The last of the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs shuffled into the Transfiguration classroom, filling the rows of desks with the usual clatter of chairs and the low hum of whispers.
The students stopped mid-conversation when they noticed that the Tabby has stood up and began to move, similarly the Dog likewise made it's move.
Before anyone could speak again, the cat leapt gracefully from the desk.
Flying through the air before her body elongated, limbs stretching, fur retracting, until Professor McGonagall stood in her robes, adjusting her spectacles as if nothing at all unusual had happened.
The entire room gasped.
A Ravenclaw boy's quill clattered to the floor.
A Hufflepuff girl actually squeaked.
McGonagall herself didn't so much as blink.
"Good morning, class," she said crisply. "Welcome to your first lesson in Transfiguration — the most exacting, and I daresay, the most dangerous branch of magic you will study during your time at Hogwarts."
Her voice cut through the air like a scalpel.
Then she turned, sharply, toward the front desk.
The dog was still sitting there.
Calm.
Patient.
Watching her.
McGonagall folded her arms, waiting — fully expecting the creature to twitch, to bark, to fumble.
In a vain attempt to change itself back into a human.
Only nothing happened.
It only tilted its head slightly, ears perking as if curious about why everyone was staring at it.
A ripple of murmurs spread through the classroom.
"Wait— that's not just a dog, is it?"
"Do you think it's a demonstration?"
"Looks real enough…"
McGonagall exhaled slowly through her nose, her sharp eyes never leaving the animal.
She had decided.
Brilliant though he might be, and son of her colleuge but still punishment was warranted, for she would need to intervene before his mind started slipping toward permanent beast consciousness.
"Before we begin today's lesson," she said, turning back to face the class, "I would like to remind you of certain prohibitions in Transfiguration. Some spells are simply not meant to be attempted without guidance and others — most notably, Human Transfiguration should never be attempted at all since they are... Forbidden."
The room went utterly silent.
McGonagall began to pace slowly, her words deliberate and firm.
"Human Transfiguration," she continued, "is the process of altering one's own form — or that of another — at the deepest level of magical structure. It is not the same as an Animagus transformation. Animagi are achieved through ritual and instinct, bonded to a singular form over months of discipline. But Human Transfiguration as a spell forces change upon the body and mind. When done, it strips away your human identity. A witch or wizard may become trapped within the instincts of the creature they become, losing all sense of having ever been a human beforehand."
Her voice grew quieter. "And once done... you cannot change back into a human without the aid of another to undo the spell. That or you die, at which point you will also revert back."
The class was rapt.
Every pair of eyes followed her, unease prickling down their spines.
She gestured toward the dog still standing at the front of the class.
"What you see here, class, is an example. A student who has, against all reason, performed such a spell upon himself."
Her tone clearly dripping with contempt for his ignorance.
"Though he is lucky to have retain most of his sense of self for now, given enough time that will change."
She turned again to face the Shibu Inu.
Its tail gave a small, almost polite wag.
Gasps filled the room.
A Hufflepuff girl whispered, "But can't you just— change him back?"
McGonagall gave her a tight nod. "Yes. In this room i presently would be the only one who could aid him, even if he left to find another teacher they likely would not know he was infact a human and not a pet."
She began to approach the dog, wand drawn but steady, her tone firm yet careful.
"Now, class, observe. When human transfiguration goes awry, intervention must be immediate, before—"
But before her wand could even rise, the Shibu Inu moved.
At first, it only stood — one graceful motion, tail wagging lazily.
Then, suddenly, it began to spin in place.
Once, twice, three times — a whirling blur of gold fur and shifting air.
A soft whoosh filled the room.
The air around him rippled, twisting into a miniature cyclone that rose like a column of dustless wind.
Gasps turned to outright shouts.
"Professor! He's—!"
"What's he doing?"
a shape began to rise — tall, human, radiant with thin threads of residual magic like sunlight caught in a storm.
Then, with the faintest sound — shfff — the whirlwind collapsed inward.
Cassius Snape stood where the dog had been, robes settling perfectly into place, wand sliding smoothly back into his grasp as if it had never left.
He gave a small, elegant bow. "Apologies for the delay, Professor."
For a heartbeat, the world seemed to stop.
McGonagall stared at him, utterly dumbfounded.
Even for her, it was rare to be so completely robbed of words.
The students' reactions were a chorus of awe.
"Bloody hell."
"He just— turned into wind and back again!"
"That wasn't even— that wasn't normal magic!"
Cassius stood calmly under the scrutiny, the faintest trace of amusement in his eyes.
His magic still hummed faintly in the air, the residue of transformation clinging to him like static.
McGonagall's lips pressed into a thin line.
She had quite literally just witnessed the impossible.
Never before had a subject transfigured into an animal managed to revert back to their human state without the counterspell from anothers hand.
And yet she had just witness a young man, a first year at that do just that!
"My Snape, would you care to share just how you managed to change back? As you know Animagi must be registered with the ministry."
Her inquisition began, as she sought the answer.
"Oh, well i'm still learning transfiguration and my spells at presently only last for at most twenty minutes before they always change back so, the time had just run out."
Run... run out?
But while that ran in line with Gamps law, Human Transfiguration was opposed to the Law, being a forbidden technique simply because of its dangers in not one person ever managing to revert without help, some going decades in animal form before dying only to finally be able to change back.
"So you're saying this is not an animagus transformation?"
"No Madam! I can turn into something else if you'd like for proof?"
Cassius offered since an animagus was indeed locked to only one form.
But since to do so would require him to remain in that state if not lying for 20 minutes McGonagal relented.
"Please find your seat Mr. Snape."