Awarlesta's eyes widen. What the Merlin! She just witness the life cycle of chicken right before her eyes. She had a sudden urge to clap, but sat on her hands instead.

Hmm. Now, here came the questions. He was going to have a tough time answering these.

"Mister Manderbilt, Miss Edwards, these chickens are as developed as any other chickens who had a lifetime to become an adult!" He placed the chicken on a student's desk, allowing them to observe how proudly it held it's head and fluttered it's little chicken wings. "When the jar ages something, all we see is the physical change, but it alters the mental state as well. By speeding up the time cycle, it is developing the body and the mind of the chicken, not just one or the other."

And wasn't Mr. Vanderbilt just full of questions today? Sherman glanced at his wrinkled old hands.. perhaps they had a few more lines.. "Hmm.. Mr. Vanderbilt, when I placed my hands in, the Bell Jar had been at work. I suppose my hands have aged slightly, but the jar didn't have much time to affect me, so they are probably not affected greatly." He eyed his hands once more, flexing his fingers. That was probably not the brightest thing to do, go sticking his hands into a device of time.

"Relax, my dear girl," he told the the fretting student. "Yes, if I hadn't taken the chicken out, it would have died, but it would have also been returned back to it's previous state of being in the egg." He bobbed his head at the girl seriously, deep in thought. "Later, I am going to place the chicken back in the jar and let it go back to being an egg. That way, this poor chicken can relive his life properly, as does a regular farm animal."

"Miss Cambridge," he greeted the girl with a smile. The Unspeakable had already memorized her name, for she had a running mouth and a lot of questions and he respected that. "Chocolate Frogs have charms set on them to continue hopping and moving for a certain amount of time after they are opened. I suppose if you placed one in here without it's packaging, it would turn to a hunk of chocolate and stop moving." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Of course, you must consider other facts. My granddaughter has convinced herself that eating Chocolate Frogs is inhumane and keeps one as a pet."

Yes, Alice was an oddity.

"She feeds it little bits of chocolate and that seems to rejuvenate the little thing and keep it's hop running. So, in this case, it is possible the effects could vary." Why was it that so many of these children had confusing questions that Sherman could not answer? He didn't know.

Aging spells? No, no, the Bell Jar was much more powerful than that. "Miss Branxton," he said, having memorized her name as well. A few certain students were most definitely catching his eye with all of their insightful thoughts. "Unlike an aging spell, the Bell Jar has the powers of Time itself. It is most definitely lasting, as if this chicken had lived out his life instead of being put in an aging device." He stared at the chicken. Maybe using that thing as an example hadn't been the best idea.

"If, say, I placed you in this jar, Miss Branxton, and you aged to the point where you were a shriveled up old lady," Sherman mused, rubbing his chin. "You wouldn't ever get those years of your life back unless I placed you back in the jar and waited until you were back at the time frame when I first place you inside." Yes, the old man regretted bringing such a confusing piece of machinery to the school.

A time turner, perhaps, would have fared better.

-------------------------------

He clapped his hands again, beaming at everyone brightly and wheeling around the room. "All right, children, shall we move on?" Yes, they would. Sherman didn't like to dwell on things for too long. The old man had the attention span of a moth. "Now that you have all seen the effects of the Bell jar at work, what can yo—"

As the old man had been wheeling around the room, one of the wheels of his chair caught on the edge of the Bell Jar. The old man toppled forward, headfirst, into the Bell Jar.

This was not good.

Mr. Sherman Clark was narcoleptic, you see, and as he was filled with fright at the thought of toppling into the jar, he had fallen fast asleep. Because of this, he didn't attempt to pull his head out of the jar. It began to morph and shrivel up more than usual. The disturbing process continued as the old man's head morphed into that of an infant's, turning smooth and balder. It proceeded to change even more, shifting into that of a young boy's, then a man's, and lastly, back into that of an old man.

By this point, the Unspeakable had woken up (when his narcolepsy went into action, it didn't affect him for too long) and had the good sense to pull he head out of the jar. He sat, wide-eyed, on the ground of the room, surprised by the recent events that had taken place.

Unexpected, no?

"Well.. children.." he murmured, remembering that he was still supposed to be teaching. "Err.. um.. there is.. another example for you.." The old man began to rise, steadying himself on the arm of his wheelchair for support. "What.. did you think? Any questions?" He pushed himself into the seat of the wheelchair and shifted a teensy bit farther away from it.

It wouldn't be receiving any affectionate gazes from Sherman Clark for a while.

Mr... who? Vickers blinked for a moment. Maybe he misheard, because Mr Clark sure was addressing his question. He stared at the chicken as it rested on the desk... it was clucking and strutting just like any other regular chicken. He leaned back in his seat, gazing at the glass apparatus. Lighting in a bottle.... Time in a bell jar. Incredible powers held within the delicate confines of melted sand....


His gaze shifted towards the older man's hands. Having just witnessed an egg grow into a full sized chicken there is cause for him to worry about the effects. But the Ravenclaw trusted that he was the professional and when he said it wouldnt affect him greatly he believed him. Of course, his uncle trusted him so why shouldnt he?



Just when he shifted his attention to Vivi to see her reaction on hypothetically being a shriveled up old woman his head spun back to front when he heard something fall...

... it wasnt just something, it was Mr Clark!

He leapt to his feet and was hovering nearer to where the man fell when he felt himself being paralyzed at the sight. And indeed what a sight it was-- watching the cycle of life and death play right before his eyes. Part of his brain willed him to pull out the old man, while the other part begged him to keep still and learn the intricacies of human development which he would probably never witness again.

But then Mr Clark seems to have come to and pulls his head out of the jar just at the moment it went in. He was talking..... but Vickers just stood there mouth agape and dumbstruck to silence.

Questions?

"Are you ok Mr Clark?" that was a valid question was it not? And the most important question at this point in time, no pun intended.

No. Way. "That's what makes them hop?!" Le GASP! She'd never thought of it that way. Then again, she'd never questioned anything about them. All that mattered was that they were yummy.

She was about to comment on them simply not hopping when he mentioned something about his granddaughter and chocolate frogs and pets.

Blink. Blink. Blink.

"Seriously...?" But they liiiiiike gettin' eatin'. It's like every chocolate frog's dream. "Hasn't anyone tried taking a bite out of it yet?" She knew for a fact that if she saw a chocolate frog just sitting around--or even more tempting, hopping around she would have gone for the head without hesitation.

Now that the subject had been breached, Lex was feeling for a chocolate frog. When she got back to her common room she'd have to pull one from her trunk.

How many would she even have...? One--no two...two for sure...three...?--

WHAAAA??? Mr. Adorable Old Man!!!! Nooooooo!!!! Someone had to help him! His head didn't have much time left!! Her eyes went wide when his cycle started again and his head was that of a babies...Blink. Blink. A kid..then a man...That jar had to be the coolest creepiest thing ever! O__O

She breathed a sigh of relief when it went back to normal and he pulled it out.

What did she think??

Her hand shot up. "I wanna stick mine in next!!!" What? He lived, didn't he? "Can I? Pleeeeaaassse?"

"That is awesome!" Sarah exclaimed. It kind of worked ike a fast forward rewind button.

Then to her horror she saw him go into the jar! In a flash she was out of her seat, ready to help when he woke up and go himself out.
"That was UNBELIEVABLE! Just like what happened at the ministry!" she said "Is there any way to control the speed at which it progresses. Or do it slowly so they can choose which stage they want the object to stop at?" Sarah asked.

Yet at the ministry it was different "How come you did not stay a baby as long as the death eater in the ministry did?" Sarah asked.

No, of course not. She had soooo many more questions about the Bell Jar, and she wasn't going to be put off by the thought of going old and gray. This was actually quite interesting, and she was nearly hanging over her desk out of curiosity.

And then the man fell into the Bell Jar... without any real consequences. She ought to be worried about him, but Mr. Clark wasn't worried, and she had the Good Knight Vickers to look after him, so she pressed on to more intellectual lines of thought.

Hand up and fingers wiggling again. "Mr. Clark... is it illegal to use the Bell Jar to achieve immortality? Why wasn't it an avenue that Voldemort or one of those other crazy Dark guys pursued? You just hop into the jar, age back around to whatever you want, hop out and live until you're old again. Rinse and repeat."

That was question one. Question two: "And also, sir, does the time flow at a continuous rate? So, for example, if you knew exactly how fast it flows, and you wanted to age only a year or two, you would know exactly how long to stay in the stream?"

She wiggled a bit in her seat before blurting, "If you want to put me in the jar like you said, I'd be okay with it. Only for a little bit... I don't want to get old." Just older. More mature and less impulsive... which, if she were less impulsive, she never would have made the offer.

Scribble. Scribble. Scribble.

Ella took down notes as Mr. Clark answered everyone's questions and comments, nodding her head excitedly because really, this was fascinating!

... O_____________O

Until Mr. Clark fell into the Bell Jar. MEEEEEP. Ella jumped up from her seat, green eyes wide. She wanted to do something but Hulk's Granddad had made them promise not to go near the Jar unless instructed and Ella didn't break promises! But MEEP! What if his head was stuck like that forever! He would be this like...wrinkly old baby man! ...HEHEHEHE baby man. Ella mused on this for a moment before realizing it wasn't the time to be joking around. "Somebody should help-" him... But then he was pulling himself out of the jar and up onto his wheelchair and Ella just kind of looked at him nervously, not knowing what to say or do.

"I um...Mr. Clark? Are you alright, Sir?" Did he need like a hug or a gummy worm...or a binky perhaps? Hehehe baby man.

Awar flailed her arms and fell off her chair. THE OLD MAN JUST TOPPLED INTO THE JAR!!!!! She got on her knees to get back up, but just as she was, the old man pulled his head out. She at there wide-eyed. He seemed unfazed. "Umm...Are you okay, sir?"

This! Yes, exactly! The other Ravenclaw girl had asked exactly what she had wanted to but had been afraid she might get in trouble for speaking out too much. Please, please answer! she thought excitedly. That was why she had wondered if the jars could come in different sizes, to fit people through. And if you could put people in, you could put trees in - if it was big enough. Then you could repopulate entire forests and things that had been lost to the thoughtlessness of human expansion. There were so many possibilities with the bell jar.

She was mulling over all of these questions when the professor tipped out of his chair and into the bell jar. Holy smokes! She stared, frozen, not knowing what to do. Should we pull him out? At the right time? Should we do him a favor and pull him out younger? If we did...would we remember anything? Her eyes were wide in terror and amazement. Wait, when you change in the bell jar...do you keep your memories regardless of what age you are? Then, at his elderly point in time, he pulled his head out, and continued the class as if nothing had really happened. Well that sort of answers my question I guess. She still wanted to know more though, so she raised her hand.

"Sir, when someone changes in the bell jar, do they keep all of their memories?" He had been so calm and collected she almost forgot to acknowledge what had happened to him. "Oh, and are you all right, sir? What if you had pulled your head out sooner? Would you have all the memories you've gained your entire life, or would they have stopped at the age you pulled your head out at? Couldn't someone make a jar big enough to put their entire body into, or other large items? I agree with, um, Vivi is it? Wouldn't anyone seeking immortality just use a big bell jar? What's to stop them?" This time she did not hold back on her questions.

Kurumi really wasn't sure which part she was more alarmed with - the man's head going into the jar or the fact that he had seemingly falling ASLEEP while his head had been in the jar. Of course him FALLING out of his wheelchair was concerning as well.

There was just a lot of things that were concerning in this moment, which was why Kurumi rushed to the man's side and placed both arms on the man's shoulders as he eased himself back into his wheelchair. "Are you alright, sir?" she asked. Alice would be devastated if anything happened to the man.

Any questions the Gryffindor may have had went right out the window, save for one. "You...need some chocolate?" Magical properties after all.

Minerva watched as he was walking around speaking and answer questions.. Yes moving on.. moving on sounded like a great idea. They needed to get away from that jar, or was it her that needed to get away from that jar. Just as she was feeling a bit better that they were moving on HE FELL INTO THE JAR... OMG, Minerva felt her breath quicken watching the sight. She automatically jumped up, but felt frozen watching him change. "Sh..shouldn't we be doing something..." She looked at the other students as they all watched in shock.

Just as her brain was trying to find a way to help and was out of the jar acting as if nothing happened.. How can he be acting as if nothing happened. Minerva then remembered she was standing and taking her shaking legs sat herself back down in her seat. Feeling herself shake, she couldn't imagine how he was so calm. Everyone was already asking if he was okay so she wasn't going to repeat the question, but she had to ask "Does it hurt when that happens?" She also looked around and thought of something else. "Can you die and stay dead from being in there or is it just a continuous never ending cycle?"

Laura couldn't believe what she was seeing, saying that she didn't want to believe what she was seeing, could she act like she wasn't seeing it well she was going to act like she wasn't seeing it, even if she got into trouble, so no there was no questions from her, she just sat there, wondering what would happen next.

Sherman smiled a teensy tiny smile when the little children started asking if he was alright. D'awwh. Them ickles with all their concern. Especially Miss Hollingberry, coming over to him and everything and offering chocolate. They were so sweet. Maybe he could steal a couple of them. "Yes, children, I'm quite alright, thanks for asking." Beam. Beam. Beam. "I'm just a bit dazed.. that's all.. but, after that experience, who wouldn't be?" Hehe. "AND. If you have that chocolate with you now, Miss Hollingberry, I'd gladly take you up on that offer."

The old man grinned even more broadly when little Miss Cambridge begged him to let her stick her head in as well. "Such enthusiasm, Miss Cambridge!" He observed this with approval, nodding his head. "Unfortunately, I must refrain from letting you shove your head into the equipment because it could drastically affect you."

Maybe he should have had parents sign permission forms to let their children get into the jar. Or something.

"Miss Edwards," Sherman acknowledged the girl's raised hand with a nod in her direction. "No, you cannot control the speed at which the Bell Jar moves at. If you would like to stop the time cycle at a certain point, you must pull the object within the jar out." At least, that was the only way to control it that he knew of. "I'm sure I did remain an infant as long as the Death Eater did, actually!" He was quite positive.

This girl sure came up with plenty of complicated questions that Sherman had trouble answering. Yet, he admired her inquisitiveness all the same. "That is a very interesting thought, Miss Branxton. Yes, I'm sure it is possible to use the jar to achieve immortality, but only trusted Time Specialists have access to this Bell Jar." He eyed the jar warily. "They are extremely rare, so I assume it would be tough to get your hands on one. Because of this, I'm afraid no law has addressed this issue, but if someone attempted it, I'm sure they would face the severest of consequences."

This girl better have not been planning anything. Mhm. Eyes.

And. More intricate questions. "Well, seeing as the Bell Jar doesn't flow at the rate of actual time, it is impossible to measure the rate of time. But, it is possible to measure the rate of the Bell Jar's time, so aging a specific amount of time is possible." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Of course, measuring it would require elaborate instruments and a large amount of time." Yes, that would have been a good thing to research before he lugged the hunk of crystal into the school.

He smiled at her once more when she volunteered to be place in the jar. "I'm sure you could handle it, Miss Branxton, but I'd need special permission for that." There were too many dangerous side effects to take the risk.. and he could ask Headmistress Truebridge.. but he didn't want to. Being afraid of middle-aged women and all.

Sherman furrowed his brow as he gazed at the young girl. "I'm not sure, Miss." He frowned and began to wring his hands, ready to present some more facts and let them conclude their own thoughts. "You see, if someone turned into an infant, my mental state would be changed as well. I should keep my memories, but the brain of an infant wouldn't be able to hold or understand my thoughts and memories, would it?" Unless Sherman had been a prodigal infant. Which he hadn't been. "So I suppose it would depend. But then again, if you recall the Death Eater, when his head got caught in the jar, he attempted to pull it out. Which meant that he remembered his purpose."

So, in truth.. Sherman still didn't know.

The Unspeakable shrugged his shoulders. "I didn't feel anything. But that may be because I'm narcoleptic, which means I tend to fall asleep when I feel strong emotion. So if I'm ecstatic or furious or melancholic.. here comes nap time." Such a disadvantage for a person.. but what could he do? "No, the Bell Jar doesn't kill. You could die multiple times while you are inside the jar, but it will always bring you back to life, unless you are taken out of the it when you are dead."

--------------

"Alright, children!" He clapped his hands and grinned at all of his students. "Now, we are approaching our last activity of the day. Does everyone see the tubs of paste and hard pasta on the desks?" He awaited nods and murmurs of acknowledgement from the children. "After all of this tiring work of straining your brains, we're going to have some fun. We're going to make macaroni models of the Bell Jar." Beam. Beam. Beam. He was now expecting applause. Ahem. "Please feel free to use any materials provided, as well as your wands if you have them, to complete this assignment!"

He wheeled around the room, waiting for the children to begin their work.

OOC: You will have approximately 24 hours to complete this assignment. Afterwards, the seminar will be wrapped up. Happy posting!

Minerva listened as he talked and answered all the questions. He fell asleep when excited or anything like that. Wasn't that dangerous, especially during times he was around that jar.. But he said it wouldn't actually kill you so maybe it wasn't as dangerous as it would be. Minerva listened to the rest of the lesson and then he said about doing... art?? Art?? Really? Minerva smiled, this was going to be fun.

Minerva looked at the materials on the desk. This was going to be great. Minerva pulled her wand out and her quill. First she started drawing a jar on the parchment. Wanting it to be exactly right she kept looking at the scary jar and then back to her parchment. Fixing it a few hundred times, but finally feeling she got it correct.

Only Time Specialists had access to the jar, hmm? Vivi pondered that conundrum for a moment before leaning over in her seat and fixing Mr. Vanderbilt with a look. His uncle had connections. If Mr. Clark wouldn't let her play with the Bell Jar, then she'd have to finagle someone who would. After class. Stern look.

"I'm of age, sir. You don't have to ask anyone but me, if that's the permission you need. I grant it freely." She grinned at him, the most charming grin in her arsenal. Won't you please let us play in the Bell Jar, sir??

The smile faded a bit as they were given an assignment to make art out of pasta noodles. A model... out of pasta? What exactly was the point of that? Still, she was hoping to win the man over, so Vivi rose to retrieve the macaroni. How exactly did one make a model with little curved noodles? Should she just stick them together and try to make a full-sized model? Or to scale, perhaps? Maybe a 1/3 replica would be nice.

Using a sticking charm, Vivi began to stick the noodles together. And to her desk. And to her hand. They were so round and slippy!

A model out of pasta? Jory thought it would be fun as he had used the same material as a kid to do art projects. Though he won't call it real art, it mainly involved him sticking pasta onto paper.

He took the macaroni and placed it on his desk as he made up his mind to make a smaller model of the Jar. Yup, that would be easier. And so the boy began, carefully sticking (by the use of the Sticking Charm) the macaroni together to form the base. He encountered some difficulty in trying to get them to to fit properly together.

But he continued on, occasionally glancing up at the real Jar to make sure he got the shape right.

Removing her arms from around Mr. Clark, Kurumi took a small step back when he assured them all that he was alright. Kurumi still wasn't too sure about that. The man had just had his head inside a space-time continuum after all. "I do," she nodded as she scurried back to her desk and rummaged through her bag for a moment before pulling out a piece of wrapped chocolate and rushing back to the old man and offering it to him. "Here you are, Mr. Clark."
Returning to her seat, Kurumi only just now noticed the supplies that had been laid out for them. They were going to make models out of pasta? Kurumi furrowed her brow for a moment and found herself feeling somewhat cheated. After all this complicated talk and two demonstrations, she thought that perhaps they would be given the opportunity to test it out. Grow a seed perhaps? Kurumi didn't fancy experimenting with animal lives, but plants were perfectly acceptable just don't tell Professor Bentley?.

Grabbing her supplies, Kurumi reached for some cannelloni first to make the framework of the bell jar. Were they supposed to make these 3D models or just glue some to some parchment? Deciding to go for a 3D approach, Kurumi held one cannelloni on top of the other and performed a Sticking Charm with her wand to glue the two together.

Stack stack stack stack.

The process sort of reminded her of when she had gone camping and she was currently forming the poles. Was there some lasagna noodles among the supplies? That would make the other part of this a little easier.

Awar got excited as soon as he mentioned arts and crafts! She bounded over to the supplies and got to working on the project.

Sherman smiled. This one was persistent, she was. Had plenty of tenacity. "I would need Headmistress Truebridge's permission for that, my dear." And she wasn't anywhere to be seen.. so.. good. He beamed at the young lady once more, and then proceeded to observe more of the Bell Jar replica making process. But he didn't leave before he commented on her own. "Wonderful use of the Sticking Charm, Miss Branxton! Does everyone see her work?" He lingered by her desk for another moment, admiring her work, before he moved on.

The next replica to be seen was Kurumi's.. the creations of the young lady who had just handed him a piece of nicely wrapped chocolate. "Ahh, thank you, dear, this will work wonders." He popped the candy into his mouth while observing her macaroni model. "You've done lovely work, too, Miss Hollingberry! She's using the sticking charm as well, see, everyone?" He beamed at the wonderful work she was displaying. Perfect, perfect.

He rushed around the room, wanting to comment on everyone's brilliant models before his time was up. And.. speaking of the time.. there went the clock.

Sherman clapped his hands for the last time to gather the attention of the students. "Alright, children! I've enjoyed working with you immensely. It was such a pleasure to be invited here today to meet you all and get to teach you something new!" He beamed at all of them, affection in his eyes. Almost as much affection as he looked at the Bell Jar with. "I hope you all continue to be as curious and intuitive as you were today! Many of you have a chance of working in the field of time if you keep that up." Wink wink.

OOC: With that, we're done! I will not be making any more replies. You may post your character wrapping up if you wish, but it isn't necessary. If you wish to, please do this before 12AM GMT (7PM EST). You all did wonderfully!

Eliza was a bit disappointed by his answers, but she was glad he at least acknowledged her. Well of course an infant can't remember, but once it aged up to where it could...they could process all of that information. Wouldn't they remember everything? She was even more interested to know that only people in the Time department could have access to learning about these artifacts and objects. Maybe that's a career to look into... she thought vaguely.

And then as if she hadn't been disappointed enough by his answers, she let out a very disgruntled puff of air at the mention of making noodle models. Seriously? She narrowed her brows and gave a shifty glance at the other students. Some were even excited to do this, to her bewilderment. We're going to make...pasta...replicas. Wow. Is this muggle kindergarten? She sighed, knowing there was no way around it, and began making a somewhat lazy representation of the bell jar on a piece of parchment by pasting the pasta pieces in the necessary locations. She didn't want to offend the sweet old man, but this was really not what she had in mind. She felt as if she had more questions than answers now, although, she had to admit - she would have never even known about bell jars had he not given the seminar, so she had to thank him for that at least.

She walked up to him at the front of the room, handed him her semi-dried parchment model and gave him a courteous smile. "Than you sir, I really enjoyed hearing about time." She shook his hand, and headed towards the door.