Hogwarts: Don't call me Wandmaker

Chapter 464 Xilun's Doubts

During breakfast, Xiren seemed preoccupied.

Fred and George assumed he was still thinking about the Marauder's Map and advised him not to worry about it.

"There are only a few hundred wizards in the school, so it's not a big deal if one or two names are misspelled occasionally."

“Yeah, there are so many names, you could make a mistake even if you copied them one by one,” George said, pushing a plate of fried eggs toward Celen.

"The most important thing about that map is that it marks the locations of all the secret passages. As long as that's correct, that's all that matters."

“Ah, you’re right,” said Siren, placing the fried egg on the freshly baked buttered bread.

Soon after, Hermione and Harry arrived.

"Oh no, the serious prefect is here." Fred and George glanced at Hermione at the same time, then quickly finished their breakfast and left.

Xilun didn't move; they had to go to class together.

The morning classes were packed, with two spell classes followed by two transfiguration classes. Ron kept complaining about who arranged the schedule, putting the two most difficult classes on the same morning.

Charms and Transfiguration have always been the two most important courses in the OWL and NEWT exams. After students graduate from seventh grade, 80% of professions that require certification, including Aurors, will have these two books.

For this reason, Professors Flitwick and McGonagall repeatedly and tirelessly emphasized the importance of the OWL exam to the whole class.

“You must remember this,” the short Professor Flitwick said in a high-pitched voice, standing on a stack of books, “what you need most right now is not to master a lot of powerful magic, but to achieve good results in the upcoming OWL.”

"Because this could affect your future for many years to come, don't think that constantly reviewing the spells you've learned is a boring thing."

A series of weak, echoing voices came from the surrounding area.

What they looked forward to most in Charms class was learning more magical spells, but now that a week of class has started, they haven't learned a single new spell. Every Charms class is just a review of what they've already learned.

According to Professor Flitwick… “This is definitely something that will be on your OWL exam.”

The problem is, they've already reviewed seven spells, including the Summoning Charm, the Cleansing Charm, and the Dancing Charm, and judging from Professor Flitwick's words, this isn't over yet. Does this mean the OWL exam covers all the spells they've learned before?

Before get out of class ended, Professor Flitwick assigned an unprecedentedly large amount of homework, which took five minutes to finish explaining.

When they came out of the Charms classroom, they felt their heads were buzzing and they felt like they were floating.

The situation in the Transformation Class was, if not worse, not much better.

Professor McGonagall firmly believes that without serious study, practice, and application, passing the OWL exam is impossible. Conversely, as long as you invest time and effort, there's no reason you shouldn't get the certificate.

In her class, any act of being distracted would be severely punished.

Deducting points is just the most basic punishment; more serious consequences include solitary confinement. Professor McGonagall requires students who are distracted or disruptive in class to come to the classroom on weekends to copy the book, starting with five copies.

Neville is said to have copied the most, having already used up two bottles of ink, which has caused him to tremble whenever he attends a Transfiguration class, and his fear of Professor McGonagall is almost greater than that of Snape.

The good news is that his Transfiguration class grades have indeed improved. While the improvement isn't huge, it's definitely better than before. With continued effort, he might actually pass the OWL exam later.

Today we're going to learn the Vanishing Charm, which is also the most difficult spell you might encounter in the OWL exam.

This wasn't Professor McGonagall exaggerating; it was the truth. At the end of the two Transfiguration lessons, only Siron and Hermione managed to make the snail on the table disappear.

Professor McGonagall awarded Gryffindor ten points as a reward and exempted both students from homework. Ron was green with envy.

"I think the snail's color has become much lighter, and it will definitely disappear if we try a few more times."

Harry didn't say anything because he felt Ron was just seeing things; the snail's color hadn't changed at all.

"Sirlen, how did you do that... um?"

He turned around, about to ask Siron if he knew the technique for the Vanishing Charm, but found that Siron was still in the classroom and hadn't come out.

"Silen, it's time for lunch," he called out again.

“You all go ahead, I have some questions for Professor McGonagall,” Celen said.

Professor McGonagall, who was about to leave, stopped in her tracks upon hearing this.

After everyone had left the classroom, Xilun went over and asked the question that had been bothering him.

"Are the memories of the Animagus form and the human form interconnected?" Professor McGonagall looked at Siron, frowning in confusion. "Why would you ask this? The Animagus won't appear in the OWL exam; that's NEWT's content."

“That’s right. Someone… Professor Lupin told me before that Dementors have a hard time capturing the emotions of animals,” Siron said. “So I was thinking, after Animagus becomes an animal, could it have an extra memory that is integrated with its original memory, but at the same time independent of it?”

"Leech manipulation?" Professor McGonagall's expression became even more puzzled, and she also showed a hint of impatience.

“It’s good to be curious,” she said. “But Siron, your most important task right now is not to explore the mysteries of the Animagus, but to prepare for the upcoming OWL exam.”

“I know, but I’m just so curious.” Xiren scratched his hair sheepishly and sighed, “And lately, every time I review Transfiguration, I think about it, and I’m finding it hard to study properly.”

Professor McGonagall's expression hardened.

“Okay, you’re right,” Professor McGonagall said. “When Animagus transforms into an animal, its emotions and memories do differ from those of a human. It tends to think more like an animal, or rather, it’s driven by animal instincts. You should be well aware of that.”

“What if that’s the case…” Siren pondered for a moment and said, “If someone were to use Legilimency on a wizard who has mastered the Animagus, would they be able to see the memories of the other person when they were transformed into an animal?”

"Hmm?" Professor McGonagall's expression gradually became serious.

“I don’t know.” She hesitated for a moment, then shook her head. “It’s a completely new idea; no one has ever mentioned it before.”

Professor McGonagall seemed to take it in. She put down her textbook and paced back and forth in the classroom, deep in thought, before stopping after about five minutes.

“I can’t give you a correct answer, Siron,” Professor McGonagall said. “But one thing is certain: Legilimency is searching a person’s memories… Do you remember what the first step in learning Animagus was?”

“Find another heartbeat in your body,” Celen said.

“That’s right.” Professor McGonagall nodded. “Strictly speaking, becoming an Animagus is already a completely different body.”

Xilun lowered his head in deep thought.

"Okay, stop thinking about this." She picked up the textbook she had just put down. "This question is interesting, but it won't help with the upcoming OWL exam."

"Go have lunch. If you're really interested, you can ask this question in the advanced sixth-grade Metamorphosis class, or write to 'Today's Metamorphosis.' I'm sure many people will be interested."

……

(End of this chapter)