"Hmm... for this part, you might consider approaching it from this angle..."
Shaking off the lingering guilt, Andrew quickly immersed himself once again in his study of Transfiguration.
But just as he began writing fervently, having worked through the problem in his head, a shadow fell over his parchment. He looked up and saw a tall red-haired boy standing before him.
Judging by his robes, the boy was a Gryffindor.
"Hello, is there something you need?"
Andrew paused and asked curiously—he couldn't imagine why a senior Gryffindor would have any reason to talk to him.
"An analysis of Transfiguration applied to plants... you can do it like this?"
The boy raised his eyebrows. "But why are you researching cacti? That's not really a good direction... The model's too simple. Normally, we use trees as a starting point—the model's more complex, but their size makes spell failure from minor details less likely."
"Lack of magical power," Andrew said, spreading his right hand on the desk. "Also, with trees, conjuring leaves takes a lot of analysis. If I ignore the details, the tree ends up looking too fake."
"You should be starting with saplings. That way, you reduce the need to form full leaves. And once you get used to it, you can actually afford to be a little sloppy with the leaves—it makes the spell form them more naturally."
"More naturally?"
Andrew thought for a moment, then tapped his wand on a blank piece of parchment. Unlike before, when he had imagined every detail of a leaf's veins, this time he simply conjured the general shape of a leaf.
The parchment curled, shrank, and changed color until it formed a beautiful maple leaf.
"Like this?"
"It's still a bit inefficient. The key thing is: growth... let it grow."
"Grow?"
That was a bit cryptic—Andrew didn't quite understand.
"Like, once it's stabilized, it just grows out by itself."
"Stabilized... like this?"
Andrew dispelled the previous magic, tapped the parchment again with his wand, and this time it curled into a rod-like shape. Then, tiny green buds began to sprout.
In a few breaths, the buds grew into an uneven mess of leaves—not at all magical, just a stick with a bunch of mismatched leaves slapped on it.
But the red-haired boy looked pleased. "Yes, yes, that's the idea. That's how it should feel. When you cast, try to think like that. Just control your magic's effect on the leaves a bit more and it'll be perfect."
"I don't have enough magical power. I can't even do the full branch transformation yet, let alone control the finer points. This is already my limit," Andrew said, spreading his hands at the inexplicably helpful boy.
He was really starting to like this guy—this was way more useful than the garbage tips from his club.
"Such a pity..."
"NO! TALKING! IN! THE! LIBRARY!"
Before the red-haired boy could finish lamenting, two books appeared alongside a thunderous voice. Each word was punctuated with a sharp blow to their heads. The books bounced rhythmically on Andrew and the redhead's heads.
"Run."
Before Andrew could even react, the boy had already spoken the word swiftly.
Andrew didn't hesitate. He might've started late, but within a few steps, he had caught up. The borrowed books and his bag were thumping in time with Madam Pince's scolding, smacking their arms and legs until they finally made it out of the library.
"Huff... huff..."
The redhead was panting behind Andrew as they both came to a stop. "Whew... first time Madam Pince has scolded me. But no big deal—I've never heard of her banning anyone for good."
"Let me introduce myself," he said between breaths. "Percy Weasley, Gryffindor Prefect."
"Andrew Taylor, Ravenclaw."
Andrew shook Percy's hand.
"Your foundation in Transfiguration's solid. Not many second-years can handle third- or even fourth-year theory."
"It's just theory. My actual casting is far from it," Andrew shook his head. "I've already put all my spare time into it."
"That's how it should be. Also, you need to watch your spell strength—you're off by a bit. That can easily cause failures."
"Can't be helped. My magic reserves can't keep up. I asked Professor McGonagall, and she said it's something only time and training can improve. It'll be better in my second year—apparently that's when magic tends to surge."
"Wait, hold on—you said?"
Percy looked at him more carefully. "You're a first-year?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Bloody hell..." He ran a hand through his hair. "Then how did this whole thing start? Granger's really..."
"Granger?"
"Yeah," Percy spread his hands. "You know, I'm a prefect."
'You've said that twice already…'
"She came to me and said there seemed to be a scamming group operating in the library. She was reading when someone approached her, and then she noticed others nearby watching too. Afterward, they even pretended to go back to reading..."
???
I was just curious and went to take a look...
"She also said you're frequently in the library and part of the scam, because she asked around and apparently you're here every day, yet no professor's ever mentioned a student whose grades rival hers."
…
That stung a bit—but it was true. After realizing Transfiguration was his best subject, Andrew had only put in the bare minimum for the rest. History of Magic was practically phoned in, and only Charms could be called above average.
"But after seeing your Transfiguration, I figured she was just worrying too much again... She's not a bad person, just a little too enthusiastic."
Percy shook his head. "Still, her grades are solid—I think she'll make prefect someday. That kind of enthusiasm helps."
'That connection feels a bit forced…'
"Anyway, don't worry about Granger. I'll explain things to her," Percy waved his hand. "As long as there's no problem, I've got to go. You know, OWLs year—no real issues, but I don't want to give up my top spot either."
"Well then, see you around. If we meet in the library again, I can help with Transfiguration—it's something I'm quite good at."
With that, Percy turned and left, leaving Andrew a little dazed.
'What just happened…? I almost became an accomplice?'
'Also, why did that feel exactly like a club meeting or something…?'
Andrew watched Percy walk away, shook his head helplessly, then began packing up his bag to return to the common room.
T/N: For twenty chapters ahead on all my fics become a P@tron at [email protected]/LordHipposApostle