The Fusion of Transfiguration and Alchemy

[Loan: Mechanical Transfiguration Pocket Watch (Monthly Loan)]

[Repayment Deadline: 30 days]

[Loan Content: Mechanical Transfiguration Pocket Watch, a creation combining Transfiguration and alchemy. It can record Transfiguration spells you have mastered within the pocket watch and turn them into semi-permanent fixed transformations.]

[Note: This does not count as a weapon, but as a teaching tool. By analyzing the principles of its structure, you can deepen your understanding of Transfiguration and alchemy.]

[Loan Task: Create a controllable mechanical animal or learn and master semi-permanent fixed transformation. Completing either one will suffice.]

Lucien looked at the loan description that had popped up from the system.

He hadn't expected that coming into contact with his own magical creations could trigger a loan too.

Mechanical Transfiguration Pocket Watch?

Just from the description, it already sounded interesting.

Semi-permanent fixed transformation was something Lucien had read about in books on Transfiguration. It was considered one of the pinnacles of the field.

Normally speaking, Transfiguration did not last forever.

For example, Professor McGonagall's demonstration before class, turning the lectern into a pig—if she no longer applied magic to maintain it, that pig would eventually turn back into a lectern.

Semi-permanent fixed transformation, however, involved a wizard making lengthy preparations and repeatedly fine-tuning an object with Transfiguration to stabilize that transformation as much as possible.

But the reason it was called semi-permanent was because this kind of transformation still required the wizard to replenish it with magic at intervals.

However, the wizard replenishing it with magic did not actually need to have mastered that kind of Transfiguration. Even a young wizard who had only just awakened could do it.

Lucien thought of something else, something he also needed to obtain within this year.

The Sorcerer's Stone.

The Sorcerer's Stone could produce the Elixir of Life. That was certainly fascinating.

But its other function—turning stone into gold—interested Lucien even more right now.

Transforming other substances into gold, and fixing it permanently!

It required no magical upkeep. Even after a hundred years, a thousand years, it would still be gold.

It was not pure alchemy, nor was it pure Transfiguration. It was the fusion and overlap of both.

Prompted by this loan, Lucien also came up with a new idea.

Besides using the Sorcerer's Stone to refine a potion to repay the Qilin loan, perhaps he could also use the Sorcerer's Stone to gain broader insights into the field of Transfiguration.

No wonder the description of this pocket watch called it a fusion of alchemy and Transfiguration.

It was not a weapon, but a teaching tool—something to obtain knowledge from by studying it. Quite the challenge.

As for the task...

This was the first time he had encountered one where he could choose between two options. Was it because it covered both Transfiguration and alchemy?

With his extraordinary SSS-rank talent in Transfiguration, mastering semi-permanent fixed transformation within a month basically wouldn't be difficult at all.

But making a mechanical animal was also very interesting. He might as well try that at the same time.

Lucien thought that since his alchemy talent was at A+ anyway, it would be a bit of a waste not to learn more.

"System, I want to take out this loan."

[Ding. Loan application successful. The item has been issued to the system space and may be checked at any time.]

His attention returned to reality.

Lucien picked up the Pocket Telescope he had transfigured and examined it closely. It even had a fine, unique mechanical beauty to it.

He aimed it at the window and adjusted it slightly.

It happened to give him a view of Hagrid's hut.

Lucien shifted it a little to the side and focused on the vegetable garden.

Mm, not bad, not bad. The Chinese Biting Cabbage seeds seemed to have sprouted, and quite quickly too.

Lucien was using the telescope to spy on his little cabbages and did not notice that Professor McGonagall was looking at him with an extremely complicated expression.

"Lucien, your performance has once again exceeded my expectations."

Hearing Professor McGonagall speak, Lucien hurriedly put down the telescope in his hand.

"I know this kind of basic transfiguration is no challenge for you, and producing patterns on a silver needle would not be much of a challenge for you either."

"But..."

McGonagall's gaze settled on the telescope Lucien was holding.

"May I borrow that for a look?"

Lucien handed the telescope to Professor McGonagall, who took it and fiddled with it for a while.

After confirming that it truly worked and was not merely a decoration, Professor McGonagall murmured softly to herself:

"Perhaps the pace of this class isn't suitable for you."

"Professor, what did you say?"

Lucien hadn't caught Professor McGonagall's quiet murmur. She shook her head.

"No, nothing, Lucien. Your performance was excellent. Come to my office after class."

"Yes, Professor."

"Grafton is the first to complete the Transfiguration. Twenty points to Ravenclaw!"

How many points?!

The young wizards, who had all been struggling with their matches, looked up, wondering whether they had misheard or whether the professor had misspoken.

When teachers awarded points for students' performance in class, wasn't it usually two or three points, or five at most?

"Professor, why does simply completing the transformation from a match to a needle earn twenty points?"

A Slytherin student asked, puzzled and dissatisfied. He looked at the match in his hand, which was basically about to turn completely into a needle. He had been just a little short of taking first place and earning points for his House.

But now a Ravenclaw had beaten him to it, and had been awarded twenty points at once?

Even someone as biased toward his own students as their Head of House, Snape, wouldn't add up to twenty points in a single class!

"Oh, Mr. Flint, I must correct one thing."

"What Grafton completed was not a match transforming into a needle, but this."

Professor McGonagall raised the telescope in her hand, letting all the young wizards in the class see Lucien's work clearly.

They looked at the things in their own hands that resembled neither needles nor matches, then looked at that telescope, so intricate it was almost complex.

They couldn't help wondering, were we all taking our first Transfiguration lesson?

"Um, Professor, may I take a look at this telescope?"

A young witch raised her hand curiously. She really wanted to see what a telescope transformed from a needle looked like.

The others also looked at Professor McGonagall, seeming to express the same thought.

The corners of Professor McGonagall's mouth lifted.

"You'll have to ask our classmate Lucien."

Lucien nodded, indicating that they could go ahead.

Soon, several young wizards boldly came forward.

More and more people came up, and gasps of admiration rose one after another.

Suddenly, someone tugged at the corner of Lucien's robe.

"Lucien, can you teach me Transfiguration?"