Beads of sweat dripped from hairline to finely sculpted brow as the French witch waved her wand through the air in a series of complex flicks and twists. Transforming subjects at a molecular level took a determination and focus that only a rare few could claim to possess. However, even that task was akin to child's play when considering what the woman was now attempting.

Yet another bead of sweat trailed below the collar of her pressed striped dress shirt as she closed her eyes to imagine the structure of molecules dissolving while attempting to preserve the ever important layer of information recognition that was the focus of her years of research. Continuing to wave her wand, the woman began imagining a new structure, not of a mouse but of something as simple as a paperweight.

A sigh released from her chest along with a quietly whispered "Merde!" as a pop resounded throughout the white walled room to indicate that the transformation had been completed. Running her delicate fingers through her mussed chestnut hair as she opened her eyes, the transfiguration master was pleased to see the gleaming paperweight sitting on her cold black lab counter within the cage that had previously housed the small white mouse.

Now for the difficult part, she thought as she again whipped her ten and three quarter inch dragon heartstring wand through the chilled air. When the woman closed her eyes again and imagined the reverse transformation, she took great care to focus on and hold to the network of consciousness she had placed so carefully before. By the time she had neared the end of the transformation her breathing had become a heavy panting and her heart was thudding at truly remarkable speed in an effort to keep up with her body's exertions.

As soon as the transformation had been completed, a light squeak reverberated from within the cage. Wiping an elegant hand across her brow, the woman directed her attention to her newly returned companion and removed him from the cage. She strode across the research lab with a gait that exuded confidence and determination before placing the mouse in a tiny confined cube at the forefront of the maze.

As she flicked her wand to begin the stopwatch recording, she grabbed onto the front wall of the enclosure and pulled, successfully releasing the animal into the testing area. The woman watched with rapt fascination as the mouse quickly rounded corner after corner, avoiding carefully placed stimuli in the form of cheese designed to draw its attention to the wrong pathways. In just under fifteen seconds, the mouse reached the end of the elaborate maze and used the soft pink nose at the tip of its pointed face to ring a hanging jingle bell.

The flick of her wrist to stop the timer was automatic as she stared wide-eyed at the fidgeting creature. Feeling light-headed and incredibly faint, Hermione swayed to the side and only managed a faintly gasped, "Mon Dieu! I've done it!" before collapsing to the floor as darkness swirled in to obscure her consciousness.

Five days after her untimely fainting spell, Hermione Granger sat in a rigid, pale blue high-backed chair anxiously awaiting feedback from her long time mentor, Madame Hélène Deivrot. Hélène had taken Hermione as her apprentice the year that the young woman had graduated with honors from Beauxbatons Academy of Magic.

The three year apprenticeship had been full of surprises for the experienced Madame Deivrot as she released that not only was young Miss Granger remarkably proficient at advanced transfigurations, but that she was quickly becoming in tune with the fundamentals of transfiguration magic in a way that no other master had been able to claim in decades. By the second year of the young woman's training, she had surpassed Hélène's abilities and was already conducting unprecedented independent research in the field.

The woman in question had founded her own research company upon completing her final mastery test and had been working on a highly secretive project for the past two years. When she had called for a meeting with her mentor, she had simply stated in her letter that she had concluded her research and was ready to present her first paper to Transfiguration Today, provided that Hélène believe it was adequate for presentation to board of the publication.

Feigning a tranquility that she certainly did not feel, Hermione attempted to cease her incessant tapping and took a long, slow sip of the steaming chamomile tea from the flowered teacup that she had been cradling. Sensing her protégé's distress, Hélène swept her short blonde hair out from in front of her stormy blue eyes and smiled wildly at the younger woman. With obvious notes of astonishment and admiration, she gleefully exclaimed, "This is brilliant, Hermione! I knew that once you had come to me with your theory you would not stop until you had successfully proven your hypothesis!"

Almost immediately, Hélène's face darkened as a wave of trepidation danced across her aged features, "Are you sure though, that you want this to be published? I will stand behind you, but you will make significant enemies. This is directly in contradiction with nearly every paper published on the subject in the last century!" A calloused hand reached over and securely encompassed the smaller, more delicate one as the she squeezed the younger woman's fingers in reassurance.

Hermione had spent much of her time in her early years strictly adhering to the set principles and guidelines for her field. When she had originally come up with this theory, however, she had realized that the entire purpose of mastering an area of magic and dedicating one's life to research in that field was to upend previously held theories, disprove carefully constructed principles, and rewrite what were believed to be fundamental laws. Holding her head high and jutting her chin forwards in a cheeky gesture of defiance, the woman nodded. "Hélène, I have never been more certain of anything in my life. This is what I was meant to do."

Six weeks later found Headmistress Minerva McGonagall seated in the center of the head table in the Great Hall, conversing genially with Professor Filius Flitwick. It was the second week of September and the students of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry had eagerly settled into a new year of coursework, leaving the professors pleasantly surprised at the relaxed manner in which the new term began.

As the two colleagues were discussing the new recruit possibilities for the year's quidditch teams, a flurry of owls filtered into the hall to deliver the morning post. Amidst the commotion was a single solid black dusky barn owl with large, dark eyes. The right corner of Minerva's mouth tugged slightly upwards as she recognized Arod, the owl that visited her monthly to deliver the latest edition of her favorite academic publication, Transfiguration Today.

The large owl gave a loud hoot as it landed precariously on the edge of the wooden table next to the Headmistress' breakfast. Minerva carefully removed the rolled up journal that was secured to the owl's left leg as Filius tossed him a small piece of bacon to avoid being pecked. Arod was known for his less than stellar disposition and the deputy had a scar on his right index finger to prove it. "Come now Filius," Minerva stated with a barely hidden chuckle, "Arod is a wonderful owl. There is no need to throw your breakfast at him."

With that the Headmistress chanced a sideways glance just in time to see the diminutive man purse his lips and scowl in her direction. Seeing his face caused the previously hidden chuckle to erupt full force from her throat as a mirthful expression lit up her features. "There, there, Arod. He'll come around eventually," she soothed the bird with a gentle brush of his wings before sending him on his way.

"If you are going to be so antagonistic this morning, Minerva," Filius quipped, "you could at least tell me if there is anything worth reading in this month's edition." The professor pointed at the Headmistress' still rolled copy of Transfiguration Today and arched a bushy grey brow in anticipation.

His brown eyes widened with concern as he watched the woman next to him unroll the publication and scowl before slamming it face down on the table. "Minerva, wha…" he wasn't even able to finish his question before the ever reserved Headmistress had risen from her seat and stormed out of the side entrance to the Great Hall. Turning the offending journal over to determine the source of her sudden change in demeanor, the deputy was astonished at the cover headline that greeted him: Young Transfiguration Master Disproves McGonagall's Second Principle of Transformation!

World Renowned Transfiguration Master Minerva McGonagall's Second Principle of Transformation Has Been Disproved by Hermione Granger:

Second Principle of Transformation: When transforming a subject to an object with a change at the molecular level, the original consciousness of the subject cannot be retained or restored upon reversing the transformation.

The youngest third level transfiguration master, Hermione Granger, has spent the last three years attempting to disprove this principle and give credit to her theory that the consciousness of the transformed subject could not only be retained, but could be restored in full when the subject was returned to its original state. Miss Granger reached a breaking point in her research two months ago when she was able to provide evidence for this hypothesis.

"It is a complex theory, but in the end it was as simple as altering the transformation to store the original consciousness of the subject in a way that was inaccessible in the object state," Miss Granger informed the Transfiguration Today board members during her recent presentation. "When performing the initial transformation, the consciousness of the subject can be weaved into the new creation in a way that allows it not only to be retained in the altered state, but to be restored when completing the second transformation from paperweight back to mouse."

When questioned on the implications of a transformed object holding a consciousness, Miss Granger eagerly explained, "The actual consciousness is not accessible to the object in any manner. Think of it as a blueprint, locked away in a safe. It is tangible, but cannot be found or understood by those without the correct tools to access it. The consciousness can only be accessed or restored by the caster of the original transformation. Otherwise, it simply remains dormant and has no perceptible effect on the object or the transformation."

The tests conducted to prove Hermione Granger's hypothesis have been verified by the board of administrators. These tests were conducted under the same constraints as the original tests used to prove Minerva McGonagall's Second Principle of Transformation. As such, these principles are currently slated as under review until the official Transfiguration World Council convenes later this year to determine if and how the principles should be rewritten.

For more information on Hermione Granger's hypothesis that consciousness can be retained and restored in subject to object transformations, along with specific detailing of the experiments with trained mice to prove this hypothesis, please see page 12.

Unbridled rage coursed through Minerva McGonagall's veins as she sat at her mahogany desk clutching her emerald quill tightly in a fisted hand. As her thoughts drifted back to the ostentatious excuse for an article that she had unfortunately been subjected to that morning, she clenched her fist ever tighter, snapping the delicate quill in two. Gone was the normally stoic façade, replaced by an air that made the woman worthy of her namesake. At this moment, she was every inch the goddess of war.

She could not believe the audacity of the young upstart researcher, or for that matter, of the publication itself. What had happened to the code of ethics among the masters of her field? In her day, if you were working on a hypothesis that would challenge an existing master's published research, you informed them of your theories and brought them in to consult on the project. This way research and advancement was an amicable effort rather than an insulting attempt to dispose of previously proven and published principles.

Three years this obnoxious woman had been working in an effort to disprove her second principle without even a word. No letter had come inviting her to consult on her research, no request for a meeting to discuss the experiments behind her original publication, not a single effort made to respect a code of behavior that had existed among masters for generations.

Minerva McGonagall could never be called a vain woman. The continual advancement of knowledge, particularly in her field of expertise, was something that she treasured above all else in the world of magic. Her frustration was not with the research done by the young woman, the outcome of her experiments, or the publishing of her theories to educate the field as a whole.

No, her frustration lay entirely with the woman herself. Simply put, the young woman infuriated her, and it was just about time she let her know. With that thought firmly secured in her mind, Minerva gathered a new quill from the top drawer of her desk, dipped it heavily into a pot of emerald ink, and began to write.

Miss Hermione Granger,

This morning I had the rather unpleasant experience of reading an article about your recent hypothesis and experiments disproving my Second Principle of Transformation.

While I would like to congratulate you on your success in further advancing the knowledge of the transfiguration field, I would also like to discuss with you the propriety of conducting your research and having your findings published in Transfiguration Today without making any effort to contact me and inform me of your intentions.

You will meet with me to dissertate this grievous error next Friday evening at 7pm at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in Scotland. I do not tolerate tardiness.

Minerva McGonagall

Master of Transfiguration

Headmistress of Hogwarts

TBC - I hope that you enjoyed this! Reviews are wonderful!