I'm working on revamping my lion sona August, and in the process finally settling on what my fantasy setting actually is (rather than the previous fantasy pieces that were mainly one shots). The focus will be on a mage college called the Rainwood Academy, and August will serve as a professor there specializing in illusion magic. This berry inflation story gives a good idea as to his teaching methods :3

Professor August decides to test his pupils ability to detect illusions, with a swell surprise for those who fail...

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Introductory Magic Detection
By: IndigoRho

The world was filled with numerous colleges dedicated to honing the magical arts, amongst them the occasionally prestigious Rainwood Academy. Students from all over the continent—and beyond—journeyed to Rainwood to improve their abilities. Their varied talents required a diverse assortment of instructors, which included Professor August Days, who specialized in illusory magic.

August was a black-and-white lion who always dressed sharply in a gray vest, a long sash wrapped around his small waist. He wasn't the flashiest of mages, his skills centered on the conjuring of illusions that could look, feel, even taste just like the real thing. The lion wouldn't be leveling any forests with fireballs, but he could still overwhelm unsuspecting foes with an onslaught of illusions that hit hard. He'd done well for himself as an adventurer, and while he sometimes missed the excitement, he'd found teaching to be much more rewarding. And amusing.

Before August stood a little over a dozen pupils, most in their first year at the academy. Introductory Magic Detection wasn't considered the most interesting class in the curriculum, but it was important nonetheless, and rather easy to teach. Today they were away from their usual classroom, though, in one of the larger auditoriums meant for a hundred or more students. August could see the confusion on their faces—and the nervousness.

“Alright, looks like you're all here for once!” August smiled, gaze lingering on a consistently tardy zebra. “Now so far we've gone over a lot of the basics, but I'd like to hold a little practical test to gauge areas for improvement.”

The Professor pulled a small bottle out of his satchel and placed it on a table before him. Than a second, and a third.

“The test is simple. I will present you with three bottles, and you will need to figure out which one is actually an illusion.” August held out a paw, the glowing form of a bottle forming in its grip. “You'll be allowed to examine the bottles however you like. Shake them, poke them, taste them if need be—anything aside from break them. My illusions will mimic the real thing to a considerable degree, but if you've been paying attention in class you should be able to figure out the impostor.”

August pulled the stopper off the bottle and turned it upside down, a stream of blue liquid flowing out before dispersing into nothingness after a couple feet.

“To add some fun to the test, the real bottles are filled with a wonderfully potent blueberry brew. Drinking it will turn you into a massive creaking berry in no time. When you think you've found the imposter you'll have to drink it all down.”

A realization quickly set in amongst the students: if they chose wrong they'd be drinking the berry concoction. August smiled at the increased worry showing on their faces. “Don't worry, the brew is a rather mild one guaranteed not to make you burst. Of course there's always the chance the effects will settle in, causing your bodies to constantly produce juice. Nothing good hex breaking magic can't fix, though it could take a couple months to fully deal with.”

More gulps from the students. Professor August was openly fond of expansion—both of himself and others—and never skipped out on an opportunity to include it in his classes. There was no way a hundred percent of the class would be able to pass the test, and August couldn't wait to see which students ended up as helpless berries by the end of it.

Eager to begin, August called up the first student, a portly brown bear named Stewart. The bear had always seemed attentive in class, so August didn't feel he was a definite berry. He wouldn't have minded being pleasantly surprised, though.

Stewart steadied his breathing as he looked over the three bottles, eying them all as if they were poison. Each was held in his paws, the bear probing them with strands of his own magic, searching for some kind of sign or reaction. The far left bottle was the only one that felt even remotely off. He lifted it and removed the stopper, closing his eyes as he gulped down the entirety of its contents.

“Time to see if you made the right choice!” August said with glee.

The lion snapped a finger and the bottle in Stewart's paw evaporated in a cloud of mist, startling him. Stewart's cheeks puffed out, heralding a loud belch that spewed more of the mist—what had been the illusory liquid. He blushed a little after, but breathed a sigh of relief that he wasn't going to turn into a berry.

“Excellent job Stewart. I wonder if the others will be as astute!” August scanned the rest of the students, stopping at one he was quite sure wouldn't be triumphant. “Edgar, your turn.”

The tardy zebra slowly approached the table as his professor hid the two real bottles in his satchel and returned with three, having conjured a fake in the meanwhile. August shuffled them around swiftly, then gestured towards them.

Edgar was a water mage, capable of creating powerful geysers of water but lacking in overall control. August had heard the zebra had managed to accidentally fill a hyena professor to the brim with water during practice a couple weeks earlier. With such a lack of finesse it would be nearly impossible for Edgar to tell the difference between the bottles.

Edgar himself was painfully aware of that. He aimlessly examined all three over and over, not getting even the slightest inclining as to which was the safe fake. After a few nerve wracking minutes the zebra simply decided to leave things to chance, randomly choosing one.

Once the bottle was drained August stood silent, letting the zebra sweat a little. “Let's see if Edgar was lucky.”

Of course the Professor already knew the answer, and when he snapped his finger a bottle still on the table poofed away, much to Edgar's dismay. The tip of Edgar's muzzle turned a brilliant shade of blue, which steadily began to spread across the rest of his face. He could see the change out of the corner of his eye and frowned. The taste of blueberry juice filled his mouth by the time his entire head, neck, and shoulders were blue. Before long there wasn't a spot of white left on him.

“I'd say blue suits a water mage,” August mused aloud, eliciting some laughter from the rest of the class. “And from personal experience zebras make great berries.”

Edgar's middle finally started to swell, going from flat to a dome in seconds. He frantically loosened his robe and pulled up his tunic as he steadily outgrew both. There was a muffled sloshing coming from within the zebra's stomach, an unseen fountain of juice working tirelessly to fill Edgar up. His affinity towards water magic made him acutely aware of the pool bubbling inside him. He could sense every slosh, every splash, the way the juice swirled.

The zebra's belly continued to balloon outward, growing bigger and bigger without sign of ceasing. As his chest was enveloped by the expanding sphere the seams of his clothes tore, rips joining the sloshing and the faint creaking of his stretching hide. Edgar blushed a deep purple as his clothes fell in shreds. Juice had begun to fill his limbs, causing them to puff out and grow rigid, denying him movement.

All Edgar could do was wait and frown, knowing the whole class was witnessing his transformation into a giant blueberry zebra. There was definite chuckling, but not as much as he'd expected; the rest of the students were well aware that they could be joining Edgar soon

As the pressure inside Edgar increased he struggled to think, his mind battered by the sensation of being so preposterously full. Cheeks swollen from juice, he'd shake his head as best he could to regain his senses, only to have to fight back the impending pressure daze a minute later. He almost completely spherical, limbs reduced to domes with puffy flailing hooves atop them. Involuntary groans escaped him, the bloated zebra nearly cross-eyed.

Slowly the creaks of the zebra's hide ceased along with the sloshing—the transformation was finished.

August cheerfully circled the zebra, nodding in approval. “Definitely an improvement, at least in my opinion. Though hopefully you'll be able to pass the next test!”

Four illusory paws appeared in the air, each a ghostly translucent blue. They floated over to Edgar and split into pairs, one in front of him and the other behind. All four pressed into the zebra's taut sides, prompting groans as they sent pressure spike shivers throughout his body. They teased and poked him for a few seconds more, August grinning the entire time. Eventually they gently pushed the berry onto his back and spun him around, rolling him towards the back of the room.

“I think most of you are realizing now why I brought you to the auditorium for this test,” August said. “It was important to have plenty of room in case of a high number of failures. Of course there's always a chance you'll prove my preparations were unnecessary!”

The Professor laughed, but none of the students joined in.

“But now, on to the next student! Aaron you're up.”

* * *

When the last of the passing students left the auditorium, Professor August let out a content sigh. The class had done better than expected, which was a relief since future lessons wouldn't be as difficult to impart on them. A part of him wished none would have succeeded, but seven berries was good enough.

August turned to face the “lucky” seven. They were all in various states of being dazed, some mumbling while others moaned. Their spherical forms were a sight to behold. Each was being attended to by a pair of illusory paws, wobbled and prodded at August's leisure. He could feel what the paws felt, and couldn't help but blush himself.

“I applaud your efforts, but it appears all of you are in need of additional tutelage.” Though August spoke it was doubtful the berry students could completely comprehend him in their current state. “There'll be a second test afterward, though if you fail that you'll end up far, far larger than a mere blueberry.”

The Professor pretended the scattered groans were nervous acknowledgment from his sloshing pupils. “I'm glad you all understand! Now let's get you rolled to one of the juicing rooms in the berry college. It's a bit of a journey but I'm sure you'll bring smiles to the faces of your peers as we pass them.”

The illusory paws quickly went to work, each pair pushing their assigned student in an orderly line out the auditorium. The sight brought a wide grin to Professor August's face at least, the lion bringing up the rear as he pondered the next day's lesson...