Third Years, Lesson Four

Third Years, Lesson Four: Lecture on Animate Transfiguration and Magical Creatures
​

Edward perched on the edge of his desk resting his bad leg, greeting the third year students as they trickled in. Once everyone was settled, he flicked his wand to close the door and begin the lesson. "Good morning third years. How are you? Did everyone see Gryffindor's impressive Quidditch win at the weekend?" he asked with a proud smile as the father of one of the captains.

"Today, we're covering Clashing Magic. Make sure to write that down as it may come up in your exam." Edward strongly hinted, his tone turning more serious as he stood to take a more formal stance in front of the class. "As witches and wizards, our magic is unique to us. It is innate, unchangeable, and inseparable. But remember, all magical beings, creatures and beasts possess magical abilities unique to them. For example, Professor Stark may have taught you that phoenixes heal with their tears and are reborn upon death. Demiguises can turn invisible and glimpse the future. Wizards can mimic some of these traits but will never fully replicate them." He explained, waving his wand which animated to take notes on the board, useful for anyone who needed the visual aid.

"Now, where does Transfiguration fit into this? Well. Have you ever heard of a unicorn animagus? A wizard transforming a lampshade into an Occamy? Or a muggle into a wizard? What about turning a dragon into a kitten?" He paused, letting the students mull over the questions. Naturally, none had heard of such occurrences. "No," he continued. "Because it’s impossible. We cannot give something magic. Nor can we take magic away from something that inherently possesses it. Magical creatures are highly resistant to Transfiguration because their own magic acts as a shield, counteracting ours and causing the spell to fail. This doesn't mean magical creatures are immune to our spells of course. Many charms, curses and the like will still work eventually, for example a dragon's hide is resistant to most hexes and jinxes, and it takes a large group of skilled wizards to subdue one." He explained, pausing to let students catch up with their notes as he had talked a lot. "Wizards, however, can transfigure each other because our magic is alike. Magic recognises itself and allows the transformation. Also non-magical creatures, lacking any defenses, are easily affected by our spells. For example we could turn a chicken into a duck, but we cannot turn a chicken into a phoenix" He shrugged on a technicality, "Well you could turn it into a red bird that looks a bit like a phoenix, but it wouldn't have any of the magical features of a real phoenix."

Edward paused again, giving the class a moment to absorb the information before concluding the lesson. "Clashing Magic is the fundamental limitation of Transfiguration and key to understanding what magic can and cannot achieve. I know this was a lot but I hope you guys managed to keep up. Does anyone have any related questions before I dismiss you all?" He invited a short Q&A session before finishing the lesson.

---

Roleplay the lesson. For extra credit, ask a relevant question at the end of the lesson. Anyone commenting that Teddy is an excellent Quidditch captain will get bonus points.
Tag @Professor Edward Pirrip if you would like me to interact with your character.

 

[Elijah Edogawa]

Eli sat near the middle of the classroom, his notes were already half written before the professor had even begun the class. He’d been thinking about a lot of things and one of those things he would be approaching Professor Potter about. She might not be an animagus, to his knowledge at least, but she was clearly a gifted transfigurist and that was all he needed. He didn’t really care about the Quidditch match right now, and that thought had him looking over his shoulder to ensure his mother wasn’t looking because she was able to just get into the school now apparently if her appearance at the game was any indication and she could just sniff out any anti-quidditch sentiment in her children Eli was sure. Eli added to his notes as the lecture continued, letting the lesson shift into more serious territory, like clashing magics, which was always an interesting discussion. Intuitively he supposed it made sense, especially if you had two spells that were fundamentally different, but that wasn’t always the issue that happened with clashing magic either. When there was a chance to ask questions, Eli raised his hand. “So if you can’t give something magic, is that why enchanted objects eventually wear off or break? Because their magic’s not innate?”

Edward addressed Eli's question during the Q&A session. "You are right to make that distinction Eli. Enchanted objects don't normally have innate magic and yes, and can wear or break. If cast properly though, it can take centuries for this to happen."​

 

[Susie Lagowski]

Susie rolled her eyes as she took her seat near the front of the room. The only quidditch games she cared about were the ones with Hufflepuff in them, and after the last game, she didn't even want to think about those ones very much either. She'd practised so hard, and she still didn't even hit anyone. Oh well - there was always a next time. She took out her notebook and a pencil. All her pens had run out, even though there was clearly still ink in them. Taking notes in pencil was even slower than normal, and she started dropping entire words and sentences to keep up. She was going to be so screwed in exams this year. Maybe she should go to the library and do some more research. Yeah, but that was a lot of work. She could probably just remember everything Professor Pirrip said. Satisfied with that, she packed up and headed to her next class.​

 

[Winnie Calida]

Winnie walked into the transfiguration classroom and took her usual spot in the room. Her gaze moved towards the professor at the front of the class as the man got started. She rolled her eyes at the quidditch mention and then grabbed her quill to begin taking note from what the professor was saying. Clashing magic. She nodded along, writing down what the professor was saying about it, making sure that she got it down, since clashing magic was a pretty important part of magic. The lecture was interesting, and she made sure to get all the examples the professor gave down. The lesson was then wrapped up and she packed up her things and left the room.

 

[Lilith Ilves]

Settling into the classroom Lilith was excited to see what the lesson might hold today, that was until Professor Pirrip brought up the game from last weekend. he one Ravenclaw had lost by Aroha snatching the snitch right in front of her. Letting out a silent sigh the third year tried not to let the disappointment resurface and ruin her excitement for the lesson. Getting her parchment and quill ready Lilith leaned a little forward ready to take notes as the actual lesson started. Listening with keen interest Lilith wrote everything important down, it would help knowing all she needed. Especially given she was going to approach the Professor and see if she could take part in the Animagus training. It was all about mastering the subject and in her opinion no bit of information on the magic form was irrelevant. Mulling over everything that was said Lilith packed her notes up and as she was leaving he room her mind still lingered over everything. It was interesting how a creatures own magic shielded it from theirs in a way, but it of course made sense. It also made a lot of sense that you could not give something magic.