Chapter 13: Transfiguration  

However, after falling less than two meters, a staircase appeared out of nowhere and caught Miranda. 

Miranda looked up at Hoffa and said, "Jump!" 

Hoffa cursed under his breath. A school built by lunatics! 

With that, he jumped over the railing amidst the curses of the paintings. After falling two meters in the air, a moving staircase suddenly turned and caught him, as if afraid he might fall to his death. 

Following Miranda, the two of them navigated the shifting staircases in mid-air. 

Somehow, they managed to descend seven floors by hopping and jumping. 

As soon as they landed, Miranda forcefully pushed open a wooden door in a moving wall. 

In front of them, the corridor was constantly shifting positions. 

The doors spun around like lottery wheels, turning endlessly. 

Miranda, however, was decisive, pushing open one door after another. 

At the end of the corridor was a black iron door. Hoffa wanted to push it open, but Miranda stopped him. 

"Wait a moment." 

Hoffa stood still. 

Ten seconds later, a wall crashed into the door, as if saying, "Hey, this is my turf, buddy." 

This wall had an oak door. 

Miranda immediately pulled Hoffa through the door. 

After the two disappeared inside, the wall was pushed aside by another wall, clearly annoyed. 

Inside the door was the Transfiguration classroom. 

A circular room with ring-shaped desks. 

The room was filled with children, and a tall man with auburn hair casually leaned against the podium. 

The children turned their heads in surprise at the sound of the door opening. 

Hoffa's heart sank. Were they still late? 

Dumbledore looked at the two who had entered with interest. 

He glanced at the clock and smiled, "Three minutes late. According to the rules, I should deduct three points. 

"But today is the day the stairs are on holiday, so I'll give you three points instead. Now, quickly find a seat." 

Hoffa breathed a sigh of relief. 

Staircase holiday? Staircases have holidays? No wonder those things were running around so excitedly. 

With all four houses attending the class together, and Dumbledore being so popular, the good seats near the podium were all taken. 

Miranda sat in a corner, and after sitting down, she waved to Hoffa, signaling him to sit next to her. 

Hoffa was a bit reluctant because the corner she chose already had a silver-haired girl sitting there. 

But since class had already started, he couldn't be picky and had no choice but to sit down. 

Aglaia glanced at Hoffa and Miranda, frowned, and moved an inch to the right, clearly showing her disdain for the two. 

The two Gryffindor boys on her right blushed furiously, too embarrassed to speak. 

The childish conflict bored Hoffa. He took out his notebook and focused on the lecture. 

In Hoffa's mind, becoming an Animagus was one of the goals he had to achieve. 

If he came to the Harry Potter world and couldn't transform into a desired animal, what was the point? 

Of course, if he wanted to become an Animagus, he couldn't afford to miss a single class of Dumbledore's Transfiguration lessons. 

Once everyone was seated, Dumbledore nodded in satisfaction. He cleared his throat and tapped the podium with his wand. 

Suddenly, the podium let out a deafening roar. 

"Roar!" 

It transformed from a four-legged table into a four-legged lion. 

The students in the front row were startled and leaned back. 

Dumbledore waved his wand again, and the lunging lion turned into a small black-and-white badger in mid-air. 

It sniffed around a few times, and then, wings sprouted from its sides. Amidst the students' gasps, it transformed into a wide-winged eagle. 

The eagle flapped its wings, circled the classroom three times, and then slowly descended. 

As it landed, its legs merged and elongated, and by the time it fully touched the ground, it had become a graceful spotted python, hissing and flicking its tongue. 

The python coiled back onto the podium, and with a tap of Dumbledore's wand, it turned back into the podium. 

All the students were stunned, including Hoffa. 

In his previous life, he had seen countless dazzling magical effects in movies, but this kind of precise, real transformation was something he had never witnessed before. 

After becoming headmaster, Dumbledore rarely showcased his prowess in Transfiguration, so many people didn't know he was a true master of the art. 

Amidst the students' awestruck gazes, Dumbledore spoke slowly. 

"Transfiguration, the most complex and demanding of all magical disciplines. 

"How to change the structure of something without altering its essence—this is a topic that has been debated by generations of wizards." 

Seeing the students listening intently, Dumbledore waved his wand. 

Instantly, the curtains were drawn. 

The classroom darkened, and several projection screens descended from the ceiling. 

Dumbledore: "For your first Transfiguration class, I won't be teaching you magic. Instead, I'll teach you the most important quality in Transfiguration—caution." 

As he spoke, black-and-white photos flashed on the screens. 

Hoffa's eyes widened. The projection screens showed terrifying monsters. 

Dumbledore: "In the field of Transfiguration, some wizards have gone further than most. Every great transformation you can imagine has been attempted by various wizards. 

"However, while some succeeded, many more failed in their pursuit of knowledge. 

"The reason for their failure was always the same—lack of caution." 

The black-and-white photos stopped. 

Hoffa saw a hand-drawn image of a massive sphinx on the screen. 

"2000 BC, the great Egyptian Transfigurist, the Sphinx, reached the pinnacle of Transfiguration in his time. 

"Unfortunately, he ultimately confused structure with essence. During one transformation, he turned himself into a half-human, half-lion monster, losing his sanity." 

The projection changed again. 

A tormented, bird-like female creature appeared. 

Dumbledore: "1000 BC, the greatest witch of ancient Greece, the Siren. 

"In her pursuit of flight, she sacrificed her sanity, completely stripping away her humanity, and became a bird-like monster. To this day, her descendants still wander the Greek peninsula in agony." 

The projection changed once more, this time to a hand-drawn image of a half-human, half-bull creature. 

Dumbledore: "13 AD, the famous wizard Minotaur attempted to transform into a bull during a duel but was overwhelmed by rage. As a result, he spent the rest of his life as a half-human, half-bull creature, surviving on his own vomit." 

As the man on the podium spoke calmly, the students in the classroom turned pale. 

Hoffa hadn't expected that some mythical creatures were real, and most were related to Transfiguration. 

In his previous life, when he read the books, he only saw the fun side of Animagi but never realized the dangers behind it. 

After recounting over a dozen cases of failed Transfiguration, the classroom fell silent. 

Suddenly, an arm shot up. 

Dumbledore nodded, "Tom, go ahead." 

Tom Riddle stood up slowly and asked respectfully, "Sir, what does it mean to change the structure without altering the essence? 

"In my opinion, if the structure changes, the essence must inevitably change as well." 

"A crucial question, Tom." 

Dumbledore said calmly, "Every Transfigurist has a different view on this, but in my opinion, the essence is your purpose and your heart. 

"With your inner goal as a beacon and guided by compassion and tolerance, you can maintain your sense of self during complex transformations. 

"Of course, this kind of change is limited to Animagus transformations." 

Tom said politely, "Thank you, sir." 

He sat down, and Hoffa couldn't see his expression. 

In his previous life, he didn't know if Voldemort was an Animagus, but now it seemed that Voldemort's strongest suit was likely Dark Arts, not Transfiguration. 

After explaining Tom Riddle's question, Dumbledore had each student come up and take a small piece of wood, instructing them to use their wands to transform the wood into different shapes. 

After getting the wood, Hoffa saw the students pulling out their wands and tapping the wood repeatedly. 

Instantly, the classroom was filled with colorful flashes of light. Some students chanted spells at the wood with their wands. 

Some pieces of wood burst into flames, others turned into mud under the wand's glow, and some even grew legs and ran away. 

Dumbledore loudly reminded the students, "Be rational, not chaotic! Keep your goal in mind!" 

But it was no use. A group of young wizards together had no idea what they were doing. 

The Ravenclaw and Slytherin students remained relatively calm, but the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff students were practically blowing the roof off. 

The two Gryffindor boys next to Aglaia were no exception. One turned his wood into a pig's head, while the other caused his wood to explode, leaving his face blackened and his hair standing on end. 

Aglaia looked at them with disdain and mockery, moving a bit to the left. 

Miranda silently took out her wand and tapped the wood. 

The wood floated up and slowly transformed in the air. 

In the end, it turned into something resembling an owl—ugly but somewhat recognizable as an owl. 

Miranda said to Hoffa, "Dumbledoo should at least reward me five points for this." 

"Ridiculous." 

The reply came from Aglaia. 

She crossed her arms and sneered, "You're satisfied with turning out that garbage?" 

Miranda looked at Aglaia with polite indifference, as if saying, "If you're so good, why don't you try?" 

The silver-haired girl haughtily pulled out a wand that gleamed with silver light and pointed it at her piece of wood. 

Then, to Hoffa's astonishment, her wood began to grow and spread on the table, turning into an exquisite tree sculpture. 

The carving was lifelike, complete with tiny leaves. 

Even the veins on the leaves were visible. 

After finishing the transformation, she put away her wand and looked at Miranda with a cold smile. 

Miranda glanced at the tree sculpture, then at her own owl, and shrugged, "You're amazing." 

She didn't argue with Aglaia or even get angry. 

Hoffa was somewhat impressed by Miranda. If it were him, he would probably... 

Aglaia said to Miranda, "But you're not bad. Some people don't even dare to try." 

As she spoke, she tilted her head up, her eyes firmly fixed on Hoffa from the corner. 

She wanted to see this arrogant, aloof boy make a fool of himself.