Open Post: Switching Spells 5th Years

[sterntabby]

who: Professor McGonagall + 5th Year Transfiguration Students
what: Switching Spell Lecture
where: First Floor Transfiguration Room

Comments

[rstrange_gq]

Transfiguration was a class Rabastan insisted on arriving on time. No one in his or her right mind would risk messing with McGonagall. As he sat down towards the middle of the classroom, he chuckled as he thought about how Alecto would most likely have the nerve to do just that, cross the Gryffindor Head at the smallest whim.

Surrounded by empty chairs, Rabastan sat back and waited for the class to start, which would any minute soon judging by the teacher’s ready stance at the front of the class. He sat quietly and attentive, preferring to draw no attention to him and leave it for the more eager students to answer questions, as was already usual for him.

[ablackflower]

Narcissa walked into the classroom two minutes before the start, each step just as graceful as the last, and slid into the seat beside Rabastan one of her two partners. Her brow furrowed when she realized that Regulus was nowhere to be found and wondered if he would show up to class on time, or at all, today.

She didn't raise her hand when Professor McGongall asked the class to answer a question. It wasn't like her to be one of the first to attempt to touch their fingers to the ceiling in hopes of a professor calling on her to provide an answer. She preferred to let the others stumble over their words to provide an answer, only to earn a few house points as a reward.

Leaning forward, she placed her elbows on the desk in front of her and rested her chin in hands as she listened to the Transfiguration professor further explain Switching Spells, their properties, and what they would be doing during today's lesson.

[rstrange_gq]

Rabastan watched Narcissa sit next to him, after which he went back to staring at the teacher. Sitting up straight, Rabastan scribbled something on a piece of parchment and tried to discreetly draw Narcissa’s attention to it. Not worth trying even to whisper - McGonagall could hear everything, whether you were at the front or at the back of the room. It was much easier to communicate through parchment on the table, where things could be confused with note taking.

A good day to you too, Miss Black.

[ablackflower]

Narcissa blinked as her Transfiguration partner slid a note in front of her. She peered down at the somehow messy, somehow neat handwriting on the small slip of parchment, read it with a raised eyebrow, and picked up her quill. Quickly dipping it in ink, she scribbled a response and discreetly pushed it back in front of Rabastan.

My apologies, I'm just a bit distracted today. I've got a lot on my mind.

[pranksmistress]

Like she would know why they'd need to keep that in mind. It wasn't as if Izzy loved Transfiguration and, truthfully, she did not care about it at all. However, in order to become a mediwitch she would need to do well in her OWLs, so the girl was pleased to have been partnered with Barty and Amelia. They were both smart and she at least would be forced to pay attention.

[brightasbones]

Amelia sat down in her seat beside Isidora, one of her partners, just before Professor McGonagall began to address the class. She busied herself with laying out her quill, parchment, wand, and textbook on the table in front of her, so she didn't hear the professor's question for the class. Instead, she shared a friendly smile with Isidora and snuck a quick glance over her shoulder to see if Barty had arrived yet.

[crouch_blows]

Barty was closing the classroom door behind him when he spotted Amelia glancing back towards where he stood. Giving her a warm smile and a wink, he made his way towards her and Isidora, noticing that Professor McGonagall had already started today’s lesson. He wondered if Regulus would make it to class and made a mental note to later reprehend the Slytherin for keeping him long enough to make him late, despite knowing his friend would laugh at him and do it again soon after.

The seat next to Amelia was already taken so Barty made his way to sit next to Isidora, squeezing his fellow Ravenclaw’s shoulder with his hand as he walked by. Taking advantage of the commotion of taking out some parchment and ink, he turned to his partners and quietly asked, “Have I missed anything?”

[brightasbones]

Amelia grinned back at Barty's wink and turned back toward the front, picking up her quill to write down the answer of the question McGonagall asked at the beginning of class. She smiled, mostly to herself, as he passed behind her and gave her shoulder a quick squeeze before sitting on the other side of Isidora.

“Have I missed anything?”

"No, Professor McGonagall was just explaining that we need to keep in mind that we're altering properties, because if we're not, accidents, such as humans with elephant ears, can occur," she told him, reciting the professor's explanation almost word-for-word in a hushed tone. She hoped that the professor hadn't heard her as she hated to interrupt, but felt it equally rude to ignore a question from a partner.

Amelia leaned forward a bit and began scribbling down a few more notes about altering properties as McGonagall continued to lecture.

[sterntabby]

With no one actually answering the question, McGonagall sighed. "Because if we are not aware things accidents will occur such as a humans with elephant ears." She didn't want to say it because she would have students purposefully doing so to each other, but fifth years were always difficult it seemed.

[dirk_cress]

Dirk, always keen to answer questions in any class, especially in Transfiguration, found himself sweating profusely and failing to grasp what Professor McGonagall was saying through the mild haze of fear that seemed to have gripped him. Alecto hadn't yet shown up, which meant, he thought, hopefully, that his doom would be delayed by one more class, or that there would be fireworks when she strolled in late and the professor called her on it - and Dirk would probably be the one to suffer for it.

He tried to stop the quill in his hand from shaking. He'd written, in rather untidier script than usual, "elephant ears" and now had no idea why.