Chapter 5
After the funeral, Gus's father went back to his room and stayed there until Augusta left to return to Hogwarts. He gave her a hug and a promise to send her letters. Augusta kissed her father's forehead and promised him he'd be okay. She told him she'd be back as soon as she could. Ron took her to the Hogwarts Express with Charlie. As soon as they arrived on the Platform, Charlie scurried off to join her friends. Ron turned to face Gus and kneeled down to her level.
"Gussie, I know things are getting tough for you right now. What with starting a new school, having problems with your best friend, and...and...and losing your mother...I will--everyone will--understand if you need to Floo home once in a while. So keep in touch, okay?"
Augusta nodded, though she knew she wouldn't Floo home. Although her father needed her to take care of him, he needed her to be strong, too.
~*~
Making sure nobody was watching her, Augusta danced down the hallway. After all, that was what empty hallways were for! Tambe pas de bourre, glissade, grande jete. A tingling sensation flowed through her body as she danced.
"Ohhh. Look at ickle Gussie, showing off her dancing again!" Charlotte jeered at her former best friend. Augusta looked on in horror as her fellow first years laughed. Augusta shook her head in disappointment. What was Charlie thinking? "I bet you only dance for attention, you insufferable git!" Charlotte volunteered.
"Charlotte!...Charlie...you don't mean that. You know what dance means to me." Charlotte only laughed. "What it means to you? Ha! You dance so people will think...no, so people will know just how "talented" you are!"
This was the last straw. Augusta rarely ever got angry with people--it just wasn't worth it--but when she did, it was not pretty. "Charlotte Lola Weasley! How dare you. I don't dance for attention or so people will know what sort of talent I possess!"
"Augusta Lily Potter!" Charlotte mocked. "How dare you! Of course you dance for attention! It's obvious!" She laughed. People still joined in, but they were beginning to realize that this feud ran deep and maybe this fight was just between the two girls. "I don't dance for attention. I dance for me."
Charlotte masked her surprise with a smirk. "You know, Augusta. There's a reason you have no friends." Augusta's eyes began to water. "And what's that reason, Charlie?"
"You think you're better than everyone else. You think that just because you're a famous Potter and you're a dancer and because you're the brightest witch in our year you're too good to be friendly with anyone."
"That's not true. They just don't like me because of the awful things you've said about me to them!" Augusta turned to the group. "I bet most of those things aren't even true. Haven't you ever wondered why all she does is talk about me? She's jealous!" Gus knew she was being immature, but she didn't really care. Augusta turned back to Charlotte. "You're just jealous of me. And I do have friends. I have Nolan! And he knows me better than you do. He's a better friend than I bet most of the people in your little group!"
"Ha! Nolan...he's a social outcast."
"Why should that matter? He's a good person, and that's more than you can say."
"You little bitch! You know what I think? You're just like your mother. I think it's for the better that she got herself killed. She deserved it."
Even her group knew that Charlotte had gone too far. Hermione Granger Potter died a heroic death, and no one could deny that. Augusta didn't even have the heart to respond. She ran through the halls, tears blinding her. She didn't know where she was going. She didn't even care. She couldn't stand Charlotte these days. Why was she so horrid? Oh Merlin she was horrid!
It wasn't true what she said. None of it was! She didn't dance for attention and she didn't think she was better than everyone else. And above all, her mother did not deserve to die.
She found herself on the seventh floor, opposite the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy. She was out of breath from running and took to pacing. All she wanted was to be free. She didn't even know what that meant, but she knew she wanted it. She hated Hogwarts and she hated magic. But most of all, she hated Charlotte Weasley. She wanted to be free. She wanted to be free. She wanted to be free. Suddenly, a door appeared.
Curious, she opened the door. Augusta felt her breath catch in her throat. It was a fairly large sized room. The floor was marley taped and there were mirrors along every wall. Along the back wall, was a barre. A dancing room! If only she had her dance things...out of nowhere, her pointe shoes, along with her dance clothes, tap shoes, and jazz shoes appeared. Of course...this was the Room of Requirement that her father and Uncle Ron spoke about so fondly!
Gus changed her clothes, pinned her hair up into a bun, and decided to dance ballet first. She thought it was only right, since it was her favorite. She carefully tied her ribbons and pressed up to pointe. She stretched a bit before going into her routine: first a plié combination, then battements tendus, battements dégagés, ronds de jambes, battements frappés, battements fondus, développés (adagio), and grande battements. She finished and stretched her aching muscles again. Now, the fun part: center!
She walked to the center of the room and positioned herself. Although she hated it, she knew that adagio came first. She never truly understood why some people loved it, although she understood the importance of it. Adage required a load of strength, grace, and fluidity. After she suffered through her adage, she moved on to tendus, ronds de jambes, frappés, pirouettes, and grande battements.
After grande battements came petit allegro. Petit allegro and grande allegro were her favorite. Augusta felt as if she was flying and she loved it. Petit allegro was small, fast jumps that barely leave the ground, and grande allegro was large, fast jumps that are high in the air.
After her workout, she decided it was time for the real fun to begin. She walked gracefully to the corner of the room so she would have enough space to fly through the air.
Six piqué turns and hold the last one in passe! Chassé, tour jété, balancé. Tambe pas de bourré, glissade, grande pas de chat. Balancé, balancé, three chenne turns in a two count. Chassé pas de bourré, double pirouette. Four fouettés, and land en pointe in second arabesque. Six hops back, balaté, en dehours piqué turn to B+ finish.
Augusta came out of her trance and wondered what she had been thinking about as she had just realized she was dancing. She didn't think that was normal--how could she not realize she was dancing? The movements just came so naturally to her! It was like breathing...except that when she danced, she let go. She was free...she was free.
~*~
After ballet, Augusta decided to practice some tap, as she loved it almost as much as ballet and hadn't had time to practice it. She loved jazz as well, but she didn't feel quite as...free...as when she was dancing ballet or tap.
Stomp-hop-back -flap-ball change-hop-back flap-ball change-hop-back. Shuffle-hop-step-step-step-shuffle-hop-step…Hop-pull back-hop-pull back…Flap-heel-stomp-back flap-heel-heel-flap-heel-toe-back flap-heel toe…Stomp-cramp roll-pull through-stomp-cramp roll-shuffle-shuffle-step…Gus kept dancing and dancing and dancing. After tap, she did jazz. After she did jazz, she did ballet again. When she finally finished, she realized it was almost dinner time; she had missed her afternoon classes.
She didn't really care all that much, which surprised her. She had never missed a class anywhere in her life. The thought of skipping class was almost exhilarating. If only she had skipped class on purpose! Now that would be something to make Charlie proud.
The thought of making Charlotte proud disgusted her and she vowed never to miss a class again. Augusta changed back into her robes, set her hair into her usual braids and put her dance things into her bag and set off to find the Potions Master to apologize for missing his class.
~*~
Severus Snape sat at his desk grading papers. He tried hard to concentrate, but all he could think about was the Potter girl and why she failed to show up for class. It just wasn't like her. True, her mother was gone now, but she had been acting normally since. Maybe that was the problem...as if on cue, he heard a sharp rap on the door.
"Enter." Drawled Snape in his usual menacing tone. In walked none other than Augusta Potter.
"Nice to see you finally showed up. You're a bit late, you idiot child. Class ended fifteen minutes ago." Augusta nodded. "I know. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to miss it. I just lost track of time."
"Lost track of time, doing what?" Gus gulped. She knew this narrow-minded professor would never accept her excuse, even if it was true. "I was dancing." Gus maintained eye contact. She read once in a book that eye contact showed confidence. Hopefully Snape wouldn't be able to tell her confidence was an illusion.
"Dancing. You were dancing instead of brewing potions." Augusta nodded. "Why, Ms. Potter?" Augusta's browed furrowed in confusion. "Charlotte Weasley was being rude. I needed to express myself in another way besides yelling. That really gets you nowhere. I just lost track of time."
"No, Potter. Why do you dance?" Snape wasn't sure why he was speaking to her this way. Maybe it was out of pity. Maybe it was out of curiosity. All he knew was that he was not acting in his usual manner.
"Why do I dance?" Oh no. Another explanation of how much dance means to me. This is the third time this year already!
"Why do I dance?" Augusta asked herself. She frowned. "You know, Professor, I've already had to explain to Nolan Sanders what I feel while I dance. I've explained to Charlie...Charlotte...why I don't dance for attention. I've never thought about why I dance."
"So think about it, Potter." Snape wasn't being friendly or warm, but he wasn't being his usual menacing self, either. Perhaps it was because Little Gussie Potter didn't fear him the way the other students did.
"I don't know why I dance." Gus took in a deep breath. "It's like this: A person doesn't exactly choose to dance. Dance chooses you. I have no choice..." Augusta seemed surprised with her answer. But then, deep inside herself, she found more to the answer. "It's the way I express my soul...my heart-felt expression. Dance is my calling." She gave a slight laugh. "I can either engage myself or deny myself, I suppose. I don't dance because it's easy or because it's a guarantee for success and happiness. Because it's neither. I dance because...because it's what I need. Just like the air you breathe, Professor."
Snape seemed satisfied enough with the answer. "Detention tomorrow night." Augusta was surprised. That was all he was giving her. "Sir?"
"And an essay explaining how dance helped you cope with...your mother's death." Snape's usual evil glint was back in his eye. "No..." Augusta choked out. To the world it may seem like she was over her mother's death, but in truth, she had barely begun mourning.
"No? Ah...so would you like...a month of detention with Filch and, say, you aren't allowed to return home
for Easter?"
"You can't do that..."
"Just like you can't miss class? Yes, Potter, I can give you detention, and I can take away
your Easter holiday!"
"But my father needs me."
"No, Potter. You need your father!"
Augusta looked at her professor in a new light. "I'll do the essay." Snape nodded; aware he had pushed the girl too far. "Hand it in at the end of the year. I want to see drafts, and I want to see a good, clear thesis statement. You may leave."
Snape put his head back down and resumed grading papers. He barely heard Augusta leave, she was so quiet.
Ballet Terms:
Tambe pas de bourre: Tambe means to fall and pas de bourre is a small traveling jump. So, tambe pas
de bourre, is a jump where you "fall" onto one leg and step back-side-front-side.
Glissade: Means to glide. A connecting step.
Grande jete: A long horizontal jump, usually forward, starting from one leg and landing on the other. In the
middle of the jump, the dancer may be doing a split in midair. One of the most memorable of all ballet jumps; the
dancer seems to float in the air, as a result of the shift of his center of gravity from the split.
Plié: A stretching exercise where the knees bend directly over the toes, outward, to form a diamond
shape.
Battements Tendus: Tendu means "beatings". The leg stretches out, ending in a strongly pointed
foot.
Battements Dégagés: Degage means "disengaged". A movement or position in which the working leg is
lifted off the floor.
Ronds de Jambes: A movement in which the working leg is made to describe a letter D about the supporting leg.
May be done with the working foot on the floor or in the air. In a rond de jambe en dehors ("outward") on the
floor, the working leg moves from first (or fifth) position to pointe tendu forward, makes a half circle to pointe
tendu in back, and then returns to first, if the rond de jambe is to be repeated, and otherwise to first or fifth. A
wonderful exercise for turnout. In a rond de jambe en dedans ("inward"), the direction of movement is
reversed. In a demi rond de jambe, the working leg goes only half-way around, stopping in second position. A grand rond
de jambe is executed with the supporting leg in plié. A rond de jambe en l'air ("in the air") is done
with the working leg raised off the floor, frequently at an angle of 90 degrees (parallel to the floor).
Battements Frappés: Means to strike. Working foot rests lightly on the ankle of the supporting foot. Throw the
working leg forcefully out to a dégagé position so that it strikes the floor 1/3 of the way out. Hold the leg out as
long as possible, returning it to its initial position at the last moment. (Russian frappés start in tendu, darting to
the supporting leg and back out again.) Can be done to the front, side, or back.
Battements Fondus: Means to melt. Any movement that lowers the body by bending one leg. In a plié, both legs
support the body; in a fondu, only one leg supports the body.
Développé: Means "to unfold". The leg starts in passe. The aim is to continue to lift the
working knee as high as it will go, then stretch or "unfold" the rest of the leg from this
position.
Adagio/Adage: Slow dance combinations with an emphasis on stretching, height, and balance.
Grande Battements: A "kick" in which the working leg is raised as high as possible while keeping the
rest of the body still. "Kick" is in quotes because the battement should be a controlled lift, not a throwing
of the leg into the air, and the leg must be controlled while coming down. The kicks one associates with a chorus line
are grands battements.
Pirouette: A complete turn on one leg. The dancer usually goes round more than once. The raised leg is most
commonly held in passe, but pirouettes with the leg in other positions are not uncommon. The dancer spots in order to
avoid becoming disoriented. Pirouettes are usually fast, but supported pirouettes, in which a partner steadies the
soloist, may be done very slowly.
Piqué Turns: A traveling turn where the dancer steps up over her leg and turns with the other leg in
passe.
Chassé: A gliding step. The working leg slides out; put weight on working leg and draw other leg along floor
to it. (In American folk dancing, this word was mispronounced, giving rise to the term "sashay.")
Tour Jété: A jump in which you leap in the air, starting with a grande battement as if you were beginning a
grand jeté; but in midair, you turn around 180 degrees (by "scissoring" the legs) so you land on the other
foot facing back the way you came.
Balancé: A waltz step. For a balancé to the right, start in fifth position. On count of 1-2-3, right foot goes
out to the side and the weight is transferred to it (1). Immediately bring left foot behind right and transfer the
weight to the ball of the left foot while rising up on it (2). Put your weight back on the right foot flat on the floor
(not raised up) (3). A balancé to one side is almost always followed by a balancé to the other side. Balancés can also
be done to the front and back
Grande pas de chat: Literally, means, "step of the cat". A jump where one leg goes into passe and
comes down and the other leg comes up into passe and comes down before hitting the ground.
Chenne turns: Fast turns on half or full point with the legs in a tight first position, rotating a half turn
on one foot and the other half on the other foot. Done one after the other so they're "chained" together.
Chassé pas de bourre: Like tambe pas de bourre, but instead of "falling", you slide into the
jump.
Fouette: Means to whip. A turn in which a whipping motion of the working leg makes the body go
around.
En pointe: En means "on". On pointe is when a dancer wears her toe shoes and dances on the tips of
her toes.
Arabesque: When the dancer lifts her leg to the back as high as it will go.
Hops: On pointe, when a dancer hops, it is very difficult to keep the weight unchanged.
Balaté: Means to toss. Begin in 5th, right leg front. Spring straight upward with both legs held tightly
together, as the body begins to tilt slightly backward at the apex of the jump. The body lands on the left foot while
the right is thrown open to the front. Repeat backwards, with a slight tilt to the front at the apex of the jump.
B+: Either a finishing or beginning pose where the front leg is crossed behind
the front.
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