“If you turn into an animal, will you retain the animal's instincts?” Harry nodded and continued to ask.
“You will retain some, after all, human and animal bodies are not the same.” Professor McGonagall responded.
【I just petted the cat, Professor McGonagall should be pretty comfortable.】 Harry thought silently.
“Well, Mr. Potter, you won't need this knowledge for now. It’s good that you recognized me so quickly, I'll forgive you this time. Remember, next time, even if you're curious, you can't get physical with the professors.” Although Professor McGonagall was strict, she was indeed a good professor.
She generously forgave Harry for recognizing her Animagus form.
“Yes, Professor.” Harry nodded obediently.
Professor McGonagall looked at Ron, whose face was gradually returning to normal.
Suddenly caught by Professor McGonagall's gaze, Ron held his breath and lowered his head.
“Back to your seats.” Professor McGonagall said flatly.
“Whew...” Ron quickly pulled Harry to their seats.
He was afraid that Harry might suddenly blurt out something startling again.
Harry could handle it, but he couldn't.
Professor McGonagall didn't transform back into a cat, but stood solemnly on the podium, waiting for her students.
She had wanted to give the new young wizards a little magical shock.
But Harry's gaze remained fixed on her.
To deter his interest in Animagus, Professor McGonagall chose not to transform.
The other students also arrived, and Transfiguration class officially began.
Professor McGonagall maintained her usual stern expression: “Transfiguration is arguably one of the most complex and dangerous spells you will learn at Hogwarts.”
“Anyone who wants to mess around in my class, get out now and never come back. I'm putting this out there upfront.” She glanced at the Gryffindor side, as if she knew the Gryffindors' qualities very well, as their Head of House.
Then she began demonstrating the Transfiguration spell. Without her Animagus form for them to observe, she was still a master of Transfiguration.
She waved her wand lightly, and the podium turned into a pig, snorting and grunting, moving its legs and walking back and forth on the podium.
“Wow…...” Whispers of astonishment came from the students.
Harry looked at the big fat pig and wanted to dissect it, to see if it had real flesh and blood inside.
Professor McGonagall nodded slightly, then transformed it back.
“As long as you study hard, you will eventually master this level of Transfiguration.” Professor McGonagall drew a big pie for them, feeding the young wizards a full belly.
“Of course, we have to start with the basics. Get your quills out.”
Professor McGonagall began to teach the theoretical foundations of Transfiguration.
It was still the same way Harry understood it: magic in the wizarding world was mainly about incantations, hand gestures, wands, and mental strength.
But now with such a seasoned professor guiding them, Harry was clearer about the key points.
Magic in the wizarding world wasn't like in games, where there was a clear indication of magic value.
The stronger the mind, the more magic, the more powerful the magic cast!
So how does one train mental strength?
Harry understood that it was about experience, character and willpower.
First, the more experiences one had, the more expansive their mind, and the more magic they could wield.
Second, one’s character affected the casting of magic. A wicked heart would be good at casting Dark Magic.
And Dark Magic would in turn affect one’s character, making it even more wicked.
Light magic was the opposite.
Third, a strong will made casting magic easier and more effortless.
As Professor McGonagall had said in her example.
A wizard wanted to conjure a table, but instead conjured a cow that crushed him to death.
That was a result of a weak will.
The first three things were easy to learn; with time, one could master them quickly.
The difficult thing was mental strength.
But Harry wasn't afraid, he had a significant advantage in that area.
Five years of cooking practice didn’t go to waste.
Five years, do you know how I spent those five years?
For a normal person to achieve Harry's cooking skills, according to Peng Ying Zong's words, even someone with talent would need twenty years.
And they would need a good master to guide them throughout.
He only spent five years, even though he had talent, his effort and dedication were ten or a hundred times that of normal people.
He used the game's magic to speed up his knife skills, and when he got tired, he cast healing spells on himself.
He only slept for two hours a day, which he used to recover his magic.
During that time, he was almost obsessed with cooking.
He pushed himself physically and challenged his limits.
If Harry hadn't looked perfectly normal and healthy, Peng Ying Zong wouldn't have let him continue like that.
A normal person would have died from exhaustion within a week.
Then, Peng Ying Zong taught him how to achieve tranquility and avoid being influenced by external things when cooking.
From the extreme of action, he went to the extreme of stillness.
It could be said that his mental strength was extraordinary.
This was also why he felt like he had an endless supply of magic.
Unfortunately, this only worked for the magic of the wizarding world. The magic in the game clearly didn't work that way. It didn't matter what kind of mental strength you had, it was all about Strength attribute.
The higher Harry's Strength attribute, the stronger their effects.
The stronger the Strength value, the higher the damage of attack spells, and the larger the range and duration of buff spells.
After teaching the magic theory, Professor McGonagall gave each of them a piece of wood and asked them to try and transform it into a needle.
Combining theory and practice, the class schedule was perfect. Such an experienced professor.
But by the end of the lesson, only Harry and Hermione had successfully made their wood change.
Harry completely transformed his wood into a needle, Hermione created a needlehead with a wooden tail.
But Professor McGonagall was very satisfied.
She was very happy, justified and naturally added 7 points for Gryffindor.
“Mr. Potter 5 points, Miss Granger 2 points.”
Miss Otter looked at Harry with a hint of discontent, nibbling on her lower lip with her bunny teeth.
The class was over, just like that.
Harry looked at his watch. First year classes were incredibly easy.
One class in the morning, one in the afternoon.
There was plenty of time.
The young wizards were all very happy.
They were very satisfied with this arrangement.
But with those deep memories of fifteen years of education from his dreams, Harry felt incredibly uncomfortable.
How could this be? So much time without studying, wasn’t it a waste?
He caught up with Professor McGonagall. The class ended at 9:30, but he kept asking questions until 10:30.
Professor McGonagall took a sip of water, indicating that she had other classes to teach for older years.
Harry shyly said that if she didn't mind, he could sit in on the class.
He made a request to Professor McGonagall.
Professor McGonagall refused his request.
She said that it wasn't good to be exposed to advanced magic knowledge too early.
One had to understand the knowledge for their own year first, before they could learn advanced magic better.
Harry left with regret.
In the afternoon was Herbology.
The professor was the Head of Hufflepuff, a woman called Professor Sprout, she was short, with grey hair and a thick, patched hat.
Harry was enthusiastic about Herbology, but his passion wasn't as high as for Transfiguration.
He mainly wanted to get to know some herbs, to see if they could be used as seasonings. After all, there were many herbs in the wizarding world that were different from the Muggle world.
Maybe he could discover more seasonings to enhance the flavor of his dishes.