"Sixth floor, classroom number 21?"
Albert, holding the parchment Professor McGonagall had given him, wandered around the sixth-floor corridor of the castle, searching for Classroom 21, which was used by the Transfiguration Club.
He has now explored almost all the corridors on the sixth floor of Hogwarts Castle, but he still hasn't found Room 21.
No, to be precise, there is no Classroom 21 at all. Albert even consulted the portrait on the sixth floor, but still couldn't find any record of such a classroom.
Was I tricked?
That's clearly unlikely.
After all, Professor McGonagall wouldn't do something so pointless. So there's only one possibility: the last line of the parchment: Remember the basic rules of Gamp's transformations.
Classroom No. 21 is hidden in a secret place on the sixth floor. Remembering the basic transformation rules of Gamp is the key to finding the entrance.
However, after looking around, Albert still couldn't find a single painting, stone carving, or tapestry that was related to Gamp's basic transformation law.
If we have to make a connection, it's this portrait in front of him.
Wizards can't conjure up delicious food out of thin air... but the wizard in the painting does it...
Albert moved the portrait aside, but there was still no secret passage behind it.
Now, he can only wait until Professor McGonagall sends someone to pick him up, or... give up joining the Transformers Club, which he thinks is more likely.
"It's you, isn't it? The new member Professor McGonagall mentioned?" A few minutes later, a red-haired girl walked over, looked Albert up and down, and said what was expected: "Professor McGonagall thought you might get lost, so she sent me to pick you up!"
"I can't find classroom number 21, nor do I see anything related to memorizing Gamp's basic transformation rules," Albert said with a helpless shrug.
"Didn't you already find it?" The red-haired girl pointed to the portrait behind Albert. "...Magic can't conjure up delicious food out of thin air."
"I thought this food was summoned by magic," Albert said, watching the witch conjure a table full of magic with her wand. In fact, that was what he had thought before. The key question was, where was the entrance to Room 21?
"You're not wrong," the red-haired girl said, turning to the witch. "We need to get into classroom number 21."
The witch nodded to them, and the painting suddenly moved to one side, revealing a half-person-high hole in the wall behind it.
"Go in!" the red-haired girl said. "You need to tell the witch before she will open the door for you to enter classroom number 21."
"Somewhat similar to the Fat Lady, but unlike her, I don't need all sorts of passwords," Albert thought to himself. He stepped through the opening and went inside. There was a staircase leading up to the entrance. After walking for a while, he came to a wooden door with a brass plaque on it that read Classroom No. 21.
However, when he went inside, he found that he had indeed come to a classroom. No, it didn't look like a classroom at all, but more like... an office.
Albert looked around the classroom, which contained 12 sofas of various styles.
"This used to be a professor's office, but after it was left vacant, it was used by McGonagall as a venue for the Transformers Club," the red-haired girl who walked into the classroom behind me casually explained.
Albert felt like he'd seen the person behind him somewhere before.
"The original club only had ten members?"
"Eleven people. There are no seats for you here. You'll need to conjure up a chair yourself. That's the club's rule," the red-haired girl said with a smile.
"That's not bad," Albert muttered, taking the parchment McGonagall had given him from his pocket, tapping it with his wand, "VeraVerto."
The parchment began to grow larger, and then an ordinary wooden chair appeared in front of Albert. He placed the chair on the ground, thought for a moment, took out a candy from his pocket, ate it, and put the candy wrapper on the chair, thus undergoing a second transformation.
The candy wrapper turned into a soft cushion, and Albert reached out and pressed it, quite satisfied.
"Now I finally understand why Professor McGonagall invited you to join the club," the redhead said to Albert. "I am Isabel McDougal."
"Albert Anderson," Albert introduced himself as well. He paused for a moment and then asked, "Excuse me, but who is Katrina McDougall…?"
"My sister, she was in the same year as you," Isabel said.
"No wonder I think you guys are... alike."
"Good evening, Izebel." An older boy walked into the classroom, curiously looking Albert and his wooden chair up and down. "Hello, I heard the club added a new member, is that you? By the way, your chair is nice!"
"Thanks."
"I bet you didn't do as well as him in first grade!" Another lazy voice rang out. The members of the Transformation Club had gradually arrived. The first thing they did when they came in was to be surprised by Albert's age, then they looked at Albert's chair and said, "Your chair is nice."
"Sit here!" an older girl called out to Albert. "You're from Gryffindor, right? I'm from Gryffindor too. These two guys next to me are something else."
Both of them smiled at Albert and made room for him. Albert picked up a chair and sat down in the empty seat, just about to chat with them for a bit, when Professor McGonagall entered. The first thing the professor did upon entering was also to look at Albert's chair and remark, "Your chair is nice."
Could this be an acknowledgment of his transfiguration abilities?
"Our topic today is the paper that won the Most Promising Newcomer Award in Transfiguration Today." Professor McGonagall handed Albert a copy of Transfiguration Today. "I suggest you spend some Galleons to subscribe to this magazine."
"I will."
"Professor McGonagall occasionally helps 'Transfiguration Today' edit its manuscripts," the senior student next to Albert whispered.
"First of all, we would like to congratulate Mr. Selwyn on winning the Most Promising Newcomer Award in Transfiguration Today," Professor McGonagall said, raising her hand to applaud.
Everyone stood up and applauded the somewhat thin boy sitting on the chairs outside the two tables in Izebel.
Secondly, we have welcomed a new member, Mr. Albert Anderson. As you can see, Mr. Anderson's talent is truly astonishing, so I made an exception and allowed him to join the club ahead of schedule.
Applause rang out again, with a particularly soft sound coming from one direction. Without a doubt, it was from the Slytherin students. After all, Albert knew that Gryffindor and Slytherin had always disliked each other.
"Alright, open the magazine. Our topic is Animagus..."
Albert was speechless, because he suddenly realized that he could barely understand the contents.