Chapter 198: The Metaphysics of Transfiguration
Friday of the first week back.
The second-floor Transfiguration classroom was laid out in its usual neat rows. A small box of matches sat on every desk.
Slytherin took the left side. Ravenclaw took the right. The two houses kept their distance, though without the usual edge that came with sharing a room with Gryffindor.
Ravenclaws were mostly too busy with their own business to care about petty rivalry.
Professor McGonagall stood behind the lectern, ramrod straight, severe as ever, hair pinned back tight. The dim light flashed against her glasses.
She waited until everyone was seated. Quiet followed.
"Second-year Transfiguration moves beyond the basics and into the transformation of material states. In your first year, you learned to turn one inanimate object into another. Matches into needles. That was only the beginning."
Her expression didn't shift.
"This term, you will study Untransfiguration. Today's exercise is simple enough. Turn the match on your desk into a needle, and then turn the needle back into a match."