Adi glanced at Benny, wondering how much he was enjoying this class... seminar...whatever. Even he seemed to have a difficult time participating. Maybe if they had an activity soon it would change Adi's mood.

He put his attention to the Centaur, listening to every word. Yeah, he might be in a discouraged mood but he still wanted to learn. Also, he was impressed with the bow. It certainly was beautiful. AND it had a cool name. Yeah. Normally he would have said so but it probably would offend the centaur if he said 'You've got an awesome bow!' Maybe centaurs were not as intelligent as he thought if they were so proud and took offense so easily... hmmm. Anywayyy. He couldn't help thinking it was awfully nice of him to collect the wood for them. UGH! Can't you just stop thinking kind thoughts for once, Aditya Rehman?

But finally! An activity! Yay! "Come on, Benny!'' Adi jumped up, the activity clearly cheering him up. That and the fact that his best friend was right there with him. He led the way over to the stone to read the instructions.

So... wood first. Adi stared at the pile before him, trying to figure out which 'spoke' to him. It took him a moment but he went for cherry. Yup. The wood seemed to be calling his name, yo! "Got yours, Dragon?'' Once his friend had gotten his own, the Hufflepuff proceeded with the second step, following the instructions to the letter. Er, all this pressing wouldn't make the wood go CRACK!, right? Adi squinted at the thing. Nope, all seemed fine.

Next, two lines were dug onto it in his best guess of three inches apart. Using the Severing Charm, the shaving of the two ends got started on. Gradually, they got evened out until the Puff was satisfied that this part of the task was done. And yep, he thought the handhold was thick. So far, so good!

The lengthy and strong caterpillar silk was then wound at the top of the bow then the same way at the other end so that it was pulled tight. Now came the fun part! The carving of the name! But what name? Think, think, think! Oh! He got it!

With the help of Intaglio, he cut the chosen name into the bow: Silver Dragon.

Silver because he liked that colour since it reminded him of his Patronus, Glider and the dragon, of course, referred to Benny.

Holy bananas. Making their very own BOWS? This was even cooler than Norah had imagined, and that was saying something 'cause her mum had always called her imagination 'overactive' which obviously meant she was a professional imaginer. She eyed the wood eagerly as Thereos explained all the stuff they had to do, her eyebrows raised. Could they start now pleasepleasepleaseplease?

Once the explanation was over, she jumped up eagerly from the stone she'd been sitting on and approached the wood with big, bounding steps. Waiting was overrated. She had a BOW to be making. A BOW! She picked up a piece of wood from the top of the pile and held it to her ear. Was she supposed to...hear something? Wood couldn't really speak--everybody knew that--but Thereos said she was somehow going to know which piece was the right one. This one was awfully silent, so she laid it back down again and picked up a second piece. Nothing. Again. She picked up a third and set it down almost immediately. That wasn't special either. Getting to her knees, Norah pushed a few pieces of wood to the side before selecting a piece with a funny little scar on its surface. She liked this one, did that count as special enough? Good enough, anyways. She stood up and returned to where she'd been sitting, picking up some caterpillar silk as she went and setting the wood by her feet as she dug through her bag for her wand. Showtime!

She stood the wood upright with one end pushing against the ground. She almost thought it felt warm as she held it, but it could've been her imagination doing the overactive thing again. Who knew, really. Either way, it felt pretty special. Norah placed a hand on top and pushed softly on the middle with the other. Aaaand pushing. And pushing some more. She was worrying that it might've been the wrong wood all along by the time it swiveled around, but once it did she proceeded to pick up her wand and cast "Diffindo!" to cut a line where her hand would go, and then again a few inches down. Pausing for a moment to admire her handiwork, she spun her wand around in her fingers and tried to remember the next step.

More diffindo-ing. Riiiiight. She lifter her wand and used the spell to shave off parts of the bow, leaving her indicated handle thicker than the rest. Well, mostly thicker than the rest. One part at the bottom came out a little funny shaped, but it didn't matter. SHE thought it was LOVELY and hopefully that'd be the only thing that counted. Everything was much simpler when that was the only thing that counted. Her wand was set down now, and the bow in progress was brought to her lap where she could fumble through the attachment of the caterpillar silk. She tied the knots as tightly as she could (apparently her fingers weren't invented for teeny weeny silk strands), then picked up her wand again. The real question now was what to name it.

The story of the bow was indeed interesting Benny had to admit. Even if he wasn't a dan of how Thereos kept acting like humans were the dumbest things on earth. Not all of them would have had trouble doing what was already done for them. Adi and he would have managed since they both gave a great deal of care to creatures and living things. Other than acromantulas that was.

But whatever the case, they were being allowed to make their own wands. Trusted enough for that. "Coming..." he said as Adi nudged him along, getting up from their stone to head towards the collection of woods and the instructions. Looking over the gathered lengths of wood, Benny almost expected to be drawn to something that resembled his own wand, matching the woods, however it was a maple branch that attracted his attention, calling him. "Uh huh...got it," he confirmed to Adi, picking it up to claim it.

Now onto the next steps.

One end to the ground as instructed, the other held in place, the Gryffindor pressed in the middle. Look at that...a slight twist to adjust the direction. Around the bend, Ben marked out the 3 inch space that was to be the handle of his bow. The seventh year testing his grip within the marked outline. The next idea was a little harder, having to be patient and careful in shaving the length of wood to be even and balanced. Eventually he was satisfied with his work on the bow so far.

After digging out her wand, Paulina set about placing one end of the piece of wood against the ground. Holding the top with one hand and the middle with the other, she proceeded to lightly push. And puuuuuush some more. At first she wasn't sure if the wood liked her or not because it didn't seem to be cooperating, but finally she ended up with the result that she wanted.

Good, because she didn't really want to have to go back to the wood pile and try to work out what else she could use. She'd end up being here all day!

Paulina picked up her wand so that she could begin carving. "Diffindo!" A line was cut in the middle of the wood. With another "Diffindo!" a second line was made about three inches away from it. This would mark the handle of the bow.

From there she proceeded to shave the wood, making sure to leave the thickest part at the handhold. Shave. Shave. Shave. This part of the process was a little tedious she had to admit. It would be so easy to accidentally take off to much, so she made sure to work slowly and carefully. It was only when she was certain that the limbs curved similarly to each other that she felt ready to move on to the next part.

Taking hold of the caterpillar silk she had retrieved earlier, Paulina tied both ends to her bow making sure that it was taught. She was almost done.

But what would she name her bow?

Paulina bit her lip as she thought the matter over. A few moments later she had worked it out. Using Intaglio she carved the name into the handle: Amaryllis. It was her favourite flower.

A slight smile crossed her face as she listened to the story of how a Centaur would get their first bow. It was more interesting then she would have thought and Hady was intrigued by what she was learning. That they would be getting to make their very own bows towards was just as awesome to her even if they wouldn't be doing it the proper Centaur way. She listened silent as each area of instructions were given making a mental note of it all.

Only did she move and rise up onto her feet when they were told to get started. Slowly moving towards the pile of wood Hady knelt down carefully inspecting the selection. It took a bit longer then she would've thought but given what Theroes had said earlier about it taking hours or even days the few minutes it took her was nothing. Nearing the bottom of the pile her fingers brushed against a piece while moving another. It made her stop and reach out for the wood once more a strange feeling overcoming her as she picked it up into her hand. This was it. The piece was most certainly 'speaking' her name and she knew this was the right one. It may have been silent when it 'choose' her just as her wand had but there was no doubting the connection she felt from it. The wood she had chosen was Hazel.

With the wood in hand she collected herself a piece of caterpillar silk before returning to her spot. Setting one end of the wood down on the ground and holding the other with her hand so it was upright she pressed her free hand against it's middle watching as it spun around to show it's natural belly to her. Prefect. Flicking her wrist slightly her hand wand landed firmly in her grasp where she cast, "Diffindo" to make one line in the center area and then another line roughly there inches below that one where her hand would go.

Taking a quick glance at her work she nodded to herself. Good. With the use of 'diffindo' once more she got to work carefully and slowly shaving off wood from one end of the wood and then the other. Hady took special care in making sure she didn't remove to much but yet enough that both ends were as even as she could get them, leaving the center where her hand would hold it thicker then the rest. When she was satisfied with her work she took a small step backwards to admire what she had done. It was lovely she had to admit.

The fourth year wasn't finished just yet though. She still had to tie the caterpillar silk to both ends of the wood. Which she did just then making sure it was nice and taught but not so much that it would snap. Next she had to come up with a name for her bow. Hazel eyes fixed on the creation in question she finally came up with what she wanted. Raising her wand once more this time using, "Intaglio" to help carve in the chosen name. Silent Whispers.

The name was perfect. The fact that the wood itself had whispered to her silently calling out to her was the reason for it's name. It just seemed to fit.

Now for the string.

Ben retrieved a strand of the caterpillar silk from where it was collected alongside the wood and went about attaching it to both ends. It sure was strong to not break but still pretty flexible to work with some give. The Gryffindor might not have naturally considered it as the material but then centaurs no doubt had their well-spring of knowledge above humans like Thereos seemed to like pointing out. With it taut, he grabbed for his wand once more.

A name for the bow was a trying notion. Just what could he use? He looked over at Adi's work, noticing his friend already carving and softly smiling at the name and the seemongly homage to him. A trusted tool named for a beloved friend. Seemed only right he return the favor and it took a few minutes of thinking....plus the occasional glance at the Hufflepuff...to come up with something he saw fit.

"Intaglio..." he finally cast on the wood where it was to be carved, the image of 'Southern Sun' clear in his mind as he worked. The words soon appearing in his created instrument.

They're gonna make their own bow? Gosh, this would gonna be cool and awesome!

But first, she needed to choose a wood. Her choice went to Fir wood because it's her wand wood too. She also grabbed some caterpillar silk before heading back to her working station. Then like the instruction said, Ava set the wood on the ground to press on it and feel for its middle point. And next.... She cut two lines in the middle of the wood. "Diffindo!" She also used that spell to shave the wood. There, she's almost finished.

But still, she needed to name her bow.

While she's still thinking about the name, the young lioness tied both of the ends of her bow with caterpillar silk. Voila! A bow that she'd made by herself. Now, what should she name her bow? Maybe something with blue because it's her favorite color. Using the engraving spell, Ava wrote 'Blue' on the handle.

Done! And for the record, Blue was such a good name.

Blink.

What did that EVEN mean???? Blaise stared at the creature for a really long time, trying to figure why he'd stressed the 'we' and what he meant about the earth's vibrations and people listening but his brain wasn't working right and he was in danger of falling behind if he kept trying to figure it out. Just look, they were talking about making their own bows now and he was still no closer to understanding the centaur's earlier sentiment. Time to move on? Yup.

The Gryffindor got up when everyone else did and went to get a piece of wood from the pile. He didn't want one that was gonna BREAK and reject him (he'd had enough inanimate object rejection thanks) so he stared at the pile for an unusually long time. Finally. he did grab one and stuck one end in the ground. Hit hand held it in place while he pressed--but oh so lightly. Even if this wood WASN'T for him, he didn't intend to pick another and of course it would break if he pressed too hard. Kid had a plan.

Yup, sturdy enough!

Suddenly, as he looked around at people using their wands to make marks in the wood, the centaur's words finally resonated with the boy. Yes. It all made sense. WE didn't NEED wands and certainly not wands that were up in his Common Room. The boy looked about until he found a particularly jagged looking rock and proceeded to chip at the wood until he had his own two lines nicely formed. They weren't as neat as if he'd used his wand but at least his wouldn't look shop bought. Three inches apart, check.

Pacing around the humans as they worked, his hooves pounding against the ground in a rhythmic manner, Thereos nodded his head and folded his strong arms against his bare chest with Wind Whisperer strung over his arm.

"Once you have completed your bow," he announced. "You are to stand before one of your professors who will grant you the temporary honor of mimicking a centaur by means of magical transfiguration." Use of potions, which had been brought to the centaur's attention, would not do. No wizard would be using his hair or those of his tribe as a potions ingredient, so this would have to do. Although not all those of his tribe agreed it should be done at all, but all agreed it was the better option.

"Once your lower half has been transformed, trot over to me and I shall guide you to the course where you will complete the ritual."

He nodded his head briefly towards the professor in gratitude.

Interesting to see what woods students had selected. Very interesting.

OOC: main activity will begin approximately 12 hours from this post.

WAIT HE WASN'T READY. They couldn't move on yet, because Olly still had not finished his bow. He had barely finished bending it in the middle. He'd done it slowly and carefully, afraid it would break. But it hadn't, and now that it was done he could move on to the other steps. Hopefully they didn't take very long.

"Diffindo." Handles came next. Two of them, three inches apart. That was easy enough, and Olly knew the spell for that one. The carving spell would have been harder, but he overheard David Truebridge asking one of the professors. Human professors. But it wasn't time for that yet; he had to shave wood off each end of the bow. He used diffindo again until the curve was about where he thought it should be. It felt like a real bow now, just without the string part.

But that would be fixed soon enough, because that part was next. He took one of the strings and tied it to both ends. But what if he hadn't tied it tight enough? What if the string broke? There were so many uncertain components about making the bow it was really making Olly nervous. But once he had tight the string firmly onto his bow, there was nothing more he could do to secure it. He would just have to hope that he had done a good enough job.

And time for the other spell. The one he'd had to find out by eavesdropping on other students equally as unfamiliar with it as himself. But before he could use it, he needed to think of a name for the bow. Luckily that wasn't too hard.

"Intaglio." He held his wand toward the bow and carefully carved the name Colin into it. He didn't care if it was a good name for a bow or not. He was going to name his bow after his brother no matter what anybody thought.

Paul listened with rapt attention. Still pretty bitter at this guy, mhmm. But centaurs would be...centaurs. That was all Paul could put to it. He also thought he would be a LOUSY shot with this archery stuff, but why not give it a....shot? LOOOLOLOL.

The wood choosing part interested Paul the most...yes, it sounded similar to wands choosing their human counterparts....but also different. Hm. Which wood would even SPEAK to him? He was so curious. So so so curious.

The herbologist nodded and scooted over towards the pile of woods...glancing around, first to make sure no students needed his help with anything just yet--and began to just...touch some of the pieces first. The light color of the beechwood is what attracted Paul to it at first, and when he picked it up....it felt pretty right. It just felt right. He couldn't explain it properly...well. Paul didn't KNOW this was beech wood, of course--but he knew it was certainly a different wood than his wand.

This cutting part...would be tricky...VERY tricky...merlin. Pulling out his handy-dandy wand, he began to shave either end....the curve thing...ugh. Paul was no craftsmen. He hoped none of the students JUDGED HIS AWFUL BOW OKAY? But he needed to cut those lines...for the handle...right...

Merlin O_O

He cut shaving..and stuff...until it resembled a bloody bow. Sigh. It was misshapen. It looked like it had been FORMED BY A CHILD. The centaur was going to fuss at him--and Paul would CRY.

The silk was easy enough to tie in...and Paul thought it looked a shade better now with the strand.

Now for the name. WHAT SHOULD BE ITS NAME? This was so HARD. He stared at his newly formed bow...squinting at it, REALLY trying to form a name in his mind. And then....he knew what the name would be.

Archie.

Adi saw Benny looking over as he carved the name into the bow and grinned over at him. Yep, it was named after you, bestie. Now that he was done, the Puff had time to admire his handiwork and to occasionally look over to see how Benny was coming along. Especially at the name carving. Adi couldn't wait to see what name had been thought of! Ohh, it had the word 'Sun' in there! That's what his first name translated to in English! "Brilliant name!'' he happily said to Benny. Yep, it had his approval stamped all over it! Hehe.

But they were moving on! And whut? They would be mimicking centaurs? Uhh, okay then? "Think I'm going to go for Professor Bee,'' Adi told Benny. Because he couldn't look Myers in the face from earlier and neither could he do that for Culloden with him being his Head of House. Beatrice was more likely to don't give him death glares or something similar.

"Hi, Professor!'' Adi smiled brightly at the woman. She was always so cheerful and positive and he could do with some of that right now since his seemed to be broken. Sooo, what now? He waited on Beatrice to help him out here.

Beatrice was weaving between some other students, looking at their lovely work, when Thereos announced the next part of the lesson. The reason for her being there. Although, in all honesty, she was certainly learning.

But now onto one of her favourite things... Human transfiguration. She gave Thereos a small smile and nod as he looked towards her and Cosgrach, and pulled her wand from her pocket. And who was the first lucky duck she was to transfigure?

She looked towards the first student in the line, and with a smile said "Hello dear." She tapped her fingers to her chin and looked at them. She had never used this spell to transfigure a humans legs into that of a centaurs. But she had spent the first bit of the lesson studying Thereos and his legs, which were firm in her mind. Pointing her wand down towards their legs, she took a deep breath in. "Bestiar legs," she said, clearly picturing the centaur legs as she looked at the students own set, swishing her wand at them. The effect was transfiguring them from two human legs to four centaur legs. And with a big smile she looked back at them. "How does that feel?" she asked them.

OOC: this was Beatrice's post! If you would like Professor York to be the one transfiguring your character's legs into those of a centaur, please use this post and pretend you were next in the line.

She had just finished her name craving when Theroes was speaking again. Hady's head snapped up sharply. Had she heard him correctly?

They would be somewhat mimicking centaurs being half transformed into one! Epic! So all over this! Hady was ready alright.

With her newly named bow she put her wand away and made her way of to the Herbology man. "Hello Professor Myers!" What was next? Did she just have to stand here for now?

Ava then thought for a while... Maybe she should add some name to her bow. What things that would be good when it associated with blue?Blue... muffin? Blue.... Bird? YUP! Blue Bird! It was taken from her own name, Ava which means Bird. "Intaglio." She carved more to her bow and... There it was, Blue Bird.

And then they're gonna WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT????

Did the centaur wanted them to be one? That sounded cool but weird in a same time. But well.... They were weird. The young lioness then decided to go to Professor Culloden.

Forget about learning more about centaurs, because making a bow was more interesting. It was like making their wand as a rite of passage. Too bad they don’t have that kind of ritual or practice to determine if they are worthy of their wands. They only had...sparks and the feeling of warmth to know that a wand chose them. It was too boring to be honest, although the first time will always be memorable.

Ethan stood up from where he sat, and went on to the pile of different wand woods. Merlin, he could feel the energy emanating from the pile. He knew that it was going to be a bit of a challenge to select the right wood, sensing that every single one of it felt right to him. Ethan knew he had to take his time if he wanted to select the right wood. Besides, they were going to keep the bows after this, yes? The Slytherin paced around the pile for a few minutes, and then paused when he spotted a nice, elegant wood underneath a bunch of others. He immediately felt the same warmth he experienced when he got his first wand. The Slytherin knew it was the wood for him. Carefully placing the other bow hopefuls aside, he pulled the wood that he had been eyeing and smiled to himself. The feeling was right. The bow felt familiar to his touch, which was a very good sign. It must be Blackthorn, just like wood of his wand.

As instructed, he placed one end of the wood on the ground, his left hand on top of the other end, and pressed the middle with his free hand, making the wood turn its belly towards him, as if telling him that it’s ready to be carved.

He got his wand, and smoothed the middle part of his would be bow with his left thumb, making sure it was smooth enough to be marked. With his wand, he carefully marked it with the cutting spell, and made two lines, approximately three inches apart, “Diffindo.”

Done with that step, he proceeded to shape his bow by using the same spell. He’d pause in between shaping, to make sure that his bow actually looked like a proper weapon. Satisfied with his work, he got himself a caterpillar silk, and tied its ends tightly on his bow, plucking the string once in a while to make sure it was taut. It did make a sound, and this made the young man nod in approval. He did well with his bow, he thinks.

Oh, and a name? Of course, he needed a name for his bow. A plethora of names crossed his mind, as he examined his weapon. All of the names didn’t quite fit his bow, until he stopped plucking its string and considered the name he thought of.

‘Alexander’

Why not? It’s an almost revered name in his family, in fact, it was tradition with the Mordaunts that the name Alexander is to be exclusively used by the eldest son of the eldest son. Ethan was sure that his family won’t mind using it as a weapon’s name, right? Besides, it was perfect. Alexander meant defender of man, so it was just logical to name it that.

Without having any second thoughts, he carved his bow with the name Alexander. “Intaglio.”

As soon as he was done, he smoothed the carved name with his thumb, and smiled at his work. The Slytherin got his bow, and moved towards Professor B’York to get his Transformation.

Lol.

Shouldn’t be hard to walk majestically like Thereos over there, yeah? He got practice from last time, thanks to Professor Culloden’s homework.

Teehee.

Listening to all those wood types was pretty interesting though, and Cosgrach paid close attention as if he was a student. Then he felt his Elder wand in its wrist holster and as Thereos told the students to go over a professor to do the transfiguration, he got up from the stone he had been sitting on and brought it out.

"Ava of Chelsea," he greeted the girl and smiled. Then, pointing the wand at her legs, he transfigured her lower body into that of a centaur - or as well as a transfiguration could be. He'd have preferred potions for more accuracy and longer duration, but horse man Thereos'd rejected it. Oh well. Good thing Cosgrach's second best subject was transfiguration. He hoped it took some stress from Beatrice.

"There you go," he said and beckoned the next student over.

OOC: You don't have to wait for my post and can go ahead and RP as if Cosgrach has transfigured your character.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jessiqua

As Beatrice was weaving around the students, looking at all of their work with a smile, she heard someone speaking her name. Turning around, she saw Davie with an almost complete bow. "Well done Davie, that looks wonderful," she said. And then she realised he was asking for a spot of help with the final step. "For the engraving spell, the incantation is Intaglio," she said, trying to say the name of the spell slowly and clearly.

Intaglio. Right. Davie nodded, beaming, at the professor's compliment, and then took a minute to think of how he wanted to name this bow. He was leaning toward something with his middle name, since it was so imperial. He was going to go with...

"Octavius Fortissimus," he decided, slowly and carefully using intaglio to carve his wand's name in. Nice and gentle. He took his time to make the letters fancy and everything.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jessiqua

Beatrice was weaving between some other students, looking at their lovely work, when Thereos announced the next part of the lesson. The reason for her being there. Although, in all honesty, she was certainly learning.

But now onto one of her favourite things... Human transfiguration. She gave Thereos a small smile and nod as he looked towards her and Cosgrach, and pulled her wand from her pocket. And who was the first lucky duck she was to transfigure?

She looked towards the first student in the line, and with a smile said "Hello dear." She tapped her fingers to her chin and looked at them. She had never used this spell to transfigure a humans legs into that of a centaurs. But she had spent the first bit of the lesson studying Thereos and his legs, which were firm in her mind. Pointing her wand down towards their legs, she took a deep breath in. "Bestiar legs," she said, clearly picturing the centaur legs as she looked at the students own set, swishing her wand at them. The effect was transfiguring them from two human legs to four centaur legs. And with a big smile she looked back at them. "How does that feel?" she asked them.

Then it was time to move on already! Davie OF COURSE was going to the transfiguration professor to get transfigured. The first few students she had transfigured look WEIRD but they didn't look WRONG, so what was the worst thing that could happen, huh? He took a breath and held up his arms.

"Me next, please." EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK HE WAS GOING TO HAVE HOOVES. Cool!

They were going to mimic Centaurs? Paulina had to admit that was pretty cool.

This time instead of Professor Myers, she decided to see her other favourite Professor. The way she figured it was not only was Professor York really nice and awesome, but she also was the TRANSFIGURATION Professor. Just seemed kind of fitting to her.

Joining the small line, she waited for her turn to be Transfigured.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sweet Merlin, but why next to the Forbidden Forrest? Like, Zander understood that the guy lived there and everything… But there was some HISTORY there. This was not the proper place to have a lesson. Also Zander Adair was one stubborn wizard and he wasn’t just about to change his opinion, okay?

So when they were actually asked to preform a task, the Gryffindor got up lazily, still not feeling fully committed. He did, however, go up to the pile and grab one of them long pieces of wood. So much for that making sure energies resonated or whatever. Honestly, Sir… Zander Adair could really care less at the moment. He just wanted to keep a watch on the forrest. Even with all the Professors here, he was concerned.

He muttered a quick ”Diffindo,” to shape the wood, not really caring to keep a super keen eye on it. Honestly, he just wanted this lesson to be over already. Looking towards the others, in between his glances towards the forrest, he followed everyone else in putting his wood towards the ground and holding it in place with his hand. Then with the other he pressed against it lightly. Errr… Now came the handle.

[b]”Diffindo,”[/]b he muttered again cutting two rather lopsided lines a few inches apart. Whatever, it was close enough. He just needed to get this done, honestly. Then using his wand he he tried to shave off some of the wood on either side of the stick, but… Eh. The two ends didn’t really match too well, but he figured it’d be good enough as it was. The caterpillar silk came next and he quickly tied it around the other end.

Almost done. And with his wand again, he muttered a spell ”Intaglio,” this time carving the name ‘Tim’ in the middle of the bow. ‘Tim’ because it was only three letters long making it easy to do and effective. The forrest was still silent, yeah?

Gemini smiles down upon me? Constellations smiled down at people? Cool.

Listening to Professor Centaur talk, Owen suddenly realized that this was indeed a CoMC class. A classy one, in fact. They were going to have bows like the centaurs and that was a great privilege. He was much more enthusiastic to work on their bows now.

After heading over to the stone pile to look at the instructions, the young Hufflepuff promptly picked out a wood from the pile and did some cursory inspections and whatnot. He dragged it over to where he could sit on a stone while he cut and carved. Next, to find the wood's natural curve. The instructions said to listen to it. Like this? Owen placed the wood next to his ear. Hmm... He was not hearing anything. Was this the correct way to listen to a wood? Err... With a sigh, he put the wood back on the ground and eyed it then slowly held it in place with one hand. His other hand he pressed against its middle. It swiveled! WOOT.

Guess that's how you listened to woods.

Owen then pulled his wand from his ankle holster and pointed it at the middle of the wood. "Diffindo!" One line...and another one. He had his handle! Owen grinned to himself because of how successful everything was going so far for him (even his usually faulty spell-casting), then proceeded to cut and shape his bow until he was satisfied.

Tying was a bit of effort due to his pudgy fingers but he went through and not long after, he was ready to engrave the bow's name.

But what exactly was the wood's name? Hmm... it was made of wood. So why not Woody? Hah! That was a fantastic idea. Woody! He would name his bow Woody and then he can find someone else to name theirs Buzz Lightyear.

"Intaglio!" Double you. O. O. Dee. Why.

Tada! Woody, the bow.

Okay so MAYBE he was gonna have a slightly more difficult time with this shaving thing....but so what? The boy was determined to stick to his rock. What was he gonna do? Ask to borrow someone's wand then attempt a spell he didn't know? Not likely--Heeeeyyyyyyyyy!!! Now THERE was an idea.

Quick as he could, Blaise turned to the first older student he could find and in his most polite tone affordable, explained a slightly skewed version of leaving his wand in his dorm but needing help. Who knew it would be that easy? Couple flicks of a wand later and the boy now had a well shaped bow!

"Gee thanks!" He said with a wide, dimpled grin before turning to face the basket of silk. He'd only need one, yeah?

Now in a much better mood, he practically skipped on over to the basket and plucked a silk string. He could handle the fitting on his own, no problem. Just...had to....pull it all the way aaaaaannnnnnd there. Bow. Clearly he was brilliantly at this stuff. Feeling all kinds of mighty, the boy grabbed for his rock once more and very roughly began etching a name into the wood. 'Serpens' because that seemed to be doing wonders for him so far.

And now he was ready to be turned into a centaur---WAIT WHAT??

Was all of his magical education going to involve actual manual labour? Rooney was sure he was supposed to be learning how to be an excellent wizard, and not the town's wood whittler. But, he didn't do well with complaining about a class -- unless it was Herbology and taught by Professor Myers. THEN he had a lot to say and could probably write a novel on it, which was a very good idea and would join his list of things to do. He would set himself the task of finishing it before Myers left the school, but given his questionable techniques and NOT LETTING HIM GIVE MISS SOPHIE BROWN ALL OF THE FLOWERS...well it wasn't likely he'd be here too long. Sorry Myers, goodbye Myers.

Enjoy no flowers.

NOW.. Rooney was extremely careful when it came to choosing his wood, and made sure to get in there quite quickly, rooting around and feeling everything to see if any of them felt any different to him. Which, he knew was a little silly, but if he needed the perfect wood then he needed the perfect wood. Wood feeling was a pain, though, and he made sure to avoid splinters by only touching and not stroking and whatever else was considered strange. But there, right at the very edge was a wood he went back to three times because it just didn't feel like the others. Actually, it felt lighter than the others, like it was the easiest for him to hold. The feeling didn't shout "THIS ONE" to him at first, nor the second time. But at the third, he took it from the pile and looked quickly at the stone to see the next step.

Sure, this one would be his.

Wood listening, however, was SO not something he was very talented at, and so he sat on the floor for a minute or two with the wood leant against a stone and he just watched it. Got to know it a little better. Became very acquainted with the colouring that changed from one end to the other. Thought it was interesting. All the strange things one would never admit to doing around wood. The second year rose to his feet after that whole introduction exercise and then placed a hand atop, and then pushed against the middle of it in hope for that...swivel thing it was supposed to do. Natural belly his backside. He tried a second time, this time grateful that he didn't look stupid and the wood did exactly what he needed. BELLY FULL OF LAUGHS, HAHAHA.

CAPELLA SHINE BRIGHTLY WITH HER. And did anyone ELSE see that flicker of a smile? SHE GOT A SMILE OUT OF THEREOS. YEEEEEES. Maybe this guy wasn't so bad after all. He knew fabulousness when he saw it.

They were gonna get to CRAFT THEIR OWN BOWS? A RITE OF PASSAGE? Okay, THAT was pretty cool, but why had the centaur agreed to do this in the first place? Who had asked him to do this? Why did he want to teach humans this? It was awfully cool and all, but Soph was a little suspicious all the same. She did NOT UNDERSTAND.

It was mega cool that the Wind Whisperer was made from vine, though, because that's what HER wand was made of. Did that mean she and Thereos had something in common? Like, something deep within them that made them kind of similar to each other? Was Thereos a kindred spirit? The vine had spoken to Thereos, just like Soph's vine wand had responded to her. That WAS pretty exciting, too.

When they were set free to get started, Soph gave Zander a BIG smile of excitement and hurried over to survey the woods. Lowering herself down onto her knees, Sophie very methodically rested her hand flat on one piece of wood, let it rest there for a few long moments, closing her eyes to absorb its energies... then, when it didn't feel the way she knew it should, she moved onto another piece, and then another, taking her time with each one to give each one the opportunity to speak to her. She gave a low, pensive hum as she did so and--

OOOOO A WARMTH. Opening her eyes with a broad smile, Soph picked up the wood that had gelled well with her energy and... oh. Oh. Huh. Not vine like she'd anticipated, but... was this... aspen? A brilliant ivory color, very aesthetically appealing, and... huh. Interesting, that was, but... the more she considered it, it sort of made sense. The attributes she could think of that generally went along with the aspen wood were all good ones, ones about ambition and adventures and cool things like that. So. Even though it wasn't her beloved vine... it was responding to her, so she was gonna roll with it.

Shaping the wood, shaping the wood. Soph took her aspen wood off to the side to get away from the pile and started her work in shaping it nicely. "Diffindo... diffindo... diffindo..." Each casting was deliberate and precise, making sure to shave the wood evenly and smoothly and not make any cuts too irreparably deep. Once it was shaped well enough, she went on to stand it up straight, one hand on top to keep it steady, then lightly pushed at the middle section so it swiveled, the natural curve of its belly facing her. Squinting hard to decide where she should place the two notches, after a moment, she made two cuts roughly three inches apart in the middle with two quick casts of, "Diffindo! Diffindo!"

Not hesitating to continue along, Soph used more well-placed castings to shave down the wood at both ends of the bow, making sure they were symmetrical on both sides and the middle section was the thickest. It was harder to make sure it was going to be even than she'd thought it would be, and she found herself stopping more than once to give long, hard stares at each end in turn to figure out how much more needed to be shaved off, but eventually, she had a completed bow.

Well. Almost.

Retrieving caterpillar silk, Soph worked steadily to tie it to the top end first, then to the bottom of end of the bow, making sure the silk pulled nice and tightly from one and to the other. And then she realized... she hadn't even been THINKING about a name for the bow. Merlin. What did one even name a bow? Err.... ERRRR... how about... um... "Intaglio," Soph cast after a moment's thought, already carving The Aspen Adventurer into the handle of the bow. Didn't actually make a ton of sense, the bow itself wasn't an adventurer or anything, but... maybe it was in a weird way. Eh. It was just a name. Who cared, really?

With her bow fully completed, Soph raised her eyebrows. Thereos say WHAT? They were gonna be turning INTO centaurs? The professors were gonna transfigure their lower halves? SHE WAS GONNA BE HALF HORSE???

Wicked.

She surveyed the professors she could choose from - the transfiguration professor herself, Myers, or Culloden. York was the obvious choice, but basically EVERYONE was going over to her... and of the two guys, Soph trusted Culloden more to get the spell right. Though... she didn't trust him to get hers right. It'd be just like him to "accidentally" turn her into a pig or something first, but she figured he probably wouldn't do that here. Not in this setting. It'd probably be insulting to Thereos or something anyway.

After Ava's transfiguration, Soph stepped up and crossed her arms smugly in front of him, giving Culloden a look that said, dare you to try something funny with me here. Because he COULDN'T. He HAD to do what he was expected to do here. Hehehehe. "Make me look good, 'kay?" She wanted to be a pretty centaur.

He didn't think they were gonna have to BE centaurs in order to shoot arrows but how COOL was that??? HE WAS READY! FIRE AWAY!!

Blaise ran over to Professor Culloden (because it was awkward to ask Professor York when he was skipping all her classes) to have himself changed into an awesomely amazing centaur. Would that make him temporarily classified as a beast? Just wait til he told Julie about this one!!!

The young Gryffindor bounced on the spot until the moment it was his turn at which point he grinned widely at the Professor and all but yelled, "Ready!" Ready! Ready! Ready! It was pretty cool how effortlessly the man did it and the next thing he knew, he had HOOVES! Hooves, front legs, hinds, OH MERLIN HE EVEN HAD A TAIL!!!! Swish, swish, swish. He couldn't even, this was amazing.

Just watch him TROT over to the centaur. Oh yeah, majestic half boy coming through.