Come On, Let's Have a Go

Cedric did not rush to try. He repeatedly looked over the notes he had written down, closed his eyes and carefully reviewed the key points of the procedure, then finally took out his wand, muttered an incantation, and lightly tapped the match on the desk before him.

Cedric's Transfiguration was considered a success, except the tail of the needle still retained a trace of wood.

"Wow, impressive."

Gabriel, Connor, and the young wizards in front all turned to look at Cedric. For most of them, who could not even make the wood a little sharper, Cedric was already incredibly skilled.

However, Cedric shook his head, somewhat dissatisfied with his spell.

"The point isn't sharp enough, and the material hasn't completely changed."

Professor McGonagall noticed them as well. She walked to the back of the classroom and, upon seeing Cedric's result, found that although it had a slight flaw, it was still worthy of praise.

"Hufflepuff, eight points. Very good, Mr. Diggory. It seems you have practiced Transfiguration quite a bit at home as well. Your talent and hard work deserve recognition. You should exchange ideas more often with Miss Grindelhill."

Everyone cast admiring looks at Cedric. Although his result was slightly inferior to Aisling's, Cedric was far more approachable than she was.

Hearing Professor McGonagall's praise, Cedric's face reddened slightly as he shyly scratched his head.

After Professor McGonagall left, Roy, who had been watching everyone else practice, decided to give it a try himself.

"All right, I'll give it a shot too."

Roy rolled up his sleeves and pulled the phoenix-feather wand made of dogwood from among his two wands.

"Transform!"

Roy slammed his wand down hard on the desk.

Roy's movement could only be called highly improper, but his incantation still worked.

Unlike a normal Transfiguration, Roy's match did not transform with a snap. Instead, it floated into the air, continuously twisting, folding, and shifting through all sorts of geometric shapes. A stream of white mist connected the tip of Roy's wand to the constantly distorting match in midair.

The floating mass twisted while continuously changing its material. Roy's display drew the entire class's attention. Aisling, seated in the front row, turned her head, her expression blank as she stared fixedly in Roy's direction.

Professor McGonagall at the lectern wore a grave expression as she too stared without blinking at the ever-changing substance before Roy.

About ten seconds later, the mass transformed from the match gradually slowed and took the shape of a needle.

The needle, no longer supported by magic, dropped onto the desk. Roy had used a great deal of magic for this spell in order to put on a good performance, and he was panting slightly now.

Professor McGonagall walked over, picked up the needle from Roy's desk, and examined it closely.

The needle Roy had created was made of gold, and it was covered in exceedingly ornate engravings.

The intricacy of the carvings on such a fine needle was simply unlike anything humans could have made.

"This is... this is Permanent Transfiguration."

Professor McGonagall was deeply shocked inside, but her face revealed nothing.

"Excellent, Mr. Smee. Dumbledore said you were exceptionally gifted. It seems he was right. Hufflepuff, twenty points."

Professor McGonagall awarding Roy so many points at once shocked the entire class, and they all looked toward the golden needle he had created.

Roy's forehead was covered in sweat, and his breathing was ragged. Using so much magic at once, this was the first time Roy had felt such emptiness.

Seeing Roy display signs of excessive magical exertion, Professor McGonagall's expression turned stern as she gave him a severe warning.

"However, I must remind you, Mr. Smee. Do not overuse your magic. You should improve your skill in using magic rather than relying on brute force."

Professor McGonagall directly took Roy's needle away and handed him another match to practice with.

"Damn, Roy, I never expected you to be better than everyone else!"

Gabriel loudly praised Roy. Seeing the entire class staring at him, Roy hurriedly made up an excuse.

"No. Didn't you see that I had a harder time than anyone after casting the spell? That just means my control over magic is rather poor."

That was a lie, and Cedric was the first to question it.

"But your needle even had extremely intricate patterns on it. If your magical control is poor, how did you manage to do that on something so thin...?"

"Enough, enough. I'll teach you how to carve patterns."

Roy hurriedly cut Cedric off and began helping the people around him practice as well.

"..."

Aisling turned back with a blank expression, raised her wand, and continued practicing on her own work. A fire had already ignited within her heart.

"Is this a counterattack? Fine, Roy Smee, let's have a go. I refuse to believe I'm worse than you."

Roy had no idea that stealing Aisling's spotlight had made her resent him even more. He simply grinned as he helped the students around him complete their Transfigurations.

Yet no matter how Aisling tried, she could not create such delicate patterns. Transforming a match into a golden needle was also far more difficult than turning it into a steel one. Aisling, who had always excelled over everyone around her, could not help having her resolve shaken once more. She desperately tried to make complex patterns appear on the needle. Yet in pursuing a more exquisite transformation, she instead left the tail of the needle still resembling a match.

Struck down by Haki Bee once again, Aisling stared blankly at the half-failed needle before her, as though recalling fragments of a prophecy she had once seen.

"Aisling, don't push yourself too hard."

Professor McGonagall noticed Aisling competing with herself and came to her desk. Without addressing her by surname, she gently comforted the strong-willed young witch.

"Professor Dumbledore told me that Mr. Smee possesses certain special talents that have been exceedingly rare over the past century. You should know that even Dumbledore is inferior to others in many areas of magic, such as when compared to your great-uncle."

Hearing Professor McGonagall mention Dumbledore and her great-uncle, Aisling fell silent for a moment. She seemed to struggle inwardly for a while before finally letting out a long breath and thanking Professor McGonagall.

"I understand. Thank you for your guidance."

She picked up her wand again and lightly pointed it at the match before her. The match turned into a steel needle, engraved with several simple patterns.

Professor McGonagall watched Aisling's every move, deeply satisfied inside.

Talented and diligent in her studies, and though her personality made her competitive, she was still fairly friendly toward her classmates. Most importantly, she was obedient. What a pity she had been sorted into Slytherin. It seemed Gryffindor would have a hard time winning the House Cup.

Then Professor McGonagall looked at Roy in the back row, with his arm around his classmates' shoulders and relations so close they could hardly be closer.

Professor McGonagall glanced at the golden needle Roy had created and silently sighed.

Roy was certainly a good child as well, but one look told her he had a restless disposition. Coupled with his extraordinarily powerful talent, the thought alone gave Professor McGonagall a headache.

Class ended, and Professor McGonagall collected all the matches. The results of the lesson had been far better than expected. With the help of the three of them, many young wizards had successfully achieved partial Transfiguration of their matches.

Professor McGonagall was generally satisfied when she announced the end of class.

"Your homework for this lesson is a one-page parchment essay on material conversion and basic shape transformation. I will collect it next week."

After assigning the homework, all the young wizards left the classroom. Roy had originally been heading out with Cedric. Their next lesson was Potions, and they would be taking it together with Slytherin.

However, Professor McGonagall stopped Roy because she wanted to discuss something with him, so Roy could only have Cedric and the others go on ahead.

As Aisling left the classroom, she saw Professor McGonagall keeping Roy behind to discuss something. She did not know what she was thinking, but she gave a cold snort and left with the Slytherin students.