Chapter 4: The Magic Professor

As the greatest wizard of the century in Britain, Dumbledore held many titles beyond that of Headmaster of Hogwarts, making his daily life incredibly busy. Despite being over a hundred years old, he remained energetic, always managing to handle complex affairs with ease—or, at the very least, he did so most of the time.

Yet, there were some matters that even his power and wisdom could not easily resolve, leaving him unable to provide a perfect solution. Cultivating children, for instance, was one such challenge. Even after serving as headmaster for so many years, there were always students who gave him a headache.

Harry Potter, who was set to enroll this year? Certainly not him. Although the boy seemed detached from the wizarding world, he had always lived under Dumbledore’s watchful eye. Dumbledore understood Harry well; with gentle guidance and by steering him in the right direction, everything would fall into place.

The child who truly troubled him was someone else.

"Roger Virgil..."

When Dumbledore first confirmed that the boy was a wizard, Roger Virgil had seemed overjoyed. However, his subsequent behavior had caused the headmaster significant concern. After the trial concluded, the first thing Roger busied himself with was arranging the funeral for his original body’s parents. Once Dumbledore learned of this, he could not simply stand by and watch an eleven-year-old manage it alone. He commissioned someone he trusted to assist Roger—a gesture of help that also served as a means of observation, a way to sketch the boy's inner world through his actions.

As for the result?

"Sigh," Dumbledore exhaled.

At the funeral, friends and relatives from both sides of Roger's parents attended to pay their respects. Yet, whether it was his father’s friends or his mother’s kin, Roger showed no inclination to engage with them.

In Roger’s eyes, this was only natural. For one, they had not seen each other for years, rendering them distant; for another, Roger was a soul inhabiting a borrowed body. Asking him to treat the relatives of the original host as his own kin was a genuine dilemma. To him, parting ways and letting the past fade into memory was for the best. Though his trial was over, he still faced plenty of troubles that were far from resolved.

Whether it was the enemies he had provoked in the past or those he would attract in the future, these were things that mere Muggles, even those with a bit of money, could not withstand. Having borrowed this body, he felt he owed a karmic debt, and he did not wish to bring further trouble upon the original family.

But to Dumbledore, it appeared as though the boy was rejecting reconnection with his kin. The impact of the war on this child had not faded simply because he had regained his freedom after the trial. Looking at a pair of woolen socks in the corner, Dumbledore felt a wave of melancholy. When one grows old, one becomes sentimental, unable to stop dwelling on the past.

Injured by Muggles, attacking Muggles in an effort to protect oneself, a seer, a child of exceptional talent and unique thinking... his sister, his father, his dear friend, students who had gone astray—Dumbledore saw too many familiar shadows in Roger. Too many memories he could not bear to recall, filled with regret. He truly did not want to see the tragedies of the past play out before his eyes in another form.

Dumbledore hoped that Roger would walk a righteous path and lead a happy life. However, as one standing at the very pinnacle of the wizarding world, Dumbledore lacked the energy to focus on Roger personally, no matter how much he wished to. Unable to do it himself, he could only do what he had done when entrusting Harry Potter to his loyal confidant, Hagrid: he entrusted Roger to another person he could trust.

***

"Is the reason Transfiguration is taught separately from most other magic and given its own course because its fundamental nature is vastly different from ordinary spells?" Roger asked, looking up from his list of required textbooks.

On the way to the Leaky Cauldron, Roger had spent the entire journey asking questions, much like any ordinary child full of curiosity about the magical world.

"It is not just the fundamental nature; even the method of casting is different," Professor McGonagall replied casually. She was accustomed to young wizards asking all sorts of things. Most of them, however, would eventually lose that curiosity and interest once they experienced the rigors of studying magic at Hogwarts, turning into study machines focused solely on passing exams. Only a very small number would maintain that thirst for knowledge, actively spending their energy delving into magical topics that would never appear on a test.

"Most spells function by casting an effect upon a target, adding a magical quality to it—like the 'swelling' of a minor jinx, the 'death' of a curse, or the 'heat' and 'levitation' of common charms."

"Transfiguration, however, alters the physical properties of an object—its size, structure, density, or even its existence."

"The difference in casting lies in the fact that while ordinary spells aim to make a target 'become X,' Transfiguration is the act of 'turning into X.' It may seem similar, but once your study of magic reaches a certain depth, you will understand just how vast the gap between the two really is." Because she was explaining it to a young wizard who had yet to enroll, Professor McGonagall did not go too deep, sticking to simple language.

Looking at Roger’s thoughtful, youthful face, Professor McGonagall felt a sense of helplessness. During the time they spent organizing the funeral together, they had interacted frequently, and to her, Roger did not seem like an eleven-year-old at all. A thinker forever harboring doubts—that was the image of Roger in her mind. It was only when he encountered magic that he acted like a normal eleven-year-old, filled with hope, like a child who had just received a new toy.

Before starting at Hogwarts, one had to purchase textbooks for the current year, new robes, and for first-years, a cauldron for Potions, a wand for casting, and a pet. If one had a wizarding parent, they would lead the child to make these purchases. If both parents were Muggles, the task of guiding the children through the magical world fell to the teachers of Hogwarts. For example, Harry Potter’s guide to the wizarding world had been the half-giant Hagrid.

Roger had no connection to the wizarding world; his family was entirely Muggle. Thus, he needed a teacher to guide him through Diagon Alley, as the location was hidden and inaccessible without the guidance of a witch or wizard. Roger’s guide was one of Dumbledore’s most trusted individuals: the Head of Gryffindor House and Professor of Transfiguration, Minerva McGonagall.

Seeing the Leaky Cauldron appear in the distance, just a few minutes’ walk away, Professor McGonagall turned to Roger. "Roger, what do you plan to do after graduating from Hogwarts? Join the Ministry of Magic, return to the Muggle world, or..."

If she had asked this of any other incoming student, most would have been unable to provide a firm answer. But having spent so much time with him, McGonagall believed that Roger had likely already decided. And as she had anticipated, Roger gave a clear answer.