Professor Skies
September 06, 2012 7:39 PM
Beginners Lesson I by Professor Skies
It felt good to be back in a proper school. Not so good that she wouldn't go home most nights but she definitely preferred it to private tutoring. Most tutees were from rich families who thought of her as a governess – an image she loathed for the matronly Victorian air of the word, as much as the implied inferiority. There were bound to be a few pupils of that type here but here she was in charge. If they backchatted or put down any of the other bloodtypes, she could do her best to bring them into line. That was less of an option when said little brat's parents paid your wages directly. Now that both of her daughters were away at boarding school, it made sense for her to come back to working a proper job. It had been advertised as subbing but there was a chance of taking it permanently, assuming that both she and the school liked each other well enough.“Good morning,” she greeted the assembled first and second years. “I am Professor Skies and I will be taking you for Transfiguration this term. We will be focussing on non-animate to non-animate Transfigurations– that is objects into other objects as this is the simplest branch of Transfiguration. That said, it can still be very difficult, and you must not get disheartened if you do not get big results immediately,” she felt that it was easy for her subject to slip down students' lists as they enjoyed the big flashy results of beginner Charms. Even making mistakes in other subjects tended to have dramatic consequences, whereas in Tranfiguration you just tended to not fully achieve what you had wanted. “Today will be pebbles into buttons,” she informed them, “Take one and pass it on,” she instructed, handing a box of pebbles to the student on the end of the front row, Each was smooth and shiny and relatively flat, although they varied a little in size and colour.
“I also have a handout for you. It is a template for a Transfiguration Table. I would like all of the first years to take one. Second years, I would prefer you to try to do your table from scratch but if you are unfamiliar with this teaching method, please help yourself to a handout, although there are plenty of notes to help you in the textbook,” the sheet that was being passed around was a simple table of common object characteristics, such as size, shape and function with an empty box next to each one. “The table is designed to help you focus on the similarities and differences between your current object and the target object. This is a process that you will learn to internalise as you become more experienced but it is helpful to actively work through it when the subject is new to you. Every two objects, however different they seem, have something in common. Even if it's the tiniest little thing it is useful for you. Changing everything about an object is a monumental task and usually one that it's difficult to wrap your head around. By focussing only on those things which you need to change, you can channel your energy more effectively, and hopefully make bigger changes where they are needed.
“When you are ready to move onto the spell, the incantation is Pangolus and you will want to make a single circle with your wand,” the chalk behind her scribbled key pieces of information onto the board as she spoke, “For those of you who are righthanded, the circle should be clockwise. For those of you who are left handed, a counter-clockwise circle also works on this spell. It is generally less effective but it is likely to be more effective if it feels more comfortable or natural for you.
“If you are stuck, chapter 2 of the textbook has a section on writing Transfiguration Tables, whilst chapter 3 introduces inanimate transfigurations. You may also discuss your problems quietly with your neighbours, or call on me if you require any assistance. You may begin.” Selina hoped to enjoy at least a good few minutes of nothing more than quills scratching on parchment before the casting began. Transfiguration was usually a safe profession. It was very difficult to produce results and therefore definitely difficult to overdo things. Of course, that didn't prevent utterly unrelated catastrophes but she definitely felt she sent students to the hospital wing less often than her Charms colleagues, and far, far less often than those in Defence.
OOC - you know the rules. Long (min. 200 words), interesting but realistic posts. No blowing up my classroom or each other. Tag me in the subject line and please state your house in the author line of your first post.
Subthreads: Let's be partners! by Wendy Canterbury - Pecari with Alexandra D'Alesandro, Wendy, Alex, Crotalus
Pebbles, Buttons; What's the Difference? by Rupert Princeton, Pecari with Lucian D'Alesandro, Aladren, Rupert
Some are more beginner than others... by Effie Arbon with Alan Raines, Teppenpaw
My first frown (if only for a moment) by Marcus Crosby, Teppenpaw with Lucrezia Renaldi, Crotalus
The easy button by Liam Ammon, Pecari with Melanie Lennox, Teppenpaw
Without effort. (Wotw) by Amity Brockert, Aladren with Annette Pierce, Pecari
I didn't think pebbles could do that! by Carter Browning, Teppenpaw with Carrie O'Malley, Crotalus, Carter
You wanted buttons, right? by Clara Abernathy, Pecari with Annabelle Pierce, Pecari
This will work, this will work, this will work.... by Henry Carey, Crotalus
Starting off a little cleaner by McKinley Andrews, Crotalus
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Professor Skies
Beginners Lesson I
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Professor Skies
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Liam Ammon, Pecari
September 13, 2012 12:27 PM
The easy button by Liam Ammon, Pecari
Transfiguration was not Liam's forte. This wasn't for lack of trying either; he just didn't have the intense focus it required to force the physical characteristics from one object onto another. Last year, during their first lesson, the young Pecari was so fascinated by the progress of his peers that he barely managed a spark within his own bubble. Plus, the only frame of reference he'd had for how to properly hold a wand came from Hollywood, so that obviously was of no help. Had it not been for the odd book assignment and sheer luck, Liam would have failed for sure. Unsurprisingly, he discovered his talents were better suited for more practical applications--potions, for example.Over the summer, since they weren't allowed to practice magic, the boy spent a lot of time studying, and even more time getting used to wand. After all, he wasn't a boy awkwardly waving about a stick pretending to hex his brothers, he was a young wizard with real power--he needed to get used to this new extension of himself. Being a muggleborn was a social handicap already, Liam wasn't willing to add "inept at wandwork" to his ever growing list of flaws.
Soon the summer had come and gone, and here he was, back at Sonora, ready to show the purebloods that muggleborns could be great at magic too--hopefully, anyway.
Liam was a little late entering the classroom, and quickly chose a seat near the front of the room. He removed a quill and some parchment from his bag, and listened intently as the professor introduced herself and began the lesson. The second year was glad that they weren’t moving on to animate object just yet, and couldn’t help the small sigh of relief that escaped him as a the pebbles began to circulate through the classroom.
“This shouldn’t be too hard.” Liam thought to himself as he selected his pebble and passing the box on to his neighbor. His pebble was flat enough, and about the size of a muggle dollar coin. He turned it over in his hand a few times, examining it with intense blue eyes as the professor’s instructions about transfiguration tables vaguely registered with the boy. He considered taking the first year hand out, but instead pulled out his transfiguration text book and flipped to chapter two.
He began by writing down the obvious similarities between pebbles and buttons; small, round, flat. Some had holes in them, some didn’t. Liam was pretty sure that at some point in history rocks were even used as buttons. He examined the small stone in his hand again, noting the brownish hue and not quite circular shape of it. He squeezed it tightly in the palm of his hand before turning his attention back to his parchment. Liam was itching to try the spell, but he had to make sure he had done all of the appropriate prep work first. He was going to make a button. A glorious, brass button, with two—no, four holes.
With his transfiguration table as complete as it was going to get, the young Pecari placed pebble on the table before him and reached inside his robes to retrieve his wand. His heart was racing, and his ice blue gaze was fixed on the pebble.
“Please work, please work…” He whispered as he tried to picture the pebble as a button, recalling all of the similarities and differences he’d listed. Liam took a deep breath and steadied his slightly shaking wand hand before making the instructed single circle wand movement and reciting, in a more determined voice than usual—
“Pangolus!”
When Liam opened his eyes, his pebble looked mostly unchanged. The only exception was that now, instead of being smooth, the brown pebble had a series of four dents in the center. His heart sank when he realized what he’d done.
“Why did I close my eyes?!” He groaned, shaking his head in dismay before turning his attention away from his failure to see how his neighbor was doing.
“Any luck?”
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Liam Ammon, Pecari
The easy button
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Liam Ammon, Pecari
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Melanie Lennox, Teppenpaw
September 16, 2012 3:25 AM
And the hard pebble by Melanie Lennox, Teppenpaw
One of Melanie's best subjects was Transfiguration. She wasn't just good at the spell casting but all the written work too. As a matter of fact, the Teppenpaw was two years ahead in terms of most of the theoretical work. Not due to any special love of studying and learning, but because Melanie would often help her sister when she needed. The second year was always assisting Valerie in researching and whatnot and the Crotalus had to write more essays and papers than most, given that there were lessons that she just couldn't do. Melanie learned an awful lot that way.Transfiguration though, well it was to be expected that she would be good at the practical part too. Her grandmother had been a Brockert and the gift of transfiguration ability seemed to be quite resilient. Fortunately, the Teppenpaw possessed it. Melanie had even gotten O in this class, but then she'd gotten Os in Charms and Potions too, the latter of which she'd worked especially hard in, because she wanted to learn all about anything that she could to help her sister feel better even though the second year would never be a Healer or anything. Pureblood girls didn't work.
It was an awfully good thing that school came so easily to Melanie too, she would hate to have it added to her worries. She often felt that she had too many for someone her age. Granted, they were mostly about Valerie but she worried about Valerie a lot . Plus, if she wasn't able to learn things fairly quickly and understand them, the Teppenpaw might not have been doing that well in school at all because she was distracted.
As she was right now. Her sister's bronchitis was back and very bad. Melanie was just glad that Valerie had gotten to the medic before it became pneumonia. She still remembered what happened the last time that the Crotalus had caught that. The second year had been so scared that her older sister was going to die-and still blamed herself for the whole thing. If the worst had happened, well, Melanie didn't know how she would have been able to live with herself.
But that hadn't happened, thank Merlin and though she was quite concerned about Valerie now, at least this time around she knew that it wasn't her fault. The only times she ever thought it was was when she'd been sick first. Melanie did everything that she could not to and if she did catch something, she went straight to the medic to get it taken care of.
However,she had to focus on the lesson at hand. Pebbles into buttons. Fill out a Transfiguration Table. Got it. The Teppenpaw quickly wrote down a few things. Both pebbles and buttons were small objects which made it easier to change one into the other because one didn't have to worry about size too much in addition to the shape. They were both hard objects, not soft ones. The texture of a pebble was closer to that of a button than that of a pillow. A pillow that was literally as hard as a rock wasn't a good one at all. Pebbles and buttons were both often round. The main difference that Melanie could think of was that pebbles were natural and buttons were man-made.
Her pebble was white and a bit misshapen. Not perfectly round. Melanie envisioned it flattened and more of a circle than a sphere but the same color, at least to start with. There wasn't any reason to look like a show off if she succeeded in perfect transfiguration or to set herself up for disappointment if she couldn't do it. " Pangolus "
The result was basically a flat rock. Maybe it wasn't perfect but at least Melanie had done something. She'd do even better the next time, especially if it held its shape. In fact, maybe it would even be easier that way because it was already closer to the button then it was when it was completely a pebble. Of course, someday Melanie expected to be able to do this all at once, but for now progress was progress.
The Teppenpaw looked up when she heard her neighbor speak. She recognized him as one of the Pecaris in her year, Liam. "Oh, yes." She replied. "You're Liam, right? I am Melanie Lennox of the St. Louis Lennoxes." She wasn't completely sure he knew hers. It would be far too arrogant to just automatically assume everyone knew who she was. Well, she supposed they'd been in class together last year, even if they hadn't spoken but it was only what was proper to introduce oneself formally. "What about you?" Melanie asked, giving Liam a friendly smile. She didn't want show how down she really was especially to someone she didn't know. She had to maintain her veneer.
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Melanie Lennox, Teppenpaw
And the hard pebble
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Melanie Lennox, Teppenpaw
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Liam
September 19, 2012 9:42 PM
It can't be that hard, right? by Liam
Liam was a little surprised that Melanie knew his name. He’d learned last year that when someone introduced themselves as being a member of a family from a certain city, that it usually meant they were pureblooded, and usually meant that their family tree consisted of someone important. He didn’t know about the St. Louis Lennoxes, he’d never even been to Missouri; but he knew that his classmate was being kind to him, and he needed to return the favor.“Yep, I’m Liam. Liam Ammon. It’s nice to officially meet you, Melanie of the St. Louis Lennoxes.” He said with a smile. He let his gaze wander over to the Teppenpaw girl’s pebble. It was definitely closer to being a button than his was in some way, but he couldn’t help but feel slightly relieved that he wasn’t the only one that didn’t get it on the first try.
“Mine,” He started, picking up the small brown pebble and flipping it over in his hand, “is getting there. I’d hoped to get it the first time, but I guess I still have a lot to learn.” Liam returned the stone to its resting spot on the table before turning back to his classmate.
“I closed my eyes last time, I think I over thought it.” He admitted. “I kind of suck at wand work, but I suppose that’s to be expected.” Liam shrugged and picked up his transfiguration table, his cerulean eyes searching the piece of parchment for error. As far as the young Pecari was concerned, everything looked right--it was just lost in translation.
He wasn’t quite ready to try again. If he couldn’t get it the second time it’d be more embarrassing—particularly considering he was sitting beside a pureblood who was also a girl.
“Why don’t you give it another shot? I’m sure you can get it this time Melanie!” Liam said with a smile. He meant it too; he wanted his classmate to be successful. However, if she was, for some reason, unsuccessful, he wouldn’t feel nearly as nervous about giving it another shot. Magic had been in her blood for centuries, he assumed—Liam had only known about it for a little over a year.
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Liam
It can't be that hard, right?
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Liam
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Melanie
September 23, 2012 5:30 PM
Right! by Melanie
The second year looked over at her classmate's button/pebble. (Bepple? Putton?) Liam seemed a bit disappointed in his progress so far. "It's not bad." Melanie reassured her classmate. "Transfiguration is a difficult subject and at least you got it to do something . You have four little indents where I assume you meant the holes to go and that's a beginning. I'm sure there are some that are doing far worse."Melanie went on. "In fact, a lot of people don't get spells the first time. I didn't either." She gazed down at her own work, which wasn't perfect. The Teppenpaw wasn't and she never tried to be. All she ever did was try to do her best, it was just that things came fairly easily for her. Which sort of made her feel bad as far as Valerie went, because she struggled so much more than Melanie did. Not that her sister was stupid or useless, she was just unwell.
However, it wasn't as if the second year was perfect either. She made mistakes, like ruining her potion, she was given to distraction or sadness at times. Distracted by what was making her sad, which was always the same thing-and it was something that would always be there. In a way, that was good, if Melanie was worried about Valerie, that meant Valerie was still around to worry about.
She thought for a second. "I mean, it could be easier to focus if you close your eyes, I guess. Like to shut out external distractions." Or internal ones like Melanie had, but shutting her eyes didn't help with that. "But it would be kind of hard to see where you're pointing your wand. You could end up transfiguring the wrong thing. Though that would be more difficult because what you're pointing it at might not be as similar to a button as the pebble is. Does that make sense?"
"Either way, I doubt you really, er, suck." Melanie said comfortingly, a way she seemed to speak by instinct. She didn't quite understand the context of the word suck and doubted Liam was using it in the traditional way. However, his general demeanor suggested it meant he wasn't doing well at it.
She rose her wand at the Pecari's suggestion that she try again. "If you insist. Pangolus " This time the button gained two of the four holes that it needed and was the material she'd envisioned it to be. Melanie smiled, pleased at her progress. She felt a little guilty, she didn't want to gloat and make Liam feel bad, but she could help being glad that she'd improve. "Why don't you try again now? I'm sure you'll do even better this time."
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Melanie
Right!
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Melanie
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Liam
September 24, 2012 1:37 AM
Try, try again by Liam
Liam was grateful that Melanie was so supportive of his efforts. He half expected her to scoff at what he had managed to achieve with his spell, but she didn’t. He was used to that sort of thing from purebloods, but now and then there were those who’d surprise you. He tried not to stare at her as though she were some sort of mythical creature (though, in a way, to him she was), and turned his attention back to his pebble. What the girl had to say made sense. Your senses were often sharper when you did away with one; but senses and concentrating were two different things, and blocking out all external distractions seemed impossible to the young boy.“That makes sense…I just don’t know if I could do it. I think I was mostly afraid of the outcome, so I didn’t look.” Liam said with a shrug. The boy laughed when Melanie said she doubted that he sucked. He wasn’t sure if she was trying to be funny or nice, but it made him laugh anyway. He was well aware of his abilities, and his weakness was still wand work.
“Thanks,” He replied as he watched the Teppenpaw girl take another crack at her pebble. “Good luck.” Liam added softly so as not to break the girls concentration. He was glad with his classmate’s outcome, and felt a small glimmer of hope for his own. Melanie had managed two of the four holes, and it was definitely more button and less pebble now.
“Nice job!” He said with a very sincere look towards his classmate. “I guess I’ll try it again. Maybe I’ll go for a wooden button though; brass seems like a pretty high goal for now.” Liam reasoned, adjusting his posture so he was sitting up as straight as possible. He pushed back his sleeves and gripped his wand firmly. Not too firmly, but just tight enough so that he was in charge. The boy the cleared his throat—twice—and with a circular wave of his wand bellowed,
“Pangolus!”
His pebble shook slightly and let out an odd creaking sound before spinning in a complete circle and coming to a stop.
“At least I know I hit it his time…” Liam said, with a hint of nervous laughter in his voice. He picked up his target and immediately noticed that it felt lighter. Upon further inspection, the four dents now went completely through the pebble/button hybrid. One hole was rather narrow, but he could see through it. It was still large by button standards, but it was passable.
“Look at that!” Liam said with a grin as he held his button up to his eye and looked at Melanie through it. “Not bad for a second try!”
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Liam
Try, try again
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Liam
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Melanie
September 28, 2012 5:41 PM
And again by Melanie
The Teppenpaw gave her classmate an encouraging smile. "There's nothing to be afraid of. Others don't do well in this subject either, it's considered one of the hardest." Not for her, but then, Melanie wasn't sure she had a hardest subject because none of them really were difficult for her at all. "And in Transfiguration, the only really scary outcomes don't happen until you're doing it with living objects and get things that are stuck between two forms-and some of those are actually kind of funny."She hadn't always felt that way. When she was little, Melanie had been rather terrified by the idea. She'd been convinced that when the time came, she'd have to do animal transfigurations perfectly or she'd be faced with a horrifying, gruesome creature that was angry at her for being stuck the way it was. Her father had sat her down and showed her some pictures from a book called "Transfigurations Gone Wrong" and Melanie had seen that they were nothing to be afraid of.
"Thank you." The second year replied, at Liam's compliment. She always felt good when she made progress though she wasn't going to beat herself up about it if it wasn't instantaneous. That was only going to make things more difficult when she tried again. An upset witch only caused problems when she attempted magic. That was how accidental magic happened in the first place.
"It might be best not to overdo it." Melanie added. "I mean, if you're not comfortable with your Transfiguration abilities, you might find you make more progress if you don't set your expectations too high. Just do what you think you can manage." A belief she'd developed due to years of trying to make her sister feel better, at least emotionally. Melanie was completely incapable of helping Valerie physically and it really bothered her. Still, she did what she good to soothe her sister when she was feeling upset and inadequate and useless. The Teppenpaw hated for her sister to feel that way too.
She at least partially blamed her mother, of course, for being so completely distant from the Crotalus, writing her off completely. It felt as if Mother didn't care about Valerie at all and when she did express concern, it sounded phony and hollow. She also played the mother of a sick child well, always trying to get sympathy from others which Melanie found disgusting when it was so fake.
"I suppose it's my turn to go." Melanie executed the wand movement once more. "Pangolus". This time she had gotten it and she smiled, pleased. "Your turn." The second year told Liam. "I bet you'll get it this time too."
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Melanie
And again
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Melanie
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Liam
October 07, 2012 6:29 PM
Once more, with feeling! by Liam
Liam's breath caught in his chest when Melanie mentioned animate object transfiguration. He definitely wasn't ready for that. The thought of all of the horribly deformed half transfigured creatures he'd meet in the next few years made his stomach hurt a little. He couldn't help but wonder how Aria would make it through that class. From what he understood, Aria was a vegan, how that would translate to animate object transfiguration was beyond him. He still had time before he'd have to face that topic, and decided to refocus his attention on his button.Melanie had managed to fully change hers in just a few tries. And though she acted as if she knew more than he did, his progress wasn't too far behind. He felt more confident now, and didn't think it would take more than another shot to get it right. Liam took a deep breath, set his button down on the table and waved his wand in the now familiar motion.
"Pangolus!"
The button made the splintering sound again, and upon further inspection, the brown pebble had successfully completed it's transformation to a wooden button
"Awesome..." Liam said with a grin. He was happy with his success, and thought for a moment about high fiving Melanie. Liam hesitated, however, unsure if purebloods knew what that even meant. Instead, he just turned his button over in his hand.
“Nicely done, Lennox.” The Pecari student said, smiling at his classmate.
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Liam
Once more, with feeling!
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Liam
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