Were there any verbal spells in Transfiguration? If yes, were there only few?

Question

I have never heard of any verbal spells during Transfiguration (in the book), this class was the least mentioned ever. So were there any verbal spells in Transfiguration? If there were, were there only few of them? Because the only difference will be changing living and non-living things separately. Only complicated wand movements (and thoughts) would have changed the way an object would convert. Am I correct?

Answer 1

Transfiguration spells can be both verbal and non-verbal.

An example of a verbal spell is Evanesco, studied by 5th-year Hogwarts students in Transfiguration class (source: HP and the Order of the Phoenix, chapters 13 and 15). From the HP Lexicon:

The basic form of Vanishing is the Vanishing Spell. Taught in fifth year Transfiguration (OP13), this spell is usually cast using the incantation Evanesco which is Latin for "vanish." McGonagall starts students out with Vanishing invertebrates -- snails --and then works them up to mice because they're more difficult (OP15). The Evanesco spell apparently doesn't need an object word (you don't have to say "Evaesco Potion," for example). The intent of the caster provides the needed focus on a particular object.

The last two sentences make the Evanesco spell perhaps partially non-verbal: some of the magic comes from the wizard's intent rather than from the words spoken. However, the necessity of saying "Evanesco" does make it technically a verbal spell.

Another example, depending on your definition of 'spell', might be the gargoyle outside the Headmaster's office. It transforms from stone to life when a password is spoken verbally - however, since the password can hardly be considered a spell (Lemon Sherbet, anyone?), this probably doesn't count and the real magic was done previously and possibly non-verbally.

Examples of non-verbal spells appear to be more widespread. One good example is the magic used by Animagi to transform never seems to be accompanied by any incantation. Again from HP Lexicon:

The Animagus Transfiguration can be performed wandlessly, since Sirius was able to accomplish it in Azkaban when his own wand was long gone (PA19). It is possible for another witch or wizard who is sufficiently knowledgeable to force an Animagus to Transfigure from animal shape back into human shape; the incantation (if any) for the spell is not currently known, but it is accompanied by a flash of light around the target Animagus. If used on a true animal, the "resume natural shape" spell would have no effect (PA19).

And when we've seen McGonagall, Sirius, etc. transform, they used no verbal spells.

There's also the spell Dumbledore uses to transform Slughorn from an armchair in HP and the Half-Blood Prince, and the spell 'Moody' uses to transform Malfoy into a ferret in HP and the Goblet of Fire. In both cases, no verbal spell was cast.

Fuller lists of spells used in Transfiguration, both verbal and non-verbal, can be found here (HP Lexicon) and here (HP Wikia).