CONJURATION

Chapter 83

Conjuration is one of the most advanced forms of magic, although some things are easier to conjure than others. Notably, some second and third year students are able to conjure snakes, which are living creatures (as plants are also living entities). The conjugation of snakes is still advanced magic, NEWT level to be exact, so it is not actually expected that you are able to do so. In fact, neither I nor your transfiguration professor recommend it. The “notable example” of a second year student able to conjure a snake was Draco Malfoy. You have to understand though, that he had been through a gruelling and abusive education, for lack of better terms. The effect of being expected too much from, when you're young and developing, carries serious consequences. It is much better to grow naturally and test out your talents far more prudently. It will give you more time to develop your individual personality and discover who you really are while you become the best you that you were meant to be! Anyhow, let's get back on topic. Right. So conjuration is very difficult and it is especially so when you are trying to conjure something with life. Now, there is a second major note to make here… life is not something that can be conjured, as life is only something which can be conceived. It is not created by chance at the casting of a spell. Creating life would be like creating magic in a muggle… it just doesn't work that way and a lot of the time we have difficulty understanding why. I'll try and explain more later, but as you learn the next part I want you to understand you are learning the theory behind conjuring something that mimics life… it is in illusion spell, basically. The plant will look like it is living and breathing and then withering and dying but it is not actually alive and doing so. When it comes to plants there is only one known conjuration spell. This is Orchideous (or-KID-ee-us), cast with a circular wand movement, typically done clockwise. Even though we are not going to cast the charm, I would like to hear you all repeat the spell. Let me hear you all say it one the count of three: one, two, three. Wonderful! It’s always a good idea to work on the pronouncing of spells so that when the time comes you can use the magic you know you can say it. Although Orchideous is only one spell, it is possible to conjure many different types of flowers. It may be used to conjure roses, orchids (as the spell suggests), lilies, lavender, or any type of flowers that you know of. In order to conjure the flowers you want, you must first picture the flower you want in your mind. Do not imagine a specific flower, like the ones on your grandmother’s table, but imagine a flower of the type you desire that you have not seen before. This is to ensure that the flower you imagine does not exist in the material world but only as an immaterial entity, as in an idea in your mind. This is rather complicated, as you have to remember that the flower you are imagining is real, but it is not located anywhere in this world, and it is not even located in your mind. (If you do have flowers inside your head, please go see a healer). Yet since you can picture the flowers by using your mind, you are interacting directly with immaterial reality and can thus bring the immaterial into the material world. It is then that you cast Orchideous. This theory information can be rather complicated. It is merely necessary to have a basic grasp on that information in order to understand the next part. Life is immaterial. You cannot see that which is “life” in a plant and animal as opposed to what is not life in a rock or wave. All of things break down into the same material substances, particles called atoms. For example, 75% of the human body is made up of water, and yet the human is alive and the water is not. The material systems within the body work to keep the body alive, but are not life itself. Magic may be used easily to interact with the material and immaterial world, and to bring immaterial into the material, but cannot sustain the creating of new immaterial reality within the material world. What that means in simplistic terms is, life is a gift. Understanding that life is beyond our ability to conjure, there is still the fact that you are conjuring something with the same amount of complexity as a living thing, because it must mimic it in every other way except its life essence. You may have noticed a recent uptick in the number of singing daffodils, serenading roses, and caroling Christmas trees that spring up (oh the puns) around wintertime (or summertime for those in the southern hemisphere). While you could use Deep Object Charms to create plants that can sing without end for years, such spells are far too complex to teach here (and yield the most annoying results!). Instead, we will focus on Shallow Charms that can make your plant sing and dance for up to week. You probably noticed that the list of choraling plants above included only mundane plants. Both spells you learn today should NOT be used on magical plants, as they are far more temperamental and difficult to control than non-magical plants. Moreover, many magical plants will not particularly enjoy being forced to sing and dance, while mundane plants care little one way or the other. The first spell we will learn is the Singing Plant Charm. It will cause a plant to vibrate slightly, just so that a focused sound is emitted from the end of the plant. It won’t sound like a human voice, but will the impression that the plant is “singing”. Different plants will have different voices, so the variety is quite vast. This Charm was discovered relatively recently, and was originally invented by a farmer whose rooster met an untimely demise and needed an alternative alarm clock (his plant sang “Cauldron Full of Hot, Strong Love” every morning). In order to cast the Singing Plant Charm, you must say the incantation “Tinniherbus” (tin-ni-HERB-us) while flicking your wand in a quick half-circle to the left, starting with it pointing at your chest (be careful!) and ending with it pointing at the plant. You should focus on the plant while you cast the charm, and you should use low to moderate willpower to determine the volume – too much willpower and you might hurt the plant. Finally, once the charm has been cast, you must concentrate on the song itself, both lyrics and tune. If you are intimately familiar with the song, simply bringing it to mind may be sufficient and can allow you to concentrate on a series of songs to form a ‘playlist’ of sorts. The song(s) will continue looping, with some delay if you include that in your visualization, until the magic wears off or is ended with the Effect-Canceling Charm, “Finite”. Of course, if you want a real performance you’ll need the plant to dance as well. That’s where the Dancing Plant Charm comes in. The Charm will let the plant move in a choreographed way. Keep in mind, of course, that plant cells have cell walls, which make them relatively inflexible – movements should be very limited, perhaps a slight swaying back in forth in time with the rhythm. To cast the Dancing Plant Charm, use the incantation “Saltiherbus” (sal-ti-HERB-us) and wave your wand left then right so that it ends pointing toward the plant. You should focus on the plant and use low to moderate willpower, depending on the size of the plant. After the charm is cast, concentrate on the rhythm and motions you wish your plant to make, along with any delays for pauses in the singing. This spell will also last until the magic wears out or you cancel it with the Effect-Canceling Charm. Note that the two spells are safe to cast in combination.