 *catches up* Rhibear ~ Madam Solo ~ Dark Brooding Girl ~ Accio Jedi ~ Gryffinclaw ~ Just a doll
Tina focused all her thoughts on her past good deeds as she pulled… making presents for her friends, helping younger students with their homework, standing up for Myrtle at the death day party earlier this term… but all she succeeded in was causing a sharp pain in her arm. The sword remained firmly stuck in the stone. Blink, blink. How did that happen? She may not be the most bubbly person in the world, but she wasn't exactly unkind either. As Professor O'Hara explained, it made sense. She'd been focused on her past good deeds instead of her recent ones. The problem was she couldn't think of any good deeds she'd done so far today.
She was discouraged. Maybe Professor O'Hara wouldn't judge her, but she suspected some of the other students would… and she wasn't in the mood for it. She'd always considered herself a good person, but now she wasn't so sure. It was sad when even a plastic sword doubted her worthiness! Trying to push her disappointment aside, she listened to the lecture. She was a bit surprised to learn that Professor O'Hara had help enchanting the swords, but she didn't fault her for it. If anything, it just made her more curious about how the enchantments worked. It must be a very complicated method of magic if a Hogwarts professor needed help with it!
Tina was relieved to learn that the rules for taking a sword from the water were different from the stone. Maybe she'd have better luck with this method… she hoped! She stared into the pool, contemplating the best approach. The first idea that occurred to her was to try to summon the sword, but that seemed too obvious. Surely the enchantments in place would prevent that. Maybe there was a way to summon it wandlessly? She had never successfully performed wandless magic before, but she supposed there was a first time for everything. She held her hand over the water, concentrating with all her strength, hoping against hope that the sword would emerge into her awaiting hand… but nothing happened. Maybe her hand needed to be in the water in order to summon the sword? It seemed logical, but something about the way O'Hara warned them to be careful made her hesitate. There was no telling what was in that water or if it was even real water at all. For all she knew, it might be some poisonous substance meant to look like water. Whatever the danger might be, she wasn't willing to find out!
Tina bit her lip, lost in thought. If she couldn't summon the sword by traditional means, maybe there was a way to transfigure the water into the sword… *but if there was, she didn't know the spell. She was almost ready to give up when she heard Professor O'Hara's hint. A sacrifice… okay, that made sense, but what could she offer the water? Tina didn't have a lot, and most of her possessions were upstairs in her dorm. She absentmindedly fiddled with bracelet on her arm, and - that was it, her bracelet! It wasn't anything fancy, just a string of purple clay beads designed to look like butterflies, but it was special to her because she made it herself and it reminded her of someone who was like a father to her, someone who'd sacrificed more in a few short years than most did in a lifetime. It seemed only the least she could do.
She slipped the bea welt off her wrist and let it drop into the water. After a couple of tense moments, a miniature sword emerged, and Tina beamed as she picked it up. She finally did it! Satisfied with her efforts, she turned her attention to the question asked. "There was Sir Bedivere," she said, giving the first name that popped into her head. "He was King Arthur's marshall and one of the few survivors of the Battle of Camlann. In some versions of the legend, he was tasked with returning Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake, and after Arthur's death, he became a hermit."
__________________ Old voices I had thought long since dead whisper of another life I might have led
If I could take that second chance, If I could make my life anew, If only dreams came true... |