Alan's brilliant solution had instantly earned him the respect of every member of the research group.
The atmosphere in the discussion room seemed to shift because of it.
Before, the upper-year students' gazes carried a hint of scrutiny and curiosity toward the genius first-year. Now, that scrutiny vanished, replaced by an even, almost reverent focus.
No one dared to treat him as an ordinary first-year student anymore.
Tonight's discussion topic was one of the most enduring—and most difficult—problems in the field of Transfiguration: "Living Transfiguration," and one of its special cases: the Animagus.
Professor McGonagall personally led the discussion. Her voice was, as always, clear and precise, echoing through the ancient stone chamber. She began with the most basic concepts, explaining the principles of transforming inanimate objects into entities with "living characteristics."
"For example, giving a table four legs and the ability to move autonomously."
With a gentle flick of her wand, a nearby short stool trembled. Clumsily, four wooden legs sprouted, and it staggered across the floor for a few steps before collapsing back into its original form.
"That is merely a rudimentary imitation. Transforming one life form into another is exponentially more difficult and risky."
Her expression grew serious as her gaze swept over each student in the room.
"The core obstacle lies in our inability to fully replicate, with magic, the nearly infinite information of life inherent in a living being. The structure of a cell, the sequence of genes, even the connections of neurons… a single minute error could result in catastrophic failure."
The students held their breath, stunned by the enormity and complexity of the topic.
Yet as Alan listened to McGonagall, his mind's palace activated into an unprecedented state of high-speed computation at the keyword: information.
Countless data streams surged and intersected deep within his consciousness.
The spell models of Transfiguration, the material conversion matrices of Alchemy, the energy circuits of ancient runes… all his known knowledge was being reconstructed and analyzed around the core of information.
McGonagall's words inadvertently provided the missing pieces to his mental puzzle.
A bold, revolutionary hypothesis formed in his mind like the first light in a dark universe, like a bolt of lightning tearing through chaos, reverberating through his entire mental palace.
He raised his hand.
The movement was abrupt in the quiet discussion room. Every gaze turned to him.
"Mr. Scott, what are you thinking?"
McGonagall paused her lecture, her eyes behind the lenses gleaming with encouragement. She had great patience and expectation for this student who never failed to surprise.
"Professor, I have a conjecture."
Alan stood up. His voice was not loud, yet it carried clearly to every ear. His idea struck everyone present with a cognitive shock.
"We've been discussing how to transform matter from form A to form B."
He paused, carefully arranging his groundbreaking words.
"What if the essence of magic lies in editing and reorganizing information itself, and not the material it inhabits? Could we bypass 'matter' entirely and transform information directly?"
Silence.
A deathly silence.
Even the dust seemed frozen mid-air. Students' expressions shifted from initial confusion to one of incredulous awe.
Directly transforming information? What does that even mean?
Alan ignored their reactions. He needed a concrete example to illustrate his audacious idea.
"For instance, could we take a heavy tome like Hogwarts: A History, filled with vast amounts of textual information…"
His gaze swept the shelves, as if he already saw the book.
"…and through Transfiguration, turn it into ten small, blank sheets of parchment?"
"And at the same time, preserve all the textual information it contained, in a compressed, invisible form, fully and without loss, within those tiny sheets?"
This question was no longer lightning—it was a bomb exploding in everyone's mind.
Transforming a "book" into a "sheet of paper" is not impossible in advanced Transfiguration.
But retaining the book's entire information?
What does that imply?
It implies that the material form is completely altered, while the abstract information it carries is fully extracted, compressed, and re-embedded into a new medium.
This was no longer mere Transfiguration.
This was the work of gods.
Professor McGonagall herself fell into a deep, prolonged contemplation. Her usually straight, rigid posture relaxed slightly for the first time. Her gaze on Alan was complex: astonishment, confusion, and a tremor brought on by touching the boundaries of knowledge.
Alan's idea had already surpassed the traditional scope of Transfiguration.
It did not concern spell structure, nor magical output; it reached straight to a deeper, more fundamental law of the magical world—the relationship between information and matter.
That night's discussion ended in a strange atmosphere, a mix of awe and bewilderment.
As Alan packed up to leave, McGonagall called him back.
"Mr. Scott, please wait."
In an unusual move, she did not let him leave alone. She led him through the silent corridors, deep into the library.
They passed the ordinary student areas, walked through the upper-year reference section, and finally stopped in front of a passage marked by deep red velvet ropes.
The Restricted Section.
McGonagall said nothing, simply tapping her wand. The rope floated silently aside.
She led Alan into the area containing Hogwarts' most dangerous and profound knowledge. The air smelled of ancient parchment and special magical inks, dry and strange.
Dim light filtered through tall, narrow windows, casting massive shadows across the towering bookshelves.
She navigated the maze-like shelves with practiced ease, finally stopping in a corner almost completely covered in dust.
She reached out and pulled an ancient, dusty tome from the shelf.
Its cover was made of an unknown dark metal, cold and heavy in the hand. It had no lettering, only heavily worn, indecipherable intricate patterns.
McGonagall carefully wiped off the dust with a handkerchief and solemnly handed it to Alan.
On the spine, gilded in ancient runes, was the title:
"A Metaphysical Exploration of Information Theory and Magical Media."
"Mr. Scott," McGonagall said, her expression extremely serious, voice low as if afraid to disturb the library's inhabitants, "the questions you've raised… perhaps this book contains clues that may guide you toward answers."
Her sharp gaze locked onto Alan's eyes.
"Remember, this book must never leave the library, and no one else can know of its existence."
Alan accepted the book with solemnity.
~~----------------------
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