Nana was content to stand by and let James take the reigns as the lesson began. Though the two had their differences (less than Nana would admit) through their time working together she had grown to respect him well enough to trust him… The same was true of Hirsch, though that respect had been won far more quickly with his work ethic and more congenial manner (though she did her best not to be too close to bodies of water when he was near). She turned her eyes from the figures of her colleagues and instead turned her attention to the students themselves as Draper began to speak, explaining the myth and getting to the question in a professional, albeit rather short tempered, manner.


Clearing her throat, Nana stepped forward as the questions began pouring in. This was her part. Just watch a real professional, boys.



“Well said, Miss watson.” Nana offered the young girl a quick nod.



“A sound theory, Miss Lynch.” And quite to the point as well.



“Miss reynolds…. That is a very… Interesting theory, but it is not at all a correct one.” Nana calmly said, not sure what to exactly make of it. “Your creativity is appreciated, however.”



“Yes, but Trans-Species Transformation is generally performed on humans, Miss Darcy. However, your point still stands.” Nana offered her a small smile.



Nana pursed her lips as Miss Valentine spoke. “Remember that there is no spell that can permanently transform a creature or person into something else. You may change the aspects of the object in Transfiguration, but you cannot change it’s essence, Miss Valentine.” Nana simply said. “No, that will not be today’s lesson,” Should she cover basic Transfiguration again next term? It seemed not to have sunk in.



The way miss Daneker was eying James. Nana had to bite her lip not to smile with amusement. She offered the young girl a nod. “Correct.”



Ah, Mister Song. “Magical Force fields are indeed something that exist, Mister Song, but in this scenario it is not the case. There are waters magically infused to throw off enchantments, some that befuddle those who dare to wade in… and some that nastily charm the unsuspecting individual, but none so far created expressly to change fish to dragons.” She shook her head just a bit before getting to the second part of things.[b] “They absolutely can. It’s simply not the same magic you or I employ, Elf magic for example is a natural magic that only House-Elves may tap into. Many magical creatures are able to change their appearance in both the magical and muggle world.” [/b[



“This is not always the case, Miss wojak, and yet… It is at the same time. You can easily Transfigure a dog into a rock and many would say that the two bare absolutely no similarity at all… Except that we are all built of the same stuff.. Sodium, Iron, Carbon and many who study Transfiguration on an atomic level believe this to be the reason it is possible to Transfigure something into something wholly different.” Nana tucked back a lock of her dark hair and turned to face the ginger snake properly. “As for your other question. Take into account the fact that many Animagi can shift into forms far larger than themselves with the same hard work and dedication as someone who shifts into a human sized animal.” Still, excellent thinking, quite keen.

Nana offered the young man an encouraging nod. “Transfiguration, but we’ll be talking about a particular subset today.”

She raised an eyebrow at the Head Boy’s answer. “A very interesting idea, Mister Hyland. Dark magics can transform the user over time, making the user less and less human in their appearance and their nature. It is not the case here, but your theory is very much a clever one.” Nana offered him a rare, true smile.



"Indeed, transfiguration would be it." Nana said, nodding her head as she spoke.

“But why do you think it’s possible? What evidence do you have to support your belief, miss Burton? We cannot work on belief alone, we must have facts to support our reasoning.” Nana said, not unkindly. “But as you said it is obviously connected to Transfiguration.”


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Nana paused to give anyone else who might like to answer a chance to do so, when it seemed no further questions were coming she uncrossed her arms. “As many of you correctly guessed in your answers this particular branch of magic would in fact be Transfiguration.” A bit obvious considering she was here, but that in no way made the students accuracy any less accurate. “Many of you expressed doubt that a larger and very foreign creature could be Transfigured from a smaller, dimmer one, but as I mentioned this is not the case. Transfiguration at it’s core is a sister science to alchemy in that it works on almost an atomic level, which is why some Animagi can shift their forms into varied species of animal and not simply mammals. Now many creatures that we know to be magical were or are believed to be mundane by Muggles. The Dodo, is a prime example of this… as is.. To an extent the Lochness Monster, which we know with certainty to be in actuality a Kelpie much fond of changing it’s form to appear as a sea serpent.”

That was a hint, students. ”The Kelpie, like our carps have learned through natural evolution to Transfigure themselves without aid of a wand or wizard into any shape they so choose… Though most do tend toward horses. Our creature, which is where the chinese muggle myth originated, is an Echinokarp. A creature that when swimming along is as harmless as any river carp, but when threatened transforms into a fearsome, quilled creature that is impossibly dangerous to say the least.” Did she have their attention now?

“These quills are something the Echinokarp have even before it’s transformation, but they are much more potent in the post-change form causing the victim of the quills to fall into a deep, deep sleep much like the one experienced after ingesting dreamless sleep potion. The quills themselves are used for their potent sleep-inducing toxins to enhance their strength.” But more would be said on that subject when it was Hirsch’s turn at the bat, for now it was time to get into the messy parts of this explanation.

”The Echinokarp is a product of what we call Evolutionary Transfiguration or Natural Transfiguration. The concept is no different from an Iguana changing it’s color to blend in with the surrounding territory. It is a reflex, much like the reflex to put your hands out when you take a tumble. A survival instinct that for Echinokarp and many other magical creatures enables them to temporarily change their forms to flee, intimidate or even kill their predators.” there was of course, much more to evolutionary transfiguration than these simpler aspects, but that was for a more advanced lesson as the concepts were quite tricky to follow even for the best of wizards.

“Now.” Nana said, clapping her hands together. “what other creatures do we know that use this same defensive tactic to hide, protect themselves or even hunt? There are quite a few that employ this particular tactic.”

And that was how you taught a subject, gentlemen.



OOC: hie guys, still plenty of time to jump into the fray. Go right ahead and post as if your student as been in attendance the whole time. If you choose to play it as your student has arrived late there will be IC consequences for this action, so please keep this in mind.