Scientifics

Stone Into Gold
Rosanna Gullveig

Since my introduction to the Potterverse, the subject of transfiguration has fascinated me tremendously. Maybe it was the allure of Animagi transformations or Professor McGonagall’s comment that “transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts” (PS, chapter 8 ) that captured my curiosity. Maybe it was the idea that something could be transformed into something else or magically conjured from thin air. These examples all illustrate the many great possibilities of transfiguration, but I’ve often wondered about something much more trivial. Why don’t wizards transfigure simple objects into gold or other precious things? Wouldn’t that make their lives so much easier? Therefore, after some thought and research on the subject, I’ll try to explain why such a thing isn’t possible.

First of all, we know that magic does have its limits. “No spell can reawaken the dead” (GoF, chapter 36), Professor Dumbledore tells Harry after Cedric’s death. While such a comment may have shocked many, myself included, it did serve as a poignant reminder of the magical world’s limitations. What about the transfiguration of valuable objects? We know that one can relatively easily transform an inanimate object into an animate one, as shown by the transformation of a teapot into a tortoise by third-years (PoA, chapter 16). Wouldn’t the transfiguration of an inanimate object into another inanimate, albeit more valuable, object be just as simple? This brings us back to our initial question. Why don’t wizards transfigure stones into gold?

The answer to that lies somewhere in ‘Gamp’s Law of Elemental Transfiguration’. It suggests that material possessions and many other things, such as food or means of magical transportation (ex: broomstick), can’t be acquired magically. When Harry did battle with the Hungarian Horntail, he could summon his Firebolt, but he couldn’t transfigure a rock into a flying broom (GoF, chapter 20). The same thing can be said of valuable objects such as gold or money. Imagine if wizards could simply conjure thousands of Galleons with the flick of a wand. The entire Wizarding economy would crumble in the blink of an eye.

Are you satisfied with that answer? No? Well, neither am I, since it leads me to the inevitable question of ‘Why’? Other than ruining their economy, which I suppose is bad in itself, what would happen if wizards chose to ignore these rules and continue their attempts to transfigure valuable objects?

The answer to that question is much more complex and lies in the laws of ‘maintaining the balance’ of the world. Balance and equilibrium are key in maintaining harmony in both the natural and magical world. If wizards and witches don’t observe the ‘rules of interdependence’, it’s believed that “the morphic resonance of the world would change” and that “some wizards would actually feel the laws of magic changing” (The Transfiguration Guide Book, Professor Olivia’s class). If this were the case, the entire magical world would eventually collapse on itself. Now, for a more in-depth scientific explanation of this...

According to both muggle and wizarding science, equilibrium is essential and inherent to all things. Equilibrium is defined as a condition of a system where competing influences are balanced. Le Chatelier’s principle explains that when a system that is at equilibrium is subjected to an external force, like a variation in the pressure or temperature, the system will seek to restore that equilibrium. The system will shift in order to restore its previous balanced condition. If you added an element, the system would try to consume it in order to return to its initial state. If you increased the temperature, the system would try to consume the excess energy that contributed to this increase in temperature in order to return to its initial temperature. For example, if you’re cold, you’ll start to shiver, because that’s your body’s way of heating itself: by increasing muscle movement, and thus returning to a state of thermal equilibrium.

What does this mean in terms of the magical world? Simply stated, it means that if the balance between animate and inanimate, precious and non-precious things were disrupted, the system (in this case the world) would also seek to return to its original state. Consequently, since nothing can be created from nothing (first law of thermodynamics!) the use of magic to disrupt the equilibrium would cause the system to seek to eliminate the magic that created the disruption. The magical energy used to transform a non-precious thing into a precious one would be nullified when the process is reversed.

Einstein’s theory of mass-energy equivalence (e=mc2) where matter is converted into energy, could also apply itself to magical energy, but in the reverse. When transfigurations are reversed to restore equilibrium, magical energy would be converted into matter. Thus, each time a transfiguration is reversed due to an equilibrium shift, a little bit of the magical energy of the world is consumed and can never be recreated, thus diminishing the potential energy of the Wizarding world. The universe always reverts to equilibrium, and in this case the reversal can shift the morphic resonance of the universe and thus change magic as we know it.

So this brings us back again to our initial question. Why don’t wizards transfigure stones into gold? Because if they did, they would create a rip in the fabric of the magical world and slowly destroy its very nature. Of course, in his tremendous wisdom, Professor Dumbledore had it right all along. “As much money and life as you could want! The two things most humans would choose above all – the trouble is, humans do have a knack of choosing precisely those things that are worst for them” (PS, chapter 17).

References:
o All 7 Harry Potter books, by JK Rowling
o The Limits of Magic, by Caius Marcius (HP Lexicon)
o The Transfiguration Guide Book, from Prof. Olivia Rictusempra’s class (written by Prof. Dom Gaidin and Tarma Black)
o Principles of Physical Chemistry, by Raff