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Hi everyone !
So, I'm announcing it again! For every 100 power stones, I'll release a new bonus chapter! Let's start working towards our goal of becoming one of the top fanfictions!
Second announcement: I've posted a bonus chapter on my Patreon, so if you want more, go check it out!
In the meantime, you can contribute to the release of a bonus chapter on P@tre0n.
(PS: A friend suggested I create a P@treon account. If you'd like to see advanced chapters posted on Webnovel, that's where you can find them! I'll also mention all the supporters at the end of each chapter!)
Search : StoryLabo on the website or click the link on my bio
Happy reading !
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Students entered chatting noisily, paying no attention to the cat or finding it very cute. Aiden settled calmly and waited. Charlie and Narwick took places next to him while the Hufflepuffs filled the other half of the room.
When everyone was seated, the cat suddenly leaped from the desk and transformed in mid-flight. McGonagall landed gracefully on her feet, dressed in her usual emerald green robes.
Several students cried out in surprise. Some Hufflepuffs even applauded.
- "Thank you for this welcome," she said in a dry but warm voice.
- "Transfiguration is one of the most complex and dangerous forms of magic you will learn at Hogwarts. Anyone who fools around in my class will be asked to leave and will not return. You have been warned," she said in a more serious tone this time.
Her gaze swept the class, and no one dared say a word.
- "Transfiguration, crudely and vulgarly put, consists of transforming one object into another. It may seem simple, but each transformation requires absolute concentration, perfect visualization, and an iron will. The slightest error and you could end up with something dangerous or unusable."
She took out her wand and with a precise gesture transformed her desk into a pig that began grunting joyfully before she immediately transformed it back.
- "Transfiguration rests on three fundamental pillars," she began, writing in chalk on the board. "Visualization, concentration, and will. Without these three elements, your spell will fail or, worse, produce something unpredictable."
She turned to the class.
-"Today we will begin with something relatively simple. Transforming a match into a needle. It's a classic exercise that will teach you the basics of inanimate transformation. Note well that it is much easier to transform an object into another object of similar size and mass than to create something radically different."
She distributed a wooden match to each student.
- "The incantation is Vera Verto. The wand movement consists of a sharp tap on the object to be transformed followed by a clockwise twist of the wrist. The tap magically fixes the object; the twist initiates the transformation."
McGonagall demonstrated in slow motion so everyone could see the precise movement.
- "But the incantation and gesture are nothing without visualization. You must see the needle in your mind before even beginning. Its exact shape, its material, its texture, its weight. Wood must become metal; the molecular structure must change completely. The more precise and detailed your visualization, the more successful the transformation will be."
She paused to let the information settle.
- "Transfiguration is not creation. You are not creating a needle from nothing. You are rearranging the existing matter of the match so it takes on the form and properties of a needle. That's why mass and size must be similar. You cannot transform a match into an elephant—at your level, at least..."
Interesting, Aiden thought. So it's molecular restructuring on a magical scale. The carbon atoms of wood must rearrange into a metallic crystalline structure...
- "Good. Begin. Vera Verto. Tap then twist. Visualize."
Aiden took his match and placed it in front of him. He briefly closed his eyes to visualize exactly what he wanted. A fine and elegant silver needle with pretty raven patterns engraved on the eye.
Edgar deserves a little tribute.
He raised his wand, made the precise movement, and pronounced the incantation with clear intention.
The match trembled, then slowly transformed. Wood became metal, the shape refined, lengthened, and raven patterns appeared delicately engraved on the silver surface.
Aiden contemplated his work with satisfaction. Not bad at all.
McGonagall circulated between desks, inspecting students' attempts. Most had barely managed to make their match pale. A few had obtained something vaguely resembling a needle but still retained traces of wood.
When she arrived in front of Aiden, she stopped short.
She took the needle between her fingers, examined it carefully in the light, then looked at Aiden with an indecipherable expression.
-"Mr. Mortensen. Complete transformation, correct material, and even... decorative patterns?"
- "I like ravens, Professor."
A very slight smile stretched McGonagall's lips.
- "Five points for Ravenclaw. This is excellent work. Keep it up."
Charlie looked at him with a mixture of admiration and exasperation.
"Dude, seriously, can you stop making us all look ridiculous?"
- "It's not my fault if I visualized well."
- "You apparently visualize better than all of us combined."
The rest of the class passed in a studious atmosphere. McGonagall was demanding but fair, and she took time to patiently explain to those who struggled. Aiden discreetly helped his neighbors by giving them advice on visualization.
History of Magic with Professor Binns was exactly what Aiden expected.
A monotonous lecture delivered by a ghost who seemed to have forgotten he was dead and that his students needed to breathe from time to time.
Aiden settled at the back of the class with his roommates. The Slytherins took the other side of the room and cast some haughty looks toward the Ravenclaws.
Binns went through the blackboard and immediately began talking about the goblin rebellion of 1612 in a voice so boring it could have served as an anesthetic.
Five minutes later, half the class was asleep.
Aiden honestly tried to take notes for the first ten minutes, but even he, with his adult discipline, was beginning to nod off. Charlie was snoring softly, his head resting on his crossed arms. Narwick had glassy eyes fixed on an invisible point on the ceiling.
Well, too bad. Official nap time, and anyway I can just read the textbook and it'll be fine.
Aiden placed his head on his desk, closed his eyes, and let himself drift into comfortable semi-sleep.
At least he was recovering from his morning training.
The transition was instantaneous. One moment he was in a dusty classroom; the next, he found himself on his floating brick platform surrounded by his ocean of orange clouds.
He breathed deeply, even though technically he didn't need to breathe here.
Fuck, it's still more comfortable here than in that shitty classroom.
From this platform, he could see his archipelago extend in all directions. Floating islands drifted slowly, some covered with forests of multicolored foliage, others sheltering crystalline lakes with waterfalls falling into the void. All of it was magnificent and completely beyond his control.
My mind has evolved too fast. It's like I was given the keys to a castle when I'm barely old enough to walk.
He had tried several times to direct his platform toward certain specific islands, but it continued its random route, completely ignoring his attempts. His subconscious had created all this without asking his opinion, and now he had to learn to understand what it all meant.
But at least here he could filter the constant flow of parasitic thoughts that normally assailed him, even close his mental barriers or mentally and nervously recharge.
McGonagall's lesson on Transfiguration still turned in his mind. This idea of convincing matter to change its profound nature.
If magic can convince wood to become metal... what would prevent me from...
He looked around, the orange clouds swirling, the mysterious islands drifting in the distance. His inner world was unique. No normal wizard had this. The Sorting Hat itself had been impressed by the extent of this space.
What would happen if I invited Edgar here? If I attracted him into my mental space?
The idea was fascinating and slightly terrifying. He had already manipulated animal minds from the outside. Taken control of their decision centers. Modified their memories. But that was infiltration.
Inviting an animal consciousness here, into his personal sanctuary—that would be different.
It would be like... opening a door. Letting them enter voluntarily.
Edgar could fly through his mental sky, perch on one of the floating islands. The bond between them would become so deep, so intimate, that they could perhaps share more than a simple telepathic connection.
Complete sensory sharing. See through his eyes in real time. Feel the wind beneath his wings.
He could visualize his golden threads extending toward Edgar, gently enveloping him, attracting him toward this inner space.
But there were unanswered questions.
Would it only work with animals? Would his physical body, deprived of his spirit, die? And if I put Edgar's spirit back inside, would the body restart? I don't really want to trap Edgar here...
And could I do the same with a human?
He stopped that thought short.
No, no. Attracting a human into my mental space would be crossing a dangerous line. It would be kidnapping their consciousness. Trapping them in a place they would understand nothing about.
That would be mental rape. Pure and simple.
Animals were different. Edgar wouldn't even really understand what was happening. For him, it would just be a strange place where his master had taken him. No trauma, no violation just... an experience.
I could test it, but I'm seriously lacking information about the soul.
Binns' voice continued its monotonous hum somewhere far in the background of his consciousness. A soothing white noise that lulled him.
Aiden lay down on his brick platform, watching the islands slowly drift around him.
There's someone in this castle who could help me, but how to convince him?