Devil's Snare works...plain vines don't..what gives? on Transfiguration

Professor Skies

May 31, 2013 5:13 PM

Intermediate Class - let's twist again by Professor Skies

“Good morning,” Professor Skies smiled, as the intermediate class filed in. She hadn't minded covering for Amelia and, apart from minor incidents, it had gone off smoothly enough. Nonetheless, she was glad to have her feet planted firmly on the ground again, back behind her own desk, even if there wasn't much to distinguish it as being such, other than her in depth knowledge of what was contained in the impossibly capacious drawers.

“For those of you who are new to Intermediate Transfiguration, welcome to your new class. During this stage of your education, you will begin work on the animate branches of transfiguration – that is, with living things. Some people struggle with this idea, or feel squeamish about it. I will discuss the theories behind it in more detail when we come to our first lesson with animals – for now, I will just state that current theories of how these Transfigurations work indicate that you are not causing harm or pain to any creatures involved. If anyone feels particularly strongly about this issue, or feels disquieted by it, I invite you to come and speak to me during my office hours.

“Today, we shall be working on plant transfigurations. Plants being living organisms are a useful way of bridging the distance between inanimate and animate work. As usual, this class is split level. Broadly speaking, the simpler task is aimed at third years and forth years who are still finding their confidence. The harder task at more confident forth years and fifth years. However, I am not going to stop anyone from attempting either task, depending on their personal comfort level. All of you will be working with ropes. Task a is to transfigure them into a common or garden vine - I have provided several books regarding plants for you to draw inspiration from. Task b is to transfigure the rope into Devil's Snare. Being a somewhat more lively plant, this increases the level of difficulty. In case any of your are unfamiliar with the plant,” the school, after all, did not offer Herbology, “I have provided some textbooks which describe it. It attempts to wrap itself around people but dislikes heat and light. Therefore, anyone who plans on tackling this project, please take one of these in addition to your ropes,” she indicated a row of jam jars in front of her, into each of which she poured a large dose of bluebell flames from her wand. “It will retreat from these but if anyone gets into difficulty, please send sparks from your wand or shout for me.

“The spell for a regular vine is Vinea and uses a twisting wand movement, like so,” she stated, demonstrating over a pile of ropes which instantly sprang into a well formed vine, with healthy leaves and even a bunch of grapes. Returning it to its original state, she continued, “For the Devil's Snare, the incantation is Laqueum Diablos Creo. You will need a similar wand motion but you should flick sharply upwards before each change of direction,” she explained, demonstrating once again.

“You may begin.”

Subthreads:

Twist and... by Rupert Princeton, Pecari with Clara Abernathy, Rupert

Devil's Snare works...plain vines don't..what gives? by Carter Browning with Professor Skies

It's twisting, but not fighting back... by Aria Yale, Teppenpaw with Jay Carey, Aladren

Twisting uncomfortably by Waverly Canterbury - Pecari with Alexandra D'Alesandro, Waverly

Ropes to vines..right? Hmmm by Carter Browning

When did we previously do so? by Effie Arbon with Cepheus Princeton, Crotalus

Tagging Isabel by Amity Brockert, Aladren with Isabel Raines, Crotalus

13 Professor Skies Intermediate Class - let's twist again 26 Professor Skies 1 5

Rupert Princeton, Pecari

June 01, 2013 12:14 AM

Twist and... by Rupert Princeton, Pecari

The beginning of the year meant intermediate classes and Rupert was looking forward to the challenge. His class was the youngest once more, but he liked learning with students older than him. The only unfortunate bit was that he was stuck in the same class as his older brother. Rupert was still a bit peeved at Cepheus for his behaviour at the ball, but he had said nothing. He ignored Cepheus as he went straight to the centre of the room, opting to sit directly in front of the professor where Cepheus wouldn't try to persuade his brother to forgive him.

Rup smiled at his desk partner before class began. This class was already a bit overwhelming when Professor Skies talked about animating inanimate objects. He had forgotten his textbook in his room and sighed through his nose after a thorough search through his book bag. What a way to begin the term. He would just have to pick up one of those books Professor Skies had out for them.

Once they were dismissed, Rupert got up and retrieved a book from the pile of them on the bookshelf. He stood there for a moment flipping through it, looking for some inspiration. There were garden vines all over the shed hidden behind some trees on the Princeton estate, but Rupert had never stopped to study them. Running through the grass, splashing in the lake and chasing the roaming magical creatures had been more entertaining.

The book was satisfactory and Rupert brought it back to his desk. He smiled again at the person next to him and put the book in the centre. "We can share if you'd like," he offered, his voice cracking with the last syllable. His voice had decided to change at the most inopportune time and it was rather embarrassing when it cracked in public. Rupert just laughed it off, however, though his cheeks had turned slightly pink. "That's embarrassing." He cleared his throat and turned back to the photograph. It was of a vine climbing up a wall. It was a good image to start from and Rupert tried to study it. He had never been very good at Transfiguration, but he didn't want to fail at it especially when he was in the same class as his brother. He had never loathed Cepheus quite as much as he did right now, but all he wanted to do was beat him in everything. It seemed easy enough.

Rupert looked at the rope in front of him and tried not to be intimidated by it. Magic ran in his blood. No silly piece of rope could intimidate him. Or should, anyway. His left hand lifted, hoping he wouldn't bump into his partner's elbow as he cast the charm, and said, "Vinea," allowing his hand to go on instinct in a twisting formation as Professor Skies had shown them.

The rope twisted and Rupert nearly got his hopes up, but the rope merely turned green and fell limp, though it did look more vine-like than rope. It looked like a sad, dehydrated lump of greenery. "Poor thing. It just needs some water," he sighed. "I suppose I just transfigured it into a dead plant. Is that possible?" he added dryly. He looked over at his partner, brown eyes wide as if seeking an answer, and then he grinned. "You have a go at it."

0 Rupert Princeton, Pecari Twist and... 0 Rupert Princeton, Pecari 0 5

Clara Abernathy

June 01, 2013 6:37 PM

Shout...maybe? by Clara Abernathy

Clara walked down the hall towards Transfig class and was actually looking forward to whatever it was they were going to do. She knew from listening to her cousins that this year she might have to learn how to transfigure living objects and while she was a little hesitant to do so she was willing to at least give it a try. She saw Rup walking into the room and tried to wave Hi, but he didn’t seem to see her. She saw him sit down up front and took the seat next to him. She smiled cheerfully back at him when he turned towards her and smiled. “Long time no see stranger,” she teased him playfully after Professor Skies explained their assignment for the day. She looked down at the rope in front of her and wondered just what kind of viney plant she could turn it into. She dug in her bag at almost the same time as him and was shocked to realize that she had left her book on the table by her bed. She smacked herself in the forehead and groaned slightly, whispering “stupid” to herself.

She was a little surprised to discover that Rup too had forgotten his textbook. He left for a moment to get one that Professor Skies had laid out for their use and contemplated getting up to get one herself. She was still debating when he returned and offered to share his book with her, his voice cracked a little when he spoke. She giggled slightly and shook her head. “Its not soo bad,” she assured him. “I’ve done more embarrassing things than that. I appreciate the offer, thank you,” she told him glancing over towards the book and the page it was already opened to. She caught sight of a common ivy plant and though she may give that one a try. She watched curiously as Rupert made his attempt on his rope before her.

He seemed to do everything right as far as she could tell. She watched his arms as he moved to make the wand gestures and lightly grabbed his arm before he bumped her with his elbow. She grinned at him and let him go when she felt it was safe to. She watched with him as the rope turned green and just laid there limp. She shrugged when he asked if it was possible to make dead plants. “I have no idea,” she half-giggled. “I suppose anything is possible. Maybe you’re right though…maybe all it needs is a bit of water to perk it right up,” she offered encouragingly. She couldn’t keep herself from smiling. Like her, Rupert always seemed to be able to look on the bright side which is why she liked him soo much. Sure, he wasn’t Lucian, whom she may or may not be in a relationship with (they hadn’t talked about that part yet) but he was still a hoot to be around. “That’s another conversation we get to have,” she thought to herself as she watched Rupert work his “magic” on the rope.

She nodded when he told her it was her turn to try it and glanced back over at the pictures of the ivy plants in the book. “Seems simple enough,” she thought as she raised her wand and prepared to try the spell. “Vinea!” she said loud-ish as she made the wand gestures. Just before she finished them though she felt a strange tickle in her nose. Before she could finish what she was doing she had just barely moved her face in time to miss sneezing in Rupert’s face. She wasn’t certain whether or not she had managed to complete any part of the spell. She looked down at the rope and noticed that it was still just a rope. She had missed the rope entirely. “Ahh fiddlesticks!,” she grumbled wiping her nose off on a piece of tissue she pulled from her bag. “Guess I get to try again,” she joked a bit. “At least I didn’t hit you with that spell,” she mused. “Who knows what might have happened.”

She raised her wand for another go and managed to finish it this time without sneezing again. She looked down at the rope and saw that it indeed appeared to look like the ivy plant, but with one major difference. Instead of the thing turning green it stayed brown. “How in the world did I do that?” she asked amused by the whole thing. “It sorta reminds me of the stick insect I had to make,” she mused aloud looking at her brown ivy plant. “Maybe this one just needs water too,” she joked winking at him. Looking from her plant to his and back she couldn’t help commenting, “Given out current circumstances with plants, perhaps its best if we leave the devil’s snare thing alone…wouldn’t you agree?” she asked him, giggling as she held up her sorry excuse for an ivy plant.

0 Clara Abernathy Shout...maybe? 232 Clara Abernathy 0 5

Rupert

June 02, 2013 8:39 PM

You got it! by Rupert

Rupert had always enjoyed working with Clara and this was no exception. She was merciful when she heard his voice crack. It wasn’t until the wagon ride that this had started happening and his brothers had teased him mercilessly for it. He was certain Leo would continue to tease, but Rup didn’t allow himself to be bothered. It was a part of nature. An embarrassing part, but natural nonetheless. Cepheus’d had to go through it and Leo would too, in time. Rupert would enact his revenge on his younger brother then.

Clara had grabbed his arm during his wand gesture and he wondered if that had taken his concentration away at all. He was left-handed, yes, but he hadn’t been about to bump her head. Unless he had been. She had distracted him and Rupert thought he’d had the wand-movements right. If he tried again, then maybe he would be able to get it right.

The limp, green former rope looked pathetic and Rupert wanted to change it back into a rope. At least it looked more whole as an inanimate object. As if his wish had been granted, the shriveled, pathetic excuse for a vine changed back immediately into a rope. His magic had either faded or his attempt hadn’t been powerful enough to sustain the shape for very long. Rupert sighed and turned his attention to Clara’s attempt, hoping hers would be much better. He seemed to be spending loads of time with Clara lately between the challenges last year and having all of their classes together. She was a Pecari as well, though a year older, making their interactions much more often than not. Thinking of older witches made him look briefly in Aria’s direction, hoping to catch her sometime and apologise for leaving her at the ball.

In Clara’s first attempt at the spell, she sneezed half-way and Rupert nearly leapt back. She had almost sneezed on him and while he wasn’t exactly afraid of germs, the prospect of having spit and other projectiles launched at him was not appealing. “Bless you,” he said, grinning a bit. His mum had given him a pack of handkerchiefs to carry around with him for such times, but he never carried them except to balls where he had to dress in his finest. It was lucky that she had her own tissues as he had nothing to offer her. Rup couldn’t help but laugh a little at the ridiculousness of the whole situation. He had never heard anyone sneeze before in the middle of a spell, but he was certain it happened to the best of them. “If you had turned me into a vine, I would have never forgiven you,” he laughed. “Though I would have been very impressed with your skill.”

Her second attempt was slightly more successful as her vine turned out more vine-like, though it was brown. It looked very much like the dead, brown bits of plants that the gardeners of the Princeton estate broke off and burned. Stick insects were beyond Rupert, but the thought of working with more difficult subjects intrigued him. He hoped they would get to work with actual creatures later in the year. Though Rupert, as a principle, did not enjoy theoretical work, he did like reading up on things he was interested in. Animate to inanimate object transfiguration was fascinating. “I think your plant is beyond life,” he joked. “As for mine…” He looked back at his former pathetic vine, “I think it needs more work.”

Devil’s Snare was absolutely out of the question. For now, anyway. “I agree with you,” he said with a grin. “I wouldn’t want to create chaos in the classroom.” Rup moved his seat several centimetres away so he wouldn’t be in danger of knocking into Clara and raised his left arm once more. “Vinea!” The rope moved this time like a snake or a climbing vine before turning green, growing thinner and sprouting leaves. It looked like a vine and Rupert’s dark eyes brightened. “I did it! Yes!” His voice cracked again in his excitement, but he didn’t even care to acknowledge it. “Right, now you try it again. It’s really not that difficult.”

0 Rupert You got it! 0 Rupert 0 5

Clara Abernathy

June 04, 2013 10:03 PM

Looks like we got it...LOL by Clara Abernathy

Clara smiled at Rup for saying bless you when she sneezed. “Thank you,” she replied, wiping her nose. “That was unexpected,” she laughed slightly. She had managed to cast her spell and make her very suffering vine without turning him into one or getting any of her boogers and spit on him. She would have died from embarrassment if that had happened. She laughed with him when he said he would never forgive her for turning him into a plant. She agreed that if she had that would have been pretty impressive. “Lucky for you the spell fizzled when I sneezed,” she warned him teasingly. “I’ve been known to turn people different colors.” She laughed at the thought. Sure she had turned someone different colors before, but the first time she had done it, it was by accident. Both times. The second time she did it, it had been on purpose. She debated whether she should tell him that part though. Oh what the heck.

“You’re safe,” she assured him. “The first time I did it I turned myself green by way of a potion that blew up in my face and the second time it happened it was my cousin and that was because I wasn’t watching what I was aiming at,” she confessed sheepishly. She laughed at her own mistakes. “You should have seen it…she looked like a walking, talking booger.” She giggled at the memory. “To be fair though she did the same thing to me. I looked like a smurf.” She started to laugh again and stopped. Did he have any idea what a smurf was? He might not she wasn’t sure. She decided just incase he didn’t know she’d explain. “They’re little blue people that live in mushrooms made to look like houses on the inside,” she explained. “It’s a cartoon that muggles watch.” She hoped he got the idea. She grinned when he scooted back a bit from her to keep from bumping her she guessed and tried the spell again after his rope went back to normal. She wanted to clap for him when it did what he wanted the second time.

She clapped her hands together and smiled big when he got excited. “That is soo awesome,” she gushed at him when she saw his vine. “Way to go Rup,” she encouraged. She gulped dramatically when he suggested it was her turn to try again. She watched as her rope turned back to normal and then raised her wand slowly. “Okay,” she said hesitantly. “But don’t be surprised if it needs mouth to plant resuscitation,” she joked. She began the gestures for the spell, pointing the wand at the rope on her desk. “Vinae!” she commanded at the end. She concentrated hard on the plant she wanted the rope to change into. She watched with amazement as the rope turned green, thinned out a bit and then sprouted leaves. When it didn’t turn brown she hopped up and down excitedly in her seat. “I did it!” she exclaimed excitedly.

Clara had been dying to ask him about seeing him with Aria at both the ball last term and the pool party, but wanted to do the spell again before she said anything just so she didn’t break her concentration. Now that she had managed to do the spell without making a dead or dying plant she couldn’t hold her curiosity in anymore. “Curiosity is absolutely killing me,” she gushed playfully. “And you soo don’t have to tell me anything if you don’t want to, but I’m gonna ask anyway. Do you have a crush on Aria?” she asked playfully wiggling her eyebrows at him. “I saw you two at the ball together and the pool party together and you both looked like you were having a lot of fun.” She wasn’t pointing it out to be mean or try to embarrass him. She was just genuinely curious and she hoped that he knew that. “I’m really not trying to pry,” she assured him. “I personally think its fantastic if you do. She’s a really sweet person.” She was being absolutely serious at that point. She also noticed something else that she was curious about. “Was that really a nose ring I saw on her?” Clara asked in awe. “My dad would have killed me if I had done that. She must either have the coolest parents ever or the most forgiving,” she laughed slightly.

0 Clara Abernathy Looks like we got it...LOL 232 Clara Abernathy 0 5

Rupert

June 05, 2013 5:50 PM

We're quite fantastic, aren't we? by Rupert

Turning people different colours in Transfiguration? That sounded improbably, but Clara was older than him and therefore probably knew more than he. Rupert could see how a potion explosion would turn one green, but the spell that she had been using had to have been a Colour-Changing Charm or something similar. He'd never heard of any other charm turning someone a different colour.

Rup was lost on the word 'booger' for a moment until he realised she meant 'bogey'. What a silly word, booger. He grinned, not imagining a walk, talking bogey, but in delight with the small difference between American and British English. He really enjoyed finding new things in America that were so different from home. He was lost once again with a 'smurf' and Clara explained it to him. He still didn't understand the concept, but apparently smurfs were a cartoon that Muggles watched. That piqued his interest in the cartoon and he put it on his mental list of things to ask about in Muggle Studies class now that he was finally old enough to take it.

Rupert enjoyed Clara's enthusiasm and he mocked a bow as she congratulated him. He was quite proud of it himself. He watched Clara's attempt and grinned as her rope became a vine just like his. "Good job!" he told her. "We both did a pretty great job, didn't we?" Now that they were done...what else was there to do? It was clear they both were not at the level to attempt a Devil's Snare transfiguration. He hardly remembered what Devil's Snare looked like from the challenge last year.

Clara solved that problem by asking him a potentially embarrassing question. Her reaction to the question as well as her insightful pieces of evidence made him laugh. "No, I don't have a crush on her," he told her. "Sorry to disappoint. I just think she's a really interesting person and I want to become her friend." That was the truth. He also thought Wendy was a very interesting person mainly because she was a muggle-born and because her interests were so different from other magical people. Aria was interesting, but not as enthusiastic as other witches and, while he liked talking to her, he didn't think she would be the sort of witch who would get excited about Quidditch or be as celebratory about mastering a spell as Clara.

Clara also asked about Aria's nose ring and Rupert grinned. "Yeah, she has a nose piercing! It looks really good." He tried to keep his voice down since Aria was in the same class as them and could possibly hear them, though the room was a bit noisy with spells and conversation. "From what she's told me, her mum's really relaxed about those things. Her mum's even got a bellybutton piercing! I can't imagine that. Aria has really cool parents."

0 Rupert We're quite fantastic, aren't we? 0 Rupert 0 5

Clara Abernathy

June 06, 2013 5:50 PM

That we are ;) by Clara Abernathy

Clara had to admit she was the tiniest bit disappointed in the fact that he didn’t have a crush on Aria like she had thought, but she was still glad for him. Making new friends was always a good idea and since she hadn’t seen Aria hanging out with Liam much a new friend for her to talk to was a good thing. She really wasn’t sure how Aria felt about her and made a mental note to ask her sometime, but that didn’t stop Clara from admiring the girl. She was a little envious of the fact that Aria’s parents seemed to be as laid back as they appeared. While her own dad was pretty laid-back about a lot of things, piercing anything other than her ears was not on the list of things he was very tolerant of. He would have tanned her hide if she had done something like that. She was rather astonished that Aria’s mother would pierce her belly button. Clara couldn’t see why she would want to do that. “What did her belly button do to deserve that?” she wondered aloud.

Clara couldn’t hide the surprise she felt at the idea. It seemed strange to her that someone would want to put a piece of metal through their body parts like that. She had once seen a guy in England who had what could only be described as a door knocker sized ring through his nostrils. Clara was soo awed by the sight that she couldn’t help staring. She had actually asked the guy how it felt to have a large ring of metal shoved through his nose. Was sneezing painful? Was it hard to blow his nose with the ring in? Did it make him sound funny when he talked? Clara had asked these and many other questions of the very patient individual. He didn’t seem to mind her questions much and actually laughed when she wrinkled her own nose at the idea of getting one for herself. She continued to talk to him until her dad realized she was no longer with him and went looking for her. He shook his head when he found her deep in conversation with the young man. He politely led her away and then found himself being bombarded by more of her questions after they left.

Clara found herself telling Rupert about that trip. “Its funny that she has that nose ring,” she began. “I once saw a guy that not only had a nose piercing, but he had a metal ring that went through his nostrils. He looked like he was wearing a doorknocker on his face. I was soo astonished I couldn’t help asking him like a dozen questions.” She wrinkled her nose again at the thought. “I asked him if it hurt having it in like that, if he had trouble sneezing or blowing his nose, if it made him sound funny when he talked…just all kinds of silly stuff,” she laughed slightly. “I was still asking him questions when my dad came back for me.” She still thought the look on her dad’s face when he found her was priceless. “Have you ever thought of doing something like that?” she asked him curiously. Somehow she had a feeling that out of anyone from his family, Rupert would be the one to do it.

0 Clara Abernathy That we are ;) 232 Clara Abernathy 0 5

Carter Browning

June 06, 2013 11:14 PM

Devil's Snare works...plain vines don't..what gives? by Carter Browning

Carter got up the morning of the first class wondering what it was they were going to do that day. He grabbed a quick shower, got dressed in his robes and grabbed his book bag. He headed out of the common room and walked towards Transfiguration Class. He was really indifferent to it today for some reason. He walked into the classroom and found himself a seat after politely waving to the professor. He saw the pieces of rope sitting on each desk and found they piqued his interest slightly. What are we doing with those? he wondered to himself as he sat down. Once everyone had arrived for class Professor Skies began her mini lecture on the days activities. He was intrigued at the idea of turning the inanimate to the animate. The fact that they could choose between making common vines or Devil’s Snare really piqued his interest. He couldn’t wait to give that one a try. He knew that Devil’s Snare was slightly dangerous and he would have to be extra careful with it.

Once Professor Skies completed her lesson instructions Carter walked up to her desk and retrieved for himself one of the mason jars of Bluebell flames. He took it back to his desk with him and sat down. He laid the rope out straight on the desk with the jar not far away and began casting the spell. “Laqueum Diablos Creo,” he cast as he did the wand movements, remembering the sharp flicks at the end of each movement. He pointed the wand at the rope with the last flick. He watched as the rope twitched a bit before it began turning green and slandering out. It sprouted small leaves and began winding its way across Carter’s desk. Carter snatched it up before it got any farther and watched as it slowly began to wrap itself around his hand and wrist. He reached for the jar with the other hand and held it up near the plant when it began to squeeze too tightly. The plant almost seemed to hiss as it retreated from the light in the jar.

Carter grinned like an idiot the whole time while he watched it move around. He watched fascinated as it retreated from the bluebell flames in the jar. He had never really seen Devil’s Snare be so docile before and kept an extra close eye on it especially since it was currently wrapped around his left hand. He moved the jar away from the vine and it began to tighten on him again. He replaced the jar and the vine slackened again just before it twitched a little and reverted back to the rope it started out as. He grimaced at the rope as it reverted back to normal. He had to give himself credit though, he had managed to keep track of Devil’s Snare for a short time without it going nuts. He knew he couldn’t attempt that spell again with the same amount of success. He had gotten a bout of a “Lucky Break” with that one attempt and was certain that it wouldn’t happen again any time soon.

He took the jar back up to Professor Skies and decided to try the mundane vine spell. He figured at that point there was no reason he shouldn’t be able to do the simpler spell. He went back to his desk and got ready to try the spell. He did the wand movements as instructed and said “Vinae!” as firmly as possible. The rope thinned out slightly, turned a green-ish color and then sprouted one leaf. It twitched on the desk for a second before it went back to being a rope. Carter scratched his head in confusion. “How is it I could get the Devil’s Snare spell to work, but the normal vine one fizzles?” he asked himself aloud. “Maybe I didn’t picture the vine I wanted good enough,” he mused still scratching his head slightly. He tapped his neighbor on the shoulder. “Can I take a look at that book when you’re done with it?” he asked politely.

0 Carter Browning Devil's Snare works...plain vines don't..what gives? 236 Carter Browning 0 5

Aria Yale, Teppenpaw

June 08, 2013 7:08 PM

It's twisting, but not fighting back... by Aria Yale, Teppenpaw

Aria had fallen into a quiet sense of isolation since last term. She had broken out of it during the summer thanks in large part to her mother who had taken it upon herself to spend time with her daughter whenever she could. It also helped that her friends welcomed her back as they always did whenever she returned from Sonora. It was still difficult for her to leave the community for school. She had thought it would have gotten better, but that had not been the case. She only continued to come because she felt that the learning part of Sonora would benefit her more for the sake of taking over as Medicine Woman than it might have had she continued to be home-schooled.

She sat near a window and waited in silence for the lesson to begin. Aria had a strange relationship with Professor Skies. She liked her because she had given Aria alternatives to Transfiguration so as to not fail her in this class. Professor Fawcett had been doing that for her since the start for Potions, but Aria knew that wand magic would be far more difficult. For now, Aria was glad that the lessons were still simple enough where she could continue to use magic on plants. She was still too uncomfortable to use her wand on animals even though her parents had spoken to her at great length over it. She just… needed to be sure that they really weren’t being hurt and right now, that had not been completely satisfied.

However, her curiosity had been peeked when the professor had mentioned mechanical transfiguration. Over the summer, Aria had asked her mother to take her to the local library where Aria had read the limited selection they had to offer regarding this magic. She had also taken a trip to the nearest Magical University to ask the Transfiguration Professors their thoughts on it. Again, this was limited but it only served to increase her desire to know it. She was going to ask Professor Skies for lessons in this as a side project. If she needed to, she’ll do any extra work that Professor Skies needed from her. She just had the desire to accomplish as much as she could on this sort of transfiguration.

Aria grabbed a rope and a jar of fire before heading back to her seat. She remembered the Devil Snare’s plant very well from the second challenge last term. She thought she could handle it fairly well. Aria placed the rope in the middle of the desk and the jar directly beside it. She didn’t want it to do anything before she had time to react to it.

Before starting, Aria turned to her text book to verify that she had the correct wand movements for this charm and did the movements before actually saying the spell. Aria liked to practice her charms and spells prior to just jumping in and doing it. Her mother said this made things easier in the long run. Feeling comfortable, Aria pointed her wand at the rope and said, “Laqueum Diablos Creo” while implementing the wand movements. She watched eagerly as her rope twisted and darkened into a lovely green. The thorns and leaves sprouted, but it still maintained a rope-ish look to it. Removing the fire away from her ‘vine’, she discovered that it also was not moving when she poked at it. It had not turned into a Devil’s Snare on her first try. Sighing, Aria undid her first try and started over again. Her second attempted and been slightly more successful, but the plant was still not as lively as a Devil’s Snare plant should be. “I have no idea what it is that I am doing wrong here.” She commented quietly, reviewing her book again.

6 Aria Yale, Teppenpaw It's twisting, but not fighting back... 0 Aria Yale, Teppenpaw 0 5

Professor Skies

June 10, 2013 4:32 PM

OOC - Advice by Professor Skies

Dear Carter,

Thank you for contributing to the class. I would like everyone to be able to do well in my classes and have some feedback regarding your post to help you achieve this.

The Issues

1). A character being able to do a harder task and then struggling with the easier task is not very realistic. I feel you acknowledged this yourself within the post when Carter said he could not understand it. However, acknowledging something is not an explanation of how and why it happened, thus it remains unrealistic. Random luck is not an explanation.

2). Carter's age also adds to the issue, given that he is one of the youngest in the class. This is not the only time this has happened with one of your characters. You frequently write them as performing a spell in class first time, whilst other people – even those with characters who are older or who are written as being high-flyers – still take time to get a spell. This presents an issue for other characters in responding – if a class member two years younger than them is out-performing them at spells, how are they supposed to react?

Things to try in the future

These guidelines are the ones that relate to your post but apply to everyone else's writing as well.

If you cannot come up with a reasonable explanation for events, reconsider whether it's realistic to have them happen. Your character may not have the insight to explain everything but you can still explain things in the narrative and note that the character doesn't understand it, so long as events have been explained clearly.

When deciding how much for your character to achieve consider:

The point in the term (they are likely to do better by the end of the term than at the start)

Their position in the class (are they the youngest, in the middle, the oldest?)

The difficulty of the task being attempted

To make your characters' achievements more realistic, explain their strengths and weaknesses – if a class is a character's favourite, or they are described as having a particular skill in that subject, it makes more sense for them to do well in it (although this should still be in proportion, following the guidelines above). Results are also more realistic when there is a detailed explanation of how they have been achieved, e.g.:

Ok: Carter pointed his wand at the rope and cast the spell.

Better: Having taken time to make notes on the similarities and differences, and to clearly visualise the transformation, Carter pointed his wand at the rope and cast the spell.

Best: Describe the notes he makes, such as what he can think of that is similar or different, and/or describe the visualisation that he is playing through in his head.

If you want to write a new post for this class based on these guidelines, I will mark it as your 'first post' for this class. If not, I will mark your existing post and hope that you will bear this information in mind for the future.

All the best,
Professor Skies

0 Professor Skies OOC - Advice 26 Professor Skies 0 5

Carter Browning

June 10, 2013 8:46 PM

thank you for the advice by Carter Browning

I apologize if I have created an unfavorable situation with previous posting. It was not my intention. After carefully reviewing my work on said posting, I fear I must agree with your assessment. I will redo the posting, hopefully sticking closer to the guidelines you have presented and hopefully my oversight will not happen again.

0 Carter Browning thank you for the advice 236 Carter Browning 0 5

Waverly Canterbury - Pecari

June 10, 2013 11:45 PM

Twisting uncomfortably by Waverly Canterbury - Pecari

Since the beginning of the term, Waverly had been in a weird funk. Breaking up with Brandon over the summer had been hard, but she was trying to work through it. Brandon was seemingly everywhere in her neighborhood and even at school his broken face haunted her. She had been really tempted to leave her favorite necklace at home, but the tiny unicorn pendant was a reminder of a happier time between them before he went to high school and she became more involved in school. She had a love-hate relationship with the necklace which was stupid because it was only a necklace. But it symbolized so much.

Transfiguration was always pretty fun, but today Waverly was dragging her feet. She just didn't feel like working on classes and doing homework again. The transition from summer to school was always kind of hard, but it seemed especially impossible this year. She walked into class, sat down, and sighed. This was bad. She was going to isolate herself like she had towards the end of her summer and she had to really work on fighting that impulse to do nothing but mope.

In her first year, Waverly had read all she could on magical plants, creatures, and helpful spells. Some of that plant knowledge had stayed with her and she knew what Devil's Snare looked like. Transfiguring a rope into a vine was simple enough, but the real challenge would be in transfiguring a piece of rope into a twisty, somewhat dangerous plant. She had come so far in two years.

Waverly got up once it was time to try the spell and got a jar of the bluebell flames. She sat down at her desk again, and held it in one hand and picked up her wand with the other. Hopefully the plant wouldn't go out of control. "Laqueum Diablos Creo," she said and did the wand movements with her hand, making sure she remembered to flick upwards with each movement. The vine did start to form and she watched the rope start twisting together and becoming something that looked to be coming together. It seemed to grow taller with each flick upwards and Waverly stopped midway, nervous that it would get too big.

The vine did, as Professor Skies had warned, try to wrap itself around her, but it was so flimsy that she thought she could break through it easily. That was a little disappointing, but she used the jar she was holding as a defense mechanism anyway just to see what would happen. It was fascinating watching the thin, twisted plant shy away from the light. It started to approach her desk partner and Waverly quickly shoved the jar of light into its path so it went back to trying to wrap around her fingers on her free hand. "Sorry!" she said, brushing her hair out of her face. "I'm not really sure what to do with my plant now."

0 Waverly Canterbury - Pecari Twisting uncomfortably 0 Waverly Canterbury - Pecari 0 5

Carter Browning

June 11, 2013 3:24 PM

Ropes to vines..right? Hmmm by Carter Browning

Carter had spent a little time looking over a couple of books on Transfiguration over the summer, but didn’t really pay much attention to them. Sad to say he had never been much of a studier, much to his mother’s dismay. He had always been a little better at transfiguration than any other subject mainly because he spent a lot of time turning his cousins toys into stuff that would freak her out. He got into considerable trouble for his pranks, but that never quite seemed to sway him from continuing his onslaught, especially since just about everything scared his cousin. While he was decent at changing inanimate objects into other inanimate objects (decent meaning he made the inanimate object continue to look like an inanimate object of some kind). That didn’t mean that the object always looked the way he wanted. Sometimes it came out warped, where it only changed half-way, but Carter usually played that off as though he meant for that to happen. As hard as he tried to understand the theory principal behind Transfiguration, he was never good with the theory part. He tried filling in the Transfiguration Chart that Professor Skies gave them to help them with the spell casting, but Carter always found his mind wandering as he tried to write out the differences/similarities between certain objects. That could explain why I’m not an Aladren he thought to himself, grinning as he carried his book bag with him to class.

He walked through the door and after giving a polite smile and wave to Professor Skies, he found a seat and gazed curiously at the length of rope sitting on his desktop. He placed his book bag down on the floor by his feet and waited patiently for Professor Skies to explain what they would be doing in class today. When she explained that they would be changing the rope in front of them into an animate object, Carter couldn’t help swallowing slightly hard. Turning inanimate objects into another inanimate object was one thing he could muddle through without the chart, but inanimate objects to animate ones was another story. He just hoped he remembered enough about how to do the charts to help him figure out how to get the spell she gave them to use to work at least half way right. He listened as she continued what they would be changing the ropes into. “Garden vines or Devil’s Snare?” he said to himself, thinking back to the challenges the year before. If he remembered correctly there was Devil’s Snare involved there somewhere and Carter had been lucky, thanks to his teammates, to make it through the stuff without it squeezing the life out of him.

He made a mental note to stay away from that stuff for the time being and try the regular garden vine spell instead. He picked up one of the books that Professor Skies gave them to look through for ideas and flipped through it as she finished her lecture. He found a picture of what looked like a simple enough vine to try and started filling in the chart (well trying to anyway). He got about half through it and found his mind wandering towards the spell part. He decided to give in to wandering and starting practicing the wand movements Professor Skies showed them, mouthing the spell to himself. He continued to practice it until he was ready to give a whack. Glancing back at the picture in the book of the ivy plant he was attempting to turn the rope into, he waved the wand flicking it as he had watched her do and just before pointing it at the rope said, “Vinae!” He tried to keep the image of the ivy plant firm in him mind as he pointed the wand at the rope. He watched closely, the wand still pointed at the rope, as the rope twitched slightly.

It began to thin out slightly, although it was still too thick for the vine he had in mind, and it turned a brown-ish green color. It tried sprouting a single leaf, but it didn’t quite manage to get it to sprout all the way. It looked like a deformed webbed foot on the end of dying stick. He wasn’t even sure what you would call it other than abysmally sad. He tried going back over his chart again, but couldn’t really figure out how to fill in the gaps the way they were shown and studying the picture in the book again, was pretty certain that what he made looked nothing like the picture. He looked back at his pitiful creation before tapping his neighbor on the shoulder and asking, “Do you understand how to these chart things? Because I won’t lie, I seem to be lost as you can plainly see,” he indicated to the pitiful, web footed monstrosity sitting on his desktop still. “I don’t suppose you could help me?” he asked hopefully.

0 Carter Browning Ropes to vines..right? Hmmm 236 Carter Browning 0 5

Carter Browning

June 11, 2013 3:29 PM

New post is up by Carter Browning

I have the rewrite done and posted if you can help me delete the other one. Hope the rewrite works a little better for us both :)

0 Carter Browning New post is up 236 Carter Browning 0 5

Alexandra D'Alesandro

June 12, 2013 12:34 AM

It seems we have a plant problem. by Alexandra D'Alesandro

Alex walked briskly into class and sat down quickly next to a girl who appeared to be oblivious to everything going on around her at the moment. She placed her books in front of her and prepared herself for today’s lesson. While she waited for the professor to explain, Alex allowed her mind to wander to various topics. Her summer had been interesting to say the least. Her father was no longer living with them, and had returned to Italy. While her brother seemed to be rather angry about it, Alex didn’t let it get to her. Sure she missed her father, but she had other things to occupy herself with.

For example, the fact that her mother had betrothed Lucian to Honey was rather concerning. She just couldn’t understand what on earth her mother was thinking when she allowed that betrothal to happen. Honey and her brother…married. Yuck. The thought of it caused her stomach to turn.

Just then she glanced across the room and spotted that Clara girl, who her brother seemed to be so fond of, chatting with Rupert. Honestly, she couldn’t understand what he saw in her. The girl was quite peculiar. Not that Honey wasn’t a bit strange, but at least her family was normal, and acted like Purebloods. Alex found herself glaring so intensely at the back of Clara’s head that she was sure she would have burned a hole in it if she were able to do such a thing. Lucian was always doing something stupid, which left Alex with the burden of preserving her family’s reputation.

Once she realized Professor Skies was talking about the lesson, Alex rechanneled her attention to the task at hand. She had done decently in Transfiguration up until this point, so she wasn’t too worried. Alex stood after the Professor finished speaking, got a jar of bluebell flames, and placed in on her desk.

“Alright, let’s do this,” she said out loud. Alex pictured what the Devil’s Snare looked like and then focused on the rope in front of her. “Laqueum Diablos Creo,” she said while mimicing the wand movements. At first the rope appeared to do nothing, then a small bud appeared, and the rope turned a greenish gray in color. However, the vine did not flourish. Alex was just about to try again when her desk-mate spoke, as she was trying to control her vine that appeared to be growing rapidly.

“Do you need some help?” Alex asked with concern, and picked up her jar of bluebell flames and pointed it towards the vine that was now getting closer to her, and wrapping itself around her desk-mate’s hand. “This is kind of neat, but I do not want either of us to be wrapped up in vines. Any ideas?” Just then, she imagined the vine wrapping itself around Clara. That would eliminate one problem Alex had to concern herself with.

0 Alexandra D'Alesandro It seems we have a plant problem. 240 Alexandra D'Alesandro 0 5

Effie Arbon

June 14, 2013 9:34 AM

When did we previously do so? by Effie Arbon

In spite of her reassurances to Isabel, Effie did feel a little trepidatious going into the intermediate class. It was less the content that concerned her and more the transition. Things seemed to change so rapidly at Sonora. After just settling into the school, they'd become the senior students in the beginners class, expected to be role models and lead by example. Having just got used to that, it had been turned on its head again and she was suddenly back to being the most junior member of a class. It just made her feel slightly precarious – as if, as soon as she got used to something – someone was going to snatch it out from under her.

Still, she looked nothing short of perfectly composed as she took her seat. She ensured, as usual, that the person she sat next to came from a proper family, although she could not control who took the empty seat on her other side. It was funny how other people, who had been so intimidating at first, had now become what helped her keep her balance. Whatever was asked of them – suddenly swapping from youngest to oldest and back again, being thrown into teams with people whom they ordinarily would not give the time of day to – blood remained constant. It was something in which one could trust.

She listened to Professor Skies' introduction, unsurprised by the content they would be covering. The method also seemed perfectly logical, which she appreciated. She was quite keen on the idea of trying to make Devil's Snare as it seemed far closer to the idea of something animate, and this new, more complicated area of magic excited her. For the first two years of her education, she had been familiar with the spells they had covered, her preparatory education having covered them, and even having included some practical experience. Traces applied to locations, not people, and living with sea between you and the nearest Muggle settlements meant that the magic occurring in their household was of low importance, from the point of view of government snoops. However, they were now moving into areas she had not covered at home. Whilst she wanted to stretch her magic, she needed to ensure she could walk before attempting to run.

She collected a botany book from the front and looked up vines in the index. She turned to the appropriate section, looking over the choices. Fellenwort was one she knew from Potions, and the illustration offered distinctive characteristics, the plant having large flat leaves and small purple flowers. She had dispensed with the Transfiguration Tables as soon as she had been able to get away with it, seeing them as an aid for students with no previous knowledge. She still took her time to look over her object and consider its similarities and differences to her target but it was a process that she could conduct entirely within her own head. The most obvious difference was going to be the most challenging, in that a vine was living, yet in a way that was difficult to visualise. It was no one aspect, or obvious thing about it that defined the fact that it was alive it just... was. It would be green, shiny, smooth.... It was something natural. Perhaps if she focussed on that it would help with the intangible idea of it being alive, as life and nature were so strongly linked.

“Vinea,” she cast, twisting her wand gently above the rope. She pictured it becoming the smooth organic matter of a green vine but tried to focus herself on the abstract idea of nature, and of creating something vital and alive. The rope seemed to stretch, the rough fibres melting together. The colour turned to green, although it was slightly brown and muddied looking. Overall, it looked largely vine-like but... That indefinable something just wasn't there. It did not seem to possess the qualities of a living object. She was preparing to undo this and try again, when someone beside her spoke.

13 Effie Arbon When did we previously do so? 238 Effie Arbon 0 5

Cepheus Princeton, Crotalus

June 14, 2013 2:07 PM

Good question. by Cepheus Princeton, Crotalus

Cepheus was now a part of the fifth year class and he knew he was expected to act more mature with his spells and magic. He wasn't looking forward to moving on to the advanced classes. This year he had his CATS exams to look towards and he was dreading them. It was a necessary evil to move on, but Cepheus already knew what he was going to do once he graduated and he hardly thought his CATS were going to help him in any way. However, he knew his family would want him to excel in everything he did including his seemingly non-important exams.

Effie Arbon sat down next to him and he nodded at her before class began. Effie being in his class meant that Rupert was in the same class as he too. Great. Cepheus looked over his shoulder at his younger brother, wondering if he was still ignoring him. It didn't bother him that much, but an entire summer of it was a little tiring. Just a bit.

Professor Skies talked of more inanimate to animate transfiguration and Cepheus sighed. He remembered the first time he had done it with a hedgehog and a hairbrush. He had been scandalised and, from then on, had loathed Transfiguration as a subject. He couldn't imagine turning any living thing turning into a lifeless object. His squeamish self had sobered somewhat, but he still felt his skin crawl just at the thought of it. At least Skies reassured them it was just plants. At least they weren't moving, living creatures with a mind of their own like animals.

Cepheus had never worked with Herbology before and so, though he knew of Devil's Snare, he had never interacted with it himself. Once Professor Skies dismissed them to work, he got up and plucked a book off a desk and flipped through it for an adequate picture of one. On the page of Devil's Snare, there was a lengthy description accompanying the photograph and he sighed through his nose. He could read that bit later. He took the book back with him, making sure to pick up a jar of bluebell flames on his way.

Back at his desk, he set up his supplies. The book he put in front of him and the rope in the space between him and the botany textbook. The jar was next to that and Cepheus lifted his wand, ready to begin his practical work. However, before beginning, he looked over to see what Effie was doing. She was two years below him, meaning she was new to this class and she was working on the vine instead of the Snare. Her first try was good for a beginner and he nodded, thinking he ought to make conversation. He hadn't spoken to her much since her first year, though they had seen each other often enough.

"Nice work," he said with another nod. "I'm sure you could get it perfect on your next try. What sort of vine are you working on?" He had never thought there were different sorts of vines, but Skies had proved him wrong by transfiguring a grape vine before their eyes. Cepheus was most familiar with the sort of vine that climbed on walls and fences.

When Effie had answered his question, Cepheus turned to his own work. He cleared his throat. "Vinea," he said, flicking his wand and twisting it the way their professor had told them. The Snare grew, but it stayed a rope-like colour and he frowned. Once the size of the Devil's Snare was tolerable, Cepheus stopped the spell and watched it twist on itself before reaching out to wrap itself around his wrist. He held the jar of flames against it and watched it recoil. "I think its colouring can use some work, don't you think?" It wasn't very pretty to look at, but neither was the Devil's Snare in the book. At least the photographed Snare was greener.

0 Cepheus Princeton, Crotalus Good question. 0 Cepheus Princeton, Crotalus 0 5

Waverly

June 16, 2013 12:36 AM

Not as much of a problem as I'd like by Waverly

The girl that had sat down next to her did some intense staring at someone, but Waverly was too busy thinking about Brandon to really care. She didn't like jumping the gun about other people simply from first observations. The transfiguration was simple enough to understand, but it was keeping her Devil's Snare in check.

Waverly had been doing a pretty decent job in keeping her plant under control, or at least she had thought so. Then it had to go and try and sneak up on her desk partner. Waverly was glad nothing had happened and felt the vines wrap around her. There was no uncomfortable squeezing like an unhappy python or something, but that in itself was enough to make Waverly think her Devil's Snare was not as devilish as it should have been. It was like a baby snare.

She shook her head when her desk partner asked if she needed help. "Thanks, but I think I'll be fine," she told her. "I highly doubt this vine would threaten anyone's blood circulation." She lifted her hand that the vine was currently trying to tangle itself in and simply shook it off. "It's so flimsy I could probably break it like a twig. I probably shouldn't have stopped the spell so prematurely." She sighed. "I guess I should try again. Reparifarge." The vine shriveled back into a boring brown rope.

"Are you trying the Devil's Snare too?" she asked. Waverly knew most of her classmates' names from the roll call some of her professors took at the beginning of each class, but Waverly didn't think she had ever had a class with her before. That had to mean she was a third-year. Her powers of perception were getting better and Waverly wondered briefly if that power was coming from the Prefect badge pinned on her uniform robes. "What's your name?" she asked. "I'm Waverly. Waverly Canterbury."

0 Waverly Not as much of a problem as I'd like 0 Waverly 0 5

Alex

June 16, 2013 2:33 PM

That's not something you hear everyday. by Alex

That’s a shame.. Alex thought to herself when the girl mentioned that the vines wouldn’t have threatened anyone’s blood circulation. She could have found some sort of use for it. With that thought, Alex glared in Clara’s direction once more, and then turned towards her desk-mate as she spoke.

“Yes..I was trying the Devil’s Snare,” Alex said while frowning at her pathetic rope with one vine bud in front of her, “But maybe I should just try the vines instead. I think I may have gotten ahead of myself.” With that she mimicked the older girl and said “Reparifarge” to return the rope to its initial state.

When the girl mentioned her name, Alex made a connection. “Oh! Are you Wendy’s sister, or maybe a relative?” She didn’t want to assume people were related, but figured it was a good guess. “She is the same year as me. I am Alexandra D’Alesandro, but most people call me Alex.” She had stopped adding where her family was from in introductions because she figured that most people knew where she was from by now, and that her family consisted of respected Purebloods.

Alex focused on the piece of rope in front of her once more and said “Vinae!” while twisting her wand. She was pleased to watch as the piece of rope turned green in color and began sprouting numerous buds. “I think I got something to work this time!” she said with excitement, while turning to Waverly. The vines continued to grow, but differently than Professor Skies’ example. Alex’s vines looked more like Ivy than a grape vine.

“Please don’t think I am prying,” Alex began after a moment, “but is everything alright? You seem distracted or something.” It wasn’t that Alex was actually trying to pry or get into the girl’s business, she just didn’t want Waverly to be too distracted while she was trying to make and control a Devil’s Snare next to her.

0 Alex That's not something you hear everyday. 0 Alex 0 5

Effie Arbon

June 20, 2013 11:59 AM

I am quite certain it is not something to which I am prone by Effie Arbon

“Thank you, that's very kind of you,” Effie demured, when Cepheus complimented her work. She regarded herself as automatically superior to Muggleborns and halfbloods and never doubted that her work would be better than theirs simply by virtue of the fact of who she was and what her blood was like. However, within her own peer group, she was relatively modest. She would never have boasted of her abilities being superior to any of her classmates, and certainly never expected to do better than the boys, whom everyone knew were stronger than girls and therefore always superior. She was always surprised, therefore, when she was paid compliments, especially when they seemed to exceed the basic requirements of polite small talk. Cepheus' assertion that she would succeed fully on her next try fell into this 'above and beyond' category. She also couldn't help but worry that her future efforts would not live up to his expectations.

“I'm trying to create Fellenwort,” she explained, “I know it a little from Potions, though there it is usually far from alive.”

The Princetons were curious people and she was never quite sure what to make of them. Cepheus seemed good-mannered at least, and to have a reasonable amount of pride. Rupert, however, had simply dreadful taste in people. She couldn't understand how he continued to avoid a scandal with the company he kept. Sonora just seemed to have laws unto itself on that. This unsettled her, as her security came from knowing that the things she believed were the right things to believe, and that the way she behaved was the right way to behave. If blurring the lines was permitted, she stopped understanding where the line was, and what things constituted crossing it. It was the kind of thing she thought Father had been afraid of in sending her to the school and yet she didn't report this back to him. It scared her and she had a deep sense that the behaviour of people like Rupert was wrong but she did not want her father to remove her from the school. So long as she stuck like glue to what she knew to be right, she could only hope that everything would somehow work out.

“Vinea,” she cast again, whilst Cepheus made his attempt. Once again, the shining green vine blossomed from the rope, the picture of absolute fakeness.

“Perhaps a little but you correctly produced the animation, which I'm sure is the most difficult part,” she stated earnestly, when he asked about his efforts. “It's what I cannot seem to achieve. It looks the part – a perfect copy of what's on the page – but it lacks... vitality. Do you have any advice?” she queried.

13 Effie Arbon I am quite certain it is not something to which I am prone 238 Effie Arbon 0 5

Waverly

June 24, 2013 9:18 PM

I don't usually like problems either by Waverly

Waverly smiled at the girl's ambition. "Aiming high is always a great thing to do," she said. "But maybe you're right. The vines might be a good way to practice the spell a little before." Waverly had always tried to rush into things a little too quickly without always thinking of the consequences. She had learned to say no after too many sleepless nights her third-year. She had felt the need to prove herself to some of her peers especially with the very obvious pureblood clique that seemed to have formed. Waverly tried to show that cliques didn't matter, but she had felt a little stupid sometimes just because she hadn't grown up with magic. The way she could rise above it, at least to herself, was to do better than everyone else. Nowadays she was too busy working hard to keep her thoughts from lingering too much on Brandon.

Alex's question pleasantly surprised her. "Yeah, she's my younger sister! That's cool that you two met." Wendy didn't really talk about any of her friends to Waverly, except for Carter, but he was apparently her best friend at Sonora. They had gone to the ball last year together after all. "It's nice to meet you Alex." From the girl's mannerisms, Waverly could tell that she was a little more proper. Either she was from a really rich family or she was a pureblood. She could very well be both. Waverly was proud of her muggle heritage, but she did not like the looks she got from particular purebloods when they found out she was the only muggle-born in her year.

She took the time to watch Alex try her hand at the simpler vine. "Good job!" she said. Professor Skies's vine had turned out really cool, but Alex's was equally as pretty. It was just a different kind of vine. "That's pretty. I bet that could rival Professor Skies'," she teased.

The next question that came out of her partner's mouth surprised Waverly. At the moment, Waverly didn't think anything was really all that wrong and she wondered what made Alex ask. It was a reminder of her summer loss and she felt her heart grow heavy. "It's nothing," she said with a little smile. She didn't want to pour her heart out to a complete stranger and scare her away. "I've just got a lot of work cut out for me this year with my CATS, Prefect duties, and the Baking Club. Hey, if you're interested in learning how to bake, you should join!" She smiled. She hoped more than one person would show up to the meetings. Hopefully no one had forgotten about it since last year.

She turned back to her lifeless rope again. "I guess I'll try again," she said out loud before raising her wand. She turned briefly over at Alex. "Hopefully this one will be a little more threatening as Devil's Snare is supposed to be." She didn't really mean that, of course. Well, only a little. "Laqueum Diablos Creo." The rope twisted and transfigured, rising higher and growing thicker as she continued the spell. This time it was a little bigger than Waverly's head, but it receded on itself when the jar of flames was too close. "Wow," she said, green eyes wide. "I'd call that a success." She turned to Alex and smiled. "You want to give Devil's Snare another try? You did really well on the vine."

0 Waverly I don't usually like problems either 0 Waverly 0 5

Amity Brockert, Aladren

July 02, 2013 7:10 PM

Tagging Isabel by Amity Brockert, Aladren

Transfiguration was naturally Amity's favorite class, even though her aunt had stopped teaching it the year she had started Sonora. It was the one she had to put the least amount of effort into and the less effort she had to put in, the better. Oh she did her best, it would never do to be an incompetent witch and when she worked in partners she did her fair share of the work-because it would be cruel to make others do more of it than they should, and the only people Amity wanted to be mean to were people she avoided like the plague that they were-it was just that she preferred when it came easier and it was less work. She was lucky that she did pick up on most stuff easily enough, but being a Brockert, Transfiguration was the easiest for her.

As she walked into the room, she spotted Isabel. Sometimes, it felt like both girls were closer to Effie than to each other and Amity wanted to change that. She wanted to become better friends with the Crotalus. Hopefully, they'd get to talk a little today while they worked together. She'd never say, invite Isabel somewhere and leave Effie out, so class was really the only opportunity just to talk to her friend alone. Amity took a seat next to the other third year.

She listened to Professor Skies's lesson. Amity did tend to respect her professors since they seemed to be a sane normal lot. Actually, in some ways she thought the current Transfiguration professor was saner than her aunt. At the very least, she seemed less naive and trusting. Not that Professor Skies was mistrustful. She was simply...normal and if she'd been on the other extreme from Aunt Lilac, Amity probably wouldn't have liked her much. It wasn't as if she disliked her aunt either, quite the contrary, she hated seeing her taken advantage of lecherous parasites. She wanted to protect her more trusting relatives from those who would take advantage of them. Even if it meant she'd have to do extra work .

The one problem the Aladren had with the current Transfiguration professor was that she seemed more into theory than Aunt Lilac had been, and Amity preferred the practical part of the subject. Fortunately, theory wasn't all that hard for her either. If it was, she probably wouldn't do as well. The third year was just not the sort who went above and beyond. No matter what her mother wanted to do. There had been an explosion of clubs lately, for example,and Amity was just a tad bit worried. Mother would want her in them all and want Chaslyn to be once she got here. Even Baking, despite the fact that humans didn't do that. The Aladren would refuse but her sister would not. The girl was completely cowed and Amity was worried she'd eventually have a nervous breakdown. The third year would, if it were up to her, not tell her mother about them, but they were sure to be in the yearbook-and Mother did know there was a yearbook, because there had been one since Amity had been in school and she would ask about it so she could see if Amity got Biggest Brain again.

She'd have been perfectly willing to lie and say they weren't doing the yearbook any more. There hadn't been one previous to the year she'd started school and she could easily get Arabella, Tristan and Uncle Seth to lie and go along with this. The problem was Carrie. If she could do what she'd done to Ryan last summer, well, telling Mother about the existance of the yearbook would not be a big deal to the fourth year since it was a far less painful secret. Though it would still cause strife between Amity and her mother-more strife really since there was usually plenty anyway-and probably later issues for Chaslyn, because she'd be forced to join. All because of Carrie. All problems in her part of the family were because of Carrie-and Aunt Pearl.

Today, they would be doing plant transfiguration and the third year doubted she'd have too much trouble with it. Still, obviously, she was going to stick to the easier lesson, the one for third years. She had no idea what she was going to do next year when she was given the choice. In any other class, it would have been simple, Amity would have taken the easier option, but this was Transfiguration and it was a matter of pride and family honor. Fortunately, she didn't have to worry about it just yet.

The similarities between a common garden vine and a rope were pretty easy to see. Both were long and thin and could be used for similar purposes, such as climbing down things,if the vine was strong enough. "Vinea " said Amity, doing the proper motions with her wand. Essentially what was left in its place was a green rope. Well, it had done something, and that was enough for the Aladren to start a conversation with her neighbor. She turned to Isabel. "How are you doing with this?"

11 Amity Brockert, Aladren Tagging Isabel 233 Amity Brockert, Aladren 0 5

Isabel Raines, Crotalus

July 10, 2013 12:55 AM

Clearly, my handwriting needs more practice. by Isabel Raines, Crotalus

Transfiguration was not Isabel’s best subject, but she had managed, through her beginner classes, to make it work for her. They took a lot of notes in class, working through the Transfiguration tables and theories and things, and copying what she wrote in class over again a few times while she was doing her homework both made her remember it better and gave her time to practice her handwriting as well. Her most flowery penmanship had probably improved more than her deep grasp of theory, but she did well enough in both to please Mamma and Papa, and that was all that really mattered. Especially since she knew her life was likely to involve a lot more thank-you notes written in her prettiest handwriting than it was Transfiguration.

Still, she enjoyed the academic side of school even if she wasn’t the best of it. She liked learning magic, felt proud of herself when she mastered a new concept, or even a new spell, and she never knew. Everything she ever learned might come in handy someday, even how to turn a beetle into a button.

She smiled at Amity when the Aladren sat down beside her and said a quick greeting, then paid attention to Professor Skies, taking notes in something far less than her best penmanship for speed’s sake, since right now was about getting what she needed to actually finish the lesson at hand. The third year one; Isabel liked learning, but one year at a time was fine. She didn’t really want to try to join the ranks of the overachievers, since she was pretty sure that was a game she could not win, and Isabel really didn’t see the point of playing when there wasn’t a chance of getting what she was in it for.

“Vinea,” she tried, imagining ivy and getting...a rope twisting itself into spirals, which was not really what she had hoped for. She looked at the sides, trying to imagine she saw the beginnings of leaves and a color change.

“It’s a start,” she replied cheerfully when Amity asked how her work was going so far. "Yours looks like it's going really well," she complimented. "How are you today? Aside from Transfiguration?"

0 Isabel Raines, Crotalus Clearly, my handwriting needs more practice. 0 Isabel Raines, Crotalus 0 5

Jay Carey, Aladren

July 11, 2013 10:03 PM

Time and patience will...make your efforts attack you? by Jay Carey, Aladren

As he finished up his notes, Jay wondered for a moment about the logic behind something like Devil’s Snare. In theory, it worked as, well, what the name said – it could be used for home security – but unless his younger siblings were stranger than he thought they were, it wasn’t really practical, and was easy enough to repel for an adult if you didn’t panic, too. That ruled it out for, like, the kind of things griffins had been bred for, too. So it was just left there being very unpleasant.

Maybe it’s a conversation piece, he thought as he went to get a rope. It seemed like the kind of thing he could imagine his father having for that purpose, if he hadn’t had so many kids, or maybe Aunt Lorraine. She liked gardening, and was good at it, enough that Uncle Adam got some of his herbs from her, though he did grow plenty of things, including some more dangerous plants, himself and Dad got him others.

Back in his seat, he realized, with a pleasant bit of surprise, that he was a fourth year, something which hadn’t really fully registered even when Henry passed him with a vague mutter to find one of the corner seats his brother preferred. He pointedly did not look in Henry’s direction now, instead just deciding which spell to try out. Ambition wasn’t one of his greater traits – one of the things he liked about Sonora was that he had virtually no responsibilities here; even looking after Henry was usually split between Anthony and, of all people, Arthur, though Jay guessed the tutoring duty would fall back to him next year when Arthur was gone – but he thought he could manage the fifth year spell. Ambition and confidence were different things, and he liked Transfiguration well enough. He wouldn’t get it in one, but he’d get it eventually.

“Hm?” he asked, after his first try, when he heard Aria saying something to herself. He glanced toward her work. “You’re working on Devil’s Snare, too?”

He wasn’t really surprised, since he thought of Aria as one of the smart ones in their class – probably more than him, just because of the dedication it took to find ways to do as many things differently as her lifestyle seemed to make her have to. Jay himself didn’t really feel that strongly about anything except his family, and even then would only really do anything to demonstrate that if he had to, but he thought it was admirable. He wondered if that was something to do with the Transfiguration today, but Devil’s Snare wasn’t really that much more alive than a regular vine, was it? He didn’t know much about how it was put together or anything, but it seemed to just react, not think or anything.

0 Jay Carey, Aladren Time and patience will...make your efforts attack you? 0 Jay Carey, Aladren 0 5

Amity

July 14, 2013 7:23 AM

It looks very nice. by Amity

"Thank you." replied Amity. "It's going all right." She truly did love school, but not for the reason most Aladrens did. They were all about academics and she was just glad to get away from all that extra stuff her mother forced on her. All the stuff that was completely unnecessary to anything about being a skilled witch or important member of pureblood society. Here, she felt like she could actually breathe without her mother demanding she do this or that.

Plus, she got to see her friends. At home, it was just her sister and parents and lots and lots of tutors and instructors. Okay, there were some people in some of the lessons they took, and they did seem to like Amity all right, or at least not view her as a threat to them due to her lack of caring about how well she did in any of these activities. However, Mother wanted her to view them as competitors and she wasn't encouraged to be more than polite to them. Also, they sort of judged her at times for not being as good at these activities as they were. Maybe it was because they were insecure about their place in society compared to hers, so they thought they had to show they were better of her in some way, but they were being extra tacky by bragging about how great they were and Amity didn't want to be like that.

It kind of hurt really that they acted that way towards her, even though she had neither the time nor inclination to be that great at those unimportant things, which was why she tried not to act that way towards others. Okay, yes, there were a few that she genuinely did think she was superior to, but it wasn't that the Aladren thought that she was that great, it was just that they were that bad . Naturally, she thought she was a better person than Carrie, for example. Who wasn't?

She looked over at her friend's rope. "At least it did something." Amity replied, smiling. "That's always a plus." Really, it was all she ever asked of herself when she did a new spell. So long as she made progress, she was happy. She didn't have to be perfect. All trying to be perfect did was cause problems for people when they inevitably weren't successful. It got them too upset when they weren't, the way Amity had seen her sister be many times. Neither of them would ever be what their mother wanted. The difference was that she'd accepted it and Chaslyn had not.

It was important to not only accept one's strengths but one's limitations as well. Not everyone was going to be good at everything. In fact, she felt it was humanly impossible to be good at everything. There simply wasn't time, even if one did have the inclinations-and that was something that Mother needed to accept. In fact,sometimes it wasn't just the extraneous stuff that Amity didn't feel she did as well, but the important stuff too, because of all the time wasted on extraneous stuff. She needed to be a respectable member of society, and how could she practice necessary things for that if she had to go play the violin and learn Italian? She would come across socially awkward and unappealing to potential suitors. Who cared if Amity could do a back handspring if she couldn't do the things normal pureblood girls could do? She knew she was competent in these things, but was she as good as her friends? What if they ended up thinking poorly of her, that she was less than a proper lady?

No, in the long run, it was much better for her if she concentrated on the things that mattered. Therefore, she would continue to do as she had been doing and only put forth effort in places where it was deserved-and if something came naturally to her, so much the better.

"So, what do you think of the fair at the end of the year?" Amity asked. "It sounds much more fun than last year's Challenges. The ball wasn't so bad though." She hadn't gone with anyone but neither had most of the girls in her year, including Isabel and Effie. The only one with a date had been Wendy Canterbury, but Amity wasn't sure if she'd been audacious enough to ask Carter or if he was going down a disrepuatable path. She would hate to think it was the latter, because it would mean Carrie was right about something and one just couldn't have that . Of course, she didn't care that much, because it didn't really affect her so it just wasn't worth the effort.

11 Amity It looks very nice. 233 Amity 0 5