Laura was really happy with her boat but now she had to rest of the thing to do. "vinea funiculus." Laura said trying to figure out what she was going to do. "vinea funiculus" Laura was sure that she had the spell down but now was the main test.

Laura looked down at her boat and smiled, it did need some rope for the sails. She took out her wand and pointed it at the vines and said "vinea funiculus" Laura smiled as she saw the ropes now though she wished that she had the vines again so she could be like George or the Jungle swinging all day though of course she wasn't going to tell anyone that.

What a cute boat! Raven was excited to do this herself, so she gathered the materials and smartly waved her wand. "Lingum Navicula!" she tapped the wood. It slowly started to move. It faltered and she said the spell again, a bit slower. Finally it was how she wanted it. Step two. "Vinea funiculus!" She tapped her wand carefully, trying to pronounce the Latin accurately. It was working!

.... someone was CLEARLY still sour about certain bites during certain Quidditch matches from certain people.

But she stood and retrieved a piece of wood and a vine, all the while resisting the urge to stick her tongue out at Bellaire.

And now she was leaving? Hmph. Good riddance. Alice didn't need her help anyway.

The lesson could be appreciated, though, if not the professor. The lioness thought what they were being taught today at least seemed more useful than last year's learnings that focused on circus work, so she got started without any complaints.

Even though she was technically an adult now and didn't need to go through baby steps, she began with sounding out the incantations. Better to be safe than sorry, right? "Lignum Navicula." Easy enough. "Lig-num Na-vi-cu-la. Liiiig-num Nav-ic-u-la. Na.... Na-vi-cul-a? Na-vic-ul-a. Navicula."

That sounded... correct. Ish.

Adi would try again. Yes. He had learnt from last term he just needed to concentrate and have patience. He converted the vine back to it's original state, took a deep breath and focused on the vine.

''Vinea funiculus!'' Tap of the wand on the vine and cue maximum concentration! Once again the vine's appearance began to change, thickening and changing colour starting from the right end this time. The colour came first followed by the thickening. The transformation was at the center now heading towards the other end of the vine. Almost there...almost there...until- yes! A rope lay before Adi. He grinned to himself. He had done it!

Sander was about to practice transforming his piece of wood into a larger boat then the one he had transfigured earlier, when he heard a younger girl exclaim loudly and also with some frustration, about the fact that her spell wasn't working.

He looked around. Professor Bellaire hadn't returned yet, and he remembered the frustration he felt when he first tried out a spell as a first year and it didn't quite work out as planned. So he walked over to the younger girl and offered his help.

"I'm sorry I couldn't help overhearing your frustration. Transforming that wood into a boat is definitely tough, but you can do it. It just take a little bit more concentration and I noticed you're not using the correct wand movements. You need to point at the vine with your wand when you cast your spell and for the piece of wood, just a tap would do fine." Sander demonstrated how by tapping his piece of wood.

"However most important of all is you need to concentrate on what you want the piece of wood or the vine to look like. Have an image of a boat in your mind and keep concentrating on it as you cast your spell. It does take practice but you will finally achieve what you were aiming for." Sander smiled down at her encouragingly.

"Same goes for the piece of vine. Have an image of the rope in your mind, concentrate on that image as you cast the vine changing spell."

"Oh yeah one other thing, take a couple of deep breaths, try to clear your mind of all thought except that one image of the boat. That tends to help a lot." Sander suggested.

"Here let me show you." Sander demonstrated to the young Slytherin.

He looked at his piece of wood and pictured an image of a boat in his mind. Concentrating hard on keeping that image in his mind, he tapped the piece of wood with his wand, and said with determination," Lignum Navicula".

He watched as a beam of light shot out from his wand and covered the piece of wood in glowing light. When the light disappeared, in its place lay a small wooden looking boat.

Not exactly what he had pictured in his mind, but he would accept that for now. At least, it wasn't a toy one. Now that would have been totally embarrassing.

"I know it's not the perfect boat, but that's where practicing comes in. Would you like to give that spell a try now? Picture an image of the boat you want to see in front of you in your mind and concentrate hard on the image." he encouraged the girl, stepping aside to give the younger girl more space to practice casting the spell.

So she was right? Hmm..imagine that. Actually, Sophie could imagine that. After all, she was AWESOME. She nodded along as the professor explained the spells and what they'd be doing today. Okay, then. Sounded like a plan. Sophie joined the others in going forward and taking a piece of wood and vine.



Well, Sophie guessed that meant 'ready, set, go' then. She mentally reviewed the spells in her mind the wood in front of her. She raised her wand and got a good mental picture of what she was supposed to do. Wood to boat, right? Right. She tapped the wood and said, "Lignum Navicula!"

...and of course nothing happened. Why would it on the first try anyway? Bahh. [/sarcasm]

Sophie gripped her wand a little tighter then tried again. With a tap, she said, "Lignum Navicula!" ARGH. Did she have to scream it or something?

Marigold stared wide eyed at the Professor as she Transfigured, then... LEFT the CLASSROOM????? Maybe to check on Ben? She shrugged, then turned her attention back to the creepy plants. They glared at her menacingly... wait they were just plants NEVER MIND. SHe took out her wand and practiced the incantation. "LIGnum NavicuLA. LIGnum Nacula- no, Lignum Navicula!" she said finally. Now for the actual trying part. She pointed her wand at a piece of wood and said loudly, "Lignum Navicula!!"

It didn't work.

She pouted for a second, then shook her head and refocused. "Lignum Navicula!" This time Marigold watched in awe as the wood in front of her turned into a little boat. WHOA. She jumped up and down for a minute before turning to the vines. Muahaha little plants.

Marigold practiced THIS incantation a few times before trying as well. "Vine uh fun iculus. Vinea funculus. Vinea funiculus." Your turn, little poor plants."VINEA FUNICULUS!" The green vines tightened into a rope. Marigold grinned evilly.

This was TOO fun.

Bay walked upto the professors desk and took his wood and his vine. With them in his hands he moved back to his desk placed them down. The professor told them just to tap each item and say the spell.

He moved the wood first and tapped it while saying the spell. It turned into a small boat. He turned around to tap his vines after he finished the last word it turned into rope. He sat down waiting for more instructions. Trying to be a good student he was. Looking around he saw the other students watching them do the same thing he just did "this class is soo much fun professor" he said happily.

So fine. They were moving right to the practical part of the lesson, and the professor was stepping out of the room while they practiced. Someone was most definitely going to get set on fire. It was practically inevitable. And the scarier part was they were dealing with ROPE. Rope and firsties... insanity.

Mo retrieved his piece of wood and the vine length before returning to his desk. Right, so... he gazed around the room at his classmates as they began to practice - some taking one at a time, and some alternating the two. And some failing fantastically. Mo stabbed at the air with his wand, practicing the wand motion with a bit more effort than strictly required. Jab. Jab. Jabjabjab.

"Sorry," Mo apologized to whomever he'd just jabbed in the back of the head, and he turned to jab in a different direction.

Yeah, he was a boss jabber. Moving on. "Lignum Navicula. Lig-num Nav-i-cu-la. Lignum. Navicula." He shifted the piece of wood onto his desk and meditated over it. Transfiguration was all about intent, and he intended to make this boat turn into an itty bitty boat.

Bellaire hadn't returned yet, so Sophie decided to attempt the seemingly easier of the two spells. "Vinea Funiculus," she repeated once more aloud without a wand, perfecting the pronunciation. She felt really confident in it, especially after watching some of the other students succeed in performing this one. Should be an easy task, no?

Her wand in her hand, Sophie laid the vine in front of her nicely. And then she stopped and tilted her head. Then she started laughing to herself. Her wand was made from vine. Ha - a vine wand betraying its brother, another vine!

Could there be some adverse side effects from something like this? She considered it for only a moment before deciding it was very unlikely. Still, the concept was amusing, and there was a part of her that almost felt badly for using a vine wand against a vine. It was just too silly.

Getting on with it, with a smile still lingering upon her lips, Sophie envisioned the vine changing into a rope before pointing and tapping the vine purposefully, "Vinea Funiculus!" By the grace of Merlin, it worked. The vine had transfigured into a rope! Scooore! She had felt plenty confident with that one, but didn't expect the same fortune with the forthcoming attempt at the Lignum Navicala spell.

And that probably doomed her already.

Listening as the Professor explained what the two spells did, Lux quickly jotted the information down in her notes so that she would remember later on:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Notes

Lignum Navicula - transfigures wood/trunks etc. into a boat
Vinea Funiculus - transfigures vine into a rope

* point and tap wand movement for both spells

Looking up for her paper, Lux watched as Professor Bellaire got a piece of wood from the pile and proceeded to point her wand at it, tap it, and mutter the spell to transfigure it into a boat. It was hard to believe that she would be attempting to do the same thing, and maybe succeed at it too.

Next, she watched The Professor transfigure one of the vines into a rope, and it was just as impressive as the boat had been.

Rising from her seat, she went to get her piece of wood and some vine before returning to her place. What if she couldn't get the spell right and nothing happened to either the wood or the vine? She did not want to look stupid in front of her friends.

Deciding to first practice the spell for the boat, she closed her eyes and started saying the spell over and over again under her breath so that it would be memorized. "Lignum Navicula... Lignum Navicula... Lignum Navicula..."

She did kind of got it right! Well, at least the Vinea Funiculus part. She didn't know what the Lignum Navicula-whatever stuff was, but now she knew! Astrid scribbled those spells, their effects, and the SUPER DUPER EASY hand movements. Merlin, she would totally ace this thing no sweat. Tap and point? Really? She kinda expected the hand movements to be complicated because it was a somehow advanced spell, but yeah. Guess she was lucky?

Once she finished her notes, Astrid went forward to get her vine and a piece of wood, then she made her way back to her seat. Alright, let's get this spellwork done.


Okay, so that was her cue then? Their cue? Didn't matter. Nameless Transfiguration Professor left anyway so Astrid felt like she could start. She stared at her piece of wood and her vine for a while, trying to choose which of the two she should start with. HMM. It was hard to choose just one, but settled with the vine because she guessed the use of the spell for this one right. Heh. [/AstridLogic]

So yeah... she should start now. "Vinea... Funiculus..." And that was a point towards the vine, right? Easy. Astrid practiced the incantation a few times with the hand movement just to get the hang of it. Didn't want to get the spell wrong since it would be embarrassing to fail on such an easy spell. Once she felt like she'd done good enough, she started on her vine.

"Vinea Funiculus..." she pointed at her vine, but nothing happened. Hmm... maybe she should try saying the spell a little more with force? And a bit more concentration and intent, because those elements in Transfiguration were important. Yes.

While Sander waited for the young Slytherin to accept his assistance, Sander decided that he was going to make another attempt at his boat making skills. Pointing his wand at the boat, he said, "Reverto" and the boat immediately changed back into a piece of wood.

Standing in front of the wood, Sander took a deep breath and slowly released it, clearing his mind of all thoughts except one image, that of a boat. He pictured the boat in his mind, studying each angle and curve. He concentrated on keeping that image strong and clear in his mind as he visualized transforming the piece of wood into the boat he was seeing in his mind.

When he was ready, Sander tapped the piece of wood with his wand and said, "Lignum Navicula" and watched as a beam of light streamed from his wand and engulfed the piece of wood. When the light disappeared, the piece of wood was no longer there. Instead its place was another small boat, better than the first and second one he had transfigured earlier. Sander grinned as he looked at the boat. He couldn't wait to make bigger boats now.

But for now, he had to practice transforming vines into ropes. He picked up the piece of vine and lay it on the edge of the boat. He pictured the image of a rope in his mind and concentrating hard on it, Sander pointed his wand at the vine and said, "Vinea Funiculus!!".

He watched as the vine twisted and turned and then wahlah there hung a piece of rope!!. Sander hadn't expected to be successful on the first try and so punched the air with his fist and did a little jig to celebrate his achievement.

Amelia had a feeling it was vine-related…considering the wood and the vines that were in the classroom. She did give Alice a bizarre look when she heard her mentioning spaghetti. That would be great – but Gamp…stupid Gamp for making those laws of transfiguration.

“Ling-num nav-iv-ula” she spoke out the spell in hopes of getting the intonation right. She didn’t have to practice the wand movement for the simple reason of it being incredibly simple. Seriously she’d have looked like a dullard if she’d tried it out right. Point and tap was just, elementary.

She did try the other spell on her tongue as well. “Vin-ea fun-ic-u-lus” the spell felt fine but strange like there were marbles in her mouth.


"Lingum navicula" she tried the first spell again before attempting to pronounce the second one as perfectly as ever. "Vinea Funiculus" it felt better, but not right.

SPOILER!!: spell list

Lignum Navicula: Fallen tree trunks/wood, can be used for Small boats.
Vinea Funiculus: Vines used for Ropes.
Wand movement: Simple point and tap.

Tora watched as Bellaire left the room and the line to get a vin and a piece of wood died down before she got to her feet and grabbed the supplies needed for class. One piece of wood. One piece of vine. She made her way back to her seat, trying to memorize the spells as she went. It was Lignul Navical and Vinea Finiculus right? No, for some reason that sounded a bit wrong, but she wanted to get it right without looking at her notes. Just to see if she could. She flipped her wand out of her pocked and pointed towards the vine first. "Vin-ea Fin-iculus!" she said with enthusiasm that didn't last when the spell failed. Fine. Maybe she was pronouncing it wrong and should just look at her notes already. She sneaked a peak. Oh.
"Vin-ea fUniculus!" she said with a bit more than just a light tap. She watched as the vine twisted and transformed until it became... a sort of rope. The "rope" in front of her had some interesting vine-like qualities in that it was still vine coloured and had bits of leaf sticking off of the otherwise perfectly twined rope. She decided that before she got frustrated she should move onto the boat, then come back later.

This time Tora practiced the words to the spell before saying them aloud to her wood piece. She was mindful to put her wand down. "Lig-num Na-vi-cu-la," she read out slowly. "Lig-num Na-vi-cula" she repeated to herself over and over, "Lignum Navicula, Lignum Navicula. Finally she felt she was ready to give it a whirl. She picked up her Pheonix and Ebony wand and lightly pointed then tapped the wood. "Lignum Navicula," she said directly. She was rewarded with some promising transfigurative movement and when it had finished, there sat a little boat, just big enough for a small child. She grinned. This was great! Now if only she could get the hang of the vine spell...

Tessa watched, surprised, as the Professor walked out of the classroom. Well, that was a first... She would have to keep an eye out for trouble, and hopefully not start any of her own. But for now, she would be focusing on her spell work. She placed her wand down on the table and rolled her head around, loosening up stiff muscles. She hated sitting for long periods.

The spell was first. "Vinea funiculus," she sounded out, repeating it over and over until she was very comfortable with the spell. Next, the vine to make into rope. She placed it on the desk in front of her, all the while murmuring the spell. She was ready.

"Vinea funiculus," she said, pointing her wand at the vines. Immediately, they began to stir, twisting and forming into a thick cord of rope. Almost. There were still a few tendrils sticking out from the vine, and a few leaves still sticking out. She scowled down at the vine, but quickly cleared her mind and reverted the vine back to try again. "Vinea funiculus," she repeated, a little more firmly, her mind focused completely on the spell. She looked down at the former vine and grinned. Perfect rope.

Onto the next one.

"Lignum Navicula," she began, and proceeded to mutter the spell to herself until she was sure she had it right. She turned to the piece of wood and picked up her wand once more. She pointed her wand and muttered the spell. Nothing happened. She frowned again and looked back at the notes. This one needed a tap with the wand. She could do that. Tessa redid the process, this time tapping the wood. And it formed a perfect little boat. Satisfied with her work, she looked around her. Sander seemed to be holding his own, and she shot him a grin. She turned to look at Lux and Bay to see that Bay also seemed to be faring well.

SPOILER!!: Lux

Rising from her seat, she went to get her piece of wood and some vine before returning to her place. What if she couldn't get the spell right and nothing happened to either the wood or the vine? She did not want to look stupid in front of her friends.

Deciding to first practice the spell for the boat, she closed her eyes and started saying the spell over and over again under her breath so that it would be memorized. "Lignum Navicula... Lignum Navicula... Lignum Navicula..."

"Hey Lux," she said, giving the younger girl a gentle tap on the shoulder. "You okay?" She glanced at the girl's desk to see that she hadn't done the spell yet. She didn't want to intrude, she only wanted to help if it was needed.

Once Mo knew every grain and wrinkle and knot in his piece of wood, Mo wasn't going to be able to meditate any longer over that piece of wood. He'd get splinters in his brain from the effort, and that was just... bad. Mo flipped his piece of wood up on his desk. Time to make a boat.

He jabbed his wand at the wood, saying, "Lignum Navicula." All of his attention was directed at that little piece of wood, which bend up and around to form a little boat shape. Would it float? Was it buoyant enough? Could they go sailing?

After she had repeated the spell a few times, Lux wanted to try it out for real with the wood and see if she could make it into a boat. Picking up her wand from her desk, she pointed it at the log and tapped it while saying "Lignum Navicula."

The log... remained a log.

What a bummer...

Sighing, she tried again with the same result. What was wrong with her? Why was she not able to do this when it wasn't even a complicated wand movement? Feeling embarrassed, she was relieved when she heard Tessa come over to her. "Why won't this work, Tessa? What am I doing wrong?" She was so embarrassed about not even being able to do simple magic.

So... yeah. Astrid's first attempt in turning the vine into a rope wasn't successful. She required a little more practice to get this one right, but she'd get it soon. She only needed a little more concentration and intent... and maybe also a little bit of force, but no screaming. Yep. She was gonna try and get this one now. Here's to hoping the result of her spellwork would be as expected.

"Vinea Funiculus!" Astrid said, pointed her wand at the vine on her table... and.... yeah.... there. YES. Her vine was slowly transforming into a rope and the brunette sat there with her big smile on her face, like a little firstie who finally cast a spell right. But yeah... kinda the same so nevermind.

SHE WAS READY TO CAST THE WOOD-BOAT SPELL WHATEVER THING. Yeahhhh.

Bart wouldn't deny how he felt disappointed that they wouldn't be swinging on vines with monkeys, but no bother they were going to do wand work which meant he got to change things and that was awesome! Plus the one was turning a vine into something. So could use that on the trees near the lake and swing from those rope vines later. Yep he would figure out a way to do it.

Jumping out of his seat he took off towards the front and grabbed his vine and wood. This was going to be easy, yep how hard could it be to transfigure a vine and wood. He felt like it was probably easy enough for babies to figure out. Moving back to his seat he looked at the pieces. Which to practice on first. He thought and though wondering. He set the wood down and moved the vine closer.

Watching as Bellaire just left the room he stared for a moment or two. "THey just do that? Leave the room?" Was she planning on coming back, because if not he wasn't doing homework. No reason if there was no professors there to grade it.

Turning back to the vine he thought about the words in his head. Vinea Funiculus .. Vinea Funiculus ... Vinea Funiculus and it was just a tap of the wand so already his confidants were high.

Now tapping at the vine Bart said the words nice and clear, "Vinea Funiculus " he watched the vine stay a vine. Vinea Funiculus " Still nothing, what was he doing wrong. He would figure this out.

TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP "Vinea Funiculus " TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP

Did he tap enough... did he?

Tessa could see that the girl was struggling, and quickly moved to one of the seats next to her. "It's alright Lux, take a breath," she soothed. "One of the most important things is to not get frustrated or upset while trying to cast. The more upset you get, the more confused the spell becomes in your mind- resulting in it not working," she explained. "So, deep breath first," she said, and waited patiently.

"Now, for the Lignum Navicula spell, all you need to do is tap the wood- no pointing necessary. See?" she brought out her wand and, muttering the spell, gave the wood a single tap. Instantly, it transfigured into a small boat. She reverted it back to its original state and turned to the girl. "Now you're turn- tell me the spell a few times before you try it with your wand. Just so the pronunciation is right," she encouraged.

He had a boat. Mo wanted to sail his boat, and see how much weight it could bear, and sink it and see what happened, and all that, but he was limited by the fact that the boat was little and he didn't have water available.

And he didn't want to do anything in particular to tick off the professor. Instead, he jabbed his wand a few times again before practicing the second incantation. "Vinea Funiculus. Vin-e-a Fun-i-cul-us. Vine-a?" Mo mused over the pronunciation before deciding Vin-e-a was obviously right. Jabjabjab.

How did this work, though? Was the rope limited in length and thickness by the vine? Mo paused before casting. "Professor? Can the rope we create be as long and thick as our intent will take us, or are we limited by the physical attributes of the actual vine we chose?"

It was hard to relax when she felt like an idiot, but Lux tried to do as Tessa suggested since she figured the girl was older and had a much better grasp of Transfiguration.

Taking deep breaths, she watched as Tessa performed the spell successfully and managed to make a boat. Maybe it really was all about relaxation. After she felt that she was more relaxed, she started repeating the words for Tessa. "Lignum Navicula, Lignum Navicula, Lignum Navicula." Was she saying that right?

The next incantation looked easier, so she decided to practice it instead of trying to transfigure the wood for now. It'd be easier to do them together, step by step, instead of at different paces, yeah? Alice mumbled the first spell under her breath a couple more times before moving on to the second.

"Vinea Funiculus." Pause. "Vi-ne-a Fu-nic-u-lus. Vi-ne-a. Vinea. Funiculus. Fu-ni-cu-lus. Fu-nic-u-lus? Funiciulus." She wasn't well versed in Latin, so Alice just did her best to remember how Bellaire had pronounced them, as well as listen to how others put the emphasis on their words. Her slow process of going through new spells left her a bit behind the others, but that didn't matter as long as she got the material inside and out.

"Lignum Navicula. Vinea Funiculus." Incantations down, then.

Sander watched as the other students practiced casting the spells and decided that even though he had perfected the rope transfiguration spell on his first try, he decided that he would keep practicing the spell.

So he picked up the rope and changed it back to a piece of vine by pointing his wand at it and saying,"Reverto" He now held the piece of vine in his hand again.

Now to change it back into a rope. He placed the piece of vine on the edge of his small boat again, pointed his wand at it, and concentrating hard on the rope image in his head, he said the incantation to the spell, "Vinea Funiculus"....and like before a beam of light shot out from his wand, struck the vine and lo and behold, there was now a piece of rope dangling over the edge of his boat.

Sander walked over to pick up the rope and glanced over at the young Slytherin to see whether she managed to get her spells to work.