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Post by D'rorah Philosophy on Feb 17, 2008 11:12:23 GMT -5
"Good morning, Mister Baine," replied D'rorah with a nod as he greeted her. She caught the twinge of jealousy in Mallan's eyes as he spoke to Cavan and arched her eyebrow slightly. Glancing over to where Caitlin sat, she shook her head slightly and returned her attention to her notebook.
As the lesson began, D'rorah had quickly penned the information for the lesson as Professor Romanov had begun to speak. One of many languages she was quite familiar with, Latin was quite useful. It helped in understanding the basics of several modern day languages. Her hand calmly lifted into the air beside Cavan's, waiting to see whom the Professor would call upon to answer his question. Finally, she understood the purpose of the brooms waiting quietly in the corner. Not that she had any need to compete with Cavan or anyone else in the room, she believed it was never a bad to idea to demonstrate that she was engaged in a lesson. Who knew? It might even earn some house points for Ravenclaw; that at least, would please her housemates.
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Post by Gavril Romanov on Feb 18, 2008 23:24:46 GMT -5
Several hands went into the air after he had phrased his question on the etymology of Viperaverto. His eyes scanned the room as the first hand, belonging to the Slytherin prefect, shot into the air, followed by his first Hufflepuff student, and then the female Ravenclaw Prefect. His eyebrows raised as he regarded the three students whom had so promptly involved themselves in the lesson. Deciding to go with the first to put her hand in the air, he gestured with a small head nod to the Slytherin prefect.
"Yes, You there..." He said as he pointed at Keaira. "Please state your name and year before you answer-- Everyone, please do the same if I call upon you. It will help me get familiar with everyone." He said as he interrupted himself to address the entire class. He didn't prefer any sort of seating arrangement, nor did he want them to write down their names and years for him to memorize off of paper. He felt that it was a much better approach to familiarize himself with the students themselves.
Turning back to face Keaira, he nodded to her again as if to signify that she may answer now. "Alright now, Ms...?" He said with raised eyebrows, eager to hear her response.
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Post by Dylan Cooper on Feb 23, 2008 18:41:03 GMT -5
Not receiving so much as a nod from D’rorah, he cast his eyes to the parchment before him and stared at it as if searching the blank piece for an answer. Confused and slightly worried, he attempted to internally calm himself. She may very well have just missed him… No reason to panic. It wasn’t like she was purposefully ignoring him, perhaps to the reasoning of wishing to break up or the like, right? Right? Maybe she was angry with him for losing his temper and stalking out of Charms the way he had done… Maybe it was completely unrelated. Maybe she even had something on her mind, able as she was to acknowledge everyone else in the room as she heartbreakingly greeted Mallan and turned to Caitlin.
As Professor Romanov introduced himself and effectively began the lesson, he surveyed the younger-looking professor with curiosity and something that might easily be perceived as wariness. Taking a mental note of the man’s words, manner and all-round demeanor, he guessed that he was at least not completely devoid of any real notion as to what was going on around the school. The word ‘Viperaverto’ appearing almost instantly on the board, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration as he fought to regain what little knowledge he had of latin. With childish assumptions formed in his mind, he felt it was probably best to keep his hand down; something which, clearly, D’rorah, Keaira and Cavan obviously did not feel.
Keaira was the first to be called upon, and Dylan waited impatiently for the answer that evaded his own thinking. Disregarding the professors’ insistence that they speak their name and year before responding to any questions posed, for he knew he would not answer any queries today, he flicked his quill lightly against the parchment before him.
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Post by Keaira O'Connell on Feb 23, 2008 21:58:23 GMT -5
A satisfactory smile crept across Keaira's face. She felt confident with her answer, and as such felt that perhaps the house cup might still be attainable. She simply needed to show that she was able to win back what had been unfortunately taken from her house. Retracting her hand from the air, she let the satisfaction slip away and be replaced by a polite smile. One that had won the hearts of many a teacher in her 5 years at Hogwarts.
"Keaira O'Connell, 5th year Slytherin Prefect." The last bit of information was not requested, however she felt that it might just show him a bit more about her than simply a name, and a number might accomplish. "The spell Vipera Verto has its roots in the Latin Language, Vipera loosely meaning snake, and Verto meaning I change. So, Vipera Verto would loosely mean, I change to snake. As I noted that there are brooms readily available for each student I guess that is probably the subject that we shall be transforming into snakes."
As she spoke she softly let her hands gesture about, from the snake on her robes, to the brooms in the class, and ending with an overall sweeping motion to include the entire class. Keaira looked at the different faces that were being made by her fellow classmates, as she announced that they would be working at turning something in to a snake. Although, she herself had no qualm with the subject of the class, a note of unease drifted through some of her classmates. Things would be fun it seemed with this professor.
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Post by Gavril Romanov on Feb 26, 2008 1:39:00 GMT -5
Ah, so he did have the pleasure of teaching students of an astute nature. Very well indeed. He nodded as Keaira began to explain the origins of the words "vipera" and "verto". She was absolutely correct with her explanation on the definition of the Latin roots and the rough translation that she so graciously gave an example of.
"Yes, very good." He said with a small twitch of a smile trying to explode onto his face, yet he refused to let it conquer him. "Five points to Slytherin." He said with polite nod in Keaira's direction. He turned around and swept behind his desk retrieving his wand from his robes and flourishing it in front of the class.
"Arlight now, we shall begin. There are brooms next to each of your desks. Please place them across the surface tops. I recommend standing up while performing this particular spell, as nobody wants to be bitten in the face by a poisonous snake, if thats what the broom transfigures into. If you have a clear image of the snake desired in your mind, you'll find that you wont stray far from that desired outcome." He instructed.
"Now, the wand movement for this is fairly simple, elementary technique: the swish and flick. However you must make contact with your wand to the object, in this case, the broom, that you are to transfigure, like so..."
Professor Romanov demonstrated a quick swish and flick, adding the necessary contact between broom and wand.
"Everyone got it then? I will now demonstrate the spell. Viperaverto." He swirled his wand in the air quickly and brought it down on the shaft of the broom. Instantly the broom lost its solid and rigid form as it bent freely along the desk. It began to change color and shrink down to a smaller size as the bristles of the broom melded together and disappeared into the tail of the snake. Finally, as the greenish color of the Serpentia Venemosa, more commonly known as the Venom Snake, overcame the ruddy brown hue of the broom, the snake was fully transfigured and coiled on his desk, hissing menacingly, it's singular tri-forked tongue stabbing at the air.
Professor Romanov performed a strange action of tracing the outline of his desk with his wand before pointing it over his shoulder again as the words: "Vipera Evanesca" appeared on the blackboard.
"Don't worry about my snake, now, for those of you who recognize it. It won't be able to leave my desk. And for those of you who feel at any time, threatened by the snake you have just transfigured, the charm: Vipera Evanesca, will absolve you of your fears, you'll find." He said with a small smile as he glanced around his class.
"You may begin."
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Susan Matthews
Gryffindor
[red]5th Year Gryffindor[/red] Shadow Warrior of Earth
goddess, nymph, divine.
Posts: 505
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Post by Susan Matthews on Feb 26, 2008 19:40:09 GMT -5
Susan seemed to be the object of outcast as no one directly chose a desk next to her. However, the several waves and greetings, did not go unnoticed, and she did her best to return them with equal enthusiasm. As the class collectively waited for class to begin, Susan found herself doodling in the margin of her paper. It wasn't long before flowers and butterflies and flying brooms filled the sides of her notes-to-be.
At the start of the class, Susan titled her paper "Viperaverto" as the directions were given. She didn't bother raising her hand to answer the Professor's question on the meaning of the roots to the spell. She had the general idea as to what the assignment would be, but wasn't confident enough, or quick enough to have the change to express this to the rest of the class.
She made note of the confirmed definition and the added instructions given by Professor Romanov. She watched as the professor easily transfigured the broom into a snake. Susan nervously looked to her own broom, before making note of the added incantation to make the snake vanish.
At the suggestion of Professor Romanov to begin, Susan rose from her seat and retrieved her wand. For a moment she pondered over which snake to have in mind as she attempted to transfigure the broom. Susan wasn't sure she wanted a large snake slithering around on her desk. Nonetheless, she kept an image in her mind and provided the correct wand movements as she gave the incantation, "Viperaverto!"
She watched as her broom began to coil and change in color. Her broom was now a Green Tree Python. While it was now a snake, it remained rather stiff and had retained the pattern of knots and lines that were familiar to the boom. Susan watched proudly as her snake manged to blink once and flit its tongue in and out, proving that it was indeed alive and no longer a stick of wood. Susan glanced around the classroom, eager to inspect the outcomes of the other's spell work.
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Post by Dylan Cooper on Feb 26, 2008 21:51:12 GMT -5
Jotting down a few notes about the origins of the words, his head rose once more so that he could better look at the professor. As the plan of the lesson was made clear, even to someone as currently limited as Dylan, he eyed the broomstick beside him with an almost fearfully weary gaze. Considering his dreadfully worsening magical abilities, he could only imagine how this would turn out and was considering simply not partaking in the lesson. Taking hold of the broom assigned to him, however, he laid it across his desk as told.
Trying to imagine any non-venomous snake he could, in the end he decided that it might simply be best to mimic the professors’. Studying his movements and the snake he produced, he went over everything several times to ensure they were correct. Taking a deep breath, he concentrated all of his energies on the task ahead. Swishing and flicking away, he muttered the incantation doubtfully and made contact between the wand and the broom before him. The broom’s rigid form soon lost hold and a dirtily tanned kind of object was produced. Wincing slightly, partially afraid of what he had conjured, it was a moment before he realised that it was a small string of rope. Slumped lazily against his desk, it taunted him with its own inability to be a serpent of any kind.
Unmercifully embarrassed, his cheeks became flushed. At least it wouldn’t kill anyone, right? Almost groaning, he suppressed the instinctual desire to do so with some effort and sat back into his chair, unaware as to when he had even raised himself from his seat. Carefully averting his eyes from anyone else’s, he sat resignedly in his chair, quite unwilling to perform the transfiguration again.
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Post by Keaira O'Connell on Mar 12, 2008 6:41:53 GMT -5
Although Keaira was not a fan of snakes, she was definetly not afraid of them either. Snakes were hardly her idea of a pet, and her knowledge on them was mainly limiited to what she had read in books or seen on TV. Growing up in Ireland, she had never in her life seen a real live snake that wasn't in a cage, until she came to Hogwarts. Unfortunetly the creatures just simply do not live anywhere in Ireland.
As she thought of the task at hand she found that there was only one snake that she could remember well enough to attempt a transfiguration. The Coronella Austriaca, or smooth snake. It was one of the first snakes she had ever seen. Although it had been behind glass at the time she had seen it, she was still quite certian she knew what it looked like enough.
Thinking back, she recalled the greyish brown color that composed most of its body, and the dark black circular markings that went down its lengthin two seperate rows. It was as clear of a picture as she was going to manage, so with a quick swoosh, and flick on to the broom she said the spell "Viperaverto."
As her wand made contact with the broom that sat on her desk she noticed the first change being the broom shrank. Now less than 40 cm in length the brooms brisstles melded together, in to a solid rounded diamond shaped head. Next dark spots began to form down its length, and as a final touch what was once a broom handle tapered down to form a tail. As Keaira looked at the object before her she noticed that although it had the proper markings, and look of a snake, there seemed to be little to no life in the thing. It was as if she had forgotten to think of the vital parts a snake needed to be alive, and as such she had managed to make a pefect replica of what a snake should be, only it was still entirely wood. Sighing innerly she looked at what should be a fully functional smooth snake, and merly jotted down some notes
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Post by Cavan Mikal Weiss on Mar 13, 2008 19:47:59 GMT -5
Cavan let his hand fall back to his desk as Keaira was called on to answer the question on the etymology of Viperaverto. He listened as she spoke her name and year before explaining to the class what at least three of them already knew.
"Keaira O'Connell, 5th year Slytherin Prefect. The spell Vipera Verto has its roots in the Latin Language, Vipera loosely meaning snake, and Verto meaning I change. So, Vipera Verto would loosely mean, I change to snake. As I noted that there are brooms readily available for each student I guess that is probably the subject that we shall be transforming into snakes."
He turned slightly in his seat, turning his whole attention to her words and movements as she explained, whether he knew the facts or not, didn't mean he was going to act all high and mighty. He would learn and relearn until he couldn't forget anything important or seemingly trivial.
He returned his attention to the front of the class, the professor and the broom which he would be turning into a snake in a few minutes, after some important instruction. Five points were given to Slytherin and he couldn't help being glad he hadn't been called upon, Hufflepuff was in the lead after all, they could afford to let others prove themselves too. He watched as Prof. Romanov turned around and swept behind his desk retrieving his wand from his robes and flourishing it in front of the class.
"Arlight now, we shall begin. There are brooms next to each of your desks. Please place them across the surface tops. I recommend standing up while performing this particular spell, as nobody wants to be bitten in the face by a poisonous snake, if thats what the broom transfigures into. If you have a clear image of the snake desired in your mind, you'll find that you wont stray far from that desired outcome. Now, the wand movement for this is fairly simple, elementary technique: the swish and flick. However you must make contact with your wand to the object, in this case, the broom, that you are to transfigure, like so..."
He moved everything but one ink well, a quill and the single sheet of paper he'd started writing on, into his bag before lying the broom across the desk carefully. Then he turned his attention back to see the professor demonstrated a quick swish and flick, adding the necessary contact between broom and wand.
"Everyone got it then? I will now demonstrate the spell. Viperaverto."
He watched intently as Prof. Romanov swirled his wand in the air quickly and brought it down on the shaft of the broom. His eyes widened as instantly the broom lost its solid and rigid form as it bent freely along the desk, beginning to change color and shrink down to a smaller size as the bristles of the broom melded together and disappeared into the tail of the snake. He recognized the greenish color of the Serpentia Venemosa, more commonly known as the Venom Snake as if was fully transfigured and coiled on the desk. Before he could control the reaction, he found himself gulping, eyes still wide with fasination, but also fear and respect for the snake as it hissed menacingly, it's singular tri-forked tongue stabbing at the air.
Before he could get worried though Prof. Romanov performed a strange action of tracing the outline of his desk with his wand before pointing it over his shoulder again as the words: "Vipera Evanesca" appeared on the blackboard. He sighed in relief at the next word spoken to the class.
"Don't worry about my snake, now, for those of you who recognize it. It won't be able to leave my desk. And for those of you who feel at any time, threatened by the snake you have just transfigured, the charm: Vipera Evanesca, will absolve you of your fears, you'll find. You may begin."
He stayed seated for a moment, thinking about which snake he would attempt to transfigure his broom into. He knew so much about both magical and muggle creatures that he had a hard time choosing the best one for this assignment. Instead of going ahead right away, he glanced around to see what some of the other students had done so far.
Susan had risen from her seat and retrieved her wand, providing the correct wand movements as she gave the incantation. The broom began to coil and change in color turning into a Green Tree Python, though it remained rather stiff and had retained the pattern of knots and lines that were familiar to the boom. He made a mental note as the snake moved and breathed.
Dylan didn't look to excited about the whole idea, but after taking a deep breath, he concentrated swished and flicked, muttering the incantation doubtfully and made contact between the wand and the broom before him. Cavan shook his head silently, knowing that the older boy needed someone to cheer him up. The broom’s rigid form soon lost hold and a dirtily tanned kind of object was produced, a small string of rope.
Keaira seemed to think for a moment before preforming a quick swoosh, and flick on to the broom, speaking the spell, as her wand made contact with the broom the first change being that it shrank to less than 40cm, the bristles melded together into a solid rounded diamond shaped head. Dark spots appeared down the length, the other end tapering into a tail. It was a Coronella Austriaca, or smooth snake, he recognized it immediately, but there was something wrong. There was no life in the snake, it was just a nice snake shaped toy of wood now.
Seeing three older students attempting the spell, he finally decided he'd better get it over with. He stood from his chair, closed his eyes with a deep breath and pictured the creature as he had seen it. He thought about not only the way it looked, but also the feel of it's scales, the way it moved through different surfaces, the look in it's eyes when it was hungry and tired, and finally and cool and warm it's scales could be against flesh. With a second deep breath, not opening his eyes, he swished his wand, following it closely with a flick, whispering the spell strongly under his breath.
Even after he'd cast the spell he didn't open his eyes for a moment, willing a little extra into his spell. When he did open his eyes he was just in time to see the changes. At the same time that the broom began to shift color from the light tan color of the wood to a shiny black, a massive pattern of tiny diamonds. The handle flattened slightly and became like a diamond shape, the bristles lengthing and slimming into a tail. Immediately the Black Racer, a North American bred snake, lifted it's head and blinked, looking around the room before slithering off the desk and up his arm to the safety and warmth of inside his robes.
Cavan was so shocked that he'd actually managed a live snake, he actually felt rather bad and was quick to slip back into his seat, trying to hide from the other students. As much as he loved praise, after what he'd seen of the other students, he felt that he should have done badly as well, or at least a little bit more moderately and less extreme...
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Post by Caitlin Collins on Mar 14, 2008 2:43:37 GMT -5
((Mallan’s response was given to me by him so I could get on and post))
Caity smiled at Cavan, touched again by his caring manner as he reassured her that they probably wouldn’t be flying in Transfiguration. “Thanks,” she grinned at him in reply, turning back to Mallan as Cavan also turned his attention elsewhere.
"I don't know.... I guess it's all the work is weighing on me. I feel like I can't hold it together and so I was hoping to surround myself people who help me forget my worries. Normally all I need is you but I don't want to distract you from class whereas Jason; his actions make me laugh."
A small frown developed on Caity’s face as he explained what was wrong. It’s probably just the time of year... holidays are soon, she reminded him falteringly, still not quite used to this new method of communication. Although she was attempting to cheer him up, she wasn’t sure if she was doing a very good job. Don’t worry about distracting me, I’ll be fine, she smiled at him in a bright manner, hoping that Jason would actually turn up to help her with cheering up Mallan.
The professor began to speak and Caitlin forced herself to turn most of her attention to the front of the class, but also keeping an eye on Mallan. She didn’t like seeing other people unhappy. She listened attentively as Professor Romanov asked for a definition of the spell. Having no idea herself, she also listened quietly as Keaira offered a correct description, and jotted down a few notes on the page in front of her. So they were transfiguring the brooms – she should have guessed. Sending a small smile in Cavan’s direction in acknowledgement of his prediction that they wouldn’t be flying the brooms being correct, she glanced at Mallan again. If he didn't feel up to paying attention then he could always look at her notes later, she thought to herself.
He finished speaking and Caity drew out her new wand, her thoughts turning to the snakes she had encountered in India. The one that came into her head immediately was the Indian Cobra, or Naag as it was referred to in Hindi. But there was no way she could summon one of them – they were one of the most venomous snakes you could come across. Thinking again, she came up with the Green Keelback. She’d only seen it once, but hopefully it would do. Trying to concentrate on the image of the small, green snake, her mind kept wandering back to the cobra that she had first thought of. Concentrate! she told herself, not completely succeeding in following her own instructions.
“Viperaverto!” she said aloud, doing the required motions with her wand and hitting the broom firmly. It began to shift and before long had turned into a living, breathing snake – though not quite the one she had intended. It was the right colour for a Green Keelback, but other than that... it seemed she had managed to transfigure her broom into an Indian Cobra after all. It still seemed a little stiff but other than that had gone fairly well... except for the whole poisonous issue. It swayed from side to side on her desk and she stepped back nervously. Having been taught about just how dangerous these things were she wasn’t about to get in one’s way, even if it was just a transfiguration. She looked around to see how other people were doing. Cavan seemed the only one to successfully perform the transfiguration. In fact, she was quite impressed with her spell when compared to the others’. It hadn’t technically been what she’d wanted to summon, but it was a snake nonetheless. She frowned slightly as her cobra also peered around the room in a rather menacing manner, but didn’t really want to banish it with the evanesco charm quite yet, considering how well the transfiguration had gone...
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Post by mallan on Mar 16, 2008 0:51:07 GMT -5
The frustrations of the day weighed on Mallan and consumed his thoughts. Normally he would have been entranced with the professor’s words and subconsciously observing his surroundings but not now. The rest of the room and everyone in it seemed to fade away as he scribbled half-heard notes onto his paper. He had to focus in order not to let his telekinesis take control as he usually let it when his mind was too focused elsewhere but even his focus drifted. Though his hands were moving, a few moments later, the paper on his desk was filled mainly with a detailed sketch of a pair of eyes. Those eyes matching the owner of the only words that Mallan heard clearly and as Caitlin spoke, he realized that he had been staring at the floor in front of his desk without any attention to the rest of the room.
Her words swayed his emotions shallowly; however, they did draw his attention back to her. He looked up towards her to hold her attention as she finished speaking. She was probably right. It was probably the time of year. He enjoyed the holidays but knowing that he would most likely have to go home saddened him; something he did not realize until Caitlin brought it up. He wanted to stay with her not with his family. Perhaps he could; he would have to ask… somehow. Hopefully he would be fine but he was not convinced of the matter. That was, not until she smiled. He did not even notice until a moment later that a fair portion of his worries had gone. Nor did he notice a soft smile that silently grew on his face. It was something he could not figure out; he could not understand how it worked and when he noticed himself smiling he could almost swear it was some form of magic. How could a smile brighten his day up so much?
The jealously that he felt for Cavan was quickly redirected towards the professor as now he stole Caitlin’s attention. Mallan could not help but look towards the professor as well; his smile twisting to an almost unnoticeable scowl that quickly left. It was class after all and it was not the professor’s intention to ruin his day. Mallan continued to take notes on the professor’s topic without looking at his paper. When the professor was done speaking, Mallan’s mental attention immediately left and refocused itself uncontrollably onto Caitlin. A flash of jealousy subconsciously came across yet again as he noticed a smile given to Cavan. The previous times he had not noticed but after a moment he felt his hand holding the pencil gain a burning sensation of a fist clenched for too long. Foolishness came over him with the realization and immediately relaxed his grip on his pencil. He knew it was not Cavan’s intention to steal Caitlin’s attention and he was only eleven after all.
With his fringed focus and frustrations of the day he seemed to have lost his normal sense of control. It was unlike him and it annoyed Mallan knowing that his mood may be causing others to feel down as well. Taking a few moments, Mallan tried clearing his head. He was in utter failure until the image of Caitlin sitting on the grass in the elemental room of water bubbled to the surface of his thoughts. After a few moments he felt more or less back to his normal self but the negative thoughts still lingered. They would rise again but for the moment he could focus on the class again.
After his awareness was brought back to the classroom with a more clear understanding, Mallan also became aware of the fact that he had no idea what was going on. Looking at his notes he had been taking, he found he had barely written anything; the second half of the notes were imprinted deeper than the rest but that fact skipped past him. Looking towards Caitlin to figure out what was going on; he caught her mental command to concentrate. It amused Mallan slightly at what he mentally heard for that was the exact thing that he needed; concentration.
Realizing that he had missed so much, Mallan readjusted himself in his chair in order to watch Caitlin perform the apparent spell required for the class today. He was thankful that she was not finished with it like it seemed some of the other students were. His face blank of much emotion, Mallan watched as she performed the spell and attempted to memorize the motions but still his memory fought him. As she finished though, shock rushed through him at the snake that Caitlin chose to transfigure. When she took a step back he knew that she was at least a little uncomfortable and so Mallan immediately stood up and moved towards her. Placing himself between her and the snake, Mallan put an arm around Caitlin to let her know he was there for her. However, the cobra did not fancy how quickly he moved or the place he chose and so lashed out. Without flinching or any thought, his telekinesis reacted putting up an invisible energy barrier and with a soft thudding sound the snake’s head flattened for a split second before it pulled itself back and continued swaying.
All the worries of the day left since he stood up and placed himself next to Caitlin. The only concern in his mind was to protect Caitlin and now that she was next to him the thoughts did not return either. He felt complete with her there and wanted to give her a small kiss on the cheek but instead merely replied.
Fascinating choice. (A half smile playfully came over his lips and then disappeared, replaced with a concerned look) Is everything okay?
Even though Mallan maintained the barrier, the thought of the snake left him as he looked into Caitlin’s eyes and held her. Nothing else in the world could possibly matter.
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Post by Gavril Romanov on Mar 22, 2008 1:34:05 GMT -5
Gavril stepped out from behind his desk and stood at the front of the class, ready to observe his students. With his wand still in his hand, he folded his arms, allowing himself to take on the role of a judge as they began to raise their wands and attempt to transfigure their broomsticks into snakes. He cast a glance back at the snake which was magically bound to his own desk, smiling as he watched the unique tri-forked tongue of the Serpentia Venemosa flit in and out of its mouth, tasting the air. It was a particularly dangerous snake, which was why he had traced the magical lines around his desk perimeter to confine it. It would be a devastation if he were to allow one of the students to get bitten, as they would surely fall ill within a matter of moments and would need a curio of potions, remedies, and anti-venoms to recover from the bite. Yes, a devastation indeed, for this was his first class and he was sure to take the necessary precautions to ensure each and every one of their safety.
His first observation was a Gryffindor girl, fifth year. She produced the correct wand motions, but it sounded as if something was a bit off in her vocalization of the incantation. A bit rushed, in his opinion. He watched as her broom began to shift and coil, successfully turning into a snake, however, there was something very similar about the snake compared to the broom. As he swept upon her to check her work, he noticed that the snake she produced, the Green Tree Python, still retained the striations and knots that would be found in wood, particularly a broomstick. It remained rather rigid as it moved about on her desk, but she indeed has transfigured the inanimate object into a living thing.
"Well done, Ms...." He unfolded his arms and swirled his wand in the air, producing a piece of parchement out of thin air, and snatched it up quickly with his free hand and his eyes scanned the paper. "Ah, Gryffindor, Fifth year." He muttered. Looking up from his paper, he continued his praise. "Ms. Matthews, then, good work. My only suggestion: Enunciate and slow down the incantation to a comfortable speed." He said with a sharp smile and nod, and then he moved onto the next student.
Referencing his magical parchment once more, he approached a one Mister Dylan Cooper, fifth year Ravenclaw, and House Prefect, no less. Gavril stopped short as his eyes befell a length of rope that lay lifeless against the Ravenclaw's desk. Frowning, Gavril picked up the rope, and held it up to examine it.
"Mister Cooper, this...was not the assignment. However, this rope you have produced seems rather durable and strong. Do you see the intricate triple coils intertwined within the rope? You have skill, however, I feel that you may have been off someplace else. Focus and strength of will are the key here. You'll do better next time." He said as he laid the rope back down across his desk. "At least you needn't worry about using the Vipera Evanesca charm." He said with a hint of a joke lingering as he walked off toward the next student.
Miss Keaira O'Connell was next. The student which answered his question at the beginning of class on the topic of the etymology of the incantation that they were to be using today. He stood next to her as she went through the motions of her wandwork, tapping the broomstick lightly and saying the incantation. She had taken her time, seemingly choosing a serpentine form for the broom to take on. He watched eagerly as the broom began to transfigure in a similar fashion that his had during his demonstration. When the broom had finally stopped its transformation, Gavril found himself looking at a wooden replica of the Coronella Austriaca.
"Nice choice of serpent, Miss O'Connell. However it seems that your snake seems to be a little on the wooden "replica" side of things. It is completely bereft of life..." He said slowly, eyeing her. Something seemed to be affecting his fifth years, they seemed distracted. "I do hope everything is alright? Miss O'Connell?....Next time, I suggest, if you have trouble, to pair up a memory of something that invigorates you, something that makes you feel alive, while directing your will. I'm sure you'll find better results." He advised her with a small nod as he moved onto the next student.
He couldn't help but feel a little disappointed with how his lesson was going. He was sure that at least the fifth years would show flourish for Transfiguration at this point in their magical educations. So far, all that they've yielded were a halfway transformed snake, a length of rope, and a wooden snake replica.
"Mister Weiss, lets see what you've got." He said, standing back, allowing the first year Hufflepuff to give it a go. To his surprise, on Cavan's first try, his broom began to shift in color to the shiny black, the bristles melded together, forming the tail, and the handle flattened and shaped itself into a diamond shape , becoming the Black Racer. The snake was fully alive as it blinked and slithered off of his desk and found its way up Cavan's arm and into his robes.
Gavril was absolutely dumbfounded. A first year student managed to triumph over the prior three fifth years. Very odd indeed. The latter three all seemed like bright young students, but very distracted. Cavan, on the other hand, had performed the spell correctly and managed a full blown snake, just like the one he had magically caged on his desk. "Mister Weiss, I must commend you on your beautiful transfiguration skills. Bravo, indeed."
Gavril tucked his wand and parchment underneath his arms and clapped his hands lightly before patting the young Hufflepuff on the back. "I do hope that snake was not posionous, young one, for it slithered up your robes if you didn't notice..." Gavril said with a small wink and then moved on to the next student.
He referenced his paper once more and found his next student to be Caitlin Collins, sixth year Hufflepuff, and House Prefect. He watched as she tapped her broomstick firmly and called out the incantation after a moment of thought. The broom transfigured itself quickly and fluidly, which was a good sign, but Gavril found himself tilting his head as the color of the snake was a greenish hue, but the form was cobra-esque. He had never seen a green cobra before.
"Very nice, Miss Collins. I see that you perhaps may have been thinking about two different snakes. None-the-less, interesting to say the least. A little stiff, but keep up the good work. Try relaxing a bit more next time." He had offered advice to each of the students he observed. He noticed little things in their posture and body language, as well as their diction and how they spoke the incantation. It was the little things he picked up in their presentations that tipped him off what may have hindered them in successfully transfiguring their broomsticks.
Making his was back to the front of class after the rest of the students gave it a go, he pointed his wand to his snake.
"Vipera Evanesca!" A bright flash emitted from his wand, shooting a bolt of light at the serpent on his desk. In a spectacular swirl of lights that traveled along the length of the snake, it had vanished into thin air.
"Alright now. Please dismiss your snakes in the same fashion as I have, and here is your homework:" He pointed his wand at the blackboard and the notes he had displayed earlier shifted, without erasing, but formed a new set that read:
1000 word essay on the necessity for concentration while attempting transfiguration. Why is it essential, how it allows for better results. Explain in detail.
Practice transfiguring small objects such as watches, clocks, small books, etcetera, into another small object of your choice.You will be presenting your transfiguration to the class during the next lesson. Be prepared!
"If anyone has any questions, please see me after class, otherwise, you are all dismissed." He said shortly. He took a seat behind his desk and began to organize his things together before he looked up, having something else to add.
"And good work today, everybody. Nobody was a complete failure, every broomstick was transfigured. We're here to hone our skills, so keep up on your practice."
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Post by Cavan Mikal Weiss on Mar 29, 2008 20:37:53 GMT -5
"Mister Weiss, lets see what you've got. Mister Weiss, I must commend you on your beautiful transfiguration skills. Bravo, indeed. I do hope that snake was not poisonous, young one, for it slithered up your robes if you didn't notice..."
Cavan gave the professor a weak smile as he was praised. He was glad that he had done well, but it didn't change the fact that he'd done better than the upperclassmen. He nodded as it was pointed out to him that snake had slithered up his sleeve. He'd actually been very pleased when it had done so, as he missed the snakes he'd had in America. He wasn't in the least bit worried about the creature biting him, as he'd always had a way with animals of all types.
"Alright now. Please dismiss your snakes in the same fashion as I have, and here is your homework: If anyone has any questions, please see me after class, otherwise, you are all dismissed. And good work today, everybody. Nobody was a complete failure, every broomstick was transfigured. We're here to hone our skills, so keep up on your practice."
Cavan looked up at the board, quickly and neatly jotted down the assignment with a small smile and then gathered his things, making a point to pretend he had already dismissed his snake.
1000 word essay on the necessity for concentration while attempting transfiguration. Why is it essential, how it allows for better results. Explain in detail.
Practice transfiguring small objects such as watches, clocks, small books, etcetera, into another small object of your choice.You will be presenting your transfiguration to the class during the next lesson. Be prepared!
Once he had everything packed up, he stood and made his way over to Professor Romanov's desk. "Excuse me, Professor?" he started, "Can I ask you something? How long would the Vipera Verto last if we didn't cast Vipera Evanesca? I'd really like to keep my snake... it's not venomous..."
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Post by Dylan Cooper on Mar 29, 2008 23:41:01 GMT -5
His already significantly deflated ego was pierced even further as the professor began to make his rounds around the classroom. Almost wishing he could hide in shame, perhaps beneath the desk, he gave a noticeable wince as Professor Romanov’s attention was diverted to his own dreadful masterpiece. Not wanting to seem completely idiotic, no bright ideas came to him as to how he could avoid such a thing in front of Gavril and so sat there hopelessly as, frowning, he picked up his poor attempt at transfiguration.
Almost bursting with embarrassment as Romanov began to speak, he felt a small tinge that might very well have been a blush creeping onto his features and, as soon as the professor had moved on, he took the rope and shoved it into the satchel at his feet. His eyes only removed themselves from his fidgeting hands when a bright flash came from Gavril’s wand and caused his own perfect snake to do a disappearing act and leave them.
Having, of course, no snake to ‘dismiss in the same fashion’, he quickly jotted down some more notes for the lesson and the homework he was distributing. Revising what was requested, he knew that in part the work was directed toward him; it was also probably directed toward anyone else that hadn’t been completely successful in their transformation of the brooms. Nearly groaning at the already high stack of assignments he needed to complete, he gave a resigned sigh to working on his abilities during any five or ten minute breaks between everything else; at least there was a practical part involved for the homework.
Unfortunately, however, they would be forced to reveal their progress during the next lesson, and he absolutely dreaded the event to the point of considering not even coming. His spell work was terrible of late, and embarrassing himself before the entire class even more resolutely was not high on his list of agendas. Not taking much solace in the professor’s final words, he quickly packed up his things and took off from the class, intended for the library while the information was still fresh in his mind.
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Post by Gavril Romanov on Mar 30, 2008 0:34:22 GMT -5
"Excuse me, Professor?" he started, "Can I ask you something? How long would the Vipera Verto last if we didn't cast Vipera Evanesca? I'd really like to keep my snake... it's not venomous..."
Gavril looked up from his papers that he had begun to sift through as the class had ended and students were packing their things and slowly filtering out of the classroom. He found himself looking at the first year Hufflepuff, one of the few who had successfully transfigured their broomsticks.
"Ah,Mister Weiss. That is a very good question." He said, turning his eyes upon the student. "The transfiguration, if performed by a very powerful wizard, in my own opinion, would last forever according to his focus and will power while performing the magic. Forever until the wizard dies." he said, still looking at Cavan. "Everyone is capable of great things, young one, but I must ascertain that your snake will probably last a week at best before the magic runs out and transfigures itself back into a broomstick. You are a very gifted student, but you are still very green. If you wish to keep your snake, I shall not prevent you..." He explained, trailing off at the end, looking Cavan once over, wondering if the serpent was still hiding somewhere within his robes.
"You could always perform the spell again, and learn how to better focus your energies, and strengthen your abilities, after the magic wears off..." Gavril left him with these words as he packed up his belongings and and swept from the classroom, bidding the rest of the remaining students a farewell and a reminder to keep on their homework.
Sighing to himself as he made his way down the corridors, he felt like making a pit stop in the Staff Lounge area.
(OOC: If you would like to add a post before mine, please PM Alessandro Darko, and we can unlock the thread and work something out)
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