Well, transfiguration encompasses all aspects of “turning something into something else”, not just humans and animals.
As for your questions…
I think it is established that a wizard can choose whether or not to take their clothes with them when they transform. This suggests that Movie Pettigrew would have been running naked through the Forbidden Forest at the end of PoA.
Imma go with… yes? Without more information, it’s hard to say for sure. Does it make a difference if the process is quick and painless? Needlessly killing something (even painlessly) still feels wrong, but “cruel” might not be the best word for it, maybe “immoral”? I think there are some cases of animate creatures being turned into inanimate objects and back again, so perhaps this points toward some sort of other plane of existence where conciousness could exist in limbo?
Animagi keep their human consciousness when they transform, though they may acquire characteristics or abilities from their animal form. Sirius spent much of his time in Azkaban as a dog, to reduce his susceptibility to the dementors. As for how Rita Skeeter’s brain fits inside a beetle, don’t think about it too much. It is magic, after all :)
Oh snap, really? Only read/listened to the books once, whereas the movies show mostly (only?) the kind involving at least one animate thing.
Hahaha, the deleted scene nobody asked for.
Hm, you’re right – ‘immoral’, since the intent isn’t necessarily malicious. I guess I can live with the idea of a suspended state of consciousness, like a computer in hibernation mode. Perhaps it’s so instantaneous that to the conscious being it feels like blinking.
Oh so we’re just gonna hand wave that last part?! =p
Yeah, if I recall correctly, their first transfiguration lesson is turning matchsticks into needles. I believe conjuring spells (something-from-nothing) and vanishing spells (something-to-nothing) also fall under the category of transfiguration.
Oh so we’re just gonna hand wave that last part?!
Well, at a certain point one has to stop asking “how?” and just accept that magic works in a given setting. The point at which one stops is up to personal preference :)
Well, transfiguration encompasses all aspects of “turning something into something else”, not just humans and animals.
As for your questions…
I think it is established that a wizard can choose whether or not to take their clothes with them when they transform. This suggests that Movie Pettigrew would have been running naked through the Forbidden Forest at the end of PoA.
Imma go with… yes? Without more information, it’s hard to say for sure. Does it make a difference if the process is quick and painless? Needlessly killing something (even painlessly) still feels wrong, but “cruel” might not be the best word for it, maybe “immoral”? I think there are some cases of animate creatures being turned into inanimate objects and back again, so perhaps this points toward some sort of other plane of existence where conciousness could exist in limbo?
Animagi keep their human consciousness when they transform, though they may acquire characteristics or abilities from their animal form. Sirius spent much of his time in Azkaban as a dog, to reduce his susceptibility to the dementors. As for how Rita Skeeter’s brain fits inside a beetle, don’t think about it too much. It is magic, after all :)
Oh snap, really? Only read/listened to the books once, whereas the movies show mostly (only?) the kind involving at least one animate thing.
Yeah, if I recall correctly, their first transfiguration lesson is turning matchsticks into needles. I believe conjuring spells (something-from-nothing) and vanishing spells (something-to-nothing) also fall under the category of transfiguration.
Well, at a certain point one has to stop asking “how?” and just accept that magic works in a given setting. The point at which one stops is up to personal preference :)