Professor Skies
April 25, 2017 9:38 AM
Intermediates - swapsies by Professor Skies
“Good morning,” Professor Skies greeted the intermediates, “Today, we will be starting our unit on switching spells.” This was a subject that came up throughout the curriculum at Sonora, although intermediate level was the first time the students would get practical experience of it - it had only been mentioned in passing during their beginners theory work as a category of transfigurations.“The first question we need to answer is ‘What makes switching spells a type of Transfiguration?’ - on the surface of it, it can seem a lot like a Charm, as you are not really changing one thing into another. Whilst I’m not going to give you the answer to this question today, I would remind you that vanishing and conjuring also come under the umbrella of Transfiguration, which should give you a bit of a starting point... Over the next few weeks, you are going to attempt to answer this question in a short essay, due two weeks on Friday. Chapters five and six of your book should help, but extra reading from other sources is encouraged.
“Today, you can choose between practising switching spells at your desk, or across the classroom.” Professor Skies usually gave two tasks per class. Whilst sometimes she restricted them to particular age groups, she sometimes just let the class set their own pace. This was more for the benefit of the fourth years than anyone else. She would have been very surprised to see a third year attempting the harder task, or a fifth year attempting the easier one, but - especially this early in the term - fourth year was very much a grey area. Some people needed to do a little recapping before they were ready to move on, whilst some people wanted to really plunge in and challenge themselves, and she didn’t want for there to be any sense of shame in working through the first way.
“Take two objects from the box as it comes around, and set them where you would like. Just make sure you are not crossing paths with another person when you cast your spell,” spells crossing each other midair rarely led to good results.
“The spell for all switching spells is ’suppono’ plus the name of the target - that is, the object you are attempting to acquire. The wand movement looks a little like the infinity symbol - that is, a sideways figure of eight - but without being quite completed, and should circle around the object that you are exchanging,” she demonstrated the movement, whilst the chalk drew it out on the board behind her.
“For example, if I like the look of a particular student’s writing implement, I can cast suppono quill,” she looped her wand around a peacock swizzle stick that she had conveniently placed on her desk for such a purpose, directing the trailing end of her infinity symbol towards the quill of a student in the front row. Suddenly, they were holding the drink stirrer instead, whilst their quill lay on Professor Skies’ desk. She swapped them back. “Now, even though there are many quills in the room, I was able to target the particular one that I wanted. This is mostly down to eye gaze and focus of attention. I have tried to avoid duplicate objects in the box, but if you find yourself working on the same item as someone else, focussing clearly on your own object should be enough. However, as the spell is new to many of you, you can avoid mixing them up by adding a specific descriptor - ‘my pencil,’ or ‘blue pencil’ etcetera, or moving further away from the other person.
“I would like you to dedicate the first twenty minutes of the class, minimum, to practising the spell. If you feel you achieve it smoothly, simply move your target object further away from you. After twenty minutes, it is your choice whether you continue to practise the practical work or get started on reading for your essays. You may discuss both the practical and the theory work with your neighbours, if you wish. You may begin.”
OOC - points will be awarded based on length, realism, relevance and creativity. Have fun.
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Intermediates - swapsies
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