Chapter 37: Basic Laws of Gampp Transformation

Aside from Chu Yang, only a few girls in Slytherin were sitting quietly in the classroom.

After waiting for a long time, no Slytherin first-years had arrived.

Professor McGonagall's face grew visibly grim.

As the Deputy Headmistress and a long-time teacher at Hogwarts, this was the first time she had encountered such a situation.

"Does anyone know what is going on with Slytherin? Where have all the boys gone?" Professor McGonagall's cold gaze swept across the classroom, instantly silencing everyone, who hurriedly lowered their heads.

"Professor McGonagall, it seems those boys were playing in the common room all night last night, and they all caught colds this morning. The older students sent them to the hospital wing."

Pansy Parkinson, with her short hair, stood up with a smirk of schadenfreude. She delighted in seeing those conceited boys make a fool of themselves; besides, her crush, Malfoy, wasn't among them.

"Thank you for answering my question, Miss Parkinson, but even so, Slytherin will still lose five points." Having learned the reason, Professor McGonagall looked displeased and motioned for Pansy Parkinson to sit down.

More sounds of gloating erupted from all directions, leaving the backfired Pansy Parkinson flushing red with anger.

"Silence!" Professor McGonagall paced the classroom and said sternly, "Now, open your books to the first section of the first page..."

Professor McGonagall began lecturing on the basics of Transfiguration, mostly introductory knowledge to help students understand what Transfiguration was and the risks involved.

This included certain specific sensations—for instance, what does it feel like when a person transforms into an animal, and their clothing and accessories like glasses become part of the animal's skin?

This specific sensation could only be experienced by an Animagus; for other wizards, it was valuable experiential knowledge.

Additionally, Professor McGonagall briefly mentioned the five major exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration.

Chu Yang summarized them: First, one cannot transform anything except food into food, though one can transform one type of food into another or increase the volume of food.

Second, one cannot turn inanimate objects into living things, or living things into inanimate objects; Transfiguration cannot alter the life level or state of a target.

Third, one cannot perform Transfiguration on magical objects; a violent conflict occurs between the two due to differences in spells and sources of magic.

Furthermore, special Transfigurations like those used by Animagi have similar restrictions: one cannot transform into a magical creature.

Chu Yang's understanding was that the conflict between Transfiguration and magical objects (or creatures) was similar to adding two unrelated or conflicting blocks of code into a program, which disrupts the original program's normal operation.

Fourth was quantity: one cannot use Transfiguration to turn one target into many. This act of replication or creation of individuals is similar to the second rule; it is not a realm attainable by human effort.

Fifth was creation from nothing: one cannot use Transfiguration to conjure matter out of thin air, even if it is something one has seen and understands deeply.

These five special circumstances were all attempts to use magic to violate the laws of "reality"!

But interestingly, Chu Yang felt intuitively that these five rules were not impossible to overcome. They felt more like "shackles"; once one were broken, magic would enter a brand-new realm, undergoing a qualitative change.

For the first lesson of the new students, Professor McGonagall only touched upon necessary precautions. Because most of the Slytherin first-years were absent, she did not teach any spells.

"Familiarize yourselves with what I have just discussed," Professor McGonagall said. With a shake of her body, she transformed back into a tabby cat and sat perched on the desk, her feline eyes reflecting a very human exhaustion.

After a brief silence, four figures burst into the classroom in a flurry: the Savior Harry, his companion Ron, and Goyle and Crabbe, whose cheeks were heavily swollen.

"Oh, thank goodness Professor McGonagall isn't here, otherwise we'd be in trouble. She looks so serious; she can be terrifying when she's not talking!"

Ron complained as he pulled Harry toward his seat, completely failing to notice that Harry's expression had already changed.

Professor McGonagall transformed from a tabby cat back into human form, but she merely passed by the two of them. Her target was the late-arriving Goyle and Crabbe.

"I hear you had such a wonderful time last night that you didn't even want to attend Transfiguration this morning? Should I tell Headmaster Dumbledore to let Slytherin house self-study Transfiguration?"

Professor McGonagall's face was like frost. Her voice was not loud, but every word pierced Goyle and Crabbe's hearts. They now regretted not sleeping on the floor last night, so they could have gone to the hospital wing with the others.

"It wasn't like that, Professor McGonagall, let me explain," Goyle said anxiously, trying to defend himself, only to feel someone gently tugging at the hem of his robes. He looked back to see Crabbe, and also Chu Yang's playful smile.

In an instant, the hair on Goyle's body stood on end, as if an electric current were running through him. He still remembered Chu Yang's feat of taking down the entire first-year boys' dormitory by himself last night.

How many punches could he take?

Not even one!

"We are very sorry, Professor McGonagall! We promise it won't happen again!" Goyle quickly admitted his mistake and obediently shut his mouth.

Professor McGonagall froze for a moment; she was still waiting for his explanation...

"There will be no next time!" Professor McGonagall glared and said loudly, "Sit down!"

Goyle and Crabbe sat down immediately, but they couldn't focus on the lesson at all, squirming in their seats as if there were nails in the benches.

The reason they were like this was that their seats were directly in front of Chu Yang. Even without looking back, they could clearly feel a palpable gaze sweeping over them from behind.

The Slytherin girls had originally intended to ask Goyle and Crabbe for details, but the two of them were like statues in a hall—eyes fixed, motionless, remaining that way until the next class.

The Potions classroom was in the dungeons, not far from the entrance to the Slytherin common room. The long corridor leading to the classroom was dark and damp, and most of the new students wore expressions of fear.

The atmosphere here was far too eerie, placing considerable psychological pressure on a group of eleven-year-olds.

Hermione, who had intended not to speak to Chu Yang for the entire day, couldn't help but quicken her pace to move closer to his side.

Hermione gave a dry cough and said sarcastically, "The people in your house are quite something, making Professor McGonagall so angry on the very first day of school."

Chu Yang nodded noncommittally. "I also think they are quite something."

(End of Chapter)