Lesson One

Juliette entered the classroom she had been given to teach. She had not been sure whether the students would know where to go, so she had charmed a sign reading 'Transfiguration Class Inside' to flash colors and float outside the door. She had a pretty clear idea of what she wanted to teach, so she began writing an outline on a spare piece of paper from one of the many stacks on her desk. Then she lined up a few objects on the desk which she might need to Transfigure to show the students what the subject was about. She had just finished setting up when the door opened and a few children walked in and sat down at desks. Eventually, more filed in and Juliette prepared to begin teaching.

James was heading towards the Transfiguration classroom as their first lesson was about to start. He was feeling a bit anxious about the class, since he had heard from other students that it was considered the hardest subject at Hogwarts, and he had already experienced some difficulties at Charms. James stopped in front of a door, trying to remember the exact number of the classroom that he had to find. A sign on the door, reading Transfiguration Class Inside, indicated that he was at the right place.

The room was empty, except for the professor, a young woman with gold-brown hair. James quietly took a seat in the back of the classroom and started taking out everything that he would need for the lesson. While waiting for the other students to arrive, he glanced at the professor's desk, trying to imagine what they were going to do for their first lecture.

Aurora climbed the last few steps to the Transfiguration classroom. She saw a multicolored sign with the words 'Transfiguration Class Inside', so she figured she was in the right place, unless Peeves was having a joke. Opening the door, she saw that James was already there, so she took a seat beside him. The professor was a very young woman. Aurora figured she must have just finished school. But where? Hogwarts had been closed. Shrugging, Aurora focused on the desk, which had a number of random objects on it. She wondered what they did, but you never knew with magic. She was excited, but also a bit intimidated by the thought of this class. She had been doing well with Charms, but she had no idea how she would do in this hard area of magic.

After a few minutes, the door opened and Aurora entered the classroom. "Hi" James greeted her as she was taking a seat next to him. "What do you think we'll have to do?" he whispered after a while, noticing that she was staring at the objects lined up on the professor's desk.

Upon seeing the sign of where their Transfiguration class is going to be held, Kim entered the room immediately. She saw the two Ravenclaws whom she met before and their professor. Like in the potions class, she is also a very young and cheerful woman. Having the Transfiguration lesson will be exciting with a professor like her.

Lucy found the Transfiguration Classroom very easily due to the vivid sign on the door. She thought this was actually very useful.
More professors should do this, she thought.
As she walked in, she saw Kim, James, and another Ravenclaw girl she had not met yet. Professor Cygneplume was very pretty and very young. She had a kind face, and a warm smile, like Professor Scamander. Lucy really looked forward to this class.

Seeing that many of her students were at class, Juliette decided to start. She could deal with the late ones later.

'Welcome to the most noble and difficult subject of Transfiguration. I know that even you who come from magical families will not have done this before, so I start from the beginning." She paused, to make sure that the children were paying attention, and then continued. "Transfiguration is the art of changing an object or creature's properties and atomic structure into that of another object or animal. It is quite hard, so we will begin with the basics."

Juliette waved her wand and matches flew from her desktop onto each student's. "Transfiguration is based on the three necessary criteria for magic. Wand movement, concentration, and wording. This particular spell has no spoken spell, so just point your wand at the match and concentrate on turning the match into a needle. This does not require much atomic change, so it is simpler than other Transfiguring spells. Like this," she instructed, pointing her wand at a match on her desk and transforming it. "Once you do this, you will be ready for harder spells such as this:" She waved her wand again and a teapot on her desk transformed into a tortoise. "But for now, do as I say. I have heard good things about your year from the other professors, so I harbor no doubts about your ability to perform this spell. You may begin," she said. Then she began to walk around the room, watching different students' progress.

'Welcome to the most noble and difficult subject of Transfiguration. I know that even you who come from magical families will not have done this before, so I start from the beginning. Transfiguration is the art of changing an object or creature's properties and atomic structure into that of another object or animal. It is quite hard, so we will begin with the basics." Professor Cygneplume greeted the class. As she explained exactly what Transfiguration was, she gave them their first task. Students were to transform a match into a needle.
Easy, Lucy thought.
As she prepared herself, she concentrated on turning the match into a needle. Her first try did not go extremely well, however, she did manage to turn it silver. Lucy tried again. Concentrating even more than before, she waved her wand. She saw the match magically turn into a needle right in front of her eyes. Lucy was happy she had managed to perform the task so easily and quickly. Lucy turned the needle back into a match, and then back into a needle, and so forth. She was very proud of herself that she could not wait to send an owl to her father on Saturday; she would send it tonight.

As Aurora didn't answer his question, James wondered if she was mad at him or was ignoring him for some reason, even though he couldn't think of anything he could have done to offend her. Maybe she just didn't hear him. When the lesson began, he switched his attention to the professor, carefully listening to every word she said. She immediately warned them that, as James had guessed, Transfiguration was a demanding subject, and then showed them what it was about with two demonstrations.

James watched with interest as she turned a match into a needle, but that was nothing compared to his amazement when she transformed a teapot into a tortoise. Until then, James had only witnessed a few basic spells and even if he was raised by Muggles, he guessed that this was advanced and definitely beautiful magic.

However, when Professor Cygneplume told them to try to turn the matches she had distributed them into needles, he started feeling a bit scared and insecure, even though it was supposed to be one of the easiest spells in this branch of magic. Hesitantly, he pulled his wand from his pocked and pointed it towards the match. Intently staring at it, he imagined a needle in his head and waited. Nothing. The match remained exactly the same.

Trying to remain calm, reassuring himself that it was normal not to succeed immediately, he forced himself to concentrate harder, seeing the needle in his mind, trying to picture it as clearly as possible: its silver tone, metallic texture, pointed tip... After a couple of moments, there were apparently some minor changes. Taking the match in his hand, he placed it at a few inches from his eyes to examine it. The wooden stick had a grayish tone and looked a bit thinner, and the head, even if it was still dark red, seemed to be strangely pointed. Although relieved to see that he had a least met a partial success, James couldn't help feeling he could do better and decided to try one more time.

Unfortunately, his two next attempts didn't change anything and he slowly started losing hope that he could correctly perform the spell. Stuck with this useless object between a match and a needle, he looked around to see if they too had difficulties.

Noticing that James had asked her a question, Aurora was about to answer when Professor Cygneplume began a speech introducing them to the basics of Transfiguration. Interested in the way she explained it, Aurora couldn't wait to try it. Concentrating on her match, she made a jabbing motion with her wand. For some reason, it levitated. "Not Wingardium Leviosa!" she growled. After a few more failed attempts, some of which resulted in various charms, she raised her hand. Professor Cygneplume seemed like a kind of person who would be understanding of difficulties. 'If this doesn't work,' Aurora told herself, 'I'm sticking to Charms. Those seem to work rather well for me.'

Juliette walked around the room, watching the students' progress. Proudly, she saw a boy with a blue badge get halfway, and a girl with a green badge succeed. Nodding at both of them to show her approval, she noticed a girl with her hand raised. Juliette quickly made her way over to her and took in the situation. A match lay on the desk, sometimes floating.

"What seems to be the problem?" Juliette asked the girl. She remembered now that the blue crest was for 'Ravenclaw' House. British, she thought. Separating children into groups. You can't make friends that way. She turned her attention back to the girl, however, who seemed about to answer.

Aurora saw Professor Cygneplume walk down through the aisles, nodding at the students who were doing it right. Then she came to Aurora's desk. "What seems to be the problem?" she questioned.

"I'm trying so hard, but I just... can't... do... it!" Aurora said with frustration, waving her wand wildly with each word. On the last try, the wand floated up, and then burst into flames. It wavered in the air for a moment, and then came down. Strangely, the flames didn't seem to have hurt the match. As Aurora and Professor Cygneplume watched, the fire diminished, and then vanished altogether. Once the fire was gone, the match shimmered, and then turned into a perfect needle. Astonished, Aurora turned to the professor.

"Um... has that ever happened before?" Aurora asked, unsure of what had actually occurred, but proud of herself all the same.

As Lucy succesfully performed the task a couple more times, she glanced at Aurora, who seemed to be having trouble. Lucy was about to help, when Professor Cygneplume approached Aurora. She decided to leave them together, as she was sure Professor Cygneplume would be more help than Lucy could.

"I'm trying so hard, but I just... can't... do... it!" exclaimed the girl, when suddenly her match burst into flames and rose high above the desk. When the needle floated down again, the flames had gone and a needle shone in the place of the match. "Um... has that ever happened before?" the girl asked, obviously feeling shocked but pleased at the same time.

Juliette also stared at the needle in bewilderment. "No," she managed. "I have never seen anything like that. However, there is some speculation that fire can be used as a cleanser... But, please try it again, this time do it without the fire. Just point your wand and concentrate to your utmost ability." Juliette walked away from the singed desk, still shaking her head and trying to puzzle out the situation. She saw the girl wearing the green badge staring at the Ravenclaw one, and Juliette smiled at her. She didn't want the students to think she favoritized. "Good job," she whispered. "You are a natural Transfigurer." Next she visited the desk of the boy who had made it halfway there. "You've almost got it," she told him. "Keep trying." She went back to her desk and decided to ask the other professors if they had ever heard of anything like that happening.

Wade walked into the Tranfiguration classroom and was surprised to find a beautiful lady as the professor. Noticing that Lucy was in that class he smiled at her and wave. He walked over to the professor's desk and introduced himself.
"Professor Cygneplume? Pleasure to meet you. I'm Wade Malfoy. Her cousin." He pointed to Lucy as he had done in DADA. "I'm sorry to have arrived late. Delayed vacation. I hope you understand." He smiled. "Do you mind if I sit next to Lucy?" he asked the teacher, hoping that would be okay with her.

As James was resting after several unsuccessful attempts to change his match into a needle, he listened to what Professor Cygneplume was saying to Aurora, in case any of her recommendations could also help him perform better. Suddenly, as Aurora was trying the spell again, her match caught fire and once the flames waned, an impeccable needle floated in its place. James watched in amazement, and even the professor was stunned, admitting that she had never witnessed anything like that before.

Professor Cygneplume then walked in front of him, encouraging him to keep trying at the sight of the hybrid object lying on his desk. Feeling a bit more confident, he pointed his wand at the target again. After several additional attempts, the whole match-needle now had a silver tone, though its surface was still very far from the smoothness characteristic for metal. Apart from its roughness, the object's tip wasn't nearly sharp enough, and James imagined the trouble someone would have to pierce anything with it. All in all, it was nowhere near Aurora's perfect needle. He was satisfied nevertheless, and felt too exhausted to try to improve his result anyway.

"That was really incredible." he whispered to Aurora, who seemed to still be thinking about the way she transfigured her match. "How did you do it?" he asked admiringly.

"No, I have never seen anything like that. However, there is some speculation that fire can be used as a cleanser... But, please try it again, this time do it without the fire. Just point your wand and concentrate to your utmost ability." Aurora slumped back in her seat with a new needle, ready to try again. A new student entered the room and requested to sit near Lucy, his cousin.

James leaned over to Aurora and asked, "That was really incredible. How did you do it?"

"I don't know," she admitted, "but I guess it wasn't real Transfiguration." She prepared to try again, and this time when she pointed her wand at the match, it turned silver, though still with a red head. A little more confident, Aurora managed after a few more tries to turn it a bit more pointy, but still not a needle like what her flames had produced.

Professor Cygneplume walked past Lucy, "Good job," she whispered. "You are a natural Transfigurer."
At the sound of this, Lucy smiled. Suddenly, Wade entered the classroom. He looked as carefree as he always did. He smiled at her and waved. It made Lucy feel more comfortable all of a sudden. She watched as he walked towards Professor Cygneplume's desk, "Professor Cygneplume? Pleasure to meet you. I'm Wade Malfoy. Her cousin." He pointed to Lucy. "I'm sorry to have arrived late. Delayed vacation. I hope you understand. Do you mind if I sit next to Lucy?" he asked. Lucy smiled at Professor Cygneplume, hoping she would allow them to sit together. She needed a friend more than anything else, someone she loved dearly and who knew almost everything about her.

As Juliette was still contemplating the extraordinary fire phenomenon, the door opened and a young boy walked in.

"Professor Cygneplume? Pleasure to meet you," he said. "I'm Wade Malfoy. Her cousin. I'm sorry to have arrived late. Delayed vacation. I hope you understand. Do you mind if I sit next to Lucy?"

Falling back into her role as teacher, Juliette walked up to him. "Did you not read the rules? As a late registree, you must wait until the next lesson to attend. However, since you are only in first year, I will excuse you this one time. You may sit wherever you like. Your cousin is actually quite good at Transfiguration, so she should be able to help you. Take this," she said as she handed him a match, "and go sit down." Juliette thought she had handled that well, and hoped nothing else would happen, because she was already under so much stress.

After handing Wade Malfoy a match, Juliette glanced at the clock.

"Actually, students, we are out of time. Keep practicing on your own," she said, looking at the student roll. A picture of each student was shown next to the description. Obviously someone thought that she could not read English very well. "Miss Malfoy, instruct you cousin if you have the chance. And six points to you for doing the spell. Four points each to Mr. Riddle and Miss Finnigan for making it halfway there. See you next class!" she added and watched happily as the students filed out. Her first class had been a success.

"Students, we are out of time. Keep practicing on your own. Miss Malfoy, instruct your cousin if you have the chance. And six points to you for doing the spell. Four points each to Mr. Riddle and Miss Finnigan for making it halfway there. See you next class!" Professor Cygneplume said, looking at the roll book and then smiling.

Only four points, Aurora thought a little sadly. But I've already made a lot from other classes. It's okay. She packed up her things and her wand, and headed to the door to go practice the spell. She assumed that homework would be announced later to each house. But all in all, it was a good lesson, even if I don't know what I did with the fire, she mused, ready to try it again in the common room.

Lucy listened as Professor Cygneplume ended the lesson. She had received six points for her accomplishments. She turned to Wade, who was still trying to figure out what was going on, and sumarized the lesson.
"I will teach you. We can practice tonight if you want to." She suggested, while waiting for her cousin to answer, she turned her attention to Aurora, who seemed pretty disappointed about her four points.
That's not bad at all though. She has won more points than anyone I know! she thought.
As she waited for Wade to get his books ready and leave class, she walked by Aurora, and congratulated her.
"Nice job. I have never seen anyone do what you did back there. It was amazing." she told her, with a smile.

"I will teach you. We can practice tonight if you want to." Lucy said. Wade nodded in agreement, although he wasn't sure if she noticed. She had quickly turned her attention to Aurora. Wade proceeded to getting his books and materials as he caught up with Lucy to leave the classroom. On the way out, he waved goodbye to Aurora.

This definitely is the most difficult subject so far, James thought as he was leaving the classroom. A bit disappointed that he couldn't accomplish the transfiguration all the way, he promised himself he would practice in his common room in the following days. Passing next to Lucy and Wade, he headed towards the Great Hall as it was almost time for lunch.

As James passed by, Lucy noticed the disappointment in his face.
"I thought he did great", she told Wade quietly, not wanting James to hear her himself.
It would be quite embarrassing, and he might think that she was just talking without really meaning it.
Lucy held onto Wade's arm and accompanied him to the Great Hall, as she saw James quickly disappearing from sight.