37 Chapter 37: Can anyone really drink Animagus potion, it's so disgusting?

Bell looked at Hermione strangely, completely unable to understand why the young witch was so angry. How he behaved, when he completed his transformation, should all be his own business, right? What does it have to do with Hermione?

"Hermione, everyone has their own preferences. I don't like the feeling of being the center of attention. Instead, I prefer to quietly read alone. So, I didn't immediately complete the transformation," Bell explained lightly. "Honestly, I don't think there's anything wrong with my behavior, so why are you so angry?"

Listening to Bell's unexpected response, Hermione was speechless.

Now that she had calmed down and thought about it carefully, she couldn't quite understand what she had been thinking before.

'Why was I even angry?'

The momentarily forgetful young witch felt very confused. It seemed like Bell could do whatever he wanted, and it really had nothing to do with her.

Since coming to Hogwarts, Hermione had felt strange about herself. Maybe it was because it was her first time going to school so far away from home? Maybe it was because she felt like she was falling behind in her studies for the first time? Maybe it was the experience she had last night after returning to the dormitory that made her realize the huge gap between reality and imagination? Anyway, after waking up in the morning, Hermione felt like she didn't even recognize herself anymore.

Hermione took a deep breath and apologized to Bell, "I'm sorry, Bell. I... I don't know what to say, I..."

"Alright, I understand, Hermione."

Seeing the bewildered look on the young witch's face, Bell interrupted her.

"I didn't mean to blame you."

"Suddenly leaving home and coming to such a distant place, feeling a bit confused is quite normal."

Bell comforted Hermione in turn, feeling like he really understood the young witch's feelings (or so he thought).

"In fact, don't look at me like this. Truth is, my emotions right now are even more confused than yours."

"Thank you, Bell."

Hermione looked at Bell with a complicated expression.

"Don't mention it," Bell waved his hand. "Do you have any plans after this? Would you like to go to the Great Hall for lunch together? Even if we won't be sitting at the same table."

Hermione, who had already planned to go for lunch, nodded in agreement and walked with Bell towards the Great Hall.

As they walked towards the Great Hall, Hermione asked about the doubts she had during the Transfiguration class.

"Bell, do you know what magic Professor McGonagall used before class? The one where she turned into a cat."

"That's Animagus."

"Animagus?"

Hermione recalled the books she had read and confirmed that she had never seen this term before.

"Yes, Animagus is considered a relatively difficult Transfiguration magic. It can transform oneself into an animal. However, it can only transform into a fixed form of one animal. After the first transformation, subsequent transformations will be the same as the first one. That's considered a drawback of Animagus. Of course, it also has its advantages. Animagus can maintain the transformation for a long time, and there are no traces of magic, making it difficult to detect."

"Bell, do you also know how to perform Animagus transformation?"

"No, I don't, and I don't intend to learn this magic for now."

"Why?"

Hermione looked curious.

"Firstly, Animagus has limited utility. In most cases, if we need to transform into an animal to do something, Human Transfiguration would suffice. Although Human Transfiguration has drawbacks like high energy consumption and noticeable magical traces, it can transform into different animals as needed, overall, not inferior to Animagus. Another reason is that completing the Animagus transformation requires drinking a unique potion, and that potion is really disgusting!" Bell said with disgust.

He really couldn't understand how that potion was invented, and its inventor must be incredibly skilled, in various senses.

"What potion is so disgusting? Aren't potions usually disgusting?" Hermione asked, puzzled.

"..."

Bell was speechless. Upon careful consideration of the ingredients of those potions, most potions were indeed quite disgusting. No, he definitely had to eat more delicious food later to calm himself down.

"Firstly, you need to hold a Mandrake leaf in your mouth. For a whole month, regardless of eating, sleeping, or doing anything else, you must keep it in your mouth. Then, on the full moon, take out the leaf, put it into a small bottle, and fill the bottle with your saliva. The subsequent steps are not detailed, but basically, it involves fermenting your saliva for several weeks or months, and then drinking it again."

Just the thought of it made Bell feel nauseous, rubbing the goosebumps on his arms.

"To be honest, I'd rather drink the secretion of a Flobberworm than my own fermented saliva."

Hermione briefly imagined it in her mind, then immediately interrupted her thoughts. It was almost time for lunch, and if she kept thinking about it, she might lose her appetite for dinner as well.

"Of course, those aren't the main reasons," Bell continued explaining. "Currently, the magical community generally believes that Animagus transformation can only transform into ordinary animals, but I don't think so. If you've read relevant books, you'll find that the description of Animagus in the book's states, 'If you want to transform into magical animals, unexpected consequences will occur.'"

"Which means, it's not that it would fail, but rather, we don't know what will happen. It could be 'wizards can't transform into magical animals,' or it could be 'those who attempted failed to successfully transform into magical animals.' After all, there are too few people learning this magic, even fewer conducting in-depth research, so there isn't enough data to make a judgment."

"Since there are two possibilities, why do you think it's 'those wizards failed' instead of 'can't transform'?" Hermione asked, puzzled.

"Because of the Patronus Charm."

Seeing Hermione's puzzled expression, Bell continued, "You can ignore what the Patronus Charm is for now; you'll learn about it later. For now, you just need to know that wizards generally believe that the guardians summoned by the Patronus Charm can only be ordinary animals. And because it's difficult and limited in use, very few wizards are able to master the Patronus Charm. How does that sound? Doesn't it sound almost identical to the situation with Animagus?"

"However, there was an exception among the guardians. The most prominent white wizard of the modern magical world, our Professor Dumbledore, his guardian is a phoenix, a magical creature, and the only known magical creature guardian."

Talking about his magical research, Bell's whole demeanor changed, and his eyes seemed to light up. This was the first time he had talked about his research with someone other than Shanna.