West put his hand up.


"Professor, since Transfiguration is exact, and one of the areas of magic rooted in physics, there are formulas for aaaall transfiguration spells. That's why its hard to invent them since all of those elements have to balance so that the spell won't mess up, and its also why not everyone always casts the same spell in the same way. That formula is the one that tells us, for each spell, how the different elements come together based on our current understanding of how magic works." Current because stuff could be elaborated on or discovered or what not with time. Whatever, he was clearly excited about the subject matter.

"All those variables have to be in balance, and you have to know how to find out what those letters mean. I think the most interesting one is Wand Power, or w. Its based on the rigidity scale of wands, which goes from Delicate to Hard, with sub-grades at each level. There's 24 grades all up including both the five main grades and the sub-grades, and where your wand wood rates on that scale gives you the value for the w value in the formula." Which was cool, and once you knew it as long as you had the same wand, it didn't change.

Sooo... that was what the w value was anyways. West put his hand down, suddenly aware again that this was now Bellaire's class and entirely nervous of whether or not she'd like his answer.

Alice sluggishly slipped into her seat, examining the REALLY LOUD GRYFFINDOR out of the corner of her eye and totally ignoring Bellaire's question for a few minutes. It wasn't as if no one else was answering, right? Besides, she didn't want to just repeat what everyone else had already said. But this professor gave points by the answer, didn't she? So she took her eyes off of the first year long enough to try to formulate something to say.

"You, like, measure the variables and plug them. And then do maths and stuff." And all that stuff West was saying. That, too.

Nailed it.

Good? Okay. She went back to nonchalantly inspecting first years.

Between this class and Astronomy, Tucker was REALLY kind of dreading returning to school.

He'd done a few very VERY simple algebra classes in muggle school and his mum had done some physics stuff with him just to pass the time, but THIS was a whole new level. His head was spinning and he stared at the paper, rereading the sentence over and over again to try and make sense of it.

He scribbled down everything his classmates were saying, determined to figure this out. He WOULD get it, he WOULD.

BLINK.

BLINK.

The class started really fast, the lady also talked fast that she had to cling to every word carefully. She eyed the formula on the board the woman had asked about.

t,a,w,z...b,c,d,e,f,g.......!!!

This was Transfiguration class, wasn't it?

Then a guy slytherin stood up and said a whole lot of things that didn't make any sense to her. She just stared between him and the Trans woman. Atleast anyone of them would do good and actually EXPLAIN what that stuff was?

Anya shrugged. Considering this was one of her first classes, she didn't really know. And she wasn't quite sure how the payment system worked. Perhaps Professors were allowed to decide if they wanted to charge students. This Professor seemed to be the type that would decide to charge people.

Maybe there should just be a letter explaining what she would and would not be charged for. That would be easier.

But, she was in too much of a good mood to actually retort. Her eyes scanned the board. Hmm... a formula.

She tilted her head to the side. She'd been studying muggle math, so her brain was going pretty quickly. She'd just go ahead and assume that the intended transformation was supposed to be a big number. That made sense, right?

She raised her hand. "It looks like... in order to transfigure something... you need to have more wand power and concentration then..." she squinted at her parchment a little "... bodyweight and... hate."

So apparently fat and feelings were distracting. Noted.

SPOILER!!: Eliza's Notes

Eliza Dawnsel
Ravenclaw, 3rd Year

Transfiguration - Lesson One

The intended transformation (t) is directly influenced by bodyweight (a), viciousness (v), wand power (w), concentration (c) and a fifth unknown variable (Z).

Okay, how to explain the formula? Umm... She took her best stab at it. "Well, each spell requires certain movements, force, concentration and basic skill level. Another component could be intent, but maybe that goes along with concentration. So this formula, like West said, is how to break down each transfiguration spell ever." Which seemed really hard to her at the moment, but she felt confidant that Bellaire would help them understand.

Dylan remained standing in place, not really bothering to pay too much attention to what his peers were saying. A massive headache was setting in...even though he maintained a certain disposition. Sure, confident, and ready.

Merlin, he was so NOT ready, though.

Bleh.

The Slytherin did listen carefully to what she was saying, though...and for a brief moment, smirked. It was good to know that some things never changed. It was structure and discipline...and oddly comforting at the same time.

And.... "The castor should be larger in mass than the object to be transfigured...for bodyweight to be effective."

Just throwing that out there...

So there was a really complicated formula that they were supposed to say what it meant. Lexi looked a the formula and listened to what her classmates had to say about the formula. Lexi raised her hand to make a guess. "Are the letters supposed to represent different types of transfiguration," she asked. Then she noticed that the letters already had stuff assigned.

"Wait does the Z perhaps stand for age or something. Because I'm guessing us little first years aren't as smart as the super smartie older people," she asked. Because she didn't really have any other ideas.

Mack carefully read the equation for the hundredth time, it made sense in her head but how could she explain it. She heard an older boy explaining exactly what she was thinking. She sighed inwardly if she tried explaining it now then it would sound as if she were copying him. She looked down at her parchment, her handwriting mimicking that of the professors, something she had picked up from her mother, whose handwriting changed depending on where she was at the moment of writing. She listened, to everything the other students were saying, mirroring her own thoughts, she wrote down some of their key points hoping that would help her in her studying to remember some things.

That was...erm, quite a formula. Peyton nibbled on her bottom lip, her brows furrowed together, thoughtfully. Transfiguration wasn't her best subject, in fact, it was the one she was the worst at, but oddly enough she was happy to be here.

Slowly, the fourth year raised her hand. She had something to say. "The intended transformation depends on all of those variables," she said, trying to disguise the uncertainty in her voice. It was nice to share. People neeeeded to share their answers, guesses, opinions, thouuuughts. GRIN.

Whoops. Jason shrugs. "Sorry professor " he says as he stands.
His cheeks flush red with slight embarrassment when he's standing.

Eyebrow raise. Okay, so she was one of those REALLY hot women who didn't like being told that she looked nice. Well then. Fine, that was cool with him. She didn't need to be so snappy about it. Message received. Didn't make it any less true, though, what he said. Smirk.

Instead of saying anything else, though, he just smiled and her and nodded. Whatever appeased her. Because that was what he was... people pleaser. Mostly of the female variety.

Also, he had no idea what that was going on in this class. There was a formula on the board and he didn't know where to even begin with it. So he was just going to wait to see what was going on. At least his interest was perked. Females should teach ALL classes ever. A lot more to care about then when guys taught. Ascanius wisdom.

Jory studied the formula on the board. "Math,'' kept repeating itself in his head but he tried not to think of it. Math was the worst thing ever invented, honestly.

He wasn't sure but he raised a hand anyway. "Transfiguration depends on known variables body weight, viciousness, wand power, concentration and an unknown variable,'' the badger said. "In order so transfigure something well, we must take into them into account.''

Hehe...

Heheheheehehe

What she found even more terrifying than the fact that she'd walked in on a formula was that the Professor expected them to understand said formula. Again, she had to try hard not to snicker. It wasn't suppose to be funny. The Professor didn't give jokes, she knew that. Alright she would attempt it.

Lex read the formula again. And again...and again for good measure. She knew what it was saying, oddly enough she did, but between the people who clearly didn't know the answer and the ones who seemed to nail it, there just seemed no real place for hers so she kept quiet. First class back, she was happy, she could do without the glares, thanks.

While she waited on them to move on, she busied her attention with the gargoyles. She might have poked hers a bit too. Yeah...

Minerva watched as everyone joined in the classroom, and then Bellaire was getting started.. Well time to really get started, back to the routine of classes and studying. Trying to focus she looked at the board. The formula.. which made her think of math and math always made her mind wonder, so before she knew it her mind was else were then the classroom.

Hearing Bellaire's voice, Minerva tuned back in... Oh they were suppose to read this formula, hmm what did it mean, "Professor, could it mean the height or weight of the wizard, plus their wand, the amount of concentration they are giving, and what type of object they are trying to transfigure." Now that she answered, Min stayed quiet listening to everyone else give their thoughts on the subject.

This here... this was maths, and Mo gave the formula on the board his utmost attention and focus. Or, you know, whatever he was able to give. He tapped a finger against the desk top as he classmates spoke. Specifically West, who liked to answer questions that weren't asked yet, but it was important to West to be seen in class. Mo got that, even if he'd rather just learn stuff even if no one noticed he was there. West did get a head tilt of appreciation, though, before Mo returned to staring at the formula.

He finally raised his hand. "Each of those letters is a variable, a component necessary to calculate the Transfiguration correctly for best casting. It's odd, though, professor, because I'm not sure how you quantify viciousness or concentration. But the good news is that the viciousness and body weight make up the denominator, which means that someone smaller and less vicious will require less concentration or wand power to achieve the same result. 'Course, if you're big boned AND mean-spirited AND you have a low wand power, you better have the concentration of a sphinx at a crossword tournament or you'll get nowhere with this spell."

Kaiden had to agree with Anya. Even if they he had already attended Astronomy, and didn't have to pay, he wasn't certain that one of those paying things wouldn't pop out of the ground waiting for him to shove coins in it. You know, since they seemed to be everywhere. Which was why he was avoiding the common room. and the great hall.

He listened to the whole bit where the professor explained who she was and how difficult transfiguration was. Not like he didn't already know that, but it was for the new student's right?

The boy turned his attention to the board, and the formula written on it. That... he had no idea. Leaning back a bit in his seat, he rubbed the back of his neck, studying it. Nope, still noting. It looked like that E=MC^2 thing... but well, not. Right... wouldn't be answering this question, though, it looked like others, such as Odessa knew stuff about it.

Right, well.. Back to the board. Yep, Wade was still standing as his brows remained furrowed, almost resembling a unibrow with his face of concentration. At first glance of the formula, it just stared back at him, taunting him. Wade recalled getting an 'E' on his OWLs in Transfiguration and not Arithmancy. Meh. How did his dad do this..

Wade's eyes looked at the sentence above the formula, going piece by piece with the words in his head. Hmm..okay. It wasn't so bad now after reading it some more.

The intended transformation.. yeah, that's the object. That makes sense for 'T'.

Then.. 'A' is said to be the weight of.. the thing transforming? He guessed.

'V' for.. viciousness? Hm? That sounded mean, like aggression.. Hmm.. Must be something inner, like determination.. Ah.. so that's where Apparition gets it from. Heh.

'W' for wand power.. Enough said. Concencration is 'C'... Same with this. and 'Z's.. unknown.That's what we're working on..

And together.. that made it..

Wade blinked. Did he just get it? His eyebrows spacing out normally again as he raised his hand. How to word it.."Well, broken down the formula seems to speak on how important every variable is." Object, and whoever is doing it. "From it's appearance and inner workings to our mindset.. it is about having our minds balanced while working on it that matters also."

Class was starting. Okay. Kat kept her attention directed at Professor Bellaire, and nothing else.

Last night was just so... tiring. The prefect did manage a few hours of sleep but she occasionally woke up due to... discomfort. Well at least she did not look like her captain, who seemed to be really tired. As if he didn't sleep a minute at all. First night as a student leader, and look at Hogwarts. Kat was kind of embarrassed but at the same time, she felt like she had to do something about it. Probably some sort of Slytherin instinct.

But whatever, she had a class to attend and to listen to. However, the prefect was definitely not... interested with the formula. Did they really have to explain what that is? She had an inference but she didn't really know how to put it into words.

What a struggle.

Didn't it already explain itself? Kat raised her hand. "A lot of variables effect the way you can transform an object," she said. Way to be obvious, right? "Like someone really skinny's transformation work would be different from someone with a bigger build... and someone who keeps getting distracted by things around him or her can have a different outcome from someone whose mind is set to one thing." Too. Obvious.

She didn't want to explain more though because, as everyone knew, West Odessa has spoken and you have the answer. It was definitely no surprise that he knew a lot.

By the way, can they sit now?

With everything else going on at Hogwarts, paper plates, having to pay to get in everywhere, Kendall had half expected to lose more knuts having to come to class. That hadn’t happened, though, and oddly enough, the fact the classroom still resembled what she’d gotten used to when Professor Bellaire had taught Charms made her have a moment of relaxation. At least, until the discussion of the formula on the board had started, and she’d ended right back at being entirely confused. Transfiguration should have made more sense to her than anything else; it was part of her very being, but bringing formulas and math and physics into it just made her feel more tired than she already was after the rest of the castle’s changes. At least the little gargoyle on her desk was cute, in an odd way, so she just looked at it as West and others had offered suggestions as to the explanation of that formula. It was helping her focus, and therefore keeping her hair from reflecting her confusion.

She still found herself raising her hand sometime after Katrina had spoken, though. “Professor, the formula only works when it comes to Transfiguration spells, right? Wand power is part of it, and that means it doesn’t work for transfiguration that doesn’t involve wands and spells and everything, doesn’t it?” For example her ability to change her hair, or more accurately just her ability to try and control when it wanted to change colors and stuff on its own. “I agree with Ella too, that the body weight and viciousness refer more to whatever is being transfigured instead of us as the caster. It’s harder to transfigure animals than objects, just because the animal could choose to try to run away from your wand.” The unknown part was the most confusing section, just because she honestly didn’t haeve any idea what it could be. Just as she wasn’t entirely sure that her theory that this all only related to spells.

Daichi teared his eyes away from the formula on the board when the Professor announced that class was beginning and only now noticed the little gargoyle statues on his desk. He looked around if the others had them as well before turning his attention back to the professor.

Explain the formula on the board?

The Slytherin's brown eyes went to it again and his mind went blank the moment he even began to think about it. And then West Odessa spoke a looooooong answer and the Slytherin turned his attention to him. Seriously, when and how many galleons had that kid been given to swallow the study books?

He got the first part...but then his mind went blank again before he rubbed his head tiredly. Headache! This was going to be a loooong lesson.

The blonde looked to the board, eyes widening in confusion as she looked at the... the... the thing that was on the board. She had no clue what it was, not the slightest clue if she being completely honest. Soooo she did the thing that made most sense to her, wrote everything down that she saw and waited for some sort of an explanation.

Maybe then this was going to make sense.

Though Kahlan was beginning to doubt it ever would!

"Pfft...Toussaint's don't lose points." Kettleburns on the other hand...

Especially considering the Professor had not told them they could sit down yet. Michael very STEALTHILY placed his hand underneath Zahra's arm and pulled her back to her feet.

Michael rolled his eyes at the dare. Z was just trying to get him into trouble, so of course he reached out with his hand and touched the Gargoyle looking thing. Just one little touch with his index finger. No harm done.

*SNORT*

He had absolutely NO IDEA how to read magical formulas. "Well I know that mixing a Puking Pastille with a Ton Tongue Toffee does not result in anything good. And don't get me started on the results of mixing a Fever Fudge, Canary Cream and soda pop together."

He glanced at the board where the formula was written on the board and frowned. He had been hoping to learn something cool. He wanted to transfigure Zahra into...SOMETHING.

GULP. Explain the formula?

Well, for one all he knew was that it had to be related to transfiguration because why wouldn't it be? This is a transfiguration class after all. Though he didn't quite understand, Zeke remembered some Physics lessons from studying online. Could that help? Both had formulas and stuff right?

So that t is for transfig, maybe, which is what they were looking for. w is for weight; a is for acceleration; c is for erm something; v is for velocity and that Z is another something? WHAAAT.

On the bright side, this Gryffindor was still as happy as ever to be learning stuff he didn't know. Listening to the other answers, he chose to keep quiet and wait until he understood the whole thing.

Formula, formulas, formulae.

Sigh.

Elise was fine with this happening in Arithmancy, considering that those were all just numbers and calculations. Even Astronomy, where calculations were just as important because Professor Flamsteed had a really amazing fascination with Physics that suited the subject he taught. Transfiguration, though? Elise was looking forward to taking the NEWT-level stuff with as few formula memorizations as possible.

Luck really didn't favour her.

Considering that the five variables in the equations had been explained on the board, Elise could pretty much figure out what it meant. "Transformation is produced by 5 different variables, body weight, viciousness, power, concentration and another one of which is unknown." Was it her job to try identify that unknown? Probably, since Bellaire was staring at her as though a sixth year was meant to know all. "Could Z possibly be Magical Ability itself, professor?" she asked, not quite having any other idea of what it might be. Lowering her hand, she started to copy said formula onto a sheet of parchment. Notes, notes. Very important things to have in such classes.

Variables and formulae, she was fine with. Just... not in Transfiguration.