What About a Change of Shape

In September at Hogwarts, the nighttime temperature was already nearing freezing, and a group of students were shivering miserably on the roof of the Astronomy Tower.

Harry shivered and asked Ron, "Is there a spell to warm people up?"

Ron handed him a candy and said, "Here, Fred gave it to me before class. He said it would warm me up."

Astronomy class wasn't very strict about discipline, and Professor Sinistra turned a blind eye to many things.

So when Harry breathed fire like a dragon, the professor didn't deduct any points from Gryffindor.

"Pepper Imps again," the professor chuckled and shook her head. "Freshmen get tricked every year."

Ron's face was covered in flames, but he wasn't seriously harmed, just startled.

"I'm so angry!" he gritted his teeth. "I knew Fred wouldn't have good intentions."

Charles chimed in from the side, "Just tell me, did it warm you up or not?"

Fortunately, Astronomy class ended quickly. Today's lesson was just about learning how to use telescopes, and as soon as class was over, everyone rushed downstairs.

Only Charles stayed behind to help the professor tidy up the telescopes.

With a reason to separate from the others, Charles began his plan for the night.

"I want a room for practicing magic..."

After walking back and forth three times in front of a wall on the eighth floor of the Astronomy Tower, chanting his request, a large door appeared on the wall.

Entering the Room of Requirement, he found a spacious classroom. Candles burned brightly in the candelabras on the walls, and several wooden dummies stood on the floor.

Charles understood that spells needed practice, just like "fists never leave the hand, and songs never leave the mouth."

The next morning, they had Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration class, and Charles arrived early.

Professor McGonagall was preparing the matchsticks needed for the lesson when Charles immediately went over and asked, "Excuse me, can I help?"

Professor McGonagall smiled and looked at him for a moment before saying, "The owls did deliver your broomstick this morning, Mr. Smith said I could decide when to give it to you."

Charles's smile grew even more obedient and cute.

Professor McGonagall continued, "Next Thursday afternoon, you'll start your flying lessons. I've spoken with Madam Hooch. I'll only agree to you using your own broomstick during class if you show sufficient skill."

Charles immediately replied, "Thank you, Professor, I'll work hard!"

Professor McGonagall smiled again and said, "That's a good broom, better than anything on the market. I'm a little envious."

Charles's eyes darted around, and he said, "You can use it when I'm not in class, consider it a storage fee."

Professor McGonagall smiled and shook her head. "I'm no longer at an age where I can wrestle with the wind on an untamed broomstick. Now I prefer a comfortable broom and enjoy the warm sunshine."

Charles felt like he needed to write to the old man again.

As other students began to arrive, Professor McGonagall gave him a playful smile. "What you're about to see, keep it a secret for me."

With that, she turned into a cat and stood on the podium.

Charles suppressed the urge to pet her and instead asked a question, "Professor, do you like fish?"

Then he learned that even Professor McGonagall could roll her eyes.

Charles found a seat and pondered whether he should try to become an Animagus. If he got lucky, he could freeload at the zoo.

But becoming an Animagus took a long time and was a complex process.

First, you had to hold a Mandrake leaf in your mouth for a month between two full moons, without swallowing or spitting it out. Charles figured he'd need glucose or a feeding tube to avoid starving during that time.

Next, you had to put your saliva and the Mandrake leaf into a crystal vial to absorb moonlight. If there were clouds in the sky, you had to start over. This step would probably be fine in the Sahara Desert.

Then, under the moon, you'd add a strand of your hair and a silver teaspoon of dew to the crystal vial. The problem was that this dew had to be collected over seven consecutive days with no sun or human contact, which would require a trip to an uninhabited area like the Amazon rainforest.

After adding other ingredients, the vial had to be kept in a quiet, dark place and not looked at or disturbed until the next violent thunderstorm with lightning. Putting it somewhere like Bogor in Indonesia, Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela, or Hainan, where it rained and stormed every other day, would be ideal.

In addition to all this, there were controllable steps like pointing your wand at your heart and chanting spells every morning and evening. When the time was right, you could drink the potion and transform.

Charles felt a sense of longing, but also a bit of worry. What if he turned into an earthworm and got used as bait by a fisherman?

He was distracted by these thoughts throughout the class until Professor McGonagall said to him, "You still need a lot more practice."

Charles snapped back to attention. Professor McGonagall was handing out matchsticks to everyone, asking them to turn them into needles.

What he managed to transform... did look like a needle, with a sharp point. It had an eye at one end, but the other end was flat like a nail head.

He couldn't be sure if this "nail-needle" was a needle, so he recalled what Professor McGonagall had just taught and continued to practice.

After class, Hermione looked very pleased with herself and even gave Charles a triumphant smile as she left the classroom.

Ron looked a bit unhappy. "Look at her smug face, you'd think she cast some amazing spell."

In the classroom earlier, only Hermione had perfectly transformed the matchstick into a needle. Professor McGonagall had even asked her to demonstrate to the class, and she had naturally earned extra points.

Hermione's pride was earned through her own abilities, but it still irked some people.

Charles just smiled. He'd been through that age himself, and there was no point in saying anything.

Besides, Hermione and he had had a "rivalry" for years, competing in academics since primary school for six years.

Seeing Charles's lack of reaction, Ron said again, "She seemed to be provoking you just now. Aren't you going to teach her a lesson?"

Charles then realized Ron was sticking up for him and asked, amused and exasperated, "How do you want me to teach her a lesson?"

Ron thought for a moment. Since the other person was a girl, using force wouldn't be appropriate, so he said, "Don't you have a talent for Divination? Make up a prophecy to scare her."

Charles shrugged. "How should I make one up to scare her? Tell her she'll marry you in the future?"

Whether Hermione would be scared was unknown, but Ron was genuinely terrified. His face instantly turned paler than Malfoy's, and he tremblingly asked Charles, "Are you... are you actually divining, or just making things up?"

Charles put an arm around Ron's shoulders and said earnestly, "If you can't keep up with others, you should look for reasons within yourself. Don't get upset and then try to hurt the other person elsewhere, thinking you've won. This might bring temporary pleasure, but the other person will surpass you further and further, and in the end, you'll be the only one who fails. The other person will be on a completely different level from you, and they won't care at all how you're doing..."

Charles lectured Ron from the Transfiguration classroom all the way to the entrance of the Great Hall. Ron tried to escape during the lecture, but Charles had his arm around him, and he didn't have enough strength to break free.

He looked to Harry for help with his eyes, but Harry only offered a sympathetic glance.