Chapter 41: Transfiguration

In the afternoon, the Gryffindor first-year students had their Transfiguration class together with the Ravenclaws.

Before the first lesson began, Professor McGonagall started off with a stern expression, asserting her authority:

"Transfiguration is the most complex and dangerous magic you will encounter during your time at Hogwarts. Anyone who dares to misbehave in my class will be asked to leave and will never be allowed back in."

Her intimidating speech, combined with Professor McGonagall's severe countenance, instantly silenced the group of eleven-year-old students, and the classroom fell into a heavy silence.

In reality, Professor McGonagall's teaching style wasn't much different from Professor Flitwick's. She turned the lectern into a pig and then back to normal again.

This spectacle quickly captured everyone's attention, and they couldn't wait to begin learning Transfiguration.

Having just finished their Charms class, the Gryffindor students understood that it would take quite some time to transfigure furniture into animals.

As expected, after the class started, Professor McGonagall began explaining the theory of Transfiguration, and the students diligently took down a multitude of complex notes.

Albert opened his skill list, and sure enough, Transfiguration theory appeared. He spent 98 experience points to level up his Transfiguration theory to level 1.

Since the class started, he had been staring at the contents of "A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration," pretending to read attentively while secretly reviewing the additional knowledge of Transfiguration theory in his mind.

After the theoretical explanation, Professor McGonagall distributed a matchstick to each student and instructed them to try transforming it into a needle.

"Mr. Anderson?" Professor McGonagall called out, frowning slightly at the boy who was daydreaming. She remembered him quite well since anyone who witnesses someone breaking into their office would have a vivid memory, let alone how recent it had happened.

"Um, Professor, is there something wrong?" Albert immediately snapped out of his daze and looked at Professor McGonagall with a puzzled expression.

"Everyone is practicing Transfiguration. Why don't you give it a try as well?" Professor McGonagall's gaze shifted past Albert to the adjacent Fred. "Mr. Weasley, if I were you, I would focus my attention before casting the spell."

Fred appeared innocent, but having Professor McGonagall standing next to him brought a significant amount of pressure.

Albert glanced at Fred and began to fabricate an excuse, "I just think that before waving our wands, it's important to remember some key things."

However, Professor McGonagall had no intention of leaving immediately. She withdrew her gaze and continued to focus on Albert, ready to watch him cast the spell.

"Ahem!" Albert cleared his throat and raised his wand, pointing it at the matchstick on the table. He uttered the incantation, "Vera Verto."

The matchstick quickly transformed, turning into a slender silver needle.

"Very good! Everyone, look quickly, Mr. Anderson succeeded," Professor McGonagall exclaimed, allowing the whole class to see the silver needle the matchstick had become. She even smiled at Albert, which was a rare sight. Before leaving, she didn't forget to award Gryffindor five points.

"I knew it wouldn't be difficult for you," Fred said, taking the silver needle and examining it. "How did you do it? Any tricks?"

Several nearby students perked up their ears, eager to know the secret behind Albert's immediate success.

Albert whispered, "Remember Professor McGonagall's earlier instruction to take notes? The trick is in there."

Immediately, everyone started flipping through their books, searching for the recently recorded notes.

"Do you really think I'll believe that?" Fred sneered at Albert, clearly not buying into his explanation.

However, Fred didn't inquire further because Professor McGonagall turned her gaze toward their direction again.

A few minutes later, Professor McGonagall announced, "Look, Miss MacDougall's matchstick has also transformed."

"Why was it so difficult for me? How did you manage to succeed on your first attempt?" Katrina couldn't help but ask. Somehow, she found herself sitting next to Albert.

"First attempt? Well, um, actually, I practiced beforehand, which is why I succeeded," Albert coughed lightly, not revealing any secret techniques and preferring not to be seen as a genius or anything like that.

"Failure is normal. I don't even remember how many times I failed before successfully transfiguring the matchstick into a needle," he added.

"But those instructions Professor McGonagall gave us to remember are also tricks to succeed," he said, addressing the eavesdropping crowd nearby.

Katrina naturally deduced it as well. After all, nobody succeeds on their first attempt. If her matchstick could transform, it was because she had practiced Transfiguration beforehand.

For the remaining time in the Transfiguration class, everyone practiced transforming their matchsticks into needles. Professor McGonagall walked around the classroom, offering guidance to other students.

However, for Albert, who had already successfully completed the transformation, the remaining time was boring. So, he found something to occupy himself, preventing Professor McGonagall from catching him slacking off.

"Revert!"

The silver needle returned to its original form as a matchstick. Professor McGonagall had already taught this spell, and there were relevant notes in the book. Incomplete transfigurations were difficult to correct, but uttering "Revert!" would restore an object or living being to its original state.

Albert propped his chin up with one hand, holding his wand in the other, and began transforming the matchstick on the table into various strange objects. The incantation was still "Vera Verto," but the closer the transformed object resembled the original, the easier the transfiguration became.

After each transformation, he would revert it back, thereby gaining experience in reversing the spell.

"How did you do it?" Fred beside him was astonished.

This guy's Transfiguration skills were miles ahead of theirs.

"How did I do it? It's simple!" Albert raised his wand and turned the button into a toy mouse.

"Just like Professor McGonagall said, wave the wand cleanly, have a clear image of what you want to transform into before performing the spell, and enunciate the incantation clearly and accurately."

The twins exchanged glances. Although Albert said so, they had already tried doing the same, yet they still couldn't make the matchstick transform before the class ended.

In fact, apart from Albert and Katrina's success, none of the other students' matchsticks had changed.

To Albert, this was only natural.

After all, he knew firsthand how difficult Transfiguration could be. Did they really expect to achieve success without practicing diligently for a few days, thinking their Transfiguration talent was limitless?

The first transformation of an object was the most difficult, but once you experienced the first successful transformation, practicing subsequent ones became much easier.

The homework for Transfiguration class, similar to the Charms class, was for everyone to practice transforming matchsticks into needles at home.

However, how many students would have the patience to practice, that remained to be seen.

But based on the content of the "Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration," it seemed that first-year students only learned one type of Transfiguration magic, which was the Transformation spell. The only difference was the size and type of the object to be transformed.

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(End of this chapter)