Daily Life in Slytherin (II)

The second class of the afternoon was Transfiguration.

When Daphne shook Su Yu awake from his dream, he was still groggy. He rubbed his eyes, scooped up the Nine-Tailed Fox from the desk, and followed Daphne out of the History of Magic classroom, heading along the corridor toward the Transfiguration classroom on the third floor.

The Nine-Tailed Fox yawned in his arms, revealing two sharp canine teeth.

Su Yu was thinking about Transfiguration.

The Transfiguration classroom was at the far eastern end of the third floor. Its door was made of oak, and its brass handle had been polished bright by countless hands. When Su Yu pushed it open, quite a few students were already seated inside—Slytherin students on the left, Ravenclaw students on the right, separated by an invisible boundary that everyone could feel.

Su Yu found a seat near the back. Daphne sat beside him as usual, while the Nine-Tailed Fox lay on the desk with her tail curled into a ball.

Professor McGonagall was already standing behind the podium.

She wore a dark green robe, her black hair pulled tightly back. Her eyes behind her spectacles swept sharply over every student. Her lips were pursed, her chin slightly raised, and she exuded a distinctive presence. Now this was what a professor should be like.

"Transfiguration," Professor McGonagall began in an even voice, "is one of the most complex and dangerous branches of magic you will learn at Hogwarts."

Her gaze swept across every student's face.

"If anyone intends to fool around in my class," she said, her voice carrying an unquestionable chill, "they can leave immediately and never come back. Let me make that clear from the start."

Professor McGonagall turned around, drew her wand, and gave a desk on the podium a light wave.

Before everyone's eyes, the desk began to transform. Its surface wrinkled, and a few seconds later, the desk was gone, replaced by a pig.

A pig that was nosing at the podium.

A low wave of astonishment rose through the classroom. Several Ravenclaw students covered their mouths, while a few Slytherins stood up from their chairs. Daphne's mouth fell slightly open, excitement sparkling in her eyes.

Professor McGonagall waved her wand again. The pig twitched its ears, and a few seconds later, the desk returned, standing intact behind the podium as though nothing had happened.

"This is Transfiguration!" Professor McGonagall said, her voice returning to its calm, instructional rhythm.

Then she officially began the lesson, and the young wizards started taking a mountain of complicated, tedious notes.

Once they had finished taking notes,

she handed out a box of matches to every student's desk.

"Your task today," Professor McGonagall said from behind the podium, bracing both hands on its surface, "is to turn this match into a needle."

She paused.

"Begin."

The classroom filled with the sounds of wands swishing and spells being recited. Some shouted, "Animagi!" Others shouted, "Animagus!" Still others chanted strings of words Su Yu could not make out.

Su Yu looked down at the match in front of him and could not help smiling bitterly. He had always been terribly lopsided in his talents. Before awakening the system at six, he had constantly trained his magical abilities and had long since figured out his own limits:

if ten was a perfect score, his Transfiguration and Potions abilities would earn at most a one. But in Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts, he could effortlessly score full marks. That was far from his limit; it was only because the test's maximum score was ten.

Whenever he thought of facing the strict Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape for years to come, Su Yu felt his future was bleak and sunless.

He drew his wand.

"Animagi," he said.

The match did not move.

"Animagi," he said again.

The match still did not move.

"Animagi," he said for the third time.

The match lay quietly on the desk, its red tip facing left, its wooden body straight and still, like a stranger saying, "I don't know you."

Su Yu frowned.

Sure enough, his Transfiguration was like a wall. No matter what he threw at it—spells, magic, willpower, prayers—the wall did not budge. It stood there quietly, silently, stubbornly, mocking him simply by existing.

Su Yu took a deep breath and raised his wand again.

"Animagi."

Su Yu's mouth twitched.

The match still did not move.

The Nine-Tailed Fox lay on the desk with her chin resting on her paws, amber eyes watching him.

"Why not try using chakra?" the Nine-Tailed Fox's voice sounded in Su Yu's mind. "It's transformation either way. Wrap the match in chakra and imagine it's a needle, then it'll become a needle. Easy."

Su Yu ignored her.

This was Transfiguration class. He was supposed to use magic, not chakra. He had come to Hogwarts to learn magic, not show off chakra. He wanted to turn the match into a needle with magic, not cheat with chakra.

"Animagi."

The match moved.

It rolled over once, then stopped.

Su Yu stared at the match. It lay quietly on the desk, its red tip now facing right, its wooden body straight and still. The only difference from before was—

it had changed direction.

The Nine-Tailed Fox let out a low laugh, like she had held it in for a long time and finally could not anymore.

Su Yu glared at her.

On the other side of the classroom, a small cheer erupted from the Ravenclaw tables. A bespectacled girl raised a shining silver needle. Its eye was tiny, its point sharp, and it gleamed brightly in the sunlight from outside. Professor McGonagall walked over, examined the needle, nodded, and awarded Ravenclaw five points.

Another Ravenclaw student succeeded. Then another. And another.

The cheers from Ravenclaw grew louder and louder, while Slytherin's side grew quieter and quieter.

Su Yu could feel those gazes—Ravenclaw students looking over from the other side of the classroom.

Su Yu's mouth twitched.

He raised his wand.

"Reducto!"

The Nine-Tailed Fox's laughter exploded in his mind.

"Hahahahaha—you—you want to blow up the match—hahahahaha—"

A ball of red light had already appeared at the tip of Su Yu's wand.

A hand pressed down on Su Yu's hand.

Daphne's hand. It was small, with slender fingers and a warm palm.

Daphne comforted Su Yu from beside him. "Don't do that."

Su Yu turned to look at her.

"Transfiguration isn't something you can learn in a day," she said. "Professor McGonagall said it takes a long time to learn and practice. If you can't do it today, maybe you can tomorrow. If not tomorrow, then maybe the day after. Even if you never can—" She paused. "You have other talents. You're already amazing enough."

The light at the tip of Su Yu's wand slowly faded.

He lowered his wand.

Daphne let go of his hand too. She lowered her head and continued working on the match in front of her. Her match had not turned into a needle either—not even moved—but her expression remained calm.

Just then, Professor McGonagall walked over.

Professor McGonagall glanced at the match, then at Su Yu. Her expression did not change.

"Mr. Su-Fuli," her voice rang out, "what spell did you just recite when you raised your wand?"

Su Yu looked up at Professor McGonagall. "Reducto," he said.

Professor McGonagall's lips tightened.

Then she looked at him for two seconds.

"Because Mr. Su-Fuli displayed inappropriate judgment during his Transfiguration practice," she said, "five points from Slytherin."

The Slytherin students sat in their seats without speaking or protesting, all wearing the same calm expressions. Looking closely, one could see the corners of several mouths curling upward slightly—not in mockery, but in the relief of, Wonderful, our boss couldn't learn it either, so now we can fail with confidence.

The Nine-Tailed Fox laughed heartily from the side, while Daphne continued comforting Su Yu.

However, Su Yu seized the opportunity and lay in Daphne's arms, begging Daphne for comfort.

Daphne simply held Su Yu like that until class ended.

By dinner, Su Yu had finally recovered from his "Daphne, comfort me with hugs" state. He sat at the Slytherin long table, with several slices of pizza and a pile of fries on his plate. The Nine-Tailed Fox lay beside him, launching a new offensive against a slice of cheesecake. Daphne sat on his other side, quietly drinking soup. Every now and then, she looked up at him and smiled faintly.

Su Yu took a bite of roast beef, chewed twice, and swallowed. He glanced toward the Gryffindor table—Harry and Ron sat together with their heads lowered, talking about something. Hermione was not there. She was probably reading in some corner of the library again, having lost track of time.

Su Yu withdrew his gaze and took another bite of pizza.

The Nine-Tailed Fox let out a satisfied burp beside him.

Daphne smiled, took out a handkerchief from her pocket, and wiped the corner of Su Yu's mouth.

"Thank you," he said.

Daphne only smiled and said nothing.