Lesson Two: Fifth Years on Transfiguration

Professor Baer

February 11, 2009 7:00 PM

Lesson Two: Fifth Years by Professor Baer

"Hey there, little guys," Caleb cooed at the snails in the tank on his desk and took one out to stroke with his index finger. "Stop looking so nervous. My students aren't gonna kill you." He chuckled as he imagined the snails trying to slink faster as if they understood him and thought he was crazy. If his snails could understand what was going on, they probably wouldn't like it even if it didn't mean death. Unfortunately for them, there was nowhere they could escape to in his cozy classroom if they could get away fast enough.

The fifth years would be practicing vanishing spells, something that would likely appear on their CATS. It was best to start out with simple things because vanishing objects could be difficult. No need to dishearten them from the start. It fit with his usual strategy: start simply and build your way up.

Caleb looked up a few minutes later when his door opened.

"Hello," he greeted his early students. Caleb set the snail back in the tank, wiped his hands on a tissue and awaited the rest of the fifth years by finishing his sorting of graded and ungraded papers. There always seemed to be something to do at Sonora. He still needed to respond to an owl from Terry about Noa's behavior in her class. There were papers to grade, tests to write; the list went on for eternity it seemed, but it was what he lived to do. When class was meant to begin, he had to tear himself away from the letter he was distracted from earlier.

"Hello everyone. I'd like to introduce you to a few friends of mine." He indicated to the snails and lifted one out, letting it sit on his flat palm in full view of the class. "I hope none of you are afraid of handling these animals because they're important for today's lesson, which is practicing vanishing spells. You shouldn't be afraid. They won't hurt you; only slime you a little. Cute, huh?" He stroked the snail's shell and then took out his wand.

"The complexity of a vanishing spell greatly depends on the object you're vanishing and much less on how to perform the actual spell, not that it's unimportant to do the spell correctly of course. Simple objects can be vanished simply enough. Snails are invertebrates meaning they lack a spinal column. They're fairly simple creatures and vanishing them is much less difficult than say, vanishing a mouse or a bird. We'll get to those another day. Don't be surprised if that appears on your CATS exams." He didn't want his fifth years worrying since he had the utmost confidence in their abilities, but he planned to key in on the importance of those exams when he could.

"The spell in itself isn't so difficult, but you do need to get it right. The incantation is spoken 'Evanesco.' Repeat it please, everyone. Evanesco." Caleb listened as the class repeated. "Right. The incantation is coupled with a coiled movement going inward and counterclockwise like so."

Above the snail that was slowly working its way around Caleb's palm, he waved his wand in a counterclockwise coil three times, each curl tightening until his wand stopped over the snail at the center. As his wand moved he spoke firmly; his Staten Island accent didn't hinder his spell work as it did on occasion, "Evanesco."

The snail disappeared only leaving the mucus residue to show it had ever been there. Caleb set a number of snails on a smaller tray and went up and down the rows placing a snail on each occupied desk as he finished his instructions.

"I need to be sure you've mastered the mechanics of this spell before you can move on to more complex objects to vanish so today we'll just be working with the snails. However, there will be some homework for next class that goes into the theory of more complex vanishing." Caleb returned to his desk when each student had a snail and the rest were returned to the larger tank.

"I'd like an essay explaining in greater detail why vanishing something like a snail would be far easier than something like a bird. What are the differences about the two? What would you have to change as the spell caster to make the spell work on a more complex object if the incantation isn't the thing to change? I don't give length minimums. All I ask for is a quality essay and I don't ask for them often." It was true. Essay assignments were rare, but he felt that going deeper into some material would be worthwhile for his students with big examinations coming up. "I want to make sure you understand the material. Work hard today and you won't be vanishing snails for homework as well." He grinned.

"So off to work, folks. I'm happy to answer any questions and feel free to help each other too. If you finish early you can start on your essays. The information is in your text and your common sense."

Caleb sat in his chair and took a few tissues to wipe his hands. On hindsight he could have used the vanishing spell again for such a task, but he reasoned it wasn't always worth it to wave his wand when tissues worked just as well. He moved the box to a visible space on his desk so the students could take if they wanted or hadn't mastered the spell yet.

Subthreads:

The incredible Vanishing Valentines! by Eavan Valentine

The end is nigh... by Elly Eriksson

0 Professor Baer Lesson Two: Fifth Years 0 Professor Baer 1 5

Eavan Valentine

February 23, 2009 3:58 PM

The incredible Vanishing Valentines! by Eavan Valentine

Instead of doing her nightly study session for CATS, Eavan passed out early and ended up waking up feeling better than she had in a long time. A little charm hid the remnant of under eye circles, so she showed up to Transfiguration with a grin on her face, looking alive rather than death warmed over. She took her usual seat, near friends a flashed a smile at Danae, Matt, and Josh.

She wasn't that perturbed by snails. When Eavan was little she used to collect bugs and put them in mason jars. Of course, they were morel likely to be ladybugs, or caterpillars, but the occasional snail made its way into Eavan's bedroom. She was more inclined to think of how cool it would be to learn vanishing spells. Earl had spent a large portion of the summer showing off his magic abilities since he had come of age. Eavan watched a little enviously as Earl vanished dinner from plates, cleaned out the gutters and entertained Taylor by making her juice disappear and reappear again with the spell. But according to him, it was one of few advanced things he could do perfectly all the time. It gave her hope.

She took the snail with a smile of thanks to Professor Baer and before saying the words, quietly did the wand movements over the snail. As though realizing what was in store for it, the snail began to slowly slide towards the edge of the desk, away from Eavan. This didn't matter as Eavan finally put words to movements. "Evaesco!" she said once her concentric circles halted directly over the snail.

Eavan thought she saw the snail shudder, but was more surprised when she suddenly noticed that she was looking at the part of the snail beneath the shell. The shell was still there, but transparent. Was this just a fairly easy spell, or did the Valentines just have a way with making things vanish? The thought brought back vague recollections of her mother and eldest brother, and how both of them seemed to have just vanished. She shook her head roughly, trying to shake the thoughts from her mind. Her long ponytail smacked her in the face before it hit the person sitting next to her.

"Oh sorry! I guess that's how you know when you need a haircut: use as a weapon." She grinned. "So, how're you coming along?"

0 Eavan Valentine The incredible Vanishing Valentines! 86 Eavan Valentine 0 5

Elly Eriksson

March 17, 2009 3:03 PM

The end is nigh... by Elly Eriksson

As she trudged to transfiguration class, Elly mused that she wouldn't have to sit in the back, exchanging confused looks with Echo and Meredith for very long. Not least because Echo was leaving, but also because she wouldn't have to continue with this infernal subject after the end of the year! It wasn't the subject, per se, that Elly didn't like; she loved being able to transfigure stuff. It was the best. The problem was that the work was just so hard. She had tried extra study, loads of practise - she'd even visited the library for reasons other than pranks to try and get through this subject!

The chopping and changing of staff members didn't help much, either; stability wasn't especially important to Elly, but a different teacher every year didn't provide the stability and continuity that other subjects (less cursed classes) could offer. Still, Professor Baer was nicer than Professor Sutekh (who Elly had liked, but thought she was a bit weird), which helped to make the classes more bearable while they were still compulsory.

Today was vanishing; Elly knew it would be hard, but then their teacher went on to explain quite how hard it was. Then there was homework... Elly's head was gradually dropping into her hands as she rapidly lost interest in the class. Still, she didn't have a tendency to give up before she'd started. So, dutifully, Elly peered at her snail while repeating the incantation over to herself in her head.

Four tries of the spell later, the snail was still good and whole, not even a bit paler, and making a slimy trail across her textbook. Elly sighed. She'd hoped in first year that she would outgrow her slow learning; now she was in fifth year it was looking less and less likely. Never mind; once she'd done a spell a couple of times she was almost textbook perfect, so she supposed the slow learning was a slow price to pay. It was just a shame it was so slow... not like Speedy the snail here. Grasping the gastropod before it made a bid for freedom off the edge of her desk, Elly popped the snail back ontop of Intermediate Transfiguration and set to vanishing attempts once more.

0 Elly Eriksson The end is nigh... 92 Elly Eriksson 0 5