SnitchSeeker.com - View Single Post - Transfiguration Lesson 1: An Unusually Stony October Day

NifflerFan · 05-17-2018, 04:51 AM

The overall progress of the class seemed to be going quite well. Celestia wandered through the rows of students’ desks, silently observing their work, when she saw what was happening at Mr. Ashburry-Hawthorne’s desk. What in the name of Merlin…? As Celestia hurried over to his desk, she noted the ink absolutely everywhere and the way a grey-ish bit of parchment seemed to be sucking the boy’s inkwell in. He’d obviously completed the “D” with his wand. Sighing heavily, Celestia Vanished the whole mess with a silent wave of her wand before turning to the two students affected by the mess.
”It’s quite alright, Mr. Ashburry-Hawthorne. Mind your wand movements, please. Are you alright, Miss Dalgaard-Volkova?”, she asked warily. The Gryffindor prefect had had her desk splattered with plenty of ink before Celestia had Vanished it, after all…

As soon as that situation was handled, Celestia’s attention was caught by Mr. Jones apologizing to her for some reason. Her brow furrowing in confusion, Celestia stopped by his desk to ask him: ”Whatever for, Mr. Jones?” She paused, watching some of his next attempts at the spell. ”For not being able to cast the spell yet? My dear boy, this is not an easy spell to learn. I would be shocked if anyone in your year HAD managed it this quickly. That being said, you seem to have the mechanics of the spell down. Take a deep breath and try again, yes?” Meanwhile, Celestia would get out of the young Ravenclaw’s way and continue to watch his progress from afar. Most first years were nervous enough about mastering new spells in her class without a professor hovering over them.

Miss Walsh received a warm smile as Celestia passed by, but she offered no commentary. There was no need -- for a second year to turn any object into stone was rather impressive. As she came upon Mr. Katharos’s desk, Celestia gave him an encouraging smile and after observing his attempt, told him, ”Remember to visualize the entire object turning to stone as you move your wand. I’m positive that you’re almost there!” A third year successfully casting this spell so quickly would be almost as impressive as a second year casting it only a few minutes in. Celestia hadn’t expected any of the younger students to get so close, and she was immensely pleased with both students’ progress.

Celestia had barely finished speaking to Mr. Katharos when she heard a wand fall onto the ~~floor~~ what turned out to be a student’s desk. Hurrying over -- in case the wand had fallen for an unfortunate reason -- Celestia stopped at Miss Kevelle’s desk. Her eyes traveled from the fallen wand to the girl’s shocked expression to the two halves of a quill turned to stone. The professor felt her own features morph into shock as well -- a first year had cast this spell within a few short minutes! The nonverbal first casting had flown completely past the professor's notice. Celestia prodded one of the half-quill-shaped stones just to be certain, but it certainly looked and felt right to her. A broad smile stretched across her face as she turned back to the young Ravenclaw. ”Excellent, Miss Kevelle! Very well done indeed! Why don’t you select one of the pumpkins or other dense items when it’s time for our main practical?” Her intention had been to start the first years all off with small items and/or light items like balloons, but clearly Miss Kevelle was beyond that.

Still beaming, her attention was next caught by the sounds of someone casting Reverto. Celestia turned her head warily in the direction of the person’s voice, but soon discovered that it was not an older student correcting a mistake. Rather, it was Miss Diggory teaching the spell to Mr. Yoon. Celestia made her way over to the pair of them and gave them both another warm smile, ”Three points to Slytherin for helping a younger student without being asked, Miss Diggory. And very well done with that spell, Mr. Yoon!”, she told them both cheerfully. Celestia normally simply expected student leaders to help their younger classmates without being asked, but she thought that now was a good time to set that precedent for this year’s new student leaders. She did secretly wish that the points could’ve gone to a Gryffindor, but Miss Diggory had earned them all the same. She was quite proud of both students in this situation!

Her attention was next caught by the Head Girl’s raised hand. Celestia made her way over to Miss Fairfield and called on her promptly. The Slytherin’s question soon had Celestia furrowing her brows a bit. ”I’m not sure what you mean by supplementing it, Miss Fairfield. I suppose it depends on what materials you’ve cast Incarcifors on, doesn’t it? A stone sort of prison would be more effective than one made of less substantial materials, but you’d need to cast the Hardening Spell on whatever you’ve conjured up for your prison after the fact. Does that make sense?”, she inquired. Celestia certainly hoped that that was what Miss Fairfield was getting at.

As she looked around the classroom for her next ~~victim~~ student in need of assistance, Celestia’s eyes roved over several students who seemed to be hard at work: Miss Paton, Miss Macindoe, Miss Greyvson, Miss McCarthy, Miss Prichard, Miss Primeaux, Miss Gladin, Mr. Carter, Miss Atwater and Miss Beckett were all hard at work and having varying levels of success.

Miss Kettleburn had unknowingly gotten started on part of the main activity already! That was fine with Celestia, as she liked to see students eager to challenge themselves. The professor approached Miss Kettleburn’s desk and told her with a smile, ”Three points to Ravenclaw for working ahead, Miss Kettleburn! I only ask that you take a break for our next class discussion. I think you’ll find that your pumpkin could use a little something extra before you Transform it to stone.” On that note, Celestia made her way back to the front of the room.

As she went, she noticed that Miss Cambridge was staring intently at a vial of something on her desk. However, the prefect’s vial was surrounded by stone objects -- including one much heavier than any of the objects she’d be asked to practice on later in the period -- and they were about to move on anyway. On balance, Celestia decided to leave the Ravenclaw to whatever she was working on for now as long as it didn’t distract her classmates.

Celestia called the practice to a halt after around 10 minutes by blowing on a shrill whistle that was sure to get the students’ attention ~~or bust their eardrums~~. It seemed like most of the class had mastered the mechanics of the spell and she was personally quite ready to move on. Many students underestimated this spell’s complexity, but she hoped that taking valuable class time to learn the basics would prevent most disastrous mistakes.
Before they could move on to the activity she had planned, however, she had another question for the students to consider. This was a rather more important matter than the questions at the beginning of the class had addressed, so the professor stared around the room to ensure that she had captured all of the students’ attention.
She had just opened her mouth to speak when she noticed that one of her students had managed to sleep through her whistle!*** As a tight frown spread across her face like wildfire, Celestia stormed over to Miss Lovecraft’s desk and promptly turned her hair a nasty, putrid shade of green with a nonverbal spell. There was no sense in teaching the students that one. She then turned to the student sitting nearest to Miss Lovecraft, Miss Maddie Kemp, and favored her with a small smile and a “Would you kindly wake him/her up, Miss Kemp?” before making her way back to the front of the room.

Celestia waited about a minute longer for the rest of the class to settle down before sighing and calling for order (without a piercing whistle this time). ”Now that Miss Lovecraft has rejoined the land of the living, let’s move on. I would like for you all to please give this matter serious consideration before answering. Would you all kindly give me a different scenario in which this spell could be used offensively or defensively? I’m sure you’ve learned enough from Professor Hirsch to be able to answer this question easily, and I think that given the events of last term, it’s time that we teach you all to become a bit more creative with your spell-casting.” Celestia explained all of this in a tone of voice that did not allow for any arguments. She didn’t want any snide remarks about this class not being Defense Against the Dark Arts, nor did she want to impinge on Professor Hirsch’s territory. However, she thought it was high time that their students began using spells across disciplines. Spells from different classes could be used in all sorts of different contexts outside of school, and Celestia was determined to teach her students that lesson if nothing else.

OOC: ***Feel free to claim the sleeping student or the student sitting next to him/her. I’ll edit this post with names if people claim them. If no one feels like claiming them, they can be NPCs

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For question 2, the students just need to figure out one way that Duro could be used either defensively or offensively. We’ll be moving on to the main activity in 24 hours so at 12 AM CDT on May 18.

SPOILER!!: Usual OOC Reminders

05-17-2018, 04:51 AM	#89 (permalink)
NifflerFan DMAC Firecrab Join Date: Apr 2017 Posts: 739	Question 2 Gryffindor for life Notorious Niffler The overall progress of the class seemed to be going quite well. Celestia wandered through the rows of students’ desks, silently observing their work, when she saw what was happening at Mr. Ashburry-Hawthorne’s desk. What in the name of Merlin…? As Celestia hurried over to his desk, she noted the ink absolutely everywhere and the way a grey-ish bit of parchment seemed to be sucking the boy’s inkwell in. He’d obviously completed the “D” with his wand. Sighing heavily, Celestia Vanished the whole mess with a silent wave of her wand before turning to the two students affected by the mess. ”It’s quite alright, Mr. Ashburry-Hawthorne. Mind your wand movements, please. Are you alright, Miss Dalgaard-Volkova?”, she asked warily. The Gryffindor prefect had had her desk splattered with plenty of ink before Celestia had Vanished it, after all… As soon as that situation was handled, Celestia’s attention was caught by Mr. Jones apologizing to her for some reason. Her brow furrowing in confusion, Celestia stopped by his desk to ask him: ”Whatever for, Mr. Jones?” She paused, watching some of his next attempts at the spell. ”For not being able to cast the spell yet? My dear boy, this is not an easy spell to learn. I would be shocked if anyone in your year HAD managed it this quickly. That being said, you seem to have the mechanics of the spell down. Take a deep breath and try again, yes?” Meanwhile, Celestia would get out of the young Ravenclaw’s way and continue to watch his progress from afar. Most first years were nervous enough about mastering new spells in her class without a professor hovering over them. Miss Walsh received a warm smile as Celestia passed by, but she offered no commentary. There was no need -- for a second year to turn any object into stone was rather impressive. As she came upon Mr. Katharos’s desk, Celestia gave him an encouraging smile and after observing his attempt, told him, ”Remember to visualize the entire object turning to stone as you move your wand. I’m positive that you’re almost there!” A third year successfully casting this spell so quickly would be almost as impressive as a second year casting it only a few minutes in. Celestia hadn’t expected any of the younger students to get so close, and she was immensely pleased with both students’ progress. Celestia had barely finished speaking to Mr. Katharos when she heard a wand fall onto the ~~floor~~ what turned out to be a student’s desk. Hurrying over -- in case the wand had fallen for an unfortunate reason -- Celestia stopped at Miss Kevelle’s desk. Her eyes traveled from the fallen wand to the girl’s shocked expression to the two halves of a quill turned to stone. The professor felt her own features morph into shock as well -- a first year had cast this spell within a few short minutes! The nonverbal first casting had flown completely past the professor's notice. Celestia prodded one of the half-quill-shaped stones just to be certain, but it certainly looked and felt right to her. A broad smile stretched across her face as she turned back to the young Ravenclaw. ”Excellent, Miss Kevelle! Very well done indeed! Why don’t you select one of the pumpkins or other dense items when it’s time for our main practical?” Her intention had been to start the first years all off with small items and/or light items like balloons, but clearly Miss Kevelle was beyond that. Still beaming, her attention was next caught by the sounds of someone casting Reverto. Celestia turned her head warily in the direction of the person’s voice, but soon discovered that it was not an older student correcting a mistake. Rather, it was Miss Diggory teaching the spell to Mr. Yoon. Celestia made her way over to the pair of them and gave them both another warm smile, ”Three points to Slytherin for helping a younger student without being asked, Miss Diggory. And very well done with that spell, Mr. Yoon!”, she told them both cheerfully. Celestia normally simply expected student leaders to help their younger classmates without being asked, but she thought that now was a good time to set that precedent for this year’s new student leaders. She did secretly wish that the points could’ve gone to a Gryffindor, but Miss Diggory had earned them all the same. She was quite proud of both students in this situation! Her attention was next caught by the Head Girl’s raised hand. Celestia made her way over to Miss Fairfield and called on her promptly. The Slytherin’s question soon had Celestia furrowing her brows a bit. ”I’m not sure what you mean by supplementing it, Miss Fairfield. I suppose it depends on what materials you’ve cast Incarcifors on, doesn’t it? A stone sort of prison would be more effective than one made of less substantial materials, but you’d need to cast the Hardening Spell on whatever you’ve conjured up for your prison after the fact. Does that make sense?”, she inquired. Celestia certainly hoped that that was what Miss Fairfield was getting at. As she looked around the classroom for her next ~~victim~~ student in need of assistance, Celestia’s eyes roved over several students who seemed to be hard at work: Miss Paton, Miss Macindoe, Miss Greyvson, Miss McCarthy, Miss Prichard, Miss Primeaux, Miss Gladin, Mr. Carter, Miss Atwater and Miss Beckett were all hard at work and having varying levels of success. Miss Kettleburn had unknowingly gotten started on part of the main activity already! That was fine with Celestia, as she liked to see students eager to challenge themselves. The professor approached Miss Kettleburn’s desk and told her with a smile, ”Three points to Ravenclaw for working ahead, Miss Kettleburn! I only ask that you take a break for our next class discussion. I think you’ll find that your pumpkin could use a little something extra before you Transform it to stone.” On that note, Celestia made her way back to the front of the room. As she went, she noticed that Miss Cambridge was staring intently at a vial of something on her desk. However, the prefect’s vial was surrounded by stone objects -- including one much heavier than any of the objects she’d be asked to practice on later in the period -- and they were about to move on anyway. On balance, Celestia decided to leave the Ravenclaw to whatever she was working on for now as long as it didn’t distract her classmates. Celestia called the practice to a halt after around 10 minutes by blowing on a shrill whistle that was sure to get the students’ attention ~~or bust their eardrums~~. It seemed like most of the class had mastered the mechanics of the spell and she was personally quite ready to move on. Many students underestimated this spell’s complexity, but she hoped that taking valuable class time to learn the basics would prevent most disastrous mistakes. Before they could move on to the activity she had planned, however, she had another question for the students to consider. This was a rather more important matter than the questions at the beginning of the class had addressed, so the professor stared around the room to ensure that she had captured all of the students’ attention. She had just opened her mouth to speak when she noticed that one of her students had managed to sleep through her whistle!* As a tight frown spread across her face like wildfire, Celestia stormed over to Miss Lovecraft’s desk and promptly turned her hair a nasty, putrid shade of green with a nonverbal spell. There was no sense in teaching the students that one. She then turned to the student sitting nearest to Miss Lovecraft, Miss Maddie Kemp, and favored her with a small smile and a “Would you kindly wake him/her up, Miss Kemp?” before making her way back to the front of the room. Celestia waited about a minute longer for the rest of the class to settle down before sighing and calling for order (without a piercing whistle this time). ”Now that Miss Lovecraft has rejoined the land of the living, let’s move on. I would like for you all to please give this matter serious consideration before answering. Would you all kindly give me a different scenario in which this spell could be used offensively or defensively? I’m sure you’ve learned enough from Professor Hirsch to be able to answer this question easily, and I think that given the events of last term, it’s time that we teach you all to become a bit more creative with your spell-casting.” Celestia explained all of this in a tone of voice that did not allow for any arguments. She didn’t want any snide remarks about this class not being Defense Against the Dark Arts, nor did she want to impinge on Professor Hirsch’s territory. However, she thought it was high time that their students began using spells across disciplines. Spells from different classes could be used in all sorts of different contexts outside of school, and Celestia was determined to teach her students that lesson if nothing else. OOC: Feel free to claim the sleeping student or the student sitting next to him/her. I’ll edit this post with names if people claim them. If no one feels like claiming them, they can be NPCs . For question 2, the students just need to figure out one way that Duro could be used either defensively or offensively. We’ll be moving on to the main activity in 24 hours* so at 12 AM CDT on May 18. SPOILER!!: Usual OOC Reminders Anyone can jump in with an answer here even if you haven't posted in the lesson yet; just pretend that your student has been here the whole time. Also, anyone can catch up on the mini activity at any point during the rest of the lesson. If you have any questions, concerns, etc. at any time, feel free to contact me . Last edited by NifflerFan; 05-18-2018 at 03:44 AM. Reason: changing an NPC to a name yay