Chapter 5

"Here we are, Mr. Potter," said Professor Flitwick as they stood in front of a stone gargoyle. "Keep in mind what I told you, okay? If you ever need someone to talk with, my office is open to all. I'd offer you help with Charms like I've done with the rest of the kids in my house, but you seem to have inherited your mother's talent in my subject."

"You've taught my mother?" Harry asked with wide eyes. 'Darn it, I should've asked him for stories about her and not Snape!'

"Oh, yes. Your mother was such a studious kid. I don't think I've ever taught someone more talented than her." Professor Flitwick looked in the distance as if remembering old memories. "Maybe that would change soon. Are you up for the challenge?"

Charms was an intriguing subject, but it wasn't on the top of his list. That spot was for DADA since, well, he was supposed to fight a Dark Lord.

Transfiguration, or more specifically, the more advanced branch of the magic, Conjuration, was right behind that. That particular magic had so much potential. From creating and controlling the elements of nature, Harry certainly wasn't interested in this because he only wanted to impress Ororo by copying her mutant abilities, to the mundane thing such as creating chairs, tables, and etc.

Potions was the third subject he was interested in. There was a potion for almost anything. There was even one that increased the luck of whoever drinks it! He believed that if he stored enough of them in his pouch, he would be better prepared for almost any situation.

Charms might have just replaced Potions with the new information from Professor Flitwick. The head of Ravenclaw was a good teacher and knew how to motivate the kids to do better.

Professor Flitwick smiled when he saw the fire in Harry's eyes and turned to the statue. "Starburst," he said. "Off you go now, the headmaster is waiting for you."

"Hello, Harry," Dumbledore greeted him, and with a wave of his wand, created a chair for him to sit. Yeah, Conjuration was awesome. When Harry sat down, the old man took a bowl and offered it to him. "Skittles?"

"Oh, yes. Thank you." Harry grabbed a handful of them.

Dumbledore blinked a few times, surprised that someone took his offer. He wasn't sure how to feel about this. He was happy that finally, someone had accepted his candy, but he was also sad since now, there was less candy for him. He couldn't help himself. The sugary sweetness created by Muggles was at least ten times better than their wizarding equivalent.

"Have you enjoyed your stay at Hogwarts so far?" Dumbledore asked, trying not to think about his candy.

"I've only been here for one day, but, yes, I have. Magic is really fun, and the castle is very nice. The suits of armor would greet me every time I pass them. The paintings would even ask how my day has been. Everything is so... magical." He finished dramatically.

"I'm happy to hear that, Harry." Dumbledore nodded and asked. "Have you prepared the questions I asked you about?"

"Oh, yes," Harry replied and pulled out a notebook from his pouch. "I have quite a bit of them."

"Well, then, let's hope I will be able to answer them within the next hour."

"Okay. I was wondering, why are all the spell incantations in Latin? Is there something special about the language? Or is there a different reason? I tried out the Wand-Lighting Charm by saying 'Light' as the incantation instead of 'Lumos,' and it still worked for me."

"I've noticed that wand movements are more important than the incantations. Different wand movements produce different effects, but they all have something in common. The magic always starts from my chest and moves through my wand-hand before reaching the wand. Is it possible to replicate the way magic moves without the wand movements? Or even without a wand?"

"For that matter, what is magic? I know it's some kind of energy, but what exactly? Also, where does it come from? Professor Xavier had me scanned, so I know I don't have any additional organs or something like that."

"I read that some magic is affected by the movement of the planets and their position. How exactly does that work? There wasn't any mention of how they affect magic in the book. Just that they do."

Question after question, Harry fired at Dumbledore, who tried his best to answer each and every one of them. The boy reminded him of his younger self. When he questioned how and why magic worked and didn't take it at face value. By the time one hour had passed, Dumbledore had only answered no more than half of the questions Harry had prepared for him. At the end of their meeting, the old man offered to meet with the boy every weekend from seven to eight to answer whatever questions he had. Dumbledore would also use those meetings to try and groom Harry as his successor, into someone that would take up his mantle in the future.

Friday morning, Harry had two classes of Transfiguration, one after the other. He was the first to arrive in the classroom as he wanted to revise and prepare for the class. Since he was learning magic, he wasn't going to half-ass it and planned on being the top student for more than one reason.

The first thing Harry noticed in the room was the cat standing on the Professor's desk. It looked so out of place, but then he remembered about a sub-brach of Transfiguration called Human Transfiguration. Harry tried connecting with the cat's mind and found out that it had strong mental shields. That confirmed his suspicions, so he decided to have some fun. With a smirk, he walked up to the cat.

"Hello, little kitty." Harry tried petting the cat, but it dodged his attempts. He tried a few more times, but the cat was adamant of avoiding his touch.

Harry let out a dejected sigh, "You are no fun, Professor," he said and sat down behind a desk. He closed his eyes and entered his mindscape as the cat watched him with twinkling eyes.

Professor McGonagall was impressed with him. Few students had ever realized that she had transformed herself into a cat. Harry had even attempted to 'play' with her. 'He surely is James' son. I wonder if he will be as good as his father was in my class.'

Students trickled one by one in the classroom. His housemates were the first to arrive, followed by the Gryffindors. When Hermione spotted him, she had a complicated expression on. 'How is he, Harry Potter? The books said he has a scar? Were they wrong?' The books had been her only friend and had never lied to her. She wasn't sure how to feel about this.

"Hey, Harry," Terry Boot greeted and sat down next to him.

"Hello, Terry," Harry replied with a nod of his head.

"I'm a bit worried about this class," said Terry. "Charms and Potions I can understand, but Transfigurations is so complicated. Especially that formula that states the transformation is directly influenced by body weight (a), viciousness (v), wand power (w), concentration (c), and a fifth unknown variable (Z). Like, what is this unknown variable?"

"Don't worry about it too much. The most important thing when casting magic is your imagination, intent, and desire. If you can imagine how something should happen, and if you want it to, magic will do the rest for you." That was something Dumbledore had told him the previous night. The reason spells have incantations was so that wizards and witches could focus on the desired effect, and wand movements make magic move in a specific manner. With time and practice, all of that could be eliminated to the point a wizard or a witch would be able to cast magic without either of them.

"That's not true!" Came the voice of Hermione. "The most important things are the incantations and wand movements! If you pronounce the spell wrong or don't do the wand movement correctly, the spell will fail! It said so in the books!"

Harry wouldn't have replied to her if she wasn't wearing a triumphant smile on her face. "What about when you were younger and cast accidental magic? You didn't have a wand nor, did you say a specific incantation. How did you do it then?"

"That's accidental magic, it happens on accident," she replied as it was a matter of fact.

"Really? Are you sure?" Harry asked. "I remember once when I was playing tag, I wanted to escape. I didn't want to be caught. I didn't want to lose. So right before I was caught, I teleported away."

"Another example is when I was told how beautiful as a certain flower would look when fully grown. It was just planted, but I wanted to see it bloom. I wanted to see it fully grown. So I stared at it and wished that it blooms in front of my eyes. Can you guess what happened?"

"That's still accidental magic!" Hermione protested. Harry rolled his eyes and didn't bother arguing with her anymore. She obviously didn't want to listen to him.

"Mate, flowers are girly," Terry said, and the boys in the classroom burst out laughing at him. The girls, however, gave them the stink eye. Obviously, they disagreed with that statement.

As they were laughing, Ron Weasly and another boy, with pale skin and sandy hair, burst into the classroom. Both of them were breathing hard and took a moment to collect themselves.

"Ooff, we made it, Seamus," said Ron amidst heavy breathing. "Can you imagine the look on McGonagall's face if we were late."

The boy's words were like a trigger, and the cat jumped from the desk. Midflight, it transformed into Professor McGonagall, and she sternly stared at the two.

'Sold!' Harry thought. Right then, he decided that he would master Human Transfiguration. If one could turn himself into an animal, then what else could he do? Can he increase the muscle mass of his body? Can he give himself gills and breathe underwater? What about Dragon lungs to breathe fire? Or even wings to fly? Not that he needed them.

"That was bloody brilliant!" Ron exclaimed in awe, but the head of the Gryffindor house didn't look pleased with the statement.

"Oh, thank you for that assessment, Mr. Weasly. Perhaps it would be more useful if I were to transfigure Mr. Finnigan or yourself into a pocket watch. That way, one of you might be on time."

Both of them looked ashamed and looked down.

"To your seats," Professor McGonagall told them. "Class should've already started three minutes ago."

The Professor walked to her podium and stood behind her desk. All eyes were on her, and she began her lesson. First, she transformed her desk into a pig and then reverted it back into a desk. The display showed off her skills. "Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts. Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned."

The first class consisted of theory and explanation. McGonagall made sure to beat it into them that Transfiguration was a very dangerous branch of magic. The second class was a practical one. The Professor assigned them all a matchstick and showed them the spell to transform it into a needle.

Harry tapped the matchstick confidently, and it transformed into a perfect needle. The bottom was sharp and pointy, the body was made of metal, and the top had a little hole.

The corners of McGonagall's mouth were ever so slightly raised, as she praised Harry. "Good job, Mr. Potter. 5 point to Ravenclaw for getting it on your first try."

Technically, that wasn't his first try since he had already attempted this before. Plus, he had also received tips on the subject by Albus Dumbledore, the greatest Transfiguration user in the entire world. If he hadn't succeeded, that would've been a disappointment. The more impressive part was that he did it without the incantation.

Hermione stared at him with wide eyes. She had watched him out of the corner of her eye and didn't see him even mouth the incantation. He had just tapped the matchstick, and it transformed into a needle.

McGonagall was more than impressed by Harry's silent casting. Transfiguration was more scientific than other forms of magic, but in the end, it boiled down to imagination, intent, and desire. If one couldn't imagine the transformation taking place, didn't have the intention of transforming it into a particular object, and didn't desire it to happen, the spell will always fail.

"Now, Mr. Potter, try transforming the needle back into a matchstick," the Professor told him and turned to the rest of the kids to help them with the spell.

His first attempt at that was a failure. Harry transformed the needle into a matchstick with a small hole at the top. Most of the other kids would've considered that a success, but not him. He wanted it to be perfect. So, with another tap of his wand, he transformed it back into a needle and tried again. Harry was successful on his second attempt but continued repeating the process. Practice makes perfect, after all.

"Blimey! How are you doing this?" Terry asked with a silvery matchstick in front of him.

"I told you. Imagination, intent, and desire while my magic does the rest for me. I want it to happen while my magic makes it happen," Harry tried helping him.

Terry looked at his matchstick and closed his eyes. He was attempting to do it by the book, strictly following the rules. This time, Terry imagined the matchstick transforming, intended it to become a needle, and willed it to happen.

"I did it!" Terry exclaimed in happiness.

"Your needle is missing a hole, but a good job, Mr. Boot." McGonagall took one look and immediately spotted a mistake.

Seeing that Terry had success by using Harry's advice, other kids in the class tried it as well. By the end, almost everyone had managed to transform the matchstick into a needle. After class ended, Harry went to talk with the Professor.

"Professor McGonagall. I was wondering if you could tell me more about Human Transfiguration, more specifically, becoming an Animagus. It was mentioned in the books, but not really explained."

"Mentioned in the books?" McGonagall asked. "I'm sure there is no mention of Animagus in the first-year books."

"Well, um," Harry scratched his hair. "I didn't read about it in the first-year books."

"Why do you want to know about becoming an Animagus?" She asked sternly.

"Because it's so fascinating!" Harry told her earnestly.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Potter, but I can't help you with that. The subject of Animagus will be covered alongside Human Transfiguration, which is N.E.W.T.-level. It will be taught from sixth-year onwards," McGonagall informed him. "But, I do agree with you, Mr. Potter, it is indeed a fascinating subject. I remember having a very in-depth discussion about it last year with a seventh-year student of mine. She had stayed for hours in the library and researched that particular subject."

The last class Harry had for the day was History of Magic. No more than a few minutes into the lesson, he learned that it was pointless. The subject was taught by Professor Cuthbert Binns, a ghost, who was reciting their book word by word. Something that he had already memorized.

Knowing this, Harry closed his eyes, entered his mindscape, and focused on finishing all the books there. Might as well use his time efficiently since he wanted to read them as soon as possible. He had two whole libraries to go thought and books about Animagus to find.

The rest of his day, Harry mostly spend finishing the rest of the books in his mind before he had to attend detention with Snape. Scrubbing caldrons was certainly not his favorite activity. He could've used his telekinesis to clean them all quickly, but he decided to keep that ability a secret.

The silver lining of his detention was that Snape complained. Yes, complained. He grumbled how inadequate were some of the kids, how they had no idea what they were doing, and he compared them to someone else. Snape never specified who he compared them to, but Harry caught on after listening to him for an hour straight. From time to time, maybe due to a mistake or maybe it was deliberate, he let out that the person he was comparing them was a she.

After he finished his detention and was returning to his common room, he was confronted by two tall and identical ginger heads.

"Getting detention with Snape on the very first day."

"That certainly beats our record, Forge."

"You're right, Gred."

"We're going to have to step up our game."

"Indeed, we are, we can't let an ickle fickle first-year outdo us."

The surprising thing about those two was that while they were talking out loud, they were having another mental conversation between themselves. Harry was a bit stumped at that. The first books that he had read were all about the mind arts, but none of them spoke about such an ability. So, that left only one option. Those two were most likely mutants. They didn't seem to have powers like his since they weren't able to sense him listening to them. 'Probably some kind of connection that lets them speak only to each other.' He concluded.

"Little Harkinson-"

"-is speechless."

"Maybe we've scared him-"

"-we are big third-years, after all."

Harry smirked and pointed at the right one. "George!" He then pointed at the left one. "Fred!" He then walked away as they stared at him with wide eyes.

"Brother did he just-"

"-guess our names correctly?"

"We always did wanted to create a group like the Marauders."

"Maybe, he could join us?"

"If he proves himself worthy, that is."

"We just have to-"

"-test his mettle."