Characters introduced in this chapter: Internet friends: Phil - Katleigh Hadrin, Susie Blue - Susie Wambly

Studying Theory

"Alice, wake up!"

Alice opened her eyes to see Ava leaning on the edge of her bed.

"What?" asked Alice sleepily, starting to sit up.

Ava started laughing. "You missed breakfast. Professor Sprout was looking for you. I told her I could pass this onto you." Alice felt a roll of parchment pushed into her hand. Rubbing her eyes, Alice sat up all the way and tried to unroll the parchment, but it had been magically sealed so that it couldn't be opened without a wand. She had seen her parents open notes like this one before. Forcing herself not to gulp, Alice fetched her wand, hesitated for a second, and then tapped the parchment.

As the parchment unrolled itself, Alice let her breath out in a rush. She had seriously been afraid it wouldn't open, since so many of her spells didn't work and she had never done this one before. A giggle from the next bed attracted her eye. Ava and Daphne were both sitting on Daphne's bed, watching her. Alice immediately ran her fingers through her hair, only too aware that she had just woken up.

"What?" she asked again.

"You just looked so uptight about opening the note," said Ava, smiling. She leaned forward. "What's it say?"

Alice grabbed up the note and held it so that the other girls couldn't see. She was grateful for sleeping in the last bed in the room now because she only had one direction which prying eyes could come from. Her eyes skimmed the note quickly.

Miss Alice Bint,

Please come by my office on the side of Greenhouse 7 this evening at seven o'clock. I have an important matter to discuss with you.

Professor Sprout

Alice peered over the top of the note at the two girls before her. "She wants to see me in her office later."

"What'd you do?" asked Daphne.

"Nothing!" said Alice.

"Sure you've done nothing," said Ava with a smile. She got up and pat Alice on the shoulder. "Just tell us about it tonight."

Alice nodded and read her note again.

At 6:45, Alice walked out of the front doors of Hogwarts. A Sunday wasted, she thought as she descended the front stairs into the lawn. I just couldn't stop thinking about this meeting. I'm not nearly done with all my homework. At least I finished my potions essay. Alice began walking along the greenhouses, counting them. One, two. I wonder why she wanted to see me. Three. Why only me? Four, five. I've never been by these greenhouses before. Six. Alice stopped and tried to see into the greenhouse. She would have sworn that something had just moved inside, but it was too dark outside and the windows of the greenhouse were slightly fogged up. Alice began walking along again, toward the last of all the greenhouses. Hesitantly, she walked up to its main door and tried to open it. The door was locked. Alice knew the unlocking spell, alohomora, but she'd never tried it before and she doubted that she should try it on this door.

Alice took her note out and held it up, trying to read the writing on it in the faint light. She couldn't really see the words, but she didn't need to. She had memorized what it said by now. "… side of Greenhouse 7…" Alice began walking between greenhouse six and seven. Sure enough, there was a side door in greenhouse seven. A plaque on the door read "Professor Pomona Sprout."

"Makes sense," said Alice under her breath, trying to feign away nervousness, "she wouldn't put her office in greenhouse seven. Only N.E.W.T. students are allowed in there." Alice knocked on the door.

A few seconds later, the door burst open, though Alice hadn't heard any sounds to indicate that someone was making their way to the door. "Good evening, Bint!" said Professor Sprout cheerily. "Come in, come in!" Alice took a step into the office; Sprout shut the door after her. The floor of the office, much like that of the greenhouses, was nothing more than packed dirt, but it felt as solid as wood or stone under Alice's feet. All four walls of the office except for the door leading outside and another leading into the greenhouse were covered in shelves, those shelves covered again in a multitude of potted plants. Overhead were nearly as many more hanging plants. The vines of one of these snaked down and began reaching out for Alice, but Sprout noticed and batted the vine away. "Behave!" she said sternly. To Alice's amazement, the vine obeyed and retreated back into its suspended pot. That's when Alice noticed that all of the pots above her head weren't held up by wires or chains, as they would be in a muggle household, but were simply hovering in midair, much like the candles of the Great Hall.

"You can sit here," said Professor Sprout. The woman picked up what appeared to be an empty pot from one of the two chairs before her desk and set it on the floor. With the back of a hand, she brushed some dirt off the chair and pulled it out for Alice to sit in. The girl sat. Professor Sprout began bustling around the room, checking a few of her plants, so Alice took the time to examine the room further. The chair beside her still had a pot in the seat, but looking into it made Alice's stomach crawl. It appeared that there was only dirt in the pot, but the dirt continually moved, as if it were being stirred. The pot on the floor which Sprout had just moved, after a quick look, proved to actually be empty, so Alice ignored it. Sprout's desk itself seemed to be more like a table than a desk. It had no drawers in it, but compartments had been attached to either side of it. Hanging off to one side of the table was a container with many different gardening tools in it. On the other side of the table was a small organizer with ungraded students' papers, the only thing in the entire room which Alice could see that was evidence that Professor Sprout was a teacher in addition to being a herbologist.

"Alright," said Professor Sprout, plopping down into her own chair on the other side of her desk/table. "What seems to be the problem Bint?"

Alice stared at the older woman for a few seconds in disbelief before voicing, "But you called me here, Professor." She began to pull out the note, but Sprout waved her hand to indicate it wouldn't be necessary.

"Yes, I know that. But you have a problem. That's why I called you in here. As your Head of House, it's my duty to make sure you're doing well in all your classes. You haven't been keeping up lately, have you?"

Alice blushed and hung her head. "I'm trying hard," she mumbled.

"Well of course you are!" said Sprout. "One of the best qualities of the Hufflepuff House! Hardworking!" Sprout narrowed her eyes seriously. "But even hard work isn't always enough Alice. For instance, what do you think would happen if you found yourself lost in the woods and you set out in one direction and worked hard to keep going straight, without ever consulting a map?"

Alice could see that the professor intended for her to actually answer the question, so she gave it some thought. "Umm," she finally ventured. "That could be a bad thing. If you're near the edge of the wood, you might pick the wrong direction and only head further in."

"Exactly," said Professor Sprout. "Wouldn't it be better, in that situation, to check a map, turn around, and walk out of the wood?"

Alice nodded in assent.

"Well there you have it."

Alice didn't understand. "There you have what?"

Sprout smiled warmly. "You've already understood the weakness of hard work. So many Hufflepuffs never understand that, but you've already figured it out, and you only a first year." Sprout pulled a spare piece of parchment out of the organizer which held students' papers and she inked a quill. "How often do you study, Bint?"

"All the time," said Alice automatically. "I spend lots of time in the library."

Sprout nodded as she began writing something on the paper before her. "That's good. Your hard work is in the right place. Studying! You understand that hard work is strengthened by intelligence to guide it. Still," Sprout looked up into Alice's face, "you struggle with your spellwork, don't you?"

Alice saw no good in lying. She nodded. "I can't get even some of the simplest spells to work. I can't create a light on the end of my wand or cause a feather to levitate."

"Yes," said Sprout, folding up the paper and setting her quill aside. "I had the same problem when I was a student."

Alice's eyes widened. "You! But, but, you're a teacher now. You're a full fledged witch!"

"I almost didn't pass my tests after my first year at Hogwarts," Sprout admitted. "Though I trust you won't spread that around."

Alice shook her head vigorously.

"I was lent a book my second year that helped me turn things around. In the end, I stuck with herbology which involves little to no wandwork, but that book made it so that I didn't have to go down that route." Professor Sprout tapped the folded paper on her desk a few times and then slid it across the table at Alice. "It's in the restricted section. This permission note should be enough for you to be able to check it out from the library at any time this year. If you still need it next year, just come to me and I'll write you another permission slip. It's a book on magical theory and should help you to make your spells work."

Alice took the piece of paper mutely, thunderstruck. She found her voice again. "Thank you! Thank you so much professor!"

Sprout smiled. "It's no trouble." She grinned mischievously. "And maybe, once you start doing better in your other classes, you can work a bit harder at herbology."

As soon as Alice got through her Monday classes, she headed straight for the library. Madam Pince sniffed irritably at the note Alice handed to her before storming off. She returned holding a huge book. "You better not mistreat my book!" she proclaimed, setting the book down before Alice. Alice simply nodded and waited for the old librarian to leave her alone so that she could study.

The book was not what Alice had been expecting. Most of the history books she had checked out had looked as old as the histories they chronicled, but this book looked as if it had been recently published and never before read. The white cover was stainless, all the pages crisp. The gold script on the cover wasn't peeling like most of the other books she had read, so she could still make out every letter clearly.

Magical Theory: Spellcasting by Meredith Merriswish.

It sounded useful. Alice truly hoped that this book would turn her life around. She opened the book straight to the table of contents.

Chapter One: The History of Magical Theory

She didn't need to read any further than that. Without a second thought, Alice flipped over to the first chapter and began reading. The smile on her face got wider the more she read. Mrs. Merriswish gave an in-depth explanation of the difference between wizards and squibs and then spoke of an in-between group which Alice had never heard of before which the author called 'wibbs.' The chapter wasn't so much a history as it was a justification for the study of magical theory itself. Apparently, wibbs had just as much magic as witches and wizards but they couldn't access it as easily, sometimes being seen and thought of as squibs. Meredith Merriswish, a wibb herself, had put together this book to help other wibbs to gain access to 'the magic deep within' so that they could better interact with witches and wizards. From the detailed description of wibbs, Alice became convinced that she was one. Without skipping a beat after finishing chapter one, she turned the page and kept going.

Chapter Two: Ten Quick Tips for Successful Spellcasting

Alice paid close attention to everything she read in this chapter. These were instructions which she would do her best to follow the next day in charms.

The first few tips were things which Alice already knew. A spell would never work as you wanted it to unless you used the correct wand movements and an exact pronunciation. Keeping eye contact with the object of the spell also enhanced the accuracy of the casting. While this was often enough for witches and wizards though, this was not enough for wibbs. More important than outward accuracy was internal confidence. According to the book, wibbs would always have an easier time casting spells in their native language because they would feel as if they had a certain amount of control over the spell which didn't exist in most other spells. Alice thought then of two spells which worked for her every time now. Point me and, in flying, up.

Tips four and five both spoke of different ways to think at your spells in order to gain control over them and in order to heighten your own confidence when presented with new spells. Alice didn't try them yet, but after reading over the two tips a few times, she was certain that she'd be able to use them. No spell should feel beyond her if she practiced these tips enough.

Tip six explained an odd breathing pattern which the book swore would slow down a person's heart beat and clear their head as they approached a spell, and tip seven gave a detailed description of the best postures to use with the breathing pattern based on where the castor was and whether they were sitting, standing, or lying down.

The next two tips both claimed to be the most important tips of the chapter. They both dealt with the mind and the ways to think about a spell. Tip nine was especially about how much the castor wanted to cast the spell. Alice wasn't so sure that she understood either of these tips, but the book promised that later chapters would expand upon how spells should be thought about as this was the most important aspect to successfully casting spells.

Finally, tip ten explained how to do everything at once without losing hold of one of the other aspects and also how to concentrate enough to keep a spell going once it had been started. When Alice finished reading about it, she felt as if she were waterlogged and completely mentally exhausted.

Slowly, she closed the book, stood up, and stretched. Just as slowly, she lifted the book and began walking toward the restricted section. Surprisingly, Magical Theory, which was much bigger than any of her textbooks, was only as heavy as her lightest book, so she had no trouble carrying it. Just as Alice was about to walk into the restricted section, a hand came down on her shoulder.

"You can't go in there," said the girl beside her.

"Oh," said Alice, stopping short. "But I have to put this book back." She showed the inside cover to the older girl. The sticker on it clearly said 'Restricted Section.'

The girl adjusted her glasses and pushed her red-blond hair behind her ears as she leaned over to examine the sticker. "Well it is," she said, a bit surprised. "I've never had a book from in there before," she admitted. "But I've seen other people put them here." She motioned toward a book-return slot next to the restricted section barrier.

Alice was a bit nervous about putting the book in there since it was in such pristine condition and Madam Pince was such a terror, but she didn't see any alternative. She lifted the book to the slot. It was too big. She was about to say so when the slot opened wider and the book was snatched from her hands by some unseen magic to fly through the slot and lower slowly into the return box till it was out of sight. The slot returned to its previous size.

"Charming, isn't it?" asked the other girl, smiling at the book-return.

"Yeah," said Alice awkwardly.

"I'm Susie, by the way. Susie Wambly." The girl held out a hand.

"My name's Alice Bint," said Alice, taking the offered hand.

"See you around, Bint!" said Susie, disappearing between two bookshelves.

Alice awoke early the following day. Professor Flitwick had hinted in their previous lesson that they would be moving onto new spells soon, but she hoped they would still be performing Wingardium Leviosa today because she wanted to see if she could finally do it.

A smile lit up on Alice's face as she walked into the charms classroom. A feather was sitting before every seat in the room. Most of the other students had actually moved past feathers and had been levitating heavier objects recently, but the feathers had still been there in every class period.

Alice sat down in the corner where she had always sat. Steven was already there, but for the first time ever, Alice had left Ava behind. The other girl had struggled with her hair that morning, trying to tame it since it was extra frizzy. She had finally told the other Hufflepuff girls to leave without her, promising she'd catch up. Alice closed her eyes, straightened her shoulders, and began going through the motions of the breathing exercise.

"What are you doing?" asked Steven. He set down his books on his desk with a loud snapping sound. Alice flinched at the noise. Steven had moved up to levitating books last week.

Alice opened one eye to peer at the boy. "I'm breathing," she said. She closed the eye again and concentrated on her breathing.

She became so absorbed in the rhythm of her breath that she barely noticed when Ava joined them, though she did notice Steven explain to Ava, in a whisper, "She's breathing." As soon as the room filled with the voices of the other students pronouncing the levitation spell, Alice opened her eyes to slits. She stared steadily at her feather and lifted her wand. Concentrating hard on wanting the feather to rise, she performed a perfect swish and flick and proclaimed "Wingardium Leviosa!"

The feather rose into the air. Without taking her eyes off of it, she lifted her wand slowly. The feather rose with it, straight into the air. A buzzing sound filled her ears. As soon as she realized what the sound was, Alice blushed and lost her concentration, the feather drifted down, caught in gravity's grip. Ava, Steven, a few of the other Hufflepuffs, Professor Flitwick, and even a few Gryffindors were all clapping. The feather landed in the long hair of the girl who sat before her.

"Oh I'm sorry!" said Alice, as the girl began to turn around. "Wingardium Leviosa." The feather lifted out of the girl's hair, but Alice wasn't concentrating as hard as before, so the girl's hair began to lift too. The girl quickly put her hand up to smooth her hair out and Alice reached out to snatch the feather from the air. Then she let her head fall, her hair swinging forward to cover her blushing face.

"Excellent!" said Professor Flitwick, now standing in front of her. "Fifteen points to Hufflepuff. You have really been practicing, Bint. Would you like to try to levitate something heavier?"

Alice nodded, not trusting her voice at the moment. She was terribly embarrassed. How many people who had been clapping told Alice that everyone cared about her and wanted her to succeed, but it also showed her just how many people had noticed that she had never performed the levitation spell before.

As Flitwick set a kerchief on Alice's desk, she pushed these thoughts out of her mind and focused on her breathing again, staring hard at the piece of cloth. When she felt confident enough, she waved her wand and spoke the spell. The kerchief twitched and a corner of it began to rise. Alice squinted her eyes at it, scrunching up her face. She performed the spell once more and tried not to smile too much as the kerchief rose as easily into the air as the feather had.

Alice didn't move past the kerchief that day, but she didn't mind. It was too much of a joy to see that piece of cloth, or the feather again, rise slowly into the air over her head. I'm a witch, she thought. No, even better, I'm a wibb!

As soon as the class was dismissed, she did make an effort to catch up with the girl who sat in front of her though.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean the feather to land in your hair! Your name's Hadrin, right?"

The girl flashed a big smile at Alice. "It's ok. It was your first time to make the spell work, right?"

"Yes," said Alice timidly.

"You'll get better then. Oh, and you can call me Katleigh. Hadrin's my last name."

"Alright," said Alice. "See you later, Katleigh."