The Nuts and Bolts of Transfiguration

"My God, Kane, how were you so familiar with Hogwarts? I remembered you'd arrived at Hogwarts just yesterday, same as us. How did you know that staircase would suddenly go haywire, and that there was a secret passage here leading straight to the Transfiguration classroom?"

Harry and Ron kept asking those questions even after they entered the Transfiguration classroom.

Kane was getting sick of it. What was he supposed to say? That before they had arrived at Hogwarts, he had already wandered all over the place, become Dumbledore's bunkmate, and gone into the Forbidden Forest to chop down a Tree Demon?

Talk about making people hate me, brother!

The classroom was packed with young wizards. Not a single student was late for Professor McGonagall's first lesson. The tabby cat sitting on the lectern nodded impassively, then suddenly leaped forward and transformed into Professor McGonagall in midair, landing gracefully in the center of the classroom.

"Very good. For your first lesson, not one of you was late. You are much better than last year's students," Professor McGonagall said calmly.

Hearing such restrained praise, the young wizards below were all a little pleased. Ron saw that Professor McGonagall was nothing like the green-faced, fang-toothed monster his brothers had described, one who slaughtered students from every House with inhuman impartiality the moment class began, and he relaxed a little.

Then he raised his hand and asked, "What happened to last year's young wizards in the end?"

"In the end, they advanced to their second year. During their first lesson, not only were they late, but a student also interrupted me. So I deducted two points from Slytherin that year," Professor McGonagall said calmly.

"Huh???"

Ron instantly felt that something was very wrong.

Sure enough, Professor McGonagall continued, "Just like now, Mr. Weasley. Because you interrupted and disrupted classroom discipline, Gryffindor loses four points."

In an instant, all of Hufflepuff fell silent like wilted quails, while the students from the other Houses sharing the lesson with Gryffindor hurriedly shrank their necks.

Professor McGonagall truly showed no mercy when deducting points. Terrifying.

Normally, Professor McGonagall would not have deducted points over such a minor matter as interrupting. But since it was the first lesson of the year, she urgently needed to establish her authority before this group of young wizards. Ron had simply blundered right into it.

His luck was terrible.

Still, these things were relative. It was not a good outcome for Ron, but for Professor McGonagall, it was perfect for establishing her authority. Looking at the young wizards below, all quail-like and obedient, she nodded in satisfaction and began her standard opening speech.

"The Transfiguration you will learn in this classroom will be the most intricate and dangerous magic you master during your next seven years at Hogwarts. Therefore, in class, you must follow my instructions completely. You must absolutely avoid reckless little outbursts of impulse, because they could truly cost you your lives."

After Professor McGonagall finished speaking, she took out a match from the lectern. "I have said what needed to be said. Now it is time for me to see whether you did any preparation before the term began. Turn a match into a needle. A very simple trick."

"Of course, it does not matter if you fail. In a moment, I will explain everything again from beginning to end. Do not worry that you will miss a single point of knowledge in my class."

With a wave of Professor McGonagall's wand, matches flew from the matchbox onto every young wizard's desk.

"This is only a test, not an examination. There is no need to feel pressured. Simply do your best."

Listening to Professor McGonagall's teaching method of equal parts stick and carrot, Kane felt unusually reassured.

After all, such precise and efficient teaching could only come from an experienced, knowledgeable professor. The chances of getting nowhere when he asked Professor McGonagall questions after class had dropped significantly.

Feeling more at ease, he took out his wand as well. The Transfiguration he had studied beforehand was very basic—mostly casting the spell while envisioning the form of the object he wanted to transform.

The more complicated the form, and the greater its difference from the original object, the more difficult the transformation became. But none of that posed any real challenge to Kane.

For one thing, he truly felt that he was quite talented. And because of the shadow, his magic was stronger than that of the other young wizards.

For another, turning a matchstick into a needle... did that really count as a challenge for someone's imagination?

Sure enough, as the gemstone set in his wand flashed for an instant, the matchstick on his desk had already become a gleaming silver needle.

"Seriously, man? How did you do that?" Ron stared in surprise at Kane's finished work, then looked at the nearly unchanged matchstick in front of him.

"Maybe you should consider getting a new wand? I mean it," Kane said quietly.

"Don't even mention it. Where would we get the money?" Ron sighed miserably.

Harry Potter was eager to give it a try. He truly needed to use cold Galleons to earn warm friendship!

But he quickly behaved himself again, because Professor McGonagall came striding over. She looked at the silver needle before Kane, nodded in satisfaction, and reached out to pat his head.

"Mr. Kane Hiss of Gryffindor was the first to complete the transformation. Gryffindor gains five points."

Kane raised an eyebrow. First they lost points, then they gained points. So they had only made one point in total? As expected of you, Professor McGonagall.

Compared with the Ravenclaw student beside them who had also successfully transformed a match, though he had not received the bonus for being first, he still earned four points. All things considered, Gryffindor had lost three points.

"Honestly, Professor McGonagall is impartial, but isn't she a little too impartial?" Ron muttered to Kane and Harry, slumped over his desk.

"Perhaps, Mr. Weasley, you should not only replace your wand, but also replace that mouth of yours with one that can stay shut." Professor McGonagall had somehow appeared behind Ron and was staring at him quietly.

"Oh, I understand, Professor." Ron immediately sat up straight and carefully cast a spell on his match with his wand.

Then the match caught fire.

Professor McGonagall extinguished it in the blink of an eye and gave Ron a new match. "Gryffindor loses two points."

At once, even more complaints rose from Gryffindor. They had found a reasonable and suitable outlet for venting—their sighs, helpless groans, and grumbles all legally and properly pressured Ron.

Professor McGonagall cleared her throat and cut off that pressure. After surveying the room, she saw that those capable of transforming their matches had already done so. Those who could not succeed would struggle even if given a day and a night. In the end, they still needed their professor to teach and guide them.

Kane finally sat up straight. The practical knowledge he wanted to hear had finally arrived.