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Originally Posted by
SilverTiger 
Elizabeth's head tilted in curiosity as Nia expressed the desire for something to remove bruises, a bit confused by the younger girl for once. "Isn't there already a cream, or something like that to remove bruises?," she asked, blinking. "But yeah, Mariel's pretty vicious sometimes, isn't she?," she finally said, completely understanding where she was going with the comment and remembering her own battle with the little Seeker during tryouts this term. And that was almost scarier than the idea of Willow retaliating against her for fictional distractions. Even if, as things had turned out, the imaginary distractions that the captain had seen between her and Robert may have actually been there, just they had been in denial. Either way, Mariel was scarier. "I'd kind of be amazed if you, or anyone, could actually block Willow's yelling out. Sometimes it's actually important," she mused at the final comment from the other girl on the topic. Not to mention the fact that their captain would probably just get more irritated if she knew they were blocking her out.
She shrugged at the comment about everyone having their field. "Sure. Look at Potions masters. Or Quidditch players. Both valid careers in the magical world, and both don't really require exceptional wandwork." Or the fact she wanted to be a writer. She just had to hope she could actually be successful. But then the discussion veered toward actual class topics again, and she grinned. "Steering or flapping? Interesting conundrum. And you'd have to figure there would be some sort of steering involved in flying like a bird too." She had a hard time really thinking of a negative side to flying on a broom, since she loved it. She grinned, before shrugging at the hypothetical question about why birds of prey were so different than other birds. "No idea. Maybe it's their size. Or because they're predators. Either way, it's still pretty cool." She glanced around at the other groups discussing the assignment at the question over what exactly established a characteristic, before shrugging again. "I'm not sure if it has to be a physical characteristic or if it can be conceptual. I mean, it is transfiguration, so maybe it has to be physical, but that brings us back to either wings or really cool eagle eyes complete with the amazing eyesight. But conceptual aspects would be more subtle." Maybe they should ask Professor Svensson.
Nia blinked, appearing to mimic Elizabeth. "I'm sure there is cream, I've just got to find some. That's affordable." Sure Nia got pocket money, but not a lot. But she definitely got plenty of bruises last year. "She is," Nia agreed with the comment about Mariel. "Though fortunately we're good friends now. I'm guessing there'll still be on pitch rivalry, but no risk of leaping at each other's throats off the pitch!" She laughed, sure that was what their captain had been expecting them to do after every practice last term. Ah, they could have some good fun when Nia finally got back on the pitch competitively. "Important?" Nia said, with a mock look of shock as the subject turned back to Willow's yelling. "I can sometimes block it," she admitted, "if I'm at the other end of the pitch - but I try to listen to it now and then." Her eyes twinkled.
"Steering, I think," Nia replied after a moment of thought. "Though wings would be more practical for wanting to get somewhere without much planning. No need for anything extra. Just spread you wings and off you go!" She tilted her head thoughfully. "I guess the knowledge of wind comes into things more with wings, like uplift and stuff. How to conserve energy by knowing the conditions. It's there with brooms, but you could still fly without that knowledge."
A Elizabeth spoke more, Nia realised how helpful it was working with the older girl. It was making her reflect a bit more about the world, and not just consider them straight on. "Size could be something. Wing span perhaps. And I guess being predators means they have to fly and search for prey - perhaps leading to a different style of flight or something?" Nia wasn't overly sure. She was just trying to think things through relatively logically. As she was about the question the conceptual thing, the professor spoke.
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Waddles "Very good!" Either he had been a bit too obvious, or these students were uncommonly bright. "We're going to learn about human transfiguration today. That's why I asked you all to find partners: so that you can help keep an eye on each other, and so that I don't have an entire class all trying to transfigure themselves at the same time." Now to move on to the next question.
"This is not the same as becoming an animagus, for several reasons. Can you guess the reasons?"
"I'm guessing physical then," Nia said quietly to Elizabeth. "Wings, then? We could try for the 'majestic' bit ourselves..."
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Originally Posted by
Waddles "Very good, everybody," Lars said with a nod of approval. "Now... when we get around to performing the spell, it will be absolutely vital that you have, in your mind's eye, an clear image of what you want to transfigure. The incantation and wand movement must be accurate for you to perform the spell correctly, of course, but your intent is just as important." Professor Svensson realized that he had been waving his arms around for emphasis--and with his wand in hand, he had apparently been letting sparks fly around him. He stowed his wand behind his ear, and continued speaking as if he had never stopped.
"Now, first we'll go over the incantation. Put your wands down, and practice pronouncing it correctly: Bestiar arm," Lars said slowly. "Except, in place of arm, you would say whichever body part you intend to transfigure. As I would probably choose to borrow a canary's wings, I would say 'arm' so that my arms would turn into yellow wings. But I would also have to keep in my mind the animal and the wings." He slipped his wand from behind his ear and a gentle wave of it conjured a chalkboard which said the following:
Professor Svensson glanced around to be sure the students had understood his explanation. "Or if I wanted to have a wolf's keen nose, I could say bestiar nose and think of a wolf and his nose. Now go ahead and practice the incantation, and raise your hands to ask any questions you have."
Nia frowned at the sparks everywhere, before looking relieved when Professor Svesson's wand was put safely behind his ear. She did not want her hair set alight or similar just because someone was waving their wand around. Listening carefully to the incantation (for she did not want this to go wrong and have to have feathers for ever more) Nia thought about how to visualise the wings. She had quite a vivid imagination, so keeping things realistic mgiht be hard.
Looking back at Elizabeth, Nia put down her wand as instructed, and look doubtful as she pictured an eagle's wing in her mind for practice. "Bestiar wing!" she said, her confidence wavering again.
ooc: I'm on vacation for 2 weeks from tomorrow, and won't be able to get online. If you need Nia to be able to do the task, I give permission for you to RP with her even though I won't be around - since I'm guessing class won't last that long! 