“Mr. Adrian, I am Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts, Head of Gryffindor House, and Transfiguration Professor.”
Professor McGonagall introduced herself immediately.
As the Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts, and one of the few reliable professors, she was responsible for half of the Muggle-born freshmen every summer vacation.
Over the years, Professor McGonagall had encountered many Muggle families, and she had even been pointed at more than once. She had summarized a few points from her experiences.
Families who completely disbelieved it and treated it as a prank would basically ignore the letter of admission.
For such families, Professor McGonagall had to make a grand entrance to give them a taste of magic when she went to their home, such as turning the front door into a lion.
As for those who were skeptical but followed the rules and sent back a reply within the specified time, Professor McGonagall followed the rules as well, confirming the time and then visiting them to show off her magic.
Her experience was truly rich.
“Welcome, Professor McGonagall, please come in and have a seat.”
Facing a witch who wielded extraordinary power, Philimon Adrian didn't dare to be careless.
“Professor McGonagall, although we believe that no one would use this as a prank, could you please prove it?”
After greeting Professor McGonagall and inviting her to sit down, Nitiya couldn't help but say.
Although she believed in the existence of magic, as a mother, she naturally wanted to know more about the situation.
“Of course, that's also one of the reasons I'm here, to prove the real existence of magic. Little Adrian is indeed accepted by the school of magic, and then I'll take him to buy his school supplies.”
Professor McGonagall smiled and nodded, then took out her wand and waved it lightly at the fruit bowl on the coffee table.
In an instant, the fruit bowl and the seven apples inside turned into cats, eight British Shorthairs in total, one large and seven small. After being transformed, the cats were restless and jumped off the coffee table one after another.
This display truly shocked Philimon and Nitiya. Happening right in front of their eyes, it couldn't be an illusion; it was definitely magic.
“Professor McGonagall, is this Transfiguration?”
Ethan grabbed a small, cream-colored cat, wanting to see if he could find any difference between it and a real cat.
The short, dense fur was very elastic, the body was sturdy and he could feel the muscles moving. Because of Ethan's uncomfortable handling, the cat was already “meowing” and struggling.
From every perspective, this was a real British Shorthair, not only the appearance but also the behavior was the same, completely consistent with a cat's nature, not as stiff as Ethan imagined.
No wonder there were the Gambol Transformation Laws, the first of which was that you can't transfigure food.
After all, what's transformed looks just like the real thing, completely indistinguishable.
It could only be said that Transfiguration was truly amazing.
“Yes, this is Transfiguration. If you have a talent for this, you can join my club in the future.”
Professor McGonagall was very pleased with Ethan's expression.
Soon, Ethan asked again: “Professor McGonagall, are these cats under your control?”
“I mean, the one in my hand, and the two scratching the sofa, because they look like they're acting like cats.”
Only then did Professor McGonagall get serious. This little wizard was indeed different. In all her years as a freshman reception officer, this was the first time she had encountered this kind of question.
She answered immediately: “No, although I can control all their actions, I'm not doing so at the moment. This is all their own natural instinct.”
“Professor McGonagall, are you saying that they have acquired the natural reactions of cats after being transformed into cats, and before you undo the Transfiguration, they are cats, right?”
“Yes, that's it!”
Professor McGonagall was satisfied with Ethan's answer. Just based on this extraordinary sensitivity to Transfiguration, this boy should be in Gryffindor.
Think about the students in the past two years. What were they like?
The Weasley twins were the ones who dragged Gryffindor to the bottom.
“Professor McGonagall, are the reactions after transformation something you add during the transformation?”
Ethan continued to ask.
“No, that's not something I add. That's how Transfiguration works. To successfully achieve a perfect transformation, you need a clear mind and a deep understanding.”
Seeing that Ethan had no more questions, Professor McGonagall began to talk to Philimon and Nitiya. Showing off magic was only the first step.
The rest was answering questions about Hogwarts, including the learning environment, holiday issues, and communication with home.
After all, you can't just show off your magic and have the other party hand over their child without knowing anything. Who knows if you'll take the child to do some kind of experiment? (That would be a threat.)
Ethan didn't pay attention to Professor McGonagall's conversation with his parents and was still immersed in thinking about Transfiguration. After all, he knew something about Hogwarts.
Although Professor McGonagall's answer just now was not very clear, it was only a concept.
But that's how education in the wizarding world works. You can't expect professors to chew up all the knowledge and feed it to you.
If you can understand it, think it out, and do it, then you have talent. Otherwise, you're stupid, and there's nothing the professors can do but give up on those students. (In the fifth-year OWL exams, if you don't do well, you'll lose the right to continue learning this subject.)
Professor McGonagall's words, combined with Ethan's experience using Dark Arts over the past two days, suggested that Transfiguration relies primarily on consciousness and magic.
This is completely different from Dark Arts, which requires negative emotions, and the Patronus Charm, which requires positive emotions.
In your subconscious understanding, what properties and form the transformed object has, then it will be that way after the transformation.
That is to say, as long as your magic is sufficient and you have enough understanding and knowledge of Transfiguration, then not only magical creatures but even mythological creatures can be transformed, and they will be in the form you imagine.
This makes Transfiguration really very impressive.