"Huh?"
Jones let out a strange yelp and looked at the Slytherin boy with a goofy expression. "No wonder you're top of the year, Avery. So impressive!"
Avery coughed lightly.
He wasn't great at dealing with people this straightforward. The usual look of disdain faded from his face as he awkwardly turned his head away.
"There's no need for you to say something that obvious."
Here we go again… The Ravenclaw girl frowned. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but something about those two felt oddly off.
She shook her head and turned her attention back to Professor McGonagall, who had raised her wand.
"Watch carefully. If you simply cast Transfiguration on yourself, this is what will happen," said Professor McGonagall, tapping herself with her wand.
In the next moment—
Her body lowered, and she transformed instantly into a tabby cat sitting calmly on the round table.
"Cool!" Jones let out a whistle instinctively, but remembering it was his Head of House, he quickly covered his mouth with an awkward laugh.
The Ravenclaw girl rolled her eyes and mimicked the Slytherin boy's reaction: "Idiot."
In less than five minutes, Professor McGonagall had transformed back into her usual self.
"Casting Transfiguration on oneself doesn't last either."
"Even though it avoids magical resistance, the transformation is still maintained only by the magic used during the incantation."
She paid no mind to the overly excitable student from her house and patiently continued her explanation.
Dawn snapped out of his daze. What came next was what he had been most curious about.
Professor McGonagall didn't keep them in suspense. "The key to Animagus achieving permanent transformation lies in ritual magic."
"Ritual magic?" It seemed to be the first time Jones had heard this obscure term.
"That's right."
Professor McGonagall retrieved some handouts and began distributing them.
"Before we begin the explanation, let me ask you all: when you cast spells, have you ever categorized them in any way?"
The three students exchanged glances.
Avery raised his hand. "Dark magic and light magic?"
"Oh, of course," Professor McGonagall nodded, then turned to the others. "Anything else?"
Jones lowered his head and scratched his messy hair, trying to look like he was thinking seriously.
The Ravenclaw girl thought for a moment. "Magic that affects the body and magic that affects the soul?"
Professor McGonagall nodded again and followed up with another question. "Anything more?"
Seeing no other replies, she turned to the quiet boy who hadn't spoken yet.
"Dawn, do you have any thoughts? Don't be afraid to be wrong. This club is a place for bold discussion!"
"…There's also the matter of how long a spell lasts," Dawn said, thinking of the questions that had come to him since awakening his insight ability.
Professor McGonagall raised her eyebrows in surprise and gave him a rare word of praise. "Very sharp, Mr. Richter!"
Jones scratched his backside awkwardly.
Looking left and right and seeing no one else respond, he shamelessly asked, "Ahem, Professor, what does that mean?"
Professor McGonagall didn't answer but looked at Dawn encouragingly.
Dawn stood up and explained:
"For example, spells like Transfiguration or the Levitation Charm lose their effect once the magic dissipates."
"But spells like the Fidelius Charm can last indefinitely as long as their conditions aren't violated."
"Whoa! That makes a lot of sense!" Jones shouted in sudden realization. "I've never noticed that… but why is that?"
Dawn shrugged and looked to Professor McGonagall.
"There are many theories," she said. "Each wizard has their own guess. If you're interested, you can find more information in the library."
She didn't give a definitive answer but continued,
"However, in their research, wizards discovered that through certain objects or conditions—"
"For example, magic that requires secrecy or oaths of non-harm—so long as those conditions are not broken, the effects can be nearly permanent."
*Patter patter!*
Rain tapped against the windows.
Professor McGonagall raised her voice to be heard over the growing downpour outside.
"Just like Mr. Richter mentioned with the Fidelius Charm, there are also Unbreakable Vows, blood pacts, and so on."
"These types of spells, which require specific conditions, are collectively called ritual magic. It's a lesser-known category in spell theory… and not something typically taught in our school."
Jones thought for a moment and asked a question that Dawn had also been wondering. "But Professor, spells like the Blasting Curse don't need any ritual, yet their effects are permanent, right?"
"No, that's not the right way to look at it."
Professor McGonagall shook her head. "We're not talking about the result, but the process. The Blasting Curse only produces a single, immediate blast."
The three sixth-year students nodded thoughtfully. "So, Animagus is essentially a form of Transfiguration mixed with ritual magic?"
"Exactly." Professor McGonagall confirmed with a nod.
Dawn rested his elbow on the table and furrowed his brows.
Why could Animagus achieve permanent transformation? Professor McGonagall's answer was: because of ritual magic.
He wasn't surprised by the existence of ritual magic—after all, the complex steps involved in becoming an Animagus had already led him to suspect as much.
But the real question was: why does ritual magic allow for permanence?
He had searched the library before, but just as the professor said, ritual magic was too obscure. The information was scattered across various books.
That's why he had started by reading about Transfiguration.
For the first time, Dawn raised his hand voluntarily and asked the question out loud.
Professor McGonagall answered honestly, shaking her head.
"There's no consensus in the magical world at the moment. But we can discuss the leading theories."
"The first theory is that the difference comes from how deeply wizards use their magic."
"The depth of usage?" Jones blinked, ready to play his usual role as comic relief.
"Yes."
Seeing four puzzled faces, Professor McGonagall gestured for them to look at the materials in their hands.
"Spells driven by thought and magic activated through specific steps and conditions may look similar—but they're different."
"Some wizards theorize—"
"When casting most spells, the thought behind them is only temporary. So the magic driven by that fleeting thought can only produce temporary effects."
"But a ritual takes that fleeting thought and turns it into a long-term binding. As long as the conditions are upheld, the magic continues to be channeled and sustained."
'A binding…'
Dawn rested his elbow on the table and half-lowered his gaze.
This explanation made sense for spells like the Fidelius Charm. The secrecy requirement could be seen as a persistent intent.
But when he thought of other rituals from the original works—
The soul-splitting magic used to create Horcruxes through murder seemed less about "intent" and more focused on the ritual process.
And when Voldemort returned, he used the bone of his father, the flesh of a servant, and the blood of an enemy. That ritual wasn't about intent or permanent effect—it was something else entirely.
Also, this theory didn't quite sit right with the Animagus ritual. It felt like it made sense… and yet didn't.
Dawn scratched his hair in frustration.
Something was off!
The more he thought about it, the more that elegant and simple understanding of magic he once had began to feel increasingly chaotic.
First came Runes. Now there was this ritual magic? Dawn felt a bit overwhelmed.
Professor McGonagall paused and began, "The second theory—"
*BOOM—!*
A bolt of lightning flashed.
The deafening crack of thunder swallowed her words completely.
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