How the Snake Tutors the Badger PV Ruby Cazares finished closed

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The sound of measured footfalls pierced the quiet of the corridor directly outside the empty classroom where Ruby and Isadora had agreed to have their second tutoring session. The Slytherin opened the door in one smooth, decisive movement, striding into the room with a brief glance around. She quickly located Isadora—it was hard not to, since the Hufflepuff was the only other person in the room. She was sitting down already and Ruby wondered how long she had been there. It surely couldn’t have been long, as Ruby was definitely on time. Punctuality was something that Ruby appreciated, so regardless of whether Isadora had arrived twenty minutes before or a mere minute, Ruby was pleased that she herself would not have to be kept waiting.

She stood in front of the desk at which Isadora was seated. “Good afternoon. I hope you are well today.” She would pause to allow for a response if there was one, then continued, “Last week, we identified History of Magic as an area you wish to work on. What are you currently learning?” She had managed to find her old textbooks and had reviewed them to make sure she remembered everything. After all, if Isadora had to reteach Ruby the material, there would be no way of knowing if what she said was correct, and that wouldn’t do.

Assuming Isadora responded, Ruby would turn to the chalkboard and make an “S” movement with her wand, pointing it at the chalkboard. Any existing mess would vanish, her face relaxing slightly with satisfaction at a successful nonverbal cast of the Cleaning/Scouring Charm, Scourgify. She would then walk closer to the front of the room and cast the Blackboard-Writing Spell, doing the correct steps necessary for it to be successful. The sound of chalk writing would be audible. The words of whatever topic matter Isadora had provided would now be written on the board, underlined as a title. “So, what can you tell me from what you know about it already? Feel free to come up here and write if you’d like to make some notes or if that’s easiest for you.”

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Ruby's here! Dora straightens up as the older Slytherin approaches her desk, eager to impress and nervous to fail. As always, it's hard to decipher the expression Ruby wears, whether she's pleased or displeased, so Dora listens close to her words for any hint of her mood.

“Good afternoon. I hope you are well today.”

"You as well." Dora answers, keeping her composure despite the nerves eating her from the inside.

“Last week, we identified History of Magic as an area you wish to work on. What are you currently learning?”

She nods, opening her History book to the correct chapter. "The Soap Blizzard of 1378." She's actually quite nervous about this subject. She's been getting straight E's in History, and if she doesn't act soon, it'll be her average for this class. No, she needs to do better. Hopefully Ruby can help guide her.

Dora looks on in awe when Ruby magically clears the board without uttering a word. 'She can do nonverbal magic? That's amazing!' The amount of concentration it must take... Dora wonders if all fifth years learn to do it, or if Ruby's special. She wouldn't be surprised if it were the latter.

“So, what can you tell me from what you know about it already? Feel free to come up here and write if you’d like to make some notes or if that’s easiest for you.”

"Hm." Dora hesitates, but decides against writing on the board. The white chalk may mark her black dress, and that would be unbecoming. Instead, she just tells Ruby what she's learned, reading from her notes. "The Soap Blizzard of 1378 was a magical blizzard of soap in London that lasted three days. The wizard who created it is unknown, but likely caused the blizzard intentionally. The soap ended up scrubbing the city clean, but then there was no soap left in London." Those are the basics. There are still parts Dora isn't quite clear on, like how they knew it was a wizard or intentional. The textbook is a little old and dense, and so some bits are difficult to understand.

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Isadora greeted Ruby in return, and stated that the current topic she was studying in History of Magic was the Soap Blizzard of 1378. It was a decently fun topic in Ruby’s opinion—origins shrouded in mystery, how strange it must have been for Muggles to see their streets flooded with soap. The Hufflepuff explained the basics of the situation and Ruby nodded, casting the spell again to add to the board. The board would now read:

The Soap Blizzard of 1378
• Lasted three days
• Unknown perpetrator
• Consequence: No soap left in London

“Very good,” she praised when Isadora had finished speaking. Since Ruby hadn’t exclusively asked for the basics and had rather asked what Isadora already knew, she assumed that the Hufflepuff had listed everything she was aware of, leaving Ruby to fill in the blanks. “The cause is suspected to be either a prank gone wrong or an act with malicious intent, and we know that it was likely intentional because there was a hooded figure seen leaving the building. That was unusual as the soap was produced by house-elves, so humans didn’t regularly enter the building. As for the consequences, the soap shortage was inconvenient, yes, but the implication of that is also that it had a negative effect on the economy. The market crashed and it even caused the bursting of the 14th Century Wizarding Economic Bubble.”

She paused to let Isadora process the information, briefly glancing back at the board. “Do you have any questions or need anything clarified?” she asked, eyes returning to Isadora’s. She was fine with helping Isadora work on memorizing the details or answering questions, but if there was no remaining confusion, she would soon suggest moving onto spellwork. Honestly, she couldn’t imagine Isadora was doing that poorly in any of her classes. She seemed diligent and hardworking, and she had easily provided the important basics of the event when asked. She was just missing a couple of those extra details, which wasn’t that bad.

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Ruby waves her wand and the words Dora said appear noted on the chalkboard. Another nonverbal spell that impresses Dora further.

“Very good.”

She beams at the praise, or rather, doesn't exactly beam. Instead of a cheery smile it's more like Dora's features soften slightly and her eyes widen. It's a relief to have gotten all that information correct. She's petrified to speak in class, but when it's just Ruby, it's more bearable. That doesn't mean she's not afraid of disappointing her, though.

“The cause is suspected to be either..."

Dora nods along, listening intently and jotting down notes on a sheet of parchment. A lot of this sounds like what was discussed in class, but it's good to go over it again to memorize the material. The witness account clears things up as to why it's believed the perpetrator was a wizard and that they cast the Soap Blizzard intentionally. There are a couple questions on Dora's mind, though, which she asks when Ruby gives her a chance to do so.

"Didn't any of the House Elves notice anything wrong?" Dora asks, "If a stranger came in and cast a spell, why wouldn't they alert their owner?" The house elves in her family's manor are told to alert them in case of an emergency, so it seems strange they wouldn't do the same here.

That's all that she can think of to clarify. Ruby laid out the details of the event very thoroughly. "I'm ready to move on if you are."

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Isadora took notes as Ruby spoke—a good practice. Her next question showed that she had been paying attention and really thinking about the material, which was pleasing to see. Questions showed engagement. Why didn’t the house elves react? That was a good question, and one that she didn’t have the answer to. She had guesses, sure, but it was impossible to know the motivation behind actions taken hundreds of years ago. “I’m not quite sure of that answer myself. It’s possible that the intruder cast a spell on them so that they couldn’t report it, or maybe, although unlikely, they didn’t know who their owner actually was since they were fully running everything themselves and no human had ever been seen entering the building. These are just guesses, mind you. That detail will never be on an exam, although it’s good to want to understand the material thoroughly.”

Isadora said she was prepared to move on after her question, so Ruby considered what would be most useful now that concerns about History of Magic were out of the way. Spellwork was always a good bet—magic was the focus of the school, after all, and that was how Isadora would likely have to defend herself if she ended up encountering the dangers that seemed to plague Hogwarts so frequently. “Alright then, how about working with some spells? What are some that you’re familiar with and could likely demonstrate given the proper conditions for the spell?” She would run through the first year spells in her head, considering what would be appropriate for this tutoring session. Ultimately, she would let Isadora decide, but she hoped the girl would challenge herself rather than sticking to complete basics. There was something to be said for mastery of the basics, sure, but growth was impossible if a person never pushed themselves.

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Dora listens to Ruby run through some possible explanations, thinking about them deeply. 'I suppose it is possible that the house elves were hexed or didn't personally know their master.' It's almost sad how the answers to these questions are a mystery that may not ever be solved, lost to time. As if knowledge has feelings, and wants to be known and not forgotten. Well, at least Dora can rest assured that she knows enough to be tested on it. Ruby's been through this all before, so her advice is invaluable.

“Alright then, how about working with some spells? What are some that you’re familiar with and could likely demonstrate given the proper conditions for the spell?”

Now comes the difficult part. Dora is good with taking notes and reading about spells, but her performance is lackluster. Her nerves only show themselves in the form of a slight hesitation before answering. "Well, we worked a lot on Wingardium Leviosa last semester in Charms." Dora replies, pronouncing the spell properly as a habit when she says it. "Now we're on the Wand Lighting and Extinguishing Charms." She's reluctant to offer up these examples, knowing Ruby will ask her to cast them and watch as she messes them up. Sure, she wants to improve, but is that worth damaging her reputation with Ruby?

'I'll just have to cast them perfectly this time.'

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Following Ruby’s suggestion that they move onto spells, Isadora explained that she had learned the Levitation Charm before break, implying proficiency in that spell. She then went on to say what she was currently studying, so she wouldn’t be as confident in those spells. Nevertheless, Ruby had specifically asked for spells that Isadora could likely demonstrate, so the fact that the Hufflepuff had brought them up in the first place was indicative of at least some knowledge of how to cast them. She was pleased that Isadora would be potentially challenging herself in this way—it was promising, and showed that she was comfortable stepping out of her comfort zone.

Ruby gave a brisk nod. “Good, then let’s begin with the Levitation Charm—Wingardium Leviosa.” She walked over to the wide desk by the chalkboard, picking up a couple of spare quills from the self-replenishing box on the surface of the desk and setting them in front of Isadora. “Start with this,” she instructed. Afterwards, she intended to have Isadora try to levitate Ruby by her clothes or put her in a situation where she could try to use the spell for offensive purposes. She believed it was important to be able to figure out ways to use basic, common spells in dangerous situations. Preparing Isadora for that now would encourage her to think on her feet and be in less danger when the time inevitably came where she would be put in one of those situations, since Hogwarts was full of them. After all, she would be a poor mentor if she didn't intend to make Isadora ready to face the more difficult parts of the magical world when she herself was all too aware of them.

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Ruby puts a few quills on the desk in front of Dora and instructs her to demonstrate the Levitation Charm on them. Dora feels like she's slowly crumbling under her tutor's expectations, hesitating to cast anything for a moment. She's not sure how to balance learning from the older student with keeping up appearances, because the very person she doesn't want to mess up in front of is the person who's supposed to teach her not to mess up.

Dora reasons with herself, it's not like a quill is very difficult to levitate. They are light, and with the way they move it's not very apparent if they waver in the air. Dora's levitated things that are bigger, so it should be okay. Pronunciation, wand movement, concentration... She just needs to keep those in mind.

"Wingardium Leviosa." Dora casts the charm at a quill, and it floats upward at the direction of her wand. She lifts it up a meter and sets it back down, doing the same with the other quills. She's a bit more confidant as she controls the last one, levitating high up and letting the tip of the feather lightly brush the ceiling before descending it.

When she's finished, Dora sits up straight and asks, "Did I do it correctly? What else would you like me to do?"

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Ruby noted slight hesitation before Isadora cast and idly wondered if she was nervous. It made sense for her to be—she was under the scrutiny of an older pureblood who her family wanted her to get along with. While Ruby herself wouldn’t personally be so nervous—most of the time, she cared little for those things after years of rebelling against her parents—she still understood the need to impress people. She was glad she herself was no longer a first year trying to prove herself. But at least Isadora would have the benefit of someone to push her and try to lift her up when she fell down. And she would be surprised if the Hufflepuff didn’t have friends—she was intelligent, decently put-together, and seemed kind—so it wasn’t like there wouldn’t be support in that aspect.

Isadora cast, seeming to gain confidence and momentum as she moved through the quills, levitating the last one so high it brushed the ceiling. Clearly, she had mastery over this spell. “Excellent,” she commented with an affirming nod. “Let’s try something heavier.” She glanced at what Isadora had brought with her, settling for the History of Magic book that the younger student had opened to select a topic.

“I’d like you to levitate your textbook. Upon your success, I would then like you to try something different. Pretend I’m an opponent that you’re duelling. How could you use this spell against me? If you come up with an idea, feel free to try it. And don’t be shy, if something goes wrong I can take a hit or heal myself,” she instructed. Her eyes were cool and firm, but her overall expression and presence were not threatening. She was interested to see if Isadora would be able to go straight to levitating Ruby’s clothes so she would be a short ways off the ground—the typical way the spell was used in duelling—or whether she would jump to some other conclusion.

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