Basil couldn’t help but turn his full attention on Miss Ida Chang as she began speaking. She was very intelligent for her year, and he nearly always appreciated whatever it was she had to say. He enjoyed tremendously when she helped him on his research projects, and her enthusiasm for Transfiguration was unparalleled except for maybe Basil’s own. She was a kindred spirit unlike any he’d come across and it was refreshing. Her elaborate explanation was interesting, to say the least. Nodding along as she spoke, Basil’s brow creased and he hummed when it was appropriate as she paused. Upon conclusion, the professor leaned his elbow on the desk and dropped his chin into his hand, considering for a moment. “You have an interesting hypothesis…” he mused. Basil could admit, he was impressed by her observations.
“By that logic however, wouldn’t your best chances at completing a successful first transformative attempt, after the initial process is complete, have been in the waxing of the moon this month?” His eye twinkled a little in teasing. “By proxy, you ought to have started on the mandrake leaf and dew collecting late last year to finish the ritual…” he glanced at the calendar hanging on the wall “…next week and begin your wait for the much anticipated electrical storm. One of which we could not expect with any certainty in the next ten days, and certainly not on next Thursday which would be the ideal date for your strongest connection to the Yang sense of representation.” Basil straightened and leaned back in his chair pensively.
“It’s an excellent observation,” he continued. “One that has much merit and with some additional research in statistical likelihood could prove that there are stronger transformations than others. But that likelihood of all the variables coming together before the first full moon in a single year is very slim.” He thought for a moment. “We could always look for such trends in previous years and see if there are historical records for particularly strong animagi that line up with these. Perhaps you might even be able to interview one or two and see what they think of the hypothesis. They might have some valuable input that could affect our understanding of the process as a whole.”
It was a clever idea, if it could be proven. This seemed exactly like the type of research project Ida could tackle on her own if she was interested, and she could publish her findings at the end of the semester if she was dedicated. Basil hoped she might be. If Miss Chang was serious about making a name for herself academically, it was about time she put something out there with her own name leading the charge.