TSCJTTM CH18 The Entrance Interview

Leaky Cauldron, 1 Week Later.

A visitor arrived in early morning hours through the Floo Network, barely an hour after the inn had opened its business for the day. She was Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Minerva McGonagall was a tall, rather severe-looking, and "sprightly" older woman. She had black hair that was currently combed back into a tight bun under the witch's pointy hat she wore in a slightly crooked style. She wore expensive looking emerald green robes and squarish spectacles. She had a very prim expression on her face as she was here on official business.

She rang for Tom the innkeeper as soon as she reached the reception table. Tom came out hurriedly from one of the backrooms while holding a broom.

"Ah, Madame McGonagall. Never thought I would see you here at a time like this. Usually you are busy with Hogwarts and students." Tom said cheerfully.

"Hello Tom," Minerva nodded to the innkeeper, "Actually I am here on Hogwarts business today too. One of the prospective transfer students of Hogwarts is staying in this inn currently. I have an entrance interview scheduled with him today. Can you call him for me and arrange a table in a secluded corner or private room?"

"Alright, Madame McGonagall. In fact, I will ask the guest and guide you to their room for the interview if they are okay with it. What is the guest's name?"

"His name is Rudra Raghuvanshi. A 13-14 year old boy of Indian descent." McGonagall said.

"Ah, I know who you are talking about." Tom nodded and went towards Rudra's room. To his surprise, Rudra was coming out of his room right at that moment, completely dressed in proper new wizarding robe and pointy hat.

"Ah, Master Rudra," Tom cam up to him with a smile, "Madame McGonagall from Hogwarts is here to meet you. She said something about an entrance interview with you. Would you like to take that interview in your room or should I prepare a table for the two of you in a quiet spot?"

"Ah, she is here already? I thought I would have time to read up some more. (sigh) Never mind, please send Professor McGonagall directly to my room. I will tidy it up a bit in the meantime." Rudra told Tom.

By the time Minerva arrived to Rudra's room, Rudra tidied it up and placed two chairs opposite to each other in the center of the room. As soon as Minerva entered, Rudra bowed slightly with a Namaste pose and gestured Minerva to have a seat. Rudra took his own seat after Minerva was seated.

"Mr. Raghuvanshi--"

"Please Professor, just call me Rudra. I am no longer part of that clan so I am not exactly comfortable using that surname unless there is a necessity." Rudra said with a slight shake of his head.

"Alright, Mr. Rudra." Minerva said, "Let me tell you, your application needed a lot of deliberation before it was approved for an entrance interview like this. It is very unusual for someone who is not familiar with our style of magic to be admitted to Hogwarts midway through the seven years of school life."

McGonagall paused and after adjusting her spectacles to show an intelligent gesture, she continued, "I am obligated to warn you, both your interview and you future years at Hogwarts will be hard, as you will have to adapt to our culture, our education style, our rules, and our magical society. I hope you are ready for it."

"Of course professor," Rudra said with a nod.

"Alright then. I will be posing a total of ten questions to you. You can understand based on the knowledge and understanding of the question. While there is no compulsion to answer all ten questions correctly, it is recommended you think your hardest and give the best possible answer you can as that is what will help you increase your evaluation in my eyes."

McGonagall the started asking her questions, "What is the commonly followed formula for transfiguration?"

Rudra thought for a while how to answer the question and Minerva didn't pressurize him. This was not a time based test. It was just a way to see what he understood about the way of magic taught at Hogwarts.

Having composed the answer in his mind, Rudra answered, "There are a number of factors a wizard/witch has to take into account when carrying out Transfiguration spells. The intended transformation (t) is directly influenced by body weight (a), viciousness (v), wand power (w), concentration (c) and a fifth unknown variable (Z)."

"Hmm, First Question, State one of the Principal Exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration and the reason why it is made as such."

"Food is one of the Principal Exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration, meaning that it could not be created from nothing. Or, if I should elaborate according to my understanding, the spell for that was deliberately not created."

"The reason behind this should be that Transfiguration magic spells of the Conjuration branch are not permanent. Sooner or later, based on the amount of magic it contains, the objects that are produced by Conjuration are likely to disappear or return to its original state."

"While Conjuration states that objects are being created from nothing, my understanding is that it is actually created using air and magical energy as the base. Therefore, when any object reverts to its base state, it would transform back into its original form."

"In case of food, reverting to its original state once someone has consumed it would probably be fatal. Hence it is instead stated as one of the exception in Gamp's Law and prevents people from trying it out and putting themselves in danger."

"Hmm," McGonagall looked at Rudra with a more favourable gaze, "That is one of the more interesting answers I have heard about the exceptions and the law from among the students. Usually people just parrot back excerpts from book. You however tried to understand the law and give your own opinions on it. That is a good quality to have for a student."

"Second Question, Why are dragons so hard to handle as a species?"

"Dragons are a naturally violent ans territorial apex predator species. They are near the top of the food chains soon after birth, with their entire body created to both defend and attack along with the ability to fly."

"Moreover, they are one of the natural counters for wizards and witches, as their skin and scales provide them with great magic resistance. To bring down a dragon, either you have to gather a group of wizards with good teamwork to cast spells like 'Stupify' simultaneously to amplify its effects and take a dragon down, or you need an expert witch or wizard who can accurately attack a dragon's eyes, one of its only weakness."

"Third Question, Name two uses for Dragon Blood."

"Cleaning ovens, and Removing spots."

"Fourth Question, Name two potions that have Moonstone as one of their ingredients."

Rudra had to think for a while before answering, "Draught of Peace and Amortentia."

"Fifth Question, Where can you generally find Red Caps?"

"Red Caps are attracted to violence and love to sneak attack with a blunt heavy weapon. Therefore one would have a higher chance of encountering them in secluded places where blood has been spilled. They will attempt to bludgeon the unwary to death."

"Sixth Question, What are the wand lighting and wand extinguishing charms?"

"The Wand-Lighting Charm, spell name Lumos, is a charm that illuminated the tip of the caster's wand, allowing the caster to see in the dark. The counter-charm for the spell is the Wand-Extinguishing Charm, spell name Nox, which is used to extinguish the light from the caster's wand."

"Seventh Question, What is the officially accepted definition for a beast?"

"Beast is a magical creature that does not have sufficient intelligence to understand the laws of the magical community, nor bear part of the responsibility in shaping those laws. This definition was laid down by Minister for Magic Grogan Stump in 1811, and the Beast Division was formed as part of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures."

"However, there are exceptions. Centaurs and Merpeople both requested to be classified as Beasts, refusing "Being" status because they objected to some of the other creatures they would have to share "Being" status with, such as hags and vampires. With this in mind, teaching material on them notes that they are to be treated with great respect."

"Acromantulas, Manticores, the Sphinx and Erklings would have normally qualified for Being status since they were capable of intelligent speech, but since they would try to eat any person that goes near them, and were vicious and bloodthirsty, became dangerous when the things they were guarding were threatened, or when they were given the wrong answer to their puzzles or riddles, and would try to eat children and shoot darts at people respectively, they were classified as Beasts."

"Additionally, werewolves were only classified as Beasts in their transformed state. When there was no full moon they retained their Being status like any other human. However, they were still also classified as sentient by the Ministry of Magic."

"Eighth Question, What is the basic difference between Charms and Transfiguring Spells?"

"Charms differ from Transfiguring Spells in the following manner: a charm adds certain properties to an object or creature, whereas a transfiguring spell will change it into something utterly different."

"Ninth Question, What is Aconite?"

"Aconite, also known as monkshood or wolfsbane is a mundane plant with magical properties. Its flowers are useful in Potion-making, but its leaves are very toxic. The root of aconite could also be used as a potion ingredient. Aconite is most commonly known as an ingredient of Wolfsbane Potion, but it is also an ingredient in Wideye Potion."

"Final Question, What do you know about Unforgivable Curses?"

"The Unforgivable Curses are three of the most powerful and sinister spells known to the wizarding world. They are tools of the Darkest Arts and were first classified as "Unforgivable" in 1717, with the strictest penalties attached to their use. The three curses consist of the Killing Curse, Cruciatus Curse, and Imperius Curse."

"Impressive, Mr. Rudra," McGonagall gave one of her rare praises, "It seems you have not wasted time and read a lot of books to prepare yourself. I have found no lacking subjects among the courses of the previous two years that you have to adapt to. As such, I declare that you have passed the entrance Interview and will be joining us at Hogwarts as a student."

"By the way, since you will be starting in Year Three, you will have additional elective subjects along with the compulsory ones. I will leave you with a list and you can decide for yourself and you can send an owl to me later. That reminds me, I will advise you to buy an owl as a pet, they will be immensely useful for delivering stuff on short notice."

McGonagall spent some more time informing Rudra of various things he had to pay attention to and gave Rudra an official letter from Hogwarts before leaving. With that, Rudra was now a Hogwarts Student. He smiled and fell back on the bed, mentally exhausted. These past few days he had barely slept, spending all the time studying and practicing his skills to generate skill points. Now that the interview was done, it was time for a long awaited rest.