"Maybe you do one hand, and I do the other?" Seemed fair to Sam. That way she got a demonstration and got to try herself. And maybe she did pick up spells easily, she never saw it though. Too busy practising to make her wandwork better, or writing up notes. She confirmed the colour of nail polish. "Well if it don't put her out, then I won't say no."

"Can't say I've ever trusted the Ministry, but at a school tournament?" Sam still looked doubtful. She'd seen enough Ministry folk look right through her, walk right by her, in the past, but was sure that something happening at a flagship event at Hogwarts would not go down well politically. As for the prize? "I s'pose they think it's motivation for some." She still had no intentions of going to university, not really understanding what all the fuss was about, so it wouldn't have been for her. Of course, she didn't know what else to do either...except a niggling thought about helping those she'd grown up with. The street kids, Muggle and Magic alike. Prize money, she could have done something with that. Get them stuff for school, access to food, showers and a bed. It was amazing what a difference a few small things could make.

Her stomach knotted at Dora's reaction, although Sam couldn't explain why. She knew that some people would never produce one, her textbook outlined as much, but it didn't immediately answer her question. Her lip twitched. "Some of them couldn't, although the dementors still backed off," she confirmed quietly. It was just something else suspicious. That and how they got that many dementors in the first place.

And Dora's words? They put a small smile back on her face. It was always good to have her bestie so squarely in her corner, supporting her in everything.

"Would you...help me find the right memory?" It was an open, possibly long-term, invitation. If Sam had anything, it was determination. And she might not have the right memory yet, but one day she hoped she would.