McGonagall wrote on the board - TRANSFIGURED OBJECTS USE UP THE MAGIC IN THEIR SPELL UNTIL THERE IS NO MAGIC LEFT.
The professor transfigured the wood into water again and then held the bowl up high so their attention was focused on it. Her voice was loud and sharp. "If you were to take a sip of this, you would end up with a mouth full of wood or sawdust. If you were able to drink this, all in one go, without the contact being lost between the liquid stream, you would end up with a stomach full of transfigured water. This would be a very bad thing. The water would gradually turn back into wood as individual molecules were absorbed by your stomach. This would cause severe damage to your stomach lining. You should never drink or eat anything that has been transfigured. Ever .
She grimaced. Harry had described some of the more graphic results that could be achieved with transfiguration if you were really trying hard enough. Just thinking about them made her squirm. The class seemed to have the same idea. One Hufflepuff girl in particular didn't look well.
McGonagall put the bowl down on the table. "If we kept this transfiguration active for long enough, we would start to see a thin film forming on the top of the water - wood dust from the water molecules that evaporated from the water and lost their transfiguration."
Under the last blackboard line, McGonagall wrote - IF YOU ARE UNCERTAIN IF SOMETHING YOU ARE ABOUT TO EAT OR DRINK CONTAINS MAGIC, CHECK FIRST!
"After the general transfiguration spell, we will learn the spell that checks an object for the presence of magic. If the object contains magic do not consume it."
A tentative hand was raised towards the front.
"Yes, Miss Roper?"
"What about those chocolate frog things? They contain magic don't they?"
Several rows down, she heard Malfoy mutter, "stupid mudblood."
Her eyes narrowed.
Professor McGonagall paused. "Yes, they contain animation magic. However, they are sealed in special packages to prevent tampering. So long as you have just opened one, it should be safe to eat. But if you are still uncertain, there are more advanced spells to determine the exact nature of the magic an object contains. We will not be learning them until much later though."
She swept from the blackboard to stand in front of the desks.
"Now, I am going to hand each of you an iron nail, and you are going to attempt to turn it into a small wooden spoon, like so." A nail turned into a tiny wooden spoon.
A few minutes later, a tiny wooden spoon lay in front of her. She beamed and fought not to look to Harry for praise. She looked to Daphne instead. Another tiny wooden spoon, identical to hers, lay in front of the blonde witch. She caught Daphne's eye and got a courteous nod in return.
She pouted and looked around the classroom. Except for Harry and his Gryffindor brother, no one else was even close to the two of them. It was amazing to think that, in the second timeline, she'd still been at the top of the class, even without Harry's advanced occlumency training and while hanging around with… with…. She looked over at the red-headed boy next to Harry's brother, who gave his nail an unsuccessful, half-hearted poke and then complained about being bored…. With that .
…
As it was, this felt like child's play.
She let out a short breath through her nose.
"Daphne," she started.
Daphne turned.
"Has our lord ever shown you that trick where he transfigures many different objects, builds something with them, and then times the magic to run out at the exact same time, leaving all the objects still standing?"
Daphne looked between the two spoons on their respective desks. "Yes…"
"Do you think we could do it?"
Daphne snorted. "Holding a transfiguration on 100g takes two milliflamels. These nails weight, what? Maybe 10g?"
"Well, okay, I know we won't get it exactly, but wouldn't it be interesting to try and get close? It's not as though we're doing any else useful at the moment."
Daphne looked around. "What would we use to measure the time? The tempus spell isn't exactly good for this, is it? And we don't have one of those hour glasses."
She paused. It was a good question. She thought for a few moments. "Iron can only hold a certain amount of magic, right?"
"Yes, one Merlin per 100g. We just did that in charms."
"Right, so the longest time for a transfiguration on iron is?" The question hung in the air.
Daphne's eyes sharpened. The witch pulled her parchment towards her and scribbled on it for a few moments.
She glanced over at the parchment and saw arithmetic of the type Harry had practised with her years ago.
"Seven minutes, twenty seconds," the blonde announced.
"So we could use a piece of transfigured iron as our clock, and then practise on something else, something that can hold more magic. We could try to only pump in enough magic to match the iron's transfiguration time.
Daphne nodded slowly. "That sounds… like it would work." The pretty witch frowned. "But isn't waiting over seven minutes a bit long? Wouldn't it be better to use something with a lower maximum capacity?"
"… I guess."
"Miss Greengrass? Miss Granger?"
She looked up. The surprised form of professor McGonagall loomed over them.
"Did you both do these?" McGonagall picked up one of the tiny spoons.
"Yes, Professor," Daphne answered.
McGonagall put the spoon down and took a deep breath. "Very well done, the both of you. Two points to Slytherin each." She glanced down at them. "Please do slow down a bit though. I do want Gryffindor to have some chance at the cup this year."
The corner of her lips tugged upward. It wasn't Harry praise, but it was something.
"Professor?" Daphne interjected. "Could you tell us what the lowest capacity material known is?"
The professor's eyebrows raised. "Why do you want to know, Miss Greengrass?"
"We were thinking of practising precision in the amount of magic we use, but we don't have a measurement device."
McGonagall hesitated. "Oh. I see what you were thinking of doing. There's really no need for that. I'll lend you the hourglass, just let me get it." And with that, the professor left to fetch it.
"Well, that's convenient," she said.
Daphne nodded.
Tracey landed between them. "You two are finally talking!"
....
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