Claudine paused to blink a few times the moment she stepped into the room. Had it not been for Professor Barlow standing there, she would have turned right around and marched through the school in an attempt to find the right classroom. Pulling herself together, she moved in. “Hello, Professor,’’ was the quiet greeting. She gazed around at the semi-circle of mirrors. What did this mean? was the question to herself as she moved towards a mirror far away from the front of the room.

Were they going to be transfiguring some part of themselves? It was a possibility, Claudine decided as she studied her reflection. What she saw looking back at her was a dark haired, dark eyed eleven year old with a serious look on her face.

Perfect.

This. was. COOL.

Admittedly, Cecelia thought MOST things were cool that involved being able to practice her magic, but the mirrors in place of seating was new and different and made her VERY curious, which was a good thing indeed.

"Hello Professor," The small blonde said cheerfully, moving past on her way to claim a mirror. Once she'd found one, she grinned at her reflection, taking the opportunity to smooth her hair. It was looking especially shiny today and she couldn't help but think that her dad would be REAL proud that'd she'd mastered all her hair care products.

Dorian gave the professor a nod of his head and a "Hello, Professor" and as he entered the classroom, he was immediately reminded of one of the rooms he had found while he had been mapping in his notebook while exploring. And he had not liked that room at all. It was especially an odd place for a place like Beauxbaton where everything seemed to be perfect. But as part of his exploring, he had written down quite a lot about that room in his notebook.

"Hey Claudine" he greeted the little first year Slytherin as he stood at the mirror next to hers and checked his reflection looking back at him. Were they going to transfigure themselves? Or maybe their clothes? Whichever it was, he was curious now. Also, was THAT a new zit on his forehead?!

It was the last lesson of the last day of a very long week, and every part of Kaiser's brain was telling him to skip this one, that it wouldn't matter if he didn't show up. But for some, completely unknown reason, here he was.

He was running a hand over his face as he entered the classroom, so he didn't immediately notice the mirrors, but he did hear the professor's instruction. At that point, Kaiser stopped dead in his tracks, uncovered his face, and looked at the classroom set-up.

Yeah, definitely should have skipped.

Grumbling to himself in a sort of mash-up of German and Italian, and not troubling to do so quietly, Kaiser reluctantly headed to a mirror and stood with his back to it, facing the entering students instead. Look at himself? No thanks.

Belatedly, in a fairly obvious afterthought, he mumbled an, "Afternoon," to Barlow.

While most students were probably itching to get on with the last lesson of the day, Nettie was excited and not in a rush at all. Transfiguration had really grown on her, easily becoming her favorite lesson. In fact, she was really thinking about possibly studying Transfiguration once she got out of here. True, she was only a 5th year, but you had to plan for these things. It was just the Gladin way. You always were planning ahead.

"Hello Professor!" she piped up as she entered the classroom with a smile. OOOOH mirrors?! Interesting. She tried to think about all the spells she'd read about in her studies and if any of them involved mirrors, but couldn't think of anything right now off the top of her head...so she headed to a mirror near the front of the class, dropping her back and immediately checking out her hair to make sure it was still looking perfect.

Spoiler alert - it was. Hehe.

"It's Fridaaaaaaaaaay, Friday, gotta get down on Friday...." Bernadette was singing to herself as she skipped into Transfiguration class. Oooooh, what was this? A HALL OF MIRRORS?! It was neat enough to cause the first year to stare at everyone and their reflections with her mouth agape, so at least her song stopped and she had a moment to greet the professor. "Hiya, sir!"

Then she skipped into the circle of mirrors and continued singing.

"Everybody's looking forward to the weekend, weekend..." She selected a mirror for herself and seemed to forget her song, making funny faces at herself instead.

While he was looking forward to Friday evening and enjoying a weekend to himself, Lucas was still looking forward to this Transfiguration class. It wasn't really his favourite subject, and he had a LOT to improve on, but Barlow was great enough. It was why the man received a wider smile from the fourth year, along with a "Hey, Professor," when he entered the class-

............

Oh. Uhhhhh.

He paused. Mirrors? Mirrors they had to stand in front of? For the LESSON?!

This didn't sound like his idea of fun.

But he couldn't stay standing by the door so he reluctantly moved over to a spare mirror. He stepped up to it and just..... looked. An odd, uncomfortable feeling started to settle in the pits of his stomach but he was going to ignore it. Maybe he could work on playing with his curly hair, instead. He picked one out and twirled it around his finger before trying to smooth it into the rest of his hair.

It was a fairly long week for Elisa, who had NEWT studies up to her ear already. Knowing she could have the weekend to have some leisure time before working on homework was nice. She went into Transfiguration class in a calmer mood than ever. "Hello Professor." She greeted. That's when she noticed the mirrors before her around the room.

Well, this was definitely the right class since the professor was here and all. But still, what were they going to do with the mirrors today? Elisa went on over to a mirror nearest the entrance upfront. Staring at her reflection she didn't notice anything out of the ordinary right away. Out of habit, she ran her hands through her already straight hair.

Transfiguration was hard, and Phoebe James hated the fact that she couldn't drop it for a few more years. If ever, actually, since she needed the class to become an Auror like her mother. Maybe she should run away and join the circus. Or take up Quidditch like her dad, although he'd be super disappointed if she did poorly in school.

It was with some lesser degree of enthusiasm that she took a spot in front of one of the mirrors near Cece. "Hullo, Professor. Hullo, Cece-friend."

Having classes all day everyday was exhausting, and frankly Tavie was nearly done with it all. She BARELY made it to the end of the week with all the demands that had been thrust upon her with this whole ‘secondary school’ thing.

She did question why so much was demanded of her, but quietly to herself and not yet aloud. No, when she entered her last class of the day she was smiling because it was the last one. And then she was free! ”Heya, Professor. You look nice today.” She wiggled her fingers at him and took up the spot beside Fifi.

”I think we all look lovely today.” She admired first herself in the mirror and then her friends. They all were so pretty.

Fiona entered the classroom with a slightly puzzled expression on her face. "Hey, Professor!" she greeted with a small wave. She didn't like the idea of standing in front of a mirror but she obeyed Professor Barlow's instructions and stood in front of one of the mirrors. Fiona looked at herself with a rather bored expression on her face. She saw that some students liked seeing themselves in the mirror which caused her to roll her eyes.

Normally, Carys would have been happy that it was the end of the week and that meant a free weekend to do whatever she felt like, but considering one of her usual choices as to weekend activities had been taken away from her rather rudely, she was treating Friday as just another day. Even if there was still the remaining excitement over the art studio here at Beauxbatons, she knew she couldn’t stay in there forever. There was still the matter of figuring out exactly how she could keep her chaser skills from getting rusty. Somehow.

As such, she’d been rather distracted upon entering the classroom set aside from their Transfiguration lessons. Until she heard Professor Barlow’s greeting to them and she found herself blinking in surprise. Mirrors? Maybe it meant some sort of transfiguration of their own features. She’d always wondered what she’d look like with a different hair color or something. Maybe blonde like her mum?

“Good afternoon, Professor Barlow,” she said, glancing over at the professor again once she’d chosen a mirror. Actually, it might’ve been a bit of looking at his reflection in the mirror, but she’d still given him a smile. It wasn’t his fault Quidditch had been taken away from them, after all.

It had been a long week, so Tina was looking forward to the weekend, even more so than usual. In a few hours, she'd get a well-deserved break from her Studies, but first, she had to make it through transfiguration. Oh well, she could've had it much worse as far as lessons go. She was glad her last lesson of the week was one of the few where she liked both the subject and the professor who taught it. Between that and it being the last class before the weekend, Tina was in an unusually cheery mood as she entered the classroom. "Hello, Professor Barlow," she greeted, giving him a small smile.

Tina didn't even bat an eye at the semi circle of mirrors. She was used to weird classroom setups by now. This was a Hogwarts class, after all… even if they were technically at Beauxbatons. Instead of looking at the gangly dark-haired girl in the mirror, Tina focused her attention on trying to guess how the mirrors were going to be used. Would they be transfiguring themselves? She had to admit that possibility made her more than a little nervous, despite her aptitude for transfiguration. Maybe they'd be doing something else… she hoped. Maybe something with glass? For one fleeting moment, that idea reminded her of a transfiguration lesson from a couple of terms ago. They weren't doing Prima Forma again, were they?

Why were all the teachers opting for no desk classes?

Was it going to be thing from now on?

No, despite it being ALMOST the weekend - Missa Renaldi was in a weird mood, and all the cherry faces were not helping matters. Nonetheless, she forced a smile at Professor Barlow and uttered a small 'hello' before finding herself in front of a mirror.

This. was. not. good.

Feeling weirdly self conscious, the fifth year TRIED not to stare at her reflection all too much - and instead looked around. Noticing that Nettie was right next to her, the brunette passed her a smile, before adding, "you look very chirpy today"

Transfiguration.

Rebecca excelled at it. He personally could do without it.

There was a family legacy to it that he did not particularly enjoy. Unwanted expectations that he too excel at it as his mum had done. Ignoring that there was also a Potions legacy from his dad that he had no problem living up to, of course. That was different and he would argue until he was out of breath that it was.

Because it WAS. End of story.

Stepping into the room, Eiji tried not to groan too audibly at all the mirrors and lack of desks. He could only assume that they were going to be doing appearance altering spellwork most likely. That...or they were transfiguring the mirrors into something. Personally, he was hoping for the latter. The first option hit a bit too close to home and he did not particularly want to deal.

And because he had a lot on his mind...he wasn't so sure about standing beside Missa (and Trinetta by extension) despite that being all he wanted to do. And he was going to avoid Phoebe because she knew too much about his mum and also Rebecca, what they both were capable of. His mum much more so than his little sister. Cecelia too. And then there was a girl singing about it being Friday and some other rubbish.

Options...were scarce.

Save for maybe Kaiser so...Eiji moved with some reluctance over towards the other Slytherin and stood in front of the mirror beside him.

Oh. Yeah. Sorry, professor. He had sort of forgotten to acknowledge you in any way. Thoughts were more than a bit scattered at the moment. But if anyone asked...it was OWL studies getting to him, the stress of doing all that while here at Beaxbatons with an entire library in French that was all but useless to him since he couldn't read any of it. Stress. Yeah. All that.

Dear Merlin were those mirrors?? Why was it every class that Blake stepped into turned out to be more strange than the last. Mirrors, targets, plants he'd never seen before... ugh ... will anything about school ever start to feel normal??

But doing as he was told he placed his bag on the floor next to him and 'claimed' his mirror for today's lesson. He wondered what they would be doing??? Probably trying to change their hair color or something. An older student had told him they do that sometimes.

Alessandro frowned as he walked down the corridor to Transfiguration, after the events of the last two weeks. It was not good to be back. In fact, if possible, he loathed Beauxbatons more than he did at the start of the term. The French and their delicate dispositions. Trent. Jove.

The Hufflepuff smoothed out his features into something impassive and nodded at Professor Barlow, "Hello, sir."

Alessandro did not dawdle. He propped himself in front of a nearby mirror and awaited instructions.

He waited an extra few minutes for any late stragglers but when noone else arrived, Barlow promptly closed the door. Class was officially underway.

“Now let’s crack on! I know many of you are probably wondering what’s going on and why are all the mirrors here,” he started, moving around the semi-circle. “But before we get started on that, I want you to take a moment to reflect….” GET IT? REFLECT? HAH. He was hilarious. “..... take a moment to reflect and tell me, in your opinion, what is the difference between placing a charm on something and transfiguring something?”

OOC: THANKS GUYS, class has now officially started so you know the drill, post your kiddo arriving late and face the IC consequences. Otherwise, just RP as if they’ve been here all along. Question 1 is up and we’ll move on in another 24 hours or so, much love.

“Claudine, professor,’’ the Snakette said in a clear voice. She tried not to be too annoyed by reminding herself that Barlow was adjusting to the new students. But at least she hadn’t gotten his name wrong.

Claudine tilted her head as she continued to study her reflection. Her hair was tied back and she thought she looked simple, just the way she preferred herself to be. It attracted less attention, you see. Though she still caught Dorian’s. Well, she happened to like him so he was greeted with one of her rare, tiny smiles. “Hi there, Dorian.’’ She looked back at her own reflection. “I really hope we don’t have to change the colour of our hair. Our eyes wouldn’t be so bad though…” Yes, she was talking to the Ravenclaw.

She watched the door swing shut. This meant they were about to get started. That intense, cool gaze fixed on Barlow. Oh har, har. He had jokes, that one did. Claudine did not crack a smile. As for the question... “Placing a Charm is means to put something additional onto a target,’’ Claudine spoke up, hand in the air. “Transfiguring would mean changing your target altogether.’’ She was uncertain of the first part of her answer.

No one needed to know that.

Most of the professors seemed to be doing review work lately, which was EXCELLENT for Trinetta. Studying for OWLs always required her to go over things she'd already learned - and that included the basics, like the question Barlow had just asked. It was basic, but it was always good to go back to the foundations of the subject.

In a very Hermione-Granger-esque fashion, Nettie's hand shot in the air. "Charming something changes the action of the object but keeps its original form intact, whereas transfiguration changes the actual FORM of an object, which often changes the action as well," she explained. Wow. That sounded extremely Ravenclaw even for her. Oops. She couldn't help it, though - Transfiguration really got her brain moving.

In a fairly good mood (it was Friday, you know?), Gunnar had slipped into class just moments before Barlow closed the door. And he found himself in front of a mirror near Alessandro. After a quick check of his own appearance, he gave his friend an easy smile, glad to see him back at school after the last two weeks.

But class was beginning now, so any conversation would have to wait as he turned his attention to the front of the room. A simple, basic question, and he raised his hand.

But he started to lower it again as Trinetta provided a somewhat concise summary of the difference. Was there really more to add? Gunnar lifted his hand into the air once more to expand on that.

"In addition to sometimes changing the form of an object, transfiguration changes the properties or the nature of an object, whereas a charm doesn't change the object's identity." Just a little expansion on his fellow prefect's answer.

Poetry! "Teehehe, no that's an OLD song," Bernadette gleefully informed the professor. She liked this guy. He was WAY better than that Muggle Studies man and also he didn't already know all the Muggle STUFF so she could still sing Muggle songs and seem talented.

And yep, he had PUNS for days too. "What a knee slapper," Bernadette chuckled to her reflection, literally slapping her knee. Ooh, were they going to enchant mirrors today? That would be DEAD USEFUL. And then she could go home this summer and mess with her mum SO BAD. Yesssssss... Oh wait, there was a question?

Bernadette glanced around, wondering if she should be taking notes? These other kids were MUCH more informed... ummm, she raised her hand to hazard a guess. "Transfiguration sometimes involves animals, like," what were those wizard people called? "Animorphs." That was it. "Charms would wear off faster than animorphaguesses."

Avalon propped her chin on her hand in thought as she listened to some of her classmates' responses. They had pretty much summed up what she knew about the differences between transfiguration and charms. Was there really much more to add? She racked her brain, trying to think of some more distinctions between the two. Raising her hand tentatively, she said, "Well, you can technically transfigure something to give it life, right? Like the chair to cat spell?" Avalon was fairly certain she had heard of that one before. And she was pretty sure that you couldn't do something like that with a simple charm. "And with a charm, you wouldn't be able to do that." I mean, you can charm something to make it dance, but you can't actually make it alive, she thought. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that you can charm something to give it life-like qualities, but you can't actually turn it into a living thing like you could with a transfiguration." Hopefully her answer was on the right track.

Hold on. Did she get called Phoebe? She was going to try and answer the question anyway so what a perfect opportunity to correct a teacher. She quickly raised her hand. "My name is Fiona, not Phoebe. I would like it if I was called by my proper name, thanks. Anyway, a charmed object relies on function whereas a transfigured object relies on its looks."