Professor Marlowe

June 27, 2006 6:33 PM
Only I could have my desk this cluttered up this early in the year, Selina thought gloomily, looking at the stacks of parchments and books already beginning to accumulate. It wasn't too awfully bad now, but she knew from experience that she'd go about thinking she was going to clean it off every weekend until the desk was completely invisible beneath the piles of work-related materials. If she'd seen it in someone else's classroom, it would have driven her crazy. In her own, it was, unless she deliberately thought about it, regarded as the natural order of things.

She could at least straighten it up a little before the second years arrived, though. That stack of essays she was planning to grade during lunch could stay on the left corner, but the morning paper, a few letters from Viva and company, and the copies of last year's exam scores could be stored in the desk drawer. The slots on the bookshelf behind her desk, though she was fairly sure they had been the original locations of other volumes, were quickly filled with the Instructor's Editions of several books she was planning to have the seventh years read. She found the day planner she'd lost six months previously just as the first student slipped into the room. She'd forgotten about having that...

The students, however, meant stopping her little rearranging spree and sitting down, assuming a professional demeanor. This class was...temperamental. She would always have a degree of fondness for them because they had come in at the same time as she had, but there was no denying that they knew how to keep things interesting. She had gotten accustomed to it, but she was hoping for a calm day, today.

The sight of familiar faces, most not too drastically altered by the summer vacation, was surprisingly welcome. She offered them a brief smile. "Welcome back," she said briskly as the class officially began. "Hope you all had lovely summers. Notes as usual to begin with, get out your quills and parchment. We're going to be transfiguring a stick into a pencil today. The incantation is Cillium Insigere. Directions on the board, get out your wands when you've written it all down." When it looked like everyone had complied, she continued.

"I'll demonstrate before you get started," she said, picking up a stick from a box of them she vaguely remembered perching near the edge of her desk after she had finished placing one in front of each seat, figuring it was ultimately quicker than passing around the box to the class. "Keep your wands steady, using minimal motion. Pronunciation and focus are as important as ever, don't forget it." Pointing her wand at the bit of wood in her hand, she said the spell words with the slightly heightened level of care she reserved for casting spells in class. "Cillium Insigere." This year's example, she was pleased to note, turned out better than the previous year's showing of the same spell.

"Usual rules apply. Concentrate on your work, and try not to disturb your classmates. Keep at it until time to go or until you get it right, and don't expect any grand immediate successes. Homework's to be an essay describing the theory behind this. Begin." \n\n
Subthreads:
0 Professor Marlowe Lesson One, Second Years 0 Professor Marlowe 1 5

Adam Brockert

July 22, 2006 5:16 PM
Transfiguration wasn't a bad class for Adam. It was taught by his new HoH, whom he found considerably less threatening than the old one...and far less threatening than lots of the professors at Sonora overall. Even better, they never had to work in partners. That meant Adam didn't have to worry about finding one and the rejection of nobody wanting to work with him. Or working with someone who was mean to him. He still didn't like being in a class full of people. He felt pretty threatened by almost everyone. Adam was sure the entire class except Ginger and Pepper hated him. He was nothing but a loser.

Not that this was Adam's best subject. Oh, he wasn't awful at it. There wasn't truly a subject Adam was terrible at unless one counted flying, which he still felt was completely unnecessary and refused to ever do again anyway. Yet, he felt he was far better at Potions. Besides, Adam could never measure up in Transfiguration. The bar had been set pretty high by his cousin. He felt no matter what he'd never be very good at it compared to Marshall. Few could. That didn't mean he did an inadequate job though. It's just that Adam had seen really good transfiguration and anything paled in comparison.

He listened and took down notes from his seat in the back corner. That was something he had no problem with. Nor did he really have one with the practical applications. Just so long as Adam didn't have to have a partner.

Adam got out his wand. He kept it steady over the stick, his hands not shaking for once since nobody could see him and everyone else was focused on their own work, and pronounced the words "Cillium Insigre" quietly enough that he wouldn't attract attention. He was rewarded with a stick with one pointy end and one end that rather felt like an eraser, though the metal part was missing and it was still the original color of the stick.

He prepared to try again. Adam would get this bit by bit. So long as nobody laughed at him or teased him, he'd be okay. He could work this transfiguration thing out.\n\n
11 Adam Brockert As calm as I get. 78 Adam Brockert 0 5