Professor McGonagall stepped forward, her stern face looking as if it were covered in a layer of frost.
The young wizards below were as quiet as cicadas in winter.
Harry and Ron were shivering even more.
To avoid being late, they had woken up with Ethan, and they were now dead tired.
However, they sat up straight, trying their best to keep their eyes wide open.
Nobody was late today, but judging by how angry the professor looked, it was as if everyone had walked into the wrong classroom.
As the Head of Gryffindor House, Professor McGonagall’s duty was not just to teach Transfiguration, but also to look after each young wizard and guide them properly as they grew up.
“Yesterday, an extremely malicious event took place at this school—slander!
It was a highly offensive, filthy act!” Instantly, everyone looked at Ethan.
But subtly, quite a few people turned their heads to look at Malfoy.
Malfoy’s pale face flushed red instantly with anger…
and grievance.
He had absolutely nothing to do with this!
Yet, everyone somehow assumed he was the one pulling the strings.
Professor McGonagall’s spectacles glinted with angry light.
“In light of Headmaster Dumbledore’s intercession, and because the victim, Mr.
Ethan White, handled the matter appropriately to prevent it from escalating further, the school will not expel anyone for the time being.
However, we will not excuse this easily.
Those who make mistakes must bear the consequences!” “Now, I have two announcements to make.” Professor McGonagall first looked at Ethan, her gaze finally softening slightly.
“In light of Mr.
Ethan White’s performance yesterday, ten points will be awarded to Gryffindor.” The little lions widened their eyes, then clapped enthusiastically, filled with pleasant surprise.
Professor McGonagall raised her hand to quiet them, her eyes turning much sterner.
“While I am pleased by the bravery of you Gryffindors, due to your reckless behavior yesterday without any evidence, five points will be deducted from Gryffindor as a whole!” “Huh?” “You must never condemn anyone based on mere suspicion!” Professor McGonagall scolded sharply.
“Without solid proof, any accusation is slander!
Have you got that?” The little lions shrunk their necks in unison.
“We understand, Professor.” “Very well.
Now, I need to check your progress from the last lesson.
How many of you have mastered the Transfiguration spell we learned?” Over on the Gryffindor side, hands shot up in unison, even Neville and Seamus were no exception.
Only about two-thirds of the Slytherins raised their hands.
Professor McGonagall said nothing.
She simply waved her wand, and a match appeared on everyone’s desk.
The young wizards pulled out their wands, gesturing in almost perfect unison as they chanted, “One, two, three, Rapid Transfiguration!” Their tone, inflection, and even the slight flick of their heads while casting looked exactly like Ethan White during the first class.
One by one, silver needles quickly appeared on the desks.
Everyone beamed with joy.
In the corner, Ethan clearly felt Professor McGonagall’s gaze on him and couldn’t help but offer an embarrassed smile.
After all, he had only made one version of the study notes.
Since everyone copied and learned from the same source, of course they were perfectly in sync.
Professor McGonagall felt very pleased, and a faint smile even appeared on her face.
“Even with the help of a classmate, you wouldn’t have achieved this without hard work and practice on your own.” The Gryffindor students were delighted.
If they hadn’t been worried about losing points, they would have cheered out loud.
Professor McGonagall looked toward the Slytherin side—only a bit over half of them had successfully cast the Transfiguration spell, and two were holding their wands looking completely lost.
She looked slightly disappointed and continued, “As for those who have not yet completed the needle transfiguration, I expect to see your progress before the next class.” Malfoy turned around, his face looking very fierce.
“I think you lot would be better suited for Hufflepuff!” He felt extremely embarrassed, especially in front of Harry Potter.
Those students glared back fiercely at Malfoy.
Ron and Harry had looks of pure schadenfreude.
They had long disliked Malfoy and had been itching to fight him, but unfortunately, Malfoy always ran away too quickly to give them the chance.
“Silence!
Sit down, Malfoy!” Professor McGonagall glared at Malfoy.
These little snakes were truly spoiled rotten by Severus Snape!
She slowly continued, “In this lesson, we will learn how to turn a beetle into a button.
Any kind of button will do.
Because this involves transfiguring a living creature, you must pay close attention.” “Now, open your textbooks.
We will start with the fundamental theory of Transfiguration.” Ethan listened intently, taking notes continuously.
Professor McGonagall’s teaching style was the same as always.
She skimmed over the book’s contents, focusing instead on knowledge not recorded in the text, especially the various detailed nuances to watch out for when casting spells.
This was the kind of wisdom only a Transfiguration Master would possess.
This truly highlighted the importance of having a good teacher.
He really wished every professor in the school could be as brilliant and reliable as Professor McGonagall.
Ethan was thoroughly absorbed, wishing he could engrave every single word onto his mind.
Studying could be quite addictive too.
As was customary for the two-hour class, only thirty minutes were left for actual wand practice.
Professor McGonagall handed everyone a beetle about the size of a coin.
This time, Ethan was in no rush to cast.
Instead, he continued to write feverishly on his parchment.
Right before class ended, a delighted cry came from Hermione’s direction.
She had successfully turned her beetle into a black button.
Professor McGonagall praised her immediately.
Taking advantage of everyone’s attention being drawn there, Ethan finally put down his quill and quietly waved his wand at the beetle.
Wood, plastic, copper, iron, black, white, yellow, green, red…
After a dizzying series of rapid transformations, the beetle finally settled into a plain patterned button.
He nodded subtly.
Combining the Color-Change Charm with Transfiguration did indeed yield many surprising variations, though he had no idea how practical it actually was.
“A compound spell combining Transfiguration and the Color-Change Charm?
A very clever idea indeed, Mr.
White.” A highly appreciative voice suddenly spoke from right beside him.
Ethan was startled.
He quickly turned his head and saw that Professor McGonagall was standing right next to him.
*Huh?
Did she Apparate over here?* He said dryly, “Just a sudden whim, since I happened to learn the Color-Change Charm the day before yesterday.” He couldn’t help but glance in Hermione’s direction.
The young witch was staring at the button on his desk, her expression clearly filled with unwilling frustration.
Professor McGonagall said pointedly, “Mr.
White, you might not know this, but the school actually conducts a re-evaluation every year to determine the financial aid allocations for the following year.
As you know, while almost every student in the school could use some support, the budget provided by the Ministry of Magic is highly limited, and the school has to make difficult choices.” Ethan’s expression became incredibly colorful.