Snakes at Hogwarts

Looking at the courses offered at Hogwarts, Transfiguration may be the most scientific and the least scientific among them.

It is said to be scientific because Transfiguration is a very rigorous subject. This course is not just about waving a magic wand and chanting a few spells to turn a desk into a pig.

In the words of Professor McGonagall, learning Transfiguration requires a lot of hard work, because in Transfiguration, success can only be considered if it is completely correct.

Looking at it this way, this course will be more rigorous. In this regard, it has many similarities with Potions.

The latter is somewhat like a muggle mixture of biology and chemistry.

However, unlike Potions, you can easily appreciate the charm of magic in Transfiguration.

Whether it is from simple transformation of dead objects, to transformation from death to life, to transformation between species, or more dangerous and complex transformation of the human body, all of this allows you to intuitively feel the magic of magic.

None of this is what you can get by sitting in a dark underground classroom and facing those bottles and jars.

However, what lies behind this magical magic is full of danger.

"I must remind you that transfiguration is a very dangerous subject. I believe that this will be the most complex and dangerous magic you can learn at Hogwarts. Therefore, I need you to I stay quiet during class, remember what I emphasize carefully, and take notes.”

In the Transfiguration classroom on the second floor, Professor McGonagall gave them a warning as soon as they came up. The witch explained the dangers and precautions of the Transfiguration course with a straight face.

And some typical negative teaching materials.

"Every year, St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Injuries and Injuries receives several wizards who mistakenly cast transformation spells on themselves and cannot recover. I don't think any of you here are stupid enough to learn the skills of a three-legged cat before casting spells on yourself. ."

The witch glanced around with sharp eyes, causing several scared little badgers to lower their heads.

Like Professor Snape, she can also shock a group of students with just a few words, and she doesn't need a sharp voice to silence the classroom.

"For centuries, wizards have created many strange and bizarre magical creatures through transformation. As you know, mermaids, sirens, and griffins are all products of transformation. Wizards can even create life through magic. , this is also the charm of transfiguration."

"Of course, these are too far away for you. Before you can achieve such achievements, the first thing we need is down-to-earth learning.

In history, there were also many fools who turned themselves into half-human, half-animal monsters because they misjudged their own abilities in transformation. "Professor McGonagall's attitude changed.

"The story of the Minotaur should be familiar to you. He was originally an accomplished Greek wizard. Because he arrogantly used a transformation spell on himself, he forever turned into a half-man, half-taurus monster. He has been forever. Until his death, there are still descendants of him on Crete.”

"Okay, what needs to be said has been said, let's start the class."

Professor McGonagall tapped the blackboard lightly, and dense text and illustrations immediately appeared on the originally empty blackboard.

This is a conversion spell, a branch of transfiguration that can convert two items into each other. Professor McGonagall obviously prepared the lecture notes in advance and then used the conversion spell to directly transfer them.

This is something very difficult to do, and Professor McGonagall, who can successfully cast a spell just by tapping on the blackboard, is already a very clever method.

The hand that the witch inadvertently showed easily shocked this group of freshmen who had never seen the world. Almost everyone was craning their necks and looking forward to what they would learn next.

However, as first-year students, they naturally cannot learn anything too difficult.

"Today we are going to learn how to turn a match into a silver needle." Professor McGonagall picked up a box of matches and distributed them to the students below.

"But before we start, we need to learn the spells and the gestures to cast them."

Ignoring the rising enthusiasm of the new students, Professor McGonagall led them to practice the spell-casting gestures over and over again, and constantly emphasized the key points of casting spells.This is important because Transfiguration is not a branch of modern magic.

Unlike modern magic that gradually evolved from ancient magic, transfiguration is a pure ancient magic that was carried forward by the druids.

Yes, this is not a game. There really was a group of wizards called druids in history. They were mainly active during the Celtic period. They were a group of noble wizards who specialized in magic, herbalism, and magic. He has made outstanding achievements in zoology and other fields.

The difference between this kind of magic and modern magic is that it is not a charm, but a charm, which means that casting transfiguration is more difficult and requires more precise casting gestures.

"Okay, now you can try to turn a match into a needle. Remember the principles I mentioned, loud spells, correct spell-casting gestures, and most importantly, a firm will. You must come from your heart. I believe in my heart that I can do it, now, let’s get started.”

"Kaleidoscopic"

According to Professor McGonagall, Andros waved his wand gently, and under the unbelieving gazes of Draco and Zabini beside him, the match in front of him slowly changed its shape.

Its texture gradually turned into bright metal, and the original match head gradually became sharper, and finally turned into a shining silver needle.

This seems not as difficult as Professor McGonagall said

Andros put away his wand in surprise. He didn't expect that he would succeed the first time.

"How did you do that?" Draco shouted in disbelief. He had just held the wand in for a long time, but it only caused some changes in the head of the match.

And this is already an extremely superior performance.

"I do not know either."

"Look, everyone, Mr. Lobach has succeeded. Slytherin gets ten points." Professor McGonagall also noticed the commotion in the classroom.

Seeing Andros successfully turn the match into a silver needle, the witch showed a very pleased smile and praised him without hesitation.

What Andros didn't know was that he was gifted with the art of shapeshifting.

Remember under the big tree when he and Professor McGonagall first met? Andros used magic to piece together a butterfly made entirely of leaves.

That's the sign of talent.

Perhaps, in the near future, this little guy who is still very immature will grow into a being that can be compared with those wizards who have left a strong mark on history.

Let us wait and see what height he will reach.