What is the first of the 5 Exceptions to Gamps Law of Elemental Transfiguration

The origin of Gamp's Laws is long since forgotten, lost generations ago amidst the first of the wizarding wars, however recent studies would attribute the famed surname to Hesper Black (nee Gamp) in the early 19th century. For the purpose of assignment and or test material, students are given the option to attribute to Hesper Gamp or refer to Gamp as an unknown source.

So what are Gamp's Laws?

Gamp's Laws govern the entire world of magical conjuration, not just specifically within Transfiguration. It is a common misconception amongst children that their parents can make food appear from thin air, or clothing, or money, however this is in fact false. Through common misconception generated by muggle fairytales and magical folklore, it has become to standard norm of any student commencing studies in magical arts, to expect they can conjure anything they will out of thin air. For this reason, in 1906, after the death of the last 'relative' of Gamp (namely Hesper Black), it was acted upon to ensure that students were taught Gamp's Laws to Elemental Transfiguration at a far earlier level than was previously done.

For many witches and wizards, these laws are in fact the hardest struggle they endure in their lives. Although duplication, of food for instance, is entirely possible, it is first necessary to possess that which is being duplicated. The term "Mugglising" arose in the 12th century, long before the Laws of Gamp were drawn up. The term referred to the restrictions (named below) which 'mugglised' the magical community and caused them to have to strive and work for these commodities.

How do we examine them?

Law as stated in the muggle world would abide by: 

"a statement of fact, deduced from observation, to the effect that a particular natural or scientific phenomenon always occurs if certain conditions are present."

and for the most part this also applies within the Magical World. Yet how does this relate to the laws of Gamp? As stated above, Gamp's Laws govern everything within the world of conjuration, and they are present both as Physical Law (Put in place by the Ministry of Magic) and as Natural Law that has existed since time immemorial.

The Five Laws of Gamp listed beneath are often cited as being exceptions, and often, students find that this negates them as being laws in their own right. However this is inaccurate. Gamp's Laws still maintain the status of Law whilst also operating as exceptions of each other.



For instance, The Law of Wealth.

-> Indicates that it is impossible to generate valuable materials, money or wealth from thin air

This IS a law. It provides a foundation which governs magic, therefore making it a force that regulates and administers rules.

However, it comes as an exception to the Law of Value Conjuration,

-> Governs conjuration of objects to achieve a degree of value

This also is a law. As with The Law of Welath, it provides another foundation which governs magic. However this is also an exception to The Conjuration of Mental Materials, which governs how items are conjured from the mind and it keeps expanding from this.

Each law operates as a law on it's own, and as an exception to laws within the bracket of which it falls. For the purposes of first year study, Transfigurative Magic is only taught in the bracket of the first five laws, with development on their fields in later years.

1) Food

- Food is the first of Gamp's Laws. Magic cannot create food or it’s components in any way shape or form. Although it can be conjured from one place (i.e. the kitchen) to another (i.e. the table) it is necessary for it to actually exist first before this may take place. First year students, and even children, often marvel at the ability of adults to make food appear before their eyes; they truly believe that it is created from nothing. However, it is merely shifted through the magical fields from one place to another. Alteration Magics, after such a scenario has occurred, will enable the multiplication, dividation or banishment of food, but for this to occur, it must first exist! Gamp compared, in his analysis of Elemental Transfigurations, the premise of food to that of money: you can only ever have as much as you've got. If you desire more, it must be earnt and created by manual labour.

2) Money

- Money is the second of Gamp's Laws. Since time immemorial, money has been imbued with properties which resist all forms of magic. It cannot be multiplied, divided, conjured or banished. If you have 1 Galleon, 3 Sickles and 14 Knuts, then that's all you're going to have and no amount of magic will alter that. A common term to extend from Gamp's era was reference to "money trees" and parents were often found telling their children, "Money does not grow on trees!"

Money, in general, is the one law which the magical community tends to struggle with more than the others. For many magical families, inability to duplicate money, unalike food, results in improverishment and general depradation of living standards. Magical Governments around the world are still attempting to solve this solution as it has been a notable background of all formidable dark wizards, that they hail from poor families.

Additionally it is worth noting that this law applies to money beyond the magical world. It is not possible to create money of any kind to be traded in for magical money. Anyone who succeeds in doing so, will find that the secrecy sensors at any location will automatically undo the enchantments to prevent the fraud from getting away with such a crime.

3) Life

- Life, and by extension death, is the third of Gamps Laws for Elemental Transfiguration. Life and Death are a pinnacle of nature, in perfect balance and never out of sync, and they are utterly immune to the effects of magic. No spell can reawaken the dead or imbed life into an object, and this is something taught to children from the very beginning. Life is defined as being the most important of Gamp's Laws as it encircles the very fabric with which transfigurers work. Although objects such as the Resurrection Stone, an object in a popular tale by Beedle the Bard that has been reported to exist, claim to bring back the dead, they generate little more than an image which over time grows cold and even more lifeless than it first appeared. On the other hand, spells such as Avis and Orchideous claim to generate new forms of life, yet they are little more than magical, spectral entities taking on the form of the intended object, they never truly live the life of a real bird.

4) Knowledge

- Known as the fourth of Gamp's Laws, knowledge is untouchable by magic. Although there are magical brews and spells to extend your concentration span or information intake, it is utterly impossible to perform spells on the mind which create, fill or remove knowledge permanently. Prime examples of this are students, prior to exams; it is impossible for them to conjure up the knowledge they need in order to pass the exam. They can learn only what they have studied across their academic year.

Many tend to question the premise of this law however, owing to the existence of "Self-Writing Quills" and objects of the sort. However these are invalidated for several reasons.

The make of the quill always predetermines what the quill may do. For although it is impossible to generate knowledge, it is possible to imbue an object with it. Take, for example, textbooks. Although a primitive form of magic, they are still the primary object through with knowledge and mental sustenance is transferred. Now translate that into a quill, and the first example of pre-defined quill is born. By generating quills with pre-installed answers, they can appear to generate knowledge on the spot.

Another notable make is quills that draw off of magical fields. When writing the examination and enchating them to prevent cheating, a magical field is opened up which draws off the knowledge of the individual who is writing the exam. This is another form of predefined answering, as the magical field (Most commonly left in place to assist in automatically grading the examinations) fills itself with the knowledge of the writer. The quill then simply taps into this energy and writes out the answers desired.

5) Love

- Love is the fifth and final of Gamp's Laws. Love is something purely performed by nature and therefore can be neither created nor destroyed by magical means. Of course, there are so called "Love Potions", such as Amortentia, but they develop a powerful sense of Lust as opposed to a variation of Love. The primary difference here is that Lust is not withstanding and therefore needs to be topped up frequently by more of the same brew in order for it to remain active. Countless witches and wizards have used this as a means to procure themselves a spouse, and they eventually come under the impression that the said spouse loves them; however as soon as the Lust is gone, the spouse typically leaves. Love, therefore, is something that can only be generated by the heart and the mind, and not by magic.

How many principal exceptions are there to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration?

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Can wizards make food appear?

Can you use magic to make food in Harry Potter?