Transfiguration (class)

Transfiguration is a subject taught at Hogwarts. It teaches the changing of the form and appearance of an object, the conjuring and creation of objects, and the vanishing of objects.

Transfiguration is a required subject for all First Year students, with the option of a N.E.W.T. course in the sixth and seventh years. Minerva McGonagall was the Transfiguration professor from 1956 until 1998, sometime after which she retired. Before her, Albus Dumbledore taught Transfiguration.

Transfiguration is a generally achieved through concentration, the precise wand movement and speaking the appropriate incantation. One of the trickier subjects, it requires great concentration and effort. It was not uncommon for students to practice actual transfigurations during Professor McGonagall's lessons, and accidents could result in partial transfigurations.

Some, including Professor McGonagall herself, consider the techniques learned in Transfiguration to be more elegant and superior to those taught in many other classes.