Transfiguration Club: Discussion

[tangerinesidhe.livejournal.com]

The other day I started wondering about certain questions dealing with Transfiguration in the Harry Potter universe. What sort of laws of magic determine what can and can't be transfigured--not just laws passed by MoM, but "laws of physics." Can some things just not be 'created' through transfiguration?

For example: Gold. If a talented enough wizard were able to transfigure a button into a knut, then how would wizarding economy function? Is this something that can happen in the HP universe? And, if so is there any way to detect the transfigured coin from the genuine thing?

Or, what about when you transfigure a hedgehog into a pin cushion... can you then transfigure the pin cushion into something else?

Please feel free to share your ideas or confusion on these two puzzles--or present your own point of ponderance. What makes you wonder?

--Destiny//Transfiguration Club Leader and Gryffindor Prefect.