First Years | transfiguration

WEEK ONE

Now that you’ve all gotten settled in and found your seats, welcome to transfiguration. Most simply put, transfiguration is the science of turning one thing into another thing. We will learn how to change more than just an attribute of an object, and instead redefine that object on the molecular level. It’s the process of, say, turning your desk into a horse, or turning your pointed hats into flowers.

Transfiguration is not at all an easy subject, however. If you’re fond of precision and definite practices when it comes to casting spells, then this is the subject for you. However, it is also one of the most dangerous branches of magic taught at Hogwarts. As of such, I expect you all to be on your best behavior and think before you act at all times… but don’t let that deter you! Some of the most rewarding and amusing magic is made possible because of transfiguration.

A common misconception is that you’ll eventually reach a point when you don’t need to be as careful with transfiguration—sadly, that isn’t the case. Even those who have been studying transfiguration for years need to continue to be highly disciplined when it comes to casting spells, otherwise, there may be some unforeseen consequences… There are some limitations as well, but you’ll cover those more when studying to take your O.W.L. ;)

This year, we’re going to be learning the basics of transfiguration, and focusing on theory and principles. We’ll be looking into incantation models, wand movements, and the transfiguration formula especially in the next few weeks.

Homework

What about transfiguration interests you, and why?
What questions do you have about transfiguration or for me?

WEEK TWO

I hope that you’re all starving, as I’ve brought some food to class! I’ve made some soup and some brownies. It may seem odd, but what is the biggest difference between them? Beyond what makes them up?

Right! With cooking, such as by making soup, you don’t need to follow a recipe too closely. Your creative flair can take over, letting you make decisions on the fly—such as to double the pepper, cut the saffron, and so forth… With baking, such as with making brownies, everything has to be much more precise. Cutting an ingredient without adjusting each other ingredient in turn can result in disaster, ruining the dish you were attempting to prepare.

Funnily enough, this is the same situation when it comes to spells. With charms, your creativity can come up more, as it’s a less precise branch of magic. For example, you’ll often be able to come up with your own incantations and wand motions on the fly, with more room to deviate and be original. In transfiguration, however, everything must be precise and determined. A lack of focus, using an incorrect incantation, or making the wand motion bigger can entirely change what happens! Instead of turning your homework into a toad, you may find that you’ve turned your homework into a lovely pile of sludge… At the end of the day, we can conclude that while charms are an art, transfiguration is a science.

It is quite fascinating, the differences between branches of magic. Many a young wizard assumes that all spells follow the same rules, no matter what type of magic they are. As to why exactly this occurs, well… We’ll get to that in the homework! ;)

Homework

Why do you think there is such a huge difference between charms and transfiguration?
Brainstorm some differences between charms and transfiguration

WEEK THREE

Now that you’ve learned what transfiguration is and what it isn’t, it’s time to dig into the theory specifically behind casting! No, we won’t be performing any spells until after interim, as it’s crucial to be able to perform spells not only correctly, but safely.

Every time we cast a spell in transfiguration, we take into consideration the transfiguration formula. This formula outlines the important variables for casting, and while it may seem overly complicated at times, it ends up being incredibly simple.

Here’s the formula:

t = transformation, as in what you want to occur. For example, t could be the transformation of your rabbit into a dog, or your quill into a matchbox.

w = wand power, as in the amount of power that needs to flow from your wand. In the muggle world, they use power to run light bulbs, and without enough power, the light bulb will not turn on. The same thing is true for transformations—wand power is crucial to let it occur. The harder the transformation, the more wand power is required.

c = concentration, as in how much focus is required on the spell. This is true in both transfiguration and charms, as concentration ensures a spell will occur successfully. If you don’t concentrate, your goblet may end up with a pair of ears…

v = viciousness, as in how vicious the object you are transforming is. For example, transforming a cute and cuddly bunny is going to be quite different than transforming a large and ferocious dragon.

a= bodyweight, as in how much the object weights. We can think of this in terms of how much mass, or matter, comprises the object. The more complex the object is, the harder it is to transform. And thus, we can also think of it as the more matter an object has, the harder it is to transform. A boulder is naturally far more difficult to transform than a feather!

Homework

What are the five variables defined by the transfiguration formula?
I’m certain you’re wondering about variable Z up there in the formula, waiting for me to tell you what it is…. But I’m not going to do that. In a paragraph, please tell me what you think variable Z stands for, and why.

WEEK FOUR

You guys had lovely ideas as to what variable Z may be. I was very impressed by your creativity and reasoning. :) A lot of you speculated it has to do with your determination or will power, the incantation itself, or your experience—all of which were great ideas! Unfortunately, there is no definitive answer as to what variable Z is. That being said, let’s move on, shall we?

Transfiguration is a highly rewarding subject, but also an incredibly dangerous one. For each spell that we attempt to cast, we open ourselves up to the possibility of a negative result. The less prepared and focused we are, the less we discipline ourselves, the more likely this becomes.

I’m sure you’ve recalled some of your housemates attempting to turn beetles into buttons, and if you didn’t, most of them struggled with it. Rather than fully transfiguring their beetles, some of them would produce buttons that could crawl around, or beetles that lacked their limbs. Regardless of whether they messed up the incantation, the wand movement, or didn’t concentrate—the result wasn’t exactly what they expected.

When it comes to more difficult and more complicated transfigurations, the dangers become larger. These repercussions can be extremely deadly, such as attempting to transfigure a foe, and instead, only increasing their strength. Even experts in transfiguration cannot afford to let themselves grow cocky and lose their concentration, as they can still face consequences and dangers.

In a classroom setting, of course, this is going to be different. I won’t be having you perform spells that turn a desk into a lion, for example—that would be far too dangerous at this time. However, you can still find half-transfigurations, where something is stuck between two forms. Sometimes, this cannot be undone.

But not to fear, there is a simple fix! If you ever mess up a spell and need to fix it, all you need to do is merely cast Reparifarge. This spell is the general spell for untransfiguration, and it’ll prove to be quite helpful throughout the course of your studies…

Homework

Why can transfiguration be so incredibly dangerous? Give at least one example!
There isn’t a known wand motion for the untransfiguration spell—what do you think this motion should be, and why?

WEEK FIVE

I hope that you all had a lovely interim break! But more exciting, of course, than the fact that you are all well rested would have to be the unit we are beginning now. Rather than bogging you down with more theory, we’re going to be casting some spells!

The principles and ideas we discussed in the first half of the year are still important, and now, we’re going to put them to the test. Ordinarily, you would start with rather simple transformations, such as turning matches into the needles. Today, however, we are going to begin with a transfiguration spell that has both a known wand movement and incantation, in order to ease you into transfiguration.

The spell we will be performing today changes an object into a flock of birds. We’re going to be practicing on these feather pillows, as I find it is far easier to transform something when it shares similar characteristics!

The incantation for this spell is Avifors. This incantation comes from the Latin word for bird, Avis, and from the fors suffix, which means fortune or luck. We’ll be discussing the major theory behind how you form an incantation when you are unaware of it next lesson, so you won’t need to worry about that now!

The wand movement for this spell is best described as a sideways figure eight. If you’ve ever had to draw the symbol for infinity, then you could also think of it in that manner, if it helps you to visualize the wand movement.

You’ll know you’ve performed this spell correctly when the target turns into a flock of birds, but the light emitted from your wand will be a shade of electric blue. It’s rather beautiful, actually. Some students struggle with this spell, but I’m confident that you are all capable of performing it.

Homework

There is one other known effect of this spell. Do a bit of research, and tell me what else Avifors can cause objects to turn into (beyond birds)!
Please change this feather pillow into a flock of birds. Describe how you do it!

WEEK SIX

If you found yourself struggling a bit last week, you’ll be pleased to note that today, we are performing the easiest known transformation spell. The reason we do not begin with this one is that there is not a known incantation for it—instead, we must come up with one!

There is a rather simple method for coming up with incantations in transfiguration. For this lesson, we’ll do it together. Next week, you’ll be expected to figure out the incantation on your own…. But don’t worry! It isn’t nearly as hard as it may seem!

Most transformation incantations, with a few exceptions such as the Water Goblet transformation, follow a basic pattern for forming incantations. We take the Latin word for what we’re turning the object into, and then, we add the –fors suffix to it.

If I wanted to turn something into a robe, I would need to first look up the Latin word for robe, and then add the –fors suffix. Fors means luck or fortune, and most theorize that it emphasizes the small portion of luck needed in order to transform a spell correctly.

Using the nifty Latin to English reference sheet found in the tabs above, I look up the word for robe, and I see that it is alba. I then take the –fors suffix, and I attach it with the word for robe. Together, the incantation becomes Albafors!

If I wanted to turn something into a rose, I would need to look up the Latin word for rose, and add on the –fors suffix. I look up the Latin word for rose, and I see that it happens to be rosa. Adding on the suffix, the incantation becomes Rosafors!

Today, now, we’re going to be turning matches into needles. The first thing we need to do? That’s right! Look up the Latin word for needle. Using the handy Latin reference sheet, we can see that the word for needle is acus. We then add on the –fors suffix, and we get the incantion: Acufors!

That being said, let’s get to it, shall we? Everyone, grab a few matches…. No, no, don’t use them! No fires in my classroom, please!

Homework

What is the incantation for turning a match into a needle?
How do we form transformation incantations?
There isn’t a known wand movement for this spell—please suggest one! Why did you choose this method? (A good suggestion is to think of a movement that symbolizes the transformations somehow!)
Please turn your match into a needle. Walk me through how you did the transformation. Let me know if something went wrong, and why. If it went well, also tell me why!

WEEK SEVEN

I am quite pleased with how your needles came out last week. As promised, this week you are going to be forming your own incantations!

We are going to be turning a mice into snuffboxes. This is going to be slightly more challenging than the previous transfiguration, as matches and needles are far more similar than mice and snuffboxes are. Some of you will end up with snuffboxes that are still a little misshapen, and that is completely fine! We all have to start somewhere.

The Latin word for snuffbox is noted in the reference sheet, but I’ll place it here again as well. Exornantur Continens is how snuffbox translates, so all you need to do is add the –fors suffix onto the last word in the pairing. In this case, that means you add on –fors to Continens.

If you are slightly confused as to how to deal with an incantation using two Latin words, there is an example provided on the reference sheet, and I’ll be happy to discuss it with you.

Now, we also need to pay attention to the transfiguration formula when performing this transformation! We need to take into account the bodyweight, viciousness, concentration, and wand power we’ll need for turning a hedgehog into a pincushion. Mice are fairly docile and small, so there won’t be much difficulty here!

The wand motion isn’t known as well, so a good idea once again is to think about what a wand motion symbolizes. Perhaps you merely tap the hedgehog lightly, symbolizing the precise and succinct nature of transfiguration. Perhaps you decide to swirl your wand above it in almost a square fashion, as the shape reminds you of a snuffbox! Whatever the wand movement you choose, it only must be logical.

Homework

What is the incantation for turning a mouse into a snuffbox?
What is the wand motion you’ve picked for turning a mouse into a snuffbox, and why?
Please turn this mouse into a snuffbox. Describe to me how you go about it, and whether or not you were successful.

WEEK EIGHT

Oh dear, it seems this is our last week together before your exam! I remember I was incredibly nervous for exams as a first year, but take care to review the lessons and study your notes, and I know you’ll all do fine.

That being said, the lessons will be taken down when the exam is posted, so please get any missing homework in now! As in many other classes, you cannot get an O in this course with missing homework—it isn’t possible! If you are unable to complete your homework before the exam, you’ll need to turn the exam in first, and then I’ll gladly send you the lessons.

I’ll let you have the rest of class to complete this short assignment aimed at helping you review for the exam.

Homework

Summarize for me 2-3 major ideas we learned this year. This should ideally be more than three sentences total.