Lesson 1: The Praestigiae Series of Magic

Everleigh sat straight in her chair, quill in hand hovering over her parchment ready to take notes. Being that this was her House Head’s class, she wanted to make a good impression. As the class came to order and Professor Battersea began talking about illusions and incantations, Everleigh wrote furiously to keep up. Underlining key points, scribbling, small thoughts and notes in the margins to think about later. She loved notes. Without notes, how would she ever remember everything.

Begin with Praestigiae configere

End with conspectus (sight), contages (touch), schema (form), or naturae (substance).

Within fifteen meters

“So, a few questions before we continue.” Everleigh looked up, hoping she would know the answer. “As they were developed during the early Middle Ages, what do you think as to their purpose? How would you use them? Any other thoughts regarding them?”

Transfiguration, illusions, conjuring, it was all so interesting. Last term, Ever hadn’t loved the Professor, let alone respected them. This term she could already tell would be different. What Professor Battersea was discussing was exciting. Something she might actually be able to use in the future, or even now.

Everyone spoke up, bringing up good points. Everleigh, while wanting to make a good impression, was having massive imposter syndrome looking at the others in the room. Sure, she knew things, she read and was smart, but in a large group, it was hard for her to speak up and share her thoughts. It was the ‘look pretty, but don’t speak’ training that had started at a very young age. ‘Just smile honey, the adults don’t care to hear about your ideas.’ It was a passing comment from her father many many years ago, so instead of chiming in on the conversation, Ever sat, listened, took notes and kept her mouth shut.

Even though her hand wasn’t raised, she wondered about the questions. How would she use illusions? The obvious girly answer was to change her wardrobe, make things different colors, make things look pretty. Something Ever had no desire to play with. Hiding things from Muggles was an obvious answer. Hiding the Ministry or St Mungo’s from the eyes of the non-magical was after all, all an illusion. Everleigh, though, wondered about using illusions to show others how things could be. Taking a dilapidated building, and bringing it back to life to show what an end product might be. It was one thing to describe changes, but to show them would be so much better. It all came back to not being seen, not heard she realized. Maybe, just maybe, she would be taken seriously if she could show her parents, instead of tell.

"Considering there was more linkage between the Muggle and wizarding world in the Middle Ages. Spells like that could easily have been used in commerce to fool muggles."

“An act of commerce exchange…” Etain rubbed her chin. “Quite probably and effective if done at the right moment.”

Concealment, Professor. If magical folk needed to blend in with Muggle communities during that period, illusions would be safer than... other options."

“Concealment, yes… due to its limited duration, we could reasonably ascertain that they could have even served as the right spell in a pinch.”

"Professor, could you— like, my dad makes things, and sometimes people want to see... but he has to draw it first, and they don't always understand the drawing, but if you could make it look like— oh! Like testing it? Before you actually change anything permanently?"

“It’s entirely possible,” She grinned. “And for this example, we need a working model, or in this case, a kind of matrix.”

The bag opened, and a quaffle sailed up and into the woman’s hands. Pursing her lips, she studied it carefully while listening in the back to two students emphatically wondering why she would have a quaffle in her bag. The other answered that she just did, and to be quiet before the woman hurled it at them. The other muttered something about velocity, distance, and measuring everything from a fixed position. The final comment involved something about angles, momentum, trajectory, and a note that she didn’t need to throw it. The pair looked at one another and turned their attention to the front.

“Eris—”

The golden-eyed half-kneazle looked up at her master.

“I’m going to make a bust. Give me your best.”

Eris seemed to raise her brow as if to say that all she had were her best sides. Etain studied her beloved pet carefully, taking note of everything about her, paying special attention to any nuances and subtle tones that emerged. After a minute of head tilts, coupled with an intense gaze, she took her wand and pointed it at the quaffle.

“Realistically, few of you would be able to do what I’m about to do. These spells once served as a way to teach fundamental practices. But” She looked at Elias. “There’s nothing wrong with pushing the boundaries of a spell, so understand the underlying principles and rules. And if you know the rules… and understand the principles… you should be able to do something such as this… Praestigiae configere schema.”

The Quaffle’s shape changed, shifting from its oblong appearance to that of a marble. Magic etched itself further across this seemingly marble structure, and a bust of the woman’s half-kneazle took shape. As the magic died away, she examined it carefully and nodded.

“Now, to add to the deception.” She said, placing the illusory bust on the desk. “Praestigiae Configere Naturae. Praestigiae Configere Contages.” Etain fired off, back to back, without missing a beat. A pale, gentle glow cascaded over the bust. “Now we have something that when examined would seem to be real and feel real to the touch. I think it looks rather well, what do you think, Eris?”

The cantankerous feline tilted her head toward it, examining it carefully, and after a moment, nodded appreciatively, before returning to watch the class.
“Professor, I don’t understand ‘illusion through substance’. If you change what it’s made of, isn’t that just normal transfiguration? How’s it an illusion?”

“Because, my astute lion, it’s a deception.” Etain winked. “The bust on the table isn’t actually marble, but… I’m sure I could sell it to the highest bidder.”

There was a sigh near the back of the room. She was almost certain who the culprit was. Some people had no sense of humor. He definitely got that from his father’s side.

“You said Muggles use tricks for magic shows, right? What if wizards did the same thing? We didn’t used to be so hidden. I bet a lot of people would have paid to see real magic shows back then! And illusions were probably safer.”

“Illusions would indeed be safer, and unless one got careless, Muggles have no reliable way of detecting magic-users, and since the Statute of Secrecy was introduced in sixteen hundred and eighty nine, they’ve become largely unaware that magic even exists. Muggles have their occultic practices, but their largely a shadow of the real thing. That being said, there is a factor we must consider: carelessness. Carelessness could easily lead to a resurgence of hunts, of which we want to keep as close to nil as possible.

"If it were the Middle Ages, wasn't everyone some sort of witch, anyway? I guess, if they were using it for anything, it might just be hiding their shit in plain sight whenever they had guests?"

“While things were a bit more out in the open, you still had to be careful. Regardless, that is another use; hiding things in plain sight. Accomplished magic-users were able to extend the duration, leading to things being safely hidden as needed.”

"Signs and wonders, maybe? If you could convince people back then you were mystical and had power--and they weren't the sort to burn you after--you could really set yourself up."

An excellent point there.” Etain nodded appreciatively.

"The Middle Ages were rife with accusations of heresy and heretics. There were burnings and hangings for the smallest offenses that muggles perceived. Maybe they were used to hide familiars, or tools and artifacts? Maybe even themselves from those who would condemn them?"

“Secrecy is indeed a good motivator.” She agreed..

"Because Muggles hate Wizards! And Wizards want to hide, it's the only reason Wizards come up with anything.”

“Wanting to be left alone is indeed another good motivator for secrecy.” She looked at everyone, “Forty points to Ravenclaw, to Slytherin, and Gryffindor. Excellent discussion all around. These spells might not seem like much, particularly compared to what we’ll be dealing with later on in the term, but as all of you have commented, they do have their myriad of uses. So, I think we’re ready to cast some magic… all you’ll need is a wand and whatever object you have at hand. If I may recommend something large enough to fit in your hand, whether it be an apple, a bag, a stack of parchment, something you can reasonably hold… ”

Sometimes, transfiguration just didn't make sense to her.

It was important for her animagus training, and if she didn't get any better, she knew she was in danger of disfiguring herself, but then sometimes the spells got to sounding like the ones the professor had mentioned. That was when Rae began to doubt her mental capacity to remember them all. It didn't help that they sounded so similar. With more prudent listening, the 14-year-old supposed she would've easily picked up the differences, but all the incantations blended into one, and her eyes were starting to cross from her waning attention.

At this rate, she was going to have to beg her mother to provide her supplemental lessons. Perhaps, tucked away in Billie's saddle bag, incorporating transfiguration into her chores or creature care, she would be able to gain a more practical understanding that made it realer to her world and her circumstances.

Sitting and watching the professor change a quaffle a few times only made the girl lament the poor and hasty decision of the school to remove one of the few things she loved. Rae had never liked chasing and had been known to score for the other team intentionally when placed in that position, but Merlin, even following that bloody boring ball around the pitch, would've been preferable to having the game scrapped completely. This wasn't by any means a declaration she'd chase if only they could have Quidditch back, simply a fourth year's mourning of what used to be.

Quidditch, however, wasn't what she was meant to be focusing on. It was muggles and wizards in a game of hide and seek, selling counterfeit vases to the highest bidder--or something like that.

She could admit she hadn't been doing the best job of listening so far. No easier way was it proven than now, with the professor telling them it was time to get some casting done.

Not entirely sure what was going on, Rae took her wand into her hand and reached for the textbook she'd placed at the corner of her desk. Her wand and something in hand. Check. Just...uh...don't ask her what to do next.

The professor hadn't given instructions for any of the spells, and there hadn't been much explanation for what any of them did, making intent already a challenge. Rather than fuss, the young Slytherin remained seated, assuming the professor would let them know of the next steps in a few moments.

The topic of magical and muggle interaction had always been a fascinating one. It was no wonder, then, that Cassian remained so attentive through the discussion. While the boy was quite happy with the timeline he'd been raised in, he'd always had a curiosity for history and how the society's co-existed in the past. Even now, a lot of the available literature provided for a fascinating read on cross-cultural integration, and nothing was more interesting to him than the barrier between the magical and the mundane and how it sometimes blurred.

Maybe some wizards did use these spells for concealment, maybe they used them to play tricks on the unsuspecting muggles who'd be none the wiser. The boy bet that any written accounts on the matter would've had him locked up in his common room for hours.

In the end, it may have been good that he wasn't currently in possession of any.

The boy scribbled down a few more notes based on the suggestions and exchanges taking place across the classroom among his peers. Some of it, he might look into. For now, they were ideas on a page waiting to take shape and be explored.

At the professor's prompting, Cassian drew his wand and pulled his inkwell closer. Hopefully, he wouldn't do anything to it that couldn't be undone. For one reason or the other, the Ravenclaw seemed to be losing the ones he owned. Barely into the school year, and he'd already misplaced two of them. While not misplaced, it would be a shame to see a third one permanently go. His father would ask him what he was doing off in the castle, to be losing his school supplies, and the boy honestly wouldn't have an answer beyond them growing legs and walking.

That was how ridiculous it was that these things kept going missing.

This was probably fine, though. The professor seemed quite sure that none of them would be able to accomplish anything with the spell, and while the idea rubbed the boy the wrong way, it may have been a blessing in disguise for the sake of his ability to keep taking notes.

He was ready to practice despite the fullity imposed upon him. If nothing else, the boy was interested to see what made the spells so difficult.

Cass sat forward, demonstrating his readiness for whenever the professor was ready to start.

"Alas, it's a low bar,”

He chuckled softly at Corbin’s statement.

Then he saw his friend duck reactively and mimicked his friends motion. He had no idea what they were ducking to avoid as he didn’t see any chalks coming at them. However, Bear was simply a believer in it was better to be safe than sorry. If Corbin was ducking there had to be a reason.

Thankfully whatever it was passed as Corbin’s notes went back to a normal pace. So he returned to sitting normally as well. As it seemed to pass he didn't ask why Corbin ducked. Though perhaps he would after class as he was mildly curious what potential threat he missed seeing.

His own notes were sporadic sentences occasionally added to his parchment.

He nodded when Professor Battersea agreed with his suggestion that the spell might have been used in commerce between wizards and muggles. With some of the things he overheard in his grandparents shop on Knockturn Alley he wasn’t surprised if similar was done to this day. Though that sentence went unsaid.

He took the occasional note on the exchange the Professor had with his classmates on the same question. He was more impressed with the practical portion of what the professor. It was magic definitely beyond himself but he could see these for it.

While he was excited to try the spells he didn’t just have random things in his bag. Though he rifled through it and pulled out a broken pocket watch. It would have to do. Though just to be safe he said “ Professor. When the spell wears off the object goes back to how it was right? “ He didn't want to risk ruining even a broken watch.

“Professor. When the spell wears off, the object goes back to how it was, right?”

“Most certainly.” Smiling, Etain picked up the bust of Eris and studied it. Eris shifted her attention to the Transfiguration professor. “The bust appears real to the eyes, it even feels real, all nice and polished, but if I did this.”

Etain tossed the marble bust high into the air. As it descended, the magic faded away. By the time it reached her hands, the bust was a quaffle again. She looked at the quaffle thoughtfully, placing it behind her as she stood up from the desk.

“And in case you’re concerned about your items, let’s see what we have in this bag.”

Standing before the open tote bag, she reached in and began digging. From it came an apple, a ball of blue yarn, a deck of tarot cards, several nondescript books, an inkwell, a hairclip, three spools of ribbon in red, purple, and yellow, and a crystal ball. Etain stopped once she reached it, studying it curiously as she tried to remember where it had been procured, and then placed it down with all the other objects she had removed from the bag.

“And in case anyone’s unsure about using their own items, she may use one from the table. Now, let’s see hw you do…”

Rosie had been paying attention, she swore. She didn't space out at all, or daydream about the things she wanted to do once this class was over. She took Transfiguration very seriously, considering it was by far her weakest subject and one she really needed to focus her studies on.

She was not thinking about the boy next to her. At all.

“Secrecy is indeed a good motivator.”

Indeed it was. Rosie felt a smile perk up at the corners of her lips. While Professor Battersea didn't go in-depth in regards to Rosalie's suggestion, the Gryffindor was couldn't help but think the sentiment extended to more than just Transfiguration. Secrecy was a good motivator for many things, dying or being killed probably one of the strongest. Muggles...hadn't always been the most peaceful of people. During her earlier studies, her tutors had gone over her own family history, making out timelines of her ancestors. Several had been burned or hanged for heresay, especially during the reformation.

Anyone that deviated from whatever belief system was in play during those times was seen as evil. Witches and wizards were no exception.

Within a moment, Professor Battersea whipped a quaffle out of her bag, and reshaped it into a marble bust of her watchful cat. Another flick of her wand and the bust glowed before taking on the appearance of fur and life. An...illusion. So not a real Transfiguration? Or was all Transfiguration an illusion?

Rosie's head hurt.

“The bust appears real to the eyes, it even feels real, all nice and polished, but if I did this.”

The cat was thrown into the air, and as it came back down, Rosie watched as it turned back into the quaffle it had been before. Interesting. "Professor?" Rosie asked, stretching her hand into the air, trying to wrap her head around this. She was smart, she swore she was. "Could...anyone toss that...cat and it would turn back into the Quaffle, or did you have to do something to trigger it?" Genuinely, she just wanted to understand so that if she did have the need to Transfigure and conceal something one day, someone couldn't just waltz around her house, throwing stuff and breaking the illusion.

She stood, unwilling to test anything of her own, and took the crystal ball that Professor Battersea had seemed especially interested in. Returning to her seat, she placed the ball in the center of her desk, and focused. Swishing her wand she said quietly, "Praestigiae configere naturae."

It was an attempt to change its natural properties but what those properties would be...she wasn't sure.

"Now, let’s see hw you do…”

Hm?

Oh, they were starting.

Rosie wasted no time getting her spell up, choosing the one that...that...

Rae didn't know. The professor had introduced them all at once, and they'd all sounded pretty similar to her. Rae may have been more concerned about her inability to discern such similar spells, but such was the nature of her relationship with transfiguration. As serious as she was meant to be taking it, the young girl had already fallen into the questionable habit of picking apart the content of each lesson to determine its usefulness toward her animagus training.

It wasn't only the final transformation that she had to be careful about. Tranfiguration itself was a precise and unforgiving art. Where she ran into spells that would help her hone her diligence and discipline in the subject area, Rae did everything she could to ensure she paid attention. Where the spells could be substituted for others she already knew, the girl was less fussed about missing out.

Currently, she had other spells that could alter colour and texture. It occurred to her to ask the professor what difference existed with the spells covered, but then she might have to take notes afterward and pretend to apply them to her daily life when the girl was really just trying to make it through her final few classes before the day ended.

There was no need to give herself extra work to do when all she had to do was make her textbook appear a little different.

Leaning over as casually as she could, Rae peered at the parchment of her neighbour. She only needed a refresher on what the spells did, having not taken notes herself, and soon she was on her way.

"Praestigiae configere conspectus!"

No need to be fancy or try to impress. Rae chose the spell for colours and simple objects. Her mind was clear on her intended result, and one appropriate wand movement later, the uninspiring textbook began to change--at least, it appeared to. Yet another reason to forego the spell. Illusions were fun, but Rae preferred real changes. There was no clearer reason in the moment than how cute she'd now gotten her book to appear.

It was a shade of pale pink with little flowers sprouting on the four corners. Each was white, with dark and vibrant streaks of pink running along the petals toward the centre.

Why have it only be an illusion when she could actually have this be her door to a transfiguration education.

Huh.

Maybe she would change her textbook later. She was quickly becoming quite the fan of its new look.

Time to get to work. Cassian sat with his inkwell for a moment, not immediately jumping into the spells like some of the others had. It wasn't that he thought it was some great and complicated feat or that he needed prep before he began casting. No, the boy was simply toying with an idea while he twirled his wand between his fingers.

Next to him, Rosie had already begun, and he supposed in another minute he would have to as well. For now, the boy considered the inkwell and the many possibilities. He could be cheeky, he could be thoughtful, he could be a dramatic thespian who'd gone too long without a stage now craving the applause of an audience.

He could also just be a Ravenclaw with too much time on his hands and a world of puns circling around inside his head.

He had it. Cassian knew precisely what he would do.

"Praestigiae configere schema," he said, focusing on the glass structure and the shape he wanted to transform it into--fake transform it, anyway. These were all illusions, smoke and mirrors rather than an actual act of transfiguring. While he was concerned about losing more stationery, Cassian wasn't fussed enough to take one of the objects the professor offered. His spell would either work or it wouldn't, then he would pack up his things and head for charms class.

Nothing was ever so serious.

Cassian watched the glass shifting before his eyes, reminding himself that nothing was actually taking place. The boy liked to ground himself even when illusion magic was at play. In seconds, the sharp edges at the top spread wider and smoothed themselves out. The bottom came together to create a sharp point. The shape had been transformed into a heart.

Nudging the blonde beside him, Cassian slid the inwell over to her. "Always told you you had my heart. Had to make it real at some point," He said with a boyish grin.

All hers.

Best boyfriend. He was very good at this.

Watching the show, Everleigh continued to take notes, until the quaffle came out and turned into a cat. Ok… that was impressive. Then it was back to its original being. Would she ever be that good?

As Professor Battersea brought out the items, positioning them on her desk, Ever looked over all the options. An apple, yarn, books, ribbon. There were so many things to work with. Trying to decide what she wanted to do was the difficult part.

With the ribbon, she could change how it looked, the color, the feel. Or maybe the apple could turn from smooth to fuzzy. That made her gag just a bit. Ok, maybe not the fruit. The inkwell seemed too complicated, having multiple parts and pieces.

Finally deciding, Everleigh picked up the spool of red ribbon, taking it back to her desk. She unrolled a meter of the soft satin material, running it through her fingers. It was pretty, silky. Something she would put in her hair for a fancy occasion. Trying to figure out what she would attempt was the hard part. Turning over the options in her head, she decided to start small and see what happened. If it worked out, great, then she could move onto something a bit more complicated.

Pointing her wand at the bright red ribbon, focusing on the shade of the color, the tone and the desired outcome of a much more rich navy blue, Ever said "Praestigiae configere conspectus."

Obviously red was not her color. A deep, dark, sapphire blue was much more appropriate for the Ravenclaw. She just hoped it would actually work.

Fourty Points! What the actual heck How in Merlins beard did she actually earn points, she was the one who tended to loose points. She hated the point system, it was yet another way to control students and she wasn't gointo play. Tulip gritted her teeth and folded her arms anrgily across her chest. This wasn't the outcome she expected from her answer, most of the other professors would have taken offence to her remark, it seemed she was going to have to try harder with this woman.

Tulip listened to the rest of the lesson, already in a state of boredom with the lecture, she didn't care why things happened she just wanted a go at the magic bit, Transfiguration had it's uses, it was great for hiding things in plain sight. She listened as other people debated with the professor, she was keeping her mouth shut in case she got any more points.

It seemed as though this spell was an illusion and would change the look and feel of an object, Tulip could totally see a use for that, especially if she needed to hide something. She could make it look like something natural and not what it was. she would need to keep practising this spell outside of class.

Proff Battersea emptied objects over her desk, clearly the old witch carried more junk in her bag than was normal. Tulip decided against using anything the professor provided instead opting for something from her own bag, her DADA homework. Well if it was a rock however would she be able to hand it in. Tulip leveled her wand at the pile of homework, firmly picturing the a rock in her head, "Praestigiae Configere Naturae" she said copying the wand movements she'd seen. She imagined a large piece of slate the layers of the stone like the layers of homework she had not done.

He watched as the professor tossed the statue she made up in the air with it becoming a quaffle again. He was happy that Rosie asked the question she did, as he had the same question.

He looked at his broken pocket watch and then at the Professor’s table. The answer was clear. There was no way he’d risk even a broken pocket watch. Magic was too fickle, especially at Hogwarts. Though admittedly his abilities at using magic were almost worse than what Hogwarts was doing to mess up magic.

With a smile he decided to let Professor Battersea sacrifice something should he mess up what she taught. With that thought he stood up and took the hairclip from the offered pile and said “Thanks.”

It was a simple object and was mostly solid in formation material wise. Which made him think it would be less complex than other things. This was all about showing he could do a spell. No reason to make it harder on himself with something like yarn or ribbon which wasn’t attached to itself much.

He pointed his wand at the hairclip and said “ Praestigiae configere schema.“ His hope was if the spell worked it would turn the hair clip into appearing to be a simple tube. Like the tubes he used to paint black as a kid and play pirate looking for things far away with. It seemed simple enough that he should be able to make the spell work as it was close enough in shape and size. Well for size he was picturing a rather small tube.

"Professor? Could...anyone toss that...cat and it would turn back into the Quaffle, or did you have to do something to trigger it?"

“Just a simple dispellation of sorts, Miss Laurence.” She winked. “Perhaps we’ll revisit it in a much later lesson.”

Etain looked the quaffle over, then Eris, and then set it down. Taking up her wand, the emerald-eyed woman began walking through the class, observing the efforts of every student there. Even though they were a simple series of spells, she didn’t expect mastery then and there. Intent was paramount, but it was but one factor out of many that went into casting spells.

Her warm gaze settled on each student, pausing as they made their attempts before moving on. Some seem to have the spell of their choosing down, while others had a little work to put in. Overall, with all the magical hijinks going on and being dealt with, it made for a pleasant day.

“I think that concludes Transfiguration for the day. No written work will be assigned, only spelling work. Practice your spells, go over your theorems, and… study. Next lesson will be a lecture, so be ready and… Castor and Pollux will try and not be so dusty,” She looked back at the chalkboard. “Right?”

The chalk pair twirled around one another as if they understood the point.

“Good. Class Dismissed.”