There were a number of pumpkins sitting on a long table that was groaning under their weight.  Leopold had noticed that his students were suffering from a certain degree of distraction as Hallowe'en approached.  He'd decided to run with that distraction, rather than stick with his planned lesson. 

There were any number of transfigurations that he could do using pumpkins.  He'd be teaching lessons around the remarkably useful gourd all week, at every level.  The first years were going to have the most fun, however.  Of that he was sure.

"I've got enough pumpkins for everyone," Leopold announced as the students filed in.  "You will find your names on them.  Several of them are quite heavy, so please do not try and lift them off the table without help.  Howler, get off Miss Share's pumpkin.  There's a good fellow.  Take your seats and we'll get started."

The young first year walked into the room and blinked  a bit at seeing all of the pumpkins. He certainly wasn't one to dwell on this too long, however, as he soon after walked over to the pumpkin with his own name inscribed upon it, taking a seat. He began to carefully look over the gourd, looking for any abnormalities that it might have.

In the spirit of the season (and to match the rumors he'd heard from older students) Ted sauntered into the Transfiguration classroom with pumpkin orange hair, swiped with a single black stripe over his left eye. Transfiguration, for all the teacher's odd antics, was quickly becoming a favorite class for him. He had a talent for it.

As he picked out his pumpkin from the pack (peck? Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pumpkins...) he made a point of detouring past Dessa's seat, so he could give Howler the Capuchin a pat on the head. The monkey gave an indignant squawk at his couture getting mussed and nipped at Ted's finger. It didn't hurt.

Grinning, Ted swung into his seat and kicked his sneaker-clad heels against the stone floor, waiting until everyone had their seats. "So! What're we doing today, Professor? Jack-o-lanterns?"

"That is exactly what we are doing, Mr Lupin,"  Leopold said.  "We will be transfiguring these pumpkins as dramatically as you change your hair.  We will be doing a series of changes and the end result will be a personalized Jack-o-Lantern for each of you.  Start planning your design now and we will begin working as soon as everyone is ready."

It was likely that what he was going to do would have been done more easily with a Defodio spell but that was above the ability of his first year students just yet.  They wouldn't even learn it for years and the degree of control required for them to carve a pumpkin with it was definitely beyond them.

"I hope you've all mastered the scourify spell as well, he said with a chuckle.  "I suspect this class with be getting messy."

Dessa slowly spun her pumpkin round on the table in front of her as her fellow firsties trickled into the room with varying levels of excitement on their faces. She certainly couldn't wait to start today's lesson. At home she and her father would carve pumpkins together every Halloween, and she was glad to see that this year would be no exception, even if they wouldn't be together.

"How are we going to carve without a knife, professor? Just use some kind of cutting spell?" Dessa inquired, closely examining the orange mass before her. She traced the shape of a classic triangle eye lightly with the tip of her finger, then shook her head. No, she wasn't in the mood for a typical pumpkin. She needed something spectacular. She only hoped she'd be allowed to keep this in her room with a fire burning within...perhaps she could make some more of those safety fireworks she'd conjured up for Lexi's birthday. Rummaging in her bag, Dessa pulled out a scrap of parchment and a quill, and began eagerly scratching away.

Lexi rushed into the classroom, fearing that she was late when she realized that her watch was just ten minutes too fast. So she wasn't late, that was good, but the running through the corridors left her out of breath. She plopped down in front of her pumpkin, examining the neon orange-ness of it. It reminded her of her absolutely most favorite holiday EVER! Halloween!

Ghosts and magic and crazy creatures of the night coming out and haunting the world on All-Hallows Eve. Lexi supposed this year was different though, now that she actually was one of those creatures of the night and she was at a school for magic. This. Was. Crazy. Well, it really was sort of awesome. Asides from the actual school and the learning part.

She pulled her wand out of her bag that she set by her chair, placing it next to the pumpkin before turning the gourd around to examine all of its imperfections. It was a very smooth pumpkin, average size, and there wasn't any scarring around it like you would get with most pumpkins. It's top has a twisty root, curling around like a little pig's tail.

"This just became my favorite class." Lexi announced. "Just to put it out there, I love Halloween."

"We will not be carving, Miss Share," Leopold said.  "Those spells are somewhat above your ability.  We will be transfiguring parts of the pumpkin's outer skin into goo and then removing the goo in pieces.  That will provide us with the specific shapes we're looking for.  You can get quite creative, once you get some practice."

Leopold took a tall, thin pumpkin and set it on his desk.  "I'm going to be doing things that are a little more advanced than some of you are likely going to be able to manage, unless you've got a sculptor living inside your head,"  he said.

"Formo vegetabilis!"

A large section of the front of the pumpkin turned into a clear gooey jelly.  It began to slowly run down the pumpkin like half molten wax.  More than one student erupted with a loud 'Ew!'  Leopold just chuckled.

"Now, observe what is underneath the goo.  The spell follows your imagination but you need to be very precise. Scourgify!"

The goo disappeared, leaving only the image that Leopold wanted to reveal.



OOC:  If you see the first one, ignore the second....

Dessa gasped in delight and what she would never admit was a bit of fear as the goo melted away to reveal a snarling face peeking out from under strands of hair. Despite the fact that it was pumpkin orange, the face was genuinely freaky. "Brilliant!" she breathed, scooting closer. "You must have a really creepy sculptor living in your head, Professor."

She turned back to pumpkin with a renewed vigor, spinning her wand in her fingers. Suddenly she could imagine and actually execute a million designs that never would've been possible with carving knives. Magic was just so cool!

"Thank you, Miss Share, I think," Leopold replied.  "This charming fellow is someone I used to work with.  He looked far more hideous on the outside than he was on the inside.  He was something of a prankster in his school days.  Took a job as an Obliviator, as I recall.  He said most of the fun was making people forget they'd met him so he could make them jump all over again when they eventually came face to face with him again."

He shook his head at the memory.  Fancy using him as he model for a pumpkin.  I haven't see him since the wedding.  He was so disappointed when Lillian chose me over him.  "Now, you'll need to fix the image firmly in your minds when you perform the spell but I want you all to practice the pronunciation first.  Formo vegetabilis.  FORmo vegeTAB-ee-lis.  I've heard how some of you pronounce vegetable.  Don't forget the second 'E'."

Alice was there the entire class, but she sat in the back quietly, taking notes on the pronunciation of the spell. She carefully wrote each  syllable, lips moving as she sounded out each. It's just like carving a pumpkin the ordinary way. You know. Only with magic. Alice glanced around the room, looking to the professor, before continuing to look around. She looked at each student. Each one had changed her life. Each one had formed it in their own special way.

She stared at her pumpkin, the orange of the rind. It was a little green by the stem, and had her name scrawled on to it. Alice took a deep breath. Calm everything. Clear your mind. Focus on one thing only. Focus on a wand casting a spell. The spark. The handle of the wand. Focus on this drawing. She thought to herself. Her eyes closed in this thought, she began to mutter, "For. Formo. Formo Veg. Formo Vege. Formo Vegetab. Formo Vegetabee. Formo Vegetabeeli. Formo Vegetabeelis." She repeated this over and over.

"FOR-mo ve-ge-TAB-ee-lis.  Formo vegetabilis."

Ted kept his repetitions at a whisper, his wand bobbing in time, repeating the motion of the spell over and over. His eyes were closed. Already, he could picture the face he wanted to carve: a pretty little girl, her cheeks dusted with cinnamon freckles, strawberry blonde hair braided delicately over one shoulder. Even though it'd been two months, he could picture her as clearly as if he'd seen her yesterday.

When he thought he was ready, Ted didn't wait for a cue. His wand trailed to the pumpkin in front of him, tapping its rind. " Formo vegetabilis."

Clear goo oozed over the pumpkin's face, covering it from stem to base. With a bit of sickened curiosity, Ted gathered some of the goo on his finger and made a face. "What is this stuff, anyway? It doesn't look like pumpkin rot, so what'd we turn it into?"

"I believe the technical term is goo, Mr Lupin," Leopold answered.  "In a few moments, it will revert back to its original form but it will have separated enough that you will still be able to peel it away from your chosen image.  Is anyone having problems?"

He was cruising around the class, offering advice and suggestions to those who hadn't made up their minds.  "Would anyone be interested in a vote to see which pumpkin everyone likes the best?"

Just as Alice was tapping the pumpkin and reciting the special words, she glanced over at Ted who was speaking with Sandusky. Gosh! She thought. He is just so cute! Her thought strayed from the wand casting the spell to him, with hearts around his face.

Before she realized it, the pumpkin began bubbling, as the goo oozed from the pumpkin. It was not what Alice was expecting, a wand casting a spell. For on the pumpkin laid a face. A face of a classmate surrounded in hearts. On the pumpkin was Ted Lupin.

His cheeks, his hair. It was him, surrounded with hearts, like she would doodle in her journal late at night. Nervous, Alice hugged the pumpkin tightly against her robes, not wanting others to see it. To see her pumpkin. Her face turned bright red, as she hugged it even tighter.

Lexi recited the spell multiple times, making sure she had it imprinted on the back of her eyelids before she even attempted to try it out. She picked up her wand, still not sure what she was going to make it look like. But she thought of it as a coin toss, when the coin is thrown into the air, you know what you want. You have to do something to realize what it is that you truly want.

The pumpkin morphed into a gooey, sticky heap of a mess. It was sick, in a good way. Definitely a good way. As she cleared the pumpkin guts away from the pumpkin, she was horrified at what she had envisioned. "Well Lexi, time for therapy?" She joked to herself.

Her pumpkin had taken the form of a werewolf howling at the full moon, it was intricate and creepy as heck. "Hey Alice," she said, turning to talk to the Hufflepuff behind her. "What'd you make yours? Mine's kind of scary but it's so cool... let me see yours!"

Annette raised her hand. "Would a prize be.. maybe a few house points to the winner???" Nette really was teasing, but if her joking around gained her some points, good for her. She thought of a few ideas, bats, zombies, psycho killers. Lame. She thought a while longer, and a little longer, until it clicked.

Rolling her sleeves up to her elbows, Anni cleared her head, completely still, her eyes fluttered closed.  Her eye lids snapped open and with a sharp flick of her wrist Annette commanded the pumpkin. "Formo vegetabilis!" Like she was telling a dog to sit, the pumpkin 'melted' and kept melting until the entire pumpkin was a puddle at her feet.

"Um... what just happened?"