Melanie raised her hand hesitantly. She was getting bolder, lesson by lesson.
"I would say transfiguration is magic that alters an object more significantly than a charm, transforming it somehow." That seemed like a pretty safe definition.

She then answered the second part of the question. "I think the most important thing to remembering when using transfiguration is to pronounce the spell correctly and to not lose focus. When you're trying to transfigure something, I imagine there could be pretty serious consequences if you made a mistake, even a small one like incorrect wand movement."