The Witch is Back [NEWT Transfig]

[Violet Wiltingham]

One might've thought Professor Wiltingham thought herself a queen the way she sat in her old desk; her lips pursed and posture impeccable, she listened patiently to the sound of chalk scraping against the chalkboard behind her, that small blue stick quickly scribbling out numerous diagrams, runes and paragraphs. As he students filtered in, she waited for the chime of the class bell before standing and striding, cane in hand, to address them:

"Good morning, students," she said ominously, her old chin raised so that her wrinkly neck was on perfect display, "and welcome back." The icy woman stamped her cane on the stone floor with a loud bang! "With that said, let's continue on to today's lesson."

As an old, wooden pedestal sauntered to the front of the class, Professor Wiltingham began to speak: "This morning you will begin learning about partial vanishment." She magicked a turtle from her sleeve and set it rather gently onto the pedestal before whisking her wand in a serpentine manner and proclaiming rather firmly: "Medium abstulit." 

The turtle's arse immediately vanished.  Violet chuckled, holding her wrists rather proudly and perhaps one of her smuggest smiles drawn across her old face.

"Now, on you go. Say the incantation with authority!" Professor Wiltingham twitched her wand and suddenly a vast array of turtles appeared before each of her students, ready to be partially erased, though they didn't quite have a choice on the matter.

@"Madeleine Backus", @"Handsome Whitledge", @"Ignatius Quirrell", @"Mundungus MacFusty", @"Hope Crawford", @"James Baird", @"Owain Edwards", @"Katherine Midford", @"Oscar Stretton", @"Naeva Lécuyer", @"Emmeline Woodcroft", @"Iziza Noel", @"Magdelene Cadden"

  

[Handsome Whitledge]

The second half of his seventh year. This would be the time where his attention span was inevitably shortening as his mind was filled with worries over what he would do post-graduation. It was so easy to forget (well, maybe not easy to forget, but definitely easy to push aside) the fact that he had upcoming exams that would determine that future.

He just wanted it to be over, but he already knew come September he'd be begging to get back on the train. Perhaps, in another life, his athletic-minded self would be suited for an academic life that would lead him back to the front gates of the school one day. Buuut that was highly unlikely, so he just had to get through the last. five. months.

He'd seated himself next to one of the other seventh year boys, greeting them with a generally Handsome-ish smile and a nod of his head. Professor Wiltingham was back, and that was definitely a good thing. While a stern and definitely intimidating woman, she was an amazing professor.

However, it seemed that today's lesson had him raising a brow. Turning towards the boy that sat beside him, he whispered, "We're... vanishing turtle arses?" Not that vanishing part of an animal wasn't useful, but it seemed sort of cruel.

  

[Magdelene Cadden]

Grinning, the ginger haired girl slipped through the door. She'd heard that after the break Professor Wiltingham would be back, and after opening the door and seeing the familiar old witch she was quite pleased. The woman, while she was bossy, was certainly a good teacher, which is what they needed at this level. She still found it weird to be on her NEWTs level this yea rand even after half a year, she still caught herself saying OWLs but boy did they learn far cooler things in this level. 

Therefore she was pretty excited when she took her seat, dropping her bag on the ground after fetching her wand. She froze then, to read the writing being scribbled on the board. A vanishing spell? To her that seemed more like charms than transliteration. As the bell rang, she turned her attention to the professor rather than the board, slightly tempted to offer a good morning back but still a little too scared of the woman.

Still, lips twisted into a frown as the woman pulled a turtle from her sleeves. Was she going to vanish the tur- yes, she was. Maggie couldn't help but wince as the professor vanished the turtle's rear end and she also could help but worry for the turtle. Half its body just vanished! Surely that wasnt okay for it! How was it not bleeding? She didn't see blood.

"Professor? Can you please give the turtle back the rest of its body? Can you even or will just forever be half a turtle? And could we... practice on something... not alive?" Maggie questioned, frowning as she picked up the turtle that appeared  on her desk. It was kind of cute. She didn't want to vanish half of it. "Why would you even need to vanish half of something, miss?"

  

[Violet Wiltingham]

"Yes, Mr. Whitledge, we are, and I suggest you get on with it before I have half a mind to vanish yours," the old woman said cooly. Despite her age, she was not deaf.

Professor Wiltingham strode down rows of tables regally, the clack of her cane announcing her presence. Looking over to the Cadden girl, she perked a brow with a look of severity:

"Can I return the turtle his backside?" she quipped, looking quite astonished, "tell me dear, would it be wise for a professor to teach her class a spell she cannot undo?" As if she were ruffling her feathers, she shimmied her shoulders irritatedly. "Of course I can return this turtle his rear, my dear, and I will teach you how to return it as well, so please, enough chatter and proceed with today's spell." Had Ms. Cadden been anything but a Slytherin, she might've taken away points for her questioning Violet's abilities.

"Vanishment is a essential branch of transfiguration," the professor announced to the class, "and its difficulty often correlates with the complexity of said object or oragnism that is being vanished." The piece of chalk hurriedly underlined a paragraph upon the blackboard as the professor spoke: "Invertebrates are far easier to vanish than vertebrates, and mammals above all else prove to be the most difficult."

She shot a look to Ms. Cadden, "And the reason we are using a turtle is because it is a vertebrate, but not a mammal. Rather than waste our time on a nonliving object or even an invertebrate like a slug, is to offer you a challenge rather than a treat. Plus, I rather enjoy turtles."

"I suppose some of you might wonder, as Ms. Cadden so promptly stated, 'why would you need to vanish half of something,' and perhaps even 'why do we vanish'? The answer is quite simple: it is essential. How do you suppose you clean your table? Or perhaps even empty a cauldron? Vanishment expels the subject into non-being, which is to say, everything. Things can be summoned back, yes, which is why we are learning first how to impartially vanish, so that we can understand how it works."

Professor Wiltingham made her way to Ms. Cadden's table, peering at her quite scathingly with that set of icy, bulging eyes of hers before straightening her shoulders.

"With that being said, ten points will be awarded to Slytherin, on account of Ms. Cadden asking such a thought-provoking question." The Professor would never grace the girl with a smile, but instead strode away quite imperially.