"Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts. Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned."
This type of magic is commonly referred to as "Transfiguration". There are limits to Transfiguration, which are governed by Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration.[1] There are also many branches of Transfiguration, including Cross-Species Transfiguration and Human Transfiguration. Transfiguration is regarded as "very hard work" and is "more scientific" than any other subject. One has to get it exactly right for the transfiguration to be successful.[2]
Class information
"I do not accept students into N.E.W.T. classes unless they have achieved 'Exceeds Expectations' or higher at Ordinary Wizarding Level."
—Professor McGonagall on the increased difficulty in NEWT.[src]
Transfiguration is a required subject for all first year to fifth year students, with the option of a N.E.W.T. (Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Test) course in sixth and seventh year. Minerva McGonagall was the Transfiguration Professor from 1956 until 1998, the year in which she became Headmistress of the school. Before her, Albus Dumbledore taught Transfiguration it's unknown who became the Transfiguration professor after she became Headmistress of Hogwarts. McGonagall believes Transfiguration to be more elegant and superior to other types of magic.
Students practice actual transfigurations during classes. Accidents sometimes result in partial transfigurations and theoretical homework is sometimes assigned. The further into a student's education the more difficult the classwork and homework becomes.
In fifth year students take the Ordinary Wizarding Level examination, much of the year is spent learning Ordinary Wizarding Level material, as well as revisiting the past four years of lessons. As part of their Transfiguration O.W.L., students must sit a written exam, and then complete a practical exam, one of the questions on the written exam asks the definition of Switching spells and one aspect of the practical is Vanishment. In order to advance to N.E.W.T.-level for the final two years of education a student must achieve a high O.W.L. score of either 'Outstanding' or 'Exceeds Expectations' on their exam.
Like charms work, Transfiguration is achieved through concentration, precise wand movements, and the proper pronunciation of an incantation. However it is generally more difficult than Charms and requires great effort.[3]
Location and time
Classroom 1B (also known as the Transfiguration Classroom) is where Transfiguration class is taught. The classroom is located on the ground floor around the Middle Courtyard.
Classroom layout
The classroom itself is big, surrounded by high windows, has four rows of three desks, and still has enough room for several cages and bookshelves, two chalkboards, and a desk for Professor McGonagall. Several candlesticks stand lit behind McGonagall's desk.
The transformation formula, which is that the intended transformation is directly influenced by bodyweight (a), viciousness (v), wand power (w), concentration (c), and a fifth unknown variable (Z).[4]
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