Transfiguration Class

Before dawn the next day, Skylar got up. After washing up, he went to Draco's room and saw no sign that Draco was awake, so he decided to wake him after breakfast. Luckily, there were no classes today. Skylar planned to explore the castle and familiarize himself with the surroundings.

When he reached the common room, Skylar saw Daphne, who had also just come out of the dormitory.

The two arranged to have breakfast in the Great Hall together, only to find it completely empty. They had risen too early; it was not breakfast time yet. Neither of them minded, and they continued exploring this legendary castle.

Hogwarts had no fewer than one hundred and forty-two staircases. Some were broad and grand; some were narrow, small, and shaky; some led somewhere different every Friday; and on some, a step would suddenly vanish halfway up, so you had to remember where to jump.

There were also many doors. Unless you asked them politely to open, or poked exactly the right spot, they would not let you through. Some doors were not doors at all, but solid walls that merely looked like doors.

Skylar and Daphne explored all nine floors, including the dungeons, and figured out the locations of every classroom they needed. At the same time, they found three secret passages, usually hidden behind tapestries, stone carvings, stone walls, or even portraits. Some passages required a particular password or touching a special spot to open.

When they returned to the Great Hall, a few students were already seated at the Slytherin table, eating breakfast. Skylar saw Draco, still looking sleepy, sitting with Goyle and Crabbe. He went over to greet them and introduced Daphne. The group then sat together to enjoy breakfast.

Skylar casually finished a bowl of milk oatmeal, then took a piece of parchment from his pocket and began drawing and writing on it.

"What are you drawing?" Draco could not help asking.

"I'm drawing a map of Hogwarts, recording the location of every classroom and every secret passage I've found." Skylar did not even look up, remaining focused on his scribbling.

Skylar had just finished the map and gently turned over the parchment when a girl's voice sounded beside him. "Oh? Is that a map of the castle? Can I borrow it for a look?" Skylar turned his head and saw Pansy, another first-year from their House. At the sight of Pansy, a trace of barely noticeable distaste flashed through Daphne's eyes, but the sharp-eyed Skylar noticed it immediately.

Skylar took out his wand and gave it a light tap, using the Gemino Curse to duplicate the map. He casually handed the copy to Pansy. "I still think you should explore the castle yourself. It's one of the pleasures of being a first-year."

Pansy stared at Skylar's wand in surprise. "You've already learned the Gemino Curse?"

Skylar gave a noncommittal hum. "This spell isn't difficult."

Pansy's gaze at Skylar suddenly became very strange. Skylar was certain that he saw her quickly glance at Draco, almost imperceptibly. In that instant, a look mixed with annoyance and hesitation flashed through her eyes.

When she looked at Skylar's map, she frowned even more deeply. The map was incredibly detailed, with clear lines and annotations. The markings for secret passages and classrooms were all plainly visible, and even the exact steps that had to be skipped on certain staircases had not been omitted.

This was not something a child could produce with a few casual scribbles. It involved highly valuable skills such as spatial studies, surveying, architectural drawing, and more. In his previous life, Skylar had been a great adventurer and had encountered plenty of labyrinths, ancient castles, and dark forests. Drawing maps and routes by hand came naturally to him. Though he had been reincarnated for eleven years and was rather rusty, the quality of his work was still far beyond anything these little brats could hope to match.

Before long, several of Pansy's close girlfriends arrived in the Great Hall one after another. Knowing that Daphne did not particularly like these girls, Skylar got up and left with Daphne. Before he went, he duplicated several more maps and gave one each to Draco and the students at the table, sparing them the risk of getting lost as first-years.

Skylar and Daphne had no intention of returning to the dormitory. Instead, they went to the library together to explore Hogwarts' collection. Hogwarts had a hundred thousand books, more than the combined collections of the House of Malfoy, the House of Black, and his maternal grandmother's home.

Daphne found a book on Charms and sat down to read quietly. Skylar, meanwhile, spent quite some time examining the titles on every shelf, figuring out which shelves corresponded to books in different fields.

Skylar's foremost goal was to learn Occlumency. Within this castle, at least Dumbledore and Snape were known to be proficient in magic such as Legilimency, and Skylar had far too many plans in his heart that could not be easily revealed. He borrowed all the books on Occlumency from the library, intending to study them slowly after returning to his dormitory room.

Hogwarts first-years had a total of eight classes: Defense Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, Potions, Herbology, History of Magic, Astronomy, Charms, and Flying Class, the one new students looked forward to the most.

The next day, Slytherin had its first class—Transfiguration.

They shared Transfiguration with Hufflepuff. Their professor was Professor McGonagall, a strict and meticulous teacher. As such, she treated students from all four Houses equally, neither favoring nor targeting anyone. The first-years quickly experienced Professor McGonagall's strictness.

"Transfiguration is the most dangerous subject in your first year, so I do not want anyone causing trouble in class. If anyone does, I will ask them to leave. I say this to every class of first-years, and I hope you will remember it well." The moment the bell rang, she stood at the front of the classroom and spoke sternly.

After her opening remarks, Professor McGonagall drew her wand. She aimed its tip at an empty desk and quickly uttered an incantation. Under the astonished gazes of the first-years, the desk gradually wriggled and transformed naturally into a pig. "Wow!" Most of the students were captivated by this marvelous magic and cried out in amazement.

"I believe many of you have already previewed your textbooks and gained a preliminary understanding of this subject." Professor McGonagall spoke at an even pace, waving her hand to turn the desk back. "As you can see, this subject is immensely profound and magical, but it is also accompanied by risks. Without absolute confidence, it is best not to attempt it alone."

Most of the young wizards were somewhat dismissive, but Skylar did not dare take this subject lightly. He had roughly skimmed through all the first-year textbooks, and the most difficult to understand had been A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration. This subject required not only the correct spell, but also a thorough understanding of the essence of the object being transfigured.

Wizards learning Transfiguration had to deeply understand the material laws of objects, as well as accurately grasp any magical laws that might exist within them, in order to avoid the dangers brought about by transfiguration. This was, it could be said, extremely difficult.

The effects and capabilities of Transfiguration were closely tied to a wizard's skill, and the difficulty rose in proportion to the complexity of the transformation. For example, a wizard new to Transfiguration could easily turn a matchstick into a needle. Yet turning that matchstick into a rod would be exceedingly difficult, and even the shape of the needle would be hard to maintain for long. A wizard with powerful magic, however, could not only transfigure things at will, but could even inscribe spells onto transfigured objects to make the effects permanent.

However, Transfiguration was not particularly difficult for Skylar, who had studied mathematical and physical formulas in his previous life. His understanding of material laws far surpassed that of the other young wizards. All he needed to do was use his imagination to visualize the image of a needle in his mind. The clearer and more detailed that image was, the better. Then, relying on concentration, he would use the incantation to channel magic into the object and alter its material form.

This process required absolute concentration, confidence, and unwavering determination. This was why hesitant young wizards such as Neville and Ron found it difficult to master Transfiguration.

While the students around him were still fiddling with the principles, Skylar had already turned his matchstick into a silver needle. At the eye of the needle was a lifelike snake's head, which delighted Professor McGonagall and earned Slytherin ten points.

By the end of class, only the Malfoy brothers had completed the task with their matchsticks. Draco's ability was decent after Skylar's training, though he was a little lazy. Professor McGonagall had the whole class look at how their matchsticks had turned into needles, then gave the two of them a rare smile.

Note:

Slytherin's first-year timetable: (Author's setting)

Transfiguration + Hufflepuff

Potions + Gryffindor (canon)

Charms + Ravenclaw

Herbology + Ravenclaw (canon)

Defense Against the Dark Arts + Hufflepuff

Astronomy + Ravenclaw

History of Magic + Ravenclaw

Flying Class + Gryffindor (canon)

There is evidence for Slytherin and Ravenclaw having the most overlap. In the original work, Harry was not familiar with Ravenclaw students at all, and only met a mere four of them when he formed Dumbledore's Army in his fifth year. This showed that Gryffindor mainly interacted with Hufflepuff. Furthermore, the original work also mentioned that, in first year, Slytherin and Gryffindor only shared Potions and Flying Class.