Transfiguration ((1st - 3rd Years))

[Hermione Granger]

"Bye Hagrid." Hermione sent her friend and fellow colleague a brief but soft smile she reserved for few people as she shut his hut's front door behind her. Glancing at her watch, she realised she would be late after her late lunch with Hagrid for her class with the First, Second and Third Years. Biting her lip, Hermione immediately hurried across the grounds to return to the castle. At times like these, apparition within Hogwarts would have been much more convenient.

Hermione arrived in her classroom five minutes before class was due to start. A small number of pupils had already seated themselves and she bustled past them to her desk, sitting down at her already-prepared notes for today's lesson. She leafed through them quickly as more students entered the room, and a little over five minutes later, she looked up to begin as all of the children were now present.

"Good afternoon class. Today we will begin the art of inanimate transfiguration. Please turn to page 245 in your textbook." Hermione waited until everyone had done as she had asked, before continuing. "First Years will be learning how to transfigure a stone into a compass; Second Years will transfigure leaves into parchment; and Third Years a pillow into a blanket." Hermione waved a hand at the props ready in the corner of the room.

"But before we start, I think we should have a quick re-cap on the basic elements of transfiguration. What are the four principles of transfiguration? What are the two common terms and the main characteristics?" Hermione looked round expectantly at the class of First to Third Years, awaiting their hands to rise.


((Answers can be found in the online textbook. I am looking for students to answer the following:
- Name the four basic principles of transfiguration.
- Give the two common terms of transfiguration.
- Name and describe the main characteristics of transfiguration - there are five, so one per student.
However, since there are so few of you, if you want to answer more than one question and earn more house points, you may.
You have a week to post. I will probably extend this to two weeks if not enough students post.))

[Williard Thoth R4]

Williard waited patiently for Professor Granger to arrive to class. As always, he was the first to arrive and be in his seat with his materials ready to work out in front of him. A few minutes later, Professor Granger arrived looking hard pressed, but that soon faded and the class begun. He was so excited about being a second year; that meant harder, more challenging work. As instructed, he turned to page 245 in his textbook. Williard liked inanimate transfiguration well enough. He had been over it last year and gotten through it much to his satisfaction, so he entered today's lesson with a very confident attitude.

"Leaves to parchment," Williard mouthed to himself as Professor Granger set the tasks for each perspective year. When the professor asked a question, Williards hand shot into the air. "The four principles of transfiguration are one, all transfigurations are reversible. The opposite of Transfiguration is Untransfiguration, meaning you can return something to it's original state, which is the second principal; the object that results after a correct transfiguration is still the original object, just in a different form. Three, incomplete transfigurations, also known as Partial Transfigurations, which can and do happen a lot, most of the time with inexperienced wizards. And four is Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration which are food cannot be produced out of thin air, food can be moved from one place to another by magic or changed, but it can't be created out of absolutely nothing."

Pleased with himself but still mindful of the rest of the class, Williard decided to stop right there and give his classmates a chance to answer the other questions. He didn't necessarily care about showing his intelligence, he just didn't want to be that overbearing guy who knew everything. But, if no one else answered, Williard was prepared to.

[Ashanya Alford R3]

Ashanya brushed her hair calmly in her dorm room. It fell silky to her shoulders as usual. She watched her newly washed hair sort of glimmer in her mirror. She smiled at her reflection. Ashanya suddenly realized she had no time to watch herself in the mirror. She struggled to pull her robes out of her trunk. She had lost track of time now and didn't want to be late for breakfast. After all, breakfast was supposed to be the most important meal of the day, right? Ashanya threw on her Ravenclaw robes and jumper quickly and then looked herself in the mirror. She seemed to have everything she needed. Wait! Ashanya screamed to herself. She then ran back over to her bed and pulled her creme color bag over her shoulder with her wand inside it. With that, Ashanya knew she was completely ready and she hurried out the door to the Great Hall.

It had been a normal breakfast as usual. Nothing too fancy. She wasn't really that hungry. Ashanya took a few more sips of her pumpkin juice as she realized that she wasn't going to be late. She took a deep comical breath and pushed herself from the bench and calmly went off to the first class of the day.

Transfiguration.. Ashanya really liked the subject. It was very interesting and fun to learn how to transform things. Ashanya much enjoyed anything that had to do with her wand. Her favorite subject was Transfiguration, but Charms had to be a good second. Actually, Ashanya didn't mind Potions too much. Of course, she could do without Professor Snape. Ashanya finally reached the classroom and stepped inside. She looked around for anyone she knew to sit by. She spotted Woodrow, his Ravenclaw friend with whom she spent a good time.

She pulled out her book & turned to page 245. "Wow, a pillow into a blanket", she thought when Professor cleared which year would do what. Professor asked a question. Yes, she knew that. But, another boy of second year replied for the first one. Luckily, rest two questions were still there to be replied. When he stopped, Ashanya quickly stood up & answered the second one," I'll reply for the second one, Professor. Two common terms of Transfiguration are....first is Exordium , which means the beginning object to be transfigured. Second is Eventium, which is the end result of Transfiguration." She wanted to give rest answers too, but she sat down thinking for others to give reply. If they would not, then she is there for reply!

[Melody Bang-Bala G6]

Melody was suffering some frustration in Transfiguration classes nowadays. The fact was that keeping students back a year was intended for... to put it bluntly... the unintelligent students who needed the same material drumming into their heads twice before they could pass their exams. Melody hadn't failed her first year exams because she was a dunderhead, she'd failed because of the... call it a breakdown, after the Death Eater attack, and in fact she was very bright and excelled in a few of her academic subjects. Transfiguration was one of those, and Melody had been doing extra work by herself and with her cousin Hebe's assistance; Professor McGonagall had mentioned to Melody at the end of her repeat of the first year that she might take the OWL a year early if she continued to cover extra material at the same rate. Since then, the stream of new teachers (almost as constant as DADA teachers had used to be!) had made it difficult for her to raise the subject with them, as each one would be determined to assess her abilities themselves and she had to make a good impression on each one.

So, while she hadn't mentioned anything about it to their legendary new teacher (she would much rather have had Professor McGonagall still), Melody was eager to do well, although hardly overwhelmed by the task they were being set... it sounded more elementary than what lower years were being set, since there would be little need to change the type of matter that they were dealing with. Her bunches bobbing ever so slightly, she glanced down at her textbook, which was flipped open on a page giving a basic introduction to Animal Transfiguration, something that Hebe had been telling her about a couple of days ago. She looked up again as the Professor asked a question, alert and awake. These sorts of questions tended to sort out those who couldn't remember anything about Transfiguration from those who found things sticking in their head, and those who had gone to the trouble to memorise the simple rules because it made harder parts of the subject seem quite easy.

After two Ravenclaws had spoken, the remaining question was possibly the most dreary one. Melody nevertheless deigned to answer it.
"T'main characteristics to consider about an object thoo're gonna Transfigure are: its size; its shape - usually simplified into t'geometrical shape, or combination o' shapes, that it resembles t'most; its colour; and its function." Simple enough, she thought, and yet still found it necessary to take issue with the inaccurate wording of one of the Ravenclaw's answers. She did it as sensitively as she could, but her wording was usually clear rather than carefully constructed to avoid offence and so her introduction of the subject was still fairly blunt.

"Gamp's Law has five principal exceptions, mind," she said hesitantly. "Food is jus' t'first of 'em. Another one's been disproved ever since Flamel revealed that 'e'd succeeded wit' 'is Philosopher's Stone. Gamp thought that it wasn't possible to Transfigure anythin' into gold, but he was disillusioned wit' alchemy at that point after a close friend 'ad blown 'imsel' up tryin'; 'e tried to get it outlawed an' all. So the exception o' gold's been changed, updated, or however you'd 'ave it. Now it's that it's on'y possible to Transfigure other metals into gold, not anything else, and even that is disputed. There are plenty o' alchemists out there willing to try, e'en tho' it's said to be impossible. An' there are three more, but one o' them's been lost from t'original document so's we dunnot know whether it's genuine, an' Ah dunnot understand t'other couple," she admitted.

[Hermione Granger]

Hermione chose a Second Year, Williard Thoth, to answer first; he gave her the four principles of Transfiguration. "Correct," she nodded. "Five points to Ravenclaw." Next, Ashanya Alford in the year above gave Transfiguration's two common terms. Nodding again, Hermione said, "Yes, another five points to Ravenclaw." Memories of Professor Snape dismissing her right answers when she was her students' age caused her to bristle invisibly, before she moved onto a Gryffindor, Melody Bang-Bala in her third year. Her answer reminded Hermione of herself when she was younger - always supplementing her answers with more knowledge than necessary. Usually her efforts had not been acknowledged, but Hermione was determined that if a child knew more, they earned more; otherwise, how could she encourage them to work harder? "Correct, Miss Bang-Bala." Hermione allowed a smile. "Your knowledge is impressive. Ten points to Gryffindor for supplementing your answer."

((FIRST YEARS))

After the students had successfully answered her questions, Hermione moved onto the main activity for today's class. "I will demonstrate what the First Years will be attempting, then the Second Years, then the Third Years," she explained sternly. Meanwhile, her wand levitated a stone from her box of materials by her desk to float in front of her. "I expect the rest of the class to talk quietly between yourselves whilst I am teaching. First Years - like I said before, you will be learning to transfigure a stone into a compass. To do this, the spell is Calculionis." A swish of Hermione's wand had the word written in white on the blackboard. "Repeat after me - Calculionis." Her wand trained upon the levitating stone once more. "I will now demonstrate the transfiguration. Keeping the image of a compass in your mind, cast Calculionis." At this, the stone before her began to change, turning into a compass. Hermione made it rotate in the air to show the class. It was a normal compass - grey in colour (a stone colour) and about the same size as the stone it had been transfigured from. "Then try changing its colour with the spell I taught you last week." At this, Hermione altered the colour to an emerald green. "You have ten minutes to complete try this," she informed the First Years, using her wand to levitate a stone to every child.

((SECOND YEARS))

"Second Years, you will be transfiguring leaves into parchment," Hermione addressed the second youngest students in the School. "We will use Scrifoleum." The words appeared under Calculionis on the board. After making the students repeat the spell, Hermione used her wand to spread some leaves she had gathered from the grounds on her desk. "Watch carefully, because this is more complicated than spells like Calculionis. You will be given a few leaves and you need to make them into one sheet of parchment." Hermione swished her wand and murmured the spell, causing the leaves on her desk to form a normal-sized sheet of parchment. She held it up for the class to see. "Once you have completed that, you need to try and change the colour and the texture." Her wand tapped the parchment, making it dark orange, then the texture spell made it very smooth. "You have ten minutes too," Hermione told the Second Years as she distributed five leaves per student.

((THIRD YEARS))

Finally, Hermione turned to the oldest in the class. "Third Years, you will be transfiguring a pillow into a blanket. This is more complicated as you are transfiguring a small object into a much larger object. The spell is Plumartus. Repeat after me." The last incantation appeared on the blackboard under Calculionis and Scrifoleum. Her wand levitated a pillow onto the desk where the leaves had been before. "Plumartus," Hermione said, flicking her wand. The pillow began to change, spreading flat into a long, rectangular blanket. "Like the First and Second Years, you can then change the colour," she made the blanket violet, "the texture," it became smooth and silk to the touch, "and the size." The blanket began to stretch, but before it could spill over the desk, she made it small, like the size of the pillow originally. "Is that clear? If you have any questions, ask now. You can begin and you have ten minutes," Hermione concluded briskly, falling into her chair behind her desk. She was tired and teaching three year groups was always challenging.

[Ashanya Alford R3]

Woopeee......Ashanya earned house points first time. She was too happy & thanked to professor.
Then Professor told the first activity to class year by year. As she knew, she had to convert pillow to a blanket. When professor told them how to do, everyone started acting the same way as they were told. They had ten minutes- which were more than enough for her!

Ashanya was given a pillow by Professor. She pulled her wand from his bag & holded it tightly in her right hand. She was curious to see that 'special' blanket. Pointed the wand to the pillow, she start remembering the spell- yes, it was 'Plumartus' ! She thought. Then she flicked her wand saying "Plumartus" a bit loudly. And, that pillow transfigured to a blanket successfully! She smiled. Then she thought of changing size & color.

What should be the color- she thought. Yes, it should have red as it was her favorite color. And the size should have medium enough for her. Again she pointed her wand and successfully changed it's color to red & texture to nylon. She thought professor would surely be happy on seeing her progress!

[zoeyshay]

Zoey listened to Professor Granger, actually interested. Transfiguration came easy to her, it was a strong point in her academic ability. She knew she wasn’t the greatest, but she knew she was half way decent at it. She actually pulled off two straight O’s in it. She was hoping for a third year. She had her parchment out, and her quill out, ready to write notes. She heard Professor Granger tell her and the fellow third years to transform a pillow into a blanket. She watched how she moved her wand, and listened to the spell, pulling out her wand.

She cleared her throat, wiping her bangs out of her eyes. When she wiped the bangs out of her eyes, a little stand of her black hair tickled her noses, and she wiggled it slightly, hardly noticeable. It didn’t work, so she just wiped it away. When it was all better, she copied Professor Granger’s motion, and said “Plumartis.” She watched, and nothing happened. She must have said it incorrectly. She cleared her throat again, and repeated the spell. “Plumartis.” She said. The pilow turned into a pillow, and she smiled, satisfied. She movered her hand over the blanket.

[Hermione Granger]

Hermione travelled round the classroom, first gauging the progress of the inexperienced First Years, then the adapting Second Years, and eventually she came to assess the work of the oldest year group, the Third Years. She arrived at the place of a familiar face: Ashanya Alford, whom Hermione had previously awarded points to for her correct answer during question time. She watched the young girl as she successfully transfigured the pile of leaves into a pillow, and then changed the colour, size and texture. Hermione gave a curt nod. "Remember to flick your wand clearly, Miss Alford," she advised. "Transfiguration requires deft wand-flicking, not just saying the incantation clearly. Ten points to Ravenclaw."

Hermione moved away from Ashanya to a Gryffindor Third Year girl, Zoey Shay. She had managed to transfigure a perfect pillow, but she had neglected to change its size, colour and texture. Hermione frowned. "Five points to Gryffindor for a good effort, Miss Shay, but you haven't completed the task. Size, colour and texture," she recited. "You must master these three elements if you want to pass your Transfiguration grade."

((HOMEWORK))

By the time Hermione had finished watching the whole class, it was nearly time for the end of the lesson. Standing at the front of the room, she rubbed out the three spells on the blackboard and began to write anew in white text. "First Years, your homework is to research the basics and principles, and the common terms of Transfiguration. Second Years, research the main characteristics of Transfiguration. Third Years, research the categories of Transfiguration. Refer to your textbooks. To be handed in next lesson." Hermione gave a brisk nod as she turned back to the students. "Class dismissed."


((Refer to the online textbook; Chapter 1 for First Years, Chapter 2 for Second Years, and Chapter 3 for Third Years.

You have a week to submit this to me by PMing it to me. Thanks to everyone who attended this class!))