Lesson: Transfiguration lesson: TBA

[MadMadamMalfoy]

It’s a unseasonably warm mid-March afternoon outside, so much so that the transfiguration classroom is a pleasant temperature without the use of heating charms. The desks are arranged in their usual rows. Nothing about the setup looks out of the ordinary, other than the presence of four animal figures on Professor Carton’s desk.

The figures in question are of the following hybrid creatures: a liger, a hippogriff, a deeraffe (a giraffe with the tail, ears & antlers of a deer), and a kelppa (a kappa with the head of a kelpie). As you approach the desk, you’ll notice the figures move and make noises. Professor Carton stands beside his desk, waiting for the students to arrive. “Welcome in,” he greets. “Feel free to examine the creature figures on your way in. You may touch them if you wish, but they’re to stay on my desk.”

OOC: Welcome to transfiguration! Please keep in mind that this is not the first IC lesson your student has had with Professor Carton. We’ll begin in ABOUT 24 HOURS CLASS HAS STARTED.

Lesson Progression:

Q1: Which of the four hybrid creatures is not like the others?
Mini Activity part 1

[Zoe]

She had been struck by the unseasonably warm, inviting atmosphere that felt more like early summer than mid-March. When Gillyweed entered the Transfiguration classroom, she took note of the desks arranged neatly in their usual rows. However, her attention was quickly captured by the peculiar figures on Professor Carton's desk.

Curiosity sparked within her as she approached the desk, her brown eyes widening with wonder. She was familiar with the first two hybrid creatures: a liger with its powerful feline build and a majestic hippogriff with its striking wings. The towering deeraffe and the sleek kelppa, however, were a bit bizarre, but she was nevertheless intrigued by the creature combinations. The fourth year watched in awe as the figures began to move and make sounds, bringing the classroom to life with their whimsical antics.

She giggled as the deeraffe let out a soft bleat, a delightful combination of the giraffe's grace and the deer's charm. "These are quite incredible, sir," she commented. It was a joy to see such a playful demonstration of magic.

After glancing at the figures once more, Gilly made her way to an empty seat. As she pulled out her parchment and quill, she couldn't help but wonder if the hybrid creatures were meant to represent cross-species transformations that did not go as intended. The thought intrigued her, sparking a flurry of questions.

[FearlessLeader19]

Transfiguration still was not one of Ary’s strongest subject and he was starting to see that it just might never be. But for some odd reason he had easily mastered the Vanishing Spell. He wasn’t going to question this strangeness, preferring to just take the win. But this afternoon, Ary was hoping that a stroke of luck {and hard work} would help him master whatever it was that Carton had cooked up for the lesson.

He offered the man the finger wiggly-wavey greeting though his attention was quickly diverted to the moving figures on the desk. “A hippogriff! Hi, buddy!’’ Ary said in delight, quite particular to the creatures as his fathers’ Reserve specialised in the creatures, in addition to dragons. “And hello, you rest.” Because they were quite interesting as well!

The fourth year then moved himself along, plopping himself in a seat beside Gilly whom he gave a shoulder bump. Hi, friend!

[Kolyander]

This little blonde was only a couple of steps behind her fellow snakes in entering the Transfiguration classroom this afternoon, a bright smile on her face. In previous years she hadn't been the greatest in this subject however, this term she really had improved leaps and bounds working and studying harder than ever before. Thank you animagi training studies!

"Hello Professor!" Bry chirped, happily wiggling her fingers in greeting at Professor Carton. Her gaze immediately falling up on the moving creature figures on the man's desk which she HAD to go checkout before doing anything else! There was a hippogriff which got a gentle pat from her and a beaming smile, griffs were a love of hers after all. The deeraffe and kelppa each got a little pet too cause those were so different! But.. the liger... Oh, how her blue eyes zoned in on that one for some reason. It was so... Pretty! "Hello there," she hummed giving it a soft pet on the head, beaming when it sounded like it purred at her, loudly.

"These are lovely, Sir. Will we be creating hybrids today?" Now that would be something interesting to learn! Bry made her way to the empty desk beside Ary, wiggling her fingers at Gilly along the way. Once settled into her own seat, she reached over and gave Ary's fingers a quick squeeze.

[MadMadamMalfoy]

SPOILER!!: Individual replies

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zoe

She had been struck by the unseasonably warm, inviting atmosphere that felt more like early summer than mid-March. When Gillyweed entered the Transfiguration classroom, she took note of the desks arranged neatly in their usual rows. However, her attention was quickly captured by the peculiar figures on Professor Carton's desk.

Curiosity sparked within her as she approached the desk, her brown eyes widening with wonder. She was familiar with the first two hybrid creatures: a liger with its powerful feline build and a majestic hippogriff with its striking wings. The towering deeraffe and the sleek kelppa, however, were a bit bizarre, but she was nevertheless intrigued by the creature combinations. The fourth year watched in awe as the figures began to move and make sounds, bringing the classroom to life with their whimsical antics.

She giggled as the deeraffe let out a soft bleat, a delightful combination of the giraffe's grace and the deer's charm. "These are quite incredible, sir," she commented. It was a joy to see such a playful demonstration of magic.

After glancing at the figures once more, Gilly made her way to an empty seat. As she pulled out her parchment and quill, she couldn't help but wonder if the hybrid creatures were meant to represent cross-species transformations that did not go as intended. The thought intrigued her, sparking a flurry of questions.

Norman watched the door from his place at the front of the room, waiting for the students to arrive. He hadn’t been waiting long when Beery appeared. “Hello, Miss Beery,” he greeted, smiling slightly at the compliment. “Thank you.” His smile grew to a slight chuckle as he watched the deeraffe figure bleat and prance about, clearly enjoying the attention it was getting.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

Transfiguration still was not one of Ary’s strongest subject and he was starting to see that it just might never be. But for some odd reason he had easily mastered the Vanishing Spell. He wasn’t going to question this strangeness, preferring to just take the win. But this afternoon, Ary was hoping that a stroke of luck {and hard work} would help him master whatever it was that Carton had cooked up for the lesson.

He offered the man the finger wiggly-wavey greeting though his attention was quickly diverted to the moving figures on the desk. “A hippogriff! Hi, buddy!’’ Ary said in delight, quite particular to the creatures as his fathers’ Reserve specialised in the creatures, in addition to dragons. “And hello, you rest.” Because they were quite interesting as well!

The fourth year then moved himself along, plopping himself in a seat beside Gilly whom he gave a shoulder bump. Hi, friend!

Atreyu-Rehman’s finger wiggle was likewise met with a smile. “Hello, Mr. Atreyu-Rehman,” Norman said, watching the boy’s interaction with the figures with a slight smile. The hippogriff figure bowed in greeting, then flew a few inches off the desk.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kolyander

This little blonde was only a couple of steps behind her fellow snakes in entering the Transfiguration classroom this afternoon, a bright smile on her face. In previous years she hadn't been the greatest in this subject however, this term she really had improved leaps and bounds working and studying harder than ever before. Thank you animagi training studies!

"Hello Professor!" Bry chirped, happily wiggling her fingers in greeting at Professor Carton. Her gaze immediately falling up on the moving creature figures on the man's desk which she HAD to go checkout before doing anything else! There was a hippogriff which got a gentle pat from her and a beaming smile, griffs were a love of hers after all. The deeraffe and kelppa each got a little pet too cause those were so different! But.. the liger... Oh, how her blue eyes zoned in on that one for some reason. It was so... Pretty! "Hello there," she hummed giving it a soft pet on the head, beaming when it sounded like it purred at her, loudly.

"These are lovely, Sir. Will we be creating hybrids today?" Now that would be something interesting to learn! Bry made her way to the empty desk beside Ary, wiggling her fingers at Gilly along the way. Once settled into her own seat, she reached over and gave Ary's fingers a quick squeeze.

Norman nodded politely in reply to Paton’s finger wiggle. “Hello, Miss Paton,” he greeted. He smiled slightly as he observed her petting the liger figure. It purred and nuzzled against her hand, enjoying the attention. His smile grew at her question. “You’ll find out soon enough.” That was all he could say without spoiling the lesson.

Norman glanced at his watch to see that it was almost one o’clock. After allowing another minute or two for stragglers, he peered out the door. Upon seeing no students dawdling in the hall, he closed the door with a flick of his wand.

“Good afternoon, class. Let’s get started, shall we?” He addressed the group. “Today we’re going to begin with a game of “Odd One Out”. One of these four hybrid creatures on my desk is not like the others; your job is to guess which one it is and why. If you haven’t done so already, please come up and observe the creatures. You may touch and pick them up if you wish, as long as they don’t leave my desk.”

He stood to one side to give the students more room to observe the creature figures. “When you’re ready, make your guess. There are no right or wrong answers.”

OOC: Class has officially started! Feel free to join at any time, just pretend your student had been here all along unless you want IC consequences for a late arrival. For this question, Norman is asking which of the four hybrid creatures (liger, hippogriff, deeraffe, and kelppa) is different from the others and why. We’ll move on in ABOUT 24 HOURS..

[FearlessLeader19]

Bry’s idea about them creating hybrids for the lesson wasn't a bad idea at all. It would be interesting if they actually did but of course they needed to wait to find out. Ary had only just done getting out his books and writing material from his bag when Bry joined him and Gilly. He offered her a gentle smile and readily gave her fingers a firm return squeeze.

He looked up to see if that hippogriff was still hovering off the desk but at the same time, his attention was caught by Carton closing the door. It was clearly time to focus on whatever it was they all were about to learn. Oh? One of those was an oddity? Truthfully, Ary hadn’t given any thought at all to one of the hybrids not belonging because all creatures belonged in his opinion. Perhaps this was why he was having such a difficult time figuring out an answer. Excuse him while he remained silent for now.

[MadMadamMalfoy]

Norman’s bluish-green eyes scanned the room in search of hands in the air. To his surprise, he saw none. Was the question really that difficult? He noticed Atreyu-Rehman lost in thought and gave the boy an encouraging nod. Silence was fine with him, as long as the students were paying attention.

After allowing a few more moments in case anyone wanted to volunteer a guess, he spoke again. “No ideas? Not to worry, there could be a case for any of the four creatures to be the odd one out. The liger is the only feline and the only naturally-occurring mundane creature. The hippogriff is the only naturally-occurring magical creature and the only one capable of flight. The deeraffe is the only herbivore. The kelppa is the only water creature. There was no one right answer to the question. It was meant to get you thinking about hybrid creatures, specifically naturally occurring ones vs. ones created with magic.”

He paused a moment to allow the information to sink in before continuing, “Two of these creatures, the liger and hippogriff, occur in nature. The other two, the deeraffe and kelppa, were created with switching spells. Switching spells are a sub-branch of transformation that switch the physical features of two targets. Today we’ll be covering two switching spells; the first of which is Mutatis Mutandi.”

He reached into a box behind his desk and pulled out two animal figures, a rhinoceros and a hippopotamus. “To cast, visualize the transformation you want to make. Move your wand in a quick upward motion, followed by a sideways flick, and say the incantation, Myoo -TAH- tis Myoo - TAN - de.” He pointed his wand at the hippo figure, making the upward motion and flick. “Mutatis Mutandi!” He cast. In an instant, the hippo figure had a rhino’s horns, and the rhino figure had a hippo’s snout.

With a flick of his wand, the spell information and definition of switching spells appeared on the board. “Take a few minutes to practice the wand movement and incantation separately. If you feel confident, you may try casting on your own items. You have ten minutes, starting now!”

Quote:

Originally Posted by blackboard

Switching spells - a sub-branch of transformation that switches the physical features of two targets

Mutatis Mutandi
Pronunciation: Myoo -TAH- tis Myoo - TAN - de
Wand movement: quick upward motion, followed by sideways flick
Use: switching spell

OOC: The mini activity starts here. For this, your student will practice the incantation and wand movement for two variations of switching spells. The first is up now; the other will be posted in ABOUT 24 HOURS. Your student may try casting the spells, but it’s not required for credit. If you have questions, please indicate in the title of your post. You’ll have 48-60 HOURS for this activity.

[FearlessLeader19]

Oh.

Each hybrid had a difference. Ary had been about his thought process all wrong by thinking three had something in common and one had nothing at all. Ah well. Now he knew the differences since Carton had given the class the rundown. But it made sense that today’s focus was the Switching Spells, however, and Ary felt a wave of dread run through him. Just how good was he going to be at these spells?

He wrote the information on the spell in his book then focused on his practise. “Myoo -TAH- tis Myoo - TAN - de. Myoo -TAH- tis Myoo - TAN - de. Mutatis Mutandi. Mutatis Mutandi.” With that bit of incantation practise out of the way, the Slytherin fell silent to focus on the wand work: a quick upward motion then a sideways flick, exactly as Carton had shown everyone. This step was repeated a few times.