I don't see this going well. on Transfiguration

Selina Skies

August 16, 2020 4:55 AM

Beginners - Transfigure your way out of a paper bag by Selina Skies

“Good morning,” Selina greeted the beginners class, “Today, we will be having a little test of your magical dexterity. By now, you should consistently be achieving results when you aim to perform a simple transfiguration,” anyone who was not at this level had been asked to come see her during office hours to try to bring them up to speed. “Today, you will be making sure that you are able to limit that power and have it affect only what you want it to.

“Sometimes, this isn’t an issue. Your desks here, for example, are spellproof. There’s also several other reasons why accidentally transfiguring the table you’re working on isn’t very likely - can anyone give me a suggestion as to why?” she asked, calling on several people who raised their hands. It drew a lot on the theory they’d been repeating throughout their early lessons on what made transfigurations easier or harder, so it felt like a fair question that even those with non-magical backgrounds should have been able to make reasonable guesses on.

“Today, you will each receive a sealed paper bag. Inside is a small prize,” these were small token rewards, mostly along the stationery line, such as erasers that worked on ink, ink samples in fun colours, and so on. There were also occasional small toys or collectables such as model broomsticks or Chocolate Frog cards - minus the frog. There was nothing edible because, low risk as this type of spell was, Selina didn’t want to encourage the idea of enchanting near what you were eating, unless the spells were food specific. There was also nothing annoying or that could be used to play pranks. “Your job is to get your prize without ripping your bag. You can transfigure it into anything you think will be useful, but remember you are aiming to get the bag and only the bag - if you end up with your prize disappearing or fused to your creation, raise your hand and I’ll help you put it back so that you can try again. There’s a huge variety of spells you could use here - you can look in your textbooks for ideas. Remember as well what we’ve said about source versus outcome spells, and think about which one will help you most here.

“Once you have your prize, I’d like you to make notes on the spell you used, to list at least two alternatives you could have used, and to explain why you choose the one you did. Your explanation can include personal factors, such as finding particular materials easier to work with.

“You may discuss this with your neighbours, but I am taking note of where everyone is sitting and would prefer to see different solutions from anyone who works with a partner. You may begin.”

Subthreads:

Can you transfigure humans? by Leonor De Matteo with Theo Spurn

I don't see this going well. by Valentine Duell with Esme Brockert

13 Selina Skies Beginners - Transfigure your way out of a paper bag 26 1 5

Leonor De Matteo

August 18, 2020 12:41 PM

Can you transfigure humans? by Leonor De Matteo

CW: Generally violent thoughts.

Leonor had the distinct urge to hex Professor Skies, or else just straight up stab the woman with her wand. She was, in Leonor's opinion, the reason everything had gone wrong. Well, her and Leonor's own parents. And Felipe himself of course. And Zara. Maybe Jessica. Probably not Mara but maybe a little. Jeremy too, but he was cute so it was fine. Professor Skies was the easiest to hate because she was an adult and she saw Felipe all year and she did nothing to help at all. She could have saved Felipe before he did anything stupid and that would have been great. Or she could have let him die. At least then Leonor would be in a position to be mourning, not hiding things and trying to act like nothing was wrong. She'd seen, of course, the commotion on the pitch, beginning with Professor Skies practically sprinting out there. She hadn't seen Felipe do what Felipe did but it would have been a lot worse, she was sure, if the professor hadn't been there. So why hadn't she just let it be worse? If Felipe was going to be like that, then let him be like that.

So Leonor was mostly fantasizing about transfiguring her stupid face off instead of paying attention to the lesson - which was a shame, because transfiguration had been her favorite at one point - when it was time for them to work on their own. Transfigure a stupid bag to get the stupid prize inside. What sort of prize could this stupid woman offer them?

Leonor poked at her bag with the end of her wand, scowling. Perhaps she could just set the lot of it on fire and when Professor Skies tried to offer her a replacement, she could throw it in her face. She did not want a replacement. Nobody liked being the replacement and nobody wanted the replacement. She wanted the first one to be right. Or gone.

That being said, she also needed to pass this stupid class with high enough grades to move on in future years, so she couldn't exactly not try. Perhaps she could transfigure the bag into a net bag so that she could just reach in and get the prize. Or maybe a cup? Those were sort of like bags with openings and they'd worked with cups a lot. She was debating her options when one of her stupid classmates had to go and be stupid and say something to her.

22 Leonor De Matteo Can you transfigure humans? 1471 0 5

Theo Spurn

August 18, 2020 6:23 PM

Yup, but it's pretty advanced stuff by Theo Spurn

Theo bounced into Tranfiguration. Theo had many modes of locomotion - there was bouncing, there was barrelling, there was frolicking! Movement was not just a way of getting from a to b but it was also a chance to move and Theo embraced that because moving was better than stillness unless the stillness was the kind that was being all wrapped in a fuzzy cocoon and just lying there perfectly but this wasn't that, this was being out in air so it was time to move. He dropped into a seat more or less at random, seeing as he had just scraped in as the door shut and Professor Skies began talking.

Today was a great lesson! This term was going great for presents, what with Professor Wright giving him a little plushie dino and it had overall been a very fuzzy year what with getting to play in the Velvet World of Professor Brooding-H's Hat before Christmas. Professor Skies was nice. Skies had fluffy clouds in them. Theo wanted to touch a cloud one day.

"HEY LEONOR!" he beamed as he turned around to discuss how awesome class was instead of doing it, and found he was next to one his friends. This day just kept getting better and better. He reached out to give her a hug just because... Because they were friends? Because it was Tuesday (it was actually Wednesday)? Who knew! There didn't need to be a reason for hugs. The two of them hadn't hung out as much this year but time was a very abstract concept, and they had had good times before and Theo had no reason to assume Leonor was not his friend.

"This is gonna be great! I hope my prize is something soft! But if it's not something I want, I can just give it to someone else. Maybe Anya seeing as she's missing out!" he beamed. "What should I make?" he pondered, a little concerned. There were so many things. Anything that opened or was open. Envelope. Mason jar. Sarcophagus (probably not). Pockets. Flat piece of paper. Scarf. Scarf! Theo liked scarves... Box. There were too many things.

13 Theo Spurn Yup, but it's pretty advanced stuff 1476 0 5

Leonor De Matteo

August 18, 2020 10:44 PM

That's why I'm asking HER. by Leonor De Matteo

Leonor normally liked Theo. He was one of the few people she really did like. But why was he so annoying? She cringed as he called out to her and it only grew as she was wrapped up in a hug. Oh, Theo. Theo Theo. If he wasn't so delightful, he would have been so hexable. Leonor thought immediately of Mara, who seemed sure she had Satan in her and could turn evil any moment, and decided that hexing Theo wouldn't be the right answer. It was easy enough since he was talking a lot and she didn't even have to listen. Except she couldn't help listening when Theo went on right next to her about how he'd give his prize to somebody else given the chance. That seemed rude.

"What, you wouldn't even offer it to me?" she demanded. "Not even a trade?" She shoved her own stupid bag again and glowered. "Glad to know you think so highly of me." She huffed for a moment before remembering he'd asked a question. "If you like soft things so much, why not turn the outside into something soft? Make your own stupid prize if you want it so badly."

She propped her face up on her hand and put her elbow on the table and was absolutely completely fine. And her eyes were not damp and she was fine. Which was true, because she was mostly just pissed off at the stupid teacher and the stupid assignment and her stupid brother and if she could transfigure him into a paper bag then that would be great.

She took a breath because she knew she was being rude and no matter what Javier said, she was not a princess. She also wasn't about to apologise though. "I like soft things too," she finally groused.

22 Leonor De Matteo That's why I'm asking HER. 1471 0 5

Theo Spurn

August 21, 2020 7:09 PM

Oh, okay THEN by Theo Spurn

Leonor was a bunch of bad feels. Her face and her voice were all scrunchy and she was telling him he’d got things wrong. Theo’s stomach twisted. He would have a prize. Leonor would have a prize. If he gave his prize to Anya, she would have one and he wouldn’t. Leonor would still have one. If he gave his to Leonor, she would have two and no one else would have any. But she had said trade. He could trade with her AND give his prize to Anya. Maybe he should have thought of that. Clearly he should have thought of that because Leonor was now very, very sad. Theo had pretty selective attention to the world around him, and his thoughts tended to converge on there here and now anyway. He didn’t know Felipe had been in the hospital wing. He didn’t consider the possibility that things beyond this conversation were contributing to Leonor’s mood. Therefore, he had made her this sad - which was very sad, and thus very terrible.

“We can maybe trade. I don’t know. We have to see what they are first,” he explained, but he didn’t want to rule it out if trading prizes would make her happy. “Hey, hey, hey, don’t be sad,” he pleaded, reaching out to try and boop her on the nose because… because her nose was in reach and she wasn’t a very huggable shape right now because she had made herself all pointy but boops were unsaddening?

“I have soft things!” he declared excitedly, when she said she liked them too. Was that the problem? He hadn’t said he would give it away if it was a soft thing. He had said the opposite. But maybe she just lacked soft things and was sad about that? That would be a very reasonable reason to have a big sad. He reached into his bag, pulling out a couple of the things he was allowed to fiddle with in class. “You can touch them too,” he offered. He didn’t ask if that would make her feel better because obviously it would. “I have smooth soft and fuzzy soft,” he offered, placing a silk handkerchief on one of her arms and tucking a palm sized plushie owl into the crook of her elbow.

13 Theo Spurn Oh, okay THEN 1476 0 5

Leonor De Matteo

August 21, 2020 10:08 PM

Are you mocking me?! by Leonor De Matteo

Theo was sounding very worried and it made Leonor feel better and worse all at once. Then he touched her nose. Why did he touch her nose? It wasn't the first time she'd experienced that but she still wasn't sure what the goal was that he had in mind. It was enough of a distraction for her to calm down for a moment though, so she supposed there was some benefit. Plus she hated to make someone this sad when they were a decent human. Why couldn't Felipe be this sad and then respond like a normal person about it?

"We don't have to trade," she huffed. "You can have my prize if you want, I don't care."

For all his other traits, Theo was a parable solver. He would have made a good Aladren. Or Teppenpaw, Leonor decided as he began to lay out soft things for her. Theo was a soft thing. He would have made a much better boyfriend than Jeremy. But then he wouldn't be a good friend probably because boys were stupid. "Thank you," she said a little stiffly, taking the silk scarf and draping it around the owl's shoulders like a shawl. She didn't mean to. She wasn't trying to play. But it just seemed like the natural response and now there were two soft things together. It was nice, even if Leonor thought it was silly. Petting the little owl's head was surprisingly soothing though; it was no wonder Theo kept these things with him. "That's . . . nice actually," she admitted. "Thank you for sharing."

22 Leonor De Matteo Are you mocking me?! 1471 0 5

Theo Spurn

August 23, 2020 5:24 AM

No?!?! by Theo Spurn

“I dunno,” Theo shrugged, when Leonor asked if he wanted her prize. He didn’t know what it was yet. He assumed she still meant they could trade because he couldn’t have two prizes and give her none. That would also be unfair. Although it sort of sounded like she’d said that. She’d also said she didn’t care when she had been upset about not trading before. People often said ‘girls are confusing.’ Theo had never understood this. Everyone was kind of confusing, but it didn’t seem to particularly be affected by them being girls. But maybe this was the kind of thing they meant.

“Are you less sad?” he checked because she still seemed not right, and that was the most important thing. She was petting the soft things though, and making appreciative words, so that was a good sign because he wasn’t sure anyone could keep doing that and be very sad for very long.

“Yeah,” he agreed simply when she said they were nice. “You’re welcome. I am always happy to let other people pet soft things when they need them,” he assured her, reaching out a finger to stroke the owl too because it was nice to do so whilst it was there.

“I think I will make a scarf,” he agreed with her earlier suggestion, “I like scarves, and it’s not every day we get to choose, so I may as well choose something nice and likeable and soft,” he grinned. “What will you make?” he asked.

13 Theo Spurn No?!?! 1476 0 5

Valentine Duell

August 23, 2020 6:38 PM

I don't see this going well. by Valentine Duell

Valentine arrived at Transfiguration class early as she had gotten into the habit of doing. She had things to work on, well, she had a game to work on. Well, she had a game to work on to distract her from the fact that she still hadn't heard anything more about Aunt Giselle coming back home again like she said she would. She opened her game notebook and stared at it blankly. She drummed her fingers on the pages and stared off into space. She made a little doodle in the corner of the page that was supposed to be an elf hugging an owlbear. She sighed and closed the notebook as everyone else filtered in and class began. That had been productive.

The professor began to talk, and she was reminded of the little extra time she had spent with Professor Skies to keep her on track with the rest of the class. It had been good... but she wished it hadn't been necessary. She just couldn't visualize these transformations in her head and that was making things very difficult. She wasn't sure she liked the sound of this assignment. The prize was neat, she wondered what she would get... but there was no specific spell to practice and work on figuring out.

A bag landed in front of her and she sighed as it stared at her and mocked her. It wasn't a very nice bag, it was already being mean to her. Well, first things first, what did she know how to do that might be useful? She began to flip through her notes. Could she turn it into a cup? Maybe?

Valentine turned to her neighbor, because talking to people was way more fun than anything else, "So do you have a plan yet? I thought I might try and turn the bag into a cup... probably a paper cup... a brown paper cup." She glared at her bag again.

2 Valentine Duell I don't see this going well. 1490 0 5

Esme Brockert

September 07, 2020 9:35 PM

It'll be okay by Esme Brockert

Transfiguration absolutely had to be Esme's favorite class although she enjoyed Charms as well. However, this was the class she was best at, of course. Not that she was particularly bad at any class, even DADA which she despised. Her pride would not allow her to do badly at anything as basic to magic as anything learned in a beginner's level core subject. Even though Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology were not taught as such at every school out there, they were considered so here at Sonora and Esme did her very best at them.

After all, who wanted to be seen as a poor witch (or wizard)? Magical prowess did not give one the moral high ground-after all, Topaz was pretty good at it-but it was a large part of who they were. Plus, it was highly visible, your classmates could see whether or not you were successful and the Crotalus did not want to be seen as inferior by anyone. Especially people who thought they were superior to everyone. People like Topaz and Uncle Eustace and Leonor De Matteo. She would not give them reason to think her inferior. Although two of said examples of arrogant snots were not here to see her and her uncle wouldn't even consider how good one was at magic one of those areas of things to criticize someone about. Which would sound like a good thing except that his entire measure of what mattered was based on how athletic they were.

And, to be fair, Esme didn't know what her classmate judged people on. The Crotalus could not figure out precisely why the other second year had such a high opinion of herself. Of course part of that was that she had no desire to talk to her because she could not stomach the Pecari. Or most Pecaris. Esme supposed Mab was okay since she didn't really act like the rest of them. She wasn't loud and obnoxious and attention seeking. Of course, Esme didn't really think Theo was trying to get attention either. He just...seemed to have issues where he couldn't help being like he was, although he was still kind of irritating.

The point was that Esme did not want to give others reason to mock her. Period.

Of course, Transfiguration did also include a strong theoretical component, which was much more challenging than the practical part of the discipline but was completely doable for Esme. Even if it had been hard enough to bother her, none of her classmates would have seen that. Of course, Sapphire found it difficult , and the second year felt bad for her although she thought the older Crotalus was smarter than she gave herself credit for.

Today, though, they seemed to be doing straightforward spell casting. Esme gave her bag a critical once-over. It was a boring paper bag, blah, cheap flimsy. She could make it look like a fine designer purse, but doing a different sort of bag, even one with a different design and material probably wasn't what Professor Skies was looking for. Perhaps a jewelry box would be better. Different item, different shape, different material..

Before she could begin, the girl next to her, one of Jasper's year and housemates, Valentine, spoke up. "I was thinking of doing a jewelry box." Esme replied. " A cup is a good idea." She gave the first year an encouraging smile. Valentine was a year younger than the Crotalus, so she could not be expected to do something as difficult and if she wanted to make the cup brown and paper, it was fairly reasonable.

11 Esme Brockert It'll be okay 1479 0 5

Valentine Duell

September 08, 2020 5:27 PM

I hope you are right by Valentine Duell

Esme Brockert looked every part of the wizarding equivalent of a glamorous movie star. Not that wizards had movies, but if they did, she'd be a shoe-in for leading lady. Her presence made Val want to sit up a little straighter and try to match the sheer amount of class that the slightly older girl was simply radiating. So, she did. Valentine shifted in her seat a bit to throw off the slouch she'd had all day so far. Maybe she could see a little what Aunt Jhonice was going on about all the time. Certainly not enough to stalk poor Esme through the corridors, scribbling notes about who she smiled at and what color quill she was using any given day. Aunt Jhoince was weird.

Valentine's eyes widened a bit at the mention of making a jewelry box. "A jewelry box would be fantastic," She said with a bright smile. Esme was pretty good at this class if her memory served her correctly. She hadn't really worked with the Crotalus girl before, but she was fairly certain she'd seen her turn in some rather spectacular looking assignments. "I can't wait to see what it looks like when you are done."

Esme had thought her cup idea was a good one. That was good, it was the only idea she had. She began to flip back through her notes, they had made cups before... when... oh, right. That had pretty much been the first day of class. Her slouch threatened to come back at the thought she was starting all over in class again, but she wasn't going to let that happen. She had managed to turn a cup into a glass, mostly. Thanks to Alexander. But, now she was going to turn this paper bag into a glass. Probably.

In what had become her traditional technique, she started listing properties of what she had in front of her, and the properties of what she wanted it to have. Papa had told her that he had always done that as well before he got started on something like this, it had helped to focus his mental image. She didn't have one of those, but the words still helped. They had meaning behind them and even if she couldn't make a picture in her mind of what she wanted, the words swirled about well enough to get the job done. Most of the time.

Valentine looked back over at Esme to see if her new friend had any sort of special technique. She also wanted to see what kind of jewelry box Esme was going to make. Would it be really fancy with lots of decorations, or something simple and practical? Val gave the girl a friendly smile as she watched, "Don't mind me, I'm just curious to see how you do it."

2 Valentine Duell I hope you are right 1490 0 5

Esme Brockert

September 14, 2020 7:42 PM

Me too. I like being right. by Esme Brockert

Esme smiled pleasantly. "Thank you." She replied. Obviously, the Crotalus thought it was such, or she wouldn't be doing it. Unlike her older sister, she tended to have confidence in her thoughts, ideas, abilities and what have you. Although Esme supposed Allegra did believe in her own ability to transfigure. Still, she wished the fifth year had higher self-esteem. She blamed Topaz for the fact that Allegra did not.

Of course, then again, she blamed her cousin for most things that were wrong in their family. And the things she didn't blame on the Aladren, Esme blamed on Uncle Eustace. Well aside from some medical problems that people had such as Sapphire's epilepsy and Miles' allergies. She supposed nobody was responsible for those though the prior to the former's diagnosis, Emerald-who also blamed Topaz for most bad things that happened-had assumed that the now fifth year was doing something to their younger sister to cause what had turned out to be petit mal seizures. And of course, Uncle Zeke and Aunt Opal were to blame for Sapphire going undiagnosed. Esme would think the lack of diagnosis was because they too thought Topaz was doing something, except they didn't seem to realize what their third daughter was either. They just hadn't noticed Sapphire had been having these issues.

Thankfully, though, neither Topaz nor Uncle Eustace had caused Esme to lose her own self confidence. Not that she thought herself better than everyone by any means, the way some people did, she just didn't feel she had reason to loathe herself either. Still, it always felt nice to hear a compliment.

Val seemed to head back to her own work then and Esme looked back at her own bag. The box she had in mind was one that was only moderately ornate. The Crotalus had always had a liking for pretty things and she knew they tended to get better scores, possibly because they were more difficult or possibly because Professor Skies also liked pretty things. However, at the same time, the more difficult something was, the less chance there was of success and anyway, the point of this particular assignment wasn't to make a fancy box, it was to change the bag into a different sort of container while not transfiguring the prize inside.

Anyway, Esme was turning the paper to wood of a slightly darker color with an intricate rose design on top. She planned for it to be rectangular in shape with a hinged lid. "All right." She told the younger girl, not really minding if Val watched her work. Esme said the appropriate incantation and did the corresponding wand motion.

The bag began to shift and change and now the second year had a brown box that looked reasonably like what she was going for. The roses weren't perfect but one could definitely tell they were flowers and the lid looked a bit flimsy. Esme removed it and reached inside, pulling out an eraser shaped like a strawberry. As she did, the box collapsed. She wrinkled her nose. "Well, at least I got my prize out." Spells rarely ever worked out perfectly on the first try.

11 Esme Brockert Me too. I like being right. 1479 0 5

Valentine Duell

September 16, 2020 5:33 PM

Fair point, most people do I think. by Valentine Duell

Valentine smiled and watched the older girl work her magic. From the sound of things Esme didn't seem to be a big talker, but that was okay. If everyone talked a lot, no one would ever get to say anything.

She marveled at the jewelry box that resulted from Esme's effortless looking transfiguration. It was really hard not to be jealous of the other girl's ability, she had transformed the boring old bag into a work of art! It even had pretty flowers on it. She sighed, "That was great Esme. I love those flowers." As her partner pulled out her prize an "Awww..." slipped out, followed up by a "That's a cute eraser. I wonder what is in mine?"

Val nodded along as Esme commented on claiming her prize. "That's the part that matters, and you got it done." She added with a smile. The smile fell a bit when she realized that it was now her turn. "Okay, let's see if I can do it now." She looked back over the notes she had made about the bag and the cup she was going to make. The cup that she was definitely going to make, from this bag. No more stalling now, time to do this.

The young Teppenpaw closed her eyes and thought about all the words she had on the paper that described the differences the cup had that she wanted; round, open, cup-shaped. When she had them all swirling about in her mind, she swung her wand and cast the spell. She could feel the magic pour out through her wand to do something. She cracked her left eye open to peek at the results. There was a cup in front of her on the table! It was mostly brown and terrible looking, but it was mostly a cup! There were some strange light purple swirls and blotches on it as well. She hadn't even thought about that... where?

Her question was answered when she looked inside the cup and saw a small vial fused into the bottom. The label was still readable, 'Ink sample - Lavender'. "Oh shucks." She pouted briefly. "That's not good." She sighed, "Well, I guess I figured out what was in my bag. I suppose I should ask the Professor to fix this and try again." She looked at Esme directly, "I don't suppose you have any good tips for me?"

2 Valentine Duell Fair point, most people do I think. 1490 0 5