Gamp's Basic Transformation Rules

The answer was "no." If Edmund hadn't been staring at Professor McGonagall with eyes exactly like Dumbledore's, eager to see her way in, she might have already deducted points from Slytherin's score.

"We never use Transfiguration on students, Mr. Soman. We don't even use it as punishment! It's not funny, because you'll suffer terribly, and if you're not skilled enough, you'll have a hard time undoing the spell."

"Sohman, I hope you can control your curiosity and not always put yourself in danger."

Edmund hadn't expected this to lead to such a lecture, so he immediately admitted his mistake and nodded obediently. Even so, Professor McGonagall still glared at him several times.

To be honest, this is quite interesting. Ever since the Genie merged with Edmund, his favorite and most cherished human has been his mother, Elena. And just now, Professor McGonagall's disappointed attitude subtly reminded Edmund of his mother.

Well, Professor McGonagall might be more like an exceptionally strict grandmother, but Edmund really took it to heart. Instead of getting angry, he straightened his attitude and turned the blue crayon into a needle.

He was indeed very talented. Thinking of Edmund Soman's background, Professor McGonagall relaxed her shoulders and sighed inwardly.

Edmund wasn't the only one with talent. Perhaps because he was particularly interested in the course taught by his own headmaster, James Potter was also very serious. He was only slightly slower than Edmund, but he made the match in front of him thinner and thinner, until the final product was practically perfect, except for lacking the metallic sheen.

The lion immediately beamed with joy, picking up the finished product and playing with it. Its exaggerated movements clearly indicated it wanted everyone around it to know it had succeeded first.

This angered Sirius Black, who kicked him in frustration, and also caught the attention of Lily Evans.

The little witch had tied her red hair into a cute little ponytail today. She frowned, staring somewhat resentfully at the needle in James's hand. She hesitated for a moment, then turned away without asking him, continuing to work on her matchstick, which had only become sharp at one end.

Indeed, not everyone is good at Transfiguration. By the end of the lesson, only Edmund and James had actually managed to turn a match into a needle. Even so, Professor McGonagall emphasized, "You all did a good job," seemingly quite satisfied with the result.

Judging from the ease with which her brow relaxed, Edmund suspected that the overall quality of his class of young wizards was indeed very high. Even Lily, who had only made the end of her matchstick point, received a half-smile.

As soon as get out of class ended, James, as if he had finally found an opportunity, hurriedly passed by the little wizard in red and green and slammed the needle onto Edmund's desk.

To be precise, it wasn't a needle, but something that was thin and pointed at the top, but thickened and changed color towards the middle, with a dull gray bottom, and vaguely resembling the shape of a crayon.

"Do you have a trick up your sleeve, Ed?" James poked the failed attempt with his wand. "Don't tell me you're more talented than me; I don't think it's that hard."

"He's really rude," Edmund grinned.

"It wasn't that difficult, but you still couldn't do it... Oh, poor James."

Poor James reached out and nudged him, but Edmund dodged it with a grin.

"Since you've successfully turned a match into a needle, I think turning a needle into a crayon—logically speaking—isn't really that difficult."

Sirius walked over, frowning, whether from being too close to Slytherin or from failing to transform successfully, it was unclear. In any case, he didn't seem very happy.

Pollyanna sat beside Edmund, listening intently; Travers was clearly uneasy, though he really didn't want to get involved with these Gryffindor students. Yet, he desperately hoped to extract as much benefit as possible from Edmund.

What a strange little group. The only thing they had in common was that their eyes were all fixed on the needle Edmund was holding.

Edmund liked the feeling; he liked being the center of attention. With a smile, Edmund recited the incantation, and the needle slowly transformed into a crayon.

"..." James looked unconvinced. "Fine, but I still don't understand."

He tried casting the spell again, and this time it was much better than before. His crayons looked more like crayons than before, and the colors had changed.

"Oh, Gryffindor red." Edmund found it amusing. "Seriously, you British wizards are far too obsessed with academic honor; it makes me very uncomfortable."

The two Slytherin students next to him shifted uncomfortably.

"However, I think I've figured out your problem, James."

"But have you figured out what you'll use to bribe me? -- Oh, don't look at me like that, I was just joking!"

This scene was indeed funny. Before James could react, Sirius Black frowned for him.

This little Black is really extreme. If Edmund were to say, he's exactly like his cousin Narcissa—both arrogant to the point of being haughty. The only difference is that one is a typical Slytherin, while the other utterly despises the Slytherin way.

This is interesting; if used properly, we might be able to leverage their personality traits to do something.

"Let me ask you a question first, James. Did you play with crayons when you were a kid?"

James replied quickly: "Of course not. Well, okay, maybe I have a few sets at home, but I don't like painting. I'm not a girl, I don't want to sit there quietly and depict the flowers and plants in front of me."

After he finished speaking, he made an exaggerated "vomiting" face, which amused the several boys who gathered around him.

Edmund admired his ability to say such things in front of a girl, and therefore did not intend to respond.

"That's it, James. How can you conjure crayons if you don't even understand them?"

Lily Evans, who was deliberately packing slowly and not moving closer, couldn't help but look up:

"This is one of Gamp's basic transformation laws: we cannot create the unknown."

The little witch walked towards Edmund, seemingly unaware that she had become a "celebrity." Even as her classmates in green robes showed strange expressions and wrinkled their noses in disgust, she remained composed.

"Perhaps you could try transforming into something else, Potter. You're very good at Transfiguration. If it's something you're familiar with, you should be able to do it quickly."

Lily didn't seem to realize that this was a rather sincere encouragement; after she finished speaking, she walked toward Snape.

James paused for a moment before giving her a barely perfunctory "Oh, oh!" Lily didn't pay much attention to his reaction, turning to whisper a few words to Snape before they walked together.

Snape's expression improved as they talked, and he even smiled a little.

The two men quickly walked away, unaware that James had successfully transformed the needle into an antique key.

Just like Lily said, he succeeded immediately when he became familiar with something.

"That's great, James!" Sirius laughed and patted James on the shoulder. But James himself didn't show any smugness.

He glanced towards the doorway subconsciously, as if he really hoped that someone else could see this scene.