TNFG-301 Lessons

Times of Old

Welcome
There were no objects or critters around the classroom as the Third Years entered.  There was only a projector at the front, displaying images of dragons, a lake, and what appeared to be a battle.  “Come in and take your seats! There’s a lot to go over today!” The professor appeared from around the projector screen to direct the students to their seats.

Introduction
Welcome to the final lesson of your third year of Transfiguration! As you all should know, you’ll be sitting your final at the end of the lesson, but first we’re going to take a trip through the history of transfiguration. We’ll be going through two major events in which transfiguration played a significant role, then two notable figures in the transfigurative field.

Historical Uses - The Battle of Hogwarts
The first event we will be discussing is the Battle of Hogwarts that ended the Second Wizarding War in 1998.  We spoke a few weeks back about the use of transfiguration in the duel between Professors McGonagall and Snape with the Fire to Snake Transformation.  To reiterate, McGonagall initially conjured a fire rope from her wand that Snape then transformed into a large snake and sent back towards her.  In defense, McGonagall transformed the snake into smoke and then immediately used the Smoke to Daggers transformation, sending a flock of athames back towards Snape, who had to duck behind a suit of armor to avoid being hit.  This was the first duel of the battle, occurring just after the Carrow siblings called for Voldemort, but before he arrived.  Though quick, this duel is significant as it drew the divide in the Hogwarts staff as McGonagall made the first stand against then Headmaster Snape.

One of the major defenses laid upon the school was the use of Piertotum Locomotor, an animation spell that can act upon statues, suits of armor, or really any humanoid item that you wish to animate.  We’ll discuss the specifics of the spell more next year but, in this case, it was cast by Professor McGonagall on all of the statues and suits of armor in Hogwarts.  She directed them to “Man the boundaries, protect us, do your duty to our school!”*  The effect, as you may assume, was that the statues and suits did just that: played their part in the battle, fighting Voldemort’s forces in any way they could.  The outcome was more of the enemy defeated with fewer casualties on the side of the school.

Another notable performance of transfiguration during the battle included the use of human transformation by one Mr. Percy Weasley.  While dueling alongside his brother, Percy was confronted by his boss, Pius Thicknesse, who was at that time Minister of Magic and under the effects of the Imperius Curse.  A well aimed spell successfully transfigured the Minister into a harmless sea urchin.  Though not a major duel in the battle at large, it set the Death Eaters back just a little bit more without actually taking the life of a man who, without the effects of the curse, was innocent.

Historical Uses - The Triwizard Tournament
Transfiguration also played a role in the Triwizard Tournament that was hosted at Hogwarts during the 1994-1995 school year, particularly in the first two tasks.  For the first task, where the champions had to retrieve a golden egg from the nest of a dragon, the Draconifors transformation was used by the Ministry to create small, moving model dragons to tell the champions which dragon they would each be battling.  All contestants were able to keep their dragons as keepsakes following the tournament.  Though this use of transfiguration did not play a significant role in the tournament overall, it still displays a practical or fun use for the spell.

Transfiguration was also used to actually complete the first task by the late Cedric Diggory. In order to get past his Swedish Short-snout and obtain his golden egg, he managed to transfigure a rock in the arena into a dog. The dog then ran around to distract the dragon, allowing Cedric clear passage to his egg, while obtaining only minor burns in the process.  Though I don’t suggest any of you go playing around with dragons without being properly trained, this does demonstrate the use of transformation as a distraction when faced with some more aggressive creatures.

In the second task, the champions were challenged to obtain what they’d “sorely miss” from the Black Lake. As they had an hour to search the lake, they each had to come up with some way to breathe underwater for that period of time.  This time, two contestants utilized transfiguration in some form to complete their goal. Victor Krum did a partial human transfiguration to turn his head into that of a shark, gills and all.  Harry Potter used Gillyweed, a plant which, when consumed, gives the consumer gills.  Though not a cast method of transfiguration, it still induced a transformation, similar to those others that we discussed back in Lesson Five.

Notable Figures - Minerva McGonagall
Our first notable figure in the field of transfiguration is one we have discussed many times in this class already: Professor Minerva McGonagall.  Professor McGonagall was professor of Transfiguration here at Hogwarts from 1956 up until very recently, when she unfortunately fell ill and had to take leave to St. Mungo’s.  Throughout her career at Hogwarts, she was also promoted to Gryffindor Head of House, Deputy Headmistress, and, in 1998, Headmistress.

Minerva McGonagall was born October 4, 1935 to her Muggle father and witch mother.  As you can guess, she excelled in her studies at Hogwarts, especially in Transfiguration and Defence Against the Dark Arts, even winning Transfiguration Today’s “Most Promising Newcomer” award.  Upon graduating, she managed to become an animagus, taking the form of a silver tabby cat with square spectacle markings around her eyes. She worked for a brief spell in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, but found the position just wasn’t for her.  As noted above, she had an excellent career upon taking up the position of Head of the Transfiguration Department at Hogwarts, while also being an active member of the Order of the Phoenix during both the First and Second Wizarding Wars.  We’ve discussed many of her triumphs in the Order already, but she also utilized her skills as an animagus to spy on Voldemort and his followers.  Following the Battle of Hogwarts, Minerva received the Order of Merlin, First Class, from Minister of Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt.

Notable Figures - Emeric Switch
Now, all of you should know our next notable figure as he is the author of the recommended First Year text, A Beginner’s Guide to Transfiguration. Yes, it is Mr. Emeric Switch, noted transfigurist, author, and professor. He taught Transfiguration at Hogwarts in the late 1800s, before Professor Albus Dumbledore took over the position.  He handed over the position in order to have time to work on his book, as, by 1900, he was well known for his knowledge in the transfigurative field.  Later in his life, he went on to write many articles for Transfiguration Today, with topics ranging from the ethics of at home spell experimentation to human transfiguration.  He passed away quite suddenly in 1953 when one of his experimental spells violently backfired.

Conclusion
Although there are many other notable names and dates in the history of transfiguration, I’m afraid we are out of time for today! Good luck to you all on your final and I will see you next year as Fourth Years!

*J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
*Suit of armor image credit: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (film)*
*Dragon image credit: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)*
*Minerva McGonagall image credit: harrypotter.wikia.com*
*Emeric Switch image credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/sackerman519/7184689345/*