Magical Model

After receiving the letter, Albert decided to visit Hagrid at the Hunting Cabin, to boost his confidence and, while he was at it... well, he mainly wanted to take a few photos of Buckbeak. It was no easy task to create a Hippogriff using a Transfiguration spell.

Albert first tried transfiguring wood, creating a life-sized model of Buckbeak. At the very least, it could not look too different from the original, or people would easily spot the flaw.

Of course, a model alone was not enough. He needed to turn an inanimate object into a living creature, and that was not particularly difficult. Professor McGonagall had taught them the Transformation spell back in third-year Transfiguration—the spell that turned a teapot into a turtle.

But... there was still a major problem. The larger the object, the more difficult the spell became.

If all he wanted was to turn a rock into a hound, Albert could already manage that. But Buckbeak was not small, and it was a Magical Creature. Transfiguring it was several times harder than turning a rock into a hound.

Albert's first attempt failed, as expected. The Hippogriff he created was smaller than it should have been, and it did not look alive at all. The flaw was obvious at a glance.

After failing repeatedly, Albert gave up on practicing by himself and decided to seek advice from others. Professor McGonagall was a ready-made expert in Transfiguration, far more capable than a half-baked amateur like him.

"You want to use a Transfiguration spell to create a dragon?" Professor McGonagall could scarcely believe her ears after listening to Albert.

"No, no, Professor. I only want to make a model, an animated, realistic model," Albert quickly explained. "You may have heard about the accident in Care of Magical Creatures class at