Regulus of Hogwarts: Lord of the Stars

Regulus noticed that Sirius's magical energy, which had just fluctuated violently, calmed down and then concentrated in one direction.

Not bad, this guy didn't just mess around, he did do some serious work too.

Sirius Black tapped the eraser on the table with his wand.

The next moment, the rubber began to deform, and the structural changes spread outward from the inside out, from the center outward.

Its shape changes, its color changes from grayish-white to brown, its edges taper, and four legs extend from the bottom, along with its tail.

A squirrel was perched on the table, its furry tail held high, its front paws raised, its black eyes darting around, and it tilted its head to look at people.

It jumped off the table, ran a couple of steps on the floor, and then stopped.

Sirius continued, tapping his wand lightly. The squirrel transformed, its body elongating, wings extending from its back, turning it into a bird.

A starling, with greyish-white feathers, flew around the office once, then landed back on the desk and chirped twice.

With another tap of the wand, the starling transformed, its body becoming rounder, its ears longer, and it turned into a rabbit.

It had white fur, red eyes, and erect ears; it hopped twice on the desk.

With another tap of the wand, the rabbit's body flattened, its limbs retracted, and its back arched, transforming it into a tortoise.

Its shell is dark green, and its head peeks out from inside, slowly crawling forward.

Sirius glanced at the turtle and casually pointed his wand.

The desk sags downwards, turning into a shallow pool. A match floats from the corner of the desk, reaches the top of the pool, and begins to deform.

The match head melted, the wooden stick softened, turned into water, and flowed into the pool, completely covering the bottom.

The turtle moved around in the water, seemingly unaccustomed to its surroundings.

Sirius tapped the water again, and the fish leaped out of the water.

But it wasn't a turtle that transformed; he used the water from that match to create a fish.

With its silvery-white scales and powerful tail, it swam around the pool twice, then slapped the water's surface with its tail, splashing out a few drops of water.

Regulus watched the process and nodded in satisfaction.

He wasn't just giving a perfunctory answer; he genuinely thought it was good. The changes in form weren't anything special; what he valued was the magic power.

Sirius's magic flows smoothly during transformation, and the way his magic enters his target is different from most young wizards.

Most people's transformations are done by pushing from the outside in, pressing the target's shape in a predetermined direction. The longer they press, the more effort they put in, and the less precise they are.

Sirius Black's transformations are from the inside out, allowing the form to change on its own. The difference is similar in the result, but they are completely different in their understanding of Transfiguration.

It's no longer about turning it into something else, but about knowing what it should be.

Sirius glanced casually at Regulus out of the corner of his eye, trying to see his expression, only to see Regulus nodding with an approving look.

He raised the corners of his mouth slightly, then abruptly lowered them.

He realized he was happy because Regulus was satisfied.

He cursed himself in his heart.

He dismissed the thought, looked away, and glanced at Professor McGonagall, whose eyes also showed satisfaction.

Sirius stared back at the fish in the pond; the fish was still swimming, its tail swaying.

He flicked his wand upwards, and the fish leaped out of the water, soaring into the air and beginning to transform.

Its body swelled up, its limbs extended from its abdomen, its head grew larger, and its mane spread out from its neck backward.

A lion landed on the desk, on all fours, its mane thick, and slapped its front paw hard, producing a deep, resonant sound.

It shook its head, opened its mouth and yawned, revealing its gleaming white teeth. The lion took two steps on the table and flicked its tail.

Sirius waved his wand again, and the top parchment in the stack next to his desk floated up, folding, stretching, and deforming in the air.

The edges of the paper thickened, its color changed from grayish-white to brown, it grew hair, its head stretched out, and horns emerged from the top of its head.

A stag landed next to the lion, smaller than the lion, with long legs, forked antlers, and moist eyes.

It tilted its head slightly, looking at the lion, its eyes even showing curiosity.

Sirius thought for a moment, then tapped his wand again.

The cushion of the empty chair in the corner floated up, tumbled and deformed in the air.

The cotton in the cushion redistributes, the frame shrinks, and the surface changes from fabric to fur.

A large dog landed on the ground, a size larger than a real dog, with dark gray fur, thick limbs, half-drooping ears, and a wagging tail.

It ran to the lion, sniffed it, then ran to the stag and circled around it.

The three animals started moving around in Professor McGonagall's office.

The lion took two steps toward the stag, the stag stepped aside, and the big dog darted over from the other side and jumped in front of the lion.

The lion gently patted it with its paw, and it retreated, circling the stag twice more.

The stag lowered its head and nudged it, and the big dog rolled over, got up, and continued circling.

Regulus glanced at the stag and the big dog a few more times.

There's not much to say about lions; all Gryffindors love lions.

But putting the stag and the big dog together made him think of something else.

He looked away.

Sirius's shapeshifting ability has indeed improved; the transformations are impeccable, both in appearance and movement.

But Regulus wasn't looking at the outward appearance; he was looking at how the magic flowed through the process—smoothly, with a clear direction, and a consistently clear intention from beginning to end.

This shows that Sirius's understanding of Transfiguration has begun to deepen.

This progress is already quite good for a third-year wizard.

But we can't just leave it at that. Now that we've found our talent, it's time to push ourselves. If we make progress, we should keep practicing. It would be such a waste to just sit around doing nothing.

Regulus thought of Lily, and of what he had said to her. What if Lily really mastered it, and one day she ran into Sirius bullying someone in the hallway—

Sirius Black, led by James Potter and his gang, spends all his time fooling around, ambushing Snape in the hallways, and wasting his time on meaningless things.

The fact that he came to Professor McGonagall's place today to practice Transfiguration so diligently shows that he's not incapable of making progress, but he needs someone to supervise him or some kind of stimulation.

Let's give him some excitement.

But Regulus also knew that he couldn't be the one to do it anymore. Beating someone once or twice was easy, but it might provoke a rebellious attitude.

However, if someone he trained were to beat him up, it would probably be quite educational.

Sirius was glancing at him out of the corner of his eye again, the smug smile on his lips repeatedly trying to be suppressed.

He wanted Regulus to see his progress, but he didn't want Regulus to feel that he cared about his opinion.

But at this moment he did feel smug, and with several thoughts mixed together, the expression on his face became strange.

Regulus, seeing the expression on his face, roughly understood what he was thinking, nodded, and said approvingly, "Not bad, the progress is obvious."

After saying that, he added, "Keep practicing."

Sirius's lips curled up even higher, then he abruptly pressed them down.

He turned his head away from Regulus's face and looked back at the three animals he had conjured.

The big dog was chasing the lion's tail, running all over the place, while the stag stood calmly beside them, glanced down, and ignored them.

Professor McGonagall was satisfied with Sirius, but her attention was more focused on the interaction between the two brothers.

She asked Regulus to stay and watch, but she was actually a little worried that he would dismiss Sirius's progress.

She knew Regulus's level of Transfiguration; he had already reached the threshold of spatial transformation. When he came in, he said he had some questions about spatial transformation to ask.

That only shows that he has made substantial progress in this area.

Spatial deformation strictly falls under the category of morphological deformation, but it is undoubtedly much more difficult than material deformation, which can be seen, touched, and directly manipulated by magic.

One exists in a dynamic space, the other in an animal body. The difference between them cannot be accurately measured by difficulty alone; it is a difference in dimensions.

Regulus was already able to deform space, while Sirius was still performing conventional deformations on ordinary matter.

She worried that Regulus's casual remark, "What's the big deal?" would completely extinguish the little confidence Sirius had built up over the past few months.

But she couldn't say anything; it was she who had asked Regulus to stay and watch.

In hindsight, her worries were unnecessary; the two brothers have a good relationship.

Professor McGonagall gained a deeper understanding of Regulus; the boy was not only highly talented, but also quite remarkable in other aspects.

She did tell Sirius that there is no better way to change one's essence than to change one's form; they are just different directions.

But that's just comforting talk. A person who can change the essence of matter must also be adept at shape transformation.

Shape transformation is the foundation of metamorphosis, while essential transformation is the next level. Only when the foundation is solid can there be a place to stand on the top.

It's not that shape transformation isn't sophisticated; solids turning into liquids and liquids turning into gases, if used properly, can be just as powerful.

But Regulus's mind was no longer on this; he was on another level, while Sirius was still struggling with his shapeshifting.

In Professor McGonagall's opinion, Regulus's Transfiguration was certainly still quite rudimentary.

Compared to herself and Dumbledore, Regulus was far inferior, but that was another frame of reference.

Comparing him to a group of junior wizards is unfair to them.

In fact, even among wizards who graduated from Hogwarts many years ago and have ambitions in Transfiguration, Regulus's current level is not weak.

It's not top-tier, but it's definitely among the best.

She'd never seen another second-year wizard reach this level in Transfiguration in all her years of teaching.

Sirius is good, but only within the group of young wizards.

Regulus can no longer be described as merely good.

Both brothers are talented, but Regulus's talent has already been converted into real power, while Sirius is still on the path of discovering his talent.

Sometimes Professor McGonagall wondered if this was just how some wizards were destined to be extraordinary.

She thought of Albus.

She was Albus's student and knew him fairly well.

His strength is beyond doubt; in fact, no one doubts it, and no one dares to doubt it.

But to be honest, she wasn't really sure what Albus was like during his student days, or whether he had shown talent in his early grades.

When she enrolled, Albus was already a professor of Transfiguration, but one thing was certain: Regulus was the most unique person she had ever met.

She looked at the two children in front of her.

After Sirius finished his transformation, that energy returned. He sat restlessly in his chair, wanting to say something but holding it in, shifting his body back and forth.

Regulus sat beside him, calm and composed, currently scrutinizing the animals.

The satisfaction on her face was genuine, but Professor McGonagall could tell it was merely recognition of Sirius's progress and ambition.

She snapped out of her thoughts and looked at Regulus: "Mr. Black, what's your question?"