In the afternoon, the Gryffindor first-years had Transfiguration with the Ravenclaws.
Before anything began, Professor McGonagall delivered a stern warning, her expression hard as steel:
"Transfiguration is the most complex and dangerous branch of magic you will learn at Hogwarts. Anyone who dares to fool around in my classroom will be asked to leave—and will not be permitted to return."
Her strict tone, combined with the severe look on her face, immediately cowed the eleven-year-olds. The room fell silent in an instant.
In truth, Professor McGonagall's teaching style wasn't all that different from Professor Flitwick's. She demonstrated by turning the desk into a pig and then back again.
The display seized everyone's attention. The students were itching to try it themselves.
Those who had just come from Charms, however, understood perfectly well that it would take ages before they could transfigure furniture into animals.
As expected, after class started, Professor McGonagall launched into Deformation Theory, and the students quickly filled pages of notes with complicated principles.
Albert opened his skill list, and sure enough, "Deformation Theory" had appeared. He quietly spent 98 experience points to raise it to Level 1.
He kept his eyes on A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration, pretending to study diligently, while in reality reviewing the newly acquired theoretical knowledge in his mind.
Once the explanation ended, Professor McGonagall handed each student a matchstick and instructed them to attempt turning it into a needle.
"Mr. Anderson?"
Her voice cut through Albert's thoughts. Professor McGonagall was watching him with a slight frown. She remembered him well—after all, very few people dismantled her office door, and it hadn't been that long ago.
"Uh… Professor? Is something wrong?" Albert blinked rapidly, feigning confusion.
"Everyone else is attempting the spell. Why aren't you?" Her gaze shifted briefly toward Fred. "Mr. Weasley, if I were you, I would concentrate before casting."
Fred looked thoroughly innocent, but McGonagall's presence alone was enough to make anyone nervous.
Albert glanced at Fred, then began speaking nonsense with a straight face. "I just feel it's important to review some steps before waving my wand."
But McGonagall didn't move on. Instead, she fixed her eyes on Albert, clearly expecting to see him cast the spell.
"Ahem." Albert raised his wand, pointed it at the matchstick, and incanted, "Vera Verto."
The matchstick shimmered and elongated, transforming into a slender silver needle.
"Excellent. Everyone, look—Mr. Anderson has succeeded." McGonagall held up the needle for the class to see, gave Albert a rare smile, and awarded Gryffindor five points before moving on.
"I knew this wouldn't be hard for you," Fred said, examining the needle. "Come on—how'd you do it? Any tricks?"
A few students nearby leaned closer, trying to eavesdrop.
Albert whispered, "Didn't McGonagall tell us to take notes? The trick's written right there."
Everyone instantly began flipping frantically through their notebooks.
"You expect me to believe that?" Fred gave him a look of pure disbelief.
He didn't press further, though—Professor McGonagall was circling back.
A few minutes later, she announced, "Look, Miss MacDougall's matchstick has changed as well."
"Transfiguration is so difficult," Katrina muttered, turning to Albert again—she somehow always ended up sitting beside him. "How did you manage it on the first try?"
"First try?" Albert coughed lightly. "Actually, I practiced before. That's the only reason I succeeded."
He wasn't about to reveal his real secret. Being labeled a genius was inconvenient.
"Failure is normal," he added. "I don't remember how many times I failed before managing to turn a matchstick into a needle."
He raised his voice slightly for the benefit of the eavesdroppers. "And the notes McGonagall made us write earlier are key."
Katrina easily guessed the truth. After all, no one realistically succeeded on their first attempt. The reason her own matchstick had changed was because she had practiced beforehand as well.
For the rest of the class, everyone continued trying to transform their matchsticks. McGonagall moved around the room, offering guidance.
But for Albert, who had already succeeded, the remaining time was dull. He needed something to keep busy without looking idle under McGonagall's watchful eye.
"Reparifarge!"
The silver needle reverted back into a matchstick. McGonagall had taught the spell earlier, and the textbook had explained it too. Incomplete transfiguration was hard to fix, but Reparifarge forced an object or creature back to its original state.
Propping his chin with one hand, Albert used his wand with the other, transfiguring the matchstick into various strange shapes. He always used Vera Verto, and the closer the new form was to the original, the easier it was.
Then he would restore it again, building experience with Reparifarge.
"How did you do that?" Fred gaped at him.
Albert's Transfiguration was on a completely different level.
"Like this." Albert pointed his wand at a button. It twisted and reshaped into a tiny toy mouse.
"Just like McGonagall said—clean and precise wand movements, picture the final form clearly, and pronounce the incantation accurately."
The twins exchanged a look. No matter how they tried to imitate him, by the end of class neither had managed to make their matchsticks change at all.
In fact, aside from Albert and Katrina, no one had succeeded.
Albert wasn't surprised.
As someone who had been through this before, he understood exactly how difficult Transfiguration was. Expecting a transformation after a few days of effort was naïve—no one's natural talent was that extraordinary.
The first successful transformation was always the hardest. Once a student broke through that barrier, everything afterward became far easier.
The homework for Transfiguration was similar to Charms: practice turning a matchstick into a needle.
Whether anyone would actually practice was another matter entirely.
From A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration, it seemed that first-year students only learned this one type of basic spell—the only variations being the size and type of object they applied it to.