"Draco, do you know the five principal exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration?" Pansy asked, blinking her eyes with curiosity.
After a period of awkwardness and hesitation, Pansy decided to take the initiative to reconcile, using this question-and-answer approach to re-establish contact.
"Are you thinking of skipping ahead to seventh year?" Malfoy asked, closing his book and looking at Pansy with amusement.
As Malfoy expected, Pansy put on an air of nonchalance the next day and asked him for help with a question, a very difficult one at that, which could be considered a sign of reconciliation.
Malfoy figured she might be trying to stump him with this rather difficult question to regain some of the advantage she lost by taking the initiative to make amends.
However, Malfoy still didn't know what had caused her odd behavior in the previous days.
Now, Pansy gave him a somewhat unusual feeling again. For example, even though she was supposedly asking a question, Pansy's attention wasn't very focused. Sometimes, she would giggle to herself, as if she had thought of something very amusing. But whenever Malfoy asked, Pansy would stop, as if nothing had happened.
Malfoy's intuition told him that whenever Pansy's eyes showed that kind of cunning and lively look, someone was going to suffer.
But Malfoy never imagined that the target would be himself.
"I don't know where you saw this question, but it's a very obvious problem of the boundaries of magic application. If you're not just trying to brush me off, you should remember what I'm about to say. This is a key point for the NEWT Transfiguration exams in the last five years," Malfoy said. Although Pansy's motives for asking the question might be impure, and she might have just memorized the question to try and stump him, Malfoy still patiently provided an answer.
"The first one is, 'You can't conjure food out of thin air,'" Malfoy said, tapping his index finger lightly on the desk to get Pansy's attention.
"The inability to conjure food out of thin air seems easy to understand, but it's not that simple," Malfoy said in an objective tone. "It's difficult to define. Some wild wizards, in their cleverness, first transform some readily available items into animals. For example, the desks we're using now. They can turn them into horses, which is possible and not contradictory. But if they try to use the Fire-Making Spell or some other method to cook the transformed creature and eat it, they will end up in St. Mungo's Hospital."
"Why?" Pansy asked curiously, her earlier absent-mindedness disappearing. What Malfoy was saying didn't involve anything too profound, piquing her interest.
"Regarding this, the wizarding world has produced many theories. A more superficial explanation is that wizards can't maintain the magic and continuous transformation indefinitely. When the magic that the wizard applied to the object fades, that's when they'll taste the bitter fruit of their actions. The delicious roast meat will instantly turn into a pile of wood in their stomachs."
Pansy nodded in agreement, but Malfoy quickly refuted it.
"That's the most common mistake. In reality, the properties of food never take effect for even a moment," Malfoy continued. "There are two more credible theories. The first is that transformation can't change whether an object is dead or alive, which is what most people agree on. Other wizards believe that their own intentions are also crucial. If their intention is to bypass the rule and exploit loopholes, then the transformation in the first step will fail directly."
Just as Pansy was listening with a vague understanding and nodding confusedly, a stern voice interrupted their conversation.
"Very good, Mr. Malfoy. I believe your level is already high enough to take the NEWTs or even the graduation exams. If you don't like the basic content I'm teaching, you're welcome to apply to skip my class," Professor McGonagall said, her face expressionless, but the students sitting at the desks near her clearly felt the surrounding temperature drop a few degrees.
Pansy watched the stern old woman in fearful silence.
Malfoy could only smile helplessly.
"Too eager to explain, likes to act as a teacher," Malfoy summarized his mistake to himself. Of course, the main reason was that he somewhat enjoyed Pansy looking at him with admiration, not even noticing the teacher walking down from the stage.
"Daydreaming in class, ten points deducted from Slytherin for each of you," Professor McGonagall coldly left those words before returning to the podium.
"It's all your fault!" Pansy glared at Malfoy resentfully while complaining, feeling sorry for her house's points.
"Who was it that took the initiative to ask me in the first place?" Malfoy could only think to himself. He didn't want to reply and be blamed again for another point deduction.
Although what Professor McGonagall said was obviously a fit of anger, it did hit on some truth.
Now, the third-year courses completely lacked appeal for Malfoy.
Malfoy was still lost in thought, silently pondering how he should act next.
The third-year plan was mostly complete. Apart from Hermione's meddlesome nature causing him a little extra trouble, it was generally the same as his plan.
Because of his Animagus form, Peter Pettigrew was able to get help from his so-called "kin", making it easier to find Voldemort, who was barely alive and hiding in the forests of Albania.
Dumbledore had already placed a tracking charm on Peter Pettigrew.
But in reality, this was just an optional act. When Voldemort's power hadn't fully recovered, he would always maintain a suspicious and scrutinizing attitude towards anything that could threaten his life, especially since he often possessed snakes, making his sense of danger even more acute.
Dumbledore's tracking charm was just a small effort that could be made. If it could really lead to directly resolving Voldemort in his soul fragment state, that would be great. If it didn't succeed, there was nothing to be disappointed about.
Now, if Malfoy wanted to, he could completely accuse Barty Crouch of protecting his son, and then subdue Barty Crouch Jr. If Peter Pettigrew hadn't deliberately let him escape, how could anyone escape from Dumbledore's grasp?
If he really did that, it seemed that Voldemort wouldn't be resurrected in the coming year.
But there would always be a thorn in his side.
No one could guarantee that the forests of Albania would become a completely uninhabited area. Anyone could become the second Quirrell, be bewitched, controlled, and then possessed.
And no one knew when that would be. Perhaps Dumbledore would have already gradually aged, his combat power declining, or even passed away into the underworld under the power of time. And Malfoy would no longer have the advantage of foresight.
Who would fight this Dark Lord then?
For more chapters
patreon.com/Jackssparrow