allendalepharm Chapter 72 Transformation and Wizard Chess
Chapter 72 Transformation and Wizard Chess
Chapter 72 Metamorphosis and Wizard Chess (4k)
It was a new week, and after class on Monday, Karen parted ways with her roommates in the auditorium and went straight to Professor McGonagall's office.
After navigating a series of staircases and corridors, Karen stood before Professor McGonagall's office. He straightened his collar and gently knocked on the oak door.
"Come in," Professor McGonagall's signature serious voice came from inside the door.
Pushing open the door, Karen entered the small, semi-circular room. Of all the offices he had visited, Professor McGonagall's was the smallest. The last time he came to Professor McGonagall to inquire about Professor Castor's whereabouts, he hadn't had a chance to properly observe this place.
The office was decorated mainly in red and gold, befitting the office of the headmaster of Gryffindor. The furniture inside was simple and old, with only a wooden desk, three chairs and a cabinet. It was so simple that it was even a bit shabby. Apart from that, there were various documents and books piled on the desk and the floor.
"Good evening, Professor." Karen gave a slight bow in greeting to the professor.
"Good evening, Mr. Hawthorne." Professor McGonagall's sharp eyes scanned him through her square glasses. "Your last period of confinement has given me a better understanding of your level. I think this might be more suitable for your current level than grading assignments, and it can help you broaden your horizons."
After she finished speaking, she tapped her wand lightly, and the journal on top of the pile of books on the table automatically opened, revealing a paper entitled "The Concretization of Willpower in Advanced Transfiguration".
Karen took the journal, quickly scanned the paper abstract, and then began to read it. Professor McGonagall remained silent, reading the document while waiting for Karen to finish.
After a while, Karen turned back to the first page of the paper. "This paper puts forward an interesting idea," he said, pointing to the third paragraph. "The idea of magically resonating the essential memory of the object of transformation with the imprint of the wizard's will is very interesting. According to this idea, the object to which the transformation spell is applied will be an extension of the wizard's will."
Professor McGonagall raised an eyebrow slightly. "Quite a keen understanding, Mr. Hawthorne." With a flick of her wand, the teapot automatically poured black tea for the two of them. "What is your understanding of the concept of 'essential memory'?"
Karen took a sip of tea, the aroma of which invigorated him. "From the description in the paper, it seems that every object retains some kind of memory of its original form." He looked around the office, his gaze falling on a silver inkstone. "For example, even if this inkstone were to be transformed into, say, a weasel, it would still remember that it was once made of metal."
“Good observation.” Professor McGonagall’s lips curled into a barely perceptible smile. “This is precisely one of the most difficult obstacles to overcome in cross-species metamorphosis. Let me demonstrate.” She suddenly drew her wand and pointed it at the inkwell. “VeraVerto!”
The silver inkwell instantly transformed into a lifelike ferret, its fur gleaming with a metallic sheen. The little animal looked at its paws in confusion, making a clinking sound.
"Do you see that?" Professor McGonagall explained, "Even if the form changes, its essential properties still resist deformation."
To completely overcome this, “the wand tapped again, and the metal ferret transformed into a real, furry ferret,” requires extremely precise control of magic and projection of willpower.
Karen stared intently at the ferret that was now sniffing its own paws: "So, advanced shapeshifting is essentially a battle between the wizard's will and the essential memories of the object being transformed?"
"A brilliant metaphor." Professor McGonagall rarely showed such admiration. "That's precisely why I say Transfiguration is the discipline that best embodies a wizard's abilities. Unlike Charms, it doesn't rely on standardized gestures and spells, nor does Potions have precise formulas. Each Transfiguration is a unique practice of willpower."
"Every great wizard is a master of transfiguration; transfiguration is an extension of a wizard's will," Professor McGonagall added.
Then she turned the ferret back into an inkstone. "For example, back in the day, Albus, I mean Professor Dumbledore, during his NEWTs exam, not only perfectly transformed a salamander into a tea set, but also made the teacups automatically adjust their temperature according to the drinker's preference. That's a prime example of infusing willpower into the result of a transformation."
Karen nodded thoughtfully: "Then what about reverse transformation? Like turning an animal into an object? Does that require overcoming the instinctive memories of the organism?"
“Ah! You’ve touched on a deeper issue.” Professor McGonagall’s eyes lit up. “Biological transformation is indeed much more complex. Take the hedgehog-to-pinpad example—” She conjured a sleeping hedgehog and gently turned it into a pinpad, “not only suppressing its biological instincts but also dealing with its faint self-awareness. That’s why Animagus transformation is so dangerous, because you have to maintain human consciousness while fully embracing the instincts of the animal form.”
As the discussion deepened, Professor McGonagall presented various transformation examples: from simple object transformations to cross-species transformations.
Karen absorbed the knowledge intently, occasionally raising her own questions.
Two hours later, Professor McGonagall was getting tired of speaking, so she rang the bell on the table, and immediately a pot of fresh tea and two small dishes of Scottish butter biscuits appeared on the table.
"Karen, have some. I often ask the kitchen to keep some cookies on hand so I can enjoy them during my break after grading papers," Professor McGonagall said with a smile, pushing a plate of cookies toward Karen.
After thanking the professor, Karen picked up a cookie and tasted it. Then, Karen glanced around the office briefly, his gaze drawn to a wizard's chess set in the corner. The pieces were playing on their own on the board, and the silver queen was scolding a clumsy pawn in a shrill voice. He could even hear their conversation.
"You're going to die! How many times have I told you to watch out for the bishop's diagonal line!" The Silver Queen brandished her scepter. "You infantrymen are slower than trolls!"
Karen's eyes widened slightly. He suddenly realized that this thing seemed to have its own consciousness. How come he hadn't thought of that before?
"Professor," Karen suddenly spoke, her voice rising slightly with excitement, "how do these wizard chess pieces—their autonomy—achieve?"
Professor McGonagall followed his gaze. "Ah, it's Wizarding Chess. The intelligence of traditional Wizarding Chess comes from a combination of alchemy and spells. But—" she paused, "why are you suddenly interested in this?"
Karen briefly explained to Professor McGonagall his previous ideas about the autonomous defense system, as well as the spells and runes he had mastered.
Professor McGonagall looked somewhat surprised: "Oh! Karen, I didn't expect you to have such thoughts at this time."
"And you've already learned so much advanced knowledge, as for the autonomy you mentioned in Wizard Chess." She suddenly changed the subject, "Want to play a game? Practical experience is probably the best way to learn."
Karen nodded immediately: "It's an honor, Professor. But I come from a Muggle family and have only ever played chess."
"The rules are almost identical." Professor McGonagall waved her wand, and the chessboard flew automatically onto the coffee table. "However, the wizard's pieces, well, they're more inclined to express their opinions." The pieces immediately lined up neatly, and the black king even bowed to Karen.
"White goes first." Professor McGonagall gestured for Karen to play white.
Karen took a deep breath, his gaze sweeping across the chessboard. He cautiously moved a pawn: "Pawn to e4."
The white-clad soldier immediately complained, "Another cliché opening! Can't you be a little more creative? At least let me get to E5!"
Professor McGonagall's Black Soldiers immediately engaged: "Soldiers to E5. Don't mind their complaints, Karen."
As the game unfolds, Karen discovers that the pieces not only speak but also offer tactical advice—though most of it contradicts each other. His knight nearly trips over his own horse while leaping over the bishop, causing the black castle to burst into laughter.
"Quiet!" Professor McGonagall glared sternly at Black Castle, which immediately feigned a cough to cover up its laughter.
Karen gradually became engrossed in the game. Concentrating, he could see a stable core of magic within each piece, connected to the magic circle of the board itself. Most remarkably, when the pieces "speak" or "think," that magic formed flowing patterns resembling runes!
"Interesting!" Karen muttered to herself, moving her queen. "Queen to h5."
"Finally! A decent way to walk!" The White Queen walked triumphantly to the designated position, her long robe trailing behind her with a silvery gleam.
Professor McGonagall's Black Knight immediately countered: "Knight to F6."
Karen noticed that whenever a piece moved, its magical network resonated with the board, resulting in checkmate. Twenty-five minutes later, Karen's queen delivered the fatal blow. The little silver figure, dejected, threw down his scepter and slumped onto the board: "I demand a rematch! His rook sacrifice just now was completely illogical!"
"Brilliant tactics," Professor McGonagall praised, ignoring the Black King's protests. "Your abandonment of the rook on the sixth move was indeed risky, but the subsequent chain of horses was classic."
Karen did not respond immediately; his gaze remained fixed on the chessboard. "Professor," he said, "how do these pieces' thought processes work? They seem to have real thinking abilities, not just pre-set reactions."
Professor McGonagall's eyes lit up. "Ah, that's a profound question. Simply put, it's a complex application of alchemy and magic." She picked up a bishop, gently unscrewed its base to reveal intricate runic inscriptions inside. "Each piece has a set of basic reaction runes, while the board provides a magical matrix for collective decision-making."
Karen leaned closer to examine it and indeed saw runic markings, though they were quite intricate.
"Can they learn?" he asked, "For example, remember the opponent's habitual moves?"
"Limited memory." Professor McGonagall reassembled the chess pieces. "It's said that some masters create wizard chess sets that can accumulate decades of game records, and they are wizard chess masters just by looking at the pieces themselves. But this one I have," she glanced at her chessboard with a hint of disdain, "can only remember the last ten games at most. However, this is actually more interesting for you."
She suddenly tapped the edge of the chessboard with her wand, and all the pieces immediately froze: "Can you tell what changes have occurred in them?"
3
Karen, through her Eye of Truth, saw that the magic within the chess pieces hadn't ceased; instead, it had formed a regular, undulating pattern: "They seem to have entered some kind of dormant state?"
"To be more precise, they are under the control of a common intelligent module," Professor McGonagall explained. "The intelligence of an individual piece is limited, but when they form a game, they create a more advanced thinking matrix, which I think is probably what you need."
Karen's heart raced. This was exactly what he needed: a defense system capable of autonomously adjusting to changes in the environment.
Just like these chess pieces can adjust their strategies according to the game situation! I just don't know if it can be used in his research.
"Professor," he carefully chose his words, "if I would like to learn more about this topic, do you have any recommended books or materials?"
Professor McGonagall pondered for a moment, then suddenly rose and walked to the bookshelf. She took down a thick book, *Alchemy and the Intelligence of Magic*.
He handed it to Karen: "This book might be helpful to you, but I'm not sure if it can be applied to your research."
After all, using it in Wizard Chess and using it in your autonomous defense system could produce completely different results.
Karen took the book. "It's alright, Professor. Even if it can't be applied to my research, it will still help broaden my horizons. I hadn't even thought of Wizards Chess before."
After his confinement ended, Karen walked back to Ravenclaw Tower carrying the book Professor McGonagall had lent him, his mind still reeling from the rune structures he'd seen earlier. The distributed intelligence model of Wizard Chess had given him new inspiration, but he still needed to study it further.
When they returned to the dormitory, Wesley was already asleep, with a copy of "Quidditch Tactics Manual" in his hand; Fabian was reading in bed and looked up when he heard the noise; Ernesto, as always, was fiddling with his telescope by the window.
"You came back earlier than usual tonight. Looks like you don't have much homework to grade today?" Fabian pushed up his glasses, his voice low.
Karen nodded and placed the book on the bedside table. "Today we didn't grade homework, but discussed some Transfiguration theory." She then added, "I also played a game of wizard chess with the professor and won by sheer luck."
Ernesto nearly dropped his telescope: "You mean your confinement was spent playing wizard chess with Professor McGonagall? And you even beat her?" His voice rose in surprise, prompting Wesley to mumble a few words in his sleep.
"Just lucky," Karen said with a hint of pride as she changed into her pajamas.
"Oh, Merlin, I also want to be locked up like that. Why don't I go find Selwyn and have a fight with him tomorrow?" Ernesto said, half-jokingly and half-enviously.
The three chatted for a while longer, and then Karen practiced runes for a while as instructed by her teacher Castor, before turning off the lights and going to sleep.