Well, it looked like things were getting started now. Sophie took one more sip of her hot chocolate then turned her attention to the professor. She thought back to the first class and what they learned. They'd talked about weather all school year, and she believed the first spell they learned was...

"Stiricidium Nubila?" she suggested, raising her hand. "I think a good way to use it outside the castle is if you needed to cause a distraction. Like...maybe some Muggles are about to come across something magical, like a dragon, and you need them to get away really quickly but don't know how. You could cast the charm to cause the weather to change, and then they'd have no choice but to go back."

Nothing could drive a bunch of Muggles inside like a good storm, especially a snow storm. Come to think of it, a snow storm could drive anybody inside if what was happening at Hogwarts was any indication.

The badger was tapping her snow globes a couple more times when she sensed someone sitting down right next to her. Looking up, she noticed it was Agatha, the er, moving-staircase-hyper-bird-owner. She smiled at the older girl, but was not sure whether she saw it or not.

Leah nodded. She was not going to let herself distracted by food, she was trying to control her eating habits nowadays anyway, so she set her snacks aside and listened. She pulled out her parchment and quill, silently seeing the wand sitting in its holster sadly. Leah had never realized that she actually prefered practical work in transfiguration.

The incantation. Leah frowned and rummaged through her brain for it.. when Jasmine and Adi said it out loud. Right. Stricidium Nubila. At least she knew it was something long and difficult. She wrote that down on her journal under the heading Weather-Modifying Charms.

As for other uses, there were probably tons of them, so the second year thought some more about this. A Slytherin boy nearby said something about making the weather warmer, and AJ mentioned stopping rain. She raised her hand and said, "If it's too sunny, you could make it rain." Though that would not be the case in the castle right now.

Truthfully, Lex had become distracted by the food. Like when did the Professor get back to the board and what were they doing with weather modifying charms? The Gryffindor took a swig of her drink to wash down some of the food but caught the tail end of the Professor's warning about losing privileges and nearly choked.

Right. No longer distracted. She'd be keeping this food thank you very much. Lex eyed the board again as she fished a piece of parchment from her and a quill as well. Oh...she was almost out of ink....well this was going to be problematic....see why the snow needed to end? Supplies wouldn't last forever contrary to its ludicrous belief.

People were already calling out the name of the incantation but she supposed she could offer up something for the possible use.

"You can use it when you've got plans the weather doesn't agree with. Like if you were trying to throw a pool party then it started to pour, you could make everything sunny again." Provided you didn't invite muggles to the party as well. That could prove problematic.

Jonas put his wand away and took out a quill and piece of parchment. He forgot though what the charm was...and others were already answerinf anyways so he kept hid mouth shut

FOOD? Dima could do food.

The answers to the professor's questions, though? That was a bit harder, and the first year found himself at a loss. Best to let his fellow classmates take care of that while he just... ate, right? The swallowing, after all, not the speaking, was his specialty. Experienced mouth here.

Though he was QUITE the talker too.

Just... not in class.

Lucy followed the instructions of the professor..
She took the parchment and her quill and she started to take some notes.
Then she raised her hand and she said:"the incantantion is Stiricidium Nubila; it can change any type of cloud into a cumulonimbus.."

Theo briskly pulled out his quill and tapped it onto his parchment. Uhhhhhh... the incantation from the last lesson must have slipped his mind, and he wasn't going to make up some random guess and risk humiliation. Theo finally scribbled down the incantation name when he heard a few people mention it. Phew, knew it all along, see?

He opened his mouth slightly, about to contribute a pretty immature answer about the uses of weather charms, but again stopped himself.

Just keep scribbling.

Ethan didn't need to be told twice when it comes to food. His wand was holstered in his arm all along, and stood up from his seat to get food. Once he was satisfied, he went back to his seat and offered the plate to Josie. It was just right to share your food with your crushfriend, right? Ethan also shot Simon a glare, as if to tell him to shut up and mind his own business. Not now, Watson. He's making subtle moves!

----

ANYWAY.

Discussion time.

Hand up. "'Stiricidium Nubila', professor." Ethan grinned and shot a glance at Grayson, remembering that he worked with the older Snake that time. They make a good team, yeah? As for the uses. Hmm. He'd give out a general statement, but thought he needs to be specific with this one. "We can use the Weather-Modifying Charm in taking care of animals or magical creatures. Some of them can't stand too much heat or cold, so using such charm will aid their survival." Ethan then briefly looked out of the window and wondered about the creatures inside the Forbidden Forest. He was thinking of the worst of course. Diverting his attention back to the class, he got himself a cookie, then fished his parchment and quill out of his bag.

Angel looked at the Professor as she raised her hand. "Stiricidium Nubila, was the incantation, I think Professor." Angel wondered if it would work on the weather outside, and if it could why didn't the Professor use it to make the snow go away, she was really fed up with being locked inside this castle, at first it was fun but now it wasn't as much fun.

Well thank merlin for other students answers, so he did not have to answer. It was perfect. So the spell was Stiricidium Nubila. He knew that...of course. Not like he would forget something like that. Yeah, right.

He was not going to say anything in this class because when he does it is either a unintentionally sarcastic comment or just a smart aleck answer.

So just taking notes sounded awesome right now.

Josie could literally feel her knees shaking as Professor Bellaire had addressed, her but all the same she couldn't help but feel relieved when she wasn't upset with the second year this time. Also according to Professor Bellaire, today was going to be a light lesson, which she supposed did make her feel a little better, but still this wasn't her best class, so she was still a bit nervous nonetheless.

...

Josie fixed her hair a little bit before she'd heard Ethan say his nickname for her & turned to look at him. Being afraid she might get yelled at she gave a very quick wave with a soft whisper, "H-Hi..Ethan.." Not long after that Simon had also said hello to her & she'd repeated her same greeting for him as well.

Her attention was directly on Professor Bellaire once more as she'd given the students permission to grab some food from the table before they'd actually start. Only Josette didn't get up like everyone else, because she was a bit paranoid that she might do something to upset the Professor. As she waited for everyone to grab their snacks, Ethan had offered his plate of his own snacks to her as he sat beside her once again. She smiled and whispered a thank you before picking off his plate a bit, until Professor Bellaire was tapping the board to get everyone's attention & begin the lesson.

The Ravenclaw listened as Professor Bellaire addressed the class & asked what the name of the Charm was that they had learned back in the first lesson & what were practical uses outside of the classroom. Well, the charm had unfortunately escaped her mind so she didn't raise her hand, or for uses outside of the classroom either. She was still a bit fearful of saying something silly, so she just decided to jot down her notes with her quill & listen around her. Like Ethan & Simon's thoughts, she thought those were very clever. Right?

Maddie thought Kyroh had a point about using the charm when you were having a bad day. Seasonal depression was a REAL thing and at the ripe old age of TWELVE, the small brunette was starting to think she had that. She wanted SUNSHINE and WARMTH and a TAN, for Merlin's sake. Instead all she had was a permanent case of the shivers and a rather gloomy attitude.

There were other ways to utilize the charm, though. Ones that had to do with annoying brothers or mothers who liked to force you into attending outdoor TEA parties in frilly dresses that made you ITCH.

"Going off what Prefect Lex said, instead of using it to make sure you KEEP your outdoor plans, you could use it to get OUT of plans you don't agree with."

The lesson had officially started now, and Agatha would try her best to sound clever. So she decided to not say anything for the moment because she didn't remember the incantation.

Her expression, though, didn't let it show she had no clue what professor Bellaire was talking about, as she sat up straight and looked around solemnly as the others answered the question. She would repeat their answer out loud to show how she had known it all along, but she couldn't even pronounce the first word, so never mind.

But the uses she could totally say. "When some plants are suffereing from the harsh weather, professor, this spell could be useful." Unless the weather was so horrible that they had to MOVE the plants somewhere else, like they did in Hogwarts that term.

WAIT. Was THIS the spell that lady Morgana was trying to use that time when she tried to make it be winter forever? Agatha shot Simon a LOOK and wished he could read her mind. She would have to ask him after class.

Of course Grayson had made sure to get himself some food when she said that they could grab some from the back of the classroom. 'Course! It was like a rule or whatever. You HAD to take some free food if it was OFFERED to you. Unless, of course, it was SPIKED. Then sucks for you.

He still remembered the canary creams and hiccuping incidents. MAN, where was BAY?!

ANYWAYS. Bellaire was talking again so Grayson took a sip of his warm drink while he tried to think of an answer. Luckily, many people had said the name of the spell already because LOL, he couldn't remember ALL of that. It was difficult, you know. Stiricidium Nubila. The last part reminded him of nebula and that was about it. That was the ONLY connection he could make.

Practical uses? There was ONE that immediately popped into mind buuuuuut something told him that Bellaire wouldn't be too pleased to hear this answer. SO, he was going to go with another one. Uh huh. "You can help STOP an extreme weather condition by changing or modifying it. For example, if there's a tornado and whatnot. It'd help to cause less damage and less mess for the higher up people to clean up." Like the Ministry, say. If they got involved in that.

Penelope couldn't think of any other practical uses that hadn't been mentioned right now, so she was just gonna take notes for now. Sipping at her hot chocolate every now and then, she jotted down the incantation when it was mentioned as well as all the uses the other students were coming up with. Pretty good uses too, at least in her opinion. Shame they apparently couldn't use these spells to get rid of all that snow. That would have been the best use of a weather modifying charm.

"Stiricidium Nubila, correct." The Professor had expected more of the students to remember the incantation. With little to do it was not too much to expect they would pick up their notes and revise. It was better than wandering the corridors and freezing as most seemed to take joy in doing these days but thank Merlin for the faithful few who could wrack their brains for the incantation. "And as Miss Petersfield rightly said , this particular charm changes clouds to cumulonimbus ones. Whether you would like snow falling from them or rain, even hail, is up to you however we were focusing on snow during that lesson."

Were they noting this? There hadn't been much time for notes in the first lesson with all the practical work they got in. To be sure the Professor tapped the board and that set of notes appeared as well.



Sophia noted the responses of this set. Far more centred on themselves than anything else and this was not a bad way of thinking. Magic was there to improve lives. "Using the charm for your own benefit. Yes. This is one way of putting it to good use. You may not like the current weather as Mister Scabior and Miss Abbott put it, or you may be as forgetful as Miss Valentine. This charm would come in handy then." She paused to be sure they were all still paying attention. Some had stopped eating and she couldn't help but feel it was for the best with the attention spans some of them sported. "It could also be a case of getting the weather to work with your plan." As Miss Cooper and Miss Cambridge had both elaborated on. Very good.



Mister Holden had offered a more practical approach, taking from their current situation. "It would take some time but yes, modifying the weather to one of more sunshine would allow for one to melt the snow." As to Miss Newell's suggestion..."The weather can be distracting however I wouldn't suggest it in the case of a dragon. Rain or shine, Miss Newell, the moment Muggles detect something is off they tend to want to know what and they aren't particularly bothered by the weather." Unless the girl were to create a storm of sorts putting everyone's lives in danger and potentially killing a few of the less coordinated but the Slytherin did not strike her as the type to want a spot reserved in Azkaban.



Sophia eyed those who had opted to keep quiet during the discussion. Merlin help them if it were the food that had them so ensnared they couldn't offer even the incantation but she was pleased to see them looking so attentive, a few scribbling notes.

The fact they gave no response bothered her far less after noting they were being neither disruptive nor a distraction to themselves or others so for now she would let them be.



What did she have here, talks of care and benefitting others coming from a group of young Slytherin. To say she was surprized would have been half accurate and the Professor nodded. "Plants and Animals tend to be one of the most affected by harsh weather conditions. Many of them require consistency but that is not always the case. When this happens consistency needs to be created or the owners stand to lose." Needless to say, muggles were amongst the ones to suffer the most loss. "And as Mister Whitlock stated, it could be used to make the work of others easier, such as rescue teams in places with extreme conditions."

The Professor was pleased with all she was hearing and with another tap, updated the board further.

"Very good everyone. In the second lesson we went through conjuration, one of the more difficult branches of transfiguration. What are the limitations to conjuration? Does anyone know? And why do you think it is classified as one of the more difficult branches of transfiguration to accomplish?"

Hmm...okay. So no using the spell as a distraction. Got it.

Sophie nodded along to the professor's words then listened to the rest of the discussion. This seemed to be a review lesson which was more than welcome seeing as this was the end of the school year. Sophie was exhausted and was just so ready for summer break to get here. Well...providing they could even make it OUT the castle in this weather.

So limits to conjuring... Sophie raised her hand. "I know you can't conjure food," she said. Then...why was conjuration so difficult? "I think conjuring is so difficult to do, because you can easily mess up. For example, if you're trying to create something really simple and safe, you could accidentally create something really dangerous, and then you're faced with trying to save yourself from it."

Own benefit? Was that a bad thing? It couldn't be because Bellaire said it was a good use! So clearly sometimes you just had to look out for yourself OKAY? Digesting the last question that was asked, the slightly less than half brownie said forgotten in front of him. Slowly, Kyroh raised his hand as words began to form in his brain.

"Um...isn't easier to change something into something else then to create something completely new?" Did that makes sense? It did to him. It was harder to make something from nothing essentially. It was KIND of what made Transfiguartion so COOL. Because you COULD do that.

Yes. Conjuring an ice flower during the winter season. How can he forget that one, yeah? And limitations? Yes, there are limitations to conjuration, and Sophie was the first to mention one of th exceptions. Yeah, WHY can't they conjure food? That's simply illogical because you know, the convenience it'll give them yeah?

Anyway, hand up. "You can't conjure money, as well." Because if they can then they'd be FILTHY rich by now. "...and conjuration is hard because you're actually producing something out of nothing."

Hard. Very hard.

He was SO good at staying quiet, had anyone noticed? Especially when there were brownies in his mouth. But Bellaire seemed to be happy when people responded, so Dima gave it a go... after he finished his note taking, of course. And his food. Because that was obviously more important than CLASS.

"I never though conjuration was making something out of nothing, even though that's sorta what the definition of the word conjuration says. I always thought it was transfiguring THIN AIR into something. Otherwise it wouldn't be transfiguration, right?" Paaause. "I think thin air is just harder to work with than more tangible objects is all."

That sounded a bit off, but he TRIED, right? If Bellaire wanted to shut him up, another brownie would work.

The next question was a tough one. She took a bite of food while she thought about an answer. Food was helpful in lessons, Bellaire would see. As she chewed she listened to the answers the others were giving. It pretty much sounded like you couldn't conjure anything cool. If you couldn't do food and money, then what was the point? Why were things off limits?

She swallowed and then raised her hand. "I think it's so difficult because you have nothing to work with, and if you mess up and say the wrong word then you end up with a car on top of you instead of a card." IF you could even conjure those things. Rules, there were too many of them.

After writing down a whole lot if notes, Toby raised his hand into the air for the next question.

"There's Gamp's Five Laws to Elemental Transfiguration, I think that's what it's called," he tried, giving as vague but also as specific answer that he could for that part. "And with it being more difficult, its kind of like muggle construction, isn't it? Usually it's a lot easier to modify something that exists than it is to build something from scratch. Maybe it's like that, but magical."

Simon continued writing notes in his notebook when Bellaire asked the next question. When he was done, he listened to his fellow classmates answers about conjuration and its limitations. You couldn't conjugate food. That's what he knew. Well since Transfiguration was very specific that's probably why it was so hard to do. Conjugation is hard because you're producing it out of nothing- thin air. But also you had to be very precise when it came to the skill, right? This type of magic went against Newton's law of mass and conservation where mass cannot be created or destroyed and that it could only be converted.

Simon raised his hand. "It's easier to transfigure a mass, an object, into another form. Whereas creating something from nothing is much more difficult," he began and then paused. "I think its difficult because you have to be very precise and exact with each movement you make so that the conjugation works. You have to be able to pay attention to details. If you're lazy then bad things will happen," he said.

Maddie sipped on her hot chocolate as Professor Bellaire went over the answers given, not at ALL surprised that hers had been a GOOD one. What good was magic if it couldn't HELP you accomplish your goals? Even if those goals included sabotaging things you didn't want to partake in.

The question about conjuration, though? That was a bit harder to explain. Maddie agreed about the thin air stuff. It was definitely harder to create something out of thin air because there was more brain power involved, or so SHE thought. Sadly not EVERYONE had enough brain power to accomplish such things and THAT'S when you got a car instead of a card, like girl had said.

"I read that conjured items only stay for a little while and then disappear again." Which was a limitation, mhm. As for why it was hard, Maddie added, "Plus it's advanced so it'd take quite a bit of time to get the hang of."

.... So that was a whole lot of notes to take down. The Gryffindor did his best to keep up, while still sneaking in bites of food as he went. It was starting to get pretty hard taking notes when there was beautiful hot chocolate just waiting to be sipped. Yet, the third year did his absolute best and tried to take down as much as he possibly could. It was just a little difficult keeping track of what everyone else had to say on the matter.

As for the next question, he stayed quiet at first listening to the other questions. Hearing Simon's addition, the Gryffindor raised his hand. "I agree with Simon, conjuring takes a lot more concentration because you're the one creating. You have to know exactly what you want it to look like," And that was all he could conjure up about the subject. Heh.