Transfiguration Class

If he set aside the pursuit of power and had to choose the class that interested him most, Vaughn would definitely choose Transfiguration Class!

Its sheer breadth, complexity, and versatility touched on nearly every aspect of the wizarding world.

If one subject could represent magic, Transfiguration would undoubtedly rank first!

Especially its advanced branch: Animagus transformation!

After casually sending Neville away, Vaughn and Hermione sat in the front row and kept staring at the tabby cat.

Hermione found his behavior rather strange. "Vaughn, is something wrong with that cat?"

"Nothing."

Vaughn did not dare expose Professor McGonagall's little trick.

Honestly, if he had not read the original story and known Professor McGonagall's usual methods, then at his current level, he could not possibly have identified it as an Animagus transformation with only a hurried glance.

It was too natural. The distribution of colors, the number of hairs, and the state of their growth all seemed utterly seamless.

Only by deliberately observing it could one notice that the tabby cat lacked normal animal habits, but that too was the result of Professor McGonagall's deliberate control.

She merely wanted to give the young wizards a show of authority, not secretly spy on anyone.

Hermione did not think much of it, but Professor McGonagall, standing at the podium, was inwardly startled.

After teaching for so many years, she had encountered plenty of young wizards who liked cats and stared at her. Yet with a single exchanged glance, she knew that this Weasley, who also liked cats, was looking at her with eyes full of scrutiny and amazement.

He had indeed discovered her identity!

Perhaps he was another promising talent in Transfiguration... though he was a Slytherin.

Professor McGonagall could not help nodding at Vaughn. Vaughn responded with a bow, and their silent exchange gave Hermione quite a fright.

"Vaughn, it—no, she..."

"Shh—this is the professor's surprise."

Hermione hurriedly covered her mouth and looked at Professor McGonagall with curiosity written all over her face.

As class drew near, the students gradually filed into the classroom.

Occasionally, someone noticed the tabby cat on the podium, but no one gave it a second look.

When the famous Harry Potter and his dormmate Ron Weasley were the last to enter, Professor McGonagall leaped down from the podium, undid her Animagus transformation, and returned to human form.

A tremendous gasp erupted from the entire classroom.

It was undoubtedly a highly successful entrance. One only needed to look at the bright-eyed young wizards to know that. Yet Professor McGonagall was far from pleased.

Because two students had been late on the very first class.

"Mr. Potter, Mr... Ron Weasley, perhaps I should turn the two of you into pocket watches, so you will remember when class starts?"

"We got lost, Professor," Harry explained stiffly.

"Then should I turn you into maps?"

Professor McGonagall's expression became even sterner. "Why are you not finding seats? Do you need a map to get back to your seats as well? Also, because you were late, Gryffindor loses five points. I hope you will remember this lesson!"

The two fell silent as mice and scurried shamefacedly to sit beside Vaughn and Hermione.

Those were the only empty seats in the classroom. Apparently, no matter where one was, the seats closest to the teacher were never particularly popular.

"Transfiguration is the most complex and dangerous magic you will study at Hogwarts."

Professor McGonagall waved her Wand and turned the teacher's desk into a pig. Amid the students' collective gasp, she declared loudly, "If anyone dares to misbehave in my class, I will punish them. Do not say I did not warn you!"

Harry and Ron went pale with fright.

"The professor is only trying to scare you," Hermione whispered. "Hogwarts stopped allowing Transfiguration to be used to punish students long ago. I read it in A History of Hogwarts."

Before the two could breathe a sigh of relief, however, Vaughn added, "But no one can supervise the professors. If she secretly turns you into pigs, no one will ever know."

Ron gave Vaughn a sullen look. He seemed to want to say something, but in the end, he dejectedly kept quiet.

Harry, on the other hand, still thought highly of Vaughn and did not mind his teasing.

Ever since he had learned about the wizarding world, everyone around him had told him how bad Slytherin was.

But he had never truly felt it for himself.

Therefore, when Professor McGonagall continued, "Before class begins, I need to commend Mr. Vaughn Weasley. He was the only one in the class to discover my Animagus transformation, so I will award Slytherin five points."

Harry and Hermione applauded enthusiastically.

Ron muttered under his breath, "Traitor!"

But no one paid him any attention.

Professor McGonagall then began the lesson.

Vaughn opened his textbook, A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration. Hermione noticed that its pages were densely covered in notes.

"You've already tried it?" Hermione exclaimed.

Vaughn nodded. "Only object transformation, and I still have many questions."

As he spoke, he noticed the longing in Hermione's eyes and had no choice but to remind her, "I don't recommend trying it privately, Hermione. If you have any questions, you can ask me or the professor."

Speaking from his own experience, Professor McGonagall's opening remarks had not been exaggerated in the slightest.

Transfiguration truly was the most complex and dangerous discipline. Simple changes to an object's shape were manageable enough—

What Vaughn had attempted the previous night, turning Dried Fish into a mouse, had still been object transformation. It had not reached the level of transforming living things.

That mouse had been fake. It was not alive.

Living transformation meant changing one living creature into an object in another state, or another type of living creature. Such changes involved life forms and forms of existence. Even if they lasted only briefly, they were filled with unforeseeable accidents.

Imagine turning a rabbit into a teacup, only for it not to turn back into a rabbit after the spell was lifted, but into a twisted pile of rotten flesh. Even more terrifying, it remained alive for a while, struggling and shrieking without end. The shock of that...

In any case, after trying it once, Vaughn had been unable to eat for several days.

That was with his mature mind and his understanding of caution and restraint.

If a young wizard rashly attempted to transform a human body and something like that happened, how horrific would it be...

Class began with Professor McGonagall's explanation.

For young wizards without any foundation, the material Professor McGonagall explained was both complicated and profound. They could only hurriedly jot down the various key points.

But for Vaughn, it was an excellent opportunity to verify his own foundations and ideas.

Throughout the class, he kept his head down and took notes, comparing them with his own and marking all the similarities and differences between them.

At the end of class, Professor McGonagall gave everyone a Match and instructed them to turn it into a Needle.

She also taught them an incantation: Vera Verto.

Everyone learned it, but the incantation served only as an aid. It was not the key to determining the transformation, so by the end of class, only Vaughn had succeeded.

Hermione had made her Match change as well; one end had already grown pointed.

"Excellent, excellent! Mr. Vaughn Weasley and Miss Granger."

Professor McGonagall held up their results for the entire class to see. "As you can see, Mr. Vaughn Weasley's transformation is perfect. Although Miss Granger has not fully succeeded yet, she has already met my requirements. I believe that if given another ten minutes, she would be able to transform it into a Needle."

"Slytherin and Gryffindor each receive ten points. Now then, your homework is..."

After assigning the Essay and dismissing the class, Professor McGonagall stopped Vaughn. "Mr. Vaughn Weasley, please stay behind. There are some things I need to discuss with you."