Mysterious Journey

Chapter 911: Transfiguration = Change!

"Like this?"

"Meow?"

"Then how about some dried fish?"

"Meow meow—Meow?!"

"So, these are Muggle-produced cat toys? It's my first time seeing them..."

"Meow! Hah-hoo!"

Hogwarts Deputy Headmistress' Office.

Professor McGonagall was picking through the pile of "anti-cat gadgets" on the desk with great interest, occasionally picking up an item to examine it. Directly in front of her, squatted a silver-white kitten with lake-blue eyes, looking fiercely cute and currently puffed up.

No matter what Professor McGonagall offered, the kitten invariably batted it away with a paw.

However, facing one of the top Transfiguration masters in the current wizarding world, a little kitten was simply helpless.

Erina quickly adapted to the kitten's perspective. Professor McGonagall had become a behemoth... The "anti-cat gadgets" that Erina had originally used for experiments were now all being used on herself... She felt as if she were trapped in a narrow costume, unable to jump nimbly, and even a slightly quick movement would cause her to fall... And when she reached out a paw, preparing to fight back, she caught sight of a large hand falling from above, aiming for the scruff of her neck...

This was revenge! This was absolutely blatant revenge!

Erina twisted her body rapidly, struggling to break free from the shackles of the invisible "costume."

About a year and a half ago, the naive and ignorant her had accidentally grabbed the Deputy Headmistress's scruff and tossed the old cat lady out the window. She had thought this matter was long over, but who knew the other party would hold such a grudge.

"Don't resist, carefully feel the situation during the transformation..."

Professor McGonagall reached out, comforting the furiously helpless Erina-meow.

*Snap!*

Just then, with a soft *poof*, Erina suddenly returned to her original form.

She seemed to have been ejected from somewhere, leaning heavily back in the chair, panting, as she looked at Professor McGonagall. The old cat lady was rubbing the back of her hand, where there was a red, swollen mark, as if she had been hit hard.

"When did you learn wandless magic?" Professor McGonagall asked, somewhat surprised.

"Born with it."

Erina said expressionlessly, picking up her wand and watching the vindictive old cat lady warily.

"Your talent is stronger than I thought," Professor McGonagall praised softly. "After personally experiencing a transformation, what are your thoughts? You should have gained a lot from independently breaking free from the magic of Transfiguration."

"Roughly some, validated many of my guesses."

Erina said, pursing her lips and squinting at the calm-faced old cat lady.

"The difference between Animagus and ordinary Transfiguration lies mainly in the caster, is that the correct understanding? I maintained complete self-awareness in cat form, without any influence—and most importantly, when I was breaking free, entering the transformed state, the spell wasn't causing my body to reorganize and change... What changed was the whole."

"The first half of the description is correct, but I can't comment on the latter part."

McGonagall said softly, placing the cat toy in her hand with utter naturalness.

"But you should now have the answer to the previous question—Transfiguration doesn't turn people into beasts; the only thing that can turn a wizard into a beast is himself... Magic can only change the appearance, not the core."

This Veela hybrid had many differences in her understanding of magic compared to her own.

Undoubtedly, Professor McGonagall did not intend to reshape the worldview she had built up over decades.

But on the other hand, she wouldn't directly deny it either.

After all, magic was originally a mysterious power where the result was greater than the process.

Since Erina could break free with her own power, it meant that she had mastered a certain amount of counter-curse ability, and in the more detailed categories of Transfiguration, its relationship with directly casting Transfiguration spells was quite close.

"Pretty much, I roughly understand the phenomenon, but I'm not clear on the principles."

Erina frowned for half a second, thinking. "Let's try again. Although I know your motives aren't pure, this form of teaching is indeed the most direct. I hope you can be more serious this time and cast a counter-curse for me when I raise my hand."

"No problem." A hint of a different color flashed in Professor McGonagall's eyes. "Besides that, are there any other requirements?"

"After you cast the spell, it's best to do a transformation." Erina said. "I want to try communicating in cat form..."

Professor McGonagall raised her eyebrows, nodding with interest.

She had thought this little witch would be angry, dissatisfied, but she hadn't expected Erina to be so calm.

In contrast, it made her seem a bit petty, and what surprised McGonagall even more was that Erina's ideas and arrangements for spell experiments were quite skilled and comprehensive, as if she were an old wizard with decades of spell research experience.

"Then let's start again, Erina."

Professor McGonagall said softly, raising her wand and unobtrusively clearing the pile of things off the desk.

"After completing the transformation, I will also enter Animagus state—now, three, two, one!"

The office disappeared from Erina's eyes again, shaking.

Unlike the unpreparedness of the previous round, this time Erina focused all her attention on observing the subtle changes in the world between "closing" and "opening"—she felt as if there were a mirror behind her, flipped to the other side at the moment the spell hit.

It was still the terrible feeling of entering a narrow cage, but Erina was much calmer this time.

And just as previously agreed, a gray tabby cat was sitting directly in front of Erina (in cat form), that stern, sharp look was exactly like Professor McGonagall, and...

"Meow meow meow?"

Erina tilted her head, questioning in confusion.

She hadn't felt it before because she lacked a reference comparison, but now that she saw Professor McGonagall's cat form, she suddenly realized it.

Why was the old cat lady on the opposite side a whole size bigger than her?!

Then, scaling according to the proportion, her current true size was probably about the same as Peter Pettigrew's Animagus size?! A cat that was about the size of a rat? This was definitely deliberately mocking her!

"Meow, meow meow."

Hearing Erina's question, the tabby cat on the opposite side seemed to show a smile.

She jumped nimbly to Erina's side, her paw gently patting the fluffy, little meatball-like kitten.

Wait, wait—

Somewhat dissatisfied, Erina batted away the cat paw on her head and turned to look at Professor McGonagall.

"Meow meow?" (Can you understand me?)

"Meow, meow meow meow—" (If you can understand me, nod twice?)

"Meow."

Under Erina's gaze, the gray tabby cat gently nodded its head twice.

Obviously, Professor McGonagall in cat form had loaded "cat language," but Erina had only loaded half of it.

She could express what she wanted to say, but she couldn't understand Professor McGonagall's cat language. This way, she had almost eliminated most of her guesses and locked in the range of the "essential principle" of Transfiguration.

"Meow-woo—" (That's enough, please release the magic.)

"Meow."

They reappeared in the office, sitting opposite each other.

"Any discoveries?"

Professor McGonagall took the initiative to ask, her voice mixed with rare curiosity.

Over the years, her method of studying Transfiguration was mostly to cast spells alone, observe the transformation effects, or to reverse-verify based on the guesses and articles published in *Transfiguration Today*. She hadn't tried this approach often.

Erina closed her eyes, trying to prolong the sensation of withdrawing from the Transfiguration.

It wasn't a pleasant experience. If she had to compare it, it was somewhat similar to walking around the street wearing a mask and earplugs, then suddenly removing all the coverings—or rather...

"You created a box, didn't you?"

Erina opened her eyes, looking thoughtfully at Professor McGonagall.

"If turning humans into animals or inanimate objects can be equated to the complexification of turning snails into glass beads, then ordinary Transfiguration isn't actually 'change,' but rather 'replacement' or 'coverage' magic, is that right?"

"A box? I don't understand what you're talking about."

Professor McGonagall shook her head, the smile on her face stiffening slightly.

"As for your equation theory, it's not a problem. I said in the first class that Transfiguration is a gradual, interconnected magic. Whether it's a match turning into a needle, or a beetle turning into a button, the essence is actually similar. As for those replacements, coverages you mentioned later... well, Transfiguration is Transfiguration, conversion charms can replace..."

McGonagall had originally thought Erina would discuss the matter of cat language; it turned out she had underestimated the Veela hybrid's thought process.

Even she found it difficult to understand such a rapid, bizarre question-and-answer transition for a moment.

"Illusions! It's a high-level illusion! I should have thought of it sooner!"

Erina said excitedly, a bolt of lightning suddenly flashing through her mind.

"Wizards can't perform overly complex logic. I've been thinking too complicatedly. If first and second year students can easily master Transfiguration, then its thought thread must be simple and direct—this is also a spell. Its most obvious feature is to directly reach the result! And the result must also be the one that conforms to the simple brain. That's right, that's it!"

A spell is a controllable application of magic presented in a supernatural way for the purpose of influencing all things in the world.

Generally speaking, the successful use of a spell requires four basic conditions:

Specific wand movements, the correct incantation, the caster's subjective awareness of the spell's effect, and the caster's concentration.

When at least one of these four basic conditions is not met, such as the caster not using the correct wand movements during the spell, not reciting the incantation correctly, not concentrating, or not having a clear spell effect in their mind, then the spell will not be cast successfully, and in extreme cases, there will even be backfire, explosions, or incorrect expressions.

And of these, the most important is obviously subjective awareness—which is also why Transfiguration is more difficult.

"Simple brain? What are you talking about?"

Professor McGonagall frowned, she vaguely felt a sudden offense.

"Transform it for me! Transform it now!"

Erina said quickly, tapping the quill pen beside her.

"When wizards complete Transfiguration, the most important thing is to clearly define the object they want to cast the spell on, and the result they hope to present in the end—the closer the connection between the two, the lower the failure rate and energy consumption. In the end, this subjective consciousness, after being broken down, is actually using A to replace B—for example, a cat turning into a person, a girl turning into a warship..."

Under Professor McGonagall's gaze, the quill pen quickly transformed, eventually becoming a fountain pen.

*Clatter.*

Erina picked up the fountain pen and tapped it on the desk, making the sound of a hard object hitting.

*Click—*

Then, she pointed the pen tip at the desk and swiped it forcefully across the surface.

A long, deep scratch appeared on Professor McGonagall's mahogany desk.

This was the sharpness and hardness that only steel possessed. Illusions, molecular restructuring... these abilities that Erina used to be familiar with could not change the texture of the quill pen—undoubtedly, she had successfully completed a modern Transfiguration.

"Did you see?! I did it! I didn't expect it to be so simple!"

Erina tapped the fountain pen lightly with the wand in her hand.

It quickly changed from a fountain pen to a copper rod, an engraving knife, recklessly carving marks on the surface of Professor McGonagall's wooden desk.

However, Professor McGonagall's attention was now completely drawn to Erina's magical breakthrough, her face full of astonishment and surprise. She had seen many talented wizards, but rarely had one skipped grades so directly.

You should know that a few hours ago, Erina couldn't even turn a match into an iron needle.

"What... what's going on, Miss Kaslana?" She stared at Erina, asking in confusion.

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Yay!