Lily Evans Potter (chosemyway) wrote in madisonvalley, @ 2017-01-24 10:28:00 |
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Sydney felt a flutter of nervousness as she rang the doorbell to the address Lily had given her. The idea of actively working on magic was anathema to everything she'd ever been taught, but it was a necessity - or so she told herself. Uncontrolled magic had caused all kinds of pain and confusion here, and it was her responsibility to control hers so she wouldn't be the cause of any of those things. She just hadn't expected it to be so...exhilarating. It was what the Alchemists had warned about: the siren call of magic that, once tasted, was addictive. Sydney had always thought herself more sensible than that, but she couldn't deny that the more she worked on her magic, the more she enjoyed it. But she had to be strong. No matter how exciting it was or how great a potential it had, magic was something to be extremely cautious about, and Sydney intended to be. With that in mind, she knocked on the door. *** Lily made sure that James, Hermione, and Harry were out of the house before Sydney arrived. From their previous encounter, she knew that the girl was anxious about magic and she wanted to make her as comfortable as possible. That meant making sure there weren’t additional people around while they worked. The tea kettle was already on when she heard Sydney knock on the door. She hurried from the kitchen to the living room, taking a moment to survey the room and ensure that there was nothing overtly magical in plain sight, and opened the door with a warm smile. “Sydney, hello, I’m so pleased that you contacted me,” she said. “I’ve got water on for tea. What kind would you prefer?” *** While Sydney was much more of a coffee person, she didn’t want to insist on it given that Lily was already helping her out. “It doesn’t matter,” she said as she pulled off her gloves. “I’ll have whatever you’re having. Thanks.” She was dressed in her usual beige, so as not to garner too much attention. The only indulgence she allowed herself was the Slytherin green of the scarf that Draco had bought her. *** “I’ll be right back,” Lily said. “Have a seat. Make yourself comfortable.” She went back to the kitchen and decided to make a pot of Earl Grey. After measuring the leaves and pouring the water over them, she left them to steep while she talked with Sydney a bit more. “Tell me about what you’ve done so far with your magic,” she said. *** “Not much,” Sydney admitted. She told Lily of the books Draco had given her to read, of the attempts to channel magic on a controlled manner with Paige’s supervision. “It's still not stable,” she finished. “So Paige thought it might help to channel some of the magic into a totem. That way, there's a receptacle if there's too much.” *** By the time Sydney was done with her story, Lily knew that the tea was ready, so she excused herself long enough to pour them each a cup and then returned to the living room, handing one mug to Sydney and cradling the other between her hands. “Draco and I practice the same kind of magic,” she said. “I don’t know a lot about how Paige practices, but you could also look up Piper Halliwell as another potential person to help you figure out how yours works.” Charming everyday objects was something that Lily excelled at and she was hopeful that she could help Sydney channel her own abilities. “Do you have a particular item you would like to try and use?” *** Sydney nodded and reached over to get her briefcase. She pulled out a piece of quartz. “I know magic works differently from world to world, but the commonality in what I've read is that minerals are good for storage. I thought I'd try this.” *** Most of the time, when Lily charmed an object, it was to do something specific to that object, like when James made the paper turkeys dance at Thanksgiving, but she didn’t see why they couldn’t simply store residual magic in a crystal. It would be like combining the use of a wand to funnel magic with a charm. “Do you have a specific spell that you’d like to try casting?” Lily asked. *** Sydney was ready with a printed sheet of paper that she'd pulled from her briefcase. “This one is supposed to create light. I've asked Paige to review it to see if it makes sense.” As opposed to really being a spell that would open the doors to Hell. Sydney still didn't trust the writers of the books she'd read. “Can you do a double check?” *** “Of course,” Lily said, reading over the paper that Sydney handed her. The framing of the spell was different than she was used to, but as she ran through it, the structure seemed to make sense in order to create light. She looked over it twice, just to be sure, but then nodded and handed the paper back. “Yes, the language is fairly direct and I believe that cast correctly, the spell will create light. Shall we try casting it without the totem first to ensure it works?” *** Sydney hesitated. It was one thing to infuse power into a totem, which could easily be hidden away or controlled. But to simply cast a spell? It made sense, though, to isolate the variables and work on one thing at a time. After a moment, she nodded. And, reading the note carefully so she could follow the instructions to the letter, she began the spell. It started as a feeling of warmth deep in the pit of her stomach, and then it travelled up her body and into her arms, and a soft glow emerged from her palm. *** Lily observed carefully as Sydney recited the spell and grinned when she saw the faint light emitting from her hand. “Wonderful,” she said. “Now, we can charm the crystal and then you’ll need to add something to the spell to release it. Or you can cast most of the spell, but leave the last step off and only do that part when you want to create the light.” *** “Right,” Sydney said, brow furrowing in concentration. But when the light winked out in her hand, she sagged back against the couch, suddenly feeling light-headed. It always felt like this after she tried magic, as if the act of it took something out of her internal stores. “Just...need to rest a moment.” *** “Do you need something?” Lily asked. “A drink? A snack?” It was a little concerning to see her appear so tired, though Lily was aware that sometimes magic would take something out of the user. It was rare that a spell required that much energy in her world, but from being here and reading about how it worked in other places, she knew it was a possibility. *** “Do you have any juice?” Sydney usually stayed away from the calorie-laden drinks, but she found that the electrolytes in juice restored her energy. It might help her now, when she felt so light-headed and woozy. *** As the parent of a toddler, Lily always made sure to have juice in the house. She sorely missed pumpkin juice, but found that Harry quite enjoyed apple. “Of course, I’ll be right back,” she said, quickly going to the kitchen and pouring a glass of apple juice for Sydney. “Here,” she said, handing over the glass and making sure the girl wasn’t going to fall over or drop the glass. “Are you okay?” *** “I'm fine,” Sydney said quickly, but she took a moment to just hold the juice and steady herself before she took a sip. Then, after a moment, when her head had cleared, she admitted, “It takes a lot of energy to do this. I don't know if it's normal.” *** “There are some spells that expend quite a bit of energy in my world,” Lily said. “I do not know what is normal for your world. Is there anyone here you could ask?” She knew that Sydney was afraid of her magic, but she wasn’t sure if anyone else here from her world would know more about it and offer her guidance. *** Sydney shook her head. “Not that I know of.” There were Lissa and Jill, but she didn’t expect them to be able to help. Moroi magic was different from...whatever it was that she had. At least, Sydney hoped so. It was bad enough to have to deal with the idea that she had magic. She just hoped it wasn’t Moroi magic. “A lot of this has been trial and error,” she explained. “Paige has been helping, and Draco has given me books to read.” *** It was a little surprising to hear that Draco was being helpful, but Lily nodded. She knew there had to be some good in the young man despite his attitude or else his son wouldn’t have turned out so well. She still missed Scorpius. “I am happy to help however I can as well,” Lily said. “We’ll take a little break and then try again.” *** Sydney nodded. Even though the spell took a lot out of her, she still wanted to try again. It’d felt...empowering to be able to call up light like that. All she had to do was keep herself from being seduced by that power. She had every faith that she could. “Let’s do it.” |