Transfiguration and Charms Class

Quietly criticizing the Animagus spell in his heart, Jon observed as the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor first-year students arrived one after another.

"Hello, Jon."

"Hello, Steven."

"Good morning, Jon."

"Good morning, Eloise."

He greeted his Hufflepuff classmates one by one... However, they had no idea that the tabby cat on the podium was Professor McGonagall, casually chatting and playing with each other.

Among them, Steven Lucas even wanted to go up to the podium and pet the tabby cat but was stopped by Jon.

Ginny Weasley also arrived and took a seat in the front row, sitting alone not far from Jon's right side.

By eight-thirty, the entire class had arrived... Probably no one would be late on the first day, first class.

"Good morning, everyone!" Professor McGonagall's voice suddenly came from the podium, startling most of the students. "Please be quiet!"

The entire classroom fell silent.

"I am Professor Minerva McGonagall, your Transfiguration teacher..." Professor McGonagall briefly introduced herself.

"To change one thing or person into another, it is a rather dangerous process!" Professor McGonagall's voice was not loud, but it had a peculiar persuasiveness. "Many times in the history of Hogwarts, an incautious student turned themselves or others into a pig, a sheep, or even worse!"

"If you're lucky, such transformations are not permanent..." Professor McGonagall paused. "But if they are permanent, it will be a disaster!"

"There are known sixteen magical creatures that were created from failed Transfiguration spells by wizards, including the infamous 'Five-Legged Freak'... In the history of Great Britain, at least three hundred wizards died due to their own failed Transfiguration spells, and close to nine hundred people became lifelong disabilities because of their failed Transfiguration spells!"

"I hope none of you become one of them!" Professor McGonagall scanned the crowd with profound meaning.

The Transfiguration classroom became pin-drop silent as the young wizards looked at each other.

"After you understand the dangers of Transfiguration, I will show you the complexity and magic of it!"

As Professor McGonagall spoke, she waved her wand.

Almost instantly, the podium in front of her transformed into a giant lion.

"Roar!" The lion let out a roar and jumped in front of Colin Creevey's seat, startling the small Gryffindor boy almost falling off his chair.

Several students near it even retreated in alarm.

Professor McGonagall waved her wand again.

The lion took two steps forward and transformed into a small, badger-like dog, darting around the desks... It even jumped onto Jon's table, leaving a paw print on it.

"Squeak... Squeak..."

Finally, the dog returned to Professor McGonagall's side and transformed back into the podium.

The students who had just been in a state of panic about Transfiguration were quickly captivated... They couldn't wait to learn how to do it themselves.

"Of course... Turning furniture into animals is something you will learn in your higher years!" Professor McGonagall gestured for everyone to be quiet. "I will start with the simplest thing first and teach you how to turn a matchstick into a needle!"

She handed a few matchsticks to each student.

"In your minds, imagine the appearance of a needle... Keep that image in your mind, solidify it without any slight changes... Now, let the match in front of you merge with the needle in your mind..."

"The incantation is 'Acus'! Note that the stress is at the end... Now, raise your wands..."

"Acus!" Jon raised his wand and shouted without hesitation.

However, the match in front of him didn't seem to undergo any changes.

"Very well, Miss Weasley!" Professor McGonagall's voice sounded to the right of Jon. "You achieved quite a success on your first attempt. Gryffindor gets one point!"

The attention of the entire class shifted to Ginny Weasley.

The end of the match in her hand had undergone a slight change...

"Could it be that Voldemort's diary comes with a personal effect of a needle?" Jon glanced at his own match that hadn't changed at all and rubbed his head.

...

...

After one class, a total of four students had caused changes in their matches, and Jon Hart was the fourth.

He only made the tip of the match slightly sharper, while Ginny Weasley created the outline of a needle on the entire match... Delighted, Professor McGonagall awarded Gryffindor an additional point for her achievement.

This made Jon a little frustrated, not because he wanted the limelight or the extra point... After all, he had memorized the entire book "Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration," while most of his classmates hadn't even opened the textbook before the start of the school year.

In fact, he already knew the theory behind the entire incantation "Acus" very well... The main reason he couldn't succeed was that he found it difficult to envision the image of a needle in his mind and overlap it with the match.

But there was no time for self-pity because the Charms class was about to begin.

The Charms classroom was located on the left side of the fourth floor corridor. When Jon arrived here with the crowd of Hufflepuffs, he found that Ravenclaw students had already filled the seats.

The short Professor Flitwick had to stand on a stack of books to reach the lectern... Before starting the class, he took out the roster to call the roll.

This year's students didn't have a figure as famous as Harry Potter, so it didn't surprise him.

Like Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick also spent half the class emphasizing the importance of Charms... Then, he demonstrated the Crushing Charm, the Repairing Charm, and the Levitation Charm.

After that, Professor Flitwick taught them how to cast the "Hover Charm," which could make objects hover in mid-air for a few seconds.

Furthermore, Professor Flitwick claimed that once the majority of students in the class mastered this spell with ease, he would teach them the more advanced, profound, and highly useful "Levitation Charm"!

During the half-class practice, not a single student from either house managed to successfully cast the "Hover Charm," including Jon.

Although Professor Flitwick reassured them that the "Hover Charm" required a lot of practice and that in all the years he had taught, only a few students could master it on their first class...

Still, on the way to the Great Hall, Jon felt extremely disappointed.

Just like in the Transfiguration class, he had already understood the entire theory behind the "Hover Charm" and even its advanced version, the "Levitation Charm"... but he found it challenging to put it into practice...

The first morning at Hogwarts was turning out to be quite disappointing for him!