Lilith Moon ([info]shodinsilver) wrote,
1997-10-15 09:56:00

A morning rose

I am thinking about Transfiguration. Such a powerful concept. The ability to make something into what it is not. One would think that with this, everything would be possible, but one would be wrong. We learn Transfiguration in a classroom, just like any other boring school subject, and all we learn to change are things. If a rose can become a thistle, what of that? If a thistle can become a rose, it is still prickly.

Surely there should be more than this?

My great-grandmother wrote to me about the election; it seems to be everywhere lately. There was even in interview in Witch Weekly with that Delaney woman. The article on how to tell if your boyfriend is a werewolf was much more interesting. It would be rather exciting to have a boyfriend who was a werewolf.

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  • 19 comments

[info]il_perfetto

October 15 2005, 22:08:13 UTC 6 years ago

Transfiguring people would be interesting.

[info]shodinsilver

October 16 2005, 16:01:58 UTC 6 years ago

It would, wouldn't it? I wonder what it would feel like to be something that you are not.

[info]il_perfetto

October 16 2005, 18:23:30 UTC 6 years ago

I suppose it would depend what you are being, at the time.

[info]shodinsilver

October 16 2005, 23:32:43 UTC 6 years ago

Do you think so? Or would the alienating sensation of being something that is completely unnatural and even antithetical to one's usual existence prevail, no matter what the particulars of the difference might be?

[info]il_perfetto

October 17 2005, 00:11:14 UTC 6 years ago

I don't know. It might be nice being something like a tiger, for instance, whereas being a spool of thread probably would not be as great.

[info]shodinsilver

October 17 2005, 00:52:32 UTC 6 years ago

That is undoubtedly true. Being something you aren't but wish you were must be quite different from being something you aren't and don't want to be.

Would you like to be a tiger? If I were going to be a cat, I think I would rather be a great black panther, slipping silently through the dead of night, blending with the darkest shadows as I stalked my prey.

[info]il_perfetto

October 17 2005, 01:05:33 UTC 6 years ago

I think I might prefer that as well. Tigers are a bit flashy for my tastes.

[info]abbottess

October 16 2005, 03:31:54 UTC 6 years ago

A boyfriend who's a werewolf would be just like any other boyfriend most of the time, I'd figure. He's still a person, after all.

[info]shodinsilver

October 16 2005, 16:51:09 UTC 6 years ago

Please don't be boring, Hannah. Don't you think it would be thrilling to find out your boyfriend was a werewolf? Secrets are so interesting, and think of what it would mean.

Everyone's a person, after all, and everyone's different. You can't go about expecting everyone to be just like any other boyfriend.

[info]abbottess

October 17 2005, 20:21:51 UTC 6 years ago

I'm not being boring! I don't know if it would be all that exciting. I'd be hurt if I had a boyfriend who was keeping a secret that big from me. It shows a real lack of trust there.

Well, you're right on that count, I suppose. I never thought of it like that!

[info]shodinsilver

October 18 2005, 00:25:30 UTC 6 years ago

Oh dear, you're right. It would be utterly awful if my boyfriend was so secretive that I had to find out that he was a werewolf by reading an article in Witch Weekly. He should tell me--but when?

It would be unreasonable to expect him to do it before we've been going out very long, because how could he know I am the entirely trustworthy person that I am, so early in the relationship? On the other hand, if he waits too long, I'll be almost as hurt at his unfeeling lack of trust as I would be if I had to discover his terrible secret myself.

[info]_pureofheart_

October 17 2005, 08:53:51 UTC 6 years ago

I like Transfiguration.

[info]shodinsilver

October 18 2005, 00:26:11 UTC 6 years ago

Yes, so do I. I wouldn't spend any time thinking about it if I didn't.

[info]_pureofheart_

October 18 2005, 00:53:32 UTC 6 years ago

I think you're wrong. What isn't possible with Transfiguration? You can change your surroundings. You can even change yourself to some extent.

[info]shodinsilver

October 23 2005, 18:17:59 UTC 6 years ago

What do you think I'm wrong about?

[info]gin_n_chaser

October 18 2005, 05:31:33 UTC 6 years ago

I wasn't sure what to think of Sarah Delaney. I mean, she still seems like a bit of a - well, a tart, and they mentioned a lot of money, but all the same, it's got to be hard being her right now.

I have to say, if you're not attentive enough to figure out that your own boyfriend is a werewolf, I don't think a magazine will help.

[info]shodinsilver

October 23 2005, 18:18:35 UTC 6 years ago

Maybe she should try being someone else.

Surely the point isn't actually to discover anything. It's just to make things more interesting while you figure out that your boyfriend isn't a werewolf. How many hidden werewolves masquerading as boyfriends could there actually be, after all?

[info]thislostlenore

October 18 2005, 06:40:27 UTC 6 years ago

I hope it isn't rude to chime in on your conversation. I'm still adjusting to these scrolls.

Transfiguration makes my head hurt. I ask questions and nobody seems to have answers. Or if they have them, they aren't willing to divulge them.

I want to understand what it's actually doing, scientifically. The rose you mention above, for example, that is now a thistle. Is it really a thistle, on a structural and molecular level? Or is it just a rose that's taken on the appearance and behavior of a thistle, but still in essence a rose?

It gets more complex when there are animals involved. If you turn a spider, say, into a pincushion - is the pincushion alive? And if not, did you just kill the spider? Or is it in some visceral state of limbo?

I wish magic made more sense. There's a distinct lack of logic to it.

[info]shodinsilver

October 23 2005, 18:25:48 UTC 6 years ago

Oh no, not rude in the slightest. Do say whatever you want. These things would be boring if no one said anything, don't you think?

But you might be better off asking your muggle questions of someone who cares more about muggle studies. What's a molecular level? If we've done that in class I'm afraid I've completely forgotten.

All the same, I'm quite sure it doesn't matter what muggle level you put the thistle on--of course it's a thistle. If it wasn't, it wouldn't be transfigured, would it?

Pincushions aren't alive--I would have thought even a muggleborn could see that. The spider doesn't exist anymore as a spider, so as a spider it's not dead so you couldn't have killed it. You can't kill pincushions.

I do hope that helps you somewhat. If you have any more odd questions, I would be delighted to try to help--things must be so difficult for you here.
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