Switching

Switching was a sub-branch of Transfiguration and a form of transformation. It was the art of magically exchanging physical features between two targets. Switching targets in this manner could be accomplished with Switching Spells. The only known sub-group of switching was Cross-Species Switches.
==History==
Switching spells were taught to second or third-year students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry; an entry on Switches could be found in either A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch or Intermediate Transfiguration.Students at Hogwarts should have switches mastered before their fourth year.Hermione Granger knew quite a bit about Switching Spells already in her first year, and gained some house points for it from McGonagall.Neville Longbottom wasn't particularly adept at these, managing to switch his own ears onto a cactus during Transfiguration class.Hermione Granger brought up switching to Harry Potter, while the two were discussing ways to combat dragons.
In a student's fifth year of education, they must sit the Ordinary Wizarding Level (O.W.L.) examinations. On the Transfiguration O.W.L. a student might answer a written question that asked for the definition of a switching spell.
==Nature==
Switching greatly resembled general transformation, but with two main differences: firstly, the features of the two targets were switched simultaneously; secondly, the change in one of the pair was dependent on a change in the other.It is hard to gauge the relative difficulty of switches exactly compared to other types of Transfiguration, because the exact year in which they were learned is not known. However, Professor McGonagall was impressed when Hermione knew about switches as a first-year student but was disappointed in Neville for not being able to perform even simple switches by the fourth year. Therefore, students must have started learning switches in second, third or (early) fourth year (most likely third), earlier than almost all the other branches of Transfiguration save transformation.
==Method==
The only known method of switching was through the application of Switching Spells.
==Known practitioners==
Harry Potter movies hbp promostills 6.jpg|Harry Potter
Hermione Granger HBP.jpg|Hermione Granger
Ron Weasley Half Blood Prince.jpg|Ronald Weasley
Neville Longbottom.jpg|Neville Longbottom 
Albus Dumbledore POA promo.jpg|Albus DumbledoreAs Albus Dumbledore was a former professor of Transfiguration.
Minerva McGonagall POAF promo.jpg|Minerva McGonagall
==Appearances==
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==Notes and references==
Category:Switching Real Magic