Everyday Life of a Top Student at Hogwarts

Chapter 17 Questions about Transfiguration

As the morning sun streamed through the arched windows of the Ravenclaw Tower on Wednesday morning, Karen was already seated in a blue velvet armchair in the common room, perusing "Advanced Theory of Transfiguration." His grey-blue eyes scanned intently across the moving diagrams on the pages, his fingertips unconsciously tapping a rhythmic pattern on the armrest.

"Merlin's beard!" Wesley Cruz yawned as he came down the spiral staircase of the boys' dormitory, his reddish-brown hair a mess like a bird's nest ransacked by a Niffler. "Karen, you didn't sleep all night, did you?"

Karen closed the book, a slight smile playing on her lips. "You slept for four hours. More importantly, have you forgotten that Professor McGonagall's first class today was Transfiguration?"

"What?" Wesley snapped back to reality, frantically glancing at the magical clock on the wall. "Twenty minutes left! Where are Fabian and Ernesto?"

"I'm here." Fabian pushed up his round-framed glasses and emerged from behind the bookshelf on the other side, his curly black hair neatly combed back. "Ernesto said he went to the auditorium for breakfast first."

Karen stuffed the books into her dragon-skin satchel: "Then we'd better hurry."

As the three hurried through the moving staircase, Wesley suddenly lowered his voice: "Seriously, Karen, you were already turning a match into a needle last class. What are you planning to do today? I can't even make it completely silver."

"Pay more attention," Karen said. "Professor McGonagall emphasized that Transfiguration relies heavily on willpower."

The Transfiguration classroom was on the second floor of the castle. When they arrived, Ernesto was already sitting in the front row, his gray eyes impatiently scanning the doorway. Seeing them, he slightly raised his chin: "Finally here? I thought you were planning to deduct points from Ravenclaw on the third day of school."

"Thank you for your concern, Mother Griffith." Wesley grinned and deliberately sat down next to Enesto, who moved away in disgust.

Professor McGonagall entered the classroom on time, her gaze sweeping over the entire class before lingering briefly on Karen. Karen's transfiguration talent, displayed in the last class, had been quite impressive.

"Today, continue practicing turning matches into needles." Professor McGonagall waved her wand, and a match appeared in front of each student. "Remember, Transfiguration is the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts. Any imprecise transfiguration can have disastrous consequences."

Karen took out her wand and made a spellcasting motion towards the match.

In the blink of an eye, his match transformed into a slender silver needle, its tip gleaming with a cold light, and its eye even adorned with exquisite patterns.

Karen narrowed her grey-blue eyes slightly as she stared at the match that had turned into a silver needle. She gently flicked the needle tip with her fingertips, feeling the cool touch of the metal and the uneven texture of the pattern.

"Karen, how do you manage to be so perfect every time?" Wesley leaned closer; the tip of his match had turned a little silver, but the wooden stick had already turned into a black iron needle.

"Focus, Wesley," Karen replied softly, noticing that Fabian's black hair was curling even more, as it always did when he concentrated on casting spells. Ernesto Griffith, meanwhile, frowned, his grey eyes filled with defiance. His needles were finished, but he also wanted patterns to appear on them.

Professor McGonagall walked among the desks, occasionally stopping to correct a student's movements or pronunciation. As she approached Karen's row, her gaze fell on the perfect silver needle, and a hint of admiration flashed in her eyes behind her square glasses.

"It seems this exercise is no longer a challenge for you, Mr. Hawthorne." Professor McGonagall's voice was as serious as ever, but the corners of her mouth were slightly upturned.

Karen stood up and took out a small notebook from inside her robe: "Professor, I have some questions about Transfiguration that I would like to ask you. I encountered them during my summer study."

Professor McGonagall raised an eyebrow: "Previewing?"

"Yes, I read something in 'The Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration' and it gave me some questions." Karen opened her notebook, which was filled with neat handwriting and some complex diagrams.

Professor McGonagall took the notebook, quickly glanced through a few pages, her brow furrowing and then relaxing. "These questions...some of them are beyond the scope of the OWLs exam." She pointed to a question about the transformation of the nature of matter. "That's an interesting line of thought, but why did you think of this?"

Karen had already prepared her explanation: "When I tried to turn stone into wood, I discovered that although the shape changed, the internal structure still seemed to retain the characteristics of stone. I wondered if transfiguration only altered the appearance rather than the essence?"

The classroom suddenly fell silent, and several students nearby turned to look, including a few Slytherin students. Ernesto's gray eyes widened, clearly surprised that his roommate was pondering such a profound question.

Professor McGonagall's expression became complex, a mixture of surprise and delight. "This touches on the very core of Transfiguration, Mr. Hawthorne." She lowered her voice. "We'll discuss this in detail after class. Now," she glanced at the other students, "continue practicing, matchstick to needle!"

For the next half hour, Karen pretended to practice the spells he had already mastered while observing his classmates' performance. This was the first time he had observed his roommates so seriously. In his "eye of truth," each person's magical flow exhibited unique characteristics: Wesley's magic was as passionate and unrestrained as he was, but lacked control; Fabian's magic was gentle and stable, but lacked explosive power; Ernesto's magic was precise and accurate, but overly cautious.

When the bell rang, Professor McGonagall gestured for Karen to stay. After the classroom was cleared, she began to answer the questions in her notebook in detail.

"Regarding the question of the nature of matter," Professor McGonagall conjured a chair and gestured for Karen to sit down, "Gamp's fifth rule states that Transfiguration cannot permanently change the properties of matter, but that does not mean it is merely a superficial change."

Karen listened intently, occasionally asking more in-depth questions. Professor McGonagall's answers were like keys, unlocking many of the perplexities he had encountered during his self-study. Half an hour later, Professor McGonagall closed her notebook, her expression unusually gentle.

"I am impressed by the depth of your thinking, Mr. Hawthorne. There are some questions I cannot answer directly, because some of the mysteries of Transfiguration can only be understood through personal experience." She took a piece of parchment from the bookshelf and quickly wrote down a string of book titles. "These books may help you, but remember," her eyes turned serious, "Advanced Transfiguration is extremely dangerous and must be performed under the guidance of a professor."

"I understand, Professor." Karen carefully put away the book list. "Thank you for your guidance."

Stepping out of the Transfiguration classroom, Karen found her three roommates waiting in the hallway. Wesley rushed up to her impatiently: "Merlin's Beard! What did you say to Professor McGonagall? She actually laughed!"

"We just discussed some Transfiguration theory," Karen replied casually, but inwardly she was delighted to have received Professor McGonagall's personal reading list.

Ernesto crossed his arms and said in a feigned indifference, "Hmph, don't think you can beat me in the next Charms class just like that." But his gray eyes gleamed with admiration.

Fabian adjusted his glasses. "Shall we go to the fifth floor now and check out that abandoned classroom? We have Defense Against the Dark Arts class this afternoon, and we don't have much time left."

The four boys made their way up the castle's spiral staircase to the fifth floor. Hogwarts' staircases were always unpredictable, but they were lucky this time; the stairs turned directly in the right direction.

"I heard this classroom was used ten years ago," Wesley said excitedly, "but it was abandoned after Peeves threw a 'shit party' in there."

"Disgusting." Ernesto frowned, but curiosity gleamed in his eyes.