- the school of transfiguration
	+ transfiguration is the art of turning one thing into another; all magic that accomplishes this falls under the transfiguration umbrella and thus it is a very broad and varied school of magic
	+ while most teachings start out very neutral, transfguration as a whole leans lighter
		- this is because good transfiguration normally requires good visualization and then a desire to change one thing into another
		- however, it is very easy to advance with grayer methods if you are willing to put in the study time to do it
			+ most masters of transfiguration cast using gray methods because these types of spells last longer and can even be made permanent
			+ light methods usually only last as long as the feelings or the visualization does, which can be very brief

- kindredness is the most defining principal of transfiguration (Lotus' Law of Kindredness [LovelyLotus])
	+ kindredness refers to all the qualities of similarity between what you have and what you are trying to create; it can be anything from color to shape to category of use
	+ objects that are more kindred are easier to transform into one another; all transfiguration needs at least one form of kindredness; this just means recognizing how two objects are similar even if they seem completely different
		- an example is a needle and a match; they are similar in shape and size (which is why it is typically the first transfiguration children learn), but a more advanced wixen might also draw a connection between how both objects can cause pain or how both objects are common household tools, this too is a form of kindredness
		- this, of course, means transfiguration at higher levels is more of a thought exercise than concrete theory or complicated wandwork

- alchemy
	+ alchemy is actually a combination of the muggle understanding of chemistry and the wixen understanding of transfiguration
	+ it's a discipine that uses runic sequences because it requires a precision not always achievable through spellwork
	+ alchemy typically leans dark than other forms of transfiguration by virtue of its nature
		- alchemy requires equivalent exchange (woo we're going fma on this one), so something cannot be made of nothing and everything created must have been made from the elements in the materials transformed
		- this makes alchemy more restrictive than other forms of transfiguration but it also means that it can ignore most every other tenet of kindredness