Devil of A Wizard

Chapter 5

Chapter 5: First Lessons

"Come on, Harry! We're going to be late for class," Ron said as he and Harry were running around the castle as they were late for Transfiguration.

"Where the hell is the class?" Harry asked aloud as he ran beside Ron. If there was one thing Harry hated, it was being late to class. In his elementary years, he never would be late to school or classes. Otherwise, his parents would hear about it, and seeing their disappointed faces was something he never wanted to see again. But his best excuse here was that there were no clocks around to tell time, no warning bells, and he was new to his schedule.

"I think it's this way," Ron pointed as he pointed the way. To their relief, they saw the rest of their class started to write on their own as Professor McGonagall was nowhere to be seen. Only a cat was sitting on the desk, which Harry and Ron thought was probably the teacher's actual pet. "Made it. Can you imagine the look on old McGonagall's face if we were late?" As if he spoke too soon, the cat jumped off the desk and magically transformed into Minerva McGonagall herself. Ron's mouth was wide open while Harry was wide-eyed with amazement. "That was bloody brilliant."

"Thank you for that assessment, Mister Weasley," McGonagall said, seemingly happy to show off her abilities to new students. "Perhaps it would be more useful if I transfigure Mister Magne or yourself into a pocket watch? That way at least one of you can be on time," she said to the boys.

"We actually got lost," Harry defended himself. But the look on the Scotswoman's eyes was that equal to his father's in response to the poor, yet justifiable excuse.

"Well, perhaps a map then. I believe you don't need one to find your seats," she countered as they both didn't argue with her and found their seats.

However, before Harry actually got in his seat, he turned back to the witch. "Hold on. Did you turn into a cat before everyone showed up or did you just wait for somebody to be late so you could do that?"

The professor only gave a small smirk, which told Harry that it was only for her to truly know. Taking his seat at the wordless response, McGonagall began the lesson. "Transfiguration is one of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn in Hogwarts. Any messing around in my class will leave and not come back," she said to all of them as they scribbled down their quills. She demonstrated by changing her desk into a pig and back again. The students were all impressed by this, but they were not going to transform the furniture into animals just yet. Instead, they were going to turn matches into needles to start. By the end of the simple lesson, both Harry and Hermione made a difference in their matches. To Harry, this was mere child's play as he did memorize some more advanced spells with his parents or tutors after being told of his heritage.

"Now Harry, your first test will be to turn that table into a Chimera," Lucifer instructed an 8-year-old Harry as he pointed to a small coffee table.

"I don't know Dad, this seems complicated," Harry said.

"Oh, don't beat yourself up over it. You'll do just fine," Lucifer laughed as he patted him on the shoulder, handing him his cane to use as a focus tool. "Now, look upon the target. Concentrate and envision the thing you want it to turn into. And say the magic words!"

Harry did and waved the cane around, but instead of it turning into a living Chimera, he instead turned it into a wooden Griffin statue.

"Oh, so close," Lucifer said, disappointed that it wasn't exactly what he meant, but was impressed at the quality of the statue. "But I didn't expect you to do something this impressive on the first try. Great job, Harry," he said as he snapped his fingers, transforming the statue back into a table and making his cane appear back in his hands.