Last night’s conversation hadn’t disrupted Dawn’s plans—in fact, it had only solidified his resolve.

Leaving behind the chaos of the Great Hall, Dawn made his way to the Room of Requirement on the eighth floor, the place he was most familiar with.

He wanted a quiet space to organize the contents of the book he had read the previous night and to practice the two spells it described.

Most notably—the Flesh Cloning Spell.

Dawn found this particular magic especially intriguing.

As for his test subject… of course, it would be his ever-loyal toad.

He wasn’t about to follow in the footsteps of the manuscript’s previous owner and experiment on himself.

He reached out and pulled open the door handle that had formed on the wall.

The room inside was spacious enough for his needs. Dawn gave it a quick look, satisfied, then entered with his toad in hand.

He set the cage down on the table.

Wasting no time, he drew his wand and, focusing on the effect of the Flesh Cloning Spell described in the manuscript, chanted, “Flesh Cloning!”

Ribbit—!

A flash of light followed.

The toad, already somewhat uneasy, let out a loud croak and began to thrash about wildly, hurling itself against the cage bars again and again.

“Huh? That strong of a reaction?”

Dawn was a little surprised. Could the spell really be that painful?

He focused intently on observing the toad’s behavior.

As time passed, he noticed a small lump slowly bulging out of the bumpy skin on the toad’s back.

But then—

The lump continued to grow… and grow… until it was nearly the same size as the toad itself before finally coming to a stop.

Ribbit, ribbit, ribbit!

The toad’s cries became increasingly frantic.

But its strength was gone. It collapsed weakly in the corner of the cage, its flesh visibly shriveled in certain areas.

Lack of nutrients?

Dawn rubbed his chin thoughtfully. He didn’t rush to feed it, preferring to observe a little longer.

Thanks to the magical reaction from casting the spell, the magical energy on the toad’s surface had become dense enough for him to clearly see the patterns forming—

They were duplicating and splitting!

Exactly!

This wasn’t like the transfigurations of normal spells, nor was it the destruction of something like the Obliviate spell.

Under the Flesh Cloning Spell, a third of the toad’s magical pattern began replicating itself.

Dawn raised an eyebrow. Despite knowing so many spells, this was the first time he’d ever witnessed a magical pattern self-replicate.

As this transformation continued, the fleshy growth on the toad’s back quivered rhythmically. Gradually, like an embryo, it became transparent, and internal organs began to form inside.

Dawn watched, utterly captivated.

He had only wanted to satisfy his curiosity about the spell’s effect, but what he ended up discovering was an unexpected surprise—

By comparing the duplication of the patterns with the embryo’s development, he could begin categorizing the intricate symbols.

For example, which patterns corresponded to the heart, which ones to the skeleton…

The only shortcoming?

He was observing a toad.

He was sure that if the test subject had been a wizard, the research into magical patterns would leap forward by an entire level.

“Tsk. What a shame…”

Dawn muttered to himself, his thoughts already drifting—where could he find a wizard to experiment on?

Hogwarts was out of the question for now. There was no way he could pull anything off under Dumbledore’s watchful eyes.

Maybe… he’d have to take a stroll through Knockturn Alley during the holidays?

The idea flickered through his mind.

Dawn continued watching the toad.

Unlike Transfiguration or the Levitation Charm, this Flesh Cloning Spell didn’t require constant magical input to sustain the effect.

No—its nature was more akin to unlocking the body’s own cellular replication mechanisms.

Time passed slowly.

As the manuscript had mentioned, it took a long time for the clone to develop fully.

But Dawn was so engrossed in his observation that he didn’t find the wait boring at all.

Until suddenly—

A series of sharp knocks startled him out of his trance.

Bang, bang—!

Dawn looked up, surprised, turning toward the door of the Room of Requirement.

Who could it be?

He frowned slightly and stood up, walking over to open the door.

Standing in the corridor outside was a brown-haired girl with curly locks.

“Merlin’s beard! Thank goodness—you finally opened the door!”

Hermione looked like she had just been freed from a great burden.

“I went to the library earlier and searched everywhere but couldn’t find you! Then I noticed someone was in the Room of Requirement and knocked for at least ten minutes…”

“Seriously! Did you ask for a soundproof room or something?!”

Her words came rapid and full of complaints.

Dawn furrowed his brows, clearly annoyed at being interrupted.

“Miss Granger, do you need something from me?”

“Not me!”

Hermione shot him a glare. “Professor McGonagall sent me to find you. Do you think I’d be wasting my time looking for you otherwise?”

Professor McGonagall?

Dawn rubbed his forehead. His thoughts felt slightly fragmented.

In his memory, Hermione should’ve still been crying after her encounter with Malfoy. But now, here she was again—her proud, assertive self.

A glance at the time, though, made everything clear.

It was already afternoon.

The Quidditch match must have ended long ago.

“Professor McGonagall?”

“Yes.”

Hermione lifted her chin and turned to walk ahead. As she saw Dawn hesitating but eventually following, a satisfied smirk played on her lips.

Without a doubt, every time she interacted with Dawn, she ended up angry.

Dawn trailed behind, puzzled.

“Why does Professor McGonagall want to see me?”

He had indeed tried contacting her a few times, hoping to join the Transfiguration Club.

But he’d never managed to catch her—she probably wasn’t even aware.

Hermione huffed. At first, she didn’t want to answer, but then she reconsidered and sighed.

“I don’t know.”

“This morning, after the Quidditch match, I went to see Professor McGonagall to ask about Transfiguration… I’ve been studying ahead but still can’t manage to turn a living creature into an inanimate object.”

She said this with a trace of pride, but when she noticed Dawn’s indifferent expression, her confidence faltered.

Grumbling, she added, “Anyway, she asked me to fetch you. That’s all I know!”

Now that was odd.

Dawn pondered.

But as his tongue accidentally brushed against the roof of his mouth, he froze.

Could it be that Professor Sprout had said something? The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed.

So then…

Should he remove the Mandrake leaf from his mouth?

He paused in his step.

But after a moment’s consideration, he decided to leave it.

It wasn’t anything shameful.

And if Professor McGonagall did know, maybe it would give him a chance to ask her about Animagi.

Following behind Hermione, Dawn soon reached the second floor.

“Professor, I’ve brought Dawn,” Hermione said as she knocked on the Transfiguration office door.

A tired voice responded from within.

“Oh, thank you, Miss Granger. Please, come in.”

The wooden door swung open of its own accord.

Peering over Hermione’s shoulder, Dawn saw Professor McGonagall in her green robes, hunched over her desk, looking utterly exhausted as she wrote.

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