Third Years, Lesson One: The Limits of Transfiguration

Third Years, Lesson One: The Limits of Transfiguration
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Edward stood at the front of his desk as his new third year students trickled in. He greeted each one with a nod or a quick greeting. Once the last student had taken their seat, he used his wand to close the door. Then he directed his wand toward a piece of chalk resting near the blackboard. The chalk began writing words across the board as he turned to address the class.

Gamp's Laws of Elemental Transfiguration: Limitations​

"Good morning, third years. My name is Professor Edward Pirrip. I will be your Transfiguration professor until you enter fifth year. Today's lesson is going to be heavy on writing and theory, but its absolutely one of the most important Transfiguration topics you will ever cover. I encourage you to work as hard as you can because it'll all be worth it when you get to the practical work." He said because they needed to learn the theory before they'd truly master Transfiguration. "So, let's get started. Today we'll be looking at limitations within Transfiguration. What can't we do? Well, there's five specific categories: Food, Wealth, Knowledge, Love, and Life. These are known as Gamps' Laws."

"I'm sure by now you're all aware that, while magic makes it seem like we are capable of doing anything, magic too has its limits. Like how magic is not capable of bringing back the death. We can foresee death and perhaps even prolong it, but nothing can reverse death, sadly not even Transfiguration." He stopped, glancing at the students faces to find some were dismayed, whereas others knew this already. It could be a bit of a heavy topic for young students.

"This next one is a bit obvious." Edward continued, wanting to move on from the subject. He couldn't have their thoughts lingering on it for too long, that wouldn't be good for them. "You cannot use magic to gain knowledge. There's no way to pluck something out of a book or thin air and embed it into your brain. Knowledge, I'm afraid, will have to be gained the old-fashioned way. Which is why all of your professors probably push you to start studying for your exams on time." He informed them with a wink, sure some of his students would be disappointed by this information.

"Next on our list may come as a bit of a surprise to some of you, but food is unable to be created. You can summon it if you know where it is, and are able to duplicate existing food, but creating it from nothing is impossible. Your meals every day don't simply appear out of thin air. It's all prepared by the house elves and summoned to your plates." Edward nodded his head as some of the kids looked shocked. Apparently it was not common knowledge, which was unsurprising given the house elves rarely worked in the open or mingled with the students. "Imitations of food can be conjured, objects that look or smell similar to what you'd expect it to, but lacks any nutritional value. It will never truly feed your body."

"Another commonly surprising fact of limitation is the inability to create Love. That is, true love. You've all heard of love potions, I'm sure. However, a love potion does not create love. It creates an intense infatuation which is very far from what genuine love would feel like. Someone under the influence of a love potion would do anything for the person they're infatuated with, but they'd never truly love them. Love potions are unhealthy and dangerous."

"And lastly, we are unable to gain wealth or quality possessions by magic. Gold, for example, is nearly impossible to create without the use of external influences, such as a Philosopher's Stone, which alchemizes rather than transfigures. Even then, we know very little about it." He explained, "It's not impossible to turn metals such as lead into gold, muggles can even do it with a particle accelerator and billions of dollars. However, this process is less efficient than using a Philosopher's Stone, the creation of which Nicolas Flamel took to the grave."

"Certain things are resistant to transformative magics. For instance, Circe was well known for transfiguring sailors into swine. Pigs, being so unmagical, are difficult to transfigure, which makes Circe's abilities particularly impressive. It is theorised that gold particles are similar in this respect." He added, pausing to allow students to make their notes. "Like food, you could duplicate galleons fairly easily. However, magical systems are in place to detect whether any money used in shops or the like is real or an imitation, so I wouldn't waste time bothering with that. We also can't simply lavishly furnish our homes with magic. If we could, we wouldn't have much use for money in the first place. This isn't to say it's impossible to conjure something out of nothing, but the things you conjure are never permanent."

Edward took a breath, almost tired of talking. He was sure his students had gotten tired of listening too, hoping they had at least managed to write down the most important aspects of what he was saying. "So. Some of you might think, what can you do? With Transfiguration, we can change what we already have, living or not. As for the rest of its capabilities, that's simply something you'll need to find out as the course progresses, so stay tuned. See you next week!"

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Homework: RP attendance! Tag @Professor Edward Pirrip if you would like me to interact with your character! For extra credit, have your character take notes on the lesson.

 

[Arachne Westwick]

Arachne hadn't done very well in her classes last year, it was something she hoped to do better at this school year. She did find most of the subjects at Hogwarts interesting, but she sometimes struggled putting time into studying when there were so many other interesting things to do. She headed into the Transfiguration classroom and took a seat next to a familiar person. Transfiguration was definitely one of the hardest subjects, so she knew she had to focus today. She tried her best to listen closely to the lecture on Gamp's Laws, taking note of anything that sounded interesting or important. These laws were intruiging, and Arachne wondered about the limits of them. When the lesson was over, she actually had a decent amount of notes. She was glad she'd had a productive lesson and rolled up the parchment with notes, putting it in her bag.

 

[Eloise Flynn]

Eloise had mixed feelings about Transfiguration. There seemed to be a lot of things to remember, but she was always keen to learn new things. She didn't do the greatest last year with classes, but she hoped to do decent this time around. Eloise skipped happily to her Transfiguration class, her usual unique earrings placed in her earlobes. It wasn't long before she entered the classroom and took a seat. She took out the things she needed for the lesson, placing them on the desk in front of her before moving her attention towards the professor.

It wasn't long before the professor started off with the lesson. Eloise made sure to listen carefully to what the professor was saying, or tried her best to listen anyway. There seemed to be a lot, but she managed to write down as many notes as she could. Eloise nodded her head throughout the lesson to show that she had understood the majority of what was being said in the lesson.

It wasn't long before the lesson had come to an end and they were dismissed. Eloise made sure to put her things away as well as tidy up her area, said a quick thanks and goodbye to the professor. She then headed out of the classroom with her roommates and the rest of her classmates.

 

[Priyanka Bakshi]

Priyanka hoped that Transfiguration would be better and better every year. She went to class with great excitement, because she didn't know what to expect this year. Would it be harder? Will it be easier the other way around? However, Priya didn't want to think about it right now, because then she would see how it would be. She settled into one of the free seats in the first row of the classroom, then took out everything she needed and then settled down on a bench, waiting for the lesson to start, and in the meantime she read her notes. It didn't take long for Professor Pirrip to start the lesson, then she noticed the topic of the day on the blackboard, which Priyanka wrote down in her notes "Gamp's Laws of Elemental Transfiguration: Limitations", and then she continued to write down everything that the professor said, because she knew very well that everything would be useful in the exams. Therefore, she wrote down every word that was said.

By the end of the lesson, her hand was already starting to hurt, but she continued to write down. Priyanka began to think that this year would definitely be harder, but she was definitely ready for it. As soon as the lesson ended, Priyanka rested her hand for a short moment, gently massaging it, then picked up her bag from the floor, put her things in it, said goodbye to the professor, and left the classroom. As she walked out of the classroom, she thought about everything she had heard today.

 

[James Cosgrove]

Professor Pirrip introduced himself to the class for the benefit of anyone who didn’t already know him. Once the introduction was over, Professor Pirrip began the lesson and started talking about the limitations of Transfiguration and the rules that surrounded them. James took notes, but he struggled to focus on the heavy theory-based lesson. Once the lesson was over, James packed up the notes he had made during the lesson and made his way out of the classroom.