This was the first spider Hadley really ever saw up close, that she really ever studied. They were kinda beautiful, weren't they? In their own creepy way at least. It was large--huge actually; about the size of her hand. And covered in shiny black hair that shone in the light. eight legs and eight eyes. An intricate mouth with some particularly nasty fangs. But beautiful none-the-less.

Hadley jotted down notes. Notes about its size, and its shape; about the hair it was covered in. When she was done, she reached out and petted the spider, watch how it tensed, startled. "Shhh," she said, reassuringly. "I won't hurt you."

It was eye opening though. The spider was nervous about her. She had the power not it. Why were people so scared of them, when they were obviously more scared of humans than not? "You have nothing to fear from me, okay?" Hadley petted the spider again, which wasn't so startled this time. "Even if you bite me. Just, please don't bite me, okay?"

Hadley jotted down notes about his disposition and personality; how he was nervous yet calm, and seemed to study the world before making any movement at all. Fascinating really. But not enough.

She needed to really get to know him. Get comfortable with him.

"Come on, Adam." She said, taking a deep breath, and then scooped him into her hand. Hadley held him in her hand for a moment, and then taking another deep breath, put him on her shoulder.

Adam was trusting her so it was time for her to trust him back. That's how this worked.

Bonding. They were bonding. Much like she did with Asher.

We saw that grin Franklin Paton and if you as so much as laugh, even just a little you were going to be in a world of hurt. After the lesson that is. He didn't laugh and Hady was beyond thankful for that. Let him never mention it to her or anyone...ever.

Really she could do just fine without the eight-legged beasts. And yes, she did visibly cringe each and ever time someone walked passed her with one. Why on earth anyone would really want to work with one of those she didn't know but it was horrible. Horrible. HORRIBLE! Hady was so distressed she didn't even want to get up and cross the room. Could Frankie just bring back something for her? Please? It would've been so much easier then walking passed all the ones OUTSIDE of the tanks.

Only she must've been so worried about all the spiders around the room that she hadn't noticed the blonde had already left her side. Grumble. Really?

With a slight shudder and possibly holding her breath Hadleigh carefully slid off her chair and crept her way towards the tanks. Totally avoiding the spider tank she moved all the way to the other side where the Baron caterpillars were. Safe. caterpillars were safe. They transformed into butterflies and moths. Simple. Very easy especially for a sixth year but right now she didn't care. Sorry Ichicara but all those creepy things freaked her out. So yes, caterpillar it was.

Slowly lowering her hand into the tank she wait. The caterpillar inched it's way up over her fingers making her smile, it tickled. When it was on her hand she raised her hand out and cupped her hands together to keep it safe until she reached her desk. Sitting back down she glanced at Frankie and smile. See safe. She wasn't going to crumble now. Eyes moving back onto her new friend she allowed it to creep up and down her arm. "Well you're kinda cute. Different then the caterpillars I'm used to but cute. You remind me of a leaf so...I think I'm gonna call you Leif, is that okay?"

Leif didn't appear to care much either way roaming up and down her arm and over the palm of her hand. It made it's way back up to her forearm before coming to a rest. She leaned down closer to get a better look taking note of it's little prickly spike things that made her think of the veins of a leaf. His very many tiny little feet like things. All in all he was very simple but adorable. Unlike some creatures in the room. Shudder.

Kitty knew a good deal about caterpillars, and even specifically this Baron Caterpillar. She knew, for example, that it was usually found in India and Southeast Asia and that it transformed into a butterfly known in Latin as the Euthalia aconthea. Also, that the female was pale and that the male was brown. Very cool stuff to know.

It took awhile for Miles to uncurl from his frightened position, and when he did he still didn't seem to want to have anything to do with her. All the other insects that Kitty saw were climbing all over their person. "You don't have to climb into my hand, that's okay, I won't make you," said Kitty to Miles. "I wouldn't crawl into a giant's hand either, so yeah...I know how you feel."

Miles began to crawl across the table. She watched him without interfering, though keeping her hand nearby in case he changed his mind. "I wonder if my mom would let me have caterpillars," she mused aloud.

Then, much to Kitty delight, Miles turned and crawled into her hand. "And you can leave any time you want."

At some point between the greetings at the beginning of class and the very moment that he was easing into, Cal had promptly passed out of heat exhaustion.

His senses coming back into play, his ears picked up on the word "tarantula" and immediately used to his withering strength to gather his things.

The fourteen year old passed out again, only for couple seconds this time around, and then stood up to quietly leave.

Calrissian Fox Desario does not mess with no spiders, m8.

Janelle listened as Professor Ichihara explained why they were learning Transfiguration spells. She hadn't really been completely clueless about the "why's", but she she had no idea how to express her thoughts clearly. Anyway, Janelle was glad that the professor was able to make sense of the rest of the answer she'd given.

So it seemed that they were going to get to know some little buggy critters. That was ok with Janelle because she wasn't particularly bothered by them. In fact, as long as they weren't inside of her home, she was totally cool with the bugs. Watching Professor Ichihara handle the tarantula was interesting. Then the class was going to get their chance........and they got to choose which bug they wanted to play with.

Janelle went over to the tank and peered inside. At first, she thought she would observe the tarantula. The she saw him, her, it........she wasn't quite sure which. Janelle was going to choose the Spiny Leaf Bug. She made that choice because he (she'd decided he looked like a he) was pretty much the most peculiar bug she had ever seen. He had a cricket head, a leaf tail and a shrimp on his back. As she always did, Janelle thought it best to warn him before she made a move. She came closer to the tank and said, "Hi there." "I'm Janelle. I think we're going to be friends. I'm going to take you out of the tank now, so we can get to know each other."

Janelle reached into the tank and verrrry carfully moved her hand toward the bug. She got close to him and waited to see if it would approach. She didn't want to frighten him, by grabbing him suddenly. Thinking for a moment, Janelle said, "Now what should I call you?" Of course her new friend needed a name, but what should it be? Hit by sudden inspiration, she came up with a name. "Brownie, that's it. You'll be my Brownie." Janelle gently nudged the bug with her finger. "Come on Brownie. Do you want to crawl on my finger?" She was a little bit afraid to pick him up because he looked a bit delicate. Somehow Janelle was able to get Brownie up and out of the tank. She sat on the floor and put him down next to her. She would have put him on her desk, but she didn't want to risk him falling to the floor accidentally. So they would just hang out on the floor.

At first, Brownie seemed afraid to do anything. Then he began to crawl, a little. Janelle watched him, studied his every move like she was supposed to. He really was a weird little bug. That was ok because Janelle was a weird little girl. They were perfect for each other. "So Brownie, show me what you can do", Janelle said to the bug. Yeah, this was going to be a fun class.

UM obviously OBVIOUSLY Char went with the tarantula. It was a tough choice though and she did want to play with ALL the bugs, but she was good with tarantulas. This was something that ran in her family, something she had inherited directly from her mother, who still had some fairly unusual pets.

As such, Char was completely confident selecting her tarantula and handling it delicately. Confident and totally at ease.

"So do you have a name? I think its pretty important that you have one. And I was basically named after a spider like you did you know? Well that's what I figure anyways because my aunt had a tarantula called Charlotte like in the book Charlotte's Web and then my mum called me Charlotte so she probably got it from my aunt's tarantula!" Right? Probably?

"I'm not sure if you are a gentleman tarantula or a lady tarantula, so we need to give you a name that will work no matter what." Important. Hmmm. She watched the tarantula crawl up her arm with great thought.

"Oh I know what your name is! Its Dusty!" Clearly! "Its nice to meet you, Dusty. I promise I won't turn you into anything horrible."

Everything was going smoothly, no one was screaming or crying and no one had stepped on any of their insect guests. It was all almost going too smoothly. Not that Nana was complaining, but it had her just a bit on edge.

If things actually did continue on this quiet, peaceful manner Nana mused that she might just a heart attack from shock itself. Were her students really turning over a new leaf?

Speaking of leaves.... Moving from her desk, Nana approached Miss Daneker and her new spider friend. "Beautiful, aren't they? A friend of mine from Brazil breeds and trains them. He was kind enough to let us have them into today's lesson."

"They're practically harmless unless you attack them," Nana said, more for the benefit of the entire class, not simply with miss Daneker in mind. She watched the black Brazilian as it perched on the Ravenclaw's shoulder. "Miss Daneker, allow me to throw your gum away for you." She said, picking up the parchment and the "gum" wrapped up inside.

That was one way to do it.



Nana, if she were so inclined to sprouting sentimental statements, would have said that Mister Salander was one of her class favorites. Though his answers were never quite correct, there was always an element of such bright curiosity and thoughtfulness that made them unique. It was a pleasure to teach him. Though, it would have to be said, it was a pleasure to teach all of students.. Even the more difficult of the group. Yes, we're looking at you[COLOR="rgb(75, 0, 130)"] Daxton,[/COLOR] Blaise and[COLOR="rgb(75, 0, 130)"] Haddie.[/COLOR]

"They are very gentle bugs, and as you put it Mister Salander, they are more easily frightened and it will cause them to potentially run off to seek cover. I suggest no sudden movements unless you plan on spending the lesson chasing after a camouflaged insect."

There was still time yet before they were to move on, and so Nana took another turn about the room. "Does anyone else have any questions before we move on?" Nana called out. She was starting to get antsy.


OOC: still plenty of time left to get in and post for the mini activity. Next move on-post will be in about 8 hours. Any questions can be sent over in VMs, PMs, or simply ask Nana. *salutes*

Hadley smiled. "If you asked me yesterday, I'd have said no, but they really are." Beautiful that was. The way the light shone off his hairs, the calm demeanor, all of it: exquisite. "They're very gentle. So I'm trying to be gentle back." She reached up and gently pet the tarantula.

Then her eyes went wide as Professor Ichihara took the parchment where she spit her leaf out in off her desk. If Itchy Mara decided to check, she'd be busted and probably get another detention. But there was no stopping it now. If Hadley objected, the Professor would know something was up. So she simply nodded. "Thank you, Professor."

SPOILER!!: Haddie

Quote:

Originally Posted by Callie

Hadley smiled. "If you asked me yesterday, I'd have said no, but they really are." Beautiful that was. The way the light shone off his hairs, the calm demeanor, all of it: exquisite. "They're very gentle. So I'm trying to be gentle back." She reached up and gently pet the tarantula.

Then her eyes went wide as Professor Ichihara took the parchment where she spit her leaf out in off her desk. If Itchy Mara decided to check, she'd be busted and probably get another detention. But there was no stopping it now. If Hadley objected, the Professor would know something was up. So she simply nodded. "Thank you, Professor."

Nana nodded her agreement. She herself had always had a fondness of spiders, and had hoped to become one with her animagus form, but…. Welll.. Fate had been especially funny in that regard.

She opened the parchment as she returned to her desk. A leaf. Just as she had expected… But…

…. It was dark green and soft to the touch, not at all the prickly greenish-yellow that she knew Mandrake leaves to be. “Miss Daneker, I would like you to come to my office after class.” She simply said, hiding her bewilderment as best she could.

This was just plain strange.


----------------------------


”Now that everyone has become acquainted with their subjects, it’s time to move on to the practical portion of our lesson. This is the part where you should be paying attention. The most important part of this exercise will be using your imagination to envision your creature transforming into it’s new form. This is something that is very key in animagus training and more complicated branches of Transfiguration and transmutation in Transfigurations sister science Alchemy. If you don’t take this step seriously you’re more likely to end up with an eight-legged prickly pear or a leaf with eyes. A common mistake of many amatuer transfigurers.” a funny, albeit.. Disturbing mistake, indeed.

With a tap of her wand and a softly muttered charm, the once-dormant chalk rose and began to write across the previously clean chalkboard.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chalkboard

Tarantula to Prickly Pear-
Thistilaz. Pronunciation for incantation: this -TIl- az.
Movement: A light tap the subject.

Spindly leaf bug to Dead Leaf-
Follio-anmortum. Pronunciation for incantation: FO-Leo An-MORE-tum.
Movement: a decisive left swish over the subject.

Baron Caterpillar to Banana Leaf-
Follio-Musa. Pronunciation for incantation: FO-LEO MUSE-A.
Movement: a decisive right swish over the subject.

Megastick into Winding Branch-
Cladus. Pronunciation for incantation: ClAD-dus.
Movement: a low clockwise-circling over the subject.

“Now, I understand that these transformations are of the more mundane variety, but through learning the more simplistic spells first you create a proper foundation for the more advanced work soon to come. Man may not walk first, he must crawl and if he never crawls he will not learn to fly.” something the more impatient among them would have to learn. ”Live Transfiguration is difficult for many reasons. You must have an understanding of the creatures you’re working with… And that is man included. The more complex the shape, the more difficult the process will prove, This is why many wizards never achieve their goals of becoming animagi while many injure themselves or their subjects to the point of ill return. If you take your time, truly focus and practice then in no time you’ll have no trouble changing rocks into labradors and so on.,”

“Now why is this considered so troublesome a branch? Fundamentally Transfiguration is the complete remaking of a subjects’ atoms, but you must also remember that the essence of the subject comes into play. You cannot change the essence, even if you were to try, it is impossible, for the natural soul of the thing will always remain. Inanimate or not. But with a living creature, the essence will fight off a weak Transfiguration spell the why antibodies fight off germs. This is what causes a werewolf their painful transformations, while the animagus may change at will without even a flinch. Or why a forcefully transfigured human will lose themselves completely to their new shape. This is why you must be gentle in your applications, and treat your living subjects with respect.”

”The spells we’re working with today are simplistic, but will give you an example of what deeper living transfiguration is like.”

”Now. I believe it is time to begin your spellwork. As I said, treat your subjects with respect. Many of you, i see have named them. This is a good step forward, and I suggest if you are worried about your spellwork that you take a moment to calm yourself and take more time in getting to know your animal. Those of you who are confident, take a moment of contemplation before your attempt. Calm your thoughts and think of your creature. Envision the transformation they are to go through and envision, clearly in your mind what they will look like after. This is a very important step.”

“After you’ve done that, proceed with your spellwork. If you have any questions or need any assistance, don’t hesitate to raise your hand and I won’t hesitate to come by. If you wish to work on more than one creature you may after your first. But I ask that you revert your subject using Reverto before moving on.”



And somehow, all that talking had managed to make the woman quite tired. It must have been the heat. Lord, she couldn’t wait until she could return her classroom to it’s normal coolness.

OOC: Main activity time! No post requirements for this one. You can make as many little posts or big posts as you like for this step. The points will be awarded by creativity. Please do title your posts with your creature and an indication if you are making more than one.

Genny really, really believed that spells didn't need all that explanation. Why couldn't the professor just write the incantation down, show the wand movement and be done with it? Without all this foundation talk? Anyway, she was the adult professor. The second year endured the mini lecture with the cute little leaf bug on her hand trying to escape (but the Gryffindor kept snatching it back from the desk).

Finally, they were unleashed with their wands. "Okay!" Two brown sparkling eyes looked at the bug as Genny's hand clutched the wand in one hand. "You'll be a little different in the next few moments, just one second until I got this spell on my tongue." Because, let's face it, not even Genny Tate was familiar with insect-changing spells. Nothing prepared you for these weird topics in Hogwarts.

But first, to prevent the bug from wandering around class while Genny prepared, the Gryffindor formed a circular cage barrier around the bug with a couple of parchments. There.

Follio-anmortum. Eye squinting at the board, she repeated slowly, "Fo-leo.. an-more-tum..." Over and over with different speed levels for so many times until the words sounded weird.

That was a lot to take in Pretty Chi Chi. But amazingly enough, the Gryffindor Ace appreciated the detailed explanation. Now he can see the fascination of why some witches and wizards are trying their best to become animagi.

He turned his attention back to his creature. "Ey there Scorpion Queen." he patted her delicate body very slowly and lightly. Honestly, one wrong move of his hand and he can turn her into a dead leaf quite easily. Which would be disastrous.

He decided that the first thing he would do is to figure that spell out, specially he had a wand that just reads his mind and does things without him being ready for it. The last thing he wants is to turn poor Scorpion Queen into a Rock or something.

"Foe-leee-yoe Aaaan-mawr-tuhmmm" and the a swish to the left. "Fo-leo An-more-tum" he repeated the spell again, trying to get used to the spell at least, because even if the wand stroke was easy, the spell was quite a mouthful.

Azura was holding Steve as the Professor talked, she was gently stroking his back and legs as she paid close attention to what they were going to do..

"You hear that Steve? You are going to be a Prickly pear." She said as she looked down at the spider with a warm smile, she could already feel that she and Steve were bonding and she watched as he melted and relaxed in her hand..

D'awwwwwwww.. So cute!! Azura just wanted to squeal as she kept petting him, she was seriously considering asking the Professor if she could keep Steve.. Or like visit him?

She wanted to do something with him at least..

But now.. The Professor had stopped talking and now, she had some work to do.. Namely turning Steve into a Prickly pear..

"All right little guy.. I'm going to close my eyes for a moment, so I can concentrate, before we start transforming you all right?" With the arachnid still in her hand, she closed her eyes and just tried to feel it breathing and moving and she concentrated solely on that.. She was trying to be one with Steve..

And then she imagined Steve turning into a prickly pear, slowly losing his legs and his fur and turning into the fruit with the small spines on it..

"Welp Steve.. We are going to try.. Are you ready?" She asked him as she opened her eyes and looked down at her furry friend.

They were going to do the transfiguration now? Yay! That was the exciting part and Hattie was so happy. She wanted to good. She smiled, listening to the Professor. She made a few notes as she listened, so that she would be able to remember what had been said. This would mean that she wouldn't have to keep asking questions. She was sure that was a good idea. And now she could get onto making her Caterpillar into a banana leaf. Simple... right?



Okay. So first she was going to practice the incantation. She knew that was a really good idea. Concentrating, she said the spell out loud. "Fo-leo Muse-a" She murmured out loud. It sounded okay. It was a bit of a mouth full. But it was okay. "Fo-leo Muse-a" She said again, trying to get used to saying the incantation. She repeated that a few more times, so she could get used to it.

When she felt confident with the incantation, she began practicing the movement. "A decisive right swish..." She murmured as she picked her wand up. She could do that. Nodding, she swished her wand to the right. That was quite easy. A couple more practices and she'd be ready to go!

Hadley watched in horror as Professor Ichihara opened the parchment with the leaf in it. She gulped. "Yes professor." At least it wasn't detention. Yet. Hads gave Adam the Tarantula a nervous sideways glance. "This is gonna be bad..." How bad though, remained to be seen.

The red haired Ravenclaw gave Adam a few more pets and then gently lifted him from her shoulder. His not-so-little body tensed until he felt the desk under him again. She gave him a few reassuring pets and then pulled out her quill and a fresh piece of parchment.

Whether or not the lecture was for Hadley's benefit or merely a coincidence remained to be seen, but one thing was for sure. It was informative and exactly what Hadley needed. She'd just realized she wasn't yet ready to attempt becoming an Animagus, and here Professor Ichihara was telling her exactly what she needed to know to get ready. Oh, Hads knew it would be simple, or quick. It would take all of next year for sure. But once she has her foundation down, there'd be no stopping her.

And nothing Professor Ichihara said or did today was gonna stop her from working toward her goal either. But Hadley did need to lay a foundation first and that was gonna be her new direction.

Starting now, with Adam and the spell. Although, to be honest, Hadley had no idea what a prickly pear was. In her mind she imagined something pear shaped that had cactus needles on it. Whether or not that was right remained to be seen. But as long as she turned him into it correctly, whether or not it was actually a prickly pear for real wouldn't really matter, would it?

"This-till-az. This-till-az. Thistillaz. Thistilaz, thistilaz, thistilaz." Hadley practiced the incantation over and over as she imagined her cactus pear. "Thistilaz."

Azura was about to put Steve down, but she wanted a little more time holding him, so she decided to practice the spell a bit..

"See I practiced visualizing Steve.. Now I need to practice the spell. " She explained to the spider in her hand and she took her wand with her free hand and showed it to Steve.

"I'm going to be using this to cast the spell all right?" She said as she gently held the wooden stick up to him so he could check it out, the last thing she wanted was for Steve to think she was attacking him when she was just trying to turn him into a prickly pear! She watched him as he seemed to touch the wand with a few of his legs, but he didn't seemed bothered by it. "All right, Steve I'm gonna say the spell and use my wand. You watch carefully. " Again, no angry Steve, yeah?

She held her want out and said "Thistilaz.. Thistilaz.. This-TLL-az!" she giggled softly, the last part of that spell sounded like her her nickname.

"You all right with that Steve?" Az asked the spider who seemed to be all right with her movements.. She nodded and moved to put him down on the desk..

Soooo much talking and Esme was having a hard time paying attention to everything that Professor Ichihara was saying. The heat was probably to blame and she found herself wishing that she could have a fan because this was ridiculous. At least she got the gist of what they had been told. Focus was one of the biggest things when it came to proper spell work and she would definitely be trying her hardest to make sure that Jasmine was transformed as smoothly as possible. "Don't worry, I promise I won't hurt you," she told the little caterpillar as she watched it crawl across the desk. There would be NO escaping thank you very much.

First thing that needed to be done was mastering the incantation and wand movement so she set about doing just that after recording the information from the board. Didn't seem to be all that complicated so at least there was that. " FO-LEO MUSE-A... FO-LEO MUSE-A... FO-LEO MUSE-A." Not too bad at all. "Follio-Musa... Follio-Musa...Follio-Musa..." Now for some decisive swishes to the right.

Swish. Swish. Swish.

Fiyero was busy gently stroking Elphaba's back when Professor Ichihars started speaking again. He looked up, listening intently, but her words just sailed right above his head. Remaking a subject's atoms? That sounded really complcated. He wasn't feeling confident about this at all!

He looked down at the caterpillar inching its way along his arm and wondered if transfiguring it into a leaf would be as painful as a human turning into a werewolf. He didn't want to subject his little bug friend to that! Well, at least Professor Ichihara had told them how to change them back afterwards. Hopefully this wouldn't take long! he thought Elphaba was a lot more fun as a caterpillar than as a banana leaf! "Okay, Elphaba, I'm going to try to turn you into a leaf, okay?" he said, and the caterpillar wiggled in reply; he took that as a "yes". "Personally, I like you the way you are, but it's what the professor wants..."

Fiyero took a few deep breaths, trying to calm his mind, but it didn't do much to boost his confidence. He decided it would probably be a good idea to do a few practice runs first. "Fo-leo muse-a, fo-leo muse-a," he repeated. Wow, that spell was hard to pronounce! "Fo-leo muse-a. Follio-musa, Follio-musa."

Now that he had the spell itself down, it was time to practice the wand movements. He drew his wand, and Elphaba immediately crawled away. It seemed the caterpillar was just as worried about this spell as he was! "Don't be scared," he said, "It's just my wand. It won't hurt you." He hoped!

Hadleigh was focused on nothing but her caterpillar friend. Which was a very good thing right now because if she were to take notice to the many tarantula's around her she would've freaked out. All was good if her attention remained on Leif.

So to keep that so as Nana began to speak Hady did the only thing she could. The sixth year picked up her quill and without looking towards the professor or anyone except for probably Frankie she began taking down her notes. This wasn't to hard a task seeing as her caterpillar was still not moving, appearing to be asleep on her arm. No need to worry about him escaping or anything. Even so she glanced at him every couple of seconds just to check.

Setting down her quill once her notes were taking she started on the incantation itself. That was the tougher part...well not as tough as clearing her mind and visualizing could be but still tough. "Fo-leo Muse-a...Fo-leo Muse-a...Fo-leo Muse-a" Over and over again. Over and over and over. It had to be said right. No mistakes.

Picking up her wand she fell quiet in order to give the movement a go. A nice decisive right swish. Not to hard. This was done at least a handful of times.

Okay, clear your mind. Clear your mind. Clear your mind. She needed to make sure her mind was clear before attempting the spell so she didn't harm Adam in anyway. That was easier said than done with the worry of hurting him and the fact that Ichihara saw the leaf and...

Clear your mind, clear you mind clear you mind clearyourmindclearyourmindclearyourmind.

Pricklypearpricklypearpricklypearpricklypear. Prickly pear.

Mind Clear. Prickly Pear.

Mind Clear. Prickly Pear.

When she finally felt she was ready, Hadley took a breath. Imagined her idea of a prickly pear. Made the image clear and strong in her head. "Thistilaz!" she tapped Adam the tarantula gently with wand. Immediately the tarantula's legs pulled in close to his abdomen and his body elongated, smoothing out into a pair shape. The color remained black however.

Almost, she almost got it. Did having a black prickly pear count?

Oohhhhhh weird. Weird. All of these bugs were weird. Jaemin made a face at the tanks as he stood with the rest of the class and approached them. Obviously he wasn't going to take the most difficult one... because it was big, and made him twitchy, and he was only a second year so he had a good reason to avoid it. He was allowed to use something easier. He was only thirteen. He stared at the tarantulas for a good long minute before moving to another tank.

Stick bugs were less uncomfortable but still extremely weird. No thank you. He squinted at them rather suspiciously before realising that that just... left the caterpillars. The weird, hairy caterpillars. Looking in Ichihara's direction, the small boy very slowly reached a hand into the tank and chased a few around until one waddled onto his hand. IT FELT WEIRD. This was not like any caterpillar he'd found in his yard. He very gently cupped it in his hands, to make sure it wouldn't fall the six million miles from his hands to the ground, and hurried back to his desk.

First things first. Jaemin pushed his Transfiguration book to one side of the desk, putting up a barrier there. The books for his next two classes were in his bag... he put one hand down on the desk, trapping the caterpillar between it and his book, and reached into his bag for the other ones. Had to make a little... arena type thing. For added safety. He aligned the books to make sure the space was closed off before moving his hand so the little caterpillar could move around freely. It wasn't nearly as quick as it seemed like it would be... it looked like one of those creepy hairy bugs that ran under the fridge when he turned the lights on in the kitchen in the middle of the night. He hadn't realised there were caterpillars like this. All the other ones he'd seen had been chubby squishy log-looking caterpillars. He leaned down and rested his chin on the desk to watch the little thing move around.

"You're very fuzzy," he murmured, reaching one finger to very gently run it along the caterpillar's back. "Am I supposed to name you and stuff? I don't think I get to keep you, so I'm not sure if I should name you... what if whoever gets you next wants to name you too? But you already have a name? That could get really confusing for you..."

Without moving away from the caterpillar, Jaemin reached his right hand to pick up a quill. There was a bit of parchment next to his Transfiguration book, and the small boy scribbled some notes on it without looking.

Text Cut: notes

hairy worm

looks like a very green millipede

squishy. very squishy.

a squishy walking hairy leaf.

He kept his one hand down on the desk, letting the caterpillar walk over it. It was very light... and tickly... he picked his hand up, watching it walk along his fingers. It was kinda cute, at least... a little cute. Because it was leaf coloured, probably. He hummed absently to himself, watching the way it moved around.

Much nicer than a tarantula.

Azura slowly lowered Steve down onto her desk and she gently soothed him..

"All right Steve, we are going to try this now.. So just be a good little Steve, this won't hurt.. I promise." She hoped it wouldn't hurt..The Professors wouldn't let them do this if it hurt the animals right?

She was going to do with yes..

She gently picked up her wand and then closed her eyes and once again envisioned Steve turning into a prickly pear.. The teen fully emptied her mind of everything else.. and focused solely on her tarantula friend.. and the spiny fruit he would hopefully become..

Azura took a few slow breaths as she tried to calm herself and steady her mind when she felt something soft tickle her hand and she opened her purple eyes to see Steve trying to get on her hand..

"I'll pick you up when we are done Steve." She said in a soft, gently voice as she gently moved the spider back to the middle of her desk.. and then started to focus again..

"All right buddy.. here we go."

She took a deep breath, cleared everything from her mind and imagined Steve turning into a prickly pear..

She raised her wand slowly, and gently tapped Steve as she said "Thistilaz!"

For a second, it didn't seem like it had worked.. but then Steve's legs started to shrink and his body started to smooth and he rounded out and soon she was staring at a prickly pear!

She had done it!

Spines and all!

Though.. uhh.. hmm it was sort of a dark green color.. Had she done it right?

Decisive swish to the right with her wand. Check.

Incantation down. "Follio-Musa" Check.

Both steps down. Now to put them together. Now to completely clear her mind of nothing but a banana leaf. She was capable of this. A sixth year. One that was working on changing forms herself. Smart and strong and tough. Capable. All she had to do was focus, wand movement and charm. Nothing more.

Hady looked at her small friend and a light smile came to her face. Could she communicate with the caterpillar silently? Talking with this leaf in her mouth was annoying and when she spoke the movement of the leaf triggered the bitterness of it and it made it worse. A whisper was better then nothing, hmm? She thought so. Leaning forward she looked down at Leif, running a finger over him. Soft and warm, fuzzy yet a bit prickly around the edges. 'It'll be okay Leif, don'tcha worry. This will be quick and painless and I'll change you right back..." she murmured softly. With no movement from the caterpillar she took that as the sign to give it a go.

Sitting up straight in her seat, tucking the leaf against the inside of her cheek with her tongue she was ready. Wand held firm in her hand she held it out aimed at the caterpillar.

Clear your mind. Picture nothing.

Deep breath in. Out.

All thoughts are gone. Picture a banana leaf. Just a banana leaf.

Hady could see the leaf in her mind. Feel it there resting on her arm. The vision was there now she just had to make it happen. A very decisive swish to the right was made, "Follio-Musa!" she recited as clearly as possible with a leaf in her mouth. At first nothing appeared to happen and she was about to try again when she noticed something did happen. Leif WAS a leaf. Not a perfect leaf by any chance. One with bits of black and some fuzzyness to it.

Not bad for a first try but not what she wanted either.

Okay. So Harriet believed that she had enough practice now. She had gotten the spell incantation down pretty good, and she felt that she was doing the wand movement right now. She had done all this whilst making sure that her Caterpillar wasn't crawling off around the place. That would not be good. "Now I need you to stay still whilst I do this okay. It'll be a lot easier" Hattie murmured as she talked to the caterpillar. She had a feeling that it was going to make no difference, but that was okay. She could pretend it had made a difference.

Smiling, she picked her wand up. She was excited to try this out, even though she had a feeling that she wasn't going to be overly good at this. She began by making a decisive right swish over the caterpillar, before muttering the incantation. "Follio-musa" And then she waited.

And nothing.

"Oh. She had kind of expected that. So there was not much disappointment really. She wasn't expecting to be able to do it first time, though that would have been quite nice. But she wasn't surprised that she couldn't do it. Her mom and dad had told her that transfiguration was hard. But this just made Hattie more determined to get better.

She took a deep breath, before beginning again. She swished her wand over the caterpiller in the right hand direction. She then said the incantation. "Follio-Musa" And again nothing. "Ughh" The first year sighed, moving the caterpillar back to the middle of the table. She was so not happy right now. She pouted, and went back to practicing the spell and wand movement. Maybe she wasn't doing it right after all.

But practice made perfect right?

After practicing a few decisive swishes with his wand, Fiyero decided it was time to try the spell out on his caterpillar. But first a little insurance, just in case he didn't catch on fast enough for Professor Ichihara's liking and she tried to splash him again (or Merlin forbid do something worse to humiliate him!). He opened his transfiguration book, propping it upright on his desk.Then he rummaged through.his bag to find a couple more books and arranged them on either side of the open transfiguration book. After balancing his notebook on top he'd created a sort of fortress out of his books. Maybe that would keep him out of her line of fire!

Bowing his head so that it was hidden behind the book wall, he continued with his work. He started to raise his wand... until he remembered Professor Ichihara's instruction to visualize the transformation first. This was going to be hard, since wasn't sure what a banana leaf looked like. How was he supposed to visualize something he'd never seen before?

Fiyero assumed a banana leaf couldn't look much different from any other leaf,so envisioning the kinds of leaves he did know was probably a good start. Concentrating on the leaves, he raised his wand and pointed it at the caterpillar. "Follio-musa!" he said with a decisive swish of his wand... but nothing happened.

Notes, notes and more notes. This was a lot of information to absorb, but Janelle was doing her best to keep up. Ok. So she would be changing her bug into a dead leaf. They would be changing the atoms, but Brownie would still be in there somewhere. Good. Janelle wondered what it felt like to be transfigured, not that she wanted to try it or anything........just wondering.

This was not going to be easy. It appeared that this task was going to be 99% mental. Janelle was realllllly going to have to focus, if she had any chance of getting it right. She checked her notes for the spell that she was going to have to use. Since it was new to her, she decided it was best that she practice first. As usual, Janelle started with the incantation. "Fo-LEO An-MORE-Tum, Fo-LEO An-MORE-Tum, Fo-LEO An-MORE-Tum, Follio Anmortum" Not terribly hard, but it could be tricky if you weren't careful. Next, it was on to the wand movement. A decisive left swish over the subject. Now we're talking. Janelle was the best wand swisher there was, at least in her own mind anyway. She practiced the left swish several times and then she was ready. Time for the hard part.

Janelle looked at Brownie for a good twenty seconds. Then she closed her eyes. She pictured a dead brown leaf laying on the ground. Then she tried to picture Brownie somehow morphing into that dead leaf. This was really going to be hard. Janelle was usually pretty good at visualizing, but this was taking it to another level entirely. If she couldn't picture it, she couldn't make it happen.......so, she was going to have to use her imagination. Taking a couple of deep breaths, Janelle tried again and again. Finally, she broke it down into steps in her mind. Piece by piece, Brownie was turning into that leaf. She replayed the scene over and over in her mind. She could do this.