My Time to Shine (Dance Moms/Harry Potter Crossover - Part 1)

Chapter 12: Afectus Memoriae

It was business as usual for Kenzie and her friends over the next few weeks. Their classes were becoming a bit trickier, as they were moving on to slightly more advanced topics. She really had to fight to stay up to date with her homework and dancing. Balancing them was a frustrating matter and she always felt like she was hanging on by the skin of her teeth. She also felt like she was really neglecting her friends. She wanted so badly just to hang out with them in the common room and socialize, or else study together, but she didn't feel that she had time for a social life at all. Her dancing seemed to be keeping Miss Abby at bay, as there hadn't been a screaming match in quite some time. She felt as though she was becoming much closer with Scorpius after he had told them all about his family's background, which took guts in her opinion. They sat together in nearly every class and were really becoming a great team when it came to missed Friday lessons catching up. He was always looking out for her. 

February had just rolled in and Mackenzie was on her way to dance with Maddie and her mom. When they arrived there they did not find Abby at the studio but Gianna, Abby's assistant. The girls screamed joyfully and went and attacked her with hugs. It had been ages since they had seen Gianna, as she had stayed in Pittsburgh to take care of the ALDC location there. She had done much of the girls' choreography when they were still in the United States. They were thrilled to see her.

"Where's Abby today, Gia? Not that we aren't thrilled to see you of course." inquired Jill. Mackenzie sometimes found it hard to take Jill seriously, especially when she wore her fake animal fur mini vest. She also had a tendency to draw out her syllables when she was talking which gave her somewhat of an airhead disposition.

"Oh, she couldn't be here today because she's filming her new show Dance Mums UK," replied Gia as the moms nodded with comprehension. The girls could tell that the moms often made Gia nervous when they demanded answers from her, as she didn't always have the answers and did the best she could. "Girls, head into the studio, we will start working on the group first."

The girls worked on the group for about an hour then Gia let them go, as she wanted to work with just Maddie on her lead part in the group. "You can work on the sides, stretch or do your homework. I will need you again really soon so I want you all to stay close." Gia went to work with Maddie as the other girls made their way to the sides of the room.

"It's the Maddie show again. Yay." Mackenzie thought to herself, embodying some of Kevin's sarcasm mentally. She dug in her bag for her spell books. She really needed to practice her charm work. She knew she wasn't allowed to use magic outside of the school but she could practice saying the incantations and the wand motions separately without casting spells, couldn't she? She really needed to practice the spell that would unlock a magically locked door. They had a practical test on Monday. The incantation was 'Alohomora' and you must move your wand in a backward 'S' motion. She began practicing the wand work and incantation separately, consulting The Standard Book of Spells Grade 1 as she did so. Nia was laughing at her from across the room and Kendall shot her disturbed looks. They didn't see people waving wands and yelling incantations all day at school. She forgot that this must look odd to them. 

"Muggles." She thought and chuckled to herself.

Gia was teaching Maddie a difficult turning section with a flying knee drop at the end. She was almost done working with her and would need the group back soon. Mackenzie really wanted to try the spell.

"Kenzie!" Gia had startled her so badly, that she'd dropped her wand. It had gone flying through the air and onto the ground. All at the same time she had been muttering the incantation but being startled, she had said something completely different that sounded like 'afectusmemoriae'. She grabbed her wand from the floor quickly so no one would see what she had just done. She turned her back to the room while she stowed her wand in her bag. There was a cool, refreshing mist issuing from the end of it. It hit her face and she felt the most incredible feeling. "Think about the group dance please, Kenz! One more time, Maddie."

Gia played the music and Maddie ran over her part. As Mackenzie watched, she was astonished to feel a deep understanding and clarity. Her brain almost recorded all aspects of the dance instantly as Maddie did it. Not only that but she understood exactly how the character was meant to be interpreted and how she, Mackenzie, could portray it to the audience. It was like her senses were extremely heightened. What had she done? Had she just encountered a spell that could make her an amazing dancer? No. Surely not. It couldn't be that simple. Plus, she didn't feel as though she could do twenty-five pirouettes, jump higher and farther than before or else do anything extremely better than she had before. No, she felt it in the way she connected to dance from a personal and emotional level. It was as though it now resided in her. She felt as though she had the ability now to make an audience member feel something because she could finally understand it herself. This wasn't cheating, was it? She didn't have time to think before Gia told them to run it as a collective. As they ran the piece, Mackenzie was unaware of what she was doing. She wasn't thinking, it was automatic to her, like an instinct. She was not doing her part in the dance, she was doing Maddie's! But how? She had only seen it once! Had this spell, or whatever it even was, made her suddenly able to memorize and perform quality of movement by seeing it only once? There could be no other explanation.

When they finished the run there was a silence in the room you could have cut with a knife. Kenzie looked up to the viewing window and saw her mom, her mouth was very tight. Maddie gave Mackenzie an extremely scornful look and the other girls looked bewildered.

"Mackenzie?" It was Gia who spoke first. "How did you learn that so quickly? And you performed it. We've been wanting you to perform for ages. It's finally clicked." She was smiling. Gia pulled Kenzie into a big hug. "I knew this day would come eventually."

Maddie was still glaring at her but Mackenzie's face broke into a huge smile, despite her utter confusion. So this is what it felt like to be Maddie.

"Ok, well I think we will have to have both of you doing that part since clearly, you've been working, Kenz!"

The rest of the day was excellent. She didn't make her usual mistakes and even got another compliment from Gia on her turns. This week Maddie got a solo and there was also a trio with Nia, Kendall, and Jojo. Gia had Mackenzie learn the trio just in case, and Kenzie speculated that she wanted to see if this miracle was going to hold true before she reported back to Abby.