Chapter 16: Tutoring

"Child, you must understand that spells require incantations and gestures to assist in casting. But what is the source of a spell's power?"

Upon realizing this child knew nothing, Professor McGonagall decided to start from the basics.

"Besides your own magical power, it's intention, emotion, and determination. In Transfiguration, we also need a clear image of the object we're transforming."

McGonagall took out a needle for Lys to hold, observe, and feel. "You must have a clear mental image of the object you want to transfigure, its specific material. The more you understand it, the more likely you are to produce a perfect transfiguration."

This approach proved successful. Lys produced a needle that was hard, sharp, and had an eye.

McGonagall then gave her a small wooden block to transform into a button. After several attempts, it resembled the buttons on their robes, and McGonagall nodded approvingly.

This indicated that the child's previous issues stemmed from a lack of understanding of the objects and insufficient life experience.

Although there was still the problem of weak magic control, it wasn't too severe.

"You may end your after-class guidance early. Go rest, child, and don't forget to practice diligently. Also, there's a 10-inch essay on how material properties affect transfiguration. Well then, good night."

Lys resisted the urge to ask to see Professor McGonagall transform into a cat and politely said goodbye.

If possible, she'd like to have a cat in the future. After all, in the storybooks, even Herpo the Foul had a basilisk as a pet when he left his barren lands.

This tutoring session was quite successful, but then she had to attend Professor Flitwick's after-class guidance.

Flitwick's office in the castle tower nearly fell victim to this first-year student. Explosions, color changes, combustions, and shattering ensued.

Professor Flitwick cast more Reparo spells that night than he had in a month.

"Oh, be more confident! Your magic level isn't low, so you don't need to put full force into casting spells. Imagine your magic like water from a tap, released in a controlled manner!"

Accompanied by yet another explosion, Lys still didn't understand. What did it mean to control magic? What was magic, exactly?

"What's your wand core, child?"

"Serpent nerve, Professor."

"As far as I know, serpent nerve is precise and powerful. It has high requirements for magical precision. Clearly, your current release method isn't sufficient for your wand to cooperate with you, recognize you, and help you constrain your magic."

"Remember the power that surged through your body during magical outbursts? Try to recall that, control it."

Lys didn't know how to explain that she couldn't remember ever having a magical outburst.

By the end of this tutoring session, Lys's biggest gain was memorizing the Reparo spell, even after Professor Flitwick had grown too lazy to say the incantation and started using nonverbal magic.

Struggling past the mischievous, randomly connecting staircases, Lys first darted into the kitchen. She planned to grab some food for a midnight snack and breakfast.

Apart from the difficulty of waking up early and missing breakfast, Lys also disliked the owls flying around the breakfast table delivering mail every morning.

Because these feathered darlings didn't dare drop things into their owners' plates, they often landed in Lys's plate or searched for food there during breakfast.

Returning to the common room, she found a few senior students still there, gathered around the platinum-haired Lucius Malfoy by the fireplace. Lys tactfully chose a sofa in a far corner, where a copy of today's newspaper lay.

Without her literacy book, Lys struggled through the entire page. It was an article about pure-blood supremacy. She didn't need to recognize those fancy words to know they were about glory, purity, and blessings.

What caught her attention was the mention of a great man. The photo showed a tall, handsome man. The moving image clearly displayed his powerful stance as he gently waved his wand during a speech, demonstrating how he would lead the pure-blood nobles to reclaim their gradually lost pride and confidence.

Tsk tsk tsk, but look at the words below. This description made it seem like such a powerful man would like arrogant fools like James Potter and Sirius Black.

However... pure-blood, pride... Lys thought silently, these must be very important things in the outside world...

It wasn't until the fire was almost out and she could no longer make out any words on the newspaper that Lys finally prepared for bed.

Tomorrow night, she would have to go to Professor Flitwick's tower to practice charms, as the professor feared Lys might send herself to the hospital wing again.

He insisted that Lys's charm practice must be supervised by a professor.

Approaching the fireplace with its dying embers, Lys gently tore a small hole in the newspaper, recalling Professor Flitwick's movements.

"Reparo"

The tear in the newspaper began to mend at an agonizingly slow pace, but before Lys could rejoice, the suddenly combusting paper was flung into the fireplace.

She knew better than to have hope for herself. At least she was thankful she didn't blow up the fireplace.

However, Lys couldn't attend the second day's tutoring session because she ended up in the hospital wing.