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"Yeah, you're right..." Ron said nonchalantly, "but Snape obviously doesn't think so."
……
"Oh my god, unicorns!"
Cedric also heard what they said, and opened his mouth in surprise: "It's incredible, when we were in the third grade, we were just Bowtruckle and Puff, and last year we were Salamander!"
"Is it just the third grade, or is it the same for all grades?"
"I'm not sure about that." Kyle looked at the lively Gryffindor and Slytherin, "But you can go ask him."
"I'll go early tomorrow morning."
Cedric still couldn't believe it. "How on earth did Hagrid do it? Unicorns are very cautious magical animals. I've never heard of anyone seeing them in class before, let alone a cub."
Kyle was eating a steak and didn't say anything.
He was not surprised that Hagrid was able to bring a unicorn.
If there is anyone in Hogwarts who can make the unicorns feel so at ease, it can only be Hagrid.
Even Professor Kettleburn before his retirement couldn't do it, otherwise he wouldn't have been stabbed in the stomach before.
"This year's courses are all great, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Care of Magical Creatures..." Cedric said excitedly. He looked at his schedule, "Unfortunately, we have to wait until Friday to have Hagrid's class."
……
(End of this chapter)
Chapter 366: Gesilda Machiban
The next day was Thursday. After Kyle finished his breakfast, he walked out of the auditorium with Connor to prepare for the next Transfiguration class.
When they arrived at the classroom, Professor McGonagall was already waiting at the door and stopped the two people who were about to enter the classroom.
"Ms. Prince, could you please go in first?" she said to Connor.
"Okay, Professor McGonagall." Kanna didn't ask any more questions, just nodded and walked into the classroom.
Then Professor McGonagall took Kyle to the side corridor and asked with a smile: "Remember the paper you sent me a month ago?"
"The one who won the Most Promising Newcomer Award for Transfiguration Today?" Kyle asked, "The result came out so soon?"
"Not yet, but I got the inside scoop... good news."
Professor McGonagall seemed to be in a good mood and said with a smile: "Editor-in-Chief Hulls, who is in charge of selecting the Newcomer Award, is my friend. When we were corresponding a few days ago, I asked her about some information.
Although she didn't say it explicitly, she let me know that Mrs. Gesilda Marchbank admired your paper very much."
"Mrs. Marchbank..." Kyle thought for a moment and asked doubtfully, "Is it the Mrs. Marchbank from the Wizarding Examinations Administration?"
"I didn't expect you knew her."
Professor McGonagall was a little surprised. After all, Mrs. Marchbank was over 120 years old, which made her a person from the last century, and she seldom showed up in public.
She would only come to Hogwarts at the end of each semester to be in charge of the fifth and seventh year wizard level exams, also known as OWLs, and NEWTs.
So generally speaking, few young wizards below the fifth grade know her.
"Charlie mentioned it before." Kyle explained: "He said that after the OWLs exam, he saw Professor Dumbledore personally escorting an old lady out of the school."
"Then Mr. Weasley told us that it was Mrs. Marchbank, who had worked at the Ministry of Magic for a hundred years and was Professor Dumbledore's examiner when he graduated."
"That's true. Mrs. Marchbank has indeed been in charge of many people's exams...including Professor Dumbledore."
Then Professor McGonagall continued: "But she has more than just that identity."
"Mrs. Marchbank is best known for her influence in the academic world. Whether it's the magazine Transfiguration Today or the Extraordinary Pharmacist Association, she holds a pivotal position."
Kyle nodded.
This is not difficult to understand. Even Dumbledore respects someone, so the reason must be more than just because he is an examiner.
Moreover, the Wizarding Examinations Authority can be said to be one of the most boring jobs in the Ministry of Magic. It is tedious and monotonous... and the salary is also the lowest, only about half of that of employees in other departments.
For a normal person, three to five years is considered a long time to stay there. The only person who can stay in this position for a hundred years is Mrs. Marchbank.
"So you understand."
Professor McGonagall continued, "Her approval means your thesis is probably fine.
I guess, after Christmas, people from Transfiguration Today should come to school, and then they will ask you some questions, which will be the final test.
If you pass the test, your paper will appear in the next issue of the magazine... and on the front page, in the most prominent position. "
At this time, it was time for class.
Professor McGonagall spoke faster and walked towards the classroom, saying to Kyle in a hurry, "Be prepared. Their questions are not easy to answer."
Before the bell rang, the two walked into the classroom at the same time.
Connor saved a seat for him, and Kyle walked over and sat next to her.
"What happened?" Kanna asked in a low voice, "Were you found out about selling expensive jewelry?"
"It has nothing to do with that."
Kyle was about to tell her about his paper when Professor McGonagall spoke. He could only shake his head and said, "Let's talk about it after class..."
When they walked into the classroom, the smile on Professor McGonagall's face disappeared almost instantly, and turned into his usual serious look.
"The fourth grade is very important. Next year will be the OWLs exam. I hope you can all focus and not be as unfocused as you were in the past two years."
"What we are going to learn today is interspecies transformation, which is also a question that will definitely appear in the OWLs exam. Remember, it is not possible, but it will definitely appear.
Because what we have learned before are the most basic contents. Only when we learn how to transform across species can we truly master the art of transformation. "
Professor McGonagall glanced around the classroom with her sharp eyes.
Everyone straightened their backs immediately, not daring to breathe.
"Very good, open the book, and let's start with the simple ones... Unlike static objects, when performing cross-species transformation, the Transfiguration Spell must be adjusted accordingly..."
After Professor McGonagall finished explaining what needed to be paid attention to, she took out a guinea fowl and turned it into a fat guinea pig.
"This is your assignment for this class. If there are still feathers on it, you will be considered a failure!"
The classroom was soon filled with the sound of guinea fowl flapping their wings, and occasionally one could hear someone screaming because their hands were pecked.
After the Transfiguration class, only three people completed the requirements, and most of the guinea pigs they handed in still had thick feathers, which was obviously unqualified.
Professor McGonagall looked a little unhappy.
Kyle and Connor left the Transfiguration classroom and headed up the stairs.
On the way, Kyle briefly told her about the thesis.
Connor was surprised at first, but when she thought it was Kyle, it didn't seem so strange anymore.
Compared with the Order of Merlin, Second Class, and the three medals for special contributions to the school neatly displayed in the trophy display room, the Most Promising Newcomer Award for "Today's Transfiguration" seems to be just that simple.
"I knew it would be okay..."
Connor patted Kyle's shoulder as if to encourage him, and said with a smile: "When the journal comes out after the Christmas holiday, I will buy a few more copies. I think it's to support you."
"That's so embarrassing..." Kyle asked in a low voice, "How many do you want to order? Five hundred copies... I can ask Professor McGonagall to have them print more copies in advance."
"You wish. Five copies at most." Kanna said unhappily, "Transfiguration Today is very expensive. I don't have that much money."
Kyle thought about it and it seemed to be the case. This kind of academic magazine must be much more expensive than the Daily Prophet.
"Okay, but remember to give a copy to Professor Snape when the time comes," he said. "I don't mean anything else. I just want to hear what the professor thinks of the paper I wrote."
Connor turned her head and glanced at Kyle.
Her intuition told her that this guy had bad intentions, but when she thought about it carefully, it seemed that there was nothing wrong. Besides, even if Kyle didn't say it, she would show it to Professor Snape.
……
(End of this chapter)
Chapter 367: The Evil Bird and Hallucinations
Because professors change every year, the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom is not fixed and is located in a different location every year.
Last year Lockhart chose a large, sunny classroom to display the large self-portraits he has hung on the walls.
Professor Lupin had no self-portraits, not even a few photographs, so he just chose an ordinary empty classroom.
When they rushed over, there were only a few people in the classroom talking to each other.
They sat down and waited for a while before Professor Lupin finally walked into the classroom. He had a faint smile on his face and put a tattered old box on the podium.
I don’t know if it’s because he had a few good meals, but he looked much healthier than when he was on the train. With his clean new robe, he seemed like a completely different person.
"Good morning," he said cheerfully. "Please put your textbooks back. Today is a practical class. You only need your wands."
The students put their books away and exchanged a few curious glances. They vaguely remembered someone saying the same thing... Oren in first grade.
He did the same thing at the beginning, asking them to put away their textbooks and focus on practice.
Some people started to get excited.
Although Oren is a dark wizard, it is undeniable that the first year of Defense Against the Dark Arts is the most interesting, and he really prepares for every class carefully.
Instead of being perfunctory like two certain professors.
They are obviously not good people, but their levels of professionalism are very different... This is probably why only Oren was able to escape in the end.
"Okay," Professor Lupin saw that everyone was ready, and took out a large cage covered with a curtain, "I have prepared a little surprise for you."
Seeing this scene, everyone looked even more strange.
Oren did the same thing in the first class before, taking out a cage containing Billywig worms and saying he had prepared a surprise for them.
If you ignore the content, their actions, including the opening remarks, are almost identical.
These two people are not related...
Father and son? The ages don’t match.
Brothers? But looking at their appearance, they don’t look alike!
But Professor Lupin didn't know what they were thinking. He pulled back the cloth of the cage, revealing a bird with colorful feathers inside.