Professor Sutekh
September 25, 2007 9:53 AM
First & Second Years. Lesson One by Professor Sutekh
Sanaa Sutekh surveyed her domain. Her classroom was a decent size with windows running along two walls, as the room was situated in a corner of the building. On the other two walls were large moving pictures of several transfigurations, and hanging from the ceiling were tens of cages, all containing various animals she would be needing for the lessons. There were also a few more animals in cages underneath the windows. Her desk was situated at the farthest end of the classroom from the door, and on it sat her most prized possession: a portrait of her late husband, Sacmis.Sanaa had met her husband on one of her regular journeys to Egypt to a Transfiguration Conference on new developments in her field. Sacmis has been giving a presentation on the process of becoming an Animagus. After his lecture she had approached him, as she was halfway through her Animagus training and wished for his guidance. She had come away with a dinner date and his latest textbook. They had been married for ten years, and he had passed away the previous summer. It had been his final wish for her to take a position at a magic school and teach her favourite subject, which is why she had found herself replying to the ad for a new Transfiguration Professor at Sonora Academy.
Sanaa came out of her thoughts as a scuffling of shoes on flagstones caught her attention. She realised that lessons had been due to start a few minutes previously, so she pulled her wand out of a pocket in her dark blue robes and waved her wand at the door and opened it. She watched the students enter the classroom and sit at the desks she had provided, which were in two rows in a semicircle around her desk. Once she was certain she had every student from the first and second years she waved her wand and shut the classroom door.
“Good morning class. My name is Professor Sutekh and I am your new Transfiguration Professor, hopefully for the next few years.” Professor Sutekh walked around from behind her desk and sat on the front part of it as she tucked her short brown hair behind her left ear. “I know that most Transfiguration Professors start off with the usual set up of turning a matchstick into a needle or a beetle into a button. I am forty-two years old and in the thirty-one years I have been allowed to practise magic I have never used this magic outside of the classroom. I am therefore going to start with something completely different which will also be useful.”
Professor Sutekh picked up a stone from beside her seat on the desk and held it up for the class to see.
“I am going to teach you a basic spell which makes life so much easier and simpler, especially if you find yourself caught out in the wild. The first spell I am going to show you is how to change a basic stone into a cup. I have used this transfiguration thousands of times in my life, as I am very clumsy and am constantly breaking my cups.” Professor Sutekh hoped that showing the students how the transfiguration could be applied to everyday life would make them more interested in learning the spell.
“For this spell you tap the stone with your wand,” Professor Sutekh demonstrated, “and say ‘Aqua Vas’.” The stone in her hand morphed from a simple stone into a large gold drinking cup. “Now everybody’s cup will look different and they will all start off rather small, but the more you practise and the older you get the more likely the cup with become bigger as the spell becomes easier. I remember my first cup was the same grey as the stone I had transfigured it from, and about the same size as a thimble.”
Professor Sutekh waved her wand at a pile of rocks in the corner of the classroom and then made a sweeping motion over the students. The rocks rose up and floated over, one to each desk.
“You can work in pairs although I expect each of you to practise on your own stone. Please begin.”
OOC: Remember to keep to at least two or three paragraphs with three sentences in each. Have fun posting.
Subthreads: Rock cup?! by Rilla White with Holly Greer
Rock of Ages by Talitha Cumni with Lucie Dupree, Talitha
Eh... by Lucas Smythe with Hannah Laurent, Lucas
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Professor Sutekh
First & Second Years. Lesson One
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Professor Sutekh
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Talitha Cumni
September 30, 2007 2:46 PM
Rock of Ages by Talitha Cumni
No match sticks into needles? Talitha liked this new professor already! Something new, practical and interesting proved this teacher had at least a bit of imagination. She couldn’t wait to start.Talitha looked at the rock that clunked on her desk. It was dark grey, a bit smaller than the palm of her hand. It was studded with pock marks where softer mineral crystals had eroded from its surface. There were enough quartz deposits in it to give it pretty sparkles when the light hit it just right. An ugly ordinary grey rock in the shade, a showy treasure in the sun. There had to be a lesson in that somewhere.
Talitha remembered Nana’s teachings about nature. She told Talitha stories of the Star People who agreed to become Earth bound and populate the planet. The rock people were the earliest arrivals and learned much before the plants, animals, fish, birds, and humans even got here. One could learn much if they only bothered “talking” to the rocks. They knew wisdom that comes with patience. Endurance under pressure either crumbled a soul to dust or, if one is strong enough, transforms the soul into a thing of value and beauty.
Following the rituals taught to her since before she could speak, she silently asked the rock’s permission to use it for her exercise. It was always good medicine to be polite to nature if you intended to use magic on it. Next, Talitha pick it up and held it in the palm of her left hand, It quickly absorbed the warmth of Talitha’s palm, a good sign. She “thanked” the rock and “asked” it what kind of cup it would like to be. Closing her eyes, she saw the image of a cut crystal mug, clear and casting rainbow reflections everywhere. It was a beautiful mug.
What else could I be? The rock seemed to ask. After all, aren’t my quartz crystals lovely?
Talitha smiled and concentrated very hard on the image of the crystal mug. When she thought she had a very clear picture in her mind about how it should look, she placed the rock back on her desk, tapped the rock with her wand and said Aqua Vas
The rock turned into a… well, a rock. Talitha sighed and tried again. It could have been her imagination, but the rock did seem smoother, less pock marked. One more try and there was a definite divot in the center, big enough to hold about an ounce of water. It sure didn’t look like a crystal mug. It seemed as if the rock was laughing at her.
“Any luck?” she asked the person sitting in the desk next to her as she pushed a stray strand of hair impatiently away from her face.\n
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Talitha Cumni
Rock of Ages
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Talitha Cumni
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Lucie Dupree
October 01, 2007 1:09 AM
Yay! by Lucie Dupree
School was absolutely wonderful! Lucie couldn’t believe that it had taken so long to get here, but she supposed she really hadn’t know what she was missing before, especially with the way Devian and Danae described things during their breaks. She really had no idea why they disliked it so. She had already learned about so many interesting things and had great hope that this class would prove the same.Eagerly enough, the bouncy blonde made her way into the Transfiguration room with the other students. Looking around for an empty seat, she quickly found one and took out her parchment and pen. The fancy quills her parents had bought were all, but forgotten in her dorm room.
The professor said her name was Sutekh and she was new too! Lucie wondered if the professor was as excited as she was to be here. She would guess so since she said that she hoped she would be the professor for the next few years. Lucie had no idea why she would ever want to leave. As the professor continued, Lucie had to wrinkle her nose at the idea of a beetle. Insects certainly weren’t her favorite things, so she was glad they wouldn’t be working with them.
And even though the professor tried to give an example of why they would need to know this spell, Lucie couldn’t really relate. She had grown up in a rather luxurious home; the idea of ever being in the wild was nonexistent. Of course, if she ever did find herself outdoors and thirsty, she supposed the spell would be quite useful. Either way, it was still cool to be learning a spell and using magic, so much so, that she would have even worked with the icky beetles.
Once they could begin, Lucie picked up her stone once it was on her desk, making sure it was close enough and centered in front of her. Tapping her wand on the rock, she commanded, “Aqua Vas!” The rock seemed to move a little, but nothing more really happened. She tried again, a bit more demanding, like her parents always were when saying spells, “Aqua Vas!” A little bump appeared on it. She tried a few more times and succeeded in creating a rather awkward handle.
She was just about to perform the spell when the sound of a voice near her said, ’Any luck? Turning to the voice, she saw a rather unique looking, but pretty girl. Lucie gave a wide grin, always eager to meet new people. She showed her stone to the person. “I made a rock purse,” she said with a giggle. “What about you?” Then, remembering her manners, she added, “Please to meet you. I’m Lucie.”
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Lucie Dupree
Yay!
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Lucie Dupree
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Talitha
October 02, 2007 5:38 PM
Hooray! by Talitha
Talitha watched the little blonde firstie as she tried to do the spell. She seemed to be having a lot more fun as she attempt to turn her rock into a cup than Talitha was. She didn’t seem to mind if she made mistakes either. She just kept trying. Perhaps that was the lesson her rock wanted her to learn. She thanked it for making it clear. She shouldn’t really take her studies so seriously that it sucked all the fun out of them and she should never give up trying.She giggled as the girl answered her question by holding up her rock and pronounced it a purse. She studied the results of her work and saw it a bit differently now that she caught her classmate’s sense of fun. They weren’t expected to get a spell right the first time anyway at least she didn’t blow up the rock and it did do something. Playing the game, she held up her creation.
“I’ve got a hot tub for a very, very small person.” Talitha grinned. “Or maybe it could be used by a regular sized person if they only wanted to soak their big toe.
“I’m Talitha. How do you like school so far?”
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Talitha
Hooray!
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Talitha
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Lucie
October 02, 2007 10:11 PM
Yippee! by Lucie
Lucie’s eyes sparkled, pleased that the person had a sense of humor. Some people just took things too seriously when there really was no need to. Life, in her opinion, was supposed to be fun, not a chore.She thought for a moment on the question of school, before giving another grin. She was always a bundle of smiles. “It’s great. The school is beautiful. My classes are interesting.” Of course, some of the professors seemed a little stuffy, but she supposed that was just part of the experience. “I’ve only met a couple people so far, but they were really nice.” All of this was said in about the breath of a minute in her enthusiasm.
“So, what do you like to do here? I plan on exploring the gardens and the library,” she explained. First, she would go to the library and find a good book, then go to the gardens, planning on finding the perfect spot.
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Lucie
Yippee!
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Lucie
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Talitha
October 03, 2007 1:18 AM
Woot! Woot! by Talitha
Talitha grinned at Lucie’s enthusiasm. That was the way most people were about Sonora. They either loved it or hated it. There were very few neutral parties out there. She was glad that Lucie loved it because Talitha was in that camp.She tried the spell once more on her rock, begging it to cooperate. Well, the sides did look a little higher and the divot was a bit rounder. Still no crystal. Oh, well.
“I love reading. I go to the library as often as I can. It’s a good place to meet with friends if you don’t get crazy loud.” She answered Lucie’s questions as she worked. “The librarian isn’t too strict about talking as long as you keep it down.”
The garden was where Talitha would be spending most of her time this fall and winter. Her owl, who was looked more like an owl instead of a puff ball had most of her flight feathers now and was taking short, hopping flights from her perch to Talitha’s arm for treats of bacon she snuck up to her. It was almost time to teach her to fly and then hunt.
“Oh I love the gardens. There are all kinds of fountains and funny statues. There is a swing that a third year built and it goes really high. I don’t think you could explore where every single path goes even if you tried everyday for the whole seven years you’re here. I usually duck out there when my roomie is in one of her ‘moods’ and the older girls take over the Common Room.” She rolled her eyes conspiratorially, one younger student to another. “Honestly, they think they rule the whole school.”
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Talitha
Woot! Woot!
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Talitha
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Lucie
October 05, 2007 5:22 PM
Three cheers for us! by Lucie
Lucie made a note that the library was a good place to be with friends. She hoped that she made a lot. It was a little hard in all the chaos of everyone trying to get to know everyone else, but she knew it would all work out. She was just optimistic like that.“Aqua vas!” She tapped the stone. The handle seemed to be the main feature of her cup, as it started to smooth out, but still no indents to where one could actually drink out of it. On the plus side, one’s hands could be useful, maybe not as much, but still useful for drinking water. Of course, her grade wouldn’t be that great unless she could make it change. Oh, well, so transfiguration wasn’t going to be her best subject.
On the topic of the swing, Lucie’s eyes lit up. She adored swinging. She wondered if flying was anything like it and really couldn’t wait for lessons. She bit her lip slightly and in excitedly asked, “You just have to show the swing to me. I bet its lots of fun. Please? Pretty please, with a cherry on top?” She gave a sweet grin.
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Lucie
Three cheers for us!
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Lucie
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Talitha
October 08, 2007 12:40 AM
Huzzah! Huzzah! Huzzah! by Talitha
Talitha grinned as the pretty firstie begged to see the swing. Lucie was fun and she was just as excited herself last year when Elly mentioned it to her. She thought a moment. Did she have that right? After all it was Elly’s swing and it was in a secluded place. Maybe Elly didn’t want a bunch of people to know about it. Then again, what stopped someone who stumbled on it to use it and tell their friends about it? It wasn’t like she had posted a privative property sign on it. Besides, Elly was so nice that Talitha was sure she wouldn’t mind sharing it.“Sure I’ll show it to you, Lucie.” Talitha answered, nodding. “I wouldn’t go looking for it on your own though. Its pretty deep inside the maze and kids, even older ones, have been known to get lost in the gardens. It’s embarrassing to have to be led out of there by a professor or Mr. Tellerman. We can meet any time you like.”
She tried the spell again. This time the rocked looked more like a cup about the size you would give to a toddler. She sighed. It still was dark grey will sparkly streaks. No cut glass crystal. Well, I guess you can’t have everything, she thought.
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Talitha
Huzzah! Huzzah! Huzzah!
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Talitha
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