Winifred had still been working with Zoe on her wand magic. Since tutoring had begun, she'd been doing a lot better. Winifred's ability to focus had improved, and her grades were starting to go up. She hadn't had any dangerous wand side effects in a month at this point, and was beginning to have confidence that perhaps she would actually do okay at classes. Winifred would settle for passing grades- she didn't need Es and Os to be satisfied! Just passing her OWLs with an A would be good enough for her next year. Maybe if she worked hard enough...

They'd been meeting every other Monday to practice. The first time had been... less than exciting. But it was getting better. (At least, Winifred thought that it was.) Learning boundaries had been the hard part. When to be quiet and how to not pester Zoe into a tizzy. Winifred could be intense and wasn't good at realizing some questions were just inappropriate. The tutoring was helping Winifred in more than just classes, it seemed.

Armed with her school books and her wand, Winifred made her way out to the grounds. They were still practicing outside for now... Soon it would be too cold, and the weather probably wouldn't be good enough. But it was for safety. Though, now that Winifred was rarely having any really dangerous backfires it would probably be okay.

She twirled her wand in her hand as she waited on Zoe to arrive... Winifred was actually excited these days. She felt like her tutoring was a little more effective than classes at the moment. Mostly because she was a little behind her year as of yet. They'd just gotten to third year spells with her tutoring. Of course, Winifred never even thought she could do those. Just a few months ago even her first year spells had been hit or miss.

"Hullo, Zoe!" she greeted brightly when the girl arrived. "How's your day been so far? Good? You ready to get started?" Winnie was practically bouncing at this point.

The tutoring sessions had become exciting in Zoe's eyes. It was really amazing to watch another witch grow and improve, and even greater to think that she was the one helping her. She had come to planning out the lessons the weekend prior to the session, getting together the needed supplies.

This Monday Zoe came out of the castle with the usuals in her bag, her Charms book and a little clock that would tell them when the tutoring session was over as it was so easy to go overtime, as well as a few items for the spells the Ravenclaw had decided to work on, the Cheering Charm and the Disarming Charm.

"Hi Winnie," Zoe replied with almost as much energy as her fellow fourth-year. The nickname had grown on the Ravenclaw, and after these tutoring session her full name seemed too formal. "And I'm ready. Let's jump right into today's material." She took out the clock from her back and placed it on the ground, where both of them could see it.

The young witch removed her own wand from her robe and set her bag down on the grass. "I know you were a bit hesitate to try these at first, but you've been doing well, so I thought it was finally time we started working on spells used on people. I wanted to start with the Cheering Charm."

She faced not Winnie, but thin air. "Now I'm going to practice it without a target. You seem happy enough as it is." Zoe laughed slightly at her own joke. "The trick to this spell is about not overdoing it, having just enough force behind it to work and no more. The incantation is Felicitas. Feh-LIH-see-tahs. Felicitas." She had come to the habit of repeating an incantation and slowly sounding it out so Winnie could remember it.

"Watch." She pointed her wand at nothing. "Felicitas," she said in a flat tone, lacking force. A cluster of gold sparks burst from her wand tip, hitting a tree a distance away but having no effect on it. "The gold sparks mean you did it correctly." Zoe turned back towards the Hufflepuff, her wand lowered.

"If you want you can practice it at an inanimate object first, but I would like you to try it on yourself for a living target. That way, if you mess up, I can take the charm off of you." The girl had faith in her student of sorts, but she certainly wasn't stupid.

Winifred's excitement faltered when Zoe mentioned the cheering charm. She was onlys lightly placated by the fact she would be doing it on herself instead of testing the charm on Zoe. Turning her wand on herself wasn't much more comforting a thought. But then again, she had been doing very well lately. Maybe everything would turn out alright. At least if she hurt herself, Zoe would be able to do something to help. Even if it was just running for help if Winifred managed to explode herself.

She watched Zoe aim her wand into thin air and say the charm. Feh-LIH-see-tahs. Winifred repeated it, carefully mimicking the way Zoe had pronounced and enunciated each syllable. "Feh-LIH-see-tahs." That seemed easy enough. Gold sparks meant success. And she had to be careful not to put too much force behind it.

Winifred practiced it a few times. The first time she messed up the pronunciation and nothing happened. The second time the spell split the bark on the tree. "Oh, that's not good." Winifred bit her lip. She was nervous now that it came down to a spell that she had to practice on something alive. Winifred hated casting spells on living beings, whether it was herself or not.

Frowning, Winifred lowered her wand and looked to Zoe. "Sorry. I guess I just psyched myself out. I don't like the idea of pointing a wand at myself... Or anyone else really." She looked down, disappointed in herself. She had been doing so well lately!

"How do you know you aren't going to hurt yourself or someone else?" Winnie asked Zoe. "Are you just that confident? Have you always been?"

"Yes, just like that," Zoe said to Winnie's pronunciation. "Practice on the tree, you'll do fine, and say it just like that." If the Hufflepuff could say it without the intent to cast a spell, there was no reason that she couldn't do the same wand in hand. Or so she could hope.

Zoe quickly lost the bet with herself. "It's alright Winnie. Remember, Feh-LIH-see-tahs." She sounded it out again for her student's benefit. If the Ravenclaw had to drill it into the Hufflepuff's brain she was more than willing. The second attempt came out worse. But by now she was used to Winnie's failures, her confidence didn't waver, keeping an encouraging face. Failure was part of the road to success. "It's alright. So you cut a tree, who cares?" How did Winnie even do that anyway?

Her encouraging face turned into a sympathetic one. "It's alright, you're just a little bit nervous. That's normal, you just have to power through it." As soon as Winnie looked down Zoe walked over to her. "No reason to stare sadly at the grass!" Zoe used the back of her hand to lift the Hufflepuff's chin up so she could look her in the eye. "Don't be so hard on yourself."

Time for serious stuff. Zoe didn't answer right away, thinking over her response. "I think when I first learn a spell I'm always excited, and I use that excitement to help me through. Confidence does seem to be a big part of it, just believing you will succeed. Winnie, if you think about it, if one stopped to worry about every little thing that might go wrong, one would never get anything done."

"But it's a bit different for spells. I might emphasize saying spells correctly, but it takes more than saying a spell to cast one. Honestly, a wand doesn't respond to your words, it responds to your will. If you're always thinking about hurting things, imagining different ways for it to go wrong, guess what, it's more likely to go wrong. It's almost like reverse psychology. If you're concerned about messing up a spell, believe it will be absolutely perfect, picture what it would be like if it was perfect, and your wand is more likely to do what you're willing it to."

Zoe paused after her long speech, backing away from the Hufflepuff to where she was standing before. "Try again on the tree. Everyone messes up. I messed up when I was first learning how to cast charms. It's normal. Just because you're having trouble with one spell doesn't mean you're a failure of a witch, alright?" She gave Winnie another encouraging smile. "If you want me to demonstrate again I will."

Winifred had no idea how Zoe was so patient with her. Throughout most of her experiences at Hogwarts, even the professors were more impatient than Zoe. Which was sad, considering Zoe was a child and professors were... well... adults. But, then again, Winifred hadn't blown Zoe up or disrupted her hypothetical classes innumerable times.

It was hard for Winifred to stay confident. To not be hard on herself. She did feel like a failure of a witch. Often times Winifred wondered how she had ended up in Hogwarts at all, and thought perhaps she was as close to a squib as a witch could get. She had always wanted to be good at classes. To be a brilliant little witch. It would make her mother proud, and her dad. Winifred's father was a squib- and he couldn't have magic- and Winnie had always wanted to do well simply because he couldn't. She knew that he thought his lack of magical capabilities were the reason behind her own failures in wand heavy classes.

She payed close attention to Zoe's small pep talk. Being excited and visualizing. That's what Harcroft had taught her. That if you imagined things going right, then your spells were likely to be more successful. The idea was engrained in her. But it was a lot harder, for some reason, to actually believe in herself. Confidence wasn't one of Winnie's typical emotions- whether she was dealing with classes or not. Winifred just didn't have much faith in herself. And she was always worrying about what other people thought.

But now that Zoe had spent so much time helping, Winifred felt comfortable around her. Now that she knew if she messed up Zoe wasn't going to run away or give up and refuse to help tutor her- it made these sessions easier. Her grades had been improving across the board. Maybe not by much, but enough that Winifred was still encouraged to keep trying. "I just really want to be a good witch," Winnie said to Zoe. "My mother is so very talented. And my brothers- they're good wizards." Her older brother Ernest was especially talented. "I just wish I could be more like them." But she had faced facts long ago- she just wasn't good at magic. It would never come naturally to her. Winifred was going to have to work very, very hard to even make a passing grade. That was her future.

But at least that Hufflepuff drive of hard work had finally kicked in. "I think I can do it," she said to Zoe. Winifred closed her eyes and took a few long, deep breaths. She was trying to calm herself down. When she opened her eyes again, she focused on being confident. On picturing the pretty gold. On not setting the tree on fire or blowing it up. No, the tree would be fine. She and Zoe would be fine. And her wand was going to spark gold because her spell was going to work.

Winifred flicked her wand once more at the tree. Nothing happened. "I can do this!" she said quietly to herself. Then she tried once more- and the gold sparks danced out of the tip of her wand. "I DID IT!" she exclaimed, practically bouncing with joy.

It was sad that family pressure made Winnie like this. The Hufflepuff obviously only wanted to do well, and impress others. Though, it was quite blatant that she wouldn't be the top of her class, but maybe if she tried hard enough she'd feel accomplished. Either way, the Ravenclaw hoped she could be there for the girl.

Zoe didn't reply as Winnie verbally encouraged herself. She didn't want to break her student's concentration, only nodding. The Ravenclaw was sure she felt as much anticipation for success as the Hufflepuff. One time of nothing and then....

IT WORKED! Zoe clapped wildly. "That was great Winnie! Perfect sparks!" Was it possible the tutor felt as much enthusiasm as the caster? Winnie reacted to it as if she had cast the Cheering Charm on herself. "See? I told you you could do it perfectly fine." It was amazing to not only be teaching someone spellwork, but also confidence and self-esteem. Zoe loved tutoring.

"Now for casting on yourself. This isn't too hard, just make sure to whisper the spell to start out. Don't cast it to hard." Zoe pointed her wand at herself. "Felicitas." Gold spark came from the tip and collided into the girl.

She looked back at Winnie giggling. "See?" The mood of the young witch had certainly changed. She began to skip in a circle. "It's not very hard at aaaa-lll Just try! " Zoe sang out. She stopped, laughing giddily. "Merlin, these effects! I sound so funny!" She pointed her wand at herself once more. "Finite. ... Good it's over."

This could only end badly with Winnie. The Hufflepuff was so happy already, trying to add to that meant the girl would probably start laughing madly and hugging everything. Oh well. It was reversible. Anyway, this would be hilarious to watch, whatever happened. "Try it on yourself. I swear, it doesn't hurt."

Winifred was ecstatic! When Zoe was equally excited for her, Winifred just wanted to hug her. It was nice to know that Zoe cared about her enough to be excited for her. Winnie hadn't expected to get a tutor who would actually care. It was nice.She was going to have to do something nice for Zoe to say thank you.

She watched the Ravenclaw cast the cheering charm on herself. Then Zoe burst into giggles. That was a strange thingto see, but Winnie liked it. Zoe skipped and Winifred clapped happily. "You don't sound funny- just happy!"

When Zoe ended the charm on herself and assured Winnie it didn't hurt, the Hufflepuff smiled. "I see what you mean- about not casting it too hard! Imagine how I would be if someone yelled that charm at me!" As unbearable as Winifred could be when she was just her normal self, under the effects of anintense cheering charm she might be murdered by half the school.

Winifred smiled, still filled with confidence, and oointed her wand at herself. "Felicitas!" she ordered in a soft voice. Faint gold sparkles came out of her wand, and when they collided with her, Winnie felt her smile grow even wider- if that was possible. Laughter billowed out of her, and she had to sit down on the ground. Clutching her stomach, Winifred just kept laughing. She was trying to talk to Zoe through the laughter- but nothing intelligible was coming out...

It would seem that Winifred had managed to cast the cheering charm on herself with success! And she hadn't blown up her own head or anything. EXCELLENT!

Zoe practically broke down in laughter when Winnie did, snickered into one hand, wand in the other. She approached the Hufflepuff, who was quite literally rolling on the floor laughing. "Great job Winnie, you certainly pulled it off," the girl commented after the sight ceased to be as funny. "Just keep breathing, I'll take the spell off of you."

Placing a hand on Winnie's shoulder to steady her and keep her from squirming away, the Ravenclaw pointed her wand at her student. "Finite." As the spell wore off Zoe helped Winnie back to her feet. "That was great Winnie. Didn't have any harmful effects." Well, at least it seemed as much. The girl might have given herself brain damage or something.

She glanced over at the clock. "We still have nineteen minutes, you made good time with the first spell." Zoe looked back at the Hufflepuff. "I only have one other spell planned, it's also to be used on a person. It's the Disarming Charm, I'm sure you heard of it. Want to try it out?"

Winifred was a little disappointed that the effects of the cheering charm had to be removed so quickly- though she understood why. The entire school might hunt Zoe down and murder her if she let Winifred wander the halls under the effects of a cheering charm. That much giggle and excitement and energy was enough to get on the nerves of even the most patient of people in the school. "Doesn't seem to have had any," Winnie agreed.

She stood back up and ran her hands carefully over her person, to make sure she hadn't misplaced any body parts. Winifred felt fine. Inside and out. That had gone much, much better than expected. "Nineteen minutes, really?" Winnie asked. "I did make good time, then! Which means that I am getting better."

Her confidence and joy immediately faltered as Zoe mentioned a disarming charm. She frowned and chewed her bottom lip, twirling her wand in her hand. "Disarming Charm?" Winnie repeated. "I... I'd have to try that one on you, wouldn't I?" Winnie asked. "I can very well disarm myself. I mean- I want to try. I want to learn the spell. I just don't want to hurt you. Can we..." she looked around, then motioned to the tree they had used earlier. "Can we arm a tree or something? And have me disarm that instead of you? Just until we're sure I've got it?" Winnie didn't want to back out of practice, or disappoint her tutor by refusing. Practicing on the tree first, until she was positive she wouldn't kill or horribly maim Zoe was a preferable course of action.

It seemed that Winnie practically had mood swings. One minute she was the greatest spellcaster she could be, the next unconfident and worried. The poor Hufflepuff. "Yes, for practicality you'd eventually have to try the spell on me. If you can manage to not hurt yourself, I'm not scared at all about you trying the spell on me."

Disarming a tree? How did one arm a tree in the first place? Well, a branch was sort of like an arm. "Alright. Let's do that." The charm was know to blow back people, she was guessing it'd do the same to a tree. "Stay there." Zoe walked over to the tree, picking out a weak looking branch.

"Aim for this branch, okay? I'm guessing if you do it correctly you'll literally disarm the tree, break the branch off. Don't worry, the charm doesn't naturally snap people's arms. But since a tree doesn't have hands to hold an object it'll resort to its second use, harm."

She then pointed at the trunk. "Make sure to NOT aim at the trunk. Don't aim for a person's body when casting the charm unless you are truly in danger." Zoe chose not to tell Winnie why, or there was a certainty the Hufflepuff would flatly refuse to ever use the charm near her.

Zoe walked back to Winnie. "The incantation is Expelliarmus, ex-PELL-ee-are-mus. Expelliarmus. If you do it correctly, a jet of red light will come from your wand tip." She looked to the tree, hoping it wouldn't end up snapped in half.

Winifred was glad that Zoe relented. "Okay. If I do it right, I won't feel bad about trying it on you." She looked to the tree where Zoe had motioned, eyeing the branch. Winifred filed away all of the notes that Zoe had given her. Not to aim at the body (or tree trunk), how to pronounce the spell, and the color her wand should produce. There. That was all pretty simple.

Winifred gave Zoe a slight smile. "Things have been going pretty well today, so I'm sure I can manage. I just didn't want to try it out on you without practicing it first. It's for the best, I'm sure."

Looking down at her feet, Winnie adjusted her casting stance and looked up at the tree. "Ex-PELL-ee-are-mus." Winifred repeated, looking to Zoe for verification she'd gotten it right. Then she raised her wand at the tree, aiming for the branch that Zoe had pointed out.

You can do this Winifred! You've been doing just fine so far. You won't blow up the tree. You won't hurt Zoe. Everything will be just fine. "Expelliarmus!" A jet of red light shot from the end of Winifred's wand- just as Zoe had told her it would. Instead of hitting the branch of the tree, Winifred managed to hit the larger limb it was attached to. The limb ripped from the tree and shot back across the lawn. Well, it had worked. And the tree still wasn't any worse for wear.

She looked sheepishly at Zoe. "Well, it worked! My aim was only off by a little. And the tree looks okay." Winnie inspected her wand, still surprised that it was doing so well. That she was doing so well. "I won't blow your arm off, will I?" Winnie asked.

Zoe clapped as the spell came out a jet of red. "Yeah, just like that. And no, you won't blow my arm off. This charm is nowhere near the strength require to snap bones, much less take off a limp. And I'll make it easy for you Winnie, so you don't have to worry."

She drew her wand and held it out to her side, her arm fully extended. "Now you won't have any worry of hitting my body. Just aim right at my hand, right at my wand, and you'll be fine. I'll be fine." It was an encouragement she gave herself. If Winnie messed up and, say, did hit her body, Zoe knew she'd probably end up flying into a tree or, at worse, the lake.

Trying to stay as positive as she could and not flinch or move in the slightest, Zoe closed her eyes. "I'm ready whenever you are. Take as long as you want." Not being able to see the Hufflepuff was both an advantage and a disadvantage, but Zoe concentrated on the advantage that, if something did go wrong, she wouldn't be alarmed until it actually did happen.

Winifred was surprised that Zoe offered herself up as test subject so easily. For some reason, Winnie felt like testing the cheering charm on Zoe would have been a lot of safer. But with this particular spell, you kind of needed a live subject. "I promise I won't hurt you!" Winifred said with surprising confidence. Despite the fact they had little in common, Winifred genuinely did like Zoe. And she did want to impress her tutor and do a good job. And hurting her would do the exact opposite. Winnie had learned more from Zoe in a couple of months than she had her entire career at Hogwarts.

The Hufflepuff watched the way Zoe confidently held out her own arm, with her eyes closed. Wow! Zoe must really have confidence. She must really think that Winifred knew what she was doing. Winnie wasn't used to anyone believing in her so much. And it made her happy. Winifred welled up with pride, and if Zoe had her eyes open she would have seen the way her chest puffed up and her posture straightened. There was no way Winifred would let Zoe down this time! Not if she had so much trust and faith in her ability to do this spell right! (Especially when it would be so dreadfully uncomfortable if things went wrong.)

She levelled her gaze on Zoe's wand-arm, and pointed the tip of her own wand at Zoe's hand. Winnie did all of things that she had practiced. She clearly pictured the spell succeeding- and refused to think of all of the things that could go wrong. She kept her aim steady. Then clearly, confidently, and firmly called out the spell. "Expelliarmus!" Again, red light shot out of Winnie's wand directly at Zoe's hand. Now, so long as Zoe didn't move, it ought to work more or less correctly. (Assuming Winifred's wand hadn't decided to go haywire. Which, on occasion, happened to Winifred.)

In, out. In, out. Zoe breathed slowly, trying not to shake or flinch. There was not only a weight put on Winnie to perform the spell correctly, but a weight put on Zoe to be a good test subject. She was determined to hold her part of the bargain, if for nothing else but to show Winnie her loyalty and confidence of her wandwork.

The incantation was easy to hear. The young witch ran it through her mind, trying to pick out any mistakes of mispronunciation. There were none, which eased her into a still position. It would hit her any moment. Anytime now...

Contact. Zoe felt the magic seep through her skin and surge through her veins. It was pure power. She felt the usual effects of the spell, the forced relaxing of muscles in her hand. Not harsh enough to hurt, but a flicking motion. Zoe opened her eyes as she saw the wand leave her hand, landing in the grass a few feet away.

A smile spread across the Ravenclaw's face. "You did it! That was perfect!" The magic effects left her hand and Zoe flexed her fingers before going to retrieve her wand. "Not a scratch, amazing." She pointed her wand at the little clock.

"Accio." It flew through the air, the young witch skillfully catching it. "Seven minutes left. Do you want to try another quick spell or talk until the seven minutes are up?" Winnie was a social creature, and they hadn't talked much during the tutoring sessions yet. It was a nice reward.

Winifred watched, not breathing, as the spell flew toward Zoe. Once her wrist twitched and the wand flew a few feet away- she was ecstatic. Winifred literally screamed for joy, and jumped up and down. She had done a spell on another student without injuring them! Brilliant! Winifred couldn't believe it. And Zoe had just stood there, trusting her, believing she could do it.

This felt even better than the cheering charm had felt! She did a fun victory dance as Zoe summoned the clock they used to time their sessions. Talk, or more spells? For once, Winifred was actually inclined to want to study and practice istead of talk and gossip. It was an unusual feeling for the Hufflepuff. Very unusual indeed!

"I think we should stop while we're ahead," Winifred said, still beaming. "Wow! I still can't believe I did it. And you didn't die or blow up or anything!" She couldn't wait to tell Cy and Juni. They'd be so proud of her! Oh- and Ambrose, too.

"What do you want to talk about?" Winifred asked, plopping down on the ground, looking up at her tutor. "I don't know anything you like other than school work. Me and Juni and Cy talk about boys a lot. You should hang out with us sometime. I bet you'd have lots of fun."