As a group of Ravenclaw witches entered the shape-shifting classroom, Kyle hurried after them, blending in naturally as they made their way to the front. By the time they reached the second row, only a small witch stood between Kyle and the front of the room, just a step away from his goal.
Kyle's hand, hidden in his pocket, was clenched tightly around a bag of dried fish. He was nervous, but on the outside, he managed to appear carefree. However, just as he was about to pull out the fish to unlock his plan, he noticed something unsettling: the Ravenclaw witch in front of him seemed to have the same idea. Because she was ahead of him, Kyle could clearly see a green object slowly emerging from her pocket.
A cat toy?
"Oh no, someone else beat me to it!" Kyle's thoughts went dark, and his body went numb. He didn't even need to think it over—once the little witch revealed the cat toy, Professor McGonagall would instantly transform back into her human form. All of Kyle's careful planning had been for nothing.
"Damn it! Why did I overthink everything? Why didn't I just act sooner?" Kyle angrily stamped his foot, wishing he could use a time-turner to go back five minutes and give himself a good slap. But it was too late for regrets. With a sigh, Kyle moved to the left and took a seat in the front row, as if that had been his intention all along.
Meanwhile, the witch who had unwittingly foiled Kyle's plan reached the front of the class, her hand fully out of her pocket. But just as she was about to pull out the toy, the tabby cat perched on the lectern smiled. With a light tap of her hind legs on the table, the cat transformed back into Professor McGonagall in the blink of an eye.
"Miss Lianna, it's kind of you to want to play with animals, but as a witch, it's more important to maintain sharp insight," Professor McGonagall said, suddenly appearing beside the student. With a gentle pat on Lianna's shoulder, she pushed the hand holding the cat toy back into the girl's pocket.
"Pr-Professor McGonagall," the young witch stammered, clearly shaken.
"It's me. If you look closely, you'll notice the lines around the cat's eyes match the square frames of my glasses," Professor McGonagall said dryly. "Now, please return to your seat. The lesson is about to begin."
There were no points deducted, nor was there a harsh rebuke. In Professor McGonagall's eyes, Lianna's actions were no more disruptive than any other behavior she had come to expect from first-year students. She had been at Hogwarts for many years, and her tradition of demonstrating her Animagus transformation in the first lesson had been ongoing for seven or eight of them. Over that time, she had seen countless students like Lianna—those who tried to tease the cat, feed it, or even pet it. None of them ever succeeded.
After all, McGonagall's reputation as a master of Transfiguration wasn't earned easily. Without real skill, how could she have maintained this tradition for so long? And besides, cats are naturally quicker than wizards. If she were to be caught off guard by these first-years, she'd be too embarrassed to keep teaching at Hogwarts.
After Lianna was helped to her feet by her Ravenclaw classmates, Professor McGonagall deftly waved her wand and cast a simple healing charm to calm her down.
"Calm your mind."
The charm worked instantly. Lianna stopped trembling, and the color returned to her face.
"I'm sorry, Professor McGonagall, I didn't realize it was you."
"See that it doesn't happen again," Professor McGonagall replied before turning and heading back to the podium. As she passed the first row, she cast a deliberate glance at Kyle. She had suspected that he, like Lianna, had been planning to test her Animagus form. But she quickly noted that Kyle hadn't reacted with surprise after she had transformed back. It seemed he had recognized her Animagus form from the start and had simply wanted to sit in the front row.
Indeed, she should never have trusted Weasley's gossip. Kyle was clearly a bright and studious boy.
...
Back at the podium, Professor McGonagall surveyed the young wizards before her and said sternly, "Transfiguration is the most complex and dangerous of the spells you will learn at Hogwarts. Anyone who dares to misbehave in my classroom will be asked to leave and never allowed back in. I have warned you."
The moment Professor McGonagall spoke, the entire classroom fell into silence. Meanwhile, Kyle's heart, which had been anxiously waiting for the worst, finally settled. He had escaped. Thanks to Lianna—if not for her, it would have been him publicly facing humiliation.
Kyle resolved that after class, he would go and talk to Cho. Whether or not Lianna wanted to buy the map, he would make one and give it to her. He couldn't let a kind person be discouraged.
The relief of surviving the disaster made Kyle take notes more cheerfully, and the dull Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration now sounded far more pleasant.
However, unlike him, Kanna, who was also sitting in the front row, was now on edge. She couldn't understand how she ended up next to Kyle when she had already taken her seat at the front. Didn't the first-year student he came with sit in the back row?
Could it really be a coincidence that they were sitting together?
But no, that didn't make sense. She distinctly remembered they were roommates. If she hadn't known that, she would never have chosen to sit in the front row, given her personality. But now, here she was, sitting in the front row... and Kyle was right beside her. The worst possible situation.
Kanna was so lost in thought that she was mechanically scribbling notes without even realizing she had written a string of meaningless words ages ago.
At the lectern, Professor McGonagall continued to talk about the precautions of Transfiguration, unaware that the two students right under her nose were entirely distracted.
"Alright, that covers the basic laws of Transfiguration. Everyone must remember these—they are the foundation of everything you will learn in this subject," she said, glancing at the students with a final reminder.
"Transfiguration is a rigorous discipline. When you wave your wand, you must focus with absolute precision, like this…"
Professor McGonagall waved her wand, and the lectern transformed into a pig.
It looked like any ordinary pig—able to run, jump, and squeal with all the proper features. When it noticed that everyone was staring, it let out a startled squeal.
The demonstration left the first-year students completely awestruck.
Especially those new to magic—they could hardly believe that such a lifelike creature could have been conjured from a simple table.
Every student's eyes were now glued to Professor McGonagall, eager to begin learning.
/////
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.
/////
Kyle didn't know what Cedric and Cho had talked about in the hall earlier, but he returned to the Hufflepuff common room with a smile on his face. As he sat down to read, a bulging bag suddenly dropped onto the open pages of his book.
"What the—," Kyle exclaimed, startled, before turning to see Cedric grinning widely. "What's gotten into you? Why are you smiling like that?"
"This is way faster than picking up money," Cedric said, squeezing onto the sofa beside Kyle. "Guess how much we made from selling the maps in Ravenclaw… Fifty-two sickles, each!"
Although Cedric phrased it as a question, he didn't wait for an answer and continued excitedly, "A few sheets of parchment, five knuts worth of materials, and a couple of simple incantations, and we made so much money…"
"Wait a minute." Kyle, confused by Cedric's enthusiasm, interrupted. "Shouldn't there only be forty sickles? And what's this about parchment?"
"Well, here's what happened," Cedric explained, settling in. "I went to the Ravenclaw Tower at noon and adjusted the routes to better suit their needs. Cho saw the revised map and suggested raising the price a bit, so that's how we ended up with fifty-two sickles instead of forty.
As for the parchment—it's a little trick with the Doubling Charm. For stuff like notes or maps, you can skip duplicating the complex parts of the parchment itself and just copy the content. It makes the spell easier to cast, and the replicas last longer."
After hearing this, Kyle understood why they'd earned twelve more sickles than expected. The quality of the map had been improved, so naturally, the price had gone up. However, he thought using parchment was a bit excessive. In his view, those maps would probably become obsolete in about a month, so Cedric had really gone the extra mile.
Fortunately, parchment wasn't expensive, costing less than two sickles overall, which was nothing compared to the profit. Plus, Cedric had paid for it himself, which Kyle appreciated the most.
Kyle stashed away his share of the sickles and casually asked, "By the way, what's your impression of Cho?"
"Cho?" Cedric thought for a moment before responding, "I think she's a very smart witch, has integrity, and a good personality. She seems like she'd be a good friend."
"That's it?" Kyle frowned.
"Well… big-hearted and generous?" Cedric ventured, trying again.
"Forget it, don't say any more," Kyle sighed, rubbing his forehead. It might be a bit early to expect much, but Cedric's first impression of Cho being that she was upright wasn't what he anticipated.
Who describes a girl as upright? This is exhausting.
Kyle closed his book and stood up, heading towards the common room corridor.
"Going somewhere?" Cedric asked.
"I'm going to feed the cat," Kyle replied.
"Alright," Cedric muttered, already distracted as he counted his earnings. "Haha, who knew I'd be making pocket money? I'll have to write to Dad and tell him the news."
As Kyle walked into the wooden corridor, he felt a moment of silent sympathy for the Ministry staff. Mr. Diggory had something new to brag about, and Kyle just hoped they'd get used to hearing about Cedric's latest achievement soon.
...
Leaving the Hufflepuff common room, Kyle deliberately made a lot of noise as he walked down the corridor. He had a promise to keep. Since he'd told Mrs. Norris he would bring her a small dried fish, he wasn't going to back out now. Plus, there was the lingering disappointment of the failed "Professor McGonagall Feeding Project." Kyle had tried to convince himself it was a ridiculous plan from the start, but after hoping for so long, the letdown still stung.
No matter. He was determined to feed the cat today—even if Dumbledore himself showed up, it wouldn't stop him. Mrs. Norris might not be a tabby like McGonagall's Animagus form, but at least she was a cat, and that was good enough for Kyle.
Within three minutes of Kyle's purposeful ruckus, Mrs. Norris appeared, as expected, with Filch trailing behind her.
"Aha, caught you!" Filch said with a sinister smile. "The little wizard making noise in the hallway. I'm going to ground you!"
"Sorry, Mr. Filch, but I think you're mistaken," Kyle replied calmly. "School rule 22 clearly states that making noise in the hallway outside of curfew hours only results in a verbal warning. Only after three offenses do you get detention."
"I know the rules! I don't need a student to remind me!" Filch snapped, his face darkening. "Reciting rules won't save you if you deliberately break them. I'll be watching you, and you better not slip up, or I'll catch you."
"That day will never come," Kyle said with a smile. "And by the way, Mr. Filch, the reason I was making noise is because I was looking for Mrs. Norris. Hogwarts is so big, and this is the quickest way to find her."
"What do you want with my cat?" Filch's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "I warn you, if you try anything, I'll make sure you pay!"
"You've misunderstood," Kyle explained. "I just wanted to thank her. My roommate had an accident this morning, and Mrs. Norris led me to the hospital wing. This is my way of showing gratitude."
With that, Kyle pulled out a small bag of dried fish and offered one to Mrs. Norris. Unfortunately, she didn't even glance at it.
Filch sneered. "Don't bother, she only eats what I give her."
"Then you feed her," Kyle said, handing Filch the bag. "It's just regular dried fish, but feel free to ask a professor to check it if you're worried."
"No need, we don't want it," Filch replied coldly.
"Don't be so quick to refuse," Kyle said casually. "It's a small thank-you gift, and this isn't just any dried fish. It's dried long-whiskered barracuda, top-quality stuff. A bag like this costs ten galleons and is hard to come by. It's considered one of the best cat foods in the wizarding world. I went through a lot of trouble to get it."
Filch hesitated. If it had been ordinary dried fish, he wouldn't have even considered it. But long-whiskered barracuda? Kyle wasn't exaggerating—it was indeed premium cat food, and Filch had once thought about giving Mrs. Norris some for Christmas. But he hadn't been able to buy it, not because of the cost, but because it was always out of stock in Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade. No matter how much money he had saved, he simply couldn't find it.
Filch carefully sniffed the dried fish in his hand, checking for anything unusual. After a moment, he looked up at Kyle. "You'd better not be lying to me."
"Poisoning the caretaker's cat would be no small matter," Kyle said calmly. "I'm only a first-year, and I don't want to get expelled so soon."
Filch considered this and realized Kyle was right. If anything happened to Mrs. Norris, the consequences for Kyle would be severe.
"Fine. This time, I'll pretend I didn't see you," Filch muttered.
"Thank you," Kyle said, walking past them. As he passed Mrs. Norris, he tossed the dried fish in his hand toward her. "Oh, and you can keep this, too."
This time, Mrs. Norris didn't refuse. After receiving a slight nod from Filch, she quickly snatched up the dried fish and devoured it in two or three bites.