Today, September 19th, 2021, is Hermione Granger's 42nd birthday! Happy birthday Hermione! :)
On the morning of Monday, September 5th, 1994, fourth year Gryffindors had their first Charms class of the year with Professor Flitwick.
Harry and Hermione were sitting next to each other wondering what the first Charms lesson of the year would entail when Professor Flitwick spoke up.
"Today, " squeaked Professor Flitwick, "We will be learning about Summoning Charms. Mr. Potter, can you tell us what Summoning Charms do?"
"A Summoning Charm will summon an object to the spell caster, " answered Harry, "Very useful for witches and wizards who've misplaced something and don't want to spend a millennium looking for it."
"Correct, Mr. Potter, " smiled Flitwick, "Summoning Charms, do, however, have some limitations. Miss Granger, can you tell us what those limitations are?"
"The strictest exception to the Summoning Charm is buildings, " said Hermione promptly, "Buildings can NEVER be summoned. Buildings are bound to stay where they are built for the entirety of their existence. In addition, people and animals cannot be summoned of their own accord. However, if a Summoning Charm is performed on an object that a person or animal is carrying, then the person or animal will move with the object. Furthermore, Summoning Charms cannot overcome locks. So, witches and wizards can't use the Summoning Charm to steal a person's possessions from his or her locked trunk."
"Very good, Miss Granger, " said Flitwick cheerfully, "Now, like all Charms, the Summoning Charm requires great concentration. The incantation for the Summoning Charm is Accio followed by the name of the object one wishes to summon. But the incantation alone is not enough. For a Summoning Charm to be successful, the spell caster must be clearly focused on an image in his or her mind of the object that he or she wishes to summon to himself or herself. Any questions?"
"Yes, Professor Flitwick, sir, " piped up Parvati, "Is it possible to have a partially successful Summoning Charm? "
"Very good question, Miss Patil, " said Flitwick approvingly, "The answer, as with most Charms, is yes. If a witch or wizard performs the Summoning Charm and has an image of the desired object in his or her mind, but isn't locked in enough, the desired object may move from its original location closer to the witch or wizard casting the Summoning Charm, but not completely reach him or her. Depending on how well or poorly focused the performer of a Summoning Charm is, an object may not move at all, may move halfway between its original location and the spell caster, reach the spell caster, or any of the in between possibilities. The better the concentration and focus, the better the result. Plain and simple."
"So?" asked Lavender curiously, "What are we going to be trying to summon to ourselves?"
"Because this is our first Summoning Charms lesson, " explained Flitwick, "We're going to start small. Oftentimes, the best way to master a craft is to start small and easy and build up to more challenging versions of the craft. The Summoning Charm is an example of this. So, today, you're just going to be summoning objects from the end of your desks into your hands."
Next nanosecond, Professor Flitwick retrieved his own wand from his right hand pocket with his right hand and cried "Accio twelve inch rulers," and seven twelve inch rulers zoomed into his hands.
Professor Flitwick passed one twelve inch ruler each out to Harry, Hermione, Neville, Seamus, Dean, Parvati, and Lavender. He set each ruler at the end of each students' desk and said, "Wands out."
Harry, Hermione, Neville, Seamus, Dean, Parvati, and Lavender all pulled their wands out of their right hand pockets with their right hands and held them at the ready.
"When I say "now", " instructed Flitwick, "Perform the Summoning Charm to summon these rulers from the end of your desks into your hands."
Harry, Hermione, Neville, Seamus, Dean, Parvati, and Lavender patiently waited for Flitwick's signal. Once he was sure that all seven of them were paying attention, Flitwick called out, "NOW!"
Harry, Hermione, Neville, Seamus, Dean, Parvati, and Lavender all cried out, "Accio twelve inch ruler!" with varying degrees of success.
To no one's surprise. Hermione's ruler jumped into her hands at once.
"Oh well done, " cried Professor Flitwick, "See here everyone, Miss Granger's done it! How splendid!"
The second best was a tie between Harry and Neville. Both Harry's and Neville's rulers drew close enough to them for them to pick them up.
"Well," smiled Flitwick, "Mr. Potter's decision to pay more attention to his academics has paid off."
"If I'd never met Ron, " declared Harry, "I'd have been both more academically inclined and a better student from the get-go. The month before I started my first year at Hogwarts, I read through my schoolbooks and found them quite interesting. Unfortunately, I met Ron and he steered me away from academics and towards adventure and goofing off. Now that I'm shot of Ron, my natural interest in academics has returned, encouraged by a stronger bond with Hermione."
"It's good for you that you've found your academic motivation before your O.W.L. year, which happens to be next year, " Flitwick told Harry, "And Mr. Longbottom, that's the best first attempt I've ever seen you do at a Charm. I've always sensed you had an aptitude for Charms but often struggled to find it, though you always passed your exams with Es. I always thought you had O potential in Charms though."
"I have a new wand, " revealed Neville proudly, holding it out for the class to see, "Twenty Four inches, cherry and unicorn hair. Study and unbendable with significant power. My new wand is responding to me way better than my dad's wand was."
"That's why Headmaster Lupin has now banned secondhand wands at Hogwarts, " said Flitwick approvingly.
"The wand chooses the wizard, Mr. Longbottom, " said Neville in a magnificent impersonation of Ollivander, "That much has always been clear to those of us who have studied Wandlore."
"Ollivander?" piped up Harry, Hermione, Seamus, Dean, Parvati, and Lavender before it hit them what had happened.
"Wow, Neville, " said Parvati happily, "That was bloody brilliant. The best impersonation I've ever heard."
"Thanks, Parvati, " said Neville glowingly, "Gran wanted me to use my dad's wand as a way of paying tribute to him. But Lupin's ban on secondhand wands forced her hand and she had to take me to get my own wand this summer. It's the difference between night and day, light and dark, loud and quiet, hot and cold, wet and dry, and so forth."
Harry, Hermione, Seamus, Dean, Parvati, and Lavender all smiled at Neville, happy for their classmate's success. In recent months Neville become close with Seamus, Dean, Parvati, Lavender, and Padma Patil of Ravenclaw as the six of them had formed a group of meal buddies. Harry and Hermione were far less close with Neville, but they too saw Neville's new wand as an example of the success Hogwarts was having by taking A Different Path under Professor Lupin.
Seamus and Dean had summoned their rulers halfway to them.
"Mr., Finnigan and Mr. Thomas, you both had the image in your minds about summoning your rulers to you, but just weren't locked in enough on this image. Having the necessary imagery in one's mind but not being focused enough on it often leads to a half successful Summoning Cham. "
Seamus and Dean nodded in understanding.
Parvati's and Lavender's rulers hadn't moved an inch.
"Well, " said Flitwick seriously, "Miss Patil and Miss Brown only said the incantation and didn't have the needed images of summoning their rulers to themselves in their minds. "
Parvati's and Lavender's faces both flushed red with embracement.
"We're rubbish, " chroused Parvati and Lavender wearily.
"No, you're not, " said Neville sharply, "You've both consistently been E students in Charms over your first three years. One mistake doesn't erase three years of success, define you, or make you rubbish. If we do the exercise a second time, you'll be just as good as Harry and I were."
Parvati and Lavender gave Neville small smiles, feeling bolstered by his encouragement.
"Let's a give it a second shot, " agreed Flitwick.
Harry, Hermione, Neville, Seamus, Dean, Parvati, and Lavender all placed their rulers at the end of their desks again, readied their wands, and waited for Flitwick's signal.
"GO!" shouted Flitwick.
Harry, Hermione, Neville, Seamus, Dean, Parvati, and Lavender all raised their wands and yelled out, "Accio twelve inch rulers!"
This time, Harry, Hermione, Neville, Seamus, Dean, Parvati, and Lavender all had their rulers zoom into their hands.
"Excellent, " said Flitwick, "This simple version of the Summoning Charm is something you should all be able to master. You'll find it more challenging with bigger objects and further distances, but I'm pleased with the start this class is off to."
Harry, Hermione, Neville, Seamus, Dean, Parvati, and Lavender all smiled while feeling good about themselves.
They had begun their paths to becoming successful fourth year students.
A shout out to the following users who have added A Different Path to their favorites and/or follows lists since the last update.
AlexOmega0
ennjuinor
Flying Chrissy
JaisyBoy
MrCarter48
SpriteKiwi
Much love from Arizona for all the support! Love you all! -Michael :)