Cris watched carefully as Norah cast the spell. Her wand movement, a swirling counter clockwise. That was correct. Her incantation was correct too. She had done enough to create a snow cloud and a single snowflake before it began to hail. He remained silent at Norah ended the spell and then he smiled at her.

"Sometimes, some spells are harder to cast than others. Remember Professor Bellaire did say this one would be hard to cast. You did really good," Cris smiled encouragingly down at her.

"I did notice from your facial expression that you were either feeling frustrated or angry when you cast that spell. That may have affected your concentration. When you cast a spell, you need to clear your mind of emotions and thought, and just focus on the spell you are about to cast," Cris explained to Norah, how he was taught to cast spells.

"Close your eyes and try to empty your mind. Then picture a storm cloud producing snow. Keep focusing on that image as you try casting the spell again," Cris suggested to his young friend.

"Go ahead, try casting the spell again," he coaxed her.

Did the little pieces of hail count as ice for the ice sculpture? That could work, RIGHT? It was technically just frozen rain, after all, and it WAS cold enough in the classroom that it wasn't about to melt any time soon. Toby figured it would probably be a good idea to collect all the hailstones and maybe offer them up later if needed, so he used to side of his shoe to scraped across the floor in his section of the class, gathering all the ice up into a pile. It would also help him, because now he was less likely to slip.

But what Tobias really needed was snow. And as much on it as possible. And quickly, because time was quickly running out in this lesson.

The Hufflepuff cleared his throat and stood in his now-clear floorspace, with his wand directed at the cloud. He did the anti-clockwise swirling motion (which was starting to become a lot easier) and tried the spell yet again, imagining snow days and sledging and building snowmen on the beach.

"Stiricidium Nubila!"

There was a long pause where the cloud overhead shifted, and Toby stared up at it with a furrowed brow, still concentrating hard on the spell even though he'd already cast it. C'mon, c'mon, c'mon, worrkkkkkkk. LET IT SNOWWWWWW, LET IT SNOWWWWWWWWWWWWW!

The cloud certainly LOOKED the way Toby figured it should, but nothing was falling. The fifteen year old wasn't about to let himself be disappointed, though, because these lessons were all about trying and failing and learning from the experience. He held up his wand and went to cast 'finite' on the cloud, when something small, white, and very cold landed on his nose.

Toby reached up to touch it with his gloved finger, but it had already melted. Snow? It definitely seemed like snow. Not like the BIG snow that settled and meant you could play out in it, but the kind of weather his grandmother always described as 'trying to snow'.

So... technically this was MORE SUCCESS. That was enough to make Toby grin widely and he leaned his head right back to enjoy the tiny flurries of snow. It wasn't settling at all, was melting as soon as it hit anything, but now Tobias knew that he could cast the spell omce, he was a lot more confident about casting it again.

But he didn't cancel the spell right away; maybe it would steadily become heavier, like real snow sometimes did. It was probably a good idea to wait for a minute or two, and then try again if needed.

For now, Toby was enjoying his little moment of success.

Okay, so she wasn't a total failure after all. Well, that was good. Norah nodded and gave Cris a thumbs up before turning to face her cloud. Clear her mind? After trying the spell soooo many times clearing her mind didn't really seem as easy as it should've been, but it was worth a shot. Taking a deep and calming breath, she attempted to rid herself of the frustration clouding her mind. Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out. She wasn't sure if she was clearing her mind or just getting dizzy, so Norah opened her eyes and figured it was about time to try the spell before she fainted or something.

Staring hard at the little white cloud, she imagined it growing and darkening, releasing a flurry of snow she could dance and play in. C'mon cloud, let it snow! With another deep breath Norah said "Stiricidium Nubila!" and gave her wand a good counter-clockwise swirl. Snow! Cold! Sledding! C'mon cloud! And it began to expand until the cloud was at least three times the size of her head, darkening to a steely grey. A single snowflake fell, followed by another, and then entire flurries of snow began to fall thickly from her newly transfigured cloud. AHA! SHE DID IT! She stepped underneath the cloud and let the snowflakes brush her face, grinning widely. The cold never bothered her, anyway.

The snow stopped before she instructed it to, but at least it had snowed so she figured that was a good accomplishment either way. Brushing snowflakes from her curls Norah walked back to where Cris was standing and gave him a tight hug around the middle. She stepped back quickly, though, because EW COOTIES. But he had helped her finally accomplish the spell, so she beamed at him and said "Thanks so much!" YAWN. Was spell casting always this tiring?

She still couldn't make snow fall from her cloud. SIGH.

Concentration and steady wrist, Candice!

This time she would succeeded making snow falling from her cloud. She was sure of it. Candice waved her wand in a swirling counter clockwise motion and pointed it to the cloud "Stiricidium Nubila!" NOTHING happened. Okay now she was frustrated..

"Stiricidium Nubila!"

The Gryffindor noticed that her cloud started to turn dark grey. Snow. Please let it be snow. But instead of snow falling from her cloud, its rain pouring down from her cloud. "Finite!" At least now she was close.

Having found this new confidence to try this spell with her near victory just now Lex cast a 'finite' to get the cloud back in order then cleared her throat figuring she could even enunciate more if that would bring the snow. "Stiricidium Nubila!" And the swirling motion above her head....picture the snow falling...imagine the cold....

It DID get cold again and she figured that she must have done it right or just as equally as last time--until she saw what was falling and one twacked her shoulder. OW! That actually hurt. Not nearly as much as the rocks but this was getting to be all kinds of ridiculous and ONCE AGAIN she'd failed to make the STOOOPID cloud drop some flakes of ice. This. Was. Ridiculous!

"Finite!" She seethed, perfectly annoyed with her cloud by now.

"What's it going to take for you to get it right???" Lex glared up at the defiant cloud, yes, defiant was what it was, refusing to just have ONE drop of snow. That's all she wanted. One. Would one have killed it? Would it have been so bad? JUST ONE???

"STIRICIDIUM NUBILA!!" WORK DAMMIT!!!--

The Gryffindor's eyes widened as her cloud tripled in size and deepened in colour until it looked like a rain storm....Merlin help it if it rained. But no. Not rain. It was snowing, first very lightly but then quite suddenly there was a lot of wind, wind that rushed from her now very much expanding cloud. The snow beat down hard scattering across the classroom and the desks began to shift in ways that Lex was positive they weren't meant to happen. The Gryffindor struggled to remain on her feet, hardly able to raise her wand in this thick blizzard that she'd somehow created.

Mer-LIN. Bellaire was going to kill her.

"Master of the Cloud makes us sound more powerful." Uh huh. It really did. And all of this had been said with a puffed out chest and an air of someone who liked this idea very much. And he was going to stick to his snowstorm? "Still can't get over the fact that you produced a freaking SNOWSTORM. Man, that's some powerful magic." JEEZ. He wanted to produce a snowstorm too but that sounded like it required a lot of effort soooo he'd live vicariously through this one over here.

He also liked the name Snowstorm Man. Gonna stick to that, he was.

Grayson looked between his fellow Slytherin and the cloud above the kid's head and then back again. "You're welcome, Snowstorm Man." See? This was totally sticking. It could probably be his superhero name. Maybe he could go around producing huge snowstorms on people who annoyed him. Smirk.

As always, the wind from the other boy's cloud had been ignored as the fourteen year old narrowed his eyes at his cloud. He did vaguely register the fact that the boy had cast a spell at his own cloud too, just like he vaguely registered how nice this teamworking thing felt. All of that was brushed aside when his cloud darkened and then.............

..................... FREAKING YES.

"Snoooooooooooow!" Sweet Merlin, FINALLY. Grayson looked over at the boy to see whether he had managed to get his cloud to snow as well.

If not, his cloud was getting WORDS.

Cris watched as Norah first closed her eyes as he had directed and then began to clear her mind...well that's what he was hoping she was able to do because that was one of the key factors at ensuring a transfiguration spell worked. Then with abated breath he watched as she began to cast the spell again. Yes, wand movement perfect, incantation clear.

Come on snow for her, Cris silently prayed....and then it did. Nice fluffly snowflakes. He breathed a sigh of relief and smiled happily as Norah celebrated her victorious comeback. He was taken aback when she walked over to give him a hug but he graciously accepted it, patting her gently on the shoulder.

"There's no need to thank me, Norah. You did that all on your own. All I did was give you a few pointers. Well done you made it snow," he smiled down at her.

"Now remember, practice makes perfect. So why don't you cast the spell again along with me," Cris nodded at her before focusing his attention back to the cloud hovering above his head.

As expected the cloud had stopped producing snow and was now white and deflated, so Cris pointed his wand back up at it and briefly closed his eyes, bringing up that now familiar snow cloud image. Focused on bringing that image to reality, Cris opened his eyes, swirled his wand in a counter clockwise motion up at the cloud and said, "Stiricidium Nubila' and watched as the cloud began to darken and swell up. It grew an ominous dark grey in color and then...

....it began to snow again. This time the snow flakes fell faster all over him.

Cris laughed to himself. He felt like Storm, that muggle cartoon character from X-Men....only she was a woman. But the concept was still the same. She made really awesome snow clouds too.

Engrossed in making even more snow, Caleb didn't even notice someone was talking to him. A moment later, it suddenly clicked in his brain and he felt embarrassed for not even noticing. Oops. He hadn't MEANT to be rude, hopefully the Huffie understood.

"Oh, sorry dude - yeah, I got it down. Finally," he chuckled. This guy looked older, but Caleb didn't recognize him. Was he new?

Eh, he had more important things to worry about. Like more snow! Doing the wand movement that he had now perfected, he raised his hand to the sky, aiming at his cloud and moving in a counter clockwise motion. "Stiricidium Nubila!" he exclaimed, watching with delight as the snow fell down harder. Alright, he was getting there!!

Sophia had been busy walking around and checking out the progress and lack there of of some of the students when a gust of wind sent her perfectly styled hair flying. She hadn't felt this kind of cold since that terrible winter of 83.

Goodness gracious....

She spun around to look where the cold was coming from and sure enough....

"ALEXA CAMBRIDGE!!!!!!"

Before she could even finish calling to the troubled students.. the wind had picked up so bad it was howling and the room was quickly filling up with snow.

She tried to pull her wand from her holster but the wind blew it from her hand and it was quickly swallowed by snow.

"OKAY EVERYONE, CLEAR THE ROOM..HOLD ON TO THE YOUNGER ONES AND GET THEM OUT!"

...."HOME WORK WILL BE POSTED AFTER I GET THIS UNDER CONTROL" Couldn't forget the home work.

Jasmine was just about to try her spell again when the room started to get a little dark. She looked around to try to see what was happening. One of the student's clouds had become rather enormous. Before Jasmine could react, all you know what started to break loose. It started to snow.....hard.....and wind started to blow that snow around. In a moment it looked like a blizzard in the Transfiguration classroom.

Professor Bellaire shouted for everyone to clear the room. Concerned at how quickly the snow was piling up, Jasmine looked around for Cris. It was becoming difficult to see because of the near blizzard, but Jasmine did not want to leave without him. She also tried to see if any younger students needed help getting out. The snow was getting deep and firsties were, you know, short. Trying not to panic, Jasmine continued to search.

Another storm in a Bellaire class. It did not matter what subject it was. There would be a storm. Tropical and now a winter blizzard. It was awesome, if not for the possibility of frostbite and freezing to death. At least he would not get lost in it. That was something to be thankful for.

And like magic. They were still getting homework even though a blizzard was happening. Could something do right during this class?

Wait, was he suppose to be doing something. He could not see any younger ones. So to the exit he goes. It someone bumps into him. Then he would be more than happy to help.

Maybe he should thank Bellaire for making him put his hair up like he did. It saved it from the terrible wind that was now here.

His hair was saved!

One second, Caleb was having a great time making snow in his little rain cloud, and then suddenly - there was a full on BLIZZARD. Apparently it had been Alexa who started it, but he was sure she didn't do it on purpose - right??

Well, class was getting out early, so that was a plus!

Grabbing his things as the snow swirled around him, he hurried out the door with the rest of the class, not bothering to try and find the younger kids because it was every man for themselves, right?

Awwwwhh class over so soon? They hadn't even done anything yet though. It was all just that stupid spell. That Zander finally managed to get right after so many tries. But still. He kind of needed more practice. But this situation is probably a good reason to end the class.... That was kind of weird. And unforgettable. AND WOAH IT WAS WINDY!

Zander grabbed all his belongings and everything on his desk and held on for dear life itself. He did his best to get out of the room, but the wind was SO strong. This would be quite the task.... After maybe a good ten minutes, he was finally able to get back on track, holding on to desks and chairs on his way out. PHEW. That was close. He didn't even bother to say goodbye, because it wasn't really a good day was it?

Thinking that she was going to give the spell another go, she raised her wand and had opened her mouth to speak when something insane happened. One second she had been comfortable, and the next she was freezing. The wind came from nowhere. Her wand almost slipped from her still raised arm. Somehow she had managed to save her wand, and was able to put it safely back in it's holster. "Angel." Her first instinct was to see where her sister was, but she wasn't even sure if the words could be heard over the howling of the wind.

It was a freaking blizzard, and it happened so fast that there wasn't anytime to prepare herself. She couldn't see and her toes already felt like they were five seconds away from getting frost bite.

The snow was already up to her thigh and it looked like she was not getting out of this anytime soon. Where was the door? The room wasn't that bloody big. Deciding that it was time to finally put aside her pride because she didn't wanna die like this, in that mean professor's class, she shouted. "HELP!"

O_O

Yuuuuup and there was her name above the whirling wind and the snow that was smacking her hard across the face. Did the cloud even belong to her anymore? Lex was ducking...but it wasn't with her anymore. It was a storm all to itself and there was a small part of her proud she'd been able to conjure such a thing but the tone of the Professor quickly made this pride disappear and the Gryffindor found herself scrambling for her things while she looked for shelter under her desk.

Wasn't long before the desk was thrust across the classroom and she took that as her cue. Lex headed for the door, keeping her eyes peeled for any little ones that might need help.

This was her fault. It was the least she could do.

It was cold. Hayden had not expected the Transfiguration to classroom to be colder than it was outside, so she had not brought proper clothes. How was she supposed to survive the rest of the lesson? The snow fell harder and wind blew, almost knocking her over. When she saw the professor's wand get blown out of her hand, Hayden stuffed her own wand in her pocket to save it. Something had gone wrong.

Getting out seemed like a good plan. She was slightly offended by the professor implying that the younger kids would need help. She did NOT need help, thank you very much. At least that was what she thought before she actually tried taking some steps. Hayden was very small, the wind was very strong, and the snow was very deep. She could barely see where she was going, and as soon as she tried to go toward where she thought the door was she fell down into the snow. Whether it was because of the wind or because she'd tripped on the snow she didn't know, but that wasn't what mattered. She kept going toward the door as best she could, but it was very slow going. She kept getting blown over by the wind and knocked into ever-growing snow drifts. Help might be nice.

What the...? Where was that cold coming from? And that awful wind and snow? Adi could hear Bellaire shouting something. Alexa's name was it? And then she said something about homework. But other than that, he couldn't hear anything else due to the howling wind.

Get out. He had to get out of the room. Shielding his eyes against the wind and snow, Adi searched for AJ. Where was she? She had been working right next to him. Oh! There she was! Already being buried in snow.

Adi trudged over to her with and managed to seize her hand. He pulled her towards what he was the door of the classroom.

AHHHH!!!!!

It was snowing in here! Now just snowing but BLIZZARDING. Was that even a word?! Sophie stumbled but caught herself before she face-planted. Help the younger ones? PSH. This was every man for himself!

Sophie stumbled a few more times but managed to grab her bag and stay afoot as she headed for the door. Pretty soon, she was back out in the corridor. It was a strange feeling heading from blizzard to just...corridor.

Was her hair sticking up? ...

AJ was beginning to wonder if anybody could even hear her cry for help. Normally, she wouldn't have asked for any kind of assistance, but she was pretty much being buried in snow here, and even if she could hold on to her wand in this wind it would be no use.

Before she could panic, she felt a hand grab a hold of hers. Looking up through squinted eyes, AJ could tell that it was none other than Adi himself. That boy was dead useful. "Thanks man!" The first year has had quite enough of the cold, thanks!

Cris hadn't thought the young Slytherin had even heard him whisper down to him, until he replied a few minutes later.

"No worries," he mouthed down to the boy before turning his attention back to Norah...and then....

What the....Cris hadn't noticed what the Gryffindor prefect had created until he heard Professor Bellaire screech yell out her name. Oh wow! Snow storm...which Cris had to admit was an awesome one.

Oh wait! Now why did they have to leave? This was actually fun now...even the strong wind that was now gusting through the classroom. Yes that would be a minor problem. Cris' first thought was of Jasmine, and his eyes searched the classroom looking for her. There she was!!

Cris quickly holstered his wand before reaching down for Norah's hand. As he pulled her along with him, he called down to her.

"Grab on Norah, we need to get out of here. Holster your wand." Cris led her over to where Jasmine was standing. "Do you see any younger students who need help?" Cris called out to her raising his voice above the din of the wind blowing, in order to be heard.

Then he spotted another young Hufflepuff struggling to get out. He reached out with his other hand, "Hayden! Here! Grab on," Cris called out to him.

One moment they were all practicing the spell like they were seemingly supposed to. And for him it had finally been going well. His own cloud lightly snowing. The next...it was suddenly very windy and the professor was apparently very upset at his housemate judging by the yelled name. One could only assume Alexa had done something but Benny found himself unable to dwell on it as he fought the cold surroundings of snow and wind that even Bellaire had to work to control.

He quickly made sure his wand was secure after very nearly losing hold of it before making his way towards the exit as instructed. The homework briefly mentioned not real important when fighting the weather. Especially when the brewing elements were making it hard to move well and it was only by virtue of remembering where he had been standing in context of the room that he knew which direction to move in.

Adi seriously thought he would have been frozen before he got himself an AJ to the door. But mercifully he succeeded in getting them both safely out into the corridor. "You okay?'' Adi asked AJ as he handed over her bag, book and quill which he had managed to grab before they left.

He turned to eye the door of the classroom. Benny was still in there? Or did he make it out? His friend could take care of himself. He would be okay.

Penelope was about to try to make her cloud snow again when the room became very cold and windy. Before long, a blizzard had started. The professors wand was blown away. They were told to leave the class. This was a not great day. First she had been bombarded by birds and rocks, and now this?

She tried to make her way across the room to the door, but she was blown around by the wind and almost buried in snow. The small first year could do nothing against the wind. Penelope kept trying to get up, but the wind knocked her down into the snow. "Help!" she yelled, wondering if anyone could hear her.

….and it was SNOWING PERFECTLY. “All right! I got it this time!” It was still snowing hard on him, but at least the size and shade of his cloud was much less than what he had before. “Finite!” Ethan turned to the older boy and…

“I knight thee…Sir…?” Funny how all this time, Ethan never got the older boy’s name. “…MASTER OF THE CLOUD!” the younger Slytherin placed his wand on the older Snake’s left shoulder then onto his right. Hehehe. See? The cloud may be above their heads ALL the freaking time, but right after this class, they’ll be COMMANDING clouds to snow and storm.

Merlin. This is sweet!

Ethan puffed out his chest when he heard his new nickname and all and pointed at his cloud again to do the spell. “Stiricidium Nubila!” the Slytherin even had a smile on his face when he did this because he knew he won't be producing any SNOWSTORM soon.

But…but…what in the world is going on??! Strong, chilly air slammed his face and the classroom was all blurry with snow. “IT’S NOT ME, CLOUD MASTER! I SWEAR!” he said on top of his voice as he struggled to keep up. Ethan tucked away his wand just in time as he landed on all fours. “LET’S GET OUT OF HERE!” Yeah, if the wind was able to put him in that position, he knew they weren’t safe.

The Slytherin sloooowly stood up from his spot, but was knocked back down when another body collided with him. “WHAT THE— ..” A small girl was on the ground and was being covered in snow fast. Should he help? Jeez. He’s the Snowstorm Man! “COME ON!” Ethan grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the snow, and started to drag themselves out of the bloody classroom.




Gaaaah. Where is his partner???

One moment Penelope was being buried under snow, and the the next she was being pulled out by one of the older boys. "Thanks," she said, holding on to his hand so she wouldn't be blown around or buried in snow again. They had to get out of here. Penelope had much better chances of getting out of the classroom now that she was not buried under snow.