One thing that Aryan had come to expect was the warmth lingering in the classrooms so he was not at all surprised that the Transfiguration one was toasty. With the prospect of another wonderful Transfiguration lesson {even if he wasn’t as good at most spells as he would have liked to be}, he passed by Carton’s desk to offer him the usual two finger wiggle wave. His first thought upon seeing the statue was that it was Medusa since the hair looked weirdly snake-ish. Not that he dawdled on it for too long - those boxes took up his curiosity. A pity Ary couldn’t peer into them.

With enough on his mind about the lesson already, he inched his way towards the seat, selecting one in the middle. If he chose one at the back, he would surely be lost in the sea of students given the fact that he was so tiny. The middle was usually a good place for the professors to see when he was struggling and needed help.

Maxine was ready for class - she walked in and took a look around. It was always fun to see what was in the room for the lesson. She liked to try and guess what they would be learning about today. And then she noticed the statue. Hearing the Professor say not to touch kind of just made her want to. But excerising restraint she did not.

"Hello Professor" She said with a smile and took a seat waiting to see what was in the boxes and what the statue was for.

Halloween was over and winter was fast approaching, but that didn’t have much effect on Giselle’s perspective. Aside from the usual wondering what holiday plans mum and dad might have this year, if they’d be heading home for the holidays or staying at school. Either way, she was prepared for it to be interesting. But first, there were still lessons to attend, and the third year Slytherin had headed to Transfiguration ready for just about anything.

Her dark hair was plaited into a braided crown around her head, just in case. Not that Transfiguration was half as dangerous as some other subjects as regards having her hair down, but she’d just felt like being regal. She might have still been rather petite, but she still entered the room with intent. Bue eyes had narrowed a bit at the statue on the desk at the front, but otherwise she kept her expression to a minimum. She’d given the professor a smile, though. “Good afternoon, Professor. Are we turning things into stone?”, she asked, heading for her usual seat near the windows.

It was sort of an educated guess.

This classroom may have been warm, but much of the castle was NOT. Poor Phoebe Calypso had her big brother's comically oversized flight jacket all the way zipped up and refused to take it off. She also had a cute green and silver striped hat (with pom poms and tassels and everything), which was a present from a friend who knew how unhappy she was being in Slytherin and wanted to make her feel better about it. She wasn't sure if she was allowed to wear hats in class or not, but her ears were cold. Phoebe was always freezing!!!!!!!! Even with the heat!!!!!!!!!!

"Hi MrProfessorDadCarton- I mean, um, Professor. Hi Aryan." She took a seat in the very front because she was SHORT. "Is that a medusa?"

Norman hadn’t been waiting long when the students began to file into the room, starting with Atreyu-Rehman. He returned the boy’s finger wiggle with a polite nod. “Hello, Mr. Atreyu-Rehman,” he said.

Bixby was next to arrive, and her smile received a slight smile from the professor in return. “Hello, Miss Bixby,” he greeted, his bluish-green eyes following the girl to her seat.

Norman likewise returned Barrington’s smile upon her arrival, a smile that grew slightly when she made a very good guess at today’s lesson plan. Not that he was going to give anything away this early on, of course! “Good afternoon, Miss Barrington,” he replied. “We might.”

Norman blinked as Calypso entered, The hat and jacket were unexpected but not completely out of place for the castle in November, Not half as unexpected as her greeting anyway. He was sure he heard “Dad” somewhere in that jumble of words, but he chose not to draw attention to it. Funnily enough, it wasn’t the first time a student had called him that. Have I really gone that soft? He thought to himself.

“Hello, Miss Calypso,” he replied with a slight smile as she too made a good guess about the statue. “Maybe so. In the meantime, please remove your hat and jacket in the classroom. If you’re still cold, I’ll adjust the heating charms.”


Norman waited a few more minutes after Calypso’s arrival. When he checked his watch, it showed 1:00 on the dot. Time to start! He peered down the hallway, his bluish-green eyes scanning for stragglers. When there were none to be found, he closed the door with a quick flick of his wand.

“Right, let’s get started!” he said, moving to his usual place at the front of the room. He paused a moment to allow time for the students to focus on him before continuing. “If you haven’t already, take a look at the statue on my desk.” He gestured, indicating the statue in question. “Who knows what this creature is? What does it do?”

OOC: Class has officially started! Feel free to jump in at any point. Just pretend your student has been here the whole time unless you want IC consequences for a late arrival. We’ll move on in 22-24 HOURS.

ProfessorDadCarton? Ary almost broke into a round of soft laughter. He simply resorted to a finger-wiggle wave to Phoebe instead. It always amused him to hear his fellow students slipping up and calling professors certain nicknames. He could relate, though he did try his best not to call Aunty Hady ‘Aunty’ during one of her lessons or activities. But see? Even Phoebe thought that the statue might be Medusa.

While waiting for Professor Carton to begin the lesson, he occupied himself by polishing off his work on one of his paperclip creations. This one was for Dynah; it was a violin complete with a bow. Maybe he should make a cello for Dynah’s crush, Tamara. Hmm. But he would wait a while longer: he still hadn’t gotten the read on Tamara fully and if she would break his sister’s heart. Anyway. Lesson time! Ary put away the violin creation carefully and let his eyes wander to the statue once more. Then again, this was the magical world, so maybe his answer needed to be a little more suited for that.

“A gorgon replica, perhaps,’’ Ary volunteered tentatively when he was called upon. “They turn anyone who looks at them into stone.”

Phoebe wiggled her fingers back at Ary. "I like your paperclip thingy, even though I can't see it properly enough to know what it is," she whispered loudly, before turning her head back to the front of the class.

No hats AND no jackets? Darn. "Oh-kay." Sighing, Phoebe removed her hat, and unzipped her brother's jacket. Only because mrprofessordadcarton called her Miss Calypso and not Miss Dupont. But did she reeeeeally have to take the whole jacket off? She sort of did, too scared of professors in general to argue, but then she put it over her lap like a small blanket. That way she was following the rules, but she still got to be warm and comfy and safe!

She fidgeted with the soft lining of the jacket in her lap, squinting at the figure. "Um... um, it looks like Medusa, or... a gorgon, like Ary said! I guess gorgons are the creature and Medusa is just one lady. Gorgons have poisonous snake hair!" Phoebe thought that was cool!!! But then her mind went down a path of snakes and Slytherins and girls named Phoebe and she found herself playing with her hair, frowning deeply and forgetting to pay attention. "Nobody can turn me into a gorgon, right? Professor Carton?" Phoebe was STRESSED ABOUT THIS.

Having entered shortly after Calypso, Nadia had just settled down into her seat and the warmth of the classroom as Professor Carton was closing the classroom door to begin. The Gryffindor followed his instruction, looking to the statue that she hadn’t taken notice of as yet while she had taken her supplies out. A slightly tilted head either way as if trying to size it up from afar, she had to admit her answer would mirror her brother and the Slytherin girl.

“A gorgon…” she echoed simply, not bothering to go into detail since they had already. But she did lean towards the firstie who seemed a little nervous. “I think you’re safe…” she remarked softly, adding a gentle smile trying to reassure the girl. After all, she didn't think the Slytherin had angered any of the gods lately.

Aurora had arrived at the Transfiguration classroom on time but only just. The rather dramatic skid that her shoes made and the slightly out of breath huff as she sat down at the desk nearest the door was evidence that she had practically run her way from the stables where she was petting the horses, up the stairs who really were having a moment and onto the sixth floor where she had burst into the classroom literally seconds before Carton started. There was a small plastered on her face to show in case anyone were to glance in her direction, a visual ‘hello nothing to see here’.

The dramatic entrance had obviously meant that she hadn’t noticed the statue on the desk and her rather petite size all the way at the back wasn’t giving her the best vantage point of it either. She had to raise her bottom off the seat to be able to glance her way between all the raised hands of eager students wanting to answer the question. It wasn’t until she spotted the snake hair that she raised her own hand. “Celia from Monsters Inc” she beamed, rather proud of herself. The other students had answered what the creature was so giving an example was the next best thing, right? Nevermind that there was a much older, much more famous example in the form of a Greek myth that she could’ve proposed but let’s be honest, that wasn’t how Aurora’s brain functioned.

Norman’s bluish-green eyes swept the room in search of hands in the air. The first one he saw was the younger Atreyu-Rehman. The boy’s answer earned an approving nod. “Yes, correct on both counts, Mr. Atreyu-Rehman” he replied.

The professor half-expected an argument when he asked Calypso to remove her hat and jacket, but he was pleased that didn’t happen. “Thank you, Miss Calypso,” he said with a slight smile in gratitude. The smile remained at the mention of gorgons, Medusa, and snake hair. “That’s certainly true.” He shook his head at the question. “Definitely not!” There would be no turning students into gorgons on his watch - or turning them into stone either!

The elder Atreyu-Rehman had come to the same conclusion as the rest of the class and likewise received a nod of approval. “Very good, Miss Atreyu-Rehman,” he replied.

Norman noticed Ackerly’s arrival seconds before the lesson began, but since she was technically on time, he drew no attention to it aside from the usual greeting. Her answer, however, got a confused blink/ Who was-? Ohh, the purple monster with snake hair, he vaguely remembered from the movie. “Not quite, though that’s a great guess, Miss Ackerly,” he said.


After a few moments, Norman saw no more hands in the air and took that as his cue to move on. “Excellent guesses, class!” He addressed the group. “As most of you guessed, that creature is a gorgon, specifically one named Medusa, and gorgons turn people to stone by looking them in the eye. Today we’ll be learning a spell to turn objects into stone, but first I have one more question for you.”

He paused a moment before giving the next question. Everyone still paying attention? Okay, good, Moving on… “When would it be useful to transfigure something into stone? Give me one scenario.”

OOC: You’ll have AT LEAST 22 HOURS for this one, possibly longer if I get swamped with work tomorrow. As always, catchup is allowed.

Something Ary thoroughly enjoyed since his start at Hogwarts was the fact that the majority of persons he greeted with finger wiggles seemed to enjoy that form greeting since they would return it in the exact manner. Smiling at Phoebe, he held up the creation to his Housemate. “A violin. It’s for Dynah, my sister.” He supposed a regular ole Gobstone marble would be on the list next for Dy since she had successfully joined the Junior Hippogriffs over the last summer. As for Phoebe, she should keep her own eyes peeled: Ary enjoyed making paperclip creations for his friends.

His eyes were still on Medusa!Gorgon. Of course, he and Phoebe could be wrong but… the resemblance was striking. Though his friend was all the way at the front, Ary could hear the stress in her voice. Had he been closer, he would offer her the usual double pat on her arm as reassurance.

But he and Phoebe were correct about Gorgons and Medusa it turned out; it also made sense that Carton led with that since they were about to learn how to turn stuff into stone. The Slytherin picked up his quill absently, his mind thinking of a scenario. “When something bad’s chasing you and you want it to stop,’’ Ary volunteered. “That is, if the spell allows you to cast it on living things?”

They were all correct it seemed…well all but Aurora, her guess was not something Nadia was familiar with. One statue of a gorgon, which given the nature of the gorgon was both ironic and telling of how people have beaten them. As for reasons to have to turn something to stone, the third year thought for a moment on options as they moved onto the next question. Ary had already spoken of using it against an enemy that was chasing them.

“How about helping create a secure shelter,” Nadia offered, her thoughts briefly touching on the story of the three little pigs. When one looked for shelter outdoors, one could certainly use the trees and such, but being able to use stone could prove more helpful, especially when there wasn’t natural stone already to be used instead.

Phoebe was definitely not brave enough to argue with professors, especially not the professors she liked. She was pretty sure that none of her housemates or dormmates or anybody liked her!! And she didn't want to make it worse by losing house points for Slytherin!! That was another reason she didn't want to be a gorgonPhoebe, besides not wanting to be the worst--- she wanted to make friends! She didn't want everyone to be scared about her hurting them... The words of Nadia and Professor Carton reassured her, but she was still a little worried about this. Being a medusa would mess up her whole life plan, you see. "Professor? What's a 'Celia Monster's Ink?'" She had never heard of a Celia Monster before. Was it a sea creature?

Phoebe didn't want to turn things into stone! It was mean! Nevertheless, she tried to think about how it might be important. "Well... If you needed a paperweight but you didn't have anything heavy to use, you could turn something small into stone." She hesitated. "Only for a little bit, and you have to promise that you'll change it back." It was important for the paperweight to feel safe, Phoebe was pretty sure.

One Bryony Paton had been here the entire time, sat at a desk beside Aryan. Now unlike how she normally supplied answers for most questions being asked during lessons, she hadn't the previous times. Why, one might ask.. well that was simply because her eyes had been drawn to gorgon statue! How clue was that! She most certainly was listening and taking notes, so no need to worry Professor!

And to prove that she was listening, her hand finally went into the air as she heard the following question. Glancing over at her friend Phoebe too when she heard her ask what a 'Celia Monster's Ink wasn't. "Celia is the name of a muggle cartoon monster called Monsters Inc. It's a really good movie." She nodded her head as she said this as if this would prove she was telling the truth. "What if you were practicing, Professor? That would be an okay time to turn something to stone, right?" Practice made perfect!

Norman glanced around the room in search of hands in the air. Once again, the younger Atreyu-Rheman’s was the first one he saw, and once again the boy was on the right track. “That would be a very good use indeed,” he replied with an approving smile. “This particular spell isn’t meant for use on living things, but you could use it to create a stone barrier between an opponent and yourself. Thank you, Mr. Atreyu-Rehman.”

The elder Atreyu-Rehman wasn’t far behind, and her answer likewise got a smile from the professor. “Excellent use, Miss Atreyu-Rheman,” he said. “If you were precise in your visualization, you could create a stone house with transfiguration alone.”

Norman’s smile almost turned into a laugh upon hearing Calypso’s question… almost but not quite. It was a valid question. If he hadn’t vaguely recalled the movie, he would’ve been confused himself! He was about to answer it when Paton beat him to it. "Miss Paton is correct," he replied with a nod. "If I recall correctly, that character somewhat resembles the statue on my desk." As to the paperweight suggestion, he smiled. “Very good use, Miss Calypso!” He didn’t know about the promising to change it back bit though. That would depend on where one found the object.

Paton's suggestion described almost exactly what they would be doing with Duro today. "Practice is an excellent use, Miss Paton," he replied with a slight smile. A use with which the students would be acquainted momentarily...



Seeing no more hands in the air, Norman addressed the group once more, “Excellent answers! All of you provided useful scenarios in which to turn an object to stone. As I said, we’ll be learning a spell to do just that. The spell in question is Duro, otherwise known as the Hardening Charm.”

Crossing the room to his desk, he moved the gorgon statue to one side. He picked up the stack of boxes and neatly arranged each on atop the desk. Opening the nearest one, he produced a feather and held it up for the class to see. “To cast, move your wand up, then into a downward curve . The wand movement should look a bit like an open letter D, like this…” He made the upward straight line and downward curve movement.

“Visualize how you want your stone to look. What size? What color? Is it smooth or rough? Then say the incantation, pronounced DYOO-roh.” He made the wand movement again and cast, “Duro!” In an instant, there was a small, smooth green stone in his hand where the feather used to be.

Norman flicked his wand at the blackboard, and the spell information appeared. “Your task is to practice Duro on the objects in these boxes,” he continued, turning to his desk once more. He opened three more boxes, revealing an assortment of feathers, ping pong balls, marbles, and buttons. The final box remained unopened, and Norman set that one aside for now. “There are plenty of materials to go around. You may take as many as you want, but please practice on each material at least once. Also, try to vary your stones’ appearance as much as possible. We’ll be using these stones for an activity later on.”

He paused a few moments to allow time for the information to sink in before kicking off the activity. “You have twenty minutes to transfigure as many stones as you can, starting NOW!”

SPOILER!!: Blackboard

Incantation: Duro

Pronunciation: DYOO-roh

Wand movement: upward straight line & downward curve; open D-shape

Light: None

Use: turns objects to stone

OOC: Thanks for sticking with us! The main activity starts here. For this one, your student needs to use the spell Duro on the objects in the boxes at the front of the room. They may use as many or as few materials as they wish. Variation in the types of materials used & stones’ appearance is strongly encouraged, but not required for credit. You’ll have AT LEAST 72 HOURS for this activity. As always, catchup is allowed if you’re just jumping in.

Ary really liked some of the ideas he was hearing from his classmates, particularly the paperweight mention. He actually chuckled when Bry explained about Celia, completely unsurprised that she had already piped up a response about it already.

The firstie gave Carton a small smile when the man thanked him. Ary was just glad his idea made sense; he also made a note about how the spell should not be used on living things. Hmm… so that meant that technically the spell could be but it was immoral to do so? But looking at Carton perform the Charm, Ary thought it all seemed so easy. Of course, he knew there was more to it. But he was eager to give the spell a try so he busied himself by making the appropriate notes then getting started on practice.

“DYOO-roh. DYOO-roh.” It was a sort of funny incantation, wasn’t it? “DYOO-roh. Duro. Duro.” A few upward straight line with a downward curve, exactly as professor Carton had demonstrated, were done. Yep, he got it now! Or so he hoped as he headed up to the boxes to select his materials: a feather and a couple of marbles. Perhaps he should have taken more but Ary knew that he wasn’t that yet versed in Transfiguration to get ahead of himself; meaning, he knew he wouldn't be able to practice on each of the type of material supplied.

Aurora didn’t really think her answer would be correct considering that she had said it after all the Medusa and Gorgon answers but arguably it wasn’t totally inaccurate. Other than that Celia only had one big eye so did that really make her a Cyclops? A Cyclops Gorgon hybrid! Her mind was whizzing through these thoughts so quickly that she didn’t even hear the first year questioning her answer nor any of the responses back. In fact, she was too busy drawing a not so artistic rendition of Celia on her parchment whilst the second question was being asked.

It wasn’t until the movement of the fellow students around her as they prepared themselves for the next activity did she snap herself back into reality. If it weren’t for the instructions on the blackboard, the Ravenclaw might’ve been totally lost. She scooted her way out of her seat and bounced her way in the procession over to the box of objects, picking up a feather and considering whether to use it to tickle one of her fellow classmates on her way back to her desk.

Glancing back up at the board to make sure she had the pronunciation correct she started practicing the spell first before making an attempt on her feather. Although why she would want to change such a pretty feather into a stone was a little beyond her. Furthermore she had completely missed the part about picturing the size and shape and appearance of the rock and therefore just had the image of a boring old pebble in her head instead.

“Dyoo-roh. Duuuro” she repeated, her head tilted a little to the right like a Crup concentrating on his owners commands but being a little perplexed by them. “Duro!” She drew the open ended D in the air with her wand before attempting it on her feather which unsurprisingly transformed into that aforementioned boring old pebble.

Ary decided he would start with a marble and selected a completely transparents one. He idly rolled it over his desk as he thought about what colour and shape he wanted his first stone to be. Naturally, he didn’t want it to be that big, figuring it was best to start small.

It only took him about a minute to decide what the stone would look like. Setting the marble directly before him, the Slytherin got to work. “Duro,’’ he said quietly but putting as much intent into the spell and the appropriate wand work that he had just practised that could possibly be mustered. In his mind, Aryan was seeing a bright red, jagged stone.

It came as no surprise to him when the marble remained unchanged. Completely unchanged. Transfiguration did not really seem to be Ary’s subject as yet, like how Charms and CoMC were. It was disappointing since this particular subject was a rather interesting one.

With a soft sigh, he raised his wand to try again.

Wait .... what?? Was she supposed to know what the creature was on Professor Carton's desk? Emma stared blankly when someone mentioned a gorgon or something. Was that even a real creature? But apparently it was and this particular one was known as Medusa. She'd heard of Medusa, but Medusa always looked more woman than creature. At least had some womanly traits.

When would it be useful to transfigure something to stone? She considered this a moment and her one thought came from the classic story of Beauty and the Beast. When the Beast blended in with the gargoyles and Gaston didn't notice him, so the Beast was able to gain the upperhand. Disguise and self-defense.

It came as no surprise to Emma when they were going to be learning this spell although she wasn't sure she'd ever had use for it. It was kind of a funny pronunciation, wasn't it? "Dyou-ro?" she said unsure of herself. The U was throwing her off. She glanced around seeing Aryan was struggling too? But there was Aurora who seemed to be successful with a pebble, "psst..." she whispered toward the Ravenclaw. "Little help maybe?"

Aryan was actually having a miserable time. Twice he had to employ Professor Khanna’s concentration meditation technique {which helped him, thankfully}, otherwise he was quite sure he’d have lost his head completely. Fresh from another brisk meditation period, he pictured the stone once more. “Bright red and jagged,’’ his mind kept repeating. There was also a little more determination in his little skinny frame. Perhaps this time…

“Duro.’’ The wand movement was carefully made and a second later…

Ary was beaming broadly, triumphantly celebrating inwardly as the stone was picked up and surveyed. Yes, this was exactly what he had pictured in his mind. Excuse him while he sat there in awe at what he had just accomplished.

"Wow," Phoebe whispered to nobody in particular. "I want to see the Monster's Ink movie with Celia the squid." She was pretty sure it was about a squid. Why else would there be ink? But then the squid apparently looked like Medusa. Phoebe was confused.

Duro: DYOO-roh: The Hardening Charm: turns things into rocks: wand movement looks like an open 'D'.

Phoebe picked a loooong grey feather, a cracked ping-pong ball, a pretty bluey-purpley marble, and about five buttons of various colors and sizes. She picked out the feather first. "Duro!" Nothing happened (she was drawing the 'D' backwards). "Duro! Duro!! Duro!!! DURO!!!" In her frustration, she managed to wiggle her wand into the proper shape and the spell worked. She had managed to turn her grey feather into a smooth grey stone with a feathered pattern. Ooh! Pretty! Phoebe's birdlike instincts kicked in and she put it in her pocket for keeps. "Duro Duro Duro Duro! Duro!" Once she'd figured out how to cast the spell, she quickly accumulated a small hoard of extra-special smooth rocks. This one was a cracked white stone. A bunch were flat skipping stones in primary colors, one with a hole in the middle. SHE ALSO HAD A BLUEY PURPLEY PRETTY SHINY ROCK. "Look, Professor! This rock is my favorite!" She showed him her bluey-purpley rock.

"Do you think I should turn them back into their proper objects? Even the purpley one?" She didn't want to offend the materials that she had very rudely started turning into rocks. But- but- shiny. She had to balance her morals with her love of shiny rocks. You know what? She bet this marble actually enjoyed being a rock instead of a marble. She should keep it this way! Even if she turned the others back.

Norman roamed the room as the students set to work, quietly observing their progress as he moved. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the younger Atreyu-Rehman practicing. Before he could cross the room to the boy’s desk to offer advice, he had succeeded on his own and produced a nice red stone. “Excellent work, Mr. Atreyu-Rehman!” he said with a smile as he passed.

Calypso was also moving along nicely. Norman smiled as the girl held up one of the many stones she’d produced, a bluish-purple one. “Great job, Miss Calypso! That’s a lovely rock,” he said. He shook his head at the question. “Please don’t change them back. You’ll need your rocks for the next activity.”

Elsewhere Ackerly was making progress too. Norman was not a Legilimens, therefore he had no idea if the pebble produced was what the girl had in mind. Nonetheless, it was a complete transfiguration; the effort earned an approving smile. “Well done, Miss Ackerly!”

He was about to turn the other direction when he overheard Montmorency whispering. With which part of the spell did she need help? Her pronunciation sounded fine. Was it the wand movement? The visualization? “Is there anything I can do to help, Miss Montmorency?” he asked.

OOC: You still have 24-36 HOURS until we move on.

Good to know.

Not that Nadia had an immediate need for a house made of stone at the moment, but it was filed away for potential later use. As was the information about the spell they would be working on as Professor Carton spoke, the Gryffindor watched the man carefully to see his demonstration, copying down what was written on the chalkboard as well. Duro…sounding like durable to her. Which of course made complete sense given the story she had been thinking of and what they would be trying to do. Turn other items into stones.

After everything was in her notes, she got up to gather her items as directed, taking a moment to pick out a few things. Feathers seemed like the biggest test, light as air and quite different from any stone, so Nadia took a couple. One yellow ping pong ball to start with, a few marbles, one that looked it had a flame within and another that was bluish and a couple white buttons to round it out. Professor Carton had told them to try on each of the materials after all. She then returned to her workspace and practiced the incantation first to be comfortable with the pronunciation.

“Duro…duro….duro….duro.”

Simple and small word, but needing just the right emphasis. Feeling okay with how it sounded, her wand was finally taken out to practice the wand movement…a little more complicated. Up…downward curve. Up…downward curve. After several shots, Nadia felt ready to try it for real, selecting the blue marble for the first shot. Envisioning it as a more solid stone almost like a globe, she took a deep breath and began. “Duro,” she cast, her wand moving in sync. There didn’t seem to be any change as she picked it up to inspect, so down it went on her desk once more to repeat. “Duro!” she cast, with a bit more focus, which rewarded her with a bluish stone silently larger than the original marble.

Ary looked up at Professor Carton and gave him a smile of gratitude for the encouragement. It really felt great to have at least done one transfiguration successfully. Hearing Phoebe’s exclamation about her rock, he craned his neck to get a better view. Indeed it was a pretty one. Ary was in awe of the colour, a colour that he found mesmerising.

But he couldn’t stare forever!

No, Sir!

Back to work it was with the Slytherin opting to use the snowy white feather. “Duro,’’ he recited quite calmly, tracing out the upward straight line, downward curve curve. Ary was now envisioning a lime green, smooth, oval shaped stone; sort of like a paperweight. He crossed the fingers of his right hand but it was all futile.

That feather remained snowy as ever.