"Good morning, everyone," Gabrielle greeted, leaning back on the desk and carefully gripping it to support herself. It was heavily weighted so it wouldn't slide back. "I hope you are all prepared to take notes. We have a bit of a lecture today, but it's a fun one, I assure you." Gabrielle, the former Ravenclaw prefect, probably had a very different definition of 'fun' to a lot of the students, but she'd at least try to keep this one light hearted, because it was quite a silly piece of history when you thought about it.
"You're no doubt all familiar with animagi from your Transfiguration class, yes? One of the first recorded notable animagi was Proteus, a figure from Greek history. You may see him referred to as a god of prophecy, as he was known for his vast knowledge and foresight - and perhaps in some tellings, the far less helpful hindsight, which we are all masters of," Gabrielle joked, raising an eyebrow. "My point is, Proteus was so highly sought after for his powers of prophecy that he would frequently transform in to a variety of creatures in order to avoid being hounded. Indeed, the word 'protean' comes from the very changeable nature of Proteus." Gabrielle had to stop herself, else she'd go on too much of a tangent and not have enough time to finish giving her students all the information they needed.
"Anyway, so we have our first major recorded animagus. Now, most animagi obviously can only change between human and one type of creature, correct? But this wasn't the case for Proteus, nor was it the case for Merlin, of course, nor Madame Mim. She was one of Merlin's most powerful foes, and used her mastery of Transfiguration to great effect in a notorious battle against Merlin. And here's where it gets fun, and a little ridiculous." Gabrielle couldn't help but grin. "So to start, in order to intimidate and presumably to defeat Merlin, Madame Mim transfigured herself in to a dragon." Gabrielle paused, quirking an eyebrow again. "Whether this is actually possible with magic is a source of historical debate but let's just say it was a dragon, to keep it brief. Merlin, in his wisdom, turned himself into a field mouse, and nibbled on the dragon's tail."
"So, to counter, she transfigured into a cat. You might think then that Merlin would become a dog, perhaps, but no, he also transfigured into a cat, which successfully threw Madame Mim off for a few moments. Until she then transformed into a dog, which he also copied. Like when your sibling copies everything you say just to annoy you. Except on the scale of a battle between two extremely powerful wizards. You can imagine she would have been infuriated." She was sure some students could relate - there were some things about kids that never seemed to change.
"Madame Mim transformed into a tree, expecting Merlin to copy her. But he did not - he turned into a bird, so the story goes, then Madame Mim turned into a snake on the tree branches to eat the bird, but bird-Merlin turned into a gnat at the last second and flew away...you get the picture. They carried on like this for a long time, a constant stalemate of strategic transformations. Finally, though, Madame Mim turned herself into an aullay, a large horse with the trunk of an elephant, and charged at Merlin, who disappeared completely. Or so it seemed...because suddenly, the aullay became horrifically ill, falling to its death after breaking out into various diseases rapidly. This is the important part, by the way, I'd make a note of this for your exams - it turns out, Merlin had turned himself into germs, so to speak, bombarding Madame Mim with illness, an exceptionally clever play."
Gabrielle downed the rest of her glass of water, giving the students a smile after she did. "Perhaps it's for the best that animagi can't typically shapeshift so freely. Of course, the story has become embellished in the retelling, as perhaps the laws of Transfiguration may have a few issues with the facts of the story. But that is why we are historians, is it not? We take the kernels of truth from historical tall tales, like how perhaps the transfigurative abilities of Proteus, Merlin and Madame Mim have become exaggerated, but the fact that they have even been recorded at all goes to show how far back we can date recordings of animagi. And there are similar stories in different mythologies too, like Ceridwen and Taliesin, or Andvari, or Veles, which makes you really think there must be something to it all. But perhaps the lesson learned can be one of how being strategic and able to think on your feet are very useful skills to have." The bell sounded for the end of the lesson and Gabrielle waved her wand to open the door again. "Since you all listened so patiently, no homework today. Go enjoy your afternoon."
Homework
RP the lesson.
"You're no doubt all familiar with animagi from your Transfiguration class, yes? One of the first recorded notable animagi was Proteus, a figure from Greek history. You may see him referred to as a god of prophecy, as he was known for his vast knowledge and foresight - and perhaps in some tellings, the far less helpful hindsight, which we are all masters of," Gabrielle joked, raising an eyebrow. "My point is, Proteus was so highly sought after for his powers of prophecy that he would frequently transform in to a variety of creatures in order to avoid being hounded. Indeed, the word 'protean' comes from the very changeable nature of Proteus." Gabrielle had to stop herself, else she'd go on too much of a tangent and not have enough time to finish giving her students all the information they needed.
"Anyway, so we have our first major recorded animagus. Now, most animagi obviously can only change between human and one type of creature, correct? But this wasn't the case for Proteus, nor was it the case for Merlin, of course, nor Madame Mim. She was one of Merlin's most powerful foes, and used her mastery of Transfiguration to great effect in a notorious battle against Merlin. And here's where it gets fun, and a little ridiculous." Gabrielle couldn't help but grin. "So to start, in order to intimidate and presumably to defeat Merlin, Madame Mim transfigured herself in to a dragon." Gabrielle paused, quirking an eyebrow again. "Whether this is actually possible with magic is a source of historical debate but let's just say it was a dragon, to keep it brief. Merlin, in his wisdom, turned himself into a field mouse, and nibbled on the dragon's tail."
"So, to counter, she transfigured into a cat. You might think then that Merlin would become a dog, perhaps, but no, he also transfigured into a cat, which successfully threw Madame Mim off for a few moments. Until she then transformed into a dog, which he also copied. Like when your sibling copies everything you say just to annoy you. Except on the scale of a battle between two extremely powerful wizards. You can imagine she would have been infuriated." She was sure some students could relate - there were some things about kids that never seemed to change.
"Madame Mim transformed into a tree, expecting Merlin to copy her. But he did not - he turned into a bird, so the story goes, then Madame Mim turned into a snake on the tree branches to eat the bird, but bird-Merlin turned into a gnat at the last second and flew away...you get the picture. They carried on like this for a long time, a constant stalemate of strategic transformations. Finally, though, Madame Mim turned herself into an aullay, a large horse with the trunk of an elephant, and charged at Merlin, who disappeared completely. Or so it seemed...because suddenly, the aullay became horrifically ill, falling to its death after breaking out into various diseases rapidly. This is the important part, by the way, I'd make a note of this for your exams - it turns out, Merlin had turned himself into germs, so to speak, bombarding Madame Mim with illness, an exceptionally clever play."
Gabrielle downed the rest of her glass of water, giving the students a smile after she did. "Perhaps it's for the best that animagi can't typically shapeshift so freely. Of course, the story has become embellished in the retelling, as perhaps the laws of Transfiguration may have a few issues with the facts of the story. But that is why we are historians, is it not? We take the kernels of truth from historical tall tales, like how perhaps the transfigurative abilities of Proteus, Merlin and Madame Mim have become exaggerated, but the fact that they have even been recorded at all goes to show how far back we can date recordings of animagi. And there are similar stories in different mythologies too, like Ceridwen and Taliesin, or Andvari, or Veles, which makes you really think there must be something to it all. But perhaps the lesson learned can be one of how being strategic and able to think on your feet are very useful skills to have." The bell sounded for the end of the lesson and Gabrielle waved her wand to open the door again. "Since you all listened so patiently, no homework today. Go enjoy your afternoon."
Homework
RP the lesson.
