Lesson 3: Scutulm

[antontarasov]

Although he had been a little later than the group of students that had huddled by the doorway, Anton arrived in time to walk into the classroom just seconds after the other late students had taken their seats. He walked quickly, having been late occasionally to classes throughout the year and knowing the protocall. He wasn't going to draw more attention to himself as of now, just quickly take a seat and start taking notes as soon as possible. And that is exactly what he did. Walking in quickly, he walked down the first isle, and quickly took a seat, not even taking a preferance to who was around him.

His mind quickly went into work mode, setting his bag down and pulling out a quill and paper to write down the word "Scutulm." He then attempted to pull out the details of D'rorah Philosophy's words, assuming that they would be valuable information. After she had finished speaking, his eyes landed on his plate as he anticipated the lesson. It didn't sound too difficult, in fact, it sounded quite ideal for today. Not too demanding, but a new concept, as Anton had never turned something into a shield before. He was actually pleased with the outcome, as he thought this skill could perhaps come in handy in the future...

Anton now took this time to look around him, finally looking up at his professor and then letting his name register with him. Romanov. He knew the name well, as it was obviously Russian, just as his own last name was. Interestingly enough, the previous muggle, Russian Royalty had held that name. Their dynasty had lasted long, but ended in a tragic blood because of the Muggle revolution. Perhaps the Romanovs had brought it upon themselves, perhaps not, but that was a subject to be disputed. Anton wondered if such Professor would know his father, because, although his father left Russia at an early age, the Russians did seem more familiar with Scandinavian politics than the British were, espcially since it was one of their own leading Sweden...

But, putting all these thoughts aside, Anton looked back at his plate, anticipating the lesson. Nothing very hard...he thought to himself.

[Gavril Romanov]

Feeling a twinge of annoyance as yet another student meandered into his class well into the lesson, Gavril forced himself to not bark at the young man. Instead he stopped what he was doing and held himself perfectly erect, and waited for the student to have a seat. His face was stern and while definitely not thrilled that a gaggle of young witches and wizards had been so ill-prepared for class, he maintained neutrality. When he felt that everyone was now ready, he continued.

"Nicely spoken, Ms. Philosophy. Err...ehm..." Having remembered something he backtracked to his desk, sifting through several papers on his desk. He seemed to be looking for something in one of the pieces of parchment that had the answer to his clearly interrogative expression. Finding what he was looking for, he organized the parchment into a single stack and layed it back down, looking up at the class, and then D'rorah. "That's 10 points for Ravenclaw. 5 points for answering the question correctly, and an additional 5 for being the first student present, and on time I might add..." He said, putting emphasis on the "on time" part. Hopefully this might reach his tardy students and prompt them to be a little more punctual for the next class.

He moved back to the front of the room again, now in front of the blackboard. "Alright! Thank you Ms. Philosophy, I believe you hit the nail on the head. Now, moving right along. Before we transfigure our plates into shields, I want you all to get to know your plates. No, I do not mean on a personal level by this, I mean pick up your plate. It is important to intricately know your object prior to transfiguring it--it influences the success rate. Realize its size, weight, length. Feel it's texture. Is it smooth? Bumpy? Are there imperfections?" He asked passionately as he moved behind his own desk and picked up his dish, performing the instructions as he gave them.

"Imperfections are important. If you fail to notice them, they may show up in your results. For instance, if there is a crack in one plate, your shield may bear a similar crack. This does not transfer over when transfiguring teacups into mice, or gravy boats into birds. Instead, the crack may appear as a biological imperfection, such as a streak of discoloration in fur, hair, or feathers, some sort of marking that makes reference to the crack in its former form. This is very common in Animaguses." He spoke. He wasn't sure if he should touch on the subject, but he shrugged it off and felt like it was a form of transfiguration within itself. "Animaguses sometimes retain distinguishing characteristics, for example, a woman that wears eyeglasses may bear ocular marks around her eyes after transforming into a cat." He said, clasping his hands at his waist and taking a look out the windows to his right. He had a feeling that he was being too verbose and should just instead let the students attempt the transfiguration. Nodding to himself as he decided to do so, he looked back to the class with an expectant expression.

"Alright, enough lecture...I'm sure your quills have scratched enough parchment as I digress...The incantation, Scutulum should be said firmly, and with purpose. When transfiguring, you should have a clear image in your mind of what your desired result should be. Now the wandwork. It's not terribly particular, a simple flick of the wrist should suffice." He demonstrated this by extracting his 13" mahogany wand, and flicking it at the plate on his desk, saying firmly "Scutulum."

In a matter of seconds, his plate was transfigured into a large, bronze shield, bearing a spike at its center. First, the dish began to wobble, much like it would after having been spun on its edge, right before it finally loses its kinetic momentum and surrenders to the inevitable stasis of being idle. Then as if in reverse, it progressed into wobbling so high that it began to spin backwards on its rim, growing larger and shifting in color. Finally the large spike in the middle sprouted forth and Professor Romanov put a single finger on its edge, perfectly stopping it as it faced the class.

"Begin."

[Alessandro Darko]

As Anton slipped into the room, Alessandro's eyes darted up to him, and then back down to the plate that he was currently examining. It seemed as though he was on the right track for in a matter of moments, the Professor had gone into a long speech about how one should "get to know" their plate before attempting to transfigure it. Setting his plate down gently, he picked up his quill and began to jot down notes on the impurities and imperfections an object might have prior to a transfiguration, and what they might be once the object is transfigured. He noted that the inanimate to living transfigurations would cause the living creature to bear a distinguishing mark that would represent the imperfection in an object. This, Alessandro felt, would be useful to know in the future. As he fervently scribbled down notes on the lecture, his eyes kept darting up to the professor, waiting for him to get to the part Alessandro was yearning for: The actual transfiguration.

He stopped writing when he noticed Professor Romanov's 13" Mahogany wand come out from its hiding place. Instantly, Alessandro's own 10 and 3/4 Blackwood was out in his hand, mimicking the professor's gestures regarding wand-technique. Just a flick of the wrist, he said. His eyes watched as the plate on the professors desk began to undulate as if it was going in reverse after having been spun on its side, like one does with a muggle quarter. Finally it was spinning now, and growing. A bronze color splashed all over it, reflecting the light dully as it continued to spin and grow. From what Alessandro could tell, something seemed to be protruding from its epicenter. As it was stopped, perfectly facing the class, he noted that it was a large spike in the center.

The professors command was enough for him to begin immediately. He stood up from his seat and flicked his wand at the plate. "Scutulum" He intoned in the same fashion as the professor had. He had a pretty strong image of what the desired outcome should be. He had decided on a traditional four pointed shield instead of a round buckler like the professor had conjured. Three points on top and the bottom curving into a point itself. He had everything visualized perfectly and as his plate began to transform, changing from its ceramic color to a silver, metallic substance, then stretching and growing, forming the points his concentration slipped away from him as a flash of fire crossed his mind. Instantly as his shield was almost done, an intricate flame design developed on the face of his shield in a contrasting gold metal.

Alessandro's eyes widened quickly as emotion exploded from within him. There was nothing he could do about it now, for it had already finished its transformation, and there it lay, gleaming on his desk. He took a deep breath and sat down, deciding to shrug it off. If anyone asked he would simply say that he wanted to detail the shield with fire. Just because he happened to be the EM of Fire, didn't mean that it was a complete giveaway. He decided that blaming it on his wand would be the best bet, remembering that it was a newer wand and had been informed that the Chimaera scale core can be a bit temperamental at first. Perfect. He sat there looking straight forward for a moment as he gathered his thoughts and then casually glanced around the room to see how the other students were doing.

[D'rorah Philosophy]

D'rorah spent some time picturing the shield she would create... her hands passed over the plate, feeling for imperfections, mentally mapping the areas that would require special attention in order to be strengthened properly. The design she had in mind was a scuta... a shield of the sort used by Roman Legionnaires. She thought it fitting, considering the incantation of the lesson. The long, rectangular shape would curve around to create a defense that would cover a very large part of one's body. It wasn't the sort of shield she would ever use, as she tended to be more offensive when fighting, but it would do for class. However, she realized it made more sense to make the shield a weapon of offense as well as defense. The design in her mind slowly began to become more intricate, the edges developing a delicately scalloped and razor sharp border. It also shortened a bit and became lighter, something she would be able to move about with. Underneath the porcelain glaze, she saw her plate had a slight hairline fracture... deciding to concentrate on that area to strengthen it, she quickly planned that it should be a blaze of iron... a boss of sorts, against the background of brass, which the majority of the shield would be composed of. And, of course, she couldn't forget to include a strap on the back so she would actually be able to wield her new shield.

As the professor gave them leave to commence, D'rorah gathered all of her concentration on the object before her. Long before she uttered an incantation of flourished the wand in her hand, she visualized the change exactly as it would take place. She made the process similar to the same she followed when changing to her animagus form, a small sparrow... of course, that one she had done so often now that it nearly came naturally.

Feeling prepared and having the image of the finished product as well as the process of its transformation firmly in mind, D'rorah flicked her wand and spoke the required incantation. "[blue]Scutulum[/blue]" Given the mental preparation she had made, the plate rather quickly blossomed into its intended design. Satisfied, she examined her creation for a moment, pleased to see that things had gone about as she had planned and intended. Looking over to Alessandro's table, she saw that he too, had finished. Noting the blaze of fire across the front, she caught his eye and arched her eyebrow slightly. [blue]Is that not a bit obvious, Mister Darko[/blue] she quipped silently to him in her mind. The statement was meant to be humorous... a blaze of flames was probably exactly the sort of thing a teenaged boy might be expected to have appear on his shield... no one need know that for Alessandro, it was very poignantly fitting.

[kairava]

His quill in hand, Kai was prepared to write down key pointers and necessary information but as he waited he found the professor only mentioned a few details that were easy to remember. Setting his quill down, he let his focus rest on the man teaching the class and stored the information away. Some of the concepts he had heard before but there was a couple that were different views on similar concepts he had learned and so toyed with the ideas. As the professor continued and showed the example of the spell, which was quite impressive he noted, Kai picked up his wand and mimicked the movement the professor was making.

After practicing the movements and studying the teacher, he turned his studies from the professor to the other students as they attempted the spell. Seeing only two others as confident as himself, he still watched and studied their movements before attempting the spell himself. After a few moments his was confident in his ability and directed his wand and his attention onto the plate in front of him. Affixing an image of a shield from an Indian museum with his mind’s eye, Kai flicked his wand in the simple manner while willfully speaking “Scutulum.” The plate in front of him spun and wobbled in a similar fashion to the professor but much more chaotic before expanding into the shield and resting.

[Dylan Cooper]

Observing the example of the Professor, he watched closely in the hopes of perhaps picking up any small tricks to the spell. Not noticing anything in particular, he took his time in studying the plate on the desk before him. After looking at it for a minute or so, he proceeded to picking it up, tracing his fingers across every single patch of it; analysing it carefully. There was a small streak of discolouration along one edge of the porcelain dish, a small, dull yellow where white should prevail. Around the edge was a small, intricate design, coloured blue and green; a delicate pattern of curves and corners that blended together perfectly.

Studying it carefully, he had not made any move to transfigure it by the time most had at least had their first attempt. Despite the small alteration in colour, the plate appeared seamless, and Dylan eventually began to form the image of a shield in his mind. Basing it largely on the characteristics of the plate, he nevertheless pushed aside his basic thought of creating a circular one; he wanted a challenge. Instead, he ended up with a largely diamond-shaped shield. The top held three rounded spikes, while the sides curved around to meet at the bottom. In the centre of the 4-point, kite-shaped shield, was a small, intricate design; not dissimilar to that which had ran around the edge of the plate. The object itself was wooden, a good base to begin from, he thought. He'd always particularly liked the traditional material, despite realising others had a better value when it came to defence.

Pointing his wand at the still plate, now on the desk before him once more, he flicked it slightly and stated clearly the incantation. "Scutulum." The plate shivered slightly, as if it was a disappearing hallucination, before morphing into the desired shield. A small grin of contentment surfaced onto his features, his concentration and focus having paid off quite well.

[Kerridon Paradox]

Kerridon continued to let his quill scratch on the parchment as the latecomers arrived, paying no attention to them as they took their seats. He surveyed the plate on his desk as the professor spoke, taking note of the imperfections as they were told to. His own plate was in mostly good shape, but there was one small crack on the left rim which he took note of. He watched calmly as Professor Romanov demonstrated the spell, shifting the plate on the desk at the front of the room into a fairly large shield with a spike pointing out from the middle. As the class was instructed to try the same, Kerridon paused a moment to sweep a quick glance over the rest of the room. Several people were trying and succeeding the spell already, so he turned his attention back to the plate before him.

With a flick of his wand, just as had been demonstrated a few moments ago, he murmured the necessary word for the spell and watched as his plate began to change, concentrating on the crack in the rim. Once it finished spinning, a shield had emerged – a little smaller than the one on Gavril’s desk, but sturdy enough. The crack that had been on the plate had not been replicated, he saw with satisfaction.

[antontarasov]

Anton listened carefully to Professor Romanov's instructions, taking into consideration all of his little details and jotted down his words as well. His eyes moved back and forth from the paper and his Professor, trying to keep his focus on his teacher but also looking back at his own writing every once and awhile to make sure that all was written well. After his Professor concluded speaking, Anton casually took his plate into his hand, his eyes appearing lazy. However, despite his appearance, he truly was analyzing the size and shape before him, looking for facts and disfigurements in his plate.

He noticed a small crack in the right corner of his plate, and another dent toward the center. Taking these observations into great consideration, he closed his eyes and briefly imagined how his desired shield would turn out. Large, and light-weight, but also durable and usable for battle. After briefly thinking of this, he opened his eyes and uttered the incantation, still focusing on his goal. "Scutulm." He said firmly.
Quickly after uttering the spell his plate changed before him into a charcoal colored shield, with ivy colored tints to it, large and light weight. He had not anticipated the dark color, but was content with it regardless. Just another assignment.

After finishing this action, he quickly put his quill back in his hand and began to sketch a picture of the classroom, observing some of the facial expressions of other students in the classroom and adding them. It was merely a sketch, but people were his prime focus in the drawing.

[parisnowan]

After listening to Professor Romanov's instructions, Paris let out a neutral sigh. She quickly picked up her plate, staring into it with an intense face. Alright, She thought to herself. It shouldn't be too difficult. It sounds relatively simple...although, somewhat pointless... This last thought provoked a quick inner debate within Paris, as she spent the next second trying to resolve in her head whether or not this principle truly did have value to her. In the end, she simply concluded that she would have to learn it regardless, so the thought of whether it actually mattered or not was irrelevant and yet to be proven. After coming to this conclusion, she turned her attention to the details of the shield.

Her Professor had told her to pay attention to cracks, as they would affect her plate's transformation into a shield. However, as Paris scanned her own plate, she began to realize that it was going to be difficult to spot deformities. She saw no cracks, and, if there were, they were very small and barely detectable. Sighing again, Paris concentrated on the spell and goal while muttering the word, "Scutulm."

Her spell worked, transforming quickly into a shield before her. Wanting to make sure everything was alright, she did not take time to merely stare at the shield before her from where she was sitting. Instead, she snatched the shield before her and ran her fingers across it. And first, all Paris felt was a relieving smooth surface, but her fingers stopped as they came across a dent. She obviously missed a disfigurement in her plate. She quickly resumed checking the rest of the shield, and this time, looking very closely also. To her relief, there were no other mistakes. A little angry with herself, Paris set her shield back down on her desk, trying to justify herself. The dent was too hard to see, nearly impossible, she told herself. And besides, it was only a minor mistake...

[lydianowan]

Forcing herself back into a happy mood, Lydia tried to listen patiently as her Professor continued...easy enough. She then made an effort to grasp his details, telling herself that this was important, and jotting down some of the things he said. One thing about Lydia, when she set her mind to something, it usually was finished with passion. That was simply the kind of person Lydia was...all she needed to do was force herself to focus, and not get distracted...

But before she knew it, he was informing her to begin. Thank you! She thought to herself. Lydia figured that actually practicing something was more beneficial than hearing about it, although instructions were needed. But Lydia sometimes had a hard times with lectures, and had anticipated a long one in this class. However, her teacher's words had contradicted this theory, and Lydia was pleasantly suprised. After staring at her plate for a moment, and trying to memorize the many locations of the somewhat numerous cracks in her plate, she finally set it down and decided to begin.

Focusing on her goal, Lydia uttered the word, "Scutulm" and waited for her plate to change. However, to her disatisfaction, nothing happened, and Lydia came to the conclusion that she had either said the word wrong, in the wrong tone...or maybe the way she had flicked her wand? This only created more frustraction, and in her next attempt, she nearly flicked her wand so fiercly that it almost flew out of her hand. That was even more frustrating! Wondering if any other students were experiencing the same problem, Lydia looked around her to see if other students were attempting the spell multiple times. However, to her dissatisfaction, everyone else was seeming to have success. A little more frustrated than before, Lydia tried a third time, once again flicking her wand too hard and saying the word too heavily and unleveled.

Finally accepting that anger was merely making matters worse, Lydia calmed down and took a breath, forcing herself to focus again. Her thoughts once more returned to the many cracks in her sheild, and she uttered the word once more. However, this time, her ideal shield appeared before her. Happy with the outcome, Lydia quickly grabbed the shield to look and see if she had missed any cracks. To her pleasure, it looks completely free of such things, and sports a smooth, maple-brown, exterior.

[Caitlin Collins]

Caitlin stayed quiet and still as the professor spoke again, wincing a little at his “on time” comment to D’rorah. Plates into shields... hopefully it wouldn’t be too hard. Transfiguration was one of the subjects she found herself naturally good at, but recent distractions had affected all her classes, not just those she wasn’t good at to start with. She listened carefully, still not taking retrieving paper to take notes but filing it all away to scribble down later. Usually she didn’t have the best of memories, but if she paid close enough attention then anything short term was quite accurate and correct. She took notice of the imperfections, as instructed, and when he finished talking had a clear idea in her head of what needed doing.

Several other people were quicker than her at getting out wands and performing the spell, including those right besides her – D’rorah and Kai. Both succeeded, as most of the students seemed to be. That gave her a little more confidence, and she raised her own wand and pointed it at the plate in front of her. “Scutulum.” It quivered, just as all the others had done, and slowly transformed. A small, round shield emerged in its place, with none of the imperfections that had originally been on the plate. Feeling quite a nice, satisfied feeling at actually succeeding first time, Caity glanced about the class to see how others were doing.

[Bryan Kelley]

As he waited for the start of the lesson, Bryan was content to doodle into his sketchbook. His attention strayed only with the greeting his fellow classmates before his attention turned once more to the sketchbook. His attention only firmly strayed from his drawing when the Professor saw it fit to start the lesson. When the man started to speak, Bryan's sketchbook closed softly after one final mark and was set to the side and in its place was parchment and quill for taking notes.

The Gryffindor was silent as he listened to those who spoke during the lesson. Bryan felt he had little to say in regards to the subject topic and remained silent, allowing those more knowledgeable on the subject than he to answer and make any of the required comments. He was content to listen and take note on the information that he had been previously ignorant of.

As the Professor drifted away from speech and into spellwork, Bryan watched the transformation the man's plate took on as he preformed the spell that was the subject of the lesson. His eyes strayed on the shield for a few moments before his blue eyed gaze transferred to the plate that was located at his place. Placing his quill to the side and in its ink well, Bryan moved to pick up the plate turning it over in his hands as he studied the circular object. His fingers slid over the glossy surface, feelings the small bumps that had resulted in the firing of the glaze finish over the medium the plate had been created with. He turned it over in his hands, looking at the plate, his eyes noting the simple design that went the circumference of the plate to the small spider web cracks that made up the underside of the glaze finish on the plate.

After studying the plate, Bryan set it once more on his desktop before he retrieve the slender piece of wood from his robe pocket. His own wand was not particularly interesting in design, being simple in appearance, which suited the Gryffindor perfectly. He did not need a fashionable looking wand, just one that served the function he needed from it, seeking more practical use of his wand than for it to look pretty. The maple wood gave a slight sheen as he flicked his wrist, the spell passing his lips. "Scutulum."

[/color] As the word passed his lips, a clear image of his intention was formed in his mind. He had drawn the similarities of the object and his desired outcome and molded them to form the object he sought to change the plate into.

After the word had passed his lips, his plate wobbled as it stretched out and took the form of a simple silver shield. There was no great design over the shield except for the simple metal up raised border around it, it being a darker shade than the rest of the metal that made up the shield. However, the shield was not a perfect transformation as there was still a faint impression of the design that the plate had held lightly visible along the edge of the up-raised border.

Bryan set his wand down as he looked at the results of his attempts. He was not discouraged over the fact it was not a perfect transformation. He wasn't seeking perfection, even though it was nice when it was accomplished, it just wasn't always possible. He was content with his current success. He had something to learn from, as he mother would remind him.[/size][/blockquote]

[Tommy Bryce]

Quill scratching rapidly across the sheet of parchment in front of him, Tommy tried to take in as much as possible so he wouldn’t make a fool of himself when it came to actually performing the spell. The class was full of older students, several of whom – from what he could work out from other lessons with them – were extremely talented wizards and witches. He wasn’t bad at magic, but compared to them he was definitely below average. He watches curiously as the spell was performed, then, as they were instructed to attempt it, glanced about the classroom. Most, if not all of the other pupils, had transfigured their plate correctly the first time. That made him feel under even more pressure to do it right.

Focussing on the plate in front of it, he took note of the slight imperfection in its shape but didn’t really concentrate on that. Instead he kept his focus on the shield he was visualising. “Scutulum.” It started wobbling and soon enough had transformed. A circular, wooden shield was in its place. At first glance it looked perfect, but then Tommy noticed a few bumps in its carving... apparently passed over from the imperfections in the plate. Still, it wasn’t massively noticeable and he was quite pleased with what he’d managed.

[Katherine Knightswood]

Taking Professor Romanov’s advice, Katherine went over her plate before she even got her wand out. Her plate was a good size, a solid dinner plate with a blue rim. Katherine smiled when she saw that, an idea beginning to form in the back of her mind. There was a small chip in the rim of her plate, but otherwise the plate seemed to be in good shape. Katherine double and triple checked the plate, practicing looking for flaws. A few little dings appeared to mar the surface of the plate, but nothing requiring major alteration. The young Ravenclaw was determined to make the transformation of her plate a good one. After all, she had to measure up to the older students. Didn’t she?

Katherine got out her wand and held it in her right hand while she visualized the plate in her mind’s eye. Mentally, she felt its weight, remembered the coolness of the porcelain it was made of, and recalled the roughness of its chipped area. She kept its deep blue trim firmly in mind. And then she called to mind her family’s arms, the shield she was so familiar with from the family history and seeing it every day of her life. The image from the family histories leapt to the forefront of her mind, and she smiled in relief.

Argent, bordure azure, a sword proper, scabbarded and hilted vert. The family blazon burned in her inner eye, so clear she could almost believe she was sitting in the family library viewing it in the chronicles. Katherine took a deep breath, and without hesitating, gave her wand the proper twirl and spoke, her voice soft but sure. “Scutulum!” She didn’t even notice that the glyph at the base of her willow wand glowed softly as she spoke. For a moment, nothing happened, and the youngster hesitated.

Her plate was moving! The plate wobbled and spun, morphing as it did so. She watched in fascination, smiling as it seemed to spin in slow motion, and slowly re-shape itself. One end slowly became more pointed while the other smoothed out along two points, creating the shape of a European knight’s shield. The white of the porcelain took on the brightness of polished steel, while the blue border grew wider, and covered all the edges on the front. A dim shape grew slowly more solid and sword-like, showing the green of the wrapped hilt and the scabbard that belonged to Virtue, the family blade. She’d even managed the carry strap across the back of the shield. Katherine smiled at her accomplishment, noting that even though she was nearly the last one done, she’d succeeded! With a happy sigh, she sat back a little in her seat, waiting for the teacher’s next instructions.