Why is a raven like a writing desk? on Transfiguration

Professor Skies

January 04, 2017 10:44 AM

Beginners - Time for Tea by Professor Skies

“Good morning,” Selina greeted the beginners class. “Today, we will be covering two different transfigurations but they will not be based on your age grade, and you will all be attempting both of them” she hoped that was an unusual enough announcement to have caught their attention, had it been drifting.

“You will all be trying to make teacups, starting with a plastic flower pot or a teaspoon. We’ve covered several elements of theory on the factors that assist in making Transfigurations, and you should all by now be used to the different features that go into your Transfiguration tables.” These were simple two column tables that she encouraged students to use in their early years to find the differences between their objects, which they would be required to channel their energy and attention towards, and the similarities, where they could make links between what they started with and what they wanted, which would help make working the spell easier for them. She hoped they had the hang of them now, because after midterm she had no longer been handing them out with the categories - things like size, colour, function - listed, and it had been up to the students to recall them themselves. The tables were not designed to be used forever, but just as a way of walking through the visualisation process whilst they were still new to the subject.

“According to grading systems, the spells are of more or less equivalent difficulty, yet most of you will probably gravitate naturally towards one or the other. Your first task for the day is to Transfigure your prefered item into a teacup. However, once you have completed that to your satisfaction, I’d like you to attempt the other item - can you switch your focus to a different set of characteristics? Can you make it as easy for yourself as your preferred item? After all, on paper, it’s no harder. It’s just down to how you think, and whether you can change and reshape those thoughts.

“To help with this process, I’d like you to pair up with someone from a different house. Perhaps you’ll think the same way and have the same preferences, but you’re more likely to approach the problem in different ways to each other, and this task is all about diversity of thought and ability to see things from another perspective,” she reminded them, the subtext being not to rush to an Aladren on the assumption that as the “smart house” they would automatically have all the answers.

“The spell for this is Chavena,” the ‘ch’ made more of a soft ‘sh’ sound, and behind her the chalk helpfully wrote up both the spell and and its pronunciation, along with a little doodle representing the wand movement, “The spell comes to us from the Chinese, Chawan,,” she explained, doing her best to get a rising tone on each syllable and glad that Wu was no longer in this class to hear her no doubt appalling attempt, “where tone carries meaning. Luckily, the spell has been filtered for us through the Portuguese, who first brought tea to Europe, so you don’t need to include this in your pronunciation. For some time, certain wizards and witches swore that using a rising tone in their voice helped with the spell, but when tested, there has been found to be no significant benefit to performing the spell that way,” she had thought about refraining from putting the idea into their heads, but she thought the history was interesting. Plus, if they read about the first half of the story later, at least they now knew the rest. “The wand movement is a light, rising spiral.” She demonstrated the spell twice, once on a flower put, producing a beautiful cup with yellow roses, and once on a teaspoon to make a cup with silver stripes.

“Remember - partners from different houses. You may begin.”

Subthreads:

Why is a raven like a writing desk? by Madeleine Dautin, Aladren

One lump or two? by Kit Reid, Aladren with Kir McLeod, Teppenpaw

Tag Gwen or Ayla by Arianna Tate, Crotalus

13 Professor Skies Beginners - Time for Tea 26 Professor Skies 1 5

Madeleine Dautin, Aladren

January 10, 2017 3:31 AM

Why is a raven like a writing desk? by Madeleine Dautin, Aladren

Madeleine rather liked Professor Skies who she thought was kind of an elegant professor in some ways, but mostly because she was older and therefore had a certain grace that only came with age. She wasn’t sure that Professor Skies was her absolute favourite professor, in fact that was something that had been very difficult for Madeleine to determine when it came to filling out the yearbook surveys the previous year, and since then she was almost positive that her answer had changed, not because her choice from the last year had done anything to lose their standing in her heart but rather because she found that increasingly she was liking all of her professors. Even the québécois.

“Chavena,” she tried out, easily pronouncing the ‘sh’ of the word since French didn’t really have the English ‘ch’ sound. Pleased with how the spell sounded coming out of her mouth, Madeleine said it again and then once more before putting her full focus forward on the plastic flower pot she had selected. At first, she had been reluctant to go with what seemed to be the easier of the two options. She didn’t want Professor Skies to think that she was looking for the easy way out, after all. But after some thought she had realised the pros and cons of both the flower pot and the tea spoon.

The flower pot was closer in both size and shape to a teapot than the teaspoon, however it was plastic and while Madeleine was sure that les paysans and some of the less-than-classy bourgeoisie would have plastic teapots, she certainly wasn’t going to even transfigure one. It also, though hollowed out, was not closed, and it did not have a spout and was used to house dirt and plants. Teaspoons while smaller, could be made out of either metal or ceramic, both things teapots could be made out of though Madeleine rather though ceramic teapots were nicer than metal ones and metal teaspoons more popular. Teaspoons also lacked a similar shape to a teapot and were not even hollowed out like a flower pot was, however they were used for a similar purpose and one would hope never came in contact with dirt.

In the end, she had noted that the flower pot, while slightly easier on paper, was only marginally so and therefore would be a respectable starting out point to pace herself so that once she mastered that transfiguration, she could attempt the one which didn’t seem as easy on paper. Satisfied with her reasoning, especially since Professor Skies had said they would be attempting both spells and so therefore knew that logically there was no way for the Transfiguration professor to be upset with her for her choice to begin with, Madeleine set about starting the assignment.

She really liked the reddish-brown of the flower pot and thought about how she’d seen a nice, clay tea pot in a friend’s kitchen once. It had been oriental in design and since the spell came from a Chinese word, Madeleine decided that transfiguring the flower pot to look like that Chinese tea pot would be a good theoretical attempt. After all, maybe the spell would feel commonality with the desired product and help it a bit even if it did arrive through the Portuguese tea importers.

Madeleine raised her wand and commanded the spell, smoothing out the flower pot until it elongated and had both a handle and a spout as she had clearly envisioned. Because she wasn’t changing the colour of the pot, she didn’t have to worry about that, although it wasn’t as round as it ought to have been, being turned into a tea pot and there was no lid in sight. The handle was rather nice, though, and Madeleine was very proud of the elegant spout that curved outward. So proud, in fact, that she reached out to trace her finger along the edge of it, only to disappoint herself when she realised that she had not changed the material of her assignment at all and while it was a little cooler to the touch than the plastic had been (and like unused clay was) it was still quite plainly, plastic.

It was the lack of colour change which had made her forget about material, of that she was certain and she was about to try a second time when the student sitting next to her said something and Madeleine turned, her head tilting to the side, her eyebrows scrunching slightly. “Sorry, I didn’t catch that,” she said. “Can you repeat it slower, please?” Normally she wouldn’t have dared admit her English level was not quite as high as she would have liked it to be, but she had been so into her transfiguration that she really hadn’t been paying attention and didn’t want to have to ask her classmate to repeat themselves three times.

OOC:
-les paysans, country people (lit.), peasants, farmers

10 Madeleine Dautin, Aladren Why is a raven like a writing desk? 340 Madeleine Dautin, Aladren 0 5

Kit Reid, Aladren

January 11, 2017 12:21 AM

One lump or two? by Kit Reid, Aladren

Taking her usual seat, Kit pulled out her notebook that was designated to Transfiguration. She flipped through the pages of notes until she came to a fresh page. She liked to start each new lesson on a fresh page. She knew some people liked to just draw a line to mark off a section or worse yet, they just continued where they left off, but not her. There was something about seeing that clean, crisp page that just put her in a good mood. Okay, perhaps, it was a little odd of her, but everyone had their quirks. Satisfied, she waited for the lesson to begin.

Once it did, she was certainly not disappointed. The idea of doing two transfiguration so was a little intimidating, but they were going to be making teacups! How adorable was that? Her mother had a variety of tea sets back home. Some were rather exquisite and quite expensive. Her favorite wasn’t worth nearly as much as most of the others. Actually, it was barely a hundred when some of the others were in the thousands. She loved it just the same though. It was a pale shade of pink with dark pink roses. The top of the teapot had an almost frilly, delicate quality about it. The tea set was the kind that she imagined in books when an elegant lady would serve tea.

She already had an approach for each item, but it didn’t mean that her partner would agree. She wondered who she could pair with. The person couldn’t be from her House though so that took out Amelia and Emerald right away along with any second year Aladrens. Hopefully, whoever she ended up with would be fairly agreeable. Otherwise, it could end up being a difficult process. Standing up, she took her things and looked for someone that was still free. “Still need a partner?” She hoped that they did, otherwise, she would have to keep looking and she wanted to get started as quickly as possible.

0 Kit Reid, Aladren One lump or two? 363 Kit Reid, Aladren 0 5

Kir McLeod, Teppenpaw

January 13, 2017 9:02 AM

Two for tea by Kir McLeod, Teppenpaw

Kir had expected to like Transfiguration and, so far, had not been disappointed. His father and aunts had both spoken very highly of Professor Skies, having been taught by her in all their Salem days, which was very weird because they were grown ups and, to him, always had been, and so thinking about the fact that they had once been his age and sitting in a classroom just like he was now was incredibly strange, and it was especially odd that it had all happened at a different school and yet now here she was in his. His father and aunts had all said to pass on their regards during Christmas break, once they’d made the connection, which he hadn’t got around to doing yet, because it wasn’t as if he had that many casual conversations with the deputy headmistress of the school. Besides which, as they weren’t a big family, and she’d probably taught lots of people given that she was old enough to have taught his father, she might not remember them, and thus squeaking out ‘Happy new year, my father and my aunts send their regards’ without having actually covered the topic of who they were and how they were her former students beforehand, might mean that that vital detail was lost on her and the whole thing just made him and his family look a bit odd and obsequious. Beyond the intrigue of Professor Skies, he liked the subject itself. Sure, it was meant to be very difficult and had so far steadily lived up to this reputation. There were definitely moments where he found himself breathing a sigh of relief that his next subject was Herbology not Transfiguration. But Professor Skies had a steady, methodical way of teaching, and he was a steady, methodical kind of person, and so that all went rather well together, and he usually found class going well and himself enjoying it.

Today’s lesson definitely caught his attention, as there was a lot more thinking to it than there was with some classes where they just did straightforward spell practise. Kir was excited by the prospect. Even though, ultimately, his tendencies towards compassion and diplomacy had landed in Teppenpaw, he thought of himself as having several Aladrenish qualities. He liked to study, liked to think, and liked a puzzle, especially this kind, which sort of meshed well with his Teppenpaw side in that the key to solving it was being able to understand how other people thought.

He made careful notes, wishing once again that he spoke another language. Certainly, it was not very likely to have been Portuguese, if he had done, but it gave him a wistful taste of a world he wasn’t a part of, that of the polyglot. His father had carried some habits over from his Pureblood upbringing - Kir was made to sit up straight, speak politely and he knew a little dancing (though, as it included Scottish folk dancing, he expected that came more from his father’s yearning for his childhood home than his Pureblood upbringing). However, a wealth of lessons rammed down his throat to refine him from an early age had been one of the things his father had gladly abandoned. A local school, alongside any extra curriculars towards which they naturally inclined, was enough. Kir had, with his mother’s encouragement, learnt piano, but he had never thought of languages as being something one did as an after school activity, and now felt that he had missed out. Perhaps he would take up French. There were certainly enough French students to practise with, although they all seemed a bit scary and he didn’t really fancy butchering their language in front of him. They seemed like the type to make fun.

“I do indeed,” he smiled, when Kit approached and asked if he needed a partner.

Potentially, he could have found someone more different than him, given that he’d been musing on his own partial Aladren-ness when the lesson was set but it seemed a good excuse to work with his friend. Besides, he wasn’t quite sure how Aladreny an Aladren Kit was. Or rather, which Aladren qualities she possessed, given that she clearly had some in order to be there. He had mostly seen the girly, and somewhat defiant-of-her-family sides of her so far. He guessed that could tick the ‘independence’ box.

“So, which do you lean to first?” he asked, helping himself to a teaspoon. He waited for Kit to make her choice so as not to influence her before explaining his. “In some ways, this does seem like more work. It’s further off physically, for sure. But… but I look at it and it just fills me full of thoughts of tea. We’re big tea drinkers - Scottish family, in case you hadn’t guessed from the name,” he grinned. “And we always have proper tea time - cups, saucers, cakes or biscuits on nice plates, and do the crossword. I can imagine teacups when I look at this,” perhaps it was a little more detail than necessary to explain his choice, and had it been someone less familiar, he certainly wouldn’t have delved into as much detail, but with Kit he was happy to share. “When I look at a flowerpot, all I think of is dirt.

“Now, tell me, Ms. Aladren, is that very Teppenpawish of me? To think so sentimentally, and let my head be ruled by my heart, when the flowerpot is probably slightly easier, according to the numbers?” Creating mass was either difficult or impossible - he hadn’t quite worked out which from the long rambling chapter they’d been made to read on it - and he also wasn’t sure whether a teaspoon was actually heavier/denser enough to balance out its small size if that was the case. He guessed the answer was ‘probably’ but he still saw the flowerpot as the more logical choice, just not the one that was going to be right for him.

13 Kir McLeod, Teppenpaw Two for tea 366 Kir McLeod, Teppenpaw 0 5

Arianna Tate, Crotalus

January 30, 2017 11:34 AM

Tag Gwen or Ayla by Arianna Tate, Crotalus

If Arianna had to pick a class she liked best-being enthused about the academic aspects of school was totally nerdy but if she absolutely had to like pick at wand point or something-it would be Transfiguration. For one thing, she had to be the best in class. Not as in being the best or there would be dire consequences for someone but as in she was the most talented Transfiguration student in her year as only Juniper Brockert given genetic proclivities could possibly be competition and there was no way Juniper could ever possibly be competition for Arianna in anything. And she had to be better than Emerald and Natalie Atwater based on the fact that she was a year older.

Secondly, it was easy for her. The Crotalus didn't usually get a perfect object right off but it always did something. This further lead her to believe she was superior in the subject. If she wasn't, it would be harder. Arianna was even pretty good at making patterns on her work for extra points. After all, she was all about making things prettier and besides, it was yet another way to assert dominance not only at the subject of Transfiguration but in general.

That did not mean that everything about Transfiguration made her happy. Like with most classes, there was always some little thing to irritate her, some part of the instructions. Today it was that they'd be working with people in different houses.

She masked a scowl, a skill Arianna found herself getting quite good at. The second year didn't want to work with someone outside of Crotalus. She really wasn't seeing many people outside Crotalus that were worth her time at least not in this age group. Quite possibly there were older Aladrens who were tolerable but right now, aside from possibly Emerald they didn't interest her. Meanwhile the Pecaris were most definitely not like Aunt Holly and Teppenpaws were rather weak and soft in general.

Of course, as it was turning out, two of the only three first year girls who might be acceptable for her sorority were Tepps. Both Gwen and Ayla seemed pretty proper and ladylike. Also, beggars couldn't be choosers-even though she'd still be choosy-and she couldn't very well start a sorority with just her roommates and a distant cousin. It wasn't ideal but Arianna was going to have to deal with it. Maybe they'd be exceptions to what Tepps were like just like Aunt Holly was to what Pecaris were like. After all, if someone had told Chelsea Brockert before attending Sonora that one of her closest friends would be a Muggleborn Pecari, she would have laughed in their face.

After selecting a flower pot, Arianna walked over to one of the Teppenpaw first year girls and asked, in the kindest tone she was capable of, "Would you like to work with me?"

11 Arianna Tate, Crotalus Tag Gwen or Ayla 353 Arianna Tate, Crotalus 0 5