I do like that explanation, and in fact had one like this myself with the exception that this magical immune system was something that got stronger as the wizard aged. So it was more of a reason for them to not spell themselves perpetually young, but allowing alterations on younger wizards. But wouldn't that allow to a wizard keep a muggle young forever? I guess it could be contravened by including an age exemption. I believe you used an tagging analogy with nutrition at some point, there could be a similar concept regarding age that transfiguration can't touch.

It can be supported by Pettigrew's twelve years as a rat. His rat form didn't die of old age and Pettigrew aged normally as far as we know. The animagus transformation is under the umbrella of Trasfiguration, and in it objects are turned into others on a molecular level, so there must be a magical component to age beyond the biological processes. This component makes so transfigured objects/beings retain their relative age when transformed. So an man on his prime remains an rat on his prime. And maybe Lupin's clothes are just too old and can't be transfigured into newer ones.

If I may insert myself. Regarding Hermione, it's possible that the teeth alteration was due a charm instead of Transfiguration. We have the Repairing Charm as an example of a spell that permanently changes the physical state of something but isn't Transfiguration, so this could be a similar case. So other branches could take the slack on the beatification area. Though I'm partial to Transfiguration being available for permanent cosmetic change, though very difficult and with some constraints as mentioned earlier.

 

I think human transfiguration gone wrong should at least have the potential to be painful. Imagine your bones are suddenly too big for your body and are squeezing your organs. At least something like that should be both painful and dangerous.

Harry Potter and the Boy Who Lived has the example of a human (animagus) transfiguration into a bat and back. What if you accidentally don't transfigure your lungs back to their original size. You'd suffocate in minutes. So I think that human transfiguration should definitively be a dangerous high level skill. That would be a good reason why it is only taught at NEWT level too (in addition to just being difficult).

 

Really well thought out. Here’s the system I came up with for my fan fic. Not perfect but along the same lines sort of.


Transfiguration has 7 subsections

Transformation- changes
object to object
Organic to organic
Cross class transformations- changes from one type to another. See below
object to organic
Organic to object
Conjuration- making things appear, summoning, (objects- basic, weapons,
Animation- giving life
Transmogrification- Spacial changes (Charms + Transfiguration)
Transubstantiation
the changing of one substance (raw material) into another
Transmogrify
to change in appearance or form, especially strangely or grotesquely; transform. (Includes human transformation)

Transfiguration has six base elements to consider when transforming something
Size of object/creature
The greater disparity of size between two objects/creatures being performed, the more magic needs to be expended
Weight of object/creature
The greater disparity of weight between two objects/creatures being performed, the more magic needs to be expended
Complexity of transfiguration
The more complex/detailed a transfiguration, the more will/focus required
Will of object/creature
The greater the will of an object/creature, the more will/focus required
Amount of magic necessary
The amount of magic necessary varies greatly, but in general is more than most other fields of magic
Will of Caster
The will of the caster is essential for any transformation, but will vary based upon each individual case.

Laws of resistance
The greater the difference between transformations, the greater the resistance
The force of resistance is directly proportional to the will and magical energy of the object/creature being transformed.
The greater the resistance, the more power and concentration from the caster is required.

Transformations are sometimes permanent, but are dependent on the will of the object/subject. There is little resistance in non living objects and most ‘simple’ animals won’t resist changes into other living creatures as they don’t have a very good sense of self. The exception being the more intelligent the animal, the more opposed to change it may be. One’s will must be stronger than an animal’s in this case to complete the change.

Cross class transformation is hardly ever permanent. Why?
For all but the masters, no transfiguration is perfect. You are enforcing a change on the world using your magic (energy) and will. The change though, is unnatural, and the world fights you on these changes as it tries to balance them against the laws of resistance. Newton’s laws of resistance.
The time a transfiguration lasts depends on the amount of magical energy of the spell used, the casters will, and how well it was cast. Consider what we are doing much like knitting a jersey. Not too difficult you suppose? Now imagine two men pulling at the jersey from the moment its finished, trying to rip it shreds. Almost every jersey ever made would be ripped to shreds eventually.

However, there are those that can make a metaphorical jersey from dragon hide. Every ‘stitch’ must be perfect though, every conceptualization clear and natural before one can hope to make something that lasts for longer than a few minutes. In those rare instances, it’s possible to make a change permanent. There have been only four such masters in the last couple hundred years who could do this. Even then, their transformations were only fully successful some of the time. Dumbledore is one such master.

Conjurations on the other hand have never been made permeant. The creations are completely reliant on the magical energy of the caster. They are there for the express purpose of fulfilling a task within minutes/hours. Two options for this. Constantly feeding conjuration- magic is funnelled towards maintaining spell. Powered conjuration- excess amount of magic ‘tied off’ to object allowing it to exist for the amount of time caster dictates.

Other subjects meshed with transfiguration
Alchemy? –potions, enchanting, and transfiguration? Transmutation – potions + Transfiguration

 

@SPJaymo117 Not to call you out or anything, but I've seen the approach you take to transfiguration in many shitty fanfictions. It's not personal but that approach is inherently bad.

You are looking at magic from a scientific perspective. You mention things like "resistance". I think you need to relax. Neither Ohm nor Newton were pioneers of magic.

Magic is inherently magical. There is no formula to magic. A wizard waves his want, performs a spell, and if he does it right, maybe the world will answer.

You know, as I right it, when I think about powerful wizards, two things come to mind. I am coming up with this theory on the fly, so bear with me DLP.

The first thing that matters is obviously how many spells you know. How much effort you put into your studies. However, this is minor, anyone can achieve this.

The second, is how much the world likes you. Plain and simple. Does magic react well to you, or not. For me, that's the difference in between turning a rock into a mountain as opposed to waving a stick.

That's my personal theory. Thoughts would be appreciated.

Anyone can believe what they want. However, Jaymo, I think you'll find yourself enjoying life a little more if you start allowing things to be magical, even if it's just in a fantasy series to start.

I understand needing to want to comprehend something, to want to put it into terms that can be explained. But magic should magical. After all, it's right there in the name.

(Unrelated side note, I now really want to read a mentor!Dumbledore fic titled "Magic Most Magical". Someone please make this a thing. Even as a crack one-shot a couple hundred words long).

 

I mean it's not like there is a definitive answer but I don't agree with this part at all. This would imply that "the world" liked Voldemort and Grindelwald. First of all, what is the world and what determines whether it likes you? Is it random? Then the whole premise of working hard to achieve something is pretty much useless.

No, I think in Harry Potter it's very clear that great magic is determined by your understanding of the world and magic. Voldemort could never perform the spell to protect someone like Lily did. But not because the world doesn't like him like that but rather because he inherently misunderstands this emotion and magic.

I hate to borrow from another fictive world but I remember something about the magic in Eragon where the language in which magic was spoken was merely a crutch to guide the magic and in truth magic mostly depended on your understanding of the world. A master for example could see the connection and similarity between a drop of water and a saphire and transform them into one another. A novice would need to perform spells and even then it is not assured that he succeed. There are many other differences between magic in Eragon and Harry Potter but that was always one aspect that I liked and that fit into both systems.

This also means that someone hateful like Voldemort or Bellatrix could never perform Lily's sacrifice because they don't understand this and what it means. On the other hand, they understand Dark magic, torture, killing etc. so well and love it and the feeling of power that it gives them that this strengthens their spells in that area. Dumbledore might be much more powerful than Bellatrix in a sense but he could not perform the Cruciatus curse as well as she does because he doesn't enjoy it and wants to see the other person suffer.

"You've got to mean it Harry. She killed him. She deserves it." That's what Voldemort said in OotP when Harry's crucio didn't really do anything to Bellatrix. Because he didn't have the right emotion for the spell. (I'm not sure if it's the same in the book though.)

So, to come back to Transfiguration, I think a master like Dumbledore is a master of transfiguration because he understands the way things can flow from one to another very well and instinctively after over a century of study. He sees connections between things were others don't. He believes in the redemption of people, in a chance to change. I think even that believe ties into his mastery. He never sees someone as only good or evil but rather than as a multifaceted being with many sides that can be brought to the light. Like in transfiguration.

In essence everyone can perform basic spells and transfigurations or even higher level ones with enough practice and dedication. But true mastery of great magic like Dumbledore has over transfiguration and Voldemort over the dark arts is grounded in something more; a personal belief and understanding that this is the true nature of the world and therefore magic.

 

Pioneer maybe not, but...

 

I personally dislike the idea that magical 'traces' are what untransfiguration relies on to undo the effects of transfiguration spell, to me it makes more sense that an object has a sort of 'true' metaphysical nature that it retains regardless of how it's been transfigured.

Like if you transfigured a lamp into a duck: It might walk like a duck, swim like a duck, quack like a duck, act like a duck, and have every single physical and material property a duck would have. But it wouldn't be a duck, it'd be a lamp with all the physical and material properties of a duck.

Otherwise what'd be the difference between untransfiguring something and retransfiguring it?

 

The difference would be that you are looking for magical traces of the initial transfiguration when untransfiguring. Practically, they are the same thing.

I agree though, it's not ideal. If you follow the idea that transfiguration is a true change, then forces you to add plenty of weird and arbitrary rules. Like why can't you transfigure something into gold or silver? (Obviously, you can't because otherwise using gold and silver as money would be pretty stupid. Unless it is actually the goblins acting as a sort of central bank that deals with forging currency but this is weird because it adds even more power to their base.)

It also creates the question of how someone survives a human transfiguration into an inanimate object (if that is possible) because souls need living bodies as far as I understand. If the human transfiguration truly changes somebody into a chair, then his soul should pass on in my opinion. But if he is still in truth a person only temporarily transfigured into a chair then it seems more reasonable that the soul should be able to stay.

And it also adds the question of what exactly are the animals that are created using transfiguration (teacup to turtle for example). If they truly are living beings then they should have a soul. Did the transfiguration create a soul? (If animals don't have souls the same question can be asked for what happens when something is transfigured into a human.)

 

So I have a serious question that sounds troll but I'm asking it in good faith. We've all seen, at some point or another, a meme that males would probably try to use an engorgement charm on their penis. Could they actually? My impression is that they'd need to use human transfiguration in order to make a real change to their, um, size.

 

Im sure they could use it. Whether it would be, shall we say, functional is another matter.

 

Surely if there was no formula to magic, then it'd be fundamentally pointless to found a school dedicated to the study of magic?

 

They way I see it, there are spells. And the world liking you thing is totally random. It's just sort of your affinity to magic. How does your mind perceive magic? It's sort of like IQ. Something you're born with that doesn't directly influence what you know, but is still very important.

My theory is that all wizards have a cap on the kind of magic they can perform. For example, a near squib could do basic spells and not much else. Someone like Dumbledore, on the other hand, could probably turn a grain of sand into a mountain (with extensive time and effort).