Folding her arms, Issy leant against her desk ready to listen to the replies. She had an idea there might be a few of them, and there was.

First up, Alexa.

"Well the Z is done in the same way you would write one down," she said, flicking her own wand out to demonstrate. "But it does need to be quite tight and sharp, yes. Like so..." Issy did her Zorro impression, and nodded at the Gryffindor to make sure she'd got it.


Ahh, yes. Sizing. For most of them the size of the rubbish bags had been about right to start with, but Pao was quite a small boy. And he was only a first year after all.

"Your ability to change the size a bit better will come with time and practice. I really wouldn't worry too much about that."


"Not that easy if you go for a design that has multiple colours or patterns, as you found the first time. The thing is, you need to hold your concentration until the very end of the incantation - preferably until the transformation has taken place actually." Isabelle scratched her chin and looked up at the wall of shirts towards Sierra's. She'd certainly done better the second time around.

"The tie-dyed effect probably happened because the separating lines between the colours blurred at some point in your mind. You got there in the end though, I see."


"And that is why transfiguration is one of the harder subjects to master. it requires a lot more concentration to make the spell work a hundred percent," Issy smiled.


"Trying something simple is always going to be easier, as there are less parts to focus on. But I'm glad all of you went the way of making your tops a little detailed." Proud. That was the word.


"You did do well." Nod, nod. "See? Practice makes perfect. Or nearly perfect."


Mhmmm, zippers, yes.

"Zippers are possible, yes, but because of their design with the teeth that interlock, they are very hard. So I'm not surprised you had a little trouble with them. Materials that are more solid are harder to produce using this spell, it's designed more to transform softer materials," Isabelle said, unfolding her arms and resting her hands on her desk. "But it's not completely impossible."


Yes. She thought a few of them might have this problem. It wasn't much of a surprise, as she'd said to Vivienne, and she nodded along as Kurumi explained what she'd done to make her brooch.

"You need to be extremely confident in your spell-casting to get more solid things using this spell, it's true. As I said to Miss Branxton just then, it can be done, but it takes more hard work."


Ahh, someone that used their noggin to get it done. Issy was impressed. Although she wouldn't necessarily be able to do that every time she wanted to use the spell. But when she was just starting out, it was a good idea.

"I like the way you think, Miss Somerlad. Pinning up your design, and being able to see it at the same time as performing the spell, was a good idea. Using a visual reference is what I thought might help you all."


Good question, Mister Vanderbilt.

"If you just wanted a lining in a different material one bag should be enough, but obviously you'd need to be incredibly clear in your mind on the different parts of the item otherwise they might come out merged and wrong," Isabelle nodded, hoping it made sense.


"Uhuh, yeah. See, the spell can only do what your mind orders it to. If you just say the words and wiggle your wand nothing will happen. So you need to be a hundred percent clear what it is you want, to get what you want. No wavering from it." Which was obviously easier said than done.


Isabelle nodded as she listened. She knew exactly what Sarah meant.

"Yep. Which is why you always need to be certain before you do anything, or it will go wrong. Wavering for a second is not a great thing to do." As she had found out it seemed.








"I wanted you all to try and make things as complicated for yourselves as possible, because trial and error is the best way to learn with these things. The more detailed an item is, the more it stretches your spell-casting ability, and getting you to do that is partially why I'm here." And getting them to get it right, obviously. She was a teacher after all and nurturing and teaching was her job. If it was easy all the time though it would be boring.

"Now, this week, as I told you at the start of term, we'll be doing another portion of your final outfit - trousers or a skirt. Or even shorts if you wish, as this will all be finished near summer time. Do any of you have any questions about this section before I move on to the actual spell?" She was open to a bit more talking first.