Practicing Transfiguration

[Estrella Drage]

Estrella made her way up to the North Tower, feeling quite winded; despite the fact that she practically lived in Ravenclaw tower, she was still not all that fit, and found herself embarassedly winded and her face flushed a light red.

She grinned as she noticed that the tower was empty; there weren't any first years to meddle as she and Bruin practiced.

 

[Bruin Dumbledez]

Bruin was happy that Estrella had agreed to be his partner and the two of them walked in virtual silence up the steps to the North Tower. Light filtered in through the various openings in the stone work and cast brilliant patches of sunshine around them. Bruin gazed down at the rat in his hands who didn't seem to mind at all being carried around the castle and Bruin found himself wondering whether he had been through this drill before or whether this was going to be a new experience for the little critter.

Estrella picked out a nice patch of floor that had been warmed by the sun's rays and Bruin pulled out his work robes from his knapsack and spread it out on the floor like a blanket for their rat to explore. Bruin pulled out a package of crackers that he had lifted from the Great Hall earlier in the week and broke one up and placed it on the robe beside the rat so he wouldn't be so inclined to run away.

"So, do you want to try first?", Bruin asked Estrella as he got out his notes to remind himself of the incantation. Bruin was about to begin his Animagus Training and was determined to work hard so that Professor Larkin didn't regret putting faith in him as someone worthy of her time.

 

[Estrella Drage]

Estrella watched as the rat scurried forward on Bruin's work robes, first sniffing hesitantly at the little piece of cracker, and when it finally decided that it was food, it picked it up in its little paws, nibbling at it enthusiastically. "For a rodent, he's a cute little guy," she murmured to herself.

When Bruin asked if she wanted to go first, she replied, "Sure, why not?"

What was the incantation again? she thought to herself. Coninicus, that's it! Not knowing that she was using the wrong incantation, she waved her wand a the rat, pronouncing loudly, "Conincus!"

However, she realized that she had messed up horribly when her rat morphed into something that was not a rabbit nor a rat; something of a cross between the two, chubby, with discolored fur, oversized ears, and a skinny tail. "Oh crap, it was Cuninculus, wasn't it?" she exclaimed out loud, her face turning red in embarrassment.

 

[Bruin Dumbledez]

Bruin laughed at both Estrella's creation and her reaction. "Are you sure? That doesn't sound right either....", Bruin said looking a little confused, he thought her new species reminded him of another rodent that he had seen once or twice and as he was about to say the proper incantation got confused, pointing his wand at the strange little creature and uttering Chinchillicus!. There was a slight "poofing" sound and the little critter went through another failed transformation.

"Whoops, that ain't right now either!", Bruin laughed.

 

[Estrella Drage]

Estrella giggled as the thing that Bruin transfigured the poor rat-rabbit into was definitely not a rabbit, but a chincilla. "Aww, it's adorable!" she cooed, bending down to pet its silky fur, possibly the softest thing to ever pass across her palm. "We should just keep him this way; he's cute," she suggested. "I mean, you didn't do the right transfiguration, but you found a new one!"

 

[Bruin Dumbledez]

Bruin tended to agree with Estrella, the Chinchilla was rather cute looking, but he wondered if they were going to have trouble turning the little guy into a into a rabbit now. He turned to Estrella, glanced at his paper, and then asked a question, not knowing if she would have the answer. "So, if Cuniculus turns a rat into a rabbit, does it turn a Chinchilla into a Rabbit as well or do you think we need to wait until this one wears off first? I mean, deep down it's still a rat so it should work, shouldn't it?"

 

[Estrella Drage]

"Well, I think it would work," Estrella replied, smirking down at the cute little chinchilla, "Because if the spell still has the same root meaning for rabbit, it should perform the same thing." She shrugged her shoulders. "I dunno.. wanna give it a try?" After her last fiasco with Transfiguring the creature, she was wary of disfiguring it further.

 

[Bruin Dumbledez]

Bruin wondered about what Estrella had said. "I guess I've always wondered about that. Like does Cuniculus turn everything into a rabbit or does it only work for one specific thing?". Bruin took another look at the Chinchilla and thought that it started to look a little slimmer than it had moments earlier. Suddenly, right before their eyes the Chinchilla transformed back into the rat and looked up at Bruin quizzically, as if to say So are you two done yet?

"Well, I guess we are going to have to ask Professor Larkin directly about that one because apparently my Chinchilla spell doesn't last very long!", he said with a laugh.Bruin pointed his wand close to the rat and said Cuniculus!, envisioning a little brownish-grey rabbit as he did so. Bruin reached down and picked the rabbit up, noticing how small it was and that it appeared to have a hole in one of its ears. "Yikes, poor little guy looks like he's into body piercing!", Bruin exclaimed.

 

[Estrella Drage]

Estrella giggled a bit as the chinchilla transfigured back, and she said, "I dunno, I've always wondered about those spells myself."

She observed the rabbit with the hole in its ears, commenting, "We should call him spunky, then! Were we both supposed to turn this rat into a rabbit on separate turns, or was it just that we were supposed to make sure he got turned into a rabbit together?"

 

[Bruin Dumbledez]

"You got me, although I would guess that Professor Larkin will want us to both get good at it. Most of my transfigurations don't seem to last very long and Professor Larkin told me that they all wear off eventually, just depends on how strong the spell and wizard are.", Bruin stated, glad that he had asked the previous week. "So, I suppose if we wait a few minutes, Spunky here will return to rat form and you can give it a try."

Bruin had been wondering about Estrella's new Quidditch team anyways, so he decided to make a bit of small talk while they waited. "So, how's your Quidditch team looking? Do you guys have a name yet?"

 

[Estrella Drage]

"Okay," Estrella replied, "I'm alright at Transfiguration; but Charms is my strong suit." Grinning, she turned to the rabbit, who seemed to like taking his time turning back into a rat.

When asked about the Quidditch team, she replied, "Erm, I guess practice went alright. We don't exactly have a name yet." She turned to her old quidditch captain, and asked, "So, do you have any of the old Assault on your team?"

 

[Bruin Dumbledez]

Bruin let out a loud sigh. It still bothered him how the whole Quidditch season had gone and particularly the fact that he had been shut out on bringing back key members of the Assault. "Actually, not a one. I didn't have a chance at yourself, Kale, or Zoe and then I made a bit of a strategic error when it came to Lily. I still feel bad about it. I actually thought about retiring the name and calling the team something else entirely, but then I couldn't bring myself to do that.", Bruin gave Estrella a funny look. "So, uh, how are things with you and Kale anyways? You two always look so happy together, it's kind of nice to see."

 

[Estrella Drage]

"I'm sorry about the Assault," Estrella replied, truthfully. "You were an awesome captain. Heck, I bet you are for the new bunch!"

She grinned when he inquired about her and Kale. "Yeah, everything seems to be going good," she replied, "It's funny; we've never really even fought.

Estrella saw that the rabbit was turning back into a rat, although it hadn't yet entirely. "So, I never asked; how did your Holiday break go?"

 

[Bruin Dumbledez]

Bruin hadn't been able to talk about his break at all for a few weeks, but after finally telling Kale he was slowly starting to deal with it and knew that he could trust Estrella. "Well...to be honest, it was pretty much the worst couple weeks of my life. My grandparents were killed in a car accident just before I got home and well, it was pretty much a mess from that point on."

 

[Estrella Drage]

Having been preparing to go on a long spheal about the holiday break she had enjoyed with her uncle, aunt, cousins, and of course, Kale, Estrella was not expecting something so negative to come from Bruin, a chill coursing up her spine like an icy vein that continued to flow. Her mouth hung open agape, her eyes welling up with sadness. She had lost her own mother to a car accident, and she knew what Bruin must be going through. Losing a loved one was a trial in life that everyone obviously had to go through, but it was a trying time, nonetheless.

Her dark eyes filled with compassion, she replied softly, "Look, man- I'm sorry." She felt like kicking herself for not coming up with something better to say, and she stammered, "L-look, I know how that is- I really do. I lost my mom the same way."

She stood back, wanting to give him a hug, one half of her wishing that she were more impulsive, and the other glad that she wasn't one to act on a simple whim.

 

[Bruin Dumbledez]

Bruin was about to say It's alright..." when Estrella added that she had lost her mother in a car accident as well. He sat there in silence instead for a moment before looking back at Estrella. "I'm sorry too...", Bruin replied earnestly, "...but knowing my grandparents, they wouldn't want me to stop living. It took me a while to realize that, but I think it's starting to sink in a little now." Bruin's voice dropped a little and he barely mumbled. "Sorry, I didn't know about your mom..." Bruin wanted to add more, but the words didn't come and his gaze fell.

Bruin's eyes focused on the now fully transformed rat who was scurrying around on the robe searching for something else to eat. Bruin broke up a cracker and tossed a few pieces out for him. "Looks like our little friend is back...", Bruin said quietly as he gestured to the rat.

 

[Estrella Drage]

Estrella shrugged, not wanting to sound too sobby. "I had to get over it a long time ago," she said, "It's no biggie."

She turned to the rat, trying to appear cheery. "Hey, I guess it's my turn!" Whipping around, with a flourish of her wand, she pronounced clearly, "Cuniculus!"

She grinned as this time, her rat actually turned into a rabbit. However, her rabbit looked more like a baby rabbit than an adult.

"Erm, is the rabbit supposed to be a certain age?" she inquired of Bruin, not entirely sure.

((Isn't it adorable? :X ))

 

[Bruin Dumbledez]

(PSSST!!! It's Cuniculus, not Cuninculus... you keep throwing that extra 'n' in there... your choice if you want to edit, although maybe the 'n' makes the rabbit younger ;-) )


Bruin shrugged. "I guess it could look the same age as the rabbit you envisioned.", Bruin said more like a question than a statement. "Or maybe if the rat is young than the rabbit will be young too! I don't know. I suppose we've got a few more questions for Professor Larkin now."

Bruin picked up the bunny and patted him gently. "I think I like rabbits more than rats. So, have you had enough or do you want to try changing him into different coloured rabbits?", Bruin asked, not sure if it was possible or not.

 

[Estrella Drage]

((Oopsies. I edited.. lol))

"I'm going to have asked a lot of questions by the end of the year," Estrella laughed, feeling a lot better now, "I think we should try changing him different colors. I mean, all we have to do is invision them right? I wonder what Professor Larkin would say if we turned up with a neon rabbit."

 

[Bruin Dumbledez]

Bruin laughed, although they had now both been successful at transforming the rat into a rabbit, they now had more questions than answers. "I guess so, I don't know about the whole neon thing though."

Bruin pointed his wand at Estrella's little rabbit and envisioned a golden brown one instead, stating Cuniculus! Once again, the rabbit transformed, although this little guy seemed a little shy and perhaps, getting tired of the game that they were playing.

"Ahh, I think he's had enough. What do you think, want to call it a day?", Bruin asked Estrella as he held the poor little guy.

 

[Estrella Drage]

((That is adorable! lol))

Estrella watched as the rabbit turned a golden brown color, quite intrigued by the things transfiguration could do. "Aww, I guess so," Estrella replied, "I wouldn't want to stress him out any more. We just have to take him back to Professor Larkin, right?" She smiled. "It was nice hanging out, though; I miss the Assault days."

 

[Bruin Dumbledez]

"Yeah, me too!", Bruin said with a hint of sadness. "Maybe we should just call a grudge match between the original Opaleye Assault and Valkryies and see what happens.", Bruin replied. "So, do you want to carry this little guy or would you like me too?"

 

[Estrella Drage]

"That would be sweet," Estrella commented, "We never got to get those Valkyries back."

Smiling, she held out her arms. "I wanna carry him; he's so cute!"

 

[Bruin Dumbledez]

Bruin handed the bunny to Estrella and tidied up his robe and knapsack.

"Thanks Estrella...we should hang out more often!", Bruin said with a smile.

(OOC-I'll post a link to this thread in the transfiguration classroom)