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The room located off the Great Hall was set up almost like a normal classroom. There were desks scattered about in that symmetrical way into which classrooms were usually organized, only Apollo had set up three big tables in the front of the room. The first table had a multitude of two items: mugs and rubber balls. He was hoping the mugs weren’t a bad idea; he didn’t much fancy cleaning up the mess of shattered ceramic.
The second table held lots and lots of APPLES. Apollo thought about munching on one as he waited for the bright and smiling faces of the youth to appear, but he also thought that was vaaaastly rude. The chewing—the way that juice would sometimes spit out from your mouth while chewing an apple—just, no. The middle-aged man was keen on appearing as polite as possible. Polite, happy to be here(because he was) and most importantly…EXCITED about passing on his knowledge. Young people were the future, after all.
The third table was probably the most interesting, at least to Apollo. He had set up three bins; the first one had many tiny rectangles of clay, the other had many different colored wires all round together, and the last one held very wet wax. Apollo had to soak the wax…..all night? in order for it to be in correct order for today’s use, but ah, well. No matter. He really didn’t mind!
There was a blackboard in the front of the room where Apollo had written his name in curly, large letters: APOLLO. Underneath it, he had written, again in his curly writing, “Mythology: A Look Back For Modern Magic”
He was leaning back against the middle table(the one with the apples) with his arms crossed, waiting patiently for students to arrive. It had been awhile since he had interacted with students this age; his granddaughter was the only young person in his life at the moment. No, Apollo was not nervous. He was much more curious as to how they would all take his line of work, the obscure and quite unprofitable kind of magical theory.
His hat hung on the chair next to the tables, and his bag of trinkets, too, sat atop the seat.
Hogwarts was quite beautiful, wasn’t it? Apollo waited for the students to arrive, a far-off look in his eyes. He took off his glasses and wiped the lens using his overcoat.
On each of the desks, Apollo had placed little name-tag stickers, the typical kind, for their names. He wanted to know to whom he was speaking at all times. Names were important…especially to Apollo.
OOC: Welcome to our seminar! My name's Kate (kayquilz)! *waves* Come in, have a seat, and relax! We are just so excited for this, and I hope you and your kiddies are, too! You guys have a bit of time before I officially start the seminar, so don't stress! <3
A ship in harbor is safe — but that is not what ships are built for.
Natalia was a little disappointed... no... REALLY disappointed that the Apollo guy did not answer her question. Maybe he simply didn't want to answer, maybe he forgot that he had even HEARD the question after growing too excited about Greek mythology. Either way, the fourth year felt unsatisfied and raised her hand again, before even considering a response to the lecturer's topic discussion.
"Apollo... SIR!" Maybe he would actually pay attention to her question if she captured his attention using this method. "Sir sir, why is your name Apollo??" Putting an extra emphasis on the inquisitive tone, Natalia eyed the interesting-dressed man and hoped that he would acknowledge her question this time. NATALIA did NOT like to be ignored.
The Lioness had completely, unintentionally for the most part, forgotten to regard the rest of the lecture on Greek mythology (Did he mention Daphne? Because it was NATALIA who first mentioned her!). Besides, who were these Baucis and Philemon? The unfamiliar names drift in through one ear and out in the other. Overall, the fourth year had only managed to comprehend the very end of the story - Baucis and Philemon transforming into trees. Greek mythology just adored trees, didn't they?
Okay Mister Sir Professor Apollo, answer the question now.
Otter This World ♡ Catpurrccino ♡ Slotherin ♡ Pandamonium
Listening silently to what was being said Hady was glad she didn't have to take notes for once though she was rather used to doing so by now. However so much was being said already keeping up would've been a pain and surely she would've missed something.
As talk of Gods and Goddesses began she grinned at Adi when he looked her way and mentioned Hades. Honestly it was the first to come to her mind as well since they had spoken of him not to long ago and it was now her nickname. She had also thought of Amphitrite as well since that's who she liked. Before she could give her answer they had moved on which was alright with her.
Leaning back in her chair she listened to the story and thought about the answer being animagious forms but those were animals and not trees so no that couldn't be it. It also had nothing to do with metamorphmagus either. So it was most likely some form of transfiguration really. Which form she had no idea so she kept quiet and chose to listen to Apollo.
A path is not simply for walking, its purpose lies in moving forward and improving oneself.
Was he putting stickers on their faces?!
Yoongi regretted having answered the question because it seemed that he put stickers on everyone who answered and although he didn’t really like his answer or Hercules in that matter he still saw him walking towards him with that blue sticker in his hand and just ..no….
He tried to shield his face but it was too late. The sticker was stuck on his forehead and the Gryffindor made a face and quickly peeled it off. He put the sticker on the corner of his desk instead and raised his hand. “Can you stick the sticker on the desk next time, Sir—I mean Apollo?” his face was too precious to be touched okay?
It would be weird to use his facial cleaning tissues at this moment so he refrained from grabbing them out his of bag and instead focused on the next question.
“….Transfiguration magic?” he asked. Mweh probably not the answer.
Sassenach | RAVENPUFF | Sing me a song of a lass that is gone | bookDRAGON | #awkwardturtle<#
SPOILER!!: WHOA!
Quote:
Originally Posted by kayquilz
He jumped up at Zhenya’s repsonse--”OH OH OH ! DID YOU KNOW THAT SHE WAS REALLY BEAUTIFUL AT FIRST?” He cried, LOUDLY--probably causing a few people to jump. “But she was CUUUUUUUURSED!” Poor, misunderstood Medusa!
Zhenya got a GREEN star stamped to her forehead. HEHEHE. Was he done with one sheet of stickers already?
Not expecting that reaction, Zhenya jumped, startled. WHOA! But it also cracked a smile on her face. Hehe. Dramatic, ooh, Zhenya liked! "No I didn't know! Was she really?" Zhenya asked, amazed. That was NEW information. But it made sense. "Was she cursed because she was really beautiful or for for doing something cruel?" Like... Narcissus died because he was too beautiful. Actually, because he was in love with his reflection, which he found was beautiful. Was that similar? Zhenya was totally hooked on this seminar already.
And now onwards!
Zhenya listened, riveted by the story. She felt happy when Zeus and Hermes finally found somewhere to stay, with Baucis and Philemon, and they asked to die together. And... and turned into trees, intertwining and wrapped around each other. Aww.
What kind of magic would that take? Well, obviously transfiguration. Professor Bellaire was super amazing at Transfiguration, she would surely be able to do that. But what else? Zhenya thought abut it, and raised her hand. "Apollo perhaps a really good potioneer would be able to study different ingredients and a way of mixing them together to change their human DNA into the DNA of the tree." She didn't know what that would take... "Perhaps some ingredients to destroy the human stem cells, and ingredients of tree DNA, and some kind of medium to implant it into the human's cells to modify them." That could happen, couldn't it?
__________________
EVASIVE | RESTLESS | MISUNDERSTOOD always on the move
Okay..first thing...why did the Apollo man pasted a sticker on everyone's forehead? Henric blinked confusedly and peeled the sticker off from his forehead. Secondly, he noticed the "guide" kept staring under his nose.Was there something there? He subconsciously wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, just in case.
Those trees were definitely entwined alright...impressive drawing skills...anyway, back to the question-answering thing."Yeah...transfiguration is definitely used for it...but I don't see why they wanted to become trees...was it because they wanted their souls to be spared from Hades?"Henric asked.
~ Mrs. Steve Harrington ~ It be like that sometimes.
Adi was surprised when he received a light smack on his forehead. Raising his hand up, his finger came in contact with the thing resting there. Looking in Benny's direction, he noted the sticker on the other boy's forehead too. Hehe. Benny looked funny but then again, Adi must look so too. But WHO CARED?! Yaaaay for stickers!
"Can I have one more, Apollo?" he asked just as brightly as Apollo's attitude. The man was appropriately named, by the way. Mhmmm. Anyway... Ovid? Who was this Ovid? Ah! He was a poet. But who were these Baucis and Philemon?
The Hufflepuff listened with interest to the story. What nice persons Baucis and Philemon were! They sounded like they would have been Hufflepuffs too! So now for the questions... which Adi had nooooo idea about except for one. He raised a hand.
"Transfiguration would be the magic involved.'' As for the other ones, would improvise. "Um, maybe they have to be kind then agree that they want to be a tree after accepting death?" Hey, he was making this up as he went. "Apollo, can they become something other than a tree?"
Oh, Adrienne’s myth….Apollo clapped for her and stuck a red sticker on her forehead. GOOD JOB! “That one always makes me a little saaaaad-” OH he wanted to LAMENT. If ONLY he had his giant harp. He’d charm it to play a sad tune for everyone.
ALAS.
There was a sticker... on Adrienne's forehead. She was incredibly not okay with the fact that there was a sticker on her forehead, nor with the fact that the teacher's fingers were uncomfortably sweaty, as she'd felt when he touched her forehead. To stick on a sticker. Because there was a sticker there now.
"Um, no thank you," she said, grimacing slightly as she peeled the sticker off and crumpled it up. Stickers were for children, and they particularly did not belong on. People's. Foreheads.
Adrienne pulled herself together in time to listen to the myth 'Apollo' was telling, which was one that she'd heard of before, but never in very much detail. And mostly the part about the hospitality, less the part about them turning into trees. Treeeeees. Why did so many myths end with people turning into trees? She supposed it was some disgusting notion of a romantic finish, but honestly, Adrienne would rather be spared the tree-fate, even if she were in love. Better of dying like a normal person, and being buried.
"Well, Transfiguration, obviously," she said, in response to the question. That much was easy enough- the rest of the branches of magic had nothing to do with permanent or semipermanent transformations. (Except sometimes potions, but she doubted that the mighty Zeus did any potion-making.)
"Um, I'd imagine it has quite a bit in common with the process of becoming an Animagus?" There would of course be some major differences, but the idea was the same. Adrienne tried to remember what she'd read about Animagi... There was a whole chapter on them in an old Human Transfiguration book she'd found in the library last year. "Maybe not quite as complex, 'cause you don't ever turn back and a tree's mental capacities are pretty limited, but essentially they're pretty similar. A complete transformation of a human into another living thing."
♥s her SS family l Wifey is MINE | Naughty Niffler l Whittysaur l #awkwardturtle<#
Apollo seemed to like her answer and THERE WAS A STICKER FOR HER. Yes. Lux liked stickers!! The only thing that would have made it better was if the sticker had been a mermaid, but the yellow suited her personality. Hehe, she was all sunny.
O__O
Wait, people could turn into TREES?!
That was a new one for Lux; she was not familiar with this myth. But the story about the adorable couple and their hospitality made her heart melt. They sounded like very cute people!! And becoming trees together...how ROMANTIC. Siiiigh.
Raising her hand, she tried her best to answer the questions. "Is it some form of transfiguration with lasting effects?" That seemed the most logical since it involved literally transforming people into trees. And as to the second question... "I think the first step would be getting the person's consent. Randomly turning people into trees would be rude, so it's important for the person to want to be one."
<--- Random | Funfetti | Lima Bean | Slytherpuff | PURPLE | Hoarder of pens | ALWAYS Severus
STICKERS. If she had known that he was going around giving people stickers on their foreheads she would have totally participated. Even if she had something to add that was way off in left field, it would be be rewarded, yes? Okay. She was trying to pay better attention now. AJ thought back to when she had to be one with the moon in Astronomy. She could get in that same frame of mind for this Mythology stuff. The unicorn was focused.
Cool story, bro. Like, AJ was legit all engrossed in it. Oh, and she had an answer and sort of another fun fact. "Sounds like Transfiguration to me. I turned a rock into a dragon once." Could she have a sticker now? Please! Did he have unicorn stickers? Better yet could she have an apple as a reward?
Nemo thought about the tale.. something he wouldn't admit was that he actually liked the ending, that the two got to die together, not having to live without the other.. It was.. Ahem.. Romantic.
Anyway.
The question was interesting because it seemed like a trick. It could have multiple answers and the facts about it canceled some of the answers out. Nemo raised his hand. "Well, Professor the Myth says this was how the two died but trees are living things, so this is a bit tricky.. Transfiguration might make sense since trees are living, and these are gods we're talking about so the complicated magic shouldn't be an issue for them.. But at the same time maybe a charm? Designed to make their bodies look different?" He wasn't sure. The question in itself seemed odd, so the answer had to be something unconventional.
½ of Lauralie | Koala | The being in Ern's pocket | Baby Smurf | Prouf member of The Flock
Realising that he'd forgotten to stick his nametag on, Brian did that immediately, his writing not too different from the messy scrawls of boys his age. Living to living transfiguration was difficult, something he hadn't quite grasped yet. His porcupine pincusions still occasionally tried to run away from him so he wasn't exactly the resident authority on transfiguration.
He would settle for listening and writing down peoples theories, except that he didn't. Instead, he drew on the sheet of parchment two trees locked in an embrace. One crooked, the other upright as if supporting each other. Mmmhmm, don't mind him shading in tiny leaf details. He was most definitely listening. Hufflepuffs were excellent multitaskers.
Thornton's eyes got big and crossed as the sticker landed on his forehead. What? Sparing a glance Apollo, Thornton then looked around to see what others were doing. Was he meant to keep it on his forehead? He saw different colors on the other students... was this a way to divide them up? Was he supposed to know what color he was given?
Thornton only vaguely registered which myth, though it was one that he was familiar with, so his preoccupation with the sticker conundrum would not interfere with his knowledge of the content of the myth. Finally, thought incredibly hesitantly, Thornton pulled the sticker off his forehead and instead affixed it to the front of his robes just above his name tag. Ok.. ready to learn...
Merlin's pants, he'd missed the question....
But why was Zeke talking about turning the people-trees into wands??
__________________
Has anyone ever sung you a lullaby?
You can fly above the rain clouds
Close your eyes
Let the melody carry you
Leave all your fears behind
You can float across a rainbowsky
to once upon a time
Damien watched with a bright grin as the hat flew across the room to perch itself on his head. Someone take a picture, this was a moment to remember. Damien fussed with the brim of the hat (which was much heavier than it looked) until he felt it looked cool, and he was about to sit back and chill when-
He was suddenly assaulted by a sticker to the face.
Specifically his pointy nose. Damien sneezed, scrunching up his face and resisting the urge to pull off the itchy sticker. “Uh, thanks Apollo.”
And then the big questions were coming in and Damien, though curious and eager to join in, found that by the time he’d sorted out his thoughts on the tree-people, that everything had pretty much been said. Well then, he’d just have to catch the next one.
__________________
the moon: feminine, intuitive, inner strength, innocence
Soooooo... this Apollo dude was interesting, Zeke sat and listened with interest, his mouth downturned in the corners and his eyes were widened. He was clearly impressed. Yep. No notes, no rules other than BE NICE. This would be too easy.
He had refrained from participating in conversation so far, not really knowing much about myths and things, BUT... he could hazard a guess as to the magic involved.
Hand up, he offered his thoughts. "I would have guessed transfiguration at first, cause you know, changing the state of one thing into another... but I think for it to be that... permanent? of a transformation, and by another being that maybe it's a curse of some sort? Or like, a dark version of transfiguration? Even though the deaths were basically negotiated with the gods, it was ultimately the gods who had the power to enforce the change." So... not of the peoples wills... really... kinda... more or less.
Yes?
No?
Was he crazy stupid?
AND... he had a question too. "Where they, or could they have been, made into wands?" Like wand trees?
Apollo nodded at Zeke as he spoke up. “Yes! Transfiguration is probably the first and MOST important part of the magic involved in an undertaking like this--” and as Zeke continued talking, he thought the boy was bright. VERY bright, clever, and was coming up some interesting things to think and talk about. “Dark Transfiguration…” Interesting. “Hmm. That’s...fascinating to think about. I think the magic involved is definitely not JUST Transfiguration, you’re right.”
He was quite impressed, too, at the kid’s question. He stamped a blue sticker right on Zeke’s forehead. HEHEHE. “OH. Well. They were completely and totally turned into trees--immortal trees, apparently--and so I think...yes. The wood COULD be used for wands….what an interesting….wand that would be.”
FASCINATING. He even held out another sticker for Zeke.
SPOILER!!: Natalia
Quote:
Originally Posted by GoldenSnake
Natalia was a little disappointed... no... REALLY disappointed that the Apollo guy did not answer her question. Maybe he simply didn't want to answer, maybe he forgot that he had even HEARD the question after growing too excited about Greek mythology. Either way, the fourth year felt unsatisfied and raised her hand again, before even considering a response to the lecturer's topic discussion.
"Apollo... SIR!" Maybe he would actually pay attention to her question if she captured his attention using this method. "Sir sir, why is your name Apollo??" Putting an extra emphasis on the inquisitive tone, Natalia eyed the interesting-dressed man and hoped that he would acknowledge her question this time. NATALIA did NOT like to be ignored.
The Lioness had completely, unintentionally for the most part, forgotten to regard the rest of the lecture on Greek mythology (Did he mention Daphne? Because it was NATALIA who first mentioned her!). Besides, who were these Baucis and Philemon? The unfamiliar names drift in through one ear and out in the other. Overall, the fourth year had only managed to comprehend the very end of the story - Baucis and Philemon transforming into trees. Greek mythology just adored trees, didn't they?
Okay Mister Sir Professor Apollo, answer the question now.
Apollo winced but turned to staaaaare at the child. “Oh. Apollo is my favorite character of mythology. My real name is….I prefer to be called Apollo.” There were many reasons why he liked just going by APOLLO. Hmph.
Did she have an answer to his question? No?
SPOILER!!: Hady
Quote:
Originally Posted by SpiritWolfe Malfoy
Listening silently to what was being said Hady was glad she didn't have to take notes for once though she was rather used to doing so by now. However so much was being said already keeping up would've been a pain and surely she would've missed something.
As talk of Gods and Goddesses began she grinned at Adi when he looked her way and mentioned Hades. Honestly it was the first to come to her mind as well since they had spoken of him not to long ago and it was now her nickname. She had also thought of Amphitrite as well since that's who she liked. Before she could give her answer they had moved on which was alright with her.
Leaning back in her chair she listened to the story and thought about the answer being animagious forms but those were animals and not trees so no that couldn't be it. It also had nothing to do with metamorphmagus either. So it was most likely some form of transfiguration really. Which form she had no idea so she kept quiet and chose to listen to Apollo.
This one was quiet. Apollo smiled encouragingly at her...she could speak up if she wanted. But if she was feeling shy, he would totally respect that, too.
SPOILER!!: Yoongi
Quote:
Originally Posted by DuckyLinJi
Was he putting stickers on their faces?!
Yoongi regretted having answered the question because it seemed that he put stickers on everyone who answered and although he didn’t really like his answer or Hercules in that matter he still saw him walking towards him with that blue sticker in his hand and just ..no….
He tried to shield his face but it was too late. The sticker was stuck on his forehead and the Gryffindor made a face and quickly peeled it off. He put the sticker on the corner of his desk instead and raised his hand. “Can you stick the sticker on the desk next time, Sir—I mean Apollo?” his face was too precious to be touched okay?
It would be weird to use his facial cleaning tissues at this moment so he refrained from grabbing them out his of bag and instead focused on the next question.
“….Transfiguration magic?” he asked. Mweh probably not the answer.
OH! Apollo probably should have asked about the face sticking. OOPS. “Oh of COURSE, son!” he was so SORRY PLEASE DON’T BE MAD, YOONGI. But the man nodded at his response. “Yes--very good--that is the most important part, yes--the Transfiguration.”
These kids were right on the ball, really!
He...tentatively placed a blue sticker on the edge of his desk. Ahem.
SPOILER!!: Zhenya
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jessiqua
Not expecting that reaction, Zhenya jumped, startled. WHOA! But it also cracked a smile on her face. Hehe. Dramatic, ooh, Zhenya liked! "No I didn't know! Was she really?" Zhenya asked, amazed. That was NEW information. But it made sense. "Was she cursed because she was really beautiful or for for doing something cruel?" Like... Narcissus died because he was too beautiful. Actually, because he was in love with his reflection, which he found was beautiful. Was that similar? Zhenya was totally hooked on this seminar already.
And now onwards!
Zhenya listened, riveted by the story. She felt happy when Zeus and Hermes finally found somewhere to stay, with Baucis and Philemon, and they asked to die together. And... and turned into trees, intertwining and wrapped around each other. Aww.
What kind of magic would that take? Well, obviously transfiguration. Professor Bellaire was super amazing at Transfiguration, she would surely be able to do that. But what else? Zhenya thought abut it, and raised her hand. "Apollo perhaps a really good potioneer would be able to study different ingredients and a way of mixing them together to change their human DNA into the DNA of the tree." She didn't know what that would take... "Perhaps some ingredients to destroy the human stem cells, and ingredients of tree DNA, and some kind of medium to implant it into the human's cells to modify them." That could happen, couldn't it?
….and Apollo sliiiiid right onto Zhenya’s desk, smiling. “Well. You know. She was a priestess for Athena first, and she was beautiful….and then Poisedon took a liking to her. Poor Medusa...she didn’t stand a chance--she married the god, and Athena CURSED her….to look ugly...and made it so that no one would ever admire her beauty again.”
Pity. Apollo thought it was so cruel and SAD.
And Zhenya’s response was REALLY FASCINATING. So much so that he summoned his notebook from his bag and scribbled it down. “Oh--you now, Zhenya--I had never thought of that--but that certainly...is an interesting idea. You’re on the right path, you know, with the DNA stuff--that’s more of a modern idea, especially with muggle science--but this is a MODERN magic course--a potion that morphs DNA would certainly have...done something to the couple to turn them into trees. It’s not what we’re focusing on today, but that...that is brilliant!”
Apollo was learning stuff. And that was how he knew this seminar was a GOOD thing..because you teach and learn...and they were learning, and teaching him. It was a give and take relationship, this was.
SPOILER!!: Henric
Quote:
Originally Posted by Symphora
Okay..first thing...why did the Apollo man pasted a sticker on everyone's forehead? Henric blinked confusedly and peeled the sticker off from his forehead. Secondly, he noticed the "guide" kept staring under his nose.Was there something there? He subconsciously wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, just in case.
Those trees were definitely entwined alright...impressive drawing skills...anyway, back to the question-answering thing."Yeah...transfiguration is definitely used for it...but I don't see why they wanted to become trees...was it because they wanted their souls to be spared from Hades?"Henric asked.
Apollo thought this was an interesting question. “Well. I assume that...it’s a way for them to live forever? The trees stayed there forever...so yes, they did escape Hades, in a way. Also, I think they didn’t have a choice, really--Zeus kind of just...did it.”
Was that an answer? Hmph.
Henric got another STICKER! RIGHT ON HIS CHEEK. RED.
SPOILER!!: Adi
Quote:
Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19
Adi was surprised when he received a light smack on his forehead. Raising his hand up, his finger came in contact with the thing resting there. Looking in Benny's direction, he noted the sticker on the other boy's forehead too. Hehe. Benny looked funny but then again, Adi must look so too. But WHO CARED?! Yaaaay for stickers!
"Can I have one more, Apollo?" he asked just as brightly as Apollo's attitude. The man was appropriately named, by the way. Mhmmm. Anyway... Ovid? Who was this Ovid? Ah! He was a poet. But who were these Baucis and Philemon?
The Hufflepuff listened with interest to the story. What nice persons Baucis and Philemon were! They sounded like they would have been Hufflepuffs too! So now for the questions... which Adi had nooooo idea about except for one. He raised a hand.
"Transfiguration would be the magic involved.'' As for the other ones, would improvise. "Um, maybe they have to be kind then agree that they want to be a tree after accepting death?" Hey, he was making this up as he went. "Apollo, can they become something other than a tree?"
“Well, they could have, but I’m not sure they...thought about it too much, you know? There’s something...very sacred about trees, especially to the Greeks and Romans, so they would have thought the becoming of trees as a very sacred and rewarding experience.” Apollo smiled and nodded.
WAIT DID HE WANT ANOTHER STICKER? Apollo smirked and stamped a purple one right next to the other one already on the boy’s forehead.
HEHEHE? SEE? His stickers were appreciated.
SPOILER!!: Adrienne
Quote:
Originally Posted by aaetha
There was a sticker... on Adrienne's forehead. She was incredibly not okay with the fact that there was a sticker on her forehead, nor with the fact that the teacher's fingers were uncomfortably sweaty, as she'd felt when he touched her forehead. To stick on a sticker. Because there was a sticker there now.
"Um, no thank you," she said, grimacing slightly as she peeled the sticker off and crumpled it up. Stickers were for children, and they particularly did not belong on. People's. Foreheads.
Adrienne pulled herself together in time to listen to the myth 'Apollo' was telling, which was one that she'd heard of before, but never in very much detail. And mostly the part about the hospitality, less the part about them turning into trees. Treeeeees. Why did so many myths end with people turning into trees? She supposed it was some disgusting notion of a romantic finish, but honestly, Adrienne would rather be spared the tree-fate, even if she were in love. Better of dying like a normal person, and being buried.
"Well, Transfiguration, obviously," she said, in response to the question. That much was easy enough- the rest of the branches of magic had nothing to do with permanent or semipermanent transformations. (Except sometimes potions, but she doubted that the mighty Zeus did any potion-making.)
"Um, I'd imagine it has quite a bit in common with the process of becoming an Animagus?" There would of course be some major differences, but the idea was the same. Adrienne tried to remember what she'd read about Animagi... There was a whole chapter on them in an old Human Transfiguration book she'd found in the library last year. "Maybe not quite as complex, 'cause you don't ever turn back and a tree's mental capacities are pretty limited, but essentially they're pretty similar. A complete transformation of a human into another living thing."
Obviously, eh? Apollo thought Adrienne was VERY cheeky. He wandered over to her desk and raised an eyebrow. “Yes. The mental capacity--is a very important factor here. However….” he thought he’d ask Miss Adrienne a question. “When a human transforms into an animal...the mental capacity decreases….but when a person transforms into an object, like a tree...while there is still life….trees don’t HAVE a mental capacity. So…” he held out a sticker for her to take, noticing the crumbled up one on her desk. “So...that might actually take a whooooole lot of skill and a bit more than Transfiguration eh?”
He would go into that in juuuuust a minute though.
“Very clever, Adrienne.” He smiled. She was smart. They were ALL smart, and Apollo wanted to cry.
SPOILER!!: Lux
Quote:
Originally Posted by Squishy
Apollo seemed to like her answer and THERE WAS A STICKER FOR HER. Yes. Lux liked stickers!! The only thing that would have made it better was if the sticker had been a mermaid, but the yellow suited her personality. Hehe, she was all sunny.
O__O
Wait, people could turn into TREES?!
That was a new one for Lux; she was not familiar with this myth. But the story about the adorable couple and their hospitality made her heart melt. They sounded like very cute people!! And becoming trees together...how ROMANTIC. Siiiigh.
Raising her hand, she tried her best to answer the questions. "Is it some form of transfiguration with lasting effects?" That seemed the most logical since it involved literally transforming people into trees. And as to the second question... "I think the first step would be getting the person's consent. Randomly turning people into trees would be rude, so it's important for the person to want to be one."
Awww. This child...she was so innocent. It was adorable. Apollo just smiled her way and held out another sticker for her. A blue one. “Well...I don’t think Zeus was too...keen on consent.” Ahem. “But--but--I suppose in REAL life turning people into trees would be kind of rude if not done under consent.”
Adorable.
SPOILER!!: Unicorn
Quote:
Originally Posted by PhoenixStar
STICKERS. If she had known that he was going around giving people stickers on their foreheads she would have totally participated. Even if she had something to add that was way off in left field, it would be be rewarded, yes? Okay. She was trying to pay better attention now. AJ thought back to when she had to be one with the moon in Astronomy. She could get in that same frame of mind for this Mythology stuff. The unicorn was focused.
Cool story, bro. Like, AJ was legit all engrossed in it. Oh, and she had an answer and sort of another fun fact. "Sounds like Transfiguration to me. I turned a rock into a dragon once." Could she have a sticker now? Please! Did he have unicorn stickers? Better yet could she have an apple as a reward?
HEH! She was talking now! Apollo nodded as he stick a red sticker right on Unicorn’s forehead. Apollo wasn’t sure if her name was really Unicorn, though..but he was calling her what she wanted to be CALLED, clearly. “Great! Yes! That’s--similar, yes!”
SPOILER!!: Nemo
Quote:
Originally Posted by Schroyers
Nemo thought about the tale.. something he wouldn't admit was that he actually liked the ending, that the two got to die together, not having to live without the other.. It was.. Ahem.. Romantic.
Anyway.
The question was interesting because it seemed like a trick. It could have multiple answers and the facts about it canceled some of the answers out. Nemo raised his hand. "Well, Professor the Myth says this was how the two died but trees are living things, so this is a bit tricky.. Transfiguration might make sense since trees are living, and these are gods we're talking about so the complicated magic shouldn't be an issue for them.. But at the same time maybe a charm? Designed to make their bodies look different?" He wasn't sure. The question in itself seemed odd, so the answer had to be something unconventional.
Apollo headed over towards Nemo and STUCK a sticker right on his forehead, a purple one. “Charms? Interesting. I believe that charms might be part of it, yes--very good-”
SUCH SMART STUDENTS. Apollo would have to brag to their headmistress how….well, he was so impressed. Great kids. Great minds.
SPOILER!!: Brian
Quote:
Originally Posted by laurange
Realising that he'd forgotten to stick his nametag on, Brian did that immediately, his writing not too different from the messy scrawls of boys his age. Living to living transfiguration was difficult, something he hadn't quite grasped yet. His porcupine pincusions still occasionally tried to run away from him so he wasn't exactly the resident authority on transfiguration.
He would settle for listening and writing down peoples theories, except that he didn't. Instead, he drew on the sheet of parchment two trees locked in an embrace. One crooked, the other upright as if supporting each other. Mmmhmm, don't mind him shading in tiny leaf details. He was most definitely listening. Hufflepuffs were excellent multitaskers.
Apollo saw Brian’s quill in motion and wondered if he was taking notes...hmm..until he saw that he was drawing the trees...AWW! BLESS HIM! Apollo stuck a green sticker right on the corner of the page, beaming at him, before moving on to another quiet one...
SPOILER!!: Thornton
Quote:
Originally Posted by AmbiguouslyMe
Thornton's eyes got big and crossed as the sticker landed on his forehead. What? Sparing a glance Apollo, Thornton then looked around to see what others were doing. Was he meant to keep it on his forehead? He saw different colors on the other students... was this a way to divide them up? Was he supposed to know what color he was given?
Thornton only vaguely registered which myth, though it was one that he was familiar with, so his preoccupation with the sticker conundrum would not interfere with his knowledge of the content of the myth. Finally, though incredibly hesitantly, Thornton pulled the sticker off his forehead and instead affixed it to the front of his robes just above his name tag. Ok.. ready to learn...
Merlin's pants, he'd missed the question....
But why was Zeke talking about turning the people-trees into wands??
He had stuck it on his nametage? Oh that was a very clever idea, indeed...nothing to say? Apollo just smiled encouragingly at him.
SPOILER!!: Damien
Quote:
Originally Posted by nicole black
Damien watched with a bright grin as the hat flew across the room to perch itself on his head. Someone take a picture, this was a moment to remember. Damien fussed with the brim of the hat (which was much heavier than it looked) until he felt it looked cool, and he was about to sit back and chill when-
He was suddenly assaulted by a sticker to the face.
Specifically his pointy nose. Damien sneezed, scrunching up his face and resisting the urge to pull off the itchy sticker. “Uh, thanks Apollo.”
And then the big questions were coming in and Damien, though curious and eager to join in, found that by the time he’d sorted out his thoughts on the tree-people, that everything had pretty much been said. Well then, he’d just have to catch the next one.
“You’re welcome. Don’t lose my hat--it’s VERY valuable--” he gave the boy a small wink.
..Apollo's hat sometimes liked to be lost.
OKAY. No one else had any input? Apollo thought it time to move into the first activity. “Very interesting discussion everyone! Okay. As you’ve heard now--the theory turning people into trees is a very complicated one. Eventually, if you simply...transformed a person into resembling a tree...the magic would wear off. Some of you mentioned animagi--well, when you turn into the animal, you are merely…” how could he put this? “Turning into a very human VERSION of the animal...because you still have all of your human thoughts. If you were to TRULY turn into an animal…...you’d think exactly like the animal, and nothing more.”
How did this relate?
“Similarly--” he walked to the front of the room, and perched himself next to the table with all the mugs and bouncy-balls. “If I wanted to turn any one of you into a tree-it would be no EASY task. As I was mentioning to Adrienne--” he smiled at her, “Transfiguration, as almost all of you have caught on, would be the MAIN component of this magic. However, I would need to take their thoughts ability away, too, for them to TRULY be trees. Get it?” he bounced a little in excitement.
“Now...that is magic VERY advanced...far too advanced for people your age--but no matter! We’re going to conduct a very SIMILAR demonstration today--on these!” He held up one mug and one bouncy-ball in each hand. “We’re going to turn these inanimate objects into trees. It’s not QUITE the same--but the same general IDEA is there. They’ll be little trees...ones that you all can take with you when you leave. or...turn them back into the bouncy-ball or mug and keep THAT.”
He eyed the chalk on the board moving around, writing, in bullet points, what he was saying. “The spell is pretty tricky, because it’s a spell developed pretty recently in terms of...well, spell development.” Apollo always found older spells just sort of...stuck better.
“The wand movement is a double jab--” he demonstrated for them with his own wand. “And the words are: immutare arbore.” The chalk wrote the words on the board. “Let me repeat how that should be said, please. This spell comes from the Latin--” he cleared his throat. “Immutare--to change. And Arbor is tree.” He wanted to write on the board the pronunciation for them.
The chalk began to scribble the way to say the incantation: Im-mue-tar-ay ar-bor-ay.
“I want each of you to pick either a mug or a bouncy-ball to transform. There is no difference in difficulty level. Some of you may not get the spell the first, second or THIRD time...but...that’s okay.” He smiled. “I have faith in all of you.”
He grabbed one of the mugs and set it on Hady’s desk because she was near the front. “Immutare Arbore!” he cried, jabbing his wand twice at the mug. The spell zoomed towards the mug, and slowly, the mug began to grow branches...and roots...until...it was a fully formed, mini tree.
How quaint and ADORABLE was this?
Apollo BEAMED and held it up. “THIS is what we want, okay? And if you can’t do it--you know what? It’s PERFECTLY all right! Now come come--let’s get started!” Hehehehe. Apollo LOVED watching students perform magic...and performing it WELL was another thing, too!
OOC: OKAY! So, I can't really tell you guys how many posts you HAVE to do, since there's no points involved, BUT I would recommend one hefty post or two posts, but you can really do it however you want! Just have fun! The tree Apollo made resembles THIS...just without that pot it's in. <3 I'll post again in 24 hours or so.
__________________
"You can justify anything if you do it poetically enough."
Roman Gellar ● 1st Year ● Slytherin
Apollo stuck another sticker on his cheek again... You know what...Henric was going to just leave it there for all to see, the blue sticker he got from before, he would paste it back on his forehead...ehh...as long as it wasn't in his hair, he didn't care if his face had become a sticker book for the Apollo man but not his hair...he did it up too well this morning for it to be mess up by people's hands, no sireee~
Ohh...so they wanted to live forever as trees? He didn't know the greeks symbolised the trees so greatly. Interesting...Then, he watched how Apollo the "guide" demonstrated the spell for them to see. COOL! The mug had transformed into a tree! Well...not a big one, a smaller version one...it looked quite similar to a "Bonsai" tree his mother used to keep in the gardens. Nice, he should make one of those and sent them back home.
Henric got up from his seat and went to the table and picked one nice looking mug and one bouncy ball. He wasn't sure why he needed two...but oh well...its always nice to have an extra one for himself too. Hmm...maybe another two more bouncy balls....he hoped Apollo wouldn't mind. He had planned to juggle with them later. wooohoo~
Toto * RotiSila * ToRo * Braveheart * Grandma & Mama Tori
Marsha blinked as she fiddled with her name plaque. Apollo was awesome. She was staring at him and watching him and yup. HE was INCREDIBLE. Yup. Though, she didn’t know much about mythology so she didn’t say anything as she listened to the rest of the class.
Wand trees?
”Apollo, if you did use a branch of that tree to make a wand… would you need a core as well? If it was originally a person would its wood not have magical properties and a core of its own? Or the people who made it? Perhaps it would work like an achestry wand? It would work really well for the ancestors of the… uh Bakis and Fileman?” She frowned… she was sure she had just said their names wrong. Whoooops. She didn’t mean to.
”Sorry…”
Yup. Moving on. Okay, so trees.
She moved to get a mug, and then sat back down. Placing the mug and the wand on her desk she looked at the board. ”Immartarey Arborey.” She frowned, that didn’t sound anywhere near right… Hmm. ”Imentaray Arboray.” Griffin, that was wrong as well. She listened to the people around her hoping that she could hear one of them repeat it just like had Apollo had.
Looking at the board she noticed that the chalk had added how to say it in brackets. ”Im-mue-tar-ay ar-bor-ay.” Okay… so she could say it slowly and as syllables but how did it sounds said faster? ”Imue-taray arbo-ray.” Nope. That wasn’t right either. Grifffffin. POUT SIGH! ”Immu-taray ar-bor-ay.” Maybe?
Maybe she was slowly getting there… She just needed to get the pronounciation right… After all, Cutty had told her that as well as intention, pronounciation was so important. Griffin, she’d never had a tree to take back to her dorm at this rate.
”Im-mue-tar-ay ar-bor-ay. Imue-taray ar-boray… --” FROWN. ”-- Immuetarray Arborray. Immuetaray Arboray.” MAYBE! Gosh, this was hard. Why were spells and charms and EVERYTHING so hard to say? WHY did they like using tonguetwisters??
Otter This World ♡ Catpurrccino ♡ Slotherin ♡ Pandamonium
She might not have given an answer to either question but she had received a smile from Apollo either way. Sitting up a little straighter she returned the smile as she continued to listen to what to say. Changing people into trees and removing their memories sounded like some heavy transfiguration and mind work but still awesome. Not something she'd attempt though...well maybe the tree part but not tampering with someones memories. That part was just something she wouldn't do.
Anyhow changing a mug or rubber ball into a tiny tree sounded cool. And getting to keep her tree was even better! Shifting about in her seat her eyes fixated on the mug that Apollo had set on her desk she watched with clear fascination as it transformed into a fully formed but tiny tree! Epic! Did he know how easy he made that look? Probably not.
So it was with a grin that the third year slipped off her chair and made her way the few steps to the font of the room and collected herself one rubber ball. Returning to her desk she sat down once more and set the rubber ball on the center of the desk. "Im-mue-tar-ay ar-bor-ay, Im-mue-tar-ay ar-bor-ay," she recited several times quietly to herself. It sounded a little weird saying it so slowly and breaking it up that way but she needed a feel for the spell first. This was advanced spell work!
After repeating herself about a good twenty or so times she finally put it all together. "Immutare Arbore, Immutare Arbore, Immutare Arbore" It sounded much better this way. Even when she knew she was pronouncing it correctly she continued to practice it a few times more as she focused on the rubber ball before her picturing it as a tree.
With the spell incantation down she picked up her wand and held it firmly in her grasp and gave two jabs towards the rubber ball. The movement wasn't difficult at all but Hady choose to practice this part several more times as well. Maybe about five or six times total. One just couldn't really mess up with it when all they had to o was jab there wand at something twice. Simple enough honestly.
Now though would be the moment of truth. Clearing her throat she whispered the spell once under her breath. Ready.
Jabbing her wand twice at the rubber ball Hady recited the words correctly, "Immutare Arbore!" And nothing. SIGH.
"Immutare Arbore!" She tried again while jabbing her wand twice at the ball. Still nothing happened. Maybe she wasn't focused enough. Taking a deep breath she tried to picture the tree once more in her mind before attempting the spell for the third time.
Not even a shiver did the ball make. Huffing quietly and trying not to frown at the rubber ball Hady flexed her fingers around her wand. She would get this right, even if she tried all day. So she tried again. And again. AND AGAIN.
Clearing her mind she focused on just a tree. That's what this rubber ball would be, a tree. Deep breath in and then out. "Immutare Arbore!," she called out jabbing her wand twice at the rubber ball. This time her spell hit the ball and it slowly shook small tiny weak branches beginning to sprout out as it grew just a little bit and one of two leaves formed! It was a bit lop-sided and sorta a bit like that Charlie Brown Christmas tree but she'd done it! AWESOME!
Well not completely but it was a major start and Hady was very thrilled with this.
Sassenach | RAVENPUFF | Sing me a song of a lass that is gone | bookDRAGON | #awkwardturtle<#
Quote:
Originally Posted by kayquilz
….and Apollo sliiiiid right onto Zhenya’s desk, smiling. “Well. You know. She was a priestess for Athena first, and she was beautiful….and then Poisedon took a liking to her. Poor Medusa...she didn’t stand a chance--she married the god, and Athena CURSED her….to look ugly...and made it so that no one would ever admire her beauty again.”
Pity. Apollo thought it was so cruel and SAD.
And Zhenya’s response was REALLY FASCINATING. So much so that he summoned his notebook from his bag and scribbled it down. “Oh--you now, Zhenya--I had never thought of that--but that certainly...is an interesting idea. You’re on the right path, you know, with the DNA stuff--that’s more of a modern idea, especially with muggle science--but this is a MODERN magic course--a potion that morphs DNA would certainly have...done something to the couple to turn them into trees. It’s not what we’re focusing on today, but that...that is brilliant!”
Apollo was learning stuff. And that was how he knew this seminar was a GOOD thing..because you teach and learn...and they were learning, and teaching him. It was a give and take relationship, this was.
Zhenya felt a slight blush creep across her cheeks when Apollo slid onto her desk. Hehe. But ohhh... "That's really sad," Zhenya commented. "Did Athena curse her so that she would never find a friend or husband, because they would turn to stone?" That was truly awful. How alone would she have felt, and then how bitter she would have been. Poor Medusa.
Zhenya was amazed when he pulled out his notebook, and she blushed all over again. A smile crept onto her face as she pictured a potion that could do that. "Thank you," she said quietly, a bit shy now. Attention... gah!
OOH ACTIVITY TIME! Zhenya watched as Apollo turned the mug into a little tree. Also, she was relieved that they wouldn't be turning each other into trees. Good. Awful, that would be. But she TOTALLY understood. The difference between transforming someone into a tree, to permanently turning them into a tree. Difference being whether they still had their human thoughts or whether they were a tree tree. Immutare Arbore; Im-mue-tar-ay ar-bor-ay. Double jab. Okay. Cool.
"Im-mue-tar-ay ar-bor-ay," Zhenya said a few times, trying to get the feel of the words. She grabbed her wand out of her robes and practiced double jabbing her wand. Right. Once she got the hang of both the incantation and the wand movement, she went to the front and decided to get a mug. Yeah, that way if one day she lost all her mugs, she could transform the tree back to a mug.
__________________
EVASIVE | RESTLESS | MISUNDERSTOOD always on the move
½ EagleBrain ♥ Creeperdoodle ♥ Raven Dor ♥ Berry ♥ ½ Team House Elf
SPOILER!!: Apollo <3 he's adorbs!!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by kayquilz
Apollo nodded at Zeke as he spoke up. “Yes! Transfiguration is probably the first and MOST important part of the magic involved in an undertaking like this--” and as Zeke continued talking, he thought the boy was bright. VERY bright, clever, and was coming up some interesting things to think and talk about. “Dark Transfiguration…” Interesting. “Hmm. That’s...fascinating to think about. I think the magic involved is definitely not JUST Transfiguration, you’re right.”
He was quite impressed, too, at the kid’s question. He stamped a blue sticker right on Zeke’s forehead. HEHEHE. “OH. Well. They were completely and totally turned into trees--immortal trees, apparently--and so I think...yes. The wood COULD be used for wands….what an interesting….wand that would be.”
FASCINATING. He even held out another sticker for Zeke.
Apollo winced but turned to staaaaare at the child. “Oh. Apollo is my favorite character of mythology. My real name is….I prefer to be called Apollo.” There were many reasons why he liked just going by APOLLO. Hmph.
Did she have an answer to his question? No?
This one was quiet. Apollo smiled encouragingly at her...she could speak up if she wanted. But if she was feeling shy, he would totally respect that, too.
OH! Apollo probably should have asked about the face sticking. OOPS. “Oh of COURSE, son!” he was so SORRY PLEASE DON’T BE MAD, YOONGI. But the man nodded at his response. “Yes--very good--that is the most important part, yes--the Transfiguration.”
These kids were right on the ball, really!
He...tentatively placed a blue sticker on the edge of his desk. Ahem.
….and Apollo sliiiiid right onto Zhenya’s desk, smiling. “Well. You know. She was a priestess for Athena first, and she was beautiful….and then Poisedon took a liking to her. Poor Medusa...she didn’t stand a chance--she married the god, and Athena CURSED her….to look ugly...and made it so that no one would ever admire her beauty again.”
Pity. Apollo thought it was so cruel and SAD.
And Zhenya’s response was REALLY FASCINATING. So much so that he summoned his notebook from his bag and scribbled it down. “Oh--you now, Zhenya--I had never thought of that--but that certainly...is an interesting idea. You’re on the right path, you know, with the DNA stuff--that’s more of a modern idea, especially with muggle science--but this is a MODERN magic course--a potion that morphs DNA would certainly have...done something to the couple to turn them into trees. It’s not what we’re focusing on today, but that...that is brilliant!”
Apollo was learning stuff. And that was how he knew this seminar was a GOOD thing..because you teach and learn...and they were learning, and teaching him. It was a give and take relationship, this was.
Apollo thought this was an interesting question. “Well. I assume that...it’s a way for them to live forever? The trees stayed there forever...so yes, they did escape Hades, in a way. Also, I think they didn’t have a choice, really--Zeus kind of just...did it.”
Was that an answer? Hmph.
Henric got another STICKER! RIGHT ON HIS CHEEK. RED.
“Well, they could have, but I’m not sure they...thought about it too much, you know? There’s something...very sacred about trees, especially to the Greeks and Romans, so they would have thought the becoming of trees as a very sacred and rewarding experience.” Apollo smiled and nodded.
WAIT DID HE WANT ANOTHER STICKER? Apollo smirked and stamped a purple one right next to the other one already on the boy’s forehead.
HEHEHE? SEE? His stickers were appreciated.
Obviously, eh? Apollo thought Adrienne was VERY cheeky. He wandered over to her desk and raised an eyebrow. “Yes. The mental capacity--is a very important factor here. However….” he thought he’d ask Miss Adrienne a question. “When a human transforms into an animal...the mental capacity decreases….but when a person transforms into an object, like a tree...while there is still life….trees don’t HAVE a mental capacity. So…” he held out a sticker for her to take, noticing the crumbled up one on her desk. “So...that might actually take a whooooole lot of skill and a bit more than Transfiguration eh?”
He would go into that in juuuuust a minute though.
“Very clever, Adrienne.” He smiled. She was smart. They were ALL smart, and Apollo wanted to cry.
Awww. This child...she was so innocent. It was adorable. Apollo just smiled her way and held out another sticker for her. A blue one. “Well...I don’t think Zeus was too...keen on consent.” Ahem. “But--but--I suppose in REAL life turning people into trees would be kind of rude if not done under consent.”
Adorable.
HEH! She was talking now! Apollo nodded as he stick a red sticker right on Unicorn’s forehead. Apollo wasn’t sure if her name was really Unicorn, though..but he was calling her what she wanted to be CALLED, clearly. “Great! Yes! That’s--similar, yes!”
Apollo headed over towards Nemo and STUCK a sticker right on his forehead, a purple one. “Charms? Interesting. I believe that charms might be part of it, yes--very good-”
SUCH SMART STUDENTS. Apollo would have to brag to their headmistress how….well, he was so impressed. Great kids. Great minds.
Apollo saw Brian’s quill in motion and wondered if he was taking notes...hmm..until he saw that he was drawing the trees...AWW! BLESS HIM! Apollo stuck a green sticker right on the corner of the page, beaming at him, before moving on to another quiet one...
He had stuck it on his nametage? Oh that was a very clever idea, indeed...nothing to say? Apollo just smiled encouragingly at him.
“You’re welcome. Don’t lose my hat--it’s VERY valuable--” he gave the boy a small wink.
..Apollo's hat sometimes liked to be lost.
OKAY. No one else had any input? Apollo thought it time to move into the first activity. “Very interesting discussion everyone! Okay. As you’ve heard now--the theory turning people into trees is a very complicated one. Eventually, if you simply...transformed a person into resembling a tree...the magic would wear off. Some of you mentioned animagi--well, when you turn into the animal, you are merely…” how could he put this? “Turning into a very human VERSION of the animal...because you still have all of your human thoughts. If you were to TRULY turn into an animal…...you’d think exactly like the animal, and nothing more.”
How did this relate?
“Similarly--” he walked to the front of the room, and perched himself next to the table with all the mugs and bouncy-balls. “If I wanted to turn any one of you into a tree-it would be no EASY task. As I was mentioning to Adrienne--” he smiled at her, “Transfiguration, as almost all of you have caught on, would be the MAIN component of this magic. However, I would need to take their thoughts ability away, too, for them to TRULY be trees. Get it?” he bounced a little in excitement.
“Now...that is magic VERY advanced...far too advanced for people your age--but no matter! We’re going to conduct a very SIMILAR demonstration today--on these!” He held up one mug and one bouncy-ball in each hand. “We’re going to turn these inanimate objects into trees. It’s not QUITE the same--but the same general IDEA is there. They’ll be little trees...ones that you all can take with you when you leave. or...turn them back into the bouncy-ball or mug and keep THAT.”
He eyed the chalk on the board moving around, writing, in bullet points, what he was saying. “The spell is pretty tricky, because it’s a spell developed pretty recently in terms of...well, spell development.” Apollo always found older spells just sort of...stuck better.
“The wand movement is a double jab--” he demonstrated for them with his own wand. “And the words are: immutare arbore.” The chalk wrote the words on the board. “Let me repeat how that should be said, please. This spell comes from the Latin--” he cleared his throat. “Immutare--to change. And Arbor is tree.” He wanted to write on the board the pronunciation for them.
The chalk began to scribble the way to say the incantation: Im-mue-tar-ay ar-bor-ay.
“I want each of you to pick either a mug or a bouncy-ball to transform. There is no difference in difficulty level. Some of you may not get the spell the first, second or THIRD time...but...that’s okay.” He smiled. “I have faith in all of you.”
He grabbed one of the mugs and set it on Hady’s desk because she was near the front. “Immutare Arbore!” he cried, jabbing his wand twice at the mug. The spell zoomed towards the mug, and slowly, the mug began to grow branches...and roots...until...it was a fully formed, mini tree.
How quaint and ADORABLE was this?
Apollo BEAMED and held it up. “THIS is what we want, okay? And if you can’t do it--you know what? It’s PERFECTLY all right! Now come come--let’s get started!” Hehehehe. Apollo LOVED watching students perform magic...and performing it WELL was another thing, too!
OOC: OKAY! So, I can't really tell you guys how many posts you HAVE to do, since there's no points involved, BUT I would recommend one hefty post or two posts, but you can really do it however you want! Just have fun! The tree Apollo made resembles THIS...just without that pot it's in. <3 I'll post again in 24 hours or so.
Soooooo, cool dude was also weird dude, which made him weird-cool dude... obviously. Zeke couldn't help but grin though, even when he got a sticker pressed to his forehead. Say what? Not to be rude, it left it there as Apollo continued to speak to him, answering his question and not just shrugging him off. The man was winning brownie points, could he PLEASE come and teach here? Like PROPER proper teach here? As far as he was concerned the man was super duper qualified. "Awesome," he uttered as it was revealed that wands were probably likely to have been made by the tree. Was there a way to confirm this? Could HE go and snag a branch to fashion a wand from??? Hhhhmm?
Nevertheless, after accepting his second sticker, and removing the one from his forehead, Zeke listened to some of the other discussions going around. Seminars were great, could they replace classes with these?
Eventually it was revealed that they'd be having a go at this transfiguration thing, and the fact that it was supposed to be 'tricky' put him off it. He already had trouble with transfiguration, he didn't need advanced stuff on top of that.
Boo.
Either way, he was looking forward to getting his hands on a bouncy ball, and that he did. If anything, he'd walk out of the lesson with the ball, it was already a successful use of his time. Winning.
After repeating the incantation in his head, he gave it a go out loud. "Immutare Arbore.... Immutare Arbore.... Immutare Arbore.... Immutare Arbore...." easy enough. And jabbing, well, he was good at jabbing. Summoning his wand from his holster, Zeke pointed his Larch at the rubber ball, and then JAB JAB, "Immutare Arbore." The ball did SOMETHING, but not what he had intended. It was not a tree, but it was GREEN. So... improvement?
"Immutare Arbore," he repeated, jabbing his wand at it twice again. Nothing.
Zeke repeated this action AGAIN... and AGAIN... and AGAIN, and AGAIN... until he was ready to give up. Sigh.
By this stage, his rubber ball was no longer rubber, it was wood - again, this was an improvement, but it still wasn't a tree. And on top of that, he had managed to produce TWO leaved on the thing. Sigh.
Deciding he'd give it ONE last go, he braced himself, inhaled a deep breath, held his wand steady, focused on his ball of wood becoming a tree... and....
"Immutare Arbore," he stated clearly and calmly, jabbing his wand at it twice.
....
And nope... not happening, the ball of wood simply sprouted one more leaf.
When Apollo mentioned, well actually when Adrienne mentioned it but that didn't matter. Someone mentioned it. When the topic of smaller mental capacity came up Tora immediately thought of wand trees and how they were...alive. They could choose their wizards and things, but she couldn't remember quite how that worked. It had been a couple years since there had been a wand making seminar at Hogwarts. Perhaps Apollo would know?
"A smaller mental capacity, yes, but it still needs to be there, right? Sorry, I know we're moving on, but I was just thinking that if wand wood has a consciousness of its own couldn't that consciousness just be a wizards?" Tora asked, but then realized that perhaps she wasn't being clear. This was purely hypothetical. "I'm not saying that they are because, as you said, the spell is new. I was just wondering if it was similar." There, that should be good.
But back to the activity! Tora grabbed a mug and plopped back down next to Adrienne. "Um. Immutare Arbore," she said, giving the spell a whirl though not really expecting much to happen. Nothing did. Common, Tora. She knew that in order for any transfiguration to work properly that it required concentration and a clear image of the product. Very well then.
"Immutare Arbore!" she cast and the mug started changing shape. Wonderful! But Tora didn't maintain her focus and... she ended up growing a ceramic tree. "Well, better than nothing," she said, showing her creation to Adrienne. "How are you coming along?"
Admiratrice des Maraudeurs | C-Rizzle | THE Best Snuggler
omg. CUTE TREE ALERT. Marigold was SO PUMPED for this. Never mind that she had failed her Transfiguration OWL and had been AWFUL at it ever since, but she was GOING TO GET THIS. She was GOING to MAKE her TREE and NAME it HESTIA.
Okay. First, she wanted to practice the wand movement and incantation and stuff. She scrunched up her face, but then the purple sticker peeled off and floated down past her face. She hurriedly grabbed it off the floor and stuck is resolutely on her cheekbone. Yes.
Two jabs, right. AW YES. "Immutare Arbore?" She practiced a couple more times.
~ Mrs. Steve Harrington ~ It be like that sometimes.
ANOTHER STICKER!
WOOT!
HEHE.
Adi loved feeling silly with stickers stuck to his forehead. He would attempt to answer EVERY question Apollo asked in case the man was assigning stickers for them all. YUP! He tried to look up at his forehead over his glasses but of course that only made him go cross eyed. LOL. "Thankyou!Thankyou!Thankyou, Apollo!''
Anywayyy, they were moving on! They were going to be having a demonstration? Did that mean they would be turning each other into trees? Adi wanted to beeeee a tree! Oh, wait. No. Adi's excitement was dashed, man. It seemed they would be practicing on a mug or a rubber ball. Heh.
But bouncy balls were cool! Yes! Watching at the ball in Apollo's hand made him suddenly miss home, which he had never felt since his first year. He kind of wished he was playing cricket right now with all his muggle friends. Cue le sigh. Adi got himself a bright yellow bouncy ball and a red one for AJ. House colours, yo! "For you, Unicorn girl.'' HIS unicorn girl! Hehe.
Now to try the spell. He did this after some muttered practice of the incantation. RIGHT! Now he was set! “Immutare Arbore!” Jab!Jab! It reminded the sixth of jabbing a sword. Him and his imagination. SMH. But whooooo cared! The ball was transforming! WHEEEE! LOOK AT IT GO! Stems, branches, leaves and everything!
♥s her SS family l Wifey is MINE | Naughty Niffler l Whittysaur l #awkwardturtle<#
YUUUUUS.
Another sticker for her. And this one was BLUE. Lux definitely approved of this, as she approved of them turning things into trees. Wow, she would totally show this spell to Bay later today because it sounded so cool. There were so many things that they could turn into trees, and none of them would be people!!! She was also really excited to talk to him!! YEAH.
Watching Apollo's demonstration, Lux applauded at the tree he created. Now it was her turn. Grabbing a red ball, she placed it on her desk. First things first she would practice the incantation and wand movement because it was always important to do so. Thankfully this didn't sound like a difficult spell to pronounce. "Immutare Arbore... Immutare Arbore... Immutare Arbore... Immutare Arbore..."
Okay, on to the wand movement. Lux picked up her wand and started doing double jabs all over the place. Jab. Jab. Jab. Jab.
Marsha blinked as she fiddled with her name plaque. Apollo was awesome. She was staring at him and watching him and yup. HE was INCREDIBLE. Yup. Though, she didn’t know much about mythology so she didn’t say anything as she listened to the rest of the class.
Wand trees?
”Apollo, if you did use a branch of that tree to make a wand… would you need a core as well? If it was originally a person would its wood not have magical properties and a core of its own? Or the people who made it? Perhaps it would work like an achestry wand? It would work really well for the ancestors of the… uh Bakis and Fileman?” She frowned… she was sure she had just said their names wrong. Whoooops. She didn’t mean to.
”Sorry…”
Yup. Moving on. Okay, so trees.
She moved to get a mug, and then sat back down. Placing the mug and the wand on her desk she looked at the board. ”Immartarey Arborey.” She frowned, that didn’t sound anywhere near right… Hmm. ”Imentaray Arboray.” Griffin, that was wrong as well. She listened to the people around her hoping that she could hear one of them repeat it just like had Apollo had.
Looking at the board she noticed that the chalk had added how to say it in brackets. ”Im-mue-tar-ay ar-bor-ay.” Okay… so she could say it slowly and as syllables but how did it sounds said faster? ”Imue-taray arbo-ray.” Nope. That wasn’t right either. Grifffffin. POUT SIGH! ”Immu-taray ar-bor-ay.” Maybe?
Maybe she was slowly getting there… She just needed to get the pronounciation right… After all, Cutty had told her that as well as intention, pronounciation was so important. Griffin, she’d never had a tree to take back to her dorm at this rate.
”Im-mue-tar-ay ar-bor-ay. Imue-taray ar-boray… --” FROWN. ”-- Immuetarray Arborray. Immuetaray Arboray.” MAYBE! Gosh, this was hard. Why were spells and charms and EVERYTHING so hard to say? WHY did they like using tonguetwisters??
A QUESTION…….that Apollo was not qualified to answer. Sigh. “Well...I can’t pretend that I even know. I am not familiar with wandlore or the study of wandwood…” he smiled though. “But it’s a very interesting concept to me. Hmph….
SPOILER!!: Hady
Quote:
Originally Posted by SpiritWolfe Malfoy
She might not have given an answer to either question but she had received a smile from Apollo either way. Sitting up a little straighter she returned the smile as she continued to listen to what to say. Changing people into trees and removing their memories sounded like some heavy transfiguration and mind work but still awesome. Not something she'd attempt though...well maybe the tree part but not tampering with someones memories. That part was just something she wouldn't do.
Anyhow changing a mug or rubber ball into a tiny tree sounded cool. And getting to keep her tree was even better! Shifting about in her seat her eyes fixated on the mug that Apollo had set on her desk she watched with clear fascination as it transformed into a fully formed but tiny tree! Epic! Did he know how easy he made that look? Probably not.
So it was with a grin that the third year slipped off her chair and made her way the few steps to the font of the room and collected herself one rubber ball. Returning to her desk she sat down once more and set the rubber ball on the center of the desk. "Im-mue-tar-ay ar-bor-ay, Im-mue-tar-ay ar-bor-ay," she recited several times quietly to herself. It sounded a little weird saying it so slowly and breaking it up that way but she needed a feel for the spell first. This was advanced spell work!
After repeating herself about a good twenty or so times she finally put it all together. "Immutare Arbore, Immutare Arbore, Immutare Arbore" It sounded much better this way. Even when she knew she was pronouncing it correctly she continued to practice it a few times more as she focused on the rubber ball before her picturing it as a tree.
With the spell incantation down she picked up her wand and held it firmly in her grasp and gave two jabs towards the rubber ball. The movement wasn't difficult at all but Hady choose to practice this part several more times as well. Maybe about five or six times total. One just couldn't really mess up with it when all they had to o was jab there wand at something twice. Simple enough honestly.
Now though would be the moment of truth. Clearing her throat she whispered the spell once under her breath. Ready.
Jabbing her wand twice at the rubber ball Hady recited the words correctly, "Immutare Arbore!" And nothing. SIGH.
"Immutare Arbore!" She tried again while jabbing her wand twice at the ball. Still nothing happened. Maybe she wasn't focused enough. Taking a deep breath she tried to picture the tree once more in her mind before attempting the spell for the third time.
Not even a shiver did the ball make. Huffing quietly and trying not to frown at the rubber ball Hady flexed her fingers around her wand. She would get this right, even if she tried all day. So she tried again. And again. AND AGAIN.
Clearing her mind she focused on just a tree. That's what this rubber ball would be, a tree. Deep breath in and then out. "Immutare Arbore!," she called out jabbing her wand twice at the rubber ball. This time her spell hit the ball and it slowly shook small tiny weak branches beginning to sprout out as it grew just a little bit and one of two leaves formed! It was a bit lop-sided and sorta a bit like that Charlie Brown Christmas tree but she'd done it! AWESOME!
Well not completely but it was a major start and Hady was very thrilled with this.
...Some of the students were having trouble, but Hady was...well, she looked frustrated. He smiled at her..”Keep it up, dear! You’re doing just fine.”
SPOILER!!: Zhenya
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jessiqua
Zhenya felt a slight blush creep across her cheeks when Apollo slid onto her desk. Hehe. But ohhh... "That's really sad," Zhenya commented. "Did Athena curse her so that she would never find a friend or husband, because they would turn to stone?" That was truly awful. How alone would she have felt, and then how bitter she would have been. Poor Medusa.
Zhenya was amazed when he pulled out his notebook, and she blushed all over again. A smile crept onto her face as she pictured a potion that could do that. "Thank you," she said quietly, a bit shy now. Attention... gah!
OOH ACTIVITY TIME! Zhenya watched as Apollo turned the mug into a little tree. Also, she was relieved that they wouldn't be turning each other into trees. Good. Awful, that would be. But she TOTALLY understood. The difference between transforming someone into a tree, to permanently turning them into a tree. Difference being whether they still had their human thoughts or whether they were a tree tree. Immutare Arbore; Im-mue-tar-ay ar-bor-ay. Double jab. Okay. Cool.
"Im-mue-tar-ay ar-bor-ay," Zhenya said a few times, trying to get the feel of the words. She grabbed her wand out of her robes and practiced double jabbing her wand. Right. Once she got the hang of both the incantation and the wand movement, she went to the front and decided to get a mug. Yeah, that way if one day she lost all her mugs, she could transform the tree back to a mug.
It seemed he and Zhenya both concurred about the sad sad Medusa tale. “Yes...that’s exactly why.” Sigh. He was glad he wasn’t the only person who thought this was cruel!
"Keep up the good work!"
SPOILER!!: Zeke
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hera
Soooooo, cool dude was also weird dude, which made him weird-cool dude... obviously. Zeke couldn't help but grin though, even when he got a sticker pressed to his forehead. Say what? Not to be rude, it left it there as Apollo continued to speak to him, answering his question and not just shrugging him off. The man was winning brownie points, could he PLEASE come and teach here? Like PROPER proper teach here? As far as he was concerned the man was super duper qualified. "Awesome," he uttered as it was revealed that wands were probably likely to have been made by the tree. Was there a way to confirm this? Could HE go and snag a branch to fashion a wand from??? Hhhhmm?
Nevertheless, after accepting his second sticker, and removing the one from his forehead, Zeke listened to some of the other discussions going around. Seminars were great, could they replace classes with these?
Eventually it was revealed that they'd be having a go at this transfiguration thing, and the fact that it was supposed to be 'tricky' put him off it. He already had trouble with transfiguration, he didn't need advanced stuff on top of that.
Boo.
Either way, he was looking forward to getting his hands on a bouncy ball, and that he did. If anything, he'd walk out of the lesson with the ball, it was already a successful use of his time. Winning.
After repeating the incantation in his head, he gave it a go out loud. "Immutare Arbore.... Immutare Arbore.... Immutare Arbore.... Immutare Arbore...." easy enough. And jabbing, well, he was good at jabbing. Summoning his wand from his holster, Zeke pointed his Larch at the rubber ball, and then JAB JAB, "Immutare Arbore." The ball did SOMETHING, but not what he had intended. It was not a tree, but it was GREEN. So... improvement?
"Immutare Arbore," he repeated, jabbing his wand at it twice again. Nothing.
Zeke repeated this action AGAIN... and AGAIN... and AGAIN, and AGAIN... until he was ready to give up. Sigh.
By this stage, his rubber ball was no longer rubber, it was wood - again, this was an improvement, but it still wasn't a tree. And on top of that, he had managed to produce TWO leaved on the thing. Sigh.
Deciding he'd give it ONE last go, he braced himself, inhaled a deep breath, held his wand steady, focused on his ball of wood becoming a tree... and....
"Immutare Arbore," he stated clearly and calmly, jabbing his wand at it twice.
....
And nope... not happening, the ball of wood simply sprouted one more leaf.
...A LEAF. Apollo gave him a THUMBS up..”It’s such a good start, Zeke! You got this, you DO!” he smiled and wondered if he needed to give out more stickers? Well. Maybe he’d hold up while they doing the magics.
SPOILER!!: Tora
Quote:
Originally Posted by amadshade
When Apollo mentioned, well actually when Adrienne mentioned it but that didn't matter. Someone mentioned it. When the topic of smaller mental capacity came up Tora immediately thought of wand trees and how they were...alive. They could choose their wizards and things, but she couldn't remember quite how that worked. It had been a couple years since there had been a wand making seminar at Hogwarts. Perhaps Apollo would know?
"A smaller mental capacity, yes, but it still needs to be there, right? Sorry, I know we're moving on, but I was just thinking that if wand wood has a consciousness of its own couldn't that consciousness just be a wizards?" Tora asked, but then realized that perhaps she wasn't being clear. This was purely hypothetical. "I'm not saying that they are because, as you said, the spell is new. I was just wondering if it was similar." There, that should be good.
But back to the activity! Tora grabbed a mug and plopped back down next to Adrienne. "Um. Immutare Arbore," she said, giving the spell a whirl though not really expecting much to happen. Nothing did. Common, Tora. She knew that in order for any transfiguration to work properly that it required concentration and a clear image of the product. Very well then.
"Immutare Arbore!" she cast and the mug started changing shape. Wonderful! But Tora didn't maintain her focus and... she ended up growing a ceramic tree. "Well, better than nothing," she said, showing her creation to Adrienne. "How are you coming along?"
Ooooh. Tora spoke up, and Apollo gave her question a moment to sink in…”IF the tree was to be made wand wood, then yes--but if this couple were actually turned into a tree-there is no proof it was ever made into wand wood?” The students likes this idea of the wand stuff. It was probably something he needed to mention to his team about looking into this summer. Wandlore and the story of Baucis and Philemon. He felt TERRIBLE not knowing the answers to these questions…
But no matter!
“That is a good start, Tora!” he smiled. “Very good start.”
SPOILER!!: Marigold
Quote:
Originally Posted by ScarletCharm104
omg. CUTE TREE ALERT. Marigold was SO PUMPED for this. Never mind that she had failed her Transfiguration OWL and had been AWFUL at it ever since, but she was GOING TO GET THIS. She was GOING to MAKE her TREE and NAME it HESTIA.
Okay. First, she wanted to practice the wand movement and incantation and stuff. She scrunched up her face, but then the purple sticker peeled off and floated down past her face. She hurriedly grabbed it off the floor and stuck is resolutely on her cheekbone. Yes.
Two jabs, right. AW YES. "Immutare Arbore?" She practiced a couple more times.
Okay. Okay.
He swept past Marigold just to smile at her encouragingly. He knew they could all do it...if they just BELIIIIEEEEVED. Kind of like fairies...but in the Peter Pan universe.
Ahem.
SPOILER!!: Adi
Quote:
Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19
ANOTHER STICKER!
WOOT!
HEHE.
Adi loved feeling silly with stickers stuck to his forehead. He would attempt to answer EVERY question Apollo asked in case the man was assigning stickers for them all. YUP! He tried to look up at his forehead over his glasses but of course that only made him go cross eyed. LOL. "Thankyou!Thankyou!Thankyou, Apollo!''
Anywayyy, they were moving on! They were going to be having a demonstration? Did that mean they would be turning each other into trees? Adi wanted to beeeee a tree! Oh, wait. No. Adi's excitement was dashed, man. It seemed they would be practicing on a mug or a rubber ball. Heh.
But bouncy balls were cool! Yes! Watching at the ball in Apollo's hand made him suddenly miss home, which he had never felt since his first year. He kind of wished he was playing cricket right now with all his muggle friends. Cue le sigh. Adi got himself a bright yellow bouncy ball and a red one for AJ. House colours, yo! "For you, Unicorn girl.'' HIS unicorn girl! Hehe.
Now to try the spell. He did this after some muttered practice of the incantation. RIGHT! Now he was set! “Immutare Arbore!” Jab!Jab! It reminded the sixth of jabbing a sword. Him and his imagination. SMH. But whooooo cared! The ball was transforming! WHEEEE! LOOK AT IT GO! Stems, branches, leaves and everything!
Aww. This kid just LOVED the stickers, didn’t he? HEHE. Apollo thought it was absolutely adorable.
OH SWEET MERLIN.
The kid made a TREE!
Apollo clapped suddenly and SHOWERED Adi with confetti from the end of his wand. “GREAT JOB, ADI!” Apollo was so proud ;__;
SPOILER!!: Lux
Quote:
Originally Posted by Squishy
YUUUUUS.
Another sticker for her. And this one was BLUE. Lux definitely approved of this, as she approved of them turning things into trees. Wow, she would totally show this spell to Bay later today because it sounded so cool. There were so many things that they could turn into trees, and none of them would be people!!! She was also really excited to talk to him!! YEAH.
Watching Apollo's demonstration, Lux applauded at the tree he created. Now it was her turn. Grabbing a red ball, she placed it on her desk. First things first she would practice the incantation and wand movement because it was always important to do so. Thankfully this didn't sound like a difficult spell to pronounce. "Immutare Arbore... Immutare Arbore... Immutare Arbore... Immutare Arbore..."
Okay, on to the wand movement. Lux picked up her wand and started doing double jabs all over the place. Jab. Jab. Jab. Jab.
Apollo shot this one a thumbs up. She was saying it correctly! Yay!
“Keep up the good work, everyone! You’re all doing so well! I’m impressed.” He smirked and went to stand in the front of the room once more, eyeing the apples on the middle table. He was getting hungry. “If anyone needs any help, feel free to ask me!” He nodded.
He also totally wanted to shower more people with CONFETTI.
OOC: I'll probably be moving us on to the next activity in ten or so hours <3
__________________
"You can justify anything if you do it poetically enough."
Roman Gellar ● 1st Year ● Slytherin
Sassenach | RAVENPUFF | Sing me a song of a lass that is gone | bookDRAGON | #awkwardturtle<#
Oh, that really was sad. Zhenya made a mental note never to say Medusa was a hideous female again. She had been cursed like that in a heartbreaking way. Poor Medusa, destined to spend her life alone without friend, partner or foe.
Picking up a mug from the front, Zhenya returned to her desk and placed the mug on top of it. She looked at it for a few moments, imagining it as a tree. Okay... "Im-mue-tar-ay ar-bor-ay, Im-mue-tar-ay ar-bor-ay, Im-mue-tar-ay ar-bor-ay," she said a few times, practicing some more, and double jabbed her wand at it to practice the movement. Well surely that would do it?
"Im-mue-tar-ay ar-bor-ay," she said, and double jabbed her wand at the mug. The handle transformed into a wood-looking handle. OH COOL! She touched it, but it still felt ceramic, so she hadn't done it right. Perhaps if it felt like a tree it would have partially worked at transforming the structure of the mug. Well, the material. But never mind.
"Im-mue-tar-ay ar-bor-ay," she said again, double jabbing the mug. Nothing happened this time. Ah... She cleared her throat, rolled her neck and rolled her shoulders back. Okay, focus Burton. She closed her eyes a few moments to try and picture the mug a tree again. She tried to picture it as the tree Apollo had just transformed. Opening her eyes she looked at the mug again.
"Im-mue-tar-ay ar-bor-ay," she said, double jabbing her wand at it. A leaf sprouted from the tree-looking handle. She had a giggle, and almost asked Apollo whether she could just keep it like this. It looked cool. But alas that was not the purpose of the spell.
__________________
EVASIVE | RESTLESS | MISUNDERSTOOD always on the move
Seminar: Mythology in Modern Magic 
x12
x2
Oh, wait. No. Adi's excitement was dashed, man. It seemed they would be practicing on a mug or a rubber ball. Heh. 
