Chapter 256: Speechlessness and the Blunt Translator
The farm was awakened by the loud crowing of roosters.
Early in the morning, the aroma of pumpkin porridge filled the air.
The rising steam blurred the view from the elm-framed windows, obscuring the farm scenery and preventing Sean, who had just come downstairs, from clearly seeing the Professor's face.
The only thing he could be sure of was that, here at the McGonagall villa, the Professor was always more relaxed.
The little McGonagalls tumbled down the stairs in a crowd, clutching biscuits to their chests as they couldn't wait to run outside.
"Mr. Green."
"Good morning, Mr. Green."
"Good morning, dear Mr. Green."
Whenever they passed Sean, they would always stop to greet him before dashing off.
Marcus McGonagall smiled and asked them something, but the three children didn't listen at all, acting as if Marcus didn't exist.
This made a certain elderly wizard shake his head and sigh helplessly.
After a hearty breakfast, Sean continued his Transfiguration practice. After reaching Master level, the difficulty of Transfiguration hadn't increased too much.
Every day, Sean could cast at least five Novice-level Transfiguration spells, which meant that in two months, he could bring any Transfiguration spell to the Adept level.
Life on the farm was always leisurely and gentle, and summer quietly descended upon this villa on the outskirts of London.
Dazzling sunlight was ever-present, and the scent of tulips always wafted in through the windows.
Occasionally, a flower or two would poke through the stained-glass windows, adding a touch of liveliness to the already bright and spacious rooms.
It was the morning of the third day at the farm. Marcus and Professor McGonagall were still drinking tea and reading the Daily Prophet.
The only difference between the two was that Marcus would also read The Times for a while.
Beside him, Professor McGonagall folded up the Daily Prophet and walked straight over to Sean.
"Tomorrow is the full moon. I think we should begin. Are you ready?" Professor McGonagall asked.
"Yes, Professor."
Sean knew what the Professor was referring to.
It was the Animagus transformation.
It was rare to have such a time when they were both free and together. With a professor watching over him, the risk of the Animagus transformation would be greatly reduced.
After all, when practicing to become an Animagus, a person could go wrong and be unable to turn back into a normal human.
There were many such tragic cases in the wizarding world.
Of course, Transfiguration Biscuits could give Sean the temporary ability to transform into an animal, but an Animagus form was ultimately more useful than biscuits.
Besides, Sean was also very curious about which category of Transfiguration the Animagus would fall into.
"You already know this, but I need to repeat it. From full moon to full moon, for the duration of one month, you must keep a single Mandrake leaf in your mouth.
"At no point can you swallow the leaf or take it out of your mouth. If the leaf leaves your mouth, the entire process must start over.
"Tomorrow, we will begin with this step."
Professor McGonagall spoke slowly.
Sean nodded.
Speaking of which, the Animagus transformation always required luck.
After this step was completed, the wizard had to remove the leaf at the full moon, fill a small crystal phial with saliva, immerse the leaf in it, and let it receive pure moonlight.
At this point, if there were dark clouds, it would fail.
Next, a hair and a silver teaspoon of dew had to be added to the crystal phial illuminated by moonlight. The dew had to be collected from a place that had not been touched by sunlight or human feet for a full seven days.
Finally, the chrysalis of a Death's-head Hawk-moth was added. This mixture was then placed in a quiet, dark place and could not be looked at or disturbed until the next electrical storm.
The problem with this step lay in the waiting time for the storm.
This could take weeks, months, or even years. During this period, the crystal phial had to remain completely undisturbed and untouched by sunlight. Once contaminated by sunlight, it would lead to the most severe mutations.
It wasn't hard to notice that almost all the problems lay with time. If luck was good enough, one would encounter the right time and complete the entire ritual. If luck was bad, it was perfectly normal for the process to take many months.
Luck...
Sean remembered something and took out an exquisite small bottle from his trunk near the wall—Felix Felicis.
Then he recalled the words of Professor McGonagall and Headmaster Dumbledore:
"...requires a bit of luck..."
Undoubtedly, Felix Felicis could provide a wizard with a certain amount of good luck.
Dumbledore's Army members had collectively taken Felix Felicis when Dumbledore and Harry returned to Hogwarts, causing enemy spells to miss their marks.
Horace Slughorn had also taken it during the Battle of Hogwarts, and he survived the great battle in the end.
Felix Felicis could truly be called one of the pinnacle magical creations of the wizarding world.
Sean roughly understood why Professor Snape had stuffed a bottle of Felix Felicis into his trunk. As he held the exquisite small bottle, vague images flashed through his mind.
On the desk in his room stood a group photo from the Christmas feast in the Great Hall. Sean gazed at it for a moment, then took out a brooch-like object and pinned it on.
After putting the leaf in his mouth tomorrow, he would face the problem of being unable to speak. To solve this, he had created a special alchemical device.
[The Blunt Translator].
A plain name with a plain function.
That was, to replace the wizard's mouth.
The inspiration originally came from Quick-Quotes Quills—which could record a wizard's thoughts. Sean endowed it with a second function: converting the recorded text into speech. And just like that, a simple translator was made.
The only drawback was... it was too blunt.
"Tastes great!"
In the morning, as Sean ate his oatmeal and enjoyed a crispy sausage, the brooch suddenly emitted an unexpected voice.
Sean froze, then quickly switched it off.
"A marvelous creation. My boy, I didn't know you were also an alchemist! Oh, I seem to have seen a report about an alchemist somewhere recently..."
Marcus said with unexpected delight, then fell into thought.
The little McGonagalls, who were already fighting to sit next to Sean, now leaned their little heads right up to the brooch.
"Do you know what this is, Bard?"
Sarah's head was above Bard's, and she asked in a small voice.
"I guess it must have something to do with magic," Bard said seriously.
"But Bard, we all know that," Sarah said, her small face full of confusion.
As they examined it closely, Professor McGonagall also cast an interested glance.
Sean, with the leaf in his mouth and unable to speak, tapped the brooch lightly.
"This is a translator, Mr. Marcus, Professor. It can speak on behalf of a wizard. But the drawback is that it lacks the ability to embellish language; it can only speak the thoughts the wizard most wants to say."
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