14 Chapter 14 - The Aging Kitten-Girl

Approaching the Transfiguration class, Asmodeus began to prepare himself mentally. "I need to make it look like I have no idea who the professor is."

Well, here I am.

Entering the class, he glanced around and saw two or three Ravenclaw students who had already taken their seats, along with a cat sitting on the professor's desk. As Asmodeus spotted the cat, his eyes sparkled.

Professor McGonagall, completely unaware, suddenly felt a chill in her lower back and opened her eyes. She witnessed Asmodeus flying towards her, using flames, arms outstretched to grab her. The cat jumped, attempting to evade with hisses and yowls, but to her immense dismay and joy, Asmodeus caught her. With an iron grip, he held the kitty, stroking its head with an indifferent expression as he sat at a desk.

Professor McGonagall felt as if all the malice in the world was directed at her, wondering why this child was so powerful. Watching her futile attempts to escape, Asmodeus merely smirked, thinking, "Ha, 19 strength points are no joke. Although I'm weakened compared to my adult self, I'm still much stronger than the people in this world."

As Asmodeus contemplated, he felt movement in his right pocket, where he had cast a traceless stretching spell. Tilting his head, he saw Athena's little head (⁰0⁰) peering out, looking surprised as her beloved owner handled another cat.

"Hiss," she hissed at Professor McGonagall. The professor, in turn, puffed her tail and hissed back in feline fashion.

However, Professor McGonagall was unaware that despite Athena's cat-like appearance, she was no ordinary cat. Therefore, when her hiss was met with a dragon's roar, she was slightly stunned. Fortunately, Athena hadn't fully emerged from the pocket when Asmodeus released the kitten-girl, taking her into his arms. In any case, he had already earned his 50 points for the task.

"Quiet, Athena, this is the professor's cat. Don't mistreat her," Asmodeus whispered. The wyvern responded with a low growl.

"I know you're jealous, but don't worry. Tonight I'll find Professor Dumbledore to ask him to openly allow me to take you out of the room. For now, crawl back in; the lesson is about to begin," Asmodeus said, patting Athena's head.

While he pacified his dragon-cat, another cat exited the classroom, finding a dark corner in an empty room nearby and transformed back into a human.

"Damn it, Mr. Morningstar, how dare you. It's a good thing there were only a few people in the office, and apparently, none of them knows I'm an Animagus."

"I need to get rid of this habit."

"If students find out about what happened..."

In reality, the Ravenclaw students had known who it was all along, but they decided to forget about it and never bring it up again. Besides, it was only fitting to say a prayer for Asmodeus, even if his last name was that of the devil.

So, five minutes later, as all the first-year students gathered in the Transfiguration class, a minute before the lesson began, Professor McGonagall entered with a stoic expression.

No one, except for four students and a wyvern, knew about her recent embarrassment.

"Good morning, class! Transfiguration is a strict and dangerous lesson. Anyone who dares to misbehave in my class will feel regret! The lesson officially begins now."

Professor McGonagall looked at Asmodeus, tapped her wand on the table, and the table instantly transformed into a live lion, roaring deafeningly at him.

Asmodeus, with a twitching face, looked at this and thought, "I just petted a cat, so what if it was the professor? She should think I don't know about Animagus. Why do I feel like Professor McGonagall wants to eat me?"

After teaching theoretical knowledge, Professor McGonagall gave each first-year student a matchstick and asked them to try turning it into a needle. Everyone worked diligently, but there were no signs of success.

Asmodeus took out his staff and attempted to transfigure the matchstick. Tapping the wand around the matchstick created flames, and a second later, a beautiful obsidian-black needle adorned with the emblem of the Fire Nation lay before him.

He was about to set the needle aside and try something more challenging when the keen-eyed Professor McGonagall noticed it. She took it and examined it closely.

"Very impressive, this is the most perfected transfiguration needle I've ever seen from a first-year student, plus 10 for Ravenclaw! Come and take a look at Mr. Morningstar's transfiguration needle."

Professor McGonagall is pleased to have a student with outstanding transfiguration talent.

"Could Mr. Morningstar give this to me? I'll add it to my collection."

Asmodeus, despite playing with the cat, did so only because of the system's task. He sincerely respected this impartial and stern Gryffindor professor, stood up, and nodded slightly, "With pleasure, Professor McGonagall."

"Ding, achievement unlocked: Receive praise from Professor McGonagall, reward 5 points! Current balance - 205 points!" The system notification sounded.

"Ding, the system adapts to the host's circumstances and issues a task - 'Earn 100 points for Ravenclaw house' - reward 50 points."

Inspired by Asmodeus, everyone trained more seriously, and he assisted. After all, Transfiguration is not a magical spell. If you pronounce it correctly, you will succeed. Practice is needed here.

The rest of the class struggled to transfigure matchsticks into needles during the lesson, but only some of the eaglets managed to make the matchstick look needle-like with Asmodeus's help and advice. However, no one could change the texture and material of the matchstick.

After the lessons, Ravenclaw students became closer to Asmodeus. Ravenclaw admired his knowledge. Asmodeus was ready to share his ideas. As talented as Asmodeus was in spells, his flawless performance had initially distanced other first-year students from him. Now, as he decided to help them learn, the relationships between him and his classmates began to improve.

After lunch, walking down the corridor toward the library, Asmodeus contemplated how to showcase his knowledge of potions during the evening potions class. "I think I'll get the opportunity. If not, I'll go find trouble with Slytherins; then he'll surely try to retaliate. That's when I'll show him what it means to memorize all the potion books for the first four years."

During the day, he was in the library with Hermione, discussing charms. Somehow, he had already absorbed all the knowledge from the first to the third class.

At four o'clock, Professor Snape, in his black cloak, hurried into the classroom. He stepped forward; the wind blew under his feet, the hem of his cloak fluttering in the wind behind him. It's a pity that the beautiful middle-aged man's hair is shiny and greasy because he hasn't washed it all year round.

Asmodeus had seen the professor behind the teacher's desk before, but every time he saw him, he was dressed in this outfit. He had some doubts that the professor didn't even wash his clothes but bathed every day to solve the hygiene problem. Or maybe all his clothes looked like that.

"You are here to study the exact science and strict art of potion making."

"Since there is no silly wand here, many of you won't believe it's magic."

"I don't expect you to truly understand the beauty of a boiling cauldron with white smoke and bursts of aroma, a liquid that boils and bubbles; that's what I consider more magical than magic."

"I can teach you how to enhance your prestige, brew honor, and even prevent death, but under one condition: you must not be one of those idiots I have to deal with."

Given Snape's unique tone, no matter how many times he heard it, Asmodeus considered it strange. It sounded as if a person sitting on the toilet is trying to look serious.

Snape stepped onto the platform with a blank face, silenced, and looked at the students present. Until he found Asmodeus's figure.

He stared at Asmodeus with a scrutinizing gaze for a few seconds. Turning away, he pulled out a scroll and began checking the presence of all students.

Snape's voice was low and indifferent; he spoke slowly, as if nothing could cause fluctuations in his mood.

But that sounds a bit ironic.

Finally, he read a name that caught his interest.

"Oh, yes." Snape paused. "Asmodeus Noren Morningstar, I've heard about your talent in charms and transfiguration; I hope you won't disappoint me."

When it was time for practical work, Snape asked to pair up and prepare an itch-relief potion. Asmodeus joined Terry Boot, who lived with him in the same room, although they couldn't be called friends, they were somewhat acquainted.

He decisively moved away from Hufflepuff's tables as far as possible. Who knows, maybe there's a hidden genius for explosions in Hufflepuff like a male version of Megumin (Seamus Finnigan) or a slightly clumsy Neville. He decided not to take risks.

Even without practice but with a huge reserve of theory, Asmodeus and Terry managed to finish the potion 20 minutes before the others.

"Professor Snape, we're done."

"Hmm, only if I say the potion passed inspection, you'll be free."

Snape said, approaching the cauldron.

But when Snape approached, he paused and, looking at the cauldron, said, "Did you change the recipe?"

"Yes, instead of grating the Horned Slug, I decided to extract from it and add it to the potion in smaller proportions; this way, it will be more effective."

"We'll check that now."

Snape turned around, took the Furunculus potion, and smeared it on his hand. Blisters covered his palm, but he didn't even bat an eye.

He took a ladle, scooped up the dark blue potion, and poured it on his hand. Within a second, all the boils and pimples began to heal instantly.

"15% more effective than my recipe," he muttered.

"How did you come up with this?"

"From Muggle chemistry. I decided to give it a try, and it worked."

"20 points to Ravenclaw."

Snape quietly said and went on to scare the students. But Asmodeus knew that what's on the surface, not to mention in Snape's head, is not always what it seems.

"Ding, congratulations on completing the task - 'amaze Snape with your knowledge of potion-making' - awarded 15 points. Congratulations, host, the current balance - 220 points."

Having finished the potions class early, Asmodeus headed towards the common room; he and Hermione agreed to meet there.