On the train to Hogwarts, Ron had demonstrated that classic scene for Hermione and Neville, trying to change Scabbers’s color.
It was hard to say whether it had actually succeeded.
He had indeed turned Scabbers’s brown fur a deep orange—a bit brighter, but far from the yellow he had envisioned.
Even so, it had slightly surprised Hermione at the time, mostly leaving her bewildered that such an odd spell even existed.
Compared to Ron’s crude attempt, Professor McGonagall’s Transfiguration was executed with sublime perfection.
The rat Tris had placed on the desk instantly turned into an exquisite crystal goblet, intricately carved with fine patterns.
“As I was saying,” Professor McGonagall said, her gaze sweeping over the class to ensure everyone was paying attention before turning back to Tris, “the difficulty of live Transfiguration lies in suppressing the creature’s vitality. Otherwise, a moving goblet would defeat the very purpose of transfiguring it.”
With that, she tapped the goblet lightly with her wand.
It produced a clear, crisp ringing sound and remained completely motionless.
“When vitality is suppressed, the living creature’s willpower is suppressed along with it.
In other words, a successfully transfigured living creature has its consciousness stripped away for the duration.
This brings us to another issue: animal willpower.
Generally speaking, the higher the order of the creature, the stronger its self-awareness and willpower.
“Aside from the differences in volume and mass that must be accounted for in inanimate Transfiguration, the difficulty of live Transfiguration also hinges on the strength of the target’s consciousness and will.
“The higher the creature’s order and the stronger its consciousness, the harder it is to transfigure.
If you attempt to forcibly transform a sentient, intelligent creature, the difficulty exceeds the capabilities of the vast majority of witches and wizards.
“This drastically lowers the success rate of such transfigurations. Even when successful, the duration is severely shortened.”
“Professor!” Hermione raised her hand at this moment.
“Miss Granger,” Professor McGonagall acknowledged with a nod.
Hermione stood up and asked, “How does the difficulty compare when transfiguring magical creatures versus ordinary people?”
“An excellent question,” Professor McGonagall said with an approving nod.
“That touches upon another variable in live Transfiguration: magical interference.
“Most magical beasts possess greater intelligence than ordinary animals, but there remains a significant gap compared to wizards, Muggles, or other humanoid beings.
“Thus, there are differences at the level of consciousness and willpower as well.
However, transfiguring a magical creature is actually more difficult than transfiguring a Muggle.
This is due to the presence of magic.
“A magical creature’s innate magic interferes with the spell’s ability to alter its body, making it hard to achieve the desired effect.
The more powerful the magical beast, the harder it is to perform Transfiguration upon it.
“Take phoenixes or dragons, for instance—in recorded history, no wizard has ever managed to perform a complete Transfiguration on them.”
“Professor, does a wizard’s own magic exert a similar influence?” Hermione pressed.
“Yes,” Professor McGonagall confirmed.
“However, the logic and nature of how wizards use magic differs from magical creatures.
In terms of raw magic alone, a wizard is usually far inferior to a magical beast they could otherwise easily defeat.
“Therefore, in practice, while transfiguring a wizard is slightly more difficult than transfiguring a Muggle, it is generally easier than transfiguring a magical creature—assuming, of course, that the wizard is caught unprepared.
“If magical defenses are involved, that is naturally another matter entirely. Does that answer your question, Miss Granger?”
“Yes. Thank you, Professor McGonagall,” Hermione replied, nodding.
“Answering the questions of eager students is a pleasure for any teacher. There is no need to thank me. Please take your seat, Miss Granger.”
Professor McGonagall turned her attention back to Tris.
“Mr. Weasley, does this resolve your doubts as well?”
“Yes, Professor,” Tris replied obediently.
But before McGonagall could tell him to sit down, he spoke up again.
“Professor, I’m sorry, but another question just occurred to me…”
Professor McGonagall glanced at the clock on the classroom wall and nodded.
“Very well, Mr. Weasley.
We have enough time, but I hope this will be the final question of the lesson.
“After all, absorbing too much information at once is not conducive to truly retaining knowledge.”
“Understood, Professor,” Tris said, maintaining his dutiful demeanor.
Once McGonagall signaled him to proceed, he pointed to the goblet on the desk—the transfigured Scabbers—and asked:
“Is it possible for a single object to undergo multiple Transfigurations by different wizards, leaving several layers of transformed states beneath its current form?
Would those multiple Transfigurations conflict with one another?
“If an object that was originally a living creature—like Scabbers—is turned into a goblet by you, and someone then wants to transfigure it again, should they use inanimate Transfiguration or live Transfiguration?
“And if another layer of Transfiguration is added on top, would casting Untransfiguration revert it straight to its original form, or just to the previous layer?”
“A most imaginative question,” Professor McGonagall said, nodding.
“Tell you what, Mr. Weasley: why don’t you try transfiguring this goblet yourself?”
Tris wore a look of surprise and hesitation on his face, but deep in his eyes, a sharp glint flashed.
Perfect!
“Professor, an object of this size…” Tris looked at the goblet, appearing quite conflicted.
“It doesn’t matter. As long as you attempt to change it into something of similar size, mass, and material, the magical requirement will be greatly reduced.”
Tris nodded, took a deep breath, and cast a Transfiguration spell on the crystal goblet.
The crystal goblet twisted and reshaped itself into a slender crystal vase.
Though its shape had altered significantly, its material, volume, and mass remained almost identical.
“It seems you already have your answer regarding the application of Transfiguration,” Professor McGonagall said with a slight smile.
“An animal that has already been turned into an inanimate object can be further transfigured using simple inanimate Transfiguration.
“As for your question about magical layering, you likely have your answer as well.
A new Transfiguration spell does indeed impact the old one—it drastically shortens the duration of the original spell.
Furthermore, while casting a new Transfiguration on top of an existing layer is no more difficult, its duration will be significantly reduced.
“If the foundational layer expires mid-way, it depends on the circumstances.
Take this vase: the foundational layer is a rat, the middle layer is a goblet, and the top layer is a vase built upon the goblet.
“If my live Transfiguration fades first, then the inanimate Transfiguration Mr. Weasley used will collapse immediately due to the loss of its magical foundation.
“So, class, let us consider another scenario: what if there are three or more layers of Transfiguration, and one of the middle layers breaks down first?”
Seeing the young witches and wizards fall into deep thought, Professor McGonagall chose not to give an immediate answer.
Instead, she said, “I will leave that as a long-term question for you to ponder. Or perhaps, when your magic improves, you may test it for yourselves.”
With that, she turned back to Tris. Visit novelping.com for the full chapter.
“As for Mr. Weasley’s final question, I can answer it directly.
A standard Untransfiguration spell usually only dispels a single layer of Transfiguration.
“Unless the wizard casting the Untransfiguration possesses immense magical power and intentionally channels an excessive amount of magic into it. However, wizards rarely do this. If a wizard is concerned about multiple layers of Transfiguration, there is actually a much simpler method.”
As she spoke, Professor McGonagall raised her wand, pointing it at the crystal vase.
She chanted an incantation far longer than any basic spell Tris had encountered before, then tapped the vase gently with her wand.
The vase immediately began to warp and stretch.
“The Forced Untransfiguration Spell—an advanced form of Untransfiguration—can directly restore a transfigured object to its state prior to any magical alterations—”
Professor McGonagall’s voice came to a sudden halt.
The vase had reverted first to the crystal goblet, and then back into the rat.
Up to this point, everything had gone according to McGonagall’s expectations.
She had been about to say, *…just as this crystal vase ultimately reverts back into a rat.*
However, the rat was still changing.
The large brown rat suddenly began inflating like a balloon, expanding rapidly.
“Scabbers?” Ron stared at the rapidly growing rat, his face a mixture of disbelief and panic, completely unaware of what was happening.
He was not alone.
Except for Tris, none of the students present understood what was going on.
They had clearly watched Professor McGonagall turn the rat into a goblet, and then watched the goblet become a vase.
Reverting it should have stopped at the rat.
Why was the rat continuing to change?
Had Professor McGonagall cast another new Transfiguration spell on it?
The students were baffled by the sight, but Professor McGonagall had already realized the truth.
An Animagus!
The rat before her was an Animagus!
Even though an Animagus transformation, once complete, was notoriously difficult to detect through external means, Professor McGonagall—one of the most celebrated Transfiguration masters in the modern wizarding world—felt a rare surge of unbridled anger at having had an Animagus paraded right under her nose for so long.
Whatever the reason, an Animagus hiding in animal form beside a young wizard was fundamentally abnormal.
Subdue him first!
Professor McGonagall made her decision almost instantaneously.
Before the rat’s expanding body could finish growing, she flicked her wand.
In the blink of an eye, the long desk in front of Tris, Harry, and Ron transformed into a massive metal net cage, enclosing the expanding rat—or rather, the reverting wizard—within.
It worked!
Tris took in the scene before him, his face displaying a blend of surprise and confusion, while deep in his eyes burned a hidden sense of relief.
For today’s outcome, he had spent a long time secretly planning and calculating.
He had gathered information on Transfiguration through various channels to set up a situation where McGonagall would catch this rat—or rather, Peter Pettigrew—herself.
It wasn’t his only approach; he had devised contingency plans for various potential variables.
Yet things had unfolded even smoother than he had anticipated!
Professor McGonagall was exceptionally indulgent toward eager students, meaning his backup safety measures weren’t needed.
Tris was able to sit back and remain safely in the background.