lesson Three
The Ability of Vanishment
& THE SKILL OF CONJURATION
"So… today we are starting Vanishing Spells.
These are easier than Conjuring Spells,
which you would not usually attempt
until N.E.W.T. level,
but they are still among
the most difficult magic
you will be tested on in your O.W.L."
These are easier than Conjuring Spells,
which you would not usually attempt
until N.E.W.T. level,
but they are still among
the most difficult magic
you will be tested on in your O.W.L."
Before starting the actual lesson, we shall go over something very useful that you will be expected to master before graduating from any of your classes, including this one. That would be nonverbal magic or nonverbal spells. Nonverbal magic represents spells that are performed without using or saying an incantation. It literally means casting spells with just waving one's wand. This is, like every form of magic, very hard to accomplish and it requires a very large amount of focus and concentration. We shall give it a try soon. Keep in mind, whispering is not tolerated. I would much rather see you fail now, but accomplish the goal later on than whisper now and never learn this technique properly. Hopefully, you will learn how useful it can be very soon.
Now, let us move on to our first relevant topic, which is Vanishment. Vanishment is a branch of Transfiguration which causes objects to cease to exist or, in other words, vanish. It is considered quite easier than Conjuration, of which Vanishment is the exact opposite and which we shall cover later on in the lesson.
Vanishment should not be replaced with Invisibility Charms like the Disillusionment Charm. Invisibility Charms do not make the object Vanish, they simply make the target transparent. At the same time, objects that were Vanished literally dissolve into everything. From that we can conclude that Vanished objects, even though the definition says so, have not completely stopped existing, but are rather removed temporarily, for it is possible to retrieve an object that was Vanished, living or not.
The success of Vanishing a living creature depends on the complexity of the organism itself. For example it is easier to Vanish a grasshopper than a rabbit, for a grasshopper is an invertebrata and a rabbit is a vertebral mammal. The main Vanishment spell is Evanesco. It serves the exact purpose of the Vanishing definition itself. This is just for you to focus on; remember, we are trying to practise nonverbal magic from now on.
Besides using one's wand, it is possible to make things Vanish by other means. One of those is a Vanishing Cabinet. A Vanishing Cabinet is a regularly looking cabinet that acts as a passageway between itself and another Cabinet of the same kind. A Cabinet makes an object disappear for a very brief period of time after which it appears elsewhere. Even though we are talking about making things Vanish, we are also talking about making them appear again. That said, we have crossed to the second part of our lesson: Conjuration, that is.
The art of making objects or beings appear out of nowhere or, if you please, for easier understanding of the concept, out of thin air is called Conjuration. As stated above, it is the exact opposite of Vanishment and is considered much harder than Vanishment itself.
Making something appear or, in some cases, reappear can be rather challenging since one is not only creating a living image or a copy of an object, but also giving it a certain function, purpose and physical existence which takes up real matter that could not be found elsewhere.
Unlike Vanishment, of which the focus is one universal spell, Conjuration has many different incantations and spells, all of which serve a different purpose, some of which are Aguamenti, which conjures a jet of clear water; the Gemino Curse, which is used to duplicate objects on different magical levels; or similar. Of course, once you master nonverbal magic, you will not really need the incantations, as long as you are aware of a spell’s existence and are able to focus on its result truly.
Ahh, I believe we have taken too much time away from our lesson for nonverbal magic. Off you go, do not be late for your next class. Perhaps you would like to prepare yourself for the lesson to come, since we have very demanding things to cover.
Now, let us move on to our first relevant topic, which is Vanishment. Vanishment is a branch of Transfiguration which causes objects to cease to exist or, in other words, vanish. It is considered quite easier than Conjuration, of which Vanishment is the exact opposite and which we shall cover later on in the lesson.
Vanishment should not be replaced with Invisibility Charms like the Disillusionment Charm. Invisibility Charms do not make the object Vanish, they simply make the target transparent. At the same time, objects that were Vanished literally dissolve into everything. From that we can conclude that Vanished objects, even though the definition says so, have not completely stopped existing, but are rather removed temporarily, for it is possible to retrieve an object that was Vanished, living or not.
The success of Vanishing a living creature depends on the complexity of the organism itself. For example it is easier to Vanish a grasshopper than a rabbit, for a grasshopper is an invertebrata and a rabbit is a vertebral mammal. The main Vanishment spell is Evanesco. It serves the exact purpose of the Vanishing definition itself. This is just for you to focus on; remember, we are trying to practise nonverbal magic from now on.
Besides using one's wand, it is possible to make things Vanish by other means. One of those is a Vanishing Cabinet. A Vanishing Cabinet is a regularly looking cabinet that acts as a passageway between itself and another Cabinet of the same kind. A Cabinet makes an object disappear for a very brief period of time after which it appears elsewhere. Even though we are talking about making things Vanish, we are also talking about making them appear again. That said, we have crossed to the second part of our lesson: Conjuration, that is.
The art of making objects or beings appear out of nowhere or, if you please, for easier understanding of the concept, out of thin air is called Conjuration. As stated above, it is the exact opposite of Vanishment and is considered much harder than Vanishment itself.
Making something appear or, in some cases, reappear can be rather challenging since one is not only creating a living image or a copy of an object, but also giving it a certain function, purpose and physical existence which takes up real matter that could not be found elsewhere.
Unlike Vanishment, of which the focus is one universal spell, Conjuration has many different incantations and spells, all of which serve a different purpose, some of which are Aguamenti, which conjures a jet of clear water; the Gemino Curse, which is used to duplicate objects on different magical levels; or similar. Of course, once you master nonverbal magic, you will not really need the incantations, as long as you are aware of a spell’s existence and are able to focus on its result truly.
Ahh, I believe we have taken too much time away from our lesson for nonverbal magic. Off you go, do not be late for your next class. Perhaps you would like to prepare yourself for the lesson to come, since we have very demanding things to cover.