Magical Theory
Magic has an explanation. Or does it? An attempt to explain various aspects of magic with history, theories, pseudo-science, and plain old fantasy. Review or PM for requests.
A/N: Just some plot bunnies that couldn't get out of my head. Want something explaining? Leave a review!
Explanation of: Transfiguration
Transfiguration is one of the oldest arts of magic. Dating to the times of Egyptians, it was allegedly first used by a scribe accidentally when he forgot to write a report. As it was, he saved himself from the wrath of his overseer. It then was taken over by court mages after the scribe had asked them about the magic he had somehow performed. Quickly falling into study and practice, the art took the lives of many wizards before viable solutions and spells allowed useful applications of Transfiguration. Of course, most of the mages in Egypt and Europe believed it was the gods giving them power, though prominent philosophers questioned this - they were shot down quickly, however.
The manipulation of atoms has boggled scientists in the past few decades. The furthest any scientist has ever got is splitting the atom, which led to the creation of the atomic bomb, a devastatingly destructive weapon, a far second only to the AcciExplosion Potion (an accidental potion which purged an entire country of life).
Back to the point, the particle theory quickly set off a chain of events that revolutionised modern Transfiguration. Although scientific papers weren't written for it, the manipulation of atoms was the process of Transfiguration. The magical energy that was used by wizards could somehow change the atom into another element or compound. Although Gamp's Laws of Transfiguration state that no conjured food has any nutritional content, it is possible to conjure the nutrients you need and then 'fuse' them with any conjured food. No spell or theory has been developed for the fusion (not to be confused with nuclear fusion) yet. Conjuring an animal and taking its meat is a suitable alternative, though it takes more time, and it could have an adverse affect if one were to feed it to another.
Magic has links to each element. Some are naturally stronger, like oxygen, whilst some are naturally weaker, like gold (which is near impossible to manipulate). The sheer amount of times a matchstick has been turned into a needle, for example, has increased the magical link to iron (and the other elements in steel) exponentially. Large steel-based ships can be made by a powerful wizard within minutes.
Vanishment has no restrictions (though the more complex the object, the harder to vanish). Vanishment breaks a structure down to atoms, and sends it to the 'huge dump' as it was named by one Unspeakable. It is believed that untransfiguration (J. A. Hawk states conjuration too) takes these particles and rearranges them.
By James Unsworth
Yeah. I was really bored. Like I said before, just review if you want something explaining. I'm not expecting a huge deal of publicity, but do tell me what you think.
CHALLENGE:
1) Explain the theory above in 100 words or less.
2)Why could someone conjure a two ton block of steel without great deals of effort? Why couldn't someone conjure a two ton block of gold without a huge amount of concentration, magic and willpower?
Bragging rights in the next chapter to whoever answers them.