Chapter 522 Trip to Brazil

Chapter 522 Trip to Brazil
Two other things happened in November.

Let me start with the first one -

Professor McGonagall had stopped the activities of the Transfiguration Club as early as late October. This was because the International Animagus Symposium was about to be held, and as one of the honorary members of the symposium, Professor McGonagall had to start making various preparations for the symposium.

The International Animagus Symposium is a major event in the field of Transfiguration, bringing together Transfiguration masters from around the world. Almost all registered Animagus will attend to discuss the most cutting-edge Transfiguration theories and practical experiences.

This year's seminar will be held at the Brazilian Ministry of Magic, and as the organizer, they specially allow each invited Transfiguration Master to bring up to two of his favorite students. For young Transfiguration learners, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Showing your talents at the seminar will not only win recognition from your peers, but also add valuable qualifications in your future academic research or career.

After careful consideration, Professor McGonagall finally selected Sherin and Cedric Diggory as her accompanying students. Elsie Montgomery will attend with her mother. Therefore, there will be three student representatives from Hogwarts attending this seminar.

It was mid-November, the sky was clear, and a tropical breeze blew gently, bringing the scent of the ocean and the forest.

The Brazilian Ministry of Magic is located in the Parque de la Grange at the foot of the Cristo del Cristo in Rio de Janeiro. However, like all Ministries of Magic in the world, in order to prevent Muggles from noticing, there is a special entry method that only wizards can use at the entrance.

When Professor McGonagall brought Sherin, Cedric and Eloise to the park, they saw a lush tropical rainforest. In the distance, they could see a lake and a carefully trimmed green maze. It looked no different from an ordinary park. There were Muggle tourists, photography enthusiasts, and several street performers performing samba and guitar singing. It was noisy and lively.

However, Professor McGonagall led them straight into the depths of the park.

When they reached an abandoned fountain, Mag stopped, looked around, and whispered, "Follow me closely."

She raised her hand first, and lightly touched the center of the fountain with her fingertips. A faint blue ripple spread out from the center of the fountain, as if the water surface was disturbed by an invisible force. And at the moment when the ripple spread to the edge of the fountain, the scene in front of the four people suddenly changed -

The park disappeared.

Instead, there is a stone path covered with lush vines, winding forward and disappearing into the depths of the forest.

"This is a barrier magic," Professor McGonagall explained, "Only those with a formal invitation can see the entrance to the Ministry of Magic."

Schelling and the other two looked at each other, then followed Professor McGonagall and stepped onto the ancient stone steps.

At this moment, in the hall, transformation masters from all over the world are arriving one after another. Most of them are Animagus, and each of them has a hint of pride. After all, it is rare to be an Animagus wizard, let alone make achievements in this field.

Shaylin, Cedric Diggory and Elsie Montgomery followed Professor McGonagall into the venue.

The hall was surrounded by tall French windows. Sunlight filtered through the lush vines, making the golden floor tiles sparkle. Representatives and scholars from various magic ministries sat around a circular conference table, chatting with each other. In the center was a wide display area, which was obviously prepared for the upcoming demonstration.

Professor McGonagall's arrival caused a lot of whispers. Her status in the field of Transfiguration is unquestionable. She is not only the professor of Transfiguration at Hogwarts, but also one of the authorities in registering Animagus. However, a pair of eyes were looking at her with a bit of sharp inquiry - that was Gilbert Fontana, the headmaster of Ilvermorny.

Fontana was a tall wizard with grey but meticulously combed hair, and he wore a blue and gold robe with the crest of the Ifamoni school on it.

His Animagus form is a clever monkey, just like himself, smart and ambitious. Although he has a good personal relationship with Dumbledore, he has always had the ambition to make Ilvermorny surpass Hogwarts in academics. At this moment, his eyes fell on Sherin and Cedric, as if he was measuring their potential.

In stark contrast is Zhang He from China, whose Animagus form is a grey donkey capable of travelling long distances, earning him the nickname "Thousand Mile Donkey" among his peers due to his exceptional endurance and shapeshifting abilities.

He folded his arms across his chest, listening attentively to the opening speech of the Ministry of Magic representative. When he saw Xie Ling, he smiled and nodded to Xie Ling.

With the announcement of the host, the seminar officially began. First, there were keynote speeches by transformation masters from various countries, covering a variety of topics from advanced training of Animagus to how to flexibly use transformation abilities in battle.

Professor McGonagall's speech was themed "Animagus and Modern Magical Education", emphasizing the central position of Transfiguration in magical education, while Fontana deliberately emphasized Ilvermony's breakthrough in academic research on Transfiguration, and his words revealed a challenge to Hogwarts.

After all the transformation masters presented their latest research results, it was finally the turn of the accompanying students to present their work.

The students of Ifamoni were the first to appear on stage, bringing a shocking visual impact to the audience.

Several seventh grade students transformed into huge, aggressive cougars and jaguars. They crouched low, scraping the ground lightly with their sharp claws, their dark pupils glancing around quietly, as if they would pounce at any time.

This scene made the audience gasp, and many people even subconsciously took a step back, fearing that these beasts would get out of control.

Gilbert Fontana, the headmaster of Ilvermorny, sat on the stage with a smug smile on his face. He had specially selected these students in order to outdo Hogwarts in this international event.

Sure enough, there were discussions and exclamations all around. Cougars and jaguars are one of the most representative beasts in North America, and being able to master such a powerful and ferocious Animagus form is an extreme manifestation of the ability to transform. Fontana tilted his head slightly, his eyes fell on Professor McGonagall inconspicuously, trying to find even a trace of shock or unwillingness in her expression. But McGonagall just picked up the teacup and took a sip, as if she didn't care about it, which made Fontana's smile slightly stiff.

"Well, let me show you Hogwarts that the students of Ilvermony have now far surpassed you." He was secretly proud in his heart.

When these beast-like students finished their performance, transformed back into human form, and walked off the stage with proud smiles, all the audience came back to their senses and gave the warmest applause. Animagus is known as the highest achievement in transfiguration, and even adults find it difficult to master it. Now that such a group of young students have demonstrated it so skillfully, it is shocking.

When the host announced that it was the turn of the Hogwarts students to perform, Elusi and Cedric chose to stay in the audience. The purpose of their trip was mainly to gain knowledge, and they did not plan to go on stage. But Sherin walked into the exhibition area. When his name was read out, many Transfiguration masters in the venue showed interest.

"Sharin Malfoy from Hogwarts will show us a unique Transfiguration technique," the host introduced.

After all, Schelling had not made public the fact that he had mastered the Animagus, nor had he officially registered as a legal Animagus, so he could only demonstrate his unique Transfiguration - "Animagus".

When Sherin slowly raised his wand and his body shape began to change, a never-before-seen transformation shocked the entire venue.

Schelling's body changed rapidly. His torso remained human, but fine brown hair gradually appeared on his skin. He looked a bit like a half-human, half-cat who had tried and failed to transform into a cat.

Then, his limbs became more slender, his muscles became tight and powerful, and his fingertips slightly extended into sharp claws, but he was not completely bestial; his eyes turned amber in an instant, his pupils stood up, his ears stretched slightly, and his hearing was obviously greatly enhanced.

His aura also changed.

Neither completely human nor completely beastly, but somewhere in between.

Even so, everyone could tell from the changes in his body and breath that Xie Ling had now transformed into an orc, ready to pounce and kill at any time with the precision of a prey like a wild beast.

As if deliberately demonstrating the abilities of this orc form, Xie Ling's figure suddenly flashed and he rushed towards the audience seats at an extremely fast speed. At the moment of approaching, he suddenly jumped up, flipped flexibly in the air, and finally landed steadily, standing in his original position with incredible precision.

The whole audience was in an uproar, and many transformation masters were talking to each other.

"Okay... so fast!"

"what is this?"

"A half-human, half-beast form... could it be a variant of Animagus?"

"I have never seen such a transformation..."

Fontana's eyes suddenly focused, as if he had a strong interest in Schelling's research, while Zhang He narrowed his eyes slightly, with a thoughtful look in his eyes.

"This is the technique of 'Animagus' - an advanced technique that combines Animagus and human transformation. It allows the caster to retain the human form while also possessing the perception, agility and wild power of a magical animal." The host finally recovered from his trance, quickly scanned the manuscript in his hand, and introduced Schelling's magic.

Then, something even more shocking happened.

"Hello everyone, I'm Shaylin Malfoy from Hogwarts." Shaylin bowed towards the audience and spoke in a human voice.

This...he can still speak?

This was not over yet. Xie Ling waved his claws quickly, and then a fireball and a water ball condensed from the air above him and floated on his left and right.

What? He can cast spells?
In the room, except for Mag, who remained calm and remained firmly seated, all the other Transfiguration Masters stood up. Their faces were filled with disbelief.

What kind of magic is this!
Although Animagus is hailed as the greatest achievement of Transfiguration, that is because of its abnormal difficulty in learning. However, in reality, its use is not great, and it is mostly used for infiltration, disguise and hiding. After all, after turning into an animal, although you gain the abilities of an animal, you also lose the ability of a wizard to speak and cast spells.

Now, the magic demonstrated by Xie Ling can not only retain the human form while gaining animal abilities, but can also speak and cast spells. The effect of this spell is too amazing.

The scene suddenly fell into deathly silence, and then there was a burst of enthusiastic exclamations and applause!
Even Principal Fontana's expression changed slightly. The original pride disappeared in an instant, and was replaced by astonishment and unwillingness.

He thought he had seen countless excellent Animagus, and even knew a few top masters who could transform into magical creatures, but he had never heard of the skill of the Animagus - not to mention that the person demonstrating this skill was just a Hogwarts student!
At this moment, the limelight that originally belonged to Ifamoni was completely overshadowed by Xie Ling.

Finally, a satisfied smile appeared on Professor McGonagall's originally cold face.