Transfiguration 2:1

Lesson one: Animate to Inanimate Transfiguration
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The door to the Transfiguration classroom was wide open, with Leif leaning against the wall right next to it. He had decided to wait for his younger students outside, his arms crossed as he greeted them with a smile. When he was sure most of them had taken their seats he moved into the classroom as well, leaving the door open just a crack in case anyone was late. That way they could enter the room without disturbing the lesson too much.

"Goodmorning and welcome back to Transfiguration." He now formally greeted the students as he leaned against his desk. "My name's Professor Leif Odegard and I'll be your teacher from now on. Let's dive right into it, yeah?" He started, pointing his wand at the blackboard to make one of the chalks near it start writing. "This year we'll be focussing on Animate to Inanimate transfiguration, which is slightly more complex than what you've practiced last year. I'm sure most of you won't have too much trouble with this though." He added with a wink, glancing around the room to observe their reactions which could tell him a lot about their confidence in their own abilities.

"Now last year you went over the different types of transfiguration and their meanings. Should your memory fail you though, let me offer you a quick reminder: Animate to Inanimate means transfiguring something living into something that is not. Like a hamster into a rock or a flamingo into a lawn flamingo." Professor Odegard explained. "However, Animate to Inanimate trasfiguration should not be taken lightly. Turning an animal into something non-living indefinitely is usually against Ministry regulations. What we will be learning this year is for educational purposes and all transfigurations will be reversed." He added, emphasizing his words to make sure his students understood the importance of this information.

"Moving on, some people have difficulty understanding how Animate to Inanimate transfiguration works. We don't take the life away from animals, we simply.. push a pause button in a way. They still have a small agree of awareness and thought but will be incapable of movement, speech, seeing and hearing. If you were to turn a person into a chair they essentially are a chair for that period of time. Barely aware if you were to sit on them and unable to do anything but provide you with comfort."

Leif glanced around, glad he wasn't sitting on his own chair at the moment. Surely this talk about turning people into chairs would've made him uncomfortable and he wondered if he had made any of his students feel like that. The reality was that anything around them could have been a human transfigured into something else without their knowledge. Which brought him to the next step in their lesson. "This might be surprising information but there was once a time where Transfiguration was used to punish dark wizards and witches. Or any other rule-breakers. Before Azkaban, wizarding authorities had limited space to hold wizards and witches and thus resorted to turning them into stationary figures. Statues, if you will. Their bodies were turned to stone and became their own prisons." Leif told his students, his face far more serious than it usually was. The idea of this type of punishment wasn't a pleasant one. "This method has not been used in a long time though. Thankfully now, we have a less cruel system in place. Which brings us to.." He waved his wand toward the board, the brush moving up to erase the words he had gotten the chalk to write on there during the lesson. "The end of our lesson! Class dismissed."

 

[Helios Obasi]

Helios had really tried to bargain for his place at home. It had to be better and safer to be at home, but his sister had a boyfriend, or something close to that, so of course she was back to having no time for him. Or so he perceived her to have no time for him. Though they had spent plenty of time together over the break. He just knew that this would go badly for him, that she just wasn’t seeing what he was seeing and wasn’t able to predict what he was predicting would happen. So he was stuck back at school, and needing to spend time doing classes. He headed out of the dorm with plenty of time to make a safe journey to his class.

Helios walked into the transfiguration classroom and took his usual spot in the room. He glanced up at the professor as he took his spot, eager to know what sort of lesson this would be, to know if he should actually avoid it entirely. The hufflepuff took his notes out and placed them down in front of him. He glanced at the professor as the man got started, going over the type of transfiguration that they would be doing. He took his quill and took a few notes from what was being said about animate to inanimate. He agreed and was glad the professor was highlight the regulations and how it was bad. Eventually the lesson wrapped up and Helios was able to pack up and head out of the room.

 

[Marcellus Vetrov]

Marcellus Vetrov strolled down the hallway toward the Transfiguration classroom. He was practically glowing with energy as he approached the classroom. Marcel found his usual seat near the middle of the room. He dropped his bag on the floor and pulled out his parchment as other students took their places. When Professor Odegard began the lesson, Marcel listened attentively, intrigued by the topic of Animate to Inanimate transfiguration. His eyes followed the chalk as it wrote on the board, and he couldn’t help but chuckle at the idea of turning a flamingo into a lawn flamingo. The serious turn of the lesson, discussing the ethical and legal aspects of transfiguration, made Marcel sit up straighter, absorbing the weight of the information.

The idea of pausing an animal’s life without truly taking it away was fascinating to Marcel, but he couldn’t shake the slight unease at the thought of turning someone into a chair. He glanced around, wondering if his classmates were as captivated, and slightly disturbed, as he was. The historical context of using transfiguration as a form of punishment was particularly interesting, though also a bit chilling. As Professor Odegard wrapped up the lesson and dismissed the class, Marcel packed his things quickly and hurried to the library​

 

[Makaria Styx]

Makaria Styx entered the Transfiguration classroom. She nodded politely at Professor Leif Odegard as he greeted the students outside the door. As Professor Odegard introduced himself and the focus of their studies for the year, Makaria listened eagerly. Animate to Inanimate transfiguration was indeed a step up from their previous lessons, and she was eager to delve into the complexities of this branch of magic. When he mentioned the examples of a hamster into a rock or a flamingo into a lawn flamingo, she allowed herself a small, amused smile, finding the imagery both fascinating and slightly humorous. Makaria's expression turned more serious as the professor emphasized the ethical considerations of such transfigurations. She made a mental note of the importance of reversing any transfiguration performed during their lessons.

The explanation about the awareness and thought that remain in transfigured creatures intrigued her. Makaria scribbled down notes quickly. When Professor Odegard spoke about the historical use of transfiguration as a form of punishment, Makaria's eyes widened slightly. She hadn't been aware of this darker aspect of magical history, and the notion of wizards and witches turned into stone statues as a form of imprisonment was both fascinating and horrifying. She noted the professor's more serious tone and mirrored his seriousness. As the lesson drew to a close, Makaria carefully packed her things, her mind still processing the day's lesson, and left the classroom upon dismissal.​

 

[Violet Owens-Rosemary]

Violet had enjoyed her break in between semesters, but she couldn’t help feeling as though it had been too short. The girl barely had enough time to boast to her sisters about how lucky she was to be at Hogwarts, in a dormitory that sat by the stars and amazing meals provided to her every night by house elves. She wasn’t sure that they were jealous enough yet. Nonetheless, she had fun making up stories for them and she couldn’t wait to do it again during her next break. For now unfortunately, she was back to reality and she had her classes to attend.

Violet followed her classmates to her Transfiguration class and took her usual seat within the room. The professor was going to start off the semester with a lecture, however Violet wasn't going to complain. She knew that this class would require lectures before they could get into the real thing, especially now that they were learning about animate to inanimate to Transfiguration. It made sense that this type of transfiguration was used as punishment back in the day, despite it sounding awful, and so that made the theory even more important. The Ravenclaw just tried her best to write as many notes as possible until the conclusion of the lesson.