Surely, those two bows were very magical since she couldn't take her eyes off it. The two were just gleaming with the rays of the sun from the windows and it was seemingly making a melody of its one just by being there, even just by being held by Dr. MacNally.

Shaking her head to bring herself back to the real world, Beezus raised her hand. "Errr--are those unicorn hairs?" Half-asked, half-answered. She was just not sure. But betting that it was indeed unicorn hair was the best choice she got. Besides, she didn't know any other kind of hair from a magical being that looked that attractive.

Kurumi looked at the two bows and had the same thoughts as her classmates...only she was a little confused at the notion of Veela hair considering how rare it was for someone to have a wand with a Veela hair core. Not to mention the whole mythology about a Veela's hairs being plucked unwillingly would result in their death or be forced to change into a non-human shape. "Um...sir, if that is in fact Veela hair," she said pointing to the memorizing bow. "Do the magical properties relate to the ones you see when it is used as a wand core?" Which would mean that that bow was very...temperamental? Which would mean that unicorn hair bows were faithful...

Sophie was just watching the others students answering. She didn't know a lot about music, so she decided just to listen for now.

Oh! There was a question she might know! Maybe... at least she could guess, She finally raised her hand. "Unicorn hair, sir?" She didn't know about the other one, though.
She heard as her classmates replied. Veela hair? Say what?

The first thing that Tayla thought of was, "Unicorn hair, Sir." And Dr. MacNally saying "attractive" made her remember the Veela, too, but she couldn't imagine how he would have gotten a bow made of that. Thinking some more, she said, "And maybe hair from a winged horse?" After all, Muggles got their violin bow hairs from white horses and black stallions.

Name tag:
Name: Jory Stonewall
Year: Third
House: Hufflepuff

Jory raised his hand. He thought he recognised one set of the hairs. "Unicorn hair,'' he said but had no clue as to the other one.

Alyssa studied the strings before raising her hand. "Sir, I agree with the rest of the students. Those hairs do look like unicorn and veela hair, which would make sense since they are both known to contain magical properties."

Janice gasped. Those bows are the most beautiful bows she had ever seen. Maybe because it's made up of magical stuff, she thought. But no. One of her Muggle frienemies, Melody (heh) , boasts around how she could play the violin very well. And since Janice's life experience says that objects reflect the personality of their bearers, she thought that Melody's bows are not that good-looking compared to these little beauties.

"That one is definitely Veela hair," she said pointing to the really pretty one. [I mean, what else attracts you that effective? she thought. "And since violin bows are made up of horse-tail hairs, and you said that it's been classified and registered with the Ministry, I'm guessing that it's from a Unicorn Tail."

Amelia took some more notes now as the Professor kept talking. Since she wasn't the best with music and was rather curious, she wanted to ensure that she got as much out of this lesson as possible. She was a lot better at the Healing stuff than she was at the music stuff.

Looking up now, she studies the two hairs that he was showing the class. She raised her hand now. "I believe that is Unicorn and Veela hair." She just had no real idea as to why they were used. But she'd still hazard a guess. "Does using these hairs have anything to do with their magical properties?" She was thinking about how they were also used as the core of wands. Maybe it was like trees with wand making and Runes, and these hairs passed on their properties as well.

Ella copied down the new notes in her notebook and looked carefully at the violin bows. She wasn't sure what the yellow hair was exactly but was quite sure the white one came from a unicorn. As the other students had already guessed this, she waited patiently for the Dr. to confirm their guesses.

Minerva put her hand up "Could it be unicorn hair sir?" she then got her parchment to write down what the answer really was if she was wrong.

Taylor looked at the violin bow. She smiled at it. Tay rose her hand, "Sir is it made out of veela or unicorn hair?" Taylor thought it was prettier than the usual.

Laura looked at Doctor do-lally or whatever he was called and raised her hand. "Is one a Troll nose hair, and is the other one, your hair?" Laura decided to guess.

“No, Miss Hyde. I’m afraid not. As you can see, neither of these bows has black hairs like mine, and human hair is not worth trying – especially with the amount of chemicals that get into it through shampoo and the like.” Eurgh, that would sound awful... “As for your other suggestion... it doesn’t bear thinking about.”

Merlin, this girl was good. “Yes! Fabulous question, Miss Hollingberry.” said Xavier. “In fact, I shall address it momentarily.”

“As most of you have mentioned, these bows are strung with two, very potent, magical materials.” he said to the class. “This one,” he held up the bow with silvery-white hairs, “is strung with unicorn hair. This one,” he held up the other bow – the one with yellow-blonde hairs, “is strung with Veela hair.” And very special Veela hair too.

Now to explain why. “Unicorn hair bows are used very often in concerts. They lend a smoother, purer sound to the music being played. Most of the time they are used for happy melodies or energetic jigs.” Bending down he opened his violin case and held his Stradivarius violin to his chin. “I am going to show you the difference between horsehair and unicorn hair bows.” he explained, lifting the ordinary horse hair bow from the violin case. He played about five seconds of a jolly Irish jig before laying the horse hair bow back into its slot in the case. Then he picked up the unicorn bow and played the same piece of music. It seemed a lot happier somehow, more innocent. “Do you hear the difference? The magical properties of the unicorn hair seem to seep into the music somehow.” He carefully replaced the unicorn haired bow back into its case and closed the lid softly. Then he picked up the Veela haired bow.

“I am going to show you the effects of Veela hair.” said Xavier, holding the bow in plain sight. “You may feel slightly light-headed, especially the males in the room, but I will only play for a couple of seconds – not long enough for any of you to do anything silly. Don’t worry, it is completely safe.” he explained before raising his bow and bringing it down onto the violin strings. The music was enchanting and beautiful – like Siren song, but it only lasted a couple of seconds, when the sounds of Veela hair music fade they often leave many wizards sad that the music has stopped as well as happy that they heard it.

SPOILER!!: Explaining the significance of the hair types

Xavier gently replaced the Veela hair bow to its case, put away his violin and waited a moment for the class to regain their senses before he continued. “Veela hair is very enchanting and, as you can probably guess, can be very dangerous in the wrong hands. That’s why these bows are restricted and must be registered with the ministry – if played correctly these bows can cause the listener of the music to become very easily persuaded.”

Only a few more things to explain now and then they could get onto the practical bit! “Unicorn hair bows must also be registered with the ministry but only because of the rarity of them, not their powers.” After all, the power to cheer up and relax people wasn’t exactly a dangerous one. “It is important to remember how rare and expensive both of these types are. Unicorn hair, for example, must be found, not taken. If it is taken by force the sound made will be horrible and possibly dangerous.” The results weren’t quite as drastic as the results of drinking unicorn blood but it was possible to lose hearing. “Similarly, for the Veela hair bow, the hair must be given in love. It is impossible to play with a bow made with Veela hair that has been stolen or given in spite.” Xavier paused, allowing for time to catch up with notes – these students seemed to take a lot more notes than he ever did... but then he used to read a lot outside of his lessons. “And that brings me on to my next point; Miss Hollingberry asked whether the use of Unicorn and Veela hair gave the bow characteristics similar to those of wands with the hair as a core.” Xavier waved his own unicorn hair wand slightly as he spoke. “The answer is yes: Unicorn haired bows are very faithful and loyal to the musician, whereas Veela haired bows can be temperamental."

“This bow,” he tapped the top of the box with the Veela haired bow in it, “is strung with hairs from my grandmother. She gave the hairs to me on my eighteenth birthday for this very purpose and so the bow, though it usually works perfectly for me, can be frightfully temperamental if it is used by another.” Xavier hoped that made sense... but the students were free to ask for clarification if necessary.

“And that brings me on to my last point about bows. Other hairs that have been used in bows include Granian –winged horse: aside from the almost weightlessness of the hairs, they work much the same as horse hairs.” Though they were wonderful for beginner bows for some reason – Xavier wasn’t quite sure why so he didn’t mention it. “It is also possible to use Thestral hairs, however, they make music sound so sad that Thestral bows are very, very rare.”

FINALLY it was practical time! “Right, as we mentioned earlier there are lots of spells which aide us in music making. Today we will be looking at, and trying out, two of these spells. The spells we will be using are: ‘Emodulor’ and ‘Ludo Solus.’” explained Xavier. “Ludo Solus is similar to Creo Musica – both enchantments work in more or less the same way. Now, who can hazard a guess at what these two spells are for?”

Although not necessary for the rest of the lesson, the bit in the spoiler is worth reading for... other opportunities... also, I spent a long time on it

Ella smiled as she listened to the Dr. play on the two bows. The unicorn haired bow sounded lovely and Ella tapped her leg as he played the lively tune. When he started to play the other bow, Ella felt kind of sleepy. The tune reminded her of a lullaby. She copied down notes when he had finished playing, thinking it was quite interesting how unicorn haired bows were loyal and Veela ones were temperamental.

Then Ella concentrated on the two spells that were talked about. She wasn't sure what either were used for but 'solus' sounded familiar. "Professor, Solus sounds like the word solo...does Ludo Solus mean that the music only plays for one person, or that a solo instrument plays?"

Kurumi wrote down note after note after note and wanted to ask how wood types effect bows as well, but the man seemed to want to move on. That, and she feared asking such a question might cause the man to turn blue in the face.

With his next question, Kurumi raised her hand. "Creo Musica, or the Music-Creating Charm, is a charm that creates background music at the will of the caster. When the spell is left alone, the song will continue to play over and over again in a continuous loop or until someone casts the spell to change the music." Since he said that the spells were the same thing...Kurumi felt it was alright to just explain that charm.

Minerva had no clue and decided to guess 'Does one mean to have instruments play by them selves."

Sky shook her head slightly to clear it after Dr. MacNally finished playing. Then she took down notes on everything said, writing quickly and slightly sloppy to make sure she got it all. She had no clue about the two spells, so she just listened to her fellow students' ideas.

Cove thought for a moment. I Ludo Solus was the same as Creo Musica.... then would Ludo Solus be to create music? It only made sense. Creo could like to create and Musica would be music. "Would Ludo Solus be to create music?" she asked wuth her hand raised. "Also, if you can restring a bow with something other than horse hair, can you also retring a violin or viola and whatnot, with something magical as well?" she asked.

Alyssa repeated the words of the spell before hazarding a guess. She raised her hand and said."Sir, could the word Emodulor be a derivative of the word modulate? So could the spell be used to set a the song or music to a certain rhythm? As for Ludo Solus. Ludo is the latin word for to play and the word Solus is latin for the word alone or solo. So could Ludo Solus be an enchantment to make the music play by itself?"

Amelia jotted down more notes as she listened to the instructor explain the different effects that Veela and Unicorn hair had on bows.This kind of thing she could understand, but the musical spells... not really. She had no idea what they could mean, so she decided to stay silent again for the moment.

Wow. That was like one of the most beautiful performances she had ever witnessed. As the instructor showed them the difference in playing a violin with Unicorn hair and another one with ordinary horse hair, she just couldn't help but feel utterly enthusiastic too. So, that was the effects of it. Quite not what she had expected, but very jolly to the hearing indeed. And then, the one with the Veela hair. Its effects seemed a bit far from the one with the Unicorn hair. It had a striking touch to it. A music that was intimidating but at the same time fascinating.

Sighing with admiration, Beezus started writing down notes as quickly as she could. Hopefully, she would be able to understand it if she tries to have a recap of the seminar later.

And to the next question. HUH? Creo Musica? She heard that incantation from one of her fellow eagles before. It made Nate produce music from nothing. Or was that was really happened? Daaaang. She couldn't remember very well. That happened when she was in first year for Merlin's sake. And due to her uncertainty, she refrained from raising her hand and giving out her answer. It was better to just listen sometimes too.

Xavier nodded at all the answers, “Yes, Ludo Solus can create music from nothing. However, it does have one extra use than Creo Musica and this is what we shall be using in a moment.” he explained. “First, though, we will be using Emodular. This is a tuning spell, for example,” Xavier held up his wand. “Emodular A.” A long note rang around the room. “When you state what note you wish the spell to play it can be used to tune an instrument by ear.” And it was especially useful for people who weren’t graced with perfect pitch.

“So, it’s time for you to try it. Wands out!” And get ready for noise... he added in his head. “Right, you are going to get the spell to produce an ‘A’. The incantation is Emodular A. And there is no wand movement; simply hold your wand vertically in front of you – or next to your ear if you prefer.” He demonstrated. “You have twenty minutes to practice this. Can anyone tell me why we are using the note ‘A’?” Just for a little extra credit...

I’ll leave this open for at least 36 hours so that you can get a three posts in. One post practicing the incantation and at least two trying the actual spell. Have fun!

Listening and jotting down more notes as the man spoke, Kurumi was about to being practicing when she heard him ask one last question and her hand immediately shot up into the air. Her mother would be proud of her...and that made her smile. "The musical note A is used as a standard for tuning. In orchestras, the oboe plays the note and the rest of the instruments tune according to it and attempt to match its pitch. There are also several common scales that begin with the note, making it rather useful. So...I suppose you could say that by using this particular note...we are all tuning ourselves." And with that, Kurumi's hand lowered again. Here she thought she was going to be dreading this lesson...seeing as it related so closely to her mother.

Right, she needed to practice. "Emodular A...Emodular A...Emodular A..." she said to herself several times softly. Seeing as this wasn't too different from other musical spells and charms she had performed before, Kurumi removed her wand from her robes and held it near her ear and felt rather confident in performing it. "Emodular A," she said with conviction. Instantly, she heard the soft humming of the note against her ear...and it sounded as if the sound belonged to...a violin? Stopping for a moment, Kurumi set her wand down and glanced back at their instructor. "Excuse me, sir...what should this note...sound like...Um, I mean, is there a particular instrument it should sound like or is that more left up to us and our intent?"

Her mother could play the violin...so it left the Gryffindor wondering...

"It depends on the person, Miss Hollingberry. Mine always sounds like a string instrument." said Xavier. "Probably because I play them more often, but I had a student who played percussion and his tuning spell was just a tone - it doesn't have to sound like any particular instrument. Once you've perfected that you can try finding other notes." he added, noticing how quickly she was picking it up.

Okay, why A? Sky had to think back to her choir classes for a minute before she finally remembered the answer. "Most musical scales start with A, so it is used as the standard tuning note."

She started practicing the incantation before using the spell. "E-m-o-d-u-l-a-r. Emo-dular. Emodular." Okay, she thought she had it, now to add the note. "Emodular A. Emodular A." There she had it! Now to actually use it…