Shawn did not quite understand. People felt jealous when the gap was small; when it was too wide, they could only feel envy.
He was not looking down on Ron, but the gap between them was simply too great.
"Shawn, sit down. Do you have any questions about Transfiguration?"
As it happened, Shawn really did have some questions about Transfiguration.
"Professor, I've read a lot of books about Animagi, and I don't understand why we can't transform into Fantastic Beasts."
McGonagall froze for a moment.
"You've already progressed that far? That material isn't covered until sixth or seventh year."
Then the professor grew serious again.
"Shawn, although I believe you've reached the level needed to study Animagus transformation, I must warn you: you absolutely, absolutely must not try practicing it on your own."
Shawn replied earnestly.
"Don't worry, Professor. I won't try it without a thorough understanding and complete preparations. But to return to my question, why can't wizards become Animagi with Fantastic Beast forms?"
McGonagall carefully studied Shawn's expression. Unable to discern anything, she nevertheless explained patiently.
"That involves the differences between ordinary creatures and magical creatures, as well as the differences between wizards with magical energy and Fantastic Beasts with magical energy."
McGonagall then explained the finer distinctions between the three. A complete account of her explanation would have run to several thousand words.
Simply put, it came down to how difficult it was to replicate the anatomy of creatures that produced magical energy, and the difficulty of converting one kind of magical energy into another.
Throughout history, many masters of Transfiguration had attempted to transform into Fantastic Beasts. But because they could not properly replicate and convert their magical energy, most had failed, becoming half-human, half-animal monsters.
Still, these people had worked out a viable approach: attuning