The Pacifist Necromancer of Hogwarts

What if I turn a button that has been sewn on clothes into a beetle? Anthony asked, Now that the button has interacted with the thread, what will happen to the transformed beetle?

No, that's not the case, said Professor McGonagall.

She turned the small square table in front of Anthony into a pig, and then turned it back into a pale yellow log table as he hurriedly removed the rickety teapot on the pig's back.

She explained: No matter how much it looks like a pig, it's still just a table. Transfiguration only changes the shape and appearance, not the nature of the object being cast.

Anthony nodded: The difference between living and inanimate. This is an area he is familiar with.

That's right, no matter how many animals transfiguration can simulate, we can never create a complete life. It may be difficult to understand the difference between them at the beginning... Professor McGonagall seemed to suddenly realize that his colleague was a necromancer, and suddenly After a pause, But I guess it shouldn't be a problem for you.

…

Anthony pointed his wand at the table seriously, focusing on telling himself that no matter what it became, it would still be a small 36-inch round table.

Even though it looks like a pig, sounds like a pig, and grunts and grunts, it will always be a functional, rustic table in the staff room. No matter how strange it sounds, this is magic.

Then, it transformed into a pig with wood grain. There are not obvious seam marks between the four legs and the body, as if the limbs were forcefully attached. The wood-grained pig lowered its head and sniffed at the lounge floor, its snout still retaining light yellow paint at the end.

Nice try. Professor McGonagall encouraged calmly and picked up the student's paper again. I wish you and your pig-shaped table a good time.

Anthony was trying to stop the pig from chewing his wizard robe: Minerva! He was not sure how to communicate with the pig, so he could only stare at the deformed product in front of him in warning.

Professor McGonagall looked up at the colleague who was confronting the pig again. An amused smile flashed across his serious face. He picked up the wand and waved it, dispelling Anthony's poor transformation.

Anthony patted his robe while looking at the table in front of him, recalling the wood grain on the pig's back that was exactly the same as the table, and sighed slightly: That is the most obviously vegan pig I have ever seen.

It's far from the top of the transformation products I've seen. Professor McGonagall comforted him, Imagine a desk trying to roll on the ground, Henry, and then imagine there are four such desks in a class. Also, please do not attempt to eat it, whether it appears to be vegan or not. Transfiguration is not intended for food.

Gamp's basic law of deformation, Anthony said. Although his previous practice had been repeatedly frustrated, at least he had mastered the basic theory of transfiguration.

Professor McGonagall said with satisfaction: That's right.

Anthony took a deep breath, raised his magic wand, and continued to try to conjure a pig that looked real and fake during this leisurely vacation. Opposite him, Professor McGonagall lowered her head and drew a P on the paper.

…

Can transfiguration create something that doesn't exist? Anthony asked.

All seven grades of Transfiguration papers have been corrected, and Professor McGonagall is holding a thick notebook and comparing things with each other, fulfilling her duties as vice-principal. Now she had the leisure to drink tea, flip through the pages of the book neatly, and chat with Anthony.

How non-existent? she asked.

Um?

Professor McGonagall raised her head and explained: It depends on how you define existence, Henry. Does this pig exist? Her pointed hat nodded towards the pig who was trying to open the storage cabinet door.

Anthony smiled: Okay. Let me ask you this, can transfiguration transform a horse with horns on its head and wings on its side?

Professor McGonagall thought for a while, raised her wand and drew a complex pattern in the air, and then the animal he described appeared in front of Anthony's eyes - a non-existent unicorn.

The beautiful creature tapped its front hooves on the lounge floor, neighed, and spread its wings, nearly knocking over the tea cans and milk bottles at its side.

A combination of a unicorn and a pegasus, I guess. Professor McGonagall said, still sitting behind the desk. At least I can do it to this extent, but without any magical animal abilities. What are you talking about? Animals, Henry?”

Anthony was already on his feet. He put all the bottles and jars on the counter back into the cabinet and stared at the deformed product in front of him, refusing to look away for a moment.

Unicorns, unicorns that don't exist, he said. I've wanted to try this for a long time. Thank you, Minerva.

This is the unicorn in the illustration in his first fairy tale book. Unlike unicorns in the real magical world, the illustrator believed they should have wings, so young Anthony also believed that this elegant and majestic animal could fly freely.

He stared in awe at the restaurant stool-turned-fake unicorn, at its silky mane, long sleek horns, muscular muscles, powerful wings, and calm, gentle eyes.

You are a genius, Minerva, you are a genius, said Anthony. That's what I thought.

…

Because the area was too large, Anthony had to reluctantly let Professor McGonagall dispel the magic.

Therefore, transfiguration can indeed change things that don't exist at all. He sighed, Magic is really...magic.

Professor McGonagall shook her head. When she talked about transfiguration, her enthusiasm obviously became more intense: That's because you are describing something we think is possible, Henry. If you want to conjure...for example, a rabbit with three ears, in order to arrange extra With the ear, things will be more complicated, because it is less common sense and less imaginative than Pegasus. If you want a blue robe with only red, no one can do it.

Round sugar cubes, muttered Anthony. (Note 1)

What?

Nothing, said Anthony. So, if I can't imagine something, I can't conjure it?

Professor McGonagall affirmed: Yes.

What if I only have a vague imagination? Anthony asked, Just like I can't actually think of what a pig should look like, I just have a vague impression. Will this affect my ability to turn the table into a pig?

Professor McGonagall nodded: We Wulflings also have corresponding explanations... It will have some influence, but it is not obvious, because most people know what pigs are and believe that they are real. This common sense flows in magic In this way, we can help those who don't know what a pig looks like so that they can make a pig that is in line with public perception, that is, a normal pig. She said approvingly, If you are a student, I should do it for you at this time. You got extra points.”

Anthony smiled and said: You can add points to Gryffindor, Minerva, for your exquisite and patient explanation.

He thought about it for a while and had to admit that this explanation made sense, at least it was consistent with his current experience with transfiguration.

But on the other hand, he couldn't help but shake his head: It's wonderful, the collective unconscious...

This also made him understand better why wizards are so proud of their magic. From a certain perspective, he already quite understood why wizards thought that they and Muggles were not from the same world.

In fact, Anthony now felt like the entire world was a jigsaw puzzle pieced together by brute force. On one hand, there is the Muggle world, which believes that everything can be explained by physical matter and its interaction, and which tends to be materialistic. On the other hand, there is the wizarding world, which places a lot of emphasis on emotions and confidence, and tends to subjective idealism. In addition, there is a theory that is close to pluralism. Necromantic magic.

If there really was a creator in this world, he would imagine that the other person was like a toddler who didn't know how to play with plasticine, grabbing a few colors at random, then kneading them together and calling it a work.

…

After the Easter holidays, Anthony had his second Apparition class.

Several students were talking loudly and laughing about what they had done during the holidays. Seeing Anthony standing next to them, several of them exchanged glances that they thought were hidden - more like exchanging grimaces - and suddenly felt a stomachache.

By the time they came back from the bathroom, most of the people who had received Apparition training had arrived. They had to regretfully give up their front seats and find an empty seat at the back of the hall to stand.

With a very soft crackling sound, the teacher from the Ministry of Magic, Vicky Tycross, appeared in front of everyone on time.

He repeated the importance of three D again, waved his magic wand, and asked everyone to practice on their own against the wooden circle that appeared. The people who came to receive training looked at each other and saw surprise on each other's faces. If every class was going to be like this, Anthony sincerely felt that Filch could be a teaching assistant.

After experiencing the last strange separation, Tycross also prepared a wooden circle for Anthony and quietly placed it in front of him.

Anthony glanced at him. The other party still didn't pay any attention to this side, but when the student next to Anthony rolled himself to the ground due to nervousness and hypoglycemia, he waved his magic wand lightly and sent the student to the side to rest.

Good, purpose, determination, calmness.

Anthony looked carefully at the wooden circle opposite him. After repeating the observation and looking away several times, he closed his eyes, made sure that he had clearly memorized its appearance and distance, and then opened his arms and started spinning——

From the corner of his eye, he saw that the people next to him had stopped practicing and were staring at him nervously. Anthony exhaled and concentrated on thinking about the wooden circle, imagining that he was standing in the wooden circle with his head——

Then there was a familiar squeezing feeling, and he felt that his whole body was being squeezed, stretched, twisted and stretched. His eyeballs, eardrums and nose seemed to be pressed in. I wonder if Dumbledore's nose was interrupted during Apparition. After all, Anthony could imagine that the other party often needed to travel for business meetings——

Finally there was applause. Anthony's ears were still ringing, so it took him a while to realize what was happening.

He looked down and saw that he was standing inside the wooden circle. Not exactly where he expected it to be, but still within the wooden circle, and with the arms and legs still fully attached to the torso. Anthony raised his hand and touched his head, then his neck.

Professor Anthony, don't worry, there is nothing missing! a student shouted.

Another yelled: We're all watching!

Anthony breathed a sigh of relief. He really didn't want to scare away any more Stan Sampac.

Tecros said quietly: Well done. The first successful person appears, classmates.

…

As Anthony walked back to the starting point, several nearby students cautiously approached him and asked him for tips on how to successfully apparate. Anthony gave a rough outline of his thinking, but when they pressed him further, he almost blurted out the three D's like Ty Cross.

When he actually Apparated, he realized that these three points were extremely subtle and completely summarized the entire process.

He tried again. This time the squeezing feeling came faster, and the position he appeared was closer to his expectation, but the awkward feeling of squeezing still didn't go away at all.

After he returned, more students gathered around him. Anthony had to describe his apparition process again and give advice based on his pitiful experience.

Try to spin as smoothly as possible, young man. He supported a Slytherin student who almost fell over. Don't be anxious. There is no need to treat yourself as a top. The student spun impatiently when he told the story, and immediately tripped over with his left foot. To the right foot.

He turned around in a demonstrative circle, signaling the student to try again.

But even if the opponent rotates exactly according to his method, he still cannot feel the squeezing feeling described by Anthony.

There was a sixth-year Gryffindor, who staggered three feet away from the corresponding wooden circle with a loud bang. Fortunately, he has no body parts at all.

Others in the hall seemed to be focusing on this too.

There was a brief moment of silence in the hall before cheers and applause. Anthony found that not only himself, but almost everyone was quickly scanning his original location with their eyes, trying to find if the student had left anything behind that should not be thrown away.

A head or something.

As Anthony clapped, he suspected that he had given other students a vivid lesson in Apparition safety last time.

He heard the student next to him whisper: What if I get separated...

I'm a special case. In order to dispel his doubts, Anthony said helplessly, It's not easy to separate into that state.

He probably knew why the other party's Apparition always failed. Because he was too worried about splitting, this student seriously lacked the determination to apparate.

Anthony saw the other person panicking and preparing to apologize, and waved his hand to signal him to relax: Give yourself a little more confidence. Or give me a little more confidence. I dare say that no one in this hall can be so scary when separated.

He checked the information after he returned. Except for the splits caused by emergency apparition, most splits are caused by insufficient attention to that part of one's body.

And Anthony has relatively good reasons to believe that he should be the person in the entire hall who cares about his head the least.

Note 1: This kind of candy appears in Charlie's Chocolate Factory. Given that the book was first published in 1964 and published in the UK in 1967, it is not surprising that Anthony has read it.

--Dividing line--

There will be more later today! But this is already the usual amount of two chapters!