POTTERY IN MOTION
PART 1
The egg timer rang. The chaps put on their oven mitts and pulled their golem out of the Arts & Crafts furnace.
"Looks done," said James, but remembered to insert a wooden skewer to be sure. It broke.
Professor Ross, who taught Magic Arts & Crafts, came in to see how the chaps were doing, bringing his smile and ill-fitted afro.
"Everyone's finished painting their nans now. How's your golem coming along?"
He looked up and down the golem, looked at it from different angles and sides.
"Looks cooked, texture's good...," He knocked on a couple of areas of the body and listened closely. "You get an A," he finally said.
"Is that A as in Awesome?" Sirius asked.
"If I remember the point system, it's A as in Absolutely Horrendous."
"What's so horrendous?"
"It's a cliché. You basically copied the golem from the German silent movie The Golem. It's clumsy and awkward. You broke no real boundaries here. I was expecting more creativity and originality from you. Furthermore you're lagging. The others have already started to animate their nan portraits. You just took you golem from the oven to cool."
"We will animate it today," said James.
"Very well. Don't forget that I already signed you up to enter the international Young Crafters contest. That was hasty of me."
It sure had been but the chaps weren't going to let him down.
"Anyway, time to wrap up."
Professor Ross left the furnace room, leaving the chaps to not bother tidying up tidying up after themselves and discuss animation methods. Apparently there was more to it than simply sticking a note in the mouth.
XXXXX
The sewers at midnight was a great place for both intermediate and advanced ritual making.
Having copied a symbol in a book onto the floor, all that remained was saying the enchantment.
"I mean, a challenge would have been nice, but there'll be others," said James.
"Maybe we're just that powerful," said Sirius.
The golem stood proud at the center of the symbol on the floor. They could start now, as soon as Remus finished reading blessings over a bottle of Evian.
"Ok a gallon each. It's refilling."
"And what if I refuse?" said Sirius, just 'cause.
"Then you'll go crazy from the evil, or burn from the inside or something, one of those anyway."
"Go crazy from the evil? You call this the fluff arts?"
"No."
Remus passed the Evian around so they could all swig a gallon each. After their swigs they felt rehydrated, peaceful and luminescent.
"Ok how do you all feel?" Remus asked, currently very well lit up by his own halo.
"Add a dab of lavender to milk and leave town with an orange," James replied, calm.
OK so now they were ready to procede. Although they were also a little too at peace to be motivated to do anything else than be the kings of their own calm kingdoms.
"Alright let us join hands and create some life," said Sirius. "Remind me again of the enchantment if you please."
"Ok the enchantment is as follows," said Remus, reading: "Ceramic man, ceramic man, you're so fun in the sun."
Ok that appeared to be it.
"That was a crap enchantment," said Sirius.
"I didn't write it."
It was easy to remember, 'though.
And so the chaps seized one another by the hand and said the enchantment three times, and each time they spoke the enchantment their halos shrunk a great deal, their calmness along with it.
Sparks shot from the symbol on the floor and gave the golem an electric shock so strong it woke up.
The golem roared, angry. The chaps hardly dared to breathe.
"Well now what?" said James.
"Feels like we forgot something," said Remus, pondering. Then he looked at his hand. "Oh, that."
"What?"
"I'm sure glad I brought this."
That was extremely handy indeed that Remus had brought a bow and arrow along. He attached a note to the arrow, aimed and fired. The arrow hit the raging golem straight in its mouth. It pulled it out, broke it in half and stomped on it, while chewing the note.
Then it swallowed it.
The golem bowed humbly to its creators and swore them its loyal services.