"The Head of House's first lesson? I admire your courage, warrior." Daphne laughed, though there was genuine worry hidden beneath her teasing. Snape did not have the reputation of a forgiving professor, and sleeping through his class sounded like a very creative form of self-destruction.
"It's all right. I'll show the professor what I'm capable of and make him understand that my sleeping in class isn't my fault." Roger raised an eyebrow, looking entirely confident in an excuse he had not yet explained.
"If it isn't your fault, then whose is it?" Daphne propped her chin on one hand and stared at him with open curiosity. She clearly wanted to hear what brilliant magical defence he had prepared.
"Obviously, it's the professor's fault. His class is the one that's too boring." Roger said it with such seriousness that, for one brief second, Daphne almost believed he meant to argue it in front of Snape.
Daphne's eyes widened, and she gave him a grand thumbs-up. "You'd better sit far away from me. Don't drag me down with you when he buries you."
By the time Roger and Daphne finished breakfast, the Great Hall had grown as noisy as a market. Roger looked around with his textbook in hand but could not find a single clock anywhere, which meant he would need to get a proper mechanical watch sooner rather than later.
"Hmm. This is painfully wizarding." Roger sighed as if he had finally found the source of the British magical world's heavy sense of history. Apparently, a school could have enchanted ceilings, moving staircases, and ghosts, but not a convenient clock.
The booklet Professor McGonagall had given him was extremely useful. It introduced various techniques and key points regarding Transfiguration, and when Roger combined it with A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration, he gained a much deeper understanding of the subject.
Transfiguration was built on two foundations: the mutability of matter and the will of the caster. Professor McGonagall's notes stated that the basis of Transfiguration lay in the shared essence of matter, which was why one substance could be changed into another.
Beyond mastering incantations and wand movements, a wizard also needed a strong will. Roger nodded as he read this, because the principle seemed connected to much of wizarding magic. A caster needed an almost unquestioning sense of self, the kind that silently declared, I impose my will upon the world.
Under that will, magic could be shaped according to the caster's intention. Spells and wands were tools that helped realise that intention, but will itself was the true core of magic.
When a wizard's will became strong enough, they could completely break free from tools and directly realise what they wanted. Roger could not help raising his hand slightly and murmuring, "Lumos."
A brilliant light burst forth without a wand, bright enough to make the courtyard seem as though noon had suddenly arrived. It was a perfect little display of his will, and also a reminder that his control remained far from perfect.
"Wow, that's bright!" Daphne, who had been reviewing her textbook beside him, stared wide-eyed. "Why is your light so strong? And you didn't even use a wand."
Roger quickly ended the spell. Fortunately, they were in the courtyard; otherwise, who knew what kind of trouble he might have caused. Still, he felt faintly troubled, because his spells were growing stronger the more he used them, and he still had not found a proper way to control their power.
"These are family secrets, never passed to outsiders." Roger put on a mysterious expression, hoping that would end the topic.
"Tch." Daphne rolled her eyes at him, clearly not believing a word of it.
Roger chuckled awkwardly and did not explain further. He continued reading and soon moved past the basics of Transfiguration into the next layer: understanding matter and form.
This was the crucial step in completing Transfiguration. A wizard had to possess sufficient understanding of the substances involved, or their magic would remain shallow and unstable.
In the final part of her notebook, Professor McGonagall wrote that every wizard truly skilled in Transfiguration was also a master of deconstruction. They could see through the essence of matter at a glance, and that required both extensive knowledge and constant practice.
She then listed several categories of Transfiguration. Basic Transfiguration allowed one substance to be changed into another, and in that area, similarity of shape was especially important. Animal Transfiguration, which was more advanced, allowed a wizard to transform themselves into an animal through spells.
"Huh? Why is there no explanation of Animagi?" Roger looked at the notebook with a puzzled expression and found a large blank space beneath the section on Animal Transfiguration. It seemed Professor McGonagall had deliberately removed that part.
Even so, Roger still found clues in the animal transformation spell. It required specific incantations, extensive training, and produced a temporary external change. From those characteristics, he could deduce the missing content: Animagus transformation was likely permanent in form and touched the wizard's essence.
"If I could raise the Animal Transformation Charm to a very high level, wouldn't that be a disguised form of Animagus transformation?" Roger's thoughts began drifting wildly. If the spell could be maintained for fifty years, then even if the essence was different, it would look no different from being an Animagus.
At the end of her notes, Professor McGonagall also mentioned human Transfiguration and non-material Transfiguration. However, those fields were complex and dangerous, belonging to advanced magic, and she did not describe them in detail.
Roger and Daphne entered the Transfiguration classroom together, and Daphne immediately spotted the adorable tabby cat sitting on the desk. Her eyes lit up at once, and she could not help walking closer.
"Wow, what a cute kitten. Why is there a cat in the Transfiguration classroom?" Daphne's voice softened immediately, the way many people's voices did when they encountered a small animal.
"Wait a moment." Roger smiled awkwardly and took some food from his pocket, then handed it to Daphne. It was owl food, which he decided could probably serve as cat food in an emergency.
Watching Daphne sprinkle the food in front of the cat, Roger pinched his own thigh hard to keep from laughing aloud. The tabby cat on the desk dodged Daphne's hand and gave Roger a stern glare that looked far too human.
"Not cute at all," Daphne muttered as she returned to sit beside Roger. Then she noticed that Roger had collapsed over the desk, shoulders shaking silently.
Sensing something was wrong, Daphne quickly looked back toward the front of the room. The cat disdainfully swept the food away from the desk, and only then did Daphne notice the square markings around its eyes, which looked strikingly similar to Professor McGonagall's glasses.
"No way…" Daphne's face flushed bright red, and she covered her mouth to stop herself from crying out. She kicked Roger hard under the desk, then quickly pretended to be a model student and hid behind her textbook.
At that moment, she wished she could take out her wand and stab the hateful boy beside her to death. Roger had absolutely known, and he had still let her feed cat food to their Transfiguration professor.
The bell had not yet rung, but students from both houses were almost all present. The only exceptions were Harry and Ron, who, like Professor McGonagall's human form, were nowhere to be seen.
On the first day of school, the young wizards quickly began whispering among themselves. The lion cubs of Gryffindor were especially bold, chatting freely and fearlessly as though classrooms naturally existed for conversation.
The little snakes, by contrast, were much quieter. It was not because they lacked energy, but because Roger had reminded them that this was the deputy headmistress's classroom.
Worried that Professor McGonagall might deduct points, the Slytherins sat quietly and behaved themselves. They had already heard about Snape's unconditional favouritism toward their house, and they feared Professor McGonagall might be exactly the same sort of professor for Gryffindor.
Against the background of Slytherin's unnatural silence, the little lions finally realised something was wrong. In an instant, the whole classroom fell quiet, and everyone waited for the late Professor McGonagall, as well as Harry and Ron, who were still missing.
The two boys quietly pushed open the classroom door. Unfortunately, even though they tried to be careful, the sound of the door closing still drew everyone's attention.
"Mr. Saviour is doomed," Daphne whispered with a sneer while secretly watching the cat.
Hermione, sitting in front of them, shook her head helplessly. Those two were going to lose points in their very first class at Hogwarts.
Malfoy glanced back at Harry and Ron with a dismissive smile. Harry had rejected his friendship and chosen to associate with Ron Weasley instead. To Malfoy, this outcome had been inevitable from the start.
"We made it!" Ron looked around the classroom and saw that only the middle seats in the first row were empty.
He and Harry walked toward the seats in relief, clearly grateful that the professor had not arrived yet. Ron even said, "Imagine the look on the professor's face if she knew we were late."
The moment he finished speaking, the tabby cat on the desk leapt down and transformed back into Professor McGonagall in mid-air. Now Ron saw the icy expression on his professor's face.
Although Roger and Daphne had expected it, they still could not help drawing in sharp breaths. The transformation had been smooth, elegant, and almost frighteningly natural.
"Is that advanced Transfiguration?" Daphne whispered in amazement, suddenly showing great interest in Professor McGonagall's class.
"Transfiguration can't last that long," Roger explained quietly. "This is Animagus."
.....
Can't wait to read more exciting chapters then what are you waiting for Join my p*atreon right now.
Get 60+ Premium chapters.
Link: p*atreon.com/Earthly_Writer (Remove the *)
2 Chapters for all free members.