A Transfiguration Prodigy? No! I Really Am Not!

On the way back, unlike Tom, whose face was dark as water, Li Weide was in a very good mood.

After that round of "interrogation" of Tom just now, along with the sporadic blows he had dealt Tom over the previous two weeks, his Merit Points had finally reached 500.

Just enough to exchange for the bottle of Felix Felicis that had been locked away for over two weeks.

Without wasting any time, Li Weide exchanged for the Felix Felicis while they were still on the road.

A small glass vial appeared in his palm.

The Felix Felicis inside the vial gave off an irresistibly alluring glow...

Li Weide carefully put the vial away. Something like Felix Felicis would come in handy sooner or later.

The Hog's Head Inn now looked like an entirely different place from before.

Everywhere was spotless, without a speck of dust...

Even Dumbledore had nearly thought he had gone to the wrong place when he visited last time.

Naturally, it was all thanks to Toby, the house-elf.

As an experienced house-elf, even the slightest bit of grime in the place where his master lived was a tremendous insult to him!

If Aberforth had not strongly objected, Toby would have nearly thrown out the filthy pig's head hanging above the bar...

The moment Li Weide and Tom stepped through the door, Aberforth beckoned them over. His expression was somewhat unpleasant.

"My pompous brother is here. He's waiting for you in your room."

Long accustomed to the strange relationship between the brothers, Li Weide and Tom nodded and headed upstairs to their room.

As soon as they entered, Li Weide saw Dumbledore sitting beside his bed, quietly reading that copy of Oliver Twist.

Professor Hicks was there too. She sat in a chair, smiling at Li Weide and Tom by the door.

Li Weide glanced at Oliver Twist without feeling the least bit nervous, because the book's true contents had been hidden.

Aside from himself, who could see what was truly written inside, everyone else could only see the disguised surface text.

At that moment, Dumbledore wiped his eyes and looked up, just in time to see Li Weide and Tom.

"Ah... forgive me, the contents of this novel were simply too captivating... No wonder you like it so much, Weide." Dumbledore smiled as he set the book aside.

"Professor Dumbledore, Professor Hicks, it's been a long time."

"It certainly has... Have you two gotten used to living here?" Professor Hicks asked.

"Very much so. Mr. Aberforth has taken very good care of us."

Dumbledore studied the two of them and smiled. "I can see that my brother has indeed been very attentive... And it seems that your skills have improved quite a bit during this time as well."

Tom's brows rose slightly. Dumbledore could tell whether his abilities had improved?

Dumbledore pointed at the Spellbook spread open on Tom's desk and said with a smile, "This is second-year material..."

Tom immediately relaxed. So he had just seen the book Tom was reading. Tom had thought Dumbledore could see through him at a glance...

Dumbledore turned to Li Weide and asked, "Tom has been studying spells, so what about you, Weide? What have you been doing lately?"

"I've been studying Transfiguration recently," Li Weide answered honestly.

He truly had been researching Transfiguration lately. Thanks to the Complete Guide to Transfiguration, he felt that his Transfiguration had improved considerably.

"Transfiguration? Excellent. I happen to have some knowledge of Transfiguration myself. May I see?" Dumbledore asked with great interest.

Hicks smiled as well. "Weide, Professor Dumbledore is a very accomplished master of Transfiguration."

"Ah... you're making me blush, Eulalie." Dumbledore quickly waved his hands.

"Then I'll give it a try..."

Li Weide did not refuse. He had indeed studied Transfiguration for some time, and he wanted to see just how far his skills had progressed.

He drew his wand, stood before Dumbledore, and pointed it at his empty desk.

Whoosh!

A cream cake immediately appeared on the desk.

According to the first rule of Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration, although a wizard's Transfiguration could not conjure food from nothing, if they knew where food was, they could summon it directly.

The pumpkin juice Dumbledore had given Li Weide and the others at Wool's Orphanage had come from the same method...

Tom stared wide-eyed at the cake, unable to stop himself from looking at Li Weide.

You clearly knew how to do this... Yet whenever you wanted a midnight snack, you still woke me up and made me go to the kitchen to fetch food for you?

You bastard! You were deliberately making things difficult for me, Tom!

Li Weide then poked the cream cake with his wand again.

The next second, the cake began to transform rapidly. In the end, it became a goblet.

Dumbledore looked at the finely patterned goblet, his eyes full of admiration. To create a goblet through Transfiguration with such exquisite detail was the level of a fifth-year student!

And Li Weide, at his age, could already use Transfiguration so skillfully...

He realized that he seemed to have underestimated Weide's talent, especially his talent for Transfiguration!

Dumbledore was about to speak when Li Weide suddenly waved his wand again, and the goblet rapidly transformed once more.

From an exquisite golden goblet, it turned into an incredibly adorable little kitten!

Dumbledore froze slightly and could not help reaching out to pick the kitten up.

Its fur was soft, its body warm... The kitten stuck out its tongue and gently licked the back of Dumbledore's hand...

By the time Dumbledore looked up at Li Weide again, his eyes were filled with astonishment.

At Hogwarts, there were students capable of doing this.

But they were at least outstanding fifth- or sixth-years, and all of them were members of the Transfiguration Club.

Yet Li Weide had not even enrolled yet, and he had reached this level through self-study with only basic books!

How could Dumbledore not be shocked? This talent... was even far greater than his own had been when he was young!

In truth, although Li Weide's talent was not bad, it was nowhere near as exceptional as Dumbledore believed.

The reason he had advanced his Transfiguration to this level in just two weeks was not only because he possessed the magical strength of an adult wizard, but also because he had the system-produced book, Complete Guide to Transfiguration.

That book contained the insights and experiences of every Transfiguration master throughout history!

Every difficulty Li Weide encountered while practicing Transfiguration could be answered in that book!

It was equivalent to having hundreds of highly skilled Transfiguration masters teaching Li Weide—among them, even the completely unaware Dumbledore himself.

On top of that, Li Weide had his formidable memory helping him learn.

It was therefore not surprising that he had reached his current level.

At that moment, Professor Hicks also looked at Dumbledore in shock. Naturally, she knew just how difficult it was to learn Transfiguration to such a level at that age.

Dumbledore sighed and placed the kitten back on the table. "Weide, you've given me another tremendous surprise... Your Transfiguration is far better than that of many adult wizards. And you reached this level entirely through self-study... It would not be an exaggeration at all to call you a Transfiguration genius seen only once in a century!"

"Huh?" Li Weide was a little dumbfounded.

In fact, Li Weide truly did not know what level his Transfiguration had reached.

Based on his memories from before he had transmigrated, it seemed that by their third or fourth year, Young Wizards could already turn inanimate objects into living creatures.

So he had not thought turning a goblet into a kitten was particularly impressive.

After all, he had only intended to reveal a tiny bit of his talent in front of Dumbledore.

But now, it seemed he had overdone it?

Tsk! This is troublesome! I wasn't planning on having Dumbledore slap too many labels on me...

A Transfiguration genius? I really am not!

"Is it... really that exaggerated? Lots of people can do it, right?" Li Weide asked unwillingly.

"It isn't exaggerated at all, Weide. Many lower-year students can turn lifeless objects into living creatures after diligent practice."

"But at your age, being able to use Transfiguration to turn living things into something so detailed, so perfect... among all the Hogwarts students I have seen, it seems there has only ever been you."

Tom stood beside them, already completely stunned.

Could it be that what Li Weide had said in the woods earlier had not been entirely bragging?

Was the gap between them really that enormous?

So... my feeling that I could challenge him really had just been an illusion...