Year 2: Read My Lips

Chapter 15: January 2015

Before Dominique knew it, the Christmas holidays were over, and it was time to return to school. She was glad, because she would be seeing her friends after two weeks of intense family time. Also, she would finally be able to trade her latest novel in at the library for something new – it hadn't taken long for Dominique to finish the one she'd brought home with her. However, it also meant starting classes again, which Dominique was not looking forward to.

"Have a good term," her mother said, giving her a kiss on the cheek before sending her onto the train.

"Bye maman," Dominique returned, dragging her trunk up the stairs.

Victoire followed her onto the train right after, and the sisters hugged before parting ways.

"See you later," Victoire said, grabbing her trunk and wheeling it around to head towards the front of the train.

"Yeah, have a good trip," Dominique returned, turning towards the back of the train.

Over the holidays, Dominique and Victoire had had a few really good talks, and Dominique felt much closer to her older sister than she had previously. Though they'd been close growing up, ever since Victoire had started school Dominique had felt like they were drifting apart. It was nice to know she still had her sister if she ever needed her.

"Hey Miles!" Dominique cried when she found him sitting in a compartment. "How was your holiday?"

"Good," Miles replied. "My sister could not stop talking about how fun first year is."

"Is that so?" Dominique smirked. "Did she have anything to say about my cousin, Molly?"

"She did," Miles nodded. "It doesn't sound like they get along."

"That does not surprise me," Dominique laughed.

It wasn't long before Brooke and then Tom arrived and joined them in the compartment. Upon seeing Tom, Dominique immediately felt a lump forming in her throat, but she ignored it. She wasn't going to bring up his comment from their previous train ride. If the topic came up naturally, she would tell him he had upset her, but otherwise she would let it go.

Soon the train was departing from Hogsmeade station and everyone settled in for the ride. Tom had a few hilarious stories about his crazy uncle Willy and Dominique shared some stories about her extended family and especially the funny things her youngest cousins would sometimes come up with.

DdDdDdDdDdD

Soon, everyone was back at Hogwarts and classes had started up again. By their second week back, Dominique was already ready for summer vacation. The Christmas holidays had been great, but they were so short. She'd barely been home before it was time to climb aboard the Hogwarts Express again and come back for another term.

Meanwhile, second year was only getting harder. In astronomy, they had started learning about star charts, which Dominique now realized were way more complicated than just maps of space. In transfiguration, they were starting more complicated animate to inanimate transfigurations and in herbology, they were working with leaping toadstools, which completely refused to stay put no matter what Dominique did, leaving her exhausted after every class. The only class that wasn't causing any problems was charms – they'd been working on size charms since start of term, but Dominique had mastered the theory by the end of the first week while everyone else continued to struggle to enlarge their inkwells or shrink their desks.

"Dominique, are you still working on that essay about leaping toadstools?" Brooke asked one evening while they were studying in the common room.

"Yeah, why?" Dominique asked distractedly. She was in the middle of a sentence and didn't want to lose her train of thought.

"Well I'm just having some trouble with my shrinking spell and I was hoping you could take a look and see there's anything glaringly obvious that I'm doing wrong," Brooke replied.

Dominique sighed, dropping her quill. Her concentration was broken now anyway, so she might as well try and help Brooke out.

"Alright, go ahead," Dominique nodded, sitting back in her chair to observe.

Grabbing her wand, Brooke cleared her throat and straightened her posture. She placed her inkwell in the center of the table and then sat back, pointing her wand in it's direction.

"Engorgio," she said, twirling her wand in the correct hand motion.

When nothing happened, Brooke looked pleadingly to Dominique.

"Okay," she demanded. "What am I doing wrong?"

"Nothing," Dominique replied honestly. "You did everything exactly the way Professor Flitwick taught it."

"Okay, well let me see you try it," Brooke requested.

Dominique rolled her eyes. "Is this really necessary?" she asked. "You're going to get it eventually. You just have to keep practicing."

"Please," Brooke begged. "Maybe there is something I'm missing that you aren't catching because you do it naturally and don't even realize."

"I really don't think this is going to do anything," Dominique muttered. "But I guess I can show you once. Just remember, I'm hardly Professor Flitwick. It would be better for him to demonstrate. Or even just having an older student show you. I'm just a second year."

"Stop being so modest, you're like a charms prodigy," Brooke praised her.

Dominique cringed when Brooke said this. She didn't want to be a prodigy. She just wanted to be like everybody else. Molly was the one who was supposed to excel at school. Molly was the one who wanted to be like everybody else. Dominique just wanted to be average. It wasn't that she didn't like feeling special sometimes, but she didn't like all the attention. Especially since she hadn't really done anything to deserve it.

"Look, I'm only going to do this once, and then I really have to get back to my herbology assignment," Dominique said.

"Just once," Brooke promised. "That's all I need."

"Alright," Dominique agreed, grabbing her wand and pointing it at her friend's inkwell. "Engorgio," she said clearly, flicking her wrist up diagonally and then looping around twice. The inkwell grew to double its size.

"There!" Brooke cried in excitement, pointing to Dominique's wand. "You looped twice!"

"I did?" Dominique frowned. "But we're only supposed to loop around once… At least that's what Professor Flitwick said."

"I'm going to try it the way you did it," Brooke declared, picking up her wand again.

While Brooke was working on that, Dominique turned her wand on her own inkpot and cast the spell again, only this time making a conscious effort to cast the spell the way Professor Flitwick had taught it. To her relief, the inkwell grew.

"There," she said satisfactorily. "See, the spell works fine either way."

She looked over at Brooke only to discover that while she'd caused Brooke's inkwell to grow to twice it's size, her own inkwell had grown only half as much.

"It looks like it worked a lot better your way," Brooke pointed out.

Dominique let out a sigh of frustration. Why was this happening? Why did her modification work better than the actual spell? It would be one thing if she was conscious that she was making these modifications, but they were just happening. Dominique didn't even understand why they worked better than the originals.

"I'm sure it was just a fluke," she waved it off. "It's no big deal. Look, I've got to get back to my leaping toadstool essay, so you're going to have to practice on your own for a while."

"Fine," Brooke nodded. "At least now I know a better way to cast the spell."

"No, please don't use my method," Dominique requested. "Just do it the way Professor Flitwick taught us. My way could have a thousand things wrong with it."

"But it worked just fine," Brooke gestured to her inkwell.

"Brooke I'm done talking about this!" Dominique cried. "Just practice the spell the way Professor Flitwick taught it, or else go read another book or something. Aren't you almost finished the mystery of the disappearing galleons or something?"

"Maybe I should go continue practicing in the dorms?" Brooke suggested, affronted.

"Yeah, maybe that would be a good idea," Dominique agreed stiffly.

Pushing back her chair angrily, Brooke stood and stalked away to the dorms.

Dominique felt badly for how she'd spoken to her friend, but she was glad for the peace and quiet to finish her assignment. Besides, if Brooke was just going to praise her on her ability to do charms, then she really didn't want to hear it. She was so done with all the attention. She just wanted to blend in.

DdDdDdDdDdD

"Who can tell me the difference between reducio and diminuendo?" Professor Flitwick asked in class the next day.

When nobody raised their hand, Professor Flitwick randomly called on Carter Hanson from Hufflepuff. Miles turned to Dominique with a confused expression on his face.

"Why didn't you volunteer to answer?" he whispered.

Meanwhile, Carter Hanson was frantically trying to come up with an answer.

"Maybe I don't know the answer," Dominique whispered back.

"Is it a trick question?" Carter asked.

"Of course you know the answer," Miles insisted. "You always know the answer when it comes to this sort of thing. You're amazing at charms."

"There is no difference between the two," Carter declared. "They're the same spell."

"Just because I've had some luck in the past with some spells doesn't mean I'm amazing at charms altogether," Dominique claimed.

"No," Professor Flitwick declared. "I'm afraid there is a difference Mr. Hanson. Perhaps someone else would like to give it a try?"

"Besides, there's a difference between being able to cast a spell and understanding the theory behind it," Dominique added.

"Miss Weasley," Professor Flitwick called, causing Dominique to freeze. "You seem talkative today. Perhaps you would like to give us the answer?"

Dominique panicked. Of course she knew the answer. It was easy, she couldn't understand why nobody else knew the answer. But if she gave it, it would only prove to Miles that she really was amazing at charms and he would never let it go. And Brooke already thought she was a prodigy… She had to show them that she was just like everybody else.

"I'm sorry Sir, I don't know," Dominique replied.

"Well then how about your best guess?" Professor Flitwick prompted.

"Um…" Dominique cast around in her head for something to say that wouldn't be completely stupid but also wouldn't be the right answer. "Does one spell shrink things to a greater degree than the other?"

Professor Flitwick looked obviously disappointed at her answer. "I'm afraid not," he replied, moving on to another student. "How about you Miss Pye? Do you have an answer for me?"

"I believe reducio is used to shrink something that had previously been enlarged, while diminuendo is used to shrink something from it's original size," the Ravenclaw girl ventured.

"Correct!" Professor Flitwick exclaimed. "Up until today, we've only been working with engorgio and reducio as a pair of spells that work together. Today, we will begin to practice diminuendo."

As Professor Flitwick got into the details of the theory of the new spell, Dominique found herself wondering why she was so good at spells in the first place. It wasn't as if she'd studied a lot before coming to Hogwarts. She'd never even held a wand until her parents had bought her one in Diagon Alley prior to her first year. Even after she'd had a wand, she'd never felt the need to practice with it until she got to school and it was required. So why wasn't she doing just as badly as the rest of her classmates?

Professor Flitwick finished explaining his theory and instructed everyone to practice the new spell at their desks. He demonstrated once for everyone and then began to circulate amongst the students to give tips and pointers.

With a sigh, Dominique pushed her chair away from her desk and got her wand ready. She stalled for a few minutes, hoping someone else would shrink their desk quickly so she wouldn't have to be the first again. As Professor Flitwick neared, she knew she was just going to have to cast the spell or get in trouble for not participating. She carefully said the incantation and flicked her wrist in the correct wand movement, fully expecting her desk to comply and shrink down to the size of a frog. To her surprise though, nothing happened. Her desk remained exactly where it was and exactly the same size as it had always been.

"Having some trouble?" Professor Flitwick asked, coming up next to Dominique. "You might want to try only looping around once when you cast the spell. I noticed you looped around twice there."

"Of course Professor," Dominique nodded, frowning. Something was wrong. She always looped around twice on size spells. The spell should have worked.

She decided to try again, this time copying Professor Flitwick's instructions exactly. When the desk still didn't shrink, she pointed her wand at her inkwell and tried the enlarging charm again. When that also didn't work, Dominique started to get really worried. Frantically, she attempted casting the simplest spell she knew; wingardium leviosa. When even that didn't work, she started to panic.

"Domi, what's wrong?" Miles asked, concerned when she started hyperventilating.

"I can't – I can't – "

"Domi, slow down," Miles said, motioning to Tom and Brooke that something was wrong.

"I can't – I can't do the spell," Dominique said.

"So?" Tom said, not seeing the problem. "Neither can the rest of us."

"But I can't do any spell," Dominique insisted. "I can't even do a simple levitation."

"You're just stressed out," Brooke assured her, rubbing her back. "You just need to take a moment and then you'll be fine."

"You're not listening to me!" Dominique cried. "I can't do magic anymore! I lost my magic!"

Noticing Dominique's meltdown, Professor Flitwick hurried over. "What going on over here?" he asked.

"Dominique seems to think she's lost her ability to do magic," Miles explained.

"Well I'm sure that's not true," Professor Flitwick said. "Some spells can be harder than others, you know."

"But I can't even levitate!" Dominique cried. "It's not just this spell, I can't do any spells."

"Professor Flitwick, she needs a calming draught," Miles said as Dominique started hyperventilating again.

"Yes," Professor Flitwick agreed. "Why don't you take her to see Madam Eldridge? Miles, you are excused from today's class."

"What about us?" Brooke asked, gesturing to herself and Tom.

"Well I don't see why Miss Weasley needs three people to escort her up two flights of stairs," Professor Flitwick said. "I'm sure Mr. Bailey will do a fine job on his own."

While Brooke pouted, Miles helped Dominique up and grabbed both his own bag and hers, swinging them onto his shoulder. He led her out into the corridor and started walking towards the hospital wing.

"I don't need a calming draught," Dominique muttered as they made their way up the stairs. "What I need is a magic restoration potion."

"You haven't lost your magic," Miles assured her. "You're just having an off day."

"I don't have off days!" Dominique insisted. "This isn't normal. I'm supposed to be the one that always gets the spell on the first try. I'm supposed to be good at charms and now I'm worse than Dylan Becker."

"What happened to 'just because I've had some luck in the past with some spells doesn't mean I'm amazing at charms altogether'?" Miles wondered.

Dominique rolled her eyes. "Well obviously I didn't mean that," she said. She thought about it for a moment and realized that maybe her wish was coming true. "Miles, what if my magic went away because I didn't appreciate it before?"

"What do you mean?" Miles wondered.

"I was so worried about not being the best, because I didn't want to stand out. What if I somehow forced my magic to go into hiding because I so much wanted to be just like everybody else?"

"I'm not following…" Miles said with a frown.

"Miles, I don't need to go see Madam Eldridge," Dominique realized.

"Well, I still think – "

"I need to go see Madame Volant."

"Madame Volant? Why in the world would you need to see her? You don't even like flying."

"Just trust me," Dominique insisted, grabbing Miles by the arm and pulling him in the other direction, now heading towards Madame Volant's office on the first floor.

When they arrived on the first floor, Dominique frantically knocked on the flying instructor's door while Miles stood confusedly in the corridor.

"I still don't see why – "

The door swung open and Miles stopped talking.

"Madame Volant!" Dominique cried.

"Dominique," Madame Volant said. "I'm surprised to see you here. Have you changed your mind about learning to fly?"

"No," Dominique shook her head. "I wanted to ask you something about magic."

"Okay," Madame Volant said curiously.

"When you tried teach me to fly, I couldn't get my broom to lift off the ground and you said it was because in my heart I didn't want it to," Dominique said.

"Yes, I did say that," Madame Volant agreed.

"Well today I tried to cast a spell that I've been casting for over a year with no problems and I couldn't do it and I think it's because I somehow pushed my magic away, maybe because I was ashamed of it or something, just like with the broom. Is that possible?" Dominique asked.

"Yes, it's entirely possible," Madam Volant replied. "If at your core you don't truly want to perform magic, then no amount of incantations or wand movements will make a spell work."

"Well how do I fix it?" Dominique asked. "When I couldn't get my broom to rise, you said we could work together to get it to work, so there must be some way to get my magic back."

"I suspect that if you're here at my door, then you already have your magic back," Madam Volant replied. "Why don't you try casting a simple lumos charm and we'll see if I'm right."

Dominique bit her lip. "But what if it doesn't work?" she asked.

"If it doesn't work, we'll just have to try something else," Madam Volant said. "But either way, I have to see you try to cast a spell."

Nervously, Dominique reached out her hand for Miles to pass over her wand, as it was in her bag which he was carrying. She held it out and closed her eyes, willing the spell to work. "Lumos."

To her delight, the hallway lit up with the light coming from her wand tip.

"There you go," Madame Volant said. "Your magic is already back."

"Thank you," Dominique said gratefully.

Madame Volant shrugged. "I didn't really do anything."

"Well thank you anyway," Dominique amended with a smile.

With a nod, Madame Volant returned to her office and Dominique and Miles were left alone in the corridor.

"So what just happened?" Miles asked, still confused.

"Don't worry about it," Dominique laughed. "Let's go back to Charms."

"Okay," Miles shrugged, just happy to see that Dominique was alright again.

When they returned to Charms, Dominique happily sat in her chair and shrunk and re-enlarged her desk until the period was over. When the bell rang, Professor Flitwick came over to congratulate her.

"I don't know what happened before, but I'm glad you were able to sort it out," Professor Flitwick said. "You really are exceptional at Charms."

"Thanks," Dominique replied proudly accepting the praise. She was never going to be ashamed of her charms abilities again after this.