"That was brilliant." Ron stared at Professor McGonagall standing in front of them, still not fully realising that he and Harry had been late. Perhaps this was simply Weasley-style courage: bold, fearless, and completely lacking the part where one noticed danger before walking into it.
"Thank you for your assessment, Mr. Weasley," Professor McGonagall said sternly. "Perhaps I should turn one of you into a pocket watch, so the other will never be late again."
"We got lost," Harry quickly explained, his face flushing beneath her sharp stare.
"Then perhaps I should turn you into a map." Professor McGonagall's voice remained icy. "At least a map would not have trouble finding its seat. Gryffindor loses five points for your lateness."
Harry lowered his head, while Malfoy's mocking laugh came from behind him like a needle sliding between his ribs. Even though Harry was in her own house, Professor McGonagall showed no favouritism, and that was precisely why students across Hogwarts respected her so deeply.
"Transfiguration is among the most complex and dangerous magic you will study at Hogwarts." Professor McGonagall returned to the front of the classroom and looked over them all. "Anyone who misbehaves in my class will leave and will not return."
She waved her wand, and the desk at the front of the classroom transformed into a pig. Gasps rose from the students below, and a few of the bolder ones, especially Ron, leaned forward as though tempted to touch it.
Roger sat near the back, but he could still see Professor McGonagall's spellcasting process clearly. Her incantation was precise, and the movement of her wand was clean and exact, graceful without wasting even the smallest motion.
The pig was so perfectly formed that no trace of the desk remained. Even a butcher would have struggled to tell it from a real animal, and the young wizards stared at it with the kind of awe that only true magic could summon.
"Remember, Transfiguration is not a toy. It requires extreme concentration, and even one mispronounced syllable can lead to serious consequences." Professor McGonagall warned them solemnly, then carefully reversed the spell piece by piece until the pig became a desk again.
"You must master the way you move your wands. You must control the timing, force, and rhythm of every movement." Professor McGonagall demonstrated the wand path in the air at an extremely slow pace, allowing every student to watch the line her wand traced.
"Now, according to my instructions, you will turn the match on your desk into a needle." Professor McGonagall demonstrated once more, and only then did she let the students begin practising on their own.
"Roger, this is so hard." Daphne frowned after trying several times, but the match in front of her remained stubbornly unchanged. Roger, however, had his head down and was taking notes instead of impatiently waving his wand like most of the others.
"Your syllables are wrong," Roger pointed out. "Your goal is to turn a match into a needle, so the incantation contains both the act of change and the final form."
"The spell consists of two parts. One is Verto, which represents transformation, and the other is the object after transformation." Roger wrote the Latin root neatly in his notebook and continued, "Needle is Acus, so the pronunciation should be Verto Acus."
"Huh?" Daphne looked confused. "But Professor McGonagall didn't explain the etymology."
"Perhaps Latin was considered basic knowledge when she attended school. You can learn that from Hermione." Roger pointed toward Hermione, who sat in front of Daphne. The match on Hermione's desk already carried a faint metallic sheen.
Hearing Roger's praise, Hermione lifted her chin proudly. She had once taken first place in a primary school Latin competition, and at this moment, that small old honour suddenly felt extremely useful.
"Verto Acus," Hermione said firmly, and the emotion in her voice made the Transfiguration spell flying from her wand glow faintly.
"Wow, Hermione, you're amazing." Daphne's praise was sincere when she saw half the match on Hermione's desk turn into a needle. Although Daphne came from the Greengrass family and had been raised with pure-blood ideals, she did not hesitate to admire someone obviously outstanding.
"Good." Professor McGonagall walked over and nodded in approval. "Miss Granger, your wand movement needs to be steadier. If you correct that, your next attempt will be even closer to perfect."
"Thank you, Professor." Hermione smiled sweetly, though from the corner of her eye she glanced at Roger, who was still writing with his quill.
"Mr. Williams." Professor McGonagall noticed him at once. "I believe Transfiguration is not History of Magic. Hands-on practice is far more effective than lengthy written analysis."
"Why not give it a try?" Professor McGonagall encouraged him, knowing that the boy had already mastered the Patronus Charm. A basic Transfiguration exercise should pose no real challenge to him.
"You're right." Roger wrote the final character in his notes and nodded. "Then I'll give it a try. Verto Acus."
He swung his wand with steady rhythm, drawing a smooth and elegant arc through the air before pointing the tip at the match. A flash of silver light appeared, and the matchstick transformed into a flawless silver needle.
The experience for Transfiguration on Roger's panel immediately increased by one. More importantly, Professor McGonagall stepped closer and picked up the needle, examining it carefully with a serious expression.
"Very beautiful, Mr. Williams." Professor McGonagall nodded after inspecting it. Even with the most discerning eye, she could not find any obvious flaws.
"Inaccurate pronunciation or improper wand movement may deform the silver needle." She held up Roger's work for everyone to see, letting the first-years understand what a successful result looked like. "If the wand outputs too much or too little magic, the needle will become too hard or too soft."
Professor McGonagall pressed lightly on the needle, and it bent just enough before springing back to its original shape. That small detail proved that the magic output had been exactly right.
"Remember, visualise the needle clearly in your mind, then recite the incantation with firm intent." Professor McGonagall returned the needle to Roger and looked around the classroom. "Does anyone else wish to try?"
Hermione raised her hand without hesitation. Other than Roger, she was the only student in the room who felt truly confident.
"Miss Granger, please begin." Professor McGonagall nodded encouragingly, and her expression softened slightly.
Hermione closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Her talent in Transfiguration was not much weaker than Roger's, and once she steadied herself, her confidence grew.
"Verto Acus." Her wand swept smoothly from right to left, and silver light flew from the tip.
"Not bad." Professor McGonagall nodded in satisfaction as the match transformed into a silver needle. It was not as perfect as Roger's, but it was far beyond what most first-years could do in their first lesson.
Hearing Professor McGonagall's praise, Hermione turned to look at Roger. Her expression seemed to ask, Well? What do you think?
"Does anyone else want to try?" Professor McGonagall pressed, her gaze lingering on Harry for a moment. She clearly hoped the famous Boy Who Lived might also show some promising result.
Harry turned his head and stared at his match, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not turn it into a silver needle. Compared with visible talent, his title as the saviour suddenly felt insignificant, and that left him feeling lost and frustrated.
Fortunately, Ron was sitting beside him. Even if Ron could not help much with Transfiguration, his presence made Harry feel less alone in failure.
"All right, everyone. Continue practising diligently after class." Professor McGonagall gestured for Hermione to sit down, then generously awarded points to both houses. "Ten points to Slytherin, and five points to Gryffindor."
The Slytherin students cheered quietly but proudly. Without Hermione's performance, the little lions would have fallen fifteen points behind in the very first lesson.
"Professor, why did he receive five points more than me?" Hermione stood up and asked in a hurry, clearly unwilling to let the difference go unexplained. She did not believe their results were separated by that much.
Professor McGonagall did not reprimand the strict and serious Miss Granger. Instead, she placed both needles in Hermione's hand and allowed her to compare them herself.
"The simplest way to succeed with basic Transfiguration is to ensure that the original object and target form are similar. That is why I asked you to turn matches into needles rather than textbooks." Professor McGonagall saw Hermione's downturned lips and knew the girl understood where the difference lay.
"The closer the shapes are, the higher the success rate of the Transfiguration Charm." Professor McGonagall walked back to the podium, waved her wand, and turned the quill into a set of scales.
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