TNFG-501 Lessons

Bye Bye

Welcome
The Transfiguration classroom looked the same as ever as the new Fifth Years entered.  Professor Mitchell sat cross-legged on her desk, sipping a mug of tea.  There was a stack of papers next to her, eliciting a soft sigh from the students.  It looked like the stories were true, Year Five was going to hit the ground running and never look back.

Introduction
Welcome back, Fifth Years! As you all know, you will be sitting your O.W.L. exams at the end of this term. These exams will determine the courses you will be able to take next year at N.E.W.T. level and, more importantly, may affect your future career. I have every confidence that you all will be able to obtain an O.W.L. in this course, but it will require serious work, dedication, and attention.  Today we will be beginning our look at vanishing spells. This is some of the most difficult magic you will see on your O.W.L. so I expect your utmost attention and dedication throughout the year.

Vanishment
Vanishment is the second branch of transfiguration we will be covering.  It encompases all forms of magic that may cause an object to cease to exist. As we understand it currently, when a vanishment spell is cast, the particles of the target are scattered nearly instantaneously into the environment.  They are scattered to the point that they can no longer be defined as the thing they came from and are mixed in with the atmosphere so well that it is impossible to bring them all back together exactly. If you can imagine adding a single drop of food dye into the ocean, you should be able to understand what is happening with these particles.  As the drop is falling, it is definable and individual, as your target is.  Once it hits the surface of the water, however, it is lost, indistinguishable from the rest of the water droplets. It would be impossible for you to collect every molecule from your drop of dye and reform it back into what is was. The same is true for a vanished object. There is no way to bring it back exactly as it was before.  It is possible to re-conjure something very similar, but it will not be exactly the same.

While it often appears simple when your parents or professors make a mess “disappear,” it is not quite as easy as it seems.  The difficulties of vanishment come from its volatile nature. Many young wizards are prone to vanishing toys and other objects accidentally when they are angry or upset before they learn to control their magic.  In fact, vanishment is one of the most common forms of accidental magic seen today.  It is actually very easy to produce, but remarkably difficult to control.  It is destructive, aiming only to remove the target object from existence; eradicate it, in a way.  It is rough and unrefined compared to other branches of transfiguration.  All you really need is enough raw magical energy to power it.  As a child, this typically comes from anger or fear.  Now, you can control this via your willpower. In order to vanish a specific target, however, this energy needs to be strictly directed in order to be effective.  The power and organic nature of the magic acts like a kid in a candy shop, rambunctious and unpredictable.  The strength and clarity of your concentration is the key to making your magic do what you would like. Therefore, your vanishment spells must be performed with a clear and collected head, or you may find yourself with less than satisfactory results.

Vanishment can also be found in other areas of magic along with many vanishment look-alikes.  There are objects and charms that make things come and go or vanish and reappear, there are objects, spells, and potions that cause things to disappear or otherwise turn invisible, and there are creatures with powers of both vanishment and invisibility.  We will be touching on each of these sometime in the coming weeks and discussing how they relate to or differ from the transfiguratory form of vanishment.

The General Vanishing Spell
Unlike in transformation, there is only one spell used in vanishment, known as the General Vanishing Spell, that can be cast on any and all possible targets, animate and inanimate.  To cast the spell, your focus must be strong and directed fully and completely at your target.  Your willpower will vary depending on the target, as larger and more complex items are more difficult to vanish.  In general, you can keep your willpower at a moderate level and still be successful.

Today you will be practicing this spell on snails.  For ethical reasons, these will be conjured snails, so they will be slightly easier than the natural thing.  Snails are excellent targets to begin practicing vanishment on because they’re one of the simplest creatures you will encounter, as they are invertebrates, but present more of a challenge than an inanimate object.  If you don’t have any questions, the spell details are on the board and one of my assistants, Miss Tyler, will be handing out your targets.  I will be walking around to check on your progress if you’re having trouble.

When successfully cast, the target will simply vanish, occasionally with a quiet ‘pop,’ but with no fading out or flashes of light. However, failure to cast the General Vanishing Spell correctly could have a number of results.  The most common of these are vanishing the wrong item or only vanishing part of your target.  The former is a result of low concentration or letting your mind wander while casting, while an uneven balance of willpower and concentration can lead to partial vanishments.  If your concentration is dead on, but your willpower is low, you may find yourself with a hollow shell of a target as you won’t have enough power to vanish the entire thing.  On the other hand, if your willpower is too high and your concentration is low, but accurate, you may vanish your target unevenly, leaving random confetti-like pieces behind.

Historical Context
Given the content that we will be covering this year, I’m changing up our closing section.  Rather than providing you the stories of spell discovery and explanations for why you should bother coming to class, this year I’m going to go a little more broad by giving you more of the historical context of the day’s topic.  I’m hoping this will make things a bit more exciting and I’ll see fewer of you sleeping in the back of the classroom.

Vanishment is the oldest known form of transfiguration.  It’s been seen throughout history as far back as we have records of magic. It pops up somewhere in many major historical events, whether through intentional use or unfortunate backfire.  Despite this, it wasn’t until 1212 when the power of vanishment was controlled and the General Vanishing Spell was created. Since then, wizards have found more and more ways to utilize this powerful branch of magic, in everything from trinkets to cleaning solutions. It was even used to get rid of waste before the invention of indoor plumbing!  Needless to say, it is both a convenient and vital part of every wizard’s life.

Conclusion
I hope you all enjoyed your introduction to vanishment! For your homework, I would like you all to continue practicing on your snails.  You may take a few extra from the box on my desk if you wish.  Aside from that, you just have a quiz to complete. Ta ta!

*Poof image credit: http://clipart-library.com/disappear-cliparts.html*