Ash raised her hand very hesitantly. Because, um, her answer was a little strange. "I would put jars full of bluebell flames everywhere. Because, um, I like them. And I would conjure some winter flowers, because my brother likes those." She blushed and stared at her bracelets. Because no, she was not making it up. She would very much like to decorate like that.

"How come we can only use our wands?" Because if they were decorating the muggle way, Ash probably would have come up with a different idea.

"It is a fancy occasion, professor. Always have been in the family." the Mordaunts never liked their parties dull or simple. Lavish was the norm, even if it was just the usual family dinner, according to his dad. No wonder his father was so bored and so used to formal gatherings when everyone else in their family feel uncomfortable. He really can't speak for the women (because they seem to like dressing up), but for the boys... it was rather uncomfortable...stuffy, even.

Board games? Noah's face lit up with a grin because he's got an absolute fave. "Twister, professor. I like that one." And he's got more than one reason for liking it.

Anyway, back to class. "There's the Colour Changing Charm, professor. My mum's addicted to it." it was fun to see their dad's reaction every time their mum changes their house's interiors...it was as if he'd stepped in to a different house, look lost for a second, then goes back to doing his thing in his man cave slash home office which was off limits to that particular charm.

Uhhhh. Valentina is a little confused to as to why they'd need a wand to decorate when they could just use their hands?? They could magic too, obviously, but isn't decorating a lot more fun when you actually do it by yourself??

Anywaaaay, she had no idea as to what spell could be used for decorating so she just remained silent - listening to her classmates offer their answers.

"Yep, to scare them into behaving!" Not that that had ever worked on her, even when she was younger. Dia had always only ever been repulsed by the Krampus.

Oh, so they were going to be doing some decorating. The higher-ups would love that since they'd been trying to get them to join in sprucing up the place all term. "There's Gemino, the duplication spell in case you run out of whatever you're decorating with." Or you accidentally miscounted and didn't buy enough. Not that she would know anything about that or anything.

Everyone was offering really good suggestions, the color changing charm a personal favorite since Evan did have schemes he preferred to stay with. He briefly felt like there was a Christmas conjuring spell specifically used in years previous to decorate the Great Hall but... considering he couldn't remember the incantation and was not 100% positive he wasn't just creating something in his head, he opted for a different one instead. Raising his hand, he waited to be called on before offering his own answer. "Epoximise can be used to bond items together. So if you needed a spell to use in order to create a popcorn garland or string of lights or even just to create long lines of ornaments, that would be a good one."

Especially in tandem with other spells already offered.

Text Cut: Individual replies ^_^

SPOILER!!: Blaze

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

It wasn’t surprising that so many of her classmates leaned towards listing a tradition that stemmed from their own families. Claudine honestly felt a little uncomfortable because she couldn’t help, in that moment, to miss her family. She was allowed to even though a fair few of them were killers, right? Sigh. When did her life become so complicated?

Claudine kept her head down and worked on making her notes. Maybe one day she’d have traditions with her own family. She’d see what life had in store for her in that aspect. The mention of decorating had her brightening up, however. Christmas had always been her favourite holiday.

One spell immediately came to mind. She raised a hand. “There’s ‘Crystallus Decus’, the spell that transfigures a small amount of snow into ice ornaments.”

Right off the bat, Blaze was on the right track. Norman nodded, smiling slightly. “Excellent, Miss Blaze!” he said. “That spell can be incredibly useful when one has no ornaments on hand.” Or when one breaks one, as he was known to do on occasion back when he had a Christmas tree to decorate. Anyway, moving on...

SPOILER!!: Fox

Quote:

Originally Posted by astrocat

Ash raised her hand very hesitantly. Because, um, her answer was a little strange. "I would put jars full of bluebell flames everywhere. Because, um, I like them. And I would conjure some winter flowers, because my brother likes those." She blushed and stared at her bracelets. Because no, she was not making it up. She would very much like to decorate like that.

"How come we can only use our wands?" Because if they were decorating the muggle way, Ash probably would have come up with a different idea.

Norman noted Fox’s hesitation as she raised her hand, but he was unsure why. There was nothing wrong with that answer. Granted, he wasn’t the most creative person in the world, but her vision sounded rather pretty. “Very good ideas, Miss Fox,” he replied. “I’d like to see that.” He thought she was finished speaking when she stared at her bracelets, but then she asked that question. “It’s just a hypothetical scenario to get you thinking outside the box, in case you ever find yourself in a situation where you want to decorate and don't have the materials to do it the muggle way.”

SPOILER!!: Mordaunt

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stefan

"It is a fancy occasion, professor. Always have been in the family." the Mordaunts never liked their parties dull or simple. Lavish was the norm, even if it was just the usual family dinner, according to his dad. No wonder his father was so bored and so used to formal gatherings when everyone else in their family feel uncomfortable. He really can't speak for the women (because they seem to like dressing up), but for the boys... it was rather uncomfortable...stuffy, even.

Board games? Noah's face lit up with a grin because he's got an absolute fave. "Twister, professor. I like that one." And he's got more than one reason for liking it.

Anyway, back to class. "There's the Colour Changing Charm, professor. My mum's addicted to it." it was fun to see their dad's reaction every time their mum changes their house's interiors...it was as if he'd stepped in to a different house, look lost for a second, then goes back to doing his thing in his man cave slash home office which was off limits to that particular charm.

Mordaunt’s grin was returned with a slight smile from Norman. Twister… oh yes, he knew that game. He was never any good at it, but he knew it. The smile remained in place as the boy answered the next question. “Yes, a quick and simple way to decorate,” he said, “Very good, Mr. Mordaunt.”

SPOILER!!: Nichols

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lady of Light

Uhhhh. Valentina is a little confused to as to why they'd need a wand to decorate when they could just use their hands?? They could magic too, obviously, but isn't decorating a lot more fun when you actually do it by yourself??

Anywaaaay, she had no idea as to what spell could be used for decorating so she just remained silent - listening to her classmates offer their answers.

Norman glanced in Nichols’s direction, half-expecting the girl to say something. No? Okay, that was fine too. He didn’t mind quiet, as long as his students were paying attention. He shot the girl an encouraging look, just in case she had something to say and was holding back for whatever reason, and moved on.

SPOILER!!: Wolff

Quote:

Originally Posted by lazykitty

"Yep, to scare them into behaving!" Not that that had ever worked on her, even when she was younger. Dia had always only ever been repulsed by the Krampus.

Oh, so they were going to be doing some decorating. The higher-ups would love that since they'd been trying to get them to join in sprucing up the place all term. "There's Gemino, the duplication spell in case you run out of whatever you're decorating with." Or you accidentally miscounted and didn't buy enough. Not that she would know anything about that or anything.

Now here was a spell Norman hadn’t expected the students to bring up, but he was glad that Wolff did. “Correct, Miss Wolff,” he said, nodding approvingly. “That spell comes in handy for that purpose.”

SPOILER!!: Nam

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chelliephone

Everyone was offering really good suggestions, the color changing charm a personal favorite since Evan did have schemes he preferred to stay with. He briefly felt like there was a Christmas conjuring spell specifically used in years previous to decorate the Great Hall but... considering he couldn't remember the incantation and was not 100% positive he wasn't just creating something in his head, he opted for a different one instead. Raising his hand, he waited to be called on before offering his own answer. "Epoximise can be used to bond items together. So if you needed a spell to use in order to create a popcorn garland or string of lights or even just to create long lines of ornaments, that would be a good one."

Especially in tandem with other spells already offered.

Here was another outside-the-box answer! “A very creative use for that spell.” Norman replied, smiling slightly. “Excellent, Mr. Nam.”

Once again, Norman glanced around the room, and seeing no more hands up, he moved on. “Excellent answers, everyone!” he addressed the group. “All of those spells can be used to decorate, but today we’re going to focus on the one Miss Blaze mentioned, Crystallus decus, and one other.” He paused for a moment to make sure everyone was paying attention before launching into the spell demonstrations.

“To cast Crystallus decus, you’ll need snow first, which I have up here -” With a wave of his wand, he levitated a box that had up until then been hidden under the staff table. Gently lowering it to the floor beside him, he reached inside to pull out a snowball. “These snowballs are kept cold with a spell, so there’s no need to worry about them melting.” He held the snowball up and aimed his wand at it. “Visualize your design for your ornament, and make sure to allow a way to hang it. You can visualize an ornament hook already attached or a hole where you can attach a hook or string yourself. When you have your concept in mind, make a circle around the snowball with your wand and say the incantation, Crystallus decus!”

Norman demonstrated the spell, and a moment later, there was an icy ornament shaped like a flower, complete with a little icy ornament hook at the top, in his hand where the snowball once was. Did everyone get that? He gave them a moment to process the demonstration before moving on.

“The other spell we’re learning is Mediocris luminaria; this spell transforms fairy wings into fairy lights,” he continued. He levitated another box out from under the staff table and pulled out a vial of fairy wings. “In case anyone is worried, these were purchased from a reputable potion ingredient supplier.” With that little disclaimer out of the way, he opened the vial and took out a fairy wing. “The wand movement for this spell is a lightbulb shape like so -” He traced the shape of a lightbulb over the fairy wing. “Once again, visualize your end result, make the wand movement, and say the incantation, Mediocris luminaria!”

A bright yellow light emitted from his wand as he performed the spell. Soon the fairy wing was gone, replaced with a string of blinking blue and cranberry-colored lights. He set the lights aside and pointed his wand at the board. The following information appeared:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blackboard

Crystallus decus
(Cry-stal-lus dec-us)
Wand movement: circle over target
Use: transforms snow to ice ornament
Note: Be sure to visualize a way to hang your ornament!

Mediocris luminaria
(Me-di-O-cris LU-min-AR-i-a)
Wand movement: lightbulb shape
Light: bright yellow
Use: transforms fairy wings to fairy lights

After a momentary pause, he went on, “Your task is to use these two spells to create as many ornaments and fairy lights as you can in the time allotted. Supplies are in the two boxes up front.” He gestured toward the boxes at his feet. “You can work alone or with a partner, your choice. The spell information is on the board, but if you still need help, I’ll be coming around. You have twenty minutes, starting NOW!”

OOC: Thanks for sticking with me so far! We’ve reached the main activity. Your students must collect their supplies (snowballs and fairy wings) from the boxes in front of the staff table and transfigure those objects into ice ornaments and fairy lights using the spells Crystallus decus and Mediocris luminaria, respectively. Partner/group work is allowed, but each person must attempt the spells to receive credit. You’ll have ABOUT 60 HOURS for this activity. As always, if there are any questions, feel free to VM/PM me.

Violet walked up to the front of the room and began collecting snowballs, quite a few of those, because she liked the ice ornaments quite a lot. She also picked up a few of the fairy wings--the lights were pretty, but the wings reminded her too much of real fairies. How did they get these, anyway? Violet knew of their use in potions, of course, but had never really considered how the wings were acquired. She repressed mental images of fairies having their wings plucked and stood up with her supplies, looking around to see if there was anyone she could partner up with. Her first instinct was to try to enlist Claudine, who had suggested the first spell and therefore probably knew how to do it pretty well. But the (slightly) older girl had taken to mentoring the younger students in her last year at school and Violet was not sure she would be up for working with an older student.

Claudine blinked. Wow. She had not been expecting that one of the spells was really one they were going to be focusing on today. It sort of cheered her up. She paid attention to the demonstrations, making notes on incantations and wand movements. Was she eager to try these spells out? You bet. Okay, the whole fairy wings thing bothered her but she'd cross that bridge when she got to it.

Coincidentally, she happened to glance over at Violet {among a few other students} but of course Claudine had no way of knowing what the younger girl was thinking. She launched into the ornament making spell without a moment’s waste. Well, after practicing the incantations a few times. Not so much time was placed on the wand movement as it was simple enough. The seventh year pictured a cat {much like Rey} playing with a roll of yarn as clearly as she could. Yes, the hook was already attached in her mind. Her wand began making its way around the snowball she had acquired. “Crystallus decus.”

In a moment Claudine would know if her focus had been good enough.

Charlie smiled at the mention of a favorite market. Oh the was so hard to narrow down. There was that one outside of Brazil that her parents had taken her to twice. Then the one outside of Turkey that was so massive that she couldn't believe her eyes. "Probably the one outside of Turkey sir." She ducked her head before raising her hand to answer the next question relating to ornaments like a few other students had.

Oh decorating she would absolutely like to do that. Grabbing a snowball from the front she started to imagine a globe looking just like a crystal ball with the inside looking like a shooting star. And a small hook to hang from. Now to just try and and do it herself.
"Crystallus decus" she said while moving her wand in a circle waiting for it to turn into the ornament... it would right? Well it almost did a crystal clear orb with a hook to hang but it wasn't perfectly round. shame.

Had I mentioned that Lisa was in a strange mood today?

Because she was.

Today, she planned to be the VERY BEST. However, the ambition had quickly gone south when she had spilled tea on herself at breakfast. She didn’t even have time to rush back to her dormitory so she had fun to the bathroom to wash it out and had to SHAMEFULLY ENDURE IT THROUGHOUT HER CLASSES.

FORTUNATELY. She had transfiguration which would make her day better.

The Nam’s had LOTS OF HOLIDAY TRADITIONS so Lisa had been wiggling in her seat to share. She did pout when her brother stole her tradition to share so she was reduced to nodding and mentioning that she agreed with Evan. Needed to be quicker next time surely. And naturally to make it worse, he had nailed the topic. Competition struck her, rearing it’s angry head, to accelerate her to challenge her brother. She would not be bested.

She wrote down the two spells in her notebook (Crystallus decus and Mediocris luminaria) before placing her quill down to grab her supplies. She marched up to the front of the classroom and grabbed a fistful of snow before heading back to her desk to begin her work.

First thing first was to make the ornament out of snow and then she’d decorate everything else. For now, she’d practice. Snow i front of her she took her wand through the motions. One circle over the target. She practiced this four times before lookinh at the words. “Cry-stal-lus dec-us. Crystal-us deck-us….” she began.

Now to put it together…

The competitive nature of his youngest sister was not noted by the present eldest, at least not for this particular task anyways. Once instructions were given and it was time to get on with the activity, Evan stood and headed towards the boy of snow and the fairy wings so he wouldn't have to make multiple trips. Grabbing just one snowball for now, he took it back to his determined workspace and set down the wings so he could focus on the snow. What did he want his ornament to look like? He considered for a moment, before deciding to do a simple orb for the time being as it seemed like it would be the easiest. He imagined a small loop at the top to thread a string through.

He focused hard on the design, picturing it in his mind as he practiced the wand movement for a moment. It was a fairly simple and straightforward wand motion this go around, so he didn't need to do it long. After a couple rotations, he paused for a moment to take a small breath, before once again focusing on his design, moving his wand in a circle over his snowball and speaking the incantation, "Cry-stal-lus dec-us". His snowball DID transform but.. it wasn't as round as he'd hoped and the opening for his string was far smaller than he had intended it to be.

Evan stood for another snowball, wanting one more attempt before moving on to the lights.

Having lived in a household that was always decorated all year long, plus being exposed to charms and transfiguration spells since he could walk and talk, the activity shouldn't be much of a problem. Perhaps, the only thing he should worry about is the kind of ornament he'd make. He would've made it fun (for himself), but he was sure Professor Carton would not approve. They were at school, after all. Besides, he didn't wish to ruin anyone's good holiday mood.

Noah settled back in his seat with his snowballs and fairy wings and took a good look at it, picturing the ornament in its transfigured form. From the outside, it may look like the Gryffindor was struggling. Actually, he was struggling with his imagination. It had become too vivid for his liking.

ANYWAY.

He'd start off with something basic to warm himself up. Maybe start off with something simple, like a sphere...and throw in a non-verbal just because he's supposed to be able to. Packing the snowball more with his hand, Noah straightened his back as he locked the picture in his head, and went ahead with his non-verbal, "Crystallus decus." the little mound of snow turned into a solid white sphere with a hook, like a blank bauble ready to be painted. That's when inspiration struck him. Noah licked his lips, fully concentrating now, "Crystallus decus." Now, if he could just animate his BB-8 Bauble, it'd be the most epic decor for sure. "Engorgio." but since his magic is limited for now, he'd settle for a life-size model of the beloved Starwars spherical droid.

Having procured another snowball, Evan perched again and tried envisioning spiral this time. Like one of those classy icicle type ornaments. And since the shape of an icicle was similar to that of what snow and water usually would take on, it would be even easier to envision. He made sure to concentrate extra hard on the opening for a string so he could hang once he was completed. He sat for a few minutes, staring at it before he decided he was confident enough and grabbed his wand. Again, another circle over and the incantation, "Crystallus decus."

Another success. Of sorts. The icicle was shorter than he had intended, but the eye for his string for hanging was perfect. While he'd like another shot at practicing, Evan decided it was time to move on to the other spell before he ran out of time. Putting aside his ornaments, he reached for the fairy wings and gingerly laid them out in front of him. This one had a slightly more complicated wand movement, if not by much still, so Evan silently practiced that for a few rotations.

Once he was satisfied his hand was moving fluidly, he focused on his wings, drawing a lightbulb and saying, "Me-di-O-cris LU-min-AR-i-a". There was a flash of yellow and where the wings had been sat a small string of lights. As far as he could tell, they seemed to be in good condition so he smiled a bit - pleased with this result, and went back to practicing ornaments.

Violet had been practising both spells and felt pretty good about them, and when she caught Claudine's eye, that decided her and she decided to chance it. Moving a little farther toward her fellow Slytherin, she asked, "Hey, Claudine--would you be up for partnering up with someone? I'm fairly good with spellwork, but I think I'm rubbish at decorating." She liked Claudine, and she also knew the other girl was an artist.

Ugh.

Just look at her first creation. So beautiful. Claudine was in awe. She set aside the decoration to a side of her desk just as Violet made her way over. She listened to the girl’s words then smiled a bit. “Sure. I’m going to say it now: we’re going to have the best decorations and the best tree.” Whichever tree they worked on. “Have you started on either spell? If not, you’re welcome to follow my lead on the ice decorations one.”

Claudine tapped her chin thoughtfully, her mind racing in an attempt to find another idea. Maybe she should stick to the creatures… yes, that was a good plan. “I’m going to create a hippogriff. What are you going to work on, Violet?’’

This hippogriff was going to have its wings spread. That would make it more eye-catching. “Crystallus decus.” The seventh year focused intently, momentarily forgetting Violet was there. Her ball of snow began to take shape, forming until there was a griff ornament lying on her desk complete with a hook.

Should the orb had been a nice shape and shouldn't have been lumpy? Yes. Was it no. but that could be because she got distracted watching Noah make his bigger after making it a nice round shape. Her eyes kept tracking what he was doing. She couldn't exactly figure out where he was going with it from there. Shaking her head and letting the curls bounce a bit she set her wand with a new snowball in her hand. Thinking about an orb that would look round and pure and not at all like the last one she had. Smooth and round. Testing to see if she could handle it without speaking instead this time. "Crystallus decus" Moving her wand she was pleased to see an orb and dang it she forgot the hook. but better.

Valentina noted down the incantations and wand movements in her terrible handwriting - glad they were moving on to the practical part of the lesson. She stood up and headed over to the desk, picked up a snowball and a pair of fairy wings. She set her supplies down and decided to get started.

Crystallus decus. She said it out loud a few times to get the pronunciation right. Picking up the snowball, the gryffindor closed her eyes. Now, what kind of an ornament did she want?? A star shaped one! That would be easy, right? A star ornament with a little hole at the top. Yes. She made a circle around the snowball. "Crystallus decus." .... WOAH. She stared as her snowball transformed into a beautiful star ornament!! With the hole too! She looked extremely pleased as she moved on to the fairy wings.

Ash knew what she wanted to do before the professor was finished talking. Phoenixes! Arctic foxes! Books! Humanoid figures! The opportunities were endless.

Fairy lights... she was not so interested in those. Even if the fairy wings came from an ethical place, and muggles had similar things, she couldn’t get over the fact that she was basically putting disguised body parts on a wall. Which was unfortunate. Ash really liked fairy lights.

She practiced creating ornaments. The first few were kinda bad, but Ash got better. As soon as she felt confident with the spell, she started making as many ornaments as possible in as many shapes as possible.

She wondered what they were gonna do with the ornaments. She had a lot.

Noah caught Charlie looking just in time, and grinned to himself as he packed the rest of his ornaments: a snowman, a pizza slice, a shoe, a flask, and a champagne bottle. The Gryffindor moved the rest of his supplies towards where his housemate sat, and eyed her creation. "Oops." he remarked with a cheeky grin, noting the missing hook. "Hate that too when it happens." missing the smallest detail can be really frustrating, especially in Transfiguration.

Fishing out his fairy wings, Noah held the item between his fingers, inspecting it while reviewing the spell in his head and imagining it turning into a string of colourful lights, just like how their mum would do it. Slowly but surely, Noah went ahead with the spell non-verbally, and traced the shape of a lightbulb on the fairy wings. "Mediocris Luminaria." the supposed bright yellow light erupted from the tip of his wand, transforming the fairy wings into a string of rainbow coloured lights. Yep, just like the ones at home.

Mum would be proud. Setting aside his work, Noah turned his attention back to Charlie. "Need help?" They did talk about being study buddies over the holidays, and so he thought maybe he could help her out with the practical portion of magic too. He was quite good at it.

"“Crystallus decus. Crystallus decus.” Violet had been busy creating snow-globes with the spell and had gotten about four done successfully so far. Then she looked over at what Claudine was doing.

Violet was impressed--she had been having good success with the ice ornament spell, but she'd never thought of doing more than creating spherical crystal globes, similar to the snowballs they'd been shaped from. "I...I've practised both spells and feel pretty comfortable with them, but...how did you do that? Get it to look like a hippogriff, I mean? Did you just think of a hippogriff while you cast the spell? I'd only thought of doing globes so far." Violet did admire Claudine's artistic talent.

She looked back to the fairy wings. She needed to try that spell, too, to get full credit--and to make sure their tree looked spectacular. But there was still one thing nagging at her. She raised her hand and tried to get Professor Carton's attention. Because she really needed to know how they acquired these fairy wings before she felt she could work with them.

SPOILER!!: Vi! <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadAlice

"“Crystallus decus. Crystallus decus.” Violet had been busy creating snow-globes with the spell and had gotten about four done successfully so far. Then she looked over at what Claudine was doing.

Violet was impressed--she had been having good success with the ice ornament spell, but she'd never thought of doing more than creating spherical crystal globes, similar to the snowballs they'd been shaped from. "I...I've practised both spells and feel pretty comfortable with them, but...how did you do that? Get it to look like a hippogriff, I mean? Did you just think of a hippogriff while you cast the spell? I'd only thought of doing globes so far." Violet did admire Claudine's artistic talent.

She looked back to the fairy wings. She needed to try that spell, too, to get full credit--and to make sure their tree looked spectacular. But there was still one thing nagging at her. She raised her hand and tried to get Professor Carton's attention. Because she really needed to know how they acquired these fairy wings before she felt she could work with them.

Claudine nudged her hippogriff so that the decoration was now next to the kitten. Side by side, she admired them. They really were so pretty; and she was in love with this spell. Hearing Violet’s question, Claudine lifted her gaze to her friend. “Yes, that’s exactly what you do. Think of any shape you want - a snowflake, a mini pine tree… the most difficult part of all of this is keeping focused on the object you want to create.” The girl tilted her head slightly. “Is there anything in particular you want to create?” Because she was all set to help Violet out with that.

Maybe Claudine should work on the other spell now. But like Violet, she was reluctant to. Those wings… but Carton wouldn’t lie to them, right? The wings had come from someone reputable and had been obtained from the fairies humanely? She eyed the wings, vaguely aware that Violet had raised her hand to flag Carton down.

Valentina moved on to the next incantation. Mediocris luminaria. She said it aloud for a couple of minutes - wondering if she was saying it right. Hopefully, yes. She practiced the wand movement too, which was super simple. Nothing too complicated. After having practiced enough, she turned to look at the fairy wings sitting in front of her.

"Mediocris luminaria!" she casted the spell, accompanying it with the appropriate wand movement. And a bright flash of yellow later, her fairy wings had transformed into super pretty fairy lights. EEEEE. She'd gotten both the spells right!! This was so exciting.

Norman roamed the hall, monitoring the students’ progress as they set about their task. Rivers’s crystal orbs earned an approving nod.It didn’t matter that one hadn’t been completely round or that the other lacked a hook; the important thing was that she’d transfigured an ornament. “Nice work, Miss Rivers,” he said. “Keep at it.” Mordaunt’s assortment of ornaments also got a nod of approval, especially the lifesize droid one. “Well done, Mr. Mordaunt!” he said with a slight smile. “Are you going to charm that one to move and beep as well?”

Elsewhere he saw both of the Nams were off to a good start. “Excellent pronunciation, Miss Nam,” he said, observing the girl’s work. Her wand movement was spot on as well, but that probably went without saying. His aquamarine eyes flicked toward the elder Nam. While he was pleased with all of the boy’s work, he was most impressed with the fairy lights. “Great job, Mr. Nam,” he said. “I like those fairy lights.”

As Norman continued to make his rounds, he paused for a moment to examine the ornaments Fox had produced. “I like the wide variety of shapes you have, Miss Fox,” he said with a slight smile. “Keep up the good work!” He also noticed Nichols's success with not one but both spells, and she too received an approving smile. “Nicely done, Miss Nichols,” he said.

Changing directions, he saw that Blackthorne and Blaze had paired up and were making progress. “Excellent work, ladies,” he said. He started to turn away but stopped as he noticed Blackthorne’s hand in the air. “Yes, Miss Blackthorne?”


Making his way back to the front of the room, Norman checked his watch and saw it was time to move on to the next activity. “Attention, please!” He addressed the group, pausing momentarily to allow the students time to find a stopping place. “If you’re still working on your ornaments and fairy lights, you may continue to do so. Once you’re done, we’re going to use the ornaments and fairy lights to decorate these trees -” He gestured toward the pine trees at the front of the hall. “You are allowed to use magic to help you decorate -” The trees were even taller than him, so levitation charms were practically a necessity. “All I ask is that the ornaments, fairy lights, and the trees themselves remain intact.” Everyone got that? “You have the rest of class to decorate.”

With that, he gathered his own decorations and moved to the nearest tree. Soon it was decorated with blinking blue and cranberry lights and several tiny icy flowers.

OOC: We’ve reached the mini activity. For this activity, your student must decorate the trees in the Great Hall with the ornaments and lights they made in the main activity. Group/partner work is allowed, as is using magic to decorate, as long as the ornaments and trees stay intact. You may also use this time to finish the main activity if necessary. You have ABOUT 48 HOURS.

Evan lifted his head to give Professor Carton a small smile and a "Thank you, sir" before he went back to the extra snowballs and fairy wings he'd grabbed in order to keep practicing. He was trying to get more adventurous with his shapes but so far he was not pleased with any of the results. He'd tried a couple of different type of creatures, and some musical notes but they all looked... off. His creatures looked more like combinations of multiple different ones, while the musical notes were odd angles. He'd just have to keep working on those, or hide them in the back.

As apparently they were decorating and it was time to begin that. Per tradition, he decided to start with hanging some lights first but noticed he didn't have enough fairy lights - which had apparently come out quite well. Making a couple more strands out of the other wings he'd gathered, Evan took the finished lights and approached a tree, setting down his small pile at his feet while he worked with only one strand at a time. "Wingardium Leviosa!" He cast the levitating charm on the first strand, in order to start from the top and work his way down.

They really did pick fairly tall trees didn't they?

Charlie smiled as Noah moved closer with his assortment of ornaments. She smiled and laughed a bit watching him a few seconds longer. "Honestly it would probably help if I didn't get distracted watching other people." her laugh left her chest before she could think about containing it. But it was what it was.

Glancing back at all of his ornaments, "How'd you get the big one to look so good even after enlarging it?" she was extremely curious now. He had done a good job. Hearing their professor ask about making the big one move she was curious about what he was going to do with it.