An Immature Practice

"Legilimency was easier when the caster was close to the target, or when the target was unguarded, relaxed, or vulnerable."

Evita sat properly in her chair, her gaze passing over the bright red cherry juice in the glass. After a brief pause, she took Bill's hand.

"Eye contact was often crucial to Legilimency. If a Legilimens could use words to get the target to look into their eyes, it would greatly help with casting the spell. It would also stir the target's emotions and bring related feelings and memories to the surface."

"Bill," Evita said, "look at me. Would you let me hear what you're thinking?"

"What is it?" Bill looked up from his book and gave her a puzzled look. "Er... yes?"

Why did Fred and George send me to invite Evita...?

"Huh?" Evita exclaimed.

Evita interrupted Bill's thoughts, and he said it aloud instead. "Would you like to visit The Burrow over the summer holiday?"

"Sure." Evita's tone was light. She got up and ordered a large glass filled to the brim with a special butter drink. After drinking it, she felt warm all over. "I'd love to. In fact, I'm looking forward to it."

"By the way," she asked casually, "how come I haven't seen Charlie lately? I remember he likes being outdoors."

Aileg the Kneazle jumped onto the table, and Evita fed him a small piece of fruit. She lost interest in Legilimency. Her thirst for knowledge had made her want to learn such a mysterious skill, but she decided not to use it again.

"Because something that made him very happy happened recently," Bill answered. "You'll find out soon enough."

But "soon enough" turned out to be nearly a month and a half, long enough for the year's first Quidditch Match to begin in early November.

It was Gryffindor against Slytherin. The two houses had never got along particularly well, and in previous years their Quidditch Matches had often been fiercely contested.

To beat each other, both houses had made considerable changes that year. One of them was Charlie, who played Seeker for the Gryffindor Quidditch Team.

"He looks impressive," Tonks, sitting next to Evita, said. "Lots of people say so."

Evita tied her hair into a high ponytail and gave it a carefree flick. "Gryffindor will win this match."

Some of the girls sitting in front turned around and teased her. "Evita, you're not favoring Gryffindor because you're close to Weasley, are you?"

"Of course not." Evita held up a finger and wagged it. "Slytherin hasn't changed its Seeker. It's still that not-so-bright big oaf. You've all seen him."

The students around them burst out laughing. Compared with the arrogant, exclusionary Slytherins, the Hufflepuffs liked Gryffindor better, and their relationship could be called quite good.

Bill Weasley in particular, the most outstanding Gryffindor, was a very friendly person. When people couldn't find Evita, he would occasionally help answer their questions too.

"Evita," a student asked, "we never see you in the common room. Where do you keep going?"

"Who knows?" Evita answered with a smile. She couldn't very well say that she spent every day in the Room of Requirement practicing spells with a Time-Turner, could she?

On the night after the match, Evita returned to her dormitory. After more than three years of living there, it had long since changed beyond recognition.

Water tanks, animal enclosures, and an assortment of branches and stones could be seen everywhere.

Of course, Evita had to clean the place up before leaving each summer holiday to avoid causing trouble.

She played with several young animals for a while before sitting back down on her bed and carefully looking through that year's textbooks.

Relatively speaking, her studies had been somewhat bumpy that year.

In her third year, although she had been extremely busy, she had managed fairly easily. In her fourth year, with the O.W.L. Examinations coming up the following year, the courses were getting harder and harder, and the professors were doing their utmost to cram every bit of knowledge into the students' heads.

Her timetable became packed. At one point, Evita wanted to stop using the Time-Turner, and even more so to throw all her textbooks as far away as she could.

She had already progressed to Nonverbal Spells. Fortunately, the most important things in nonverbal magic were the caster's will and familiarity with the spell, so Evita was barely able to keep up. With tremendous stubbornness, she endured it and kept practicing every day.

The days went on.

Monday.

The morning began with Herbology. Evita's robes were splattered with mud while she was tending the Bouncing Bulbs, but she used Scourgify and thought no more of it. She hurried off to Ancient Runes, where she repeatedly recited vast amounts of dull, tedious theoretical knowledge that made her head spin.

Tuesday.

Two consecutive Transfiguration lessons involved turning the hedgehogs handed out to them into pincushions. Evita finally had a slightly easier time, but Professor McGonagall wouldn't let students do anything else in class, so she could only let her mind wander and review some counter-curses.

The afternoon brought another double lesson, History of Magic. Professor Binns's monotonous voice still made everyone drowsy as he went over the Goblin Rebellion and the Giant Wars again, then assigned an essay two rolls of parchment long.

Wednesday.

The morning's Charms Class was fairly easy. Professor Flitwick instructed them in the Summoning Charm and gave them a brief introduction to the theory behind the Banishing Charm. Then came Arithmetic Divination, followed by Astronomy in the evening. Class didn't start until nearly midnight, and the lessons were gradually getting harder. By the time they finished observing Jupiter and went back, the sky was already turning pale.

Thursday.

Potions Class started first thing in the morning. Her poorly rested body and increasingly strained nerves caused Evita to make a mistake she had never made before. While brewing Strengthening Solution, she accidentally added the ingredients in the wrong order. Although she added the remaining ingredients in time to remedy it, the potion was no longer the perfect color it had always been before.

Snape frowned. He hadn't sent Evita to his office in a long time, but in view of the girl's somewhat pale face and that large box of sparkling, precious materials, he silently walked away.

After Potions Class came Care of Magical Creatures. Professor Kettleburn had always favored Evita, not only when awarding points but also now. He promptly waved her off and told her to go to Hagrid's hut and get some proper sleep.

Friday.

The morning began with Muggle Studies. Professor Quirrell, who taught the subject, was an ordinary young wizard with a gentle temperament. Evita took careful notes, shouldered her schoolbag, and went to Dark Magic Defence Class.

Professor Dumbledore had been unable to find anyone willing to serve as Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor, so he taught the class himself.

He stood at the front with a smile. "Today we'll be learning a powerful but harmless spell—the Patronus Charm."

"Gather sufficiently happy memories, concentrate, and fill your mind with hope..."

"Then say Expecto Patronum."

"Expecto Patronum..." Evita recited. Her head was in a fog, and even her breath was gradually growing hot.

"Evita!" the students nearby cried out in alarm.

She lost consciousness completely.