Professor McGonagall's Silence Was Deafening

"My dear Adam, please forgive your grandmother for taking so long to reply. After seeing your letter, I hesitated for a long time and spoke with the Flamels before finally making up my mind to write these words.

Before telling you everything, I must first affirm your intelligence and keen perception. You managed to trace the Sorcerer's Stone through a name separated from you by several centuries, which greatly surprised the Flamels. I am proud of you, dear.

To return to the point, since you found information about Mr. Flamel, you should also know that they are French, from the same land as your grandmother—that is, me. In fact, my great-great-grandfather was the great-grandson of Mrs. Flamel's younger brother.

I know that, upon reading this, you may feel that this family connection is far too distant. I feel the same way. The protagonists of amusing stories they mentioned during my childhood were already ancestors too distant for me to trace. We descendants should not disturb our ancestors' reclusive lives, so our family had little contact with the Flamels all this time—until you mentioned that bad premonition before."

After reading the first sheet of the letter, Adam was somewhat stunned.

Nicolas Flamel was actually his ancestor?

Oh, no. His ancestor was Mrs. Nicolas Flamel's brother. He could still claim kinship with Mrs. Flamel, but his connection with Nicolas Flamel was only somewhat related and not particularly close. Still, they could barely be considered relatives.

As he continued reading, Grandma Emma laid out the affairs of their family in full—there was not much worth elaborating on. She had simply gone through their family's dealings with the Flamels over the years in detail. Just as Grandma Emma had said, they were mostly stories about ancestors too distant to trace, and the further down the family line, the fewer intersections there were.

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

He did not know why, but Adam himself wanted to visit Nicolas Flamel again. After all, barring any surprises, the Sorcerer's Stone would be destroyed this semester, and the Flamels would end their lives of more than six hundred years.

The Portkey Nicolas Flamel had given him had indeed provided him with an effective means of escape at the time. Though he did not need it much now, Professor Dumbledore's guidance and his willingness to let Adam frequently visit Fawkes were also influenced by Nicolas Flamel.

At the very least, he should go see them and send the two of them off on their final journey. Or, if they still wanted to keep living...

He had quite a lot of Sorcerer's Stones here.

The weather grew hotter by the day, while the exam date drew ever closer, making the students increasingly restless.

For Adam, however, the approaching exams were not frightening. As the weather warmed, having completed his Tree Card magic training gave him more energy to review the problems he had encountered throughout the year of study.

"Professor McGonagall, where do objects go after a Vanishing Charm is cast on them?"

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

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

Professor McGonagall said:

"Ever since this spell was invented, there has never been a case of something affected by a Vanishing Charm appearing before people again."

"Not even a wizard who can Apparate?"

Professor McGonagall fell silent for a moment, then looked deeply at Adam.

"My advice is that it would be best not to cast a Vanishing Charm on a wizard."

"I know, Professor. This spell takes some time to take effect, and that is enough time for the other person to react and counterattack."

Adam nodded.

"What I mean is, could we use this or a similar method to investigate the place the Vanishing Charm leads to?"

Professor McGonagall hesitated, unsure whether she should first clarify that she had not meant what Adam thought she had, or first consider the question he had just raised.

"You may explain your idea."

"For example, Phoenix. Fawkes's Apparition probably would not be restricted by Anti-Apparition Charms."

Under Professor McGonagall's somewhat complicated gaze, Adam hurriedly added:

"Of course, House-elves also seem able to Apparate smoothly in places where Apparition is prohibited, such as Hogwarts."

Professor McGonagall opened her mouth and tried unsuccessfully to say something. After taking several deep breaths, she barely managed to sort out her thoughts.

"Adam, perhaps I used the wrong words when teaching you before. We do not necessarily have to investigate the underlying principles of every spell. There is nothing wrong with some magic remaining merely at the level of application, is there?"

So please spare your poor Transfiguration Class professor...

Professor McGonagall looked at Adam, doing her utmost to convey that message with her eyes.

"All right, then let us discuss the applications of the Transfiguration Charm."

Adam sighed. Then, just as Professor McGonagall breathed a sigh of relief, he turned another page of his notes.

"So, regarding the use of uncertain transformations caused by lapses in concentration during Transfiguration, transforming part of an opponent's limbs into deformities in order to render them incapable of fighting... Professor McGonagall?"

"..."

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

"Professor McGonagall?"

"I think you have more or less mastered the fundamentals of the Transfiguration Charm."

"Professor McGonagall??"

"Do you remember what you wanted to ask me when you came to see me after class last time..."

"Professor McGonagall???"

"Ah, Animagus. Let us discuss that instead, shall we?"

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

"...All right, Professor McGonagall."

Adam put down his notes and extended both hands with a devout expression.

There would always be opportunities to test his hypotheses, but chances to pet a cat were not so common.

Do not get the wrong idea. Adam naturally could not possibly have any improper thoughts toward Professor McGonagall. After personally confirming that an animal transformed through Animagus was truly no different from an ordinary animal, Adam was once again shocked by the sheer absurdity of wizard spells.

To be fair, there were advantages to knowing how something worked without knowing why. At the very least, hardly any mage would study this kind of controllable self-transformation that preserved consciousness.

Of those who possessed such an ability, what mage would need to turn himself into an ordinary animal?

After all, the most important ability of an Animagus was infiltration, and the targets that required mages capable of such a level of infiltration were usually not something an Animagus could fool.

Some time-related magic was the same. Those capable of interfering with time were all legendary great mages, beings on Clow Reed's level. Yet in the Wizarding World, the Ministry of Magic had piles of Time-Turners.

Thinking of the two dizzying magic arrays in the Time Card and the Wrath Card, Adam deeply felt the happiness of wizards who knew how things worked without knowing why.

It would be more sensible for him to apply for a Time-Turner to study first, then consider learning the magic of the Time Card and the Wrath Card.

As for now... Animagus was an interesting subject. He hoped to make progress before the year-end exams.

Because of the form of his Patronus, Adam was very interested in what his own Animagus might be.