First Years, Lesson One

First Years, Lesson One: Types of Transfiguration
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The door to the Transfiguration classroom was wide open and leaning casually against the wall outside was the new lower years Transfigurations professor, Professor Edward Pirrip. He had decided against waiting inside like every other professor. First years deserved a moment to calm any nerves they might have. They were first years, after all. This was another new room, new subject, and new professor to get used to. A whole lot of things to get used to. He ran a quick headcount as the students trickled in, he greeted each one with a warm smile and greeting, while making mental notes of who looked confident and who might need a little extra encouragement. Once satisfied that everyone was present, Edward stepped inside himself and closed the door behind him.

"Welcome to Transfiguration," he began as he strode to the front of the room, his limp barely slowing him down. With a flick of his wand, a piece of chalk sprang to life, scratching out the word Transfiguration on the chalkboard. Edward smiled at the class, trying not to grimace as the chalk made a terrible sound underlining the word. "My name is Professor Edward Pirrip, but if you’d rather keep it short, Professor P works just fine. I will be your Transfiguration teacher for the next few years, guiding you through one of the most complex and powerful branches of magic." He introduced, "You will learn everything from manipulating, conjuring and even vanishing the very matter that makes up our physical world. It is a discipline that demands precision, creativity, and focus. Sound difficult? Good. It should. But trust me, once you get the hang of it, you’ll never look at a spoon, or a rock, or your roommate’s pet in quite same way again.” Edward explained while the chalk wrote out the types of transfigurations behind him.

Types of Transfiguration Inanimate to Inanimate Inanimate to Animate Animate to Inanimate Animate to Animate Switching Conjuring Vanishing​

"Now, I know what you’re thinking: ‘What on earth does all that mean?’ Don’t worry, we’re starting simple. We'll start with vocabulary. I promise to make this as painless as possible, you just need to pay attention and take notes along the way. You'll thank me later." Edward told his students, while picking up a quill from his desk and holding it up "Inanimate refers to something that isn't mobile nor living, like this quill." He waved his wand, and the quill transformed into a silver spoon. "Or this spoon, both inanimate and an example of inanimate to inanimate transfiguration. Animate is the exact opposite. Anything living, moving. Like you or I," he pointed his wand at the spoon again, turning it into a white butterfly that fluttered out of his hand, "Or this butterfly, this is an example of inanimate to animate transfiguration. Don't get too attached though, while the creature looks alive it lacks a soul and isn't truly living. True life is something we cannot give." He explained, turning the butterfly back into a quill and catching it in his palm as it drifted back down towards the floor, "It does look cool though."

"If I had turned that butterfly into a different type of animal instead of using untransfiguration, that would've been an example of animate to animate transfiguration. When using a true animal for transfiguration, it's important to note that you don't kill a creature when you turn it into something inanimate, it's more like pressing pause on their life for a short time." Edward told them, placing the quill back into the inkpot. Glancing at the clock, Edward realised the time was slipping away. “Right, that’s enough for today. I know theory can feel bit tough, but it’s the foundation for everything else we’ll do in this class. And trust me when I say the fun stuff is coming. Oh but before you go please complete this questionnaire." He said, using his wand to hand out a questionnaire and giving all the students enough time to complete it before finishing the lesson, "Class dismissed!"

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Homework: RP attendance! Tag @Professor Edward Pirrip if you would like me to interact with your character! For extra credit, complete the Getting to Know You questionnaire below.

Spoiler: Getting to Know You Questionnaire

Name:
House:
Briefly tell me about your background, did you grow up in a magical household or aware of magic before your letter arrived?:
If you could turn your quill into any animal, what animal would it be, and why?:

 

[Aaron Dela Cruz]

Aaron shuffled into the Transfiguration classroom, brows furrowed as he glanced at the handwritten types of magics on the chalkboard behind the professor. "Manipulating matter," he mumbled under his breath, sinking his a seat near the middle of the room, "sounds like coding for objects in a game engine... just, you know, IRL." As the teacher transformed the quill into a butterfly, Aaron's lips twisted into a skeptical smirk. It was impressive, sure, but he couldn't help but wonder aloud, "Is it like a hologram? Or some sort of advanced AR projection?" His accent settled distinctly, curious, slightly annoyed. He did take notes when the class continued but he was already weaving his own theories about the magic, and was trying to reconcile this with what he knew about transmutation. The idea of transfiguring a quill into an animal sounded cool, but he couldn't shake the feeling that magic was just another system waiting to be decoded—if only he had the right tools. He leaned over to Angelo and scoffed. "Tell me I'm not the only one who thinks this is a bit much?"​

Name: Aaron Dela Cruz
House: Ravenclaw
Briefly tell me about your background, did you grow up in a magical household or aware of magic before your letter arrived?: Not a clue, we don't have magic at my house.
If you could turn your quill into any animal, what animal would it be, and why?: A mouse, they're really smart and can get into all sorts of hard to reach places.

 

[Angelo Dela Cruz]

Angelo wasn't quite sure how the school worked at first. It had been a massive source of confusion to know that he had to move classrooms. And was he supposed to lug all his books for the day around? Was he allowed to go back to the dorms in between classes? Was it even smart to go back to the dorms? It didn't seem fun to lug books and school supplies around in a castle either. Because they didn't even have escalators or elevators. Angelo had never climbed stairs so much in his life. He smiled at the professor and gave him a wave, clutching his bag in his arms. He found a seat in the middle of the room, setting up his notebook and pen carefully - his attempts at using the quill and parchment had been disastrous thus far, thanks Ma, for putting in some actual school supplies. When the professor introduced himself he greeted, in a loud, accented voice, "Good morning Pr-," before looking around and noticing that no one was doing the same thing which made him blush all the way to the tip of his ears. Did they not greet teachers here at the start of class? That seemed awfully impolite. Still, he easily got distracted watching the chalk in awe as it moved on its own. He could barely pay attention to the words that were being said, distracted as he was by the demonstrations of magic. Sure they'd seen the Great Hall, and the moving and talking pictures. But this was magic being done in front of his eyes. Still, all he'd managed to write down in his notebook was what was written on the board. When the questionnaire floated to his desk, Buboy stared at it, a bit anxious as he filled it out carefully, chewing at the end of his pen. He was also weirded out that they didn't thank the professor but he supposed that's really a thing here. "Ten-kyu-ser," he said, his accent coming out quite thick before he walked out. Stairs again.
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Name: DELA CRUZ, Angelo Javier L.
House: Unit 2706, SMDC, EDSA, Mandaluyong City, Philippines
Briefly tell me about your background, did you grow up in a magical household or aware of magic before your letter arrived?: No
If you could turn your quill into any animal, what animal would it be, and why?: A bird. Quills come from bird feathers.

*Thank you sir​

 

[Julian Nightray]

Julian lingered at the back of the group as he arrived at the Transfiguration classroom with a number of his yearmates. The professor standing outside of the classroom was somewhat intriguing, and he didn't quite know what to make of it. He did nod politely to the professor's greeting but otherwise didn't say anything. Once inside, Julian chose a seat near the middle of the classroom and began to take out his quill, ink, and parchment. The professor's introduction was captivating, and he listened intently as each type of Transfiguration was discussed. He'd grown up around magic but he was exposed to Transfiguration far less than other branches of magic somehow. This class was looking to be more and more interesting. When the questionnaires were handed out, Julian worked on it, keeping his answers concise. As the class ended and the other students began to file out, he gathered his things and quickly joined the departing crowd.​

Name: Julian Nightray
House: Ravenclaw
Briefly tell me about your background, did you grow up in a magical household or aware of magic before your letter arrived?: I come from a Pureblood family in Europe.
If you could turn your quill into any animal, what animal would it be, and why?: Hedgehog. I just think it would be interesting to try since feathers and spines are similar yet opposing

 

[Daisuke Kaster]

Daisuke hesitated outside the Transfiguration classroom, spotting the professor leaning casually against the wall. The man’s relaxed posture might have been disarming, but Daisuke still kept his head down as he shuffled inside after a polite smile in response to the professor’s cheerful greeting. He quickly slipped into a seat near the back, hoping to stay out of the spotlight for this class. The chalk's screech as it underlined "Transfiguration" made him wince slightly, though he kept his eyes fixed on the professor in between taking notes. Professor Pirrip seemed enthusiastic, quite like Professor Carter but Daisuke wasn’t sure what to make of him just yet. As the professor explained the types of transfiguration, Daisuke couldn’t help but be drawn into the discussion. It was quite fascinating. When the questionnaires were handed out, Daisuke stared at the sheet in front of him. The questions were straightforward, but he hesitated before filling the last question out, wondering if there was a right or wrong answer to this. Once done, he handed in the sheet quietly, avoiding eye contact as he left the classroom.​

 

[Evan DAramitz]

Evan walked into the Transfiguration Classroom, holding his bookbag nervously. As the class settled in, the teacher -or professor, as they were referred to here- began to introduce himself. "Professor P, huh?" Evan muttered to himself as the class went on.

He was not surprised by the idea that Transfiguration was one of the most difficult magics there were to learn. From the books he'd been reading, transfiguration was changing one object into another, which, without the proper technique, even sounded like it could go very wrong. After all, what he knew of the law of the conservation of mass implied that doing transfiguration wrong, even with magic, could end up in terrible explosions of power.

Evan began writing in the journal he'd brought with him, the vocabulary words Professor P had written on the board. He was familiar with most of the words up there, but what they meant in regards to Transfiguration had yet to be seen. Evan was writing with a quill - he was grateful to his father for insisting on him knowing how to write in calligraphy, because writing with a quill was very similar. His penmanship was better than probably most muggleborns, in that respect, thankfully.

Evan watched in awe as the professor turned the silver spoon into a quill, and then into a white butterfly as he explained the difference between inanimate and animate transfiguration. "Wow," Evan muttered to himself. He was a bit disappointed, though, when Professor P explained that the butterfly was just an imitation of life, and didn't have a soul. It made sense, though. If wizards could create life, there wouldn't be anyone dying, after all. It made a delicate balance make more sense, to Evan.

As the Professor dismissed them from the class, he asked them to fill out a questionnaire before they went on their way. Evan brought out a piece of parchment and wrote down the questionnaire's questions, answering them promptly before handing it to Professor P.

Name: Evan D'Aramitz
House: Ravenclaw
Briefly tell me about your background, did you grow up in a magical household or aware of magic before your letter arrived?: I am a muggleborn, so I didn't know what the weird things that always happened around me and my brother were. Now I know it was magic, and my brother will be joining me next year here.
If you could turn your quill into any animal, what animal would it be, and why?: I would probably turn it into a mouse so I could feed my owl, Hermes, a treat. Oh, but would that mean it would untransfigure in his stomach and cause him harm? I'll have to look that up.

 

[Theodore Harper]

Theo had been excited for lessons if he was being honest. He couldn't wait to learn about new things. Though he was worried classes would be boring, though he seemed a bit unsure about Transfiguration. The boy quickly packed up the things he needed for the lesson before making his way down to his Transfiguration class. Once he arrived, Theo grinned at the professor as he saw the professor standing outside of the classroom, before making his way inside the classroom. The Ravenclaw quickly took a seat at the back of the room and took out the things he needed, placing them on the desk in front of him.

Theo moved his attention towards the professor as the professor got on with the lesson. The Ravenclaw listened carefully to what the professor had to say, making sure to take down as much notes as he could, not wanting to miss out on anything important, as well as nodding his head along to everything the professor had to say, to show he was understanding the content. Professor Pirrip seemed like a cool professor, charismatic is what Theo thought of the professor.

They were then given a questionnaire to complete before the lesson came to an end. Theo quickly answered the questions and It wasn't long before the lesson had come to an end and they were dismissed. Theo quickly handed his quiz to the professor before he packed up his things as well as tidied up his area. He then says a quick yet appreciative thanks and goodbye to the professor before heading out the door with his friends and classmates.

Name: Theodore Harper (Call me Theo though!)
House: Ravenclaw

Briefly tell me about your background, did you grow up in a magical household or aware of magic before your letter arrived?:
I'm mixed-blood, so my parents came from different magical and non-magical backgrounds. But I was aware of magic before I came to Hogwarts!

If you could turn your quill into any animal, what animal would it be, and why?:
I don't really know to be honest! Animals are cool! Maybe like a dog or something. Dogs are cool!

 

[Henri Fontaine]

Henri had completely lost track of time, it had only been when he’d stepped back into the common room, that one of the other students had flagged to him that he had a class. He tookt he time to look at what the schedule said he had and then decided based on that whether he was actually going to bother going. He wasn’t going to go if it wasn’t interesting. He knew that the first classes would just be introductions, but perhaps that was worse. He haphazardly put on his uniform and then headed out to class.

Henri walked into the transfiguration classroom, following in behind the other hufflepuff students. He found a spot near the back of the room, one of the last seats available. He looked towards the professor and decided quickly though he wanted to learn transfiguration that this lesson was going to be boring. Unless they were doing a spell, he didn’t really have much interest in transfiguration or unless the professor could tell them how the sorting hat functioned, he didn’t much care. He just reached into his bag and took out the notes he’d been working on, and then just got back to that. Only really listening back in to the lesson when there was a questionnaire put in front of him. He filled it out and then he left the room.

Spoiler

Name: Henri Fontaine
House: Hufflepuff
Briefly tell me about your background, did you grow up in a magical household or aware of magic before your letter arrived?: My mother is the minister for magic.
If you could turn your quill into any animal, what animal would it be, and why?:
Why would I do that, when I could just get an animal? My quill is my quill? it seems a bit pointless. Especially, would the quill know it was once a quill or would it just be 'born' as the animal, and like if I died it would change back right? If the magic dies with me, so seems a bit cruel?

 

[Heemi Blenheim]

Hēmi was kind of lost, and got to the lesson a bit late. He apologised and took his seat quickly. The castle was just so huge and maybe Hēmi was a little bit directionally challenged. He listened to the professor, then figured he should maybe taking some notes so wrote something down just to look like he was doing something. It sounded important, some of this stuff, but it was a bit tough to figure out. He kind of got the concepts but they weren't gelling as well as he'd hoped. Oh well, he had time to let it sink in.

Spoiler: Homework

Name: Hēmi Blenheim
House: Hufflepuff
Briefly tell me about your background, did you grow up in a magical household or aware of magic before your letter arrived?: Yeah, my parents are magical but they don't work in magical jobs. My dad shears sheep and can shear them real fast, even without magic! I can sort of do it but I'm way slower. Uh, sorry, this isn't that relevant anymore, is it?
If you could turn your quill into any animal, what animal would it be, and why?: Probably a tūī, because they're cool. They're used to be one outside by bedroom who'd sing all the time, back home.