Chapter 1144: The Ouroboros Ring
Chapter 1144: The Ouroboros Ring
After leaving Beauxbatons Academy, Albert did not return directly to Britain by boat. Instead, he took Isabelle back to the house that the Lemes had left them and began to search through every corner of it meticulously.
Isabelle watched as Albert rummaged through the rooms, curious as to what he was looking for. "What are you searching for?" she asked.
"Something that Mr. Flamel left for us," Albert replied, as he searched through Flamel's study, but unfortunately, he did not find what he was looking for. While the study still contained many valuable books, the most valuable notes and manuscripts were already in his possession.
"You mean, Mr. Flamel didn't want Dumbledore to know about this?" Isabelle was perplexed, and then she shook her head. "If Mr. Flamel really wanted to leave something for you, he probably would have given it to you earlier. I doubt he would have waited until now."
"Who knows?" Albert mused. "Perhaps they didn't want Dumbledore to know, even the best of friends keep some secrets from each other." He continued his search in the bedrooms but still could not find what he sought.
Leaning against the bedroom doorway, Isabelle watched Albert's busy figure and asked, "Are you so sure that Mr. Flamel left something for you?"
"Yes," Albert replied as he waved his wand to restore the messy room to its original state. "If I had lived for hundreds of years, I would have done the same."
"Don't make me guess your riddles," Isabelle said.
"Anyway, Mr. Flamel left me knowledge because he knew I didn't lack money and that I craved knowledge," Albert explained, thinking it over. "If I had to put it bluntly, I'd say it's a matter of intuition."
"Really now," Isabelle teased.
She walked over and playfully ruffled Albert's hair in protest.
"Are you going to keep looking?" she asked.
"Of course," Albert replied. "I feel like I may have overlooked something."
"Is it because Mr. Flamel specifically left us this house that you suspect there might be something hidden here?" Isabelle offered her own conjecture.
"Yes, that's one of the reasons," Albert agreed as he returned to the study, his gaze falling on the crystal ball on the desk. "However, this place is already protected by the Fidelius Charm. Even if we donated it, its value wouldn't be that significant. We can't keep bothering Dumbledore about it."
Any wizard who wanted to enter would need Dumbledore to disclose the secret, which was obviously troublesome.
"Of course, by leaving this place to us, they also intended for it to serve as a safe house for us," Albert added.
"It's quite perplexing," Isabelle said. "How do you plan to find that thing? Are you going to use divination?"
Isabelle realized what Albert was thinking as she saw him staring at the crystal ball.
"Yes!" Albert admitted, a bit frustrated. "I just thought of using the crystal ball for divination, and now I feel a bit foolish for not considering it earlier."
"Oh, don't be like that," Isabelle consoled, patting Albert's head gently. "You just didn't think of it for a moment."
"No, I already have a guess as to where the item is," Albert said.
As he spoke, Albert took out the picture frame he had taken earlier and looked at the smiling Lemes. He opened the back of the frame and, sure enough, found what the Lemes had left for him—a hand-drawn parchment map and a golden ring bearing the symbol of the ouroboros, the serpent eating its own tail.
Isabelle's mouth hung slightly agape as she realized that Albert had indeed guessed correctly.
There was a message inscribed on the back of the parchment:
Dear Albert, by the time you read this, you may find it useful in your pursuit of creating the Philosopher's Stone.
We saw in our scrying ball that you took the picture frame, so we decided to hide it within.
The map leads to an alchemy workshop, which we are leaving to you. All the information and tools for making the Philosopher's Stone are there, along with many of our unrealized ideas. Perhaps you will find them interesting, and if you can one day perfect them, it would be a joyous occasion.
Do not tell Dumbledore, for he does not favor the Philosopher's Stone.
—Nicolas Flamel "Is this what you were looking for?" Isabelle asked as she took the rough golden ring, its symbol of alchemy gleaming.
"To be honest, I wasn't sure what I would find," Albert admitted as he reread the letter.
"But they already have a Philosopher's Stone, don't they? Why would they want to make more?" Isabelle couldn't understand Flamel's actions.
"They probably need the stone to create gold," Albert surmised, a slight frown creasing his brow as he studied the parchment. "The stone is gradually depleted in the process of making this wondrous gold, so they tried to make more stones to obtain this rarer gold. The golden ring you're holding is likely incredibly valuable, by the way, and I suspect it's the key to opening the alchemy workshop."
"I'm more curious about how you knew," Isabelle said as she handed the ouroboros ring back to Albert.
"It was a guess," Albert admitted. "Sometimes you don't need evidence." He placed the ring and map back into the picture frame, sealing it shut, and then left with Isabelle.
"I thought you would be eager to rush off and find the alchemy workshop mentioned in the letter," Isabelle remarked, surprised at Albert's calm demeanor, as if the person rummaging through the house earlier wasn't him.
"We'll get to it when we have time," Albert said, his tone indicating that he knew what their priorities were. "That stuff isn't useful to us right now, and even if we wanted to recreate the Philosopher's Stone, it probably wouldn't be that easy."
"Why do you think Dumbledore doesn't like the Philosopher's Stone?" Isabelle asked as they returned to the ship, her curiosity getting the better of her.
"Because eternal life and wealth are not what Dumbledore desires," Albert replied nonchalantly. "I believe that in Dumbledore's eyes, the Philosopher's Stone is akin to the source of a calamity."
"People would go crazy fighting over the stone, wouldn't they?" Isabelle guessed the reason.
"Yes," Albert whispered. "Many people spend their entire lives pursuing longevity and riches. If they knew about the stone's existence, they would go mad scrambling for it. In fact, there has been a similar case in history, but instead of the stone, it was a wand that was said to be invincible in battle."
"What about you?" Isabelle countered.
"I've never craved immortality," Albert said calmly to Isabelle. "It's a terrifying curse. To me, the greatest significance of the Philosopher's Stone is that it allows us to die when we want to, just as Nicolas and Perenelle did—embracing death with serenity."
"It would be nice to grow old together, like Nicolas and Perenelle, and face death together," Isabelle mused.
She sat next to Albert, resting her head gently on his shoulder as they gazed out at the distant horizon.
"Let's go home!"
"Yes, home!"
Under Albert's guidance, the sailboat departed from French waters and set sail for Britain.
(End of Chapter)
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