Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie (Post 10866382)

Kurumi was a little disappointed that they were not going to transfigure origami, but there really wasn't any connection with the art and bringing an unframed photograph to class. Oh well.

Setting her picture on her desk, Kurumi was momentarily distracted by it. It was a picture that she had taken over the summer after being given a make over by Jonathan's mother. Her first moments with her new look had been really awkward, but nothing had made her feel more awkward than when he had seen her for the first time. The picture was from a small dinner party his family had hosted, of her and Jonathan of course, and she smiled because for perhaps the first time she did not look plain standing next to him. She had another one with her as well, one of her and Selina smashing chocolate frogs with Beater's bats in the dorms. Horrid things.

When there was a discussion about what Transfiguration was, Kurumi opted to be an active listener and refresh her notes on the topic should anything new pop up that she didn't already have written down from previous terms.

Kurumi was pleasantly surprised when class then immediately moved on to an activity. So soon?! Excellent! First things first though, Kurumi needed to practice the incantation and wand movement before diving right in and trying it on her piece of paper. She flinched a bit when Professor Magnus subtly hinted at not blowing anything up. She hadn't said it, but it was all in her eyes. She didn't say anything about melting things. So, Kurumi was safe. Yep.

First, Kurumi picked up her wand and practiced drawing a square in the air. "Professor Magnus," she asked with her hand in the air. "How important is it to draw a perfect square? If we were to trace a rectangle in the air, for example, would the results be the same?" For now, Kurumi would stick with trying to perfect drawing air squares.

Once she felt confident enough with this, she set her wand down on the table and used her index finger in its place. "'Stat-UA HAB-itum....Stat-UA HAB-itum....Stat-UA HAB-itum...Stat-UA HAB-itum..." she repeated as she drew much smaller and confined air squares with her finger. That sounded just about right. Time to put everything together.

Kurumi picked up her wand again and traced a square above her paper. "Stat-UA HAB-itum," she said. The effects were instant and, well, the result was what she suspected they would be. Her paper now somewhat resembled a mushy rice cake that had been rolled with a rolling pin and was now a gooey mess all over the table. She couldn't help but laugh. Somethings just never changed. "Reverto," she commanded, and her paper was back to normal.

Good, now that THAT was out of the way, her second go should be much more fruitful.



Kurumi glanced over at Jezz who seemed to be struggling a bit and flashed her a smile. "It helps if you relax your shoulders," she suggested. Jezz looked very tense, probably from being nervous which was to be expected when practicing a new spell. "You'll get it and probably won't have to melt your paper to do it. Don't call yourself a failure. Remember, there are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure."

Such as always having to melt your object before doing things properly.

Originally Posted by HOPEendures (Post 10866473)

Jezz smiled at Kurumi and took a deep cleansing breath and felt her shoulders release some, but not all of the tension. "I'm trying but this is all still so new to me and I really don't want to let anyone down." Especially herself. She decided it would be best if she just practiced the incantation. "Stat-UA HAB-itum. Stat-UA HAB-itum. Stat-UA HAB-itum," she said to herself almost as a chant.

She closed her eyes, probably not the wisest thing she could do while picking up her wand. She took a deep calming breath drew opened her eyes, drew a square over the paper with her wand and said, "Stat-UA HAB-itum." The paper below her changed, not into a picture frame but small bouncy rubber balls going all over the place. "Reverto."

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie (Post 10866852)

Kurumi smiled. "If you put too much pressure on yourself you won't be able to concentrate as well." Speaking from experience here, for sure. Kurumi was always so afraid of failure that it almost always got in the way of her spellwork. It had certainly been the case last term in Professor Schirmer's Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson when they were learning how to conjure a patronus. She still wasn't able to produce much more than a wisp, but things had certainly improved once she allowed herself to let go a bit. "The only way you would let anyone down is by not trying, so you are already over that hurtle," she added with a small wink.

Okay, now back to her piece of paper and NOT making it melt.

Kurumi twirled her wand in her hand a few times before she held it firmly and pointed it at her piece of paper. Slowly, she traced a square hopefully making the corners 90 degrees and not something less and trace a lopsided diamond in the air. Holding her breath, Kurumi cast the spell. "Stat-UA HAB-itum!" The paper contorted and morphed until it took the shape of a glass photo frame. Thank Merlin! Her paper hadn't melted this time!

Kurumi didn't notice the bouncing ball Jezz had transfigured until it was too late and the ball came bouncing on to her table, smacked into her frame, and sent it crashing to the ground where it shattered into several pieces.

o__________________O

Originally Posted by HOPEendures (Post 10866921)

Jezz had felt so much hope coming off of Kurumi for her... That was until the bouncing ball. She had said reverto but it hadn't worked and now there was a shattering sound as it had smashed Kurumi's picture frame.

"Reverto," Jezz shouted and caught the ball in mid bounce. It transfigured back to the piece of paper and floated gently down landing in front of her, but the damage was done. "I am so sorry Kurumi. I don't know what happened or how to control the ball." She had said the spell right and she was pretty sure she had made a good square. "I am truly sorry. I didn't know that was going to happen. I'd never do that on purpose, I SWEAR." Great, she was getting hysterical. Emotional.

"Here have my piece of paper," Jezz said pushing it towards the older girl. She didn't want it anyway. It was becoming a thorn in her side to try and deal with it anymore. "I'll just..." Take a zero on the assignment? Ask for another piece of paper? She looked down and mumbled, "Sorry," one last time.

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie (Post 10866935)

Flailing her arms a bit, Kurumi turned to look at Jezz. "I-I-It's alright, I know you didn't do it on purpose. These things happen with new spells." Jezz wasn't Sierra. Bowing her head towards Professor Magnus in apology, Kurumi got out of her seat and scampered around to the front where the frame lay in pieces. She then pointed her wand at the pieces. "Reparo," she said and the pieces glued themselves back together and made it seem like the incident had never happened in the first place. She pocketed her wand again and held up the frame for Jezz to see. "No harm done." If it would make the first year feel better she would say that she forgave her, but Kurumi really didn't think that was necessary. There was nothing to forgive.

She then returned to her seat and set the frame on her desk before once again removing her wand from her pocket. "Reverto," she commanded, and the frame was back to being a simple sheet of white paper.

Originally Posted by jujune29th (Post 10866837)

Sophie looked around the class as everyone started trying out the new spell. She got her wand and started drawing the square on the paper, without saying anything. Before she realized it, the paper started burning out where the wand was touching, as if someone was holding a light match under it. She jumped on her seat and started tapping the paper with her other hand to stop it from burning more. Oops...

Maybe she'd better just say the words first, without holding the wand, just in case...

She placed her wand on the desk and started repeating the words. "Statu Habitum." No! "Statua Habitum!" oh, there! That was it! "Statua Habitum! Statua Habitum!" she said it a few more times and picked up her wand once more.

She drew the square around the burned parts of the paper (oh well...) "Statua Habitum!" and a weird picture frame was right in front of her. It didn't look exactly like the professor's, but Sophie actually though the burned parts made her picture frame look... different. In a very interesting way.

Originally Posted by MeredithRodneyMckay (Post 10866153)

Picking up the piece of paper she had left on her desk for the demonstration, Isabelle held it in front of her. "Now the paper you have all been given will, hopefully, by the end of the lesson become a brand new picture frame for the photo's you all brought with you." She hadn't just asked them to bring them for her amusement. Although you never knew, some of them might be funny. Issy hadn't actually seen them yet.

Taking her wand out of her pocket again Isabelle placed it against the paper and drew a square around all four sides. With almost a pop the paper changed into a gold picture frame that was slightly ornate. "The incantation is 'Stat-UA HAB-itum' (Statua Habitum)....and you trace a square above the object you are changing. Because this is a new spell you're trying I've given you something square to use, in the paper, but it can work on any object no matter the shape. I'll explain where your photo's come into the practice a little later when you have all got used to the spell. For now you don't need them."

Putting the frame down on her desk, Isabelle spread her arms wide and smiled. "Now I don't want you all to launch into changing things yet, please do refine each element of the spell before you try it for real. And don't be worried if it doesn't work first time. No one is perfect. Just revert it back to it's original state, using 'Reverto', and try again. And please, don't be afraid to ask for help!"




OOC: You can begiiiiiin! PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU HAVE READ EVERYTHING ISABELLE HAS ASKED YOU TO DO. No excessive chatter, and please don't blow anything up. lol This is my last post before bed, but Issy will be here the whole time. Remember that. ;)