The next morning, Nagini made her way with the rest of the Slytherin first years to their first class, Transfiguration, taught by Professor Dumbledore. As she made her way in, she found that the class was to be with the Gryffindors as well. She sat in the back; she had tried a few spells over the summer with her wand, but she preferred her bare hands much more.
"Hello," Professor Dumbledore began. "As you probably already know, I am Professor Dumbledore, and I will be teaching your Transfiguration class at Hogwarts." He smiled down at them and continued. "Transfiguration is an advanced form of magic and therefore should be treated with caution, but hopefully, after a few years at Hogwarts, you may be able to do this." He waved his wand and suddenly, his ears disappeared with a pop, to be replaced with two rolls of parchment, protruding freakishly out of his skull. He waved his wand again, and his ears reappeared, fully normal once again.
The class was in awe, though a few were giggling from how Professor Dumbledore had just looked. But afterwards, they found that they were to be starting extremely simple (at first glance anyway), transforming a piece of chalk into a button, after taking a series of notes of course.
As predicted, Nagini was failing miserably at it. She wasn't the only one, however. The pale blonde boy, by the name of Abraxas Malfoy, that had joined her in the boats was getting extremely frustrated and had resorted to prodding the chalk in hopes of something happening. An extremely mean faced girl had somehow made uninflammable chalk burst into fire. Professor Dumbledore quickly smothered the fire with a gush of water from his wand and gave her another piece. Not all were unsuccessful, however. Minerva McGonnagol of Gryffindor showed extraordinary talent at Transfiguration. Her desk was littered with perfect little buttons. Professor Dumbledore had allowed her to get an early start on her homework, to read the first chapter of A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration.
Nagini tried and failed at resisting the urge to use more comfortable magic, but found herself transfiguring the chalk after Professor Dumbledore turned his back. But before she had her wand back in her hand, he had turned toward her and saw the perfect button and her wandless hand. He didn't comment, but resumed walking around the classroom, surveying their work.
Finally, the bell rang and they were free of that difficult lesson. Except…
"Nagini," Professor Dumbledore called, "please stay back." She turned back, feeling nervous but keeping her face calm and smooth.
"Yes Professor?"
He was still smiling, "I saw what you did back there," he said. "You seem to have quite a bit of control over your magic when you don't have a wand."
"Oh," she couldn't think of anything else to say.
"How did you used to use it in the past?" he said, "You must have had practice with it."
His twinkling blue eyes were still on her. She felt as if she were being X rayed by them, as if he could see straight into her thoughts. She was sure he could figure out if she were lying. "I used to live on the streets of London, sir. I had to steal money to get food."
His smile did not falter, though she thought his eyes were twinkling a bit less and perhaps a dash of sympathy entered his aged features. "I trust you did not steal much."
"Oh, of course not sir," she said earnestly. "I stole just enough for me to eat for the night and never from those who looked extremely poor."
He let the subject drop. "Could you please come with me to my office?"
"Er um sir? I have to get to Potions."
"Don't worry, I will let Professor Slughorn know where you are soon." he assured her.
He led her in and what she saw was just astounding to her. It was a small room with a fireplace at the right, though no fire was blazing inside, mere embers. He gestured for her to sit down. Seeing her slightly nervous look, he said "Don't worry, you're not in any trouble."
She relaxed slightly, though she still felt a bit uneasy, but somehow calm in Dumbledore's presence. "I would just like you to demonstrate some of your magic. I don't think Hogwarts has ever had a student like you before. Let me see." He knocked a bottle of ink down on his desk, soaking a piece of parchment lying there. "Could you please try to siphon that ink off?"
Nagini was surprised, but raised her hand, and the ink began to rise in a small sheet and then into a thin thread of blackness, guided by her hand into the little bottle.
Dumbledore waved his wand and suddenly, a squashy armchair appeared before them. "Try changing that into anything you please."
Nagini imagined a dog in its place and with a small pop, it was replaced with a dog, which promptly bounded up to her and began to lick her face. She giggled slightly while Dumbledore watched with a puzzled expression on his face. She waved her hand, and the dog was promptly returned to a squashy armchair.
"Could I ask you to try to transfigure a piece of chalk into a button with your wand now?"
She blushed slightly and waved her wand, trying to make it feel like an extension of her hand, but nothing happened. Professor Dumbledore sighed, "I just ask you that in the future to try to refrain from using your regular magic in classes. I know you could probably do any of the material in the classes, but I believe that once you figure out how to use your wand properly, it will be a valuable asset. You may go to Professor Slughorn, I will notify him."