Kylie's brow furrowed. The questions in Transfiguration always took a lot of creative thinking. She raised her hand, "Well...couldn't you transfigure the wizard chess piece into a muggle chess piece? Or.." Kylie paused, "Or transfigure the muggle chess piece into a wizard chess piece?" Kylie concluded lamely. She wished she was more creative with those sorts of things. She could cast spells, she could give you information about muggle and wizard history, but when she had to think of how you could get from point a to point b, she was nearly absolute rubbish.

Lorcan nudged Lexi and sent her a look that said, Have you got any ideas? 'Cos I really haven't! He was totally stumped by this one.

Whit looked at the two chess pieces, noticing the differences. Obviously the only way to get an inanimate object to move on it's own would be to charm it, right? So why not "uncharm" it or charm the muggle chess piece? She raised her hand and said, "Surely you could just charm the muggle piece...or use a different charm to take off the charm from the wizarding piece, couldn't you?" It seemed logical, anyways, and if it wasn't that, than she had absolutely no idea.

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Originally Posted by individual

Evelyn, who was sitting towards more of the back of the room, looked around as everyone started to call out answers. 'Hmm, difference between muggle and wizard chess pieces...well one is definitely more exciting than the other.' Smirking, she then turned her attention to the PINK marshmallow. Oh how she hated the color pink. And it was another marshmallow. 'Getting kind tired of those..'

Leaning back in her seat, Evelyn surveyed the room again, listening to what the Professor was saying. She had no idea how to make them both similar, but on the other hand, she wasn't trying to think of any ideas either. She was feeling too tired at the moment. "Can't you just make the wizard chess piece...not...move on their own? Or make the muggle ones move..." she mumbled quietly to herself, drawing circles on the desk with her finger. It was the only thing she could think of at the moment.

Svensson nodded at the girl's suggestion. "I was looking for something a bit more specific, but yes, that would work," he told the girl with a smile.

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Originally Posted by SilverTiger

How to make the chess pieces as similar as possible?, Adrienne mused, still a little surprised at the reaction her previous answer had gotten from the professor. But then she came up with a few ideas, and raised her hand again. "Would 'Petrificus Totalus' work on the Wizarding chess pieces? Because that would make them unable to move on their own. Or, the reverse would be some form of the Mobilicorpus spell, although you'd have to change the incantation to refer to the Muggle chess piece. But even then, you'd still be moving it. Or, you could always just use a Switching Spell, make the Wizarding chess piece a Muggle one and vice versa." And now that hse said it, those ideas sounded ridiculous. But they were all she could come up with currently.

"All excellent ideas," Svensson said.

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Originally Posted by LilFox06

Carter raised his hand. "You could animate the muggle pieces." he said. "I think the spell is 'Piertotum Locomotor'."

"Quite right," Svensson said. "Piertotum Locomotor would be a marvelous remedy to our little problem here!"

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Originally Posted by The1HBIC

Marie raised her hand "Sir, we could use Immobulus on the wizarding pieces to make them like the muggle pieces." She really had no clue what the answer would be but she wanted to give some sort of answer. She looked at Kay waiting to hear what she had to say.

Svensson nodded. "That's not a bad idea," he commented."

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Originally Posted by seusslover14

Kylie's brow furrowed. The questions in Transfiguration always took a lot of creative thinking. She raised her hand, "Well...couldn't you transfigure the wizard chess piece into a muggle chess piece? Or.." Kylie paused, "Or transfigure the muggle chess piece into a wizard chess piece?" Kylie concluded lamely. She wished she was more creative with those sorts of things. She could cast spells, she could give you information about muggle and wizard history, but when she had to think of how you could get from point a to point b, she was nearly absolute rubbish.

"You could," Svensson said. "You could, indeed."

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Originally Posted by HG_forever

Whit looked at the two chess pieces, noticing the differences. Obviously the only way to get an inanimate object to move on it's own would be to charm it, right? So why not "uncharm" it or charm the muggle chess piece? She raised her hand and said, "Surely you could just charm the muggle piece...or use a different charm to take off the charm from the wizarding piece, couldn't you?" It seemed logical, anyways, and if it wasn't that, than she had absolutely no idea.

"That's certainly a possibility," Svensson said. "But I'm looking for something more transfiguration-centric." He smiled and tried to remember which student had suggested the spell they were going to learn today.

"As...Carter... previously suggested, you could use the spell 'Piertotum Locomotor' on the Muggle chess pieces. Who can tell me what this spell does?" Svensson asked the class.

Kiri raised her hand. "Professor, Piertotum Locomotor transforms inanimate objects, like, er... statues, or... or chess pieces," she said, glancing down at the black rook on her table, "to sort of, you know, become mobile and do what the witch or wizard who cast the spell told them to do."

EEE. She should start participating in the class, now. Get some points. CLAW POWA! Livvy held up her hand into the air to answer the professor's question. She knew this one, luckily. "Piertotum Locomotor is used to animate, or 'bring to life'," she held up her hands to even do the air quotes. "- Statues and suits of armor to do the caster's bidding and to follow the caster's every command."

Alexandra put her hand up and then answered, "I believe that it makes inanimate objects move. It kind of brings them to life. During the Battle of Hogwarts Professor McGonagall used it to make the suits of armor help defend the castle."

Sky raised her hand.
"Professor, how can you be sure after they do move that they will obey you? Or does that come with the 'Locmotor' thingy? If they didn't, they wouldn't only smash chess pieces," she asked.

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Originally Posted by Antarctica!

Kiri raised her hand. "Professor, Piertotum Locomotor transforms inanimate objects, like, er... statues, or... or chess pieces," she said, glancing down at the black rook on her table, "to sort of, you know, become mobile and do what the witch or wizard who cast the spell told them to do."

"Quite right," Svensson told the Slytherin girl. "Piertotum Locomotor is, like you mentioned, a mobilizing spell."

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Originally Posted by ginny37

Alexandra put her hand up and then answered, "I believe that it makes inanimate objects move. It kind of brings them to life. During the Battle of Hogwarts Professor McGonagall used it to make the suits of armor help defend the castle."

"Very good," Svensson said. "Thanks for the historical reference, too."

Svensson set down the chess pieces he had been holding and looked solemnly at the class. "Kiri said that Piertotum Locomotor transforms objects. It does not charm them. What is the difference between a spell like Piertototum Locomotor and, say, a charm that simply animates an inanimate object?"

Difficult question. Kiri picked up the chess piece and rolled around in her hand absent-mindedly as she tried to figure out an acceptable answer. Finally, she raised a hesitant hand.

"The difference between a charm and a transfiguring spell is that a charm only sort of... acts on an object, transfiguring, er, changes the nature of it." She hastily tried to think of an example. "Say... casting Wingardium Leviosa to make this chess piece," she held it up, "fly is a charm. But, er... adding a pair of wings so that it would be able to fly itself would belong to Transfiguration." She paused for a moment. "Possibly?"

Alexandra raised her hand and said, "Well, you can direct the object to act as you please when you use Piertotum Locomotor, can't you?" She began to absent mindedly twirl a strand of hair around her finger.

Carter raised his hand. "Would it be that Piertotum Locomotor physically alters an object while a charm would just animate an object in the form it was already in?"

Destiny raised her hand slowly, because she didn't know if her answer was right 'With piertotum locomotor you would need a counter-spell to stop it moving right, and a charm you wouldn't?' 'Maybe.'

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Originally Posted by HPgirl

Sky raised her hand.
"Professor, how can you be sure after they do move that they will obey you? Or does that come with the 'Locmotor' thingy? If they didn't, they wouldn't only smash chess pieces," she asked.

"The obedience is part of the spell," Svensson assured the girl. "In addition, most wizard's chess sets have spells other than Piertotum Locomotor on them." He paused, then added, "And we will not be having any chess pieces destroying any other chess pieces in this class, don't worry."

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Originally Posted by Antarctica!

Difficult question. Kiri picked up the chess piece and rolled around in her hand absent-mindedly as she tried to figure out an acceptable answer. Finally, she raised a hesitant hand.

"The difference between a charm and a transfiguring spell is that a charm only sort of... acts on an object, transfiguring, er, changes the nature of it." She hastily tried to think of an example. "Say... casting Wingardium Leviosa to make this chess piece," she held it up, "fly is a charm. But, er... adding a pair of wings so that it would be able to fly itself would belong to Transfiguration." She paused for a moment. "Possibly?"

"Very true," Lars acknowledged with a nod.

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Originally Posted by ginny37

Alexandra raised her hand and said, "Well, you can direct the object to act as you please when you use Piertotum Locomotor, can't you?" She began to absent mindedly twirl a strand of hair around her finger.

"Yes, but some charms allow you to do the same," Svensson said with a smile. "Good guess, though!"

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Originally Posted by LilFox06

Carter raised his hand. "Would it be that Piertotum Locomotor physically alters an object while a charm would just animate an object in the form it was already in?"

Svensson nodded again. These students seemed to mostly have a good gage of the difference between a charm and a transfiguration spell. "Quite right," he said with a smile.

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Originally Posted by destinyjazzhands

Destiny raised her hand slowly, because she didn't know if her answer was right 'With piertotum locomotor you would need a counter-spell to stop it moving right, and a charm you wouldn't?' 'Maybe.'

"It's true that you need a counter spell to stop 'piertotum locomotor,'" Svensson said, "But some charms, especially strong charms, need a counter spell as well, if I remember correctly."

Svensson clapped his hands. Time to move on. "Now, I've already taught you the incantation--'Piertotum Locomotor'--so you should all be ready to perform the spell yourselves," he told the class. He turned and scribbled the name of the spell, which was also its incantation, on the board with some chalk, then turned around to face the class again. "Why don't you all try the spell on your peeps now?"

Ooh! Ooh! Keeley knew this one! Her hair turned pink, for pretty much no reason. "It makes inantimate objects come to life." Yay! She could finally do something for Ravenclaw!

"What is the wand movement for it sir?" Alexandra asked quietly with a raised hand

Peeps? That got an eye-raise from Kiri. Even the rather cheaply-made looking Muggle chess rook in her hand seemed to radiate indignation. Still, she was a little pleased with herself for delivering an apparently acceptable answer.

She put the rook down on the table and pulled out her wand. Aiming at nothing in particular, she waved it about and muttered the incantation under her breath. The 'Piertotum' in particular turned out to be a little difficult to pronounce, and as Kiri tried to say it correctly, she philosophised idly about what had motivated witches and wizards of the ages to make their spells so difficult to speak aloud.

Deciding to give it a try, she aimed the wand at the rook and said, "Pierre... No, no... Pee-err-totum Locomotor!" Nothing happened. Kiri wasn't surprised.
She laid the spell's syllables out in her head. Concentrating hard, she made another attempt: "Piertotum Locomotor!" To her excitement, the chess piece on the table moved! Sure, it only sort of wobbled back and forth a bit, but her spell had clearly had an effect.

That realisation brought a question, though. Kiri put her wand down on the table and raised her hand. "Erm, Professor Svensson? I have a question. Once we've, uh, figured out how the spell works, how do we actually tell the chess piece what to do?" She paused for a moment, then added, "Do we even have to tell it?"

Eying the peep and the chess piece currently in front of her. Mina reached for her wand. Piertotum Locomotor...Piertotum Locomotor...remember clear and precise words. She wasn't sure of the wand movement but glanced around to see the other students trying.

With a small sigh, she focused her attention back at the peep in front of her. Thinking about it in her head, she repeated the incantation to herself a few times before even attempting it. Better to be safe than sorry.

Carter looked down at his peep and realized he didn't know the wand movement. Luckily someone already mentioned it. He then continued to stare down at the peep and imagined it changing to be able to walk... or hop around... or whatever animated peeps did.

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Originally Posted by ginny37

"What is the wand movement for it sir?" Alexandra asked quietly with a raised hand

"With this spell, the wand movement isn't really an issue," Svensson said. "Though, now that you mention it, a precise wand movement would probably help you learn the spell..." The professor thought for a moment, then reached for his wand. His hand paused in his pocket as he remembered his wand was missing. Not wanting the students to know this, he decided to just describe the movement.

"Try a clockwise half-circle motion and then a flick towards the object," he said. Yes, that should work.

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Originally Posted by Antarctica!

That realisation brought a question, though. Kiri put her wand down on the table and raised her hand. "Erm, Professor Svensson? I have a question. Once we've, uh, figured out how the spell works, how do we actually tell the chess piece what to do?" She paused for a moment, then added, "Do we even have to tell it?"

"Once you've cast the spell, you should just be able to think about what it is you want the chess piece to do," Svensson said. "However, if your spell isn't strong enough, you may have to vocally instruct it in what you want it to do."

Carter looked down at his peep. He made a half-moon shape with his wand and then flicked it down toward the peep. 'Piertotum Locomotor' he said watching the peep with an intense look. Suddenly the peep popped up to life. It hoped around in a circle bouncing on its marshmallow 'legs'.

"Wha- We can't have them fight each other?" she asked, sitting up in her seat and staring at what the Professor was writing on the board. Would have been cool to have the pieces duel one another. Sighing, Evelyn took out her wand and stared at the Pink peep...pink...ew.

Resisting to turn it green like it should be, she pointed her wand at the rabbit shaped marshmallow and said "Piertotum Locomotor" rather confidently and clearly while doing the half moon and flick. For a moment, it seemed like it didn't do anything, making her frustrated. She always got things right on the first try! About to say the spell again, the little peep suddenly wiggled it's ears and started hopping around slightly, which somehow reminded her of chocolate frogs which then led her to be reminded of the one Josh had given her. She still had it...amazingly.

'Do those things ever go bad?' she thought, while poking the bouncing pink bunny, glancing around at everyone else and seeing what they were doing.

Kiri nodded. "Thank you, Professor," she said. That sounded simple enough, although the often crucially difference between theory and practice could of course lead to... complications.

She twirled her wand reflectively while thinking very hard of what she'd make the rook do. Walk across the table, maybe? Yes, that would probably do to start with. She took aim and said loudly, "Piertotum Locomotor!" and focused on a walking chess piece.
The rook sprang to life so suddenly that startled her. At first, Kiri was pleasantly surprised at how easy the spell seemed to be, but then... "Hey! What are you doing?" The rook was not walking around in a small circle like she'd specified, but was instead rushing towards the edge of the table at speed. Kiri flailed after it with her wandless arm, but it was too late - the rook went straight over the edge and smashed on the floor.

Great. Apparently I make little stone chess figures suicidal. She snorted derisively, then waved her wand to summon the pieces. A second flick restored the rook. Kiri put it down on the table with slightly more force than was necessary and gave it long, cool look as if daring it to misbehave again. "Piertotum Locomotor!" And don't do that again, she added silently.
The rook began to move. It meandered back and forth, but never strayed too close to the edge. Kiri kept a watchful eye as, little by little, the errant motions turned into what vaguely resembled a circle. Wondering what the proper mathematical name was for lightly-dented-egg geometry, Kiri let the rook wander about for a while.

Then she stopped the spell. With a final wobble, the chess piece came to a halt.

Oooo! Practice time!
Rolling up her sleeves, like she does at every transfiguration class, Destiny took out her wand and did the half moon and flick and said 'piertotum locomotor!' Nothing had happened. 'Whaaaat?'
She picked up the rabbit peep and examined it close to her face, but as she picked it up the peep used his wee little 'hands' and slapped her in the nose? She threw the peep onto the desk. 'I don't like you.' and she poked it with the tip of her wand, right in the peep's 'belly'. 'Now do push ups.'

Alexandra nodded her head and tried the wand movement without saying the incantation. Then she prcaticed the incantation without the wand movement... she didn't want to make anything crazy happen. "Piertotum Locomotor" she said clearly. Turning to the peep and chess piece she did the wand movement and said the incantation.