Arrested Development: A Study | Open

The late afternoon sun slanted through the tall library windows, casting long shadows between the towering bookshelves. Corbin pushed a trolley full of returned books through the quiet aisles, his leather notebook balanced on top of the stack. He'd been working his way through the returns for the better part of an hour, though he'd already taken two wrong turns trying to find the Herbology section. The library was a bloody maze - whoever had designed this place clearly hadn't considered that people might actually need to navigate it efficiently.

Still, he'd found a way to make the task considerably more interesting.

Practical Levitation Research

Levitation Charm vs Other Levitation Spells (that I can't cast yet):

Levitation Charm (Wingardium Leviosa) - "swish and flick" motion, feather-light objects, delicate control
Note: Odd incantation - not proper Latin like most spells
Locomotor LOC - forward thrust motion, heavier objects, more forceful (3rd year spell)

Other spells found:

• Hover Charm mentioned in Fudgeworth, no details, probably advanced
  
• Rocket Charm Waffling describes as "explosive levitation", definitely advanced
  
• Floating Charm Clearwater says "distinct from standard levitation", year unknown
  
• Arresto Momentum stopping motion, but somehow related somehow?, could test this?
  

Reference materials consulted:

• Elementary Charms for Young Practitioners by Cornelius Fudgeworth (basic Levitation Charm only)
  
• Quintessence: A Quest by Adalbert Waffling (mentions both but no comparison)
  
• Achievements in Charming by Baruffio Clearwater (locomotor section, very brief)
  
• A Complete Compendium of Charms and Their Applications by Septimus Thornwick (1887) (mentions hover, rocket, floating charms but no practical differences explained)
  

Corbin paused, tapping his quill against the notebook's edge. Four different books, and not one of them bothered to explain when you'd actually use these spells. Thornwick's "complete compendium" was the worst - it listed every charm imaginable but treated them like curiosities in a museum rather than practical magic. He could feel his jaw tightening with frustration.

This should be basic information. The sort of thing they covered in first year, except apparently they didn't. And asking another student would just make him look like an idiot who hadn't been paying attention.

Corbin dipped his quill back in his ink pot and continued writing, his letters growing slightly sharper with each line.

Key Questions:
Why are there FIVE different spells for moving objects around?
What makes them actually different beyond weight limits?
When would you use hover vs float vs levitate?
Is rocket charm just dangerous locomotor?

Tests to try:
Light objects - practice Levitation Charm, observe how it handles different weights
Medium objects - test Levitation Charm limits, note where it struggles
Heavy objects - attempt Levitation Charm (probably won't work), theorize about when LOC would be needed

Theory: Weight probably determines which spell works best, but can't test the others until I learn them
(Also: they make this confusing on purpose by not teaching theory alongside practice)

Note to self: Why doesn't anyone explain the practical differences between these spells?
This is ridiculous.

"Wingardium Leviosa," he murmured, pointing his wand at a slim poetry volume. The book rose gracefully, floating toward the Literature section. "But why do you work, though?" he muttered to himself, guiding it carefully into place. "What makes you different from Locomotor? The wand movement? The intent?"

Next, he eyed a massive tome on Advanced Transfiguration Theory. The thing had to weigh as much as a small cauldron. "Wingardium Leviosa," he said, pointing his wand at it with perhaps more determination than usual. The book trembled, rose perhaps an inch, then settled back down with a decisive thump.

"Right. Too heavy," he noted, scribbling down his observations. "That's probably where Locomotor comes in."

He glanced around the empty aisle, then pointed his wand at the tome again. "Locomotor," he said, trying to mimic the forward thrust motion he'd read about. Nothing happened. He tried again, putting more force behind the movement. "Locomotor!"

The book remained stubbornly motionless.

Corbin's jaw clenched. Of course it didn't work. He hadn't learned the spell yet - wouldn't until later this year, apparently. But it was frustrating to know the theory and not be able to test it. He made a sharp note in his book:

Can't actually test LOC until they bother to teach it.

He stared at the words, a little forlornly.

"Assuming they ever teach it to us," he muttered under his breath, selecting his next victim from the trolley - a moderately-sized Herbology text. "Let's see how you handle the middle ground," he said to his wand. The Levitation Charm lifted it, though with considerably more effort than the poetry book. The book wavered slightly as it floated toward the Herbology section.

"Fascinating," he said dryly, scribbling down his observations. "So there is a weight limit. Revolutionary discovery, Donahue."

The trolley still held at least twenty books, ranging from tiny pamphlets to volumes that belonged in the Restricted Section. Perfect test subjects, and he was actually getting his library duties done at the same time. Much more efficient than sitting through another hour of theory without any practical application.

Benji was on assistant duty. Again.

Compared to last term, the boy decidedly had a lot more shifts in his mother's library, and he was all the more irritated about it. He adored Julia, more than he ever had anyone who had stepped into a parental role for him, but she was relentless about keeping him - as she said - out of trouble.

What his new mum didn't realize was that Benji was perfectly capable of getting into trouble anywhere, and his boredom only exacerbated his willingness to find it.

She'd cracked down on his perchance for saying 'no' to every request as well. Where Benji would before give a dismissive wave of his hand and a pointed 'no' whenever someone approached him, he was now being forced to be helpful and friendly - on pain of death.

Really, he'd be grounded. But it was akin to death, as far as the Hufflepuff was concerned.

"Stay here and I'll look for it," Benji muttered, rolling his eyes at the Gryffindor that had approached him for help on locating a text about explosive potions. Honestly, it was as though half these people didn't have eyes and reasoning skills for themselves. Couldn't they see he was busy trying to nap at the information desk? A bloke couldn't get a good rest anywhere these days.

He wandered, decidedly taking his time as he meandered the aisles of books, scrolls and tomes. In truth, he knew exactly where the potions text was, but he'd never told the Gryffindor that his help would be speedy nor efficient. Only that he'd find it.

Eventually.

As he rounded a corner, his eyes fell on Corbin, one of the Slytherins that had also been taken hostage by Julia as a worker bee. He'd been assigned to book returns today - one of the better jobs if Benji's opinion mattered. Although, he seemed less enthused about returning the books than testing them and scribbling stuff down on his cart.

"Oy," the Hufflepuff said, wandering up to the boy, looking over the heavy stack of books that still hadn't been put away. "One of her baubles catches you over here experimenting when you have a job to do, and she'll be down your neck in a second flat." He nodded upwards with his eyes, where one of Julia's floating spies was hovering quietly over them. "Worse, that thing will bite you to remind you to get back to work."

He glanced over at the boy's notes and made a slight face. "You sure you're not a Ravenclaw?" he asked cheerfully, a sly grin playing across his lips. Those notes looked a lot like Cassian's. "What are you struggling with? Simple levitations?"

Maybe he could help. He probably wouldn't.

The library was literally foriengn soil, Tulip had entered here a handful of times. There were several reasons for this, one, it smelt weird, musty and dusty and just old. Two, it was quiet, too quiet, everyone kept their voices hushed and she was sure the Librarian had a spell that alerted her to even the tinyest rise in noise levels. And three, Tulip rarely handed homework in, so she didn't need to be in the library frantically writing bit of parchment. She finished her work in detention where the professors would literally give her the research to copy. Tulip was all for working smarter not harder.

But today she had ventured in the large double doors as she had a project, one she needed some research for, it wasn't a school project, it was more of a personal nature. If asked she would claim it was independent study, especially if it was a professor. They would probably be so shocked that she was actually studying it would be like casting Stupify at them. Sadly her research was not going well, well actually to be perfectly honest she had done two stacks and was already bored. Why would anyone get enjoyment out of this.

So Tulip to try and distract herself had created a game, it was subtile and entertaining and allowed her brain to reset from the dullness of reading the dusty tomes. She was carefully moving one or two books to the incorrect sheleves. She had thought about trying to make the first letter of each title spell something rude, but she feared the giggling that would incite would get her caught.

She heard slightly muffled voices from the end of the stack and curiosity led her to see what was going on. She saw Benji and a Slytherin from the year below, they looked like they were debating something. Tulip couldn't resist listening in it seemed the Slytherin, Corbin something, was trying to work on his levitation charms. Shame it wasn't shrinking charms, that was where her mind currently was.

What are you struggling with? Simple levitations?"

She heard Benji ask, when did the boy known for random acts of graffti suddenly become so sudious?

"Are you trying to lift something, or make it fly?" Tulip asked as she leaned on the stack cloesest to the boys.

Corbin’s raven feather quill clattered to the floor as voices came around the corner. He had been so focused on trying to lift the Advanced Transfiguration Theory tome that the voices had startled him.

He spun around, clutching his leather notebook against his chest. Two fourth years stood watching him - a Hufflepuff boy and a Gryffindor girl leaning against the nearest bookshelf. The floating bauble that had been drifting around up there suddenly came down lower, like it was interested in what they were doing.

"Sorry," he ducked down to grab his fallen quill. "I was… working on returns."

The Hufflepuff’s question about simple levitations made him tense defensively. He wasn’t struggling - not really. The problem was way more complicated than just basic charm work.

But telling them about his research meant talking. Corbin’s free hand gripped the edge of his notebook, the soft leather comforting under his fingers. He could just turn around and walk away. That would be easier. But he’d been thinking about this for days, and something made him want to try explaining.

"Not struggling with levitation," he said, his voice catching a little on the words. "I can cast Wingardium Leviosa fine. It’s just... there are at least five different spells for moving stuff around. It’s super confusing."

He glanced down at his notebook, shifting his weight from foot to foot. Laurence’s comment about being a Ravenclaw made him frown in annoyance.

The Advanced Transfiguration Theory tome still sat on the floor from where he had failed with the Locomotor spell, staring up at them. It was a reminder of how he was not exactly doing the best of jobs with his Library Assistant duties. That his spellwork had distracted him a little too much.

"Wingardium Leviosa is one, but then there's Floating charms, Hover charms..." He pointed at his open notebook where his research had been scrawled down. "There’s this thing called a Rocket charm too. And the books just... they don’t explain..."

He stopped, looked from one to the other, then seemed to steel himself.

"Do either of you know Locomotor?" he asked, a little more confident. "I tried it, but... it didn’t work."

"No need to be sorry, mate. You won't catch me ratting on you."

Truly, he didn't care what anyone else did. In fact, he considered it his civic duty to warn others about his mother. Sweet as she could be, she was also no-nonsense and love to dole out a good punishment. He wondered sometimes, if it was innate to the Laurence blood, or if it was something they all learned over time.

"I can cast Wingardium Leviosa fine. It’s just... there are at least five different spells for moving stuff around. It’s super confusing."

"Are you trying to lift something, or make it fly?"

Ah, another pathetic life form had joined their pow-wow. A Gryffindor. Not the one he was supposed to be helping, but Tulip. The flower that was anything but. He raised an eyebrow at her, a smirk forming at the corner of his lips. What was she doing in the library? He'd never known her to like books.

"Do either of you know Locomotor? I tried it, but... it didn’t work."

"I was asleep during that class unfortunately," he said, picking up one of the books and popping it into a random place on the shelf. Normally, he took care to put things back where they belonged, but Corbin seemed to be struggling with that duty, and the sooner the boy was done putting away books, the sooner he could man the information desk while Benji...did something else.

"Wait -" he said, glancing back over his shoulder, eyebrows raising in intrigue. He looked sideways at Tulip, knowing she was always up for a good time. "What do you mean...a rocket charm?"

Tulip watched the boys with a wry sense of amusement, studying before experimenting was clearly a thing here. Although it was typical of Benji to stick his nose in, now there was someone who actually turned in their homework.

. "I can cast Wingardium Leviosa fine. It’s just... there are at least five different spells for moving stuff around. It’s super confusing."

"Did you count Accio in that list, techically not a levitating spell but you can cause things to fly." she looked down the stacks seeing Briar studying at a desk the temptation to demonstrate this by causing a book to fly into her younger sisters head was high. "Don't forget that whilst spells are great there are sometimes more practicle solutions, Owls, muggle devices or simple just throwing it." she suggested, experience had taught her that magic wasn't always the solution, there were other less complicated options, and that was her starting point. Except it wasn't helping with her current problem.

"I was asleep during that class unfortunately,"

Tulip looked over at Benji, to be fair the teaching they had recieved in previous terms hadb't been great, sleeping in classes or just not going became the norm. "I think we all slept through all those classes." she had herd of it, she possibly even tried to use it on something at home, probabily a rock or a dinner plate.

There’s this thing called a Rocket charm too. And the books just... they don’t explain.

What do you mean...a rocket charm?"

Tulip's eyebrows raised in interest, her problem suddenly pushed to the back of her mind. "Er no I did not know about a Rocket charm... more importantly why have we not been taught this rocket charm." there was an excitment, if she could send things through the air like a muggle rocket on bonfire night, think of the mayhem she could cause.

"Tell us more about this rocket charm...."