Chapter 56: The Path of Transformation

"Hello everyone," a lean male researcher stepped onto the podium. Wearing a pair of black-rimmed glasses and a red and brown checkered shirt, he greeted the audience with reserve, "My name is Andrew Tuck, a genetic engineering technician. The paper I'm presenting today is titled 'Thoughts on the Path to Godhood for Wizards'."

"As a genetic engineer, when Director Murphy mentioned 'evolution,' I realized that this term itself represents a path to immortality and omnipotence."

"The evolution Director Murphy speaks of differs from the biological sense. It refers to the commonly understood human concept of individuals becoming better and stronger."

"Put simply, this means having greater strength, faster speed, longer lifespan, higher intelligence, and so on."

"Originally, some of these attributes were contradictory. For example, in ordinary mammals, greater strength means more muscles, which leads to heavier weight and subsequently reduced agility."

"In fact, the human body is a finely optimized structure; most redundant elements have already been eliminated through evolution."

"If we want to possess the strength of a bear, we inevitably become slower. If we wish to fly like eagles, we must shed much of our weight. And if we want to enhance our intelligence for quicker thinking, it could lead to faster aging due to increased energy metabolism."

"It's extremely difficult to enhance our bodies in every aspect through purely biological means."

"Thus, since the industrial era, many have believed that the best way to enhance ourselves is to abandon our frail bodies and embrace powerful machinery."

"However, now, we have another promising path."

"And that is magic."

"More precisely, transformation magic!"

"In my half-month of study, the magic that fascinated me the most is the art of transformation!"

"Transformation magic allows for the interchange between living and non-living forms, enabling a person to become another species while retaining most of their human consciousness."

"Transformation magic allows one to be both a human and simultaneously a bear, an eagle, a wolf, or even a mouse!"

"Wizards don't even need to add specific functional genes to their bodies — considering our limited understanding of genetics, this could be very dangerous — yet they can still possess certain biological capabilities."

"Transform into a bird, and you can fly; transform into a fish, and you can swim underwater; transform into a bat, and wizards have echolocation abilities."

"However, transforming humans is very dangerous, and thus is generally used on others and considered malicious. But this reveals a path to simultaneously possess the abilities of various other species."

"If such temporary transformations merely expand a wizard's capabilities, then the masters of transformation, the Animagi, truly possess another self."

"They can maintain an animal form for years, even decades, and if they wish, they can live out their entire lives as another species."

"This permanent form change provides evidence for permanently solidifying other species' forms and abilities."

"There are millions of species in the world, each with its unique survival strategy. The abilities they possess are bizarre and diverse, and the magical world's myriad creatures further expand this diversity. Nearly every problem we encounter in the natural world can find a solution in the realm of biology."

"So, when a person can transform into any biological form at will, aren't they, in a sense, achieving omnipotence?"

"Of course, regarding wizards, omnipotence, and magic, there is still much we don't know. How to guide a wizard to omnipotence has many paths, and I can only speculate a little based on the information I currently possess."

"This possibility is to build a pathway that centers on transformation magic and Animagi, enabling wizards to transform into anything and everything."

"Firstly, the core of this idea is the Animagi. This form of transformation differs from others in two ways: it is self-transformation, and it is permanent."

"But relying solely on Animagi is insufficient due to several limitations. First, most Animagi can only transform into a fixed animal and not others."

"Second, Animagi usually can't transform into magical creatures, preventing access to some extraordinary abilities, like the Phoenix's rebirth."

"Third, the process to become an Animagus is overly complicated and difficult, greatly limiting its efficiency."

"To overcome these limitations, we need to introduce other methods for reference and improvement."

"For example, Polyjuice Potion. It can transform a person into another's appearance and even grant partial animal traits when misused. Given that it requires the other person's hair in its preparation, we can reasonably expect that it might extract some genetic information to a certain extent."

"Also, Polyjuice Potion can transform a person into anyone, which might help overcome the limitation of Animagi being able to transform into only one species."

"There are also shape-shifting creatures, like — Boggarts, a dark magical creature that can read fears and manifest as the feared object. Studying such creatures, with their powerful and swift transformation abilities, might provide useful insights."

"Additionally, there are creatures like werewolves and vampires. These magical beings can transform a wizard or a Muggle into the same species as themselves."

"Although it's easier to transform a wizard, the possibility and risk are higher for Muggles. However, the mechanism behind this transformation might offer references for overcoming the limitation of Animagi not being able to transform into magical creatures."

"Even, this might also be a path for us Muggles to transform into wizards."

"The magical world has many creatures with transformation abilities, as well as potions and spells, like Metamorphmagi, Shrinking Potion, and ordinary transformation spells, etc."

"Studying these creatures or magic, and more importantly, the Animagi themselves, might unravel the core secrets of transformation and lead us towards omnipotence."

"This potential path, I propose to call it: The Path of Transformation."