Chapter 51: New Applications of the Transfiguration Spell

Allen was thus ejected from Professor Quirrell’s office.

Professor Quirrell gave him his first homework today—figure out what an Unbreakable Vow is before next lesson.

Allen was deeply confused by this Unbreakable Vow; he had only heard of an Unbreakable Alliance before, though that alliance had eventually broken, so this Unbreakable Vow sounded like something that was meant to be unbreakable.

But despite his grumbling, he still needed to find out what it was.

The next day, Allen went to the library, and to his surprise, he found an introduction to the Unbreakable Vow without much effort in a book titled *Studies on Oath-Based Spells*.

The Unbreakable Vow is a magical ritual used to forge a binding oath between wizards. If the vow is broken, the one who breaks it dies. If the one who made the vow dies, the vow ends immediately.

Seeing that breaking the vow resulted in death, Allen was stunned—he hadn’t expected the spell’s binding power to be so absolute. He began to doubt Professor Quirrell’s intentions and hesitated again about learning Dark Magic; learning Dark Magic required taking this vow, staking his life on it.

Maybe he could wait until next week to see the exact terms of the vow before deciding—if the vow was heavily disadvantageous to him, he’d walk away; if its constraints were limited, it might be worth considering.

Moreover, Allen felt the saying was right: “Power itself is neither right nor wrong—it’s the one who wields it that determines right or wrong!”

As long as he held fast to his own heart and never did evil, what did it matter if he learned Dark Magic?

Besides, the troll and Quidditch incidents had placed immense pressure on him—he never imagined the shadowy force lurking in Hogwarts had become so brazen as to launch an attack in broad daylight.

This filled him with dread, but he had no one to confide in; if he went to the professors for help, they’d likely think he was insane! Even the powerful Professor Quirrell had been attacked by the troll and fainted from fright.

He couldn’t predict when the next attack would come, so all he could do now was strengthen himself—otherwise he might die without even understanding why. Dark Magic was his best option right now.

Besides, the shadowy force lurking in Hogwarts was likely Snape—Snape had always disliked him. If he accidentally got in Snape’s way, one spell would end him.

And Professor Quirrell had said Snape was highly skilled in Dark Magic, and the mastermind behind it clearly was too; even if the mastermind wasn’t Snape, the more Allen understood about Dark Magic, the higher his chances of survival.

After careful consideration, Allen finally made up his mind.

It was another new week, and this afternoon was Professor McGonagall’s Transfiguration class.

After two months of study, the young wizards had all mastered the Transfiguration Spell, though strange things still occasionally happened when transforming objects...

Today, Professor McGonagall handed each student a handkerchief.

Hermione guessed that today’s Transfiguration lesson would be turning the handkerchief into parchment.

But Professor McGonagall’s next words instantly sparked the students’ interest.

“Your progress in object Transfiguration has exceeded my expectations, so today we will learn something new—this is also a prerequisite for transforming objects into animals. I’m sure those who pre-read the textbook already know what it is!” Professor McGonagall scanned the class.

The young wizards burst into cheers; after so long of turning one object into another, they were finally learning something new.

Professor McGonagall waited until the class quieted before continuing: “Next, we will learn to transform objects into animals,

but merely giving an object the appearance of an animal is not enough. If you only mimic its form, no matter how lifelike, the animal will remain motionless. That is why today’s exercise is—imbuing transformed objects with behavioral logic!”

The young wizards looked puzzled, but Allen’s eyes lit up—he had pre-read this section and had been eagerly awaiting it.

Professor McGonagall then began her demonstration, but to ensure the students could see clearly, she used not a handkerchief, but a red cloak.

She cast the Transfiguration Spell on the cloak, and nothing happened at first—just as the students began to suspect she had failed, the cloak suddenly moved on its own!

It soared into the air, folded itself into the shape of a butterfly, and fluttered gracefully above the classroom...

After circling a few times, Professor McGonagall waved her wand—the cloak shot back toward her, draped itself over her shoulders, neatly tied a bow, then lifted its collar slightly to affectionately nuzzle her cheek. Professor McGonagall gently stroked the collar, and it immediately responded as if savoring her touch...

The young wizards were stunned by this brilliant Transfiguration and erupted into thunderous applause; though they had seen Professor McGonagall demonstrate many impressive Transfigurations before, each one still left them awestruck.

Professor McGonagall smiled, enjoying the students’ stunned expressions and their applause.

Allen was deeply impressed—wasn’t this exactly Doctor Strange’s cloak? Though it lacked the cloak’s myriad magical abilities, its anthropomorphic movements were unmistakably identical.

Though Allen had read about this application of the Transfiguration Spell in his textbook, seeing a Transfiguration master perform it still filled him with awe.

“You all saw it: I cast the Transfiguration Spell on the cloak, and it changed nothing—yet it gained its own behavioral logic. This is one of many applications of the Transfiguration Spell,” Professor McGonagall explained.

A rustling of notes filled the classroom—the students were intensely interested.

“I said on our first Transfiguration lesson that mastering Transfiguration will greatly aid your future work and life. This application can make your daily life easier. Imagine: if you master this, you won’t need to struggle putting on clothes each morning—just wave your wand, and your clothes will dress themselves. You won’t need to fold your clothes or blankets—wave your wand, and they’ll neatly fold themselves...” Professor McGonagall, with her vast teaching experience, knew exactly how to spark the students’ interest.

The students were indeed captivated by this vision—especially now that winter had arrived, and putting on clothes each day was a chore. They began excitedly whispering to each other.

Professor McGonagall unusually did not immediately restore order; instead, she smiled as the students enthusiastically discussed.

When the students gradually quieted, Professor McGonagall continued.

“There are two ways to imbue an object with behavioral logic: first, directly assign it a behavioral logic for it to execute autonomously—this saves the caster from constant control, but the object’s actions will be rigid; second, the caster establishes a direct link with the transformed object, allowing precise control—but the wizard must constantly divert attention to maintain it, making it impractical to control multiple objects at once.”

The students became even more interested upon hearing real-time control was possible, and listened intently as Professor McGonagall continued.

“In fact, during the demonstration, I used both methods simultaneously—in most cases, we combine both approaches to ensure the transformed object acts precisely according to the wizard’s intent!” Professor McGonagall pressed on, pouring knowledge into the students’ minds.