Lesson Four: Introduction to Inanimate to Animate Transfiguration
As the last few students shuffled into the room, Leif briefly raised his wand to the door, forcing it to swing shut after them. "Good afternoon and welcome back. It's nice to see you all here." He said with a smile, glancing over the present students. No one seemed to be missing. "We've gone over and practiced Animate to Inanimate Transfiguration, so it's time to move on. We are going to get a start on transfiguring inanimate, or non-living object, into an animate, or living one. I've got quite a lot to teach you before you can attempt to cast a spell." The majority of the class seemed somewhat dismayed. They were no doubt all too aware that this meant another theory lesson. Something he could understand, he wasn't a fan of them either. But they needed to get through them anyways.
"Again, an inanimate object refers to any object that is nonliving. To change it into something animate, you will need to give your chosen object life. Sight, breath, limbs, anything that makes an animate object live. These types of transformations are immensely more difficult than inanimate to inanimate or animate to inanimate transformations, so pay close attention." With that, Leif motioned his wand toward the blackboard, animating a piece of chalk.
Inanimate to Animate Transfiguration
"Just like other transfigurations, when transfiguring something that is not alive into something that is alive, you must first have a very clear mental image of the thing that you are transfiguring. Every little detail, whether it be the different shape of the eyes, the texture of the skin, the color of the object - all of it must be visualized in your mind at the time of casting for a transfiguration spell to take proper effect. Skipping this very important step will often result in a misshapen object, or a completely failed transfiguration altogether."
Leif took a moment to let it sink in, ensuring everyone was paying close attention. "Any person that wishes to become successful at transfiguring inanimate objects must remember an important point: inanimate objects have no minds of their own. Not a single bit. All of it must be given by you, the caster. The first and most often forgotten step is that a button or a chess piece doesn't have a mind to control automatic responses or a thinking process. Therefore, when a wizard or witch casts a spell on an inanimate object and changes it into a living creature, they must create a brain for the object. A few thoughts about eating insects here, a long sticky tongue there, some slimy, bumpy skin, and you have created a frog. But, if this step is not performed correctly, then the object will change into the animal, but - it might very well be brain-dead."
Some faces paled at the thought, others looked bored. It was a very important lesson, and he still had to talk about the wand movement for inanimate to animate transfiguration, but he decided to get them to refocus and get enthused, he'd give them a demonstration.
"I'll show you exactly what this type of transfiguration can do." Leif informed them, gesturing with his wand toward an empty chair to the side of the room. It bloomed into a brightly coloured flamingo, its pink feathers standing out against the darker background, and it strutted around the class with hardly a care in the world.
"That is an example of Inanimate to Animate Transfiguration." He said as some of the students watched, fascinated as it approached them, some reaching out to stroke its feathers, which had only been mere wood moments early. Leif's eyes meanwhile drifted to the clock, noting how late it was. "Unfortunately that's all we have time for today. I promise the next few lessons will be more exciting." He said, reluctantly changing the flamingo back into a boring old chair.
Roleplay the lesson for full marks.
