I glanced at the mechanical watch on my wrist; it was already eight o’clock.
“Sorry, Hermione, I’ve taken up your time,” William said apologetically.
The two of them had eaten breakfast at seven; it only took thirty minutes to get full, but they had been delayed for a long time by their conversation.
To his surprise, once they were full, many seniors from other houses came looking for him to buy meat sauce.
Although the price of two sickles scared some away, there were still many who weren’t short on money.
Since he had already quoted the price, he had no choice but to do business.
In the end, he successfully earned his first funds, a total of four Galleons.
In other words, he sold thirty-four portions of Spicy Meat Sauce, which was the amount he had brewed in one pot.
Regarding this, he had only one thought: the seniors’ money was truly easy to earn.
As for the first-year freshmen, they were a bunch of lazybones; even at this hour, none had come to the canteen for breakfast.
“Don’t worry about it, I’ve gained something too,” Hermione said happily.
This wasn’t a lie; some seniors had seen Hermione’s ‘newcomer questions’ and provided answers along the way.
Even though it was just in passing, many of her questions were answered, which made her very happy.
“Alright then, let’s head to the classroom.
The Professor teaching Transfiguration Class is our Gryffindor Dean, so we can’t be late,” William changed the subject.
“You’re right, let’s hurry.”
Because they had a map in hand this time, the two of them didn’t waste any time getting to the Transfiguration Class classroom.
Pushing the door open, they found the classroom completely empty.
“Did we come too early?” William suddenly felt that being too proactive might not be a good thing.
“It’s not early.
I can preview the textbook again; I don’t want to fall behind the Professor’s teaching progress,” Hermione said as she pulled William to sit in the front row.
Just then, William suddenly felt like he had forgotten something, but just as he was about to think it through, Hermione stuffed the textbook into his arms, successfully interrupting his recollection.
“Help me check if there are any mistakes in my recitation.”
After Hermione finished speaking, she began to recite the entire contents of the textbook.
Honestly, at this moment, William truly felt the pressure coming from a top student.
Look at this, this is a real top student; anyway, he wouldn’t be able to work this hard.
Time passed minute by minute, and people began to fill the classroom.
William also noticed that their Transfiguration Class was held together with Slytherin, but fortunately, no conflicts occurred.
After a while, Hermione finally stopped her recitation.
“How was it?” Hermione asked a bit nervously.
William gave her a direct thumbs up, and seeing this, Hermione finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Then William looked around at his classmates, but as his gaze landed on the tabby cat on the desk, he couldn’t look away.
He knew that the cat in front of him was none other than Professor McGonagall.
At the same time, he also remembered what he had forgotten.
“I forgot to call Harry and Ron.
They won’t be late like in the original story, will they?”
Thinking this, William took out his mechanical watch to check the time; it was already 8:50, only ten minutes until class.
It was too late to go back now, so he could only hope the two of them would be more proactive.
However, as the hour hand pointed to the number nine, Harry and Ron still hadn’t appeared.
“Harry and Ron are finished.”
Just as William was thinking this, the sound of the classroom door being pushed open drew his gaze.
Seeing Harry and Ron, he was about to tell them to get to their seats quickly.
But before he could speak, Ron said with a chuckle, “We finally made it.
If Professor McGonagall were here, her face would definitely look terrible.”
William:…They’re beyond help, I’m not helping.
Sure enough, the next second, the tabby cat leaped off the desk and transformed into Professor McGonagall.
“That was bloody brilliant!” Ron didn’t forget to offer a compliment in his surprise.
“Thank you for that assessment, Mr.
Weasley.
Perhaps it would be more useful if I were to transfigure Mr.
Potter and yourself into a pocket watch.
That way, one of you might be on time,” Professor McGonagall clearly wasn’t going to let them off just because of a compliment.
“We got lost,” Harry explained.
“Then perhaps a map?
I trust you don’t need one to find your seats.”
Hearing this, Harry and Ron quickly sat in the empty seats nearby.
At this time, Draco Malfoy was laughing incredibly happily at the sight of Harry being scolded, but after Professor McGonagall glanced over, classmate Malfoy’s laughter stopped abruptly.
By now, William had learned from Hermione that drarry had already met on the train, and for this, he felt a tiny bit of regret for not seeing the prologue of their love-hate relationship with his own eyes.
“Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts,”
Professor McGonagall said, signaling the official start of the lesson.
“Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back.
I have warned you.”
Then she turned the podium into a pig, a pig that grunted and snuffled, and then quickly turned it back amidst the gasps of the Young wizards.
Sitting in the front row, William could clearly sense the reality of that pig; even its breath was warm.
However, he also knew that Transfiguration cannot turn inanimate objects into truly living life; this was a key point emphasized in the textbook.
“Now, can anyone tell me what Gamp’s Fundamental Laws of Elemental Transfiguration are?”
Before she had even finished speaking, Hermione’s hand shot up with a “whoosh”.
Being in the first row and the first to raise her hand, and more importantly, a Young wizard from her own house, Professor McGonagall naturally called on Hermione to answer.
“First, the limit on food Transfiguration.
A Wizard cannot produce fine food out of thin air, nor can they turn other things into real food.”
“Second, there can be no permanent transformation between living and inanimate objects; their essence remains unchanged, and the change is only bestowed by magic.”
“Third, Transfiguration cannot create magical items, as that falls within the scope of Alchemy.”
“Fourth, Transfiguration does not change quantity.”
“Fifth, Transfiguration cannot create something from nothing.”
Hermione’s voice was very crisp, but the confidence in her tone sounded quite proud to others.
“Very well, take a seat, Miss Granger.
You have successfully earned five points for Gryffindor,” Professor McGonagall said to Hermione in a gentle tone.
Then, Professor McGonagall resumed her serious expression and said, “I hope you will keep these points in mind at all times.
The threat of expulsion combined with Professor McGonagall’s expression made everyone firmly remember this prohibition.
Afterward, once everyone had a moment to process, Professor McGonagall continued, “In this lesson, we will start with the simplest task, which is turning a match into a needle.”
As she spoke, Professor McGonagall gave everyone a demonstration.
The benefit of being in the first row was apparent now; William and Hermione saw the transformation very clearly.
Next, after explaining the methods and techniques for casting the Transfiguration Spell, Professor McGonagall handed out a match to all the Young wizards.
“Remember, I’ll say it again!
When casting the Transfiguration Spell, you must recall the exact appearance of a silver needle in your mind and fix that image.
When you feel the match in front of you overlapping with the needle in your mind, wave your wand and chant the incantation: Vera Verto!”
“Vera Verto.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the match in front of William had turned into an ordinary sewing needle.
“Look, everyone, William has already succeeded.
Ten points to Gryffindor.” At this moment, Professor McGonagall’s voice was very excited; after all, not many Young wizards could succeed so quickly.
Then Professor McGonagall picked it up to show everyone, and as she put it down, she said to William, “Next, William, you can try to make it more detailed and beautiful.
If you succeed, I think you won’t have to do the homework for this class.”
“Alright, Professor McGonagall, I’ll work hard.”
At this moment, William was full of motivation in order to avoid doing homework.
Professor McGonagall smiled without saying anything, put the needle down, and went to guide the other students.
Hermione was also full of motivation; she didn’t want to be left too far behind.
But despite repeated efforts, she only managed to turn one end into a needle point, and it reverted before long.
After some hesitation, Hermione prepared to ask William how he did it.
But as she turned to look, she found that William’s match had turned into a gold needle with silver thread wound around it, which had a different kind of beauty.
“William, you succeeded again!” Hermione was shocked.
“No, I originally wanted to have a silver snake winding around it, but I could only turn it into silver thread.
I’m still far from true success,” William said as he waved his wand and changed it again, resulting in a silver needle with gold thread.
Although his talent for Transfiguration was decent, his understanding of this knowledge was still too shallow after all.
Hermione felt discouraged for a moment, but she quickly adjusted and asked, “William, can you teach me how to successfully turn the match into a needle?”
“It’s simple: stay firm in your belief,” William didn’t hide anything.
Hermione’s incantation and wand movements were already extremely standard; what she lacked was belief, as this was a common problem among Muggle-born wizards—they always tended to approach things from the perspective of an ordinary person.
“But I’m already very firm in my belief,” Hermione replied urgently.
William glanced at Hermione, really wanting to tell her that she wasn’t.
However, there was no benefit in being pedantic about it, so he suppressed the thought and changed his wording, saying:
“Temporarily discard your past perceptions, and then try again with a firm belief.”
Hermione tried it half-doubtingly and found that she had indeed made significant progress.
But before she could speak to thank him, Professor McGonagall came over again.
Seeing the needle on William’s desk, she spoke with a smile on her face, “Some progress.
For a Young wizard who has just encountered magic, it’s very good.”
“Professor McGonagall, then the homework…” William’s eyes were full of anticipation.
“Barely qualified.
You’re exempt from the homework for this class.”
“Thank you, Professor.”
At this moment, William smiled very happily…