Beginners - I feel pretty, oh so pretty on Transfiguration

Professor Skies

January 10, 2014 7:04 PM

Beginners - I feel pretty, oh so pretty by Professor Skies

“Good morning class,” Professor Skies smiled at the assembled beginners. They were midway through the term now – hopefully just enough time for the post-Christmas fidgetiness to have worn off but not yet early enough for the end of term fidgitiness to have set in.

“Today we are going to be working on an area that will span your studies in Transfiguration, and that is adding a personal touch to your projects. The majority of magical folk can use Transfiguration to create functional objects but creating objects with style is usually much admired. This may seem somewhat frivolous and to a certain extent it is - I am never going to claim that it's as worthy as making great intellectual discoveries in the field, or that most of its uses don't serve slightly vain human tendencies. But it does have uses. Imagine, for example, you have a favourite set of china and a piece gets broken. The pattern is no longer in production. The witch or wizard who can Transfigure with decorative skill can reproduce it and indeed some people have built entire businesses on doing just that.

“There's also the fact, of interest to you, that examiners love it. It demonstrates the extent of your ability to visualise and to translate this into results, which are core skills in the field, and can be very useful in distinguishing between the competent and the brilliant.

“So, today, we will be re-attempting the spell on stuffed animals to cushions. Today, you will be attempting to create a patterned cushion from the plain white animals provided,” she had borrowed these from Professor Olivers. They were having quite the eventful year, having been used in at least two of her colleague's classes. Objects that had been repeatedly cast upon could begin to show signs of fatigue and instability, especially if the casting was somewhat haphazard, as was often the case with students. However, she had given Florence's menagerie the once over and deemed them perfectly equal to the task of another mauling.

“The more complex your pattern, the higher a mark you will be awarded. However, know your limits – it is better to have a well-transfigured cushion with a simple design than a cushion with a complex patter that still has eyes. No patterns that incorporate eyes please as that becomes a little confusing in terms of marking.

“The charm remains the same as the previous lesson Culcitus, remember to enunciate the first 'u' with a nice round tone and use a soft, flowing wand motion. If you are artistically inclined, it might benefit you to sketch out your ideas. In general, your visualisation skills are the area that will help you most in this task,” she held up a cushion with intricately embroidered leaves in varying shades of blue which, moments ago, had been a small, stuffed owl.

“If you have any problems, consult me or your peers. You may begin.”

OOC – Posts will be marked on length, creativity, realism and relevance, and must be a minimum of 200 words.

If you need Professor Skies, please tag her in the subject line (write 'Tag Professor Skies) and do not allow a situation to get out of control before giving me a chance to intervene.

As it has been mentioned that the students were working on the spell in their previous lesson, you can assume they already have some competence and skill in making a basic cushion, though it will vary depending on how good they are at spellwork.

Subthreads:

I'm happiest when I feel pretty. by Charlotte Spencer, Crotalus

0 Professor Skies Beginners - I feel pretty, oh so pretty 26 Professor Skies 1 5

Charlotte Spencer, Crotalus

January 15, 2014 10:01 AM

I'm happiest when I feel pretty. by Charlotte Spencer, Crotalus

The mornings were clearly Charlotte's favourite part of the day. She woke early to wash, dress and work on her hair. She took good care of her appearance and enjoyed wearing the newest fashion, though it seemed as though styles were different in America than back home in London. She had spent an hour tirelessly curling her blonde hair and, as it was still quite fresh from the iron, they gathered around her shoulders and her face, still curled the way she had intended. Nothing else pleased Charlotte more than looking pretty.

Transfiguration was easily becoming one of her favourite classes because of its practicality, only second to Charms. She recognised the old toys from Professor Olivers's class, having worked on changing the crisp white into different colours before. She sat in class, wondering what Professor Skies was planning to use these worn toys for. Charlotte had never had a particular love for stuffed animals as other witches her age did, but working on transfiguring soft toys as opposed to rocks or other hard objects was pleasant in itself.

The subject was better, however, than Charlotte had expected. It was going to be similar to her Charms lesson, only they were going to be transfiguring these into patterned cushions. Charlotte had heard from Adam that Muggles had to create these sorts of things by hand and it was very difficult for her to imagine all the intricate detailing they had to do in getting the thread onto the cushion without it coming apart. It was delicate work, she thought, and doing it by hand was inconceivable to the witch who was now learning to do the same tedious work with a wave of her wand. Charlotte had seen her mother repair dishes before with this magic as well as the house-elf and she was eager to begin.

The first step was to sketch out her design for the cushion. It had taken all of Charlotte's willpower to join Art Club, but if she had any more she would have joined the Fashion Club as well. Charlotte always carried coloured ink with her in her book bag, but began first with a pencil for her preliminary sketch. This was the best practical lesson to date in the two years she had attended Sonora. After a moment of thought, her pale hand flew across the parchment and detailed flowers and leaves began appearing. The idea of keeping it simple hadn't occurred to her and she drew what she wanted most to see in her design, marks disregarded. She was in the process of drawing the body of a small bird when someone bumped her arm. She gasped involuntarily, having been disturbed from her intense focus, the bird now pierced with a line going through it.

"Sorry," she replied automatically and began digging through her bag for a rubber. It seemed to be misplaced, much to her dismay, so she turned to the person who had bumped her, determined to make her sketch perfect. "Sorry, but do you have a rubber I can borrow?" asked Charlotte shyly.

0 Charlotte Spencer, Crotalus I'm happiest when I feel pretty. 0 Charlotte Spencer, Crotalus 0 5

Liliana Bannister, Pecari

January 20, 2014 11:18 PM

Me too- though I like it when I'm dirty best. by Liliana Bannister, Pecari

As the year had gone on, Liliana had progressively gotten better in her wand classes. Care of Magical Creatures and Potions were still the easiest for her as there wasn't any wand work involved, but she had started to learn to enjoy herself in Charms, Transfiguration, and Defense Against the Dark Arts. As it was, she had managed to eventually succeed in each lesson by the end of the period though it was not as quickly as she would have liked. Today's Transfiguration lesson, however, interested her. She and her cousins were always getting into trouble at their grandparent's house and thought this lesson in particular would be come quite useful should they destroy something beyond recognition.

Liliana took the plain stuffed animal and sat it down in front of her on the desk. She began to think what kind of cushion she would like to have. It couldn't be too girly, that she knew and she was busy imagining a pretty cream colored cushion with dark green ivy embroidered on it in a sort of curling way when a voice, distinctly similar to her own interrupted her. She had not spoken with many students from England yet, just Adam Spencer who was on the Quidditch team with her and he was a boy, so she was excited to meet a girl close to her age also from England.

"Yes, of course, let me check," Liliana provided the other witch with a smile as she rummaged through her bag before producing a well used rubber. "I'm sorry it isn't quite clean," she said apologetically. "I make loads of mistakes that need fixing. That's mainly why I won't really use a quill." She gestured to the three or four stubby pencils of varying lengths and tips surrounding her transfiguration notes all of which had their erasers worn off. "Are you from England too?" She turned back to her work area to sort of clear off the desk so she would have a clean space to work with. She had found that extra things lying around whilst she tried to preform magic only distracted her and her spells wouldn't turn out the way she expected them to. "That's a pretty bird, do you draw a lot? My grandmother would like me to but I find that I don't quite always have the patience."

10 Liliana Bannister, Pecari Me too- though I like it when I'm dirty best. 274 Liliana Bannister, Pecari 0 5

Charlotte Spencer

January 22, 2014 11:00 AM

That is...appalling. by Charlotte Spencer

The girl who had bumped her was English as well and Charlotte regarded her curiously as she looked through her bag. Charlotte accepted the rubber with a smile. “That’s alright, thank you,” she replied, looking briefly at the pencils the witch had gestured towards. Charlotte, not knowing what to say in response, smiled again before rubbing out the line quite vigorously. She dusted off the excess bits that had come appeared as a result and handed it back to the witch, her clear blue eyes meeting her partner’s for a moment as she answered her question.

“Yes, I am,” replied Charlotte. “I’m Charlotte Spencer of London. And you?” It was clear they were both from the UK and Charlotte felt a tug of longing at the familiar accent. The Spencers would be known by most pure-blood families mostly for their rise in status thanks to her father’s marriage to Cassie Princeton, Charlotte’s mother. The Princetons were a much more notable family; though the Spencers had the title, her father did not have the luxury to earn money through means other than hard work.

The witch commented on her bird and Charlotte looked back at it forlornly. It had looked lovelier just a moment before she had rubbed out its middle. “I do draw often, though painting is my medium of choice. I’ve been painting since I was very young and I enjoy it immensely. I’ve found patience comes when one is intensely invested in one’s work. I can spend hours on a piece.” Charlotte began working on sketching the bird again to make it whole. She paused once it was finished, pleased with how it looked, and thought she’d better get to doing the spell. She could work on perfecting this piece of art all day if she had the chance. “You’re a first year, aren’t you? And you’re enjoying Sonora? It’s very different than how I’d imagined Hogwarts,” she said conversationally. Chatting with classmates younger than her also gave Charlotte a bit more confidence in herself. Being in charge of two younger siblings back home had taught her some responsibility, though she much preferred allowing Adam to lead in conversations and such.

As nice as it was to have a fellow Brit at this school, Charlotte didn’t know what else to say. Making conversation had always been difficult for the painfully shy witch. She had improved somewhat in talking to Emrys, but even then he dominated most of the conversation and goaded small talk out of her. It would be a horrible habit, shying away from conversations with people, when she married and was supposed to be the hostess to large parties or family reunions. Marrying a respectable, gentlemanly wizard came with much responsibility that Charlotte still needed to grow into.

As she looked back at her design, Charlotte began to realise how difficult it would be to imagine the complications within her drawing onto the stuffed animal. At the last minute she decided to simplify it in her head and include only the simpler flowers and the birds she had drawn. It would be less pretty, but elegant in its own way. She picked a white cat out of the pile of soft toys and placed it on her desk. She envisioned the cushion in her head, imagining it to be the same shape as the ones she had back home, and then waved her wand. “Culcitus.” Her pale hand performed the flowing wand motion flawlessly, the graceful action coming naturally to the young witch. It was difficult for Charlotte to decide on a favourite course subject, but she certainly enjoyed Transfiguration more than other classes. Her cushion, however, did not turn out the way she had imagined. Instead of a soft, perfectly square sofa seat, it was a mutated cat with soft body parts sticking out of a rectangular body. But the design of simple flowers and birds had appeared exactly as she’d wanted. Perhaps she’d better try to focus less on the design and more on the cushion.

“Not terrible for a first try,” she noted to herself softly, and then turned back to the other witch to see how she was faring.

40 Charlotte Spencer That is...appalling. 265 Charlotte Spencer 0 5

Liliana Bannister

January 27, 2014 10:34 PM

Yes, I'm often called that. by Liliana Bannister

Liliana grinned happily. Not only was the other witch from London, but she was also a pureblood. She knew her grandmother would be happy with this acquaintance. Though Liliana found Muggles to be particularly interesting, she didn't care much for them, holding a particularly vivid history lesson from one of her tutors about the witch trials against them. "I'm Liliana Bannister of the London Bannisters." The Bannisters, like the Princetons, a relative of the Spencers, if Liliana remembered her grandmother's lessons properly, were rather well off. And they had become even more powerful when they had united with the Brouards- another pureblood family, through the union of Liliana's mother and father in order to merge the two family businesses together. Liliana's maternal grandmother was known, in particular, for throwing fantastic balls.

Hours? Liliana could barely stay still for one class period, she could imagine painstakingly painting for hours. And from the way Charlotte spoke of it she did it a lot. "Wow, that's incredible. I've never had much patience." She gave a smile. "That's why I play Quidditch. It's much more fast paced and I enjoy it immensely. All my cousins play, you know, though not all of them are on their house teams at Hogwarts. I think I'm enjoying Sonora alright." That, Liliana knew was a lie. She was more than enjoying Sonora 'alright', but speaking of Hogwarts always made her miss her home and the school she was supposed to have gone to. "I do agree that it is different from what I imagined Hogwarts to be like. For one, I would have had cousins there already and a few friends from my grandmother's events." She tried not to think about how Tanya and Noey had split from being friends and how that might have affected her when had she gone to Hogwarts.

After getting her desk space as clear as she possibly could, Liliana placed the stuffed seal she had selected in front of her. She took a deep breath, reassuring herself that it was not a big deal if she didn't get it all the way on the first try, that practice made perfect and though she had progressed with her abilities as the year had gone on, that didn't mean she was going to all of a sudden get the cushion down. Liliana closed her eyes, once again thinking of the creamy seat with green embroidery twisting about it like ivy and raised her wand. "Culticus," she said firmly, finding that the more sure she sounded, the better her result would be. When she opened her eyes she saw that the seal had lost it's shape and formed a sort of sad excuse for a square while still retaining it's whiskers and eyes. The color had changed, however, to the soft cream she had imagined, and Liliana tried the spell again, happy at how well her product had turned out. When she had tried the rubber ball spell earlier in the year all her attempts ending with a Quaffle. Which, while still a ball, was not the assignment. After her next attempt, the ivy pattern showed, but the whiskers and eyes were still there. Liliana looked over at Charlotte's where she saw the beautiful designs of the flowers and birds on the pillow. The pillow itself seemed to have a few arms and Liliana instantly felt better that she was not the only one with a misshapen animal-pillow.

"Your design looks really great against the white," Liliana said, studying the flowers and birds carefully. "It's got a few things poking out but so does mine." She gestured to the funny lumps that might have once been flippers and a tail and to the whiskers and the beady eyes that still stared at her mercilessly from the top of the pillow. "I'm growing rather fond of mine, actually. Perhaps I ought to ask Professor Skies if I can keep him as a pet." She was joking, of course, though part of her had become attached to the weird looking thing.

10 Liliana Bannister Yes, I'm often called that. 274 Liliana Bannister 0 5

Charlotte Spencer

February 01, 2014 2:12 PM

Don't you want to change that? by Charlotte Spencer

Charlotte was sure she had heard the name Bannister before. Her parents weren't socialites the way the Princetons were, but they did go to the occasional ball and she was sure her parents had gone to a Bannister party once or twice when they received an invitation. Charlotte was glad to have another good acquaintance to make. She didn't know much about Emrys's family, but she did know some of Liliana's from the London circles.

Painting was a way for Charlotte to express herself when words failed her, as they always did. She couldn't speak when she went home and her mother rarely listened to any of her opinions. Charlotte was very close to Adam, but there were some feelings she couldn't express even to him and so was at a loss. As a young girl she had taken to painting and drawing first because they were acceptable past-times for girls and secondly because it was a therapeutic exercise for her. She could use vibrant colours and not be self-conscious of being too loud or paint her feelings on a canvas and have it masked to everyone else. It was liberating, really, and gave her the same sort of pleasure she was sure Liliana found in sports as did many others.

"Quidditch is a brutal sport," said Charlotte. "I never enjoyed playing it, but most of my cousins play it as well as my brothers. I do enjoy watching it, though not here when my brother is playing." She smiled. "I'm glad to hear you're enjoying Sonora. I've enjoyed it more as a second year and I'm sure each year will bring something better with it. Or at least a new perspective." Charlotte never would have sounded so optimistic if she hadn't found Emrys her first year. Charlotte was terribly shy and upon first entering Sonora's grounds, she had clung onto Adam desperately. She had never been a very social person, nor very friendly when she was engaged in large groups, but somehow she had made a friend. And a good one, at that.

Hogwarts would have been very different. Charlotte had cousins here already who were older than her, but it would have been different at Hogwarts. There all the old families and pure-blood competitions and other ambitious wizards or witches looking to better their place in society would have been suffocating. It wasn't to say that didn't happen here at Sonora, but at least here Charlotte was relatively unknown. At Hogwarts she would have been thrown into the fray her first day. It would have been very different.

Liliana was first to compliment her pillow and Charlotte's cheeks took a slight pink to them. She was unused to being complimented so freely by strangers. "Thank you," she replied, and smiled at Liliana's work. It was appalling that she would want to keep that hybrid of a pillow and a soft toy, but she didn't say a thing. Liliana had just complimented her; it would be rude to return the compliment with an insult. "It would be a lovely pet, I'm sure. You did well with the ivy pattern."

Charlotte looked at her pillow again. Now that she had the design, perhaps transfiguring it into a pillow would be a bit easier. She raised her wand again and cleared her throat. "Culticus," she said, this time focusing more on the shape of the cushion. It came out looking rather well, though somewhat lumpy. The cat's body parts had disappeared and it looked to be in the shape of a cushion, though now the design looked stretched across instead of well proportioned. "Blast it," she mumbled. She had hoped to get it in two attempts, but it didn't seem like that was going to happen. "This is not the sort of cushion I would put on my sofa," she declared, poking it once. It was still soft. At least she hadn't turned it into rock. Charlotte was disappointed in herself, but she tried not to show it. It wouldn't do to make any self-deprecating comments in front of people.

40 Charlotte Spencer Don't you want to change that? 265 Charlotte Spencer 0 5

Liliana Bannister

February 08, 2014 11:51 PM

Oddly enough it doesn't really bother me. by Liliana Bannister

Liliana thought that Charlotte was probably the type of witch her family wished they had instead of her. She knew that they didn't care if she wanted to play Quidditch or not, but she could tell that they were always happier when she was dancing, it was a lot more graceful and an activity more appropriate for a young witch. But they had let her continue with Quidditch as she got older since they hadn't denied her cousins the pleasure.

"Why don't you like to watch your brother play?" Liliana asked. She knew Adam from Quidditch and thought that he was very nice. It was also good to hear that Sonora would get better as she got older- it was already pretty good and she was looking forward to it. It was difficult for her here because she had always been a social person. It would seem though, that she hadn't really made a fast friend and the only person she had talked to the most was Atlas Primred who had exchanged some rather heated words with her last semester and at the Welcoming Feast for the start of this one. They had made up since- in a way, at least Atlas thought they had made up. But Liliana was still sort of holding the grudge of him treating her as if she was a petulant child.

She grinned kind of sadistically when Charlotte agreed that her hybrid pillow would make a lovely pet. Perhaps she ought to take it home and have one of her older cousins animate it and then set it in her mother's closet for a surprise. She'd reclaim it afterwards and keep it around for company and it really would be cute to watch it try and get around seeing as it was kind of blob shaped and didn't have any distinct legs or arms. She lifted her eyes from considering the pet and told Charlotte so. The other girl didn't seem too bad and Liliana thought that perhaps she would enjoy that idea.

Liliana watched with curiosity as Charlotte continued to transform the stuffed animal into a pillow, thinking that hers had transformed enough and who was to say that she didn't want an animal type pillow? It seemed though that Charlotte wanted a practical pillow if her upset cry at not succeeding was any indicator. "It looks fine to me," Liliana said to reassure her desk partner. "Loads better than mine does that is, for a sofa cushion; since I don't want a sofa cushion I like to think I rather succeeded!" She had seen a Muggle advertisement for a thing called a 'Pillow Pet', a cuter version of her rather terrifying jumble that was on her desk but Liliana secretly preferred her muddled cushion than the cutesy ones in the advertisement.

10 Liliana Bannister Oddly enough it doesn't really bother me. 274 Liliana Bannister 0 5

Charlotte Spencer

February 12, 2014 10:03 AM

That <i>is</i> odd. by Charlotte Spencer

Charlotte was not aware of everyone on the Pecari Quidditch team as Adam was, but with Liliana's enthusiasm for the sport Charlotte assumed the younger witch was a part of the team. "He's a Chaser and therefore more likely to get hurt in the midst of it all. I'd rather not watch him get hit by a bludger or anything to that effect. It's different watching him play at home; there's nothing quite as detrimental there. But at school it's much more dangerous." When Jack came to Sonora she didn't think she would ever be able to make it to a Quidditch match. Jack was quickly becoming a Quidditch enthusiast as well with all the grooming he received from both Adam and their parents.

The pillow that Liliana seemed to be so fond of Charlotte would have turned her nose up at in disgust. But she couldn't do that here and now so she politely ignored it and worked on her own cushion. After her sad attempt, Liliana attempted to reassure her. Charlotte had to admit that it did look loads better than her desk-mate's, but it wasn't up to the standard of the professor's and that's what she was aiming for. Charlotte was too polite to say this, of course, and if Liliana had been her own sister she would have taken that monstrosity away from her. But Liliana was not her sister, nor were they really friends, so Charlotte simply had to bear her enthusiasm for the mutated pillow.

"I'm glad you're pleased with your work," said Charlotte with a little smile, but her smile dropped when she looked back at her own attempted cushion. "I know I can do better than this," she told herself softly. Though it did not show on her face, determination came over her to perfect her cushion and she concentrated once more on ignoring the world around her and transfiguring this silly toy into a cushion once and for all. Charlotte waved her wand once more, trying to be graceful and imagining her cushion exactly the way she wanted it to look.

The third attempt seemed to be the charm and the cushion took shape just as Charlotte had imagined. The design still looked slightly stretched, but more proportioned than it had been previously. It was satisfactory, E-quality work at the least, and Charlotte was content, her blue eyes brightening with pleasure at success. "That looks almost good enough to be on my mother's drawing room sofa," she said with a little smile, "don't you think?" Clearly Liliana would not know what the Spencers' drawing room looked like, but the standards of an upper class pure-blood were quite high and, as a fellow pure-blood, Liliana ought to know that.

40 Charlotte Spencer That <i>is</i> odd. 265 Charlotte Spencer 0 5