Magic Unlocked, A New Direction for Transfiguration?

"Loki Fir?"

Lucien and Professor McGonagall asked in unison.

Professor McGonagall was, after all, a witch of considerable experience. She had heard rumors of this kind of tree before, but she had never expected to see this extinct material with her own eyes.

Lucien, however, felt a little uneasy, because he suddenly realized something:

This was the magical world. Those gods and mythical creatures from legends all over the world... they could not have truly existed, could they?

Perhaps they were powerful wizards. Perhaps they were some tribe of magical beasts...

Ancient humans who saw wizards casting magic might very well have regarded them as gods.

Ollivander began explaining, as if lost in memory:

"Loki Fir, also known as Trickster Branch, Phantom Tree."

"Legend says it was born when Loki was bound in the ravine. His blood and sorcery dripped onto a fir tree, turning it into a magical tree with the power of transformation."

"A wand made with it as its material symbolizes infinite change."

Professor McGonagall frowned and asked:

"But I heard this kind of tree has long since gone extinct. Its very existence is almost a myth."

What she meant was that she wanted to ask whether this wand had truly been made from Loki Fir, and whether Ollivander, in his old age, had simply remembered it wrong.

Ollivander gave a wry laugh.

"It is not only Loki Fir that is exceedingly rare in this world. Even magical creatures like the Sphinx are on the verge of extinction across the globe."

"The Sphinx originated in Egyptian mythology. It is the embodiment of wisdom, the never-ending pursuit of knowledge."

"The maker of this wand was my grandfather's grandfather's grandfather..."

Seeing Lucien's and Professor McGonagall's expressions grow increasingly strange, Ollivander gave a light cough and stopped reciting his family tree.

"In any case, it was many generations ago. Over a thousand years. This wand has existed for more than a thousand years."

"Of course, the quality of the wand is absolutely genuine."

"Ollivander would never lie about a wand!"

Ollivander could not help but puff out his chest. This was the pride of his family.

Glancing at the hovering silver-black wand, Lucien thought of the "Loki's Faceless" he had fused with.

And Loki Fir, even if it was only a legend, had been born in connection with Loki.

Now that I have Loki's magical talent, it's only normal that I would attract a wand made from this kind of wood.

As for the Sphinx's spine feather? The pursuit of knowledge?

Well, gaining more knowledge isn't a bad thing.

Over a thousand years... this wand is an antique too.

"It's been so long, and it still hasn't been sold..."

"Er, still hasn't found a suitable owner?"

Faced with Lucien's question, Ollivander instead looked at him with burning eyes, as if he were looking at a rare treasure.

"Perhaps it already has."

"Child—oh no, Mr. Lucien, please try this wand."

Perhaps it had waited too long. The silver-black wand trembled slightly, the illusory runes grew more active, and the faint sound of snickering also became clearer.

He reached out his right hand and gripped the handle.

In that instant, Lucien felt an unprecedented harmony.

The magic in his body surged toward the wand in his hand, yet it did not seem violent. The entire process was gentle and quiet.

Lucien felt as if the wand was cheering, rejoicing.

At the same time, Lucien felt a newly born surge of magic burst forth within him.

That magic did not rampage wildly. Instead, it gathered and concentrated toward the wand in Lucien's hand.

As the magic built up, Lucien instinctively pointed the wand at a candle on the counter.

A black-green light shot out.

The candle trembled slightly and instantly turned into an iron hammer.

The iron hammer remained still for less than a second before bone armor surged over its surface. In the blink of an eye, it had turned into a black turtle.

The black turtle stretched out its head, its mung-bean-sized eyes just about to look toward Lucien.

Those eyes suddenly enlarged, and their pupils became horizontal.

The turtle shell turned soft and slippery. The black turtle had already become a frog.

"Ribbit!"

A rather clear cry rang out, and the frog hopped several times on the counter.

The round body swiftly stretched out, smooth skin sprouting scales as it transformed into a long, slender snake's body.

Feathered wings appeared on both sides of its body, and its head resembled a heron's.

At the same time, as if adapting to the size of the current space, the strange creature's body kept swelling, growing five or six times larger in the blink of an eye.

Bang!

The still-expanding creature suddenly exploded, bursting into a cloud of smoke and returning to its previous candle form.

Watching the transformation, which had taken less than a minute from start to finish, Ollivander praised in awe:

"Transfiguration. I've never seen such a gift for Transfiguration!"

"I seem to have already seen it. In the future wizarding world, a master of Transfiguration will appear."

"Minerva, congratulations on finding a genius student."

Ollivander smiled as he looked toward Professor McGonagall, only to find her gaze shifting back and forth between the candle and Lucien, as if she had not heard his congratulations at all.

"The final transformation was an Occamy?!"

McGonagall had long had some expectations regarding Lucien's talent for Transfiguration, and after truly seeing him cast with a wand, she became even more certain of her judgment.

Although it had only been instinctive casting—unstable and unable to last—it made Lucien's potential stand out all the more.

Next, Lucien only needed to study and train step by step, constantly absorbing knowledge of Transfiguration spells.

Whether it was transforming objects into other objects, objects into living creatures, different species into one another, or even the highest-difficulty Animagus transformation.

Professor McGonagall believed Lucien would eventually be able to master them all.

But why had it turned into an Occamy at the end?

If it had only looked similar, that would have been one thing. But that trait of freely expanding or shrinking its body according to the size of the space it occupied was undoubtedly that of an Occamy!

How could it be a magical creature? How could it be this kind of magical creature?

The Transfiguration performed by wizards could only transform things into ordinary animals; it could not transform them into magical creatures.

Perhaps it was because the innate way these magical creatures' magic flowed was fundamentally in conflict with a wizard's magic.

After studying Transfiguration for decades, Professor McGonagall had never seen anyone transform something into a magical creature—not even with only partial traits!

"Is this an unknown direction of Transfiguration?"

"But how could a child who has only just come into contact with magic..."

"I should ask Dumbledore when I go back."

McGonagall murmured softly.

Dumbledore was one of the few great Transfiguration masters of the age. Perhaps he would know what this transformation meant.

After calming herself, Professor McGonagall smiled at Lucien.

"Lucien, you truly are talented."

"I look forward to your performance at Hogwarts."

Lucien put away his wand.

"I look forward to your guidance as well."

He lowered his head and glanced at the panel.

[Magic Power: SS] (Unlocked)

Magic power was an important measure of a wizard's strength.

Why did some pure-blood wizards discriminate against Muggle-born wizards?

Aside from the accumulated resources of their families and the magical knowledge passed down through generations, it was also because pure-blood wizards often possessed more abundant magic power.

When both sides were at roughly the same level of magical skill, whoever could cast more spells and endure longer would naturally have the advantage.

But now that I've unlocked SS-rank magic power talent, I've broken free of my original shackles.

Whether in the speed at which my magic power grows or the total amount of magic power I'll have in the future, I'll leave everyone else in the dust and far surpass my peers.

After bidding Ollivander farewell, they headed to the next shop.

Watching Lucien's back, Ollivander sighed silently:

"A legendary wand must have a legendary master."

"Handing that wand to that young man has made this another day worth remembering."

They bought the cauldron needed for Potions, the telescope for Astronomy, and picked out wizard robes at Madam Malkin's Robes...

Lucien arrived at the magical pet shop, "Magical Menagerie."

As he walked into the shop, all kinds of noisy sounds rushed toward him.

Croak, croak, croak—

Meow—

"Are you looking to choose a magical pet?"

The shopkeeper was a woman wearing thick black-framed glasses, and she asked Lucien in a gentle tone.

Lucien nodded and began observing the animals in the shop.

"This one's too ugly."

"This one really stinks."

"Uh, is this a cat?"

A Persian cat with long ginger fur and a big trailing tail crouched in its cage, lazily glancing at Lucien.

Its face was very flat, as if it had once been smacked against a wall.

Lucien shook his head.

He had no idea who would like such a strange-looking pet cat.

These pets were all pretty average, with nothing special about them.

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