Success

The professors had always been efficient. It was only the second day, and Eli had already received a reply from Professor Flitwick.

Judging by how breathless the owl looked, its wings had probably been close to breaking from all that flapping.

The owl pecked at Eli's hand, clearly asking for a tip!

After Eli gave it some dried lizard, it flew away.

Holding Professor Flitwick's letter, Eli felt a little nervous. What if the professor had refused?

The letter was already in his hands, yet Eli felt as though he were opening a mystery box.

He opened the letter and skimmed it at a glance.

"Success!"

Eli nearly jumped for joy.

Not only had Professor Flitwick agreed, but he had also been delighted by Eli's invitation.

Professor Flitwick had found himself an opportunity to show the students what he could do.

As a half-goblin, he was very small in stature and usually looked quite amiable, so none of the students thought of him as a dueling master.

Having once won a dueling championship, he naturally loved dueling dearly. It was simply that his teaching duties had left him no chance to display it.

Now that Eli had founded the Dueling Club and invited him to be its instructor, he had finally been given an opportunity.

He also trusted Eli. In his impression, Eli had always been diligent and eager to learn, exceptionally gifted, and very polite.

More than once, he had even said that Eli was the most talented student he had ever encountered.

So when Eli invited him to join the Dueling Club, he agreed without hesitation.

He had even instructed the owl to deliver the letter by express.

He had also sent a reply to Professor McGonagall.

So, barring any surprises, his Dueling Club was about to be approved!

A little while later, Professor McGonagall sent him a letter saying that his Dueling Club had been approved and would be announced on the school notice board.

That was exactly what Eli wanted. He wanted more people to join the Dueling Club.

He was not worried about being unable to keep those people in line. To put it bluntly, aside from the professors, no one in the entire school was his match.

So he truly was not worried in the slightest.

He wrote two letters, one to Harry and Ron Weasley, and the other to the twins, informing them of the good news that the club had been established.

Hehe, I, Eli, am a boss now!

In his excellent mood, he began studying the guidebook Professor McGonagall had given him again.

That was what a top student was like—he started studying at the drop of a hat.

Harry and the others had said more than once that Eli should have been sorted into Ravenclaw!

Hermione Granger too.

Those two were practically study maniacs, weren't they?

Study maniac? Eli was very honored to receive that title.

The moment he had gotten the book yesterday, he had studied it through the entire night.

It had to be said that as a leading authority on Transfiguration, Professor McGonagall's book was truly incredible.

On top of that, she herself was one of the few remaining Animagi.

There were fewer than five in all of Britain.

This book on Animagi recorded in great detail how to become an Animagus.

It also included many problems that might arise during the process, along with their solutions.

Calling it the ultimate study guide would not have been an exaggeration at all.

After studying it, Eli came to one conclusion: becoming an Animagus was genuinely difficult!

It was also extremely dangerous, and the process was exceedingly complicated.

First, during a full moon, one had to place a Mandrake leaf in one's mouth and keep it there until the next full moon.

During that time, one could neither swallow it nor spit it out. Otherwise, one had to start over.

Wasn't this just torture? You'd have to worry every time you ate or drank.

After the full moon, it had to be taken out and placed in a crystal vial full of saliva.

How disgusting! Blegh...

And if the sky was cloudy that day and the moon could not be seen, then one had to start over.

How much psychological trauma would that cause?

If all the above steps succeeded, one then had to add a strand of one's own hair and a spoonful of dew beneath the moonlight.

The dew had to be dew that had remained undisturbed by sunlight and humans for exactly seven days.

Tell me, wasn't this thing absurdly fussy? And undisturbed by humans—did I count as a human?

Then one had to add the chrysalis of a Death's-head Hawkmoth and finally place the mixture somewhere that could not be reached by sunlight or living creatures.

It was best to bury it, then dig it up during a thunderstorm. Only then would the potion be complete.

While waiting for a thunderstorm, one also had to recite an incantation every day at sunrise and sunset until one felt a second heartbeat.

After reading all that, Eli had nearly cursed out loud.

He did not dare imagine what the first Wizard to become an Animagus had done to himself!

Those steps were not only incredibly complicated, but success was not even guaranteed.

Even many people who successfully brewed the potion still failed at the transformation.

According to Professor McGonagall's research, that was related to a person's magical power.

If one had too little magical power, the transformation would fail.

An Animagus transformation consumed an enormous amount of magical power. Once one ran out halfway through transforming—

One would probably be stuck like that.

At worst, one might end up as a lizard-man.

Of course, surviving would already be fortunate. Many people had paid with their lives!

Moreover, an Animagus could only transform into an ordinary animal. At least, there had never been an Animagus who became a magical creature in recorded history.

However, Eli guessed that this might have something to do with the soul.

The souls of magical creatures were always stronger than those of ordinary creatures.

Transforming into a magical creature would place a greater burden on the soul, which meant that many people simply could not become magical creatures.

Of course, that was only Professor McGonagall's speculation.

At his current level, successfully becoming an Animagus would already be unprecedented.

Mastering Animagus transformation at such a young age would be nothing short of a miracle.

Still, Eli very much wanted to accomplish that miracle.

After all, his magical power and soul were already far stronger than other people's, and they were still growing rapidly.

As long as his Transfiguration improved, there would basically be no problem.

But that was precisely where the difficulty lay. He had to keep up with schoolwork, learn Potions from Snape, maintain the Dueling Club, and later manage a potion factory.

Eli's head instantly felt twice as big. He wished he could split himself into several copies.

Did magic not have Shadow Clones?

He could only hope the potion factory would be built soon. Once he had some money, he would suffer happily.

Hehe...

Thus, Eli gave himself another task: become an Animagus before summer vacation!

Of course, he could not do it now. Where would he find thunderstorms in winter?

He would have to wait until at least spring.

So Eli still had time to build up his Transfiguration knowledge.

Professor McGonagall would be of great help to him!

Eli immediately wrote home, asking them to send him several more books on human anatomy.

After all, he was going to perform human Transfiguration. How could he do that without understanding the human body?

It was just that he definitely had nothing to practice on. He could not dissect his roommates, could he?

Right, roommates...

Pah, pah, pah! I'm thinking crookedly again!

My roommates are so adorable. How could I dissect them?

Draco Malfoy's small frame should be...

Ahhh! Get this strange thought out of my head!

At Malfoy Manor, Draco Malfoy suddenly sneezed...