Chapter 20: Transfiguration Class

"Senior Neville, is Divination a course you only have in your third year?"

During breakfast, John happened to be chatting with Neville, so he pulled Neville over to their Ravenclaw table.

Although Neville was a bit socially anxious at first, the people here didn't know him and weren't paying attention to them, so he felt quite fresh eating breakfast at the Eagle House table.

It was his first time eating at another table.

"That's right, but this is actually an elective course; there are also Care of Magical Creatures, Ancient Runes, and Muggle Studies."

"In our third year, we just choose two of them."

Upon hearing John's question, Neville gave him an answer.

"So that's how it is; what did you choose, Senior Neville?"

"Divination and Magical Creatures."

"Are you more interested in these two subjects?"

"No, it's just that the credits for these two are easier to get..."

"......"

Hell, I've traveled to the magic world, and I can still hear the term "getting credits."

After eating, John said goodbye to Neville and rushed to the Transfiguration classroom without stopping.

According to Neville, Professor McGonagall, who was the Transfiguration teacher, would always turn into a cat and sit on the podium before the first class of the freshmen started, observing the freshmen's learning attitude.

After hearing this, John was greatly shocked; does this world really have cat-girls?

Then can I also turn into a cat and be taken home by some beauty to raise... thinking about it is terrifying.

By the time he rushed to the classroom, he found that the classroom was almost full.

Ryan and Ethan arrived earlier, and they sat at one table; other nearby seats were also full, so John simply sat in the empty seat at the very front.

He saw at a glance the tabby cat sitting on the podium; according to Neville's statement, this should be Professor McGonagall transformed.

To be honest, the impact was quite large...

Today's class was for their Ravenclaw and Slytherin to take together, so that little fatty Titus wasn't there; he should be taking other courses.

"See you again, classmate Merrick."

At this moment, a female classmate sat down beside him and greeted John.

John looked back and discovered it was Astoria, whom he had met on the train; come to think of it, she was indeed sorted into Slytherin, so she should be the only person he knew in Slytherin.

Oh, and her sister.

"Hello, classmate Greengrass." John also responded politely.

Astoria seemed to want to say something else, but just as she opened her mouth, the tabby cat on the podium suddenly leaped up.

Its body shape changed suddenly, turning into a tall woman, Professor McGonagall.

"Wow."

A gasp immediately sounded in the class, and Professor McGonagall proudly raised her chin.

Yesterday afternoon, when she was explaining and demonstrating Animagus to the third-year students, those little wizards had no reaction at all, which made her a bit emotional; today, she felt comfortable.

"Please be quiet, students; I believe the opening Sorting Ceremony has already let you know me."

"But I still need to introduce myself routinely; my name is Minerva McGonagall, and you can call me Professor McGonagall."

"I am one of the only 7 registered Animagus transformers in the Ministry of Magic, and I am also your future Transfiguration teacher."

Although they didn't understand what an Animagus was, the students applauded to show support; seeing this scene, Professor McGonagall nodded and began the formal class.

"Can anyone tell me what Transfiguration is?" Professor McGonagall walked to the podium and slowly asked the crowd.

Astoria beside John raised her hand and answered: "It is magic that changes the appearance and form of an object, or even changes the form of a species, through a transformation spell."

"Very good, 5 points to Slytherin."

Professor McGonagall nodded and continued.

"Transfiguration is a very complex, very dangerous, and rigorous discipline that requires logical thinking; it involves the transformation of object form, properties, and even life form."

"So I require you to treat this discipline with a serious and earnest attitude; otherwise, I will have to ask you to leave my classroom."

Professor McGonagall stood on the podium and said very seriously; she was notoriously strict in the school, and students didn't dare to mess around in her classroom.

"Alright, open the first page of *Beginner's Transfiguration Guide*."

"Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration, first rule: real objects cannot be created out of thin air, but the existing form of real objects can be changed."

"The meaning of this rule is that all Transfiguration has an important foundation, and that is the medium of transformation."

"I can turn the book in my hand into a turtle, and I can also turn a turtle into a book."

"But I have no way to create a book, or a turtle, out of thin air."

"This is the bottom-layer logic of Transfiguration; Transfiguration is not creating things out of thin air."

Professor McGonagall picked up the textbook, wrote and drew on the blackboard, and talked eloquently, explaining the basic theoretical knowledge of Transfiguration to them.

Her course was not like the Spell class, where they would directly teach everyone certain spells and then let everyone try.

Instead, she wanted everyone to learn the basic theory solidly before starting practical teaching.

Regarding the performance of Transfiguration, there were three core elements.

The accuracy of spell pronunciation, the precision of wand gestures, and the high concentration of the spirit.

A wizard first needs to have a full understanding of the transformation object, and then build the object form, or even molecular structure, of the transformation object in their mind, in order to complete the corresponding transformation.

The former is still easy, but the latter requires a massive amount of magic power.

Of course, for their freshmen, completing the former is considered excellent, and at the same time, they are also required to be prohibited from attempting human transformation.

After the theoretical part of the knowledge was explained, Professor McGonagall waved her hand, and matches flew out from the podium, landing on the tables of the little wizards.

"The learning task I give you this week is to turn the match in front of you into a silver needle."

"It is required that the silver needle cannot have a wooden structure, and one end must be sharp."

"Now let's try it first; everyone recite with me, *Vira Vito*."

*Vira Vito*, this was the most basic transformation spell; point the wand at the target three times, build the form of the transformation object in your mind during the process, and then recite the spell.

"Next, try it yourselves."

Following Professor McGonagall's order, everyone couldn't wait to start reciting the spell at the match in front of them.

But no one succeeded; even a child born of pure blood like Ryan couldn't learn it immediately.

John picked up his wand, looked at the match, concentrated his spirit, and the appearance, material, and hardness that a silver needle should have appeared in his mind.

This information appeared as clearly as if a silver needle were being carefully observed in front of him.

Gradually, the image of the silver needle in his mind gradually overlapped with the match in front of him.

"*Vira Vito*."

John pointed three times and recited the spell.

The magic power at the tip of the wand poured out, merging into the match; suddenly, there was a change, and the match turned into a flawless silver needle.

Professor McGonagall was the first to feel the fluctuation of that magic power, looked toward John's direction, and then discovered that he had actually completed the transformation of the silver needle, walking over quickly.

"Very good, Mr. Merrick, you successfully completed the transformation of the silver needle, 10 points to Ravenclaw."

Professor McGonagall walked to John's table and said very gratified; freshmen who could learn Transfiguration in class were very few and far between.

Subsequently, she picked up the silver needle and carefully inspected it, discovering that whether it was the touch or the hardness, it was very perfect.

"Another 10 points to Ravenclaw, Mr. Merrick, your silver needle completion level is perfect." ===== CHAPTER 21 =====