Transfiguration Lesson One (All Years)

Grayson had read a lot of books over the summer. Well, he read a lot of books whenever he could (he was a librarian after all), but he had specifically read a lot of books about teaching, and a few about educational philosophy. His first year as a teacher had gone fairly well - clearly, he was still employed - but he knew there was always room for improvement. And if he was going to take this teaching thing seriously, he was going to do his research.

So he had read a lot of books, and he had learned a few things. One particular concept that kept popping up was application: students wanted to know why they were learning what they were learning, and how it could be useful in the future. Of course, he had tried to do that last year, but he figured he could do a better job this year if he planned ahead. So after he read, he thought for a while, and he eventually came up with a plan.

He approached the charms professor with the idea first to make sure he wasn't treading on another teacher's territory, but the charms professor had been on board - something about the more practise, the better - so Grayson went ahead and coordinated their lesson plans to line up in a way that hopefully made sense. Transfiguration and charms often went hand in hand, so Grayson hoped that by this, his students would gain an appreciation for interdisciplinary studies, and would begin to notice how certain subjects often intertwined.

He was excited, in the geekiest of ways, to see how things would pan out.

The classroom was set up as usual for now, but Grayson hoped, if all went well, they would have time for a fun activity at the end of class. At the moment, each desk had a mid-sized toy upon it - dolls, plush horses, teddy bears, and a range of other stuffed animals - and on the board were a few words in his neat, cursive script: "The Hardening Charm." Underneath, in slightly smaller print, it said, "Bonus: Piertotum Locomotor."

Grayson sat back in the chair behind his desk, and waited eagerly for his first students to arrive.

As the class settled down, Grayson rose from his seat and move to the front of his desk, clapping his hands together for attention.

"Good morning! I hope you've all had a relaxing summer and a pleasant first week of school. It's good to see some familiar faces." He smiled as he gazed around the room. It was a relatively small class this year, but he didn't mind. It made it easier to give students one-on-one attention if they needed it.

"Your charms professor and I are trying something a little different this year. We've decided to collaborate to focus on the more practical uses of transfiguration, so today, we're going to learn two spells. The first should not be too difficult, and it's the only one you'll be graded on. The second will be more of a challenge."

Grayson reached behind him and picked up a teddy bear that had been sitting on his own desk. "Now, since we may run short on time, I'm going to jump right in. The hardening charm, or 'Duro', is a spell that turns objects into stone. As with all transfiguration, this requires concentration, and a clear image of what you want to occur. Those of you who had me last year, I hope you remember the techniques you learned. If you do, this should be relatively easy."

Holding the bear out in front of him, Grayson gently tapped it with his hand and made sure to enunciate. "Duro."

Starting from the place his wand had touched, the once fluffy toy began to harden, the stone texture creeping down from the bear's head to its feet, until he was left holding a statue.

"Now, I'd like you to try. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I'll be coming around to help anyone who needs it."

A/N I'm so sorry it took me this long to reply. It's been a busy couple of weeks.

A few more people entered before Professor Hughes began his class but Mimosa didn't care for anyone other than Loni - to whom she gave a cheerful wave before returning to her stuffed bat. Normally, Mimosa would have gone right back to not listening (she could always catch up from Squid Boy or Bushrah or any number of people who were always happy to give her the TLDR) had she not heard the incantation for the day.

A spell she actually knew.

The first time she had seen snow in Versailles, Mimosa had been six years old and not entirely impressed. The child had seen snow before of course, so it was nothing new. until she saw Grandpere do the magic. Lord Clement had neatly extracted his wand from his pocket and pointed it wordlessly at the bubbles she'd been blowing using the soap mixture someone had gotten her. Mimosa had been fully expecting to see the bubbles pop like every other time.

Until they hand't.

Those bubbles had stayed around the whole day, floating up and down and around, coming to rest on her shoulders and hair. one had even came to Elenore but the older witch had waved it away. Much later, Jacques had told her the charm that could harden the soap bubbles and even let her try it using his wand. He had not been like the adults, telling her she couldn't have a wand. He had just presented her his own with a flourish.

The young Slytherin was all ready to answer any questions regarding the charm but unfortunately non were asked. The professor told them to go ahead and try the charm straight away so, eager to show she knew her stuff, Mimosa did just that. Closing her eyes, she focused on the bat. This wasn't supposed to be a little hardening like with the bubbles. Here she had to make it turn to stone like Mr. Grayson had.

"Dura!" the child pronounced in a distinctly french accent, following the word with the wand movement. She heard a few of the beans inside the stuffed bat congeal and crack but nothing else happens. Mimosa tied once more, with the same result.

It took a long time because she couldn't do the whole thing at once, she had to go part by part. And even then, at the end the tip of the bat remained slightly floppy but most of it was now sturdy enough to stand on its own. In fact, if she took it in her hand and hit someone with it, the brunette was certain it might also be able to cause minor injury.

"I'm done!" she premedical with a ridiculously proud grin at her own accomplishment. "Check it out, Sir. Mine turned out amazing! Can i keep it? I can sub it out for my bat when we practice next!"

Grayson wove between the desks, checking in on his students' progress. Many of them seemed to have the technique more or less down, with only a few subtle flaws here and there. As he passed by Mimosa's desk, she called out to him to show off her work. It wasn't perfect, but it was passable, and she looked so excited about it that he couldn't imagine being anything less than encouraging - after all, he wanted to instill a love of learning, so Mimosa's attitude was exactly what he hoped for in his students.

He chuckled politely at her enthusiasm. "I'm afraid it may not quite meet regulation standards; you'll have to ask your captain about that one. Good work, nevertheless. Keep it up!" He turned from her with an encouraging smile, coming next to Nikolai Kessler's desk.

Grayson briefly inspected the young Slytherin's handiwork with an approving nod. "You clearly know what you're doing. It wouldn't hurt to slow down a little next time, but you've mastered the essence of the spell."

He continued on to the rest of the students, giving each of them tips and encouraging comments. When it looked like everyone had successfully turned their objects to stone, Grayson returned to the front of the classroom and clapped once more for attention.

"Now, we're going to play a little game. Has everyone here played wizard's chess?" He watched as a couple heads nodded. "How about muggle chess?" A few more nods.

"If you're not sure of the rules, you're welcome to sit out the first round and watch, or ask someone beside you. I'll need two captains who are familiar with the game." He looked around, picking a couple people who had raised their hands.

"Perfect. Now, everyone push the desks to the sides of the room. Keep your statues with you."

As they did so, Grayson waved his hand and glowing lines began to criss-cross about the floor in a checkered pattern, forming a chessboard. "If you would, find a spot on either side and place your object on the board. Remember what they are - queen, king, bishop, knight, rook, or pawn."

A few empty squares were left, so Grayson quickly transfigured a few more objects to fill them.

"Now, this next incantation is little trickier than the last one. Point your wand at your object, and repeat after me: piertotum locomotor." As he said this, he held out his own wand toward one of the objects he had placed on the board - the same stone bear from earlier. Immediately, the bear stood to attention, rising up onto two legs.

He waited until the majority of the class had gotten the hang of it, coming around to a few individual students to assist them. Once everyone had an animated object under their control, he animated the rest of the filler pieces so he could control them himself. With a snap of his fingers, the pieces on one half of the board turned white, while the other half turned black. He turned to the captains.

"It's up to you to tell your teams where to move. It's up to the rest of us to move accordingly. All you have to do is tell your object what to do - if you've cast the spell correctly, it should follow your orders. Everyone ready?"

When both captains nodded, Grayson stepped back. "Begin!"

While the game of chess started slowly and with a bit of commotion as the students got the hang of commanding their pieces, by the second round, almost everyone was fairly adept at moving around the board. By the time the bell rang signalling the end of class, most of the students had gotten quite invested in the game. The two captains seemed especially disappointed at being cut short, so Grayson allowed any students who wished to stay behind and finish the game to do so. His next class wouldn't be arriving for another couple hours.

The white team ended up winning both matches, though not easily, and Grayson overheard the black team's captain demanding a rematch with a real board as the students began to trickle out the door. Once everyone left, Grayson set about putting his classroom back together, erasing the board from the floor and returning the objects to the their original states. All in all, he thought the class had been a success.


House points:
Mimosa Harrington: 5 points for attendance + 10 points for participation = 15 points
Nikolai Kessler: 5 points for attendance + 10 points for participation = 15 points
Apollonia Leandros: 5 points for attendance

Totals:
Slytherin: 35 points
Gryffindor: 0 points
Hufflepuff: 0 points
Ravenclaw: 0 points