The Weasley Twins' Invitation

Of the four-poster beds in the dormitory, only the one in the northwest corner held the backpack Linley had left in the train compartment. The other three beds were perfectly tidy, with no luggage at all.

This surprised Linley.

"Judging by the Sorting Ceremony just now, I seemed to be the last person sorted into Slytherin. Could it be that I'm the only one in this dormitory?!"

Linley thought to himself.

A dormitory could accommodate four young wizards. If the number of students sorted into Slytherin before Linley happened to be a multiple of four, then Linley, as the extra one, would naturally be assigned to a new dormitory.

In other words, Linley had an entire dormitory to himself!

As for the remaining three beds, they would probably be left for three new Slytherin students after next year's Sorting Ceremony.

The night passed quickly.

The first class that morning was Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration class. Not wanting to be late, Linley got up early and hurried toward the Transfiguration classroom after breakfast.

However, the moving staircases in the castle caused him quite a bit of trouble. It took Linley nearly half an hour to get from the Great Hall to the Transfiguration classroom.

This time, Linley finally understood why Harry and Ron had been late for their first class in the original story.

Without a bit of luck and skill, it would be entirely possible to waste half a day wandering those staircases.

This Transfiguration class was shared by Gryffindor and Slytherin. When Linley arrived, a tabby cat was sitting upright on the teacher's desk.

Linley knew that this tabby cat was Professor McGonagall's Animagus form, so he gave the cat a bow before taking his seat.

This made Professor McGonagall give Linley an extra look.

When the class bell rang, the tabby cat suddenly leaped forward and transformed back into Professor McGonagall in midair, drawing gasps from the young wizards.

Professor McGonagall stepped forward two paces. She seemed pleased by the students' reactions as she said, "I am delighted to see you here, and I am also pleased that no one was late for our first Transfiguration class. Some of you may have already studied Transfiguration, while others may know nothing about it. But whether you have learned it beforehand or not, there is one thing I must emphasize first: the fundamental laws of Transfiguration—Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration!"

"Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration tells us that wizards can transform objects or create certain things. However, there are five major exceptions, one of which is food. We cannot conjure delicious meals from thin air, but if we know where food is, we can summon it. And if we already have some food on hand, we can use magic to alter it or increase its quantity."

"Remember, never try to turn other objects into food. Once, a wizard who could not find anything to eat transformed a wooden table into bread and ate it. He later died because the magic sustaining the Transfiguration faded over time, causing the bread to turn back into a table inside his body. Thus, when people discovered his corpse, his insides were full of wooden splinters!"

"Transfiguration is the most complex and dangerous magic among the courses you will study at Hogwarts. No one is to fool around in my classroom, or I will send them out and permanently bar them from attending my Transfiguration class! Moreover, if such misconduct causes injury or death to another young wizard, the offender may even face trial by the Ministry of Magic!"

Professor McGonagall spoke with great severity.

Everyone fell silent, frightened by the consequences Professor McGonagall had described.

Just then, Linley raised his hand. "Professor McGonagall, if a wizard possessed sufficiently powerful magic to keep a Transfiguration active indefinitely, until they grew old or died, then wouldn't the transformed food be able to remain food forever without harming the wizard?"

Hearing this, Professor McGonagall shook her head. "Linley, that is an excellent question. But I must explain something: the magic required to maintain a Transfiguration gradually increases over time. As far as I know, no wizard's magic can sustain a Transfiguration for hundreds of years. Not even Professor Dumbledore could do so."

Linley nodded thoughtfully. It seemed that the relationship between the magic consumed to maintain a Transfiguration and time was not directly proportional, but exponential.

Professor McGonagall continued, "Furthermore, the magic required to sustain a Transfiguration is also related to the object's size. The larger the object created, the shorter the duration; conversely, the smaller the object, the longer it can last."

"And what I need you to do in this Transfiguration class is try to transform a match into a needle!"

As Professor McGonagall spoke, she handed everyone a match.

Linley took out his wand from his robes and softly recited the incantation.

Under the control of the Transfiguration spell, the match gradually began to change. First, one end grew thinner and thinner, while its surface slowly gave off a silvery gleam.

After completing the outward transformation, Linley tried to alter the match's material, changing it from wood into metal.

Yet no matter how Linley tried to control the match with his mind, he could only make it look more like a silver needle on the outside. Inside, it was still a piece of wood.

Even so, Linley's progress was already the fastest in the classroom.

Professor McGonagall walked over and saw the match before Linley, which had already taken on the appearance of a silver needle. She could not help but praise him. "Very good! Though you have not completely succeeded, reaching this level on your first attempt at Transfiguration is already excellent! For your outstanding Transfiguration, Slytherin receives 2 points!"

"Thank you, Professor!" Linley said.

During the remainder of the Transfiguration class, Linley continued trying to change the match's material. At last, before class ended, he completed the transformation and turned the match entirely into a silver needle.

Without question, this earned another two points for Slytherin.

After leaving the Transfiguration classroom, Linley headed toward the Potions classroom beneath Hogwarts Castle.

As he passed through the Great Hall, Linley ran into Fred and George.

"Hey, brother!" Fred walked up to Linley and patted him on the shoulder.

George said from beside him, "We didn't expect you to really end up in Slytherin. In our eyes, you're nothing like those little snakes."

Linley spread his hands and answered honestly, "The Sorting Hat said I possessed the traits of all four Houses, but it ultimately sorted me into Slytherin."

Linley did not tell them that he had wanted to go to Slytherin himself.

Fred said regretfully, "What a pity you couldn't come to Gryffindor."

"It's all right, Fred," George said. "We're still good friends, aren't we?! By the way, Linley, are you free tonight?"

Fred continued, "If you are, come meet us in the Prizes Display Room after dinner tonight. We've got something good to show you!"