Mia glanced at the 'three day old pudding eater' and gave an internal grimace. Why did he always insist on wanting to torment her. She probably would have liked him if he hadn't did that dirty trick in DADA and given her boils. What had she ever done to him?

Turning her attention back to the front just in time to hear the Professor's question, Mia raised her hand. "Shelter would probably be the most helpful thing. Something to protect you from the elements. Whether it be from the weather or animals."

Or falling acorns.

Heheh. Fletcher could tell Mia was slightly repulsed by his sitting next to her. Good. He would make her worth her while....

At Professor Kingsley's question, the boy's hand shot way, way up in the air, possibly accidentally elbowing Mia's head in his eagerness to provide an answer. "Fiiiiiiiiiiiyah, sir, you would need fire. Lots of it. And maybe some bear traps."

So what if that other kid had already said fire? Fletcher came up with bear traps. Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica. You should always watch for those three things when spending the night in the woods.

"Well if it is just for the night you will need Shelter,and fire" wondering if the professor wanted muggle survival stuff wich is alot harder if you dont have a wand

What do you need to survive? Emmaleigh thought for a minute. Fire was probably the most important, but they already learned how to make that, and the same with blankets. And well, you can't make food, but what about water? "You cant transfigure water right? but how about a pot or something to boil stream water in?" she asked.

(hi friends. My ISP is having serious issues in my neighborhood but I want to keep class going. I'll be posting from my phone so please bear with me with the lack of quotes or maybe having missed your post. <3)


Preston sighed. "Yes, Miss Shepard. Obviously, as this is a wandwork class your wand is of importance."

He listened to each student, nodding at each in turn. "Good. Good. While some of you have been very specific, you're right. Shelter. Warmth. Light. Water. Many of these things you can already managed."

Pausing, he flicked his wand at the board, listing the spells from previous classes.

"We haven't, however, really covered shelter. That is part of today's lesson and part of your final." He made his way to the pile of branches and leaves and gathered some for himself. "We're going to learn how to turn objects around you into materials you can use to construct a shelter."

"You will be able to use these spells with the ropes, nails and even blankets to provide shelter. The first is turning leaves into lumber. This is different from focalia in that the othe spell creates bundles of dry firewood. This will give you boards and planks."

Preston drew a small horizontal line in the air with his wand. "Temran madera"

The leaf settled on his desk transformed into a wooden board about three feet long.
"This would work with similar object as well. So, everyone take your leaves and try the spell to make a board."

Jimmy winked at Marie and eyed the leaf and branch. "Cheers."

Jimmy listened, messing with his leaf idly, twirling it between his fingers but not offering any answers.

Ok. So transfiguring a leaf into lumber. That'd be interesting on account of the size differences and things. Was it easier if the 'similar object' was a bit of a tree too?

"Temran madera." He repeated quietly. Rolling the words around his mouth. He matched it with the small horizontal wand movement and then focused on the leaf.

Temran madera.

He picked the now-board of lumber up and eyed it. It was okay, he supposed. How'd you make it bigger without resorting to engorgio or something? He looked along the length of it, about the length of his arm and width of his hand and then knocked on it gently. He stayed quiet and otherwise didn't draw attention to himself. Once he was done examining his handiwork he turned his attention to Marie and watched her with a smile.

making room on the desk michael placed the leaf .and copying the wand movment "Temran madera"befor his eyes the the leaf stretched and twisted in to a plank 2 1/2 feet long but paper thin" sir why is it so thin" and picking up the plank to show him the the board breaks under its own weight "I think my leaf was too dry do we need green ones ?"

"You need to focus on the width and strength that you want. Whether it's fresh or dry shouldn't matter if you concentrate and practice the spell enough. It might take some time to get it, though."

Preston let his eyes drift around the room to watch his other students' progress.

Simon watched and listened to the professor, making a few notes on what he said before eyeing both items in front of him on the desk. Leaves to lumber...almost seems like it should be paper to lumber since its the same materials but then you wouldn't always have paper around, the Gryffindor absently mused as he thought it over.

Bringing the leaf closer with one hand, he picked his wand up with his other, practicing the wand movements for a moment before he felt ready to try it fully. "Temran madera," he said casting the spell with its corresponding horizontal movement. It was slow to work so Simon cast it once more, pronouncing it a little more clearer and was rewarded by a decent sized wooden plank.

Salander set the branch aside and lay the leaf before him, looking at it with intense concentration Ok, focus on the leaf... width and strength... here we go.... "Temran Madera!" he cast on the leaf-- and saw it turn into wood....

... a wooden leaf that is.

The Slytherin lad picked it up-- it looked like a leaf shaped chopping board. "Ehrmm.... maybe I should try again?" he asked, eying the extra leaves for a replacement.

Eino was so excited! Now he could build a tree house out of leaves, worms, and snakes!! Maybe he wouldn't really need ropes since snakes weren't as easy to find as leaves and worms, but he was already excited to go home and build a tree house with his snazzy transfiguration skills! He placed the leaf on his desk and moved all of his other materials away from it. "Temran madera!" Eino said as he copied the Professor's wand movement. The leaf turned into a very, very small wooden board. I can't build a tree house with this... I'll need hundreds. He thought as he took the board and examined it. Then he put it aside and placed another leaf at the center of his desk and continued to practice.

taking anouther leaf "Yes sir ....."Temran madera the leafe stretched to what look to be 3 feet long 1/2 in thick board but it was still Red and yellow....looking up at the professor " well it will make it easier to be seen "grinning sheepishly

"They were making a shelter out of wood? But wouldn't a tent be easier?" She thought. Then she remembered the troubles she and her father had had the last time they tried to set up a tent. "Maybe this will be easier."

"Temran madera" she said aloud over and over, trying to get control of the syllables. when she was ready, she pointed her wand at the leaf, and repeated the incantation while copping the professor's wand movement. She watched as the leaf turned into a wooden board. Unfortunately, the board was just a little longer than her wand. "Um, Professor?" she called while putting her hand in the air, "How do I make it bigger?"

OW!!!

The stupid 'three day old pudding eater and boil giver' just elbowed her in the head. He was doing it on purpose, she was sure of it.

Mia looked up at Professor Kingsley, surely he had just seen that. Surely the Professor would do something about the stupid rotten food eater. But nooooo he just ignored it.

Well.

Fiiiiiine.

Making sure that the Professor wasn't looking, Mia picked up her stick and poked Fletcher in the ribs with it.

There!

See how you like it.

What the...?

Not only did she have to transfigure her leaf which by the way was big enough to be a shelter all on it's own, but she had to try and remember the incantation.

"I can't even pronounce those words." She whined dramatically while picking up her wand and looking at it with trepidation. She was going to blow something up, she could just tell.

Drawing a horizontal like with her wand, Mia spoke the incantation. "Terman modera." Sparks flew out of her wand and landed on her leaf and a couple may have just flown over to Fletcher and landing on his robes.

Mia picked up her leaf and there were at least half a dozen sizeable holes in it.

Well at least she hadn't burnt it completely.

Oh they're gonna transfigured the leaf? Okay this is going to be fun. Well. Freya hopes so. She pulled out her wand and put the leaf on her desk. What was the spell again? Oh yeah Temran madera. She took a deep breath before drawing a small horizontal line in the air with her wand and said the incantation "Temran Madera!" but nothing happened. None. Zero. Nada. The leaf still a leaf.

She let out a small sighed and prepared herself for her second experiment with the spell. She closed her eyes tried to pictured a wooden board in her mind and focused on the width and strength like Professor Kingsley said. The Slytherin girl opened her eyes and repeated the wand movement again before saying the incantation "Temran Madera!" and she saw her leaf turning into a wooden board. She did it but the wooden board was not as long as Professor Kingsley's. Her wooden board only about one and half feet long. "Well. At leas it was a wooden board, right?" she said trying to cheer herself.

So they were learning to make a shelter? That sounded awesome! Melanie listened carefully as the Professor explained the functions of the spell they'd be practicing, and then told them how to do it. Under her breath she repeated the incantation, deciding to practice saying it just once without her wand. Then Melanie got her wand out.

She twirled it absentmindedly between her fingers, looking around at the other students for a few moments, before peering down intently at the leaf sitting upon her desk. Flicking her wand horizontally, Melanie said the magic words, "Temran Madera." The girl watched the leaf on her desk carefully as it swelled up and then, slowly, turned a darker brown color. When it seemed to be done Melanie prodded it with her finger.

It looked like a plank of wood and, roughly, was about the size and shape of Professor Kingsley's. However, it felt a little... spongy. If nothing else, it would probably make an excellent floating device. However, if someone were to try and make a shelter of it, Melanie was sure it would let water in. And that was no good.

"Give it another try," Preston said, as he made his way by. "Focus on size, shape and consistency as you cast the spell."

Preston circled back to the boy. "Almost there. A little more focus on the visual aspects and you shoudl get there."

Preston paused, stroking his chin as he watched. "Try imagining the leaf getting bigger as it turns into a board. That may help with the size issue."

Preston turned at the question. "Well, try practicing the incantation again, focusing on producing a bigger board. If that fails, an enlargement charm would work, too, but first focus on your original spell creating a decent sized board."

He paused. "It's all in the focus."

Preston had missed the jostling at the question, and only barely caught the stick-poke out of the corner of his eye. Registering it, he said nothing, resolving instead to keep a closer eye on the two in the back.

And it was a good thing, as the sparks flew.

Vanishing them neatly, and sparing any singes to people, Preston shook his head. "Some more concentration, please, Miss Gibbons."

"Try again," Preston called to her. "You can work on the size with your concentration."

Without the girl saying anything, Preston couldn't tell the consistency of the board was off. So, he continued walking, nodding a he went.

-----------

"Keep practicing," he said, continuing his walk. "There is a limit as to how large you can make the board just by concentrating, but that's going to be dependent on your skill and the leaf itself. So keep at it."

As he walked, he continued to speak. "You could use these boards to create a quick lean-to, using the nails and hammer spells we learned last class. You could use them as a floor, to keep your body away from the wet ground. You could do any number of things with them."

He stopped in his tracks, though. "Remember, though, that this isn't permanent. I would caution strongly against using these materials to build structures that you need to last."

Alice took her wand out of its holster with a rather shaky hand before placing the leaf on the desk in front of her. She took a deep breath, hoping to calm her nerves, before pointing her wand at the leaf.

"Temran Madera!" Alice said, running her wand in a horizontal line along the leaf.

She raised her eyebrows in amazement that it had actually worked...well...almost. The end of the board was a little crooked looking.

''Shelter, just use some leaves and sticks and tie them together with the rope that we learned to conjure last lesson. Thats what all the muggles do in movies.'' She thought for a moment.....Boards are better. After the professor was finished she pulled the leaves in front of her and begin to practice.

"Temran madera" the leaf turned into a little tiny board, " Im going to need alot of leaves or just going to have to build a small shelter. Not going to happen. Reverto" The leafs again lay on her desk.

She needed to concentrate but she was so tired class, homeowrk more classes and on top of that exams, so she was up late studying. Trying to focus, she tried again ''Temran Madera" This time it was a good length but when she picked it up it crumbled in her hand. "Proffessor, I must be doing something wrong because I dont think i can build a shelter with sawdust," pointing to the pile of crumbled wood in fron t of her.

Whaat? What was that sigh for? Pfft, like he said. Obviously, one would need their wand! No harm in stating the obvious every once in awhile. Well, it may harm a professor’s ability of insane patience, but other than that, it was fine; in her opinion of course.

Wait, they were going to create shelter? Did he even see hers and Destiny’s attempt at making a tent? How was making a shelter any different?

Sighing, the Slytherin wrote down the spell and it’s wand movement before taking out her own wand and placing it on her desk. Or…not. Raising a brow, she picked the dark wood wand before placing her leaf on the desk instead. Mwaha! Nice, lovely green leaf. So, Slytherin. "Temran madera…" she muttered and repeated again as she stared at the leaf. So, she was supposed to imagine that into a wood board? Haha, riigghhht. That wouldn't be hard. Pffft.

"Temran madera." With a horizontal line being drawn in the air in front of her with her wand, the leaf grew and molded into a shape of a small board, smaller then the professor’s that is, and… "WHY can I never get the color right?!" It was a board, yes, but it still looked like a leaf! Even had those little vein parts in it. PFFT!

"Y-yes, sir!" Eino said now distracted by the Professor's watchful eyes. He could never concentrate when he knew someone was watching him. It always made him feel like he was doing something wrong and was either going to get scolded or punished for it. He tried to concentrate on the leaf, the wooden board, and the size the leaf would transfigure into. "Temran Madera!" The leaf first grew to about a foot as it shook and twitched, then it turned into a smooth wooden board. Eino was very proud of himself, now he could totally build a-- What!? Not permanent? That destroyed any motivation he had to continue. What was he supposed to do with a temporary piece of wood? What if he ate the wood? Would it turn back into a leaf in his tummy? These are the things Eino wondered as he recorded his process on a piece of parchment.

She frowned, her eyes drifting to the professor as he began to talk again. Taking mental note of what he said, she nodded to herself. Maybe she would do better if she... thought of wood? Or concentrated on her goal more, like the professor advised some of the students around her to do?

Melanie decided it was worth a try. Thinking of the transformation she wanted her weird, spongy, board to make, Melanie drew a horizontal line in the air with her wand, and spoke the incantation. "Temran Madera." she said, watching carefully. At first it didn't do anything, so the Hufflepuff attempted the spell again, with a little more enthusiasm. "Temran Madera!" It didn't look any different when she was through, but just to be sure Melanie prodded the board with her finger again. It felt more solid. Her attempt seemed to have worked.

Smiling a bit at the professor's words, Kurumi took a deep breath and tried find her center...or maybe the better word for that was mental and emotional stability.

Having heard the professor's first question, Kurumi looked around the foresty room and was brought back to the times she had gone camping with her family in the mountains...or in down by the river in their backyard during the summer. She had read that a human can go three days without water, 30 days without food...so over night those were not necessarily needed to survive the night. Pondering for a moment, Kurumi then raised her hand and tried not to be as nervous as she had been entering the room. "I think a stable shelter and fire would be the most essential."



Kurumi wasn't really sure why they were turning leaves into lumber since they had already learned how to summon lumber using Focalia, but perhaps this was to use just in case you couldn't cast the spell properly? Kurumi continued to watch Professor Kingsley's demonstration to see that the leaves turned into perfect planks of wood. Aaaaaaaaaaaah, so that is why they were learning this spell. Instead of twigs and what not, they were transfiguring the leaves into actually building blocks.

Kurumi picked up several maple leaves of various sizes and set them down on her desk. Concentration and Visualization...Concentration and Visualization...Concentration and Visualization... She repeated the mantra over and over in her head before trying the spell out herself. Copying the professor's small horizontal line in the air motion with her wand, Kurumi said "Temran madera" nice and clear and then watched as her leaves began changing.

While she didn't have actually planks of wood...at least the leaves had taken on the shape of a plank. Half way there at least...Frowning a bit, she picked up the smaller of the leaf planks. "Well, this isn't going to work well with nails," she laughed a little lightheartedly.

" ok third time lucky "watching the wood pattern on the desk to get idea "Temran madera"the board was brown but it was the dark drown of the staind wood not the light brown of professors seeing now what the professor had ment,just by pictuering the look in your head befor you cast and molding in your mind the board as it started to form" Sir when your doing it do you do color,length,then texture in your mind or can you do it in any order "

"All at once, actually," Preston replied, making his way to the boy. "You need to hold all those qualities in your mind at once when you cast."