"Perhaps this is not an ordinary class, Miss Kaslana."

Professor McGonagall's pupils narrowed slightly, making her look like a cat getting angry.

"But I must remind you again, I am still your teacher, and I expect you to maintain the most basic and reasonable respect for me in your words and actions, rather than the unrestrainedness you display when playing and talking with other students..."

"Okay, Professor McGonagall."

Ailina nodded obediently, persistently asking, "Then, when you are in Animagus form, will you be driven by animal instincts? Or, if possible, could you complete a transformation right here so I can study—ahem, I mean, observe and learn?"

"You weren't listening to what I just said, Miss Kaslana."

Professor McGonagall said coldly, tapping Ailina's notebook twice with her wand.

"Advanced Animagi are not affected by beastly instincts, but when a wizard first completes the transformation, the animal's mind may take over and compel you to do foolish things—the duration of this process depends on the wizard's willpower."

"So, the answer is that there is an influence, but it can be effectively controlled?"

Ailina continued writing in her notebook thoughtfully, glancing quickly at Professor McGonagall.

This matched what she knew from the original books; Sirius Black used his Animagus form to successfully retain his sanity in Azkaban and staged a brazen escape.

The Dementors guarding Azkaban were blind, and their way of perceiving the world was closer to radio waves.

When Sirius transformed into a black dog, he became a simple-minded animal in the eyes of the Dementors.

In other words, in addition to his rich inner world, there was also a mind driven by animal instinct—or, more accurately, bestial instinct—which perfectly matched Professor McGonagall's explanation.

However…

"Can beastly instincts, or rather body memories, really be perfectly suppressed?"

Ailina looked directly at Professor McGonagall, suddenly opening her collar and taking out a large pile of scattered little things from the "dimensional storage bag" on her chest and placing them on the desk: catnip, a cat teaser, small fish flakes, a scratching post, cat food...

These were the supplies that Mr. Filch had applied to purchase last week, and Ailina hadn't had time to deliver them to the old man.

Ailina picked up the cat teaser, mustered her courage, and looked sincere.

"Um... Professor McGonagall, I happen to have some props here, why don't we try..."

"I said, advanced Animagi are not affected," Professor McGonagall snapped.

There was an awkward silence as they stared at each other across a pile of cat toys and treats.

"Then there wouldn't be any problem trying," Ailina said softly.

"Animagus is a profound and serious transformation magic!"

Professor McGonagall said sternly, glancing quickly at the pile of [high-risk items] on the desk.

"You don't realize its seriousness at all... This learning attitude of yours is quite disappointing... The core of our discussion today is not beastly consciousness and instinct, but how to complete this magic, not..."

"I just want to know," Ailina tried to make her voice sound cute and obedient, "whether consciousness can be—"

As a transmigrator from a parallel world, she had experienced a situation where her consciousness was affected by her body.

The mixed-blood Veela, the six-year-old body, these factors largely influenced her personality. Even as she gradually matured and became more stable, her personality was still more obedient to her body—in a sense, she was now closer to a twelve-year-old witch who had gained extra memories, rather than an adult trapped in a child's body.

Considering this factor, Ailina had to figure out what the other heartbeat after Animagus transformation was.

If it was just physical memory and instinct, that would be easier to deal with.

But if the essence of this magic was to create or "awaken" another soul within the body, then the situations she might encounter later would be much more troublesome—she didn't want to kill "herself", and of course, she didn't want to be killed by "herself" even more.

Glancing at Professor McGonagall, whose expression was becoming increasingly unpleasant, Ailina carefully considered her words.

"Um, I mean, when a wizard turns into an animal, is it still him/her?"

"It seems I must answer this question today, after all, 'you' have prepared for so long."

Professor McGonagall waved her wand, the apple juice disappeared, and the cookie box was snatched away by Ailina, who had quick eyes and hands.

Ignoring the little witch who was nervously holding the cookie box, Professor McGonagall glanced at the pile of "cat gadgets" on the desk, which looked like they had been "prepared for a long time." The corners of her eyes, filled with crow's feet, twitched slightly as she said coldly, "Yes, Animagi have bestial thoughts—it is the wizard's animal form. When transforming into an Animagus, we are essentially possessing ourselves, similar to being in a dream. You can influence and control it, but you can never control it 100%, just as you can never present the psychological state of an animal in a human body..."

"So you—you are very clear that it is still you?"

"Otherwise, who would it be?" Professor McGonagall said coldly.

"How do you tell?" Ailina asked quickly, "Is this just your guess, or—"

"I said," Professor McGonagall said stiffly, her eyebrows raised high, "these are not today's study content."

"Sorry, Professor," Ailina gritted her teeth, choosing to press on with the question, "but this is really very important to me—in cat form, how do you confirm that your main body is Minerva McGonagall, not a cat?"

"It's enough for me to know! No proof needed! Understand?!"

Professor McGonagall said impatiently, "What matters is not how others see you, but how you think of yourself. If you firmly believe that you are actually some kind of animal, then you won't be able to transform from an animal into a human wizard, because your behavior should be like an animal, not like an Animagus with magical power and wisdom flowing through your body—"

"In Animagus form, can you still retain magic?"

Ailina asked, quickly lowering her head to neatly write down what Professor McGonagall had just said in her notebook.

Perhaps this wouldn't eliminate much of the cat lady's antipathy, but at least it could prove that she wasn't deliberately causing trouble, but was seriously exploring the answer to the question. This was the student code Ailina had summarized from her two lives.

"Obviously, of course."

McGonagall answered indifferently, but her expression softened slightly.

She glanced at the neat and tidy handwriting in the girl's notebook, and the dissatisfaction in her heart dissipated a little.

"This brings us back to the previous question about the several sub-types of Transfiguration. The most important reason why Animagi are classified separately from all other categories is that Animagi retain their magical abilities after transformation. But if you are hit by ordinary Transfiguration magic and turned into an animal, it's difficult to recover on your own unless someone helps you undo the spell."

As Professor McGonagall spoke, she suddenly stood up. Ailina subconsciously protected the cookie box in her hands.

But Professor McGonagall didn't do anything to the cookie box in her hands.

Her slightly leaning body quickly shrank, taking almost only a blink of an eye, probably less than a few tenths of a second. The stern-looking middle-aged witch disappeared before Ailina's eyes, replaced by a light gray tabby cat with markings around its eyes that looked like glasses—this was Professor McGonagall's Animagus form.

"Meow—"

Professor McGonagall (in cat form) squatted on the desk, raising her paw and waving it gently.

If Ailina hadn't seen Professor McGonagall transform into a cat with her own eyes, she almost couldn't resist the urge to grab the cat teaser, small fish flakes, or catnip on the desk and flirt with it—cats are just too cute!

However, Ailina quickly noticed the changes in the surrounding environment.

Along with Professor McGonagall (in cat form)'s movements, the parchment that had been quietly placed beside her first trembled, then wobbled and slowly floated up, beginning to move towards Professor McGonagall (in cat form).

The window in the room was ajar, and Ailina hadn't noticed any wind blowing.

"Meow meow—"

Professor McGonagall (in cat form) waved her paw again.

The pages of the book in front of Ailina rustled and quickly turned, accurately stopping at the "Animagi" page.

"Understand? If your magical abilities are strong enough, you can cast spells in cat form—"

Just then, Professor McGonagall's calm voice came from Ailina's ear.

Ailina quickly looked up, the tabby cat was gone.

Professor McGonagall, with a serious expression and wearing round-framed glasses, was sitting back in her chair behind the desk.

And in Professor McGonagall's hand, she was holding the parchment that had just flown over from the other side.

"This is the difference between Animagus and ordinary Transfiguration. It is active and controllable."

Professor McGonagall smiled and handed the parchment in her hand to Ailina. 《Hogwarts: A History》 had appeared on the parchment that should have been blank—clearly, she had just completed a composite spell.

"Now, please take out your wand, Miss Kaslana."

Ailina blinked, confusedly took out her wand, and looked hesitantly at Professor McGonagall.

"Wait, wait, are we starting Transfiguration practice so soon? I don't think it will make any difference. Although I know a little more about Animagi than before, it still can't help me complete the transformation—"

"No, you can try casting some spells, preferably the kind that requires continuous channeling..."

Professor McGonagall shook her head, while taking out her own wand and pointing it steadily at Ailina.

"Um... what are you planning to do?"

Ailina couldn't help but frown, staring at McGonagall's wand, and asked softly.

"Next, I'm going to cast a Transfiguration spell on you. Please don't resist my magic..."

Professor McGonagall said softly, the corners of her mouth slightly raised, "I think the best way to teach is for you to feel the effect of Transfiguration yourself. Even if it's not the magical ability of Animagus, the principle behind it is the same—"

"... Okay, but I have one request, don't turn me into a rat," Ailina said softly after a moment of silence.

"Agreed."

"Then let's begin—【Lumos Solem】"

Ailina shrugged, waving the wand in her hand casually in the air.

Pure white soft spots of light quickly lit up from the tip of her wand, swirling lightly around her like fireflies.

At the same time, Professor McGonagall's spell hit her chest squarely, and the office disappeared before her eyes with a shake.

Ailina felt as if the whole world was shut down for a moment, as if she had been directly knocked to the ground by the spell. Then the surrounding environment suddenly became very bright, so much so that she had to squint slightly.

Ailina shook her head, feeling slightly uncomfortable, and couldn't help but groan softly.

"Meow?"

————

————

Yay!