Class #4: G&S / 6&7

[Professor Minerva McGonagall]

INTRODUCTION

Group #1: Gryffindor Sixth and Seventh Years
Group #2: Slytherin Sixth and Seventh Years
Discussion: Human Transfiguration

"Settle down, class, settle down," Minerva McGonagall intoned strictly, rapping her wand against her desk once to ensure their full, undivided attention - or as close as it was possible to come to that. Her eyes narrowed until they were silent, no more of the chattering that always took up so much of class time, and then she began. "Today, I would like to continue looking at Human Transfiguration - that it to say, Transfiguring oneself into an object, or even a creature." It was the type of subject that was always reserved for the older students, who were of a much greater maturity than the youngsters that managed to make a joke out of absolutely anything. That being said, Minerva wouldn't have described all the students sitting in front of her as "mature" either. She had faith in them, though. Some of them, at least. The others... Well, no matter. They would learn soon enough, and she would be thankful when they did. "Can anyone tell me what is the difference between someone who Transfigures their self into an animal of any kind and someone who is an Animagus?" she asked, raising one eyebrow in question as she glanced from face to face, hoping for a raised hand. "Anyone?" Some people had a hard time distinguishing between the two, and it wasn't the easiest answer to formulate by any means, she knew that. She certainly wouldn't have a problem with awarding anyone that could answer it with some well-earned House points. On that note, she would have been proud indeed if it was one of her Gryffindors that could answer. Though she'd award any of the Slytherins the same.

Fair was fair, after all.

[ethan]

Ethan's life sucked. So what did he do when his life sucked and there wasn't much he could do about it? He threw himself passionately into something, of course. This time around, he didn't have Quidditch to distract him and his dueling lessons were already grueling, so what was there left for him to focus on? School, of course. Any other day and he would've said his love life, but really, Indigo could only take so much of his presence these days and he wasn't up to arguing right about now. So, what had he done? He'd read ahead on his Transfiguration book. Really. Ethan didn't particularly care how nerdy that made him sound, because Transfiguration was fun. It was crystal clear, made sense in his head and made sense as he practiced it. Not that he'd spent all night practicing, of course. Who did that? Like...seriously? Coughing, Ethan shifted in his seat slightly and started listening with interest to what McGonagall was saying. He already knew what was next on the book, but he wanted to know what a Registered Animagus had to say on the matter of animal transfiguration. You know, just intellectual curiosity. Perfectly normal! He wasn't a nerd for knowing the answer. Of course he wasn't. Looking around, waiting for someone to answer, maybe some of the Slytherins? Nobody seemed too willing to participate and Ethan just sat there, staring at them. Honestly, what was wrong with them? He couldn't be the only one who read ahead, right? Just out of boredom?

...He needed a life.

With a sigh, he raised his hand and without waiting for McGonagall to acknowledge him (after all, who would she pick over him, when no one was cooperating?). "When a human transfigures into an animal, he or she acquire the mental capacity, or rather, the brain of said animal, while Animagi are absolutely reasonable during their transformation. They keep their human brain, that is. Also, Animagi don't get to choose the animal they transform to, while, I suppose, people who transfigure themselves into animals, do." He chuckled. Why would someone want to do that? Honestly, if you transfigured yourself into an animal, you couldn't use your magic to turn back into human form, not to say, you'd probably wouldn't even know how to do so. "Animagi have to register, don't they? Oh!" he brightened as he remembered something else. "Once the animal you turn into has been chosen, which has to do with a person's character, you can't change that. You will always transform into said animal."

He had to stop talking.

Now.

So, he snapped his mouth shut.

[dani]

Dani swept into the room just as class began, a smile on her face that didn't reach her eyes. It had been a few weeks since her and Pierre's fall out, and Dani couldn't stand the thought of seeing him. It was like a knife being plunged right into her heart, repeatedly. She tried not to think about it as she walked to her seat, waggling her fingers as some attractive Slytherin boy who was staring at her. She headed for the front of the class and slid into her usual seat, dropping her tote at her feet and crossing her legs, her curly blonde hair falling to one side. She turned, but instead of seeing Lividest on her right, there was some other girl there, a girl she didn't even know, sitting in her best friend's seat. Normally, Dani didn't have a problem with meeting new people and making friends, but not today. Politely, she asked the girl to move, and Dani finally caught eyes with Livy, waving her over to sit next to her, rather than leaving the seat empty between them. But Livy wasn't looking at her, she was looking at someone else. Someone behind her. Someone she couldn't see. Well, no matter. Livy would look at her eventually, and then they'd sit next to each other and Dani would feel better.

[olivia]

Olivia couldn't remember the last time she'd actually walked with a skip in her step to Transfiguration class. It wasn't that she was particularly looking forward to the class; not really. She was just genuinely happy. Things seemed to be kind of going her way. Her love romantic intimate? life wasn't in as much of a decline as she thought it was, she was back on the Quidditch team after a month of agony and cheerleading, her and Pierre were kind-of okay (or on the road to it, and her parents hadn't tried to contact her since the last letter. So, yeah, things were going pretty good for Olivia Thompson, hence the skipping. She paused once in the room, scanning the area automatically for Danielle, but her eyes fell instead on...Pierre? She briefly considered sitting next to him, but then her gaze shifted and - was that Danielle sitting near Pierre? What on Earth was she doing within mouth-shot of him? Why on Earth was Pierre sitting so near her? Weren't they supposed to be fighting? Had they made up? Olivia hesitated for a moment longer before moving to sit next to Danielle, giving her a small smile. "Hey!"

she stated cheerfully enough.

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[prissy]

Priscilla didn't need to be told to move twice. Honestly, she didn't know why she'd elected to sit next to this blond-headed Gryffindor bimbo, who was more than likely too focused on waving at boys than on the actual subject matter, when there were plenty more seats available. She nodded curtly, gathered her things, and stood, her robes swaying around her small frame as she backed up and surveyed the room for an empty seat. She wished the blond could have been inconvenienced with this instead of her, but what was done was done, and here she was, standing awkwardly as other students filed in and quickly took up many empty seats. Prissy hated selecting a place to sit at the beginning of class, mostly because she just was anxious for the class to start, but also because she never knew who to sit by. Not because she was unpopular, or anything like that, but because if she sat by her friends, they would distract her. So, she had to sit someplace where someone was just as focused as her, someplace like... oh, dear. Not him. Priscilla rolled her eyes. 'Hands' boy, there, was offing his mouth during class, and saying––the right answers. What the. Priscilla inhaled sharply, scarcely able to believe what she was hearing. Could it be that he was, dare she say it, intelligent? That he had read ahead? As much as she internally objected, her feet began moving quickly toward him, and soon her bottom was occupying the vacant seat to his right. She shot him a look that she hoped conveyed her frustration; except her frustration confused her. She didn't want to reprise their previous conversation, but she was so impressed by his knowledge of the material and his focus on the lesson that she knew there could be no other better option. Quietly, she took out her scroll and uncapped her maroon ink well, dipping her quill into it and poising herself, ready for notes. At the onset of a sudden thought, she raised her eyes to Professor McGonagall and ventured, "If I may add, the Animagus ability is also a learned, rather than hereditary, trait, which has a tendency to blur the lines between an Animagus and a Transfigurer and confuse many. It is also common that an Animagus' animal form is identical to their Patronus. Also, Animagi may transform without the use of their wand, whereas those simply transfiguring themselves may need a wand or some form of incantation to aid them."

[ethan]

He thought he'd gotten rid of her when he'd terminated their little joke of correspondence, but apparently that girl was a bit harder to get rid of. Not that he had anything against her per se, but he wasn't exactly in her favor either. She was a pompous Slytherin and that wasn't even prejudice speaking. She was literally a bit of a snob. The way she wrote made it clear that she was accustomed to seeing people over her shoulder and Ethan didn't particularly dig that kind of stuff, no matter how pretty their hands were. So, when she sat next to him and started piping up some additional information that wasn't one hundred percent true, he raised his eyebrows at her and then turned away, facing the front. Okay, so she had made herself at home quite easily. Too easily. It was obvious she didn't care if Ethan didn't want her there. There was a reason why he'd picked a lonesome seat instead of going to sit there by Pierre. He wasn't in the mood to tolerate people and their...people-ty. He needed to be focused. But, really, he wasn't going to let her get away with something that could be misconstrued. "It's not that common for the Animagus to share forms with his or her Patronus. There have been some cases, but that's hardly enough evidence to say it's usual, or even common. Like I said, Professor, the animal form of an Animagus is linked with the person's character and the same can be said about a Patronus. Therefore, yes, it can happen, it doesn't necessarily mean it has to be so. Also, it is said that Animagus can communicate with real animals when they're in their transfigured state and some advanced wizards or witches can force another animagus back into their human form." He looked at the Pryce girl and then away. This wasn't a competition.

Of course it wasn't.

[prissy]

Of course it was a competition. With Priscilla, everything was a competition, a new challenge, a new way to publicly assert her superiority. Part of what made her a Slytherin. This boy bothered her, true enough, and so perhaps she had a slight need to best him, regardless of the situation, but with this, it was a matter of defending her honor and integrity in class––because she knew she was right, and she would prove it, too. "I never said all Animagi take the form of their Patronus," she snapped, defensively, "Only that it is common for that to occur. You are correct, Cartier, in saying that their animal form generally reflects their personality––so, too, does one's Patronus. Thus the correspondence between it and Animagus form. Am I right, Professor McGonagall? Is not your Patronus the same as your animal form?" Priscilla's heart was beating extremely rapidly, and she noticed that she was beginning to inch forward, sitting on the edge of her seat, her knuckles whitening with the force with which she clutched at her quill. She had to be right. She had to be. She'd done the reading ahead of time. This subject had always interested her enough to even do supplementary reading assignments. Especially when she didn't sleep at night. Yes. Yes, she was right. Of course.

...Right?

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[Wendy Palmer]

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By this point, it was just normal for Wendy to automatically sit next to Ian if there was an empty chair next to him. He didn't sit next to Aidan much, unless Alessa wasn't in the class, since the two were practically inseparable. Sometimes she took a seat next to Julian, and sometimes Lucy, but she was starting to find that she lost focus sitting next to Lucy. It wasn't that Lucy was being distracting, really. Wendy just got to thinking about what was happening to her best friend, and wondering how on earth she could be sitting in a class taking notes when in about six or seven months she'd be in a hospital giving birth. And then what? Keep the baby? Or let someone else adopt it? Did Will know yet? There were so many things to think about, but Wendy knew that she'd have to discuss them with Lucy outside of class; during was too risky, and besides, they both needed to focus. If Wendy sat within note-passing range of Lucy, she'd probably bombard her with questions all class, which wasn't a good thing to do. Wendy had to admit that she could stand to bring her grades up a bit since the only core class she was pulling any O's in whatsoever was Potions, and she liked Transfiguration. And hey, sitting next to Ian was comforting, in a way. He was smart - really smart, for a Gryffindor, but Lily had been top of the year too and she hadn't been in Ravenclaw - and he was insightful and hah, it was silly, but Wendy felt a little smarter sitting next to him, too. Besides, she liked to spend whatever time she could with him. He was a friend, and they both had significant others, so class was pretty much the only time they had to spend together. Wendy would take what she could get; she rather enjoyed his company, after all.

She listened to the back and forth between and older Gryffindor boy and a Slytherin girl, leaning her chin on her palm and furrowing her brow. That didn't really make sense. Why would someone want to transfigure themselves into an animal if they lost all sense of human self? How would they transform back? What would be the point of it all? She opened her mouth a little, but before she could ask, Pryce and Cartier - those were their names, right? - were at it again. Rolling her eyes a little, Wendy shut her mouth. There was lots of class time left. If she still didn't know, she could ask once they were done their little grudge match.

No big deal.

[pierrescham]

Ever since he was a kid, Pierre had been taught that punctuality was a trait that you should cultivate and practice in your every day life, which was why he always made a point of being on time to class. It also saved him lots of embarrassing situations where he barged in late and wildly looked around the room, trying to figure out who to sit next to. It was awkward, really, how he simply couldn't just plop down next to whoever happened to be sitting next to an empty seat. No, because that wasn't how Pierre worked. When he sat in one of those seats, he always thought he could distinguish some sign of disgust/disappointment in the person he was about to sit next to. A roll of his or her eyes, a small almost undetectable curl of a lip...some could argue it was all in his head, but to Pierre it was too real. Painfully so. Which of course made him appreciate the habit of arriving early so much more. That way, he got to pick his own seat without wondering if he was disturbing world peace or something like that. Class hadn't even started yet and Pierre was already right at home with a lot of clutter on his spot. Quills, parchment, funny and distorted sketches...the usual. He liked to keep himself entertained, which was exactly what he was doing as he had his head bowed low over the surface of his desk and he was scratching something into his parchment, not paying lots of attention to anything really. When he heard McGonagall's voice, he would tune in; for now, all the other voices were just mindless static. Until Danielle spoke up, that is. His head whipped up faster than ever and his eyes widened almost comically as he saw where she was seated. What the fuck was she thinking?

Hadn't she seen him?

And if she had, was this another of her messed up ways of bothering him? No, even she wouldn't go that far, would she? He looked wildly around, looking for another empty seat, but students were already filling up the spots that he could've grabbed and he cursed the fact that he wasn't the kind of guy who could stand up and leave the classroom. Although, really, it was good he wasn't either, because he shouldn't let her affect him this much. Pierre had been very clear on the fact that he did not want her messing around with him anymore.On his search, his eyes met with Livy's and he gestured wildly at Danielle sitting in front of him and shaking his head. He needed an out and apparently Livy was going to give it to him, because she was picking up her things as she stood up and started walking his way. YES! She was going to sit next to him, Danielle would probably be miffed and she'd find another seat and--Livy sat down next to her. As easily as his hopes had shot up, he was deflated. Like a stupid balloon. Popped. Pierre's eyes narrowed and he let out a disgusted blow of air as he stared at the back of Livy's head, hard. When she said "Hey", though, it was only natural of him to say "Hey," back.

...then he realized she probably wasn't addressing him.

Well, fuck.

[dani]

She waved Livy over and turned back to her desk, pulling out her things and arranging them on her desk in their correct places. Books were to her left, parchment to her right, ink and quill neatly above them. Danielle inhaled through her nose in a cleansing fashion, the way she always did before class began, ready to take notes and learn. She smelled something familiar, but brushed it off and look next to her as Livy sat down. Danielle was not happy with Olivia for quitting the team to get back on the Quidditch team, and she tried to convince her otherwise, but Liv wouldn't budge, and Dani wasn't going to push her. She was bummed, but at least she'd still get to cheer her on. She smiled back at Livy and opened her mouth to greet her back, but someone else had already said it. Confused, Dani turned in the direction of the voice, and her heart missed a beat. What the hell was Pierre doing sitting directly behind her? Why didn't she see him? Her mouth fell open for a second, and before Dani could sensor her response or turn around to avoid confrontation or anything, her mouth did the talking.

"Why are you here?" she blurted out, immediately regretting her choice of words. She turned bright red and looked awkwardly from Livy to Pierre, wanting nothing more than to leave and never come back.

[olivia]

When Pierre replied to her greeting first, Olivia immediately became flustered, glancing at him quickly and offering him a friendly smile, as if that would somehow erase her slip-up. Although, really, couldn't her "hey" be taken as a...general hey? As in, she was saying hi to the people around her in general. Yes. And Pierre happened to be around her as well as Danielle, so it didn't have to mean that she was directing her 'hey' to Danielle alone. Except it seemed that Danielle had now finally noticed that Pierre was here and oh she really didn't think any good would come out of this, no, not at all. As a matter of fact, from the very first words that came out of Danielle's mouth, Livy could tell that this could turn out to be very, very bad. Especially since they were sitting near the front and, you know, McGonagall was right there and Olivia really didn't want to end up getting a detention. "Umm, he's here for the class, Dani. I think he came before you did,"

Olivia intervened quickly, slightly surprising herself by how quickly she came to Pierre's defense. Pleasantly surprised, though. Just went to show that she refused to take sides here. Both Danielle and Pierre were her friends. See? She was trying to make things work with Pierre, she really was.

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[pierrescham]

Pierre wasn't trying to pick a fight. Really. After the written-slashing he'd sent Danielle's way, he was through even speaking to her, but did she really have to be so...utterly clueless? It pissed the fuck out of him, how under her radar he was. Maybe she didn't like him anymore, but he was still a living, breathing human being, for Merlin's sake. Anybody could notice that, yes? So why didn't she? Did she really have to be such a bitch. And okay, so maybe he was overreacting to little statements that weren't even that offensive, but he was still mad at her and her righteous attitude during the note-passing that day and really, he'd been there first, so she was the one intruding here. Not him. Her. She could leave and let Livy stay. She was so much better company than her.

So.much.better.

Thankfully, Livy interrupted what would've been a rather scathing remark and Pierre only nodded furiously. "Yeah, and also, I go here." he added as a postscript, eyes narrowed. He wasn't really sure if that was grammatically correct, but he was irritated enough to not care about it. Shifting his eyes to Livy, though, he mouthed a 'thank you' before smiling gratefully. "If you don't like this situation, you can leave," he said happily as he blinked at the blonde. "I won't be hurt if you do."

[dani]

Livy came to Pierre's defense, and Dani's eyes narrowed slightly, snapping, "I know that," before she looked back at Pierre and rolled her eyes at his ridiculous need to always have the last word. Merlin, she didn't see him, so sue her! It's not like she meant to ignore him, she was just doing other things and hadn't seen him! Ugh, god, Dani absolutely hated when Pierre got like this. All happy, but bitchy like he was trying to be nice but not really being nice at the same time. She huffed out a breath of air. Well, two could play at that game. Dani turned to face him and smiled just as sweetly, saying, "Nope, I'll just stay here with my best friend," patting Livy on the shoulder as she pursed her lips and turned away from Pierre. Leaning in to whisper in Livy's ear, Dani tried to be quiet, but for some reason, just couldn't seem to stay silent. "Why didn't you warn me he was sitting there? I wouldn't have sat here," she said harshly, not really trying to be mean to Livy, but irritated about this situation in general.

[olivia]

Ooooh, this was really not going well at all. Olivia fidgeted uncomfortably in her seat, eyes darting from Pierre to Dani and back, chewing on her lip anxiously, wondering if she'd done the right thing after all for sticking up for Pierre. And then she shook it off; she couldn't always spare Danielle's feelings and hurt Pierre. Friendship didn't work like that. Besides, Pierre had been here first, and Danielle kind-of was giving him attitude for no real reason. But she wasn't going to admit that out loud. She wasn't that bad, thank you very much! Her filter was still there and, uhh, she kind of liked having Danielle around not pissed at her, yes? Yes. It seemed as if she was in trouble anyway because Dani definitely didn't look happy with her, and Olivia flinched at her hissed question. "I'm sorry, I thought you knew!"

she interjected weakly, giving her a sheepish shrug. "Come on, Danimic, it's not that bad. It's just a class, you don't even have to look at him if you don't want to,"

[/color] she replied, not bothering to lower her voice and unable to help the tinge of exasperation that entered her tone. She glanced at Pierre pointedly, as if to say that the same applied to him. Honestly, in what world did Olivia have to be the mature one?

The Twilight Zone, that's where.

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[pierrescham]

Oh, that was it.

It was one thing for her to try and be all pissy at him, but she was not going to talk to Olivia that way, no matter how 'discreet' she was trying to be about it by hissing it at her ear. If she wanted to be a bitch, fine, but did she really have to drag Livy down to her level? This was hardly anybody's fault but Danielle's and it really was starting to piss him off. Her attitude was the same as always, but instead of finding it exasperating in the good way, Pierre was just plain irked at it. Was this seriously the girl he'd been whining to Livy about for the past couple of years? He was starting to question his sanity. Or maybe he was just mad. Yeah, maybe that was it, but who gave a flying tail? Nobody, that's who. Narrowing his eyes at her words, though, Pierre shook his head at Livy's reply, though. "Don't you dare talk to her like that! She's not your bitch. And no, Livy, don't even try to be all mature about this, because, clearly, she can't do the same." Did Pierre notice that he wasn't being particularly mature either? Of course not! "Besides, it's not your fault she's dense enough to not notice who's sitting behind her." He didn't know why he was doing this. He could've let it go, dropped the subject altogether, picked up his things and left. He was mad enough to not care where he ended up sitting now. Really. Except this had just become some kind of pissing contest and as always, Livy was going to be stuck in the middle.

That gave him pause, if nothing else did.

Livy.

His twisted lips softened somewhat as he looked at his brunette friend and he shook his head. "Sorry, Livy, but you can't let her walk all over you like that. It's not right." Never mind that he'd probably done the same countless times before, but that wasn't the point. He was through with that. After that day in the Practice Room, things had changed. He didn't want this for her anymore. She didn't deserve this anymore. She never had, actually. So, it was more for her sake than anything, that Pierre stopped his rampage and sat back, crossing his arms and sulking. Danielle would be dense enough to think that she'd won this time around, but he didn't care. Well, he did, but he didn't care enough to make Livy stand in the cross fire.