SPOILER!!: individual questions ^_^

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Moose

...Huh Wha?...

Taliesin was so transfixed by Bombadil the Betta Bard swimming around in his fishbowl that he had missed the whole first question and the start of the class. It wasn't until he heard the soft, but quick scratching of chalk on the chalkboard with the incantation pronunciations and wand movement needed being written that the young Badger's attention snapped back into class and not on his betta fish.

He quickly scribbled what was written into his own notes and removed his wand from his pants pocket. Then he had a though and put his wand down and raised his hand. "Piscifors...'Pisc' is for Pisces yes? Like the fish constellation?"

Norman roamed the room as the students practiced. As he did so, he noticed Dane’s hand in the air. He nodded in reply. “Yes, Mr. Dane. Both Piscifors and the constellation Pisces are derived from the Latin word Piscis, meaning ‘fish’.”

Quote:

Originally Posted by littledhampir

Elena had been delighted to find fish on the desks when she arrived to Transfiguration. They were so cute! She was already wondering if they could keep them as pets at the end of the lesson. That would be so fun; to have a little fish friend in her dorm. She had pets at home and missed having them at school. Though a fish wasn't as cuddly as a dog, so it would be a poor substitute but it would still be fun. Except she probably should have remembered that this was Transfiguration, not Care of Magical Creatures. So the fish themselves were not the main focus of the lesson.

She was a bit distracted by watching the fish swim around and forgot to answer the first question. If she had, though, she would have probably said something about how color was important for the Transfiguration process. Of course there were ways to change the color of something, but it was probably easier to transfigure something into another thing of the same color. With that same logic, size was probably important too.

The spell they were learning being one to transform objects into fish raised a few questions in Elena's mind. The first being, were the fish already in the bowls real or had they also been transfigured from small objects? If they had been transfigured, did that make them any less real? It was sort of a confusing conundrum. It probably wasn't the point of the lesson, but Elena's curiosity got the better of her so she raised her hand to ask a question. "Professor, can you really transfigure an inanimate object into a living thing?" Could you create consciousness from nothing? Even if they couldn't take the fish at the end of the lesson, did this mean that she could make one of her own from something else?

Elena turned her focus toward practicing the incantation and wand movement. "Piscifors. PISK-i-fors. Piscifors." She said it aloud a few times to get a good feel for it. The wand movement was just a point, which seemed easy enough. Elena took a few moments to point her wand at different pebbles at the bottom of her fish bowl. She felt fairly confident in her ability to cast the spell, at least in theory.

Elsewhere he saw Petrova’s hand up. The question got a slight smile. “Good question, Miss Petrova,” he replied. “Transfiguration doesn’t create life in the traditional sense, no. It’s more of a magical simulation of life. In this case, it alters the molecular structure of the object to mimic that of a fish. The transfigured fish will look similar to a real one, but it can’t think for itself. It just does what the caster wills it to do.” He paused for a moment to allow time for the information to sink in, ready to elaborate further if necessary.

SPOILER!!: double trouble xD

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie

Calliope withdrew her hand from the fishbowl with slow, deliberate ease, offering the professor a perfectly polite expression - although very much seething beneath the surface.

“Of course, Professor,� she replied sweetly, fully compliant to the professor's chastising. She didn’t look at Maddox, but she could feel him next to her, still sitting there with his stupid fish face because it was admittedly pretty amusing - and was giving her ideas and even more amusing visuals. Naturally, she took advantage of the fact that Professor Carlton hadn’t explicitly said anything about knee tapping - just no tapping of the fish tank or conversing. Therefore, she shifted just enough under the table to nudge Maddox’s knee with her own. Not a hard kick just a quick, pointed little bump, while she listened to the lecture continue.

And something was remarkably nagging at her. The whole tone of things felt as though Piscifors actually created a fish, but that wasn’t how Transfiguration worked - right? Transfigured animals weren’t truly alive...they just mimicked it. They behaved like real creatures, sure, but they weren’t thinking, weren’t feeling. The moment the spell was reversed or wore off, they’d be nothing but pebbles and parchment or whatever again. Did this man want them thinking they were real so they would treat their spellwork more delicately or was this spell a backdoor into something more than just transfiguration? She hated to admit it, but it had actually peaked her interest - even if she couldn't care less about the fish swimming around in front of her. Her fingers itched to ask, to pick at the idea until she got an answer, but… well. There were more entertaining questions to be asked first.

She raised her hand with impeccable patience, waiting until she had Professor Carlton’s attention.

“Professor,� she began, voice smooth and measured - just look how focused and sincere she was about her education! “Since Piscifors - PISK-i-fors - transfigures small objects into fish… does that mean it could work on people with small brains as well?�

A perfectly reasonable question. Entirely academic. Cue another knock to Maddox's knee.

Folding her hands neatly on the desk, she waited for the professor’s response, the picture of innocence - just look up THAT in the dictionary and you would see her picture there, Maddox.

Quote:

Originally Posted by NiallNIP

Maddox didn't say anything in apology—he let Calliope speak for the both of them in that moment. Though he knew she wasn't sincere in her apology. To be fair, he wouldn't have been, either, but he wouldn't be able to cover it up as well. So he was appreciative for that.

What he was not appreciative of was her knee bump. A little harder than the one she gave him earlier, no? He cocked an eyebrow and knocked her back with his knee. Okay, maybe that was a little funny. But was it for fun or was it for real?

Maddox wasn't sure what the practical application of this spell was supposed to be, so he wasn't very interested in the lecture. They can turn a pebble into a fish? How delightful. Why would he ever want to do that? He rested his head on his hand and shook his knee, thinking of all the better ways he could be using his time while he listened to the rest of the students ask their silly little questions. But he figured he should probably pull out his wand and at least attempt the spell. He pointed it at one of the pebbles in the fish bowl. "Piscif—" he started, but he was interrupted by Calliope asking her question and bumping him with her knee, again.

Ha-ha. He wouldn't let that one slide.

"Professor," he said, jumping on Calliope's question, "if someone asks a stupid question can we turn them into a fish?" He bumped Calliope back, harder than she bumped him. It hurt his knee a little bit, but it was satisfying. No one with a brain bigger than his would ask a question like that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie

Calliope didn’t react at first. Not to the bump, not to the teasing, not even to the smug little satisfaction in Maddox’s voice. Though she did twirl her wand between her fingers with a certain dangerous flourish a couple times before glancing at him out of the corner of her eye. How long would she serve detention for just trying her theory out with a simple point of her wand in Maddox's direction? It wasn't like a simple Finite wouldn't just set him right immediately or anything, easy fix for a well worth experiment.

And then someone else butted into the conversation, causing her head to snap around in his direction and glare - briefly - before letting that mood settle into something far more productive. Showing this older student the same polite composure she had given the professor earlier, Calliope tilted her head just slightly, as if considering their words with the utmost sincerity.

“Oh, I toooootally agree,� she said smoothly, twisting the situation to her whim like a steady kick drum beneath a chaotic melody. “That wasn’t very nice at all.� She exhaled, a small, performative sigh, before turning to Maddox with a look of exaggerated sympathy. "Everyone knows there’s no such thing as a stupid question. Just poorly thought-out answers.�

She batted her eyelashes a few times, an irritable flutter she had seem mum do on occasion when proving some point or another to day, turned back toward the fishbowl, tapping her fingers lightly against the desk - not the glass, of course - with her free hand. Her other casually practicing the pointing wand movement with a lazy flick of her wrist. She could have a whole aquarium in her dorm - Maddox and his school of tarot cards.

Norman was not at all fooled by Barrongton’s innocent act. He’d been teaching long enough to know what was going on… look for any loophole in the professor’s instructions and cause trouble by doing anything that wasn’t explicitly stated. He also caught the barely veiled digs at each other in the two young Slytherins’ questions, though he didn’t let on that he was onto them, yet. For now, he addressed the questions from a purely academic standpoint.

“Technically yes, there is a variation of Piscifors for human transfiguration. It’s intended for use in incomplete transformation so the target retains enough mental ability to reverse the spell, and it requires thorough mastery of the basic Piscifors spell. We won’t be practicing it today-” Maybe sometime down the line when the class had more practice, but not now. “-and I highly suggest you don’t try it on your own. Transfiguring any student or staff without their consent is grounds for points loss and detention.” He gave the pair a warning look as he said the last sentence.

Norman was not one to micromanage his students; he preferred to let them figure things out on their own as much as possible. As such, he could overlook the desk tapping and even the knee knocking and sniping at each other to some extent… until it became a distraction to other students.

He glanced in Melo-Dreamer’s direction as the boy spoke up. “It’s alright, Mr. Melo-Dreamer. Focus on your own work.”

Turning his attention back to the pair of first years, he said sternly, “Miss Barrington, Mr. Robicheaux, this behavior is causing a disruption to others. I expect you to refrain from provoking each other - or anyone else - in the classroom, be it with your limbs, words, or otherwise. If you can’t do that, you two will be separated. Is that clear?” He chose his words very carefully to leave as little room for loopholes as possible.

With that matter settled (or so he hoped), Norman continued his rounds about the room, offering encouraging nods to Melo-Dreamer, Petrova, and both of the Atreyu-Rehman girls as he went. “Excellent practice, all of you!”

Reversing course, he returned to the room. A quick check of his watch told him it was time to move on. “Alright, class. Eyes up front,” he addressed the group, pausing to allow time for the students to refocus. “For our next activity, you’ll be using Piscifors to create a replica of the fish already in your bowl. Use the pebbles in the bottom of the fish bowl as your target. Take a minute to study your fish, visualize its features, and when you’re ready cast the spell.”

He demonstrated again, aiming his wand around the two swimming fish to the pebbles in the bottom of the bowl. “Piscifors!” In a flash of blue light, a third red and blue fish appeared in the bowl. “This spell won’t hurt the existing fish if you miss, but do try to aim carefully. You may practice multiple times if you like, though only once is required. These fish bowls can hold up to five fish comfortably. You have about thirty minutes, starting now!”

OOC: Thanks for sticking with us! We’ve reached the main activity. For this part, your student needs to try to create a copy of their fish by practicing Piscifors on the pebbles in the bottom of their fish bowl. They may produce multiple fish if desired, but only one is required for credit. If you need help, please indicate in the title of your post. You’ll have AT LEAST 72 HOURS for the main activity; part 2 will be posted in 36-48 HOURS.

“Thank you, professor,’’ Dy replied. She was feeling confident about this lesson and couldn’t wait to get started on actually transfiguring pebbles like Carton had done earlier, and was apparently demonstrating once more. The Hufflepuff was in awe of how easy he made the entire process seem; she and Ary knew how much more complicated Transfiguration was as they had often discussed the topic with each other.

Dynah focused on her fishy friend once more, taking in its colour and that majestic tail. At the same time, she couldn't help but think that yes, there were dumb questions. People saying that there weren’t were absolutely delulu; it was just something they said to not make others feel bad, or to validate themselves. But that wasn’t her problem; at least she always had good sense to do better. Imagine if she went around wasting the professors’ and Jude’s time by causing disruptions and asking ridiculous things. Dy wouldn’t have learned half as much as she knew today if that were the case.

Her gaze focused on the fins now and after a bit, felt she was ready to give the spell a shot. “Piscifors!” she thought, quite enthusiastically too. Her wand was carefully pointed at the Siamese Fighting Fish.

Elena was not entirely following Professor Carton's answer. Magical simulation, molecular structure... that was a lot for her to take in and process. But she got the gist of it. It wasn't a real living fish, but something that looked and acted like a fish. That was still cool. As far as animals went, she didn't think fish had the most independent thoughts. They mostly just swam around. So a pretend fish probably wasn't all that different than a real one. Transfiguring something like a dog or a cat, however, would probably be more dissimilar to its real life counterpart.

Elena spared a glance and a frown over at Calliope when she got told off for disrupting class. Then she tried to focus on the fish bowl in front of her. She felt pretty confident with her practice, and she was ready to try it out. She selected a pebble at the bottom of the bowl and pointed her want at it. "Piscifors." Aaaaand nothing. Well that was disappointing. Elena tried again. "Piscifors." Point. Point. Point. Still, nothing happened. She sighed, a bit defeated for a moment. Why wasn't it working?

Okay, Elena, focus. She stared at the fish in the bowl, focusing on its appearance and characteristics. Then she turned her attention to the pebble while keeping the image of the fish in her mind. "Piscifors." She pointed her wand at the pebble, focusing hard on the image of the fish. And then the pebble transformed into a small yellow goldfish with the largest eyes she had ever seen. Elena beamed at the fish proudly. "Hey there little guy."

Maddox gave Diego a sympathetic look at his shout. It's not that Calliope was being rude, she was just...messing with him. Did he sometimes wish she could joke without taking a dig at him? Maybe. But it was fun all the same. He hoped it wouldn't leave a bad taste in Diego's mouth. He did catch Calliope's glimpse and wand-twirling, knowing what she was thinking about. He rolled his eyes, not returning her gaze but clearly directing it at her. She just wanted to see him squirm and he wouldn't give her the satisfaction.

What he would respond to, though, was the next flimsy dig she made at him. And her batting her eyes oh-so innocently. He chuckled a little, about to respond when the professor started telling them off. He didn't say anything, just looked up at him with his wide eyes, like he did with most people he didn't want to talk to. Just put them on edge a little bit. A power move? Not intentionally, but he didn't mind if you called it that.

Once the spotlight was back off of them, he pulled out his wand and was practicing the movement to make it seem like he was on task, talking low so he wouldn't draw the attention again. "Don't talk to me about poorly thought out, Miss Falls-a-lot. If you'd thought about what you were doing more maybe you would've stayed in the air," he said smugly, looking down into his fishbowl to focus on a pebble. "Piscifors." One of the pebbles in the bowl did turn into a fish, but it was kind of...rocky. More like a fish statue that somehow gained sentience. He looked into the bowl at the new fish(?) he'd made. "And you'd need a big stinking tank for all those fish..." he mumbled to himself. 78 card fish plus a big Maddox fish? Yeah, right. No way she'd get one that big. And the professor just said that you couldn't turn a human into a full-on fish, if she was even listening. Maybe she should get her ears checked.

Calliope listened, hands folded neatly on the desk and even stilled her fingers for the sake of it, as the professor delivered his oh-so-carefully-worded warning. Her expression remained neutral, but in her mind, the accusations between the lines twisted into something else entirely. Ah, yes. Of course. Slytherins. Trouble. Instigators. What an utterly original concept right out of the 1990's. Merlin forbid one of them ask a question out of actual curiosity - no, that would be too generous an assumption. It must be some elaborate ploy to derail the lesson, some grand act of mischief. Never mind that she had learned something. That she had been engaged. That she was now turning over the implications of human transfiguration in her mind - because, really, what were the ethical limits of such magic? And why did this variation of Piscifors exist at all? It just so happened that her curiosity overlapped pleasantly with taking jabs at Maddox. Totally coincidental. Imagine that. She nodded, voice smooth, almost pleasant. “Of course, Professor.� Nothing sharp, nothing biting. Just enough to give the impression that the matter was settled. She had gotten actual information, knowledge, out of the situation and that was far more valuable than anyone’s approval.

Did not mean that she did not feel the urge to argue - because of course she did. She could have argued. Pointed out that her question had been perfectly valid. That she had listened to his answer. That the very fact she now knew more than she had five minutes ago should have been proof enough that she wasn’t just making trouble. Calliope turned her focus back to her wand, rolling it lightly between her fingers. No tapping, no sharp remarks, no reaction beyond what was required, and lazily continued practicing the wand movement with equally lazy mutterings of the incantation. She did catch a glimpse of one of her fellow first years out of the corner of her eye, however, and was not sure if that look was meant as a silent reprimand or a flicker of sympathy. Hard to tell. Calliope held Elena’s gaze for a beat longer, searching for an answer she didn’t particularly need. If it was meant to chastise her, well - how predictable. If it was pity, that was almost worse. Either way, she simply arched a brow before turning her attention back to her wand, wholly unbothered.

And were you listening, Maddox? The professor literally just said there was a variation of Piscifors for human transfiguration - duh. She did roll her eyes at his jab. Oh sure, because a magical snowstorm and flimsy school brooms played absolutely no part in any of that. “Mm, fascinating,� she mused. “Remind me, Maddox...how many tarot readings have you done in the middle of a snowstorm? Just thinking you might want to test that out before you start handing out advice on weather-related decision-making. Professor Adara apparently likes to make them for fun, so you can go as her for help with that.� Calliope flicked a piece of imaginary lint off her sleeve, letting a slow smirk creep onto her face - relishing in what she felt to be quite the mic drop.

"Oh, Maddox, what a relief," she drawled with a theatrical sigh, leaning over so they were shoulder to shoulder as the poked at the glass towards his attempt. "Only mimic life, so none of your spectacular flops are coming back to haunt you." Like the half-stone, half-disappointment variation he had just delivered. "I'll make sure your tank is extra roomy to accommodate for the big ego," she nodded sagely - not at all in possession of any black cauldrons here, mind you. "Or maybe just toss you and the whole school in the lake. You can come visit me by way of the underwater windows in the common room." It was an amusing thought - one that almost made her find fish endearing and not-so-bad.

Almost. No one get ahead of themselves here.

Turning her attention back to the tank, the brunette selected a particularly smooth looking pebble from the bowl and with a flick of her wand, she pointed it. “Piscifors.� A burst of blue light wrapped around the stone, and for a brief moment, it shimmered with the promise of success. Then - plop. Instead of a graceful, swimming fish, she was left with what could generously be described as a half-melted lump with fins, its bulging eyes blinking slowly before it flipped over and floated belly-up. Calliope blinked. Then, with the poise of someone who absolutely meant for that to happen, she gave a curt nod. “A bold artistic choice,� she mused. “An avant-garde interpretation of a fish.�

Never mind. Fish were gnarly.

A split second before the spell hit, it registered in Dy’s mind that she was pointing her wand at the poor fish. She quickly made a detour so that it was pointing at a pebble but the break in her concentration made her attempt unsuccessfully. Of course it did. She puffed out her cheeks quite comically, a way of dealing with her moment of failure. Jude’s voice resonated in Dynah’s head a split second, offering her encouragement. The cheeks deflated and a small grin hovered on her face. Her Stage Mentor offered the best advice, even if said advice was used to correct one of her dance moves!

Motivated even further, the seventh year braced herself to give the spell another shot again. “Piscifors!” This time she made sure her wand was pointing at a pebble, one directly at the front of the bowl {the part of the bowl that was facing her, anyway} after zoning in on the purple fish’s features. Blue light shot from the wand and… hey! Now she had two of the creatures! The fact that Dy did not have to try many times to accomplish this made her extremely thrilled! So thrilled that she was sure if she had her violin with her, she’d start serenading the class with the new piece she had composed herself.

Seeing the Professor blinked at her giggle she blushed in embarrassment, okay... she was definitely a odd one that was for sure. Nodding at his instructions, she looked down at her notes she took in her notebook biting her lip. "Okay... Lils you can do this, Transfiguration was one of your best subjects at Illvermorny. " She told herself looking at the stone that was before her. Straightening up her posture, she pointed her wand at the pebble. "Piscifors!" As the spell came out she seen it wasn't quite a fish but a stone with fins and tail.

"Okay... no biggie, the movements was probably wrong Lily try again." Taking a deep breath she looked at stone again. Maybe she needed to calm down and stop trying to be so perfect at all the subjects she was at Ilvermorny, clearly she wasn't there anymore. "Okay... let's do this...Piscifors!" As the blue light wrapped around the pebble, she seen two fishes one a purple color and another one a green color. "Yes! I did it!" Happy with herself she looked at the fishes happily.

She supposed there was some satisfaction to be had in forcing an inanimate object into something resembling life. Her gaze flicked to the original fish in the bowl, blissfully unaware that it was being used as a template for its strange, malformed brethren. It stared back at her with dull, unblinking eyes, mouth opening and closing in a slow, repetitive motion that made her stomach twist. Gross. Major ew. There was something deeply wrong about fish. Too silent, fishy, always watching. She huffed, eyeing the monstrosity she’d just transfigured and scrunched her nose as it sunk to the bottom of the tank and reverted back to its stone state - well, at least there was that. This spell was only mildly worth a knut, maybe two, if she considered the applications beyond the dull, gilled flops in hers and Maddox's tanks. But besides her silly fantasy of revenge, Calliope wasn't sure it had many other practical uses for her.

Still, she persisted, and picked another stone - the first one was obviously not going to work and had probably been tampered with by someone - and pointed her wand at it with a disinterested, "Piscifors." The blue light flashed again, and this time, the result was slightly more promising. Slightly. The transfigured fish was, at least, the right shape. However, it lacked any real color and was rather twitchy as it zigged and zagged around in the water. It even seemed to flicker in and out of existence, like a poorly cast Disillusionment Charm, like it wasn’t entirely sure it belonged there. Which it didn't, but that was entirely beside the point. Calliope exhaled through her nose. “Draaaaaaaaaaamatic,� she said, rolling her eyes.

JT was admiring the fish in his bowl, so he was very distracted at first when Professor Carton asked them all a question. He did though pull his gaze and attention up front to answer, knowing that he probably repeated someones elses answer in his distration from earlier. "The fish's size, appearance, texture of it's body, and of course the gills must matter when you want to transfigure something else into a fish."

JT did his best to ignore, and not get involved in the teasing that was getting out of hand between his housemates Maddox and Calliope. They might suffer house point loss for their bickering so he focused soley on his own work. After some note taking they were set the task of practicing their new spell Piskifors which transfigured small inaminate objects like pebbles into fish. "Piscifors…PISK-i-fors…piskifors..PISK-i-fors...Piskey-i-fors-PISK-i-fors!" JT practiced over and over and over to perfect the pronounciation of the incantation.

Soon enough the were tasked with turning one of the pebbles in the bowl into a lookalike of the fish already floating in the bowl. JT immediatley got nervous. What if he his spell hit his fish, would it hurt it? Luckily Professor Carton assured them that if their spells hit wrong then their fishes wouldn't feel any pain. It was a relief, but JT still felt a bit anxious as he unholstered his wand.

Fingers getting sweaty he took a moment to dry them off on his robes before gripping his wand. Watering his dry lips he aimed his wand at one of the pebbles inside the bowl and with the image of a second silvery green fish floating in the bowl clearly in his mind he casted "Piskifors!" After a second a blue light surrounded the intended pebble and next second an equally silvery, and green fish appeared, but with three too big fins. "Oh wow. Hi little guy. Sorry for any inconveniance. I'm still learning.."

Looking up front at Professor Carton JT waved asking "Um Professor I think I accidentally gave my new little fish one too many big fins can I fix that somehow? I don't want him to feel pain.."

Diego relaxed after seeing how the interaction earlier had been handled. He couldn't just ignore it, after all. So he went back to focusing on Sparkle. And their potential fish partner. They were purple, "How about... Venom! They have that black and purple look going on." He smiled at the thought, maybe they could have fish babies together. After their experimenting.

So Diego stared at Sparkle, thinking of all the colors and fin count. There were so many. After which, he took his wand to aim at one of the small pebbles.. "Piskifors!" Thinking about Sparkle as he saw the blue light. Another fish appeared! It was red too, but not as many sparkles and the fins are a little chunky. Like it just survived a bad fight. "Oh.. well, they don't look so bad." He thought, probably was the best that it wasn't a perfect twin.

"Why would I do a tarot reading in a snowstorm? That's the beauty of tarot—you can do it anywhere you like." A mischievous smile crept across Maddox's face. "If you dislike unpleasant weather so much, maybe you should've thought that out before you decided to do quidditch," he finished with a mocking pout. Maddox picked that mic back up and dropped it himself.

He crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, watching Calliope's multiple failed attempts at making fish. "Awh," he said, clicking his tongue. "Avant-garde, artistic, and wrong. I don't think I'll need to worry much about that tank," he teased with a slight chuckle. "Don't worry, your spectacular flops won't haunt you, either." A little taste of her own medicine. It may be very annoying sometimes to deal with Calliope's jabs, but it was so satisfying to get some back at her. Maybe that was the appeal he found in their friendship? He still wasn't sure. He just knew that he liked being around her. Even if she was frustrating. And he knew she was going to say something just to rile him up again, and he wouldn't think any of that anymore, but oh well.

Maddox decided to try, once more, to perform the spell. He pointed his wand at another one of the pebbles. "Piscifors." The pebble flashed again, and this time...yeah, there was a fish. The colors were a little off compared to the actual fish in his bowl, but it was definitely a step up from the rock fish he made. He smiled just a little, vaguely proud of himself, until one of the little fins on the side of the fish popped back into a pebble again. The side of the fish was weighed down and it turned sideways in the tank, floating down towards the bottom. His smile turned into the small frown and he huffed a bit. Okay, maybe Transfiguration wasn't quite his thing. He was good at plenty else, alright?

Alaric settled into his seat, resting his elbows on the table as he observed the fish in the bowl before him. It was a sleek, silver-blue creature with shimmering scales that caught the light whenever it darted about. Its gills flared rhythmically as it swam, its small, round eyes scanning its watery world with what seemed like an endless curiosity. He noted how effortlessly it moved, maintaining its balance and speed with quick flicks of its tail.

Right. Gills, movement, buoyancy, size, eyes, scales… he mentally listed, his fingers tapping idly against the desk. The spell seemed simple in theory, but he knew Transfiguration was rarely that easy in practice.

He adjusted his grip on his wand and pointed it at one of the pebbles in the bowl. Taking a deep breath, he pictured the silver-blue fish in his mind, focusing on every detail. Its shape, its scales, the way it moved. Then, with firm intent, he cast:

“Piscifors!”

A small flash of blue light erupted from his wand, and for a moment, he thought he had done it. But instead of a shimmering fish, the pebble only trembled violently before settling back down, unchanged.

Too much force? Not enough focus? Alaric frowned slightly but wasn’t discouraged. If anything, failure just made him more determined. He adjusted his grip again, this time rolling his shoulders back to relax.

“Piscifors!”

Another flash. This time, the pebble stretched and morphed, but instead of a fish, it turned into a… blob. A vaguely fish-shaped, motionless lump.

“Huh.” He tilted his head, poking it lightly with his wand. The blob gave a weak jiggle before dissolving back into a pebble.

“Alright, third time’s the charm.” He muttered, inhaling deeply. This time, he took an extra moment to really visualize the fish—how its gills fluttered, how it glided so effortlessly. With renewed focus, he aimed at another pebble.

“Piscifors!”

A brilliant blue flash. The pebble shimmered, stretching once more. Only this time, it solidified into a small, silver-blue fish identical to the one in the bowl. Its gills flared as it took its first breath of water, and then, with an eager flick of its tail, it darted forward, joining its twin.

Alaric smirked in satisfaction. Not bad. He leaned back in his chair slightly, watching the two fish swim side by side. There was still a slight variation in their movements—his transfigured fish seemed a bit stiffer at first—but it was nothing a little refinement wouldn’t fix with practice.

Still, for a first attempt? He’d take it.

Not one to stay in one place for long, Norman roamed the room while the students practiced. He saw that Atreyu-Rehman had successfully transfigured a fish. “Excellent work, Miss Atreyu-Rehman,” he said with an encouraging nod. Petrova’s goldfish transfiguration likewise got an approving nod. “You too, Miss Petrova.”

Norman’s head turned as he heard Moonstone’s voice, just in time to see the girl successfully produce a fish, “Well done, Miss Moonstone,” he said with a slight smile. Elsewhere, he saw Melo-Dreamer and Ashcombe were doing well with the transformation as well. “Very good, Mr. Melo-Dreamer. You too, Mr. Ashcombe.”

His eyes flicked toward Barrington and Robicheaux and saw the pair were making good progress with the spell. He didn’t expect exact copies of the real fish. As long as the students were on task and making an effort, that was good enough for him. “Nicely done, you two,” he said, giving each of the two first years an approving nod.

SPOILER!!: JT ^_^

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nordic Witch

JT was admiring the fish in his bowl, so he was very distracted at first when Professor Carton asked them all a question. He did though pull his gaze and attention up front to answer, knowing that he probably repeated someones elses answer in his distration from earlier. "The fish's size, appearance, texture of it's body, and of course the gills must matter when you want to transfigure something else into a fish."

JT did his best to ignore, and not get involved in the teasing that was getting out of hand between his housemates Maddox and Calliope. They might suffer house point loss for their bickering so he focused soley on his own work. After some note taking they were set the task of practicing their new spell Piskifors which transfigured small inaminate objects like pebbles into fish. "Piscifors…PISK-i-fors…piskifors..PISK-i-fors...Piskey-i-fors-PISK-i-fors!" JT practiced over and over and over to perfect the pronounciation of the incantation.

Soon enough the were tasked with turning one of the pebbles in the bowl into a lookalike of the fish already floating in the bowl. JT immediatley got nervous. What if he his spell hit his fish, would it hurt it? Luckily Professor Carton assured them that if their spells hit wrong then their fishes wouldn't feel any pain. It was a relief, but JT still felt a bit anxious as he unholstered his wand.

Fingers getting sweaty he took a moment to dry them off on his robes before gripping his wand. Watering his dry lips he aimed his wand at one of the pebbles inside the bowl and with the image of a second silvery green fish floating in the bowl clearly in his mind he casted "Piskifors!" After a second a blue light surrounded the intended pebble and next second an equally silvery, and green fish appeared, but with three too big fins. "Oh wow. Hi little guy. Sorry for any inconveniance. I'm still learning.."

Looking up front at Professor Carton JT waved asking "Um Professor I think I accidentally gave my new little fish one too many big fins can I fix that somehow? I don't want him to feel pain.."

As Norman reversed course, he noticed Forsfelle’s wave. “Good question, Mr. Forsfelle,” he said, standing beside the boy’s table. He spoke a little louder so the rest of the class could head the answer, in case anyone else needed it. "If you need to reverse your transformation for any reason, use the spell Reparifarge. The wand movement is a smile-shape; it produces a white light.”


Returning to the front of the room, Norman addressed the class again,” You have about ten minutes to continue practicing. While you’re doing that, take a moment to observe your fish, the real one and the transfigured one. Pay attention to their similarities but especially their differences. Make a mental note of it or jot it down if you like; we’ll be discussing it shortly.”

OOC: For part 2 of the activity, your student needs to observe the similarities and differences between their real fish and transfigured one. You may continue practicing Piscifors or catch up on anything else. There are ABOUT 24 HOURS left for this activity.

Dynah could not have been more delighted with the name Diego came up with! “I think that’s perfect! Thank you! Feel free to suggest another for the second one.” If all failed, there was ‘Venom 2.0’. But now both her and the small Gryffindor were looking at a spare fish each they had just created. Dy peered at his tank. “Not bad for a first year, you know. Transfiguration can be so difficult, depending on the spell. My brother and I both struggle with it.” A glance was taken at Ary who was yet to create a fish. Luckily he had supportive friends so his luck might turn around soon.

Now the seventh year took a closer look at her own. “See? The second one’s tail is off. It’s not as big or frilly as Venom’s. But he seems to be getting along just fine?” Dy squinted. “Okay, maybe he’s swimming a little slower than Venom but at least his gills seem fine.” Now that was a great relief!

Elena quickly scribbled down a note about the spell for reversing the Transfiguration. She figured it could come in handy. She raised her hand. "Professor, is that specifically to reverse this transfiguration spell, or is it more general?" Knowing how to reverse transfiguration sounded very useful, especially for someone like her who was just starting to learn and was probably likely to mess something up.

Elena paused for a moment to study the fish in front of her. One of them was the the one she had transfigured, and one was the fish that had originally been in the bowl. They looked pretty similar in appearance, though the proportions on the one she had transfigured were not quite right. Nothing major that someone would notice from a distance, but enough that when she looked close she could tell that there was something off about it. It also moved a bit erratically, not as smooth as the original fish. Elena wrote both of those down in her notes and went back to practicing the spell.

Calliope scoffed, unimpressed - and actually genuinely disappointed in his banter for once. “Oh, that’s your argument?� She fixed him with a look, one brow arching high, and arms folded over her chest. “The beauty of Quidditch is that you can play in any weather you like. You know, with preparation. With foreknowledge. Not with some maniac - � she glanced toward Professor Carton, tactfully lowering her voice. “ - magically manipulating the conditions on a whim. That’s not just unpleasant, that’s cheating. And illegal, by the way, in case you were wondering.� The whole thing had been utterly ridiculous. What kind of professor thought it was a brilliant idea to hold tryouts in a magically conjured snowstorm, especially when half the participants had barely learned how to mount a broom without wobbling? Even seasoned players—like herself, obviously—could have ended up in the hospital wing with no time to adjust, no warning, no chance to prepare. Normally, you at least had the basic courtesy of looking out a window before stepping onto the pitch. Bitter was a pesty flavor, wasn't it?

Calliope sighed, leveling her wand at yet another pebble. At this point, it was less about getting it right and more about proving that she could do better than whatever that last thing masquerading as fish had been. "Piscifors." The flash of blue light faded, and for a moment, she thought she’d finally nailed it - right size, right colors, no flickering in and out of existence. But then it turned to face her.

Oh. Oh. Oh nope. NOPE.

Its eyes were too wide, its mouth twisted downward in a warped, perpetual wail, like it had been yanked straight out of a melting painting and dropped unceremoniously into her fishbowl. It jerked forward in erratic little bursts, its whole form slightly drooping, as if even the water couldn't quite support the weight of its existential dread. She watched as the fish twitched toward Maddox like it was about to bubble its last words to her friend. "Well, congrats. When you do end up in that tank, at least you’ll have some avant-garde, artistic company." Just because he was right in calling her attempts wrong did not make him anymore interesting. Not to mention he needed to clean out his ears because when had she given any indication that she was concerned about being haunted by fish?

Calliope pouted her lips, glancing back and forth between the actual fish swimming around and her...attempts. Pay attention to their differences? Sure, that was perhaps the easiest assignment at the moment. The first year rolled her eyes, barely resisting the urge to point out that nicely done was a very generous way to describe whatever abomination after abomination she and Maddox had created. What was nice about a fish that looked like it had melted straight off a cursed portrait? Or one that was still half a rock? She didn’t need empty encouragement, thank you no-so-very much. They all could just skip the sugarcoating and tell her what she was doing wrong. Though, to be entirely fair, she would probably just blame Maddox for being distracting - because he was and in SO many ways.

Calliope squared her shoulders, determined to get something right before the end of the lesson. She picked another pebble - because clearly, the last one had ALSO been defective - and took a steadying breath the way she would before tackling a particularly tricky drum solo. Timing, precision, and intent. Which meant she had to clear her thoughts of turning Maddox, and his dumb cards, into a fish “Piscifors.�

The blue light flashed, and this time, the result was actually...not all that terrible. A properly colored fish appeared, its scales shimmering as it darted around the bowl, no melting face, no eerie flickering, no unfortunate gelatinous state.

But.

It was about a third of the size it should have been. And missing a front fin.

The tiny, slightly lopsided thing paddled valiantly in circles, its movements a little off-balance but still, miraculously, functional. For all intents and purposes, she had successfully transfigured a fish. Woo hoo?

Professor Carton’s silent encouragement didn’t hurt. Nadia was just getting comfortable with the pronunciation was the man was moving them on, her attention obediently following his direction back to the front of the room. Now to put it all together in the real application and make a twin of her fishy friend. She could do that, or at the very least try her best. The seventh year bending down closer to the fishbowl once more to get another look. The fish inside…Freddy she was gonna call him…was mostly green, with a touch of yellow at certain points.

Satisfied she had given Freddy enough attention to work on her visualization, Nadia picked up her wand once more and straightened to take aim at one of the pebbles. “Piscifors!” the Gryffindor cast, the wand tip pointing right at her target with her intention behind it. Moments later there were two fish in the bowl. Success! Well sort of. Even before Professor Carton asked them to look at the similarities and differences between the fish, it was clear her two weren’t twins. The second one was too much yellow and not enough green.

Piscifors… Piscifors… Piscifors

She spoke to herself as she readied herself to try again. Nadia certainly wasn’t going to give up. Green with yellowish markings…the two side fins mostly the latter color. Ready as she was gonna be as she bit the inside of her lip and cast once more with feeling. “Piscifors!” A mile graced her face at the results as she relaxed.

Norman made one last go around the room as practice time wound down. Atreyu-Rehman’s work got a slight smile as he passed. “Nicely done, Miss Atreyu-Rehman,” he said. Elsewhere, he saw a marked improvement in Barrington’s spellwork, each subsequent transformation better than the last. She likewise got a slight smile and words of praise. “Excellent, Miss Barrington.”

As he made his way around, he overheard the other Atreyu-Rehman discussing her fish’s traits with Melo-Dreamer. She made some sound observations, but he didn’t verbally acknowledge that so as not to break the pair’s concentration. Instead, he gave an approving nod as he passed.

On his way back around the room, he noticed Petrova’s hand in the air. “Reparifarge is used for transfiguration spells only,” he answered. “There are other spells to undo other kinds of magic, such as Reverte and Finite Incantatum.”


Making his way to the front of the room once more, He addressed the group, “Excellent practice! Find a stopping place, please.” He paused to allow the students a moment to refocus. “If you haven’t already done so, take a look at the fish in your bowl. There will be differences between your transfigured fish and the real one, subtle or otherwise.”

He indicated the fish in the bowl on his desk. “If you look closely at these fish, you’ll notice that the eyes of the transfigured fish are a bit smaller than the real one, and the transfigured fish have smoother scales. Why do you think certain features, like the fishes’ eyes or scale texture, are difficult to replicate with transfiguration? Let’s discuss!”

OOC: Question 2 is up! For this, Norman is asking the students to theorize why certain features (e.g. eyes, scales) are difficult to recreate with transfiguration. You’ll have ABOUT 24 HOURS for this one. As always, catchup is allowed.

Oh, bosh. It's not like this banter was any different from things they'd both said before—like things Calliope said about his cards. Just because you didn't like it or thought it was wrong didn't mean it was off limits. If Maddox could take all the nonsense about his cards, she could take his little dig about quidditch. He rolled his eyes. "You've said much more inaccurate things about my cards before and I let it slide. Big whoop, the weather can change on a dime without you expecting it. And it was practice, Calliope, I don't think it's that big of a deal that she made a snowstorm. Seeing how you play under harsh conditions was just a test of your ability, and seeing as you still made the team you obviously did great even with you falling off the broom. If that snowstorm hadn't been there...you know, one small detail can change the entire future. Butterfly effect? Things could be different," he said with a shrug. The stress she was under could've actually brought out the best in her. Had she thought about that? "And I'm not bitter," he quipped without thinking, as a little sendoff for his monologue. This girl really got him talking, for some reason. Probably because he was constantly on the defense.

He looked into Calliope's bowl, scowling at the monstrous little thing that was twitching its way in his direction. "Eugh..." He would take a rock fish any day of the week over that thing. "I think if you try to transfigure me, I'll be avant-garde and artistic in the hospital wing." He could see it now—him with gills and scales and horribly disfigured and droopy. He hoped that she would have better sense than to actually try it on him.

And he knew that Professor Carton couldn't insult them, but he definitely didn't have to lie. Their attempts had been terrible, truthfully, and it's not like they would get any better by being placated. Some critique could be good when it's useful—he learned that through his training with Jane. Occlumency isn't the easiest thing to learn for an experienced wizard, so he's definitely fighting an uphill battle on that front. Jane having patience with him and giving him helpful critique was the only reason he'd been able to make any headway at all. Even having an aptitude for Legilimency wasn't the biggest help. He thought it was funny that he was better at Occlumency than he was at transfiguring a fish. Felt backwards.

He studied the brand new fish Calliope whipped up, and this brought a bigger frown to his face than the droopy one did. It was, well, close to perfect. Still not quite, but better than anything he'd managed to do. And he did not want to let her upstage him. He quickly pointed his wand at one of the pebbles in his bowl. "Piscifors!" Another flash of light, and the pebble in his tank sprouted a fish head. He huffed, stuffing his wand back in its holster. Okay. You've won this round, Barrington. But he'd always beat her out in Divination. And Arithmancy. And DADA.

He listened to the Professor's question, and he felt he knew the answer. No one seemed like they were going to speak up, so he sighed and gave in. "It's because they're small details. If the copy is based on how we see the fish, then it's hard to correctly capture all the little things."

The Hufflepuff did not miss out on the nod Carton gave and was completely sure it was approval for both her's and Diego's work. Because yes, they had done excellently. There was just a twinge of regret that the second fish wasn’t as perfect as the first. She’s sorry for making you a slow swimmer, little fella!

She was still transfixed on the pair when the professor addressed the class once more. Dy thought a bit before raising a hand. “It’s difficult to focus on all the physical features. For me, at least, I was more focused on the gills, fins, face and tail. Even so, the duplicate fish’s tail did not come out perfectly.” Was she now a little sad about this? Yes. Yes, she was.

Diego had been studying Sparkle's not-quite-so-double. "You'll be.... Spikey. Cause those fins look so sharp!" He could see how the eyes weren't as active either. But that's because it wasn't really a live fish, but an imitation. Not the best, but oh well. "Thanks." He said, smiling so he didn't show how disappointed he was low-key on not getting the perfect double. He was only a first-year, after all.

Dynah also suggested he could name her new fish, which made his eyes twinkle again in thought. "How about Vinny? Feels like a good brother name to Venom. Or Vinnie for girl." Picking fish names were fun for Diego. As he was so focused on the fish differences, Diego considered making another "sibling" which was when the next question came.

So Diego responded when it was his turn, "I think the eyes are hard to create because there's stuff going on inside a fish's brain that we can't see and don't know how they connect with the eyes. So we can only replicate how it looks on the outside without knowing how everything inside works." If that made sense.

Biting her lip Lily looked at her fish she turned into a fish to the real one, she noticed instantly the fins were a bit different compared to the real as well as their eyes. Taking notes of that she looked more and seen the scales were different as well, and it was smaller then the real one. Looking more at her fish she looked up at the Professor's question before she thought long and hard about it. Waiting for everyone else to speak, she raised her hand. "Well... I think it's because those are real features Professor, it's hard to make real like features to look perfect, even magic has it's limits." She said thoughtfully before continuing. "If you were to transferred a person into an animal they wouldn't look the same as a ferret or so because they're a human being not an animal so they might be bigger then a actual ferret." She hoped she made sense, blushing she looked down at her feet.

Kara was settled into her seat just watching the fish in front of her at the bottom of her tank. She really wanted to the tap the tank, except she learned when she was like six that tapping a fish's tank never seemed to go well. But the fish was just staring back at her. Or was it sleeping? Who knew? What she didn't know was why the board said their gills, buoyancy, movement were common traits. Didn't all the fish move differently? Or were these fish charmed to all move the same? But her fish didn't seem to really move much.

She stared another moment, taking careful note of its eyes and scales. Maybe. Or maybe they were all transfigured fish and that's why they all sort of resembled each other? "Pisk-i-fors" Oh what a good question Taliesin had about it being connected to the fish constellation!! Note to self: make friends with Taliesin. She already knew him from their start of the year incident, but he was a good one to have around, she'd decided.

"Pisk-i-fours." she said again, this time pointing her wand at the small pebble as she'd seen Professor Carton do. Only as he'd managed to replicate the fish in its entirety, her fish seemed off. In colour and size. Instead of a blue and red fish, her fish was orange? And about half its size? How'd she manage that? Perhaps maybe that meant she was especially gifted if she created a whole new species? Or she hadn't been studying the fish's features enough and thereby created what she thought it looked like? It was hiding at the bottom of the tank when she was studying it.

She had more than just a few subtle differences. Her differences were glaringly obvious. "Probably cause transfiguration involves concentration. If you're not paying attention, well, it's one of the key components to a successful transformation, which means too, paying attention to all the details, big and small. Also, skill level. Probably the more you become skilled with a wand, the easier time you'll have in casting things more accurately. Precision takes experience." Practice makes perfect.

Maddox was as full of it as Zonko's the day before April Fool's. She waved a hand vaguely in his direction, as if dismissing the whole thing. “By all means, keep telling me how it wasn’t a big deal. Maybe if you say it enough times, I’ll start to believe it. Isn't that how self affirmations and all that are supposed to work?� Until the moment she lost her grip, Calliope had been flawless. Every pass, every dive, every maneuver ... sharp, calculated, executed with the kind of ease that should have made her an undeniable choice for the team. She had been proving herself, cementing what she already knew: that she belonged up there. And then - UGH. It didn’t matter that she had recovered, didn’t matter that she had still made the team. The fall had stained what should have been a perfect tryout, and that was the part she couldn’t let go of. “No one called you bitter, Maddox,� she pointed out, arching a brow. “That was all you.�

It was almost funny - she had been calling herself bitter in her own head, but she was fairly positive none of that had made it out into the open. So either he was deflecting, feeling some kind of way about this whole conversation, or he was just running his mouth without thinking. Likely a combination of all three. Thick a molasses in winter, seriously.

Calliope’s fingers tapped a lazy rhythm against the desk, a quiet snare roll of amusement as she glanced between Maddox and the twitchy little fish. Okay, so, the idea of him stuck in the hospital wing, half-melted and artistic like a real life Picasso or whatever, was objectively funny. But the actual thought of being responsible for it? Not so much. Not at all. Not unless he did something to truly deserve it. Her lips pressed together, stifling a laugh, and she gave her wand a slow, absentminded twirl before setting it down. “Mm.� That was all the reaction he was getting.

The brunette considered her tiny fish and glanced at Maddox's latest attempt, her brow quirking at the way he aggravatedly holstered his wand. Seriously, fish were gnarly. As the professor spoke, Calliope leaned forward slightly, resting her elbow on the table as she gave the professor a considering look. She really just wanted to shout 'BECAUSE THERE IS NOT ACTUAL LIFE BEHIND THOSE UGLY NON-BLINKING EYES", but she showed some restraint in the moment. "Because magic likes to be inconvenient," she quipped dryly under her breath, though there was a thoughtful edge to her voice. She tapped her fingers against the desk before adding in a more studious manner. "Magic can only fill in the gaps so much before it just fudges the details," Calliope began with a casual flick of her fingers. "All this is just a forced imitation anyway soooooo no matter how good you are at a spell, you can't change the fact that it's still a pebble pretending to be a fish. It isn't real, and it never will be." She gestured vaguely at the nearest transfigured specimen, her nose scrunching slightly. Why were fish so...gross? "That's why you can never quite get the eyes right. There's no life behind them because there was never any life to begin with." She tilted her head, considering the concept some more and glanced very pointedly at Maddox. "Maybe human transfiguration has better odds—at least you're starting with something that’s actually alive," she mused, tossing up a set of air quotes around 'living' creature, and half laughing thinking about her tank of Maddox and his paper companions. "Unless, of course, the human you're transfiguring is dead. Then, well, guess that’s a moot point."

SPOILER!!: Individual replies ^_^

Quote:

Originally Posted by NiallNIP

Oh, bosh. It's not like this banter was any different from things they'd both said before—like things Calliope said about his cards. Just because you didn't like it or thought it was wrong didn't mean it was off limits. If Maddox could take all the nonsense about his cards, she could take his little dig about quidditch. He rolled his eyes. "You've said much more inaccurate things about my cards before and I let it slide. Big whoop, the weather can change on a dime without you expecting it. And it was practice, Calliope, I don't think it's that big of a deal that she made a snowstorm. Seeing how you play under harsh conditions was just a test of your ability, and seeing as you still made the team you obviously did great even with you falling off the broom. If that snowstorm hadn't been there...you know, one small detail can change the entire future. Butterfly effect? Things could be different," he said with a shrug. The stress she was under could've actually brought out the best in her. Had she thought about that? "And I'm not bitter," he quipped without thinking, as a little sendoff for his monologue. This girl really got him talking, for some reason. Probably because he was constantly on the defense.

He looked into Calliope's bowl, scowling at the monstrous little thing that was twitching its way in his direction. "Eugh..." He would take a rock fish any day of the week over that thing. "I think if you try to transfigure me, I'll be avant-garde and artistic in the hospital wing." He could see it now—him with gills and scales and horribly disfigured and droopy. He hoped that she would have better sense than to actually try it on him.

And he knew that Professor Carton couldn't insult them, but he definitely didn't have to lie. Their attempts had been terrible, truthfully, and it's not like they would get any better by being placated. Some critique could be good when it's useful—he learned that through his training with Jane. Occlumency isn't the easiest thing to learn for an experienced wizard, so he's definitely fighting an uphill battle on that front. Jane having patience with him and giving him helpful critique was the only reason he'd been able to make any headway at all. Even having an aptitude for Legilimency wasn't the biggest help. He thought it was funny that he was better at Occlumency than he was at transfiguring a fish. Felt backwards.

He studied the brand new fish Calliope whipped up, and this brought a bigger frown to his face than the droopy one did. It was, well, close to perfect. Still not quite, but better than anything he'd managed to do. And he did not want to let her upstage him. He quickly pointed his wand at one of the pebbles in his bowl. "Piscifors!" Another flash of light, and the pebble in his tank sprouted a fish head. He huffed, stuffing his wand back in its holster. Okay. You've won this round, Barrington. But he'd always beat her out in Divination. And Arithmancy. And DADA.

He listened to the Professor's question, and he felt he knew the answer. No one seemed like they were going to speak up, so he sighed and gave in. "It's because they're small details. If the copy is based on how we see the fish, then it's hard to correctly capture all the little things."

Norman was slightly surprised, though pleased when Robicheaux offered an answer to the question. He nodded approvingly. “Excellent point, Mr. Robicheaux,” he replied. “No two people will perceive an object exactly the same way, so there’s bound to be differences based on perception alone.”

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

The Hufflepuff did not miss out on the nod Carton gave and was completely sure it was approval for both her's and Diego's work. Because yes, they had done excellently. There was just a twinge of regret that the second fish wasn’t as perfect as the first. She’s sorry for making you a slow swimmer, little fella!

She was still transfixed on the pair when the professor addressed the class once more. Dy thought a bit before raising a hand. “It’s difficult to focus on all the physical features. For me, at least, I was more focused on the gills, fins, face and tail. Even so, the duplicate fish’s tail did not come out perfectly.” Was she now a little sad about this? Yes. Yes, she was.

Atreyu-Rehman’s answer likewise received an approving nod from the professor. “Very good, Miss Atreyu-Rehman,” he said. “Divided focus or a lack of focus can certainly contribute to variations in transfiguration.”

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhoenixRising

Kara was settled into her seat just watching the fish in front of her at the bottom of her tank. She really wanted to the tap the tank, except she learned when she was like six that tapping a fish's tank never seemed to go well. But the fish was just staring back at her. Or was it sleeping? Who knew? What she didn't know was why the board said their gills, buoyancy, movement were common traits. Didn't all the fish move differently? Or were these fish charmed to all move the same? But her fish didn't seem to really move much.

She stared another moment, taking careful note of its eyes and scales. Maybe. Or maybe they were all transfigured fish and that's why they all sort of resembled each other? "Pisk-i-fors" Oh what a good question Taliesin had about it being connected to the fish constellation!! Note to self: make friends with Taliesin. She already knew him from their start of the year incident, but he was a good one to have around, she'd decided.

"Pisk-i-fours." she said again, this time pointing her wand at the small pebble as she'd seen Professor Carton do. Only as he'd managed to replicate the fish in its entirety, her fish seemed off. In colour and size. Instead of a blue and red fish, her fish was orange? And about half its size? How'd she manage that? Perhaps maybe that meant she was especially gifted if she created a whole new species? Or she hadn't been studying the fish's features enough and thereby created what she thought it looked like? It was hiding at the bottom of the tank when she was studying it.

She had more than just a few subtle differences. Her differences were glaringly obvious. "Probably cause transfiguration involves concentration. If you're not paying attention, well, it's one of the key components to a successful transformation, which means too, paying attention to all the details, big and small. Also, skill level. Probably the more you become skilled with a wand, the easier time you'll have in casting things more accurately. Precision takes experience." Practice makes perfect.

Walsh’s answer also touched on concentration, though she also mentioned skill level. Norman nodded. “True on both counts, Miss Walsh,” he replied. “It takes a lot of time and focus to perfect the finer details of transformations.”

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charely Potter

Diego had been studying Sparkle's not-quite-so-double. "You'll be.... Spikey. Cause those fins look so sharp!" He could see how the eyes weren't as active either. But that's because it wasn't really a live fish, but an imitation. Not the best, but oh well. "Thanks." He said, smiling so he didn't show how disappointed he was low-key on not getting the perfect double. He was only a first-year, after all.

Dynah also suggested he could name her new fish, which made his eyes twinkle again in thought. "How about Vinny? Feels like a good brother name to Venom. Or Vinnie for girl." Picking fish names were fun for Diego. As he was so focused on the fish differences, Diego considered making another "sibling" which was when the next question came.

So Diego responded when it was his turn, "I think the eyes are hard to create because there's stuff going on inside a fish's brain that we can't see and don't know how they connect with the eyes. So we can only replicate how it looks on the outside without knowing how everything inside works." If that made sense.

Norman smiled slightly as he overheard Melo-Dreamer’s names for the fish. His smile grew at the boy’s answer to the question. “Very good point, Mr. Melo-Dreamer,” he replied. “The finer workings of anatomy are impossible to see with the naked eye, which makes them difficult to recreate accurately.”

Quote:

Originally Posted by Granger Danger

Biting her lip Lily looked at her fish she turned into a fish to the real one, she noticed instantly the fins were a bit different compared to the real as well as their eyes. Taking notes of that she looked more and seen the scales were different as well, and it was smaller then the real one. Looking more at her fish she looked up at the Professor's question before she thought long and hard about it. Waiting for everyone else to speak, she raised her hand. "Well... I think it's because those are real features Professor, it's hard to make real like features to look perfect, even magic has it's limits." She said thoughtfully before continuing. "If you were to transferred a person into an animal they wouldn't look the same as a ferret or so because they're a human being not an animal so they might be bigger then a actual ferret." She hoped she made sense, blushing she looked down at her feet.

Norman noticed Moonstone’s blush, though he saw no reason for embarrassment. It was a perfectly reasonable answer. He nodded, smiling slightly. “Excellent example, Miss Moonstone,” he said. “Yes, everything, even magic, has its limits.”

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie

Maddox was as full of it as Zonko's the day before April Fool's. She waved a hand vaguely in his direction, as if dismissing the whole thing. “By all means, keep telling me how it wasn’t a big deal. Maybe if you say it enough times, I’ll start to believe it. Isn't that how self affirmations and all that are supposed to work?� Until the moment she lost her grip, Calliope had been flawless. Every pass, every dive, every maneuver ... sharp, calculated, executed with the kind of ease that should have made her an undeniable choice for the team. She had been proving herself, cementing what she already knew: that she belonged up there. And then - UGH. It didn’t matter that she had recovered, didn’t matter that she had still made the team. The fall had stained what should have been a perfect tryout, and that was the part she couldn’t let go of. “No one called you bitter, Maddox,� she pointed out, arching a brow. “That was all you.�

It was almost funny - she had been calling herself bitter in her own head, but she was fairly positive none of that had made it out into the open. So either he was deflecting, feeling some kind of way about this whole conversation, or he was just running his mouth without thinking. Likely a combination of all three. Thick a molasses in winter, seriously.

Calliope’s fingers tapped a lazy rhythm against the desk, a quiet snare roll of amusement as she glanced between Maddox and the twitchy little fish. Okay, so, the idea of him stuck in the hospital wing, half-melted and artistic like a real life Picasso or whatever, was objectively funny. But the actual thought of being responsible for it? Not so much. Not at all. Not unless he did something to truly deserve it. Her lips pressed together, stifling a laugh, and she gave her wand a slow, absentminded twirl before setting it down. “Mm.� That was all the reaction he was getting.

The brunette considered her tiny fish and glanced at Maddox's latest attempt, her brow quirking at the way he aggravatedly holstered his wand. Seriously, fish were gnarly. As the professor spoke, Calliope leaned forward slightly, resting her elbow on the table as she gave the professor a considering look. She really just wanted to shout 'BECAUSE THERE IS NOT ACTUAL LIFE BEHIND THOSE UGLY NON-BLINKING EYES", but she showed some restraint in the moment. "Because magic likes to be inconvenient," she quipped dryly under her breath, though there was a thoughtful edge to her voice. She tapped her fingers against the desk before adding in a more studious manner. "Magic can only fill in the gaps so much before it just fudges the details," Calliope began with a casual flick of her fingers. "All this is just a forced imitation anyway soooooo no matter how good you are at a spell, you can't change the fact that it's still a pebble pretending to be a fish. It isn't real, and it never will be." She gestured vaguely at the nearest transfigured specimen, her nose scrunching slightly. Why were fish so...gross? "That's why you can never quite get the eyes right. There's no life behind them because there was never any life to begin with." She tilted her head, considering the concept some more and glanced very pointedly at Maddox. "Maybe human transfiguration has better odds—at least you're starting with something that’s actually alive," she mused, tossing up a set of air quotes around 'living' creature, and half laughing thinking about her tank of Maddox and his paper companions. "Unless, of course, the human you're transfiguring is dead. Then, well, guess that’s a moot point."

Norman noticed the look Barrington gave him. Her answer got a very slight smile. “Yes, magic can be inconvenient sometimes,” he replied, nodding in agreement. “All excellent points, Miss Barrington. At the end of the day, there’s only so much magic can do. It can’t create life, only emulate it, so it can’t produce an exact copy.”

Norman’s eyes scanned the room in search of more hands in the air. When he saw none, he addressed the class once more, “Excellent answers, everyone! All of you hit the nail on the head in one way or another. Transformation, like all magic, has a human component. This includes the caster’s perception, concentration, and skill level, which allows for a certain margin of error.”

He paused to allow time for the information to sink in before giving the homework. “Your homework is to study that human component in more detail. Go to the lake; observe two different type of fish and attempt to reproduce them with Piscifors. Write a short essay, no more than 500 words, detailing the differences between the natural fish and the tranfigured copies, due next Monday. There are spare fishbowls behind my desk up front if you’d like to take one with you. Class dismissed!”

OOC: That’s all, folks! I’ll leave the thread open for another 10ish hours for anyone who wants to catch up or post their student leaving. Thanks for attending!