Hidden Wings - Part I

Arrival

Mioha was walking outside with Hermione to her favorite spot at the black lake, hidden by willows whose low-hanging branches created some sort of red tent. The sun shone brightly in the afternoon, letting the trees glow in red and orange colors.
It was October 30th, and tonight the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang would arrive.

"Here", Mioha pointed at her spot and sat down, crossing her legs. Hermione joined her, shivering slightly in the brisk air.
The water lapped quietly against the shore, the sloshing sounding like meditation music of a sort.

"Now", Mioha said, " the first step to doing wandless magic is to know, that a wand doesn't do the magic for you. It-"
She broke off, seeing that the Gryffindor was shifting around restlessly.
"Are you alright?", Mioha asked, cocking her head in confusion.

"Yes, yes", Hermione said hurriedly, her eyes glowing with excitement.
"I just can't believe you're teaching me wandless magic."
Her face glowed brightly.

Chuckling slightly, Mioha replied: "I promised you two years ago, and I'm sorry that I have delayed it for so long. I usually keep my promises."

Hermione shook her head.
"That's alright", she said, "I think that now, I'd be better at handling wandless magic than two years ago anyways."
She rubbed her hands excitedly.

"So", Mioha continued.
"You need to remember that if you wouldn't have magic inside you, the wand would just be a useless stick.
It helps witches and wizards to cast magic, but with practice it won't be necessary anymore."
Mioha pressed both of her palms into the dirt next to her.
"The muggles call this what I want to start with 'meditation'", she explained, "but I'm sure you know that already. You should try to get a feeling of where your magic lies and how it flows through your entire body."

Hermione imitated Mioha and put her hands left and right onto the ground.
She closed her eyes and stilled.
Mioha heard Hermione's breathing slow down as the Gryffindor started shutting out all of the other noises, the wind rustling through the leaves and the softly-gurgling water.

But after five minutes, Hermione opened her eyes.
"It's hard", she said, "everything is so loud."

"Just try", Mioha encouraged her with a smile.

Hermione nodded determinedly and closed her eyes again, her forehead wrinkling in concentration.
She's too tense, Mioha thought. But she knew better than to say anything. Hermione would relax on her own.
And she did, although not the way Mioha expected.

After thirty minutes of both teenagers sitting silently at the lake, Mioha startled when she heard a rumble.

A deep rumble.

She craned her head to see whether there was an animal nearby, when she noticed that the animal had to be very close.

Very close.