Why do I even bother, again? on Transfiguration

Professor Janette Wolfe

May 01, 2010 2:47 PM

Intermediate Transfiguration: 3rd and 4th years. by Professor Janette Wolfe

She was anxious. It was as obvious as the moving tattoos dancing along her skin, though most were hidden by her robes and clothing. Her first class had gone reasonably well, aside from the fire, and she was hoping that this class was going to go as well as the last one.

She had a fairly interesting lesson planned for the class. She was sure there were to be many animals running amuck in her class room by the end of the day. Third and fourth years should be able to handle it, however, considering they were third and fourth years. Besides, she had a simple spell that would stop rid them of the animals in a matter of minutes.

Finally students began to arrive, and Janette smiled wide as they walked into the door and into their seats. Of course she didn't recognize any of them, and they didn't know her, but it was fine. Meeting new people has always been something she enjoyed.

"Welcome to Intermediate Transfiguration, third years, and to the fourth, welcome back. Though I know you did not have me previously. My name is Janette Wolfe, but you may call me Professor Jane, Professor Janette, or even Professor Wolfe. I'm not picky." Janette began to pace again as she explained the lesson.

"Now, I have an interesting lesson planned- I hope." She said with a grin. "For the fourth years, you are bound to know these spells already. Excluding one, as it is not commonly used. I hope you do not object to animals." Janette paused, her gaze moving from one side of the class room to the other. "Today, we will be practicing the spells Draconifors', 'Avifors', and 'Lapifors'." As she said this, the spells appeared on the chalkboard behind her.

"As you well know," she continued, "these spells will allow you to transfigure objects into either dragons, birds, or rabbits. Although Avifors is a second year spell, it never hurts to review. The important thing to remember about these spells is that you must imagine the animal you are trying to transfigure your object into, otherwise it wont work. Fourth years, you will find small miniature dragon statues in front of you. You will also find a rock, so that you might turn it into a rabbit or a bird." She nodded at them to let them know they could begin.

"Third years, if you successfully turn a rock into a rabbit or a bird, ask me and I will provide you a small statue so you might practice Draconifors as well. However, I only have seven left. So only seven of you will have the opportunity." Janette paused, tapping in her chin in thought. She knew she was forgetting something.

"Oh! I almost forgot. you are also charged with returning your animals to normal. If they are not, you will not be permitted to leave until they are. That spell, is Reddo. Simple, but it works. Now, you may begin."

Subthreads:

Why do I even bother, again? by Marissa Stephenson with Jethro Smythe, Jethro

Here we go again by Andrew Duell

Not a fan. by Euna Song, Aladren with Dana Smythe

Not feeling like coming up with a title by Quentin Melcher

0 Professor Janette Wolfe Intermediate Transfiguration: 3rd and 4th years. 0 Professor Janette Wolfe 1 5

Marissa Stephenson

May 02, 2010 1:35 AM

Why do I even bother, again? by Marissa Stephenson

A new professor meant a new start. Marissa reminded herself of that as she sat down on the very edge of her seat in the Transfiguration classroom, holding the sides with her hands as if to facilitate getting up quickly again. The slate was never going to be clean - her previous grades, like all the chalky echoes bleach probably wouldn't completely clear off a blackboard, were still on record - but a new professor meant a new start. There was always a chance this one would be the one who knew just how to teach her so that she could finally master magic.

It could be. It had happened to her before. She'd left her third grade class a year behind in math and gone on to get out of fourth two years ahead. Somewhere, in all the world of wizards, there was someone who could teach her magic in a way which she could understand and apply, and Divination had given her absolutely no reason to believe that Someone wasn't Janette Wolfe.

Janette Wolfe, however, did give her reason to believe that Someone wasn't Janette Wolfe. She also, in very short order, gave Marissa reason to want to forget every manner she'd ever learned, forget how old she was, and forget the formal and social consequences of doing so and just have a fit.

If she managed the first spell, she would have to do the second, or she'd be held back. Then, it being her, she'd miss her next class, thus getting her in trouble with an established professor familiar with her work. That meant she'd be in trouble twice, and being punished for things she couldn't help was one of the relatively few things Marissa had never learned to handle with any kind of grace. She'd end up crying in public again, the way she had when Mrs. Whitler the evil substitute had put the entire class on silent lunch in second grade, and since she really didn't want to regress four years behaviorally, the professor had just more or less guaranteed that she was going to prove that she couldn't perform a second-year spell.

Because that was all she'd had a chance with from the start of it. It had taken effort to get her spells past the mid-point of second year by the end of it, and she was sure to have lost ground over the summer. There were times when Marissa wished she wasn't quite so good at maintaining a realistic assessment of her abilities. It was something her parents encouraged, but it would have been nice to be as optimistic about her own chances as she usually was about everyone else's for a little while.

"Avifors," she tried, just for form's sake, and wasn't surprised that she didn't get so much as a spark. If she had not always been taught to behave civilly in public, she would have thrown her wand down in frustration. She couldn't help saying, "This is pointless," out loud, though, as she rubbed her eye and tried very hard not to think about crying. The noise of the room plowing forward was enough that she doubted anyone but maybe the person next to her would hear.

She really did want to make it work, but apparently, the parts of her mind she couldn't consciously feel anything associated with wanted her to not get in trouble with two professors today a lot more than the conscious parts wanted to pass this lesson. That was what was so frustrating. She'd framed it up for her counselor, and she'd even gone so far as to try to talk about it with her parents, but none of them had ever managed to explain exactly how she was supposed to not want things she didn't even feel like she wanted.

16 Marissa Stephenson Why do I even bother, again? 147 Marissa Stephenson 0 5

Andrew Duell

May 03, 2010 9:41 PM

Here we go again by Andrew Duell

Ahhh.. transfiguration again. This was by far Andrew's favorite class. Mainly because it was the only one in which he could actually accomplish anything. He didn't really understand it, why did this come so easily and everything else was like pulling teeth? Oh well, he was ready to go regardless, he hoped the new teacher was good.

Andrew scribbled down notes at Professor Wolfe explained the lesson for the day. This sounded interesting. He remembered working with the Avifors spell last year, it had been a little tricky, but he was up for the progression.

He looked over his rock after the professor let them get started. It was a pretty ordinary rock, nothing out of the ordinary about it. Satisfied that he understood it's basic structure, he placed it back on the desk and closed his eyes. The rock took form in his mind, aside it was a small bird. His mind began to note all the differences, and there was a lot of them. Finally he waved his wand and spoke out the word.

When he opened his eyes again, there was a small bird sitting on his desk. He smiled and patted it gently on the head. Before his mind lost everything it had done, he waved his wand once more "Reddo." The bird shifted back into the rock once again.

Now for 'Lapifors', going through the same process, but with a bit more effort, he managed to produce a white rabbit. With a wave of his wand once more, it became a rock again.
He looked around to see what the others were doing at this point.

2 Andrew Duell Here we go again 145 Andrew Duell 0 5

Jethro Smythe

May 04, 2010 11:57 AM

Beats Me by Jethro Smythe

It could be to Sonora's credit or a mark against it, depnded on how such a quality was viewed and by whom, but it was certainly to Jethro benefite that the Academy didn't insist on students passing each class to progress to the next year. Jethro had resigned himself to the fact that he was not as bright as his peers, and the fact bothered him little. He was friendlier than some people in his year, and in his mind being friendly was sometimes a lot more important than being smart. He couldn't see that failing transfigurations the past two years was going to affect his life in a big way. What it did mean for the Crotalus was that he entered his third year classes assuming he was going to fail again. This naturally took off the pressure he sufferred in his other classes to make the grade, and consequently he was looking forward to his worst subject (it was only his worst subject by a small margin; Jethro had failed all of his classes in either first or second year, but only transfiguration had sufferred both years).

There was a new professor, so unless she had been told about him, she couldn't possibly know how awful Jethro was at transfigurations. Neither could she possibly expect him to be any good. Any pressure that would remain on Jethro to do well in this class dissipated immediately with his realization that he was closely related to only one single person in the intermediate yeargroups, and she was possibly his favorite cousin. Dana would not mind in the slightest if Jethro messed up in class, which basically meant he could be as dreadful as he liked and absolutely nobody would care. He hadn't been so optimistic about a class since his first week at school.

Of course, Jethro was watching the professor's tattoos move with such interest that he missed the entire introduction to the class. Luckily, the spells were written on the board, and after a couple of minutes watching others in his class, Jethro established he was to cast the spell beginning with A at the stone on his desk. He tried once, with no noticeable effect, before he got distracted again by someone declaring something to be 'pointless.' Jethro looked at the origin of the voice. It was Marissa, who he liked because her name was fun to say and she hadn't been rude to him that Jethro could recall.

"What's pointless?" he asked her, curoisity sitting in the dirivng seat of his mind at this particular moment (quite often the seat was left vacant, but just occaionally something took control of the reigns and Jethro's mind had direction... if only for a limited period).

0 Jethro Smythe Beats Me 146 Jethro Smythe 0 5

Euna Song, Aladren

May 17, 2010 11:32 AM

Not a fan. by Euna Song, Aladren

Transfiguration was a mixed bag for Euna Song. She liked the lessons that entailed changing rocks into delicate tea cups, or a piece of paper into a pair of earrings. Those lessons took focus, concentration, and an ability to visualize a desired outcome. She was good at that, at visualizing. She blamed reading and too much time spent alone, inside her head. Invariably, most of her end results followed a sea-side motif, most likely due to the easy home-sickness she felt for Key Largo with its pebbled beaches and sun-drenched palms. Sonora, for all of its many charms, had no ocean, no taste of sea-salt in the air or crash of waves in the distance.

The lessons she didn't like, though, were the sort involving animals. Her previous professors had all stressed that the spells didn't hurt the animals, but still, she wondered how often the professors had undergone the same sort of transformation. What it must feel like going from being a rabbit, intent on lunch and sniffing, to suddenly being a jewelry box, smelling nothing, tasting nothing, longing for nothing. Sure there might be no physical damage, but surely there must be emotional damage. Even if it is just a rabbit, a rabbit can still fear, can still be terrorized-- a rabbit can still scream just like any other creature.

Euna wondered what it must be like to want to scream and find no vocal cords to do so, no mouth to cry out from-- no heart to want to.

She disliked those lessons and generally found some way to coast through on notes alone and leave the practical application to her partner. Perhaps because she managed so well through the inanimate-to-inanimate transformations, she'd been able to avoid drawing attention to her passive reluctance.

A new professor meant change, though, and there was always the chance that Euna's bad habits would finally be noticed. Particularly because this first lesson with her new Professor Wolfe involved exactly the sort of thing Euna didn't like.

In a way, it was almost worse to change an inanimate object into an animate one. She would essentially allow her rock or statuette the chance at life and then force it back into nothingness. It was cruel.

Euna pushed back her black hair and tied it into a knot at the base of her neck. She dropped her chin to the surface of her desk and eyed the two objects warily. Through pursed lips, she admitted her reluctance to her neighbor. "I really, really, don't want to do this. Why does it always have to be animals?"

0 Euna Song, Aladren Not a fan. 0 Euna Song, Aladren 0 5

Marissa

May 20, 2010 4:31 PM

That makes two of us, then. by Marissa

Marissa smiled automatically when Jethro, against all expectation, decided to weigh in on her denouncement of Transfiguration. "Nothing," she said, sitting back and looking at a point just above her resolutely inorganic object. "I'm just having a lot of trouble getting this spell to work. I kind of gave up on it for a minute."

Well, more like 'gave up on it forever,' but that wasn't a good thing to say. Besides, from what she'd seen, Jethro had it even worse in this class than she did. Complaining too much about her performance to him wouldn't feel right - well, even less right than complaining in general did. It was cathartic at the time, but then she heard her mother talking about how everybody had their problems in her head and got to feel awful for bothering someone else with hers on top of feeling deeply uncomfortable with the someone knowing all that stuff. What if they, like that loser Ciara Coleman in first grade, went and blabbed to everyone who'd listen? The school did not need to know in detail what a failure she was, or who she thought she might have a bit of a crush on, or - something else embarrassing that she couldn't think of just now.

She glanced over at Jethro's desk and determined that he'd gotten no further than she had. This class was clearly not a good topic for conversation, not if she didn't want it to degenerate into a pity party. "How's this year been for you so far?" she asked. "Having fun?"

OOC: Sorry for the delay!

16 Marissa That makes two of us, then. 147 Marissa 0 5

Jethro

May 26, 2010 3:37 AM

So it seems by Jethro

Marissa said that nothing was pointless, and to Jethro that sounded like she meant that everything had a point, but he knew from plenty of past experience that when someone said 'Nothing' it didn't really mean nothing at all - it meant something, but they weren't going to tell you what that something was. So he just nodded and accepted that; if Marissa didn't want to say what was pointless that was really up to her. Jethro had bulit sound theories that helped him to get by in a society he generally didn't understand at all, so when one of them was proved wrong it was a confusing time. Like right now, Marissa said 'Nothing', which Jethro understood as 'Something but I'm not telling you what', but then she told him what anyway. He frowned. Was there a loophole in his theory? Or had she just changed her mind? He didn't know, and he couldn't be sure without asking, but he'd already latched onto something else she'd said, and his 'Nothing means Something' thoughts were rapidly slipping from his mind.

"I have a lot of trouble getting all my spells to work," Jethro said. He wasn't trying to make her feel better or forge a connection with a peer; he was simply stating a fact. It wasn't a secret that Jethro was fairly slow when it came to academia, but usually people compensated for that by being good at something else. Jethro had yet to find anything he was good at. he wasn't disheartened; he would just have to keep trying until he found his calling.

"How's this year been for you so far?" Marissa asked him. "Having fun?"

Jethro presumed she was talking about the school year, since the calendar year was well past its halway point and it would be unreasonable for Jethro to remember everything that had happened since January first. "I'm enjoying it," Jethro said honestly, with a vacant smile. "I have learned everyone's names, I haven't got lost yet so I think I've learned where all the classrooms are now, and I really think I might pass more than half of my classes this year." The last part was possibly false hope derived from his general feeling of satisfaction, but it could be true - the work was getting harder but he had more schemes in place to help him remember to do his homework than ever before.

"How about you?" Jethro returned the question in compliance with his schema for carrying out conversation - where possible he simply repeated back to the other person what they had asked first. "Have you been having fun?"

OOC: No worries!

0 Jethro So it seems 0 Jethro 0 5

Dana Smythe

May 26, 2010 3:48 AM

Still deciding by Dana Smythe

Since returning to school, Dana had discovered that her learning was all over the place. Some time at school, some time with tutors at home, and a lot of time wondering what was the point of it all meant than in some classes she seemed to be ahead, and in others she was behind. She was rather hoping that by midterm she would have managed to sort herself out. Until then, however, it was frustrating to show up to class and wonder whether she was capapble of mastering its content (or if, in fact, she was considerably beyond it).

The transfiguration class today made her groan inwardly. She hadn't attempted any sort of animate transfigurations as yet, and her textbook (which she was reading as the professor was talking) suggested they try something easy and non-vertebrate first, such as a snake or slug. Ew. In light of this suggestion, the Pecari thought today's class sounded impossible. She eyed the objects on her desk warily, and thought she could be permitted to delay her attempts at the spell by taking legitimate nots from her textbook first. She was still doing the assignment in a roundabout way, so the professor shouldn't have cause to complain. She was just readying herself to write, pulling her quill and parchment towards her, when the girl next to her professed reluctance to complete the assignment.

"It's not always animals," Dana pointed out reasonably, but even in her friendly tones she admitted that probably wasn't what the girl wanted to hear. Oh no, what was her name? Dana had never been very good with names, but taking so much time out from Sonora meant there were few of her yearmates she could easily identify. This was one of the quieter girls in her year, and she didn't play Quidditch or anything like that to help identify her. Right now her distinguishing characteristic was that she seemed to be opposed to animals. Or casting spells on them - Dana couldn't really tell which from the context.

"I don't want to do the spells, either," Dana offerred, but she kept her reasons to herself. Then, before it go too late into the conversation to ask, she said, "I'm sorry, I really can't remember your name."

0 Dana Smythe Still deciding 142 Dana Smythe 0 5

Quentin Melcher

May 26, 2010 4:27 PM

Not feeling like coming up with a title by Quentin Melcher

As usual when there was a new alleged teacher for a class, Quentin reserved judgement as to whether or not they were a professor. Ms. Wolfe had an advantage over most when it came to this, as Kirstenna had already chattered endlessly to Quentin about this class. She'd mentioned learning how to change regular inanimate objects into other inanimate objects, as was standard for beginners.

Kirstenna had also mentioned how she had discussed with one of her classmates that Ms. Wolfe might be a kleptomaniac-Quentin had had to fill her in on the correct word-and an impostor. Something about Gallup, New Mexico and stashing the real Janette Wolfe under the floor boards.

Quentin had wondered where his cousin got such an imagination. It almost had to be a result of people she'd been exposed to as a child or genes from her mother's family, because Kirstenna sure didn't get it from the Melchers. His father and grandfather were very uncreative people with little imagination. Oh, he didn't know if they would be uncreative characters for someone else to think up and write about, suggesting that the author who'd come up with them was creative but they themselves did not posess creativity or imagination.

Nor could Quentin couldn't say they were the most uncreative and unimaginative people in the world, but that was only because he did not know everyone in the world. Well, technically he could say it. He just didn't know if it would be accurate and Quentin strived to be as accurate as possible.

He had also pondered whether or not imagination was genetic. Quentin had recently began to take an interest in psychology and how the mind worked. That was how Kirstenna had known there was such a thing as kleptomania to begin with, he had told her. Of course, being Quentin, he usually ended up picking apart the criteria for each and every disorder he came across.

Now though, Quentin listened as Ms. Wolfe instructed them on how to change things from inanimate to animate and thus confirmed what he'd suspected from the data given to him by Kirstenna, that she was, indeed, a professor. Quentin did not have enough to confirm the kleptomaniac and imposter stories though.

Granted, she was not a professor that his grandfather would hire. Felix Melcher would find Professor Wolfe's tattoos even more offensive than Professor McKindy's hat.

Quentin took his wand and did the motions over the rock on his desk. " Lapifors ". His rock did not change completely but it did become furry. That was pretty much what Quentin expected. Very few people could get a transfiguration right on the first try and sometimes animals stayed completely between two stages. He'd even heard tales of a cave of such projects gone wrong in the woods near where Salem used to be.

The Aladren tried again and this time his rock grew a puffy tale and whiskers. Quentin smiled to himself. He knew he would get it to change completely eventually, and most likely before the end of class.

11 Quentin Melcher Not feeling like coming up with a title 129 Quentin Melcher 0 5