Idus Martiae Errand

Pandora was asleep when the Professor entered the class. She was actually immersed. She awoke when the professor began to speak. With that sleep deprivation, she wondered if I had slept so long and changed languages. Seeing that the professor's attire was different, she was afraid then I changed reality. When she came to herself, she understood

What did Rome think? She still didn't understand. A dictator? She was behind on the subject. Yawning tiredly, she began to listen to the professor. She was still tired. my scut? What is this? The professor was surprised when he showed the shield.

She watched as a rectangular array of cardboard and foam material flew over her desk. Involuntary wow sound came out of her mouth. No matter how used to magic she got, it always tempted her.

When she saw that the children around her were starting to do it, she started doing it too. While I was thinking how to do it, she started watching the girl next to him.

She took a piece of cardboard. She wondered what color I should paint it. Then she realized that she wanted to make a shield as yellow as her eyes then blue as her house. She happily painted her shield blue. It looked great.

While waiting for her institution, he watched what the others were doing. Some of them were doing really well. When you make contact with a girl, she quickly turn your head to the window. It was very cloudy. It was a little too cloudy for a spring day.

Her eyes fell on the writings on the board. We were going to use one of the words here. Which sentence here describes me, she said to herself. Carpe diem! she looked beautiful she put it in the back of her mind to write it.

While painting the second coat, his eye caught the white paint. She couldn't help but wonder if I should sprinkle this over it so it would look like snow. I'll do it when this coat dries, she said to herself.

When the second coat dried, it took off the white paint. She dipped his brush into it. She brought her brush over her scutum and shook her left thumb lightly. This caused a slight splash of white droplets, but her desk was also covered in paint. After doing some more it splashed on her face. Some kids started looking at her.

While waiting for the white colors to dry, she opened her bag and wiped the handkerchief on her face. She wiped the table with her handkerchief. It was cleared now.

She looked beautiful when she saw her scut dry. She wondered how the color yellow would fit into it. Then she thought of making a motif on the top and bottom of her scut. With this in mind, she dipped her brush into yellow this time.

She immediately resumed her work. She dipped his brush in golden yellow and immediately began to do as she thought. It was as she thought. I wondered how the others would find it. I wonder if Quill Pal would be happy to see this. Was thinking about this while waiting for it to dry. Didn't know when the lesson would end. I hope it's just a little bit, she thought. The watch was not carrying.

When she saw that it had dried, she realized that it was very beautiful. I wonder if her father and siblings would like it if they saw it. Did my mother do this? Do you see? Thinking about it, he got a little sad. When she wake up, Carpe Diem on your stuck! Wrote.

@Gregor Aarden

• VINCIT QUI SE VINCIT •

Transfiguration Classroom - 15th March 2023
wc: 944/600
Avery's Speech

· || ────────────────── ────────────────── || ·

┏		┓
	-----Avery wasn't too impressed that he had just come from History of Magic, and was now having to do a Transfiguration class. At least the walk wasn't too far between lessons, he thought. When he entered the class he took up his usual perch and set his big brown duffle to take the seat next to him, relying on it as his first line of defense against his, peers. In his opinion, it was better to suffer the class alone instead of suffering both the class and an endless assault of stupidity. He appreciated Professor Aarden, who seemed a sensible and powerful wizard, but Avery didn't know what to think when he saw the Professor clad in a tunic; wielding an old Roman tower shield. This was certainly about to get interesting. It was a matter of instinct, usually, for Avery to retrieve his shortened black quill and structure his lesson notes; but he didn't know what to title this lesson, so he drew a rather large '?' in the left-most corner of his parchment before he returned his attention forward. The pale boy quickly squinted when the Professor started speaking, it was immediately clear that he was speaking another language, that is to say; nonsense; but Avery quickly recognised the vocal patterns and pronunciation to be Latin. Blades formed and hovered in the air before striking at the Professor and his shield, which a thin black brow responded by raising into a high arch on Avery's forehead; he knew the Professor was performative but this was dramatic indeed. His string of private classes for Latin were far from useful, as Avery couldn't make out a single word of the speech that followed, so he was pretty thankful when the Professor switched back to English. Of course, the middle of March. Avery didn't keep track of the occasion, but he knew of its history. One of his very few childhood friends would often speek of Caesar, citing that he would one day be as great and powerful as he, especially since his birthday was also in the month of July; which was dedicated to the family of Gaius Julius Caesar (the Julii). It is said that the consul who paved the way for Rome's Empire was so extraordinary that they renamed the month of Quintilis after him and his legacy. The story was one that was famous, for obvious reasons, as the rise and fall of the Roman Empire had impacts on both the magical and non-magical world in profound ways. Avery had especially noticed that almost all the incantations he had learned thus far, were etymologically derived from the so-called 'dead' language. The Professor had even nodded to that in his introduction, even. A small huff of derision came from his nostrils. How on earth would this further their magical education, he thought. He understood that history was important but art class was surely above Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy. Seemingly his classmates didn't feel the same, as they all took to the task with great delight and enthusiasm. Huh. Surely they could all see that something like this belonged in muggle studies, which his brothers had thought didn't belong at school in the first instance, which Avery somewhat agreed with. Again he was faced with the fact that he would have to sit here for the next little while regardless of his opinion. It took a while to get into it, but he started with the basics. A scutum, as it was called was characterised by its tall frame and curved build, as well as the round metal shield boss that was in the centre that served the dual purpose of deflecting incoming weapons and being used to bash enemies, so he started with that as best as he could with the supplies he had. He cut the foam and began to glue it down onto the shield, before he used some of the foam to form thin strips that would outline the shield. He was going for a more traditional shield, and so he included the symbollic lightning strikes of Jupiter that extruded from the centre, using jagged card and foam to accentuate the design before it came to painting them yellow and the base shield a traditional red. Whilst it was drying he had plenty of time to consider what words he would cut into the black card that would curve around the shield boss, which was kind of therapeutic. It took a lot of consideration, and it took his mind a lot deeper than he wanted it to go. There was one quote on the blackboard that kept calling to him. "Vincit qui se vincit." He said to himself. Avery felt like he had to, especially since words held both meaning and power. He Conquers, Who Conquers Himself. It was oddly relatable, when he considered it. Those who are to attain their goals, overcome their greatest failings or weaknesses, who can control his most primal urges and keep his emotions and actions in check; truly wins. This was something that Avery felt was important, especially with his family history. It felt like a good saying to get behind, if you wanted to stave off the allure of the ego. He knew that he had a personal problem with ego, and arrogance; but most of the times he caught himself were certainly occasions that warranted a little bit of a harsh response. Certainly he had chosen an edgy quote, and certainly he was satisfied with his traditional looking creation; or at least as traditional as he could be with his limited muggle knowledge.
┗		┛

OOC Note:

Reducio

Excellent errand. It's the first I've done on the site as the topic and delivery really gripped me. - Avery is a bit of a challenging character, so please don't go confusing his general air of mean-ness for anything personal, or any of his beliefs to be reflective of mine!

To tell the truth, that event had caused great expectation in Hades when he discovered that Professor Aerden was going to perform what appeared to be a craft workshop in the class where Transfigurations was taught. When he arrived, he realized that the whole place had made him remember as those types of studios where painters performed their works. That was most interesting, because in Hogwarts they rarely performed this kind of thing and much less without using magic. For Hades, it was something that allowed him to do something without requiring magic. It had been too much magic for him and it was not a bad thing to do something more muggle-style. So to speak... And he had not come alone. He had come with Damion at his request. To do something together as a couple.

Hades bowed his head in Damion’s direction “I have to admit I did not expect this at all. I have always gotten used to seeing magic and the like...” he admitted, covering his mouth with his hand as he did not want anyone to hear what he had whispered to Damion. He took his boyfriend’s hand and dragged him to the table where he could work next to him. As far as he knew, this was the first time he showed a sign of affection in public “Have you thought about what phrase you will use?” asked looking into his eyes. He put on the painter coat and started thinking about how he wanted to start with the shield. The truth is that he was not very sure of the design, because he wanted to make it elegant and beautiful. His fingers ran through his lips, thinking about it.

The badger already had the phrase in mind, which was 'Acta, non verba' - meaning Actions, no words. That choice was because after having thought a lot about his family and the meaning of establishing a trust, his choice was most logical. According to Hades, sometimes to gain confidence was not enough with words, but actions really mattered. It also influenced other things, as if someone wanted to be believed, he would have to know that words would not be enough and by default, actions should be shown. When thinking about the meaning, just like what he should do was design the shield that would explain the choice of his phrase. He looked at all the materials he had before deciding how to paint. He picked up a brush and bit the wood off the brush - a habit of biting things when he was thoughtful.

Unable to help, Hades looked around to see how others were doing, with Damion the last person his eyes saw. He outlined a sweet smile and tried to focus. He began to put a little yellow paint on the background of the shield, but it took a while as it was a little big. He was so focused that it seemed that no one would really distract him. After a few minutes, Hades finished with the background and was thinking about what he could draw to define the word trust but at the same time the meaning between the words actions and words. Before painting it, he decided to make a couple of scribbles on a piece of paper to avoid making mistakes. He wasn’t trying to be perfect, but it was something he couldn’t help himself. He wanted to do it right. Then Hades could make a mistake and solve the mistake.

Sometimes he had been unable to fix a painting because of it. First he had to draw some drafts before starting. Then he ended up drawing a balance with the words action and word, one on each side, but the balance was inclined by action, being as a kind of indirect to point out that actions had better effect than words. As soon as he finished drawing it, he was satisfied with the drawing but had to think a little about the color that was going to put it. The background was yellow, so it could wear the pride of the Hufflepuff house. But he wasn’t sure about the color of the scale. Perhaps a silver color? So it could keep the spirit of his house. He started testing different colors on a draft paper to see which one looked better. It was a bit of a tough choice because he had loved three color mixes.

In the end he chose the silver color, and drew the balance as he had tried in the draft. As soon as it was over, Hades wanted to ramble his thoughts a bit “It looks really nice but I don’t know if it convinces me as much as I thought.” He admitted thoughtfully, his fingers in a horizontal position gently tapped the edges of his lips rhythmically, something he did when his mind was buried in his shrews. That wasn’t a competition, was it? Hades couldn’t resist the competitive spirit. Besides getting used to being a hard-working student, he was used to having things done. Well maybe he hadn’t done a bad job after all, and the... What did the professor call it? Scutums, possibly? It looked good. He looked at Damion “I’m done.” He informed with a satisfied smile.

Attire: Usual school day attire: robes, shirt (buttons mismatched), tie (knotted around his left knee), kilt, neck ring, no shoes.

Reducio

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! Colin's bare feet thundered through the corridors as he charged towards transfiguration class! "Oi! Wotcha laddies! Coming through!" Colin slithered between two knots of older students as they loitered in the corridor! "QAH! QAH! QAAAHHH!" He liked to play Ravens Claw with the wee first years --- by holding out his robes like huge black wings, cawing like a raven and swooping over their heads! "Hugin! Hugin! Where be thou! Tis me Munin on the wing!"

As Colin skipped up to the door of the transfiguration classroom, he sighed. Hugin --- that is his twin Liam --- would never answer the rune again. His brother had been dead for more than six months, and Colin felt the stab of it every minute of every day, as if a sword were plunged through his unshielded heart.

When Professor Aarden started talking in Latin during class, Colin's interest was piqued. Frankly he was surprised that so few fellow students had studied it at all before coming to Hogwarts. His tutors had taught him and Liam and their siblings at least the rudiments before they'd come here. And when he announced that they'd be making shields in class today, Colin could barely contain his excitement! "Like real muggle shields?" he said under his breath. "Wicked!" He ended up crouching on the bench, leaning over his desk on his hands trying to see what kind of shield it would be!

The whole demonstration with the cloud of knives falling from air and bouncing of Professor Aarden's shield had earned top marks from Colin. Now that was some magic! After he talked about some old emperor being stabbed --- wait, stabbed!? Twenty six times!?!? That must have bloody well hurt! --- he brought out the supplies they'd be using.

Colin was a little bit disappointed when these big bits of thick cardboard floated out. "Pffft," he said. "Caesar probably had a cardboard shield too, not a cool transfigured one that can deflect daggers and knives!" Colin wondered if he shouldn't hang this on Regulus Dorm's door: "I'll hang it on our door to keep knifey girl Ava Winchect away!" He reckoned cardboard probably wouldn't stop her from murdering Luci again anyway.

Well, he thought, at least this would be a cool decoration! As he set out planning his design, he considered the Latin phrases they could choose from. Colin smirked as he got close to the end of the list. He knew exactly which mottoes he'd use. He began work. He made an oval shaped shield, which he knew was called "Iberian", and it was green --- Slytherin of course! --- which was called "vert". Two escrolls in azure, or blue, would contain the two slogans he chose. In the centre of the field was a rondel with an image of Greenman.

Colin picked two mottoes that fit him well. Amor vincit omnia. Everyone knew that love was truly the greatest power, and certainly it could conquer everything in its path! That was an obvious pick, because Colin was all about the love! For the other one, Colin really liked the look and sound of ulululululu --- "Wait," he said; "is that too many uls?" Colin was concerned he might forget to stop spelling it! On the other hand, it reminded him of Gaelic uileliugh, though that meant to wail and lament. Another problem, Colin realised: "Blimey! I don't know anyone names Diana or Victoria. Well, there was Queen Victoria, of course! And Princess Diana, but I don't know if I ought to be howling for either of them!"

"Oi! Got it!" he said. "I have and will continue to howl for Clair! So I'll just change the name!" Colin nodded, satisfied with his decision, and wrote at the top of his shield ululo pro clara --- I howl for Clair!

Mentions: @Clair Fernandez | @Ava Winchect

As AngelFyre sat in the Transfiguration class and listened to Professor Aarden give a brief history of what this day meant in history and what it was called in Latin, AngelFyre found herself uncharacteristically drifting to thoughts other than what was being shared. It was not because she knew most of what he was sharing already because that was not her learning or study posture ever. Repetition never hurt. You could know something but hear it explained in a different way and find whole new levels of understanding. But try as she might, her focus was tending more towards drift than hold steady right now. Her mind in that moment felt more like a tabula rasa (blank slate).

Truth was, she was weary and sad and scared. Since Latin seemed to be the language of the day, the phrase that came immediately to mind, though the context was not entirely correct, was that Simon's long silences these days and absences were having her wonder if she had become a persona non grata (unwlecome person) in his life. She had tried to be patient. She had tried to be supportive. She had tried to be funny and loving. She had even tried quiet camaraderie through interminable bouts of silence. Some nights when they parted, she went to her dorm room and cried for hours, thinking she would have made a fantastic monk. Silence she had always been able to do... until Simon. She missed talking to him... about everything.

She just missed him.

Nothing seemed to reach him lately, or if anything did, it sure as heck was not her. She was praying constantly these days... for him and for their relationship. But again, she was scared. She did not really want to be here, doing this errand, but if she were not here, she would just be fretting in her dorm room by herself most likely, idly waiting in vain for his voice on the soup can line. She had the power, of course, to hear him anytime she wanted and she reached up to rub her thumb over her love locket, but that she would not do. She had sworn not to open her love locket again after he first gave it to her because she was afraid if it repeated phrases, it might repeat his proposal of marriage, and she did not want to hear it so often that when... or had when been downgraded to if... it ever happened, she would be inured to it in the actual moment. Hot tears sprang to her eyes and she blinked hard and fast.

Not here. Not now, AF. Hold yourself together.

She became aware Professor Aarden had finished speaking and she looked around to see what everyone was doing. It appeared they would be making shields.... or scutums.... with pre-approved Latin phrases. Her mindset was decidedly negative which was very much unlike her. As she got up to go read the available Latin phrases, she hoped the one going through her mind would be on the list: Si vis pacem, para bellum (If you want peace, prepare for war.) She was prepared to go to war to save "them", she only hoped it would not be necessary. It was not one of the approved phrases anyway, so she settled on two that were equally apropos.

She took her rectangular scutum and looked at it for a time, formulating a design. When it began to gel, she started to work. She grabbed a carving tool and began to carefully shave the foam as symmetrically as she could. She wanted it to stay largely rectangular, but with a convex shape. She knew from reading enough historical fiction... and non-fiction... that the curvature of the shield would offer more protection than a flat shield. For one thing, any blades hitting the convexly curved shield would stand a better than good chance of glancing off with little to no damage done to the shield bearer. Also, historically, from the shield bearer's side, the concave curvature offered more protection as it was an enveloping sort of design. It was long and wrapped around the soldier's body. In reality, this scutum was the physical manifestation of what she felt like she needed emotionally. The Latin quotes would take care of her spiritual needs.

She carved and shaped and readjusted. She thought at first to do their favorite colors, dark blue for Simon and dark green for her, but then a stark black and white design suddenly seemed more appropriate. The background would be dark, midnight black, but there would be heavenly rays of light shining down from the top left side and across to the right side. The rays, of course, would be in white, mottled with some black to grey them out in places, thus making them look more realistic.

AngelFyre was turning it over to God and to her boyfriend for the time being. She was not dropping her burden, but just slowing down to take a breather and get her bearings. Maybe she just needed to be still and listen for His voice to speak to her. Was she doing as He would have her do or what she had wanted to do? Her first quote, at the top would represent her faith in the LORD to get both of them through whatever demons Simon was battling right now.... even if it meant he needed to let go of her. If he let her go, she felt certain they would reunite at some point along the way. That is where her faith came into play which brought the quote: Deus vult (By God's will) to light in her heart and mind. The second quote was representative of her faith in Simon. He was struggling now, but he would not always. She just needed to believe in him... and she truly did... so her second quote at the base of the heavenly light, outlined in black, was Fido Meli (I trust the Badger).

Looking at it, she was actually quite proud of it. And there was a certain peace that warmed her as she took in its deeper meanings for her. All of a sudden, she felt drained and exhausted. She cleaned her work station and bid good night to the professor. Making her way back to the dorm she knew that Morpheus would meet her that evening for some soul mending and body recharging sleep. She may not be much of a warrior spirit tonight, but she would clothe herself in the armor of God tomorrow and enter back in the fray to reach Simon any way she could.

And she would continue, day after day... week after week... for as long as it was necessary to do so.