Selina Skies
May 25, 2021 1:01 AM
Intermediates - Detect Magic by Selina Skies
“Good morning,” Selina greeted the intermediate group. “Today we’ll be taking a practical look at one of the most popular written questions on the CATS papers – that is, we’ll be doing some hands on, practical investigation to help you know what sort of information you need to provide in your answer.” As well as being more accessible to students who were different learner types, and reducing the language load for EAL students, it was just a more fun, practical way to access the information.“A common CATS type question is this,” she gestured to the board behind her, reading out the question that appeared there. “For his birthday, Demonious receives a toy from his grandmother. It is a top hat, which when turned in a particular way, causes a rabbit plushie to appear inside the hat. The plushie can be made to vanish again by repeating the movements in reverse. State what spells are likely to be acting on the toy, being as specific as possible. “ Underneath this was a helpful animated picture depicted the effect described.
“Firstly, does anyone want to suggest what they think is the answer to this?” It was quite a straightforward question, as compared to some of the longer essay-based questions. She called on anyone who felt brave enough to suggest an answer, until they’d cracked it.
“Today’s lesson will have three parts. You can choose to do them in any order, depending on what you think will be most helpful for you, but you should complete all three of them by the time class is over.
“On this table, we have some worksheets with a page of questions similar to the one on the board. Task one is to complete them, task two is to set two questions of your own using a similar format and test them on your classmates. On the other table, we have some objects similar to the ones mentioned, made by the advanced class during term one. I would like you to examine the objects, and state what spells you think are in action on them. Remember, this is transfiguration, so they all use at least one transfiguration spell. They were allowed to use charms as well if it helped achieve the effects they wanted.” As with all of transfiguration, there really were only four broad categories – changing, switching, vanishing, and conjuring – though the more specific they could get in explaining exactly what type of spell or how it had been used, the better. They would also have to name any charms they thought were present for full credit.
Specialis revelio might have come in handy, but she had checked with Grayson, and, whilst some of the fifth years might have been capable, it was typically only taught in advanced classes. In the interests of giving a level playing field, and not having them firing an unfamiliar charm at the advance class’s hard work from last term, she wasn’t going to suggest it. Their eyes and brains would have to do the work, which was what they’d have available to them in their exams after all.
OOC: Mentions of class levels approved by Gray's author.
As usual, points are awarded based on relevance, length, realism and creativity. You are free to invent objects that may have been created by the advanced class, so long as they are fairly mainstream in nature (i.e. fit the idea that 'anyone could have made that'). If you are stuck for object ideas, feel free to ask other authors what their character would have made but then credit them in the OOC notes. You will get more points for coming up with your own objects.
Subthreads: I like it! by Theo Spurn with Jezebel Reed-Fischer
I know that spell! by Valentine Duell with Sadie-Lake Chalmers
I kind of feel like this doesn't apply to me? by Philippe Delachene with Alexander Pierce-Beales
Alright! by Quincy Wright with Ellie Alperton
*rocks back and forth* by Sapphire Brockert
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Selina Skies
Intermediates - Detect Magic
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Quincy Wright
June 08, 2021 8:47 AM
Alright! by Quincy Wright
As Quincy got older and classes got harder, he had to appreciate the change in direction to more theory-based study of magic. Still lots of practical learning of course, but he could appreciate that as well. Still, his favorite was learning the theory and the why behind magic. Professor Skies rarely disappointed in that regard, although Professor Wright had to be the winner, both for his name and for the fact that he leaned so heavily into magic theory in class. It made all the wand waiving stuff a little more interesting to learn. It was all stuff Quincy wanted to be able to do, of course, but learning it was much less interesting than looking in a microscope or something most of the time. Today wasn't a theory lesson, which naturally disappointed him, but he was still intrigued because it was basically about puzzles.If he knew anyone who liked puzzles, it was his roommate, and he looked around automatically for Bertie when it was time to get started. Truth be told, the biggest puzzle to him was why everyone wasn't as excited about that kind of thing as the two of them were. Not only was today a puzzle solving day, but also it was a chance to start getting ready for the first of two huge tests they'd be taking in the coming years. Getting started on that now, with years of prep time ahead of him, was a boon to Quincy.
Leaving the practical stuff to later - it was usually best to understand the theory before diving in in his opinion - Quincy gathered a blank piece of paper beside the paper with the example questions on it. That was arguably the most interesting part and he was eager to get to try these puzzles out on a classmate before coming up with his own and seeing how it went. He didn't want to make up his own until he knew who he was working with though, since people like Bertie could definitely handle a bigger curveball than others of his classmates, so he figured he'd start by finding a partner first. He was looking around when someone approached.
OOC: This is open to Bertie or anyone else.
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Quincy Wright
Alright!
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Ellie Alperton
June 11, 2021 8:16 PM
Not the Aladren you were expecting by Ellie Alperton
Ellie was not freaking out. She just wasn’t. She was an Aladren, and had always gotten good grades, both in non-magical school and even since having to suddenly switch to a whole new world where the basic rules that she’d learnt governed the universe just didn’t exist. For a while, the theory had made her brain protest, but she’d never had trouble understanding what was being said and how to make the connections involved, or repeat back even if – whilst she understood it – it had, for a time, made no sense whatsoever. So, she was fine. She would do fine on her exams, and there was no reason to think otherwise, and she was fine.It was weird how much she missed her family right now. She had thought she was largely over the homesickness, but at times like this it really hit. Her parents would have helped her plan her studies, would have told her to take a break when she needed it. When it came with parental approval, a break didn’t make her feel guilty. Now she had to manage those things for herself. Well, that wasn’t totally true. Of course her teachers and Mr. Row would help, but it wasn’t the same. They weren’t going to bring her Oeros and apple juice when they knew she’d been getting buried in her books. They weren’t going to turn her flashcards into a game and play it with her. She was one student out of many, all of whom needed their help – some of them probably much more than she did.
She took a seat in transfiguration, and it didn’t take long for the subject of CATS to come up, making her stomach squirm. The task for the day was one she was relatively confident of. She’d been looking at CATS guides, and the fact that this type of question came up had been mentioned. It had come with a self-study activity which gave a list of factors and a column to write in all the charms and transfigurations that could be causing those effects.
She glanced around for a partner, and spotted Quincy making his way to one of the theory stations. It was the self-composition one, which wasn’t her preferred start point, as she just wanted to obsessively go over past test questions, but they did have to do all the tasks, and this did at least seem like it would go well with her list – they could use it as a basis for questions, and that would probably help her memorise it. Plus Quincy was an Aladren, but not himself sitting CATS this year, which probably meant he would be willing to explore the theory in detail and make their tasks suitably challenging but would not yet be panicking or need his own study needs accommodating as much. Not that she was panicking. She was fine.
“Hi!” she said, with a little too much intensity. “Can we pair up? I have a really useful list from some CATS revision that I was doing where there was a list of effects and I had to come up with possible spells.” She pulled out the list. Down one side were words like ‘Disappearing’ ‘Appearing’ ‘Change of appearance.’ Three columns followed, labelled ‘transfigurations’ ‘charms’ and ‘notes.’ The line next to disappearing was filled in with ‘vanishment’ for transfiguration and ‘cloaking/invisibility’ for charms. In ‘notes’ it was stated that the object would still be physically present if cloaked, and so to look for clues in the questions such as bumps, bulges or tangibility. “It could be a good basis for coming up with some questions,” she stated, offering the list to him.
OOC: It is only Ellie's assumption that Mr. Row wouldn't bring her Oeros and apple juice or make her flashcards into games. I do not wish to cast aspersions on the lengths he is willing to go to.
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Ellie Alperton
Not the Aladren you were expecting
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Quincy Wright
June 11, 2021 8:37 PM
I don't hate this turn of events though. by Quincy Wright
Quincy jumped a little when an older Aladren approached and was just super excited to work with him. He knew Ellie from being in the same House but he also knew her because he'd met her little brother the previous year. Seth had been pretty cool but Quincy wasn't about to assume that meant it ran in the family; his own sister was way less cool than he was. Still, he nodded to agree to work together and then nodded more enthusiastically when she went on."This is amazing," he said, genuinely awestruck as he took the paper she offered him and let his eyes ravage it for information. "Can I copy this sometime?" he asked, only barely realizing this wasn't the time or place to start taking notes on her notes. He'd have to get someone to help him if he wanted to use a copying charm on it but it was better to do it by hand for sake of learning the material anyway. Reluctantly, he passed the paper back to her.
"How do you want to begin?" he asked, still trying not to push his ideas of how he would've done things with Bertie too hard on this girl. Being an Aladren was points in her favor, as was being Seth's sister, but it wasn't the end all be all for being a cool person. Besides, he had blank paper and the prep questions ready if she really wanted to start with what they already had. He supposed she had more to gain from that sort of thing than he did right now since she was studying more actively for CATS.
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Quincy Wright
I don't hate this turn of events though.
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Ellie Alperton
June 12, 2021 1:18 AM
Oh good by Ellie Alperton
She seemed to have surprised him, but the paper of well laid out knowledge worked easily to smooth over the situation, and she smiled at his enthusiasm.“Sure,” she nodded, always glad to help out someone interested in learning (especially if they were in a different year group and therefore not in direct competition for grades). “I got the exercise from a book called ‘Domesticating the CATS.’ It’s got a lot of really good study exercises.” She hoped that that didn’t sound too much like she needed help, but she was pretty sure that everyone revised for major exams, and having a well-rounded plan of attack made you look more academic rather than less. People crammed like heck for the SATS, and this was only one letter out, after all…
“Well, if you want to use that as a basis to make up some questions, you’re more than welcome,” she nodded at the paper. That would definitely help her get the list into her head, as would making up her own. It was a little odd, trying to work it backwards, and trying to come up with a question to go with an answer. But hey, what were all those afternoons watching ‘Jeopardy!’ for if not this? She felt a little stuck trying to invent questions because she had limited knowledge of the magical world. It was one thing to analyse something that already existed, another to invent those things yourself. She tried to think of her own toys – Barbies which could grow their hair, baby bottles where the milk seemed to really disappear when you tilted it. Presumably, hers had all been achieved with cleverly hidden pieces, unless magical people were sneaking into the non-magical world for some very mundane purposes (or to foster a belief in tiny little bits of magic in people like her, so that this came as less of a shock? But probably it was just hidden compartments and the like…). Still, maybe imagining the magical equivalents of her own toys would help her get on the right track.
“Did you grow up with stuff like this?” she gestured to the table behind her. “I didn’t,” she clarified, in case Quincy worried about why she was asking.
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Ellie Alperton
Oh good
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Quincy Wright
June 12, 2021 9:03 PM
You seem pretty cool. by Quincy Wright
"Thanks," Quincy said with a smile, glad that he was working with someone nice and smart. He knew there were some people who thought you couldn't be nice and smart both but he thought that it was smart to be nice and nice to be smart, so that was for the best.He was reviewing the page when Ellie asked about his past and Quincy looked a bit sideways at her. "I met your brother last year and he was telling me about his school and coding and stuff," he said. It didn't feel right for her to be outing herself as coming from a muggle family without him admitting that he already knew that. "I want to code too," he added. "And I wanted to stay at muggle school. But yeah, I grew up with stuff like this," he said, gesturing to the same things Ellie had. "I saw a microscope that adjusted to your eyes and to whatever specimen you were looking at when you looked through it but we couldn't afford it. My sister has a doll that changes her clothes and stuff automatically depending on where you say she's going. Like if she says 'Let's go to the mall,' then it has a purse and stuff or something. I don't know. Whatever girls wear to the mall." He shrugged, then looked at Ellie with more enthusiasm as a new thought struck him. "Hey, what kinds of spells do you think those are?"
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Quincy Wright
You seem pretty cool.
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Ellie Alperton
June 14, 2021 7:04 AM
Thanks, so do you by Ellie Alperton
Quincy seemed… awkward? Shifty? He looked like he was admitting some super secret insider knowledge as he talked about meeting Seth. Ellie couldn’t imagine anything Seth could have told him that was regarded as- well. Okay, she could think of one thing that might make other people feel awkward, for want of a better word, even though it shouldn’t, and wasn’t something she regarded as a secret. School and coding and ‘stuff?’“Sounds like you had a good chat,” she smiled, modelled being Not At All Awkward in case he needed a cue to what was the right reaction right now.
He then gave her both some insight into a magical childhood and a riddle to solve, which in her eyes meant this was shaping up to be a pretty good conversation.
“Ooh, I would have loved that. I had a doll whose hair could grow back after you chopped it off, but it wasn’t magical, there was just like… a roll of extra hair stuffed inside the doll.” Weirdly, hers had never run out though… “There may well be the possibility of extended its lifespan with magic though…” she added, with the face of someone who was having something dawn on them. “As for your sister’s doll… I guess some form of conjuration. It would have to be pre-set to respond to words that aren’t spell words, so I’m guessing a conjuration field contained within a password activation charm?” The charm wasn’t only used for passwords, as demonstrated by Quincy’s example, but as it was the most common use for such voice activation, the name had become commonplace. “Or I suppose it could be a switching spell, if the doll always had something else on to start with. Did your sister ever try to ‘trick’ the spells, like do things to test their limits and what would and wouldn’t work?”
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Ellie Alperton
Thanks, so do you
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Quincy Wright
June 16, 2021 5:32 PM
Oh good, I was afraid I was making a fool of myself. by Quincy Wright
Quincy relaxed some and gave Ellie a small smile, glad that it didn't seem like she hated her brother or anything. "It was nice," he agreed of the chat they'd had. A much fuller happy expression came out when she talked about the doll with the roll of hair shoved in its head. That was the kind of thing he loved! Muggles did amazing stuff and wizards got all pompous thinking they were the only ones who could make magic happen but really, magic was all over. Sure, it wasn't technically magic, but muggles had the word 'magic' and used it to mean something that Quincy absolutely thought should count. Science was his favorite branch of magic, whatever wizards thought of it. Plus, Ellie was basically pointing out the ways in which wizards could totally influence muggle stuff without being weird about it and that could go a long way in improving the lives of muggles. People (Quincy's family) said that he shouldn't try to live among muggles but if he liked science and wanted to do small things like that, it didn't seem like a bad idea.Then, Ellie showed just how smart she was and Quincy was pretty sure he fell in love. Not really because love was weird and gross, but Ellie was quickly becoming one of the few people Quincy thought he'd like to be in his inner circle of people. So far, that inner circle was basically just Bertie, and occasionally Valentine but not because she was super smart so much as just super nice. Not to be rude to Valentine; some people needed to be just super nice too and the girl obviously tried really hard. Ellie had an answer faster than Quincy had had a question though and he nodded eagerly as she went through her logic.
"That makes sense to me," he agreed. "The doll stayed dressed in whatever it was last wearing until you gave it a new setting," he added to clarify that point. Perhaps a switching spell did make the most sense then. "I don't remember if you could take the clothes or accessories off though. Could also be an illusion maybe and not actually anything substantive." He wondered briefly if the doll's bag was magically altered with an undetectable extension charm but that seemed unlikely considering the new outfits would appear instantaneously and didn't need to be summoned from anywhere. He shook his head about his sister experimenting though. "No, she's not that way," he said, obviously a bit disappointed by that fact. "I never thought too much about it before so I haven't but if she still has it, I may try over the summer. Now I'm really curious. What about your accidental magic? Do you think you were unconsciously doing some sort of actual spell on the roll in your doll? Or do you think accidental magic works outside the realm of known spells? I think there's some of both, but what do you think you were doing in that case?" he asked.
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Quincy Wright
Oh good, I was afraid I was making a fool of myself.
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