Aurora had slipped into the lesson mere seconds before one just as the Professor went to close the door. She had been distracted after lunch by Beezley the house elf and had gotten into a complicated conversation as to what was the best way to eat a potato. Was it mashed, roasted, fried? The discussion had gone on for so long that she had lost track of the time and had found herself practically running up the stairs to arrive on time.

She was glad that her little legs had seemingly achieved the impossible as Transfiguration was a subject she greatly enjoyed. Perhaps it was because it was so practical and less theory which meant she was on her feet more often than in the other academically intense subjects or maybe it was her affinity for her Head of House that helped? Either way, it was a subject she hoped that she could do somewhat well in although it wasn’t completely necessary for her career goals.

Still with her head firmly in the camp on chips vs mashed potato (both of which were arguably better covered in cheese) she had forgotten to pay attention to the first question and was a little behind on the activity until the others were stood up and getting involved. Grateful it had all been written on the board, the Ravenclaw quickly practiced the spell a couple of times before they moved on. “Ig-nee-see-o Foo-nem. Ignisio Funem” she uttered. Then went her wand whipping its way around the classroom in several directions. Easy enough she thought.

Aurora truthfully didn’t like the idea of hurting anyone even if they had the intention of hurting her. It had been why she hadn’t signed up for duelling club or why she wasn’t likely to join YATI like her older sister just had. “Some creatures don’t know any better. It’s not their fault that humans like to invade their space and so why should we use a spell that could potentially harm them because WE are being nincompoops and being chased by one?” If a human was stupid enough to get within the vicinity of a dangerous creature without adequate protection then it was their fault and not the poor creature. Besides, humans were able to apparate were they not?

So they were stopping practice for a moment to consider more about when they'd use such a spell. Emma liked what Aurora had said about creatures not knowing better and how humans invaded their space, which was definitely a cause for concern with the spells use.

But if she remembered anything from lessons this term, sometimes it was to take the more difficult sides. Which she supposed what Sloane was getting at too in terms of saying why not use it if someone was trying to harm them. "I suppose something to consider would be what the situation is? Is it for a circus where you're trying to do a fire demonstration? Are you trying to cause harm? Is someone harming you and it's more of a defense?"

Summer had been listening to the Professor and she had been doing her best to think about answers, but she had stayed silent, as she was a bit confused about the spell and truthfully she hadn't really spoke much lately as she had felt a little down about it being her last year at Hogwarts, like seriously where did the time go.

Summer decided to answer the current questions, she was struggling though to think about when to use it, in the end she just guessed. She raised her hand. "Professor maybe when there's no one around you and you can just use it to stop the other person coming near you." Summer wouldn't use it though, because it seemed dangerous.

SPOILER!!: Individual replies ^_^

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

Ary smiled in gratitude up at Carton. Yes, the second year was trying to do his best here. And since he felt he had the incantation down, he continued with the wand practice. There was determination to get it one hundred percent accurate, you see. However, the wand was lowered when Carton began addressing the class once more.

One possible answer jumped out at Ary instantly. How often had he seen it in movies and TV shows when the good guys usually tried to ensure it? The second year raised his hand. “You should consider those around you because you wouldn’t want to accidentally hurt them.” Exactly like the good guys trying not to hurt the innocent people around.

Norman saw Atreyu-Rehman’s hand in the air first, He listened to the boy’s answer, nodding approvingly. “Very good, Mr. Atreyu-Rehman,” he said. “It’s important to be aware of your surroundings when casting any spell.”

Quote:

Originally Posted by astrocat

Brandon quietly nodded, considering the professor's words. If anyone tried to hurt his family, he could fight them with everything he could... because he'd be angry then. But he wasn't angry now, he was just... tired and lonely. It was hard to put himself in the necessary mindset.

Brilliant question? Brandon turned pink around the ears, and sank deeper into his seat. Nobody ever said that about him, that he asked brilliant questions. Did he really?

"I think you'd have to at least think about the amount of pain or force required to subdue a potential attacker. They could be a terrible person, but that doesn't mean you should burn them if you don't actually have to." To Brandon, it wasn't about how bad they were, but about how dangerous they were in the present moment. And he could only picture a few situations where he would feel okay with setting anybody on fire. He shivered uncomfortably at the very idea, looking at it from a healer's perspective. "I feel like this is a spell that should only be used defensively."

Norman noticed Fox’s ears turning pink, but he pretended that he didn’t. He was hardly surprised by the boy’s answer; he had to admire his compassion for even dark wizards. “Admirable sentiments, Mr. Fox,” he said with a slight smile. “No need to stoop to their level if you don’t have to.”

Quote:

Originally Posted by aRogueOne

After practising the spell on and off for the last few minutes Hooper turned and focused on the Professor once again to listen. He’d been too busy practising to really hear who’d asked the question but that didn’t really matter.

When using a spell like this, there were, of course, lots of different things to consider as the Professor mentioned. He however only really had to consider the situation. “I think the situation is the most important to consider, Professor. If you’ve got dark wizards chasing you and you’re fighting for your life or to save someone, why wouldn’t you use it? I know you could hurt the wizard but if it saves your life, it’s worth it.” In case the other students couldn’t tell, Hooper had done a lot of reading on this type of moral decision because he wanted to train to become an auror. “If someone is trying to hurt me, I’m going to use something to try and stop them but not hurt them no more than needed, of course,” because there was absolutely no excuse for hurting someone more than necessary.

Ridley-Rush’s answer went in a completely different direction, one with which Norman was inclined to agree. Prior to his teaching career, he’d been in that exact situation before, so he was speaking from personal experience when he replied, “In that situation, you’ll do whatever you must to protect yourself. Good thinking, Mr. Ridley-Rush.”

Quote:

Originally Posted by natethegreat

It would seem right off, that the efforts, no matter how small they were actually being done, weren't at least being taken out of consideration. Because while there was still the emotion of fear for actually needing to cast the spell soon most likely, Archie did still want to at least try to do so. Pushing through those things was what mattered most. He wasn't about to let a little fire get in his way either, but still was no where near as excited about it as most would be when learning a new spell. It was still to be said, that although it was previously mentioned, the conjured flames wouldn't burn until willed to do so, the thought of it alone was what brought about the frightened state of mind.

Which would play a part in Archie's own answer upon hearing the question that was being asked. It was as good of a moment to do so than ever, so why not mention the very thing. Minus the specifics of it however. Raising his hand, he'd state "Say you're in a duel with someone, and you know the opponent fears fire. This could be a spell that you might not need to even use directly on them, just getting the whip near them would act as a good enough advantage to rattle them." Of course, the student didn't mention this was one of his own fears as well. To verbally express such a thing would give that upper hand edge to those he might duel with in the future seeing as he wanted to join the Dueling Club here at Hogwarts. So, revealing a secret like that aloud to others there in the classroom would be a no-go in his opinion. Besides, it's not like they were asked to give personal and small anecdotes like that as part of the question. Archibold just figured to use the theory of it though for his own response because why not. No one else touched on that area of its many advantages/disadvantages specifically.

Regardless of how long he’d been teaching, Norman never ceased to be amazed at the students’ creative answers. O’Brien’s use of the fire rope spell was one that wouldn’t have immediately come to mind, but a valid one nonetheless. “An innovative use of the fire rope spell indeed, Mr. O'Brien,” he replied with an approving smile. “In that case, you might not even need to use fire, as long as you opponent thinks it’s real.”

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lottiepot

Aurora had slipped into the lesson mere seconds before one just as the Professor went to close the door. She had been distracted after lunch by Beezley the house elf and had gotten into a complicated conversation as to what was the best way to eat a potato. Was it mashed, roasted, fried? The discussion had gone on for so long that she had lost track of the time and had found herself practically running up the stairs to arrive on time.

She was glad that her little legs had seemingly achieved the impossible as Transfiguration was a subject she greatly enjoyed. Perhaps it was because it was so practical and less theory which meant she was on her feet more often than in the other academically intense subjects or maybe it was her affinity for her Head of House that helped? Either way, it was a subject she hoped that she could do somewhat well in although it wasn’t completely necessary for her career goals.

Still with her head firmly in the camp on chips vs mashed potato (both of which were arguably better covered in cheese) she had forgotten to pay attention to the first question and was a little behind on the activity until the others were stood up and getting involved. Grateful it had all been written on the board, the Ravenclaw quickly practiced the spell a couple of times before they moved on. “Ig-nee-see-o Foo-nem. Ignisio Funem” she uttered. Then went her wand whipping its way around the classroom in several directions. Easy enough she thought.

Aurora truthfully didn’t like the idea of hurting anyone even if they had the intention of hurting her. It had been why she hadn’t signed up for duelling club or why she wasn’t likely to join YATI like her older sister just had. “Some creatures don’t know any better. It’s not their fault that humans like to invade their space and so why should we use a spell that could potentially harm them because WE are being nincompoops and being chased by one?” If a human was stupid enough to get within the vicinity of a dangerous creature without adequate protection then it was their fault and not the poor creature. Besides, humans were able to apparate were they not?

Ackerly’s answer likewise got a smile from Norman. It was heartwarming to hear how many students hesitated to use the fire rope spell against other living creatures. “Good point, Miss Ackerly,” he said, “It’s important to consider the other party’s intent when choosing which spell to use.”

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhoenixRising

So they were stopping practice for a moment to consider more about when they'd use such a spell. Emma liked what Aurora had said about creatures not knowing better and how humans invaded their space, which was definitely a cause for concern with the spells use.

But if she remembered anything from lessons this term, sometimes it was to take the more difficult sides. Which she supposed what Sloane was getting at too in terms of saying why not use it if someone was trying to harm them. "I suppose something to consider would be what the situation is? Is it for a circus where you're trying to do a fire demonstration? Are you trying to cause harm? Is someone harming you and it's more of a defense?"

Norman listened to Montmorency’s answer, nodding in approval. “Very good, Miss Montmorency,” he replied. “You’d need to consider the situation to know how much force to put behind the spell.”

Quote:

Originally Posted by Weasley174

Summer had been listening to the Professor and she had been doing her best to think about answers, but she had stayed silent, as she was a bit confused about the spell and truthfully she hadn't really spoke much lately as she had felt a little down about it being her last year at Hogwarts, like seriously where did the time go.

Summer decided to answer the current questions, she was struggling though to think about when to use it, in the end she just guessed. She raised her hand. "Professor maybe when there's no one around you and you can just use it to stop the other person coming near you." Summer wouldn't use it though, because it seemed dangerous.

Here was another creative use of the fire rope spell. Valentine’s answer got a small smile. “Yes, you could use the fire rope spell as a warning in that situation,” he replied. “Very good, Miss Valentine.”

Norman did one final glance around the room for hands in the air. When he saw none, he addressed the group again, “Excellent answers, class! You all brought up important points to consider when casting the fire rope spell, but the next activity will focus on being aware of one’s surroundings. While I hope you never find yourselves in a situation where you need to use the fire rope spell with real fire, it’s important to practice it just in case… and we’re going to do just that.”

“I’m sure you noticed the dummies at the back of the room…” Just in case anyone hadn’t noticed, he gestured in that direction. “These dummies are made of solid magical ice, with a fireproof box inside where the heart should be.These boxes contain candy and small plush toys.” He held up a small white box as an example; this particular box was full of chocolate frogs. “Your job is to try burning the dummies - and only the dummies - with the fire rope spell. If you succeed, you may keep the contents of the box as your prize.”

Norman paused to allow time for that information to sink in. With a flick of his wand, he opened the wardrobe at the front of the room to reveal silvery suits that somewhat resembled spaceman costumes. “This wardrobe contains fireproof suits. As a safety precaution, I’d like you to put one on over your uniform and place your belongings inside the wardrobe. The wardrobe, like all furniture in the classroom today, is charmed to be fireproof. We don’t want any accidents!” He gave the students a warning look as if to say, no shenanigans or else!

“When you have your suit on an belongings stored, you may spread out and start practicing. Remember, it takes careful aim and intense concentration to burn your target. You have the rest of the lesson, starting now!"

OOC: Thanks for sticking with us! We’ve made it to the main activity. To start, your student needs to put their belongings in the wardrobe and put on a fireproof suit over their uniform. Students are to spread out and practice the fire rope spell on the ice dummies. Each dummy contains a fireproof box full of prizes. If your student successfully burns the dummy, the prize is theirs. Feel free to headcanon the contents of the prize boxes. Norman and I will be checking in periodically. You have ABOUT 72 HOURS for this activity!

Yes, Ary had noticed those dummies. And they definitely would not be having an activity with clothing as confirmed when Carton gave the class a rundown of the tasks ahead. The Transfiguration professor certainly liked handing out candies and plush toys, didn’t he? Ary was more interested in the stuffies, to be honest. Whatever dummy he picked, he hoped it would be one that held toys.

With the proverbial green light given, Ary lugged his bag over to the wardrobe which he placed in it. His belongings safely tucked away, Ary removed one of the ‘Astronaut’ suit and carefully pulled it on. Legs first, then arms and torso followed by the zipper going all the way up to his neck.

It was a comfortable suit.

Aurora truly hoped that there would be no need to use this particular spell on anyone, let alone a creature but she agreed that knowing how to protect herself was critically important. Her sister had tried teaching her physical combat skills but the girl was more interested in how pretty the pink shade of her boxing gloves were and how cool her dimensional blonde hair looked in the Dutch braids she had plaited on her head which whipped around every time she moved and bounced around. It was safe to say that combat in any form was not her ‘thing’.

It wasn’t that she was complaining, in fact it was quite the contrary as Aurora appreciated anything that was soft and fluffy and cute, but it did seem like the Hogwarts Professors had an affinity for bribing the students with prizes for their academic achievements. The Ravenclaw would’ve been quite satisfied with an extra house point or two, a verbal praise or a quick pat on the back. She was dog-like in a way, if she had a tail every time she was complimented it would be wagging. Her parents would likely appreciate the housepoints too considering the population of stuffed animals on the fourteen-year-olds bed was rapidly growing, especially if it resembled a Unicorn in some way.

She hopped off her seat after listening to the instructions Professor Carton gave and shuffled her way over to the fireproof wardrobe where she selected a suit that seemed around her size (albeit a little long in the legs but that was the issue with being on the shorter side) and pulled it over the top of her uniform. It was certainly a statement and the fourth year couldn’t help but to giggle at herself resembling an Astronaut. Her belongings were placed within the confines of the wardrobe before she skipped her way to an ice dummy somewhere in the middle of all the action.

Peering at the back of the classroom, Hooper cast a quick glance at the massive ice blocks shaped like dummies and grinned. Sure, some people may look at this as a boring little game for kids, but not him. He was going to whip a load of ice and then get a reward at the end of it. Truthfully, he mostly wanted to try out the spell, but the reward was cool too. Maybe he’d simply give it away to a younger student or back to the professor.

What he wasn’t prepared for however was the silly looking space suits. Not one to let a small thing like that get him down however, he quickly slipped on the suit over his robes and found himself a free dummies to whip.

After taking a courtesy peer around to make sure that no one was in the blast radius, Hopper got a good grasp of his wand and proceeded to bring it back before swiftly bringing it back forward towards the dummy with a thunderous crack. The fire that clung to the whip was bright in similar colours to that of what he imagined a phoenix bursting into flames might look like. It could be argued however that the seventh year may not have been focusing as much as he should have been. As the whip shot forward towards the dummy, it connected with a thud to one of the dummies arms, almost severing it off completely but not quite. Not letting it deter him, he quickly brought up his wand again and back down, a large grin across his face as another loud crack echoed around the classroom.

This was a cool lesson.

Brandon's heart sank a little when he saw the ice dummies. He wasn't sure he wanted to use participate, but he was nothing if not a rule follower. He stepped into a fireproof suit and put away his belongings, at the very least to protect him and his things from his classmates. He spread out and found a dummy. He could do this.

"Ignisio Funem." Flame shot out of his wand, but it wasn't long enough to reach the dummy. "Ignisio Funem. Ignisio Funem!" At last, the fiery rope wrapped itself around the dummy tightly. He just had to melt it now, which if he remembered correctly, involved strong concentration and willpower.

Brandon had great concentration, tired or not, but willpower not so much. It was just that the dummies were so human, with their icy body and little box heart. And he'd already tied it all up, and it wasn't even doing anything back. And then there was the story his sister had told him about dummies... and there was that one time when he hurt the fake kappa... and there was the idea that the only reason he was hurting the poor dummy was so he could get candy as a prize. It just felt so wrong to him. And he tried really hard to have the intensity and mindset needed to burn the dummy, but all his anger kept fizzling out. He just couldn't do it. He had tried. "Finite."

Brandon felt like a loser for not being able to make the spell work (what if it had been a life or death situation?), but he was also unhappy with himself for trying to do it, and most of all he was concerned that the dummy might be hurt. Even though he'd failed to burn it much, he'd managed to melt it a little and he felt terrible!

His lip may have wobbled a little when he saw water droplets dripping out of a groove in the dummy. How could he have been so cruel to it?

Now that he had the protective gear in place, Ary moved toward the ice-dummies. He randomly selected one and as he raised his wand, he mentally repeated the incantation. “Ignisio Funem. Ignisio Funem.” Yep, he still had the incantation down, Ary was sure of this. It was time to get this show on the road.

“Ignisio Funem,’’ he said as confidently as possible, focusing on the dummy and making the whip-like wand movement at it. Unfortunately for the second year, not a single flicker of flame appeared, much less an entire rope. Now, Aryan had had enough experience with spellwork by now to know that not succeeding on the first try did not mean necessarily that he wouldn’t eventually. It was all about focusing and persevering.

“Ignisio Funem.” Cue that whip-like movement! Cue failure again. However, Ary wasn’t discouraged just yet. He was already making a third attempt.

Had Norman known what the students were thinking, he would’ve assured them that there was no bribery involved with the prizes. He had candy and plushes left over from the quiz bowl activity earlier this term, and he had no use for such things himself. It made more sense to give the rest away than to have them cluttering up his office indefinitely. As the students went to work, he roamed the room once more. While he’d prepared ahead of time with fireproof charms on himself, he took care to stand behind the students well out of their line of fire.

He liked what he saw so far. Ackerly’s preparation got an approving nod. He couldn’t wait to see what she’d do when she started practicing the spell. Elsewhere, Ridley-Rush’s near sever of the dummy’s arm got a smile and a soft round of applause. “Excellent, Mr. Ridley-Rush!” he said. “Try wrapping your rope around the dummy’s waist; that’ll melt it much faster.”

Fox’s spell likewise received a smile from Norman. Although he hadn’t burned it much yet, he’d succeeded in tying the dummy up. “Great aim, Mr. Fox,” he said with an approving nod. He could tell this was hard for the boy, so he offered extra words of encouragement. “One thing that helps when I want to produce real fire is to imagine something that makes me angry.”

Reversing course, Norman noticed Atreyu-Rehman’s spell attempts. “Very good, Mr. Atreyu-Rehman. You can do it,” he said with an encouraging smile. “Visualize your rope. How does it look coming out of your wand?”

As he made his way to the front, he checked his watch and saw that time was winding down. “You have about 10 minutes left!” he announced.

OOC: You’ll have a little extra time for this activity. We’ll wrap up in about 18 HOURS.

Aurora would’ve been more than happy to share her dummy and lend Brandon a helping hand if she knew what anxiety the task was giving him. Instead of being an interfering or distracting little so-and-so like she often was, although never intentionally she just liked to be around others, she sent a reassuring smile in the Hufflepuffs direction as if to let him know she was there if he wanted some support. The Ravenclaw didn’t know the meaning of the word anxiety, she oozed confidence out of her pores. Even when she had no idea what she was doing and everything was going wrong, she’d do it with that blazing smile and a girlish giggle. It was never arrogance though, she was too selfless to ever be such a way.

Back to the actual task in hand which she was taking her sweet time with having watched some of the other students do theirs first, the fourteen year old pointed her wand in the direction of her dummy and whipped it like a lasso. “Ignisio Funem” she stated clearly as the firey rope wrapped its way around her dummy’s waist and as she ‘willed’ it to, began to melt its way through the ice.

She would’ve been chuffed with herself for achieving the spell first time but she was starting to see where Brandon was coming from with feeling sorry for the dummy. Poor innocent ice mannequin, melting away like a snowman at the end of winter.

Ary had taken a pause so when Carton asked him the question, he thought for a bit. “Bright orange and lots of flames,’’ he replied, grinning. If the professor was familiar with the antihero Ghost Rider {whom Ary was familiar with since his dad watched that sort of action movies}, he would know exactly what the second year was referring to. Except, of course, Ghost Rider brandished and lassoed a lengthy fiery chain.

Only ten minutes?

He needed to get a move on with things.

However, try as he might, the young Slytherin just could not materialise his rope of flames. What a disappointment. Aside from wanting to be a kind of Ghost Rider himself, he thought that he might have given Bry the prize in his dummy. Over and over the incantation was repeated and the wand movement done each time.

Not even a flicker of flame appeared.

But- But- "I don't want to be angry and burn things, Professor. I'm really sorry." He really was sorry, and he hated to be disappointing. Maybe he could do it if he really tried, but he didn't want to really try. It went against his nature- well, okay, no. It settled with his inner nature just fine, and it would be lying to say that he wasn't angry very often. But it was sort of against his principles. He felt like he was being annoying and silly, or at least getting in the way of the lesson. He didn't want to do that- it was just- just that- he felt as icky as when he had hurt the fake kappa. Was this going to be on his OWLs next year? That possibility made Brandon very stressed out and made him go into a whole thought rabbit hole that led to some very upsetting places and he freaked out a bit internally.

Brandon spent a bit of the remaining time attempting to 'fix' his dummy, trying to be subtle about it. Yes, it was completely irrational, but he just felt really bad about melting a fake person.

Ary paused with his attempts. He took the time to observe how his classmates were coming along. Like with most classes, some had made progress while others had not. He suspected that Carton would make them continue practicing this spell for homework. He didn’t mind; clearly he needed all the practice he could get. Most Transfiguration spells were not his forte.

With a soft sigh, the second year decided to take another shot or two. It was best to make use of the little remaining time, right?

“Ignisio Funem,’’ Ary repeated clearly while tracing out the corresponding wand movement. Like before, no flaming rope materialised. And so he tried again, repeating the steps exactly. They were not enough. But by now, the guy was getting bored. Perhaps he needed to take a break and return to this spell with a rested mind.

Emma still wasn't feeling very confident with this spell or when she'd use it, but what sort of twelve year old would she be if she didn't appreciated prizes as an incentive to doing a good job. She hadn't in fact noticed the dummies in the back of the room, but when Professor Carton mentioned it, her eyes drifted over there to have a look. She definitely was not confident with the spell and didn't feel it would be beneficial anytime in the future, but she also wanted a prize....

She watched her classmates with their attempts first, before stating "Ignisio Funem" whipping her wand in the direction of her ice dummy. She couldn't possible expect to get it right on the first try and it seemed she didn't. Nothing happened. Could she just melt the ice with incendio? She knew that charm. Except that this was Transfiguration and she doubted Professor Carton would appreciate them using a charm instead of the designated spell....

Running out of time, she needed to really try to focus if she wanted any luck in casting before the lesson was over. Although perhaps she'd get a consolation prize for her feeble attempts regardless?

"Ignisio Funem" This time fire sparks shot from her wand in the direction of the dummy, but as they weren't in the form of a rope or anything, they dissipated as quickly as they appeared, embers falling to the ground. Thank Merlin for the hard castle floors or they'd have a fire started. She was getting closer, but alas ... nothing

Norman blinked, somehow simultaneously taken aback and not at all surprised by Fox’s response. He understood that the boy lacked the inclination toward aggressive tactics, but it wasn’t like him to talk back like that. Granted, he wasn’t good at processing his own emotions, let alone his students’, but he had a hunch something else was going on. Unsure how to respond, he quietly watched the boy try to fix the dummy. “Please see me in my office after class,” he whispered, his tone concerned but not angry.

He used the remaining class time to make one last round about the room. Ackerly’s successful spell got a smile and a soft round of applause. “Nicely done, Miss Ackerly!” Norman said.

Atreyu-Rehman’s response likewise got a smile. The fire rope the boy described somewhat reminded Norman of a character in a movie he saw many years ago. “Good, hold on to that vision while you cast,” he said, watching the boy’s subsequent attempts. Still nothing… that was okay. He knew transfiguration could be a tricky branch of magic to master. Not at all fussed, he smiled encouragingly. “That’s okay. Take a break if you need to; the important thing is that you didn’t quit.”

Making his way back to the front of the room, Norman checked his watch to see that class was over. “That’s our time!” he announced. “Great job, everyone! Your homework: practice the fire rope spell on your own time and write a short essay on its uses. Class dismissed!”

OOC: Thanks for playing! I’ll leave the thread open a few more hours for anyone who wants to finish up and/or post their student leaving.