Charming Theories. [VI & VII years] on Charms

Professor Olivers

May 31, 2014 1:07 PM

Charming Theories. [VI & VII years] by Professor Olivers

The amount of time Florence had spent with her fellow staff in that forsaken room had been much too long. Her winter break had been used to recuperate, firstly in solitude in her little cottage in Arizona, and then Christmas at her brother’s. She’d been successful at shaking that claustrophobic feeling off and tried to prepare herself to return to Sonora. Waking up with trepidation the morning after the Welcoming Feast and finding herself still in her own bed in her own chambers was reassuring, and Florence spent the next week cramming the lessons she should have taught last term in this term along with new material. The fifth-years had their CATS and the seventh-years had their RATS coming up, and the poor dears wouldn’t be prepared if she didn’t do something about it.

It was only the second week back to school, and Florence was determined to fully prepare those respective students for the exams at the end of the year. The others who weren’t taking exams, Florence still grilled them, wanting to prepare them anyway. They might hate her now, but at the end of the year they would thank her.

As her Advanced students trickled in, Florence prepared herself for this class at her desk. They were working on theory this week after working all last week on practical charms. She was planning to switch every week, from theoretical to practical work, and hoped that would be enough to cover a year's worth of lessons. When her small group of students had all arrived, she stood and went to the front of the room. “Good afternoon, everyone. This week we are going to be working on Charms theories. We will spend a little more time on these than we did last week on the practical Charms because it’s important that you remember these. For those of you taking your RATS at the end of this term, it is vital to understand. For the sixth-years, it is important you understand them now so you don’t struggle with them next year. Please turn to page 345 in your textbooks.”

Florence waited briefly as her students turned to the respective page. It was somewhat stressful trying to plan such dense lessons and hope that they would understand it all. While she did have some reservations about her Intermediate class, she had much more confidence—at least, more hope—that the older students would understand the work better and be able to keep up.

“There have been a number of theorists who have struggled to understand the subject of Charms. Many of these theorists have focused on abstract principles of both categories, and few have focused on particular spells. One giant in the field of magical theory is Adalbert Waffling whom you will inevitably refer to in your essays for me. Most modern theorists include him at least twice in their works.

“Today’s assignment is to conduct research on the question: what is the great difference between Charms and Transfiguration?” With a wave of her hand the chalk wrote the question on the board. “You must be familiar with at least three different theories, though sixth-years are allowed to have only two, and include them in your essay. In your essay, decide which theory you find most attractive and explain to me why, arguing your point by bringing in opposing theories and proving why the theory you chose is most practical. Your essays will be due two weeks from now. For those of you interested in pursuing Charms further in your career, research will be a necessary skill.

“Now enough of me talking. By now you should know where the books are—all along the walls of the classroom. There are some helpful theories in your textbook as well, but they only give brief summaries. Use that as a starting point if you so choose. I’ll be at my desk if you have any questions about a particular theory or an idea you’re thinking about.” With that, Florence let them roam free and sat back down at her desk, reading up briefly on the theorists herself. Maybe she would submit a paper of her own to a Charms conference and see if it was accepted. The more she taught the subject, the more interesting it became to her.

OOC: Tag Florence if any guidance is necessary. Creativity and lengthy posts will earn more points!

0 Professor Olivers Charming Theories. [VI & VII years] 0 Professor Olivers 1 5

Henny B-F-R

June 04, 2014 4:32 AM

Glad this is my biggest problem by Henny B-F-R

Henny was beyond relieved to have the staff back. She no longer had to worry about discipline or what to do if someone was seriously ill or anyone's studies but her own. The biggest decision concerning her now was when to take her RATS. Her Aladren pride (and its slight competitive element) inclined her to take them at the proper time. The cautious part of her, the part that wanted to be as prepared as possible, didn't want to rush headlong into something as important on this based on foolish emotions like stubbornness and pride. She didn't have to make that call just yet though, and had decided to give it some time to see how well prepared she felt having got back into classes. When the decision played on her mind a lot, she tried to remind herself that she didn't have to make it yet, and to be thankful that that was now her biggest concern. Compared to those of last term, it was a lot less to worry about.

The Charms subject for the day reassured her a little. This was something that had also come up in their theoretical Transfiguration study. She would perhaps have to adjust the viewpoint a little – to look at it from the Charms side and be able to provide more thorough examples from that field – but she felt she had a good grasp of the basic knowledge. She settled quite happily into working on her essay.

She noted to talk about the general way that Charms and Transfigurations were categorised; Transfiguration as something that altered the form of an object, whilst Charms tended to keep the object in tact but alter its properties. She wasn't sure whether there was a proper theory attached to that or whether it was just a general definition. She would have to look that up. She was sure she'd read an interesting paragraph once that elaborated upon the point, describing Charms as spells of motion, surface appearance and... something. Perhaps that had been quoting an actual theorist.

In her Transfiguration work on the subject, she'd talked extensively about why vanishing and conjuring were considered Transfigurations. Whilst she supposed that applied a little, it didn't seem to be taking a Charms perspective. When she'd done that essay though, she'd briefly touched on why producing fire and water were generally deemed to be Charms rather than acts of conjuration. It was tied to them being elemental magic and that being a branch of Charms, though she hadn't delved too deeply into that theory for her Transfiguration work. That seemed like a good place to start for a Charms theory to discuss, and so she skimmed the index of her book. She had just found the appropriate page and was about to start reading when someone caught her attention.

13 Henny B-F-R Glad this is my biggest problem 211 Henny B-F-R 0 5