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Morning light spills through the tall arched windows of the Transfiguration classroom, it stretches across the polished stone and dark wooden desks arranged in measured rows. The air carries the faint scent of parchment, old books, and residual magic, as though the room itself had only recently settled from being rearranged into exactly what it needed to be.
Each desk held a single object waiting at its center.
Nothing impressive.
A chipped stone. A loose button. A bit of string. A bent spoon. A twig. A rusted hinge. Small, ordinary things with no obvious connection to one another.
Across the blackboard at the front of the room, written in neat silver chalk, was a single line:
Several cabinets along the walls stood partially open, revealing shelves lined with carefully sorted materials, while near the front corner sat a stack of books arranged with enough precision to suggest somebody had cared perhaps a little too much about their alignment.
Professor Elara Voss stood near the windows, sleeves rolled neatly to her forearms, wand resting loosely between her fingers. She watched the room settle without interruption, her attention quiet but precise in a way that made it difficult to tell whether she would be observing the students themselves or the way they interacted with the space around them.
OOC: Hello, helloooo. Please title your posts with your character names and houses, thank you! Class will has started, please feel free to jump in and have fun whenever you'd like!
SSRPG Admin Gladrags Mod Quibbler Mod Minister for Magic Alley Proprietor
Sea Serpent
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: The Paths
Posts: 41,346
Hogwarts RPG Name: Professor Cox
Ravenclaw
Graduated
Hogwarts RPG Name: CJ Miller
Gryffindor
Third Year
Hogwarts RPG Name: Nyle Harden
Hufflepuff
Sixth Year
Hogwarts RPG Name: Iris Harden
Ravenclaw
Sixth Year
Hogwarts RPG Name: Calliope Barrington
Slytherin
Fifth Year
Ministry Department Head:
Charles Hollingberry
Minister's Office
Ministry Department Head:
Airey Flamsteed
Mysteries
Diagon Alley Proprietor:
Victor García Massey
Ollivanders
x12 x12
Ravenclaw | Iris Harden
astronomizzle ♧ gryffinDORK | & the rest is drag ♣ #badluckDerf
The classroom felt… ordered in a way Iris appreciated immediately. There was a familiarity about it as well that she could not quite place ― perhaps reminiscent of some of the spaces she received training at the Ministry, spaces that always carried the impression that the room itself was quietly observing in return. Whatever the quality was, she brushed it aside as she crossed the threshold, her gaze drifting over the desks and taking in the assortment of objects waiting there.
The silver chalk across the board caught her attention next and she slowed slightly as she read it, her brows knitting in quiet thought behind the lenses of her glasses. There was something almost alchemical about the phrasing. Something that sat unexpectedly close to the theories she had been buried in over the summer — the idea that transformation was not force alone, but negotiation. Intention. Structure yielding into another structure without entirely losing itself in the process.
"Good day, Professor Voss," she greeted with a polite smile before she moved toward an empty seat ― one very pointedly not in the front row to avoid the splash zone of a certain Slytherin and his drool ― smoothing a hand lightly over the edge of the desk before settling into it. A rather elaborate metal button with a gold and black floral designed that made it seem like it had once been apart of someone's elegant dress robes awaited her and she carefully plucked it to turn over in her palm. Her head tilted slightly as she examined it with the same careful focus the sixth year might offer a translated fragment of runic text.
Her satchel slipped carefully beside her chair before she withdrew the rest of her things and began arranging them neatly, efficiently, on her desk.
__________________
We broke into a million pieces, and we can't go back.........................................
But now we're seeing all the beauty in the broken glass.....................................
The scars are part of me, darkness and harmony
My voice without the lies, this is what it sounds like
Cat was, as was typical for her, not excited for Transfiguration. The biggest positive was that she was still trying to figure out the new professor this term, and that gave her mind something else to focus on when she was completely failing at the assignment.
Okay, failing was a strong word. But the subject definitely wasn’t her strongest.
Still, she smiled when she entered the classroom and greeted the professor with a polite, “Hello, Professor Voss.” She took a seat next to Iris, giving the older girl a soft smile in greeting. Then she noticed the item on her desk, which she did not touch. Then she checked the board. Magic obeys intention before it obeys power. Interesting. Well, if that was the case, maybe she would do okay in this class?
Little Fox | ½ of Lauralie | Ravenclaw...?? *overthinks* | #HouseNATARINA
Aurora Rory Archer was in a particularly good mood this morning, in part due to the fact that she had Transfiguration this morning - her favourite subject! She entered the classroom with a spring in her step, eagerly anticipating whatever lay ahead. For example, the way the sunlight was coming through the windows! Wasn't it just so ⟡ P R E T T Y ⟡ in this classroom? She paused just inside the doorway, taking a big inhale and a looooooooooong exhale, before quickly moving on before she could cause a student traffic jam.
The objects on each desk immediately caught her attention as she moved further into the classroom. They were so... mundane, which only made them more intriguing. She wondered if there was any rhyme or reason to them. Nothing was ever truly random if specifically chosen, right? She continued to ponder this as her eyes took in other parts of the room. It was then that the phrase on the chalkboard caught her eye.
Magic obeys intention before it obeys power.
Rory turned the phrase over in her mind. Feeling, not forcing... Those were the words that immediately came to mind when she read what was written.
Her mind already abuzz, she smiled as she passed Professor Voss. "Good morning, Professor!" She greeted her with a cheerful air. She floated between the desks before settling at one towards the centre of the room, its own mundane item sitting proudly on the centre of the desk. And for the record, the open cabinets also drew her attention to them, but she supposed all would soon become clear.
~ Mrs. Steve Harrington ~ Claimed by Bits ❤️ ~ Queen of Typos ❄ Magical Mosh Pit ❄
Harvey did a final stretch before he stepped into the Transfiguration classroom. The stretch served as a method to shake any bit of laziness he was feeling, to get it out of his system. So, one could certainly say that the second year felt quite ready to put his full attention and brain power into today’s Transfiguration lesson, no matter what the topic was!
He took a couple seconds to take in the setup of the room - the words on the board, the slightly open cabinets, the books, and the professor. “Good morning, professor,’’ the Ravenclaw remarked, giving her a friendly smile. He then inclined his head to Iris, Cat and Aurora before selecting a seat somewhere in the middle of the room.
What’s this on his chosen desk? String? Whatever for?
Baguette | there is no D in my name | TRAITORclaw | Queenie of Narnia
As usual, Avalon wasn't massively excited for her next Transfiguration lesson. She liked the subject in theory, but in practice, the subject didn't seem to like her. She wasn't sure why because she was a great and creative person, so changing one thing into another should be easy! She could imagine so many things! But actually doing it always seemed to take ages upon ages for her to accomplish.
Maybe OWL year would be different though. She was nothing if not optimistic.
"Hi, professor!" Avalon grinned, cheerful and wide awake despite the morning hour. Then she took a seat in the front row and found the twig on her desk.
Now, what was this for? She cast her eyes around the room, noting the variety of tiny items on the other desks too. It was then she also noticed the board.
"Magic obeys intention before it obeys power." Interesting. Profound. That would probably be explained later.
She also noticed there was no note about not touching the items. So she picked up her twig, eyeing it and moving it every which way to see if there was something special about it.
__________________
if we fall, we will fall together; and when we rise, we will rise together__________________♥♥♥♥ together we are dangerous; together with our differences; together we are bolder, braver, stronger
The classroom felt… ordered in a way Iris appreciated immediately. There was a familiarity about it as well that she could not quite place ― perhaps reminiscent of some of the spaces she received training at the Ministry, spaces that always carried the impression that the room itself was quietly observing in return. Whatever the quality was, she brushed it aside as she crossed the threshold, her gaze drifting over the desks and taking in the assortment of objects waiting there.
The silver chalk across the board caught her attention next and she slowed slightly as she read it, her brows knitting in quiet thought behind the lenses of her glasses. There was something almost alchemical about the phrasing. Something that sat unexpectedly close to the theories she had been buried in over the summer — the idea that transformation was not force alone, but negotiation. Intention. Structure yielding into another structure without entirely losing itself in the process.
"Good day, Professor Voss," she greeted with a polite smile before she moved toward an empty seat ― one very pointedly not in the front row to avoid the splash zone of a certain Slytherin and his drool ― smoothing a hand lightly over the edge of the desk before settling into it. A rather elaborate metal button with a gold and black floral designed that made it seem like it had once been apart of someone's elegant dress robes awaited her and she carefully plucked it to turn over in her palm. Her head tilted slightly as she examined it with the same careful focus the sixth year might offer a translated fragment of runic text.
Her satchel slipped carefully beside her chair before she withdrew the rest of her things and began arranging them neatly, efficiently, on her desk.
Elara’s attention lifted from the blackboard as Ms. Harden entered, her gaze briefly following the way the girl took in the room before settling herself into place, noting the deliberate choice the young girl made to not sit in front. There was something distinctly familiar in that kind of observation. Careful. Analytical. The sort of attention that tended to notice structure before spectacle.
“Good day, Miss…” she paused just long enough to place the name properly, as another connection became obvious in her head,“Harden.”
SPOILER!!: Miss Webb
Quote:
Originally Posted by squidnie
Cat was, as was typical for her, not excited for Transfiguration. The biggest positive was that she was still trying to figure out the new professor this term, and that gave her mind something else to focus on when she was completely failing at the assignment.
Okay, failing was a strong word. But the subject definitely wasn’t her strongest.
Still, she smiled when she entered the classroom and greeted the professor with a polite, “Hello, Professor Voss.” She took a seat next to Iris, giving the older girl a soft smile in greeting. Then she noticed the item on her desk, which she did not touch. Then she checked the board. Magic obeys intention before it obeys power. Interesting. Well, if that was the case, maybe she would do okay in this class?
Elara’s attention shifted briefly toward the young ravenclaw as she entered, polite greeting offered, cautious expression firmly intact.
“Miss Webb,” she acknowledged easily, before one brow lifted ever so slightly as she too chose to sit away from the front and with Miss Harden. “You look remarkably unconvinced about being here.” she stated, very much amused.
SPOILER!!: Miss Archer
Quote:
Originally Posted by natekka
Aurora Rory Archer was in a particularly good mood this morning, in part due to the fact that she had Transfiguration this morning - her favourite subject! She entered the classroom with a spring in her step, eagerly anticipating whatever lay ahead. For example, the way the sunlight was coming through the windows! Wasn't it just so ⟡ P R E T T Y ⟡ in this classroom? She paused just inside the doorway, taking a big inhale and a looooooooooong exhale, before quickly moving on before she could cause a student traffic jam.
The objects on each desk immediately caught her attention as she moved further into the classroom. They were so... mundane, which only made them more intriguing. She wondered if there was any rhyme or reason to them. Nothing was ever truly random if specifically chosen, right? She continued to ponder this as her eyes took in other parts of the room. It was then that the phrase on the chalkboard caught her eye.
Magic obeys intention before it obeys power.
Rory turned the phrase over in her mind. Feeling, not forcing... Those were the words that immediately came to mind when she read what was written.
Her mind already abuzz, she smiled as she passed Professor Voss. "Good morning, Professor!" She greeted her with a cheerful air. She floated between the desks before settling at one towards the centre of the room, its own mundane item sitting proudly on the centre of the desk. And for the record, the open cabinets also drew her attention to them, but she supposed all would soon become clear.
Elara caught the near-immediate pause in the doorway before Miss Archer walked in, her gaze following the girl just briefly enough to notice the way she seemed to absorb the room rather than merely enter it.
“Good morning, Miss Archer,” she returned, faint amusement threading quietly through her tone at the student’s unmistakable enthusiasm. Perhaps her energy would prove contagious. A few of her classmates looked like they could benefit from it.
SPOILER!!: Mr Forsfelle
Quote:
Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19
Harvey did a final stretch before he stepped into the Transfiguration classroom. The stretch served as a method to shake any bit of laziness he was feeling, to get it out of his system. So, one could certainly say that the second year felt quite ready to put his full attention and brain power into today’s Transfiguration lesson, no matter what the topic was!
He took a couple seconds to take in the setup of the room - the words on the board, the slightly open cabinets, the books, and the professor. “Good morning, professor,’’ the Ravenclaw remarked, giving her a friendly smile. He then inclined his head to Iris, Cat and Aurora before selecting a seat somewhere in the middle of the room.
What’s this on his chosen desk? String? Whatever for?
Elara caught the stretch just before Harvey entered properly, one brow lifting almost imperceptibly as though she were deciding whether to comment on it. Were the kids at Hogwarts just not morning enthusiasts?
“Good morning, Mr Forsfelle”
SPOILER!!: Miss Dane
Quote:
Originally Posted by AlwaysSnapesGirl
As usual, Avalon wasn't massively excited for her next Transfiguration lesson. She liked the subject in theory, but in practice, the subject didn't seem to like her. She wasn't sure why because she was a great and creative person, so changing one thing into another should be easy! She could imagine so many things! But actually doing it always seemed to take ages upon ages for her to accomplish.
Maybe OWL year would be different though. She was nothing if not optimistic.
"Hi, professor!" Avalon grinned, cheerful and wide awake despite the morning hour. Then she took a seat in the front row and found the twig on her desk.
Now, what was this for? She cast her eyes around the room, noting the variety of tiny items on the other desks too. It was then she also noticed the board.
"Magic obeys intention before it obeys power." Interesting. Profound. That would probably be explained later.
She also noticed there was no note about not touching the items. So she picked up her twig, eyeing it and moving it every which way to see if there was something special about it.
Elara returned Avalon’s bright greeting with a small, approving nod, her expression soft at the edges despite her usual composure. She let the girl’s curiosity play out for a moment as the twig was turned this way and that, then spoke gently without rushing her. “Good morning, Miss Dane,” she said, voice calm. “You’re welcome to observe it, but don’t decide what it is too quickly.”
--
Once Elara was satisfied the room had settled into attention, she drifted toward the front of the classroom at an unhurried pace, as though haste itself was an untrustworthy spell. The door behind her was left slightly ajar, a quiet deliberate choice. Late arrivals would not be turned away, though they would find no comfort in slipping in unseen.
Across the desks, the scattered objects waited under the light like small, uncertain thoughts made tangible. A button dulled by time. A twig that remembered a tree. Frayed lengths of string. A chipped stone that had already survived something. Nothing about them declared purpose, and yet none of them were truly idle.
Elara’s gaze moved over the room with steady patience, not weighing the students so much as inviting them to think beyond themselves. “Alright everyone, tell me - if I asked you to transfigure something,” she said at last, her voice even and unforced, almost as though the question had been left there for a while and was only now being noticed, “how would you decide what it should become?”
OOC: Thank you for joining, guys. Please feeel free to be as creative as you like! class will progress in 18-20 hours!
__________________
......................let's be reckless, unaffected, running out until we're breathless ...............let's be hopeful, don't get broken, and stay caught up in the moment ♥
SSRPG Admin Gladrags Mod Quibbler Mod Minister for Magic Alley Proprietor
Sea Serpent
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: The Paths
Posts: 41,346
Hogwarts RPG Name: Professor Cox
Ravenclaw
Graduated
Hogwarts RPG Name: CJ Miller
Gryffindor
Third Year
Hogwarts RPG Name: Nyle Harden
Hufflepuff
Sixth Year
Hogwarts RPG Name: Iris Harden
Ravenclaw
Sixth Year
Hogwarts RPG Name: Calliope Barrington
Slytherin
Fifth Year
Ministry Department Head:
Charles Hollingberry
Minister's Office
Ministry Department Head:
Airey Flamsteed
Mysteries
Diagon Alley Proprietor:
Victor García Massey
Ollivanders
x12 x12
astronomizzle ♧ gryffinDORK | & the rest is drag ♣ #badluckDerf
Iris inclined her head politely at Professor Voss' greeting, though the fractional pause before her surname did not escape her notice. She wasn't sure what to make of it considering Harden was not the rarest of surnames, nor was she sure how to interpret the glimmer of something that may have been recognition in the woman's eyes.
...interesting? Iris decided not to dwell on it and simply finished setting up her desk, the familiar presence of Cat at her side softening something in her posture almost immediately. Since the sixth year had been offering her tutoring services to Aurora for several terms now, she would be more than happy to extend the invitation to Cat ― should want it, that is.
Her attention returned toward the front as Professor Voss spoke, fingers absently turning the worn button resting at the center of her desk. Which meant, naturally, that she was already dissecting the phrasing of the question far more thoroughly than was likely intended — an unfortunate side effect of spending the better part of summer buried in Magical Theory texts and argumentative essays written by long dead academics.
The wording of the question resisted certain responses, perhaps more obvious and clearcut ones, but Iris couldn't help but circle around the concept of should over could. A distinction that felt important. Her brows knit thoughtfully behind her glasses before she finally raised her hand.
"Purpose, probably," she answered. "Most decisions are easier once you understand what something is needed for. A transformation should solve something, improve something, or make something more useful than it was before. Otherwise it's just change for the sake of proving you can do it."
Which… admittedly, was not always a sufficient deterrent. She had one spent an entire afternoon trying to transfigure a quill into a self-turning bookmark solely because she was tired of losing her page while annotating ― which, in fairness, did possess a legitimate practical purpose now that she reflected upon it… even if the resulting bookmark had bitten her twice and attempted to burrow itself into a bookshelf afterward.
No, perhaps the better example had been the morning she transfigured an entire bowl of sugar cubes into tiny ravens simply to see whether she could make them circle a teacup in synchronized formation during breakfast... much to a certain adult's consternation.
__________________
We broke into a million pieces, and we can't go back.........................................
But now we're seeing all the beauty in the broken glass.....................................
The scars are part of me, darkness and harmony
My voice without the lies, this is what it sounds like
Remarkably unconvinced. Cat couldn’t help but smile at the comment. It was, probably, an accurate way to describe her feelings. She was starting to become marginally more convinced though, between Iris’ presence and Professor Voss’ clear amusement.
The question, though…
Cat tilted her head slightly to watch Iris as the older girl answered the question. Her answer made sense - it would depend on what needed transfiguring. Purpose. Which made Cat consider what the purpose of transfiguration actually was. And that was a rather intimidating line of thought.
So, she went another route with her answer, raising her hand. “I suppose that if you were asking me to transfigure something, it would be for school.” Perhaps this was a too-literal interpretation of the question, but she was committed now. “So, I would use the context of the class to decide what it should become.” She glanced down at the small stone on her desk. “Like, if the purpose were to simply transfigure, I’d probably try to think of something similar enough to this stone to help me practice more of the basics of spellwork and have less focus on fanciness. You know?”
Little Fox | ½ of Lauralie | Ravenclaw...?? *overthinks* | #HouseNATARINA
Rory listened to the answers of a few of the other students, which all seemed like sound, logical answers to her. She raised her hand.
"To be honest, Professor, I don't know how I would decide what it should be. Like Iris said, it would probably depend on the purpose of the transfiguration. And on what the object was."Should felt like the key word there, and it was nagging at her. "If you asked me to turn something into anything, without any other instructions," she paused, letting the thought develop as it was spoken, "then... I would probably transfigure it into something similar to what it was before. A change that felt... natural, I guess. But I don’t think I would want to transfigure something for the sake of it." She couldn’t quite explain why, but it felt like an abuse of power.
Her eyes flicked once more to the words on the chalkboard. There was something there that she was missing, she was sure of it.
~ Mrs. Steve Harrington ~ Claimed by Bits ❤️ ~ Queen of Typos ❄ Magical Mosh Pit ❄
Harvey was neutral when it came to mornings. But he was used to lessons being hosted then by now, having an entire year of them. It was just one of those that he felt some but of laziness. Everyone had those days, yes? Professor Voss would have no trouble with him during this lesson!
While waiting for it to get started, the Ravenclaw busied himself by neatly arranging his books, ink and quill. Then, just for the fun of it, prodded the thread curiously as if doing so would elicit answers about why it sat on his desk. The Professor’s words told him it was time to put away his mini shenanigans and pay rapt attention.
Harv was inclined to agree with the answer that it would depend on purpose as the reason for any decision he made about transfiguring something. Hence, he had to put a little more thinking into his answer in order to not be repetitive. Eventually the second year raised his hand. “It would be important to make something new that is practical, something that would be completely useful as a permanent or temporary fix. What I mean is, simple options are sometimes the best way to go rather than something flashy or whimsical.”
Iris inclined her head politely at Professor Voss' greeting, though the fractional pause before her surname did not escape her notice. She wasn't sure what to make of it considering Harden was not the rarest of surnames, nor was she sure how to interpret the glimmer of something that may have been recognition in the woman's eyes.
...interesting? Iris decided not to dwell on it and simply finished setting up her desk, the familiar presence of Cat at her side softening something in her posture almost immediately. Since the sixth year had been offering her tutoring services to Aurora for several terms now, she would be more than happy to extend the invitation to Cat ― should want it, that is.
Her attention returned toward the front as Professor Voss spoke, fingers absently turning the worn button resting at the center of her desk. Which meant, naturally, that she was already dissecting the phrasing of the question far more thoroughly than was likely intended — an unfortunate side effect of spending the better part of summer buried in Magical Theory texts and argumentative essays written by long dead academics.
The wording of the question resisted certain responses, perhaps more obvious and clearcut ones, but Iris couldn't help but circle around the concept of should over could. A distinction that felt important. Her brows knit thoughtfully behind her glasses before she finally raised her hand.
"Purpose, probably," she answered. "Most decisions are easier once you understand what something is needed for. A transformation should solve something, improve something, or make something more useful than it was before. Otherwise it's just change for the sake of proving you can do it."
Which… admittedly, was not always a sufficient deterrent. She had one spent an entire afternoon trying to transfigure a quill into a self-turning bookmark solely because she was tired of losing her page while annotating ― which, in fairness, did possess a legitimate practical purpose now that she reflected upon it… even if the resulting bookmark had bitten her twice and attempted to burrow itself into a bookshelf afterward.
No, perhaps the better example had been the morning she transfigured an entire bowl of sugar cubes into tiny ravens simply to see whether she could make them circle a teacup in synchronized formation during breakfast... much to a certain adult's consternation.
Elara listened without interruption, though somewhere around change for the sake of proving you can do it, the faintest shift touched her expression. Not quite a smile. Closer to recognition.
“Yes,” she said simply once Miss Harden finished, her tone thoughtful rather than immediate. “Purpose.”
The word settled cleanly into the room.
Her gaze lingered briefly on the button still turning between Miss Harden’s fingers before lifting again. “Most unstable transfigurations happen because the caster becomes distracted by possibility instead of necessity. Magic is remarkably cooperative when given a clear problem to solve.” A slight pause followed. “People are usually the less reliable element in the equation.”
There was dry humor in it, though quieter than before.
SPOILER!!: Miss Webb
Quote:
Originally Posted by squidnie
Remarkably unconvinced. Cat couldn’t help but smile at the comment. It was, probably, an accurate way to describe her feelings. She was starting to become marginally more convinced though, between Iris’ presence and Professor Voss’ clear amusement.
The question, though…
Cat tilted her head slightly to watch Iris as the older girl answered the question. Her answer made sense - it would depend on what needed transfiguring. Purpose. Which made Cat consider what the purpose of transfiguration actually was. And that was a rather intimidating line of thought.
So, she went another route with her answer, raising her hand. “I suppose that if you were asking me to transfigure something, it would be for school.” Perhaps this was a too-literal interpretation of the question, but she was committed now. “So, I would use the context of the class to decide what it should become.” She glanced down at the small stone on her desk. “Like, if the purpose were to simply transfigure, I’d probably try to think of something similar enough to this stone to help me practice more of the basics of spellwork and have less focus on fanciness. You know?”
Elara listened to Miss Webb's answer without stepping in to redirect it, even as the girl visibly worked her way through the thought process aloud. “Context is part of purpose,” she said once Miss Webb finished, tone easy and matter-of-fact. “So no, that isn’t an incorrect way to approach it.”
Her gaze shifted briefly toward the stone resting on the desk. “And practicality is usually a far better instinct than spectacle.” A faint flicker of dry amusement touched her expression there before continuing.
“You’re also identifying something important without dressing it up academically, which I appreciate.” Her eyes moved lightly across the room. “A transformation becomes significantly more stable when the caster understands the limits of what they’re attempting.”
She gestured lightly toward Miss Webb's stone. “Trying to force something wildly complicated out of a simple object usually creates strain somewhere in the spell. Structure matters. Similarity matters. Magic prefers coherence more than dramatics.”
SPOILER!!: Miss Archer
Quote:
Originally Posted by natekka
Rory listened to the answers of a few of the other students, which all seemed like sound, logical answers to her. She raised her hand.
"To be honest, Professor, I don't know how I would decide what it should be. Like Iris said, it would probably depend on the purpose of the transfiguration. And on what the object was."Should felt like the key word there, and it was nagging at her. "If you asked me to turn something into anything, without any other instructions," she paused, letting the thought develop as it was spoken, "then... I would probably transfigure it into something similar to what it was before. A change that felt... natural, I guess. But I don’t think I would want to transfigure something for the sake of it." She couldn’t quite explain why, but it felt like an abuse of power.
Her eyes flicked once more to the words on the chalkboard. There was something there that she was missing, she was sure of it.
Elara’s attention settled on the young girl a little more fully as she spoke, particularly at the hesitation around the word natural. “That instinct is more valuable than you probably realize, Miss Archer.”
Her gaze drifted briefly toward the objects scattered across the desks.
“Students often approach Transfiguration as though magic exists to dominate matter. Force it into becoming whatever they can imagine.” A slight tilt of her head followed. “But magic tends to behave more reliably when the transformation makes sense structurally.”
She tapped her fingers once lightly against the edge of the desk. “So yes, you are correct,” she added lightly with a smile, “transfiguring things simply because you can is usually where people begin creating deeply irritating problems for everybody around them.”
SPOILER!!: Mr Forsfelle
Quote:
Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19
Harvey was neutral when it came to mornings. But he was used to lessons being hosted then by now, having an entire year of them. It was just one of those that he felt some but of laziness. Everyone had those days, yes? Professor Voss would have no trouble with him during this lesson!
While waiting for it to get started, the Ravenclaw busied himself by neatly arranging his books, ink and quill. Then, just for the fun of it, prodded the thread curiously as if doing so would elicit answers about why it sat on his desk. The Professor’s words told him it was time to put away his mini shenanigans and pay rapt attention.
Harv was inclined to agree with the answer that it would depend on purpose as the reason for any decision he made about transfiguring something. Hence, he had to put a little more thinking into his answer in order to not be repetitive. Eventually the second year raised his hand. “It would be important to make something new that is practical, something that would be completely useful as a permanent or temporary fix. What I mean is, simple options are sometimes the best way to go rather than something flashy or whimsical.”
Elara gave a small nod as Mr Forsfelle answered, her attention briefly catching on the word practical. “Yes. Practicality is often underestimated in magic,” There was the faintest trace of dry amusement in her tone at that.
Her eyes flicked briefly toward the bit of string on his desk, still slightly out of place from where he had prodded it earlier.
“A temporary solution that works is usually more valuable than an elaborate one that collapses under pressure.”
--
Elara let the last answer settle for a moment before moving away from the desk at the front of the room, slow and unhurried as she drifted between the rows.
“So far,” she began, “most of you have circled around the same idea, even if you’ve phrased it differently.” Her gaze moved briefly across the classroom. “Purpose. Intent. Practicality. The understanding that a transformation should solve something rather than simply demonstrate that you were capable of casting it.”
One of the objects near the front lifted slightly off a desk with a subtle flick of her wand before settling back down again.
“Transfiguration is not just altering matter. It is directing magic toward a specific outcome.” Her tone remained calm, though quieter now in a way that made the room listen a little more carefully. “And magic, contrary to what many people assume, is extremely responsive to uncertainty.”
She stopped near the center row then, resting one hand lightly against the back of an empty chair. “If your intention is divided, the spell often reflects it. If your purpose is unclear…” A slight tilt of her head followed. “Well.”
Her eyes moved across the students again.
“What do you think happens when magic is given a vague instruction?” Surely at least a few of them must have managed to accidentally create something unfortunate at some point.
OOC: thank you for being so awesome with your answers, guys. Can't wait for the mini activity with you lot, next! Elara is loving all the lovely minds here at work! Class will move along in 18 to 20 hours!
__________________
......................let's be reckless, unaffected, running out until we're breathless ...............let's be hopeful, don't get broken, and stay caught up in the moment ♥
SSRPG Admin Gladrags Mod Quibbler Mod Minister for Magic Alley Proprietor
Sea Serpent
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: The Paths
Posts: 41,346
Hogwarts RPG Name: Professor Cox
Ravenclaw
Graduated
Hogwarts RPG Name: CJ Miller
Gryffindor
Third Year
Hogwarts RPG Name: Nyle Harden
Hufflepuff
Sixth Year
Hogwarts RPG Name: Iris Harden
Ravenclaw
Sixth Year
Hogwarts RPG Name: Calliope Barrington
Slytherin
Fifth Year
Ministry Department Head:
Charles Hollingberry
Minister's Office
Ministry Department Head:
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Mysteries
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Ollivanders
x12 x12
astronomizzle ♧ gryffinDORK | & the rest is drag ♣ #badluckDerf
It certainly wasn't just magic, transfiguration, that became distracted by possibility. Which, she supposed, aligned rather neatly with Professor Voss' observation about people being the least reliable element in any magical equation. Iris added a small notation to the top corner of her parchment: 'P.I.P : Purpose. Intent. Practicality.' ― less as a new concept and much more a reminder of the foundations of Magical Theory.
Which is why her thoughts interpreted the question less about failure of a spell and more about the translation of one. She mulled things over for another couple of moments before raising her hand.
"I think... the magic compensates," she answered slowly. "Or… attempts to." Her gaze drifted briefly toward the objects scattered across the desks as she worked through the thought aloud a bit more. "If the instruction lacks precision, then the spell still has to resolve the ambiguity somehow. So it fills the gaps with approximation, association, instinct… whatever the caster is unconsciously prioritizing in that moment. So the result may, technically, fulfil the request, but..."
There was a flicker of recognition in her expression tied to entirely too many nights spent buried in theoretical texts until candle wicks had burned themselves down to blackened little stumps beside her notes. Textbooks and tomes she probably should not have found as enthralling at her age as she did.
"It's similar to translation..." she continued. "Particularly with older runic languages and dead languages. If a symbol has three possible meanings and the interpreter lacks enough contextual understanding to distinguish between them... then the translation becomes vulnerable to bias and inaccuracy. You stop conveying exact intent and begin approximating it instead."
__________________
We broke into a million pieces, and we can't go back.........................................
But now we're seeing all the beauty in the broken glass.....................................
The scars are part of me, darkness and harmony
My voice without the lies, this is what it sounds like
Little Fox | ½ of Lauralie | Ravenclaw...?? *overthinks* | #HouseNATARINA
'That instinct is more valuable than you probably realize, Miss Archer.'
At the professor's words, everything about Rory brightened - her smile grew, her eyes had an extra twinkle in them, she sat a little straighter in her seat, and her chest warmed with pride. She was very pleased to hear that her musings were considered correct.
Magic does not exist to dominate matter. That particular phrase spoke to her, so she jotted it down on a piece of parchment once Professor Voss had moved her attention to Harvey. Rory was not a note-taker by nature, and certainly not in any sense that could be considered organised, but every now and again she would write down words or phrases that stuck out to her. That felt important, even if she could never articulate why. And again, as she listened to Professor Voss talk about the nature of magic and transfiguration, her mind lingered on a word - responsive - so she put quill to parchment once more.
The next question the professor posed, however, puzzled Rory slightly. What did she mean by 'vague instruction'? Was the instruction not the incantation? She understood that successful magic was a combination of incantation, wand movement, and something else... Was that something else the instruction? The intention that she spoke of previously. Rory listened as Iris contributed her thoughts, and tried not to get too caught up in the wording on things, though it was clearly significant.
Natural. Not forcing. Words gently began to find her. A memory surfaced. She remembered something her dad had told her once, when the family had been for a walk along a river, about how water followed the path of least resistance. Rory pondered it silently for a moment, willing the threads of thought to connect. "Would it find the path of least resistance?" She began, hoping her mind would muddle its way to an semi-articulate answer. "If the instruction," whatever was meant by that, "was vague, would it just... become something that felt natural to it? Something similar to what it was. Or, like Iris said, an approximation of what the caster was intending."
There. Thoughts muddled through. This lesson was becoming surprisingly metaphysical.
~ Mrs. Steve Harrington ~ Claimed by Bits ❤️ ~ Queen of Typos ❄ Magical Mosh Pit ❄
Harv hadn’t really realised up until then how important practicality was when it came to Transfiguration. Thinking further, it would be important also to other subject areas, and magic as a whole. Maybe even to life. Harv almost went down the rabbit hole with his thoughts, so profound they became in that moment. Almost.
Silently, he jotted the three words that encompassed what he and his classmates had come up with in answer to the question. The Ravenclaw wasn’t one of those persons who assumed that magic was not responsive to uncertainty. His thoughts wandered to a younger version of himself, who had been taught by his grandpa Forsfelle that broomsticks did exactly that. As Harvey grew older, that lesson continued to stick with him.
After some brief thinking, he raised his hand again. “Magic reflects those vague instructions with either doing too much or too little, but it most likely would not give the results one expected or hoped. Perhaps there will be no actual result at all. For example, one may cast a spell to transfigure something but they’re unsure of what new form it should take. Maybe it’s possible that the wand simply shoots off a short burst of light that fizzles out in a second. That’s it. Nothing else happens.”
Cat smiled to herself, pleased that the professor had accepted her answer so supportively. She thoroughly enjoyed this sort of discussion - talking about magic like it was a thing. Something that had rules, preferences. It made it seem a bit more approachable. And it made a lot more sense in Cat’s head then just a sort of nebulous thing that some people could use and others couldn’t.
This is what she was thinking about when Professor Voss asked the next question. Cat scribbled down some notes as Iris answered. Then she began to think about magic did when she herself gave vague instructions. Like when she was unsure about a spell. Or unable to really picture what she wanted the end product to be.
She raised her hand. “I think it does nothing. Like, when I’m vague with my directions, usually just, like… nothing happens with the spell.” That was the best-case scenario, actually. But a good answer for now, she thought.
It certainly wasn't just magic, transfiguration, that became distracted by possibility. Which, she supposed, aligned rather neatly with Professor Voss' observation about people being the least reliable element in any magical equation. Iris added a small notation to the top corner of her parchment: 'P.I.P : Purpose. Intent. Practicality.' ― less as a new concept and much more a reminder of the foundations of Magical Theory.
Which is why her thoughts interpreted the question less about failure of a spell and more about the translation of one. She mulled things over for another couple of moments before raising her hand.
"I think... the magic compensates," she answered slowly. "Or… attempts to." Her gaze drifted briefly toward the objects scattered across the desks as she worked through the thought aloud a bit more. "If the instruction lacks precision, then the spell still has to resolve the ambiguity somehow. So it fills the gaps with approximation, association, instinct… whatever the caster is unconsciously prioritizing in that moment. So the result may, technically, fulfil the request, but..."
There was a flicker of recognition in her expression tied to entirely too many nights spent buried in theoretical texts until candle wicks had burned themselves down to blackened little stumps beside her notes. Textbooks and tomes she probably should not have found as enthralling at her age as she did.
"It's similar to translation..." she continued. "Particularly with older runic languages and dead languages. If a symbol has three possible meanings and the interpreter lacks enough contextual understanding to distinguish between them... then the translation becomes vulnerable to bias and inaccuracy. You stop conveying exact intent and begin approximating it instead."
Elara was already nodding slightly before Miss Harden had fully finished. “Yes,” she said, almost immediately. “Exactly that.” There was a quiet sharpness to her approval this time, not exaggerated, but unmistakably genuine.
“Magic dislikes unresolved space. If the caster fails to define the outcome properly, the spell often attempts to bridge the uncertainty on its own.” Her gaze moved slowly across the room now, making sure the rest of the class followed the point as well.“And unfortunately, magic draws from you to do it.”
She gestured lightly toward Iris then. “Instinct. Assumption. Emotional priority. Association. All the untidy things people rarely realize they are carrying into a spell.” The comparison to translation earned another faint shift in her expression, something almost pleased. “That is also an excellent analogy,” she added. “Because interpretation introduces distortion very quickly when context is weak.”
Her fingers tapped once lightly against the back of a nearby chair. “A vague instruction given to magic is not the absence of meaning. It is an invitation for approximation.” A slight pause followed. “And approximation becomes dangerous remarkably fast in Transfiguration.”
SPOILER!!: Miss Archer
Quote:
Originally Posted by natekka
'That instinct is more valuable than you probably realize, Miss Archer.'
At the professor's words, everything about Rory brightened - her smile grew, her eyes had an extra twinkle in them, she sat a little straighter in her seat, and her chest warmed with pride. She was very pleased to hear that her musings were considered correct.
Magic does not exist to dominate matter. That particular phrase spoke to her, so she jotted it down on a piece of parchment once Professor Voss had moved her attention to Harvey. Rory was not a note-taker by nature, and certainly not in any sense that could be considered organised, but every now and again she would write down words or phrases that stuck out to her. That felt important, even if she could never articulate why. And again, as she listened to Professor Voss talk about the nature of magic and transfiguration, her mind lingered on a word - responsive - so she put quill to parchment once more.
The next question the professor posed, however, puzzled Rory slightly. What did she mean by 'vague instruction'? Was the instruction not the incantation? She understood that successful magic was a combination of incantation, wand movement, and something else... Was that something else the instruction? The intention that she spoke of previously. Rory listened as Iris contributed her thoughts, and tried not to get too caught up in the wording on things, though it was clearly significant.
Natural. Not forcing. Words gently began to find her. A memory surfaced. She remembered something her dad had told her once, when the family had been for a walk along a river, about how water followed the path of least resistance. Rory pondered it silently for a moment, willing the threads of thought to connect. "Would it find the path of least resistance?" She began, hoping her mind would muddle its way to an semi-articulate answer. "If the instruction," whatever was meant by that, "was vague, would it just... become something that felt natural to it? Something similar to what it was. Or, like Iris said, an approximation of what the caster was intending."
There. Thoughts muddled through. This lesson was becoming surprisingly metaphysical.
Elara’s attention returned to Miss Archer almost immediately at the mention of least resistance, and this time the approval in her expression appeared a fraction faster than before.
“Yes,” she said. “Very often, it does.” She moved slowly past one of the desks as she spoke, fingertips brushing lightly against its edge. “Magic tends to favor coherence. Stability. Patterns that require less strain to sustain.” Her eyes shifted briefly toward Miss Archer again. “Which means that when instructions are unclear, the spell frequently defaults toward what feels closest, simplest, or most internally consistent.”
A faint flicker of amusement touched her expression then. “That,” she added, “is how people end up with teacups that meow for three weeks.”
SPOILER!!: Mr Forsfelle
Quote:
Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19
Harv hadn’t really realised up until then how important practicality was when it came to Transfiguration. Thinking further, it would be important also to other subject areas, and magic as a whole. Maybe even to life. Harv almost went down the rabbit hole with his thoughts, so profound they became in that moment. Almost.
Silently, he jotted the three words that encompassed what he and his classmates had come up with in answer to the question. The Ravenclaw wasn’t one of those persons who assumed that magic was not responsive to uncertainty. His thoughts wandered to a younger version of himself, who had been taught by his grandpa Forsfelle that broomsticks did exactly that. As Harvey grew older, that lesson continued to stick with him.
After some brief thinking, he raised his hand again. “Magic reflects those vague instructions with either doing too much or too little, but it most likely would not give the results one expected or hoped. Perhaps there will be no actual result at all. For example, one may cast a spell to transfigure something but they’re unsure of what new form it should take. Maybe it’s possible that the wand simply shoots off a short burst of light that fizzles out in a second. That’s it. Nothing else happens.”
Elara nodded once as Mr Forsfelle answered, seeming pleased less by the certainty of the response and more by the fact that he was thinking through the mechanics of it properly. “Yes,” she said. “Failure is still a result.”
Her gaze shifted briefly toward the students around the room. “A vague spell does not always end dramatically. Sometimes magic overcompensates. Sometimes it approximates badly.” A slight tilt of her head followed. “And sometimes it simply… refuses to commit.”
There was faint amusement in the phrasing, though her tone remained thoughtful. “A fizzled spell, weak output, incomplete transformation, unstable magic that cannot properly sustain itself. All of those are possible outcomes when intention lacks clarity.”
SPOILER!!: Miss Webb
Quote:
Originally Posted by squidnie
Cat smiled to herself, pleased that the professor had accepted her answer so supportively. She thoroughly enjoyed this sort of discussion - talking about magic like it was a thing. Something that had rules, preferences. It made it seem a bit more approachable. And it made a lot more sense in Cat’s head then just a sort of nebulous thing that some people could use and others couldn’t.
This is what she was thinking about when Professor Voss asked the next question. Cat scribbled down some notes as Iris answered. Then she began to think about magic did when she herself gave vague instructions. Like when she was unsure about a spell. Or unable to really picture what she wanted the end product to be.
She raised her hand. “I think it does nothing. Like, when I’m vague with my directions, usually just, like… nothing happens with the spell.” That was the best-case scenario, actually. But a good answer for now, she thought.
Elara’s expression softened slightly with recognition at Cat’s answer, as though she had heard that conclusion from students many times before. “And sometimes it does,” she agreed. “Particularly when the uncertainty is strong enough that the spell cannot properly stabilize around an outcome.”
She moved a little closer to the center aisle as she spoke.
“In some cases, failed magic is almost protective. The spell falters before it fully forms because the caster has not given it enough structure to continue safely.”
“But you’ve also touched on something important, Miss Webb. Hesitation changes magic.” Her gaze moved briefly across the room again. “Doubt, uncertainty, divided focus, all of it affects the outcome whether people want it to or not.” The corner of her mouth lifted faintly. “Magic is rarely very good at pretending not to notice when its caster is unconvinced.”
--
Elara allowed the last answer to settle before finally moving back toward the front of the classroom, her attention passing briefly over the students and the assorted objects waiting on their desks. “I’m thoroughly pleased,” she said, and the fact she meant it was evident in the quieter ease of her tone, “that most of you are approaching this lesson by thinking rather than simply waiting for me to hand you instructions.”
She stopped beside the board then, lifting her wand. With a smooth motion, new silver lettering appeared beneath the earlier quote.
Her gaze returned to the class.
“The incantation translates, roughly, to: I call forth the change that is required.”she paused before adding: “This spell is designed around responsive transfiguration. You are not choosing a transformation because it sounds impressive. You are identifying a need and allowing that purpose to direct the magic.”
As she spoke, Elara reached toward the nearest desk and picked up an unremarkable length of string between her fingers. “This,” she said lightly, holding it up, “is currently useless to me.”
Her eyes drifted briefly toward the windows where one of the cabinet doors sat slightly ajar from earlier, “But if I needed something to secure that cabinet shut…”
With a smooth, controlled motion of her wand, she cast: “Exigo Mutatio.”
The string twisted sharply in midair, thickening and restructuring itself into a narrow leather strap with a brass clasp, which snapped neatly around the cabinet handles a second later. The transformation settled cleanly. Stable. Intentional. Elara lowered her wand. “The purpose came first,” she said simply. “The magic followed it.”
Her attention returned to the students. “That is what I want from all of you now.”
She gestured lightly toward the objects on their desks. “Study the object carefully before you cast. Think about what it could become, yes, but more importantly, think about why it should become it.”
A faint trace of dry amusement touched her expression. “And if it goes badly, congratulations. You are participating correctly.” Several students earned a brief glance at that. She folded her hands loosely behind her back. “So. Decide on a need. Decide on a purpose. Then attempt your transformation.” she stated, before adding lightly: “And try not to create anything sentient before lunch. The castle already has enough opinions.”
OOC: Mini Acitivity is UP, guys. Just have your character try the spell and be as chaotic as you want to be PLEASE and use the classroom as their playground! Most of all, HAVE FUN!
__________________
......................let's be reckless, unaffected, running out until we're breathless ...............let's be hopeful, don't get broken, and stay caught up in the moment ♥
~ Mrs. Steve Harrington ~ Claimed by Bits ❤️ ~ Queen of Typos ❄ Magical Mosh Pit ❄
Harvey added the word ‘failure’ to the page of his book. He was thinking as he did so. Perhaps failure or magic undercompensating could be better than it overcompensating, he supposed. Though that would also depend on the situation itself. If one were being chased by something sinister, overcompensation might be the preferred option. As Voss continued delving deeper into other responses, Harv’s notes only grew, the incantation and its meaning now being added as well.
As the Professor picked up her own piece of string, his gaze moved fleetingly to the one on his desk. He shared her sentiments but obviously he was impressed with the demonstration. But before he launched into the actual practical, he needed to practise first because that incantation sounded a bit… complicated.
Of course his practise partner would be Nebula; she matched his dedication to studies. Not to mention she was highly reliable, and he trusted her. “Exigo Mutatio,’’ Harv began, knowing she would correct any incorrect pronunciation. “Exigo Mutatio.”
Doubt, uncertainty, divided focus. Three words that described Cat’s experience of this subject. She frowned slightly, returning her attention to the parchment on her desk as she jotted down some notes. How was she supposed to become convinced? What did that even mean?
She glanced up, her head still tilted down, gazing through her eyelashes at the board. It wasn’t a new spell. Sure, new in the sense that she’d never tried to cast it, but she’d read about it. Maybe that alone would help lessen the doubt and uncertainty.
She’d have to find a different option for the whole focus thing. She’d been working on that for a while now.
Cat watched Professor Voss transform the string, brow furrowing a bit in concentration. Then the rock on her desk got a bit of a glare. What was she supposed to do with that?
She picked up the rock, twisting it deliberately between the first two fingers of each hand. It was a rock, alright. She continued to fidget with it as she thought about the class, the spell, and what she needed. She thought about her tendency to stay out almost too late. To be almost late for more things than she cared to admit. She needed a watch. As she stared at the rock, though, she couldn’t imagine the rock becoming a watch.
Except… it was basically the right shape. It just had to get a little rounder. A tiny bit flatter. Then it just needed the hands. And all the working parts that would make it actually tell time.
She sighed, trying to keep the frustration and doubt at bay. A bit desperate, she set the stone on the back of her left wrist. She stared at it. She screwed up her eyes a bit, squinting, trying to make herself imagine the watch. A pretty silver, maybe. Simple. No numbers, just hands. She only needed to know the general time, anyway.
Giving herself a satisfied nod, she set the rock back on her desk. Without taking out her wand, she practiced the incantation, “Exigo Mutatio. Exigo Mutatio.” Then she took a deep breath. Attempt your transformation. Okay, this was it, then. She pointed her wand, mimicked the professor’s earlier motion, and said again, “Exigo Mutatio.” And…
It changed!
She had a watch face!
She had - wait. Cat frowned slightly, picking up the not!rock. It was also a not!watch. It was some odd version of a watch-rock. Rock-watch. That is, it very much looked like a watch, but it was still most definitely made of stone.
She leaned back in her chair with a defeated sigh. Well. Take two, maybe?
Harvey added the word ‘failure’ to the page of his book. He was thinking as he did so. Perhaps failure or magic undercompensating could be better than it overcompensating, he supposed. Though that would also depend on the situation itself. If one were being chased by something sinister, overcompensation might be the preferred option. As Voss continued delving deeper into other responses, Harv’s notes only grew, the incantation and its meaning now being added as well.
As the Professor picked up her own piece of string, his gaze moved fleetingly to the one on his desk. He shared her sentiments but obviously he was impressed with the demonstration. But before he launched into the actual practical, he needed to practise first because that incantation sounded a bit… complicated.
Of course his practise partner would be Nebula; she matched his dedication to studies. Not to mention she was highly reliable, and he trusted her. “Exigo Mutatio,’’ Harv began, knowing she would correct any incorrect pronunciation. “Exigo Mutatio.”
Elara drifted between the desks as the students began preparing, pausing briefly near Mr Forsfelle when she caught the careful repetition of the incantation under his breath.
“Good,” she said quietly, not interrupting so much as folding herself naturally into the moment. “Take your time with it first.The emphasis falls slightly sharper on the mu in Mutatio,” she added, pronouncing it once herself, smooth and precise. “You want the spell to sound deliberate rather than hurried.”
Her gaze flicked toward the string resting on his desk.
“Don’t stare at the object too long while casting,” she added lightly. “You’ll end up thinking about what it is instead of what you need it to become.” A small pause followed before the corner of her mouth tilted faintly upward.“Your purpose should reach the spell before your doubt does.”
Quote:
Originally Posted by squidnie
Doubt, uncertainty, divided focus. Three words that described Cat’s experience of this subject. She frowned slightly, returning her attention to the parchment on her desk as she jotted down some notes. How was she supposed to become convinced? What did that even mean?
She glanced up, her head still tilted down, gazing through her eyelashes at the board. It wasn’t a new spell. Sure, new in the sense that she’d never tried to cast it, but she’d read about it. Maybe that alone would help lessen the doubt and uncertainty.
She’d have to find a different option for the whole focus thing. She’d been working on that for a while now.
Cat watched Professor Voss transform the string, brow furrowing a bit in concentration. Then the rock on her desk got a bit of a glare. What was she supposed to do with that?
She picked up the rock, twisting it deliberately between the first two fingers of each hand. It was a rock, alright. She continued to fidget with it as she thought about the class, the spell, and what she needed. She thought about her tendency to stay out almost too late. To be almost late for more things than she cared to admit. She needed a watch. As she stared at the rock, though, she couldn’t imagine the rock becoming a watch.
Except… it was basically the right shape. It just had to get a little rounder. A tiny bit flatter. Then it just needed the hands. And all the working parts that would make it actually tell time.
She sighed, trying to keep the frustration and doubt at bay. A bit desperate, she set the stone on the back of her left wrist. She stared at it. She screwed up her eyes a bit, squinting, trying to make herself imagine the watch. A pretty silver, maybe. Simple. No numbers, just hands. She only needed to know the general time, anyway.
Giving herself a satisfied nod, she set the rock back on her desk. Without taking out her wand, she practiced the incantation, “Exigo Mutatio. Exigo Mutatio.” Then she took a deep breath. Attempt your transformation. Okay, this was it, then. She pointed her wand, mimicked the professor’s earlier motion, and said again, “Exigo Mutatio.” And…
It changed!
She had a watch face!
She had - wait. Cat frowned slightly, picking up the not!rock. It was also a not!watch. It was some odd version of a watch-rock. Rock-watch. That is, it very much looked like a watch, but it was still most definitely made of stone.
She leaned back in her chair with a defeated sigh. Well. Take two, maybe?
Elara, passing between the desks, slowed slightly near Miss Webb just in time to witness the strange little geological identity crisis currently occurring on her desktop.
Her eyes dropped to the stone-watch. Then, very deliberately, back to Miss Webb. “And yet,” she said lightly, seeing her looking a bit unconvinced “it did become a watch.”
There was unmistakable amusement in her tone now, though not mockery. “Just not one fully convinced it had permission to stop being a rock.”
The corner of her mouth curved faintly as she studied the object again. “The structure changed first. The material resisted.” Her gaze flicked briefly toward Cat’s wand hand. “Which usually means part of your magic still expected the original object to remain present somehow.”
She reached down then, tapping one finger lightly against the stone surface of the watch face. “You succeeded more than you think you did, Miss Webb.”
A small pause followed. “You identified a purpose. You held the image long enough for the spell to respond. The transformation started.” Her brows lifted slightly. “That is significantly harder than students tend to give themselves credit for.”
__________________
......................let's be reckless, unaffected, running out until we're breathless ...............let's be hopeful, don't get broken, and stay caught up in the moment ♥
SSRPG Admin Gladrags Mod Quibbler Mod Minister for Magic Alley Proprietor
Sea Serpent
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: The Paths
Posts: 41,346
Hogwarts RPG Name: Professor Cox
Ravenclaw
Graduated
Hogwarts RPG Name: CJ Miller
Gryffindor
Third Year
Hogwarts RPG Name: Nyle Harden
Hufflepuff
Sixth Year
Hogwarts RPG Name: Iris Harden
Ravenclaw
Sixth Year
Hogwarts RPG Name: Calliope Barrington
Slytherin
Fifth Year
Ministry Department Head:
Charles Hollingberry
Minister's Office
Ministry Department Head:
Airey Flamsteed
Mysteries
Diagon Alley Proprietor:
Victor García Massey
Ollivanders
x12 x12
astronomizzle ♧ gryffinDORK | & the rest is drag ♣ #badluckDerf
There was something deeply satisfying in hearing Professor Voss articulate the concept so cleanly and not simply because she was validating her answer. The Transfiguration professor had a knack for refining it into something sharper and more structurally complete. Magic dislikes unresolved space. The phrasing lodged itself into her thoughts immediately beside half a dozen related theories she had encountered in advanced texts over the summer. It aligned disturbingly well with older discussions surrounding intent-responsive casting, particularly in emotionally charged magic and curse work where ambiguity often became the opening through which distortion entered. Emotional priority, instinct, and all the untidy things people carried unknowingly into magic.
What fascinated her most, however, was the implication that magic did not simply fail in the presence of uncertainty... it attempted to compensate for it. Which, honestly, explained an alarming amount about accidental magic, unstable transfigurations, and several catastrophically bad historical enchantments she had spent far too much recreational time reading about.
She continued listening with near dangerous levels of attention as the lesson progressed, though her expression became increasingly impossible to keep entirely composed once Professor Voss identified the spell and outlined the task ahead.
Fascination arrived first — immediate and unmistakable at the concept of responsive transfiguration shaped through articulated need and directed intent rather than rigid predetermined outcome ― the Room of Requirement in the palm of their hands. But that intrigue very quickly collided with the horrible realization that the exercise was also catastrophically open-ended. Iris' face passed through a veritable catalogue of reactions in rapid succession: intellectual excitement, dawning concern, analytical overprocessing, and finally the quiet existential despair of someone who had just realized her own thought process was perhaps the least efficient possible approach to this particular branch of magic.
"Exigo Mutatio," she said aloud, posture straightening and shoulder squaring, rolling each syllable around carefully on her tongue for practice. "Exigo Mutatio. Exigo Mutatio."
She picked the button up again in her hand, cataloging the size and weight of it ― something that immediately set up parameters for limitations. Except her thoughts refused to remain small. What she needed currently was difficult to quantify into anything remotely reasonable for a Transfiguration lesson. A self-indexing annotation system for tracking overlapping curse symptoms across South American obscurial case studies would be useful. Some manner of stabilizing lens capable of detecting residual emotional magic embedded within bindrunes would also be valuable. A self-playing record for dancing would be quaint. Glasses that didn’t fog embarrassingly every time ―
Her thoughts sagged abruptly and the sixth year found herself pinching her cheeks to bring her back to this desk and this classroom.
There was a spell for that particular nuisance anyway that she really should have already implemented.
The blonde glared at the button on her desk, resisting the urge to curse it for being so unreasonable. Obviously, Professor Voss had not intended for this particular practice to be an exercise in emotional inventory… and yet here she was, Ravenclaw in existential crisis and absolutely staring too much at the object like others had just been informed not to do.
At least Cat, beside her, was having some luck with the spell ― only modestly humiliating, if the sixth year allowed herself to linger on it.
"Well done, Cat," she nudged gently with her elbow. "That’s a proper watchface."
The third year's efforts pushed Iris to re-examine. She exhaled quietly through her nose and attempted to scale the problem back into something manageable. Something like...oh, perfect. Her parchment had been slipping constantly during late-night research sessions lately. A clip. Simple and practical. Very manageable.
Finally settling on the thought before her brain could betray her again, Iris straightened slightly and lifted her wand.
"Exigo Mutatio."
For one glorious fraction of a second, it genuinely appeared to be working. The button narrowed and folded inward with elegant precision, its shape flattening into something far more rectangular than round as though the spell had perfectly understood her intent.
And then... pandemonium.
The object shuddered violently once before splitting with a sharp metallic snap into two. Then four. Then twelve. Then, well, she had lost count as several toppled to the floor with little clinks
The tiny metal masses scattered across her desk like startled insects, skittering in every conceivable direction. One launched itself onto her sleeve and clamped down with territorial conviction. Another fastened itself to the edge of her parchment and began dragging the entire sheet slowly off the desk like it had somewhere important to be. Two more ricocheted toward nearby students, attaching themselves triumphantly to robes, cuffs, and one unfortunate shoelace.
The worst part — truly the worst part — was the horrifying realization blooming across Iris' face as she stared at the multiplying little disasters. Oh, sweet Circe, please tell her she not accidentally recreate Geminio ― or worse, Gemino.
That wasn't even Transfiguration magic!
Another sprang off her desk, launching at her braid and tangling itself up in her hair like it was a silk blanket. The blonde reacted on pure instinct at that point, thrusting her wand at her desk and the remaining metallic agents of chaos.
"Immobulus!"
Her spell cracked neatly across her desk, freezing its inhabitants instantly ― though there will still more than a handful unaccounted for.
__________________
We broke into a million pieces, and we can't go back.........................................
But now we're seeing all the beauty in the broken glass.....................................
The scars are part of me, darkness and harmony
My voice without the lies, this is what it sounds like
Little Fox | ½ of Lauralie | Ravenclaw...?? *overthinks* | #HouseNATARINA
Rory listened attentively to each student's answer and Professor Voss' responses, scratching out notes whenever a phrase or word stuck out to her.
When it came to her own turn for feedback, she found herself eagerly awaiting it. The approval in Professor Voss' eyes did not go unnoticed by the (still) young badger, whose spirits felt light again as she soaked in her words, and pride, fuzzy and contented, grew in her chest. It was nice to feel that she was making meaningful contributions to the class discussions. She chuckled at the mention of meowing teacups before Professor Voss moved onto the next student.
Failure is still a result. Powerful. That was immediately scrawled on her parchment.
Rory watched as letters appeared on the board beneath the existing quote. Exigo Mutatio. Her eyes then followed the professor as she moved with a subtle power through the classroom. I call forth the change that is required. Scratch scratch went her quill on her parchment as she made yet another note, with another soon following. Identify the need. Let the purpose direct the magic. She could feel her eagerness increasing, her desire to let her magic lead, or rather... guide it so that it could flow with certainly to its destination.
That being said, she noticed a small part of her mind getting caught up on the distinction between what an object could become versus why it should become that object. Where was the line between one and the other? Didn't one inform the other in some way?
She looked at the piece of string in front of her, considering it.
Overhearing Professor Voss speaking to Harvey about the incantation's pronunciation, and how it should be spoken deliberately, not rushed, only added to the growing knot of questions and things to consider while casting the spell. Oh, and there was another one - don't look at the object in its current form for too long. Rory's spell was likely doomed before it even began. In her attempt to keep all of the professor's excellent advise in mind, her mind had become crowded.
She was so focused on trying to focus that she was not actually focusing on what she should be focusing on.
So, when she looked at the piece of string in front of her and tried to think of her need for a hair tie with which to tie her hair, it was no wonder that when she uttered the incantation - "Exigo mutatio!" - the string simply unraveled, began sprouting little buds of hair, and knotting itself in the most inconvenient way.
It was then, as her not-a-hair-tie piece of string split again, sprouting more hair and immediately knotting itself as more hair sprouts threatened to emerge, that a clip of a different kind seemingly flew into the side of her face before making itself at home in her hair. "Did I do that?" She asked in utter surprise, casting a look around to see if anyone else had noticed.
That was when she noticed the origin of the metal clip. "I believe his little one belong to you," she said with a lighthearted chuckle in Iris' direction.
Oh! When Rory's finger touched the clip, it wiggled. How curious.
~ Mrs. Steve Harrington ~ Claimed by Bits ❤️ ~ Queen of Typos ❄ Magical Mosh Pit ❄
Practise was going well. Or so Harvey thought, anyway. Nebula certainly was keeping him in check; and the insight from Professor Voss? That was more than welcome. “Sharper emphasis on ‘M-U’,’’ he repeated, nodding as he squinted at his notes. “Not rushed.” Excuse him for a bit, Professor, while he made some additions to his notes. “Thanks for the extra details, professor! These will be useful, and I’ll try to keep them all in mind.” The key word was ‘try’.
As good measure, Harv repeated the incantation a few more times; he took care to include the first set of advice from Voss. “Exigo MUtatio. Exigo MUtatio. Exigo MUtatio!’’ Fingers and toes crossed that there was enough deliberation. For certain there was no doubt.
So what did he want to turn this piece of string into? The Ravenclaw thought carefully. Something practical… oh! He knew! A bookmark! Sometimes it was needed when doing research, particularly when one was sourcing information from multiple textbooks. Hadn’t Harv enough experience in the library when he tried to hold the place of one book and simultaneously checked information in another, lost his place in one book or both?
He had certainly found a need, found a purpose.
“Exigo MUtatio.” Harvey did his best to attempt that smooth and controlled movement like Voss had done earlier. Unfortunately for him, he tried a little too hard. The result was the wand slipping from his fingers, clattering to the desk. As if that weren’t bad enough, a bright orange spark flew from it, igniting the single piece of thread. Harvey scrambled for his wand, doing his best not to panic because… what if he accidentally set the castle on fire? He would have thought that was something Diallo would do, not him.
“Aguamenti.” With a slight hiss, the fire easily sizzled out.
As a souvenir, the desk now bore a scorch mark, a remnant of today’s… almost-catastrophe. As for that string? Well, most of it was gone.
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Transfiguration | Exigo Mutatio 
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Harvey Forsfelle :: Ravenclaw 
