Today was our first morning at Hogwarts.
We quickly finished breakfast in the Great Hall and headed off to Transfiguration, the class taught by Professor McGonagall.
But even though we hadn’t overslept, the corridors were so confusing that we ended up on the verge of being late.
"Huff... if we just go up this staircase and turn the corner, we’ll be at the Transfiguration classroom, but of all things, the stairs moved just now!"
"What do we do now...? If we’re late on the first day, Professor McGonagall might try to kill us!"
Well, if that was the case, I couldn’t help it.
I still hadn’t properly learned magic, but I’d have to try something.
Anyway, wizards were all ridiculously sturdy, so even if I failed, they probably wouldn’t die.
"Guys, do you trust me?"
"Leonard? You’ve got a way?"
Without answering, I pulled out my wand and moved my magic, grabbing Harry and tossing him across.
Ever since I got a wand, my magic had definitely felt much easier to control.
"Aaaah!"
Harry landed successfully at the entrance to the upper floor on the other side.
Wow, as expected of someone with the build of a future Quidditch Seeker, his reflexes were great. Why was he screaming if he did it so well? Honestly, what a drama queen.
I then picked up Ron, who was staring in shock, and threw him across too.
Then it was my turn.
I wrapped myself in magic and sent myself flying to the entrance on the other side.
"Wow! Leonard! How did you do that?"
"You’re amazing!"
"Save the praise. We’re going to be late."
"Oh, right. We should get in quickly."
Thanks to my performance, we barely made it to class on time.
Not long after we went in and found seats, Professor McGonagall entered.
"Welcome, everyone. I am Minerva McGonagall, and I will be teaching Transfiguration. You may call me Professor McGonagall from now on."
"Good morning, Professor!"
Everyone answered with surprising volume, perhaps as a sign of respect for their Head of House.
"Transfiguration is a very difficult and advanced branch of magic. It is extremely hard to master, but if you learn it properly, you can do many things. Like this."
Professor McGonagall summoned Hermione’s quill from the front row with [Accio] and turned it into a lion.
The lion let out a mighty roar, then leapt up and transformed into an eagle, which began flying around the classroom.
Professor McGonagall did not stop there and turned the eagle into a flame.
Then she sent the flaming eagle plunging swiftly down in front of a student.
Whether the student screamed or not, the eagle transformed into a badger in the meantime.
The badger bounced across the desks here and there, then reached my desk and became a snake, hissing softly.
Professor McGonagall turned the snake back into a quill and returned it to Hermione’s desk.
What she had just done was a difficult technique that transformed an object into an animal, then transformed the animal into another animal.
Five transformations in a row, even mixing in a change of form in the middle of it all—this was exactly the skill of Professor McGonagall, one of the greatest Transfiguration masters of the age.
The students witnessed Professor McGonagall’s display of skill and burst into cheers and applause.
Even the stern-looking Professor McGonagall seemed to soften into a faint smile.
But the smile was brief, and she soon began the lesson in earnest.
"However, it will take you a very long time to reach this level. With the exception of a few exceptionally gifted people.
There are many things you must be careful of if you want to learn Transfiguration properly.
For example, you must never turn a twig into water and then drink it.
When the spell wears off, the water absorbed into your body will turn back into a twig, and something truly horrible will happen to the person who drank it. Do you understand?
For that reason, transfiguring objects into things you eat or drink is forbidden at your level.
While you were watching the magic just now, I wrote the principles you must keep in mind when casting Transfiguration on the blackboard. Everyone, copy them down."
Sure enough, as Professor McGonagall had said, the large blackboard was covered in notes.
"Listen while you write. As you can see, the principles of Transfiguration are full of things you must not do.
Because Transfiguration is such a finicky branch of magic, none of you who are just beginning your magical education should use any magic other than the Transfiguration I instruct you to do."
We listened to Professor McGonagall’s lecture while furiously taking notes.
"Let’s take a short break and continue after that. In the next lesson, we’ll try turning a match into a needle."
After Professor McGonagall left the classroom, murmurs broke out all around us. Ron and Harry were excitedly talking too.
"Harry, did you see that? Professor McGonagall is amazing! Do you think we’ll be able to do that someday?"
"Yeah, Ron, it was incredible. I’ve been living with Muggles all this time, so that was the first time I’d ever seen such amazing magic!"
"Professor McGonagall is a master of transformation. What she just showed us was only a taste."
"Really? There’s something even more amazing than that?"
"Of course. Something like that is probably something only one student in a hundred years could manage."
"That’s a strangely specific condition. Do you know someone like that?"
"Professor Dumbledore, of course. Before becoming Headmaster, he taught Transfiguration, and before that, Defense Against the Dark Arts. He must have been incredibly skilled even as a student."
"Where do you get all this information? You haven’t even been to the library yet, have you?"
"That’s not the important part, Ron."
I walked over to Hermione’s desk and spoke to her.
"Hi, Hermione. Did you sleep well?"
"Uh... hi, Leonard, I..."
"I’m really sorry about yesterday. I thought I was just speaking in my head, but when I took the hat off, I realized something had gone wrong."
"Uh... no, it’s fine. It’s all in the past..."
Hermione’s face started turning red again, just like yesterday.
"Can I have a chance to apologize to you? If you’re okay with it, I’d like to meet in the Gryffindor common room this Saturday evening."
"Huh? No, you really don’t have to go that far. I’m really fine."
"No, Hermione, please give me a chance to apologize properly. So, is that settled?"
"...Okay, fine. I’ll be in the Gryffindor common room after dinner."
I turned around and went back to my seat.
I’d forced the arrangement on her, but a promise was a promise, right?
I could hear Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown teasing Hermione from behind.
"Hermione, are you already dating a boy? What is it, what is it~? My instincts are really good."
"No... it’s really not like that..."
Just then, Professor McGonagall came back into the classroom.
She stood at the front desk and started the lesson right away.
"Everyone, take your seats. As I said a moment ago, this time we’ll be turning matches into needles.
As I wrote on the blackboard earlier, the easiest kind of Transfiguration is turning one inanimate object into another inanimate object, especially when the two are similar in shape.
Matches and needles both share the common trait of being thin and long.
The method is simple. As you wave your wand, you must imagine the image you want to change into very precisely and very strongly. Now then, everyone begin."
At Professor McGonagall’s command, the students took out their wands and began waving them.
But no one managed to turn a match into a needle on the first try.
Transfiguration really was difficult.
Among us, Harry was at least somewhat better, while Ron had no chance at all.
But at the other table, Hermione had already managed to turn her match halfway into a needle.
"Well done, Miss Granger."
Hermione, praised by Professor McGonagall, looked flushed and focused on finishing the transformation.
I was just about to take out my wand and give it a try when I realized the wand was too large and there wasn’t enough space.
Professor McGonagall, who had somehow come up behind me, noticed it.
"Mr. Oppenbach’s wand is quite unusual. I’ve never seen one so large.
In any case, there isn’t enough space for that wand, so for today, come up to the front and work there. I’ll make you a new desk.
And from next lesson onward, you’d be better off sitting in the front row. We can simply bring in a larger desk."
"Yes, Professor. I’ll do that."
Following Professor McGonagall’s instructions, I took my things and moved to the front.
Professor McGonagall waved her wand, summoned a book from the cupboard, and transformed it into a desk and chair.
This spot was much more spacious than my original seat, so I could actually wave my wand properly.
Still, having everyone’s eyes on me was a little much.
But I couldn’t exactly skip practice, so I might as well get started.
Wave the wand, point at the target, and hold a precise image and strong will to change it into the desired form...
I imagined the match becoming a needle and gave my wand a small wave, pouring magic into it.
Then the match instantly transformed into a very sharp needle.
Professor McGonagall, who had been watching me, looked impressed.
"Excellent, very well done, Mr. Oppenbach. Ten points to Gryffindor. Now, everyone, pay attention! Look at the needle Mr. Oppenbach has transformed. [Engorgio]."
The needle I had made rapidly grew until it was nearly the size of my wand.
"I’ve enlarged the needle with magic, so the students behind can see it as well. There isn’t a single part that hasn’t been properly transformed, and it’s quite sharp too. Mr. Oppenbach, would you like to tell the others how you did it?"
"I only did exactly what you taught us, Professor McGonagall. Strong will and precise imagination. Those two are the most important things."
"That is the textbook method. Exactly right."
Professor McGonagall used [Reducio] to return the needle to its original size, then said to me,
"At this level of skill, I think you might even be able to turn it back. Mr. Oppenbach, would you like to try?"
"Yes, Professor."
It was a little nerve-racking to demonstrate in front of everyone.
Still, I couldn’t fail with Hermione watching.
I waved my wand again with the same strong determination as before.
Then the needle cleanly turned back into a match.
"Perfect. Another five points to Gryffindor."
Gasps of admiration rose from all around.
But if Hermione didn’t react well, all that admiration would mean nothing.
And Hermione was wearing a slightly sulky expression.
That’s bad...
"That’s all for today’s lesson. There is homework. Write four inches of parchment on the precautions you must take with Transfiguration. You may go over four inches, but not under."
We finished our first class and moved to the Great Hall for lunch.
"Homework on the first day... Professor McGonagall really is strict."
"Still, this assignment is probably her being lenient because it’s your first one. The notes we took in class alone should already make three inches. If you just look through a few related books in the library, it won’t take even thirty minutes."
Ron, who was complaining about getting homework on the first day, was once again tearing into a chicken leg.
Compared to him, Harry was picking at a bit of everything.
Maybe because the Dursleys hadn’t fed him properly, the kid was all skin and bones, but at least Hogwarts served good food.
Growing children should eat a lot first and foremost.
I started devouring the lunch in front of me too.
Crunch
Professor Flitwick’s Charms class had a completely different atmosphere from Professor McGonagall’s Transfiguration.
Professor Flitwick had a very student-friendly, free-spirited teaching style, and since it was the first day, he ran the class loosely and won the students’ praise.
In addition, we had to attend Professor Sprout’s Herbology class three times a week, and I figured that was because many plants needed steady attention to grow properly.
The only good thing was that Herbology classes were only one hour each, so the actual class time wasn’t that much.
In History of Magic, as expected, no one but Hermione and me could fight off sleep.
For eleven-year-olds whose concentration was still pretty weak, the notoriously dull Professor Binns’s class had a truly devastating effect. I already liked history to begin with, and since it was all new to me, I was able to stay awake and pay attention until the end.
But to be honest, Professor Binns really was a terrible teacher.
So I could understand why everyone was falling asleep.
He even didn’t know some of the more recent historical events, probably because he was a ghost.
In my view, the reason Hogwarts kept Professor Binns around was very likely just because he was a ghost and could be worked without pay.
Hogwarts had free tuition and free meals, but its own income was severely lacking, so much of the school’s operation was covered by funding from the Ministry of Magic and the Board of Governors.
So being able to use a professor with that much seniority for free would be a huge help financially.
We also had to climb up to the Astronomy Tower every Wednesday at midnight for Professor Sinistra’s Astronomy class, and to be honest, it was below standard.
Ah, I wasn’t talking about the professor’s ability.
The problem was the subject of Astronomy itself.
Wizarding astronomy was very backward, only reaching the level of observing the solar system and identifying various constellations.
Of course, wizarding astronomy was different from simple stargazing. They believed they could read what was happening in the present from the movements of the stars.
In fact, a few great wizards could glean some clues from the night sky.
People like Dumbledore, for example.
So after all that hard study, you still had to be at Dumbledore’s level for it to matter?
Then what was the point of studying Astronomy?
Real future-reading doesn’t come from academic study like this. Only those born with the gift of prophecy can do it.
It was the same as how simply taking Professor Trelawney’s class didn’t mean you could actually read the future.
Centaurs had their own methods of divination, but human wizards couldn’t read the future just by looking at the sky.
Anyway, from the perspective of someone who had lived through the 21st century, I could once again feel the gap between Muggles and wizards.
Before I died, Muggles had even managed to observe invisible black holes well enough for humans to distinguish them, and they were estimating things like the structure and age of the universe.
In particular, they had recently launched the James Webb Space Telescope and achieved overwhelming results.
And what on earth were these wizards doing...?
Born with blessed talent, and all they do is observe the solar system?
It was horrifying to think I’d have to sit through this kind of class for five years.
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