The second class that afternoon was Transfiguration.
When Daphne shook Su Yu awake from his dream, he was still groggy. He rubbed his eyes, scooped Kurama up 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.
Kurama yawned in his arms, revealing two sharp canine teeth.
Su Yu was thinking about Transfiguration.
The Transfiguration classroom was at the easternmost 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 the door open, quite a few people were already seated inside—Slytherin students sat 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 Kurama lay on the desk with her tail curled into a ball.
Professor McGonagall was already standing behind the lectern.
She wore a dark green robe, her black hair pulled tightly back. Her eyes behind her glasses swept sharply over every student, her lips pressed together and her chin slightly raised. She radiated a distinct presence. Now that was what a professor should be like.
"Transfiguration," Professor McGonagall began, her voice neither too loud nor too soft, "can be said to be one of the most complex and dangerous branches of magic you will learn at Hogwarts."
Her gaze passed over every student's face.
"If anyone intends to fool around in my class," she said, her voice carrying an unquestionable chill, "get out immediately, and do not come back. Consider yourselves warned."
Professor McGonagall turned around, drew her wand, and gave a table on the platform a light flick.
Before everyone's eyes, the table began to transform. Its surface wrinkled, and a few seconds later, the table had vanished, replaced by a pig.
A pig that was rooting at the lectern with its snout.
A low wave of amazement swept through the classroom. Several Ravenclaw students covered their mouths, while several Slytherins rose from their chairs. Daphne's mouth fell slightly open, excitement shining in her eyes.
Professor McGonagall flicked her wand again. The pig twitched its ears, and a few seconds later, the table returned, standing intact behind the lectern as though nothing had happened.
"This is Transfiguration!" Professor McGonagall said, her voice returning to its calm, instructional rhythm.
Then she formally began the lesson, and the young wizards started taking piles of complicated, tedious notes.
Once they had finished taking notes.
She handed out a box of matches to every student.
"Your task today," Professor McGonagall said from behind the lectern, both hands braced against 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, "Animagus," others shouted, "Animagus," and some 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 but smile bitterly to himself. He had always been terribly unbalanced in his studies. Even before awakening the system at six, he had spent all his time training his magical abilities and had long understood his own limits. If ten points was a perfect score, his Transfiguration and Potions abilities could score one point at most. But in Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts, he could effortlessly achieve a perfect score. That was far from his limit; it was only because the test was worth ten points.
At the thought of having to face the strict Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape for a long time to come, Su Yu felt that his future was bleak and dark.
He drew his wand.
"Animagus," he said.
The match did not move.
"Animagus," he said again.
The match still did not move.
"Animagus," for the third time.
The match lay quietly on the desk, its red tip facing left and 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.
"Animagus."
Su Yu's mouth twitched.
The match still did not move.
Kurama lay on the desk with her chin resting on her paws, amber eyes watching him.
"Can't you just try chakra?" Kurama's voice sounded in Su Yu's mind. "It's all transformation anyway. Wrap the match in chakra and imagine it as a needle, and it'll turn into one. How simple."
Su Yu ignored her.
This was Transfiguration class. They were using magic, not chakra. He had come to Hogwarts to learn magic, not to show off chakra. He wanted to turn the match into a needle with magic, not cheat with chakra.
"Animagus."
The match moved.
It rolled once to the side, then stopped.
Su Yu stared at the match. It lay quietly on the desk, its red tip now facing right and its wooden body straight and still. The only difference from before was—it had changed direction.
Kurama let out a low laugh, as if 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 came from the Ravenclaw tables. A bespectacled girl held up a gleaming silver needle. Its eye was tiny, its point sharp, and it reflected bright sunlight from outside the window. Professor McGonagall walked over, glanced at 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 became increasingly quiet.
Su Yu could feel those gazes—from Ravenclaw students across the classroom.
Su Yu's mouth twitched.
He raised his wand.
"Reducto!"
Kurama's laughter exploded in his mind.
"HAHAHAHAHA—You—you're going to blow up the match—HAHAHAHA—"
A ball of red light had already appeared at the tip of Su Yu's wand.
A hand pressed down on Su Yu's.
Daphne's hand. Her hand was small, her fingers slender, and her palm warm.
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 study and practice. If you can't do it today, maybe you can tomorrow. If not tomorrow, then maybe the day after. Even if you can never do it—" 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 released his hand as well. She lowered her head and continued working on the match before 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 looked at the match, then at Su Yu. Her expression did not change.
"Mr. Su-Fuli," her voice rang out, "what spell did you recite when you raised your wand just now?"
Su Yu looked up at Professor McGonagall. "Reducto," he said.
Professor McGonagall's lips pressed together.
Then she looked at him for two seconds.
"Because Mr. Su-Fuli demonstrated inappropriate judgment during his Transfiguration practice," she said, "Slytherin will lose five points."
The Slytherin students sat in their seats. No one spoke, and no one protested. Their expressions were uniformly calm. If one looked closely, a few corners of mouths could be seen lifting slightly—not in mockery, but in the relief of thinking, "Great, our leader couldn't do it either, so now we can fail with a clear conscience."
Kurama laughed uproariously beside him, while Daphne continued to comfort Su Yu.
Su Yu, however, seized the opportunity and lay in Daphne's arms to seek comfort.
Daphne held Su Yu like that until class ended.
By dinner, Su Yu had finally emerged from his "Daphne needs to comfort and hug me" state. He sat at the Slytherin table, with several slices of pizza and a pile of fries on the plate in front of him. Kurama lay beside him, launching a new round of attacks on a piece of cheesecake. Daphne sat on his other side, quietly drinking soup. Every so often, she looked up at him and gave him a faint smile.
Su Yu took a bite of roast beef, chewed twice, and swallowed. He glanced toward the Gryffindor table—Harry and Ron sat together, whispering about something. Hermione was nowhere to be seen. She was probably reading in some corner of the library again, so absorbed that she had lost track of time.
Su Yu withdrew his gaze and took another bite of pizza.
Kurama let out a satisfied burp beside him.
Daphne smiled, took a handkerchief from her pocket, and wiped the corner of Su Yu's mouth.
"Thank you," he said.
Daphne only smiled and said nothing.
Before you continue