Large 'monologued' paragraphs will only have the beginning and end underlined to make it better on the eyes.
...
-Transfiguration Magic as a whole seemed to have two, commonly, used avenues when it came to a cause and effect. There were, of course, more methods of reaching one's desired result, but the two foremost effectively boiled down to a natural progression and a forced one. Both of which were made possible via magic itself-
Idly turning my gaze ahead, rather pleased to see my rudimentary sealingwork, I focused my attention on the professor herself. Watching as she, eyeing my desk all the way, went about trying to teach the concept of Transfiguration to children without the slightest grasp of the natural sciences. To my side, a table away as McGonagall believed each student, for their own safety, received their own desk, was one James Potter. The Gryffindor having made the executive decision to sit closer to the Hufflepuff's side. For whatever reaso-
Oh right. Remus was in Hufflepuff.
I'd arrived to the class itself rather early. Given the way the potion's lesson had gone about, I figured I ought to at the very least make an effort not to randomly start speaking out loud in the middle of a teacher's explanation, again. My solution was a, as barebones as it could be, simple enough application of a sound-to-writing piece of seal work. Unlike the majority of my history and knowledge on the subject which I'd long since learned simply did not 'crossover' with me, the very basics; those that involved simple enough concepts such as sound were the only ones that had any effect. Unfortunately, it seemed runic writing and seal work were simply too different in nature for said knowledge to be of any use. I dare say Ancient Runes was likely far more modern when compared to what I'd elected to use.
The seal, currently etched into the bottom of my table, was the only one that successfully did what it was asked to; the rest having transformed simple everyday furniture into applicable explosives.
The reason it even seemed to work was unlike most of the seal work I knew off, it only relied on using numbers to do its job. It's job been, instead of me spewing out random nonsense (according to James) it more or less directed my arms into writingit out. Though I was quickly running out of parchment.
I should've brought more than a spare page.
Though I was admittedly surprised the woman had let me disfigure one of her tables. I also had a feeling I was going to be using the same one for my foreseeable future.
Unlike Potions, the class itself was absolutely silent as they listened on to the rules and limitations related to Transfiguration. In fact, not a single wand was in sight. Which given the class had a majority of muggle-borns said quite a bit.
-As an example, take a cartload of wood. One could use a simple enough transfiguring spell to transform into a wooden house. What makes it a natural progression, is the simple fact that both, the beginning and end products, are more or less one and the same when taking what makes them up into account. On the other hand, you could use the exact same spell to transform a cartload of steel into the same result. Or a cartload of wood into a steel house if you will. The second option is, as you can probably tell, a forced progression as the beginning and end results are different, elementally. The main difference between the two methods? A wooden house transfigured from wood, or a steel house transfigured from steel, will last far longer than a wooden house transfigured from steel, or vice versa. Why? Simple enough answer in truth, the level of magic required to keep a forced progression up, is far higher than a natural one. In fact, provided close enough to the right amount of materials, it could very well last for years to come. Without having to repeatedly fill it up with magic-
Idly turning my head, I gave a bemused James Potter a raised eyebrow. The student was currently openly gawking at my writing, a table away as he was. It took a few moments more before he promptly turned back towards the professor, on account of her eyeing him like a hawk. Or maybe she was looking towards me, I couldn't quite tell from this angle. My own gaze was for the most part focused on the magical blackboard behind her. The flying and rapidly moving chalk would've been a sight to behold if not for the fact it didn't seem to be writing anything at all.
Evidently, the boards were enchanted to explain what the professor was talking about, albeit in the best way possible for the student watching it. Meaning everyone was in fact seeing something different; I just happened to be staring at a blank one. Frankly, I wasn't entirely sure if I should mention the fact. The woman seriously oozed authority during a lesson.
-Why that was interesting, however, was entirely due to the laws surrounding food. Transfiguration, as a rule, simply did not work when it involved foods of any and all kind. Yet, given the way the magic worked, it should've. It was entirely possible for one to transfigure everyday items into creatures of all kinds, yet food was not. For another example. A wooden table, can in fact be transformed into a pig, and it would stay that way until either it ran out of the magic provided to it that helped keep it in it's forced form, or it took too much damage at which point it would splinter into broken pieces of wood. Given that, it made sense as to why one shouldn't transfigure food through a forced progression as that would result in said food transforming back into its previous form almost immediately after it was ingested. But that still left a naturalone, which according to McGonagall (Not in those words, of course) was also not possible. Arguably, one should be able to transfigure ingredients into a fully cooked meal, yet it simply wasn't done. More than likely, it was the same reason potion-making had to be done by hand.
Yet, I am quite frankly convinced, a natural progression, was at one point possible. In fact, I dare say a few hundred years back, transfiguring ingredients into food was more than likely a common occurrence. The biggest example being the Aguamante charm. A spell designed to transfigure the molecules in the air into water. Odds were someone out there, whether for the sake of humanity or not, went out of their way to make sure it was put a stopped too with Aguamenti been the sole exception, for its frankly low-risk potential and exceptional quality of life. Unfortunately for them, given the lack of potential ways to reach every wizard and witch in a country, let alone the world, it was in fact possible to ignore them altogether. The only possible avenue they had was a, remarkably, massive runic sealing that helped forbid one from breaking Gamp's laws or-
Idly reading through the notes, as my thoughts were mostly inaccessible, I gave a non-committal shrug and decided to raise my hand. A question on the tip of my tongue. And, frankly, judging by the look on the woman's face, I had a feeling she was about to confiscate said thoughts (Parchment).
"Yes, Sirius?" The woman questioned me, on a first-name basis it seemed, curiously. Even as her eyes drifted towards the pages before me.
"Do Gamp's laws affect wandlessmagic?"
-it was a fail-safe likely put into every wand.
"Gamp's laws don't affect anything Sirius, they are simply the rules that govern the subject itself. Regardless of one's expertise on the subject, Transfiguration, should never be attempted without the protections afforded to a wand..."
"I see," I deadpanned in response, the woman not wasting a beat as she focused back on the lesson at hand.
-Now, I might not be the brightest bulb in the shed, but judging by the expression on McGonagall's face even I don't think she quite believed the words herself.-
...I should probably cross the last part out.