Spell troubles! [Open]

Gilbert was slowly growing frustrated with himself as he poured over his spell book, seated in an armchair before the fireplace. He was reading the Grade Book of Spells for Sixth Year in English. Gilbert was fluent in English, yes, but he got confused when technical terms were used, and he did still mess up in translating it in his head. Latin just confused the hell out of him though, and it didn't help that the letters kept blurring. That problem could be solved if he wore his glasses, but they were square and bright red, with a cheap plastic frame. Gilbert felt like a complete dork when wearing them.

He was trying to practice the Sixth Year spell "Dulo", a spell that turned an object into stone. He was practising on a quill, since it seemed easy at the time, but it remained soft and feathery and definitely not made of stone. No matter how much he waved his wand, did the little flick, muttered the words, or jabbed the quill, it remained on the desk unchanged, mocking him. He was certain he was doing everything right! He turned his glare from the quill to the book, a headache beginning to pound behind his eyes as he squinted at the words. They were a bit blurry, but he could make them out. He was sure the incantation was "Dulo". Or maybe it was "Duro"...

Gilbert tried "Duro", and...oh! The tips of the quill looked a bit stiff and greyish, but still not what he was looking for. What was he doing wrong? He had tried this a million times! Had he read the instructions wrong? Maybe there wasn't a flick? Ack, reading this book was giving him a pounding headache! But he kept at it, refusing to stop practising until he got the quill fully grey at least. He leaned back in the armchair, lifting the book to rest on his lap, pressing his finger underneath the sentence he was reading and muttering the words.

He will conquer this spell!

Gilbert had tried every variation of how to pronounce "Dulo/Duro", with different flicks and jabs, but nothing. The closest he got was the tips turning a bit grey, and that was when he flicked. Maybe he wasn't putting enough "omph!" into the spell? He held back, usually, since when he got it wrong, the spell ended up blowing up in his face, and he had enough of singed eyebrows to last him a lifetime. A part of his brain told him to admit defeat for now, and take a break, but his stubbornness refused. Leaving now meant admitting defeat, and he refused to have that stupid quill beat him! He'll turn it to fucking stone even if it killed him!

A voice drew him out of his increasingly agitated thoughts, and he looked up, his wand in mid-flick. A few angry sparks shot out at the end, and he shook his wand a little, quickly patting out the embers that had fallen onto the couch. Stupid wand. "Uh? What? Sorry, didn't hear you." He grumbled, looking obviously frazzled and stressed out. The girl didn't look that familiar - Gilbert was horrible with names, and even worse with faces, so he was drawing a blank in trying to recognise this girl. She had an accent though, although Gilbert couldn't quite place it.

Gilbert shifted uncomfortably as the strange girl continued to stare at him, his eyebrows furrowing sharply as he prepared to defend himself. He personally thought he looked cool and awesome, but most people said his eyes were freaky, and that he was too pale, so if this girl made one comment about his appearance he was hitting her with his wand. But, fortunately, no negative remark about his appearance came forth, and he blinked in bemusement at the inky hand thrust towards him. "Er, Gilbert." He said slowly, taking the hand in the brief shake before letting go.

"Eh?" He caught up with the rest of 'Elizabeta's words though, and he puffed himself up like an indignant water fowl. "I-I have it figured out! I'm just...having a slight difficulty in having my wand cooperate!" He glared down at his stupid wand, giving it a slight shake before turning back to his book. "I don't get why all the incantations are in stupid Latin. I struggle to pronounce those stupid words..." He started to grumble to himself, poking at his quill morosely with the tip of his wand. He scowled and flicked his wand again, snapping a forceful "Duro!"

Something happened, but the quill didn't turn to stone. Instead it shot up high into the air and managed to embed its thin shaft a few centimetres into the ceiling. Gilbert stared up at it for a long moment, before he admitted defeat reluctantly.

"...okay, so maybe some help would be appreciated."

Gilbert very rarely took help that wasn't in the form of his exasperated brother (who was also used to Gilbert's snappish attitude whenever he was frustrated), so he watched Eliza-something like a hawk as she summoned back the feather and handed it to him, expecting a snarky comment. He was surprised when instead praise came from her, and snorted as he took the feather, almost crumpling it when he held it so tightly. Good try his ass. That was simple awful. He did a Banisment Charm instead of Petrifying his target, two entirely different things. He couldn't even claim 'close enough'!

He set the quill down on the table, glancing back up at Eliza-something - oh fuck it, he'll call her Lizzy, easier to remember - as she spoke. He wrinkled his nose at the advice, although he took it without much fuss. "Dew-row," he pronounced slowly, wincing when ever he could tell that his accent got in the way of the proper pronunciation. Ugh, play, c'mon, don't roll the 'r' and don't say the 'D' so hard. "Durrr-row- fucking hell," he interrupted himself, growling a little in frustration. "/Dur/. /Ro/."

Gilbert actually felt a little encouraged by Lizzy's praises, where usually he just felt frustration and annoyance at himself from repeated failures. Smiling a little now, his expression clearing from its intense irritation, he looked up at his impromptu tutor and watched her move her hand in the correct flicking posture. Oh, so that's where Gilbert went wrong. He had been holding his wand incorrectly, so that when he flicked, the motion went to the left, rather than the right like it should. He frowned, intently watching Lizzy's hand move, and then slowly mimicked it.

After he felt more confident, he moved his hand much more quickly and natural, grinning when he felt like he got it. "Like that?" he asked, his fingers itching to actually try it with his wand.

(s'okay <3 sorry my response is so short too derp)

(derp sorry for the slow reply as well |D I hope you feel better though!)

"Yeah!" Gilbert felt bubbly at being encouraged - he thrived on praise after all. He set the quill down on the table before him, picking up his wand and mimicking the movement a few times just to make sure he got it. He then took in a deep breath, flicked his wand and enunciated "Duro" as clearly as possible as he cast the spell. The feather quivered, and slowly turned a very pale greyish colour, stiffening up until it resembled stone. Gilbert stared in shock, then let out a loud whoop, jumping up from the sofa to thrust his fist high up in the air. "Yes! I did it!" he cheered, flopped back down on the chair and reaching out to pick up the quill.

It felt like stone, but when he brushed his fingers against the side, a few of the strands of feathers crumbled off. He hurriedly held it over the table so the powdery substance wouldn't sprinkle all over his trousers. "Oops. Pretty powdery. I think I turned it into chalk." Close enough. Chalk was stone. He set the delicate feather down and turned to grin at Lizzy. "Hey, thanks a lot for helping me."

(Yay <3 And derpy is good =u= )

Friends? Yes, friends did help each other out. Gilbert smiled a little, ducking his head as he brushed the chalk off of his thighs. Growing up, the only friend he ever had was his brother, since his general appearance was enough to make the superstitious witzies at the school wary of him (his boisterous attitude didn't help either), and making friends with muggle children was hard due to his magical abilities. He had presumed making friends to be a long, arduous task with lots of give and take - not simply deciding within the space of twenty minutes that this person would be your friend. But it seemed to be different here in Hogwarts, where people were friendly and open and ready to befriend you after a single meeting.

He looked up, clapping his hands together with his wand in between them, his expression bright.

"Yup! Friends help each other out!" he grinned, stashing his wand away in his robes. "Where're you from? You in Hogwarts proper or part of the student exchange thing like me? I ask 'coz you've got a foreign accent that isn't British..."