Lesson One, Third and Fourth Years by Professor Marlowe
The mixed-year class was coming in after lunch. The post-lunch classes were, as even her own memories of being a schoolgirl showed, often as torturous as the post-breakfast classes when it came to focusing. Making things more potentially fun was the presence of her House's third years, the notorious Crotalus third year girls and their one male yearmate. Unless she was very much mistaken, they had almost singlehandedly given Crotalus House its current less-than-lovely reputation. She hadn't personally had any greater problems with them than dealing with a lack of motivation, but they were supposed to have cooled down a bit since they made a name for themselves as first years.Having more or less swallowed a turkey sandwich whole at her desk so she could finish grading the first years' essays and reconfirm - otherwise translated as find - her lesson plans, she was seated and smiling when they filed in.
"Welcome," she said, standing up and moving to stand behind the desk. "I'm guessing you know the drill by now. Notes as usual, get your wands out when you're done writing. Your incantation will be Excavaris Conterra." Momentarily doubting that she had put them up, Selina tried to be subtle about glancing towards the side of the board reserved for notes. Thankfully, they were exactly where they were supposed to be. She'd occasionally toyed with the idea of trying to stop worrying about making mistakes to see if it helped her make fewer of them, but had never actually applied it.
"Excavaris Conterra," she said when it seemed that everyone was done, "is a spell that will transform a given object into a container. The size generally depends upon the caster's skill and desires, and today's products are most likely going to turn out on the small side. Since you've given a mostly good account of yourselves, your original item will be a pincushion, and I believe you each already have one in front of you. Extra points will be given for how pretty the box is. I'll demonstrate."
The pincushions were of the old-fashioned variety, resembling nothing so much as a cloth tomato. Pulling out her wand, she moved it in a pattern resembling an upright and then horizontal numeral eight, saying the spell words as clearly as she could. The little box was ornamented only by double rows of carved lines around the edges, flaring a little at the corners, but it was lined with red cloth. "You may begin."\n\n
Subthreads: Old friends and old enemies by Earl Valentine with Asher Tallow, Earl
Trying to focus by Jordanna Howard
With Firefox's favour, perhaps attempt 2 will work by Zack Dill
I don't like tomatoes... by Anne Wright
Not half bad... by Mia Kerova with Jenna Howard, Stephen Baxter, Mia
<s>bugging</s> <i>Tagging</i> the Professor by Sorrel Craven
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder by Lily Collins with Dalia Bastet, Dalila
Always among the last to arrive... by Kaylie Brockert
0
Professor Marlowe
Lesson One, Third and Fourth Years
0
Professor Marlowe
1
5
Earl Valentine
July 14, 2006 12:18 AM
Old friends and old enemies by Earl Valentine
Earl massaged his stomach. He'd have to go easy on those roast beef sandwiches next time. Five was just one too many. But his eyes still managed to land on Professor Marlowe standing at her desk explaining the day's lesson: boxes.It didn't sound like the most interesting thing ever, so Earl took to staring around at his fellow third and fourth years, who seemed larger in number than last year. Then he realized why. The Hens. They were back. Even though Nicolette had been there last year, she had remained quiet since her fellow Hens had left school. Earl had rejoiced in the news that they had left, but they were back now. Earl cursed under his breath.
He scanned the room once again; this time his eyes landed on a person he was actually happy to see. Asher was back too. She had left at the beginning of last year for some unknown reason and hadn't been back until now. He tried signaling to her from across the room without drawing unwanted attention from the teacher, but Asher didn't seem to see him.
Sighing he turned to face his latest project: the ugly tomato pin cushin. He checked the board for the incantation and realized there was a rather complicated wand motion attatched to the spell. Cursing again, Earl gazed around the room looking for someone to help him.
\n\n
0
Earl Valentine
Old friends and old enemies
67
Earl Valentine
0
5
Standing with the former. . . by Asher Tallow
Asher had met her Transfiguration professor and head of house briefly on the first day of term. In all honesty, she hadn't thought much of the woman- which wasn't to mean that Asher thought badly of her. Asher simply didn't think of, or about, her much at all. Equally truthful would be the fact that a small part of that lack of mental consideration was due to Asher's unfortunate dislike of Transfiguration.She wasn't bad at it; in fact, it was one of her better subjects involving wandwork, landing just slightly below Defense Against the Dark Arts. Asher merely did not like to transfigure. Her mind recognized and knew that the thing she was changing could not feel, and she was never one for over-sentimentality when it came to the inanimate. But when she held her wand and spoke the incantations, something in her simply balked at the spell she was casting.
She didn't know why, but a very large part of her did not like to force a change on anything.
Her ignorance as to the feeling's source left her only more uncomfortable, and Asher hated to feel uncomfortable- especially when it was self-induced. Thoughts of the class had stolen her appetite during lunch, and she could only push and pick at her food, leaving the whole of virtually uneaten. The discomfort only increased once she entered the classroom, her empty stomach churning unpleasantly.
Asher had been one of the first to arrive for class, which was just as well, as she neither noticed the later arrivals or the ones who piled in with her. She took her seat, stomach only growing more agitated, and took to picking at her chin length hair. The black strands hung loose and clumped across her eyes. They did little to hide though, the sweaty palor that gripped her cheeks and the obvious panic the quavered in her dark eyes.
When Professor Marlowe began to speak, Asher's hands changed from a gentle tugging to a full out yanking. How she hated to feel so uncertain, so bothered by something so very trivial. The instructions made their way into her mind, and silently, Asher began to chant the spell needed to change her pincushion into a box, hoping that in making herself familiar with it, her anxiety would soften.
So focused was she on her mantra, that she failed to notice the waving of a hand from across the classroom. She did not look up until the hand finished its waving, and it was then that she recognized her friend and housemate, Earl Valentine. Her stomach stilled considerably at the sight of his spiked hair and familiar brown eyes.
Her mental repetition silenced, and she picked up her bag, wand, and pincushion, and hurriedly made her way over to him. She dropped her arm-full carelessly, and in a slightly breathless voice, said, "She won't mind if we work on this together, right?"
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
0
Asher Tallow
Standing with the former. . .
1466
Asher Tallow
0
5
Jordanna Howard
July 14, 2006 9:42 AM
Trying to focus by Jordanna Howard
Jordanna arrived at the class early, taking a seat in the middle of the third row- showing she was enthusiastic, but not at all in a nerdy way. She was not going to mess this one up. When motivated she could work hard. And with the party she was hoping to set up in Crotalus common room on the line, she had just the motivation she needed.Pulling out a scroll, a jar of baby blue ink, and a brightly colored peacock feather quill she looked like a studious student, with obvious fashion improvements.
She wrote her name on the heading of the scroll, trying it in different styles, deciding which signature she liked best. There was nothing better to do to wait for the class to start.
And then finally it did, and she looked up, turning her attention to the teacher. In her flowery script she wrote down the name of the incantation, admired her own handwriting, and then her mind began to wander. To shoes, of course, because she realized that her handwriting reminded her of the logo of her favorite witches’ high-end shoe store. Which made her think of casual shoes, pointed wizard’s shoes, sandals, opened toe fancy shoes…
Jordanna blinked trying to shake it off. And then for a while she went back and made the dot of the “I” in “Excavaris Conterra”. No, she was going to pay attention; she was going to make a good impression on this teacher. She needed to make a good impression on this teacher. If she ever wanted to get her way later on.
Since she was totally lost on the lecture, the girl turned helplessly to the notes on the board. They were transfiguring tacky pincushions into containers apparently… like she was ever going to need that again in her life. No- she had to stay focused! Containers, containers, she quizzed her mind to see how it could possibly interest her.
Jewelry boxes were containers. Jordanna liked jewelry. And you got awarded for prettiness, which was good. Already she pictured the cutest pink little jewelry box in her head.
The thirteen year-old smiled, almost proud of herself. See, she could do this. Just because she put (what some may call excessive) time and care into her blond hair and her clothes and every other aesthetic feature imaginable did not mean she couldn’t follow this pauper work when she chose too. Even if she didn’t think she would ever have a need for it again.
Of course, all enthusiasm must have its limits.
And she certainly wasn’t going to get up from her seat and walk to the front of the class then all the way back for some tacky tomato cushion.
“Excuse me,” she said to someone walking by her, obviously going up for one of the pincushions, “But while you’re up, would you get me a pincushion, too? Thanks," she said, not even waiting for them to reply.
She was still Jordanna Howard, after all.
\n\n
0
Jordanna Howard
Trying to focus
65
Jordanna Howard
0
5
Well, you know you're not part of the latter by Earl
Earl looked up, a huge grine on his face. Why he was smiling like an idiot was beyond him. Maybe it was just seeing him friend again. Mqaybe it was the fact that she might be able to help him with the box. This wasn't the time to ponder over these things anyways. He coughed to hide the grin and awnswered her question."I don't care if she minds. We're working together...that's all there is to it." He stared blankly at her for a moment before shaking his head and staring back down at his pin cushion.
"So....d'you know that wand motion thing? Cos that looked crazy hard. I guess I should've paid more attention. I don't even remember the words now." He stopped and looked at Asher again. "I'm rambling, aren't I?"\n\n
0
Earl
Well, you know you're not part of the latter
0
Earl
0
5
True. . .but you never know what might change by Asher Tallow
More the tension eased once Earl Valentine spoke. It was easy to see what Asher liked in him: no guile, no blood-pride, nothing proper or fancy in address; he was completely normal and reasoned. It felt natural to hear him speak, and it was in that same feeling that she replied.Her smile crawled slowly as she spoke, poking from the left half of her mouth and nudging upward. "Yes; they're Excavaris Conterra; and no, you're not quite rambling."
The smile fell into a half bloom, and began to straighten her hastily gathered supplies into neater stacks. She settled her wand over the top of the stack, and pushed her pincushion so that it centered the surface. "It looks like a cross made of infinity signs," she explained, surprised that she had managed to ingest so much of the lesson despite her agitation. (That agitation was, ever so thankfully, taking a current reprieve from her stomach.)
She demonstrated with her index finger, matching the shape perfectly to that of Professor Marlowe's. "I don't like transfiguring, though," she admitted. "So can I watch while you try it?"
She reasoned internally that perhaps if she took baby steps toward the idea, it wouldn't leave her so bothered. She would watch Earl Valentine practise a few times, and then when her stomach felt untouched and upset, she would try it herself.\n\n
0
Asher Tallow
True. . .but you never know what might change
1466
Asher Tallow
0
5
You could never change by Earl
Earl watched Asher's finger trace through the air. He absently mimicked the motions with his wand, trying to get it right. Sfter afew moments, he felt he got the jist of it and stopped."Um, yeah...sure," he replied to Asher's question about watching him. But with Asher intently watching, Earl felt a bit more awkward than normal. Earl coughed, trying to prepare himself for the spell, took a deep breath and said the incantation loudly and clearly, while trying the wand motions.
His pin cushion started to vibrate on the desk. It continued for a good ten seconds before stopping, at which time Earl leaned over for a closer look at the slightly less plush pin cushion.
"Does it look more...I dunno...rigid to you?"\n\n
0
Earl
You could never change
0
Earl
0
5
Change is lame. by Asher Tallow
Her stomach flipped once Earl Valentine spoke the spell. For the few seconds that the pin cushion spun, she felt dangerously close to vomitting. As soon as the cushion stilled, untransformed, her stomach rested, the bile returning to where it should. She breathed deeply through her nose and barely heard Earl's question.Pointedly not looking at it, she answered in a weak voice, "Definitely. You should try again."
She told herself that it was only in her head, that these physical symptoms were just mentally induced problems, and that if she concentrated and focused hard enough, the tension and nausea would go away. "You have to picture it, though. See it as a box as you do the spell, otherwise it won't go."
"You should try again," she repeated, the direction more to herself than to her partner. She willed her stomach into obedience and forced herself to picture the cushion as a box- envisioned the change as it should occur. She could think the transfigration, she could picture it, surely, surely, this time, she could stand it.
"Go ahead," she said, and then she waited, breath unconsciously held.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
0
Asher Tallow
Change is lame.
1466
Asher Tallow
0
5
With Firefox's favour, perhaps attempt 2 will work by Zack Dill
Zack arrived early and possessively claimed his normal seat in the front row, just off center. Like his table in the library, it was important to establish at the begining of the year where he was going to make a habit of sitting. And front row, two chairs to the left of absolute center, was his. It was carefully chosen to reflect his genius (because there was a certain amount of expectation for geniuses, even ones with perfect vision, to sit in the front row) and his level of self-respect (only the utterly self-centered or hopelessly sycophantic sat in the middle of the front row).Once seated, he opened his notebook and began translating the notes into his own personal mix of Sindarian, Kling-on, and the words he made up himself to fill in the gaps of his vocabulary in both languages. He paused momentary when the professor began speaking, but resumed his translation when he realized she wasn't saying anything he didn't know from last year or the notes he'd already transcribed.
He'd finished well before most of his peers and took the opportunity to locate his wand (it had gotten mixed in with his pens and pencils over the summer) and put it on the desk just over the top of his notebook where he'd be able to find it when he needed it later. By then, Marlowe was starting the lecture proper and he gave her the undivided attention she warranted.
He'd learned within the first half year at Sonora that spellcraft was largely shaped by two factors. If either of these was lacking, the spell would fail. So in the past three years, Zack had developed an intricate method of recording pronounciation and wand movement into his notes. The pronounciation guides were recorded in several alphabets including Star Wars' Basic for harsh sounds and Tolkien's elvish letters for more lyrical sounds.
The wand movements were diagramed in a more mathmatical framework. He took great care recording precise vectors of movement and velocity for all points of the wand, as well as noting any spin that might be applied, and noting the elapsed time for each step. He was quite proud of the system. He had it down to a science, if he did say so himself.
Once he finished adding those critical bits of information to his notes, he took a practice run on the latin words, to see if his native born Detroit tongue could form the right sounds, then gave a dry test of wand motion. Satisfied that these were both within acceptable boundries, he turned to the third component of magic.
Unfortunately, there was no way to quantify imagination in one's notes, so he left that out of them. It was just a given element that he expected he'd always remember to work through. Not that he had to work very hard with it. Even his elementary school teachers had been quick to inform him, his parents, and just about every adult they came across that he had 'a very vivid imagination.'
This time it was particularly important because Marlowe had said her grade would reflect how fancy his container came out. Zack would not be outdone by any upstart dreamer. He was an Alderaanian and he would not permit himself to be outscored.
He first went through his memory banks, trying to find a box or bag that Princess Leia was known for, but nothing specific came up. He thought there might have been a golden box either in the Ewok village or Jabba's Palace, but he couldn't draw up any details.
Failing that, he searched his recollection of the prequels for one belonging to Amidala but that didn't come up with anything clearer. Starting to become desperate, he tried Star Trek and Lord of the Rings, but while both utilized containers of various shapes and sizes, nothing was distinctive enough for him.
He was about to despair and resort to insisting that yes, the Millennium Falcon is a container - it's a smuggling vessel and therefore by its very definition, it contains things, when he struck upon Stargate.
At first he began picturing a sarcophogus, but then he remembered the Canopic Jars in that episode where Osiris first takes Sarah as a host. He'd done a lot of research on Egypt after seeing that episode, trying to figure out if there were any other Go'auld on Earth, still waiting to escape centuries of confinement, so he remembered what those ornate jars looked like very well.
He closed his eyes and pictured it. It was a far cry from a misshapen felt tomato, and when he opened his eyes, he was a little started by its fuzzy redness, sitting there where he'd just seen a ancient Egyptian artifact once owned by Gods. False gods. Aliens. Whatever they were.
He shook his head to clear it and picked up his wand. "Excavaris Conterra," he said, while having his wand trace out a figure eight which then flowed smoothly into an infinity sign. The tomatoe grew taller and thinner, fading to more ancient looking shades. The jar had probably once been as brilliant as the tomato, but the pictures he'd seen had all been of them after they'd laid underground for centuries.
He sat back, putting his wand down beside the jar, and nodded in self-satisfaction. He just hoped he hadn't done such a good job that Osiris was in there now. He checked to make sure the airtight seal was unbroken, just to be safe. He sat back with a sigh of relief when he saw that it was.\n\n
1
Zack Dill
With Firefox's favour, perhaps attempt 2 will work
40
Zack Dill
0
5
Unless that change is winning the lottery by Earl
Earl looked up from his pincushion to Asher's face. She looked...green somehow. Did the spinning cushion give her motion sickness? But she continued talking and she seemed fine, so Earl just ignored it. Maybe it was lunch. Those sandwiches still weren't settling in his stomach, though it was better than before.Focus returned to the pincushion and heeding Asher's advice, he pictured a box in his head and said the words again.
This time, instead of spinning it just glowed for a moment. Earl stared at it, looking for any changes that might have happened. Then he saw it. A thin line cutting across the top of the cushion. Earl picked the cushion up by it's little, green stem and the top popped off, revealing a hollow inside.
"Holy crap...look Asher! It worked! Kind of, anyways." He grabbed Asher and hugged her tightly before pulling back and looking down apologetically.
"Sorry," he mumbled. "Just got carried away."\n\n
0
Earl
Unless that change is winning the lottery
0
Earl
0
5
Anne Wright
July 22, 2006 2:07 PM
I don't like tomatoes... by Anne Wright
There was a formula, or so Geoff said, for being noticed and liked by teachers. Unfortunately, that formula had the ability to backfire in spectacular fashion if some part of it was pulled off incorrectly. Sliding into the first seat she saw moments before the bell, Anne gave Professor Marlowe an apologetic smile and retrieved her pen and parchment as quickly as possible, remembering the old routine without difficulty. In future, she'd have to remember that working on interesting bits of homework for another class during her lunch break wasn't the best idea, because it was luck and nothing more that had caused her to notice the time just in time to get to class on time.Since she hadn't technically been late, however, the professor couldn't punish her, and that would do. It was impressively hard to care anymore if she was liked or not, so long as her grades stayed at an acceptable level. Writing in a format that included a generous amount of abbreviations and the regular dropping of inconvenient conjunctions, she finished the notes quickly and kept one hand resting on her wand as she waited for the lesson to progress. Since getting it back, she'd been reluctant to let it out of eyeshot or reach. When Marlowe began to speak again, Anne slid it off the desk and held on with both hands in her lap.
So, pincushions to boxes. Pretty boxes, if she wanted extra credit. She might have to give up on the extra credit, because unless her object was a keyboard, she didn't do pretty. She did tempestuous more often than pretty even when it was on a piano. Maybe she could make an argument for the elegance of simplicity or something like that. First priority was to turn the pincushion into a functioning box for full credit before she worried about additional stuff. With a wand movement like that, it would be best to have the words as exact as possible, so she resigned herself to copying Marlowe's weird accent, which thankfully bore a vague resemblance to Geoff's. The English half was stronger with her, and the rest was Boston instead of Charleston, but she'd deal.
Bringing her wand back above the desk, she gave the nine inches of rosewood an almost loving look before trying out the motion until she could do it without awkward starts and stops. Satisfied with her performance, she began the process for real, aiming the tip of the wand at the pincushion and saying the words aloud, mimicking even the pitch of Professor Marlowe's voice. She had been the despair of Master Kirke for the first two years of music lessons because of her ability to imitate almost anything she heard, because he could only rarely tell when she'd learned the music the proper way and when she was just memorizing by ear. She had learned how to do it right, but she hadn't lost the original ability, either.
Maybe it was because of that, or maybe it was because of her having had the theme of Swan Lake stuck in her head all through the morning classes, but Anne caught herself laughing aloud at the finished product. The box was black, but around the edges were measured, evenly spaced strips of white - the keys of a piano. \n\n
16
Anne Wright
I don't like tomatoes...
59
Anne Wright
0
5
Not half bad... by Mia Kerova
Mia entered the transfiguration room in the ‘on time’ block. She wasn’t late, or very early, just simply on time. Had she still been ill, she definitely would have been late. Her colds, which were more common then they ought to have been, made her ten times slower. But, her previous cold passed and with ease, thanks to the school nurse even though she really didn’t need to be taken there in the middle of the opening feast, and she felt ready for just about anything. It only helped that she was going to a class where she’d get to use her wand again.Mia took a random seat at the end of one of the middle rows, propping her bag up against the leg of the desk. She had that same black bag autographed by her friends since her first year and it was fairing pretty well against the text books and papers and other things she might throw in there at one time or another. She pulled out what to write with and what to write on and waited for the professor to start class. She did what she would normally do while waiting for class to start. She took her wand from her pocket and spun it through her fingers.
Mia put her wand down on the desk when the lesson began. She jotted down the notes quickly and slid the paper aside. She pushed the pincushion back and forth between her hands, quite similarly to what Silk might do, as she watched the professor’s demonstration. The wand movements for some of these spells were pretty weird, but she was good at catching on. After a few years, Mia could safely say she was good with a wand. It was one of those things that came naturally to her like quidditch might come naturally to others, but not her. She didn’t mind flying, but she did mind trying to balance herself on a broom in the air with people trying to knock her off of it. She did make a point to watch the games though.
When the students were told to begin, Mia stopped passing the pincushion around and took up her wand again. She practiced the wand movement to make sure it was what the professor had done and then looked at the pincushion when she felt comfortable with it. She tried to think of what she might want the finished box to look like. The first thing that came to mind was a jewelry box that used to be on her mother’s nightstand. Mia had always loved the way it looked, but Lyn quickly got rid of it when Noah left since he had given it to her as an anniversary gift. She decided not to make that in fear she’d get it right and then feel the need to throw it hard across the room.
Then she remembered a nice looking box she had received as a present when she was a little younger. Mia wasn’t sure where it was now, but it was around her house somewhere. It wasn’t necessarily for jewelry, but it was a pretty box. Mia thought hard on what it looked like and then thought about the spell. She whispered it to herself a few times and then pointed her wand at the pincushion, speaking the words clearly.
“Excavaris Conterra.”
She watched the little red pincushion grow and change and when it finally stopped, Mia eyed it. It was a polished mahogany box with a wavy line lightly carved through the center and filled in silver. It didn’t look like a total mistake since the dips in the line were, for the most part, even. The rose carved out on the lid came out nicely even if it was the red of the pincushion rather than the deeper red of a rose. Mia opened it and saw only wood. The original box had a velvet interior, but Professor Marlowe didn’t know that and it didn’t look bad without it, just a little plain.
Mia closed her box and put her wand down next to it. She made a mental note to look for the original box when she went home though she doubted she'd find it. She let her eyes wander a little at the other boxes around the room to see how other people made theirs.\n\n
0
Mia Kerova
Not half bad...
0
Mia Kerova
0
5
I don't believe in the lottery. by Asher Tallow
Springtime when she was eight years old: Asher had stumbled upon a faerie's circle, the line of mushrooms lining out a buffalo hollow. The grass reached above her knees, and the grey spotted mushrooms peaked between the blades like flattened moons. The circle had been long abandoned, left to the hollow's own whims and fancies. She threw sunflower seeds into it that spring, and when they bloomed, the full orange and black heads heavy above her own, she barely noticed the circle's decay. It was only come the next spring that she saw how her flowers had killed the circle entirely and the grass had wilted from the loss.Some things shouldn't be changed; some things should be left as nature intended, as the creator's hand intended. That faerie circle should have been left alone and untouched and unchanged. There was an intense wrongness to do or act otherwise, and Asher felt all the fullness of that feeling the moment Earl spoke the spell again. Her vision fell dangerously dim, and whatever words her classmate spoke went unheard. There was only a low pitched wailing in her ears, a human sort of cry she had heard before; the sound shook at her thoughts and made her eyes feel numb. The numbness spread quickly from there: to her throat which could not speak, to her hands which could not move, to her chest which could not expand.
The feeling rocked her body in its entirety, and for a clear quarter-second of uninfluenced thought she knew that she was about to faint.
A bare heartbeat later and the black numbness that had engulfed her vanished; a pair of arms, quick and warm, and unfamiliar surrounded her for a brief touch that gripped tightly and then jarringly released. Her eyes regained their sight as did her ears their hearing: Earl Valentine, a hollowed pin cushion, and an oblivious classroom. "Sorry," she heard him say. "Just got carried away."
"That's o-" she swallowed, realization dawning. He had hugged her. "Good job," she amended instead, avoiding mentioning it at all. "I think we can consider the assignment complete, don't you?"
Asher steadfastly refused to consider a third attempt at the spell. At present, her thoughts were unclouded, her heart calm, and her emotions balmed. The only remaining blackness from the strange reaction to the spell was a small, smidgeon of unfortunate truth: Asher Tallow had something very wrong with her.
And it wasn't anything the medic could possibly ever fix.\n\n
0
Asher Tallow
I don't believe in the lottery.
1466
Asher Tallow
0
5
Sorrel Craven
July 24, 2006 2:28 PM
<s>bugging</s> <i>Tagging</i> the Professor by Sorrel Craven
Transfiguration was a drag. Sorrel had always hated it and never been much good at it (a link between the two was probable). Now, as they'd got older, she was finding it even more of a chore (read as 'problem') and utterly pointless (read as 'difficult'). Everyone always went on about how dangerous is was to mess about in Transfiguration classes, but she'd never really got that. Transfigurations couldn't be used in a fight, they didn't have claws, but they were complicated. They were for nerdy pacifists, which she definitely was not.As with the other classes she didn't like (which was generally Charms, though it varied depending on what the subject matter was) she put more effort into trying to cause a disturbance. It passed the time far more effectively than doing work. Since her decision over the summer that she was wearing make up for socio-political causes, she had decided that that might be a fun way to try and disrupt the lessons. If the teachers did things that were unfair (and she recalled generally feeling like they did) and she called them out on it, it was them that was at fault. She'd probably get in trouble for it anyway, but she'd be a political prisoner then, which sounded quite cool.
So, for the first time in her life, she paid rapt attention, trying to find fault with Professor Marlowe's instructions. She'd outwitted Ash on quite a few occasions, and was naturally obstreperous and argumentative, so it wasn't like it would be difficult for her to find pointless details to split hairs over. Marlowe was easy. The suggestion that they made pretty boxes for extra marks would have annoyed her anyway, because it was so lame and sickening. Reading through her notes, practically a transciption of what Marlowe had said, she found cause to deem it unfair.
"Professor?" she asked ever-so-seemingly-politely, raising her hand. "You said the spell responds to the caster's desire," she pointed out, "So if the caster is someone who doesn't want to make an ornamental box, because they can't see the point of them, then they can't get extra credit. Your marking scheme discriminates against the practically minded," she pointed out. \n\n
13
Sorrel Craven
<s>bugging</s> <i>Tagging</i> the Professor
51
Sorrel Craven
0
5
I'm still a lost cause by Jenna Howard
Jenna stared blankly at the front of the room as the teacher gave the traditional lecture. There was no use in paying attention, a) because all of the notes were on the board, and b) it seemed that try as she might, and no matter how many books she read (and she read quite a few) she would never be proficient in this class. Or Charms, or Defense Against the Dark Arts, for that matter. Wand waving was just not her forte, and it was something that could not be helped.She rested her elbows on the desk, chin on hands, trying to think of ways out of it, wondering how likely the teacher was to realize if she hid her tomato in her book bag, took out a piece of paper, and made one of those folded paper box type things. It was hard to tell, seeing at this was Jenna’s first class with this particular Transfiguration teacher. Besides, she didn’t know how to make one of those folded paper box type things anyway.
Then she heard her sister whine to someone walking to the front of the classroom to get the tomato for her, and without moving from her chin resting on hand position said, “It’s on your desk, genius.”
Not the kind to start trouble, there was only one thing to do- resort to humiliating herself and actually attempting to complete the spell. She twirled the wand between her fingers ruefully, plopping the tomato down on the table, sure that nothing good could come out of this.
Well, if she was going to attempt this, might as well try it the right way. She’d go for making a mini cauldron of pewter. A simple design, but then, beauty was in the eye of the beholder, and Jenna didn’t like to set goals for herself she didn’t think she could reach.
“Excavaris Conterra.”
Gray eyes watched for change- or lack thereof. She watched as a small cavity slowly grew in the tomato- which was turning a depressing and dull shade of gray. As it changed it became lopsided, extremely so, and she watched with an irritated glare as it toppled over and onto floor. The pathetic looking thing (she wasn’t exactly sure what to call the gray beanie thing with a small, uneven depression) had not changed in material at all.
She watched as the stupid thing rolled over and tapped someone’s foot, and in her mind declared it lost. Jenna was certainly not going to ask for the thing and call attention to the fact that she had failed. Then she looked up at the owner the foot, and after a minute registered a friend from before her third year.
Jenna had never been particularly close with the other girl, but they had often worked together in classes. Whatever the case, Mia looked as if she had been successful with the class work and was looking around the room and not paying attention to her foot, so Jenna was still safe. She still was against picking up the would-be cauldron and confirming anyone’s thoughts that it was hers. After all, the girl still had a grain of dignity left in her.
\n\n
0
Jenna Howard
I'm still a lost cause
46
Jenna Howard
0
5
Lily Collins
July 25, 2006 5:54 PM
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder by Lily Collins
Lily took a seat in the back. The front was for goody-goody suck-ups, brainy people and people with poor eyesight. This was a belief she'd had since first grade. While she was fairly intelligent, she wasn't one of those types was obsessed with good grades. Her vision was fine and the last thing Lily was was a prissy goody-goody. She may not have been the "scary girl" anymore but old habits and thought patterns were hard to break.She listened to the instructions. Transfiguration wasn't a subject Lily had much problems with. She got her tomato pin-cushion and looked at with a bit of distaste. She had nothing against tomatoes but her grandma Claire had one of these, and Lily didn't want to remember anything about that part of her life, even if it was just a silly pincushion, that she'd never even had issues with. It would be something else soon enough anyway.
Lily was trying to think of the type of box she wanted, when she heard the infamous Sorrel Craven speak up,
"You said the spell responds to the caster's desire," she pointed out, "So if the caster is someone who doesn't want to make an ornamental box, because they can't see the point of them, then they can't get extra credit. Your marking scheme discriminates against the practically minded"
Lily snickered to herself. Sorrel had a point. Who was to say what was pretty anyway? She was sure her own ideas of what was pleasant to look at radically differed from that of say, the third years in her house or her mother's or even Kaylie's.
She decided to envision a box that wasn't traditionally pretty. It was a round orange wooden box with olive green trim and a design of green olives. Lily did the wand movements and pronounced the words of the spell. She looked at the results.
Hmm...not bad. A bit more tomatoey colored than the garish orange she wanted but satisfactory none-the-less.\n\n
11
Lily Collins
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder
45
Lily Collins
0
5
Kaylie Brockert
July 27, 2006 1:35 AMKaylie Brockert
AlumnusHouse: Teppenpaw
Written by: Allegra Brockert
Age in Post: 14
Birthday: July 14
Always among the last to arrive... by Kaylie Brockert
She rushed into Transfiguration and took one of the last available seats, in the second row from the door and third from the front. The class after lunch was always the hardest one for Kaylie to arrive at on time. She always ate with her brother due to his intense fear of eating in the hall. If Kaylie didn't eat with Adam, he wouldn't eat at all. She was extra worried about him these days. Besides, she genuinely liked being around her younger brother.Now,however, Kaylie had to focus all her energy on Transfiguration. It wasn't one of her better classes. In fact, it was one of her worst. She wasn't going to think about poor Adam and the sad look on his face when she had to go to class. Nor would she think of that incredibly cute third year Chris who'd been her partner in Care of Magical Creatures. She snuck a glance at him before turning back to Professor Marlowe's lecture.
She looked down at the pincushion in front of her woefully. Kaylie poked at it with her wand. There was no way she'd manage the extra credit. Pretty boxes required effort and skill. The latter she lacked, and the former she lacked the patience for. With a deep sigh, Kaylie envisioned a simple square box in turquoise with shiny silver trim with black silk lining. It wasn't ideally beautiful but it was the best she thought she'd be capable of.
Correctly pronouncing the words and doing the right motion, Kaylie was pleased to see the outside of the box was just what she hoped for. She opened the box to see....
That it was lined with white fluffy stuffing. She slapped a palm to her forehead. She was never going to do a perfect transfiguration.\n\n
11
Kaylie Brockert
Always among the last to arrive...
43
Kaylie Brockert
0
5
Every time you say that, a lottery dies by Earl
Earl avoided looking at Asher and instead rested his eyes on his pin cushion box. He had hugged her. The concept was as foreign to him as he figured this lesson would be to a muggle. The only girls he had ever hugged were his sister and his mother when he was very little.He figured Asher would yell at him. He knew that if someone tried to hug him, he would have been mad. But instead, she completely ignored it! Earl finally looked up from his cushy box to stare at Asher with her short hair and pale skin...unusually pale. Was that because she was sick abou him hugging her? Probably.
Earl swallowed hard. "Uhh...yeah. That should be okay. You wanna try now?"\n\n
0
Earl
Every time you say that, a lottery dies
0
Earl
0
5
I think orange is beautiful by Dalia Bastet
Dalila was busying herself before class by dipping her quill in her signature deep orange ink and strategically placing little dots all over her notes. When class began, Dalila hurridly copied down the notes and grabbed her pic cushion with zeal.She had to turn this pin cushion into a boxand she make the box look any way she wanted! This was going to be fun. Dalila puilled out her wand and practiced the incantation afew times before setting the spell on the cushion.
But what should the box look like? Wooden, maybe. With a picture? No, that would be way too hard. Dalila concentrated on the design for a few minutes more and when she had gotten some idea of what she wanted it to look like, she said the spell.
It wasn't what she had hoped, but it wasn't horrible. Dalila had thought of her grandmother's jewelery box: a round, laquered wooden box with an opal inlay in the center of the top. Instead, what appeared in front of Dalila was a round wooden box covered in white sparkles. She shrugged her shoulders and glanced at the person's box next to her.
Dalila squealed and leaned in closer to the girl's box. "It's so orange! I love it!"\n\n
0
Dalia Bastet
I think orange is beautiful
0
Dalia Bastet
0
5
Lily
August 05, 2006 6:05 PM
Me too! by Lily
Lily had been doodling when she heard the squeal and comment. She looked up and blinked. "Um, thanks." She replied. She really hadn't been expecting conversation in this class. "Your box is nice too." Lily added, looking over at it. She surveyed the girl next. It wasn't someone she really recognized. "I'm Lily Collins." She'd never use the so-called proper greeting. Lily wasn't a pureblood for starters and would feel hypocritical pretending she was something she wasn't. (Despite her basic decision that she didn't have a mother. She might have said her step-mother Felicity was her mother, but she would have had to have Lily when she was 10.) Besides, she had never been a big fan of what was proper."So, do you like Transfiguration?" Lily asked. "I rather enjoy it myself." She really didn't know what to say. It wasn't always so easy to start a conversation (though technically the other girl started it.) She wasn't one to give out too much personal information about herself and sticking to trivial stuff was so dull.\n\n
11
Lily
Me too!
45
Lily
0
5
Another orange lover...navel or valencia? :) by Dalila
"Dalila Bastet," said Dalila, holding out her hand. Dalila was the qposterchild for Teppenpaw: always friendly and always ready to make new friends, so not getting brushed off was an invitation to be friends in Dalila's book."I've never really thought about it before, but I guess I do like transfiguration." Dalila honestly had never thought about which classes she liked best, with the exception of astronomy which was without a doubt, her favorite. She just went, did her work (most of the time) and talked with the random people she happened to be near.
"In fact, I really, really, like. Turning things into other things...it's pretty cool, if you think about it."
\n\n
0
Dalila
Another orange lover...navel or valencia? :)
0
Dalila
0
5
Stephen Baxter
August 08, 2006 9:49 AM
Two girls... what more could a guy want?...unless its three by Stephen Baxter
Ash was wrong, Stephen thought as he watched Mia in class. It wasn't like he just liked Mia because she was hot. He liked Mia because she was hot, and she was pretty good at these spells too. And she liked animals too, he recalled. She had that cat... Milk or Silk or something. It wasn't like they didn't have anything in common. The professor had said something or other at the start, but it was more through watching Mia that he got an idea of what it was all about.Apparently they were trying to become fairy godmother's or something. Turning pumpkins into coaches; or, as in this case, cloth ball things into girly boxes. No problem. He'd seen Cinderella. Once. When he was a kid. With his Mom. And there was no need for that information to ever be known to anyone. At all. Especially Sorrel.
He glanced at the board to check the usual spot where the notes were written, and was disheartened to note that there was no vaguely familiar 'bibbidy-bobbitu-boo' or whatever the hell that woman had said. But then, he reflected, reading over the real spell, that had been Disney. This was real. The second people started dancing around waving their wand like some kind of fairy and singing would be the day that things got very scary indeed.
He wrote the spell down in his book, although he wasn't really sure what he'd be able to do with it until he glanced over Mia's way again. Pretty boxes. Girls liked pretty boxes. They put their jewelery and stuff in them. He glanced down at his cloth puff thing with renewed interest.
Well, first of all, it'd have to be a lot more empty. And harder, because if it wasn't it'd just flop which wouldn't be any good at all. And the colour was boring. It should be something cool, like red or better yet green. Green was the best colour out there, after all. His desk - he patted it proudly - was still stained a particularly cool shade of green all the way from ... wow, back when Reiner was the Transfig professor. It was an awesome desk.
But he was getting distracted. Mia had managed to turn her puffball into something that seemed pretty good. Somehow that expression she had on her face now that she'd been successful and was looking around made her look even hotter. Stephen watched until she started to look in his direction and then quickly looked down at his own puffy cloth ball. he flipped his wand once, and then putting on his best cocky grin focused on what he wanted.
It had to be green. It had to be something that'd catch attention. It had to be something that'd impress a girl. Probably not Sorrel though, he thought as his ears picked up her talking to the Professor. His grin managed to widen at what he heard for a moment, but then he blocked it out. He had a mission. An important mission.
"Excavaris Conterra."
Well, he thought glancing at the final result with his head slightly tilted, it was eyecatching. It hadn't got much bigger, which was a bit disappointing, but it had gone green. It looked rather like the colour in his desk had seeped into it. It was kind of bumpy with the gaudy reflective faked jewelled look, but definitely eyecatching. And, he checked with a quick poke of a finger, it held its shape. Excellent. The lid might stick a bit, and the centre... well, it was a bit fluffy in there, but it wasn't a bad first effort. He wondered if it was quite what a girl would like though. Mia's was a bit low key in comparation, but he didn't let that put him off.
He stood up, ruffled his hair a bit and ambled over, ducking down to pick up something that was down by Mia's foot and only partly because it gave him a chance to have a look at what part of her legs the school robes revealed. He stood again, grinning at Mia and reaching behind him to place the thing he'd picked up on the desk he thought it might have come from with a distracted "I think you dropped this" before leaning forward to have a proper look at Mia's effort.
"Looking good, Princess," he grinned, while trying to work out how best to gauge whether she'd think his own work as awesome a gift as he thought it'd be.\n\n
39
Stephen Baxter
Two girls... what more could a guy want?...unless its three
49
Stephen Baxter
0
5
*resists urge to smack said guy* by Mia
After peering around the room for a little, Mia looked back at her own box. Something was nagging at the back of her mind about it. It seemed unfinished, not that she knew if the same spell would simply add on whatever was missing or totally mutate the already finished box. She leaned back in her chair staring at it. She pulled her hair back and rested her hands on the back of her head holding her hair like a clip. Then she remembered what was missing from her box. There were supposed to be gold tassels on the edges of the front of the lid. She had forgotten about those.She didn’t think about it for long. Stephen seemed to pop up next to her out of nowhere. This time she made sure to check that the Cravens were in their own seats and not following him. She sat forward, dropping her hands, and glanced to where they were sitting as Stephen returned someone’s misshapen pin cushion. Mia saw Jenna next to her and the misshapen pin cushion on her desk. She didn’t acknowledge it, rather just gave a small wave to her. They didn’t talk much, but they had partnered up in class a few times. Stephen leaned in to look at Mia’s box.
"Looking good, Princess," She blushed for half a second, before figuring he must be talking about her project and not her. Thank god it was only half a second.
“Thanks,” she looked at her box. “I tried to make it look like a gift I got a few years ago. I forgot a few things, but Professor Marlowe doesn’t need to know that.” Mia opened the box to reveal the plain, duller interior and closed it again. "She wanted a box and she got a box." She looked back at Stephen.
“How did yours come out?”\n\n
0
Mia
*resists urge to smack said guy*
0
Mia
0
5
*grins rakishly* by Stephen
Stephen's grin widened at the blush, and he manfully resisted the urge to jump up and shout 'YES!' complete with the arm pump that completed the action. It was touch and go for a moment. Mia definitely didn't think of him as just another Pecari, he was certain, even if the blush didn't last too long."Must have been some gift," Stephen commented, thinking that if it had been the kind of gift that the girl had considered memorable then his own box was definitely on the in. "Mine's pretty awesome," he said, without a trace of irony. "Here, have a look if you like." He put it down on the desk next to Princess' own box, and watched to see her reaction.
OOC: Description was in my last post, in case the lengthy time between that and this means you've forgotten ;) I'd have repeated it but I'm too lazy :-p\n\n
39
Stephen
*grins rakishly*
0
Stephen
0
5
Lily
August 15, 2006 4:47 PM
Not sure I know the difference by Lily
Lily shook the other girl's hand. "Nice to meet you." She smiled. "Yea, transfiguration is great. I mean, there's nothing like it in the muggle world. I'm a half-blood" Lily added, by way of explanation. If the girl was one of those snobs that didn't like non-purebloods, then it was her problem. Of course, Lily knew the girl was a Teppenpaw because she recognized Dalila from seeing the Teppenpaw-Aladren game. And Teppenpaw didn't have much for snobby purebloods, they were the nice house. (Occasionally, too nice, in Lily's opinion, but it was still better than having a stick up your behind, like the third year Crotali.)"There's not really a class here I don't like." Lily admitted. "A few teachers I'm not too fond of, but all the subject matter is pretty cool. I'm not all obsessed with studying though, which is probably why I'm not in Aladren." She grinned. "I can't figure out why I was put in Crotalus other than process of elimination. I'm certainly not rule-driven. Perhaps, it was the down-to-earth thing. You're in Teppenpaw, right?" Lily inquired. "You like it? My second cousin, Kaylie, is in that house."\n\n
11
Lily
Not sure I know the difference
45
Lily
0
5
*rolls eyes* by Mia
Mia gave a half shrug when Stephen commented on the gift. She definitely liked it a lot when she had gotten it and if she knew where it was she’d probably still really like it. It was a simple pretty box that she could put things in. Those kinds of things were handy when you had small items with no idea where to put them and the jewelry boxes are filled with…well, jewelry. Mia mainly had rings and bracelets, but she only had one bracelet that she wore everyday. Her silver charm bracelet from her mother for Christmas two years ago was always on her right wrist minus one of the charms.Mia raised her eyebrows inquiringly with a small smile as Stephen complimented his own box. Knowing him it was something outrageous like his desk. He put his own box next to Mia’s on her desk and she knew she hit the mark.
“Wow,” she said without thinking. It wasn’t a bad wow. It was a ‘she knew what to expect, but seeing it was still a slight shock wow.’ It was definitely a green box, but it was like she said before. Professor Marlow wanted a box and she got one. Now she also had a very green, bejeweled looking box. Mia picked it up and opened it with only a little difficulty. The lid stuck a bit, but it opened in the end. She saw it was soft on the inside. She didn’t know if that was intentional or not. She thought again that the velvet inside her box would’ve been nice.
“Cool box.” She complimented, handing it back to Stephen. “Maybe not the color I would’ve picked, but then again, it’s not mine. It’s cool all the same.”
OOC: No worries. I'm no stranger to laziness. ^_^\n\n
0
Mia
*rolls eyes*
0
Mia
0
5
D'you reckon Jenna'll be rejoining the thread? by Stephen
Stephen basked in the glow of Mia's awe at his box, but was brought up short by the mention of colour. His hand moved a fraction as he thought of snatching the box back, but then through better of it."But... it's green! What possible colour could be more awesome than green?" he asked, confounded. What was he going to do if she- wait. She liked the box, just not the colour so much. Obviously she needed to learn appreciation for the colour green, the most awesome of all colours. Although red was pretty cool too. And so was blue. And orange. But they were all just marginally behind green.
"Take my desk, for example. It's green, and much better than the rest of these brown desks. And frogs are pretty cool. And green jello. Annnnnnnnd," he drew out the word, thinking. "The box," he added.\n\n
39
Stephen
D'you reckon Jenna'll be rejoining the thread?
0
Stephen
0
5
Damn enter button! by Dalila
Dalila was starting to likw Lily more and more the longer they talked. They had a lot in common for two people in seaparate houses.I'm half and half too!" Dalila stated after Lily's remark. "It's always so awesome to find someone else who gets the whole weird differences between muggles and magical people. It's like living in two completely differnt worlds."
After her little burst on muggles and magical folks, Dalila settled down a bit to hear Lily talk again and ask questions for herself.
"I feel the same way about classes. They're all great, but there are some teachers I could do without." She grinned and continued. "Yup, I'm a Tepp, all right, and at least I know exactly why I was put in Teppenpaw; I think it's a great match. Everyone's really nice. I know Kaylie, of course. She's our Seeker for Teppenpaw. I'm a Chaser. She's really good. I didn't know she had family here."\n\n
0
Dalila
Damn enter button!
0
Dalila
0
5