Practice makes perfect

Today was a lazy day and Andrei was just going to accept that. As he shuffled his feet through the hallway, he thought of the large pile of homework he had just abandoned in his room. But nothing in this world could make him finish that homework today. He was just not in the mood and there was no fighting that. Instead, he decided to do something at least a bit productive with his day. In need of a place to let his creativity loose, he knew exactly where to go.

Soon he was standing in front of a large wall on the Seventh floor. As usually, he looked around for any intruders or annoying first years, before closing his eyes shut. When he opened them, a large door appeared and he smiled. Worked like a charm every time.

The usefulness of this room was hard to describe, even for Andrei. This was a place where he could find perfect solitude when needed or a sound proof room for his many experiments with new spells. On his mind right now was the latter. Aware of the danger some spells could cause, he would always carried a few simple healing potions with him. This habit was the result of a very painful burn he got from a strange spell he had encountered and decided to try out. In situations like these, even a simple healing potion or spell could mean the world.

He took his usual position in the corner of the room, which now looked more like a soundproof dueling area, and started remembering all the spells he had wanted to try out.

It was so hard to find a quiet space to study around Hogwarts anymore. Alice was getting tired of the library, as she was spending most her time there anyway. And now it seemed just more stuffy than before for some reason. She tried studying in her room but that was a great mistake. She had almost forgotten how it is, living with a bunch of girls. She loved she was a Hufflepuff and enjoyed being in the doors and the common room. But this was a day she just needed to find some peace and quiet, away from it all.

She would usually just go outside and study, get some fresh air as well. But as it was November, it was just too cold to even go outside for a walk, let alone sit there for a longer period of time. Without having any other ideas or options, she walked to the seventh floor to the room of requirements. It used to be her favorite place in Hogwarts, for obvious reasons. But she didn't have a chance to visit it lately, so this would be a lovely change to it all.

Closing her eyes, she repeated the though in her mind three times just as she should. The doors appeared in front of her and she opened them. But instead of finding the cozy study room she was expecting, she found a strange place that seemed to be patted on the walls. Then she realized that she probably wasn't the first one who was here. Turning around nervously, she noticed that the place seemed empty to her. "Hello?" she said still looking around the room for someone.

Andrei was too caught up in his thoughts to even notice the girl who just walked in. Swearing in his head, he cursed the girl for not letting him have his peace of mind for even a few minutes. With a sigh, all he could think about was some annoying first years stumbling upon this room and ruining his moment. He retreated a few steps back into a dark corner just to observe at first. He always liked to know who he had as a company before doing anything else.

Examining the girl from head to toe, he recognized her immediately. He didn't know her personally of course, but he recognized her from some school gossip. As the rumor goes, Longbottom the usual quiet Hufflepuff had a duel with a Gryffindor girl in which apparently she proved herself to be a bit more than just shy. He even heard his sister as head girl had to interfere. He chuckled at the though of her having to make students follow the rules, when she could barely do so herself. Although he was sure punishment suited her well. That was more of her forte.

Either way, he was curious about this Longbottom girl. And she was only a few years younger than him, there was no reason he couldn't have some fun with her. Anything was better than this current state of boredom he was in. "Who knew Hufflepuffs were even allowed here?" he mused though his lips with a smirk. He walked over to the girl and held his hand out to her. "Oh come on Longbottom, I won't bite I promise. Dolohov, Andrei" he said introducing himself. "You might say that I'm a fan of your work. Word has been out that you have some potential in you after all. Lovely duel I have to say. But then again Longbottom was always a respected pureblood family. Just a bit lost on the wrong path I would say. But you do need a little work, or you'll be just an average here. Such a pity"

Alice took a step back when she suddenly heard a male voice coming from a corner. She watched him carefully as he approached her, noting that she did not know who he was. His face might have been familiar, but she didn't even know his name. He was older than her, that was obvious. And a Slytherin. And she didn't needed his green school uniform to figure that out by herself. "Alice...Alice Longbottom" she said softly, still a bit suspicious about this guy.

She thought whether she should just turn around the leave the room. After all, this guy looked like nothing but trouble. But she doubted he would let her go just like that. He was obviously in a mood for playing games and hopefully if she played along with whole thing would be done much quicker.

She frowned when he mentioned her duel and seeing potential in her. It rather surprised her that he would know about this. Maybe the gossip about it spread more quickly than she though. Great, she thought, that was the last thing she needed. Having rumors about her go around Hogwarts. "I'm quite fine on my path, thank you. And so is the rest of my family. And...I don't need any work I'm just fine" she said with an annoyed expression on her face. She had to admit he was right, about her defensive skills at least. But she wasn't going to admit that to him.

Andrei watched this girl carefully and he smirked amused at her nervous nature. He wasn't sure why, but he saw something rather interesting in this girl. She was shy and scared. And he could bet she was like that most of the time. But something in her eyes and the way she handled herself during that duel told him that she had a lot more courage than she would think. With proper training, he assumed she could be good one day. And being so young, she had enough time to advance to that level. Poor girl was probably just too innocent and naive to see the world as it truly was. Most Hufflepuff girls here age where. This made him wonder that, with a little guidance, she might end up on the right side after all. Well this was an idea that certainly deserved proper testing.

He laughed at her words that she was fine. "Probably not, kid. Hate to break it to you, but you are way down on the list. Such a shame too. I'm sure it makes daddy quite worried" he said with a smirk, trying to get a reaction out of her. "As I see it, you are doing even the fundamental things terribly wrong. For example, I will stay right here and throw a spell on me. Any kind you wish that you think could make me fly to the other side of the room and kiss the floor." he said, moving to the middle of the room in a hope of trying to prove him point. "Go ahead! I'm not doing anything. It can't be that miss Longbottom is scared. I can't wait the whole day kid" he said further as he knew it would take her a bit more convincing to actually cast a spell on him.

Alice had met some strange people in this world, but this guy was surely the strangest. She was so confused by him that she didn't even know what to think anymore. She gave out a loud frown when he called her a kid and mentioned her father as well. It seemed that this guy was trying to piss her off on purpose. "Kid? Really?" she asked rolling her eyes. She was so sick of these know it all Slytherins. Watching him take the center of the room and tell her to cast a hex on him, she decided that he was surely crazy. At that moment, she made it her goal to find the quickest and easiest way out of this place as soon as possible.

"As I said before...I'm doing just fine thank you" she said rather annoyed by him at this point. This guy really deserved to be punched in the face. But Alice knew that definitely wasn't a good idea. He was probably much more advanced in spells than she was, and getting herself into that kind of trouble was something she didn't need right now. She raised her eyebrown at him when he called her scared. This guy really wasn't going to stop. Realizing that she could cast a spell on him to distract him and quickly run out from the room, she pointed her want at the guy. This was her only plan and it better work. "Expelliarmus! she said with her wand firmly pointed at him.

Andrei chuckled at her response, but to him that was exactly what she was - a kid. She even acted like one. It didn't have anything to do with her age though, she could be older than him and she would still be a kid. The way she looked around the room nervously, the way she stood, the way he could shock her with just simple teasing words - all of this only pointed that she had all of the characteristics of a kid. Pure and naive. This was as much a blessing as it was a curse. Depending on who you ask. But to Andrei, this was nothing more but a dangerous and vulnerable state to be in. He wondered for a second how her father didn't make sure she grew up different. He was no fool, he knew of the Longbottom's involvement in the last war. So then he of all people should have taught his daughter to be strong. Like this she was nothing but a sitting duck waiting to become a target.

Just as he thought she would back up and disappoint, she pointed her wand at her. With a grin on his face, he awaited her spell patiently. Taking out his wand, he simply cast a protection shield around him and her spell effortlessly bounced off it. He pretended to shake his head in disappointment at her. "I was expecting a lot more from you Longbottom. That was weak even for your standards. You don't put any thought or feeling into your spell. Just learn now, you don't want to disappoint" he said as he took his position and pointed his wand at her. "Expulso!" he shouted and let his spell rush towards her with speed.

Alice's plan had crashed the moment she saw Andrei bounce off her spell with easy. With that option not available anymore, she had no idea what do to next. She had no plan b, and this guy was making her more and more nervous as time went by. The smartest thing would be to just get out of her, but she didn't know how. Before she could think of anything else she could try, she noticed a spell fly at her with great speed. She didn't even manage to grab her want to protect herself and she was already on the floor. Pain rushed through her body as she felt the hard impact she had with the ground. Not only that, but she still had bruises and scratches from her last duel. The last thing she needed was some more of those.

Slowly getting up, she winced in pain and stared at Andrei with anger. She was even more scared now and determined to get out of this place. But her anger and surprise of what he did overcome these feelings for just a second. "Are you insane?! I mean I though you were mad from the beginning but this is only icing on the cake. I just don't understand you. Why on earth would you do that?!" she asked angrily. Although she had a feeling that his answer was going to be a stuck up and annoying one, something she definitely won't enjoy to hear.

Watching her fall to the ground from his spell, he didn't flinch or feel bad for her at all. Falling down was something everyone experienced. He even firmly believed that pain should be something everyone had to deal with on a daily basis. Only that way a person can truly change, become better. Become the strong and the best version of themselves. Things like that didn't happen over night or without work and struggle. It seemed that Alice didn't exactly understand that part of life just yet.

He was actually pleased that she was yelling. It meant that she had some courage in her at least, some will to fight. This seemed too perfect. She fit every checkpoint of his needed criteria. Now the question was, was she something he could work with. "To learn! That's why!" he said raising his voice slightly. He sighed and took a deep breath. Patience was not something he usually had but he had to at least try. "Now let's try again. Concentrate. Impedimenta!" said Andrei sending another spell towards Alice. Hopefully, this time she would be a lot better at protecting herself from it.

His response surprised her quite a bit, as it was not something she had expected. She was waiting for the typical Slytherin smart ass remark and a pointless answer. But that's now what he said at all. To teach her. But why would he, she though. Although she couldn't help but feel some sense of gratitude towards him. He was the first one who tried to teach her anything as useful as this. The first one who told her she had potential. Which was unlike most things she had heard throughout her life before. She was unsure of the reason he was doing this, but that didn't even matter anyone. In some strange way, she trusted him. She knew that was probably very foolish and naïve of her, but she just did.

Nodding her head at him, she made sure she was prepared for this spell. With enough concentration, she had cast a strong enough protection spell to shield her from his hex. The only thing she did was take a few steps backwards this time, which was a large improvement. She grinned at her own success, not really caring how silly she seemed. She had to admit, this was rather sweet what Andrei was doing. Again his reasons were unknown to her but she imagined it was nothing bad. And now that she was getting a little better at this and more concentrated, she couldn't just stop. "Confringo!" she shouted with a lot more confidence than before and she watched her spell rush straight at him.