Transfiguration Lesson 1 (Years 5-7)

After the beginners' class, Grayson quickly set about putting his room back together in preparation for the older students. He had something different planned for them, knowing that he'd need to take different approaches with different age levels. He had a little time between classes, so he was able to restore the real furniture that had come with the classroom.

He wouldn't have time to clean everything off the floor, but thanks to some prior planning, he wouldn't need to. In fact, his two lessons tied into each other perfectly so that all of his students would be able to learn, while also relieving him of some extra work.

With the younger students, Grayson's main goal was to get them excited about transfiguration, knowing that it was best to instill a love of learning first before getting into the content. With the older students, hopefully they were already mature enough to have internal motivation, because unfortunately his curriculum would have to cater mostly to the end-of-year exams set by the Ministry.

It was one downfall of teaching a core class, but Grayson had had all summer to deliberate and plan, and he was determined not to let a set curriculum stifle his creativity.

His main focus, he decided, would be on real-world application. Thus, he left his mess of a classroom as it was, with random clutter strewn across the floor, and wrote three words on the board: "The Vanishing Spell."

Attending Transfiguration had not been in Nerisei's plans, but the fact that it was one of the core classes left her with no choice. Her O.W.L. results were incredible, she had to admit, but that Exceeds Expectations in Arithmancy and in Transfiguration had to change. That made the Ravenclaw Prefect decide that studying Transfiguration had to become one of her top priorities, because failure was not an option for her.

The young witch took her time to get to class, knowing that she wasn't late at all. On the contrary, she would probably be one of the first there. Whilst descending the stairs, Nerisei pulled her phone out of the pocket, discreetly checking for any text messages from Dimitri. Sighing as the notification bar was empty, the witch put her phone back in her pocket and walked towards the Transfiguration classroom.

Pushing the door open softly, Nerisei took the time to look around the classroom, making a face at the slight mess it was in. Her eyes found the only other student in the class, Sasha Denver, the Head Girl, giving her a small smile, before turning to the Professor.... Who was none other than their Librarian, Grayson Hughes. Well, that was going to be an interesting lesson.

"Morning, Professor." The Prefect greeted, while scanning the board quickly.

'The Vanishing Spell'

With another sigh, the Ravenclaw settled down. Transfiguration was not going to be fun.

As the class filled up, Grayson rose to address the older students, hoping they wouldn't feel as if he were using them. In truth, he sort of was, but it had a purpose behind it that he hoped they would recognize.

"Good afternoon," he started. "In case we haven't met, my name is Professor Hughes. I think I recognize most of you. You've probably seen me around in the library in previous years, and while I do have a new job, you can still find me there if you need me. My policy as a professor is the same as it was as a librarian: if you need any help, all you have to do is ask."

He paused and looked around the classroom at the clutter that had been mostly pushed to the sides of the room, but was still very apparent.

"That being said, today I need some help from you. My class this morning was learning an untransfiguration spell, and the lesson left this room in a bit of mess. As you can see, there are random objects littering the floor. I don't have anywhere to put them, but I need them gone. Luckily, there's a spell for that."

Grayson looked pointedly up at the board behind him, then turned back around with a smile.

"Does anyone know the incantation for the Vanishing Spell?"

Grayson nodded encouragingly at the girl who spoke up.

"Correct, it is 'evanesco,' although it is spelt with a C. It's a Latin conjugate, from the word for 'to vanish.' As a side note, while it may not be necessary, I'd highly suggest studying Latin if you can. You'll find Latin words in every area of magic, and it will more often than not aid you in remembering incantations."

As he finished his tangent, he remembered one of the other duties that came with teaching and backtracked a little. "Oh, and five points to Hufflepuff," he added with a smile.

"So, as I'm sure you've guessed, today you will be practicing the Vanishing Spell on some of these objects over here." He moved from the front of the room to pick up a small flower pot from the pile nearest to him, and held it up for the class to see. "I'd suggest starting small, and working your way up as you feel comfortable. The spell itself is relatively simple, but it does require your full concentration to make sure you vanish the entire object. If you don't, it's not the end of the world--just perform the spell again on the remaining part."

When it seemed most of the class was watching, he retrieved his wand from his robe and demonstrated, the pot disappearing from his hand in an instant.

"Remember, there is only so much you can learn from watching.The most important aspect of transfiguration--any transfiguration--is to hold a clear image in your head of what you want to accomplish. The spell and wand movement are important, but secondary."

And with that, he released them to practise, supervising from the front of the room should anyone require assistance.

Dimitri was vaguely listening to the new professor, smiling to himself as he made notes because the man before them expected them to try to learn Latin as well as all the curricular subjects they had. For what reason? Dimitri shook his head, French and English were more than enough for him to learn in a life time -- even if his Maman was somewhat put out for his lack of enthusiasm when it came to learning Greek. Though, at least, he could pick out a few phrases to keep her happy.

The idea of Latin was just a no.

As the man before them explained what they were doing, Dimitri looked up at the man, his eyebrow quirked in a question, even if it was not spoken. When they were set off to start working, Dimitri turned his attention to Nerisei in that moment. "Is he serious? He wants us to do the work of House Elves?" The boy asked, showing quite clearly what he thought to such things. Whilst Dimitri was not as uptight as many other Purebloods in the castle, he was not one for doing jobs usually given to servants.

So, in that moment, he didn't actually move to try the spell, feeling much too offended by the thought to put his mind to doing the spells they had been asked to.



OOC: I'm sorry, Kiera, I thought I'd replied to this! I feel terrible!

Grayson stepped back to observe as the class got to work. Well, most of the class got to work. The Ravenclaw boy who remained at his desk did not fail to catch the librarian's attention, but though he raised his eyebrows at the boy, Grayson said nothing as he continued to scan the room for those needing assistance. Internally, he panicked slightly, trying to decide how to deal with the situation.

He'd known, of course, when he'd taken the job that he would have to deal with difficult students. He'd foolishly hoped he'd be spared at least on his first day. He was not prepared for this; he never encountered this problem as a librarian. How was one supposed to convince a student to participate? He could dock points--that would establish his authority within the classroom--but the thought didn't sit well with him. It didn't seem to address the root of the problem. There must be a reason the boy was refusing to work, and Grayson sought to understand, not to punish.

In the end, he decided to leave the boy alone for the rest of class, focusing his attention on those who were participating and needed help. The young Ravenclaw was only hurting himself, after all, and Grayson didn't want to embarrass the boy in front of his peers.

As class was coming to an end, he paused on his way past the Ravenclaw's desk.

"If you have a problem, Mr. Moreau, I will be happy to speak with you about it after class," he said quietly. "I'm afraid without a reasonable explanation, I will be forced to deduct points for your lack of participation, but I am willing to hear you out should you choose to stay after."

Having laid out his terms, Grayson returned to the front of the room to address his other students, congratulating them for their efforts, and dismissing them with their homework before the bell rang for them to leave.


House points:
Sasha Denver: 10 for attendance + 5 for answer = 15 points
Nerisei Gerber: 10 for attendance = 10 points
Dimitri Moreau: 10 for attendance = 10 points

TOTALS:
Gryffindor: 0
Slytherin: 0
Ravenclaw: 20
Hufflepuff: 15