Magical Studies at Hogwarts...

Chapter 10 The So-Called Law of Transformation

In just one lesson, the eagles and snakes had already placed Defense Against the Dark Arts on par with History of Magic. While History of Magic could be treated as a nap class by the young wizards, Defense Against the Dark Arts, besides having to listen to Quirrell's tedious reading of the textbook, also required enduring wave after wave of strange smells.

The classroom experience was terrible!

Terry and Stuart complained to Ike as they walked toward the Charms classroom.

"I'd heard that Defense Against the Dark Arts professors were generally unreliable, but who would have thought it would be like this!" Terry grumbled, rubbing his nose. "And Professor Quirrell was once a Ravenclaw graduate—it's a disgrace!"

"Why would Dumbledore appoint someone like that as the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor?!"

Ike smiled and brushed it off. He had no interest in explaining to the two of them the wizarding anecdotes about the Dark Lord's inextricable connection with Defense Against the Dark Arts, and he certainly wouldn't say it.

The less you know, the happier you are; the little wizards' happy time will only last for this one year.

The spell class was on the other side of the fourth floor of the castle, and it was taken with the little lions.

Professor Flitwick stood on a high stool and urged the young wizards, especially the lion cubs, to sit down quickly.

"I am Felius Flitwick, you can call me Professor Flitwick, I am your Charms professor."

"Today we will learn the Illumination Spell, the incantation is 'Flashing Light'."

"This is one of the most commonly used spells by wizards. There are no complicated wand movements. You just need to wave the wand and say the incantation, and it is easy to succeed."

"Of course, you must also maintain unwavering faith. The release of any spell depends on this. If you hesitate, the spell will fail."

Professor Flitwick then explained the points to note when chanting spells, and let the young wizards try it out on their own.

Soon, a little witch with a head of fluffy hair from Gryffindor succeeded, and a soft white light emanated from the tip of her wand, eliciting cheers.

"Excellent! A perfect illumination charm, Miss Granger!" Flitwick was delighted. "Gryffindor points!"

When Hermione heard the praise, she raised her proud little head, just like a proud little lion.

Seeing this, Terry couldn't help but purse his lips and nudged Ike, who hadn't made a move.

"Ike, what are you waiting for? This is our own dean, hurry up and show us something!"

Stuart chimed in from the sidelines. Although he had only stayed in the same dormitory for two days, he had also witnessed Ike's magic.

If someone can use the Levitation Charm to that extent, the Illumination Charm, which is simpler, must be just as effective.

Ike rolled his eyes in annoyance: "Your wand swings are too big. Just a slight swing is enough, like Miss Granger."

"Damn it!" Stuart didn't give Ike a chance to change the subject. "Bonus points! Bonus points!"

"All right."

Ike succumbed to the onslaught of their gazes. Without moving his right hand that held the wand, he extended his left hand and, as if twisting a light bulb in the air, a soft white light simply rested on Ike's fingertip.

"Oh my god!"

"This is unbelievable!"

Professor Flitwick noticed everything that happened in the classroom and naturally took notice of this scene.

"Never before has a first-year wizard achieved this! Mr. Strayed, Ravenclaw, ten points!"

"Silent spellcasting! Spellcasting without a staff! Unbelievable!"

"Mr. Streid, could you tell me how you managed to do that?"

Ike stood up and bowed slightly: "I practiced for a long time during the holidays, Professor Flitwick."

"Unbelievable!" Professor Flitwick was still not calm. "On the point of the Illumination Charm alone, I don't think anyone could do it better than you."

"Thank you, Professor Flitwick." Ike smiled slightly and then sat down.

The skill activates in the next second!

Snape's gaze!

Targets: Stuart, Terry!

The two of them shivered and turned away to concentrate on casting the Illumination Spell.

Soon, the young wizards all successfully used the Illumination Charm, some brighter and some dimmer. The three magical numbers "857" inexplicably appeared in Ike's mind as the lights flickered.

If you include Ike's shiny disco ball, it looks even more like him.

After class, on the way to the auditorium, Stuart and Terry kept saying sweet words. Considering the trivial benefits such as the free daily wake-up service and unconditional help with carrying things, Ike naturally chose to forgive the two.

In the afternoon, Ravenclaw only had one Transfiguration class taught by Professor McGonagall, which I had been looking forward to for a long time.

Compared to other spells, Ike's Transfiguration wasn't particularly outstanding. Even with his thorough understanding of Gump's basic Transfiguration principles, Ike's Transfiguration spells still had obvious flaws.

Even when a match is turned into a needle, the silvery-white needle still has some wood grain patterns.

Although the needle is very sharp, it is still not perfect.

This also resulted in the fact that the level of Transfiguration never appeared on Ike's useless laptop system.

The Transfiguration classroom was on the first floor of the castle. The Ravenclaw students arrived at the classroom early and obediently, but they didn't see Professor McGonagall. There was only a tabby cat sitting on the podium.

Ike knew perfectly well that this was Professor McGonagall's Animagus, with distinct eye-like markings around its eyes.

Just as he remembered, Harry and Ron were late because they overslept at noon. To Ron's horror, the tabby cat leaped off the podium and landed next to Professor McGonagall, who had a serious expression on her face.

"I think you need to learn the importance of punctuality, or I'll turn you into alarm clocks." Professor McGonagall urged the two to sit down quickly. "Transfiguration is the most complex and dangerous magic you'll learn at Hogwarts."

"Anyone who disrupts my class will be asked to leave and never be allowed to come back in." As she spoke, she glanced at Harry and Ron as if by chance, causing the two of them to unconsciously shrink back.

Professor McGonagall waved her wand, transforming the podium into a majestic lion. As the lion moved, its mane swayed, as if it had been shampooed.

With another wave of the wand, the lion transformed back into the podium. Ike stared intently at the scene, but unfortunately, he couldn't discern anything.

"The casting of Transfiguration spells must strictly adhere to the basic principles of Gamp's Transfiguration, which are lessons learned by countless wizards through bloodshed. I hope you will remember them well."

Professor McGonagall waved her wand, and the basic laws of Gump transformation appeared one by one on the blackboard behind her.

"First, food. Remember, never, ever, ever use Transfiguration to turn anything into food, and even more so, never, ever eat food created through Transfiguration. Transfiguration cannot change the nature of an object. Turning a stone into food will still essentially turn it into a stone, and it will not fill your stomach."

"Secondly, living beings cannot be transformed into magical creatures. Human transformation is the most dangerous and complex part of Transfiguration. The longer the transformed state is maintained, the stronger the effect on the wizard. In severe cases, the animal characteristics or habits will be permanently retained, which is irreversible! Magical creatures, because they inherently possess magic, will have extremely serious consequences even if they are transformed into magical creatures. Throughout history, many magical creatures have actually been created by wizards abusing Transfiguration. I really don't want to witness the birth of a new magical creature!"

"Third, you cannot transform out of thin air. Transfiguration must be applied to a concrete object. If you try to cast a transfiguration spell out of thin air, you should be thankful that it will fail in most cases. And if it does succeed, you will die instantly!"

"Fourth, you must not use Polymorph on enchanted items. Polymorph cannot be applied to enchanted items; automatic quills, temperature-changing cauldrons, memory orbs, and even Galleons cannot be changed by Polymorph. Please do not attempt this, or it will have very serious consequences!"

Professor McGonagall paused, then became even more serious: "Finally, never, ever, ever, ever distort what you imagine!"

"On this point, you only need to remember, and never try it! You will never know what your imagination will become under the influence of magic!"

Ike wrote down Gamp's basic transformation rules one by one in his notebook. Although there was relevant content in the "Elementary Transformation Guide", it was far less detailed than what Professor McGonagall had explained.

Textbooks are textbooks after all, and they still need to be taught and explained by professors.

Professor McGonagall, seeing that the students had almost remembered everything, handed each of them a match: "In this lesson, we're going to learn how to turn a match into a needle. This is the most basic form of transmutation..."

Professor McGonagall explained in detail the points to note during the transformation process and wrote them on the blackboard behind her before letting the young wizards begin to try.

After Professor McGonagall's explanation, Ike gained a deeper understanding of Transfiguration. Compared to other spells, Transfiguration is much more rigorous and relies more heavily on the 3D principle of resolve. After all, it involves transforming one object into another; if one lacks faith and resolve, the transformation will be incomplete.

For example, a wine glass with a rat's tail, a needle that can be lit, and a beetle button crawling around.

Young wizards are generally impulsive and lack focus, so their transformation spells naturally fail. For a moment, wands danced wildly, and cries of "Transform quickly!" echoed throughout the room.

Professor McGonagall walked back and forth among the young wizards, constantly pointing out mistakes in the process of casting the Transfiguration spell, but there was still no progress.

Walking over to Ike, and seeing that he was still staring intently at the match and showing no intention of touching the wand, he couldn't help but ask, "Mr. Strayder, why don't you give it a try?"

Ike flashed a warm smile, just as Professor McGonagall remembered, and waved his wand.

"Transform instantly!"

The match on the table quickly transformed into the shape of a needle as Ike waved his wand, leaving only a single wooden grain on it.

"Excellent! Mr. Strand!" Professor McGonagall looked pleased. "Ten points for Ravenclaw!"

"Did you practice on your own during the holidays?"

Ike nodded, then a hint of sadness crossed his face. "Yes, Professor McGonagall. But this is still not a needle." He then turned the needle back to its original state before the lecture.

"After listening to your explanation, I can only do this much. I just can't get rid of these lines no matter what I do."

Professor McGonagall patted Ike on the shoulder: "That's a success. To make it perfect, you just have to keep practicing. Maybe by the time get out of class is over, you'll be able to conjure up a perfect needle."

"Of course, you don't have to use too much force. Sometimes, taking it easy might be better."

Upon hearing this, Ike suddenly understood.

Yes, the 3D principle is a stable triangle; any point that is too heavy will affect the success of the spell.

"Transform instantly!"

This time, the needle was perfectly smooth, with no marks left.

(End of this chapter)