The Wind and the Wings of Hogwarts

Eddie embarked on his sales journey as an underground merchant, full of ambition, while Scott carried his books to the second floor of the main building of Hogwarts Castle.

Professor McGonagall's office was located on the second-floor corridor, so her Transfiguration Club was conveniently located in a small classroom on the other side of the corridor.

"Scott!"

Scott, walking down the corridor, heard someone call his name and turned around to see Cedric climbing up the stairs.

Good evening, Cedric.

Scott stopped in his tracks.

"good evening."

Cedric walked over quickly.

"I wonder if I can ask you for some advice?" He seemed a little hesitant. "Since the first Charms class after the start of the semester, I have tried many times to sense magic, as you and Professor Flitwick mentioned, but unfortunately I haven't made any progress."

Sensing magic?

Scott looked at him with some surprise.

Cedric smiled shyly at him, his face turning slightly red.

"Of course, it's okay if you can't say." Seemingly afraid of putting Scott in a difficult position, he quickly added.

“No, it’s not inconvenient.” Scott shook his head. “May I ask what level you can currently achieve?”

“Of course.” Cedric cheered. “I can only sense other people’s magical fluctuations up close now, especially when they are casting spells.”

He frowned slightly. "But I can't tell the difference in magic between different people."

Scott pondered for a moment after hearing this. He didn't know how to explain it to Cedric. His own ability to perceive so clearly was largely due to his innate talent.

After thinking it over, he chose to tell Cedric the truth, "I'm sorry, Cedric. I can't really explain to you clearly how to use the perception magic. It's not like a spell; there are no fixed incantations or gestures. Because this perception is like our sight and hearing, we can gradually and naturally master it from birth, like following our instincts."

“It’s alright, Scott. It’s probably because my knowledge of magic isn’t deep enough.”

Although Cedric was somewhat disappointed, he still thanked him, saying, "I still want to thank you for telling me this; it has given me some inspiration."

Seeing Cedric's sincere thanks, Scott couldn't help but sigh, "What an honest kid. No wonder he was assigned to Hufflepuff by the Sorting Hat."

"No need to thank me, Cedric."

Scott felt a little embarrassed, so he decided to talk more.

"Although I cannot clearly describe this ability, I can tell you some ways to enhance your perception, which may be helpful to you."

“Really?” Cedric exclaimed with delight. “I don’t know how to thank you enough, Scott!”

Scott smiled. "Don't mention it. It's just a possibility, because I discovered this method by chance, but I'm not sure if it will work for you."

“It’s the greatest help that you can tell me the method you’ve discovered,” Cedric said gratefully.

“Well, I actually discovered this while I was studying Transfiguration more deeply,” Scott said.

Cedric listened attentively to what he had to say.

"As you know, truly sophisticated transformation techniques do more than just change the appearance of an object. After completing the first step, we hope to actually change the material of the object as well."

Scott recounted how he discovered the method.

"So last school year, I collected a lot of things made of different materials, different woods, different metals, or more complex items, and even some animals. I've been trying to sense them with magic."

"Is this the training method you were talking about?" Cedric understood what Scott meant. He was also a wizard with considerable talent in transfiguration, and he had done similar exercises before.

"That's exactly how we started."

At this point, Scott couldn't help but complain.

"Speaking of which, I made a lot of useless efforts at first. Back then, I couldn't understand that magic and Muggle science are completely different."

"Later I realized that the foundation of all magic lies in magical power."

"I don't need to use my brain to remember what elements make up different materials, or to think about complex issues like molecules and atoms."

Seeing Cedric's bewildered look, Scott continued, "I just need to use my magic to remember that feeling. Different objects will present different feelings when perceived by magic. By following this memory of feeling when using Transfiguration, I can successfully change their material."

Cedric understood this and quickly nodded.

Scott suddenly chuckled and stopped talking.

He seemed to have forgotten that Cedric, who knew nothing about science, couldn't understand these things, and it was pointless to talk to him about them.

When he first started learning magic, his mindset hadn't quite shifted yet, so he habitually approached magic with a scientific mindset, which naturally led to a complete failure.

This is somewhat similar to when he was learning English in his previous life. Whenever he saw an English word, he would habitually translate it into Chinese in his mind first.

Putting those past experiences behind him, Scott finally got to the point: "I'm sure you've done similar exercises, but maybe you can do what I did and start with the simplest material."

"For example, a piece of willow wood, a piece of refined iron, I have collected many different materials. I keep holding them in my hands, using magic to touch them, and feeling the differences between them."

"Also, use shapeshifting techniques to constantly try to change them, feel the difference between the materials you shapeshift and natural materials, and then adjust them little by little."

“That’s roughly how it started. After that, you just need to gradually increase the difficulty according to your own pace.” Scott thought for a moment and found that there was nothing to add. “In short, in this process, my perception of magic naturally became clearer.”

“Is that so?” Cedric seemed thoughtful upon hearing this, and looked at Scott with some admiration. “It seems you are indeed working harder than me, Scott.”

“I did it out of interest,” Scott said dismissively. “However, the process can be quite tedious for people who aren’t interested.”

“It’s alright, I’m interested too.” Cedric laughed. “Looks like I should start collecting different materials.”

He thanked him earnestly, "Anyway, I'm very grateful that you told me all this, Scott."

"Don't mention it, it might not even be useful to you."

Scott patted him on the shoulder.

"Don't blame me if you try it and find it doesn't work."

“Of course not!” Cedric said seriously. “Even if it doesn’t help with perception magic, it can at least help me improve my Transfiguration, right?”

indeed so.

Scott nodded.

"Gentlemen."

Just then, the door to the classroom next to them was pushed open, and Professor McGonagall came out and stood in the doorway.

"I think our Transfiguration Club activities have already begun." She pursed her lips somewhat sternly. "I wonder why the two gentlemen everyone has been waiting for are still standing at the club entrance and not coming in?"

Chapter 019 Today's Transformation, A Speculation

Professor McGonagall's sudden appearance brought Scott and Cedric back to reality. They had been so engrossed in their conversation at the Transfiguration Club classroom door that they had lost track of time.

“I’m sorry, Professor McGonagall.”

Faced with Professor McGonagall's slightly stern gaze, the two of them didn't make excuses, but instead lowered their heads and obediently admitted their mistakes.

Professor McGonagall didn't dwell on Scott and Cedric, the two good students, but gave them a warning look before turning and walking into the classroom.

"Come in quickly, Mr. Trollope and Mr. Diggory."

Scott and Cedric quickly followed him into the classroom and closed the door behind them.

Then, despite the mixed reactions from the other students, the two quickly found their seats and sat down.

"That's strange, Cedric and Scott, you two good boys are late too," a girl sitting next to me teased.

Angelina Johnson, a Gryffindor girl in the same grade as them, is also the Chaser for the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

Scott said in a low voice, "It was an accident, Angelina."

Angelina smiled, and just as she was about to say something more, Professor McGonagall, who was standing at the front of the classroom, immediately looked over with her sharp gaze, so she quickly shut her mouth.

“Our first topic today,” Professor McGonagall said, holding a magazine in her hand, “is to read and discuss a paper published in the latest issue of Transfiguration Today.”

The stern expression on her face softened. "Even I was inspired by this paper."

At this point, the stern expression on her face completely disappeared, and she couldn't help but reveal a proud smile.

"The author of this paper is Bill Weasley, one of the most outstanding students in Gryffindor."

Scott was somewhat surprised to hear this.

Bill Weasley? Scott remembered the Weasley twins mentioning that their eldest brother had gone to work as a spellbreaker at Gringotts Wizarding Bank in Egypt after graduating from Hogwarts.

Wizards who can serve as spellbreakers are generally those most skilled in arithmetic, divination, spellcasting, and ancient runes. Surprisingly, it seems Bill Weasley even has considerable expertise in Transfiguration in his spare time.

No wonder he's such an impressive person, having earned 12 certifications in the OWLs exam.

“Now begin reading.” Professor McGonagall put down the magazine. “Students who have already read it can take a closer look, or think about what they will say in the discussion later.”

Upon hearing this, the students immediately sprang into action, either opening their magazines and notebooks or standing up to take new magazines from the bookshelves along the classroom wall.

Scott, who was sitting next to the bookshelf, turned around and casually took down two copies of "Transfiguration Today" and handed one to Cedric.

"Thank you."

Cedric took it and eagerly opened it.

Scott also opened the magazine. "Looks like you haven't had a chance to read the latest issue either."

The Transfiguration Club's "Transfiguration Today" magazine is subscribed to by Professor McGonagall at her request and funded by the school. The Hogwarts Library also subscribes to some copies.

Because both the club and the library had copies of the magazine, Scott didn't subscribe to one himself. This also meant he often didn't read it immediately.

“Yes, I’ve been busy with Quidditch training lately.” Cedric quickly found the paper Professor McGonagall had mentioned through the magazine catalog and eagerly began to read it carefully.

Scott also turned to that page and immediately saw the title of the paper: "A conjecture that we may be able to make deformation more complex."

"Transfiguration Today" is an academic journal focusing on the latest developments in the field of transfiguration. This journal publishes articles as well as papers by prominent and knowledgeable scholars in this field.

Furthermore, the magazine also selects the "Transfiguration Today" Most Promising Newcomer Award, which is awarded to Hogwarts students who are particularly skilled in Transfiguration.

Professor McGonagall had complained more than once at the Transfiguration Club events that Hogwarts hadn't had a student receive the award for several years.

Whenever she brought up this topic, she would deliberately glance at Scott, making Scott feel uneasy.

Although Scott demonstrated exceptional talent in learning Transfiguration, he never published a paper in a magazine.

Professor McGonagall had also suggested that he try to find a direction to write some papers and publish them in order to compete for the Most Promising Newcomer Award, but Scott politely declined.

Because this contradicts Scott's own ideas.

For the past three academic years, Scott's studies in Transfiguration have remained within the scope of the textbook. However, he has delved much deeper into these topics than the average student.