The next day
Second floor of the Main Castle
Transfiguration Class office
Knock, knock, knock—
"Come in."
The door was pushed open, but there was no one in sight.
Fawkes the phoenix lazily lifted his head, then narrowed his eyes again.
Professor Dumbledore was flipping through an ancient book at his desk. It had been given to him by the alchemist Nicolas Flamel.
Hmm?
Dumbledore set down the book, looking somewhat surprised.
Then, a sharp, wise gleam flashed through his blue eyes.
"Ah! Cypher!"
Dumbledore looked a little surprised.
"Good morning, Professor Dumbledore!"
Cypher appeared, closed the door, and quickly walked over to the desk.
"Come, sit."
Professor Dumbledore took a wooden stick from a drawer and handed it to Cypher.
Then he looked at Cypher with great interest.
Having mastered the Disillusionment Charm, how proficient was his Transfiguration?
Cypher accepted the wooden stick, unsure whether to laugh or cry.
He had been thinking of showing the professor his abilities, and the professor had immediately arranged an opportunity.
Fortunately, his Transfiguration was not bad.
If the professor had handed him a book, he would have had a headache. Turning a wooden stick into a wooden chair would not be much of a problem.
Cypher took out his wand.
"Transformation Spell."
The wooden stick twisted, stretched, and expanded, becoming a simply styled chair.
Cypher sat down on it, and the chair creaked beneath him.
He felt a little embarrassed. He was still somewhat unpracticed, and his precision was lacking.
"Hehe, it's all right. You just need more practice."
Dumbledore offered reassurance.
"I asked you to come to my office this morning. It didn't disrupt your life, did it?"
"No, Professor."
Cypher awkwardly scratched his nose, his scalp tingling.
Because there was something strange about the way Dumbledore was looking at him.
Fortunately, the conversation that followed was normal. Dumbledore explained that he had made an oversight at work and had allowed Iris to go meet Cypher on her own. Cypher quickly waved it off, saying he did not mind.
Seeing that Cypher bore no resentment, Dumbledore asked whether he had grown accustomed to his daily life.
In short, Professor Dumbledore was acting strangely, as though he were testing him.
Cypher thought about it. He did not want to beat around the bush and waste time. He still had many things to do.
It was not as though he had reached a bottleneck and needed to slow down to find that crucial spark of inspiration.
"Professor, if there is something you wish to ask me, please speak plainly."
Professor Dumbledore saw that Cypher met his gaze without avoiding it, with neither wariness nor hostility in his eyes.
He felt greatly reassured, but he still asked cautiously.
"Cypher, where did you learn the Disillusionment Charm? To be frank, I originally called you here only to ask whether you were adapting well to the Magical World. If you had any problems, I intended to help."
Cypher understood. He was truly Muggle-born, not a noble whose family had fallen into decline.
Professor Dumbledore had secured him a place among the top students, likely because he had seen him cast spells without a wand and taken a liking to his talent.
But now that he had revealed he knew the Disillusionment Charm, the professor was probably worried that he would be recruited by pure-bloods.
"The Restricted Section, Professor. This is what happened..."
Cypher told him in detail how Luna had threatened Professor Slughorn.
"That Horace..."
After hearing the whole story, Professor Dumbledore did not know how to salvage even a little dignity for Professor Slughorn.
"Besides the Disillusionment Charm, what other forbidden spells did you choose?"
"The Patronus Charm and Occlumency."
Cypher answered without hesitation.
After speaking, he looked at Professor Dumbledore with sparkling eyes. He hoped the professor could offer them some guidance.
Because they had made no progress at all in learning either spell so far.
Professor Dumbledore did not answer. Instead, he pushed the glass in front of him toward Cypher.
"Try turning it into a wooden chair."
Dumbledore had noticed that there was something strange about Cypher's Transfiguration.
He wanted to test it again.
"Professor, I can't do that."
"It's all right. Give it a try. There are too many students in class, so I did not notice before. Just now, I made a new discovery."
Cypher sighed helplessly. He knew there was a major problem with his cross-material Transfiguration.
He took out his wand again and pointed it at the glass before him.
"Transformation Spell."
The glass changed as though someone had pressed a slow-motion button.
It took quite a while before the transformation ended.
Once it did, Cypher almost wished the spell had failed. The glass had not remained unchanged...
Because it had turned into a malformed object with four twisted legs.
Cypher actually felt that he might still be able to salvage it.
Again and again, he poked and prodded the malformed object with his wand.
In the end, unable to bear the humiliation any longer, the glass chose to explode.
With a wave of his hand, Dumbledore stopped the fragments.
Then he restored them to their original glass form.
"Cypher, what you did was extremely dangerous. Your understanding of Transfiguration is completely wrong."
Hearing this, Cypher looked up at Dumbledore in surprise.
"I don't understand, Professor."
To show Cypher the difference,
Dumbledore took out another glass.
"You transform one, and I'll transform the other."
As expected, Cypher's became another malformed object, while Dumbledore's glass became an exquisite wooden chair.
"Watch carefully!"
With that, Dumbledore threw both objects onto the floor.
Cypher's malformed object became wreckage of glass shards mixed with wooden splinters.
But the wooden chair created by the professor turned into the remains of a glass. Cypher even felt that he could piece the fragments back together into the original glass.
"Do you understand now?"
Cypher fell into thought.
"Yes! Cypher, when a transformed object is damaged, it reverts to its original form. But your Transfiguration truly changed its material. That falls within the realm of alchemy. When I restored your wreckage for the first time, I confirmed this."
"I am very pleased that you managed to stumble across the threshold of alchemy without a teacher. When the opportunity arises, I would like to recommend a true master alchemist to you and have him take you as his apprentice."
"I've gone off topic. Now, let me tell you something: you must truly understand what transformation is, rather than alteration."
Dumbledore rested his hands beneath his chin and explained in a slightly serious tone.
"When an eagle becomes a cup, lifting the spell will leave it as a living, breathing eagle. But when a cup becomes an eagle that shows signs of life, you do not even know where its heart is."
Dumbledore gave an example for reference. Catching sight of the owl nearby from the corner of his eye, he immediately began a live demonstration.
The owl resting on the windowsill was suddenly transformed into a cup. Although the professor changed it back immediately, it continued squawking in protest.
However, Dumbledore tossed it a few nuts with a flick of his hand and dismissed it to the side. Its dignity lay shattered on the floor; as long as there was food, anyone could be its father...
"So, I shouldn't concern myself with what it is or what I want it to become. I should tell it what it ought to be?"
A flash of inspiration passed through Cypher's mind, and this time, he firmly seized it.
"Correct. It is a conceptual overlay. You call this cup a chair, but it is still a 'cup.'"
Dumbledore said with a smile.
I thought I had to construct the complete structure.
No wonder transforming things made of the same material had never felt especially difficult.
But if I changed the material, it became very hard to transform it completely.
"Transformation Spell."
Cypher raised his wand, waved it, and cast the spell at the glass Dumbledore had restored.
He succeeded. The small glass transformed into a magnificent sofa.
However, the success came rather suddenly, and the sofa appeared on Professor Dumbledore's desk.
Cypher used a Levitation Charm to move it off the desk, then happily sat down on it.
"It looks more comfortable than the office chair behind me, Cypher."
Dumbledore's tone was unreadable. Watching Cypher roll around happily on the sofa, he spoke with a smiling expression.
"Uh... I would like to submit this as my homework. I sincerely ask for your guidance on its shortcomings."
Cypher broke out in a cold sweat and hurriedly offered a tactful hint.
"Mm, I'll accept it. Next, let's talk about some other magic."
Before you continue