"System, I need a loan on Transfiguration in the fields of turning inanimate objects into living things and living things into inanimate ones."
Lucien had already mastered turning one inanimate object into another, so the next levels of difficulty in Transfiguration were these two directions.
The tricky part of turning inanimate into living was needing a solid understanding of the creature involved—wizards couldn't transfigure something they didn't know about.
Turning a living thing into an inanimate one, on the other hand, required the wizard to suppress the creature's will.
In that sense, the difficulty ramped up from animals, to Muggles, and then to wizards.
Wizards were especially tough because they could consciously channel their magic to resist the transfiguration. Even if it worked, they'd break free pretty quickly.
[The customized loan matching the host's request has been prepared.]
[Loan: Chimera Manual (Monthly Loan)]
[Repayment Deadline: 30 Days]
[Loan Content: Notes left behind by a mad ancient wizard, focusing mainly on Transfiguration techniques for turning inanimate into living, living into inanimate, and living into living things. Includes methods for creating chimeric biological hybrids—"chimeras."]
[Loan Task: Transfigure a "chimera" that incorporates at least five features from different creatures.]
Lucien's eyes locked onto the phrase "biological hybrid" in the description.
Back when he was first learning Transfiguration, objects always retained some of their original features, whether they were inanimate or living.
But that retention was pretty random—wizards had a hard time controlling which specific features stuck around in the transfigured object.
For example, turning a pig into a goat: one time it might keep the pig's nose, the next it could be the ears.
Of course, some wizards had experimented with using Transfiguration to create powerful hybrid creatures—like the simplest one, giving a tiger wings so it could fly.
Experts who were really skilled at Transfiguration could pull off that kind of targeted feature retention more reliably, but it was rarely worth the effort.
Because objects had a limited number of times you could layer Transfigurations on them. The more changes you piled on, the more likely the whole thing was to collapse, and the shorter its duration would be.
Even if you managed to conjure up a tiger with wings, it might only fly for a minute or two before going splat on the ground.
"System, using the methods in this manual, how long can a transfigured biological hybrid last? How many features can it incorporate at once?"
[Minimum duration: 5 minutes. Minimum features: 3.]
[This is the baseline; the upper limits depend on the wizard's proficiency and talent in Transfiguration.]
Whoa, so that ancient wizard must've been a total genius in Transfiguration!
His methods beat standard Transfiguration in both duration and the number of changes you could stack.
And the ceiling was tied to your skill and natural talent.
Lucien's own talent in Transfiguration was SSS-rank—the absolute peak.
So, whipping up a chimera with five creature features? Piece of cake for him.
The only hitch was needing a deep enough knowledge of multiple creatures, but that was easy enough to fix.
In Lucien's eyes, the real draw was that this manual didn't just cover what he wanted—it threw in a whole section on living-to-living Transfiguration too. No doubt about it, this loan was a steal.
"System, I'll take the Chimera Manual loan."
[Ding! Loan application approved. Item has been delivered to the system space—retrieve it anytime.]
[Rating: Geniuses and lunatics are often just a thin line apart. Succeed, and you're a genius. Fail, and... well...]
Lucien pulled out the Chimera Manual.
It looked like a slim little booklet in his hands.
The cover was stitched together from all sorts of animal hides—some fuzzy, some scaly, others sprouting sharp spines...
Yikes, you could tell right away this wasn't the work of someone with a sound mind.
He flipped it open, and the first page had surprisingly neat, elegant handwriting:
"Wizards can't transfigure unknown creatures?"
"But I can piece together known ones. As long as I have enough fragments, it can grow new ones..."
Lucien stared at the tidy, earnest words.
A calm lunatic, huh?
Someone who truly believed in their theories and methods, and stuck to them without a shred of doubt.
That kind of person was genuinely terrifying—especially if they were a wizard who could wield magic.
Who knows what experiments that guy ran...
Lucien shook his head. Whether it was the mad wizard or his deeds, they were all buried in ancient history now. Only the knowledge he'd left behind mattered.
He turned the page and noticed how incredibly thin the paper was—calling it gossamer wouldn't be an exaggeration.
It might look like a little handbook, but there had to be thousands of sheets bound in there.
He flipped through it quickly, estimating at least a few thousand pages.
Wow, this was gold.
Talk about a jackpot!
Lucien went back to the second page and kept reading.
"Turning inanimate into living isn't that hard—just study the creature's features enough, dissect them..."
Below the text were super detailed anatomical diagrams.
The precision was so spot-on, Lucien almost felt like he was reading a cutting-edge biology or medical textbook from the Muggle world.
...
"You lot have to stay for dinner tonight—I've whipped up a few new recipes..."
Hagrid's booming voice echoed from outside the hut. Lucien heard it and tucked the Chimera Manual away.
The door swung open, and Hagrid squeezed inside, with Harry and the other two trailing behind him.
"Lucien, you should join us for supper too. Harry and them..."
Hagrid was midway through his sentence when he spotted Fang playing with a white dog in the room.
"Whoa, Fang, where'd you pick up this friend...?"
"Wait—what the heck is that?!"
Hagrid's eyes went wide as he gawked at the white "dog."
It was covered head to toe in white iron plating, with gears visibly grinding in the gaps.
Its eyes were multifaceted crystals glowing with a soft blue light.
The tail split into dozens of segments, whipping around with eerie flexibility, and at the tip, wisps of magical residue flickered like breaths.
"I figured Fang could use some company—made him a little toy to play with."
Lucien said it casually, grabbing his wand and heading to the cooking area.
He'd overheard Hagrid inviting everyone to stay, so he'd have to show off his skills again.
No matter what "delicious" new dishes that half-giant was brewing, growing young wizards needed something edible to fill their stomachs.
Hagrid and the trio stared in shock at the mechanical dog romping around with Fang—its movements so nimble, its form so lifelike.
If you slapped some fur over that, it'd be indistinguishable from a real dog.
"Oh, thanks, Lucien! You're a real kind-hearted lad, looking out for Fang like that!"
As he spoke, Hagrid pulled out a grubby, rough handkerchief and blew his nose with a trumpet-like blast.
"You must be a gentle little wizard—these sweet creatures sure seem to love you."
Hagrid's praise made Lucien break out in a sweat.
If you didn't count dragging Fang deep into the Forbidden Forest for a scare, or milking Aragog for venom, or his pet giving Fluffy a beatdown...
Yeah, then maybe Lucien could take the compliment.
This was starting to make his conscience twinge. He'd already made it up to Fang, but next time he went into the Forest to log magical creatures, maybe swing by Aragog? And for Fluffy, he could bring some treats—or whip up an alchemical playmate?
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