Lesson two
The art of transformation
"When Transfiguring,
it is important to make firm
and decisive wand movements.
Do not wiggle or twirl your wand unnecessarily,
or the Transfiguration will certainly
be unsuccessful."
it is important to make firm
and decisive wand movements.
Do not wiggle or twirl your wand unnecessarily,
or the Transfiguration will certainly
be unsuccessful."
In order to get around easier, I will advise keeping the definitions page (link below) open, so that you can quickly navigate through terms and definitions.
Before we move to the practical part of today's lesson, we shall start with some more theory on general transfiguration techniques. I know you all are eager to start waving your wands and pronounce silly words such as Reparifarge, but I am afraid this part is necessary and equally as important.
First of all, we shall be focusing on what makes a transfiguration attempt successful. Any transfiguration spell can go very wrong, even for the experts and masters. Just because of that, it is important to know your odds and turn them in your favour. You might wonder how. The answer is simple.
A transformation is directly influenced by concentration, object mass, wand power, viciousness and an almost random variable coefficient influenced by Saturn. The main formula is…
\[ T=\left(\frac{c}{v}\right) \left(\frac{p}{m}\right)R \]
Where T represents transformation, c concentration, p power of the wand, R the random factor, m the mass of the object and v the viciousness.
Concentration and viciousness are measured in hertz usually a cycle per second, but it this case it refers to the amount of neurological impulses per second.
\[ v\sim c:\:\textrm{Hz}=\frac{1}{\textrm{s}} \]Viciousness can take values from 1 Hz to 10 Hz in integers, while concentration goes from 0 Hz to 9 Hz in integers, as well.
\[ 1\ \textrm{Hz}\leq v\leq 10\ \textrm{Hz} \] \[ 0\ \textrm{Hz}\leq c \leq 9\ \textrm{Hz} \]
If your concentration is at 0 Hz, the spell will never work as the whole equation would be multiplied by zero. If you have not already noticed, concentration and viciousness are tightly related and their sum must always equal 10 Hz.
\[ c+v=10\ \textrm{Hz} \]
Wand power is very tricky to determine and therefore we shan't go into it. Let us just say that it has something to do with the speed of which you can make a silver sphere of the radius of one metre transparent. It is measured in watts, just like any other type of power. It is something that you should be able to enquire from your wand maker. Do not forget to emphasise that you are curious to learn the transfiguration power and not something else like charms or combat power.
\[ p:\:\textrm{W}=\frac{\textrm{N}\cdot\textrm{m}}{\textrm{s}}=\frac{\textrm{kg}\cdot\textrm{m}^2}{\textrm{s}^3} \]
M would be the mass of the given object. If you decide to paint one kilogramme of iron blue, the mass is, you guessed it, one kilogramme. The tricky thing is when one decides to change the mass of the object itself and transform, let's say, the kilogramme of iron into a three kilogramme rabbit. In that case one would only consider the mass of the heavier object. Here, that would be the rabbit, which weighs three kilogrammes.
\[ m:\:\textrm{kg} \]
The final factor is an almost random coefficient which bears a dimension measured in ms: the metre-second. The metre-second is a unit that muggles have never been able to define or use in common physics, while it is nothing else than basic Divination. R, the random factor, is an index that is never constant and changes every second based on the position of Saturn relative to the Sun. The random factor is the same for everyone at any given second and it is not possible to determine the exact value more than a few hours in advance.
\[ R:\:\textrm{m}\cdot \textrm{s} \]
Now that we have covered what everything is, we can move onto defining the T from the formula above and finding out in which unit it is expressed.
\[ T:\:\frac{\textrm{Hz}\ \textrm{W}\ \textrm{m}\ \textrm{s}}{\textrm{Hz}\ \textrm{kg}}=\frac{\dfrac{\textrm{kg}\ \textrm{m}^2}{\textrm{s}^2}\cdot\textrm{m}\ \textrm{s}}{\dfrac{\textrm{kg}}{\textrm{1}}}=\frac{\dfrac{\textrm{kg}\ \textrm{m}^3}{\textrm{s}^2}}{\dfrac{\textrm{kg}}{1}}=\frac{\textrm{kg}\ \textrm{m}^3}{\textrm{kg}\ \textrm{s}^3}=\frac{\textrm{m}^3}{\textrm{s}^2}=\textrm{G} \]
First of all, we shall be focusing on what makes a transfiguration attempt successful. Any transfiguration spell can go very wrong, even for the experts and masters. Just because of that, it is important to know your odds and turn them in your favour. You might wonder how. The answer is simple.
A transformation is directly influenced by concentration, object mass, wand power, viciousness and an almost random variable coefficient influenced by Saturn. The main formula is…
\[ T=\left(\frac{c}{v}\right) \left(\frac{p}{m}\right)R \]
Where T represents transformation, c concentration, p power of the wand, R the random factor, m the mass of the object and v the viciousness.
Concentration and viciousness are measured in hertz usually a cycle per second, but it this case it refers to the amount of neurological impulses per second.
\[ v\sim c:\:\textrm{Hz}=\frac{1}{\textrm{s}} \]Viciousness can take values from 1 Hz to 10 Hz in integers, while concentration goes from 0 Hz to 9 Hz in integers, as well.
\[ 1\ \textrm{Hz}\leq v\leq 10\ \textrm{Hz} \] \[ 0\ \textrm{Hz}\leq c \leq 9\ \textrm{Hz} \]
If your concentration is at 0 Hz, the spell will never work as the whole equation would be multiplied by zero. If you have not already noticed, concentration and viciousness are tightly related and their sum must always equal 10 Hz.
\[ c+v=10\ \textrm{Hz} \]
Wand power is very tricky to determine and therefore we shan't go into it. Let us just say that it has something to do with the speed of which you can make a silver sphere of the radius of one metre transparent. It is measured in watts, just like any other type of power. It is something that you should be able to enquire from your wand maker. Do not forget to emphasise that you are curious to learn the transfiguration power and not something else like charms or combat power.
\[ p:\:\textrm{W}=\frac{\textrm{N}\cdot\textrm{m}}{\textrm{s}}=\frac{\textrm{kg}\cdot\textrm{m}^2}{\textrm{s}^3} \]
M would be the mass of the given object. If you decide to paint one kilogramme of iron blue, the mass is, you guessed it, one kilogramme. The tricky thing is when one decides to change the mass of the object itself and transform, let's say, the kilogramme of iron into a three kilogramme rabbit. In that case one would only consider the mass of the heavier object. Here, that would be the rabbit, which weighs three kilogrammes.
\[ m:\:\textrm{kg} \]
The final factor is an almost random coefficient which bears a dimension measured in ms: the metre-second. The metre-second is a unit that muggles have never been able to define or use in common physics, while it is nothing else than basic Divination. R, the random factor, is an index that is never constant and changes every second based on the position of Saturn relative to the Sun. The random factor is the same for everyone at any given second and it is not possible to determine the exact value more than a few hours in advance.
\[ R:\:\textrm{m}\cdot \textrm{s} \]
Now that we have covered what everything is, we can move onto defining the T from the formula above and finding out in which unit it is expressed.
\[ T:\:\frac{\textrm{Hz}\ \textrm{W}\ \textrm{m}\ \textrm{s}}{\textrm{Hz}\ \textrm{kg}}=\frac{\dfrac{\textrm{kg}\ \textrm{m}^2}{\textrm{s}^2}\cdot\textrm{m}\ \textrm{s}}{\dfrac{\textrm{kg}}{\textrm{1}}}=\frac{\dfrac{\textrm{kg}\ \textrm{m}^3}{\textrm{s}^2}}{\dfrac{\textrm{kg}}{1}}=\frac{\textrm{kg}\ \textrm{m}^3}{\textrm{kg}\ \textrm{s}^3}=\frac{\textrm{m}^3}{\textrm{s}^2}=\textrm{G} \]
For a detailed explanation on how I achieved this, please go to the definitions page (link below) and read from formula units converted onwards.
The units of viciousness and concentration void one another, and we are left with a watt times metre-second over kilogramme. When we use a kilogramme times metre squared over second cubed to define a watt, we can multiply it with our random value of metre-seconds to get a kilogramme times metre cubed times second over a kilogramme times second cubed. When we void the kilogrammes and the seconds we are left with a metre cubed over a second squared. This was discovered by Gamp himself, and therefore, a metre cubed per second squared is equal to one G, also known as one gamp.
When we look at one gamp, we can conclude that a single transfiguration is defined as the acceleration rate of a certain volume transformation. This is the main reason why some transfiguration spells do not work or only do so partially. It is almost impossible to transform a dragon because the acceleration rate is too little for the whole volume of the dragon. Because of that, one will lose concentration with time and one's concentration will reach zero hertz which will stop the transformation process.
Here is an example. I decide to turn my 49 kilogramme desk into a 5 kilogramme chair. Let us say my concentration is eight Hz and my viciousness is two Hz, I am not committing murder or something of the kind for it to be any greater. My transfiguration wand power is seven watts. The current random factor is neutral, or, if you please, one metre-second. The random factor is usually small, anything from 0.792 metre-seconds to 1.31 metre-seconds. That is only so unless some special changes are happening in Saturn's orbit or its rings' position.
\[ T=\left(\frac{c}{v}\right)\left(\frac{p}{m}\right) R=\left(\frac{8\ \textrm{Hz}}{2\ \textrm{Hz}}\right)\left(\frac{7\ \textrm{W}}{49\ \textrm{kg}}\right)\textrm{m}\ \textrm{s}=4\left(\frac{1\ \textrm{W}}{7\ \textrm{kg}}\right)\textrm{m}\ \textrm{s}=\frac{4\ \textrm{m}^3}{7\ \textrm{s}^2}=0.57\ \textrm{G} \]
When we look at one gamp, we can conclude that a single transfiguration is defined as the acceleration rate of a certain volume transformation. This is the main reason why some transfiguration spells do not work or only do so partially. It is almost impossible to transform a dragon because the acceleration rate is too little for the whole volume of the dragon. Because of that, one will lose concentration with time and one's concentration will reach zero hertz which will stop the transformation process.
Here is an example. I decide to turn my 49 kilogramme desk into a 5 kilogramme chair. Let us say my concentration is eight Hz and my viciousness is two Hz, I am not committing murder or something of the kind for it to be any greater. My transfiguration wand power is seven watts. The current random factor is neutral, or, if you please, one metre-second. The random factor is usually small, anything from 0.792 metre-seconds to 1.31 metre-seconds. That is only so unless some special changes are happening in Saturn's orbit or its rings' position.
\[ T=\left(\frac{c}{v}\right)\left(\frac{p}{m}\right) R=\left(\frac{8\ \textrm{Hz}}{2\ \textrm{Hz}}\right)\left(\frac{7\ \textrm{W}}{49\ \textrm{kg}}\right)\textrm{m}\ \textrm{s}=4\left(\frac{1\ \textrm{W}}{7\ \textrm{kg}}\right)\textrm{m}\ \textrm{s}=\frac{4\ \textrm{m}^3}{7\ \textrm{s}^2}=0.57\ \textrm{G} \]
The transfiguration rate is 0.57 gamps, which is enough to turn this table into a chair within a second.
It is important to understand that transfiguration accelerates with each second, meaning that if you can keep your concentration for long enough, you can transform almost anything. Here is another example. Let us say that I am able to transform a single desk into a single chair in one second. If I cast that one spell at an infinite number of desks, assuming my concentration is constant, in the first second I will have transformed a total of one desk. The next second, I will have transformed another two desks, the next second it will already be another four, after that, another eight desks will have been transformed. At this point, my concentration would probably go down to zero and the transformations would stop, meaning that at this rate, I would be able to transform 15 desks in four seconds.
This whole time we have been talking about transformation, which is the main topic of today's lesson. Transformation is the art of changing an object's shape, form, texture or volume. It also contains two sub-categories, which are human transfiguration and switching. Human transfiguration is way too advanced for this lesson and we shall cover it along with conjuration in our fourth lesson.
You already know what transformation is; well, at least you should since we spent most of the current and previous lessons explaining it. Since we do not have much time left, we shall just briefly go through switching. Switching is the only type of transfiguration that is not affected by our transfiguration formula and depends entirely on viciousness, concentration, the distance of the two objects and their similarity. Switching is basically the act of a simultaneous, dependant change of two objects. By simultaneous, I mean that the change happens at the same time, and by dependant, I mean that one object depends on the change of the other object and the other way around. This implies that if you take a rabbit and an elephant and you wish to replace the elephant's ears with the rabbit's, you would be able to do so only if the rabbit's ears get replaced with the elephant's, as well.
I will now demonstrate an animate to inanimate spell often taught to beginners. The incantation for it is Vera Verto and it turn an animal into a goblet with water.
It is important to understand that transfiguration accelerates with each second, meaning that if you can keep your concentration for long enough, you can transform almost anything. Here is another example. Let us say that I am able to transform a single desk into a single chair in one second. If I cast that one spell at an infinite number of desks, assuming my concentration is constant, in the first second I will have transformed a total of one desk. The next second, I will have transformed another two desks, the next second it will already be another four, after that, another eight desks will have been transformed. At this point, my concentration would probably go down to zero and the transformations would stop, meaning that at this rate, I would be able to transform 15 desks in four seconds.
This whole time we have been talking about transformation, which is the main topic of today's lesson. Transformation is the art of changing an object's shape, form, texture or volume. It also contains two sub-categories, which are human transfiguration and switching. Human transfiguration is way too advanced for this lesson and we shall cover it along with conjuration in our fourth lesson.
You already know what transformation is; well, at least you should since we spent most of the current and previous lessons explaining it. Since we do not have much time left, we shall just briefly go through switching. Switching is the only type of transfiguration that is not affected by our transfiguration formula and depends entirely on viciousness, concentration, the distance of the two objects and their similarity. Switching is basically the act of a simultaneous, dependant change of two objects. By simultaneous, I mean that the change happens at the same time, and by dependant, I mean that one object depends on the change of the other object and the other way around. This implies that if you take a rabbit and an elephant and you wish to replace the elephant's ears with the rabbit's, you would be able to do so only if the rabbit's ears get replaced with the elephant's, as well.
I will now demonstrate an animate to inanimate spell often taught to beginners. The incantation for it is Vera Verto and it turn an animal into a goblet with water.
It looks like we are out of time; that said, the class is dismissed.
Do not be late for your next lesson.
Do not be late for your next lesson.