoever's lap you want, tonight."
"Meh," said Xander.
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