Chapter 468: Transfiguration Animagus

"If it's about expelling… I reckon Dio can't earn food for himself. Ah, that would put a lot of pressure on me as his master," Bai Lang pretended to sigh. Although Hermione Granger probably wants to say she could contribute a bit, thinking that a cow a week would be unaffordable even for her parents, who are high‑earning dentists. Perhaps Professor McGonagall could afford it......

Bai Lang had seen Professor McGonagall summon Professor Hagrid to bring Dio, and McGonagall even stroked Dio's mane—overall, Dio's intelligence was high enough that it could appear docile before these professors. Not long after he returned to school, the winter break arrived. "The strange thing is that after all these years I never even thought of going east. Seems the water is pretty deep," Bai Lang thought, but he still has no intention of returning to the mainland.

Because the original author never wrote a story about an Eastern magical world, in the author's conception—Asia only has a Ri Ben magical realm, and the true central nation "doesn't exist"; what exists are individuals settled in Britain. For example, Zhang Qiu, whom Bai Lang knows is a Chinese‑heritage girl who can't even speak Mandarin; her English is fluent and she knows a bit of Cantonese, but she basically doesn't recognize Chinese characters, let alone speak Mandarin.

Bai Lang has no interaction with that Chinese‑heritage girl; although Bai Lang speaks English very smoothly, unless the insults toward Draco Malfoy are those he learned from the great armored sergeant, his other curses are in his native Chinese—ranging from "damn it!" to "damn your mother!", "spicy‑block mom!", "turtle son!" and various others, rarely the same.

As for Zhang Qiu, the most she ever manages is a Cantonese expletive "damn your whole family!", which is already impressive. "Where does a person truly belong? Just look at which language they instinctively use when cursing," is Bai Lang's view. The trio, especially Hermione Granger, are busy searching ancient records to help Hagrid with a lawsuit, while Harry and the others assist her.

Bai Lang is diligently training Neville Longbottom, usually by beating him with a wooden stick—though Neville looks pitiful, if he pairs up with others and doesn't shrink back out of fear, he is already a fairly good sword‑and‑shield warrior. Although his skill at channeling magical power into weapons and shields is inconsistent, he has learned how.

Harry practically runs to Professor McGonagall every day, and Wood likewise begs Professor McGonagall to finish the inspection quickly and return the fire crossbow bolt to Harry—apparently Gryffindor's victory hinges entirely on Harry's broom. Quidditch training has become five times a week, leaving Harry and the Quidditch teammates—except Wood—exhausted. "Hope lies ahead! Slytherin only has a slight win over Ravenclaw! We have a chance!"

Hermione Granger has already claimed a corner of the common room for homework, and she has a huge amount of assignments to complete each day.

After an unknown number of battles with Dementors, Bai Lang's Patronus spell has started to take shape: "Mummy Mummy Red!" As Bai Lang chants, a yellow light gradually forms, vaguely resembling a tiger, though it never fully solidifies. Still, expelling the Dementors is enough; Bai Lang has lost interest in dealing with them personally, as their reactions are too mechanical.

Bai Lang still hasn't tried killing a Dementor—otherwise the Ministry of Magic might charge him with damaging public property, and who knows how much compensation they'd demand for a Dementor. When he returned, he found Neville Longbottom locked out again, and said, "Honestly, Neville, just fight Sir Cadogan. Trust me, your skill is definitely better than his! I'll watch from the sidelines." Bai Lang produced a wooden sword and shield and handed them to Neville.

Neville swallowed, his first time fighting a humanoid monster other than Bai Lang, visibly nervous. The bout with Sir Cadogan was unimpressive; Neville's performance was less than half of his training level, but Sir Cadogan was even more useless, so after a sweaty, grueling struggle, Neville finally dented Sir Cadogan's helmet, causing the old fellow to collapse straight into the portrait—the knight's short‑legged horse licked his face, trying to wake him.

"Ah, so before this useless fellow wakes up, we're all locked outside," Bai Lang muttered, "But Neville, you did great. Relish your first duel victory; you'll have plenty of that joy later." He guessed the old fellow would revive within fifteen minutes—painted figures rarely die—so Bai Lang simply began critiquing Neville's recent fight.

At that moment Pipigui arrived, cackling wildly while spraying a water bag onto Sir Cadogan's head, "Ha ha ha, flatten the skull, flatten the skull! Just like a smashed bean!" Pipigui's movements and expression were utterly mad—"What do you think? Lately Pipigui seems increasingly crazy?" Neville said, watching Pipigui's antics, "It started as a prank, but now it's getting harder to understand his behavior."

"Ah, maybe he's been hit on the head so many times, now he's completely mad?" Bai Lang wasn't sure, but it didn't stop him from brandishing his wand. Pipigui cackled, raised a huge stick he'd somehow produced, smashed his own head crooked, then let out a bizarre, eerie laugh and drifted away. "Really crazy!" Bai Lang said. At that moment, Sir Cadogan, drenched and even oozing paint, let out a groan.

"Open the door," Bai Lang said, and the head‑covered Sir Cadogan waved, the portrait sliding aside to reveal an opening. "From now on Gryffindor has one more who doesn't need to recite a password," Bai Lang said, patting Neville's shoulder, "Well done, kid."

Not long after they entered, Harry spun in, dancing, cradling his fire crossbow bolt—apparently the professor had inspected it and found no issues. The whole common room buzzed, everyone crowding to get a look at the bolt. "Harry, you're so lucky; the professor gave you a fire crossbow bolt right before the match, now victory is assured," Bai Lang said, and Wood was so thrilled he could barely speak.

The next day they went to train, but Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger had a spat—Hermione's cat apparently ate Ron's mouse. Bai Lang paid no attention to such trivialities—his Patronus seemed about to take shape, he felt it. Sure enough, when he again provoked the Dementors, the chant "Mummy Mummy Red" triggered, and a fierce tiger with golden‑yellow fur and black stripes leapt from the tip of Bai Lang's wand.

The tiger was almost buffalo‑sized; amid its roar it shredded a Dementor, prompting Bai Lang to quickly cancel the spell and vanish back to the dormitory. Would the Ministry of Magic notice? How would they pursue it? How much would Bai Lang have to pay? Would he be sent to Azkaban? None of that happened; someone from the Ministry apparently inquired, but Dumbledore snapped them back.

In short, Bai Lang emerged unharmed, and the match began. Finding the weather too fine to watch the game, he slipped into the Forbidden Forest—everyone else was at the match, so he could summon Dio to play. After all, Dio is a big cat, and Bai Lang's pictographic fist can still draw nourishment from it. Bai Lang and Dio weren't so much playing as fighting—Bai Lang's movements rose and fall like a fierce tiger, battling a golden‑mane, massive‑horned lion.

Even here he could hear the Quidditch arena's cheers, "Did they win?" Bai Lang said confidently. The celebration lasted all day, and Bai Lang guzzled a lot of butter beer. He also felt like cheering—since completing his Patronus, he thought he had many ideas about Transfiguration's Animagus. Professor McGonagall had constantly warned never to experiment with Animagus magic on one's own, but Bai Lang was determined to try it secretly.

On the night the Gryffindor Quidditch team celebrated victory, Harry and the others returned exhausted to sleep, while Bai Lang slipped out of the dormitory into the Forbidden Forest. Dio had been waiting there; Bai Lang stretched his limbs, "I think I can do it." He pumped himself up, then focused, "Wong Mani Mani Red, Ma Neon!" The tone was still that of a Tibetan monk's chant.

His body began to change, limbs on the ground and shoulders rattling, and the Tiger Form True Meaning within the Southern Dipper White Tiger Fist activated naturally, like a huge insect shaking its head and tail. The first transformation was relatively long, but after five or six breaths Bai Lang became a tiger—either a white tiger or a tiger of a size comparable to his Patronus, almost as big as a buffalo.

"My god, the kung fu has surged! Knowledge from books is shallow; one must practice it oneself! Indeed, cultivating the Tiger Form in a human body still falls short of a true tiger by a hair— even though I've refined the Tiger Form to be ten thousand times stronger than a real tiger, there's still a flaw in the tiniest detail!" Bai Lang's excited words turned into a series of tiger roars, luckily far from the castle, lest they be exposed.

Since the spell now works, reverting to human form and later transforming into a tiger is no longer as slow or dangerous as the first time; the spell's advantage is that it also changes the clothing, preventing a transformation from ruining an outfit. Bai Lang hummed a tune and returned to the dormitory; from then on he only needed to blend in—after all, he'd only stay about ten years, and Yu Yu's current water hue proves that.

Bai Lang never expected to master anything; this damn magic he learned is certainly unusable elsewhere—just causing trouble… When Voldemort rises again next year, Bai Lang wouldn't mind cracking his skull, Avada Kedavra—if it's at the movie‑style speed… Voldemort would be wise to pray his head is harder than iron.