Professor McGonagall suddenly appeared, and only then did Scott and Cedric realize what had happened. They had been so engrossed in their conversation outside the Transfiguration Club classroom that they had lost track of time.
"Sorry, Professor McGonagall."
Under Professor McGonagall's stern gaze, neither of them made excuses. They lowered their heads and obediently admitted their mistake.
Professor McGonagall didn't make a big deal of it, since Scott and Cedric were both good students. She gave them a warning look, then turned and entered the classroom.
"Come in, Mr. Trollope and Mr. Diggory."
Scott and Cedric hurried in after her, closing the door behind them.
Then, under the varied gazes of the other students, the two quickly found seats.
"Well, this is a surprise. Cedric and Scott, you two model boys actually managed to be late," a girl sitting nearby teased.
Angelina Johnson was a Gryffindor student in their year, and a Chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch Team.
"It was an accident, Angelina," Scott said quietly.
Angelina smiled, and was about to say something more when Professor McGonagall, standing at the front of the classroom, fixed her with a sharp look. She promptly shut her mouth.
"Our first topic today," Professor McGonagall said, holding a magazine, "is reading and discussing a paper published in the latest issue of Transfiguration Today."
The stern look on her face softened. "Even I found this paper quite enlightening."
By the time she finished speaking, her stern expression had vanished completely, and she couldn't help smiling with pride.
"The author is one of Gryffindor's finest former students, Bill Weasley."
Scott was surprised to hear that.
Bill Weasley? Scott remembered the Weasley Twins mentioning that their eldest brother had gone to work as a Curse-Breaker at Gringotts Wizarding Bank in Egypt after graduating from Hogwarts.
Wizards who became Curse-Breakers were generally especially skilled in magical disciplines such as Arithmancy, Charms, and Ancient Runes. Scott hadn't expected Bill Weasley to be so interested in Transfiguration as well, even while working.
No wonder he had once been impressive enough to earn twelve O.W.L.s.
"Let's begin reading." Professor McGonagall set down the magazine. "If you've already read it, you can take another careful look, or start thinking about what you'd like to say during the discussion."
At once, the students got moving. Some opened their magazines and notebooks, while others stood and took fresh magazines from the shelves along the classroom wall.
Seated next to the shelves, Scott turned and took down two copies of Transfiguration Today, handing one to Cedric.
"Thanks."
Cedric took it and eagerly flipped it open.
Scott opened his own magazine. "Looks like you haven't had a chance to read the latest issue either."
The copies of Transfiguration Today in the Transfiguration Club were ordered by Professor McGonagall, with the school covering the cost. The Hogwarts Library subscribed to it as well.
Since the magazine was available both at the club and in the library, Scott hadn't spent his own money on a subscription. As a result, he often didn't get to read it right away.
"Yeah, I've been busy with Quidditch practice lately." Cedric quickly found Professor McGonagall's paper in the table of contents and eagerly began reading it.
Scott found the same page. The first thing he saw was the title: A Hypothesis: Perhaps We Can Make Transfiguration More Complex.
Transfiguration Today was an academic journal focused on the latest developments in Transfiguration. It published articles as well as papers by some of the field's most distinguished and knowledgeable scholars.
The magazine also gave out the Transfiguration Today Most Promising Newcomer Award to Hogwarts students with exceptional talent in Transfiguration.
Professor McGonagall had complained more than once during Transfiguration Club meetings that no Hogwarts student had won the award for several years.
Whenever she brought it up, she would make a point of glancing at Scott, making him feel rather uneasy.
Scott had shown exceptional talent in his Transfiguration studies, but he had never published a paper in the magazine.
Professor McGonagall had even advised him to look for a topic and work hard on writing something he could publish, so he could compete for the Most Promising Newcomer Award. Scott had politely turned her down each time.
It didn't fit with Scott's own plans.
Throughout his first three years, Scott's Transfiguration studies had never gone beyond the material covered in his textbooks. He had simply studied those topics in much greater depth than most students.
Many students learned magic just to be able to perform it. If they could successfully cast a spell, they considered it mastered.
Scott didn't think that way.
He expected more than simply being able to do something. He had to do it well, and he was always striving to do it better.
Scott saw this as the foundation-building stage. He needed to make sure his foundations were solid and sound. But that basic knowledge alone wasn't enough to support a paper worthy of publication, let alone an award.
If he wanted to publish an award-winning paper, Scott would have to research a fresh topic that would catch people's attention. He wasn't willing to disrupt his study plans just to win a newcomer award from a magazine.
As he saw it, he was following a path of patiently building up knowledge before making a breakthrough. For now, he was still in the "building up" stage.
The Transfiguration Club classroom was quiet. The only sounds were pages turning and quills scratching across parchment.
By now, Scott couldn't hear any of it. His eyes were fixed on the paper before him. The more carefully he read, the brighter his eyes grew, and the more excited he became.
The paper inspired him greatly. Some of its ideas even matched hypotheses of his own that he had never tested.
When he finished reading, Scott gradually calmed down and looked at the paper's title again: A Hypothesis: Perhaps We Can Make Transfiguration More Complex.
Having read the paper, Scott understood that its author, Bill Weasley, had indeed presented only a hypothesis.
The author had offered some supporting evidence based on his experiences in Egypt, but it wasn't truly convincing.
So this really was just a hypothesis.
Even the editor of Transfiguration Today had only remarked at the end of the paper that "the hypothesis is certainly interesting." It was clear from his wording that he didn't expect it to prove feasible.
But for some reason, Scott felt that the hypothesis had considerable potential, and that it might actually work.
He wanted to continue researching it.
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