<div class="floatright">(https://i.pinimg.com/564x/19/59/d5/1959d5a89df588d70e329492b8e6ff84.jpg)</div><strong>Location:</strong>Introduction to Arcane Theory<br/><strong>Tagging:</strong>Students<br/><br/>Professor Merryweather soaked in the knowledge about water elementals, but the mention of choice got a touch of surprise, but without attempts at defense or retaliation.  "My apologies," she said.  "My intention was to state that practicioners choose the supernatural, that one can be entirely Normie but for the capacity for magic.  I came to be a witch entirely by choice, and I know full well that not everyone receives the option.  With these particular types of magic, it's a choice, not from genetics but from knowledge backed with the willpower to carry it out.  That doesn't fit the usual definition of Outcast, but then, any label is only as useful as its ability to provide an accurate definition."<br/><br/>She started up the portable stove, waved her wand to conjure up water into the kettle, and set it to boiling.  "Now, all of this can be done in the usual method with a faucet, taking the proper time to bring things to a boil, and so on, but I prefer not to spend the time during class."<br/><br/>Tara's question about spirits got a pause of consideration.  "In theory, it would be possible to set it up under extreme circumstances, but not from the get-go.  You'd have to pick out a particular spirit, cleanse it of all memories, create various connections that would not come innately, and so on.  That could be double-checked, of course - an accomplished practicioner could recognize the difference with the right scrutiny, but it enters the territory of the question of why?  Occam's Razor eliminates needlessly complex solutions as inherently unnecessary."<br/><br/>Taking a moment to tap her wand against the kettle and send the water to an instant boil, she explained to Tara, "My suggestion as far more likely would be a Lurker.  Imagine a spirit that works as a sort of glue...this isn't a great analogy, but the power source similar to the strings of a marionette, keeping spirit and body bound together when they should naturally separate.  You may have seen movies where an individual calls forth a spirit that gives them magical abilities they shouldn't otherwise possess, effectively unseen but for a power source that isn't explained by any other equation.  A Lurker connected to an unwitting subject could be reached through meditation and occasionally through dreams."<br/><br/>With the kettle boiling over, Professor Merryweather turned her focus back to the alchemy class, producing a glass, a spoon, "a komodo dragon's scale," which she showed to the class, "and a pearl," of very low quality compared to what worn pearls usually look like.  "Many will try to sell you on expensive reagents in order to increase the quality of your magic, but that's because they're looking to make money off of you.  It won't make your magic all that much stronger if you believe you need expensive components; it'll just make it weaker if you can't afford what you've convinced yourself you require."<br/><br/>Removing the lid and dropping both the scale and pearl into the boiling water, she started to stir with the spoon and chant, her words ironclad with focused confidence:<br/><br/><em>"By my power and my desire<br/>a dragon's scale for breathing fire<br/>save that I have no yearning for flame<br/>so by my power, I proclaim<br/>a burning classroom is full of troubles<br/>so I add a pearl to switch to bubbles"</em><br/><br/>Thrice she chanted the incantation, with the palpable power more felt than truly seen, save if one let one's eyes relax to witness the aura.  Turning off the flame, she poured a cupful into the glass, then used her wand to chill the glass back down.  "You'll find the original Elixir of Fire Breath in the textbook with just the scale; I prefer my own variation as a safer demonstration.  Would anyone like to volunteer?"