[Transfiguration] Term IV - Lesson 1

[mayella]

Mayella saw Felicity stumble off again, obviously she hadn't hurt her pride too bad that she was rooted to the spot. 'Ah well, maybe next time?' She thought with a smirk on her face. Looking up, the professor spotted the boy apologizing. "Oh, not at all. You're not too late." She said, waving it off as she watched Fay drag the unwilling boy down next to her. She wondered who he was, and decided she'd get his name sooner or later.. sooner, rather than later, of course.

Sitting up in her desk, she pulled out her wand and wave it at the board, a piece of white chalk flying up quickly and starting to write. "Alright, everyone quiet now. We're going to get this class started. But first, I would like to cover my rules." As she spoke the board was finishing up its last sentence, now covered in words.

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[li]No passing notes ( will be read aloud )
[/li][li]Refrain ( as in DO NOT ) injure the animals
[/li][li]No catcalling at lovers when you think I’m not paying attention
[/li][li]NO GOOFING OFF ( severe punishment )
[/li][li]Be on time.
[/li][li]Don't be afraid
[/li][/ul][/color][/blockquote]
May glanced back at her board and nodded in approval. "Now, these may seem tough, but they are necessary. This is a Transfiguration class, we'll be dealing with serious magic. I need serious students. So if you're going to goof off, not try, and put others in danger. Leave now and don't come back." the professor looked around at her class, a dead serious expression on her face and she dared any of them to oppose her. "If I catch you, you will not come back to this class, either." She said, then smiled warmly at them all once she was satisfied that she'd scared them all.

"On a lighter note, we'll try to start transfiguring today. Lets see if someone can guess what we'll be doing?" She winked, and used her want to tip her top hat out of her face, getting a better look at the students. She frowned at all of them that she still didn't know the names of, and tried to encourage them to introduce themselves. It was necessary for the class to be familiar with each other for many of the activities she had planned.

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[Sarie Thimble]

Sarie rasied her hand. "Does it have some thing to do with rabbits?" She asked. She thought the rabbit on her shoulder maybe some sort of hint or it was her pet. "Rabbits in to top hats?"

[mayella]

Mayella looked a little disappointed at the lack of enthusiasm from her students, she herself being quite ecstatic about this subject, but guessed that it was all just over their heads. When someone, one of the nameless, piped up May nodded swiftly. "Exactly, nicely said... um.." She said, pointing out the lack of familiarity with the student rather than trying to sound dumb. "Well, 5 points to Gryffindor." The professor smiled and looked around her class.

"As you can see, rule two says not to injure any animals we use, and that will be many. They do deserve your respect and kindness. I would imagine they don't enjoy being transfigured, especially if you mess up, so please act as if they were.. Headmaster Darrow." She said and moved over to her box full of rabbits before anyone could question her selection of people. It was the first person Mayella thought they would respect. "If everyone would line up, I'll give you your white rabbit to work with today. Quickly, now!" As she said this, May pulled out another white rabbit, holding it against her as to not scared it.

"Oh, yes, I nearly forgot. Some of them do bite. So do not try anything until instructed."

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[jade]

It's was Aqua's first day and already she was late for classes. She tried her best to get ready as fast as she could, but all she managed to do was stumble over her trunk, break her favorite mirror and jam her finger on her bed post. "Ugh, this is gonna be great," she muttered to herself as she walked down the corridor.

Aqua opened the door to her Transfiguration class and attempted to sneak in so as not to interrupt the professor. Of course, Aqua's attempt to be silent failed. She tripped on the trim of the door and fell face forward onto the cold stone floor. She picked herself up and looked at the Professor with apology, "Sorry," she said before finding a seat near a hufflepuff boy.

Aqua slouched in her chair. Already she made an embarrassment of herself. She pulled out a quill and twirled it around her fingers. Aqua caught the end of the Professor's sentence and stood up and lined up with the rest of the students. She stared at the floor shyly.

[[ooc: Nicole.... the rules are sorta hard to read.... ]]

[Sarie Thimble]

Sarie went a got a rabbit. She picked it up gently. She carried like the Professor did. She pet the pure white fur and carried carefully over to her desk. She set down and starting petting it to keep it calm till she got further instructions. She looked at the teacher.

[Bradyn Reed]

Bradyn decided that his friends looked, more or less, fine and decided that his sister hadn't done anything mortifying to them. Perhaps she didn't recognize them or him. Sighing, he stood up and walked to the box, picking out one of the smaller rabbits and carrying it back to his desk and plopping down next to Fay. "Aww, you're so cute. I just want to eat you up." He sat, grinning and patting it on the head. Of course, Fay would take this more literally, but that's alright.

Pulling his wand out, he put it on the table next to the rabbit and continued to lightly pet it so it wouldn't run away. Bray looked back up to his crazy sister to wait for her to explain how to transfigure the rabbits, as if most people didn't already know.

[Felicity Locke]

Felicity got up and followed after Bray. She reached into the box and pulled out one of the smaller rabbits. Fay almost cuddled it to her, but she refrained from doing so incase she gave the rabbit a heart attack or something. She skipped back to her table and plopped down beside Bray.

Fay placed the rabbit on the table and pet it softly. Her gaze snapped to Bray for a moment, and her eyes narrowed. She gave him the hurt-the-rabbit-and-you-die look. One that could rattle bones.

[mayella]

Satisfyed that each of the students had collected a white rabbit for themselves, she went back up to her desk. Pausing for a minute, she hopped up on to the desk and took a seat upon it, closing the box lightly as to not disturbed the rest of the white rabbits.

"All right, now that we all have today's specimen. Who can tell me what incantations are used to transfigure? And the differences between them, please." Picking her wand up off her desk, she tipped the large top hat back out of her face and fixed her class with a stare. The small Gryffindor was still staring at May as if she were a monster and the lazy Huflepuff was still regarding her as a loon, it was starting to make her a little uneasy.

Setting her own rabbit next to her on the desk, the lightly tapped it with her wand and silently wondered if anyone could answer this. If not, she would have to start with a much more basic lesson than transfiguring live bunnies to hats, maybe something like rocks to bowls would be more effective with this class. But, this lesson was intended to be difficult so Mayella could rank where her students were at after Morley's lessons.

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[Erys Grace]

Erys, who had slipped quietly into the room, muttered her curt apologies, plucking a rabbit from the bin and taking a seat at the back of the room just in time to hear the professor's question. "Uh, isn't it Fera Verto? From the latin words ferus, meaning animal, and verto, meaning I choose. You can use this incantation to change it into anything you want." Then she would add, "Or maybe not." If this was the wrong answer. Hey, at least she was trying.

Erys then gazed down at her bunny, running her fingers along its babysoft white fur. Its too bad I'll be changing you into something. She thought regretfully. You're really cute. Sure, she was a cold-hearted Slytherin, but that didn't mean she didn't like animals. She loved them! She was part cat, for god's sake.[/color]

[Matthew Grace]

"My apologies as well, professor. There were some problems with my entrance papers, but its all sorted out now."

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Lulled a dark, haunting voice from the back of the room. How Matthew had got in there, no one would know. Many except Erys would be surprised, he thought. Surveying the crowd to find once again there wasn't a Slytherin but the siblings in sight, he turned to his sister with a knowing nod. After she explained one of the spells, he added, "I vaguely recall hearing something about a Res Rei Verto being the spell that transforms some objects. Res Rei meaning objects, and Verto transform or change." Grinning, he started up again, "And also Hominis Verto, which would be used to change humans." Take that, Gryffs.

Knowing his addition would be met by nothing short of praise, Matthew glanced at his better half, smirking not in spite but in pity for the others here. His gaze turning more serious, he would ask her with his eyes the question 'Where are all our Slytherins?' and probably be met with a 'No idea'. Pity, she used to talk to plentifully about the accomplishments of her house. They had dwindled to a measly few, and that simply wouldn't do.[/font][/color]

[mayella]

Mayella looked up the moment she heard a creak near the door, and her eyes narrowed a bit. Tardiness would not be some thing she tolerated. "I'm glad you decided to join us, Miss Grace. You're late, but yes, yes. Take a rabbit and have a seat." She said rather irritatedly and the pointer ticker behind her flicked up another 5 points for Slytherin as another student walked in and babbled about being new. "And you, take a rabbit and well unless you'd like to continue interrupting my lesson."

At least the interrupting sneaks, quite rightly placed in Slytherin, would answer her question. "Ah, yes. Fera Verto, quite right. 10 more points to Slytherin... well, make that 15 points to Syltherin since we seem to have a mind-reader among us."

While she spoke, the chalk lifted and began vigorously writing down notes.

Fera verto - for transfiguring animals.
Res rei verto - for transfiguring inanimate objects.
Hominis verto - for transfiguring humans.
Suppono res rei - "the switching spell", exchanges one object for another.

Tonights Assignment.
Write a four page paper explaining each spell in detail. Be sure to include wand movements and possible dangers when not done correctly. Due next session.

When she wrote down the assignment, she could hear the groans of the students but just shrugged it off. This way she'd know whether or not they understood the complexity and dangers of what they would be doing this term. "Alright, I believe you may start now. I'll walk around and give some tips to people, so do not be afraid to ask."

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[blackdahlia]

Dahlia walked in just as the Professor started class. Dahlia walked slowly to her seat, not being rushed, and sat silently alone, as there were no other Slytherins in the room. The rules were laid out, and Dahlia thought she like the Professor. She was strict and she seemed tough. Just the way Dahlia like it. Dahlia was ready to start. The sixth year was itching to get her wand out. She had just come from Divination, and was headed for Herbology after lunch. This was her only chance to do some wand work today.

Dahlia actually managed a smile as the Professor mention biting animals. She looked at the small Gryffindor who had spoken. She wrinkled her nose in and smirk hoping that she would be the one getting bitten. It would be loads of fun.

Rabbits, Dahlia sighed. They were cute and cuddly and disgusting. They were dirty and pitiful. They weren't really good for anything. Hopefully, they would be turning them into a more useful object.

Erys and her brother seemed to slip in the room. But getting caught, Dahlia glanced at her, which was all you were going to get out of Dahlia, if you expected a smile, think again. However, Erys redeemed herself earning 15 points for Slytherin. Dahlia smirked.

However, the smirk vanished back to the normal grimace as they were assigned homework. Dahlia didn't groan like the rest of them, she was to good for that. Instead she promptly took out parchment and wrote down the assignment.

Now back to her rabbit. The thing was trying to eat the desk it seemed, munching on something. She took her wand in hand, and was about to change the rabbit, when a thought popped into her mind. Her hand shot up. "Professor, what exactly are we changing the rabbit into?"

[Erys Grace]

Almost purring with delight as her brother entered the room, Erys beckoned him over with sharp fingernails, giving him a tight hug. His papers were finally through! And they had both earned Slytherin quite a few points. Just as he expected, she answered 'No idea, but theres one' to his question, gesturing with her eyes towards Dahlia, whom had glanced at them before. Please let her not be one of those wannabe-queen bee's, it was enough she had to fight other pathetic's off for the rank. Nodding at her, with no other further greeting, the Slytherin removed the cap on her ink, scrawling down the homework instructions in beautiful script. Imitating the groans the other students made but in an extremely retarded-sounding voice - while they were all still making noises, to cover hers up - she laughed a little, beginning the assignment without further hesitation.

Just like last term, Erys would work hard to bring up Slytherin's score. Second term it was really falling behind, and it was she who brought it up and almost won, if it weren't for those stupid Hufflepuffs and the lack of Slytherin's to help. One girl couldn't do it alone, no matter how much she tried.[/color]

[Matthew Grace]

Matthew chuckled at the mind reader jab, harmless as it may be. Grinning broadly as he and his sister earned Slytherin house points (as it was nearly dead set at zero, most likely) he looked over in the direction of Erys' gesture, a girl named Dahlia. Wasn't there two Dahlia's in his house? How amusing. He too hoped she wasn't the type to try and nick his sister's silent spot. He wouldn't hesitate to help put this girl in her place, even though it was a grim matter to do this to another Slytherin. Sibling loyalties first, house loyalties later. But he shouldn't be making assumptions now just by how she looked; he'd leave that to the other houses.

Laughing at her mimickry, he borrowed a dip of her ink to scratch down the homework in messy handwriting. Not everyone could write as beautifully as Erys did, as he glanced over at her paper to steal some good points for his work. Unfortunately she hadn't written anything but the instructions. So, asking a question about them under his breath - in case the teacher was around to scold him for doing so - he would nod at her answer, then begin jotting down notes for the assignment, to be later put into paragraphs and words.[/color]

[Bradyn Reed]

Bradyn grew bored during the lecture and began to rhythmically tap his wand on the table, lightly enough to not scare his rabbit but still loud enough to make an annoying sound. His sister sure knew how to yap on and on and it just seemed to make an annoying buzzing in his head, but Bray had to admit, she was a better teacher than he expected. Except that she wasn't favoring her own house like Hubbles did, which was something he'd been looking forward to.

Snorting a bit when a few Slytherins came in, he gawked a bit when they were still rewarded with house points. 'She's far too nice. Now we'll have to make up for this. The Claws won't lose.' He thought stubbornly, waiting for an opportunity to throw in comments about Transfiguration. As far as he knew, there were only two animagi in this room; himself, and Erys. Bray, sadly, had to learn she was one the hard way.

When he noticed the assignment on the board, he sighed lightly then took out a piece of parchment and stole Fay's quill off her desk to write it down. Then when all the background information about Transfiguration being dangerous was over and they were finally aloud to start actually doing something, someone just had to ask a dumb question.

Sniggering softly, he decided to be the helpful little guy he was. Plus, Erys probably didn't know either and he didn't want her to get in trouble. "Top hats. White rabbits to black top hats, that's what she said our assignment was."