Lesson One (Second Years)

Richard nodded,

"That exactly it." he agreed, "Five points to gryffindor. Now you understand that it's easier to transfigure something into something else of the same size because it requires less energy."

He paused and glanced at his watch,

"Tell me... has any of you done any transfiguration outside of class?"

Alexis raised her hand again, ' Excuse me Professor, but I'm a Slytherin. My father had taught me some transfigurations at home, but they were a lot easier and didn't involve living beings.'

"Professor, I'm so sorry I'm late." Iris said, entering the Transfiguration classroom. "I signed up late, plus I got my timings mixed up...is it still possible for me to join?"

Koehl nodded and said,

"I had my parents teach me some. Just some basic stuff, like changing a match into a needle." Koehl shrugged and slunk down into her seat.

Richard nodded,

"Good, some of you would have felt it then." he noted with a smile, "When you cast any spell, you use some of your magical core."

He shrugged,

"For spells this is simple. Point and push from the core, any retard can throw a spell." he smirked, "But why is transfiguration different? Why is it harder?"

"Because we not only release the energy, but also manipulate it?" Alexis said.
"But Professor, what happens to the energy when we transfigure bigger objects to smaller one?"

Richard nodded,

"Yes Miss Hope, five points to slytherin." he agreed, "We have to expend more energy to control and shape the magic we use."

He looked around the class,

"Does anyone have an idea about what happens when we transfigure an object into something smaller?"

Koehl thought for a moment. If magic is used to make up mass, can the opposite happen when we make things smaller? She bit her lip and then decided to say the answer. What would it matter if she had the wrong answer, they were all here to learn. Not to be always correct.

"I think, sir, that if we use our magic to add mass, can we use our magic to take away mass? Like, does our magic turn that part of the object thats being taken into, well, magic?" Koehl wasn't sure of her answer. It was a pure hypothesis on her end.

Iris tried to answer by her common sense. "I think it would be easier to transfigure an object into a smaller one because it requires less energy and the mass of the new object it will be transfigured into is also less?" She was unsure of her answer and thought about the questions not processing in her mind. She can't always be silent. At least her house has enough points already. Thanks to Alexis.

He frowned a little before shaking his head,

"No, I can see where you're coming from but it's not merely the reverse of transfiguring into a larger object." he paused as he thought how best to explain it, "When you're transfiguring into a smaller object you expend most of your magic compressing the existing mass into the mass of the smaller object. So technically the object doesn't lose mass... it's just compressed almost to the point of not existing."

He shrugged,

"Not something easily explained..." he frowned a little, "Can anyone tell me why it is a bad time to transfigure something really big into something really small?"

'Um, Professor? If we compress a very big object into a very small one, the very large mass will be compressed into a very small space, so the consistancy will change into something rocklike. So the living object may not survive. Like if we transfigure a dinosaur into a lizard, all we get is a rock figurine of a lizard.' Alexis said. I hope I'm right, it makes sense, right? She thought

Richard smiled slightly,

"That is a very good point Miss Hope. Five points to slytherin." he nodded a little, "Yes, living things being condensed can often experience side effects. For example if it's not too much of a change they will be disorientation. Or they can end up dead."

He frowned a little,

"But there's another reason." he paused, "Think about why compressed gas is often dangerous."

Koehl furrowed her eyebrows. She had a theory. She had already thrown two incorrect answers out there, one more wouldn't hurt?

"I think that it has the possibility to maybe, perhaps, explode? Or shoot all around the place..." Koehl knew she was wrong. But hey, at least she was saying something in one of her classes.

Alexis nodded, she had that answer in mind too.

"If a gas is compressed," Anna began, reciting it as if it was fresh from a Muggle science textbook. She sounded robotic, but nowhere near confident. "The particle will have not much room to move around, so therefore they save a lot of energy that is usually used to move around. If they were to be released, the particles will use all of that conserved energy to zoom all around the space given, causing a devastating effect to the people and things around them."

Richard nodded,

"Five points to ravenclaw and five points to hufflepuff." he decided before nodding again, "Yes, if you compress an object with magic too much it becomes unstable because... well it's like squeezing two litres of water into a bottle that holds one litre normally. It's gunna burst."

He looked out over the class,

"How do we ensure that an object in this situation does not burst?"

Alexis had no idea how they could achieve that. We could strenthen the outer surface with magic perhaps, but for a living creature... But the whole idea of compressing a bigger object into a smaller one seemed unreal to her. A kitten weighing like a fully grown tiger!!! She shook her head. She'd feel better if the professor said something like the extra mass turning to add up to the ambient magic or something... she sighed, I can experiment that with non-living objects in my free time, I suppose, she thought.

Koehl smiled. Finally, got some house points.She thought about the Professor's question for a moment. How do you ensure something like that doesn't com-bust? She really had no idea. This type of thinking was a bit over her head...

"We have to make sure that the size of the new Transfiguration is proportional to that of the new one," Anna replied. "That way, the particles will not have to compress themselves as much."