Hiding a small giggle behind her hand, Lana shook her head sightly. Laura was being ever so silly today, but at least her sister was trying to contribute to the lesson. Maybe she was a good influence on her other half after all, but she did think the thought of rating hats would be fun all the same.

Getting a control of her giggle, she thought about the question asked and mused over what she thought she knew about hats. She really wasn't one to know that much about fashion, let alone hats, but she would at least try to think something up. Just when she was about to give up, she remember there was a hat that she did like and knew a little about.

Slowly, she raised her hand. "There are Cloche hats," she offered. "They were invented by Caroline Reboux in 1908 and were very popular in the 1920s," she added as she thought more about it. "They are fitted and bell-shaped and worn by women." She actually had one or two back at home and kind of wished that she had them with her now.

Alyssa thought for a while before she raised her hand.

"Professor there is the Bowler hat that a lot of the male aristocracy used to wear like Sir Winston Churchill. I guess it's called a bowler because it's top it's as round as a bowl." Alyssa answered.

Minerva put up her hand she had a favorite type of hat that she loved to wear during this time of year. "Professor there are winter hats, they are called different things, but my dad always called them toboggan." She smiled and listened to the other answers that were being given and thinking about her small collection of these hats sitting in her trunk up in her room.

Annabelle wondered what type of hats there were. There was so many she has noticed over the years. But there is one style that stuck out most in her mind. It was when she was shopping in the muggle world. "Professor i have seen Beanie hats. There are small round, skull cap to make it fit the head. It is an American thing i believe? The current beanie today is a knitted type of hat." In fact she had one up in her dormitory that she loved.

Selena totally knew a type of hat. Psht. She wore one like... everyday because she practically invented it. Selena's arm raised up in the air before she answered the professor. "There's the pygmy puff hat! You put a pygmy puff on your head." Obviously. Selena was an expert with pygmy puff hats. "It's created by me. Unless someone else did it before me. Then that person created it," Selena added.

They all ought to wear pygmy puff hats. Just to all be cool.

Kinds of hats?

Gary thought for awhile, he knew that there was so many kinds of hats in this world right? Suddenly the blonde guy remembered about a muggle Japanese comic called One Piece which was his cousin's favorite and he remembered about the Straw Hat pirates. So silly, but he liked the series.

Okay, the blonde guy raised his hand and answered. "A straw hat, Professor." said him. "It is designed to protect the head from the sun and against heatstroke." then.. what about the History? Seriously he never thought about that before. "Well, I don't know exactly about the history, but mostly used in Europe and Asia before the middle ages." he added.

Oh! That sounded like fun! Sophie couldn't wait to place the cotton thing on top of her own head - hehe! - and do the spell! She was smiling brightly as professor Magnus explained it all.

Uh... she really had no idea about hat styles... she wasn't that much into fashion. "There are... caps!" Heh! "I normally see laid back people wearing those. Or people that are really into sports!" Or both. "They're good because they can protect your face from the sun, for example." With that little flat thingy that some people wore to the back.

Jory raised his hand. "There's the Akubra, Professor,'' he said. "It's from Australia and they're mostly worn by farmers and hunters.''

He remembered this hat very well from the vacation in Australia a few years ago because the it was very wide brimmed.

HATS? Elliot LOVED hats! Yep! Especially LACY hats! Those were the best! Her hand shot into the air...she hadn't heard if anyone had said it, for she was just TOO EXCITED BECAUSE SHE LOVED HATS. "Professor, there are fedoras! Those are my FAVORITE. It has a pinched front, and a brim that goes out and bends over the eyes. It is mostly worn to look nice, popular among those of wealth and class..." Elliot nodded. She knew about fedoras. Plus, she had wealth and class, so it ALL FIT. "They are supposed to be a mostly male hat, but girls wear them, too...I, personally, think they have a feminine look to them..." Hmph. They were a girly hat! Her father would never be caught wearing one...

Would she be able to make her own fedoras by the end of the lesson, because that would be AWESOME.

Yep. He'd called that one. HATS!!

Dylan was oddly excited about this. There was nothing like an awesome hat...and the Slytherin had collected many. His mother had gotten him into the obsession when they taken that two-week trip to Texas a few years ago. He'd been in LOVE with those Stetson hats...

Perhaps that's what he'd try and make...Then he could be a real cowboy!

Girls totally dug cowboys.

"Ma'am, cowboy hats...and they originated in the states. Mostly the Southern ones, like Texas and Kentucky..."

Hats! Yeap!

Erin was right. She guessed it right. Erin listened to the professor's instructions while she was doing the wandwork the class was learning today. Focusing on the woman's head, Erin anticipated it to be a hat - of course - but a different one, not like the one she just had before. Who wants duplicate belongings?

She raised her hand to share what's on her mind. "Professor, there were bonnets," Erin started "I believed they were used a long long time ago. It was worn by early women, like in Shakespeare's time. They come in various intricate designs and they were usually tied below the chin. It covers the ears and the head but not the forehead." Though there were bonnets now without the tying, "As years passed by, the tying below the chin was removed."

Chelle pressed her lips. She figured this was going to be an interesting class, yet she had no clue whatsoever about any hats. She cupped her chin with her right hand and leaned against her desk.

Right. hats, hats, hats.

Chelle thought hard. She really wasn't into hats, but faced with a sudden impulse to take part in the discussion, she said the first thing that came to her mind. "Party hats, Professor! I quite like those," she blurted out.

A type of hat?

Well, unfortunately for Nora, she didn't really wear hats, so she wasn't an expert in this field. Besides, lots of types have already been mentioned, but she had something else in mind as she raised her hand. "A Christmas hat, professor!" Like Santa Claus wore! "I'm not sure about its origins, though." They were just fun to wear on Christmas... even though it has already passed. Eh, it didn't matter.

Laura looked at the Professor seriously though if they could rate hats at the end of the lesson that would be cool, expecially if they could rate the hat that another student made. "Oh okay then Professor." Laura sounded disappointed her idea had been a lot more fun that making a hat, saying that didn't you need a machine to make hats, oh yeah magic how could she have forgotten that, they were going to magically make a hat, what was the fun in that.

Laura listened to what the Professor asked and smiled, which hat should she suggest. "Professor in a book I once read my Charles Dickens there was this hat called a Dunce cap it was used on students that messed about in class like pulling on girls hairs or passing notes to each other or acting like the fool." Laura stopped speaking for a couple of minutes. "I don't know who made them but they normally name the hat after the inventer so maybe Dunce-a-lot was the inventer." She had heard of Sir-Cam-a-lot why couldn't he have a brother.

oooh they were going to make hats?

Daichi liked that idea! Especially since he didn't have a hat yet. He had a bright orange beanie but not a hat. The Slytherin sat upright as his interest was sparked and he listened to the Professor.

What did he know about hats...? OH! he knew about one! Excitedly, the fourth year punched his hand in the air and waved it to get her attention. "THEREAREDUCKHATSPROFESSOR!" he shouted as his brown eyes grew wide with excitment. It was nothing new though, at least to him. Taking a calming breath, he continued. "I saw hats in the shape of a duck head in a store in France when i went to Paris for the holiday" then he sighed loudly as he remembered what his father had said. "But i couldn't have one because my dad thinks i'm too old for that"

HMPF! he was not! Seriously, his father sounded like Louisa...or Louisa sound like his father, bleh.

where it came from? he had no idea so he kept silent on that part but his mind went to how cool he would look if he had a duck hat!

Hmmm. Hats, hats, hats..so many had been named already. How was she going to guess one?

Then she remember, her cousin was reeeeally into hats, even things to do with muggles and she remembered a fact he'd told her and she threw her hand in the air and then said, "There are trilby hats. The are similar to normal caps and are worn by some popular muggle singers and it's a trend that's growing." Kat finished with a nod of her head.

Hats! There were all kinds of hats. Hannah was thinking about which one she would tell the professor about when suddenly it hit her. Dunce caps. She laughed a bit to herself. "Professor there is a dunce hat. They used to use the hat in school to punish and humiliate the kids in the late 19th and early 20th centuries." she said with a raised hand.

Hannah knew some people at Hogwarts that should have to wear the dunce hat. Maybe they could get a bulk order for all of the puffers. Hmmm....that was an idea!

So there will be some practices today? YAY! He can't wait to practices some new spells.

Type of Hats? Oh he knew one. NOD. NOD. NOD.

Quickly Messer raised his hand in the air. "There's a SOMBRERO HAT, Professor." which he used every time he attend the Ravenclaw match. "I think its a Mexican hat, Professor." Since people always called it Mexican Sombrero, so it must come from Mexico, yes? "And in Mexico, peasant sombreros are usually made of straw, while wealthier people wear sombreros made of felt." That's the only thing the Hufflepuff know about Sombrero.

Alec gaped at the Professor's wandwork. That. Was. Awesome! If they were going to be doing that, Alec wanted a new cap. Or a beanie! That would be cool. And the Professor had said that they'd be doing some wandwork but... would they get to choose? Now that was the real question.

The thirteen year old opened his mouth to answer when... Messy stepped in. He turned to look at the boy next to him. Why why WHY was he roommates with someone who was such a weirdo? Sombreros, Messer, really? ... Right. The boy did have a sombrero after all. Maybe Alec should get him a girl's hat for his next birthday...

He shook his head and his hand up. "Professor, there's the deerstalker hat," Which sounded weird because... you know... people wear the hat to stalk deers. Why would anyone want to stalk a deer? "I don't know where it comes from but... Sherlock Holmes used to wear it." People had said the beanie and the cap, his favourite hats, so he went for a cool, famous one instead.

"Ahh yes, good one. They're worn a lot by farmers, aren't they?" It was more of a rhetorical question. She thought it was true, but didn't really expect the child to know the answer, so...

"And worn by me, too," Isabelle smiled, picking up the one she had transfigured and waving it a little.

"Oh, berets are very nice, yes. Good pick." Issy liked the way they hung at the back of the head more, rather than be plonked on top. But that was nothing to do with the lesson. Thoughts back on track.

"A tricorn? I must admit I haven't heard of that one." Probably because she wasn't around in the 18th century.

A top hat. Lovely. "The one that makes Muggle men look smart. Especially if worn with...a tuxedo, I think it's called. Good choice."

Fitted and bell shaped? That was giving Isabelle all kinds of weird images. Like someone with a miniature version of Big Ben on their head. Probably didn't look like that though. "Another I don't know about. Thank you for the information on it."

"Oh yes, a very famous style of hat, as a few of the ones mentioned have been," Issy smiled.

"That's very interesting, Miss Wheatborn. You do find some people give nicknames to things based on their looks, but I've not heard of toboggan before."

Beanie hats. Isabelle had worn one once. It gave her 'helmet hair', so never again. She'd stick to her fedora's. Although, you know, they could be... "Very good for cold days." Like they were having now.

O_______________o

She knew Selena liked pygmy puffs, but....uhhhh. Yeah.

"Miss Zabini-Riddle, while I admire your love of pygmy puffs - they are adorable creatures after all - they aren't technically a type of hat. They're a living thing." That wasn't a hat.

"Certainly good for the summer, not so much for type of weather we get this time of year," Isabelle smiled with a nod.

"Ahh, baseball caps? Yes, quite a few people, Muggles mainly, wear those in Canada. When they go to watch sport usually," she chuckled.

"I don't know the word 'Akubra', is that like a bush hat? My husband bought one of those during our holiday in Australia a few years ago." Not that the kids wanted to know that. Moving on.

"Like mine, you mean?" Issy asked, plopping the hat back on her head. She really did like it.

"Very good, yes. I'm afraid we don't have any horses for you to ride after, if you choose to make one of those though," she smirked.

"I've seen a lot of those used in old Muggle films." Very old muggle films. "They make them without the ribbon? I've yet to see one of those..."

Isabelle laughed. Party hats were indeed nice. Especially if you were a child. But.... "Well, we'll be making material ones today, so a cardboard party hat might have to wait for another time."

"Those red felt ones with the white bobble on the end? They are fun to look at." Although she had never worn one. Her brother-in-law at Christmas on the other hand....

Dunce-a-lot.

What. What could you say to something like that? But Laura was right about one thing. "Yes, very popular in Victorian times. For muggles anyway." And sometimes it seemed like they might still need them.

What what?

Isabelle frowned slightly as she tried to make out the stream of words that had formed into one long one. It was only when Daichi clarified about duck heads that she worked it out. "Ohhh, right. Yes. Novelty hats." Why did she have the feeling that is what the Slytherin would leave the classroom having made?

Trilby's. She did like those. Alastair had one for whenever they went anywhere he felt he needed to look smart, in muggle public. "Good one, yes."

"Good job we don't have those today, eh?" No, there were plenty of other ways to embarrass and humiliate kids nowadays. And Hecate used most of them during detentions, she was sure.

"That's the hat I've seen you in at the Quidditch, I assume Mister Messer?" Issy smiled. Certainly sounded like it.




"As you have all heard from each other, there are various types of hats that you can choose to transfigure your cloth into today. Some will be harder to create than others due to shape and style." Isabelle moved over to the board and picked up the chalk. She wrote down two words:

"This is the spell you will be using today. It is pronounced 'Tec-tum Ca-put'. And as you saw when I did the demonstration, the wand movement is a simple clockwise circle - making sure you touch the material gently with the tip of your wand." She showed them that bit again, without actually performing the spell, before going back to the front of her desk.

"Now, you don't actually need to place the material on your head for this to work, I just did that to give you a hint to the subject matter - and because it was amusing to me. It will work just as well, if not better, by placing it flat on your desk." She gestured for them to do that, having noticed a few had moved it to the side to place down their parchments and such like.

"I'd like you all to make sure you get each element of the spell correct before attempting to use it on the actual material. So please do separate practice before launching straight in. And, for fun, I'd like you all near the end of the lesson to create a certain style of hat for the next lesson - but more on that later. For now, please practice."



OOC: I won't be on until late tomorrow, that's why I've bought the practice forward a bit. Have your character try the movement and incantations on their own first a few times, then by all means try and make yourself a hat like Isabelle did earlier. My next post will be in about 22 hours from now. But Issy will be here at all times.

Making hats would be pretty cool. Hannah wondered for a minute if she would get away with making a dunce cap and gifting it to a puffer. That probably wouldn't go well with the professor. Pushing her snide thoughts away for a moment she focused her attention back on the professor. She jotted down the spell and how to pronounce it so she wouldn't confuse herself later.

Deciding it would be best if she practiced the word a couple of times, Hannah layed her wand to the side and said "Tectum...Tec-tum...Tec-tum." T hat seemed easy enough.

Now on to the other part of the spell. Caput. "Caput...Ca-put." Another easy one. Putting the two together now. "Tec-tum Ca-put...Tectum Caput." There she felt pretty confident with saying the spell.

Minerva smiled, she loved this part. She looked at her desk without her wand in her hand and began practicing the words. She had to make sure she got that correct before doing anything else. "Tec-tum Cap-ut" No that didn't sound right. She thought again and tried to say it out loud "Tec-tum Ca-put", Yes that sounded correct. She said it again "Tec-tum Ca-put" She liked the sound of this spell it was not a horrible one to pronounce. She smiled to herself and thought about the wand movements.

Ella wanted to laugh at the way Messer excitedly offered a sombrero as a type of hat. She eyed her fellow Hufflepuff with an amused smile before turning back to the professor. Her eyes didn't stay there for long though, as another Hufflepuff friend was talking about hats now. Alec had said WHAT about Sherlock Holmes?! Ella lovedddd that guy! Mostly cause she liked to investigate things and fancied herself a bit of a Hogwarts detective. She made a mental note to keep deerstalker hats in mind next time she was shopping.

Adjusting her piece of cloth to lie flat on her desk as the professor had suggested, Ella went over the incantation in her head. Tectum Caput...Tectum Caput...Tectum Caput. Then she attempted to say it successfully out loud. "Tec-tum... Tec-tum...Tec-tum...Ca-put...Ca-put" Luckily, this particular incantation wasn't too difficult to say. "Tec-tum Ca-put...Tec-tum Ca-put...Tec-tum Ca-put" After a few tries sounding it out, Ella put it all together as she would say it while transfiguring her cloth. "Tectum Caput...Tectum Caput...Tectum Caput!" With a satisfied smile, Ella then picked up her wand, ready to try the wand movement.

Yeah, now Nigel can do some magic in this class and not have to stare to the professor's awesome fedora. Not that he didn't like staring at it. He just like do magic better. OK, so the incantation was Tectum Caput, you got this Nigel thought. He really wanted to practice the incantation to the fullest to get the spell right the first time. But he knew transfiguration spells were always hard and he was only a first year.

Now Nigel was ready to practice the incantation he left his wand in his ropes and just started saying "Tec-tum Ca-put, Tec-tum Ca-put, Tec-tum Ca-put" as clearly as he can because he does not want to pronounce it worng and fail horribly. Maybe a few more times just to be safe he thought

"Tec-tum Ca-put, Tec-tum Ca-put, Tectum Caput." OK, now he thinks he can say it clearly with error.

Erin removed her parchment on the desk allowing the cloth to be placed at the center of it. She wrote every bit of information about hats that her classmates had mentioned. For some odd reaasons, she had so much interest about hats - the stylish ones of course. Phasing a bit, she grabbed her wand from her robes pocket. Before starting, Erin quickly return her parchment on the desk since they were only practicing. It was wrtten to recite 'Tectum Caput' and move your wand in a clockwise manner.

She practised the spell firstly. "Tec-tum Ca-put" Repeating the words a couple of times wouldn't take so much time and the professor actually told them to get used to the spell as much as possible. Focusing on the hat she saw Professor Magnus wore earlier, she repeated the incantation several times, "Tec-tum Ca-put. Tec-tum Ca- put. Tec-tum Ca-put"By that she shifted to the side so that she will have the right distance from her desk to point her wand - she removed the cloth - and in from 3 o'clock to to 15 o'clock, she moved her wand. She shook her head, "Clockwise. Clockwise." trying it again in a clockwise manner and then again and again. She was now all ready for the next part. Make that hat. As much as Erin wanted to make her own version of a bonnet hat, she needed to focus on the basics first and do what the professor had instructed them to do.