Chapter 38: Are You Serious?

It was clear that the new students wouldn't be learning how to transform living creatures in their first lesson. Professor McGonagall used a single match to demonstrate that it would take considerable time to move from turning simple objects into animals.

Despite their best efforts, the young wizards waved their wands with all their might, but the matches in front of them stubbornly refused to change. Sometimes, that's just how it is—others can make it look easy, but when it's your turn, everything goes wrong. And that "other" was undoubtedly Professor McGonagall.

"Careful, it's supposed to turn into a needle, not a silver wand," Professor McGonagall instructed, walking up and down the classroom aisles, constantly correcting their mistakes.

As time passed, half the lesson slipped by, and yet the matches remained unchanged, still ordinary matchsticks. No one had succeeded in turning them into needles.

The Hufflepuff students had managed to turn their matches into lumps of charcoal, but this wasn't good enough for Professor McGonagall, and they lost a point for destroying the teaching aid.

Ravenclaw, being the resourceful lot, tried a different approach. Seeing little progress, they altered their strategy. Rather than trying to transform the matches into needles, they changed the color of the matchsticks or sharpened one end in an attempt to fool the professor. Some even went so far as to bring their own needles, claiming they had completed the transfiguration.

But, of course, Professor McGonagall saw through all of these attempts and promptly deducted twenty points from Ravenclaw for cheating.

...

As Professor McGonagall glanced around the room, she couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. There didn't seem to be many exceptionally talented students in this year's class. The only one who had made any progress was...

Her eyes drifted to the front row. There sat Kyle, resting his chin on one hand while lazily waving his wand with the other. To her surprise, the matches in front of him were actually changing. Though they hadn't fully transformed into needles, they were halfway there—quite literally.

Kyle had conjured a needle, but only half of it. The transformation wasn't in a fixed position, either. Sometimes the needle would appear at the top of the matchstick, sometimes at the bottom, and sometimes it seemed stuck right in the middle.

How to describe this? Was it a needle? What exactly was it?

Professor McGonagall was momentarily stunned. She had witnessed students fail an entire lesson and seen others succeed flawlessly. But this? She had never seen anyone fail so successfully. Still, Kyle had managed to conjure a needle, which was more than any of the others could claim at this point.

Thus, the lesson continued until, finally, just before the end, one young wizard succeeded in turning their match into a needle.

"Look, Professor McGonagall, someone from Hufflepuff has succeeded!" cried an excited voice from the front row, drawing the attention of all the students.

Professor McGonagall turned toward the sound and, to her surprise, smiled. What she hadn't expected was that the first student to succeed wasn't Kyle, whom she had been keeping an eye on, but Kanna Prince, the quiet Hufflepuff sitting next to him.

Kanna was a low-profile student, rarely noticed by others, but today she had beaten everyone else.

Still slightly surprised, Professor McGonagall quickly regained her composure. She picked up the shiny silver needle that Kanna had conjured and held it up for the class to see.

"Look, everyone, Miss Prince has succeeded. As a reward for being the first, Hufflepuff will earn three extra points!"

The room broke into applause, especially from the Hufflepuff students. They weren't just pleased about the points but genuinely happy for Kanna.

All eyes were now on the shy young witch, who had never been the center of attention before. Her face turned bright red, and a faint puff of white smoke seemed to rise from her head. She desperately wished she could disappear.

As soon as the class ended, Kanna dashed out of the room, clutching her textbooks tightly.

Kanna was filled with regret. She knew sitting so close to Kyle would bring her nothing but trouble! If she had known it would turn out like this, she would have switched seats earlier, even if it meant risking a scolding from Professor McGonagall!

...

On the other side, the innocent Kyle had no idea he had unknowingly taken the blame for Kanna's discomfort. As soon as he stepped out of the classroom, Cho came over and invited him to join her in the auditorium to meet Cedric.

"Sorry, I just remembered I have something to do soon. Could you go on your own?" Kyle said, gesturing toward Ryan, who was approaching. "We planned to visit Mikel together. If we're late, Madam Pomfrey will kick us out."

"…Alright then," Cho replied, a little disappointed but understanding. After all, visiting a sick friend was more important than looking at a map. She had already met Cedric and was impressed. He was the second-best-looking boy she had ever seen at Hogwarts.

The first? Well, that was Kyle.

Not wanting to waste time, Cho bid Kyle farewell and headed straight to the auditorium. Kyle watched her disappear around the corner of the corridor and had the nagging feeling he'd forgotten something important.

What was it…?

He couldn't quite recall at that moment.

Just then, Ryan arrived, looking slightly irritated. "Kyle, I saved you a seat, but you went and sat in the front row. What gives?"

Hearing Ryan's words, Kyle's mind flashed back to the nerve-wracking scene before class, and suddenly, he remembered what he'd forgotten. He hadn't told Cho about giving the map to Lianna.

What a mess… Never mind, I'll just tell her next time, he thought.

Kyle sighed and replied, "Sorry, Ryan. I got caught up in something and didn't notice. I'll sit with you next time for sure!"

"That's not what I meant," Ryan waved dismissively. "I'm just surprised you were brave enough to sit in the front row. I heard from some upperclassmen that the first row in Transfiguration is practically always empty. No one dares to sit that close to Professor McGonagall during her lessons. You've got guts!"

"Haha…yeah," Kyle chuckled nervously. If he'd had any choice, he wouldn't have sat there either.

Oblivious to Kyle's discomfort, Ryan continued, "So, should we head back to the dormitory now? Or wait for the others?"

Wait for them? Kyle glanced around and realized that all the Ravenclaw students had already left. Only the two of them remained from Hufflepuff.

"Where is everyone?" Kyle asked, puzzled.

"They stayed in the classroom to review their notes," Ryan replied casually. "Oh, and they reminded Professor McGonagall not to forget Mikel's homework."

Seriously? You guys are something else.

Kyle's eye twitched slightly, but after a moment of thought, he said, "Forget it. Let's just head back to the dorms."

He had originally planned to take Ryan to the hospital wing, but now he thought it was best to skip that plan.

...

A few minutes later, in the classroom, Professor McGonagall saw off the last of the Hufflepuff first years with a look of relief. She hadn't encountered such diligent students in a long time. Even after class, they stayed to review their notes, helping each other fill in the gaps and even requesting homework on their own.

Now, this is what a student should be like, she thought approvingly.

Rubbing her slightly sore eyes, Professor McGonagall began collecting the matchsticks that had been used as teaching aids. It was only then that she noticed Kyle's match had also successfully transformed into a shiny silver needle.

He must have been inspired by Kanna Prince.

Professor McGonagall didn't dwell on it, but she was pleased. Two students in the same house showing promise in Transfiguration? That was something to be proud of.