SnitchSeeker.com - View Single Post - Transfiguration Lesson 1: An Unusually Stony October Day

Felixir · 05-17-2018, 10:59 PM

SPOILER!!: catch-up in here

Allllllll that lecture-y type stuff about the spell they were working on went almost completely over Abra's head. He grasped enough of it to know they were working on the Hardening Charm, and that this technically wasn't a charm. Mostly, he just wanted to get started with the practical work. Visualising and imagining and transfiguring and things he was actually good at.

So eager was Abra that he decided to skip the practice of the wand movement and incantation entirely. Both were easy enough, he reasoned, with a surge of confidence he wasn't sure he'd ever felt in a classroom before, that he could bypass that part completely. It was strange, that feeling of confidence, and though he had a sneaking suspicion he knew what was behind it, Abra decided to go with the flow and ride it out. It made a nice change from being eternally unsure of himself.

He pointed his wand at a sheet of parchment on his desk (the quill might have been simpler, but it was a Spell Check Quill, and he didn't want to risk removing its enchantments by accident), and focused hard on visualising it turning into stone. "Duro!" He moved his wand like he was tracing a not-quite-D in the air.

Nothing. The sheet of parchment remained looking exactly so, and a quick prod from Abra confirmed that it had retained its parchment-like properties. No big deal; he never got it on the first try, not unless he was having a really good day. He tried again.

"Duro!" He'd barely finished forming the words, his wand still moving through the air, but Abra knew it wasn't going to work; he'd not been focusing hard enough on the visualising. But then, to his great surprise, the parchment did look a little different. Abra stopped to pick it up, finding that it had become somewhat stiffer, and felt a little more like his special watercolour paper. That wasn't really what he was after, of course, but it was definitely a step in the right direction. He set it down again. "Reparifarge."

Okay. This time. This was the one. Abra checked the parchment was back to normal, then sat and did nothing but stare at it for a few moments. He was focusing, focusing, seeing it turn to stone in his mind, watching himself pick up a thin, flat sheet of stone, rough against his fingers and utterly unyielding, solid enough to stick in his desk by a corner, probably.

Then, while the image was fresh in his mind, Abra raised his wand again, and did that 'almost D' movement. "Duro!"

Third time's a charm. This time, he had done it. Abra cracked a grin as the parchment in front of him turned immediately into stone, and he picked it up (needing to slide it off the desk to get a good grip of it) to test it.

It was exactly that moment that Professor Grimsbane went ahead and blew that blasted whistle. Abra gave a sudden start, his heart thumping wildly - sudden loud noises were not his friend - and almost dropped his stone sheet of parchment. Luckily, or perhaps just thanks to finely tuned reflexes, he had the wherewithal to catch it before it shattered on his desk or the floor. While that whole situation with the green-haired student went on, Abra set down his transfigured parchment and quietly changed it back again with Reparifarge, before turning his attention to Professor Grimsbane and her question.

He couldn't help it, he really couldn't. The second the professor had mentioned using the spell offensively or defensively somehow, his mind automatically went to the one scenario he never wanted it to go to, but where it always seemed to go anyway. This time, though, he resolved to try and keep his head, and instead tried to think of how Duro might have helped him back then.

'Tried' being the operative term, because ultimately, Abra could think of nothing, short of turning the entire monster to stone. It wouldn't have worked on the portal, he figured, because there was a high chance that they'd already tried it back then. No, he couldn't think of anything, and was having a lot of trouble focusing his mind on another hypothetical situation, so he just shrugged and kept his silence while other students answered around him.

05-17-2018, 10:59 PM	#101 (permalink)
Felixir Forum Manager Book Club Mod Alley Proprietor Banshee Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Posts: 50,162 Hogwarts RPG Name: Charlie Upstead Gryffindor Fifth Year Hogwarts RPG Name: Aurelio Kaiser Slytherin Third Year Hogwarts RPG Name: Alexei Petrov Slytherin First Year Hogwarts RPG Name: Yves Flamel Slytherin Sixth Year Hogwarts RPG Name: Achilles Zacharias Ravenclaw Third Year Diagon Alley Proprietor: Ezekiel Ransom-Kruus Ollivanders x12 x12	Lovely™ \| Captain Hurted \| Ariana's Bane \| Resident Antagonist \| Unparalleled Delight SPOILER!!: catch-up in here Allllllll that lecture-y type stuff about the spell they were working on went almost completely over Abra's head. He grasped enough of it to know they were working on the Hardening Charm, and that this technically wasn't a charm. Mostly, he just wanted to get started with the practical work. Visualising and imagining and transfiguring and things he was actually good at. So eager was Abra that he decided to skip the practice of the wand movement and incantation entirely. Both were easy enough, he reasoned, with a surge of confidence he wasn't sure he'd ever felt in a classroom before, that he could bypass that part completely. It was strange, that feeling of confidence, and though he had a sneaking suspicion he knew what was behind it, Abra decided to go with the flow and ride it out. It made a nice change from being eternally unsure of himself. He pointed his wand at a sheet of parchment on his desk (the quill might have been simpler, but it was a Spell Check Quill, and he didn't want to risk removing its enchantments by accident), and focused hard on visualising it turning into stone. "Duro!" He moved his wand like he was tracing a not-quite-D in the air. Nothing. The sheet of parchment remained looking exactly so, and a quick prod from Abra confirmed that it had retained its parchment-like properties. No big deal; he never got it on the first try, not unless he was having a really good day. He tried again. "Duro!" He'd barely finished forming the words, his wand still moving through the air, but Abra knew it wasn't going to work; he'd not been focusing hard enough on the visualising. But then, to his great surprise, the parchment did look a little different. Abra stopped to pick it up, finding that it had become somewhat stiffer, and felt a little more like his special watercolour paper. That wasn't really what he was after, of course, but it was definitely a step in the right direction. He set it down again. "Reparifarge." Okay. This time. This was the one. Abra checked the parchment was back to normal, then sat and did nothing but stare at it for a few moments. He was focusing, focusing, seeing it turn to stone in his mind, watching himself pick up a thin, flat sheet of stone, rough against his fingers and utterly unyielding, solid enough to stick in his desk by a corner, probably. Then, while the image was fresh in his mind, Abra raised his wand again, and did that 'almost D' movement. *"Duro!"* Third time's a charm. This time, he had done it. Abra cracked a grin as the parchment in front of him turned immediately into stone, and he picked it up (needing to slide it off the desk to get a good grip of it) to test it. It was exactly that moment that Professor Grimsbane went ahead and blew that blasted whistle. Abra gave a sudden start, his heart thumping wildly - sudden loud noises were not his friend - and almost dropped his stone sheet of parchment. Luckily, or perhaps just thanks to finely tuned reflexes, he had the wherewithal to catch it before it shattered on his desk or the floor. While that whole situation with the green-haired student went on, Abra set down his transfigured parchment and quietly changed it back again with Reparifarge, before turning his attention to Professor Grimsbane and her question. He couldn't help it, he really couldn't. The second the professor had mentioned using the spell offensively or defensively somehow, his mind automatically went to the one scenario he never wanted it to go to, but where it always seemed to go anyway. This time, though, he resolved to try and keep his head, and instead tried to think of how Duro might have helped him back then. 'Tried' being the operative term, because ultimately, Abra could think of nothing, short of turning the entire monster to stone. It wouldn't have worked on the portal, he figured, because there was a high chance that they'd already tried it back then. No, he couldn't think of anything, and was having a lot of trouble focusing his mind on another hypothetical situation, so he just shrugged and kept his silence while other students answered around him. __________________ Days of Potter 2023:___________________________ Which Bertie Botts Flavour Are You? You are Chocolate!