As a group of Ravenclaw girls entered the Transfiguration classroom, Kyle hurried after them and walked toward the front with them, looking perfectly natural.
By the time they reached the second row, there was only one little witch ahead of Kyle.
And they were now just one step away from the lectern.
His hand clenched the packet of dried fish in his pocket. Though he was incredibly nervous, he still managed to look calm and composed.
But just as Kyle was about to take out the fish and unlock the achievement, he suddenly realized that the little Ravenclaw witch ahead of him seemed to have had the same idea.
Since she was farther ahead, Kyle could even see a green object slowly emerging from her pocket.
It was... a cat teaser??
"Oh no, she beat me to it!"
Kyle's vision went dark, and he felt completely numb.
There was no need to think about it. Once the little witch pulled out the cat teaser, Professor Meow-gonagall would surely turn back into Professor McGonagall.
The plan he'd been thinking about for so long had completely fallen apart!
"Damn it, why did I have to overthink it? I should've just gone for it from the start!"
Kyle kicked himself in frustration, wishing he could use the Time-Turner to go back five minutes and give his past self a good slap.
But what was done was done. There was no point saying anything now, so Kyle could only sigh and shift to the left, taking a seat in the front row.
As if he'd meant to sit there all along.
At the same time, the little witch Kyle had come to despise had reached the lectern, and her hand had come all the way out of her pocket.
But just then, the tabby cat on the lectern suddenly smiled. She tapped the tabletop lightly with her hind legs, and in the blink of an eye, she had turned back into Professor McGonagall.
"Miss Leona, it's good to have a kind heart, but as a witch, it's clearly even more important to stay alert at all times."
Professor McGonagall appeared beside the new student named Leona. As she spoke, she gave Leona's shoulder a light pat, pressing the hand holding the cat teaser right back into her pocket.
"P-Professor M-Mc... McGonagall." The little witch was clearly badly shaken; her voice trembled as she spoke.
"That's right. If you'd observed carefully, you would have noticed that the markings around the cat's eyes were exactly the same as the square glasses I wear," Professor McGonagall said coolly. "Now, would you please return to your seat? Class is about to begin."
She neither took points nor scolded Leona harshly. In Professor McGonagall's eyes, Leona's behavior was no more surprising than a first-year arriving late.
She'd worked at Hogwarts for half her life, and the tradition of demonstrating Animagus Transformation in the first class had been going on for seven or eight years. In that time, she'd seen countless first-years like Leona.
Some tried to tease the cat, some tried to feed it, and others tried to pet it... They'd tried all sorts of things.
Of course, Professor McGonagall had never let any of them succeed.
Without real skill, how could the tradition have lasted so long? Did they think she'd bought her reputation as a master of Transfiguration?
Besides, cats were much quicker to react than wizards. If she could be caught out by these first-years, she'd have no face left to stay at Hogwarts. She might as well resign.
After Leona's Ravenclaw classmates helped her back to her seat, Professor McGonagall expertly flicked her wand and used a simple healing spell to calm her down.
"Calming Charm."
The spell worked wonders. Leona stopped trembling at once, and her pale face regained some color.
"Sorry, Professor McGonagall. I didn't know it was you."
"Don't let it happen again."
Professor McGonagall turned and returned to the lectern. As she passed the front row, she glanced at Kyle, whether intentionally or not.
She'd suspected Kyle might have had the same idea as Leona, but she soon noticed that after she ended her Animagus Transformation, Kyle hadn't looked the least bit astonished.
It seemed Kyle had recognized her Animagus form from the start. He'd probably just wanted to sit in the front row.
Clearly, she shouldn't have believed Weasley. Kyle really was a clever, studious boy.
Back at the lectern, Professor McGonagall looked at the young wizards below and said sternly, "Transfiguration is the most complex and dangerous magic you'll study at Hogwarts.
"Anyone who dares to misbehave in my class will be asked to leave and never allowed back in. Consider yourselves warned."
As soon as Professor McGonagall spoke, the entire classroom fell silent. At the same time, Kyle finally let out the breath he'd been holding.
He'd escaped disaster! Thank goodness for Leona. If not for her, he'd have been the one to humiliate himself in front of everyone.
Kyle decided he'd talk to Qiu after class. Whether or not Leona wanted to buy a map, he'd pay for one and give it to her.
He couldn't let a good person be disappointed.
The joy of having survived the ordeal made Kyle's note-taking feel much lighter. Even the dry lecture on Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration sounded more pleasant.
But unlike him, Kanna, who was also sitting in the front row, felt as if she were sitting on pins and needles.
Kanna couldn't understand why she'd run into Kyle even after choosing a seat in the front row. The new student who'd arrived with him was sitting in the very last row, wasn't he?
Maybe they'd just happened to come the same way?
But that didn't make sense. She clearly remembered that the two of them were roommates. If she hadn't known that, she'd never have sat in the front row, no matter what.
So what was going on now?
She was in the front row, and Kyle was beside her... The worst and something even worse, all at once?
Kanna's thoughts were a tangled mess. She mechanically took notes on Professor McGonagall's words, not even realizing she'd started writing across the lines.
At the lectern, Professor McGonagall continued explaining the precautions for Transfiguration, unaware that the two young wizards right under her nose were both acting strangely.
"That's everything you need to know about Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration. Be sure to remember it; it's the foundation of Transfiguration."
Professor McGonagall had finished explaining everything they needed to write down. She looked at the class and reminded them once more:
"Remember, Transfiguration is a precise discipline. You must concentrate when you move your wand, like this..."
Professor McGonagall waved her wand, turning the lectern into a pig.
It was indistinguishable from a real pig. It could run and jump, and it had all the usual cuts of pork. When it noticed everyone staring at it, it even let out a frightened squeal.
The first-years were stunned by the display.
The students encountering magic for the first time were especially amazed. They could hardly believe such a lifelike animal had been transformed from nothing more than a desk.
Everyone looked at Professor McGonagall, eager to start learning at once.
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