TNFG-301 Lessons

 Non-Spell Transformations

Welcome
Professor Mitchell sat at her desk, twiddling her thumbs and looking around.  As the Third Years entered the classroom, the first thing they noticed was that their Transfiguration professor was not alone in the room.  In the corner sat a blonde woman that many recognized as their Alchemy instructor, Professor Rosenquist, who was flipping through a book on Bavarian desserts.

Introduction
Welcome to midterm day everyone! Now don’t you groan at me, you knew it was coming and I hope to make today’s lesson a little more exciting, as we’re mixing it up and taking a little break from transformations in addition to getting a guest lecture from the one and only Professor Rosenquist!  Earlier in the year we discussed natural transformations and today I would like to discuss some magical transformations that don’t necessarily occur via spell.  

Shapeshifters
There are many creatures throughout the magical world that possess the ability to transform themselves at will.  I’m sure you have seen or will see the creatures we are discussing today in your Care of Magical Creatures or Defense Against the Dark Arts classes, but I want you to look at them today through a different lense.  You know there are many different reasons we utilize transformations in our own lives, though it is most often for convenience.  Natural shapeshifters, however, typically use their transformative powers as a means of self preservation.  An excellent example of this is the Boggart.  

A Boggart, as you learned in Lesson One of your DADA class this year, is a creature which takes the form of whatever you fear most.  It is unknown what it looks like when unseen, but it can transfigure itself on the spot depending on the greatest fear of the person nearest to it.  If a new person steps up, it will transform once again to suit that person’s fears.  It does this so that it may feed off the fear of the people around it. Much like a Dementor feeds off joy, the source of the Boggart’s power is the human emotion of fear. Transfiguration gives it a means to acquire that food or energy.  They also use this power in order to incapacitate those who come near them, deterring those who would bother them and intrude upon their space.

Another creature with shapeshifting powers is the kelpie.  A kelpie is a water demon with the ability to transfigure itself into whatever it wishes.  This is often the form of a horse, but could be nearly any other creature, from man to sea serpent. This transformation allows the kelpie to lure unsuspecting Muggles and wizards alike into the water in which it resides.  The following is rather gruesome, but once lured in, the kelpie will drown and eat its victims. Similar to the way the Boggart utilizes its transformation to elicit the fear on which it can feed, the kelpie uses transformation to attract its food, which unfortunately happens to be human flesh. Often using its horse form, the kelpie will “show off” for the human, inviting him to climb on its back and ride it into the water.  It may then transform into a creature more suitable for what comes next. Either way, please be wary of any unusual creatures you encounter in the lakes of Scotland and pay attention in DADA next year as you learn more about how to defend against these creatures.

The final shapeshifter we will be talking about is the Dukuwaqa.  The Dukuwaqa is native to the waters of Fiji and can transform between a man and shark at will.  It is a protector of the water and those who live and work with it, especially fishermen.  When threatened, a Dukuwaqa will transform into its shark form as a defense mechanism, whether to scare away the threat or fight it.  Unfortunately, not much more is known about these creatures, though some theorize they actually have the ability to transform into any type of animal, but choose not to.

Alchemy
For those of you taking Alchemy, you should by now be familiar with the concept of transmutations, or the changing of one metal into another, typically a base into a noble metal.  Though this appears to be a transformation at first glance, as one thing is being changed into another, the physical process through which this change occurs is entirely different. Professor Rosenquist has graciously agreed to join us today to discuss this a little more! Professor? ... Serafina?

Professor Rosenquist continues to flip through her book of Bavarian desserts, completely focused on the sweets. Around the third time Professor Mitchell calls her name, her head snaps up and she glances around the room with wide eyes.  Remembering what she was supposed to be doing, she closes her book and stands up from her seat, slightly flustered.

Oh! Sorry about that, the desserts were simply too hard to resist.  For those of you I haven’t met yet, I am Professor Rosenquist, your residential Alchemy professor.  Professor Mitchell asked me to stop by today to explain transmutations.  As she just mentioned, transmutations are the process of changing one metal into another completely different metal. She is also correct that they typically involve changing a base metal into a noble metal, however, noble metal to base metal transmutations are not uncommon.  There have even been instances of base metal to another base metal and noble metal to another noble metal transmutations. Although they are indeed similar to transformations, transmutations are different enough to have their own category.

So what differentiates a transmutation from a transformation?  A transmutation is a more permanent, physical change.  Whenever a transformation is performed, there is bit of essence left behind from the magical energy used to make the change.  Transmutations don’t have this essence left when they are completed successfully.  Once you change iron into silver, it’s permanently silver from its molecular structure and  properties to its appearance.  Transmutations are known to be a bit more tedious than transformations as they take much longer and are known to be fairly complicated.  It takes anywhere from several hours to several weeks, even months, to complete a transmutation depending on the complexity of the change.

Why does it take so long to complete a transmutation?  Think of it this way: completely changing one substance permanently takes a lot of magical energy.  In order to stabilize this change, the magical energy needs to fully permeate the substance.  It’s like making sure the inside of your chicken is cooked completely before you eat it.  You don’t want to undercook or overcook it.  That applies to transmutations as well.  If you end the transmutation before it’s ready, the change is not permanent and the metal could revert back to its original form. Additionally, other consequences could occur such as foul odor, the metal breaking, and more. If you let the transmutation go on too long, the metal could be overcharged with magical energy, making it hazardous, along with more unfortunate side effects.  A failed transmutation is a major setback as you may have to wait weeks before attempting it again.

There are many different methods of transmutation due to the range of alchemy practice across time in various locations.  Depending on what method you take to achieve the transmutation, there are several factors to look at.  First and foremost, clearly you will need to know about the metal you’re transmuting and your target metal.  This includes not only physical characteristics of the metal, but also other aspects that could be linked to it as well.  For example, lead is ruled by fire and correlates with Saturn.  Let’s say you wanted to complete a transmutation by channeling power from the transitions of the Seven Planetary Aspects (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, the Sun, and the Moon).  In order to do so, not only would you need to know which planet the current metal and the target metal are linked to, but you would also need to know when exactly the transitional starts, when the midpoint transitional is, and when the transitional officially ends.  Other transmutations include using laboratory processes involving the magic of the Four Aspects (fire, earth, air, and water) that correlate with the metals.  Even in transmutations where the metal must be soaked in a potion for an allotted amount of time would require extra knowledge about the potion’s ingredients and their effects.  Of course, there are a myriad of methods that go beyond the few that I have mentioned, and new ways to transmute metals are being experimented with and developed constantly by alchemists in hopes of making the process quicker and more efficient.

That’s all from me for now.  Take it away Professor Mitchell!

Thank you so much for joining us, Sera! Now, onto potions.

Potions
Potions is probably the most widely used alternative method of transformation.  There are multiple potions to alter one’s appearance, voice, and other characteristics, however today we will focus on just two: Polyjuice Potion and Wolfsbane Potion.  Though these potions do things similar to that which we can accomplish with spell-based transformations, there are some subtle differences that make them more attractive options in certain situations.

The first potion we are going to talk about is the Polyjuice Potion.  This is used to transfigure someone’s appearance into that of another.  It is a very complicated potion to brew, requiring ingredients ranging from knotgrass and fluxweed to Boomslang skin and a small piece of the person you wish to change into.  The benefits of this potion is that it allows you to completely take the form of another, making you essentially an identical twin, something that is not possible with spell-based transformation as you will never know every detail of another person’s appearance in such a way that you can perfectly recreate it.  However, the effects of Polyjuice Potion also only last an hour, while spell-based transformations can last much longer, though they will eventually revert with human transformation.  That said, a spell, once cast, cannot be recast before the original either wears off or is untransfigured, while the effects of Polyjuice Potion may be maintained so long as the person keeps drinking the potion.

Though not exactly a transformative potion, another transfiguration related potion comes in the form of Wolfsbane.  This is slightly different than Polyjuice in that, rather than inducing a change in the consumer, it acts to prevent a change.  Wolfsbane Potion may be taken by a werewolf in the week leading up to the full moon so that they may maintain their human mind during their transformation.  It is incredibly difficult to brew and the effects could be disastrous if brewed incorrectly, however it still achieves something that we cannot do with spells.  There is currently no known untransfiguration spell that can reverse or even lessen the effects of the Lycanthropy transformation, making the Wolfsbane Potion unique in its effect.  

Conclusion
Thank you all for paying attention throughout today’s lesson and thank you once again, Sera, for joining us! I will be passing out the midterms now, so please put away all your notes.  There is both a test and essay section and you can leave them both up on my desk when you are finished.  Good luck!

*Kelpie image credit: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, J.K. Rowling*
*Polyjuice Potion image credit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6sPJGGeFAY*