An American at Hogwarts: Book Two

Chapter Twenty-Eight

A/N: So Friday is my five year anniversary of joining Wattpad (yay!!!!) so I'm going to update again in two days instead of three in honor of that 😄😄

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"So, you've both been able to resist the Imperius Curse when it comes from one another?"

Jackson and I both nodded.

"And you both managed to put up a good fight against Professor Moody, even though you couldn't totally resist?"

Jackson and I nodded again.

"Alright, that's a wonderful start. We can just continue to practice as you have been, but now against me. Now, who wants to go first?"

My hand shot up just before Jackson's. Not only was I extremely motivated to be immune to mind control, but part of the Imperius Curse practice involved messing with each other, and I didn't want to give Jackson a chance to pay me back by going second.

I moved so I was standing in front of both Jackson and Lupin, then took a deep breath to steady myself.

"Now, if I remember correctly, the two of you have already discovered how different requests can be easier or harder to throw off?"

"Yeah, and we can resist the hardest requests from each other, but not even mid-level stuff from Moody," I said.

"And we've both tried," Jackson added.

"Well, you're still already ahead of most wizards. I understand why you both decided to take the initiative, but it's still very impressive. You've already done most of the work, so I believe the best course of action would be just practicing, over and over, until you get it right."

I nodded, then got Ana set up watching the Shrieking Shack. Professor Lupin was taking a little bit of a risk helping us with this, so I wanted to make sure there was no chance of anyone coming in and catching us. Once our safety protocols were in place, I took a deep breath and refocused on Professor Lupin, working to stay in the zone. The sooner we got this done, the better I'd sleep at night.

"Alright then Alexa, if you're ready..." I gave Professor Lupin a quick thumbs up, and then he raised his wand to cast the spell. "Imperio."

The familiar relaxed feeling of the curse washed over me, and I struggled to fight it right out of the gates. I couldn't relax. I couldn't let it force me to relax.

"Do a cartwheel."

My body wanted to move, but my mind was trying to say no. I didn't want to do a cartwheel. I needed to stop myself from doing a cartwheel.

My hands started to move up as Professor Lupin's voice came again, urging me to do a cartwheel. It was so persuasive. And what could it hurt, right?

Just like in Moody's class, I was halfway through a cartwheel before I forced my body to stop. I ground to a halt and collapsed on the floor in a heap, groaning and deciding to just stay down for a minute.

"Are you alright, Alexa?" asked Professor Lupin. I could hear Jackson laughing next to him.

"I'm good," I decided, finally sitting up. "But maybe we can conjure some tumbling mats or pillows or something to land on in the future?"

"That's not a bad idea," Professor Lupin chuckled. Then, with a wave of his wand, he covered the floor in nice, soft mats. He looked back at me as he continued. "And not a bad job resisting the Curse, either, Alexa. That's a very strong start we can work with."

"Thanks, Professor." I took a deep breath, then stood straight again on the newly-conjured mats. "Let's keep going."

It took just over two and a half hours of practicing again and again and again, but eventually I could throw off even the hardest requests to resist.