Cris listened carefully mentally taking down notes as Professor Bellaire first answered some of the questions, some of the students had posed and then, once that was done, she explained what she was going to be doing next.

She would be creating Cumulus clouds, which they then had to change into cumulus nimbus ones. As the clouds erupted from her wand, it started to get chilly. Never having seen clouds formed in class before, Cris was in awe, so much so that he almost forgot to answer the question Professor Bellaire had asked them about the difference between a charm and a transfiguration spell.

He listened as the others shared their answers before he raised to share what he thought the difference was.

"Professor, the difference between charms and transfiguration is basically a transfiguration spell deals with form, where we are more concerned with what the object turns out to be, like how we turn an object from one thing into another.

While charms on the other hand, deals with its function, and what the object is doing. So in this case we make an object do something or make something happen to it."

Why wouldn't someone want hugs? Dima was at a loss as to an explanation for the professor lady's funny behavior, but his cheerful demeanor remained unaffected. That was okay! Plenty of other people who needed hugs anyway. He'd just go find one of THEM later. Uh-huh.

Finding a seat and standing by it, since that was what everyone else was doing, he watched the professor and tried to keep up. How come she was writing in the air, though? What was going on? Did teachers always HAVE to ask questions to which he didn't know the answers?

But he HAD remembered his gloves! And look, he had a cloud!

"Um... I don't think... charms.... transfigure.. stuff."

Nailed it.

How was he meant to know that she called herself differently to what they knew her as? Benjy wasn't nosy into the Professors' private lives, and he'd always thought she was called Sophia, so no, funnily enough the Jane and Wright hadn't immediately given it away as the exact same person that stood in front of them. He rubbed his lips together slowly, and nodded. "I think so, Professor."

Though, if she wanted to be known as Professor Jane Wright-Bellaire, she probably should have mentioned as such. Did that mean the other professors called her the wrong name too?

Anyway, the question was answered, and he knew better than to say anything more on the matter.

So, on to the lesson. Benjy raised his hand. "Transfiguration deals with changing the object's fundamental structure, right down to the molecules...whereas charms just add or change properties of the object."

...and yay, cloud.

Since so many people were already answering the question, Lux didn't see the point in contributing anything to the discussion. Besides, she was honestly frightened to say much around this Professor. What had happened to her? She hadn't been this mean last term. Was it that Quidditch had been cancelled?

Pleased that she had remembered to bring her gloves, Lux went about putting them on as she watched the Professor. First an atmospheric spell was cast on the classroom, and then small clouds were sent to everyone. Feeling the drop in temperature, she shivered slightly.

Okay, so Cumulus and Cumulonimbus were clearly different types of clouds, the latter she could assume being snow clouds. Seemed simple enough in theory; hopefully it wouldn't be hard to do in practice.

The difference between Charms and Transfiguration? Beverly Wayne preferred Charms to the latter. She pretty sure Bellaire wouldn't want to hear THAT difference. So she'd go with the scholarly answer instead of her preference, WHICH should be taken into consideration for future reference. Just FYI. She raised her hand.

"The difference between the two is that Charms adds or alters properties of an object, and what is does. Contrast to Transfiguration where it literally changes what an object is." Does and is, key words, yeah?

Putting her hand down, Beverly observed with interest as professor Bellaire did. The wand movement, her stance, and what the incantation was - though she didn't get the last one. Soon there were tiny clouds floating around and one came and parked itself next to her. Rubbing her now gloved hands together, she looked back up at the older witch with a small impressed look.

She nodded. Yep. She understands and all that. Would she lose points if she poked her cloud? It was so FLUFFY.

A whole bunch of other people already had that last question covered, or at least had said anything that he already knew on the subject, so Toby decided to refrain from making any redundant additional comment. Instead, he eyed the clouds Professor Bellaire had conjured for them, and watched them as they hovered over the class.

At the question of whether or not everyone understood what they were being asked to do, Toby looked at Professor Bellaire and nodded, reaching into the pocket of his robes to pull out his gloves as he did so. She was right, it WAS getting cold in here. Suddenly the need for the gloves was very apparent.

Kace was glad he got his gloves. They were in his backpack just incase. He knew it was gonna get chilly in here. He heard her question what the difference between transfiguration and charms. He thought about it and put it into his own words even though the hufflepuff explained it well. He raised his hand bravely and said, "Professor i think transfiguration deals with a lot more concentration since you need to change the shape of the object and it also involves complex movements.." That is what he thought at least. Now onto charms. "Ermm...and I think charms is dealing with only spells and hexes and jinxes.." He hoped he was right but if he wasn't then ah well.

He was pretty interested in the clouds though. The professor said they were going to changed the cumulus which is another word for cloud. He understood and waited silently.

Maddie DIDN'T know the difference but she was willing to bet that Kyroh and Dima was RIGHT ON because they were smart AND her allies and allies supported each other ALWAYS! So when the two boys shared their thoughts, the first year nodded seriously in solidarity. You go, boys! As for HER, she was just listening intently and absorbing ALL the information like a GOOD student would.

Oh HEY, she had gloves! The first year pulled them out and gave them a little wave in the air before tugging them on NICE and secure. SEE? Gloved here! Ready to work with clouds and stuff.

SPEAKING of clouds, she got her own now? COOL! She wasn't ENTIRELY sure about the whole changing them from one to the other but she nodded ANYWAY cause she'd figure it out! Smart twelve year old here, remember? She HAD this!

Hmm...the difference between Charms and Transfiguration? That was something Sophie used to wonder about a lot, but she's figured it out during her first two years of magical schooling. Raising her hand, she said, "A charm changes what something does. Transfiguration changes what something is."

Before she could get all that out, though, the professor pointed her wand around the room, and the temperature began to change. Yes, she brought her gloves, and yes, she was putting them on. Then with another wave of the professor's wand, Sophie had a cloud floating toward her. She eyed it. A whole cloud--just for her.

No questions over here.

Charms versus transfiguration. Without saying charms were more fun right away, Marigold instead thought carefully before raising her hand. "I think charms only affect certain aspects of an object, whereas transfiguration completely changes the molecular structure of the object. Like turning a desk into a pig, or something of the like."

More notes were taken.

What was the difference? Well one had been something that Professor Bellaire had taught previously, and the other was what she taught now. Obviously. She wasn't going to say that out loud though, because she was already beyond over how many points had already been taken in this class for...things. Like sitting. There was a reason she didn't like Professor Bellaire. A very good reason, if you asked Elodie.

Anyway, she stayed quiet and put her gloves on. Ones she had knitted herself and were clearly better than all the other little rugrats ones. She won. She won. Home made gloves definitely won. But still, she was quiet. Still she just waited around and... watched as the professor produced clouds and whatnot.

This was going to be a looooong class.

Ah, the age old question about what the difference was between transfiguration and charms. It had taken Caleb a while to keep them straight, but now that he was a big third year, all mature and whatnot, he could answer at the drop of a hat, which he did as soon as he raised his hand.

"Transfiguration is a spell that changes the form of something, whereas charms simply change the function of that item so that it behaves in a way that it doesn't normally," he explained. Transfiguration was harder too, in his opinion.

Having lived in a place where one got a lot of snow, Cris was able to withstand the chill longer than the other students of the class, who had donned their gloves right as the clouds were formed. But now it was getting chilly enough, that Cris decided he would put his on.

So out came his gloves which he quickly slipped on.

Sophie was trying really hard to keep the little bit of a smile on her face as Bellaire gave instructions, but Merlin, it proved to be too much. The smile had faded and Sophie was just... mellow. Totally mellow. She silently answered that Charms and Transfiguration were taught by two polar-opposite professors, but she refrained. And missed Fuller. Fullerrrrrrr.

Yeah, it was a totally cool subject matter for the lesson, but Sophie wasn't following. She did obey and pull her gloves from her robes to put on, for it did get chilly fast, but after that, Soph tried not to let her dismay show on her face. What in the world was a cumulus or cumulo-whatever she said? Were they supposed to have read up on clouds and studied the different kinds? Had she missed that memo? Clearly.

Even though she most definitely had questions and comments, she kept them all to herself. She'd feed off the questions everyone else was asking, then, and in the mean time, she shot a glance at Tobes to see if he was confused, too - didn't seem to be - then she kept an eye on the cloud that had assigned itself to her. That was a cute part of class.

Arista made a small smile and nodded. Phew not in trouble. Silly questions usually got her into trouble, well at least at home they did. Oh my goodness!!! She was going to do the spell. She made a huge smile and looked on as the Professor started to chill down the room. Yes, she had her gloves!!! She looked down at her already gloved hands! Princess Pink Gloves, perfect!

She was going to get her own Cumulus....What in the world was that!!!?? Which she was expected to transfigure into a Cumulonimbus thingy!!! She ignored the question the professor had asked, partly because Arista was first to ask the question, so she obviously didn't know the difference. She did have questions though, like what in the world were those things!! Her hand shot in the air, "Professor what is a Cumulus and a Cumulonimbus?" She struggled saying both words but eventually finished asking the question.

Declan pulled on his gloves and watched as the cloud assigned to him floated in front of him. Hellloooo pet cloud!

Okay, so they had to turn this cloud into a more bigger cloud. Got it. He could definitely do that. One problem, he could that if he knew how. Whoops. He waited in the now chilly room with his new pet cloud for more instructions, IF there was any.

5 points from Gryffindor. Whatever, they were just 5 points, he would get them back again somehow. Kevin pulled on his gloves that he had taken with him and then watched the front of the classroom when the Professor waved her wand and the cloud that had been assigned to him flew towards him. Cool!

"Transfiguration is transforming objects. It kinda is in the name you know? And charms ...is spells like jinxes and hexes and stuff..." yeah could they go on with the practical now? He did have a question though. What on earth was a Cumulus and a Cumulonimbus? But before he could raise his hand in the air, other students had the same question so he took out his wand from his wrist holster and began to twirl it around, waiting.

The difference between charms and transfiguration? That's a very good question, Professor. She just gonna let the older kids answer that question because she didn't really know the difference between charms and transfiguration.

Gloves? Yup she already wore them, Professor.

Candice saw clouds erupting from Professor Bellaire's wand. WOAH! That's so cool! Were they gonna learn how to do that things too? No? And looked her own cloud. How precious. Cumulonimbus? Wasn't that the storm clouds?

SPOILER!!: Professor

Quote:

Originally Posted by Davvy_Wavvy

"Now class. Who can quickly explain the difference between charms and transfiguration?"

She tapped her wand and raised it. "In the meantime I will perform the atmospheric spell to prep the room." Sophia pointed her wand to all four corners of the room and pretty soon there was a change in temperature. "Now it's about to get a little chilly in here so I hope you all brought or wore your gloves as instructed."

She eyed the lot of them.

"You will all receive a small Cumulus, which you are expected to transfigure into Cumulonimbus looking clouds." Another wave of her wands, saw clouds erupting from her wand tips and assigning themselves to each student." Because she wanted to be sure everyone was on the same page she asked the dreaded question.

"Does everyone understand? Is everyone clear on what I am asking you to do?"

Leah was jotting down everything the professor was saying, including the Professor Wright-Bellaire fact. Then the question for the whole class came. The second year raised up her hand and said, "Transfiguration changes what something is. Charms do not." The atmosphere change. It was getting suddenly chilly everywhere around the school, in class too? Shivering, Leah pulled out her gloves and put them on.

Ah, the clouds were cute. Leah held hers in her hands and looked at it, afraid of doing something wrong.

He so tried to keep a weird look off his face but he just couldn't help it. letting everyone else answer the question that he knew already he didn't reach for his quill or anything because they weren't allowed to take notes until after class. So far after all the different and weird classes he has been in, this one seemed to take the cake.

Taking out his gloves he was happy that he had run back to his room to grab them or he felt like he would get into trouble. oh well as long as he flew under the radar this class he would feel accomplished.

Putting on his gloves he waited as the Professor was giving her instructions about what they were going to do, so Bay crossed his fingers and waited for everything to start.

A cumulo-what? Norah sat in silence, listening to the other students' answers. Having next to no idea what a proper answer for the question would be, she reached into her bag to pull out a pair of gloves. No need to freeze to death, anyhow. She fumbled with her quill in her glove-clad hands, and waited patiently for someone to say something she understood so she could write it down.

See this was why Sophia sent her children to wizard prep. Whenever they started advanced schooling, they started with some base knowledge instead of blank slates. But she was a teacher, and teach she would.

"Most of you were spot on with your explanation of the difference between charms and transfiguration. It is important to make this distinction in order to be successful in both fields."

A swish and flick here and there at the board had more writings appearing.

"I hope that is clear for everyone." She looked around the room for concerned faces.

"Okay so the spell that we will be working with today is Stiricidium Nubila. This spell changes the cloud from a fluffy cotton like cloud into a larger, darker cumulonimbus looking snow cloud. When performed correctly, you should see the cloud grow and get darker, then it should start to snow gently. Now the wand movement for this spell is a counter clock-wise swirling motion with the wand pointing up at the cloud."

Everyone following so far?

"Now as with everything you do in transfiguration, this requires focus and practice, which you all will do after I perform a demonstration."

Sophia pointed her wand at her own cloud and clearly said, Stiricidium Nubila. Immediately her cloud started to grow, then got darker and began sending down snowflakes.

"See? You may all begin practicing."

ooc: Okay, so obviously not all the students are expected to be experts at this spell in the first go since it is fairly advanced, so to keep everyone from going crazy I have outline a few ways the spell can go wrong. Choose one and have fun.

Ways Spell Can go wrong
-Rains instead of snows
-hails
-rains down cotton
-rains birds
-rains leaves
-rains rocks

If you think of anything else, please PM me for approval.

Adelaide had just sat quietly throughout the discussion. She took a few notes but in the end, ended up doodling slightly on the corners of her parchment. The notes were still there, mind you, just probably not as detailed as they should have been. Plus it was a lot harder to take notes with the way the classroom was set up.

Addi looked up quickly. Oh. Practice time already. She put her quill down, smiling knowing she had gotten really good with transfiguration stuff. She looked up at the fluffy white cloud floating over her head. This shouldn't be super mega difficult. Even if she hadn't been working as hard at school lately.

She tugged at her gloves a bit. Not super chilly, but chilly enough to bother the redheaded snake. Adelaide pulled out her wand and pointed it at her cloud. "Stiricidium Nubila." Nothing happened at first. And then she was pelted by hail. Pretty decent sized hail. "Ouch." She carefully stepped out from under it, rubbing her arms. Was she just supposed to try it again to fix it?

Okay, so Cumulus is puffy and cottony. Got it. Cumulonimbus is thundery and vertical. Got it. Kind of. Well he'd see it when it happened. So far so good. Alright now for the fun stuff.

Zander pointed his wand at his little puffy cloud. "Steeericidiumum Nooooobila," that did not sound right. Oops. But he did the counter clockwise swirly thing so that's what really matters right? He watched as his cloud started stretching AND YES SNOW! Wait... Was snow supposed to have wings? Why was his winged-snow not white? Why was it squawking?! Oh no. Uh yeah this definitely is not snow.

They were birds!? UH PROFESSOR!? The birds were coming down really quickly. It was literally raining birds. Oh my. And they were flying towards Zander and pecking at his clothes. AHHHH. The third year started madly waving his arms in the air, in attempt to shoo them away. "AHHH," Zander is not a bird person. This is not okay. "Professor!? How do I make it stop!?" AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Marigold bounced a bit before grinning largely. Practical parts of class were SO FUn the BEST PART Of clASs!!!! She copied down the notes onto her parchment before taking out her wand and wiggling it for prep. She swirled her wand a couple times before she thought she had mastered the movement, then cleared her throat. "Stiriceeeeedium Nubila? Stearicidium Newbilia? Stiricidium Nubila." Merlin that was hard to say. But she would get it.

She grinned up at her cloud - Name Fluffy. Real creative name. "Stiricidium Nubila," she said as she did a kinda rocky swirl. Looking up at her cloud, she smiled as it began to grow, but then a single chunk of rock fell down and hit her in the forehead. "Ouch."