Transient patterns of the Rosensweig instability are accessed with a pulse sequence. The critical scaling behavior of the oscillation frequency and of the propagation velocity of these patterns is experimentally investigated by switching the magnetic induction to subcritical values. The experimental findings are in good agreement with the linear theory, if the low viscosity and the finite thickness of the magnetic liquid layer are taken into account. In this way we elucidate the subcritical branch of the underlying steady state bifurcation, which is situated in the immediate vicinity of a splitting type bifurcation.