Professor Skies
May 22, 2016 3:30 AM
Intermediate Theories - forbidden vs impossible by Professor Skies
“Good morning,” Selina greeted the Intermediates. “As you prepare for your CATS exams - which all of you are now considered to be doing, as you are in intermediates,” she added, lest any third years had taken this as a cue to nod off, “You will need to start learning how to answer the major theory questions of the core subjects, as well as demonstrating reasonable skills in practical magic.“In Transfiguration, two of the major questions are the limits of Transfiguration, and the borders between Transfiguration and other subjects, most commonly Charms. Today we are going to be looking at a subject that covers the first question quite succinctly, although there is the possibility of it coming into discussions on the second question too.
“Today, we will be looking at three subjects…. Food, money and the human body. I would like you to get into pairs or threes and answer the following questions,” as she spoke, the chalk moved behind her, adding the questions to the board.
“1. What are the magical limits of Transfiguring these items?
2. What are the legal limits?
3. What other things are limited by magic or by law in the field of Transfiguration?
“Fifth years, you will also write an essay this term on the impossibility of bringing back the dead, and whether this violates laws within Transfiguration or Charms. If you finish your classwork early today, you may start researching this.
“Chapter seven of your books will be helpful, and I have provided additional material from the library which has good sections on these subjects. You may begin.”
OOC - This lesson primarily deals with Gamp’s Law. I found this article, which I thought was helpful and interesting, though I’m not convinced by idea number 4 http://www.beyondhogwarts.com/harry-potter/articles/the-five-principal-exceptions-to-gamps-law.html
As we don’t know for sure what the other exceptions are, I have tried to avoid stating them as facts, and am very happy for differing theories to start flying around the room.
Subthreads: I don't believe in impossible. by Jack Spencer, Aladren with Alistair Johnson, Crotalus
In need of your ideas (tag Kira) by Chuck Fintoc, Pecari with Kira Spaulding, Crotalus
Stepping out of my comfort zone. by Lauren Song - Teppenpaw with Arne Reinhardt, Crotalus, Lauren
This sounds like a challenge! [Tag: Ingrid] by Louis Valois, Aladren with Ingrid Wolseithcrafte, Pecari
Those are synonyms to me [Tag: Jax] by Wu Peizhi, Teppenpaw with Jax Donovan, Aladren, Wu Peizhi
Not words I like to hear, those. by John Umland, Aladren
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Professor Skies
Intermediate Theories - forbidden vs impossible
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Professor Skies
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Chuck Fintoc, Pecari
May 28, 2016 3:30 PM
In need of your ideas (tag Kira) by Chuck Fintoc, Pecari
Chuck was grateful for the opportunities that being a student at Sonora Academy opened for him and always tried not to take his education for granted, but it had to be said he didn’t always find school enjoyable. Academics were not his strong point and Care of Magical Creatures was pretty much the only class he achieved particularly highly in. That didn’t mean that Chuck was a stupid boy, it was simply that his way of thinking and his interests didn’t quite coordinate with the likes of Transfiguration.In Chuck’s honest opinion theory lessons were quite often dull but he wasn’t likely to voice this because it was rude, and he wasn’t blind to the fact that they covered important topics. He supposed the proposed questions for today should be something he found vaguely interesting but they just weren’t. Ultimately, the limitations of magic were no use to him. He had enough to deal with just keeping up with what was possible so delving into whether or not he could do more was not that appealing. The fourth year knew that difficult topics were all part of the learning process and that being an Intermediate student meant things weren’t easy but CATS seemed so far off that they didn’t bear thinking about, or preparing for.
Chuck was just glad he wasn’t a fifth year yet and therefore neither had the impending doom of CATS to worry about nor the horrible-sounding essay that Professor Skies had just set the older year.
“Want to pair up?” he turned to the person beside him, who happened to be Kira Spaulding. He’d got to know her a bit last term when they were in the same challenge group and she’d seemed nice, and intelligent come to think of it so hopefully she’d have lots of bright ideas.
“I can’t say I know much about this topic,” the large redhead smiled. “But I can tell you something, there should be no limitations on food.” Like most Fintoc men, Chuck liked his food and this was rather implied by his figure.
“Actually,” Chuck frowned upon further consideration of his statement. “If that were the case, people like my family would probably be out of business.” Primarily cattle ranchers, the Fintocs’ wealth relied on the popularity of their meat produce. If people were able to conjure food themselves, surely that would put so many people out of business? “So it’s definitely not possible magically, or maybe it’s just not legal?” The fourth year didn’t really have any particular ideas to share but if Kira was going to partner with him, he was sure she’d want him to actually contribute.
“I don’t know,” he shrugged, knowing he wasn't knowledgeable enough to make any good points. “What are your thoughts?”
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Chuck Fintoc, Pecari
In need of your ideas (tag Kira)
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Chuck Fintoc, Pecari
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Kira Spaulding, Crotalus
June 05, 2016 3:40 PM
Not someone with better ones? by Kira Spaulding, Crotalus
Though Transfiguration was her favorite class, Kira was always disappointed when there was a theory lesson. It wasn't that she found it boring or couldn't grasp it but she was maybe a little above average at best, as opposed to the practical where she shined. And she tended to need that little boost, the one where she was amazing rather than mediocre. Or worse than mediocre. The fact that Kira had a constant feeling of not being good enough made her cling to the one thing that made her feel good. The one thing that she was praised for rather than sitting idly by-she was mostly not outright criticized-while certain others were fawned over.Not that she had a big head about it. There was enough that she wasn't good at out there-such as well, everything else- to keep her humble.
And with the ball coming this year, Kira needed to hang on more than usual to what made her feel good about herself. She had appreciated Caelia's offer to help and her general encouragement but short of magic shoes the third year's dancing was going to be hopeless. Honestly, Kira might have contemplated that but she knew her fairy tales, and that even though Muggles didn't realize it-as they didn't know vampires, werewolves, unicorns and in fact, magic itself were real-fairy tales had a grain of truth to them, even with all the different versions out there. The one about magic shoes....hadn't ended well. Actually that was true of a lot of them but that was the relevant one in this case. Someone in her very predicament had charmed themselves a pair of shoes to do just that, but the spell had gone wrong and girl had neither been able to stop dancing or remove the shoes from her feet. The only way to remove them had been to cut the girl's feet off. Kira would prefer to leave her feet attached to her body even if such a thing as magic dancing shoes that worked the way they were intended would be within her skill set someday. She wasn't going to chance it at this point. Being able to dance was not worth eventual dismemberment.
Odds were it wouldn't matter, Caelia would have a date and Kira would not so she'd go to dinner and then head out to hide in her room with a book the way Amity had intended to before running into Annabelle Pierce and conversing with her. It worked out for her cousin but she doubted that was going to be case for her. Most nice people around her age had their own group of friends and didn't need her around. The only reason anyone would ever need Kira was not about to come into play at a school ball. She wasn't even old enough to be a choice for one of the male prefects who were in desperate need of someone to do the first dance with.
Still, she had to push it to the back of her mind and settle in for a theory lesson, trying to look on the bright side. If the Crotalus knew the limits of magic, she wouldn't have to feel bad when she absolutely could not do something magical ever. Such a thing would not be her fault, but just how it was. Of course, the drawback of such a lesson was that she could end up working with someone smarter than her-pretty much most of her classmates-and while that meant they'd get the right answers the person would likely think Kira was stupid and/or resent her for them having to "do all the work", even when she gave it her best shot to contribute-and was told how wrong and bad her ideas were and how stupid she was.
Why oh why couldn't they have had a practical lesson?
“Want to pair up?”
Kira breathed a sigh of relief when it turned out to be Chuck Fintoc asking her. First of all, the third year was glad that someone besides her cousins or Caelia wanted to work with her in the first place. Secondly, she liked Chuck, he was one of the nicest non-Teppenpaws she knew and didn't really make her uncomfortable. Also, while he was certainly not stupid, he was also not one of those incredibly smart Aladren types who knew how smart they were and liked to act like they were better than everyone because of it. She just hoped Caelia didn't get stuck with the sort. Blood purity and social status weren't the only reasons people acted superior.
She smiled at the Pecari. "Absolutely!"
Kira laughed at his comment about food not having limitations. "I've never really been sure why food can't appear out of nothing. I mean, maybe it's because like there's so many different components to even a simple dish. I don't really know much about cooking but there tend to be lots of different ingredients included that you'd have to include at once?" She hoped this made sense.
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Kira Spaulding, Crotalus
Not someone with better ones?
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Kira Spaulding, Crotalus
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Chuck Fintoc
June 16, 2016 7:46 AM
No, I have faith in yours. by Chuck Fintoc
Chuck was glad of the positivity of Kira’s answer in regards to being his partner, the one word having suggesting that she was actually happy to pair up with him and not simply feeling obliged. Then again, she was one of those proper pureblood girls all the same and may just have been better at acting than her cousin Kelsey seemed to be.But he got a laugh out of her which was pleasing. Chuck loved to make others laugh - being the cause of a merry sound for even a mere moment was a nice sort of power to have, not that he would care to call it power. In his world it seemed that far too many good people got so wrapped up in power that they forgot the importance of other things. For instance, the Pecari knew many of his classmates that had been drilled by their parents to make good connections and the true value of conversation and friendship often got lost as a result of this. In some ways it was sad to see so many young people, some even young enough to still be classed as children, attempting to be resourceful adults when really they were just the convenient tools of their families. Now in his fourth year at Sonora, Chuck was finding himself growing quite accustomed to the strange inner workings of society (which he was technically supposed to comply with himself).
“Yeah, that’s a good point,” Chuck wasn’t really all that sure what to say in response to Kira’s suggestion so he just nodded and tried to look intelligent. She did raise a good point, certainly one that he wouldn’t have been able to come up with himself. “Although, meat is a food and it’s not made up of a number of components.” That was one thing he actually knew enough about to say for certain but had no way of expanding to make it specifically relevant to Transfiguration.
It was a bit of a misfortune for Kira, really, to pair up with an older student but not actually get any benefits from that. Chuck hoped she wouldn’t mind but she seemed to nice to admit if she felt that way anyway and the fourth year always had the outlook that what he didn’t know didn’t hurt.
“Shall we have a look in the book?” the fourth year took his tatty textbook in his large freckled hands, hoping that this topic was simpler than it sounded from their brief discussion. It wouldn’t do to locate the relevant page only to find loads of complicated words and sentences that only served to confuse him further.
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Chuck Fintoc
No, I have faith in yours.
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Kira
June 29, 2016 10:55 AM
Really? *is shocked* by Kira
She felt a small surge of happiness when Chuck said she had a good point...and tried not to let her face fall when he brought up meat and thus a flaw in her thinking. Kira had never tried to be the best at most things because she knew it wasn't going to happen and striving for it tended to make people miserable anyway. Besides, she didn't want people to resent her. Still, she felt kind of stupid right now. Kira just wanted others not to think badly of her. Thinking she was stupid qualified as such. Chuck was probably wishing he'd picked someone better to work with but he was stuck with her .That was the thing though, not only did she feel inferior to Kelsey, it seemed there were an awful lot of other people around who were gifted in many ways. Smarter, better looking, less socially awkward, more proper. People always showing how great they were in one way or another. And then there was her. It made it hard to identify with a lot of her classmates, made them intimidating. Despite her background, Kira was certain she was looked down upon by those who were higher achievers.
The Crotalus wanted to clam up right there, not say another word for the rest of the class. However, that would be rude and certainly not the way to make friends with Chuck. He'd think even worse of her than he probably did already.
She had to continue. "Um, well, maybe because things have to come from somewhere and like, if you have meat, it would be ripped off someone's table which would be stealing or straight from an animal which would be quite unpleasant for the animal. Plus meat needs to be cooked and I don't know when that would happen in the latter scenario." Kira would hate to be the animal that happened to. To have some part of yourself start cooking and then ripped out. That would be awfully gruesome and painful. She liked meat and wasn't going to stop eating it, but to have that happen when you were still alive would be dreadful.
Kira nodded. "Sure. Also, I think with money, it's kind of like...it would have no value if you could just conjure it from nothing, I guess."
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Kira
Really? *is shocked*
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Kira
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