Emmeline Vance (emmline) wrote in thedisplaced, @ 2017-08-02 10:44:00 |
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Entry tags: | !log/thread, credence barebone, emmeline vance |
WHO: Credence Barebone & Emmeline Vance
WHERE: Gym
WHEN: 17 July [Backdated!]
WHAT: Practicing magic!
RATING: PG-13, they're setting things on fire.
STATUS: log; completed
On his best days, Credence hoped that maybe eventually he'd get a break-through on magic, and he would be able to more or less interact like a normal person with everyone around him. On his worst days, he was pretty certain it didn't matter how many hours he spent with Emmeline and Charlie, he wasn't going to be able to ever make it work. And on those days that were somewhere in between he was realistic enough to know that even if he managed to make it work, 'it' in this case being magic, that there was a fair to good chance that it wasn't going to solve all of his problems. Certainly, he might be a normal person by the standards of Emmeline or Albus or Charlie or any of the wizards or witches, and maybe someday he'd be able to shake that voice in his head that told him no matter how normal they said he was, he was actually a complete freak, and a devil child, but even if he did that, it wasn't going to make interacting with other human's easy, exactly. Tonight he and Emmeline were supposed to be working again, and Credence had grown weary of the reminder that he didn't have his own wand and other wands were at times temperamental and even really practiced wizards didn't always enjoy using another wizard's wand. He knew it, or at least he'd been told it. In truth he wasn't certain he 'knew' anything about magic, not really. Certainly it seemed difficult for him to actually perform it. The first time he'd tried, it hadn't even worked. It had taken him probably four sessions, and a lot of encouragement of needing to believe that he could do it, to get the wand to do anything at all. It had been shortly after July 4th, the irony of getting sparks from his wand near the holiday where people tended to really enjoy fireworks was not lost on him, that he'd gotten something. But it seemed like even that had been problematic. Yes, he could do magic. Yes, he could make the wand work, but when he did manage to do it, Credence seemed to be plagued by a sort of shadow spell. An echo of sorts, that bounced back and made the spell work really difficult to predict. And worse, or at least more disheartening to Credence, was the fact that neither Emmeline nor Charlie seemed to know why. The general opinion seemed to be that it was just going to take practice, and that he was learning magic much later than many people and with a wand that wasn't his own, so there would be difficulties and they could overcome them. So he'd kept trying, even though there were nights he was ready to sit down and not do anything at all. Tonight was one of those nights if he were being perfectly honest with himself. The first few spells he'd run through seemed to have worked-ish. That was to say, they'd done more or less what was expected, but they'd had the echo or shadow or kick-back or whatever it was you wanted to call it. But as the evening has progressed, it seemed like those things were getting worse. Yet, Credence hated disappointing anyone, and Emmeline had put so much time into helping him that he really truly didn't want to disappoint her. He stared at the space where the light that should have come from the wand would have been and tried not to feel too discouraged. All right, so not lumos. Something different. He furrowed his eyebrows together and then held his wand out in front of him again. "Incendio," he stated, as clearly and with as much determination as he could while trying the motion that went with the spell. It worked, well, kind of. The leg of the stool in front of him was on fire.Then, unexpectedly, the table behind that also burst into flames, which had not been where he'd been aiming. "It's doing it again," he turned to Emmeline, resisting the urge to drop the wand and run back to the other end of practice space. With a quick wave of her wand, Emmeline put out the fire and turned to Credence and smiled. “You’re doing really well, Credence.” She could see that he was growing frustrated, so she used her wand to bring up a couple of comfortable chairs to their area. “Come on. Let’s take a break and catch our breath.” Placing the middle part of her wand up to her lips, she used her mouth to hold it as she tried her hair back into a ponytail. After she held it carefully, wiping off any marks as she sat down. “I know it’s frustrating, but try to be patient with yourself. You’ve come a long way since we first started.” Emmeline never really fancied herself a teacher, and to be honest she had no idea if she was doing it correctly. It was very much just go with the flow when it came to encouragement. “Remember, it’s not worth it if you don’t put a little hard work into it.” She grinned at him. “Let’s relax a bit, our minds and bodies and we’ll get back into in a little bit.” She gave him time to answer before asking, “How are things?” Emmeline seemed to be able to put things out so easily, which, on the one hand was really good considering that Credence continually seemed to muck up the spells, but on the other hand it was a little depressing. Was he ever going to be able to do magic so easily? Without thinking about it? Without weird outside consequences? But he followed her to the chairs and took a seat in one, turning his head to gaze back at the now non-burning stool and table. "I wasn't aiming at the table," he muttered. But that wasn't new either - it just was how magic seemed to go for him. He sighed, and looked back over at Emmeline, considering her questions, and trying to put the non-working magic to the side for a moment. "I guess all right," he offered hesitantly. "It's nice to not have school for a bit. I feel like it's weird to go back next year. I'm too old really, but things feel different here and I don't know if I could do anything else." He glanced at the stool briefly - like he couldn't even really do magic. "I guess I might go back for a while." A small smile crept on her face when she heard him mutter, she couldn’t make out what he said, but she could imagine. It brought her back to her days as a trainee with the Ministry. Those were grooling days. She’d be sweaty and frustrated at the end of the day some mentors would make jokes to make her laugh, others would tell her to work harder. Emmeline certainly muttered to herself a lot during those times. Usually a few choice words towards her instructors that got on her nerves on a particular day. “I heard people talk about starting another school, for those of us with abilities or even those who don’t but would rather not go to school with the locals. That could be an option for you, and just about everyone here either knows you or has seen you, so you hopefully you won’t feel so out of place. Having a sense of community makes it easier to survive, especially since we can pop in a new place any minute.” Again the thought had occurred to her on whether or not she should quit her job at the Military and maybe go into teaching, help out with this program. It had been on her mind a lot, but given the recent events, she thought it’d be best to stay where she was, just in case. "Do you think that'd be a better idea?" Credence asked, looking over and trying to quell the rising anxiety about starting something completely new and different. Emmeline was right in that people here knew him, at least a little, and he wouldn't be completely out of place there as he was at the public high school. Or at least, in theory he wouldn't be. "What sort of things are they teaching? I'm not certain I'd want to try to do this with people watching," he waved at the chair in front of them to indicate the magic he'd been working on. Emmeline shrugged. “Only one way to find out.” She was trying to sound encouraging but at the same time, casual. There were times where she felt like she needed to be more careful with Credence, knowing what he’s gone through, but other times where she felt like she needed to give him a steady hand. He was stronger than he realized, he just needed to see it for himself. “Are any of your other friends going to school? Nico?” "Nico's at the high school." Credence hated to say that Nico was his only friend, but really he felt like everyone else was older than him. Charlie, Emmeline, Albus, well Helena - but she was much younger and not at the school. Rocket wasn't at the high school either, although Credence couldn't really be certain how old the not-raccoon was in reality. "But most of the rest of them aren't. I suppose it might not hurt. I could talk to Albus and see what he thinks." He looked over not wanting to completely dismiss the idea out of hand. Emmeline was trying to help him, and he knew it, and he really was grateful for it. He just wished that maybe he wasn't such a mess in the first place. He really wished that he'd been able to attend one of the wizarding schools. It was silly maybe, but he could wish anyway. "What house do you think they would have sorted me into?" He looked up at Emmeline, suddenly curious. "I know I wouldn't have attended Hogwarts, but if I had." “That’s a great idea,” Emmeline agreed. She may not know Albus very well other than he was the grandson of her two best friends, which made her wonder if she should be making a bigger effort. Not just because of Lily and James, but because of Credence as well. Emmeline never thought she’d take on someone like Credence in her life, perhaps she missed being an older sister or perhaps, despite the war and everyone she lost, her edges weren’t as hard as she imagined them to be. At his question she smiled. “Hm.” She said looking sideways as she gave his question some serious thought. “I think maybe Hufflepuff. Though it’s hard to say for sure. It’s a great house, I’ll be honest that sometimes they get made fun off, but I can say that Hufflepuff takes all the best qualities of a person together. They’re kind, loyal and strong. I really hope that as often as we travel, we’ll get to show it to you someday.” Credence really only knew about Hogwarts what Charlie had said, and Newt when he'd been there, and Albus from time to time, and what Helena filtered through from not experience, but everyone else. So it wasn't as if he had much real experience to back the question with or to throw at the answer she gave him, but he knew a few things. "I don't mind being made fun of," he shook his head, after all he had enough experience with it. "I mean, not mostly. Not most people. They don't know me, so it's easy. Newt was a Hufflepuff," he explained looking over at her. Newt was one of the first people who had been nice to him. Outside of Tina. But she wasn't here and hadn't been to Hogwarts either. "I think I'd like Hufflepuff," he decided with a small smile turning up the corner of his lips. It was a ridiculous fantasy for certain, even more fantastical than magic, the idea of having gotten a letter and having gone to a school and being sorted into a house, and learning like other wizards did. But it was a nice fantasy, regardless. “Some people are jerks, can’t change that.” Emmeline agreed. “Best to try and focus on the good people in your life, which is easier said than done, believe me, but it’s not impossible.” Emmeline didn’t get a chance to know Newt very well, though it was amazing that he had been here. He was all over their history texts, everyone knew about Newt Scamander. “You’re right, he was. You’ll find a lot of great minds, amazing witches and wizards will come from all houses.” Yes, she even admitted that some of them could even come from Slytherin, even if they had a bad wrap for spewing out the evil ones. Emmeline smiled. She liked seeing Credence like this, hopeful. Even if the chances of him seeing Hogwarts was slim, she still hoped that one day, just maybe she and the others would get to show him. She even worked out a surprise, she’d gather the others and arrange for the Sorting Hat to sort him, give him an official house. Even if he would have gone to the American one, Emmeline probably wasn’t alone in thinking that the UK has officially adopted him as one of their own. “What do you say?” Emmeline asked after a few beats. “Think you’re ready to give it another go?” Now that his mood seemed a little brighter, perhaps the happiness might give him a bit of an edge. Credence hadn't quite given thought to starting up again. But when Emmeline mentioned it he realized that maybe he was ready. There was some part of him that in the question and the answer had almost felt as if he could have done that. If the fantasy was that he'd had a typical magical education as a Hufflepuff, then the sort of magic he was doing right now would be a piece of cake - completely doable. He pulled a smile to his lips, even if it was a small one and clambered to his feet. "Yeah, I think I'm ready. Same spell?" “Absolutely.” Emmeline said as she stood up and clapped her hands. “Just like school, you only get a short break in between lessons. Same spell, and remember visualize, focus and breathe,” she added with an encouraging nod. Credence nodded with a quick flash of a genuine smile at Emmeline before he turned his attention to the wand in his hand. There were all these things that were swirling in his head: instructions from Emmeline and Charlie, notes from Albus, things he'd heard all of them say over the past few weeks as he'd been attempting. Mean the spell, see what you expect, focus. That focus sometimes was the challenging part, but right now he was focusing on an idea of something that hadn't really happened - in his mind's eye there was this notion of Hogwarts. "Incendio" The wand flashed and the chair lit. It was precisely what he expected the spell to do, and as he realized he was holding his breath there was no additional fire. Just the spell. Credence blinked. "Emmeline -" he half turned around to her. "It didn't… it worked!" It took a lot of Emmeline’s strength not to run up to Credence, but her excitement was clear. “You did it!” She happily went to his side and gave him a half hug and a pat on the back. “Look at that! I knew you could do it!” She grinned at him and took a step back. “Keep going, use that feeling. One more time for good measure!” With a flick of her wand, she put the first fire out. Credence still couldn't believe it had actually worked. After all the times he'd tried, and he'd almost always had the spell repeat itself. This time it hadn't. This time it had been just one, the one he'd meant, and he tried to replicate that focus, that feeling of being at Hogwarts - since apparently that had maybe crazily worked? - and he waved his wand again, this time at a crate directly next to the chair. "Incendio!" Flames hit the crate, and for a moment, there was something else - shimmering at the edges - but then, so quickly that it made Credence question if it had been there, it was gone. Just the spell remained. His spell. His magic. That somehow he'd managed to control completely. He couldn't help the smile on his face as he turned around. Would it work like this from here on out? Had he finally managed to maybe get rid of that second casting? Whatever it was? He almost didn't care, because this looked like it was supposed to. This was what magic was supposed to feel like, he was sure of it. He didn't even know what to say - he just beamed at Emmeline. Emmeline had been watching him carefully, and she immediately noticed that there had been something else there, something she hadn’t seen before, or maybe she had. There was something familiar with it that she couldn’t place because just as quickly as she saw it, the shimmering disappeared. It poked her brain, something that she should be connecting together, but didn’t. She didn’t want her confusion to ruin Credence’s happiness, so she played it off as if she was just focusing hard on his performance. With another wave of her wand, she put the fire out and this time, she did move quickly to his side and wrapped her arms around him in a big hug. “I am so proud of you! Albus and Charlie will want to hear about this, and I definitely thinks this is a cause for celebration, maybe get your friends and get some ice-cream?” Emmeline didn’t want to say, but there was another reason why she wanted to get Albus and Charlie together, mainly she wanted to tell them what she had seen. “I bet you can do it again for Albus and Charlie.” She winked at him. “No problem.” Hopefully they would be able to catch something she didn’t. Credence had been trying to figure out how to believe that he would make this happen. And that had been a challenging thing for him to really wrap his mind around, and yet tonight, he'd managed a spell without the backfire. Without some unforeseen conclusion that he hadn't been trying for. He'd seen the spell in his mind and he'd managed to make it happen with the wand, and he had been beginning to believe that it would never happen. So this was important. "I hope so," he breathed, excitement and delight bubbling up despite himself. He might be able to do this. No, he would be able to do it again when Albus and Charlie were there. He had to. "I could see if Nico is free for ice-cream," he put his wand away, still feeling more confident about this process than he had for weeks. Emmeline smiled. “Let’s go then.” For a brief moment, as Emmeline looked at Credence, she was reminded of her sister. Emmeline did her best not to think about her family back home, as long as they were okay, that’s all that mattered. It was easy to get distracted here, she had her friends back and met new people that became very important to her. At this moment though, she missed her family. Being here with Credence, teaching him, guiding him, she couldn’t help but feel like an older sister again. “You did great today. I’m proud of you.” She tried to put as much affection in her words, like any sister would. It was strange that in little ways, Emmeline started to feel like her old self. |