In Professor McGonagall's office, Dylan asked quite a few questions that had been bothering him since he started researching magic.
McGonagall even answered some of his questions about spells outside of Transfiguration.
[Message]: Your Transfiguration proficiency has increased! Current progress: 35%!
Dylan glanced at his panel.
His proficiency had gone up by 0.5%; it was now at 3.5/10 and about to step into level 4.
He now had a good grasp of how to cast Transfiguration on inanimate objects.
As long as no living beings or Animagus forms were involved, he could already use inanimate Transfiguration smoothly and convincingly.
Of course, to change something, he first had to understand it.
Only by fully understanding an object's principle and structure could he use Transfiguration freely.
It was impossible to "just say it and it becomes so" and expect a perfectly accurate result.
Without understanding the structure of what he was changing into, he could at most produce the "shape" from his memory.
For instance, if he turned an apple into an alarm clock, without knowing how an alarm clock was built, he could only end up with something that looked like a clock on the outside but was still apple mush inside.
After Dylan left,
Professor McGonagall rubbed her stomach.
"That boy really does have a lot of questions…"
She stood up to go get something to eat, and on her way down the corridor, she still could not suppress the smile tugging at her lips.
"But I've brought another student into the halls of Transfiguration."
…
Leaving McGonagall's office, Dylan headed straight for the Great Hall.
By now, plenty of students had already sat down and started lunch.
There were still almost two hours left before afternoon classes.
Plenty of time.
As soon as he stepped into the Hall, he saw two people waving at him.
Harry and Ron.
Neville, beside them, did not quite dare wave, but stared at him with wide eyes.
Dylan walked over.
"Merlin, Dylan, you're amazing! You earned a whole 10 points for our House in Transfiguration!" Ron's face was full of excitement.
Then he glanced at Hermione, who was eating not far away.
"Unlike some people, who bragged about how good they were and only got five."
Hermione shot Ron a glare, looked briefly at Dylan, then lowered her head and went back to her food.
"Tsk." Ron tilted his chin up.
"…"
Dylan shook his head. "Whether it's five or ten, it's still points for our House. It's better than earning nothing—and almost getting us docked."
Ron froze.
Hermione almost burst out laughing.
Somewhat surprised, she snuck another sideways look at Dylan where he had already sat down.
Harry glanced at Ron, who had gone quiet, then at Dylan, who had started eating, and rushed to fill the silence. "After class, did you go to see Professor McGonagall to ask questions, Dylan?"
Ron looked over as well.
Dylan nodded. "There were some things about Transfiguration I wasn't sure I was understanding right, so I went to check."
Harry let out a soft sound of admiration. "You really learn fast."
Ron held it in for a while, then could not help adding, "And your tongue's pretty sharp, too!"
Dylan chuckled helplessly. "I was just stating facts. No matter who earns points for us, it's a good thing, isn't it?"
"We're one House. There's no need to keep comparing ourselves like that. Points aren't that important—knowing yourself and being happy matters more."
Ron only half understood. "How can House points not be important? That's how we win the House Cup at the end of the year!"
Dylan shook his head lightly and dropped the subject.
He was not Jackie Chan; he did not need to explain to someone why talismans were less important than finding a way to defeat Shendu.
Right now Ron was still a kid. It was normal that he did not understand some things yet.
There was no need to hammer grand principles into them so early.
Ron pouted. "It's just, I couldn't even get the matchstick to twitch. Neville and Seamus both managed to turn theirs into iron rods!"
He sulked as he stabbed his fork into the vegetables on his plate.
"And that teacher is really scary!"
From that, Dylan could instantly tell Ron was still brooding over being scolded in front of the whole class with Harry.
From the perspective of someone who had lived two lives, that was nothing at all.
But for a young wizard with a fierce sense of pride and a strong desire to prove himself, that kind of thing was hard to let go.
Ron kept grumbling.
"It's not like we meant to be late. That stupid staircase went mad and took us all the way to the fourth floor."
"And then that weirdo, Filch, went crazy and chased us all over the place."
"Merlin, you have no idea how hard Harry and I worked just to make it into class right on time."
Dylan thought about it for a moment, swallowed a piece of medium-well beef, and began slowly.
"Hey, Ron, I know you're upset about being scolded, but honestly, everything Professor McGonagall said was for your and Harry's sake."
"What? She's that fierce and you say she's looking out for us? I think she just used us as examples so everyone would be scared of her and she could build up her strict-teacher image!"
Ron curled his lip. "I bet she does the same in every House."
"…"
Children's pride really was terrifying.
"And the worst part is that awful Malfoy laughed at me and Harry after class!"
Dylan blinked.
So that was the real issue.
He had gone straight to McGonagall's office after class, so he actually had not known about it.
Patiently, he asked, "Ron, have you heard of Acromantulas?"
Harry and Ron, along with Neville, Seamus, and Hermione, all looked over.
"What's that?" Harry asked.
"A vicious, carnivorous magical creature."
Dylan said, "Acromantulas eat people. Devouring humans is their instinct."
"How horrible!" Neville gasped.
Dylan nodded. "But that's not the scariest part. Do you know what is?"
"What?" Harry and Ron asked together.
"The truly terrifying thing is this: you yourself turn into an Acromantula, but you forget you're a wizard. You resist turning back into a human, and in the end, you remain an Acromantula—a man-eating monster."
When Dylan finished, all the young wizards around him stared, eyes wide.
"Of course, that's just an example."
Ron exhaled in relief, but before he could fully relax—
"Besides an Acromantula, you could also end up as a slimy Basilisk, a hideous Grindylow, a stinking Boggart…"
Hiss!