Hogwarts: Transmigrated as the Top Student

The entire cabin suddenly began to shake violently...

The dining table in front of him vanished without warning, taking Jon's unfinished breakfast with it.

The intense shaking lasted for about half a minute before finally stopping. Jon almost thought it was an earthquake.

But the missile silo and nuclear warheads he'd imagined didn't appear... In fact, after all the shaking, the cabin was completely empty—nothing had happened at all!

Jon was a little disappointed.

It seemed the Room of Requirement had tried its best, but it just wasn't capable!

"Let's try something simpler…" Jon cleared his throat. "How about a multi-barrel rocket launcher that can cover all of Hogwarts, including the Forbidden Forest, in thirty seconds? Guard-class or Tornado-class, either is fine!"

Once again, the room trembled violently. Jon nearly lost his balance, but just then, a pillar appeared in front of him, allowing him to grab on and steady himself.

That was all the Room of Requirement could manage.

The rocket launcher he asked for still didn't appear.

"What the hell, that's not working either..."

"Fine, something even simpler... a Type 59 main battle tank!"

"Still no good?"

"A 35mm Type 87 grenade launcher… that can't be too hard, right?"

"Okay, change it again… an AK-47 assault rifle?"

"How about a Type 92 semi-automatic pistol?"

"A bayonet?"

...

"You've got to be kidding me—you can't even produce a bayonet?" Jon was starting to lose his patience.

At first, he thought the Room of Requirement just didn't respond in time, so he repeated "a bayonet" several times… But as before, after a violent tremor, the room remained completely empty.

"You call yourself the Room of Requirement?" Jon gave the wall a helpless glance. "You can't even conjure a pistol or a bayonet!"

Suddenly, some unpleasant noises came from the wall… To be more accurate, they sounded a bit like sobbing.

Then, a table appeared in front of Jon. On top of it, a bottle of Firewhiskey and a glass appeared out of thin air… The bottle tipped over and poured the whiskey full into the glass, which then floated over to Jon.

"What the hell, this room's got feelings now?" Jon blinked as he took the drink. "It can even feel sad and apologize... Wasn't sentient enchantment banned after 1949?"

At that moment, Jon realized something!

Hogwarts was founded in 993 AD—exactly 999 years ago. If there hadn't been any major renovations, the Room of Requirement must have been built around the same time!

"Give me a set of Crusader armor and a Tang sword," he said seriously.

This time, the Room of Requirement responded precisely.

A set of heavy armor and a sharp longsword appeared in front of Jon almost instantly.

The armor was so heavy Jon could barely lift it. It obviously wouldn't stop bullets, but ordinary arrows probably couldn't pierce it either. The sword was razor-sharp, and engraved on its hilt were the Chinese characters for "Fifth Year of Tianbao."

Jon tossed the armor and sword aside. He was now certain his guess was correct.

The Room of Requirement had been created around the same time as Hogwarts. Its creator was likely one—or several—of the four founders. Like the Sorting Hat, it had been imbued with powerful magic that gave it a degree of intelligence. However, that intelligence and its capabilities were inherently tied to its creator's era...

Which meant it couldn't produce anything beyond the scope of its time. Even something as seemingly simple as a bayonet was beyond its limits!

Jon decided to test this theory further.

He asked the Room of Requirement for several books on "Dark Magic Defense," and the books appeared instantly: Curses and Counter-Curses, Common Dark Magic and Its Defense, Complete Guide to Self-Defense Magic... He carefully checked their publication dates—without exception, all had been published before the 9th or 10th century.

It seemed these ancient defense books weren't of much use... Jon tossed them aside. A millennium of magical evolution had likely left those techniques far behind. Learning them blindly would only lead to confusion and wasted effort.

With a wave of his hand, the armor, Tang sword, and books vanished.

In their place appeared a row of Sneakoscopes and Probity Probes, along with a large mirror designed to reveal demons... A variety of dark magic detection devices, though not necessarily effective.

There were also large silk cushions and a few movable training dummies.

Raising his green bamboo wand, Jon resumed practicing the Petrification Spell...

At this stage, it was the only offensive spell he could use. Its power wasn't high, but he had to get more skilled with it... That way, if he ran into trouble, at least he'd have some means of defending himself.

...

By the time he left the Room of Requirement, it was already 8 o'clock.

Classes at Hogwarts started at 8:30. The first lesson of the school year was Professor Minerva McGonagall's Transfiguration class, which Hufflepuff and Gryffindor would attend together.

The classroom was on the seventh floor of Hogwarts Castle. It only took Jon a few minutes to get there.

The classroom door was open, but no one was inside. It seemed the first-year students from Gryffindor and Hufflepuff were still in the Great Hall eating breakfast...

Except for the podium, where a spotted cat stood.

Jon didn't dare waste time. He respectfully walked up to the podium and gave the cat a deep bow.

"Professor McGonagall."

The tabby glanced at Jon and nodded but didn't transform into her human form.

Jon took a seat in the front row and opened his copy of A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch.

He flipped through the pages aimlessly (he had already memorized the entire book) while occasionally glancing at the cat on the podium from the corner of his eye.

Animagus was certainly a powerful form of magic. Professor McGonagall's transformation wasn't just about appearance—she even exhibited the behavioral traits of a real cat. It could be said she had acquired some of a cat's animal instincts.

But in Jon's eyes, this magic didn't seem very meaningful.

After all, Animagus transformations were limited to non-magical creatures. Trying to become magical beasts—like Phoenixes, Dragons, or Hippogriffs—could lead to unpredictable consequences... So turning into an animal wouldn't enhance combat ability. In fact, it would turn a spell-casting wizard into a creature limited to claws and teeth.

More importantly, regular Transfiguration spells could also temporarily turn wizards into animals—though not as effectively as Animagus. But for scouting purposes, it seemed sufficient... and came with the bonus of being able to choose different animals, unlike Animagus, which was fixed to one form.

Not to mention, mastering the Animagus transformation took years of training, still carried a significant chance of failure, and was quite dangerous. Only seven Animagi were officially registered in the entire 20th century, and including the unregistered ones, the total probably didn't exceed twenty. For most wizards, it was an extremely difficult form of magic.

Simply put, the effort far outweighed the benefits...