Disclaimer: I don't own anything. This is not meant to infringe upon copyrights.
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It's obviously impossible for first-years to learn Transfiguration in their first class.
Professor McGonagall, using only a single matchstick, showed them that transforming furniture into animals would take a long time.
Despite diligently waving their wands, the young wizards' matches remained unchanged.
It's just like that: something seems easy to others, but becomes a complete mess once you try it yourself, especially when that "someone else" is Professor McGonagall.
"Pay attention, it's a needle, not a silver stick,"
Professor McGonagall said, standing in the hallway, constantly correcting them.
Half the class had passed, and the matchstick remained exactly the same, showing no sign of transforming into a needle.
A few young Hufflepuff wizards managed to turn the matchstick into ash, but this clearly didn't meet Professor McGonagall's standards, and they were deducted a point for damaging the teaching aid.
The Ravenclaws were different. Why are they so clever? Seeing no progress, some of the cleverer ones took a different approach. Instead of focusing on turning matches into needles, they changed the color of the matches and secretly sharpened one end, hoping to cheat.
Some were even more clever, replacing them with needles they'd brought with them and claiming they'd done it themselves.
Unfortunately, Professor McGonagall caught them all on the spot.
Professor McGonagall also deducted twenty points from the Ravenclaw class for the high number of cheaters.
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Professor McGonagall stood in the hallway and surveyed the room. She was somewhat disappointed to find that there didn't seem to be many impressive talents in this class.
The only one who performed well was just one...
Professor McGonagall turned her gaze to the front row.
There, Kyle rested his chin on one hand, idly waving his wand with the other.
With each tap of his wand, the match before him shifted and transformed.
While not quite a needle, it was halfway there... in the truest sense of the word.
Kyle only managed to conjure up half a needle, and its placement varied, sometimes at the top, sometimes at the bottom, or even stuck in the middle.
How could one describe it?
What needle?
What needle?
Professor McGonagall was stunned. She'd seen students fail for entire classes, and she'd seen them succeed on their first try.
But she'd never seen someone fail so successfully.
Regardless, Kyle had at least conjured a needle, and that alone was enough to make him surpass the other young wizards.
The class flew by, and it wasn't until the end of the class that a young wizard finally succeeded in turning a matchstick into a needle.
"Look, Professor McGonagall, one of our Hufflepuffs has succeeded," an excited voice from the front row instantly captured the attention of all the students.
Professor McGonagall looked in the direction of the voice and, for once, smiled. But to her surprise, the first person to complete the task wasn't Kyle, whom she'd been counting on, but Kanna Prince, a Hufflepuff witch with a remarkably low profile.
However, Professor McGonagall was only slightly surprised and soon returned to normal. She picked up the shiny silver needle and showed it to the whole class.
"Look everyone, Miss Prince succeeded. As a reward for first place, Hufflepuff gets three extra points!"
There was a loud applause from the surroundings. The badgers clapped especially hard, not only because of the extra points, but also because they were happy for Kanna.
At this moment, everyone's eyes were focused on Kanna.
This little witch with social anxiety had never experienced such a scene before. Her whole face turned red in an instant, and a puff of white smoke rose faintly above her head. She wished she could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
As soon as the class was over, she rushed out of the classroom with her textbook in her arms.
Kanna was so regretful.
As expected, being too close to Kyle is bound to lead to bad things! If she had known this would happen, she would have changed seats, even if Professor McGonagall had scolded her!
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Elsewhere, Kyle, the innocent victim, had no idea he'd been inexplicably blamed. As he left the classroom, Cho approached and invited him to join Cedric in the Great Hall.
"Sorry, I just remembered I have something else to do. Can you go alone?" Kyle said, gesturing towards Ryan as he approached. "We agreed to visit Mikel together. If we're too late, Madam Pomfrey will kick us out."
"...Okay then."
Cho was a little disappointed, but didn't say anything else. After all, Kyle had to visit a patient, which was far more important than getting the map.
He could go alone. She'd met Cedric before, and she had a deep impression of him. He was the second most handsome boy she'd ever seen at Hogwarts, so she wouldn't mistake him.
Oh, and Kyle was first.
To avoid wasting time, they said goodbye, and Cho immediately set off for the Great Hall.
Kyle watched Cho disappear around the corner of the hallway, feeling as if he'd forgotten to tell her something.
What was it…
Kyle couldn't quite place it.
Just then, Ryan approached, a bit displeased, and said, "Kyle, I saved a seat for you. Why are you sitting in the front row?"
Ryan's words brought back Kyle's shocking moment before class, and he realized he'd forgotten something.
He'd forgotten to tell Cho about giving Leona the map.
This whole thing… never mind, let's talk about it next time.
Kyle sighed and said, "Sorry, Ryan, I was lost in thought and didn't notice. I'll definitely do it next time!"
"That's not what I meant," Ryan said, waving his hand. "I'm just surprised you dared to sit in the front row.
I heard from senior students that the front row in Transfiguration is almost always empty. No one dares get that close to Professor McGonagall during class. You're quite impressive."
"Haha… Really?"
Kyle chuckled. If anything, he wouldn't want to sit in the front row.
Fortunately, Ryan didn't notice his annoyance and continued, "Should we go back to the dorms now? Or wait for them?"
"Wait for them?"
Kyle then noticed that the only students leaving the classroom were Ravenclaws; they were the only two Hufflepuffs.
"Where are the others?" Kyle asked, puzzled.
"In class, sorting out their notes," Ryan said matter-of-factly. "Oh, and reminding Professor McGonagall not to forget Mikel's homework."
Uh... you're serious!
Kyle's eyes twitched, and after a moment's thought, he said, "Never mind, let's just go back to the dorms."
He had originally planned to take Ryan to the hospital wing, but now, on second thought, decided against it.
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A few minutes later.
In the classroom, Professor McGonagall sent the Hufflepuff first-years away with a look of satisfaction on her face.
She hadn't seen such hardworking young wizards in ages. After class, they even compared notes, checked with each other, and even volunteered for homework...
This was how a student should be.
Professor McGonagall rubbed her sore eyes and began to put away the matches she had used as teaching aids.
Only then did she realize that Kyle had also succeeded. The match on his desk had also transformed into a shining silver needle.
Perhaps it was inspired by Kanna Prince.
Professor McGonagall didn't think much of it, but she was still very happy that the same college had two talented students studying Transfiguration.
[End of the chapter]