Transfiguration - What is it good for?
This is something that has been bothering me for quite a while. Every time there is a discussion of how it can be okay to transfigure living animals into things or the other way around, it’s almost never discussed why you would even do such a thing in the first place. Sure, people mention that the Weasleys never transfigure themselves better stuff or the wizards as a whole don’t transfigure money out of dirt or something.
Does Transfiguration serve any purpose in canon? No, it does not. Let’s look at some examples of how pointless it is. In their first Transfiguration lesson, Harry’s class has to turn matches into needles. But wizards don’t actually use matches as we have seen in GoF with Arthur, cause they don’t need any to make fire, they have spells for that (Hermione’s speciality in PS are portable fires even). Just as they have sewing charms, I presume, since they have sticking and severing charms. That means wizards don’t need either of these two items, so why bother learning to turn one of them into the other?
And about turning animals into things, which of course always raises the question if the animals can still feel after being transfigured. But honestly, even if they don’t, would you drink from a glass that used to be a frog? Or wear a sweater that used to be a cat or dog? No? me neither, and apparently neither do the characters in HP.
One would think that with McGonagall teaching the subject or Dumbledore having taught it in the past, the subject of Transfiguration would have a bigger impact in canon, but apart from human transfiguration (Animagi), it never does and this isn’t even taught in class. I cannot for the life of me remember when Transfiguration was ever of any help to the characters in the book (except maybe Krum turning himself into a part-shark and even that was not needed since the bubble-head charm would have worked just as well).
Let’s look at all the other major subjects that are taught at Hogwarts and how they helped Harry and his friends in the book:
Charms: That’s easy, the kids use spells from this class all the time, from Accio to Wingardium Leviosa.
Defence Against the Dark Arts: Again, being Harry’s favourite class, spells and other stuff he learned here saved his neck lots of times, most prominent being his Patronus charm. Hexes, jinxes and curses should also be mentioned here.
Potions: Felix Felicis, Polyjuice Potion or Mandrake Draught have been important in canon, just to name a few. Also quite a lot of healing potions have been applied over the years.
Herbology: What would Harry have done without the Gillyweed in GoF? Not to mention all the ingredients for potions they harvest there.
As you can see, all of them are very useful for Harry and his friends. Heck, even History of Magic was useful once (information on the Chamber of Secrets), Divination has Trewlaney and her real prophesies once in a while and even Care of Magical Creatures was useful, because in PoA Harry used Backbeak to free Sirius and in OotP he used the Thestrals to get to the Ministry of Magic. But Transfiguration? Nothing, none at all.
And even worse, even McGonagall and Dumbledore don’t use it. Sure, Minerva is an Animagus, but that’s about it. Even in the protection for the stone in PS, her contribution was the only one that stood out by not having anything to do with the subject she teaches. Let’s revise:
Hagrid: Fluffy, a magical creature and he didn’t even teach yet.
Sprout: Devil Snare, a magical plant.
Flitwick: The winged keys, charmed to fly around.
Quirrel: A mountain troll, a dark creature.
Snape: The potion riddle.
McGonagall: A giant chess board with figures that moves on their own.
What has wizard chess to do with Transfiguration, can anyone explain that to me?
In conclusion, neither Harry and his friend have ever used Transfiguration outside the classroom, but somehow we are supposed to believe that this is some kind of important subject. Why? Because Hermione is so good at it? Because it’s being taught by the Head of House? Because Dumbledore was the Transfiguration teacher before becoming Headmaster? Or simply because people expect witches and wizards to turn stuff into something else? Quite frankly, McGonagall needs to get of her high horse regarding Trewlaney since her own subject might look better at first but turns out to be just as useless.
Does Transfiguration serve any purpose in canon? No, it does not. Let’s look at some examples of how pointless it is. In their first Transfiguration lesson, Harry’s class has to turn matches into needles. But wizards don’t actually use matches as we have seen in GoF with Arthur, cause they don’t need any to make fire, they have spells for that (Hermione’s speciality in PS are portable fires even). Just as they have sewing charms, I presume, since they have sticking and severing charms. That means wizards don’t need either of these two items, so why bother learning to turn one of them into the other?
And about turning animals into things, which of course always raises the question if the animals can still feel after being transfigured. But honestly, even if they don’t, would you drink from a glass that used to be a frog? Or wear a sweater that used to be a cat or dog? No? me neither, and apparently neither do the characters in HP.
One would think that with McGonagall teaching the subject or Dumbledore having taught it in the past, the subject of Transfiguration would have a bigger impact in canon, but apart from human transfiguration (Animagi), it never does and this isn’t even taught in class. I cannot for the life of me remember when Transfiguration was ever of any help to the characters in the book (except maybe Krum turning himself into a part-shark and even that was not needed since the bubble-head charm would have worked just as well).
Let’s look at all the other major subjects that are taught at Hogwarts and how they helped Harry and his friends in the book:
Charms: That’s easy, the kids use spells from this class all the time, from Accio to Wingardium Leviosa.
Defence Against the Dark Arts: Again, being Harry’s favourite class, spells and other stuff he learned here saved his neck lots of times, most prominent being his Patronus charm. Hexes, jinxes and curses should also be mentioned here.
Potions: Felix Felicis, Polyjuice Potion or Mandrake Draught have been important in canon, just to name a few. Also quite a lot of healing potions have been applied over the years.
Herbology: What would Harry have done without the Gillyweed in GoF? Not to mention all the ingredients for potions they harvest there.
As you can see, all of them are very useful for Harry and his friends. Heck, even History of Magic was useful once (information on the Chamber of Secrets), Divination has Trewlaney and her real prophesies once in a while and even Care of Magical Creatures was useful, because in PoA Harry used Backbeak to free Sirius and in OotP he used the Thestrals to get to the Ministry of Magic. But Transfiguration? Nothing, none at all.
And even worse, even McGonagall and Dumbledore don’t use it. Sure, Minerva is an Animagus, but that’s about it. Even in the protection for the stone in PS, her contribution was the only one that stood out by not having anything to do with the subject she teaches. Let’s revise:
Hagrid: Fluffy, a magical creature and he didn’t even teach yet.
Sprout: Devil Snare, a magical plant.
Flitwick: The winged keys, charmed to fly around.
Quirrel: A mountain troll, a dark creature.
Snape: The potion riddle.
McGonagall: A giant chess board with figures that moves on their own.
What has wizard chess to do with Transfiguration, can anyone explain that to me?
In conclusion, neither Harry and his friend have ever used Transfiguration outside the classroom, but somehow we are supposed to believe that this is some kind of important subject. Why? Because Hermione is so good at it? Because it’s being taught by the Head of House? Because Dumbledore was the Transfiguration teacher before becoming Headmaster? Or simply because people expect witches and wizards to turn stuff into something else? Quite frankly, McGonagall needs to get of her high horse regarding Trewlaney since her own subject might look better at first but turns out to be just as useless.