Eloise in Flames

The tabby cat vanished, and Professor McGonagall took her place.

She wore square spectacles with markings exactly like those around the cat's eyes.

McGonagall's expression was unchanged. Apparently, this was not the first time something like this had happened.

William even strongly suspected that students had once teased her with a cat wand or petted her head!

Everyone fell silent, startled by Professor McGonagall's trick.

Bobocha was even more frightened. He had no idea how the pretty tabby had suddenly vanished and turned into a stern woman.

His fur stood on end. Grabbing his dried fish, he turned and fled the scene.

Professor McGonagall did not stop him. Instead, she looked around the room, pausing a little longer on William.

The oppressive air around her was just like Professor Snape's. Everyone knew she was not to be trifled with.

Professor McGonagall spoke. "Transfiguration will be the most complex and dangerous magic you learn at Hogwarts."

"Anyone who misbehaves in my class will be asked to leave and never allowed back in.

You have been warned."

No one spoke. Bobocha hid beside William's leg, trembling.

"Transfiguration means exactly what its name suggests: magic that turns one object into another.

It can make an inanimate object come to life, or turn a living creature into an object," Professor McGonagall said, taking her wand from inside her robes.

"Like this."

She gave her wand a gentle wave, and Bobocha, who was hiding at William's feet, rose into the air.

Professor McGonagall caught Bobocha, a hint of a smile appearing on her lips.

Bobocha gazed pitifully at Professor McGonagall and let out a little "Meow~," trying to get by on cuteness.

Professor McGonagall touched her wand to Bobocha's head.

With a swish, Bobocha turned into a cup.

Professor McGonagall gripped the cat-tail-shaped handle and waved the cup in the air so the students below could see it clearly.

Everyone's attention was drawn to it.

Professor McGonagall tapped Bobocha a few more times, and a grunting pink piglet shaped like a blower appeared on the desk.

Bobocha also had a pair of wings. Professor McGonagall waved her wand, and he flew into the air like a drone.

Everyone applauded, staring excitedly overhead, eager to start learning at once.

Professor McGonagall turned Bobocha back and stroked his orange head. With a wave of her wand, a cat bowl appeared before him.

Bobocha sniffed it and swallowed the treat in one gulp. After wolfing it down, he darted back to William's side.

Professor McGonagall said, "All right, everyone, open A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration. Today we'll cover the basic principles and Gamp's First Transfiguration Squeeze Theorem."

Everyone opened their books and looked at the densely packed derivations and theorems. Their spirits sank a little.

Professor McGonagall continued, "If all goes smoothly and quickly, you may be able to try Transfiguration today."

At Professor McGonagall's words, everyone grew excited again.

Theory was undoubtedly dull. As Professor McGonagall had said, this was a difficult and complex subject.

An hour passed with Professor McGonagall still explaining various theories, and everyone had taken a great many notes.

To keep everyone's attention, Professor McGonagall performed some impressive transfigurations from time to time, with Bobocha serving as her feline model.

William listened with great interest. Although he had studied this material on his own and asked Cedric about the parts he did not understand, Cedric was still dozens of Hagrids behind Professor McGonagall.

Apparently deciding that everyone's heads were spinning, Professor McGonagall finally put down her textbook. Looking at the relieved students, she said, "All right, now we can try some practical work."

She handed everyone in the class a match and said, "Your goal is to turn the match into a needle. The finer, the better."

Cho pointed her wand at the match and attacked it with a glare. The match retaliated by remaining utterly immovable, lying comfortably on the desk.

Marcus Belby jabbed hard at his match, and the stick snapped in two with a crack.

He glanced at Professor McGonagall and did not dare ask for another match. Instead, he pretended nothing had happened and continued poking it as if nothing were wrong.

The other students in the class were not doing much better. Most of them did not even know the spell and simply sat there blankly.

"Have you learned it already?" Cho gave up trying and turned to William.

William was still reading his textbook, but he was clearly looking at material further along.

"Just about." William put down the textbook and picked up his wand from the desk.

He tapped the match lightly. The match disappeared, and a long needle appeared on the desk.

That was not quite accurate. The thing was called a needle, but it was really a small iron rod, nearly as thick as the match, with one end tapering slightly in an abstract representation of a point.

That was surprising enough, though. After all, he was far ahead of the other students!

"How did you do that?" Katie Bell, who was sitting behind him, stood up and asked with immense envy.

She realized that people were different from one another. The genius of Ravenclaw truly lived up to his reputation.

William shrugged and said, "I spent a long time on it over the summer.

As a great wizard once said, 'I merely spent the time others used drinking coffee on studying Transfiguration.'"

Several students nearby were drawn over by Katie Bell's cry. When they saw that William had successfully used Transfiguration, they were amazed.

Professor McGonagall walked up to William. Bobocha shrank into his robes, afraid to show his head.

She glanced at the iron rod on the desk, surprise appearing in her eyes. Her pursed lips seemed a little less tight.

Turning a match into a fine needle was material for several weeks later. Most students would only manage it after they had been at school for over a month.

Professor McGonagall had only brought it out to lighten the mood and had not expected anyone to succeed.

"Very good, Mr. Stark," Professor McGonagall said. "One point to Ravenclaw."

Cormac McLaggen snorted. He had disliked William ever since they entered school.

McLaggen had thought that once he entered school, his one-in-ten-thousand talent would truly burst forth, but he had not expected William to pull further and further ahead of him.

He picked up his wand, stared at the match, and began holding his breath.

The veins bulged on his forehead, his face darkened, magic coursed through his body, and his wand trembled in his hand.

Finally, turbid qi rose, clear qi descended, the two qis split evenly, food returned to the large intestine and water to the bladder... A turbid, eye-watering gas broke free of his body and entered the classroom.

That felt better...

The Gryffindor classmates around McLaggen covered their noses and moved away to either side.

McLaggen did not notice, because his body felt wonderful now, and his condition was simply perfect. He picked up his wand, poked the match gently a few times, and used magic.

Hiss!

The match ignited instantly, and with the peculiar gas in the air feeding the fire, the flames shot up.

McLaggen was terrified. He hurriedly flung the match away, and it landed right in Eloise Midgen's fluffy, light-colored hair.

Who knew how long it had been since she had washed it?

Her greasy hair caught fire instantly.

Eloise turned into an oversized match.

(Third update. Merry Christmas, and please vote for recommendations.)