Aside from the unpleasantness of Defense Against the Dark Arts and Divination, Eda's first three days back at school were actually quite leisurely. She and the twins even found time to visit the right-hand corridor on the third floor.
This corridor was relatively hidden and usually deserted. However, ever since Dumbledore had announced it as a forbidden area, it had suddenly become lively, with several groups of students coming by to take a look.
Still, none of them had dared to actually go in. They only dared to glance from a distance. Now that it had been declared off-limits, no one could say what dangers might lurk inside.
Curiosity was high, but not enough to risk their necks.
Fred and George planned to sneak back later at night to do some scouting and gather intel for a future expedition into the corridor.
As for why Eda wasn't joining them, it was because she had an appointment with Professor McGonagall, tsk. Before the start-of-term feast, she had already received this invitation for detention.
At seven o'clock in the evening, Eda arrived punctually at Professor McGonagall's office. However, there wasn't any Transfiguration essay waiting for her today.
Instead, McGonagall intended to give Eda a practical assessment to see how far her Transfiguration skills had progressed.
In the 1st-floor office, Eda began transforming objects according to Professor McGonagall's instructions. At first, she worked on inanimate objects, which were relatively simple to transfigure. Then she moved on to living creatures.
After observing multiple transformations, Professor McGonagall had a clear understanding of Eda's level. Given another two or three years of development, Eda could easily be qualified to hold a Transfiguration teaching position.
Transfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Charms were Eda's strongest subjects.
They were also the ones she devoted the most effort to practicing, so it was no surprise she received such high praise from Professor McGonagall.
As Eda's understanding of Transfiguration deepened, she developed a question about its application: apart from conjuring helpful animals in combat, could Transfiguration be used directly on people—altering oneself or enemies?
"Professor, if I transfigure a person into a pile of bones or some other inanimate object and don't reverse the transformation, would that be considered an act of murder?" Eda asked Professor McGonagall, voicing her inner doubts.
"When did you start having such dangerous thoughts?"
Professor McGonagall asked worriedly, looking closely at Eda, thinking: As expected, Madam Mary's death and that battle have had a profound negative impact on her.
Eda didn't notice McGonagall's concern. Right now, her thoughts were purely academic; she hadn't considered applying them in actual combat.
She said, "I thought about it a long time ago—mainly because I was worried about being turned into an animal by someone else."
There were two ways a wizard could become an animal: one was being transfigured by someone else, which would result in completely becoming an animal—losing all magical abilities and human thought, left entirely at others' mercy.
The other way was being an Animagus like Professor McGonagall, a wizard who voluntarily used magic to transform into an animal while retaining magical power and human consciousness.
This was the major difference between the two methods, and the reason why the latter was so difficult to master.
In the twentieth century, there were only seven registered Animagi, and one of them was the very Professor McGonagall herself—whom Eda had once foolishly fed little dried fish... ehm.
"Transfiguration can indeed turn a person into an animal or objects like tables and chairs," Professor McGonagall explained, "but very few can accomplish such magic. Moreover, Transfiguration is reversible; as long as the counter-spell is cast in time, it won't be fatal."
"That's also why the Killing Curse is classified as an Unforgivable Curse," she continued, "because it has no counter-curse."
"There are many examples of incorporating Transfiguration into combat, but most of them are for support, similar to what you've done before," Professor McGonagall continued. "Wizards are not powerless animals—you'll find it very difficult to directly apply Transfiguration to another wizard. It requires you to have magical power far beyond your opponent's, as well as a profound understanding of Transfiguration."
"Fuu~ That's good, then. I don't have to be scared anymore," Eda said, patting her chest, which was starting to show some shape.
Deep down, Eda had always harbored this fear—of someone casting Transfiguration on her and turning her into a small animal or a piece of furniture. Especially after reading a particular paper, her anxiety had reached its peak. The paper was titled "On Whether the Vanishing Spell Can Be Applied to the Human Body."
The Vanishing Spell was a form of Transfiguration that could make both living and non-living things disappear. It was a topic covered in fifth-year Transfiguration classes and was considered one of the hardest spells in the O.W.L.s exams.
Eda had practiced the Vanishing Spell before and was capable of making small animals vanish successfully. In theory, it was indeed possible to apply it to a human—and if that happened, how would it be any different from murder?
"So you do get scared sometimes. Next time you make me angry, I'll use Transfiguration on you," Professor McGonagall said seriously, as if she were genuinely considering what animal she would turn Eda into if she made a mistake.
"What!? Uh… P-Professor, the school rules say you can't use Transfiguration on students," Eda quickly reminded her.
After all, she was quite familiar with the school rules, having studied them carefully to find any loopholes she could exploit.
"That's true," McGonagall said, changing her tone slightly. "But tell me, which house are you in?"
She threw out a question whose answer was obvious to everyone.
Eda didn't quite understand why Professor McGonagall suddenly asked such a question, but she answered, "Gryffindor, of course! Professor Flitwick even complained about it."
"And who is your Head of House?" Professor McGonagall asked, lifting her teacup. The rising steam made her look a bit inscrutable.
"Do I even need to answer that? Everyone knows the Head of Gryffindor is..." At that moment, Eda realized—trying to argue school rules with Professor McGonagall was like arguing with an old Gryffindor. In the Gryffindor dictionary, rules were made to be broken.
Professor McGonagall had often used Transfiguration to startle students, but she had never used it as a form of corporal punishment. And when it came to Eda, she would be even more reluctant.
After making her little joke, Professor McGonagall returned to the main topic. She continued, "Because of the many complex theories and the restrictions of magical laws, Transfiguration can be considered the most difficult branch of magic. That's why we study it gradually, from simple to complex."
Eda's first Transfiguration class had used matches as practice material. As the level of study deepened, they began using insects or mice, and later on, they might even use larger animals.
"What about transforming oneself?" Eda continued asking, "Not like Animagus transformation, but something more useful for combat."
Professor McGonagall thought for a moment before answering. She said, "Transfiguration cannot create creatures with magic, so it won't directly enhance combat power. But in certain special situations, partial self-transfiguration can be attempted. For example, to dive into the Black Lake, you could transfigure your feet into webbed feet."
In fact, the magical world did have ways of enhancing abilities through transformation, but those fell into the realm of Dark Magic—a form of mad experimentation, and much more dangerous.
"It's getting late. Let's end the discussion about Transfiguration for now," Professor McGonagall said, "It's not something that can be explained in just one evening." She then continued, "By the way, how's your Divination class going?"
"It's absolutely terrible, so bad that I can't even describe it. In Professor Trelawney's words, my Inner Eye is clouded and obscured," Eda said self-deprecatingly.
"I have no intention of speaking ill of a colleague, but Sybill is not suited for a teaching position. I have always opposed the establishment of that subject," Professor McGonagall said, her distaste for Divination clear. She despised such an imprecise field.
"Yeah! The most regretful thing I've done this year is choosing Divination!" Eda complained to Professor McGonagall, "Can I drop the class?"
Professor McGonagall pulled out a roll of parchment from her drawer and said, "Of course you can, as long as you have at least two elective courses. Also, here—this is for you."
"What's this? A course withdrawal form?" Eda asked, taking the roll of parchment with both hands.
The writing on it was a long, looping script, definitely not Professor McGonagall's handwriting. After seeing so many of her notes, Eda could tell at a glance.
"This is something Professor Dumbledore asked me to pass on to you. He knows you want to practice nonverbal spells," Professor McGonagall explained, "It contains some of his insights and experiences with nonverbal magic. It should help you with your practice."
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