mudblood_andproud | Books, Broomsticks and Butterbeer Oh My! ((Jim))

Hermione moves slightly, so she can place her wand arm beside his, so that he can watch the movements of her wrists even carefully.

"The name of the spell corresponds with a rune in the Ancient language. The movements I am making with my hand, mimic the shape of the rune itself."

Hermione moves her wrist slowly, starting at one point, and carefully arching it, so it is half-circle arch. And then she pronounces the spell again, carefully, "AK-key-o apple..." The apple flies over to her.

Jim copies the movement as she demonstrates, his motions a half-second behind hers, and repeats it a few more times to make sure he's got it down. He's got a few languages under his belt already, so getting a single word right seems like it should be easy.

Once he's sure he's had enough practice to make a first attempt, he aims the end of the wand towards the stack of books. "Accio book," he says, with captainly confidence.

The stack of books quiver, and then suddenly all of them come flying towards Hermione and Jim. Hermione is quick enough to cast "Protego!", to create a magical shield around the two of them, so they are not hit by many books.

"Good first try. But you should have specified which book at first. The wand didn't know which one you wanted."

The magical shield is pretty interesting by itself, though the time delay in casting it is a bit of a concern, apparently restricted at least in how fast she can say the magic word. Another way that wizards might have to adapt if they're going to be dealing with Muggles... both projectile weapons and phasers would be through a wizard's defenses before they could shield themselves.

But he'll leave that for another time. "How specific do I have to be?"

"At the start of your training, very specific. Ask for the red book." Hermione sets up the pile of books again. There is one red book in the pile.

"During wizard studies in first and second year, students learn to be very specific and very precise. I can cast the spell without the wand movement, or without even saying the word, because I have had years of practice."

"But this is the wand doing it, not me, so will practice or training matter for me?" After all, the wand isn't acting as a focus for him, more like a proxy.

"Yes. What you have there is a training wand, that many wizard parents would give to their child before they are sent to wizarding school." Hermione explained. "By practicing and training, the wand itself will improve its own abilities."

Weird, but all right, that makes some amount of sense. Jim takes aim again, this time at the red book in the stack. "Accio red book."

The books quivered again, but this time only the red book flew through the air towards Jim. Hermione quickly caught it with her hand.

"Good. Try again."

It's not really that similar to a phaser or any other weapon that he's used before, but Jim has never let unfamiliarity hold him back. "Accio green book," he says, and now that he's seen the path that the summoned objects seem to take, he prepares to make a grab for it when it gets close enough to catch.

The green book flies towards him, and Jim is able to catch it quickly enough.

"With enough practice, you can direct the object to you, and stop it before it hits you." Hermione explains. "You should note that the spell should be used only on inanimate objects. Never people. Or creatures."

"Why? Is it dangerous?"

"It won't work on living beings. And while you could summon their clothing or an object on their person to make them come to you... it is risky to summon them that way, because they travel at close to the speed of light and may be injured in the process."

"There is also no distance limit on the spell. You just have to concentrate long enough, if you are casting on something you can not see."

Hermione glances down to the sandy beach, a few miles away. "Accio seashell."

It takes about ten minutes, but soon a seashell flies up and into her hand.

"What about size limits?" He could experiment on his own to get the answers, but it seems safer to ask first. He's using forces he doesn't understand, and relying on experimentation to get results seems risky at best.

"Smaller objects are always better. But you can summon over larger items. Just remember... that it will be traveling at that speed of light limit, and could injure or hurt other people who get in its way."

Jim nods, taking mental notes. He has some ideas for how that could be useful, but of course, he has some more questions. "Can it go through walls or is it line-of-sight? And can you 'cancel' the effect partway through?"

"It is not line of sight, since I can summon things not within my sight. And it would find a way past a wall, without going through it..."

Hermione is happy hearing him ask questions. "And yes you can cancel it. You just stop concentrating..."

"Awesome." Jim can already imagine how much of a tactical advantage that could give him, if he was able to yank an enemy ship off course in combat.

He summons another book to make sure he's got the basics down, before turning back to her. "You said this can do three spells?"

"Yes. The next spell that you will be able to use is Wingardium Leviosa, a levitation charm." Hermione explains. "This spell will lift objects high in to the air, and also allow you to magically move them while they are being levitated."

Hermione moves to stand by him again, so that her wand hand is by his.

"This was one of the first charms that I had practiced, well before entering Hogwarts."

"wing-GAR-dee-um levi-O-sa!" Hermione carefully pronounces the word. She points her wand at the stool, and moves her wand in a slight swirl, with a short curve at the bottom, and a longer more elaborate curve at the end. The stool starts to float into the air, and as Hermione keeps her wand focused on it, she is able to float the stool over to where they are standing.

The wand movement for this one is a lot more complex than the first, as is the incantation. He's probably not going to get this one on his first try. "How do you control where it goes?" Jim asks, attempting to copy the wand motions.

"With small flicks of your wand. You have to be careful not to exaggerate your wand movements too much. And once the object is levitated, you don't have to keep on forming the rune with the wand to keep it floating."

"Okay, I see how to nudge it sideways or vertically, but what about distance from you?" He feels like he's asking an awful lot of questions now, but Hermione has been very patient with him so far, and he can see why the school wanted her. She's definitely got the attitude and the patience for it.

"It will continue to levitate... up and away from you... until you use your wand to almost drag it back to you." Hermione explains.

"All right..." Time to give it a shot. Jim says the incantation slightly wrong once, twice, until the third time he gets it right, aimed towards one of the stuffed animals she set out.

Hermione has to resist the temptation to correct his pronunciation. And nods with a smile when the stuffed animal in question floats up into the air.

"Good. Now can you make it float over to us?"

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