Rated T For Language PV | M. Kāne

Makaio was at his campsite the afternoon after classes. He found the accommodations at the castle comfortable…too comfortable. He was used to roughing it the wilds of the amazon, or backpacking across the alps. A soft bed and warm room meant very little to the 40 year old. It was nature that he craved. Nature and danger. That is what drew up to the edge of the forbidden forest. With a slew of enchantments and spells warding off any real danger, Makaio was both safe and could also feel like there was at least a chance something might happen. You could take the hunter out of the hunt but you couldn’t take the hunt out of the hunter.

His tent was nothing special or magical, just a tarp thrown over a basic structure and his campfire he lit with the snap of his fingers and a whispered thought. It was a basic set up, one he often used when on a week-long operation. He was just settling down on his log when he heard what sounded like…swearing. What student would have such a mouth? The rapidness of how loud the unknown girl was being shocked him. She’d have blown her cover and she’d have been surrounded, all for what? Makaio listened closely, tuning out the cracking of his fire, she was having trouble with spells. Must she cause such a ruckus and spoil his quiet time staring at a fire?

He stood up and stretched. He was a professor now, he might as well see what the matter was. He stepped out of his enchantment, revealing himself several yards away from the girl, a solo figure, must have thought herself alone. As he approached she again cussed and was trying to cast…transfiguration spells? He was known to say some very impolite things from time to time but they were hard earned.

Approaching, he hailed the girl, after recognizing her as one of his students: Koko Riddle. It was exciting to work with older students who had a better grip on the material…but this one. Well, some are born to transfigure and others have to work for it. “Greetings, Ms. Riddle!” He gave a boisterous deep greeting from far enough away he hoped not to startle her. “You’ve caused quite the commotion out here in the middle of nowhere. I totally wasn’t out here…staring at a fire…” The irony did not allude him that they both had reasons to be at the forest edge. “Perhaps I might be of some service. What is it you are trying to do exactly?” He asked as he looked from the rock to Koko and back to the rock again. Most importantly, if he helped her, perhaps he would finally get to have some peace and quiet without all the swearing echoing about.

@Koko Riddle

Date: Late May 2025
Time: After classes
Location: Hogwarts Grounds

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Upon hearing a rather loud, only somewhat unwelcome exclamation of her name, Koko spun around, eyes wide, wand arm almost raised, fully prepared to find another student encroaching upon her privacy. What she found instead was not a lot better, although she did find herself relaxing minutely, her wand arm slowly lowering as her brow furrowed.

'Professor... Kāne?' By Merlin, she hoped she'd pronounced that correctly. She bit back any sarcastic comments for the time being; the professor, although new, was a knowledgeable member of authority.

She blinked when he mentioned a fire, and then she glanced from side to side. Whatever fire he was talking about, it wasn't her doing. Her cheeks had reddened slightly by the time she realised what must have drawn him to her location — the commotion she’d created as a result of failure. Her response, then, was rather quieter than his greeting had been, as she flatly muttered, '…Greetings.'

Although knowing she’d been found in what was meant to be a secluded area bothered her at least somewhat, she still did her best to keep her mind open despite the frustration throbbing in her veins. However, that did not mean she would re-gain a filter. 'What I’m trying to do is practise casting. For NEWTs.' Her words came more quickly than she would have liked. 'Because I understand the theory,' she said quietly, voice strained as she avoided eye contact with the professor, instead opting to stare at the rock. 'But the more I try, the more easier spells I try, the less it will fucking work.'

Her voice nearly broke at the end of the rambling statement, and at the very least, it gave something of a wayward crack, and she was far more focused on that potential outward display of her emotional state than any rude words that might have slipped out. It was after speaking that she turned to face the professor, her posture far more defeated than usual, her amber eyes glinting in the afternoon light. She agitatedly tapped her wand against her leg as she hesitatingly admitted, 'I don’t know how to make it work.'

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@Makaio Kāne

If Makaio’s eyebrows could raise any further, they would have become a part of his immaculate hairline. He hadn’t even considered that having a professor appear out of nowhere, no matter how much warning he gave, would still be a shock to someone, especially someone as advanced as Koko. From the moment he closed the gap, he could tell that she was riddled (heh) with frustration over her situation. He said nothing though as she verbally processed her predicament. She claimed to understand all the theories but didn’t actually know how to cast the spells. Makaio’s eyebrows, which now had a life of their own as his student continued to rant, farrowed in thought as he thought about how best to decongest her thinking.

“Well, Ms. Riddle,” Makaio started slowly, hoping that what he was about to say would not launch her into any more of that filthy language. She certainly had a mouth on her and not afraid to use it. He’d have reprimanded her to remind her that she was talking to a professor, but she seemed quite small in that moment for being so boisterous. “Transfiguration isn’t really about theory.”

Makaio took out his wand and moved to stand opposite her, with the rock in-between them. “I understand that the way it is taught here at Hogwarts is often very different than Tenūsa - same content but dressed differently so perhaps this might help you.”

He realized that he was about to give her a lecture but kept his voice sympathetic and patient. “Transfiguration is about imagination and possibility. Theory is just to help us expand our imaginations. If you get too caught up in it, it will block your imagination.”

With a wave of his wand, Makaio cast a stream of transfiguration spells, “Duckifors…melifors…herbifors.” The rock transfigured into a duck, and then a badger, and finally flowers arranged in a beautiful bouquet resting gently were the rock once was. “Reparifarge!” He commanded and the transition happened in reverse - flowers to badger to duck to rock.

Makaio gestured at the rock. “I have no doubt, Ms. Riddle, that you have all the theory. Try letting go of that knowledge and cast using that vivid imagination you have.” Vivid imagination for language, was the unspoken truth that Makaio hoped to avoid moving forward.

@Koko Riddle

Date: Late May 2025
Time: After classes
Location: Hogwarts Grounds

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As much as she could, Koko did her best to keep her gaze on Professor Kāne while he was speaking. Doing such was respectful, after all. But try as she might, she could not stop herself from betraying her flickering emotions in other ways. She listened, but as she listened, her brow furrowed, or her eyes narrowed, or her lips momentarily drew into a frown before she could neutralise her features.

She could only really stare at him when he said that Transfiguration wasn't really about theory. Half of the anger-fuelled fire that had provided her with a rampage of speech was dulled now as she simply listened, her knuckles whitening as her hand clenched into a tight fist around her wand and then loosened again.

Her unwavering, distrustful, disdainful gaze made its way to the rock. She might have even looked a bit like she was sneering — features almost convoluted, unease present in her amber eyes. Nonetheless, she did maintain her uncomfortable silence as she watched Professor Kāne cast a barrage of Transfiguration spells. Ducklifors... and there was a duck. Melifors —'Aw, that's cute!' — and then the badger was gone and replace with a bouquet of flowers. She stared, dumbfounded, at the transfigured object.

And then he did it in reverse, so effortlessly and swiftly that through her amazement Koko's fist clenched once again and she let out a long, bitter sigh. It seemed to have required no thought at all, just a simple whim.

She lifted her gaze to meet the professor's once again, and this time any malice, previously aimed at the rock, was gone, replaced by wary curiosity. 'I...' Her voice trailed off before she could really even begin. For years, she'd been told to study her theories, to ensure she knew exactly what her cast was going to do before she properly learned the wand movements. She'd studied, actually studied, for hours on end to remember everything. She'd thought intense, tunnel-visioned focus was the only thing that could help her.

'...Imagination? But that's...' A silly children's game? Something she hadn't touched in years? She thought about it now — really, where had all the childish whimsy of her youth gone? She squinted down at her wand and frowned. 'I don't... what am I meant to do, imagine all of the little particles turning into little duck particles?' The question, although said with a hint of sarcasm, was genuine.

She would attempt the same few spells Professor Kāne had used. Imagination, she told herself, all while her hand shook minutely at the thought of letting go of the rigid theory, the objective truth of Transfiguration. 'Ducklifors,' she murmured, her voice still measured, carefully pronouncing each syllable of the spell as her wand arm traced the proper movement in the air. But this time, instead of only focusing on the semantics, she stared at the rock and thought of it sprouting feathers, wings, a bill, two eyes, and then giving a little waddle. To her surprise, it...

'Holy shit,' she murmured under her breath, eyes wide in pleasant surprise. 'It worked.'

This time, the badger. 'Melifors!' she breathed excitedly, doing her best to picture the cute animal from earlier. Although rushed, the incantation had sounded correct, and her arm had stopped shaking when she traced the spell's movement. But she was too focused on wanting it to be perfect that although her wand sparked, the spell fizzled out once again. The duck remained a duck. 'Ugh, what the fuck,' she muttered, and this time, she did remember she was next to a professor, so she quickly added, 'I meant duck. Because, you know, it's still a f... still a duck.'

She was careful not to shake her wand in exasperation when she turned to Professor Kāne again. 'I did what you said, tried to just... imagine a badger. The one from earlier, actually. It was rather cute.' As if of a mind of their own, her arms crossed over her chest when she gave another hefty sigh. 'I don't even know what the hell I'm doing wrong at this point.'

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@Makaio Kāne

Reducio

Did rolls in a personal server to determine the outcome of her casting because I thought it'd be fun.

Ducklifors: d20: 14 + 7 = 21. Considered it a success.
Melifors: d20: 1 + 7 = 8. Failure. I didn't make a crit, but I can edit it to make it one if you'd like!

It seemed his first extracurricular meeting with a student was off to a swell start as his student swung between incredulity and wanting to punch him in the face. It amused his slightly that his interjection could produce such ire in the student and were she older, he might invite her to act on her impulses displayed so readily on her face. However, she seemed open to instruction despite her face saying otherwise.

He was pleasantly proven right that deep down beyond her vulgar vocabulary was still a student eager to learn as she lit up at the badger he produced. The key to her understanding seemed to be cute animals, irony on irony this one. When it was her turn, however, she was still stopped up on the lessons she struggled to memorize for tests. This wasn’t altogether unexpected but Makaio was a bit disappointed that at seventh year she still hadn’t grasped the freedom found in all the theories.

“That works,” Makaio said encouragingly as she mentioned picturing particles turn into little ducks. Whatever gets her there, Makaio told himself. Please work, he begged silently as he watched her work - at least a successful cast should stop her from-

He was about to praise her but even in success her mouth betrayed her. He counted 6 swear words in total. Eventually she’d have to stop and have a civil conversation, right? Makaio may look like a caveman but at least he could hold a proper conversation.

“Well done, Ms. Riddle! Now let’s-“ Before he could continue his instruction so that she could build on the success, she hastily casted another transfiguration spell, trying all at once to mirror his own creativity. Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery but he somehow didn’t think she did it to flatter him.

Makaio held his breath waiting for the onslaught of curses that were inevitably to follow a failure to cast, but to his surprise he counted only 1. Total: 7. Well done, indeed, Ms. Riddle, the professor thought to himself wryly.

“Well. I meant for you to use your imagination. Not mine. Let’s begin again,” Makaio said slowly, with a flick of his wand the duck returned to a rock after a silent thought of a reparifarge. “You were on the right track with how to use theory as a tool. It’s not the sandbox, it is the toolbox. You shouldn’t be constrained by the theories of Transfiguration but rather aided by them.”

He made a gesture for her to raise her wand again. She definitely had promise if she could just reign in her emotions. “Let’s take something advanced like particles since you brought them up,” He knew at this point her eyes might glaze over but he was hoping she’d hold on a bit longer. “It’s not the way I do it, but picturing the particles that make up the rock turning into ducks is actually quite the creative use of advanced theory. I want you to stick to that and turn this rock into that really cute badger you want. Then turn it into something else.”

@Koko Riddle

Date: Late May 2025
Time: After classes
Location: Hogwarts Grounds

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Whatever she had expected from this chance encounter, it really had not been Professor Kāne telling her to use her own imagination. She opened her mouth and began to protest, her first instinct being to defend the idea that copying what had existed in reality was perfectly safe and still part of her imagination, but she closed her mouth rather abruptly when Professor Kāne began to speak again. As indignant and impulsive as she was, she was still a struggling student in dire danger of failing her NEWT; as such, listening was indeed a virtue.

Her amber eyes flashed when the professor untransfigured the duck. Just this once, she held her tongue — the inside of her cheek twinged where she had bitten it to refrain from speaking. Her foot tapped against the ground. But still, she listened.

Some of the ire had left her gaze as she did her best to take the professor's words to heart. The sandbox-toolbox analogy brought her mind to Quidditch; she found herself moving her hands to about the height she would hold a broom at and resting. Rather quickly, she realised what she was doing and put her hands in her pockets. But the movement had achieved its goal. 'So it's like making a Quidditch play,' she said quietly, almost as if thinking aloud, but with a slight upturn in pitch at the end of her sentence that would betray that it was really a half-question. 'You take what works but leave room for something inventive.'

Koko raised an eyebrow when Professor Kāne mentioned particles again. This was the practical side of Transfiguration, at least to her, and that, she could understand. Her head tilted to the side as she considered his words, but, finally, she nodded. 'Well, I'll try.'

It was difficult to make the words sound as assured as she wanted them; they came out too quickly and too drily even for her tastes, almost as if she were actually embarrassed by her failures. She looked away, zeroing in on the rock, and pointed her wand at it. 'Melifors.'

The rock had been grey, hard, rough, pointy at spots. The badger would not be. As she moved her wand, she imagined the grey separating, spreading, lightening, darkening; she thought momentarily of her cat's fluffy fur and decided some of that would work, too. And it would have beady little eyes and a cute little stripe on its nose. It would be a bit small for a badger, closer to the size of a large rock, to pay homage to its heritage, and...

'You're a bloody genius.'

Oh. She hadn't meant to let that slip out. But to her, it was true — no one had ever taken the time to actually work with her, to let her figure out why nothing was working.

So she tried again.

'Lapifors.'

This time, she narrowed her eyes at the badger and felt her lips curve upwards into a determined smile as she imagined the already-small badger shrinking, its fur becoming smooth and well-kept, the grey continuing to spread until the creature once again became largely monochrome — but it would have a cute little tuft of a white tail. And it would be really good at bouncing.

And it worked.

She couldn't help herself; she let out an excited half-squeak and bounced on her toes before once again remembering she was not alone. Nonetheless, an amazed, 'Holy fucking shit,' escaped her, so quiet it might have been carried only by the wind, but spoken nonetheless.

A familiar sense of determination washed over her, but instead of it mirroring the cold ruthlessness she felt in Quidditch games, this was different — it was matched with a giddy sparkle in her eyes and a slightly-crooked smile that threatened to become a grin.

'Avifors,' she breathed, thinking of the grey shifting, becoming colourful, bringing a splash of joy to a summertime spent lounging in a rose garden in France. It was easy now — the rabbit shed its fur and split, growing wings as it became two European goldfinches that hopped around each other on the ground.

'Merlin's fucking pants! It was about damn time.' She then turned to Professor Kāne, her cheeks colouring slightly from realising he'd seen her giddy reactions to her successes. More quietly, she added, 'That was so cool, I...'

She swallowed thickly and returned her gaze to the birds, which had moved away from their original spot. 'Reparifarge.'

Nothing happened. She waved her wand again but flinched backwards when it shot sparks. The birds continued to move; one of them had begun to flutter its wings and fly about.

'No, no, no, no, no, that's not how it's supposed to work,' she muttered, starting towards the birds, only to pause in fear that she might startle them and cause them to fly away. She would refuse to meet Professor Kāne's gaze, instead blinking upwards towards the sky for a few seconds and then, attempting to keep her face angled away from his view, she would try to discreetly feel underneath her eyelashes for any tears of frustration. Upon finding none, she turned back to face the professor and swallowed.

'How do you fix it? I mean, make it go back, er, undo... untransfiguration. How do you do that?'

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@Makaio Kāne

Reducio

Rolls:
Melifors: d20: 14 + 7 = 21.
Lapifors: d20: 16 + 7 = 23.
Avifors: d20: 15 + 7 = 22.
Reparifarge: d20: 4 + 7 = 11. Took this one as a fail.

Makaio watched her take in his lecture. To his surprise there was no protest and there was certainly no foul language. It appeared as if she was listening intently, even if somewhat impatiently. In fact, he could have sworn he saw a lightbulb go off somewhere in that noggin of hers as she reached for her own analogy. His intuition was right as she said something about quidditch. If it made sense to her then that was really all that mattered to him as he nodded along. He was neither going to question nor understand the mind of a teenage girl so it was best just to go along with it.

“Please,” Makaio nodded as he took a step back as she prepared to cast, both to prepare for if things went sideways and to brace himself for her mouth. It had been an uncomfortably long time between swear words and was anticipating that no matter success or fail, she was going to have something to say.

Her first bit of magic was to turn the rock into a badger, a cute one at that. The professor looked on approvingly at how well it was constructed, frowning slightly at the genius comment. He wasn’t quite sure who was the genius but he didn’t really like the tone, it was as if she was surprised by the fact instead of grateful. “Very good, Ms. Riddle. Continue,” he encouraged cautiously as she raised her wand again.

He anticipated the next spell to be successful as she seemed to be far more intentional this time, without imitating him. She chose a rabbit. Cute. Again. He raised his eyebrows in surprise. Was there a hidden softy in there somewhere? The rabbit, like the badger, was well formed, earning her a satisfied look from her teacher.

“Absolutely splendid, Ms. Riddle,” he clapped as he was about to give her his next instructions. After all he said to turn it into something else once, not to continue doing so. He was met with more of her filthy swears, a habitual trait he had become well aware of. Ok, perhaps that sweetness she had was buried deeper than he had anticipated. The total was now 9.

At this point it was hard to stop her. She had yet again successfully transfigured the rabbit into a pair of birds. Not only did she transfigure again but was able to split the target in duplicate. He almost forgot that he wanted to correct her. Almost. She was demonstrating her capacity to be quite the caster, but any room for being impressed by the young woman was overshadowed by a slew of more poorly chosen words. At this point he was wasting his time counting words and was no just counting whole phrases. Total 11. She seemed suitably impressed with herself.

“Now now…how about we take a breather,” Makaio cautioned, his patient voice slowly showing cracks of impatience as he pursed his lips. However, his pleas fell on deaf ears as she went ahead and continued her casting spree.

He was having none of it though. Both of his hands were at his side, and with a quiet finger, he thought ‘Protego,’ as she cast reparifarge. Her spell failed, backfired, and she did not seem to catch his counter spell. Whether it was her wand or his spell, the result was exactly what he wanted. Good. He wanted her frustrated. The only way to get her to listen was for her to ask for help.

Ask for help she did, and it was not lost on him that she asked nicely. As much as he wanted to correct her mouth, she still managed to tug at his heart strings with her childlike disappointment. He clinched his jaw and narrowed his eyes at her. He didn’t even have children and here this girl was making him feel like a father. It was time to change up his strategy. From patient counselor to harden coach. It was obvious that the light touch would no longer make her draw on her magic. It was time to get serious.

Raising his wand, he took control of the situation. He would not go easy on her this time now that he understood she actually knew what she was doing. “Avifors,” he commanded, his voice different than it had been, something rougher, perhaps more aggressive. The two birds merged together and in a puff of yellow feathers emerged as an eagle, easily 5 times the size of a normal one. It glided to rest on Makaio’s outstretched forearm. Despite how heavy the bird appeared to weigh, it was no matter for the mountain that was the Transfiguration Professor.

He flicked his wand in the air, and as if the eagle saw him flick a mouse in the air, took off in its direction. It stayed hovering overhead, waiting for Makaio’s next command. “Prepare yourself. I you are going to cast reparifarge, you have to mean it,” the patience in his voice was gone. Makaio flicked his wand down and the eagle tucked its wings into his body as it swooped, dive bombing right toward Riddle. Should she fail her cast, Makaio would bring the bird back for another pass until she did what he told her to do.

@Koko Riddle

Date: Late May 2025
Time: After classes
Location: Hogwarts Grounds

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Koko was still reeling from her failure when the professor's demeanour changed. She shut up rather quickly, her eyes widening and darting from the rock-birds to Professor Kāne and back before she stood still and folded her hands in front of her. She watched, eyebrows raised minutely, as he transfigured the two goldfinches into a much larger eagle. An unnaturally large eagle. The thing had to be not that far off from her own height.

She couldn't help but levy a concerned stare at the professor when the eagle rested on his arm. Her own noodle arms certainly could not have hefted such a weight, and her eyebrows drew together as she tried to puzzle out how he was managing to carry the bird. In her confused stupor, she nearly missed the instructions—'Prepare yourself.'

Suffice to say, she was horribly unprepared. She had lifted her wand almost timidly, keeping her gaze on the uncannily-large eagle, now hovering in the air., But when it flew at her, all thoughts of reparifarge were forgotten as she scrambled backwards. It nearly collided with her stomach before, for whatever reason, doubling back towards Professor Kāne.

Koko stared at it, mouth open slightly in shock. 'What the actual fuck,' she muttered. That was not a cute bird. She was half tempted to give it a piece of her mind when—

'This is not a breather!' she exclaimed, her outburst fully directed at the professor as she attempted to dodge another dive-bomb. She had half-muttered 'Repari—' under her breath before being rudely cut off by the eagle nearly missing her when she stumbled out of the way. 'I swear to fuck.'

Her heartbeat thudded in her veins, and, irritated, she took a ragged breath. 'How is sending a bird at me supposed to help me learn? How are you supposed to use your imagination when a bird is trying to kill you!?'

What was she meant to do? Fight?

She paused to think about it for a moment, deciding that taking a hit could be worth it if it meant she could figure out what to do next. She could handle it, after all. It was like getting bludgered over and over, and sometimes the best thing to do was to give someone a taste of their own medicine.

But that was not a good idea. She glanced from the bird's position in the sky to Professor Kāne and decided she would not piss him off by trying to redirect the bird to him. As if it would have even worked.

While distracted, the bird swooped down again, and she threw her hands out in front of her. 'Shit.'

She'd spoken too quickly, and too foully. There was no hope of her uttering a 'Reparifarge' that time.

But it pulled away, and, intrigued, she raised an eyebrow and glanced at the professor. Was he...?

Well, perhaps it wasn't a good look to let a bird dive-bomb a student to death. So she had time.

She stretched and caught her breath for a moment before locking her gaze on the bird. As it came down again, she decided she might as well play along, so she pointed her wand at it and gave it a rather displeased glare. 'Oh, fucking hell.' Having finally seemed to remember that she was a witch, Koko rolled her eyes, waved her wand and muttered, 'Arresto Momentum.'

By recalculating and looking at the situation with a more strategic perspective, she'd managed to buy herself a bit more time. The spell, spoken with a level tone of voice, was successful; the eagle's movement slowed to the point where she could step out of the way and breathe.

She levelled a sharp glare at the professor before remembering that he was a member of the school's authority. Forcing her gaze to soften, she crossed her arms over her chest, momentarily disregarding the threat of the eagle. 'I'm fucking trying, you know? It's not my fault I'm not fucking fast enough.'

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@Makaio Kāne

Makaio thought he was very clear on his instructions. She was to use reparifarge to neutralize the target: the giant eagle that was swooping down at her. He wasn’t at all sure how his instructions could have been misunderstood or misinterpreted. His student seemed perfectly capable of understanding language and she was a seventh year. Misunderstand she did however, or she forgot that she was dealing with a rock, because instead of cast the first time, she started doubling back. What was she running from? Where did she think she was going? With a flick of his wrist, the bird abandoned its dive and with two flaps of its wings, was back to soaring overhead.

“Use. Reparifarge.” Makaio grunted into her protest. Why was she swearing at him all of a sudden? “Try again,” Makaio stated, bringing the bird back into a dive. This time she was sure to listen to him.

Nope. This time she tried to…dodge? He was starting to doubt her earlier successes. Makaio instinctively farrowed his brow and ran hand across his face. “Why are you dodging? You have a wand!”

“Cast. The. Spell. Ms. Riddle.” Makaio sighed heavily, denying her any answers to her continued protest. For fuck’s sake, lass, get it together, he thought. Great now he was swearing. At least she couldn’t read minds! He was beginning to think that Hogwarts had failed this young woman. She obviously had great potential to unlock but at such an advanced age, she still couldn’t gather her wits to cast a first year spell to disarm a threat.

Again, he sent the bird down after her. She almost had it but ejected at the last moment. However, that last pass seemed to make something click. He could see it in her eyes as she was finally starting to get that this was just practice and he wasn’t actually going to assault her with a giant eagle. Maybe just one more time. “Just fucking do something,” he begged her from he sidelines, exasperated with her lack of awareness.

Whether it was his admonition, or whether she finally understood the assignment, she finally managed to use magic…with the wand that she had this whole time. The bird froze in place. Not what she was supposed to do but at least it was anything other than solving the problems with her feet and not her wand.

Now maybe she would finally cast reparifarge. Nope. She turned her glare away from the bird toward him. He met her glare with one of his own. What the hell was that just now? He gave clear instructions that if she was going to cast a spell she was going to have to mean it and gave her a threat that would force her to do just that.

Apparently she was trying. It took 4 attempts, each one more predictable that the bird was coming after her than the last. Makaio clinched his jaw as he fought back his own venomous retort about needing to try a little bit better next time. “Let’s take a break, shall we?” Makaio said at last, holding her gaze for a moment longer.

The bird swooped down, and as it did, Makaio commanded, “Reducio” to change the size of the eagle until it was small enough to fit in his hand, landing sweetly in his outstretched palm. It pecked at some of the dirt it found as Makaio left out a sigh. His gaze now on the cute little eagle and he said softly as he approached her, “What is magic, if we can’t cast it when we need it most? I don’t know how they taught you here but we should think with our wands.” He stretched out his hand to offer her the bird.

Should she take it he will have walked past her. “Judging by your metaphors you play quidditch.” He snapped his fingers, thinking “mitteo nimbus 1700,” and between them as he turned around to face her materialized a broom - a Nimbus 1700. Sometimes wandless, nonverbal magic was a beautiful thing.



Leilani, the Hawaiian best known in South East Asia as one of the premier racers in her generation turned Glasgow racing coach, was in her studio, which was a converted garage, where she maintained her broom collection as well as served as a hub for stratagem. During the week, Makaio spent at Hogwarts. He jokingly said that he was sleeping under a tarp in the Forbidden Forest and even though she thought he was joking given the massive castle, still some part thought he might be actually sleeping in the forest. She shook her head at the tease as she polished the handle of her one of her brooms. You could take the man out of the jungle but you couldn’t take the jungle out of the man.

She sighed at the memory of the first broom she ever really loved. It was a Nimbus 2000. She loved that broom with all her heart. She also loved a man with all her heart, a big lug that captured her imagination with how he could use his wand - to do beautiful transfigurations of course. He was in a contest with one of his classmates when he asked to use her broom. Being naive and completely smitten she had agreed only for him to apologize for breaking it in half during an “accident!” It was the only time she remembered being so uncontrollably mad at him but also being so silly herself! But how scared and how pathetic he was, and the fact he never tried to hide from his mistake, and the fact that he more than made up for it, won her out in the end. The way the larger-than-life, giant of a man begged her for forgiveness, she knew she had him right where she wanted him.

Speaking of brooms, Leilani looked over at special case that hung on the wall. It housed her first ever broom the Nimbus 1700. However, it was gone! Well, she did say it was the only broom he was ever allowed to touch again in his life! Hopefully he would return it in one piece or he might have some more begging to do!



“This broom is my wife’s. Well…it’s the only one she will let me use from her collection…after I broke her nice broom in half the first year we dated in school…” Perhaps coming at this challenge from a softer angle would ironically be the best way to approach this rather foul mouthed hardened seventh year student. “I’m sure you have much nicer brooms,” he offered warmly.

@Koko Riddle