Lesson One: The Limits of Transfiguration
Leif leaned against his desk as his students walked in, greeting them when they did. Once he was sure they were all inside he waved his wand at the door to close it, leaving it open just a crack in case there'd be any latecomers he hadn't accounted for. He then moved his wand to point at a piece of chalk near the blackboard to make it come alive.
Gamp's Laws of Elemental Transfiguration: Limitations |
"Good morning, third years. My name is professor Leif Odegard, your Transfiguration instructor 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 topics about Transfiguration to understand. I know it can be hard to focus but please try to take as many notes as you can." He told them, not liking the fact they were doing theory any more than they did, but this was something that they needed to learn before they'd be moving on with more transfiguration spells. "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."
Leif took a few steps away from his desk, walking around the room with his wand still pointed towards the blackboard where the chalk wrote down the most important aspects of what he was saying. In that case, if anyone failed to keep up they could still copy the board and have part of the information ready. "I'm sure by now you're all aware that, while magic makes it seem like we are capable of doing anything, but 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 - 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." Leif 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 brains. 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." Leif 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 is nearly impossible to create without the use of external influences, such as a Philosophers Stone, which alchemizes rather than transfigures, and even then we know very little about it. Certain things are resistant to transformative magics. Circe was well known for transfiguring sailors into swine, as pigs are so un-magical that transfiguration involving them is usually more difficult, which is what makes Circe's skills so impressive. It is theorised that gold particles are the same. It's not impossible to turn metals such as lead into gold - muggles can do it with a particle accelerator and billions of dollars, but this process is less efficient than a Philosopher's Stone, the creation of which Nicolas Flamel took to the grave. 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. We also can't simply lavishly furnish our homes with magic, either. At least, not permanently. If we could do that, 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 do conjure are never permanent - you need something to transfigure to begin with. Sure, you may be powerful enough to keep something around for weeks or months, maybe even years, but not only would it take great skill, it would also eventually fade back into the nothingness it came from. This is why not every wizard lives in a mansion with fine silks or rich mahogany. To sustain the false appearance of wealth is taxing on the average wizard."
Leif took a breath, almost tired of talking. He was sure his students had gotten tired of listening to, 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!"
Roleplay the lesson for full marks.
