Professor McGonagall's Deafening Silence

"Dear Adam, please forgive your grandmother for replying to you so late. After seeing your letter, I hesitated for a long time and consulted with the Flamels before finally deciding to write these words.

Before I tell you everything, I must first acknowledge your wisdom and insight. The fact that you were able to trace the Sorcerer's Stone through a name that is centuries removed from you surprised even the Flamels. I am proud of you, dear.

Getting back to the point, having found information about Mr. Flamel, you should also know that they are French, and that your grandmother, that is, I, comes from the same land. In fact, my great-great-grandfather was the great-great-grandson of Mrs. Flamel's brother.

I know that you might find this kinship too distant, and I feel the same way. The protagonists of some of the anecdotes they mentioned when I was a child are ancestors so distant to me that they are difficult to trace. We descendants should not disturb the reclusive lives of our ancestors, so our family has never had much contact with the Flamels—until you mentioned that bad premonition."

After reading the first sheet of paper, Adam was a little shocked.

Nicolas Flamel was actually his ancestor?

Oh, no, his ancestor was the brother of Nicolas Flamel's wife. He was related to Mrs. Flamel, but only slightly related to Nicolas Flamel. Still, they were distantly related.

Continuing to read, Grandma Emma revealed their family history—nothing worth detailing, just a thorough review of their family's interactions with the Flamels over the years. As Grandma Emma said, most of the stories were about ancestors so distant that they were difficult to trace, and the interactions decreased further down the line.

What Adam cared more about was that at the end of the letter, Grandma Emma said that Nicolas Flamel had invited him to visit their home again during the holidays.

Although he didn't know why, Adam himself wanted to see Nicolas Flamel again. After all, the Sorcerer's Stone would be destroyed this semester, barring any accidents, and the Flamels would end their six-hundred-year lives.

The Portkey that Nicolas Flamel had given him did provide an effective means of escape at the time, although he didn't need it much now. Professor Dumbledore's guidance and his willingness to let him visit Fawkes often were also due to Nicolas Flamel's influence.

He should at least go and see them off, or if they wanted to continue living...

He had quite a few Sorcerer's Stones here.

The weather grew warmer day by day, and the exam dates drew nearer, causing the students to become increasingly irritable.

But for Adam, the approaching exams were not a terrible thing. As the weather warmed up, he had more energy to review the problems he had encountered in his year of study, having completed his Tree Card magic training.

"Professor McGonagall, where do objects go after being subjected to the Vanishing Charm?"

Adam asked a question he had been curious about for a long time during tutoring after class.

"Good question. In fact... no one knows."

Professor McGonagall said:

"Since the spell was invented, there has never been a precedent for something that has been subjected to the Vanishing Charm to reappear before people."

"Not even wizards who can Apparate?"

Professor McGonagall was silent for a moment, and then took a deep look at Adam:

"My suggestion is that it is best not to cast the Vanishing Charm on wizards."

"I know, Professor. The spell takes a little time to take effect, and that time is enough for the other party to react and counterattack."

Adam nodded:

"I mean, is it possible to explore where the Vanishing Charm leads through this or similar means?"

Professor McGonagall hesitated, unsure whether to clarify that she didn't mean what Adam thought she meant or to explore the question Adam had finally raised.

"You can tell me what you're thinking."

"For example, a phoenix. Fawkes's Apparition should not be restricted by Anti-Apparition Charms."

Under Professor McGonagall's somewhat subtle gaze, Adam quickly added:

"Of course, the Apparition of House-elves also seems to be able to be successfully cast in places with Anti-Apparition Charms, such as Hogwarts."

Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, tried to say something without success, and took a few deep breaths before barely sorting out her thoughts:

"Adam, maybe I misspoke when I was teaching you before, but we don't necessarily have to explore the underlying principles of all spells. Some magic is fine just staying at the level of application, isn't it?"

So please, spare your poor Transfiguration professor...

Professor McGonagall looked at Adam, trying her best to convey the above information with her eyes.

"Okay, then let's discuss the application of the Transfiguration Charm."

Adam sighed, and then flipped a page of his notebook as Professor McGonagall breathed a sigh of relief:

"So, regarding the use of uncertain transfiguration caused by inattention during transfiguration, transforming parts of the opponent's limbs into grotesque shapes to make the opponent lose combat ability... Professor McGonagall?"

"..."

At this moment, Professor McGonagall's silence was deafening.

"Professor McGonagall?"

"I think you've learned the basics of Transfiguration pretty well."

"Professor McGonagall??"

"Remember what you wanted to ask me about after class last time..."

"Professor McGonagall???"

"Ah, it's Animagus. Let's discuss how to become one, shall we?"

Professor McGonagall jumped onto the desk and transformed into an American Shorthair cat.

"...Okay, Professor McGonagall."

Adam put down his notebook and reached out his hands with a pious expression.

There's always time to try out guesses, but opportunities to pet a cat don't come often.

Don't get the wrong idea, Adam certainly didn't have any improper thoughts about Professor McGonagall. After personally confirming that the Animagus transformation animal was indeed no different from a normal animal, Adam was once again shocked by the unreasonable nature of wizarding magic.

To be fair, there are benefits to knowing what but not why. At least, hardly any wizards would research this kind of controllable self-transformation that retains consciousness.

Which wizard with this ability would need to turn themselves into an ordinary animal?

After all, the most important ability of an Animagus is infiltration, and the targets that a wizard capable of this level of infiltration needs to infiltrate are usually not the kind that an Animagus can fool.

The same goes for some time-related magic. Those who can interfere with time are all legendary great wizards, existences like Clow Reed, but in the wizarding world, the Ministry of Magic has a whole bunch of Time-Turners.

Thinking of the dizzying magic circles in the Time Card and Wrath Card, Adam deeply felt the happiness of wizards knowing what but not why.

He should apply for a Time-Turner to study it later, and then it would be more reliable to think about learning the Time Card and Wrath Card magic.

As for now... Animagus, an interesting subject. Hopefully, he can make progress before the end-of-year exams.

Because of his Patronus form, Adam was very interested in his Animagus.