Chapter 57: Your Chair Looks Great
Chapter 57: Your Chair Looks Great
"Sixth floor, Classroom 21?"
Albert wandered the corridors of the sixth floor of the castle, a parchment from Professor McGonagall in hand, searching for Classroom 21, where the Transfiguration Club met.
So far, he had covered almost every corner of the sixth-floor corridors of Hogwarts Castle, yet he couldn't find Classroom 21.
No, to be precise, there was simply no Classroom 21. Albert had even consulted the portraits on the sixth floor, but none of them had heard of such a classroom.
Had he been played?
That was highly unlikely.
After all, Professor McGonagall wouldn't do something so pointless. So, there was only one possibility—the last sentence on the parchment: Remember the Fundamental Laws of Transfiguration.
Classroom 21 was hidden somewhere on the sixth floor, and remembering the Fundamental Laws of Transfiguration was the key to finding the entrance.
However, after wandering around, Albert still couldn't find a single painting, sculpture, or tapestry related to the Fundamental Laws of Transfiguration.
If he had to stretch for a connection, it would be the painting in front of him.
Wizards couldn't conjure delicious food out of thin air... but the wizard in the painting had done just that...
Albert moved the painting aside, but there was still no secret passage behind it.
Now, he could only wait—wait for Professor McGonagall to send someone to guide him in or... give up on joining the Transfiguration Club. He believed the former was more likely.
"Are you the new member Professor McGonagall mentioned?" A few minutes later, a red-haired girl walked over and sized Albert up and down before saying what he had expected: "Professor McGonagall thought you might get lost, so she asked me to come and get you!"
"I can't find Classroom 21, and I haven't seen anything related to the Fundamental Laws of Transfiguration," Albert said helplessly, shrugging his shoulders.
"Haven't you found it already?" The red-haired girl pointed to the painting behind Albert. "...Magic cannot conjure delicious food out of thin air."
"I thought this was food summoned by magic." Albert looked at the witch who was using her wand to transfigure a table full of magical food. In fact, he had thought so earlier, but the key question was, where was the entrance to Classroom 21?
"What you said is not wrong." The red-haired girl turned to the witch and said, "We need to enter Classroom 21."
The witch nodded at them, and the painting suddenly moved to the side, revealing a half-height hole in the wall behind it.
"Go on in!" said the red-haired girl. "To enter Classroom 21, you need to tell the witch, and she will open the door for you."
"It's a bit like the Fat Lady, except no passwords are needed." Albert thought to himself as he stepped through the hole. Inside was an upward staircase. After walking for a while, he reached a wooden door with a copper plaque that read 'Classroom 21'.
However, when he entered, he found that it really was a classroom. No, this place didn't look like a classroom at all, but rather an... office.
Albert surveyed the room, which contained 12 sofas of various styles.
"This used to be the office of a professor, or so they say," the red-haired girl behind him explained casually as she walked into the classroom. "After it became vacant, Professor McGonagall started using it as the meeting place for the Transfiguration Club."
By the way, Albert felt like he had seen that girl before.
"Was the original club only made up of ten members?"
"Eleven, actually. There's no seat for you here, so you'll need to transfigure your own chair. That's the rule of the club," the red-haired girl said with a smile.
"That's interesting." Albert muttered to himself as he took out the parchment Professor McGonagall had given him from his pocket. He tapped it with his wand and said, "Vera Verto."
The parchment began to grow, and soon an ordinary wooden chair appeared in front of Albert. He placed the chair on the ground, then took out a candy from his pocket, ate it, and put the candy wrapper on the chair before performing the second transfiguration.
The candy wrapper transformed into a soft cushion, which Albert pressed with his hand, feeling quite satisfied.
"Now I finally understand a bit why Professor McGonagall invited you to join the Transfiguration Club." The red-haired girl said to Albert, "I'm Isabell McDougall."
"Albert Anderson." Albert introduced himself as well. He thought for a moment and then asked, "May I ask, is Katrina McDougall...?"
"My sister. She's in the same year as you," Isabell said.
"No wonder I thought you two looked very..."
"Good evening, Isabell." A senior boy walked into the classroom, eyeing Albert and his wooden chair curiously. "Hello, I heard the club has a new member. That's you, right? Nice chair, by the way!"
"Thanks."
"I bet you didn't do this well in your first year!" Another lazy voice piped up, and soon the members of the Transfiguration Club had all gathered. The first thing they did was express their surprise at Albert's age, and then they examined his chair and complimented it.
"Sit over here!" A senior girl beckoned to Albert. "You're in Gryffindor, right? I'm in Gryffindor too, and so are these two guys next to me."
The two boys smiled at Albert and deliberately made space for him. Albert picked up his chair and sat down, just about to strike up a conversation with them when Professor McGonagall walked in. The first thing she did was inspect Albert's chair and say, "Your chair looks great."
This might be her way of acknowledging his transfiguration skills.
"Today's topic is the essay on the most promising newcomer in Today's Transfiguration magazine." Professor McGonagall handed a copy of the magazine to Albert. "I suggest you spend some galleons to subscribe to this magazine."
"I will."
"Professor McGonagall occasionally helps edit Today's Transfiguration," the senior girl next to Albert whispered.
"First of all, let's congratulate Mr. Selwyn on winning the award for the most promising newcomer in Today's Transfiguration," Professor McGonagall said, raising her hand to clap.
Everyone stood up and applauded the skinny boy sitting two tables away from Isabell.
"Secondly, we have a new member, Mr. Albert Anderson. As you can see, Mr. Anderson's talent is indeed remarkable, so I made an exception to let him join the club early."
Applause rang out again, and in one direction, the clapping was particularly soft. No need to guess, it was probably the Slytherin students. After all, Albert knew that Gryffindor and Slytherin didn't get along.
"Alright, open your magazines. Our topic today is Animagi..."
Albert was speechless because he suddenly realized that he could only barely understand the content.
(End of Chapter)
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