When Professor McGonagall suddenly appeared, Scott and Cedric finally realised what had happened.
They had become so absorbed in their conversation outside the Transfiguration Club classroom that they had lost track of time.
“We’re sorry, Professor McGonagall.”
Faced with Professor McGonagall’s rather stern gaze, neither of them tried to make excuses.
They lowered their heads and obediently admitted their mistake.
Since Scott and Cedric were both good students, Professor McGonagall did not pursue the matter.
She gave them a warning look, then turned and walked back into the classroom.
“Hurry inside, Mr Trollope and Mr Diggory.”
Scott and Cedric quickly followed her into the classroom and closed the door behind them.
Under the mixed gazes of the other students, the two of them quickly found their seats and sat down.
“This is unusual, Cedric and Scott.
Even two well-behaved boys like you are late,” a girl sitting nearby teased.
She was Angelina Johnson, a Gryffindor in their year and a Chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch team.
“It was an accident, Angelina,” Scott whispered.
Angelina smiled and was about to say something else when Professor McGonagall’s sharp gaze immediately turned towards her from the front of the classroom.
She hurriedly closed her mouth.
“The first topic for today,” Professor McGonagall said, holding a magazine, “is to read and discuss a paper published in the latest issue of Transfiguration Today.”
The stern expression on her face softened.
“Even I found some of the ideas in this paper enlightening.”
By this point, her stern expression had completely disappeared.
She could not help revealing a proud smile.
“The author of this paper is one of Gryffindor’s finest former students, Bill Weasley.”
Scott was rather surprised.
Bill Weasley?
Scott remembered the Weasley twins mentioning that their eldest brother had gone to work as a Curse-Breaker for Gringotts Wizarding Bank in Egypt after graduating from Hogwarts.
Wizards qualified to work as Curse-Breakers were usually most skilled in magical fields such as Arithmancy, Charms and Ancient Runes.
He had not expected Bill Weasley to have also studied Transfiguration deeply in his spare time.
As expected of someone who had once earned twelve O.W.L.s.
“Begin reading now.” Professor McGonagall put down the magazine.
“Those who have already read it should look through it again carefully, or begin thinking about what they wish to say during the discussion.”
Some opened their own magazines and notebooks, while others stood and took new copies from the bookshelf beside the classroom wall.
Scott was sitting next to the bookshelf.
He turned around, took down two copies of Transfiguration Today and handed one to Cedric.
“Thank you.”
Cedric took it and eagerly opened it.
Scott also opened his copy.
“It seems you haven’t had time to read the latest issue either.”
The copies of Transfiguration Today in the Transfiguration Club were ordered by the school after Professor McGonagall applied for them.
The Hogwarts library also subscribed to several copies.
Since both the club and the library had the magazine, Scott had not spent his own money on a subscription.
As a result, he often did not read each new issue immediately.
“That’s right.
I’ve been busy with Quidditch practice recently.”
Cedric quickly found the paper Professor McGonagall had mentioned through the contents page and began reading it carefully.
Scott also turned to the page.
The first thing he saw was the title of the paper.
A Conjecture: Perhaps We Can Make Transfiguration More Complex
Transfiguration Today was an academic publication focused on the latest developments in Transfiguration.
It published both general articles and papers written by outstanding and knowledgeable scholars in the field.
The magazine also awarded the Transfiguration Today Most Promising Newcomer Award to Hogwarts students who showed exceptional talent in Transfiguration.
Professor McGonagall had complained more than once during Transfiguration Club meetings that no Hogwarts student had won the award for several years.
Whenever she mentioned the subject, she would deliberately look at Scott, making him feel uneasy.
Although Scott had shown greater talent in Transfiguration than most students, he had never published a paper in the magazine.
Professor McGonagall had advised him to find a suitable research direction and write papers for publication so that he could compete for the Most Promising Newcomer Award.
Scott had politely refused each time.
That did not match his own plans.
During his first three years at Hogwarts, Scott’s studies in Transfiguration had never gone beyond the subjects defined by the textbooks.
He had only studied those subjects far more deeply than ordinary students.
Many students only wanted to reach the point where they could perform a spell.
Once they successfully cast it, they considered themselves to have learnt it.
Scott did not think that way.
He did not only require himself to succeed. The source of this chapter is g.com.
He had to perform it well, and he constantly tried to do better.
In Scott’s view, this stage was about building his foundations.
He had to make them solid and reliable.
Yet this foundational knowledge was not enough to support a paper worthy of publication, much less one capable of winning an award.
To publish an award-winning paper, Scott would have to research a novel and impressive subject.
He was unwilling to disrupt his study plans merely for a magazine’s newcomer award.
In his view, he was following a path of slowly accumulating knowledge before producing results.
At present, he was still in the accumulation stage.
The Transfiguration Club classroom was silent.
Only the rustling of turning pages and quills scratching across parchment could be heard.
Scott could no longer hear any of those sounds.
His attention had been completely captured by the paper before him.
As he read more carefully, his eyes grew brighter and his excitement increased.
The paper gave him a great deal of inspiration.
Some of its arguments even matched several ideas he had once considered but never tested.
After finishing the paper, Scott gradually calmed down and looked once more at its title.
A Conjecture: Perhaps We Can Make Transfiguration More Complex
After reading it, Scott understood that the author, Bill Weasley, had indeed only presented a conjecture in the paper.
Bill had provided some evidence for the conjecture based on his experiences in Egypt, but that evidence was not completely convincing.
It truly was only a conjecture.
Even the editor of Transfiguration Today had only commented that “the conjecture was interesting enough”.
From the wording of the comment, the editor clearly did not think the conjecture was likely to succeed.
Yet for some reason, Scott felt that the conjecture had great practical value and was not impossible to realise.
He wanted to continue researching along the direction it proposed.
(End of Chapter)
…
T/N :
Feed me Power Stones to keep me motivated.
This translation is pure volunteer work, so every bit of support helps me continue.