DEARBORN
by Donna Vito Fruttie
Team - Wimbourne Wasps
Position - Beater 1
Scene - Fav class at Hogwarts
A/N - Enjoy
A/N - Review
DEARBORN
Caradoc Dearborn was late, as evidenced by the morning rays of the Sun streaming through the bedside window. And the numerous pillows thrown by his dorm mates at him, which were now strewn on the floor. He leapt off his warm cosy bed in a trice, cursing its softness, and dressed up quickly. Had it been any other day, Caradoc would have slept straight on till lunch. But today was different. Today, the first class was transfiguration. And under any other teacher, it would have been the bane of his academic life, but under Dumbledore, it had become his favorite subject, very quickly. Dumbledore always managed to keep the class interesting.
Back in his first year, Dumbledore had introduced the subject to the class with great passion and a lot of flair. He had waited till every one of them was seated.
And silent.
"Transfiguration is an art," he had said. "Complex but beautiful. An enemy to those who scorn at it and a friend to those who master it. It takes great skill and precision, as well as enormous amount of focus and practice. And that is exactly what I expect from each of you.
"Transfiguration is a science. Many centuries were spent on discovering its uses, properties, causes and effects. Brilliant minds have worked on refining it over the millennia and lesser minds have marvelled at it. A student of transfiguration is a student unto death.
"Lastly, transfiguration is a necessity. Top grades in this subject will be an added advantage in your professional life, no matter what career you choose. I chose to be a teacher, because, quite frankly, a teacher is also a student. And only a student can enjoy the true beauty of transfiguration."Caradoc smirked. Dumbledore was a wise old genius. He may be a little eccentric, but then, what brilliant mind wasn't? He ran all the way down to the ground floor where the class was held. A few feet from the classroom, he paused. He could hear Dumbledore's voice booming. Slowly, cautiously, he entered. Dumbledore was lecturing, yet again, on the importance of regular practice.
"An empty mind is a goblin's workshop. And we know exactly what that looks like. Well, mostly empty, but also with lots of fluff. I know because I have worked in a goblin's workshop, once." The class roared with laughter.
Dumbledore smiled when he saw Caradoc.
"Ah, I am really glad you decided to join us, Mr. Dearborn."
"Thank you, Professor." He was a cheeky fellow. There was a snicker from the Slytherin's row.
"Being late is not tolerated in my class, as I am sure, you have already been informed. And I'm going to dock some points just to make my point clear. Twenty points from Hufflepuff." The row of Hufflepuffs who were sitting in the front, groaned. Some of them turned back to stare daggers at him. Sorry, he mouthed, apologetically.
Dumbledore smiled, again, and waved a hand.
"Not to worry, you can earn those points back, if you answer all of my questions. Correctly," he said, pointedly, looking over towards the Hufflepuffs.
Now, it was the Gryffindors who laughed. The Hufflepuffs were known for their cheeky answers. Even when they were wrong answers.
"A test, perhaps, professor?" A Ravenclaw asked, eagerly.
"If you wish, Matthews." This time, the whole class groaned. "But only after I finish today's lessons."
Caradoc laughed and edged towards the bench where Anne Edgecombe was sitting. "Hey, you look lovely today."
"Find another, Dearborn." She gently pushed him back to the bench behind, although, the corners of her lips twitched slightly.
He seated himself and then turned, to find Hestia Jones and Alastor Moody glaring at him. "Where were you?" Hestia hissed.
"Sorry. Slept late. And then slept untill late. "
Moody, who was sitting on the other side of Jones, leaned in. "I bewitched your watch to grow a pair of arms and strangle you if you didn't wake up on time." He whispered.
"Yeah, well, I saw you, so I bewitched it back." Caradoc grinned.
"Darn it."
They both grinned. Hestia, who was sitting in between them, scowled and said something that sounded like 'stupid, immature boys' and before they could reply, Dumbledore had walked up to the front of the class.
"Today, we are going to cover Human transfigurations. It is a very complex branch of transfiguration and I don't expect you to master it until at least the mid-year. But first, a little recap and introduction.
"It is far more difficult to transfigure bigger forms than it is to transfigure lesser forms. It can be deadly. It can be mysterious. Wizards and witches have died trying to transform an ocean into a single drop of water. Why they attempted it, is, of course, the greater mystery.
"It is always easier to transform complex forms into lesser complex forms.
For example, you can transform a human into an animal, but you cannot transform an animal into a human, unless the animal was already a human. Again, you can conjure a bird if you know where to look for it but you cannot make it appear out of nowhere. This will be covered in detail, in my later classes, but can any one of you name this phenomenon? "
As usual, the Ravenclaws raised their hands. Dumbledore picked one of them. "Yes, Mr. Babbage?"
"Gamp's law of elemental transfiguration. "
"Very good, Mr. Babbage. Twenty points to Ravenclaw. Now, let me give a demonstration on trans-species transformation." Dumbledore flicked his wand, and suddenly, with no warning, and out of nowhere, an animal appeared. A tiger.
It was beautiful and magnificent. And it walked slowly and surely. It prowled the length of the class, and gave a small roar. Small, though, it was, there was no mistaking its power.
Caradoc was sure that Dumbledore was controlling its movements. At the next flick of his wand, Dumbledore transformed the tiger's hind legs together into the body of a snake, its head into that of a lion, its front legs into those of a badger and then its shoulder blades into the wings of an impossibly large eagle.
The creature gave another roar and everyone jumped back, except for Dumbledore, himself.
A few moments later, he brandished his wand again, and the creature vanished.
"A vanishing spell," he said.
"Complex, due to the size of the animal and the number of transformations that were already performed on it. The body parts of the animal were switched using a simple Switching spell. Though, I'm sure, many of you would find this difficult, as switching between different species is difficult.
"Miss Foreman, perhaps you could demonstrate a smaller version of the switching spell? In non-verbal, too. You have already covered these in Defense against Dark Arts."
Miss Foreman, who was daydreaming, jumped up, but did as asked. The legs of a desk were switched with the bars of a window.
"Excellent," Dumbledore exclaimed. "Twenty points to Slytherin."
"She is talented, ain't she? Good at everything?" Caradoc said, "I've always liked her."
Moody grinned.
"You like all the girls, lover boy."
"I like this one at the moment," Caradoc said, winking at a Gryffindor, who quickly turned around.
"Stop it, will you? You are acting like an idiot." Hestia kicked him.
"Aw, don't you fret, Jones. I like you too."
"What do you know, he is an idiot," Moody said again.
"Both of you are, actually."
"In a good way, right?"
Hestia laughed and then rolled her eyes."Sure."
Dumbledore was speaking again. "With constant practice, most of you should, similarly, be able to perform switching spells and trans-species transformation with ease. Therefore, constantly practice.
Switching spells have many applications, apart from personal amusement, I mean. One might think simpler spells are far too easy, but be warned, they might actually mean the difference between life and death. It could be the Disarming Charm that saves you, at the end of the day. And sometimes, the best offense is a good defense.
There was a historical event that was successful, purely due to switching. Can any of you name the event?"
Caradoc looked up. He knew what Dumbledore was talking about.
"Goblin Rebellion of 1775. Wizards on the side of the goblins helped them have their bodies switched with those of giants."
The whole class turned to look at him. Dumbledore, himself, was beaming at him.
"Very good, Mr. Dearborn. It would seem, you aren't behind on your homework, after all, as originally feared. Twenty points to Hufflepuff."
Caradoc grinned. Now, the Hufflepuffs wouldn't be cross with him for losing them the House Points.
Of course, he kept telling them that they wouldn't win the House Cup that year, anyway, but they never seemed to listen. They were hell-bent on winning. Hufflepuffs may not be as notorious for their ambitiousness as Slytherins were, but they were ambitious enough.
Caradoc Dearborn smiled.
Today was going to be very interesting. He was in his favourite class at Hogwarts.
And it was a double period.
The day had just started.
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