That afternoon, in Professor McGonagall's office, the air was thick with the scent of old parchment and a new, electric tension. The Transfiguration mistress sat behind her desk, mountains of books and notes on advanced human transfiguration piled high around her. She looked up as Zhang Ming entered, her stern expression softened by a rare, almost vulnerable, look of intense curiosity.
"Zhang Ming. Thank you for coming. Please, sit."
"Professor. You wished to see me?"
McGonagall took a deep, steadying breath, as if preparing to admit a deeply held secret. "Zhang Ming, after your demonstration this morning... I have a request." She leaned forward, her eyes burning with a fierce, scholarly light. "I want you to teach me."
Zhang Ming raised an eyebrow. "Teach you, Professor?"
"True material transmutation," she stated, her voice firm. "What you demonstrated wasn't Transfiguration. It was... alchemy of the highest order. I have dedicated my life to this art, and today you showed me I have been... skimming the surface. I wish to understand the depths. I wish to learn. Properly."
Zhang Ming regarded the proud, formidable witch. For her to set aside decades of expertise and ask to be a student again spoke volumes about her character. "The honor would be mine, Professor. But you misunderstand. You are not a novice. You are a master of form and function. What I offer is not a replacement, but an extension. A new set of tools. Perhaps we can agree on an exchange? You share the profound intricacies of human and animal transfiguration—the art of the Animagus. And I will share the principles of atomic-level transmutation."
McGonagall's eyes widened slightly. A trade. Not student and teacher, but peers. It was a gesture of immense respect. "An exchange," she agreed, a genuine smile touching her lips. "That is... more than fair."
For the next two hours, the office became a laboratory of ideas. Zhang Ming explained the theory: atoms, chemical bonds, crystal lattices. He used shimmering holograms to illustrate how his 'spiritual sense' and 'true essence' could disassemble and reassemble matter at a fundamental level, contrasting it with standard Transfiguration's 'form memory' magic, which merely reshaped existing material.
"So the instability... it's because the underlying bonds remain unchanged," McGonagall murmured, a world of understanding dawning in her eyes. "We are rearranging furniture in a house, but you... you are rebuilding the house itself with better bricks."
"Precisely," Zhang Ming nodded, impressed. "Now, the practical application requires three things: sufficient energy to break bonds, precise control to guide recombination, and stable energy to maintain the new structure."
"Which standard magic lacks the finesse for," she concluded.
"Correct. But spiritual energy does not."
He then guided her through the first steps. Despite her age, Minerva McGonagall was a witch of formidable will and intellect. Within thirty minutes, she had achieved a basic 'Internal Vision', gasping as she perceived the flow of her own magic as a "river of warm light." Within the hour, she managed a rudimentary 'spiritual projection', a faint emerald glow flickering around her hand.
"Merlin's beard... I can feel it! The texture of the magic itself!" she whispered, awe-struck.
Zhang Ming had her practice on a simple matchstick, using her newfound sense to feel the wooden fibers, the moisture, the bonds between them. The first few attempts ended with snapped matches, but soon, she was able to gently 'nudge' a single fiber without breaking it. The progress was astonishing.
"With a week of practice," Zhang Ming estimated, "you could attempt a basic transmutation. Lead to tin, perhaps."
"A week?" McGonagall looked stunned. "The Animagus transformation takes years, with immense risk!"
"Which brings me to my part of the exchange," Zhang Ming said. "The Animagus transformation. From my perspective, it is a brilliant but dangerously crude bio-transmutation. It alters the body's physical form down to the DNA level but relies on intuition to maintain soul-body synchronization. The failure rate is unacceptably high."
He paced slightly. "But with spiritual sense, the entire process could be monitored and guided with precision. The risks would plummet. Furthermore, the principles could be expanded. Why stop at animals? The 'Seventy-two Transformations' of my tradition speak of shifting into plants, minerals, even elements, while retaining or gaining attributes of the form."
McGonagall sat in stunned silence. The idea was heretical. And yet, after what she had just experienced, utterly compelling. "You are speaking of... rewriting the laws of magic as we know them."
"I am speaking of understanding them more deeply," Zhang Ming corrected gently. "Would you be willing to collaborate? To combine the wisdom of the Animagus ritual with the safety and precision of cultivation techniques? We could create a new, safe standard."
The Transfiguration mistress looked at him, her expression a mixture of terror and exhilaration. "Yes," she said, her voice firm with decision. "Yes, I will. It would be the most important work of my life."
[New Quest: The New Animagus Project]
[Collaborator: Minerva McGonagall]
[Objective: Develop a safe, reliable, enhanced transformation technique.]
[Potential Reward: Revolutionary breakthrough in Transfiguration.]
As Zhang Ming left the office, a sense of profound satisfaction settled over him. The alliance with McGonagall was a major step. But it was short-lived.
[ALERT!]
[High-Level Hostile Intent Detected!]
[Distance: 500 meters. Closing.]
[Subjects: 3. Magical Signature: Malignant. Combat-rated.]
[Assessment: Professional Hit Wizards. Target: Host.]
Lucius moves fast,Zhang Ming thought coldly. He didn't even wait a day.
The three figures were skulking at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, masked and cloaked. His spiritual sense scanned them effortlessly.
[Suggestion: Notify Headmaster. Leverage institutional security.]
[Suggestion: Neutralize threats with extreme prejudice. Send a message.]
[Suggestion: Capture and interrogate. Gather intelligence.]
Option Three,Zhang Ming decided. Live bait is more useful than dead bodies. And I want names.
He didn't alter his course, walking calmly towards a deserted courtyard—a perfect ambush spot. The hit-wizards took the bait, moving to intercept.
The attack was professional. Three Stunning Spells shot from different angles, perfectly timed to leave no room for dodging.
Zhang Ming didn't dodge. He simply raised a hand. The spells froze in mid-air a foot from his body, their red light shimmering against an invisible barrier, before fizzling into nothingness.
The lead hit-wizard's eyes widened in shock. "Wandless! Wordless! Im—"
He didn't get to finish. With a flick of his wrist, Zhang Ming sent the spells screaming back at their casters with triple the force. The three wizards were thrown off their feet, slamming into the stone walls. Two were Petrified; one was knocked unconscious.
"Lucius sent amateurs," Zhang Ming said, his voice echoing in the sudden silence. He walked over to them, his spiritual pressure crushing their magical cores, rendering them helpless. He revived the conscious ones.
"Who hired you?" he asked the leader, his voice calm.
The wizard spat a curse. Zhang Ming didn't bother with veritaserum. He placed a hand on the man's forehead.
[Technique: Soul-Searching Glance - Activated.]
It was a brutal, invasive technique, frowned upon by righteous cultivators. But for would-be assassins, he had no qualms. The man screamed as his memories were forcibly ripped open.
'Lucius Malfoy... 5,000 Galleons... make it look like an accident... if we fail... he's hired others... Death Eater remnants... mercenaries from the black market... even a contact inside the Ministry...'
The plot was thicker than he'd expected. Lucius was pulling out all the stops.
Instead of killing them, Zhang Ming bound them in enchanted vines and etched a tiny, invisible tracking rune onto each of their foreheads.
[Tracking Runes Active: Permanent. Undetectable by standard magical means.]
"Go back to your master," Zhang Ming commanded, releasing them. "Tell him his plan failed. And tell him... the next time he sends pests, I will not be so lenient. I will return them to him... in pieces."
The wizards scrambled away in terror, apparating the moment they were clear of the grounds.
[Tracking Data: Targets moving at high speed. Vector: Wiltshire. Estimated Destination: Malfoy Manor.]
Perfect,Zhang Ming thought. Now I have a direct line to the snake's nest.
"An elegant solution," a calm voice said from the shadows. Albus Dumbledore stepped out, sucking on a lemon drop. "I received a warning from Kingsley and thought I should observe. It seems my concern was, once again, unnecessary. The tracking runes are a masterstroke."
"Headmaster. I apologize for the unauthorized dueling on school grounds."
Dumbledore waved a dismissive hand. "You were provoked. And you showed remarkable restraint. Live intelligence is far more valuable than corpses. This gives us a chance to unravel Lucius's entire network."
"Then you'll support a... proactive response?" Zhang Ming asked.
"Lucius has overreached," Dumbledore said, his blue eyes turning cold. "Attempting to assassinate a student on Hogwarts grounds? Hiring Dark mercenaries? This is an act of war. I will contact the Order. And Kingsley. It is time to clean house. The Malfoy family's influence ends now."
Together, they walked back towards the lit castle, a pact formed under the cover of darkness. The hunt for Lucius Malfoy had begun.