Minerva & DD-Transfiguration Professors-have they been playing other Charact

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 88444

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "kiricat2001" <Zarleycat at a...>
wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "tlpbupu" <tlpbupu at h...> wrote:
> > vmont wrote> 
> >   *snip*> 
> > > I also have a question: Can a wizard transfigure into a cat (for 
> > > example) and not necessarily be an anamagi?  


> Marianne:
> 
> Well, Krum tried to transfigure himself into a shark for the second 
> task in the Tri-Wizard Tournament. ...edited...
> 
> So it seems to be implied that wizards can transfigure themselves 
> into another life form.  
> 
> ..., what's the big deal with Animagi, if a wizard can transform 
> himself into whatever other animal he chooses?  ...edited...
> 
> Marianne

bboy_mn:

People can transform into animals, but we have no information that
those human-to-animal tranfigurations are permanent. By 'permanent', I
mean they sustain until reversed. Just after coming out of the water,
Krum is normal again; did that happen because he cast a spell to
transform himself back to his normal self, and if he did, how did he
recite the incantation when he had the head of a shark? On the other
hand, if time just ran out and the 'shark' spell expired, the would
change back to normal without require any intervention on Krum's part
or anyone else's. 

Personally, I think time just ran out, as with Harry's gillyweed, Krum
shark transformation was only good for a limited time. A much wiser
choice was the 'bubble head' charm which I suspect could have been
sustained for a much longer period of time, but even that would have
it's limits, but the advantage to 'bubble head' is it left you free to
re-charm the bubble at specific intervals to maintain the charm. A
luxury which Harry and Krum did not have.

In an interview JKR said that objects that are conjured (creating
something from nothing) aren't permanent, eventually they revert back
to nothing. That's why you can't create food by conjuring it. Well,
you can create the food and eat it, but in an hour or so the food
vanishes and you eventually starve. 

I think this same principle could be applied to certain forms of
tranfiguration.

Just a thought.

bboy_mn