Chapter 23: Showing Off
Tuesday. Transfiguration classroom.
It should have been Charms, but Professor Flitwick had been called away and swapped lessons with Professor McGonagall.
When the Slytherin first years filed in, a tabby cat sat perched on the teacher's desk, watching them with stern authority. Dark markings ringed its eyes, making the gaze look even sharper.
Tamara entered, her eyes lingering on the cat for a heartbeat. A faintly amused curve touched the corner of her mouth.
Animagus.
Minerva McGonagall had always been a rigid Gryffindor in Tamara's memories, but mastery like this was not something to dismiss. Transfiguration at that level deserved respect, if only a sliver.
Once everyone had taken their seats, the cat sprang down, twisting in mid air. The shape flowed, stretched, and settled into Professor McGonagall in emerald green robes and square spectacles, as though the transformation were as natural as breathing.
"So cool," Blaise Zabini whispered, awed despite himself.
Professor McGonagall ignored the comment. Her face looked carved from granite.
"Transfiguration is among the most complex and dangerous branches of magic you will study at Hogwarts," she said bluntly. "Anyone who fools about in my class will be asked to leave."
To prove her point, she turned her desk into a pig and then back again.
The display snapped the room into silence.
Tamara sat in the front row, her holly wand turning lazily between her fingers, confidence glinting in her eyes.
Transfiguration.
It had been one of her strongest fields in her former life. She had shaped flesh and metal, produced grotesque advanced works, and even created that infamous silver hand. A first year exercise was hardly worth calling practice.
"Now, a match for each of you," Professor McGonagall said. "Today's task is to turn your match into a needle."
Matches were handed out.
"Begin."
The classroom filled with wand movements and hurried mutters.
Beside Tamara, Draco Malfoy started at once. He had clearly practised at home. After a few impatient attempts, his match flashed and turned silver. The result was a bit crude, but it was unmistakably a needle.
"I did it!" Draco held it up smugly and turned to Tamara. "How's that? I did well, right?"
He wanted her approval badly enough to make it obvious.
"Not bad," Tamara said, tone casual. "But it can be done better."
She lifted her wand with calm assurance, as if the outcome had already been decided. She did not even bother speaking an incantation aloud. In her mind, the spell formed perfectly, paired with precise, economical movements.
She flicked her wand and pointed it at the match on her desk.
Nothing happened.
No silver flash.
No smoke.
The match lay there like a dead scrap of wood, red tipped and ordinary.
Tamara's smile froze.
What.
Had the wand cracked? Had the motion been wrong?
Impossible. Her movement was flawless. Her magic was flowing exactly where she directed it.
She tried again, pushing more power into it.
Still nothing.
Then the system's voice chimed in her mind, smug as ever.
[ Ding! Detected host attempting to use Transfiguration. ]
[ System Prompt: You do not have extra points to unlock this spell. ]
[ Skill not unlocked, spellcasting failed. ]
For a moment, Tamara felt as if lightning had struck her skull.
What did you just say?
In her mind, her voice turned sharp with fury. Of course I know Transfiguration. I could make Horcruxes in my past life. You are telling me I cannot turn a match into a needle?
[ Sorry, host. These are the system rules. Your physical body limits the expression of your talent. Until your attributes meet the requirements, you cannot use this branch of magic. ]
[ Friendly reminder: Professor McGonagall is walking this way. ]
Tamara's entire body went rigid.
She felt McGonagall's shadow, then her gaze sweeping over.
Draco stared at her, expression shifting from eager expectation to genuine confusion.
"What's wrong?" Draco leaned closer. "Is your match damp? Want to swap for mine?"
Humiliation rose like poison.
If anyone realised the new queen of Slytherin could not manage a basic match to needle, everything she had built would collapse in an instant.
Never.
Fine cold sweat prickled at her hairline.
System, she snarled in her mind, is there a way? I need this spell now. Immediately.
[ There is a way. ]
The system's tone turned leisurely, as if enjoying itself.
[ Do you remember the item in your Newbie Gift Pack? ]
[ Item: Designated Skill Book x 1. ]
[ Effect: Ignores attribute restrictions, forcing the user to learn and master a standard first year spell. ]
Use it.
The command was almost a scream. Now. Max out this Transfiguration spell for me.
[ Are you sure? This is rare. Using it here is wasteful… ]
Shut up. Use it.
Saving face mattered more than saving a resource. Not because it was rational, but because prestige was the foundation of control, and Tamara could not afford to crack in public. Not over ability. Not in front of McGonagall.
[ Ding! Consumed Designated Skill Book x 1. ]
[ Forcibly unlocking: Elementary Transfiguration. ]
[ Unlock successful. ]
As the system's voice faded, something inside Tamara loosened. The invisible blockage vanished and her magic flowed freely again, clean and responsive.
At the same time, Professor McGonagall reached her desk.
"Miss Riddle?" McGonagall's stern gaze dropped to the unchanged match. "Having difficulties? I see everyone else practising while you appear to be daydreaming."
Eyes turned.
Pansy looked worried. A few students who disliked Tamara watched with eager anticipation, waiting to see her stumble.
Draco opened his mouth, ready to defend her.
"No, Professor," Tamara said smoothly.
Her heart bled, but her face held that proud, elegant smile.
"I was conceptualising."
"Conceptualising?" Professor McGonagall arched an eyebrow.
"Yes." Tamara's tone remained calm. "Turning a match into a needle is too simple. I was considering how to make it more in line with Slytherin aesthetics."
Then she raised her wand again.
This time, there was no resistance. No lag.
Only control.
A flick.
The match erupted into brilliant silver light.
It did not become a plain needle like Draco's.
Under everyone's gaze, it twisted, elongated, and restructured with unnatural precision. The wood vanished, remade into something colder, sharper, more deliberate.
When the light faded, a long needle of pure silver lay on the desk. It gleamed with a chill edge, as if it could cut air.
Fine snake scale patterns were carved along its length, each scale crisp and distinct.
At the eye of the needle, a tiny red gemstone had been set, clear as glass and vivid as blood, like a scarlet snake eye staring back at the room.
Exquisite. Coldly magnificent. Disturbingly beautiful.
The classroom fell silent.
Draco's wand slipped from his fingers and clattered onto the desk.
"Merlin," someone breathed.
Professor McGonagall picked the needle up carefully.
She drew her wand and tested it, expression shifting into genuine disbelief.
"Perfect molecular restructuring," she murmured, voice quiet with shock. "Even secondary micro carving."
She looked at Tamara again, and in her eyes there was admiration, and also something fainter, sharper.
A trace of worry.
Talent like that carried echoes. It reminded her of someone she had spent her life watching for.
"Miss Riddle," McGonagall said at last, "this is quite simply a work of art."
"Ten points to Slytherin."
A low murmur ran through the class.
Draco turned to Goyle, practically vibrating with pride. "I knew she was saving something big. She said she was conceptualising. That is what a genius looks like!"
Tamara listened to the praise, watched McGonagall retreat, and felt her insides twist.
A top tier item. One that ignored rules.
Spent on a needle.
She stared at the perfect object on her desk and spoke through clenched teeth, barely above a whisper.
"This needle is truly the most expensive needle in history."
"What?" Draco blinked. "Didn't catch that."
Tamara forced a weak smile. "What's the next class?"
"Defence Against the Dark Arts," Pansy answered from the side. "I heard Professor Quirrell is… a bit strange."
Tamara's steps paused.
Quirrell.
Or rather, the main soul hiding behind him.
"Is that so?" she said softly.
A dangerous glint flickered in her eyes. Someone needed to pay for her displeasure today.
"Then I am truly looking forward to it."
.....
[Check Out My Patreon For Advance Chapters On All My Fanfics!]
[[email protected]/Eldryx]