Puck threw a hand through her hair and walked into the Transfigurations classroom. It was going to be soooooo different without Professor Bellaire there but maybe Professor York would be better? She hoped she’d learn a lot that is.

“Hello Professor York,” she smiled and wrote out her nametag before sitting down near little Marsha. Puck Greyvson. There. Her name looked neat.

Professor York had proven to be a nice woman and professor. However one of the new rules she had brought to the mix had Benny totally uncomfortable. Singing...to get attention? Nope, that was totally not for him. So he was a tad nervous as he entered the classroom. Would it be crazy?

"Hello Professor," he greeted simply and with a polite smile as he declined a bean. Then seeing the box of instruments, the seventh year went to take one to fulfil the other option set forth in the rules. No singing necessary. "Hey," he greeted Adiand Paulina as he spotted the them, the latter obviously not as crazy about singing as he was. Benny opted for another seat near the two other knowing he'd be safe.

Transfiguration.

This was one of his weakest classes. He wasn't too fond of it but he was gonna try it. As he walked into the classroom, he noticed the teacher was handing out beans. He smiled up at her and greeted her with, "Hello Professor." He saw the beans and wondered which one he should take. "Thank you for these.." he said and took a couple. He boldly took a handful and hoped he didn't get earwax. Bloody merlin that tasted horrible. He went back to his desk and needed to fill out his name tag naturally. He put his book bag down and took out his quill and began to scribble on his badge.

Quote:

Colt Winchester

After writing his name, he waited around to see what to do next.

Kaycee was honestly getting tired of trying to keep all these new rules straight. So, on the palm of her hand, she had a few notes on today's classes scribbled down. Transfiguration. She glanced at her palm. 'Don't ask questions.'

Huh. Okay then. Thanks for the advice, hand.

She gave a quick wave to the Professor as she entered. She then grabbed a maraca and headed to a desk. She took a seat and wrote her name down on the badge.

Quote:

Kaycee Richards

New professor meant new rules to abide. No raising hands.Okay. He could do that. What about the singing? Henric knew his voice was horrendous so he would skip the singing for today and used the musical instruments instead."Good day professor, oh...umm...Bertie Bott's jelly beans,mam? Sure...thank you. Are those musical instruments on the table for us too?"Henric smiled and picked a blue jelly bean from the bowl. Hopefully he wouldn't get the disgusting gooey types. He would keep it for later. No Eating in class was one of the rules right? *sigh* He couldn't remember.

He waved to some of his friends and chose one of the seats available in the classroom. He wrote his name on the badge as instructed:

Once done, he wore it right beside his Mancester United badge. Nice.

Surprisingly, Ethan didn’t dread his upcoming class which was Transfiguration. His initial meeting with Professor York wasn’t a typical one. It had been slightly awkward, to be honest, but the woman was pretty cool. She’s got this spunky vibe…but not really?

The Slytherin opened the door to the classroom, and gave the woman a good wave. “Helloooo, professor.” GRIN. He did sing-song her name, yeah? OF COURSE. He's Hogwarts' local minstrel, did she know? And oh, Bertie Bott’s? Why not? Ethan picked an innocent looking bean and popped it inside his mouth. Ethan squirmed as he crushed the candy with his teeth. “Grass. Coincidental, don’t you think?” Pathways? Grass?

Anyway.

Ethan gave the woman a nod, and took a seat near Brooklyn, giving her elbow a gentle nudge. “Hey there, your highness.” And was that Adi talking to her? Lol. Ethan shook his head at the silliness, took out his quill and wrote down his name on the blank badge, and placed it on his robes.

Ready!

Once all of the greetings had been made, and Beatrice was sufficiently overwhelmed by all of the new faces and names to be remembered, she picked up her wand and waved it nonchalantly at the door, swinging it closed quietly. Another wave of her wand stopped the cello record, and the room was filled with silence.

She placed the bowl of Bertie Bott’s down on her desk, for rewards or just in case anyone else might like another one, and looked back at the class, taking in all of their faces. On her face she wore a welcoming smile. She had thought about what she might like to teach during her first lesson and had decided, rather easily, that she needed to gauge the knowledge of her students. What did they know already? What were their perceived strengths and weaknesses? Was there a spell they were just dying to learn?

“Hello everyone,” she began, her soft Scottish accent drifting around the classroom. “As you know, I am Beatrice York, your new Transfiguration Professor here at Hogwarts. I thought today we could begin a bit low key, and get to know one another.” She pointed at the badge she wore on her shirt, which said Beatrice York. “So… firstly a little bit about me. I attended here many years ago, and I was sorted into the house of Hufflepuff. I developed a strong love of Transfiguration and when I graduated, I went to one of the Wizarding Universities to further my studies in the practice. Since I graduated from there I’ve been a home tutor for younger witches and wizards. And now…” she clasped her hands together, “I am back to the wonderful Hogwarts to teach you all about Transfiguration. Now, to get things started, I’d like to go around the room and have each of you tell the group, and me, something about Transfiguration. It might be something you have learned, something you wish to learn, something you find easy, or something you find difficult. Something you enjoy or something you dislike about Transfiguration. I want you all to say something, anything, and if you’d like to ask as question as well, please don’t hesitate.”

Beatrice reached into the box of instruments, then sat on the chair of the spare desk she had reserved for herself. She sometimes disliked having that bulky desk in front of her, and she rather preferred being at the same level as her students. “I can start.” She knew Transfiguration wasn’t everyone’s favourite lesson, and just how challenging the practice could be, and how much dedication it often took to learn a new spell. Not wanting her students to be expected to love the subject, she decided to share something she had struggled with as a student. She tapped a basic rhythm on the small drum she held in her hand to call attention.

“For me, something I dislike about the practice of Transfiguration,” though really it was the ONLY thing, and it wasn't even something she particularly disliked about it, “Is the precise nature of the practice. One small slip up, whether it be a very slight imprecision of the incantation or the wand movement, and there could be disastrous results.” Did other students agree with her on that one? Enough talking from her, though. Beatrice nodded towards the closest student on the left of her, to try and get things rolling. “What’s something you can share with us about Transfiguration?” she asked.

Right now, above anything, Beatrice wanted the students to feel comfortable speaking in her class, to her, and to their peers. She wanted them to feel somewhat in control of what they were learning, and she wanted to get a feel of their expectations.


OOC: Class has officially started now, so please don't post you character arriving late unless you want to suffer the wrath of Beatrice! Muahaha

Ethan’s grin was still on his face as he perked up and listened to the new professor. Merlin, she’s so different from Bellaire. It wasn’t really going back to basics with her, but rather, acknowledging their love and struggle with the subject. It is quite fitting for both first years and advanced students like him.

Picking up a small drum, he tapped it with his fingers to announce to the class that he was going to speak. “Transfiguration can be challenging for someone who is a perfectionist like me. I mean…it can get really frustrating when I don’t get the result I want. It’s exhausting too.” Truth. “But yeah, I think it’s cool that you can change one object to another.”

Tap tap.

Ethan grinned and looked at the small drum in his hands. “Professor? Can I bring my ukulele next time?” he asked as he raised the instrument he was holding. He’s more attached to his own instrument, just saying.

Noelle wasn't afraid of speaking up in class. Her attention was on the professor and then the beans that she put on the desk. Those beans were calling out to her Come find a popcorn flavored onnneeeee. She wanted to. But oh! She had been lucky with the lemon one she had gotten.

Snapping her attention back to the professor, she listened at what she had to say about transfiguration. Precise. Oh goodness. Noelle wasn't very precise usually... She tried to be but... She wasn't as successful as she wanted to be half the time.

Maybe Transfiguration would be her saving grace. Heh. Grace. Like her middle name.

they were to go around the room and Noelle felt eyes on her. "I like how useful it is. For instance, if you have one instrument but needed another, with some skill, you could turn it into the instrument you need to do the task!"

Needless to say, Professor York had Reagan's complete and undivided attention; but once again, Transfiguration wasn't a subject she'd planned to sit for NEWTs. However, there was ONE aspect of the craft that interested and excited the Ravenclaw above all else...aaaand for those that knew her, they'd have been able to guess exactly what that was.

Animagi.

Reagan DREAMED of acquiring the skill to be an Animagus.

Dreeeeeeeeeeamed.

Bouncing in her seat just a little, as well as adding a small wiggle here and there, Rea raised her hand eagerly. Her answer was going to be a good one. "I know that one of the most difficult bits of Transfiguration is the process of witches and wizards turning into animals at will. Animagi." WITH SINGING!!! Was that tune okay?! Also, could the Professor SEE the excited GLEAM in her eyes? Ugh, it was difficult business but Rea wanted it so badly...and she was a firm believer in that...if you wanted something bad enough, it would come to you.

FLAILING!

What happened with her arm?

"I fell down from a tree, Professor." She lied. Of course she wouldn't tell anyone about what exactly happened: Falling seven feet tall because an older student tried to levitate her. Ava just didn't want Henric got into trouble. So... she made up a story. But yeah, the injury did limit her ability since she's a left-handed.

And once the class had started, the lioness listened to the Professor's introduction. My oh my, she's so bubbly and talk. A LOT. It wasn't that bad though. Kinda reminded her of her kindergarten teacher when she was soooo young. Ava then picked up a maraca and shook it before she answered the question. "I don't know much about Transfiguration but earlier, Professor Mourinho Culloden taught us about brewing animal potions Transfiguration and it's quite... complicated. So, I think transfiguration using transfiguring charm is also complicated but... I dunno, I'd never tried one." GRIN.

Didja hear that? The professor was a HUFFLEPUFF! That practically gave her the Kindred Spirit status right off the bat. Norah gave Professor York a big smile, especially because they had the same problem with Transfiguration. How were you supposed to learn how to do a spell if doing it wrong could end up turning your ears into turnips? That was just dangerous and scary and all sorts of other bad things.

She looked curiously at her harmonica before bringing it to her lips for a loud exhale. That was what she was supposed to do, yeah? No hand raising? "I want to learn how to turn things glittery. We've learned how to change colors before but that's really different from sparkles." Kaycee said you could do that, she DID. "Is that true?" Y'know, just in case. Sometimes people gave wrong information when it wasn't really their fault. It made sense that it'd be possible though, as it wouldn't be very nice of magic to discriminate against glitter. Plus magic could practically do everything ever.

She just sat down on one of the empty seat, when the Professor decided its time to start the lesson. The woman was telling the class about herself and how she loved Transfiguration. Her first impression of the new Transfiguration professor was she's very chatty. Candice nodded her head here and there.

A question already? What’s something you can share with us about Transfiguration? Hmmm...She didn't know much about the subject because its not one of her favorite subject. All she knew that its a VERY difficult subject. "There are four branches of Transfiguration, Professor." No one had said that, right?

He saw you, Beatrice. Yes, he did. Through the little bit of eye twitching and horrible face he was making, Adi saw you. He managed a wink at her just as Paulina came in, taking a seat on the next side of him. He gave her the best smile he could manage. "Hi, Polly!'' By the time little Ava came in, the sour effect of the bean was starting to go away. PHEW! She got a greeting in return too. And there was Cinna! Adi waved cheerily back at her. More students filed in before Benny came in. He got a grin. There was the guy, finally, who would have appreciated that bean better than him.
....................

Woot!

Class was starting! Adi listened to Beatrice tell the students about herself as the last of the soury taste from the bean vanished. Okay, so they shared something about transfiguration. He was about to raise his hand but then remembered the rules. No raising of hands! Right!

"Professor Yooooork,'' Adi sing songed for a moment in the tune that was Pierce the Viel's Bulls in the Bronx. He briefly wondered what Beatrice would think if he went heavy metal on her. Hehe. Anyway! "Studying the subject is great if you would like to turn someone into a creature. Those are the kind of spells I like the most.'' Mhmm.

Angel tried to think about anything she had learned to do with transfiguration, she thought hard trying to find a piece of information that she thought was cool and in the end she found something and she raised her hand.

"Professor I like how you can take a useless piece of bin liner or anything like that and make it into clothes or what ever you want to make it into." Angel had enjoyed that lesson.

......Why were they singing or playing an instrument before answering a question? Was this another strange rule that the Professors came up with? Like the , say everyone's name backwards in the great hall rule? Had he missed something again? Mental note taken to look at the board more often.

Yoongi first wrote down his name on the nametag and pinned it to his robe and while he was doing that he observed the class, coming to the conclusion that he was right. Grabbing a triangle, because he did not trust his singing voice, he hit it softly and listened to the TING going around the classroom. Heh, cute. He wanted this thing now. "Transformation, vanishment, conjuration, and untransfiguration are the four branches of Transfiguration" he answered and stopped the echoing TING by placing his hand on the triangle.

Drawn by the beautiful melancholy of cello music, Sabbath had slipped quietly into the classroom. He smiled and greeted the professor accepting from her what looked to be a muggle jelly bean. He had taken the only remaining seat in the row next to a girl he’d not seen before. He'd glanced at her name badge, it read ‘Gwen Rose’. She looked about his age but seemed shy, so he smiled and introduced himself before leaning forward over his desk to wave at Noelle sitting on the other side of the girl. Sabbath quilled his name badge:

The professor had begun to address the class, he turned his attention towards her. She was an astonishingly beautiful lady with the blondest hair he thought he’d ever seen. His grandmother, who was a drabarni in his gypsy community had always told him that very blonde-haired people, like the professor, possessed special gifts. He was beginning to realise just how much truth there was in many of his grandmother’s teachings.

The professor had asked them all to share something in relation to transfiguration. He raised his hand, popped the jelly bean into mouth and said “Well, I don’t know much about…*cough*… about *gasp* Merlin's beard! His eyes shot open wide. What on earth was wrong with this jelly bean?? *Cough* It tasted like… well, like… raw chilli powder! He liked spicy food as much as the next person, but this was as hot as Hades! Sabbath’s eyes were streaming but he wasn’t about to spit out that horrid bean in front of the professor and classmates. He knew their eyes were upon him and tried to recover valiantly, struggling to speak, *cough* "err, don’t know much" *splutter* "but really want to learn" *cough*. "Merlin knows, I need to learn how to transfigure a jellybean". He didn't know if you could transfigure food, but, that was all he was going to manage saying for now.

Once her orange flavored bean was chewed up and swallowed the fourth year pulled out a sheet of parchment along with her self inking quill. It was time to take down some notes even if this was to be a simple lesson today. Nothing wrong with having notes just in case.

Sitting quietly she listened to Professor York and had to agree with her on the process of Transfiguration and her reason for disliking it at times. It wasn't easy to always get the spell exact or the wand movement. Sometimes it was very difficult and frustrating. Still listening to those that played an instrument before talking and those that sang their answer she clearly agreed with most everyone. They all had valid points.

When it was her turn she softly cleared her throat and lightly drummed her fingers against the desk to get into tune as she sung her reply as best she could, "Professor I'd have to agree with all my fellow mates thus far with their answers but Ethan's really fits for myself as well. I get very frustrated when I can't get a result I want especially when I know I'm more then capable of accieving it." Sorry if her singing wasn't the greatest but she wasn't a singer and well she didn't have her guitar or drums here at the castle with her.

COUGH! SPLUTTER! DRAMATIC FLAILING!

Char took the offered bean and placed it on her tongue like she was taking a pill that MIGHT possibly be a cure (but then again, it might be too late for her, the bogey bean might have had an IRREVERSIBLE EFFECT). But Cinnamon! That WAS nice and strong, though for a second there it had the unfortunate effect of producing a cinnamon MIXED with bogey flavour, but it was a start. MAYBE SHE WOULDN'T DIE IMMEDIATELY AFTER ALL.

She coughed pathetically and fanned herself. "Thanks."

AAAAAnd then she saw the big girl's name tag and GASPED. "Its a cinnamon bean AND your name is cinnamon! That's cool!" HAD THE BEAN BEEN CINNAMON TO START WITH, OR HAD IT TURNED INTO CINNAMON WHEN CINNAMON TOUCHED THE BEAN?

Charlotte made up her mind to test this amazing new theory sometime with OTHER kinds of food.

Charlotte had a BFF radar okay? Despite the near death by bean experience, she perked up at the sight of Davie and gave him a forlorn wave that she did her BEST to convey the message of 'I got a bung bean, Davie and I NEARLY DIED!'.

Or something like that.



Oh and she was getting another bean from the professor! EVERYTHING WAS WONDERFUL AGAIN! CINNAMON AND PROFESSOR TRANSFIGURATION HAD JUST SAVED HER LIFE! Or at least... oh. Yup. YUP! LIFE SAVED!

"It's TOFFEE!" She announced dramatically, after a cautious lick of her third bean. And toffee and cinnamon in her mouth were FAR better than bogey. And then, "ThaaaaaaaaAaaank youuu professsor!" Char sang (terribly) in the professor's direction.

Aaaaaand jazz hands for effect!

Because of all this, Charlotte was now MORE than ready to actually pay attention to the lesson. Or she'd try anyway. After all, she owed the professor (and Cinnamon) her very EXISTENCE. She sort of wiggled in her chair, which was a subconscious 'I am getting comfortable so that I can listen up good' thing.

Something about transfiguration?

"ProoooooooOOooooooOOoooofessoooooooor! Transfiguration is SUUUUUPER good in duels! You can COOONJURE things to attack or defend!" She just sung a FEW words, selectively, for EFFECT. Heeee!

....

.....

.... also, could she have another bean?

Well wasn't THAT just the question of the hour. What flavour did he get? "Rotten fish...I think." Don't ask how he knew what that tasted like; some flavours were hard to miss and this was one of them. The boy would have liked to counter by saying it could have been worse and he could have gotten 'vomit' flavour but with the taste still on his tongue, he wasn't sure which would have had his tongue shrivelling faster.

And did she just say they might have jelly slugs next time??? SCORE! Might have only been a maybe but it wasn't like he asked for a million galleons so it was more likely to happen and the kid was all eager smiles.

With his quill scribbling away whatever it had a mind to, Blaise was left free to listen to the Professor talk about herself. No doubt whatever she said would be made brilliantly epic by the time his quill got done with it and it actually had the boy leaning over to catch little glimpses while it scribbled. Hah. That last line was kinda funny; funny enough to have him snickering to himself.

The Professor's question was what drew him back to the lesson and her. Something about Transfiguration? Something he liked or didn't like? Oh that was EASY. "I don't like that it's even harder than performing a charm because my wand already decided it won't be casting those very often which MEANS it'll be even less likely to cast THESE." Could he go back to Muggle Studies now? No wand needed there which meant he was good at it. The boy didn't know about anyone else but he liked being good at things.

Colt smiled and got a good vibe from the teacher. She seemed like a cool chick. As he made his way back to his desk, he made it just in time because she was starting the class. He paid attention and heard her introduction which was informative but kind of long in his opinion. He began to doodle for a bit to keep himself awake. He wasn't being rude he just needed an outlet to focus his attention on. As he was scribbling in and shading, he heard Professor York ask a question. What can he tell her about Transfiguration? Can he tell her it is not one of his favorite subjects? Nah that would be too much for the first day. Maybe she might change his mind about the subject.

Colt took a stab at it, "Professor it is a good subject is you wanna turn objects into household items you don't want." That is what his aunt did multiple times and she had use for the objects she didn't want. "It is also a branch of magic you need to concentrate on and you need to be sure your wand is well equipped for the task." He remember someone having a broken wand and his rat turn into a goblet.

Okay... This was all TOO strange for Zander Adair... This whole new rules thing. The classical music. All the happiness. Like okay, don't get him wrong or anything... Seeing people happy was nice, but it was like everywhere he turned... THE ENTIRE HOGWARTS POPULATION HAD TURNED HUFFLEPFUFF. Geez. It was just weird, y'know? He had passed on the Bertie Bott's 'cause he didn't trust Professors with food anymore... But he did write himself a badge, choosing to sit on the other side of Puck.

He moved around a little restlessly, waiting for the class to begin and AH finally. Like he had been sitting here for ages or something.

As for the introduction, Zander wasn't really paying all that much attention. Oops. Sorry, Professor. Lol. Way to set a good example, Adair. Well okay it wasn't that he was staring off into space because he WASN'T. He was looking at the woman and making eye contact and all... But like, was the about-me really necessary? All he got from all that was HUFFLEPUFF. Which might explain this whole new Hufflepuff takeover of Hogwarts. Zander was convinced.

But.... He did pay attention to the next bit when she asked an actual question. And he wasn't all that sure whether she wanted them to do the substitute hand-raising thing since they were really just going around in a circle here... But Zander hit the triangle anyways allowing it to go off and make a DING sort of sound when it was his turn. He understood this question. "It takes a lot of concentration because you have to be able to visualize what you're trying to transfigure something into... Which can sometimes be hard when you're object might look completely different when you start with it."

Wait, why the singing and the instruments though? This Zander did not understand.

Well, Daxton was here, because he wanted to learn magic, but he was not very happy about it.

Such an interesting sounding class, and it had to be ruined by a bunch of stupid rules. Why was that such a common thing here, and why was everyone just going along with it? Daxton himself had a face of thunder, and was sat as close to the door as he could possibly get. His earmuffs were on for obvious reasons, but he could still hear everything, just at a much lower level. It would have to do.

There were plenty of things he could have shared about Transfiguration, including cold hard facts or the opinions he had already formed on the subject, such as the way having an over-active imagination would likely work in one's favour, or how many claimed Transfiguration was a difficult subject but that that was perhaps only because they were stupid and not doing it right. But Daxton did not say anything, nor did he write anything down. He simply sat there, in dead silence.

Marsha grinned back at the Professor. She looked as nice today as she had at the start of term feast. That was nice, and definitely a step in the right direction for her confidence levels and hopefully her ability to actually get transfiguration to work for her.

Listening intently to the Professor as she gave her own details. Scribbling her own notes down for her future interview with the new Professor, she nodded as she listened to her thoughts on Transfiguration, before continuing her notes as her classmates spoke out about the subject.

”Professor,” she sang softly. She wasn’t sure about her voice, so didn’t want to be too loud. ”I found it really hard last year but I’m hoping I can learn to be better at it this year.. Especially as there are a lot of things I’ve read about happening that sound amazing… like I read about McGonagall transfiguring the Chess pieces to protect the Philosopher's Stone? Which is amazing.” How cool was that?

Now that she had saved the first years life. Or whatever. At least she didn't have a terrible or too terrible of a taste in her mouth anymore.

York? That was the transfiguration professors name. She forgot. Opps. Too many new professors to remember their names. Yet. She'd remember them soon enough. That was a nice intro. Oh this answer was a easy one for her. The seventh year waited her turn. [b]"I like that transfiguration plays a big part in my future career as a fashion designer. It makes it so much easier to make something simple and turn it into something beautiful to wear."[b] She grinned. So much better that sewing a article of clothing. Well sometimes.