After my break down in the charms class, I was so relieved that I could practice my spells in the safety of my own room again. It's very hard for me to perform well in a classroom full of chatting students, so I've been working on practicing my wand work and spell commands while in groups. While I can't do much in terms of the common room yet, I've been working on practicing my spells with my room mate and a few of my friends.

I'd already been practicing the pronunciation of the mending charm and the unlocking charm a day or two before class, since I've been reading ahead to help myself adjust to the world of magic. My friends sat around me being as supportive as they could possibly be. So, I recited the words of the mending charm. I made sure that when I finished speaking that my wand pointed at the broken cup. I imagined what the cup looked like a few minutes ago before I dropped it. The pieces lifted up and formed back into the solid cup. My friends waited until I started breathing again and gave me a round of applause. I took a break while other members of our group practiced the mending charm.

Next we practiced the unlocking charm. I had some difficulty getting the right motion with my wand, but luckily my friend David was able to help me. He has a natural edge for wand movement. He's so smart, although he can be quite lazy with his school work. With my wand movement perfected, I recited the spell on a non-magical lock. The dial rotated and the lock popped open with a click.

I'm definitely getting better at controlling my nervousness with magic. Reading ahead is helping my nervousness, while practicing with groups is really improving my social anxiety. I'm still nervous about performing in front of the class again, but if I keep working hard I'm sure that I'll be able to show my skills off in no time. Hopefully, if I continue to improve this much I'll be able to perform spells in the class room with little nervousness by second year.