"The reason is simple, because the process is simply too complicated for those magical creatures to perform, not to mention the fact that transformations require wands! Wands can only be used by wizards, magical animals can't use them..." Professor McGonagall explained to Tom the characteristics of being an Animagus.
In the end, she added, "I prefer to believe that there are little wizards who are born Animagi than cats or other animals that can take human form. If a cat can turn into a human, it must be some kind of unknown magical creature."
What Professor McGonagall didn't know was that this conversation would be the only interaction she would have with the students in this Transfiguration class. Afterward, no matter what she said, there was no response from the students: no questions were asked, no answers were given, and there was no further interaction, not even when she told a joke, which Professor McGonagall thought was funny, but there was no response.
Professor McGonagall felt like she was giving a lesson to the classroom wall. All the students in the class were sitting in the classroom, but their souls had gone somewhere else. Oh, Professor McGonagall realized, it seemed like everyone's souls had been taken by Harry Potter.
"Very well, let me show you how." She transformed into a tabby cat in front of the class, but the students remained distracted.
Professor McGonagall reluctantly transformed back to her original form.
"What's happening? Are these the first students who see me transform and don't applaud?"
Hermione raised her hand.
"The last Divination class..."
Professor McGonagall instantly realized, "Alright, Miss Granger, who among you is going to die this year?"
Harry raised his hand.
Professor McGonagall stared at Harry with her shining eyes. "Potter, Sybil has predicted the death of a student every year since she arrived at this school: Fred, Ron's brother, sitting next to you, has received such a prediction and is still alive and well."
It was clear that Professor McGonagall, just like Hermione, had no patience for Divination. Tom was sure that Hermione continued to attend Divination classes purely out of student instinct.
"Well, Mr. Potter, that's no reason for you not to do your homework tonight, and I assure you that if you die, you won't have to turn it in."
The joke managed to make the class laugh, and the atmosphere in the classroom lightened a bit. Amid the laughter, Tom continued, "And if Harry became a ghost? Like Professor Binns?"
Professor McGonagall thought for a moment and said, "Then you can take over Harry's part, Yodel. Anyway, you have plenty of time." She gave Tom a meaningful look.
"Oh, by the way," Professor McGonagall remembered something as the bell rang, "I need to see if your Transfiguration levels have dropped after the holidays, don't say I didn't warn you."
With that bombshell, Professor McGonagall left in a very good mood, leaving a classroom full of frozen students.
The prophecy from Professor Trelawney had shocked the Gryffindor students, but Hermione was not concerned at all. It was less important to her than the new stew being served in the kitchens. After the sumptuous lunch, Hermione left the Great Hall, rubbed her slightly swollen belly, and said to Tom, "That stew was exotic, sliced pork, vegetables, and strange white pieces stewed together, it had a pleasant flavor... but I hesitated before eating it! The taste of that white thing is very strange..."
Both of them chatted and walked back to the Ravenclaw common room, exchanging glances before returning to their respective dormitories, placing their crystal balls under their pillows, and taking a nap.
Tom was very curious about this so-called "International Union of Wizards." He couldn't wait, and if he didn't enter at noon, he would have to wait until nightfall.
Tom had had four classes in the morning,
This made him fall asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow.
When he opened his eyes, he found himself in a room resembling a cabin with nothing more than a bed, a chair, and a nightstand. Bright light streamed in through the skylight in the ceiling, and through the window, Tom saw a clear blue sky. Strangely, the floor seemed to be trembling softly.
There was a book on the nightstand next to the bed.
Tom opened the book, flipped through the pages, and found lines of text flying out, as if editing a shared document.
Tom randomly flipped to a page and read it.
[Unidentified disappearance of Transcontinental Railway personnel]
[Mission rating: B, recommends an Auror lead a team to investigate]
[Mission description: Insufficient clearance to view.]
[Reward: 8000 points]
Tom raised his eyebrows, this thing created by Nicolas Flamel was interesting! Perhaps it's because this is a dream world, so it's easier to do things that are difficult to do.
Tom stepped out of the room and found himself on a small boat. It was a small boat, no more than seven or eight meters long and five or six meters wide, with hardly anything else besides the cabin: no rudder, no sails, no cables, nothing.
In front of the boat was a vast ocean, but the sea was strange, not blue or black, but pure white, and the boat seemed to be drifting on the clouds.
Tom spotted a ladder on the cabin wall and climbed up it. Once on the roof, the view opened up, and Tom saw Hermione's boat next to his, also on the roof.
They both had the same reaction upon seeing each other and couldn't help but smile.
"So, what are we going to do?" Tom asked Hermione out loud from the roof. "Didn't Dumbledore say that we would enter the guild when we fell asleep?"
Hermione shrugged, indicating that she wasn't sure. But as soon as they said that, the boat moved, rapidly advancing.
"This is outrageous," Tom said, slightly annoyed that he and Hermione had to shout every word... As the idea occurred to him, the two boats merged and became one, so he could stand beside Hermione.
"Good boy! That's very human," Tom exclaimed.
"It's a dream, after all," Hermione found it normal.
Tom glanced at the "waters" beneath the boat and saw that deep within those "clouds," a thousand strange images seemed to flash rapidly.
"I think it's someone else's dream," Tom speculated based on the few images he had seen, and Hermione leaned in and closely observed the remnants of the clouds.
After a while, the boat came to a stop.