"It's okay, Mom, I don't need any gifts. I hope Santa Claus can give them to you when the time comes."
Dylan looked at his hesitant parents and tried to comfort them.
After all, he had the golden finger, and admission to Hogwarts was a sure thing.
He was anxious to confirm whether the owl had taken the letter, and he also wanted to go to Diagon Alley as soon as possible.
"Oh my God, my baby is so cute!" Maeve was moved.
She must save money to buy her son a decent gift by Christmas!
Just when Hubert was about to say something to comfort his son.
Suddenly, there was a sound of knocking on the window glass.
They looked back and saw an owl standing outside the window, tilting its head, staring at the letter on the table.
"An owl?" Maeve exclaimed. "Is it here for the mail?"
"Knock knock!"
Seeing the men still didn't open the window, the owl pecked at it again, a crisp sound resembling a knock on the door.
"Hubert, open the window quickly!" Maeve seemed even more anxious than Dylan.
Just as Hubert reached out to open the window, the owl outside didn't fly away. Instead, it hopped in, its talons resting on the envelope.
"Knock knock!"
Just then, another polite knock sounded at the door.
The three of them exchanged a glance, then all looked toward the door.
Hubert and Maeve were filled with trepidation.
Dylan, however, stood up and strode toward the door, taking a deep breath.
Which professor could this be?
"Click!"
The door opened.
Dylan looked up, the first thing that caught his eye was a figure in a dark green robe.
Slowly shifting his gaze upward, he caught sight of the somewhat stern face of a middle-aged woman wearing square glasses.
"Nice to meet you. Sorry to bother you. I couldn't find the doorbell, so I had to knock."
Dylan: "…"
He curled his lips. "No problem. May I ask who you are?"
"Hello, Mr. Hawkwood. I received your reply. I'm Minerva McGonagall, the Transfiguration professor at Hogwarts."
Seeing Dylan, Professor McGonagall's eyes softened slightly, but then a strange glint crossed their faces.
Was it her imagination?
Why did she feel as if she sensed the presence of magic on this young wizard?
"Hello, Professor McGonagall, nice to meet you. I'm Dylan Hawkwood. Please, please come in."
Dylan thought he could hold his composure, but upon meeting Professor McGonagall, he felt a surge of emotion, even struggling to speak.
It wasn't just the excitement of seeing someone familiar, but also the nervousness of facing a master of magic while possessing the three Unforgivable Curses.
Fortunately, Professor McGonagall seemed accustomed to Dylan's reaction and didn't observe him for long. She followed him into the house, smiling and greeting Hubert and Maeve.
"Professor McGonagall? To be honest, we're still a little uneasy about this whole magic thing..." Hubert couldn't help but speak after inviting the elegantly dressed professor to a seat.
"Of course, I completely understand. That's one of the reasons I came here,"
Professor McGonagall said with a natural and gentle smile. "In fact, if Mr. Hawkwood doesn't reply, the school will also send professors to lead young wizards from Muggle families to Diagon Alley a few days before the start of the term."
As she spoke, she took out her wand and gently waved it.
In the blink of an eye, a notebook on the table transformed into a ticking alarm clock.
"Ding ding ding!" The alarm clock suddenly rang, and Dylan couldn't help but turn it off.
Hubert and Maeve witnessed this incredible scene and were convinced that magic really existed!
Dylan was also a little surprised. After turning off the alarm clock, he looked up and said, "Professor McGonagall, is this the Transfiguration spell you will teach me later?"
"Yes, you will learn it after you enter school," Professor McGonagall replied.
"Can the Transfiguration spell transform living beings? Should these living beings be real life, or are they illusions without any real meaning?" Dylan asked.
Professor McGonagall's eyes flashed with surprise, and she studied Dylan for a moment. "Magic can't truly change the essential form of a living being, but it can attempt to influence it."
"So, this alarm clock may look like an alarm clock, but it's actually just a notebook?" Dylan blinked.
"That's understandable," Professor McGonagall nodded.
"But why does it ring?" Dylan asked.
"Because that's what an alarm clock can do," Professor McGonagall replied.
"What can be done?" Dylan wasn't quite sure. "Could you please explain it in detail, Professor?"
"The essence of Transfiguration is the combined effect of consciousness and magic. I hope it can become an alarm clock that can remind me next time, so it can make a sound, which is also the function of an alarm clock."
Professor McGonagall frowned slightly. "Actually, I should explain this part slowly after you start school."
"Since you're interested, I can explain it briefly."
"The essence of the Transfiguration spell requires you to have sufficient knowledge of the object, whether it's living or dead. Otherwise, the object you transform into will be superficial and not real."
"If you want to transform a living thing, you even need to consider its natural reactions, that is, its habits."
"Magic is the foundation for transformation, and consciousness is the key to whether you can complete the transformation."
Consciousness and magic?
Dylan has lived two lives and has seen a lot.
Now he bears the three maximum-level Unforgivable Curses.
He easily grasped Professor McGonagall's meaning.
In fact, consciousness is like a piece of music, and magic is like various instruments.
The process of casting a spell can be thought of as playing a designated piece of music.
The wand and the spell can be interpreted as the central conductor.
If the score is wrong, the performance will naturally fail.
If the instrument is damaged, the performance will be flawed.
Just like Professor McGonagall turned the notebook into an alarm clock.
The idea of "transformation" is the music score.
The difficulty of transformation lies in how to play the song according to the music score when the instrument is intact.
In practice, when casting the Transfiguration Spell, the more complete the image of the alarm clock in your mind, the more perfect its functions will be, and the alarm clock will naturally be able to make sounds.
If you only think of the shape of an alarm clock, it will naturally only have a shell, and it will not produce any "effects."
(End of this chapter)