The Magic Professor

As the greatest wizard in the United Kingdom this century, Dumbledore held several positions besides that of Hogwarts headmaster, and his daily work kept him exceedingly busy.

Yet even at over a hundred years old, he remained full of energy and could always handle those complicated affairs properly... most of the time, anyway.

But there were some matters that even his power and wisdom found difficult to resolve, matters for which he could not provide a perfect answer.

For instance, how to raise children.

Even after serving as headmaster for so many years, there were always students who gave him headaches.

Harry Potter, who would be enrolling this year?

Of course not. Though the child appeared to be detached from the wizarding world, he had actually lived under Dumbledore's watchful eye all along. Dumbledore understood him very well. He only needed to guide him gradually according to the circumstances, and everything would fall into place.

The child who truly troubled him was another one.

"Roger Virgil..."

After Dumbledore confirmed that he was indeed a wizard, Roger Virgil had seemed very happy.

But Roger's actions afterward genuinely worried him.

After the trial ended, the first thing Roger busied himself with was arranging a funeral for the parents of the body's original owner.

Since Dumbledore knew about it, he naturally could not stand by and watch an eleven-year-old child handle such matters alone.

He asked someone he trusted to help Roger. It was assistance, but also observation.

He wanted to infer Roger's inner thoughts from his actions.

And the result...

"Sigh." Dumbledore let out a breath.

At the funeral, friends and relatives from both sides of Roger's family came to pay their respects one after another. Yet whether they were his father's friends or his mother's relatives, Roger showed no desire to interact with them any further.

To Roger, this was perfectly normal.

For one thing, they had not seen each other for years and had naturally grown distant. For another, Roger was a soul reborn in another body. Asking him to treat the original owner's relatives as his own family was genuinely difficult for him.

In Roger's view, it was better to settle their ties and go their separate ways, forgetting one another in the vast world... His trial might have ended, but plenty of trouble still remained unresolved.

Whether it was trouble he had brought upon himself in the past or trouble he would bring upon himself in the future, none of it was something a few Muggles with only a little money could bear. His rebirth in this body meant he owed some karmic debt, so he should not bring further trouble to the original owner's family.

But in Dumbledore's eyes, Roger was rejecting a reunion with his relatives. The war's impact on the boy had not faded simply because he had regained his freedom after the trial.

Looking at the wool socks in the corner, Dumbledore felt somewhat dejected.

Once people grew old, they became somewhat sentimental. They could not help reminiscing about the past.

Hurt by Muggles, attacking and hurting other Muggles in order to protect himself, a prophet, a gifted child with an unconventional way of thinking...

His sister, his father, his close friend, students who had gone astray... Dumbledore saw too many familiar shadows in Roger.

Too many memories he could not bear to recall, too many regrets.

He truly did not want to see tragedies that had once happened repeat themselves before his eyes in another form.

Dumbledore hoped Roger would walk the right path and live a happy life.

But as one who stood at the very top of the wizarding world, even if Dumbledore wished to keep an eye on Roger, he was too busy to spare the energy.

Unable to handle things personally, he could only entrust Roger's affairs to another trustworthy person, just as he had entrusted Harry Potter's affairs to his trusted confidant Hagrid.

"Is Transfiguration taught separately from most spells because its fundamental nature differs greatly from that of ordinary spells?" Roger looked up from the list of textbooks he needed to buy and asked.

On the way to The Leaky Cauldron, Roger asked questions all the way like an ordinary child filled with curiosity about the magical world.

"It is not just the fundamental nature. Even the way it is cast differs." Professor McGonagall answered Roger's question casually. Many young wizards she had encountered liked asking questions about everything.

And the overwhelming majority of them, after experiencing the hardships of learning magic at Hogwarts, would gradually lose that curiosity and interest in magic, becoming study machines who merely prepared for exams.

Only a very small number would retain that thirst for knowledge and willingly spend a great deal of effort researching magical knowledge beyond the curriculum that would never appear on an exam.

"Most spells add a magical property to their target through casting. For example, the 'swelling' of a jinx, the 'death' of a curse, or the 'high temperature' and 'levitation' of ordinary spells."

"Transfiguration, meanwhile, changes an object's physical properties—its size, structure, density, or even whether it exists at all."

"The difference in casting lies in this: ordinary spells make a target 'become XX,' while Transfiguration makes it 'turn into XX.' They may sound similar, but once your study of magic reaches a certain depth, you will understand just how vastly different they are." Since she was explaining things to a young wizard who had not yet enrolled, Professor McGonagall did not go into too much depth. She merely gave a general explanation in simple terms.

Looking at Roger's youthful face as he fell into thought, Professor McGonagall felt somewhat helpless.

They had interacted often while arranging the funeral together, and in Professor McGonagall's eyes, Roger was nothing like an eleven-year-old child.

A thinker who always seemed to be worrying over something—this was the image Professor McGonagall had of Roger.

Only when he came into contact with magic did he act like a normal eleven-year-old wizard, filled with anticipation like a child who had received a new toy.

Before enrolling at Hogwarts, students had to buy the textbooks required for their current year, new robes in the proper size, and, for first-years, a cauldron for Potions class, a wand for casting spells, pets, and other necessities.

If one of their parents was a wizard, that parent would take the child to purchase those things.

If both parents were ordinary people commonly known as Muggles, Hogwarts teachers would take over the task of introducing the children to the magical world.

For example, the person who first led Harry Potter into the wizarding world was Hogwarts's half-giant, Hagrid.

None of Roger's family had any connection to wizards. They were all Muggles.

Therefore, he also needed a teacher to guide him to Diagon Alley to purchase all the things required for enrollment... Diagon Alley was hidden away, and without a wizard who knew magic to lead the way, one simply could not enter.

And Roger's guide was one of Dumbledore's most trusted people: Minerva McGonagall, Head of Gryffindor House at Hogwarts and its Transfiguration professor.

Looking at The Leaky Cauldron, now within sight and only three to five minutes away, Professor McGonagall turned to Roger. "Roger, what do you plan to do after graduating from Hogwarts? Join the Ministry of Magic, return to Muggle society, or..."

If she had asked this question of any other young wizard who was about to enroll, most of them would have been unable to give a definite answer.

But after spending so much time with Roger, Professor McGonagall believed the boy had already thought of one.

And indeed, just as Minerva McGonagall had expected.

Roger gave a very clear answer.