Chapter 268: Dumbledore's Transfiguration!
Lockhart had always held a clear understanding. When ancient wizardry was largely classified as Dark Arts by the modern magical system, leaving only a handful of spells like "Incendio" and "Expelliarmus" as acceptable dueling magic, the smartest approach was not to defend ancient wizardry by claiming "it's not so bad," or to secretly learn these powerful Dark Arts and keep one's abilities hidden.
In the field of magical dueling, the key to success in the current era was Transfiguration. Dumbledore was, without a doubt, the top master in this field. Grindelwald was not, and neither was Voldemort. Asking Dumbledore was the right call.
"Transfiguration, hmm," Dumbledore said, clearly appreciating Lockhart's choice. He offered some guidance. "The most crucial part of learning Transfiguration is to think about what you want the transfigured object to do, not just what you want it to become."
Lockhart seemed to be in deep thought. He knew how valuable Dumbledore's words were. There were countless paths in magic and countless books filled with knowledge, but even the most knowledgeable person could be lost without understanding the fundamental essence of the subject.
Seeing Lockhart pondering, Dumbledore continued, first gesturing to the wand in his hand. "Me!" He then pointed his wand at some decorative-looking reliefs on the wall beneath the portraits of former headmasters. "I'm going to go get something." Then he tapped his high-backed oak chair.
Instantly, he rose a significant distance and moved with a strange speed and wobbly gait around the office desk to a corner of the room. The legs of the chair had grown four furry animal paws. The short, stubby legs scampered along. When they reached the corner, the chair's back quickly unfurled a pair of large white wings, and a small wing also grew from the top of each of the four paws.
The chair then flew steadily up until Dumbledore could reach the relief. The relief was a carving of a former headmaster in his study. Dumbledore reached out and gently sank his hand into the carving, pulling a book from a bookshelf. After he took the book, the carved bookshelf in the relief was missing one book.
The chair flew again, circling the office desk to its original position and gently landing. The animal paws and wings disappeared. "Did you see that?" Dumbledore asked with a smile.
Lockhart nodded in sudden realization. "Transfiguration exists between 'self-will' and the 'achieved goal.' Transfiguration is the process, not the result!"
Dumbledore smiled and nodded with great satisfaction. "It seems you truly understand." He handed the book in his hand to Lockhart. "This is my summary of my understanding of Restoration. You must return it to me when you've finished it. This is a book I dedicated to Hogwarts."
Lockhart solemnly took it with both hands. "Thank you, Dumbledore."
Dumbledore's smile was kind. "I have one request. After you've studied it, I hope you will write down your own insights and contribute to Hogwarts's knowledge base as well."
"Of course," Lockhart said, finding the request completely reasonable.
Restoration was one of the five major categories of Transfiguration and was the solution to the other four categories. Simply put, it was the magic to undo and restore changes made by Transfiguration. To master Restoration, one needed a deep understanding of the other four categories of Transfiguration, making it an advanced subject.
These four categories were:
Transfiguration: Transfiguring a single object or a group of objects. For example, turning a group of people into sheep.
Conjugation: Transfiguring two or more objects. For example, turning Neville's ears into a cactus.
Vanishing Spells: Transfiguring something from existence to non-existence. For example, the "Scourgify" spell.
Summoning Spells: Transfiguring something from non-existence to existence. For example, the "Avis" spell.
Each of these could be extended into a vast field. The scope was so broad that it seemed the great wizards who created this field of study had the ambition to encompass all forms of witchcraft.
The scene of Transfiguration that made the deepest impression on Lockhart from his previous life was when Ron turned his pet rat into a teacup in class. This scene had become chillingly thought-provoking since he had truly entered the magical world. Ron's pet rat, Scabbers, was an Animagus: Peter Pettigrew!
In other words, a powerful wizard, through Animagus, became an animal. Then, a young wizard, with just a spell learned in class, turned this powerful wizard into a teacup. What was even more bizarre was that Ron did this under the watchful eye of Professor McGonagall. McGonagall was undoubtedly a powerful wizard and one of the best in Transfiguration.
Yet, she watched this Transfiguration happen without sensing Peter Pettigrew's presence. In this scenario, Peter Pettigrew's magical bloodline, his self-will, and his "social connection" all vanished! This was a realm of magic that Lockhart had not been able to explore on his own path of memory, time, magical bloodlines, and social connection.
From the moment he came up with the "Thunderstorm and Wildfire" spell, almost all of his subsequent spells had incorporated the concept of "social connection." But Transfiguration was so powerful that it completely erased that aspect. This made him all the more passionate about it.
So, while the outside world was in a frenzy and the students at school were excited about Voldemort's capture, Lockhart buried himself alone in the school library. He started from the very beginning with A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration.
He was quickly immersed in a wondrous new world. In this world, magic was no longer guided by self-will. Magic no longer followed the veins of magical bloodlines and the river of time. It no longer conformed to the laws of the universe, nature, or social connection.
It came alive!
Yes, Transfiguration was alive! Lockhart used to think that Transfiguration was all about self-will—that one had to have a very clear idea of what they wanted to transfigure in their mind, and then let magic help them do it. Professor McGonagall taught her students this way.
But Dumbledore said the most important thing was to have a clear self-will, to determine what you wanted to achieve, and then let Transfiguration help you do it. The will points the way, and then Transfiguration is allowed to develop freely. This was an outrageous magical philosophy because it transcended what Lockhart had previously considered to be the distinction between the "Spiritual School" and the "Academic School," miraculously merging the two into one.
Lockhart picked up the "Scourgify" spell again and tried to cast it with Dumbledore's philosophy. He then made a miraculous discovery: the effect of each "Scourgify" spell was different, but the result of each spell was highly consistent.
This was Dumbledore's Transfiguration!
Lockhart needed to experiment. He had a vague feeling that he was on the verge of discovering something crucial. He needed a test subject, preferably a large one. Hmm, maybe a house.
Lockhart rarely asked the Dueling Club students to help him with things that weren't related to their personal growth. This time, however, he specifically asked the young wizards for help. He had them find stones from all over the Forbidden Forest and build a stone cottage in an open space.
Building a house was not an easy task. It seemed that in the long history of wizards, they had neglected this area of magical study. Of course, it was also possible that the intentional madness of ancient witches and wizards made them not care about such things. In any case, after so many years of development from witchcraft to magic, building a house was still a very difficult thing to do. It couldn't be done directly with magic. Otherwise, the Weasley's Burrow wouldn't look the way it did.
Thankfully, the young wizards were indeed putting Professor Lockhart's magical philosophies into practice and treated building the house as a fairy-tale adventure. They were all thinking about how to use magic to do it better.
George and Fred modified a kind of candy they had invented, creating a pair of "Super Elastic Gummy Legs" and putting them on the stones, letting the stones hop to the place where the house was to be built. But this only worked for smaller stones.
Then Ron suggested that Harry cast "Expelliarmus" on the stones, since Harry had used that spell to send a ten-meter-long Quidditch pole flying. Unfortunately, it didn't work. Harry's spells always needed emotion and an enemy. Now, looking at the large stone in front of him, he couldn't get worked up no matter how he tried to hypnotize himself.
Finally, Hermione came up with a solution. She cast a Transfiguration spell to turn a large stone into a giant stone ball, and then had Harry and Ron push it while she kept casting Transfiguration spells on the ground to smooth the path. This method was clearly a success. All the young wizards watched as a huge stone ball rolled past them, and they were all amazed by the method. Several of them started to learn it. They felt especially proud when they passed by the Malfoy foursome.
Draco's face was sour. He looked at Crabbe. "You've been with the professor for so long, and you haven't learned any powerful magic?"
Crabbe scratched his head, looking a little simpleminded. "Yeah, I have. Soul Bonfire, you know."
Draco rolled his eyes. "I know that one. You taught it to me. But it doesn't solve the problem now! Damn it, we're being outdone by Hermione and them!" The thought of using Hermione's method to push a stone ball with Transfiguration—ha, he couldn't do it. He felt like he would be laughed at.
"Besides Soul Bonfire, haven't you learned anything else?" Draco asked, and quickly added, "Don't say 'Warm Healing.' That spell is useless too."
"Warm Healing" was a spell that only Crabbe knew among the Dueling Club members. It was a spell that required "baring one's heart and soul," just like Harry's Disarming Charm, and was taught by Lockhart by tapping into Crabbe's unique characteristics. No one else had the talent to do it. No one complained about this, as healing spells were an extremely advanced and niche subject, so it was normal not to know them. "I'm learning a third spell," Crabbe said, a little helplessly. "But it seems useless too."
"What spell?" Draco was curious. He was so jealous that Crabbe got to study with Professor Lockhart. This kind of opportunity to get guidance on one's magical path based on personal characteristics was something his father, Lucius, had been talking about trying to get for him.
"Vanish into Thin Air," Crabbe explained. "It's the first spell the professor taught everyone."
This was a spell that Lockhart had strongly recommended Dumbledore implement in the Defense Against the Dark Arts curriculum at the school. It was extremely practical.
Draco's expression suddenly became a little strange. "The professor only taught you that one?"
Lockhart didn't just teach him that spell. He had talked to Crabbe a lot about the advanced effects of casting this spell based on the foundation of "Soul Bonfire." But Crabbe was a doer, not a talker. It was easier to kill him than to make him remember those theories.
"Well, it's... it's..." He mumbled, gesturing with his hands, but in the end, he couldn't explain it clearly.
"What's it for? I mean, what can you do with this spell now?" Draco tried to get to the point.
"A plume of smoke!" Crabbe finally knew how to answer. "I can blow a pile of dust into a plume of smoke and make it go where I want."
Draco leaned back, completely baffled as to what that could be used for.
No! Wait! His eyes suddenly lit up. "A plume of smoke?"
"Yeah!" Crabbe nodded naively.
Then Draco looked at Goyle. "Confringo?"
Goyle nodded quickly. "I'm good at it."
The Blasting Curse was a subject in Charms class at Hogwarts. The spell sounded evil, and it was. It could be used to attack solid obstacles and to injure people. In the original book, Ginny used this spell to kill a Death Eater, and Ginny's mother used it to kill Bellatrix.
Draco then looked at Pansy. "Levitation Charm?"
Pansy excitedly waved her wand. "Of course!"
Almost every young wizard knew the Levitation Charm, but not every wizard could use it well. Just like how Ron could turn the Levitation Charm into a sword-riding technique, Pansy was also very good at this spell. Her special ability was making it particularly stable.
"Let's try it!"
Draco had Goyle cast the Blasting Curse on a large stone. A huge roar echoed through the Forbidden Forest, drawing the surrounding young wizards who were also trying to find a way to move the stones. As the Blasting Curse was cast, the huge stone exploded into a fan-shaped spray, shattering into a pile of fragments.
"Keep going!" Draco pulled out his wand. "Let's all do it." With that, he, Goyle, and Pansy joined in on the destruction of the stone. They didn't stop until it was all a pile of dust.
Then Draco had Crabbe cast "Vanish into Thin Air," which rolled up all the dust and small fragments from the stone on the ground. With the help of Pansy's Levitation Charm, they moved toward the place where the professor wanted to build the stone house.
When they arrived, the dust and fragments piled up, just in time to meet Hermione, Harry, and Ron, who had just arrived with the stone ball, sweating profusely. Hermione was pushing with them, encouraging the two little hangers-on to keep it up. "We're almost there, hurry!"
Then they saw Draco's foursome walk past them. They weren't moving very fast, either, because they also had to maintain the stability of their magic. Finally, when they reached their destination, Hermione cast a spell to lift the Transfiguration and turn the stone back to its original form.
Meanwhile, Draco was also waving his wand. After a moment's hesitation, he shouted the spell to try to enhance its effect.
"Reparo!"
The stone dust whirled and swirled, the small fragments shook, and then, as if time were rewinding, they quickly joined together, one by one, to form the original shape of the stone.
"Nice job, Draco!" Lockhart shouted happily.
The young wizards turned their heads and saw Professor Lockhart, Professor Lupin, and Professor Snape talking about something not far away. Of course, they were talking about Transfiguration. Lupin and Snape were both quite knowledgeable and capable in the subject.
Especially when it came to Animagus, even though they hadn't learned the spell themselves, they had a very deep understanding of it and their emotions were tied to it.
..........
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