Lesson One (Third Years)

Richard yawned as he sat at his desk, feet up on the table. He glanced around the classroom a second to make sure that there weren't any students there yet before yawning again and closing his eyes.

Kathy rushed towards the room.
Seeing she was the one to arrive early she smiled.
It was a great relief for her to be the first one in class. She thought she would be late on the first lesson of the year which would be embarrassing for her.
"Good Day Professor" Kathy greeted cheerfully as she walked near Professor Romain.

Karma was grumbling when she walked into the room. Hearing the gryffindor's greeting made her even angrier. Why are Gryffindors always so bloody HAPPY?

Lacey walked into the classroom feeling a little more cheerful then she had earlier that day. She snorted at the annoyed look on the Slytherin's face who was eying the other Gryffindor.

Sliding into an unoccupied seat, she glanced up at the Professor and gave a small smile and nod. "Hello, Professor."

Arsen walked into his next lesson and sighed. Hoping this class would be a little better than the rest. So far all the lessons he had did nothing but make him wish he was elsewhere. As he entered the classroom he had a quick glance around before making his way over to the seat in the corner.

Cepheus pursed his lips as he entered the Transfiguration classroom. Sighing, he didn't bother greeting anyone, instead choosing to go and sit down at the back of the classroom - like he did in most lessons. It wasn't as if anyone would notice he was there after all, and he didn't mind that so much.

Slowly, Richard reached into the small breast pocket of his white shirt and pulled a long, thin, feather out. Waving the white feather around lazily, his entire attention fixed on it, he spoke,

"Do you know what the difference between this feather and a knife?" he asked them idly, poking the feather's tip so that it floated up in the air a little. When it was a few inches from his fingertip the feather glowed bright yellow for a second. The feather was gone, transfigured into a stiletto knife. The tip of the knife landed on the tip of Richard's finger and he balanaced it perfectly without really trying, "Some of you have had two years to get used to my teaching style. You may recall your first lesson as 'ickle firsties'. Where I scared you stupid by throwing pebbles at you and changing them in mid-flight."

Bending his finger slightly, he bounced the stiletto off of his finger as it flashed again. From the flash four birds, doves, flew around the classroom a few times before flying out of the window. Richard looked at the class for the first time since the lesson had begun,

"In today's lesson you will learn something useful." he gestured at them, "You will take a quill and turn it into a knife of your choosing. I recommend a stiletto as it is thin. The incantation is Bladisma. A sharp jab of the wand should do it."

Aireon rushed in late. Why was it that this class always seemed to hate him?

"Sorry I'm late, Professor," he apologized. He didn't offer an excuse because he knew that that would only serve to deepen his troubles.

Cepheus pursed his lips and one of his own Quills out in front of him. He concentrated on a stiletto knife, like the Professor recommended, and jabbed his wand toward the quill saying Bladisma. He grinned as it turned just how he wanted it.

Karma frowned and pulled out a Quill. She rather liked this quill, but she liked knives better. Daggers better, actually.

She placed it on her desk and jabbed her wand at it. "Bladisma." she said softly, picturing one of her daggers. It wasn't exact, sure it had the polished ebony hilt and the onyx colored jagged blade, but it was missing her initials. She was sorely disappointed in herself for missing her favorite part of the knife. She picked it up. The weight balance seemed to be fine, but it was still drastically different. She supposed she couldn't be expected to correctly imitate a custom Goblin-Made dagger, but it still rubbed her the wrong way that she couldn't make her own weapon.

She pulled out another Quill. "Bladisma." Same thing happened, exact same knife, initials missing. She was starting to really get pissed off.

She pulled out another. "BLADISMA!" For all the wand pointing and such, the knife was still missing initials. It made her angry. It infuriated her. She shoved the blades to the end of the table and frowned. It wasn't that the blades weren't perfect matches, more so that no matter what she did, she couldn't put her own customization on it. They'd probably look fine to anyone who'd never seen her knives before.

She was rather counting on it.

Lacey pulled out one of her old quills and put it on the desk before her. She repeated the incantation without moving her wand first, making sure she had every correct syllable down. She hated getting things wrong.

Taking a deep breath she pointed her wand at the quill. "Bladisma!" she set her wand down and examined the quill. Nothing changed expect the very top was pointier and sharp like a knife's. Lacey scowled.

Picking up her wand again, she drew in a breathe and pictured a her father's old stiletto knife. She pointed her wand at the quill, still picturing the black hilt and silver blade, then jabbed the quill with her wand. "Bladisma!"

This time the quill took the form of what she had been picturing. Smiling triumphantly, she set her wand beside the knife and examined her newly made stiletto. She nodded, thinking she could have done better but still proud of her work, and set the sharp object aside.

Aireon although late, decided not to disappoint the professor. He took out his quill and concentrated on what he wanted the final result to look like.

He jabbed his wand sharply at the quill and said, "Bladisma," in a soft voice. The quill's shape shifted to form a perfect stiletto. The blade was shone brilliantly in the light. Aireon then picked up the knife to check it's balance. The point where the handle was touching the blade was offset from his two fingers by a few millimeters.

Satisfied with the result, he set it back down on his desk. He made a mental note to remember this spell in case he found himself weaponless.

Richard nodded a little at the progress of his class. He pointed to Aireon,

"Mr Thiren... for being late you can answer the first question." he told the boy with a friendly smirk, "Give me one practical use of this transfiguration."

Aireon was surprised to say the least. He half expected Professor Romain to get really mad at him and give him detention, but then again, he never knew the professor very well. Just goes to show, never judge a book by it's cover.

"In a tight situation, such as a battle or covert operation, one may lose their means of attack or self-defense. So rather than risk being caught trying to steal weapons from the enemy, you can simply transfigure a perfectly capable knife so as to increase your chances of survival," he finished.

Richard nodded,

"Very good. That would normally mean house points..." he smirked, "But you were late."

He nodded again,

"Very good spell for replacing lost equipment in tight situations." he shrugged, "Of course it can be used in other ways. A distraction or maiming wound if a person is writing with a quil. Or a trap if someone sits of one."

Richard yawned a little,

"Okay... someone tell me why it would be harder to turn the quil into a sword."

Arsen lazily raised his hand and answered. "Well swords are a lot bigger than a quill so you'll be using more of your magical core to fill in for the missing particles you'd need to make a full size sword." He said remembering what his last professor had told him.

Richard raised an eyebrow at the transfer student,

"Correct." he announced briskly before frowning, "You're Mr Salvator. Hmm."

He looked away with the same frown,

"Can someone tell me why it is easier to change a feather into a stick than it is to change an iron bar into a bronze bar?"

Karma raised her hand. "Is it because we'd be changing the exterior instead of the core?"

He narrowed his eyes in confusion. What the hell was the professors problem? He gritted his teeth and decided against getting into trouble on his first day so he nodded to confirm his name. "Yes sir."

Richard smirked at the way Arsen seemed to be biting back his anger,

"I thought you'd be taller." he told the boy before turning to Karma, "A very good guess but wrong I'm afraid."

He began to pace,

"You see, if Karma's theory was correct then any metal could be turned into gold." he shrugged "And what must a person have to turn a metal into gold?"

He took a deep breath, his eyes still narrowed slightly. "Well i'm sorry to disappoint professor." He said his fingers digging into the palm of his hands at the smirk on Richards face.

"I suppose they would have to have knowledge of that type of metal to make real gold and a bigger core to make it since gold is the most malleable and ductile of all metals. It would take a lot more visualisation to get it right." He guessed.

"To change iron to gold, one would need to change the actual atoms of the material, sir," Aireon replied. He looked at the professor for any signs of change in his demeanor. He was still a bit edgy with the professor, but he had been getting a bit more confident.

Richard regarded Arsen's growing frustration with amusement,

"Oh I imagine you grow used to disappointing people." he commented in an off-handed manner, "And no, visualisation won't help you at all in trying to turn a metal into gold."

He grinned at Aireon's answer,

"Correct Mr Thiren but there's one simple problem..." he smirked, "It can't be done by an unaided human. Gold atoms contain something that no other metal contains. It's the ability to absorb magic and hold it inside. Ever wonder why gold is used so much in enchanting? It's simply because it can hold the magic forever. Now if you try to transfigure gold into something else you just get change it normally. But to transfigure something into gold you have to re-create the part of the atoms which does this. Considering that no one has the required level of concentration or any idea what these mystery parts look like... it can't be done. Unaided."

Richard smirked,

"One man created an object of unimaginable power. An object that allowed people to turn anything into gold. An object that could be used to create the very essence of life itself." he raised an eyebrow, "Can you guess what it is?"

Karma raised her hand. "The Philosepher's Stone." Karma said with a smile.

Richard nodded,

"Good but one thing..." he smirked, "Don't ever call it 'the' philosopher's stone ever again. A philosopher's stone is not as impossible to make as previously thought."

He shrugged,

"Not something for any of you to worry about though, you won't ever get to make one." he frowned a little, "Although I suppose some of you might manage to make an imperfect one... couple of hits in it."

Richard rolled his neck a little,

"Can anyone tell me what else a philosopher's stone can do?"