Avifors! (1st years)

Harcourt was excited to teach the new first years. He always loved first years. They were interesting. Especially this last group. He wrote on the chalk board, saying hello. On the student’s desk was a syllabus; plus, a little riddle was on the paper as well.


He had just finished writing when the students walked it. He smiled as he watched the timid first years walk in.

"Hello class. Please take a seat and look over the syllabus and try to solve the riddle. We'll be starting soon," he announced to the class.

Dimia bounced into Transfiguration, excited after eating lunch. She had eaten lunch with Alec and Edwin again, liking their company, although Edwin was a bit of a flirt, especially with her new Hufflepuff friend, Elsa.

"A riddle?" Dimia asked the professor, thinking very hard about what her answer could be.

"Pfft. This riddle is so easy," Elma, Elsa's sister, a Ravenclaw, said, coming into the room. Dimia chuckled and kept thinking. Maybe I should ask Reyna what she thinks. She is the Ravenclaw, she thought, looking towards the door.

But, she did have an answer of her own, although it probably wasn't right.

"Hey Thea. How are you today?" she asked her housemate, who was walking in the door.

"I'm good Dimia," Thea responded at Dimia's question, taking the desk in front of her. She knew that Reyna and Dimia were very close, so she wanted them to sit together.

"A riddle, hey?" Kerry asked, looking at it. Thea smiled and stroked the feather on her quill thinking.

"So, it has something to do with men inventing something," Thea observed.

"How'd you get that?" Kerry asked.

"Well, the first part says 'The man who invented it, doesn't want it'. This means that the man invented something horrible, something he doesn't want," Thea thought aloud, her and Kerry discussing it.

"So, like, the wheel or fire or something?" Kerry asked.

"Yes. But, the wheel and fire, everyone needs. So, it has to be something that is bad for society," she told him.

"Could it be something abstract, like gender roles or social classes?" he asked. Thea shrugged. This was a tough one.

Petyr, again, looked for somewhere to sit. Again. He really needed friend. Well, friends besides Emmy. She didn't talk to him much anymore.

"Petyr! Come help us out," Kerry called over. Petyr smiled and sat next to Kerry.

"Petyr, Thea. Thea, Petyr," Kerry introduced them very quickly. Petyr said a very timid hello and looked at the riddle.

"Is it money?" Petyr asked.

"Oh! That's a good answer!" Kerry said excitedly, making Petyr jump and spill his ink.

"Oh. Petyr, I'm sorry," Kerry said, as he and Thea helped Petyr clean up the ink.

"It's okay. It's my fault," Petyr apologized.

"No. No. It's my fault, and I will get you a new ink jar," Kerry said. Petyr smiled.

"Thank you," Petyr said.

(OOC: Madison, stop trying to make Edwin & Elsa a thing. He belongs to Mira!)

Reyna practically had to drag herself to class. She'd eaten far too much at lunch and was about to slip into a food coma. Not good, she thought. Transfiguration is hard.

"Come on, Reyna," Cate said, pushing her lightly.

"No more..potatoes...Cate.." she grumbled.

"That's the last time I let you eat a casserole," her friend muttered, shaking her head.

They reached the classroom and Cate guided Reyna to a seat next to Dimia and Elma. Rey looked at her desk and frowned. A riddle?! She didn't even know her own name right now, how could she solve a riddle? With a whimper, she dropped her head onto her desk. This was not the first impression she wanted make.

"Just think carefully," Elma said, already scribbling her answer.

Reyna propped her head up on her palms and stared at the words on the paper. Doesn't want....need..know..why?....oh! She dipped her quill and wrote the word 'coffin' in neat letters.

Emmanuelle breezed through the hallways, satisfied after a refreshing lunch. The first day was going smoothly so far, so she was in a good mood. Her step-siblings were blatantly avoiding her every time they happened to meet, which only made Em even happier.

"Blimey, I'm no good at riddles," Patrick grumbled, with his ever-present grimace.

"Who says you have to be?" Adam retorted quietly, rolling his eyes.

Brushing a rogue clump of ginger hair out of his eyes, Adam nonchalantly knocked his paper off his desk. It slid across the floor and very conveniently settled down under a Ravenclaw's seat. He stood and walked over, picked up the paper, and came back with a grin.

"Coffin," he mouthed to them.

Emmy jotted the answer down on her paper with a smile.

Harcourt watched the students as they attempted to solve the riddle. He smiled and stood up from his desk.

"Alright class, let's begin. If you could tear off the bottom and turn it into me at the end of class, I will happily give you bonus points. Now, today we're are learning the spell, Avifors, which can come in handy in a variety of ways. For example, you may use it in combat. Or, you may use it to send a letter that you forgot to send. Either way, this spell is useful in turning objects into birds. For example," Harcourt said, pointing his wand at a glass of water on his desk.

"AH-vi-fors," Harcourt cast, carefully with his pronunciation so that the students could hear him clearly and making the movement slowly so that the could see him. A light blue flash came from his wand and the glass turned magically into a hawk. The class clapped and Harcourt smiled.

"Alright. Now, it is your turn. Find an object in this room and attempt to change it into a bird. Any bird will do. Now, this spell is a little tricky, so feel free to ask for help if you feel that you are struggling. There is nothing wrong with a little help," Harcourt told them, writing on the chalkboard.


"Alright. Get to work," he instructed, sitting at his desk and allowing the children to their own devices.

Dimia felt her chest seized up. Birds.....cursed birds, Dimia thought to herself. Rats with wings, she cursed, carefully watching the hawk Professor Harcourt conjured. Dimia hated birds. With a passion. Most of the hate came from that she was scared of them. There was this time....Dimia shivered and moved further away from the hawk. She scanned the nick-nack shelve, looking for something easy. She picked up this glass orb and suddenly there was red smoke in it.

"Looks like you're forgetting something," a Hufflepuff told her, grabbing an object and walking away.

"Huh?" Dimia asked out loud. What does that mean? Am I forgetting something? she thought, walking back to her desk.

"Hey, Reyna, do you know what this is?" Dimia asked the Ravenclaw, showing her the little glass ball. Dimia picked her brain, trying to remember if she forgot something. Then, she remembered. She had to send a letter to father! The ball's red smoke went to white and DImia smiled.

"I need one of these. I'm so forgetful," Dimia concluded, sitting in the desk next to Reyna and working on the spell.

"Avifors," Dimia casted. A blue light came out of her wand and she ducked under the desk to avoid the bird. When nothing came flying at her face, she peeked up. An egg sat on her desk.

"Well, that's pretty close right? Birds come from eggs," Dimia told Reyna, laughing at herself.

Reyna neatly tore her answer from her paper and folded it up, setting it aside until the end of class.  Birds! She absolutely loved birds. Small ones, at least. The bigger ones kind of freaked her out; their claws were gross. Were they claws?

"Oh, you found a Remembrall?" she asked Dimia with a smile. "My mother always carries one around with her. Although, father thinks they're pointless; they don't tell you what it is you've forgotten in the first place."

Turning back to her desk, Reyna closed her eyes and repeated the spell several times in her head. Avifors, avifors, avifors... Still rather out of it, she realized she hadn't gotten an object to practice on. She walked around the room before settling on a small wooden statue. Rey sat it on her desk and pulled out her wand.

"Okay, focus," she muttered, pointing her wand. "Avifors."

Nothing. "Avifors...Avifors...Avifors?"

Reyna shook her head and stifled a yawn. Come on, concentrate, she scolded herself. Picturing a small blue jay, she tried one last time. "Avifors!"

It worked! The beautiful little blue jay chirped and fluttered around clumsily on her desk.

Thea went looking for an object to try the spell on. Everyone seemed to be doing a good job. Although Dimia was under the desk, looking timidly at an egg. Thea stifled a giggle and went to her desk.

"Ugh. Birds," Kerry protested.

"You don't like birds, Kerry?" Elma asked him, as Thea put a little statue on her desk. She positioned it in the middle of the desk and closed her eyes. Transfiguration was difficult and had to take all her concentration, according to Kolby.

"I do not. I do not do birds. They have talons. Why do they need talons? And their feathers? Look at every other creature. None of them have feathers. Why are birds special to get feathers? Plus, they smell and they can go anywhere. But, instead, they choose to stay at the farm and eat everyone's grain," Kerry protested, a little louder. Elma and Thea laughed.

"So that's why you don't like birds," Elma concluded. Thea opened her eyes and looked at the statue.

"Yes'um. I do not like birds. Not one little bit," Kerry restated firmly. Thea smiled and had a cute little robin pictured in her mind.

"Avifors," Thea cast on the little statue. A little chick popped out of a blue light. Elma awed as the chick hopped around, a bit confused on where it just came from. Thea smiled and picked up the chick.

"Professor. Can you help me?" Thea asked Harcourt, walking up to his desk.

Emmanuelle tapped her wand against her cheek as she thought. She didn't care much for birds, they were too noisy and happy and musical. Ravens, however, were pretty cool. They were clever, dark, and could speak! She wasn't sure if she'd be able to conjure up a big raven, though.

“Ugh, what is that?” Patrick exclaimed, scooting his chair away from Adam’s desk.

On the desk sat a half-hatched baby bird. It looked like a hairless rodent.

“Ah, mon dieu!” she frowned, turning away.

Adam carefully picked up the egg and brought it up to the professor’s desk. Emmy shook the image from her head and closed her eyes, picturing a small red bird. She rifled through her bag and pulled out a piece of parchment, which she then balled up tightly. Setting the paper ball in front of her, she held the image of the bird in her mind and pointed her wand.

“Avifors!” She must not have said it correctly, because the ball just formed the shape of a bird.

Petyr was confused about the assignment. But, he knew one thing: birds carry diseases. He fished around in his bag and pulled out a handkerchief. He covered his mouth with it and continued with the lesson.

"A bit paranoid Petyr?" Elma asked him. He nodded and grabbed a scroll that was sitting on the knick knack shelve. Petyr shrugged off the snickers from some Slytherins. He was being safe. It made him feel good to stay safe. He placed the scroll on the desk, watching out for the surrounding birds.

"Nice scarf Petyr," a Slytherin jeered at him. Petyr rolled his eyes.

"Do you want to see my bird?" the Slytherin confronted, holding his bird up to Petyr's face. It was a little sparrow and Petyr had to use every bone in his body to not swat the bird away. The Slytherin laughed and kept shaking the bird in Petyr's face.

"Oi! Leave him be, you dumb snake," Kerry said, shoving the Slytherin away. Petyr let go of his breath he had been holding.

"Thank you," Petyr thanked. Kerry nodded and let him return to his group of friends. Petyr pulled out his wand. He focused in on a tiny bird, like a hummingbird.

"Avifors!" he cast. A light blue spark flew out of his wand and a little hummingbird came out. Petyr's face lit up as he watched it fly around his head.

"Good job Petyr! We found a subject you're good in!" Elma said, giving her housemate a hug. Petyr politely hugged her back the pushed her off, thanking her. He watched in fascination as it flew around.

Harcourt helped those who were having trouble or who could only get it partially right. He remembered the first time he attempted this spell. He could only make baby chicks come out of the object. He walked among the students, watching as their eyes sparkled with fascination.

"Alright class. It's nearly time for us to part. Clean up your desks and leave your birds with me. If you had troubles, please stop by later for more practice. Have a great day!" he announced to the first years. Obviously, some of them had some trouble. But, most of them were great at the spell. Harcourt patted little Petyr on the back, seeing that he got the spell on the first try. He watched the students leave and he was left with the birds. He whistled and many of them whistled back. He smiled and began to clean up his classroom. The 4th years were coming in next.

This class is now closed!