Chapter Thirty-Five
Snotty
Lenore felt her irritation peek as Jairdan told her once more to make a feather hover using her wand. The tutors had been at the Weasley's house for little more than two hours before her lessons begun. Dumbledore constructed a cabin in which all of her tutors lived, Elves and Almost Humans. She wasn't sure how they did it but not a single explosion or argument reached the main house. However, Lenore's life had gotten all the more difficult. She was busy from morning to night, trying to get a handle on her magic.
At first she thought it would be fun seeing as her first two lessons were split in the afternoon of their arrival. One was with Jairdan, who quickly turned into the Elfish Snape and the second with Gagan Chris (she was told she could call them by either teacher or their given name, however the Elves were a bit more particular and she was ordered to call them Sir, Ma'am, or Teacher.) Both lessons involved with controlling different areas of her magic but Lenore found she enjoyed her lessons with Gagan because he at least didn't berate her when she couldn't complete what was asked of her. Jairdan, Jairdan however would do everything and the kitchen sink to make her feel as if she was the stupidest person in the world.
The first lesson was about the basic principles of controlling her new magical powers and it became more and more in-depth each day. Now, three days after they had arrived, they were starting her on magic. Jairdan was with her from lunch until three and in the first half hour she managed to be able to control her magic enough to lift a feather wandlessly. She was ecstatic until he tried to make her use her wand.
For once in her life the nine-in-a-half inch Cherry Wood wand with a Black Phoenix feather laying within felt as if it was hindering her. In fact the first time she attempted a spell with her wand she realized that she felt like gagging, as if the wand was making her choke on too much magic backlash or something. It didn't make any sense and Jairdan didn't seem to intent on explaining anything to her. She was simply supposed to do without question, something she hated more than anything else in the world.
"Try harder." The man in front of her said and she sighed shutting her eyes.
"My head is killing me from trying to hard. The magic won't go through the wand," At least not correctly, she thought remembering when the feather not only lifted but burst into flames and disintegrated. After that another feather shot into a tree so hard that it drove itself into the center of it. "Please can we stop for the day?" Lenore begged, feeling miserable at the fact that she still had to be trained by Gagan in Almost Human Basic Magical Powers and then by Taban for Knowledge of the Night Sky.
"Are you really lacking that much intelligence that you cannot complete a single lesson?"
Lenore looked down, biting her lip. "I'm trying. I am!"
"Stop trying and do it."
"HOW?" she exploded. "Each time I try I feel as if I was going to be sick! I can't do it!"
Jairdan sighed, his face looking as if she was his biggest disappointment in the world. He took her wand from her. "If you want to just give up go, walk away." He nodded towards the Burrow.
She stared at him. "I don't want to give up." She ground out. "I just need to know how to do it?"
Someone cleared their throat behind the two and Lenore looked back sharply. Gagan stood there, his head bowed as if ashamed he had been listening. "She is still mine for another ten minutes." Jairdan said coldly. (Lenore had simply gotten used to how they referred to her as an object.)
"I understand, sir," Gagan did a slight bow, not so much mocking as respectful, which quite obviously surprised Jairdan. "I was merely taking a walk when I heard raised voices. Perhaps…" he paused. "With your permission, perhaps I could aide you in what Lenore seems to be struggling with."
Jairdan sneered at him. "I can manage just fine, mutant. Be on your way."
"Wait a second," Lenore said causing both eyes to land on here. "You may be teaching me, sir, but I'm tried of you yelling at me and insulting me just because I can't do what you ask. If Gagan has a way to let me use my wand again, then I'm all for it, whether you like it or not. It's my life, my magic we're talking about here, not your petty prejudices."
For several moments all the two teachers did was stare at her before Jairdan stood up. "Teach, mutant. Only because I wish to see you stumble," he backed away, very clearly taller than both of them. He waved his arms out before leaning against a tree.
Gagan bowed his head respectfully before kneeling in front of Lenore. "When you attempt to control you magic via the wand you feel sick, correct?"
"Yeah." She nodded biting her lip. "A knot forms in my gut and I feel like I've bitten off too much to chew and need to spit it back out."
"Eloquent as always, Ms. Keller," snarled Jairdan.
Lenore glanced at him before looking down. "It's like there is just too much of something,"
"Try pulling back." Gagan said simply.
She looked at him. "I don't understand."
"You are simply thinking the spell without giving much consequence to how much magic you are releasing, correct?" The raven-haired girl slowly nodded. "Then say it aloud and try to bring your power from full strength to half strength. Just think of it in the terms of our magic," Gagan explained as she studied him. "How you have to decide what to release your full magic into and what not to, try controlling it like that."
"Like it's something tangible? Like Elemental magic,"
"Yes."
Lenore heard Jairdan scoff but what Gagan said made complete and total sense. Wren and Gagan had been teaching her to control the outflow of her magic because it is a different level than normal peoples and because of this she had to decide how to pull back. She wasn't aware that it could relate into other areas such as her 'normal magic' if she had such a thing.
"Wingardium Leviosa," She attempted the spell verbally but at the same moment she said the spell she imagined her magic as a string the she grabbed and pulled back slightly. The feather began to hover hesitantly in the air. Lenore's eyes widened before a bright smile spread across her face. "I did it…" she whispered. "I DID IT!" she exclaimed jumping up, forgetting to control the power and the feather shot towards the sky before bursting into flames. "Oops,"
"And once again the pyromaniac showers us with ash because of her inability to control herself," Jairdan said straightening up, the look of surprise clearly masked on his face.
She looked at him. "No, 'good job, you did it'? No, 'decent work, try once more'? All you have for me is more insults?" she said in disbelief. "I did it."
Jairdan's eyes were cold. "Then proceeded to cause the feather to catch fire, or do you suppose it spontaneously combusted?"
Lenore swallowed hard. "No." she said simply. Waving her hand another feather appeared and she repeated the spelling, this time remembering to keep control over her magic. The feather very nicely hung in the air. "There. Are you happy now or shall I make it dance for you?" even as she spoke a breeze rocked the trees and the feather began to dance in front of the Elvin teacher.
"Lenore that is quite enough," a feminine voice came through the tree. Lenore turned and saw Wren frowning at her. "Just because you are upset don't use the Elements; did you learn nothing of respecting them?"
Jairdan's upper lip curled. "Once again you have shown that—"
"That I have the intelligence of a flea?" Lenore shook her head. "For your information, I did do that." She shook her head, grabbing her bag. "I'm done for the day. Sorry, no more lessons, Leo is finished until tomorrow, have a nice night," with that she walked away.
It had only been three days since they had gotten here but felt like it had been an eternity. For every day she had a schedule for which she had lessons. Part of her wondered if any of the Weasleys still remembered she was there because she only saw them at meals and when she was at meals she was frantically attempting to study a bit of information needed in next class. She was halfway to the door when she stopped, leaning against a shady part of the house. Sliding down the wall Lenore buried her head in her lap. There was no time for anything.
Summer was turning into hell.
The tears had started coming before she even realized she was that upset. Lenore wanted so badly to please her teachers but all of the Elvin teachers took an immediate dislike to her therefore she felt as if their work was all the more demanding. Severus had spoken to her only once after the Wormtail incident and that was only to tell her how stupid she was for writing when she hadn't known if he was there or not. The tears that streamed down her face, staining her arms, were meaningless. Her heart ached because she had no time to even write Laura or Saul…not that Saul could receive letters. Laura didn't even know about everything that was going on.
Lenore felt so alone.
"….ack later, mom." There was a voice and back door opened and shut. She watched George head for the apparition point but he stopped. He looked back sharply, his hand reaching for his wand when his eyes landed on her. He blinked before walking towards her. "Leo?"
"Hi," she said looking down, attempting to force back the tears.
"What's wrong?" he asked, his brow furrowed. "Why aren't you in class?" he knelt down in front of her and recoiled when he saw a tear escape her eye. "What happened? Are you all right?"
She snorted. "Just having a good cry," she muttered.
He leaned against the house, sitting next to her. "About?" he prodded.
"Everything,"
George pulled her into a hug and she leaned her head on his shoulder. "George, I can't take it. My teachers don't like me. I have no free time, no time to do what I want. How can I handle this? Severus is mad at me. Jairdan, out of all of the teachers, hates me. He will do everything in order to make my life miserable. And on top of all that I still have another three weeks to go. My friends won't be here for my birthday because they are all in their own lives and Saul has gone on this secret mission which I can't know anything about. It's just too much,"
His hand rubbed her shoulders as she cried for a few minutes before hiccupping and then calming down. "Shall I take those one at a time?" he asked, causing her to smile weakly, sniffing.
"I know for a fact that Gagan and Taban like you cause they were talking to me about you…" Lenore looked up sharply. "Okay I was eavesdropping with extendable ears," he said with a shrug and a smirk. "But they are both really impressed with how far you've come in only three days."
"Really?"
"Yes. As for the others I can't vouch for them." He said with a sigh. "Extendable Ears only work when the room isn't silenced using runes. The other people are smart." Lenore snorted again. "As for Snape…" he fought grimacing. "Well, he's just Snape. I'm not sure how to help you with him. Your birthday…well whether your tutors let you off or not I'm kidnapping you along with the others here for a day out in Muggle London."
Lenore looked at him, her eyes shining brightly as a smile spread across her face. "Really?"
"Saul…um…yeah…top secret Order business," George said in a mocking voice. "It'll be okay, Leo. Really."
She sat up and looked at his shoulder. "I got you all snotty,"
George started laughing. "That's okay," he waved his wand and the wet spots were cleaned. He grinned. "Good as new."
"Thanks George, mental break-down 101, you passed with flying colors,"
"I didn't know this was a test," he said with a chortle before helping her to her feet/
She shrugged. "I'm running away for the night, can I come with you?"
"You don't even know where I was going."
"Nope, and right now I don't care." She spotted Wren and Taban heading towards the house. Her shoulders fell slightly. "Please, let me get a night off?"
George glanced behind him and then nodded. "Come on," he dodged out of the yard and with a crack they both disappeared, leaving Lenore's worries behind them.
