► Abracadabra [7th Years], Cross-Species Transformation

[Wes Bailey]

Today was one of his favorite lessons to teach. He got to be a little goofy. Wes was standing at the front of the room, dressed in a nice tuxedo and magician’s top hat on his head. Next to him was a cage covered with a purple sheet on top of which was another hat identical to the on atop his head. Whatever was inside the cage was moving around, bumping against the sides every few moments or so. He was grinning showily as the class began to come in. When it was time for class to begin he moved through the class and pulled on the arm of a random student.

“Madames et Monsieurs, my lovely assistant.” He didn’t care if the student was embarrassed or not. He grabbed the hat on top of the cage and conjured the proverbial black and white magician’s wand from thin air, handing both the hat and wand over to his unwilling assistant. “Now, if my lovely assistant will tap the hat three times and say the magic words!” He announced to the class. He waited for the student to do as they were instructed. He had all day. He was not going to let a self-conscious seventeen-year-old ruin his fun.

When the student tapped the hat the third time, he waved his own wand from behind his back, conjuring a rabbit from one of the cages behind him. However, this rabbit was different than usual. Instead of having the floppy bunny ears most students were expecting, this rabbit clearly had two human ears on either side of its head. "Merlin's Beard! What did you do?!" he said, his mouth agape as he stared at his assistant. But quickly, his face turned from false-surprise to a goofy grin.

Wes could barely contain his excitement as he removed the hat from atop his own head, revealing two floppy bunnies ears where his own should be. He quickly took the rabbit from his assistant, held up the human-eared rabbit next to his head, and said, “My lovely assistant, ladies and gentleman!” He looked to his assistant, “You can take your seat now.” He moved to the cage, removed the purple sheet from it, revealing several floppy-eared rabbits of various shapes and colors.

He moved behind his desk and picked up a rather large box, inside were a number of hedgehogs. “Cross Species Transformation,” he said waving his wand and switching his and the rabbit’s ears back to their rightful places, “is a very complicated bit of magic but loads of fun once it is mastered. It requires a great deal of concentration and the ability to picture in your mind exactly how you want your subject to look.” He cleared his throat,“Y’all will not be switching your own body parts with the rabbit of course,” No, human transfigurations were next year for them, “which is why I have these hedgehogs for you.”

“I’d like you to divide into pairs and see what you can do.” He waved his arm at the class, “And don’t worry about the animals. They are very resilient, and I’ll be paying close attention to ensure their safety. If there are no questions, you may begin.”

[Sadie Dunstan]

Sadie had not been looking forward to Transfiguration.

It was bad enough when the professor was a friend of the family and had known your parents since the early days of school. It was even worse when you were on the borderline of failing said class. A class that both her parents had done well in when they were in school. If it had been Charms, Potions, or History of Magic, there would have been a complete understanding between all parties. However, Anna and Lukas were merely stunned and confused on why their daughter couldn’t even transfigure a pin to a mouse yet in her sixth year without the pin still having a wiggling tail. Biting her lip, she clutched the strap of her book bag to steady herself as she walked into the room. Maybe she should have skipped….what in Merlin’s name was the professor wearing?

He was wearing a tuxedo with a top hat causing Sadie to stare at him with disbelief and utter horror. It didn’t even match! Her eyes drifted to the cage, covered by a purple sheet, as it bounced around. Inching her way to the back, she sat down pulling out her supplies for class. It was days like these that she wished Lorraine was in class. Someone that she knew who would keep her mind off the subject at hand. When he began to move down the aisle, Sadie felt her breath catch in her throat. Oh dear God, he wasn’t going to pick her was he? Luckily, the student next to her was chosen. Letting out a sigh of relief, she watched the skit with wary eyes and a sinking stomach.

Perhaps she could feign illness to get out of class? It worked for her brother all the time!

At the sight of the rabbit with human ears, Sadie let out a shriek blushing as everyone turned around. Sinking lower into her seat, she began to furiously flip through her book. It wasn’t her fault that the animal looked as if it stepped out of one of her dad’s horror stories. Next thing you knew, that rabbit would sprout wings and start eating people! A look of relief passed over her at the sight of normal looking rabbits. Perhaps she could steal one…no, Eddie would eat the poor rabbit alive. At his monologue of what the lesson was, Sadie groaned softly at the words “complicated” and “concentration”. In her books, it meant she’d be here for the entire hour trying to figure out how to even get one ear on the animal.

Not wanting to retrieve her hedgehog and hoping she’d be forgotten in the eager mass rushing to the front, Sadie sunk lower in her seat. If no one noticed her, they couldn’t ask her to be partners. Right?