Learning is a Hazard to Tommy's Health
Tommy and Tubbo entered their charms class together and found an empty desk for the both of them to sit at. They were a row from the front so that Tommy could be supervised, considering he had less experience than the others in the room. He wasn't sure if they were worried for his, or for the people around him's safety.
"Welcome back everyone!" For today we will just be revising some spells from last year, just as a quick pick-me-up; get the gears whirring in your brains."
Tubbo whispered, "have you done any of the spells before?"
"Yeah, my mum's taught me some," he replied, "same with my brothers when I couldn't go to school. I nearly set a building on fire though."
Well that was reassuring.
"Wands out! We'll start off with a simple light spell." The teacher continued, "Lumos. Remember your pronunciation: 'LOO-moss'."
All of a sudden the room was drowned in a white light, cast from various wands. Everyone seemed to have gotten it. _No pressure, Tommy_
Tommy took his wand in his palm; the base was knobbly, but his fingers found a comfortable rest between each bump. Wands truly were good at picking out their owners.
He moved his wand in a familiar loop and spoke the incantation, seeing the head of his wand start to glow. However, it quickly died out.
Tommy pouted, but wasn't about to give up and fall behind. He twisted his wrist and moved the wand carefully, _"Lumos!"_
This time, to Tommy's delight, the tip of the wand, erupted into a full light, matching the others in the room. Tommy turned to Tubbo and showed him the wand, Tubbo squinted at the light, but smiled at Tommy's success.
"Good job, everyone! Let's up the ante a little and practice our severing spell. Remember, do not cast this at another student, it you will receive detention, or even a suspension." The teacher explained.
Tommy recalled when Techno tried to teach him this when he was young. He had tried to make his little brother cut up a teddy bear, but the younger felt too guilty about it (being a 6 year old) and refused, so Tommy hadn't actually practiced this one before.
The teacher held up a piece of paper from a student's desk and aimed his wand at it. _"Diffindo!"_ He said, slowly to show it was more of a 'deef-IN- doe'. He skillfully swung the wand in a sort of short zigzag with a flick on the end. A slit appeared in the paper and the bottom half separated and drifted to the ground.
Tommy watched as Tubbo copied the same movements and tore his sheet of paper in half. Tommy took his own paper and held it in front of his wand. He pictured the zigzag and drew it in the air and flicked the end, saying _"diffindo!"_
The edge split but reached no further than a few centimeters into the paper. He tried again; same result. And again, and again, and again, but to no avail. Tommy slammed the paper down on the desk, which, of course, was not very effective because it's paper. He was just really frustrated. It was only the second spell and he was struggling.
Tubbo elbowed him, not hard enough to hurt, but enough to assure his attention. "You've got to know what you want the spell to do. You can just say it and wave your wand around, you've got to really understand what you're goal is. Here-" He lifted the hand in which Tommy held the sheet and raised his wand at Tommy's paper drawing the zigzag in the air _"diffindo,"_ he muttered.
A triangle split from the corner of the page. "Seeing in your head what you're going to do can be helpful." Tubbo stated, "you try it."
Tommy was still unsure, but pointed his wand at the paper once more. He took a deep breath and twirled his wrist. He focused on the paper, imagining it sliced and diced and ripped to shreds. _"Diffindo!"_
A loud tear roared in his ears and Tommy grinned gleefully at the sight of the paper split all the down, diagonally. That was, until he noticed a scratch in his desk where the spell had sliced through. He grimaced. "Jesus," Tubbo ran his finger along the small scratch. It wasn't a deep cut into the wood, just enough to leave a small indent. Tommy was not about to get in trouble last period on his first official day- his mum would murder him-so he slid the papers over the marks, ultimately hiding the evidence until someone decides to move it.
"Great work, guys!" The teacher's voice sounded through the classroom. "I'm glad no one lost an eye this time. Now, I'd like you to reverse the damage with a mending charm, like so:"
He took a few pieces off another student at the front and held them in his palm. _"Reparo!"_ He emphasized the 'pah' sound and waved his wand in a stiff spiral shape; like a spiral made up of straight lines with round corners.
The white shards floated up and slotted themselves together like puzzle pieces until the sheet had returned to it's original state. The teacher then tore it up again by hand and gave it back to the student, catching a few others off guard, including Tommy.
Tommy turned to watch Tubbo again. He had laid each piece out in front of him, trying to place it back in a general shape of what it was. He was nearly done but seemed to be struggling, when Tommy noticed a few in the wrong place. He quickly swapped them round so Tubbo could find the right places for the last few.
Once they were all in place he waved twirled his wand, saying _"reparo."_ The pieces levitated off the table a little and started pulling themselves together slowly, until they stopped all together half way, only to drop back down. Tubbo let out a huff of disappointment but tried again anyway. _"Reparo!"_
Each piece started slotting together, each one precisely lining up with the other, attaching as if no tear had ever been made to begin with. Tommy had seen it before, but something about it always felt so majestic. The way something could be sewn back together and renewed so simply after being victim to such savagery and destruction.
Tommy turned back to his own task at hand after seeing the other's success and feeling confident with himself. He did have to hope that the teacher wouldn't notice the scratch in the table whilst the spell was active, however, or that maybe when he fixed his paper, the table would repair too.
He adjusted his own paper pieces, similarly to how Tubbo had done (just with a lot less difficulty considering it was a two-piece puzzle) and raise this wand over them. He pictured the original piece in his head and drew the spiral in the air, _"reparo."_
And just like that, the paper reattached itself before Tommy's very eyes.
He checked the table, and (just his luck) the scratch remained engraved into the wood. He sighed and slid the paper back into place.
Once again, the teacher was speaking to the class and giving instructions, "that's good, no one injured this year, and I expect that to continue as we practice our simple fire-making spell. I will be in big trouble if a student gets set alight, so please keep your flames to the candles on your desks." He raised a candle from his own desk and held it up for everyone to see. "If you need a reminder, the incantation is 'in-SEN-dee-oh'."
He aimed his wand at the wick of the candle and imparted _"incendio!"_ A short burst of flames shot out the end of his wand and caught onto the candle wick, of which was quickly taken over in an orange blaze.
Hearing a few 'incendios' behind them, the two boys both anxiously turned and watched as their classmates auspiciously shot sparks and flames, yet few not missing their candles. If these people were struggling, how the hell would Tommy fare?
Well, might as well give it a shot, just how bad could it go? It wasn't like half the room was flammable or anything- including Tommy himself!
Tommy could feel Tubbo eyeing his wand as he raised it and inhaled. He waved it cautiously, and said, as clearly as he could muster- _"incendio!"_
Tommy nearly rejoiced aloud seeing a flame spew from his wand and catch itself on the end of his candle, except the force of the spell had been enough knock the candle off balance.
He made to grab the stick before it fell, but he couldn't match the speed and the candle tipped over, flame and all, into the paper still laid on the desk. It caught immediately.
"SHIT-!" He yelped, jumping up from his chair. The fire was swift to spread to the table. "What puts out a fire??" Tommy asked. Beside him, Tubbo was also on his feet. "Uhh- Blow on it??"
And so he did. Tommy blew on the fire. He didn't even question Tubbo. He blew on it. And soon the table encased the whole table. "AAAAHHH WHAT DO WE DO?!"
Unsurprisingly, everyone around then had taken notice and gathered around their desk. He drew a quick lopsided 'S' with his wand, saying _"Aguamenti!"_
A jet of water streamed from his wand at the table. Steam rose up and had nearly everyone coughing and blinded.
Once it cleared, they could all see how the table's surface was _scorched_ - entirely black. But hey, at least the scratch was a whole lot less visible.
"That was very foolish," he started, "both of you." I understand you're a new arrival, Tommy, so I will be lenient."
He then turned to Tubbo, "however, I expected better of you Mr Smith. You were a good student last year. I hate do to this on the first day, but I will be subtracting 5 points from Gryffindor as punishment. I will also keep in mind to inform the school of a need for fire safety lessons." Around them, the other students groaned.
Later that night in their dorm, neither Tubbo, nor Tommy were getting rest anytime soon.
"Oh my god we're such fucking morons- 'blow on it' how dumb is that- why did I think that was a good idea- mum's gonna kill me- I can never show my face in that class agai-"
"Holy shit, shut the fuck up!" Tommy threw a pillow his way, forcing him to unfurl from his fetal position. "It's hardly that big of a deal, it was an accident."
"But-"
"Nope."
Tubbo frustratedly whined and laid back in his bed.
"..."
"It _was_ entirely your fault though," Tubbo argued.
"You prick!-"