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Chapter 610: Sirius Has Been Taken Away?
🕑 Added 2025-03-12 12:35:36 +0000 UTCKyle quickly came to understand why Sirius was so popular among the students at Hogwarts.
For the students, the duels Sirius offered—highly interactive and freeform—were far more exciting than sitting in a classroom and taking notes. These lessons also played to Sirius’ strengths. While his teaching ability wasn’t extraordinary, his skill and combat experience were impressive.
Among the sixth-year students, only five—excluding Kyle—managed to successfully knock Sirius off the platform. Most of the others, despite their enthusiasm and loud exclamations, lacked versatility and adaptability. A simple Shield Charm from Sirius was enough to maintain his dominance.
Still, even those who didn’t earn points left the class looking satisfied.
“That was fantastic. I like Professor Black—his classes are much more interesting than Professor Moody’s,” Mikel said as they exited the classroom. “Now that classes are over, do you want to play a couple of games of wizard chess?”
“I can’t,” Kyle replied with a shake of his head. “I have to attend the advanced Transfiguration class.”
“Oh, right,” Mikel said with a nod of understanding. “Of course you’d meet the requirements for that...”
By sixth year, the class schedule had undergone significant changes. Classes were now divided into two tiers: standard classes, similar to previous years, and advanced classes, also known as N.E.W.T. classes.
Advanced classes were held only once a week per subject but required students to meet specific O.W.L. score thresholds, functioning somewhat like exclusive clubs run by the professors.
Kyle and Kanna walked into the corridor, heading for Professor McGonagall’s classroom. Upon arriving, they found that only ten students had qualified for her advanced class.
In Hufflepuff, only Kyle and Kanna met the requirements. From Ravenclaw, there were three students, including Cho. Gryffindor and Slytherin contributed two and three students, respectively.
“Isn’t this a bit too small?” Cho whispered as they entered the large classroom. “This is the first time a Transfiguration Class has felt so empty.”
“There’s no helping it,” Kyle said with a shrug. “Professor McGonagall has the highest standards of any subject. Cedric told me last year’s class was just as small.”
“I wonder what she’ll teach us,” Cho said, her tone tinged with curiosity and excitement.
The answer came soon enough.
Professor McGonagall stood at the center of the room and announced calmly, “Today, we begin with Human Body Transfiguration. It is not the most difficult branch of Transfiguration, but it is the most dangerous.”
A collective silence fell over the room.
“This type of Transfiguration involves transforming parts of your own body. If the spell fails, or if there is an error, it’s not a matter of starting over—it’s a matter of being sent directly to the Hospital Wing.”
The weight of her words was clear, and everyone nodded gravely.
“Since all of you are advanced students,” McGonagall continued, “I have an additional requirement. Do not speak aloud. Instead, recite the incantation silently in your mind. This skill will be critical to earning your N.E.W.T. certification.”
The students exchanged uneasy glances but nodded again.
Professor Flitwick had mentioned something similar during the previous day’s Charms class, though he hadn’t expected his students to attempt silent casting until a month into the term. Here, however, Professor McGonagall demanded it from the very first lesson.
For many, sixth year was supposed to be easier than the grueling fifth year. But for those striving for multiple N.E.W.T.s, the workload only became heavier, with new challenges layered on top of old ones.
For this first lesson, McGonagall set a relatively simple task: transforming one’s hand into a small cactus.
Compared to animal Transfiguration, plant-based transformations were slightly easier, and by the end of class, everyone had succeeded.
Around the room, students marveled at their transformed hands, which now resembled cacti of varying shapes and sizes. The sight was oddly amusing.
One Ravenclaw girl went a step further, adding a Golden-banded Hydrangea to her cactus. While her effort was impressive, McGonagall gave no additional praise, pointing out that cacti do not naturally produce Golden-banded Hydrangeas.
As the class ended, most students packed up and left, but Kanna stayed behind to speak with Professor McGonagall.
Kyle waited outside the classroom for a few minutes. Eventually, Kanna emerged, walking alongside Professor McGonagall.
“Then it’s settled—every Tuesday and Friday at 6 p.m.,” Professor McGonagall said firmly, her gaze flicking to Kyle before settling on Kanna. “And remember, you have to find the classroom yourself. That’s our tradition, and it’s part of the test.”
“I understand,” Kanna replied.
After McGonagall departed, Kyle turned to Kanna, his curiosity evident. “What did she say to you?”
“She invited me to join the Transfiguration Club,” Kanna said, her smile bright and her tone tinged with excitement.
Kyle’s own smile grew. He knew how exclusive McGonagall’s Transfiguration Club was—there were only about a dozen members in the entire school, and he himself had joined in third year, making him one of the earliest members.
“If you ask me, Professor McGonagall should’ve invited you three years ago,” Kyle said, genuinely pleased. “Do you want me to give you a hint about finding the entrance to the classroom? It’s not easy to locate.”
“Absolutely not!” Kanna shook her head emphatically. “You heard what Professor McGonagall said—it’s part of the test. I don’t want to pass by cheating.”
She hesitated before adding, “If I really can’t find it, then… it probably means I’m not ready to join the club yet.”
“That’s not going to happen,” Kyle said with confidence. “You’ll find it, no problem.”
Kanna returned his smile, though her nervousness was still apparent.
“Is the Transfiguration Club like the advanced class we just had?” she asked as they made their way to the Great Hall. “Do you meet every week to learn harder material or talk about spellcasting tips?”
“That happens sometimes,” Kyle replied after a moment of thought. “For example, I was introduced to human body transformations back in fourth year because of the club."
“But more often, we focus on the extended applications of Transfiguration—like multiple transformations or partial transformations. Those topics aren’t covered in the textbooks.”
“Really?” Kanna said, nodding thoughtfully. “That’s completely different from the Potions Club.”
“What’s the Potions Club like?” Kyle asked.
He hadn’t joined the Potions Club, nor had Snape ever invited him.
“The Potions Club is more straightforward,” Kanna explained. “Professor Snape teaches us special ways of handling potion ingredients that aren’t in the books, but make things much easier."
“He also lets us brew advanced potions—about two years ahead of the regular curriculum.”
“Interesting,” Kyle remarked.
“You’ll see for yourself soon,” Kanna added. “I remember some older students mentioning that the Potions Club is quite similar to the advanced potions class on our timetables.”
“Oh?” Kyle raised an eyebrow.
His schedule did indeed include an advanced potions class next Monday, though he had initially thought Snape would refuse him entry since he hadn’t completed the OWL. If the class was just about learning new techniques for handling ingredients, Kyle felt confident—he already knew most of those methods.
As they chatted, the two reached the Hufflepuff table and sat down for lunch.
While eating, Kyle overheard a conversation between a group of fifth-year students seated nearby.
“Why do you think the Ministry of Magic is after Professor Black?” one of them asked.
“I heard it’s because someone got hurt in his class,” another replied.
“But didn’t he give us a warning? Why didn’t the Ministry come after him last year?”
“I don’t know.”
