You're Really Doing This? (Please Favorite and Recommend)

New students obviously couldn't learn biological Transfiguration in their very first lesson.

Professor McGonagall only needed a single matchstick to show them that turning furniture into animals was still a long way off.

The young wizards were doing their best to wave their wands, but the matchsticks in front of them stubbornly refused to change.

Some things were just like that: they seemed easy when someone else did them, but once you tried for yourself, everything went wrong. And that was even more true when the "someone else" was Professor McGonagall.

"Remember, it's supposed to become a needle, not a silver-colored stick."

Professor McGonagall paced the aisles, constantly correcting their mistakes.

Before long, half the lesson had passed, and the matchsticks were still just matchsticks. Not one showed the slightest sign of becoming a needle.

A few Hufflepuff students had managed to turn their matchsticks into charcoal, but that clearly wasn't what Professor McGonagall had asked for. They also lost a point for damaging the class supplies.

Ravenclaw was another story. No wonder people said they were clever. When they saw they weren't making any progress, some of the brilliant minds among them simply changed tack. They stopped trying to make needles and changed the color of their matchsticks instead, then secretly sharpened one end, hoping to fool the professor.

Some of the cleverer ones went even further, swapping in needles they'd brought with them and stubbornly insisting they had transformed the matchsticks themselves.

Unfortunately, Professor McGonagall saw through them all on the spot.

With so many students cheating, Ravenclaw lost twenty points.

Professor McGonagall stood in the aisle and glanced around the room. She was a little disappointed to find that this year's students didn't seem to have many standouts.

There was only one who was doing reasonably well...

Professor McGonagall turned her gaze to the front row.

There, Kyle rested his chin on one hand while absently waving his wand with the other.

With each light tap of his wand, the matchstick in front of him kept changing.

It hadn't turned entirely into a needle, but he'd managed half of it... half in the truest sense of the word.

Kyle had turned only half the matchstick into a needle, and the position kept changing. Sometimes it was on top, sometimes on the bottom, and sometimes it stuck right in the middle.

How could you describe it? Something like:

What needle?

Needle what?

N—what?

Professor McGonagall was stunned. She'd seen students fail for an entire lesson, and she'd seen others succeed on their first try.

But she'd never seen anyone fail so successfully.

Still, Kyle had at least managed to produce a needle, and that alone put him ahead of the other young wizards.

Just like that, the lesson soon came to an end. It wasn't until nearly dismissal that a student finally succeeded in turning a matchstick into a needle.

"Look, Professor McGonagall! Someone from Hufflepuff did it!"

The excited voice of a student in the front row instantly drew everyone's attention.

Professor McGonagall looked over and even managed a rare smile. But to her surprise, the first to finish wasn't Kyle, the one she'd had her eye on. It was Kanna Prince, sitting beside him.

A Hufflepuff girl who had barely been noticed.

Professor McGonagall was only momentarily surprised before recovering. She picked up the gleaming silver needle and showed it to the whole class.

"Everyone, look. Miss Prince has succeeded. As a reward for coming first, Hufflepuff earns three points!"

Loud applause broke out around them. The Hufflepuffs clapped especially enthusiastically—not just because of the points, but because they were happy for Kanna.

Now everyone's eyes were fixed on Kanna.

The painfully shy girl had never experienced anything like this. Her face turned bright red, and a faint wisp of white smoke seemed to rise above her head. She wanted nothing more than to find a crack in the floor and disappear into it.

As soon as class ended, she clutched her books and bolted from the classroom.

Kanna was kicking herself.

She should have known nothing good would come of sitting so close to Kyle! If she'd known this would happen, she would've changed seats even if Professor McGonagall had scolded her!

Meanwhile, Kyle, who had been unfairly caught in the crossfire, had no idea he'd somehow taken the blame. As soon as he left the classroom, Qiu came over and invited him to go to the Great Hall with her to find Cedric.

"Sorry, I just remembered I have something to do in a bit. Can you go by yourself?" Kyle pointed at Ryan, who was walking toward them. "We arranged to visit Mikel together. If we're too late, Madam Pomfrey will kick us out."

"...All right, then."

Qiu was a little disappointed, but she didn't say anything more. After all, Kyle was going to visit a patient, and that was far more important than getting the map.

She would go by herself. She'd met Cedric before, and he'd made a strong impression on her. He was the second-best-looking boy she'd seen at Hogwarts, so she probably wouldn't mistake him for someone else.

Oh, right. Kyle was the first.

Not wanting to waste time, Qiu set off for the Great Hall as soon as they said goodbye.

Kyle watched Qiu disappear around the corner of the corridor and couldn't shake the feeling that there was something he'd forgotten to tell her.

What was it...

For a moment, Kyle couldn't remember.

Just then, Ryan came over and said unhappily, "Kyle, I saved you a seat. Why did you go sit in the front row?"

Hearing Ryan's question, Kyle immediately recalled the terrifying moment before class. He also remembered what he'd forgotten.

He'd forgotten to tell Qiu about giving Leona the map.

What a mess... Forget it, he'd tell her next time.

Kyle sighed. "Sorry, Ryan. I was thinking about something and didn't notice. I'll make sure to next time!"

"That's not what I meant." Ryan waved a hand. "I'm just surprised you dared to sit in the front row.

"I heard some older students say the front row in Transfiguration Class is almost always empty. No one dares sit that close to Professor McGonagall while she's teaching. You're pretty brave."

"Heh... Is that so?"

Kyle gave an awkward laugh. If he'd had a choice, he wouldn't have wanted to sit in the front row either.

Fortunately, Ryan didn't notice anything was off and went on, "Are we heading back to the dormitory now, or waiting for the others?"

The others?

Only then did Kyle notice that all the students leaving the classroom were from Ravenclaw. He and Ryan were the only Hufflepuffs there.

"Where is everyone else?" Kyle asked, puzzled.

"They're in the classroom organizing their notes," Ryan said matter-of-factly. "Oh, and reminding Professor McGonagall not to forget Mikel's homework."

Wait... you're really doing this?!

Kyle's eye twitched. After a moment's thought, he said, "Never mind. Let's go back to the dormitory."

He'd originally planned to take Ryan to the Hospital Wing, but now that he thought about it, he decided against it.

A few minutes later.

In the classroom, Professor McGonagall watched the Hufflepuff first-years leave with a satisfied expression.

She hadn't seen such diligent young wizards in a long time. They'd even stayed after class to compare notes and help each other fill in the gaps—and some had even asked her to assign homework...

That was how students should be.

Professor McGonagall rubbed her tired eyes and began collecting the matchsticks she'd used as teaching aids.

Only then did she notice that Kyle had succeeded too. The matchstick on his desk had also turned into a gleaming silver needle.

Perhaps Kanna Prince had spurred him on.

Professor McGonagall didn't think much of it. She was simply delighted to have two promising students of Transfiguration in the same house.