cure for the gravity [trudy]

Neatly folding her copy of the Daily Prophet, Rowen's eyes were rolling before she managed to set the newspaper on the Ravenclaw table. The Great Hall was especially packed today, and as the young witch preferred her afternoon tea with a little bit of privacy, this wasn't very pleasant. Rowen had tried to make sure to have a free period at the beginning of lunch each term so that she could avoid the larger afternoon crowd. She liked to eat quietly, read her Daily Prophet, and silently judge everyone around her. It was like a ritual, and when her routines were interrupted, one could expect her to overreact.

"Can I help you?" Rowen asked, her dark eyes moving over the younger witch's braids, noticing every frizz and flyaway and considering going over hair enchantments during their next meeting. Which, according to Rowen's ridiculously maintained schedule, was not for two days. "I'm right in the middle of the prophet," She informed the younger Ravenclaw, who had presented her with a book and a friendly smile, motioning to the folded paper and the eyes goblins on the front page followed her painted nails.

Naturally, she assumed it was some gift for her Top Notch S.N.A.I.L. mentoring. Rowen was less irritated with the book than the other thing, the younger students were always so peppy, and it made her wonder if they knew anything about the world. The dark-haired witch could be peppy too, energetic even when the situation demanded it, but she didn't think a book about Transfigurations called for that.

Wiltrud, her S.N.A.I.L. mentee, was a brilliant little Ravenclaw, a half-blood, true (she'd learned after some digging), but Wiltrud was far from the first Halfblood Rowen had to learn to coexist with. Pulling the book toward her, the fifth year opened it, flipped through a few pages, and realized she had read this book already. Four years ago, to be exact, one year before she had to, and did the math quick enough. "This is not for me, is it?" Sighing, she slid the book back and realized this was something else entirely.

"Well, what spell are you working on?" Rowen didn't mean to be dry with the other witch, but she didn't have the energy to fake a smile either. After two late nights studying for Arithmancy, Rowen had been up half of last night preparing for a potions test, and despite ridiculous amounts of magic and make-up, her exhaustion still seeped through. Her eyes were tired, puffy, and red, while the rest of her face was pale.

@Wiltrud Wagner

Transfiguration was cool. It really was. Changing one thing into another was fun and useful. However, Trudy was not particularly gifted in this field of magic. She really tried to give her best but probably she just wasn’t focused enough to actually make her spells work successfully. However, she had a S.N.A.I.L mentor who was maybe not the most fun person to spend time with but clearly a talented young witch.

Therefore, Trudy hadn’t even thought twice before hurrying to find Rowen. The second year found her in the Great Hall, reading a paper. Papers might sometimes be quite interesting but most of the time they were boring and just informed about adult stuff that Trudy had yet to discover as being fascinating. She had approached the fifth year with a bright and friendly “Hi Rowen,” but soon enough realised that the fellow Ravenclaw was hardly excited to see her.

“Ooops,” Trudy said, still beaming at Rowen as the older girl stated that she was right in the middle of prophet, not feeling too bothered by the fact that she was apparently not welcome.

She let go of the book as Rowen took it from her and watched her as she flipped through the pages, trying to figure out how to phrase that she needed help with a spell now, before their scheduled meeting. The older girl had by now realised that the book was not a gift or anything along the lines of that and Trudy shrugged, an apologetic smile spreading across her face.

“Sorry?” she muttered and took the book back, clutching it titled against her chest as though it was a shield that might help her to block the negative energy that she felt might be coming from Rowen.

While the fifth year’s voice hardly sounded very encouraging, Trudy decided to ignore that for now and just stick to the actual words the other girl said. “I’m struggling with Vera Verto,” she explained. “I’ve been trying it on a raven and…” she exhaled loudly and then rolled her eyes, “the best I’ve managed was a water goblet with bird’s feet and a tail. I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong.”

The girl tilted her head a little and one of her braids dangled in the air like a little pendulum. “You are so good at Transfiguration,” she complimented the other girl with the sweetest smile she could master. “You can probably teach me how to do it quickly as a flash and then you can finish reading the prophet. Please?!?”

Rowen watched as the little witch clung to her book, waiting for an answer to her question and wondering if she would be able to finish the rest of the Prophet before heading to her next class. Unlikely. "Vera Verto?" Rowen repeated, an eyebrow-raising, and she sighed. She hated that spell, there was very little practical use for it, but that didn't mean she hadn't aced it in her second-year finals. Why they needed to know how to turn animals into water goblets, she never understood, but she supposed it was just a gateway spell. A way to get the tiny children, with their lack of attention spans, to kick open the door to Transfiguration as a whole. Rowen could understand that, she supposed, and it was her duty to help her Mentee, even if she hated the interruption, so of course, Rowen was going to help her.

"Well, that's not very useful, is it?" Rowen stated with a smile and waved her hand at the seat across from her, motioning for the young miss to take a seat. The compliment that came next did quite a lot in the way of sweetening Rowen's attitude toward her mentee, and she smiled at her. Rowen loved to be told she was good at something, and in this case, she actually was quite gifted. "Your right," The Ravenclaw agreed with Trudy, she was good at Transfiguration, and Rowen would never pass up the opportunity to prove it.

Looking to her right and then to her left, the teenager reached over to commandeer Horus Heyward's fat toad. "Can we borrow him for a bit?" She asked, even though she was already picking up the plate the amphibian was sitting on (because she wasn't going to touch the slimy thing with her bare hands), and smiled. At the wizard's flimsy protest, Rowen shot him a look that was a mix between 'too bad' and 'you shouldn't have him sitting on the table in the first place, blame yourself,' and turned back to Trudy.

"Show me first, and then I will make corrections," Rowen slid the plate toward Wiltrud and frowned as the large toad jiggled like a gelatin mold.

Trudy chewed on her lip and nodded as Rowen repeated the spell she was trying to learn. Truth be told the little Ravenclaw preferred the idea of turning a water goblet into an animal to turning a living being in a piece of tableware but that was hardly the point. Rowen, however, seemed as though she did not like the spell either and it both reassured Trudy and made her feel less inclined to focus on working it out.

“Not useful at all,” the second year was quick to say and smiled apologetically. “I’d rather work on different spells myself but…” she shrugged helplessly. It was hardly up to her to choose the spells that she wanted to learn. She had to study whatever the curriculum said.

There was something like a smile visible on Rowen’s face after Trudy had complimented her on her talent for Transfiguration. The younger of the two Ravenclaws could barely hide her smug grin. It was good that Rowen looked more inclined to help her now than she had just a moment ago.

“I’m grateful I got a skilled witch like you as my mentor,” the girl added, smiling widely. Trudy truly meant it but she might not have spoken the words out aloud had she not felt that it would help her to get Rowen onto her side.

The girl’s eyes widened when the older student borrowed Horus’ toad. That was a bold move that Trudy herself would have never dared to make. However, she was impressed and wondered if she’d be just as confident and strong in a few years herself.

She nodded eagerly as Rowen asked her to show her the spell. She was nervous, though, not wanting to embarrass herself in front of her mentor. She cleared her throat and looked around, hoping that at least nobody else was watching now. “Vera Verto” she said, tapping the toad thrice. The toad turned into the shape of a water goblet just its texture remained as it was and there wasn’t exactly a lot of room for water in the goblet.

“Hmph,” Trudy made, wrinkling her nose and poking the slimy toad-goblet with her forefinger. “When I tried it on the raven at least its top was a proper water goblet,” she muttered. “Do you think they stay sentient in this state or also when they are properly turned into water goblets?”

"Yes, you were quite lucky to be matched with me, that is true," Rowen agreed wholeheartedly, soaking up the onslaught of compliments from her mentee and smiling. Trudy was certainly putting the older witch into a better mood. It wouldn't be long before she moved on from her Daily Prophet thoughts and completely came over to Wiltrud's side. Rowen was highly intellectual and a fair strategist, but she wasn't without her faults, and compliments were a sure-fire way to turn her sour attitude into something sweeter. Flies and honey and all of that.

Horus continued to protest, in his meek grunting sort of way, but Rowen had already written him off entirely. She waved her hand at the wizard, who slunk a little in his seat and accepted the situation without much more fuss, and Rowen smirked. She loved being in control. Maybe Horus Heyward would make a decent husband after all, though she still very much hoped it wouldn't be her on the other end of that arrangement. "Well then," She motioned for Trudy to get started and watched the younger witches form very closely as she cast the spell.

The toad turned into a goblet, but only barely, and Rowen frowned. "Well, that's quite disgusting, wouldn't you say," She half observed, half judged, and then produced her own ridiculously ornate wand. scrutinizing the magic, Rowen poked the toad a little with the tip of her petrified wood opal wand and shrugged. "Your hand movement was incorrect; you swished when you should have flicked," Rowen informed the little witch with a triumphant smile like she was some kind of Savior and deserved to be praised for helping Trudy. Horus mumbled something when Trudy asked if the toad was still sentient, but Rowen focussed only on the young witch.

"Even if they are, I doubt they remember it. Let's change him back before he suffocates like this," Rowen wasn't as caring as Trudy or the toad's owner, but she also didn't want to get toad guts all over her if the thing decided to die dramatically. Performing the counter spell, Rowen's dark eyes never strayed from the toad as he turned back into a toad and tried to hop away. Quickly she placed a slowing charm on him and then looked back to Trudy, "Do the movement with me, no spell, for practice." She held up her wand, holding it delicately between her thumb and back fingers, her index laid on top like a pointer. Rowen did the movement slowly and then increased the pace as Trudy seemed to get it.

Horus tried to reach for his toad, but Rowen whacked him on the arm with her wand, giving him a menacing look, "Would you rather she perform it on you?" The dark Ravenclaw warned a scowl firm on her features, before turning back to Trudy with a sickly sweet smile forming. "Now try again,"

Trudy beamed at Rowen, happy to have brought a proper smile onto the older girl’s face. She could easily pay Rowen compliments. After all, everything she said was (at least to some degree) what she really thought. She wasn’t making anything up just to appease her.

The second year chewed on her lip and turned her gaze down. Rowen was right, of course, she had done a poor job and the half toad - half goblet thing (or would it still count as a creature?) was quite disgusting. However, Trudy did not want to disappoint her mentor. She looked up to the fifth year and wanted her to impress her.

Rowen produced her wand now and explained that Trudy’s hand movement hadn’t been right. “Flick not swish,” she repeated in a whisper, nodding to herself. She could do that. Rowen seemed even happy to have found the mistake and Trudy assumed that she could swallow her pride and smile despite the fact that she was rather disappointed with her own poor spell.

It bothered Trudy that Rowen did not seem too interested in the topic of whether or not the animal was still sentient. The girl loved animals and magical creatures and did not want to harm them. She wondered if that was why she had failed to perform the spell correctly in the first place. While Transfiguration clearly was one of her weaker subjects, the second year was a decent student per se and could follow instructions well enough to perform the spells she was learning.

She nodded as Rowen said she’d change the toad back before it suffocated and then she offered to practice the hand movement for Vera Verto together. Trudy smiled a little, but felt even less inclined than before to perform the spell. However, she had figured the hand movement out thanks to Rowen’s example.

Trudy chewed on her lip as Horus tried to get his toad back and Rowen did not let him. That was just cruel. The poor animal, the poor Horus who was worried for his pet… Trudy opened her mouth to contradict when her mentor asked her to try again but closed it again, nodding slightly.

After taking a deep breath, Trudy tried again flicking her wand thrice as she spoke the incantation. She was more focused now, mainly because she feared that if she failed again the poor toad would have to go through this ordeal again and again. However, when she succeeded she barely smiled.

“I don’t like this spell at all,” she muttered, wrinkling her nose.

"I'll tell you a secret," Rowen said, silently clapping her hands after Trudy had completed the spell and then stated that she didn't like the spell at all. "Neither do I," The older Ravenclaw admitted. "It is an awful spell, truthfully, and quite honestly one of the least useful ones I have had the misfortune to perfect,"

There were so many amazing spells and enchantments to work on, like the one they were learning about in Charms to unlock things they weren't supposed to unlock, now that was useful, so Rowen hated that they wasted so much time on nonsense like turning animals into goblets. But again, she assumed there was a greater reason, some muscle memory, or paving the way for more advanced transfiguration. The teenager didn't have much faith in the faculty at Hogwarts or their educational approaches, but she knew enough to know that Headmistress McGonagall was no fool.

"You would do well to learn it, though, either way, because it will be on the exam," Rowen had every confidence that her little mentee would succeed, especially now that she had such a great teacher. "Just don't drink anything out of it; who knows where that toad has been," The little dark witch said with a devilish giggle as she reversed the spell and let Horus take his toad back finally. He huffed loudly, and she glared at him until he turned back around. "Have you been assigned an essay on this spell?"

Trudy smiled quite gratefully when Rowen admitted that she didn’t like the spell either. It was a pointless and rather cruel spell to say the least and the little Ravenclaw assumed that most people would agree on that. However, that her mentor agreed with her was a relief.

“At least I think I can do it now,” Trudy said, glancing at the toad again and wondering if the poor pet was traumatised because of what she had just done. “I hope I do not have to do it many times, though. The poor animals. Can’t be a good feeling to be turned from a living being into something lifeless.” The girl shuddered and wrinkled her nose in disgust again. Who had come up with a spell like this and what for? Turning maybe a stone into a goblet might be useful in a way, but why would anyone want to transfigure a living creature into a water goblet clearly was beyond her.

Rowen’s comment that Trudy should not use the goblet to drink from made the girl wonder even more about how the transfiguration really worked. If done properly the goblet did not look at all like a toad anymore. Didn’t that mean that also all dirt and germs would have vanished alongside the skin, bones and organs of the animal? The second year chewed on her lip as she tried to figure out how to best ask Rowen that question.

While she was still trying to phrase her question, the older girl already asked one of her own and Trudy nodded in response. “Yeah, I have.” She only just refrained from rolling her eyes. “I wonder,” she began and tilted her head a little as her gaze rested on Horus’ toad again. “When the spell is done correctly and the animal has been transfigured into the lifeless goblet - wouldn’t all germs, dirt, everything that was on the toad, vanish as well?”

She paused only for an instant before adding, “and I’d still like to know if they remain sentient to some degree. Maybe being turned into an item feels like dying to them. That would be cruel to animals and I think then we should petition and try to get this spell banned from the curriculum.”

Rowen sighed a bit, obviously bored by the little witch's plight for animal rights, but took a moment to consider the question before answering in full. As much as she didn't care about whether or not the animal felt pain, she could understand the little witch's need to know. They weren't Ravenclaws for no reason after all, even if not all curiosity seemed to be equally respected. "I do not think so; despite its appearance being changed, it is still a toad, is it not?" The budding dark witch knew better than to assume everything was exactly as it appeared. "It comes down to the laws of magic, really. Things can not be made out of nothing, so in that respect, if you use the toad to create the goblet, then the only logical answer is that they remain the same."

The fifth-year offered Trudy a bit of a smile, but it lacked all compassion, as the subject of the toad's well being came up. She felt an itch on the back of her neck, some sense tingling like she knew Horus was going to butt his opinion in at any moment, and Rowen was quick to put a stop to it. "I do not think they feel it, but I imagine it is not entirely pleasant for them either. While transformed, I assume the toad to be in some suspended animation. It survives, but it is not really alive. After all, if it was sentient, I imagine we'd have a lot more goblets hopping off the table committing some toad suicide." Rowen thought she was clever, comical even when really she was just mean.

"Perhaps you should include these worries in your essay; some professors just love sentimentality,"

"Hmm," Trudy said, not really feeling convinced. "If it is still a toad, it would probably also still digest, wouldn't it?" Trudy wrinkled her nose again. That was really a disgusting thought. “The goblet can only be used as a decorative item then, right? I mean…” the girl shuddered and shook her head. “Such a pointless spell that is…” she added disapprovingly.

“Well,” the little Ravenclaw said, thinking about what Rowen had just told her about the toad in its transfigured state. “I don’t think that the toad not hopping off the table is a proof that it isn’t sentient.”  The girl was aware that her mentor did not appreciate this conversation and didn’t care as much about the toad’s wellbeing as she did but she still felt the need to share her thoughts.

“It has the form of a goblet. A goblet doesn’t have legs and is stiff. It cannot make movements. However, deep inside that goblet there might still be the poor animal, suffering…” She sighed and then nodded, remembering Rowen’s suggestion to include her worries in her essay.

“You're right. I'll include all that in my essay. Thank you so much, Rowen,” she said, suddenly feeling happier again. “You’ve helped me so much!” Her essay would turn out to be a long one. She’d write down all her concerns and criticise its use in class, that much was certain. Once that essay would be done, Trudy would start a petition. It was intolerable that a cruel and pointless spell like that was being taught at Hogwarts, after all.

The girl grabbed her bag and her book and beamed at her mentor. “I’m looking forward to our next meeting,” she said and turned around to leave the Great Hall, Rowen, Horus and his toad behind.

[out]

Rowen didn't bother to pretend like she wasn't bored of the conversation, it had grown tedious, and she would have rather been reading her paper. Giving Trudy a less than pleasant and entirely fake smile, she nodded along as the second year continued. Rowen probably should have cared more. She should have cared about the defenseless creatures, about the younger students' feelings, and about being a good mentor, but Rowen just wasn't wired that way. If it didn't benefit her directly or have some wealth, she felt disinterested right out of the gate. If Wiltrud had asked these questions during a scheduled Mentor/Mentee meeting, Rowen probably would have taken it more seriously. She was very dedicated to her career at Hogwarts, and being part of the S.N.A.I.L. program was important to her. But, since it was free time, Rowen reverted to being rude and self-absorbed.

"Are you worried it will steal your pumpkin juice?" She quipped, a devilish smile broadening on her dark features. Rowen was fully aware that that was probably the least of Wiltrud's concerns, but it was fun to ask. If the toads were still, in fact, alive, then maybe they could somehow ingest whatever they were holding in the shape of a goblet. It was a strange train of thought, and as soon as she ventured down it, Rowen was finished with it. Certain things just were not worth the teenager's time, and contemplating the meaning of life for a less than average intelligence creature was certainly not one of them.

Wiltrud announced that she was taking Rowen's advice and then thanked her, which only rewarded Rowen for more bad behavior, and the older Ravenclaw beamed at her. "You are most welcome," She returned politely, believing she had been quite instrumental to Wiltrud's research and gleaming and unearned amount of satisfaction from it. "Yes, let us keep it to the scheduled times in the future." Rowen reminded her as she unfolded her Daily Prophet and returned to the article she had been reading.

[end]